Playoff reaction

The reaction around the America's Dairyland sports blogosphere had the same thought I did after the Brewers made the playoffs. A really crummy weekend (Badgers blow a 19-0 halftime lead at Michigan, Packers lose at Tampa, a certain Jet QB tosses six TDs in a game) was redeemed.

The Bucky Channel
Suddenly, It Wasn't That Bad of a Weekend After All (Or, How The Brewers Made the Playoffs)

Up until around 4pm on Sunday, this was shaping up to be one of the worst weekends in Wisconsin sports history. Not only that, I was having just a terrible weekend in general. In order to explain to you how much it meant to me that the Brewers clinched a playoff spot today, I have to describe to you the whole weekend. All the posts I missed this weekend will be covered in this article. It's probably going to be a long one, and I'm writing it after a bottle of champagne, but I hope you stick around.

Also, Thanks to winks for grabbing this video from Awful Announcing.

The awesomely named Chuckie Hacks

Well, that makes up for a ****** sports weekend

At 3:15 PM, what was shaping up to be the worst sports weekend in my life took the greatest turn it could have ever taken. Who ever said Ryan Braun is not clutch? I have been hanging on every pitch since Thursday. The 80 year old guy standing next to me in the right field corner was crying after Braun's slam on Thursday. On Friday I got to enjoy the victory and Weeks HR with some of my best friends. Then came Saturday. The Mets win, the Brewers look relatively lifeless against the Cubs JV squad, and the Badgers loss was one of the most vomitious (that should be a word) second half collapses I have ever seen. Today, I stopped watching the Packers at halftime. Was flipping between the Brewers and the Mets game on TBS. I thought of leaving to go hit some golf balls because I was way too worked up. When Beltran hit that homer, my stomach sank.

And there is this honesty:

May 8, 2008: Brad says that the Brewers are done. Brewers record: 16-18.

The Brewers then proceed to go 61-38. Until....

August 27, 2008: Brad says that the playoffs are a lock. Brewers record: 77-56.

The Brewers then proceed to go 7-13.

September 18, 2008: Brad says that the Brewers are done, version 2.0. Brewers record: 84-69.

The Brewers then proceed to go 6-3.

Right Field Bleachers skips over all that depressing football stuff with Twenty-Six Years

When Ryan Church flied out to end the Mets’ season, I was moved to tears. It might just be the Wild Card and, yes, this feat only marks the beginning of a quest for something much greater. But I wasn’t alive in 1982, and I grew up cheering for a losing team. To many of us these sensations and the concept of baseball in October are foreign.

Remember today as the first time in 26 years when the last day of the season marked the eve of another season’s beginning. Savor this moment and hold it tightly, wrap yourself in it – don’t blink. I’ve never seen champagne showers in Brew City, and it may be a long time before it happens again… but I’m not thinking about that right now, I’m not thinking about the Philadelphia Phillies or Ben Sheets likely having thrown his last pitch in a Brewers uniform.

Right now, I’ll just be thinking about today – the day the Milwaukee Brewers became a playoff team. A day I will never forget, a day that took 26 years to get here.

And here are a trio of Brewer Blogs from Sportsbubbler.com
Bernie's Crew

This win also is a culmination of all the great things that happened in Brewers baseball in 2008. Remember Russell Branyan's mammoth pinch-hit, game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning? How about Ryan Braun's walk-off grand slam against the Pirates the other day? Do you remember the controversial one-hitter thrown by CC Sabathia? The jump in ticket sales once CC officially became a Milwaukee Brewer? Gabe Kapler's walk-off home run late, late in extra innings?

The lists can go on and on, but the moment cannot. Cherish the exuberance felt by Brewers fans all over the globe. Many younger folks like myself have not even sniffed October baseball, much less experienced it in real life. I cannot even imagine what the atmosphere will be like on Wednesday.

The Junkball Blues

Let me first say that I couldn't be happier right now. Today was the best day I've ever had as a baseball fan, and the most fun.

-Mets/Brewers: Since I moved to Chicago, the Crew have an awful record in televised games that I have access to. I believe I have only watched 2, maybe 3 victories on TV since I moved. So today after supporting the PAWS walk at Montrose Park, my partner and myself sat and watched the Shea game with Uecker on MLB Radio -- it worked out because she also believe that she is bad luck when the Crew are on TV, so we made every effort not to jinx the game.

It was so much fun watching the games because not only did the season come down to the last day, but it came down to the last day and 7+ innings!

Between the Green Pillars

So now that the Brewers are in, as the result of a rather improbable run to get there. They fired their manager, had to basically shred their rotation and had to win on a bunch of walkoffs and late rallies to make it in. The team must be feeling a bit of amazed disbelief at this point.

The talk about the guys not being "just happy to be there" is already going, and I wouldn't want it any other way. But you have to think there is a feeling of nothing to lose amongst the players, and that is a good thing. More than any other obstacle in September, the Brewers were having trouble with the pressure.

Well, the pressure that was on the Brewers is gone now. It will certainly be replaced by a whole different sort of pressure, that of trying to take the next step. But they were playing for a group of fans with a 26 year monkey on their backs, and now that is gone. They were playing with the fear of failure and now that is all gone.

Brew Crew Ball put up a picture after the game and I believe they are still having a party. I wish The Wisconsin Sportsbar was still open.