What Season Is This Again?

You know what tonight is?

It's Major League Baseball's version of a green-white-checkered finish. Weather permitting, of course.

The last three and a half innings of Game Five of the 2008 World Series are scheduled to begin at 8:30pm tonight on Fox. Fox Sports Florida will present live pregame coverage at 7:30pm -- that's right, an hour of pregame for what will end up being 90 minutes of baseball. You can't get TV like that just anywhere. Weather permitting.

The Rays, as I have written a thousand times already, are the best story in baseball and probably the best sports story of our lifetime, but they're killing me right now. The extended postseason has seriously cut into my college football time as well as my NBA prep. I took part in a fantasy basketball draft on Monday night while at my office watching the beginning of Game Five...I've never been so unprepared. I think I may have drafted both Lopez twins, but I can't be sure. It's all a blur right now.

This is usually my favorite time of year: the beginning of the NBA season, coupled with some smackdown weekends in college football (Florida-Georgia, anyone?). But at the moment, I'm just wiped.

So anyway: if and when the World Series ever starts again, look for live pregame and postgame coverage on Fox Sports Florida. This Saturday, I'll be in Jacksonville with Brady Ackerman for a live one-hour pregame show on the field before the Game That We're Not Allowed To Call The Cocktail Party Anymore. And next week, Lord willing, I'll be spending three days at an undisclosed location, preferably with spa treatments and fruity drinks with umbrellas.

Weather permitting.

World Series Diary, Game One

At 8:38pm on October 22nd, 2008, I watched Scott Kazmir throw out the first pitch at the World Series. In St. Petersburg. For the Tampa Bay Rays.

Chew on that for a moment.

Unlike the previous series against Chicago and Boston, the pregame show on Fox Sports Florida was mostly benign. We took the extra step of hiring a security guard to hang with me by the Rotunda entrance at Tropicana Field -- a necessary step after the Division Series and the ALCS. As I many have mentioned before, the drunkenness at these playoff games has approached SEC football levels, but with a much meaner spirit.

It's more of a "NASCAR drunk," or maybe an "Arena Football drunk." "Itchin' for a fight" drunk. "Convinced that hollering the name of the TV host at the top of one's lungs while he's on the air is hysterical" drunk. At the end of the pregame show, I watched a St. Pete cop damn near punch out a rather belligerent Phillies fan who had some choice words for an equally energetic Rays fan. Not good times.

But Game One of the World Series was a bit more manageable from my end. The knowledge that the security guard had my back helped. Also helped that this crowd is a little older and more subdued than the previous crowds -- those World Series tickets are expensive, and hard to get. Different demographic. However, as a whole, I still maintain that these have been the drunkest crowds I have ever personally witnessed, and I've been to tractor pulls, people. Not sure if this is a statement about Rays fans, the Tampa-St. Pete market, neither, or both.

8:45pm: Chase Utley just demolished a Kazmir offering to right. 2-0 Phils. The Philly crowd is much louder than I thought they would be. Also, Kazmir is precisely as shaky as I have long believed him to be. The Rays get out of the inning, then go down quietly in the bottom of the 1st.

8:57pm: Question -- if the uppermost seats at Tropicana Field are obstructed by the catwalk (called the 'D-Ring' here), then why were the rings installed at all? Was that a late addition? Did someone discover that this place was structurally unsound? Now I'm concerned.

9:00pm: Top of the 2nd inning, and bedtime for every child in America under the age of 12. How Major League Baseball manages to draw young fans despite these ridiculously late start times for World Series games is beyond me. Would a day game kill them?

9:04pm: Know what? I like the cowbells. The cowbells can stay.

9:08pm: BJ Upton just hosed Shane Victorino. The Rays center fielder threw out the Flyin' Hawaiian trying to score on a sac fly, and beat him by three feet. I have a new term for this -- he got Upton'd. When a baserunner is lulled to sleep by Upton's laconic body language, then gets picked by a cannon shot from center? Upton'd.

9:13pm: The Cole Hamels kid is good, by the way. Just made Longoria look stupid on a swinging strike three. Got Pena to fly to center, then K'd Aybar. The crowd is officially lulled. Probably just the buzz wearing off.

