Fall is coming.
And I can already see the double-meaning of that word. Yes, it is a term that names the season of Autumn. It is also a word used to describe a collapse. In the case of the two sports teams I follow closely, it may be the right word indeed.
Currently, the Texas Rangers sit atop the American League Western Division with an 8-game lead over the Oakland A's and the Anaheim (they're NOT L.A.!)Angels. That seems reasonably safe, considering it's the largest division lead in the majors. But the Rangers have a history of falling apart in August and September, and signs of that are starting to show. Their offense has gone stagnant, managing 2, 1, and 2 runs the last three games on their way to losing three of their last four. More worrisome, their best player (Josh Hamilton) is hampered by a flare up of knee tendinitis, and their second baseman is sidelined with an injury that could keep him out of the line-up for a month. The latest ramification of this is that they lost to the worst team in their division, 3-2, by getting only four hits the entire game. Against a BAD team.
I smell it. The fall is coming. The Rangers are going to break my heart this year, I just know it.
The USC Trojans have already broken my heart. Their fall from excellence on the football field is taking place in front of our very eyes. Struck harshly by NCAA sanctions prohibiting them from playing in a bowl game the next two years (yes, they are appealing), the team is being hit hard by player defections. They are not the feared juggernaut they were for seven years under Pete Carroll, and with a new coach who has won only twelve games in his entire career, the beast that was the USC Trojans is likely to be more a stray cat. All because of the misguided and foolish actions of a few.
This, too, will make Fall a less fun time.
Not that any of this is super important. The war in Afghanistan, the pandemic of cancer that still grips the world, and the latest escapades of Lindsey Lohan make these two things pale in comparison.
But the heart is not a rational organ, so even the inane can become a big thing. Yes, it's August 3rd, and maybe when October rolls around and the Rangers are in the World Series and USC is undefeated and heading toward a big year, some of you will say -- "See, Ralph, you should have more faith."
Believe me, I wish I did. In many aspects.
