'Tis the postseason to be jolly!

Some people have asked, as a followup to my postseason column, how I feel about the events so far. As you may recall, my predictions were based entirely on what I wanted to see happen, not on what I thought would happen. And so, to this point, I'd have to say I think things are...

...pretty darn good!

Three of the four remaining teams were in my top four preferences: Beloved Mets, Hard Luck Cubs, and Not Quite as Hard Luck But Still Need a Boost Royals. The Blue Jays were at #7. Which means three teams I rooted for the least have been eliminated. And the Royals just gave the Jays a pretty good thumping in game 1 of the ALCS, so my streak may be continuing.

Teams I expected to do better fell into two categories: Too Big to Fail and Just My Luck. The Cardinals looked unbeatable. The Pirates could beat anyone but the Cardinals. The Dodgers owned the West. Where are they now? Golfing.

The Just My Luck guys included the Yankees... yeah, just the Yankees. I knew they had struggled all season and probably played above their heads, but I figured that they would turn on some magic Yankee switch and burn through the playoffs, and if the Mets made the Series, they'd murder us in four or five games, like in 2000. Not this time!

That said, I absolutely hate the second Wild Card team anyway. You fight like the devil to get to the playoffs and it comes down to one game? This isn't the NFL. It's like Scatman Crothers racing up the hotel in The Shining to save the day and (spoiler alert!) catching an ax in his chest.

"I made it!"

WHUMP

As I noted in the earlier piece, it'd be nice for the Cubs to finally get off the schneid and win the pennant, and I'm sure I'll use that to console myself if the unthinkable happens and the Beloved Mets fail to overcome. If the Mets do lose (and let me just say, I fully 100% expected the Dodgers to pull it out even when Howie Kendrick was down to his last strike), the Cubs had better just win the damn World Series and get it all over with so we can all say hurrah, then start hating them like everybody else.