9:18pm: Raymond, the Rays' mascot? Good dancer, but silly-lookin'. Is that supposed to be a manatee?

9:26pm: Kaz settles down, gets Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell swinging. Still 2-0, heading to bottom of the 3rd. The Phillies have already stranded 3 runners.

9:34pm: Signs of life...Hamels gave up a solid single to Zobrist, then walked Bartlett. Two on, one out, Aki up. They're chanting his name...

9:36pm: And a base hit. They're loaded for Upton. Stand by.

9:39pm: Aaaaaaand a 6-4-3 double play, inning over. Meh.

9:45pm: Two more runners on for the Phils. They've had runners on base in every inning so far. They're out-Raysing the Rays right now.

9:48pm: RBI groundout from Carlos Ruiz. 3-0, top 4th. Kaz gets Rollins swinging, and the inning is over.

9:51pm: The touch tank in center field, filled with real-live rays? Very cool. You can see them flapping around all the way from here, in our auxiliary press box. The tank holds 10,000 gallons of water and is filled with cownose rays that were caught in Tampa Bay. They're cared for by the Florida Aquarium. It's my job to find stuff like this.

9:54pm: Carl Crawford almost splashes the tank with a homer, and it's 3-1. The crowd is still oddly subdued. More cowbell! Fitting that Crawford, who was an All-Star on 100-loss teams prior to this magical year, scores the first run in Tampa Bay Rays World Series history. Man, I cannot believe what I am writing...

10:09pm: Carlos Pena makes a rare error at first, allowing Pat Burrell to reach on a squib grounder. It's worth noting that the Rays, one of the best defensive teams in the American League, have committed some key errors in the postseason games that they lost -- I'm thinking of Bartlett and Longoria, specifically. As it stands, the Rays will get out of this inning, but it's cause for concern.

10:15pm: I just looked up at the scoreboard and saw that the Phillies have 5 hits, and the Rays have 4. It feels like the Phils should have about 12, and the Rays maybe two. That's the vibe in this game.

10:25pm: And a bit of a jump in the 5th, as Aki Iwamura doubles home a run to make it 3-2. This crowd is begging for an excuse to get crazy. It's just not the same vibe as the White Sox series or the Red Sox series...I'm starting to believe the "corporate crowd" theory. Feels like 40,000 sponsors, sponsors' families, and sponsors' families' neighbors in here. By the way, it's 10:29 now, and the top of the 6th. But baseball is all about the kids! (Mine went to bed two hours ago.)

10:40pm: Todd Kalas just made his way down to my row. I happened to find a bank of unoccupied seats up against the railing here in the upper deck...a good find. Seating is at a premium here, more so than parking. We can do parking in Florida, friends. We're professionals. Seating, not so much. Is there still a game going on?

10:50pm: The "baserunner in every inning" trend continues as new Rays pitcher JP Howell allows a single to Chase Utley in the top of the 7th. Seventh hit for the Philies, feels like the 428th. Then Utley steals second. Good news: Kazmir and Howell should have their stretch move pretty much perfected by now.

10:53pm: Wild pitch from Howell allows Utley to move to third. The Phils have stranded 7 runners tonight. How much longer can the Rays cheat death?

11:00pm: Maybe a bit longer, but Howell won't be the guy to do it. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Grant Balfour! Howell walked a guy, 1st and 3rd, 2 outs.

11:05pm: And they do it again. Balfour gets a strikeout against Shane Victorino (favorite nickname from his Wiki page: "Hawaiian Punch"), and we're onto the 7th inning stretch.

11:09pm: BTW, I have to get up out of this seat in the 9th in order to get down to the clubhouse for postgame interviews. Gotta leave early enough -- it requires a sherpa and a yak to get down there. So I won't be here for the final out. Whatever.

11:19pm: Two outs, top 8th. Balfour is cruising. Gets a fly ball out, and we head to the bottom of the 8th...

(leaves seat to go get interviews in the clubhouse. Rays lose, 3-2.)

(drives back to hotel)

2:01am: Followed Peter Gammons out of the stairwell by the Rays clubhouse, and a fan who was most likely drunk (really?) hollered something about "Hey, Peter, what happened? We came out flat!"

