American league champions

Clean the streets and put away the champagne, it is World Series time.

Maybe there are a few in Boston that haven´t seen a bed since last night heroics, but it is well worth it. The BoSox went against the Gods themselves again. Being down 3 games to 1 in the ALCS, they managed to start the momentum on the shoulders of Josh Becket in game 5... That was all they needed. Josh Becket is at the moment the most decisive player in baseball.It is amazing how a team that needs 3 wins in a row can deliver a combined 30-5 score in those 3 games. Terry francona was so calm after game 4 that it gave me the creeps, but he knows exactly what this team can do.

The Rockies and Todd Helton are coming to town on Wednesday and they couldn´t be hotter, they won 21 of the last 22 games. How amazing is that!!But they were not playing the second best pitching staff in the MLB (I rank the San Diego Padres as #1), and they definitely did not face a gem thrower like Becket.I guess the key to the WS will be game 1. If Becket holds Colorado, they will cool of and probably be swept, and the odds of Becket doing that are more than real.

Let´s enjoy the moment and get ready for the WS.

The Red Sox are gearing up for the playoffs

Being only one game away from securing the American League East crown, the Boston Red Sox are recharging batteries for the playoffs. Not being at their best since the all star break, the Red Sox were still able to keep a distance from the red hot New York Yankees. Affected by some injuries, not having Manny Ramirez for an entire month, Ortiz playing with injury, Okajima also missing a couple of weeks, or Youkilis with a bad shoulder, Boston is preparing the final assault of the season.
This is the time of the season that everyone fought for. This is why you play day after day, and the Red Sox are not ready to let six months go to waste. Their first opponent will probably be those pesky Yankees that were struggling until late June, which was when they decided that their payroll demanded more from them.
We will see Youkilis foaming from his mouth at each at bat he gets, or Lugo picking is shoulder before every swing. Josh Becket will continue is run for the CY award, and Papelbon, Okajima, and Gagne will deliver. Big Papi and Manny will go over Shrek (green monster), and Lowell and the captain, Varitek, will make room for them.
Basically, this team is eager to repeat the 2004 season and I don’t see anyone bringing them down to Earth. Expect Boston to go crazy with another World Series and I would love to be there.

PS: expect also the New England Patriots to go to the Superbowl, but that is another story.

Patience is a virtue

After coach Fernando Santos was sacked, everyone just thought that SL Benfica would just crush and destroy the opponents as they crossed their path to victory. Well, that might be true but not for now.
Jose Antonio Camacho, the new men at the helm, brought a false feeling of security that he, promptly, halted. A team does not go from playing horribly, to playing the best football of their lives in one week, it takes a lot of hard work and time to assimilate the coaches’ ideas and this is exactly what Camacho will add to this young Benfica squad.
Since his first mandate at the estádio da Luz, he has left a hard legacy to overcome. He irradiated an image of responsibility, hard work, and discipline. It was very common to see Camacho stop a squad practice to argue with someone, or correct something that it didn´t like. He actually terminated one of these practices because he didn’t think the players were trying to do as he had instructed. José Antonio Camacho only won a Portuguese cup over two years leading the club, but he definitely was missed.
Now, he has a second chance to prove that he was not joking the first time around. He will have a full season with a better team than the one he had, and although he wasn’t present for the pre-season, Camacho will have to put up a serious challenge to the reigning champions (FC Porto).
The league hasn’t started as he would like, Benfica has 2 wins and 3 draws, but thinking positively; Benfica hasn’t suffered any goals for the league since Camacho arrived, nor has lost.
So, let´s give him some space to breathe, and see where he takes this Benfica squad which will welcome Sporting CP, next week, at the estádio da Luz.