Phils Hit Wrigley Phield

One other thing I noticed the other night in between beverages, was that I've hardly written at all this year about my beloved Phillies.

Last season, I wrote extensively about their ride to a championship. And, it wasn't as if I only started writing once they inched toward the title. There were plenty of lows to document -- as was the case in my blog entries from 2006 and 2007.

Maybe the success from a year ago has made me more complacent. Don't get me wrong, I'm still following each game -- although, I'm still avoiding results until the next morning. It's easier on the stress level -- But the urge to complain and congratulate on a daily basis on here hasn't been there. Yet.

As of this writing, the Phils -- after dropping three costly games to Florida this weekend, while Atlanta was sweeping a series in L.A. -- have a four game lead in the NL East.

Now they come to Wrigley for three. Oy. I still live in fear of a Phils/Cubs playoff series. Nothing would frost my rear end more than having the Cubs eliminate my Phillies in a playoff series. Each and every pitch would be excruciatingly nerve-wracking for me, potentially even more so than in their previous World Series appearances.

The reason, besides my hatred for the Cubs, is because I live in (near) Chicago. SO, of course, if they were to defeat my team over the course of a week or two, that's all I would hear about on every newscast, on every sports page, from everybody I would talk to, etc.

I'd be better off leaving town for a couple of weeks and closing myself off from the rest of the world.

Of course, the flipside -- a Phillies win over the Cubs in the playoffs -- would be a slice of heaven that I cannot begin to describe.

The only thing comparable would be the day earlier this decade when Donovan McNabb brought the Eagles to Soldier Field in an NFC playoff game and helped Philly knock off the Bears. I was watching that game with many members of my wife's side of the family, plus all of their Bear fan friends.

When the final whistle sounded, I walked into an empty bedroom and jumped up and down for a good 30 seconds.

Ooh well, hopefully a Cubs/Phils playoff series never happens. It's bad enough they're playing the next three days at Wrigley. Unless the Phils take two of three of course.

If they do, I'll even buy the first round of Old Styles.