Gammons never broke stride as he muttered under his breath, "no, that's just what happens when you face good pitching." And then he mentioned something about people who know nothing about baseball, but I kinda missed it.

Anyway, he's right about the pitching. The Rays got Hamel'd. This game probably should have been worse, as the Phils stranded 11 runners. Luckily, Tampa Bay has a bullpen, too.

Back at it tomorrow. Or, today. Whatever.

Three Cheers, and Game Seven

Checking in from a hotel room in Tampa, owing to the fact that the American League Championship Series is going to a Game Seven. I've covered two Game 7's in my professional career -- the '95 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, when the Magic hosted the Pacers, and the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Lightning hosted Calgary. You've probably heard this a lot lately, but it bears repeating: there is nothing in sports like a Game Seven. Nothing. It's difficult to describe the level of desperation unless you've been there in person.

Of course, THIS Game Seven never should have happened. Up three games to one, seven outs to go, a seven-run lead in Game Five? Why the hell are we here now?

Pitchers missing the strike zone, some shaky defense, excruciatingly patient Boston hitters, and inexperience. That's how.

But I come here not to bury the Rays. Rather, here is your reminder that readers can Reply or Critique this post with ideas or comments for Monday's Tailgate Overtime show (7pm, Sun Sports).

Also, a moment of patting selves on back: the nominees for the 2008 Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards were announced online on Saturday, and Sun Sports / Fox Sports Florida was honored with a lucky 13 nominations this year, including nods for "Inside The Rays," "Under The Lights," "Inside The Heat," "Inside The Marlins," and several others. Plus, our partners at the Miami Heat received four additional nominations. A lot of people worked very hard on these submissions, and I'm thrilled to see that work recognized. Bully for us.

Your blogger here was humbled to be nominated four times, both individually in the "On Camera Talent - Sports Talent" category and collectively as part of the team behind "Under The Lights: Stories of Courage," "Inside The Magic: Gameday All-Access," and the Sun Sports production of Game Five of the '07 Magic-Raptors NBA playoff series. I've never been nominated before; I use the word "humbling" in its most literal sense. It feels good, obviously, but also very odd. Nobody works alone in our business -- directors, producers, and editors have much more to do with whether or not I look good than most viewers will ever know. The nominations only make me appreciate that fact even more than I already did. To those I work with, nominated or not: thank you, and thank you again.

And if I win in any of those four categories, I'm gonna mount the statuette on the hood of my car.

See you on TV tonight before and after Game Seven, and Monday night on Tailgate Overtime.

Frank Caliendo Must Have Naked Pictures Of Somebody Important

Seriously. That's the only explanation.

I write this, of course, while watching the American League Championship Series on TBS, which is promoting Caliendo's new television show with a relentlessness that is equal parts impressive and repulsive. I have no plans to watch it, ever, but you gotta admire the tenacity.

I do so while sitting in my office at roughly 10:15 in the evening on a Tuesday night. This is my fate, until The Freaking Rays lose, which I'm starting to think may not happen until November. Seriously. At the moment, they're destroying the Red Sox for the second straight night, and unless I'm about to witness the greatest comeback in baseball history, Tampa Bay will go to bed with a 3-1 series lead in the ALCS.

(Hey! Another 'Frank TV' promo! What're the odds?)

Man, have you ever seen fans stream out of Fenway Park like that? Our man Todd Kalas opined during our pregame show that it was a 'corporate crowd,' owing to the unwashed masses' remote chances of landing Red Sox playoff tickets. Buncha MLB sponsors and Red Sox advertisers, that's the theory. I like it, and I'm going with it.

These pregame and postgame shows on Fox Sports Florida (have you noticed the new graphics and new look for the network? No? Oh.) have pretty much eaten up my calendar for the last two weeks, thereby preventing me from spending proper time on college football, the NBA, or anything else. I have got to carve out some time.

But here's a few quick hits:

--Raise your hand if you saw Florida's 51-point outburst against LSU coming. Okay, all of you with your hands raised? You're lying.

