Sudden life

A shout out this morning to fans of the Seattle Mariners baseball team – fans who are really pumped up right now. With three games left in the regular season, the M's have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs. It's a complicated situation at the moment, but the Seattle team is red hot, having won 10 of 11, and if they keep that up all weekend, they will find themselves in the tournament for a World Series berth.

That doesn't usually happen.

To break their long postseason drought just before it hits 20 seasons, the Mariners only need to get through their final three games this weekend with at least one more win than the Red Sox and the same or more wins than the Blue Jays. Should they finish the regular season tied for the second wild card, however, they’ll need to win a one-game playoff before that postseason drought can officially end. Oh, and if the M’s go so far as to win their remaining games and sweep the Los Angeles Angels this weekend, they would guarantee themselves a 163rd game this year.

I have to keep the sound off when I look in on the Mariners – their TV announcers are that bad. For a drinking game, take a shot every time the nasally color commentator says "top of the zone." You'll be drunk by the third inning.

But Seattle baseball is interesting enough at the moment that I might flip over from time to time if football gets boring. The games are tonight (7-ish), tomorrow evening (6-ish), and Sunday afternoon (noon-ish).