Breaking The Fast

My heart went out to those Chicago Jews who love baseball last night. Here they were, just about to break the Fast of All Fasts, 95 years without a playoff series victory, at virtually the exact same moment that the Day of Atonement was about to begin. Now, if you're one of those Cultural Jews like myself (The "I don't believe in anything, but I want to stay connected to my roots" group), it's an easy call: you're glued to the TV, and you'll be in the synagogue in the morning. But for the more religious among us, this is all far more serious. If you don't ask for forgiveness on Yom Kippur, and instead watch the game, do you jinx the Cubs? Does the fate of the Wrigley Faithful rest on your tallit-covered shoulders?

So to those Cubs fans who sacrificed seeing the game not just to atone for themselves but to also protect their beloved team, I salute you.

What about Jews in Atlanta, you ask? I suppose the same could be said for those members of the Tribe in Georgia, but with the half-hearted support that team has received over the years, it's hard to feel sorry for them.

Meanwhile, I was at game 4 of Sox-A's on Sunday, drinking water instead of beer, and witnessed first hand the most glorious Sox victory these eyes have ever seen. It's hard to see how the Sox can lose tonight. I think the 5-14 record of pitchers on three days rest over the last 15 years is pretty telling. The problem is all of these old-school managers who remember four-man rotations, and just can't accept that pitchers have changed.

So here's the prediction: Pedro is dominant, Zito pitches out of jams for five innings before getting walloped, Timlin pitches a perfect ninth, and the Sox win 5-1.


There are no BAP scores today, although I hope to have a lot tomorrow. As for you football fans, I've decided to split up the college stuff, and put in a little every day. The baseball playoffs makes it impossible to commit a large amount of time to football in any one day, so we're going to deliver it piecemeal. It might even work about better. A little something for everyone.

Here are the current ECF standings. There are 36 teams left in contention for the ECF Championship. Teams that have beaten a Top Ten team are in bold:

Teams eliminated from the ECF Championship yesterday (9):
Clemson, Cincinnati, Memphis, Michigan, Nevada, NC St, Rutgers, Washington, USF

Teams With A Perfect Record (9):
Arkansas, FSU, LSU, Miami, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, TCU, Virginia Tech

Teams With A Half-Acceptable Loss (4):
Louisville, Ohio St, USC, Washington State

Teams With One Acceptable Loss (11):
Air Force, Boise St, BG, Georgia, Iowa, N Illinois, Pitt, Oklahoma St, Oregon St, Stanford, Utah

Teams With One-And-A-Half Acceptable Losses (1):
Tennessee

Teams That Have To Remain Perfect The Rest Of The Way, either due to having an Unacceptable Loss Protected By The Three Weeks Rule, Or By Reaching Their Maximum Number Of Acceptable Losses (17):
Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Syracuse, Miami OH, Wisconsin, Purdue, Mich St, Virginia, UNLV, Houston

ECF Championship Rules

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