I was on the field for the first quarter of that game in Gainesville, and the noise level at the Swamp was the most intense I've ever heard it. One interesting note: much like Sun Sports with the Gators and Seminoles, LSU football is broadcast on replay by a regional sports network that serves Louisiana. Prior to the game, as the fans were getting fully amped, the LSU network's TV director made a comment to one of our Sun Sports crew members that he "didn't feel very good about this one." And this was before the game, when LSU was still the 3rd-ranked team in the country. Wonder what he knew.

--The Miami-UCF game accomplished two things: one, it set the concept of "offense" back about twenty years. And two, it confirmed that UCF is officially in trouble.

--The one team in Florida that wanted an off-week the least? Florida State. As sharp as that offense looked against Miami back on October 4th, you know that FSU wanted to keep going.

(It's now 13-2, Rays. Willy Aybar has 5 RBI, and Carl Crawford has 5 hits. This is becoming embarrassing.)

--Oh, yeah, and if the drumbeats for Randy Shannon's head really do continue to grow louder, as my friends in South Florida tell me, here's me starting a rumor: Mario Cristobal. Arguably just as competent a recruiter as Shannon, and his deep connection to The U will probably convince him to accept whatever lowball offer Miami makes. And it will be low, mind you. Which is part of the problem. However, I am not calling for Shannon's head, because I think he can turn it around down there if given the time.

Gotta get down to the studio soon...The Freaking Rays and the postgame coverage awaits.

(13-3. Pedroia drove in a run. Sonnanstine finally out of the game. I smell a comeback! Meh.)

Questions, Comments?

Here's your chance.

E-mail them to me as a Reply or post them as a Critique below. Todd Wright will be the host of tomorrow's Tailgate Overtime show (7pm, Sun Sports), as I'll be helping the Rays announcers with another live pregame show before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series (pregame at 3:30, Fox Sports Florida).

On that note -- received a question from an anonymous viewer as to why he/she couldn't see the live Gator Pregame show we produced prior to Saturday's smackdown of LSU. Answer: that pregame show started at 7pm, head-to-head against our live pregame show for the Tampa Bay Lightning's home opener as well as the Rays pregame show, which began at 7:30pm. If you're scoring at home, that's three live pregame shows airing simultaneously on two networks (Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida).

To make that work, we had to split the signals on each network and make decisions -- some based on contract requirements -- about where in the state we were going to send each show. If you live in the Tampa Bay area, I'm guessing you probably saw the Lightning pregame on one network and the Rays on the other; in South Florida, which is outside of the NHL-mandated Lightning territory, you probably saw the Gator Pregame show. If you go back to the Sun Sports & Fox Sports Florida homepage and click on "Contact," you can get a more detailed response as to why your part of Florida received the programming it did.

Also got a question here about our college football studio programming in general, and the changes that were made for 2008. Short version: "Rec Warehouse College Kickoff," the Friday night show with me, Brady, and Terry that re-aired on Saturday mornings, was not renewed this season. Variety of reasons, a few of which I actually agree with. The postgame shows after Florida and Florida State football games were essentially handed back to the schools, who now produce their coaches' press conferences online at gatorzone.com and seminoles.com. We're producing five live on-location pregame shows (the Florida-LSU game was number three) on Sun Sports, as well as beefing up the Monday night Tailgate Overtime show. That's the studio lineup for college football, which does not include the national games we can air live from FSN or any of the coaches' shows or 'third-party' shows that we air on both networks; check listings, as they say.

Hope that helps. Be nice to Todd and the boys on Monday. If you like, come watch me navigate the Rays pregame show at 3:30pm. See you on TV.

Rays. Red Sox. Game One.

The Tampa Bay Rays are playing in the American League Championship Series.

There, I wrote it, and it looks precisely as preposterous as I imagined.

Within the last week, I've begun ramping up for the NBA season by checking in at a Magic preseason game, and spent a rainy Saturday calling the play-by-play for the FSU-Miami football game. But the story that I simply cannot escape is the freaking Rays.

In fact, I think I might have to call them that. The Freaking Rays.

