Talk about mixed emotions.

The Avs handed the Wild only their second loss in regulation. Mind you, that wasn’t super difficult for the Avs, as the Wild were missing Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra and Niklas Backstrom were all out. I mean, I could have gotten a goal. OK, no, I couldn’t. But Smyth, Svatos, and Wolski could. And did. Budaj had some stellar saves, while Josh Harding was decent in net, but had a goal go in off his melon. Two points against a division foe, it’s hard to complain. The game was decent to watch, but I was distracted, waiting for different game.

On the other end of the scale, in the world of baseball, the Rockies got swept by the Red Sox tonight to win the World Series. To say the Rockies were out matched, out classed, or out worked would have been to miss the series completely. It all came down to pitching, and the Rockies did not perform well enough on either side. The bats were never as hot, nor the arms throwing as well as the previous two series. In the series, the only wild pitch was thrown tonight, the venue didn’t matter, and right to the end, there was belief in the stands. As for the quality of the series, it could have been better. It could have been longer. It could have been a greater battle. It should have been. The Rockies were out played, but still, they showed up. They may have lost hard, but they didn’t just roll over and give up. They made it to the World Series. That alone will be great for baseball in Colorado. It created fans, and it created a new faithful.

Until a few hours ago, I had two baseball jerseys. One Red Sox, and one Rockies. Now, I own only one. I gave the Red Sox one away. I parted with a jersey. Me. I could never wear it again, in Denver, or elsewhere. I will still root on the Sox, in the American League, but even in “defeat”, the Rockies played themselves into my heart. Go Rockies.

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