While I'm certain that there are folks among us that favor winter, spring or summer the most, by and large it seems that everyone loves the fall season. Before moving to Portland, summer used to be my most loathesome season. The humidity of St. Louis summers and the dry furnace that is Abilene in August are enough to convince anyone. Since I moved to Portland, summer has become my second favorite out of sheer perspective. Here, I take the occasional 100 degree days and sunshine with a smile because every March I start to lose faith that there really is blue sky above the dense cloud cover. 

So fall is my favorite season, and there are a host of reasons why, but I bet they are pretty much the same as your's. I do have a few extras, though. First, the St. Louis Cardinals have made the playoffs many times this decade, so my September and Octobers have been pretty exciting. Second, I turn on my cable box every August after turning it off every February, so it's always exhilarating to fire up the NFL Network, my newest addiction NFL Redzone, and MLB Network's MLB Tonight: Roundtripper. 

The Cards made the playoffs again, and I took some notes during their game against the Rockies when they clinched the Central Division:

-Gosh, I hate the Colorado Rockies. Granted, I can't think of one player I don't like on their team, and their fans seem nice enough. I hate the Rockies because I believe they are a mirage. An impostor. They seem like an illusion of a quality team. It's that Coors Field high altitude gimmick they've been running out there every year since MLB birthed this freak in the early 1990's. 

-My heart lifted slightly when Jason LaRue hit the go-ahead homerun in the 7th inning while doing his best Waingro impersonation. 

-Score still 4-3, Jason Giambi pinch-hit in the bottom of the eighth with two on and two out. Lately he's been wearing what looks like a Velcro travel wallet wrapped around his bicep, and tonight was no different. LaRussa left Wainwright in the game to face him in a very critical situation. Giambi was frozen on a called third strike on an inside curve ball. Sweet. 

-My mind started to drift towards playoff-clinching celebrations. It's the first of 4 champagne celebrations for whomever wins the World Series. It seems like an excessive amount of champagne spraying and antics in a very short amount of time. 

-Ludwick hit a two-run home run in the 9th, making the score a little more comfortable: 6 (contender)-3 (mirage). 

-Ryan Franklin entered the game to close the bottom of the 9th. Then a mascot appeared behind the catcher and it gave me another reason to hate the Rockies. I can't believe MLB is ok with this, but the Rockies have their bush-league mascot--Dinger--dancing behind the catcher to distract the pitcher. Unbelievable. You can see it clearly on television. I'm pretty sure Fredbird has never sunk that low. The Cardinals are trying to clinch their division in a huge series with a potential playoff matchup in the Rockies, and their goofball mascot and his mammoth plastic dinosaur face is bouncing up and down behind the plate to try and throw off the pitcher. Uncool. Not classy. Bush league. And you know pitchers don't want to say anything about it and admit a mascot could mess them up. 

With one out Franklin shows me why I'm a little scared of his closing ability in the playoffs. He can't overpower anyone if he needs to. He is forced to scrape the strike zone, and when he's missing, he's next to worthless. But he's had a great season so he gets the benefit of the doubt. I'm just saying he scares me, but it might be ok. So he walked Helton. But Franklin gets a couple of ground balls, the Cards get out of trouble, and the Cardinals are declared 2009 Central Division Champions. And LaRussa makes it obvious he's ok with hugging other grown men. As we all should be.  

It's gonna be a great October.