I write this from the left field auxiliary press box at Tropicana Field during Game One of the ALCS against the mighty Boston Red Sox. The cowbells, which have become a trademark of the Rays' playoff infancy, are at full blast. Unlike the Divisional Series against the White Sox, this game has a noticeable visiting team presence (no shocker there, if you've ever attended a Rays-Red Sox regular season game at the Trop). But while the red shirts are visible, they're not enough to drown out those bloody cowbells, nor can they stifle the Rays fans, who are treating every pitch like 4th & inches.

This is my third Rays playoff game. Fox Sports Florida has produced a one-hour live pregame show for each postseason game at the Trop; my role has been to stand for live shots at the Rotunda entrance, where the majority of the single-game ticket holders enter. I deserve combat pay.

Seriously -- what is it about a camera and lights that turns ordinary baseball fans into complete idiots? I've been cowbelled, hollered at, bumped while on-camera. Nine times out of ten, I can smell the booze on their breath. There are a few friendlies out there -- many thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello, or compliment our coverage, or say how much they love the Chevy Florida Fishing Report (happens all the time, people. All. The. Time.) A few people wanted to shake my hand and say hello. Fine.

But the rest of you? When you wake up tomorrow with a pounding headache, please ask yourself if it's totally necessary to get blitzed before walking into a ballpark. I know the beer in here is expensive, but honestly. And another note -- if you want to get yourself or your sign on TV, it helps to do it when the camera is actually turned on. Or when the camera is attached to the tripod. I lost count of the number of people who walked up and hollered at a bright light and no camera.

Anyway, The Freaking Rays. I've been on a number of radio shows this week in Tampa and Orlando, and I'm out of superlatives. They might lose this series to Boston -- which would make Mrs. Red Sox Nation happy -- but they've already gone so far beyond anything we could reasonably expect, I'm not sure what to hope for anymore.

After visiting the home locker room after the first two games of the White Sox series, I was inclined to believe that this team wasn't going to lose. They dropped the first game in Chicago, of course, but came back to close it without a return trip to this bizarre pit they call home. Actually, Joe Maddon calls it "The Pit," which might be appropriate. Now, they're up against the closest thing to a dynasty that Major League Baseball can currently claim, and...I don't know.

Can The Freaking Rays go to the World Series?

Couple of notes: Tim Kurkjian is sitting two seats away from me, right next to Peter Gammons. Good to know that ESPN's star baseball reporters don't get seats any better than mine. Tim said hello when he walked in, which was a minor surprise, as it's been over five years since I worked with him in Bristol.

I asked him if he could believe this. "I have no idea how they're doing it," was his reply. "I picked them to finish fourth."

Also ran into former Magic play-by-play announcer and current TBS talent Chip Caray, who is working this series. He still lives in Orlando, and I see his family around town every so often. He's ready for this to be over. Baseball is a long season, no matter how entertaining The Freaking Rays might be.

The media crush for this series is easily 50 percent bigger than it was for the White Sox. These are the Red Sox, after all, and this is the Championship Series. The Rays PR staff, bless their hearts, are doing everything they can do to keep up with the demand. It's borderline overwhelming.

Oh, yeah -- I have to drive to Gainesville in the morning for our live Gator Pregame show, as UF faces LSU in a night game at the Swamp. So you've got that, plus another Fox Sports Florida pregame for the Rays, plus opening night for the Tampa Bay Lightning, all happening simultaneously on Saturday. Our two networks are being split and split again to divy up those three live pregame shows around the state, so check your local listings, as they say.

Next week, when the series moves to Boston, I'll host pregame and postgame live from our studio with Dewayne Staats and Joe Magrane while Todd Kalas reports live from Fenway. That's Fox Sports Florida in your channel guide.

The Freaking Rays. Shouldn't I be writing about college football right about now?

Post Your Questions For Tailgate Overtime

Trying something new this week...

If you're reading this and would like to post a question, comment, or topic for discussion for "Tailgate Overtime" (Mondays, 7pm, Sun Sports), please post it here as a Critique or use the Reply function and e-mail it to me. Then, watch the show and you might see your topic on TV.

Items for discussion this week may include:

* The FSU-Miami game (The Dolphin Stadium Downpour), which was the most bizarre collection of trick plays, momentum shifts, and general weirdness that I've seen on the field in a while. A halfback option? Lateral to a tackle? Kicking not one but two muffed punts out of bounds? Freaky game. Also, it was my debut as the play-by-play announcer for Prime Time Noles (Sundays, 7pm, Sun Sports), so feel free to blast my feeble skillz after you watch the replay tonight.

* UCF gets off the schneid, and possibly saves its season, by beating SMU. And a student group that hired an airplane banner to protest the Orlando Sentinel's coverage of UCF's program couldn't spell "Sentinel" correctly. For real.

* Florida wins, but everyone's miserable. And is Tebow hurt or what?

* FIU -- dangerous! And on a winning streak! Is it too early to drop Mario Cristobal's name in the hat as the next head coach at Miami? And can anyone explain to me how the so-called "Big Three" managed to whiff on T.Y. Hilton?

...or whatever else you'd like to hear us talk about. See you on TV.

Live From The Trop

Wondering if Rays fans were desperate to enjoy a little success in their first-ever postseason game?

In the first inning of today's ALDS opener against the White Sox, the fans at the Trop were cheering called strikes as if each were the final out of the World Series. I watched the first inning, but I couldn't hear it. It's deafening in here. Cowbells are one thing -- this is as throaty a crowd as I can recall at a major league baseball game.

Outside, during our live pregame show on FSN Florida, I was practically assaulted as I tried to do standups near the Rotunda entrance. Not only are they amped, they're shorn -- as in mohawks, the look du jour of today's Rays fan in the know. It's positively electric here.

At least, it was pretty electric when Evan Longoria homered to open scoring...the mood was dampened a tad when the Sox came back to take a third-inning lead. Lot of baseball left...but the atmosphere here is charged.

(pause)

Evan. Longoria.

(long pause)

Back at my usual Tampa hotel, in the high-rent district (cough), and now have some time to digest what I saw tonight.

First: the crowd support tonight was outstanding. I mean, outlandish. Remember back around '02 when Angels fans busted out the Thunderstix? It was that loud. Louder, I think. The Rays fans have a thing about cowbells -- which, if they really stopped and thought about it, is kind of insulting to Tampa Bay as a "cowtown" -- and they ain't skeered to rattle those puppies. That building tonight brought back memories of the loudest, most emotional sports venue I've ever personally witnessed, which happened to be Game 7 of the 1995 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, when the homestanding Orlando Magic beat up on the Indiana Pacers.

It was close. Not quite as loud -- 35,000 fans in a cavernous stadium can't generate the heat of 15,000 in a building half the size -- but it was close.

Second: when I stepped into the Rays locker room tonight to gather interviews for the live postgame show on FSN Florida, I was stunned at the silence.

This was business as usual for these guys. Every player I talked to, from Rocco Baldelli to JP Howell to Carl Crawford to Dan Wheeler to Carlos Pena, all repeated the same mantra: we're sticking to our routine. This is just another day. It's game 163. Blah blah, and blah.

Yet, it's not blah. It's for real. It's how these guys do their thing. I've been fortunate enough to cover the Rays several times this season on FSN Florida, and I've been consistently struck by their supreme sense of confidence. Not cocky, mind you, but confident. They honestly believe they're supposed to be here.

Stop and think about that for a moment.

The Rays, as has been written a thousand times already, have absolutely no business being here, if we judge that statement by their own history. Ten years in baseball, nine years dead last, one year second-to-last. They had the worst record in the majors last year. And they just waxed the White Sox.

That was one of the best baseball games I have ever seen. For a variety of reasons.

And read this: Chicago will be lucky to win one game in this series. Tampa Bay is going to the American League Championship Series, folks. They remind me quite a bit of the 2006 Florida football Gators. They ain't losing. Not this time.

One more thing, relevant to our football audience: after the Rays game, I went to dinner in downtown St. Pete with my cousin Rick, who lives in the area and was lucky enough to score tickets to the game. We ate dinner and watched South Florida's home game against Pitt -- what a night to be a sports fan in the Bay Area! -- and I made a comment in the bar that I wish I had posted here, because you won't believe me now.

With the score tied at 7-7, I said to nobody in particular: "The Bulls are gonna lose this game."

Bingo.

All I'm saying is, I'm on a streak. So set your schedules for the ALCS.