Okay, maybe it's the alcohol, but seeing the Cardinals doing well in the playoffs just makes me sick.

Lose already!

Your manager is Tony Larussa, second only to Bobby Cox in choking in the playoffs! You can do it, I know you can!

From the change of ownership way back when, I could tell this Reds season was going to be different.

Sure the team was picked to finish last, and they certainly played like a last-place team in 2005, but it didn't feel right. With Bobo's insistence on winning, the Reds and last place were suddenly two tastes that tasted weird together.

And now here we are at the end of the season where the team finished in 3rd place, but was in it until the very end. And not in that not-mathematically-eliminated way. They actually had a shot at the playoffs until the last week of the season.

A quote from Jerry Narron in John Fay's Reds Insider from Sunday, October 1 sums it up best.

“On Sept. 29, we're still alive and players are disappointed that we are not in first place,” Narron said. “I don't think that mind-set has been here the past couple of years.

“Coming out of spring training, where we were picked last, and now to be disappointed we're not in first place shows how far we've come.”

That's very true. It's easy to get down on the Reds because of how they finished the season, but it was the best year the team's had arguably since 1999.

And there's no reason to think it won't get better next year.

The team was filled with players who hadn't played in a pennant race. Now they have. Sure, most of them failed, but now they have a better idea of what it takes. Next time, I don't see Aaron Harang struggling nearly as much down the stretch. Or Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips, for that matter.

Secondly, Krivsky, for all his crappy moves, will have a whole off-season to prepare for next year. I think that'll make him a tad more cautious.

And of course, Bob Castellini. He's at the top, behind this desire to win. I think it's going to catch on. Already, I'm excited thinking about pitchers and catchers reporting.

Well, we are just days away from the final homestand of the season and the culmination of an event that has been months in planning.  For those that don't know, loyal readers of the Reds online community who happen to be in the area are invited to come together and meet each other once and for all.  We will partake in food, baseball, beer, and debauchery - not necessarily in that order - and a good time should be had by all.  If you are interested in joining in on any of the fun, here are the details:

1pm - Meet at Dewey's Pizza at Newport on the Levee for some lunch and stuff.

Approx 2:30pm - Head over to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum to get a lesson on how those old guys used to do it.  If we get 15 or more to go to the Museum, we can pre-order tix for $3, otherwise tix are $5 with a ticket for that day's game.  We will meet outside of the Museum around 3pm to go, so if you miss lunch, you can join up with us here.

4pm-ish - Gates Open

4:30pm - I will be going into the Park.  If you haven't gotten your ticket from me by this point, I will leave it at Will Call.

4:45pm - We convince Brandon Phillips and Ryan Freel to come party with us after the game.

Between 5pm and 5:30pm - Sometime before the game the 4th Annual Mascot Wiffle Ball game will start.  This is when we start working on sukr to see if we can get him to go start a fight with the Hoxworth Blood bank mascot.

6:10pm - Game time.  Think of it as a game thread, but with real people and not in your parent's basement.

Post-game - This is still up in the air.  If you are interested in joining us, but can only make it to the post-game, say so in this thread.  We'll get your digits through email and make sure someone lets you know where we'll be.

As of right now, we have 18 total tickets (Section 402, rows B & C, seats 11-18), 14 of which have been spoken for. If you are interested in going but don't have a ticket yet, let us know.  Tickets are $9 for the game.  You can bet there will be tickets available on the day of the game, so if we have more than 3 or 4 more people who want to go, you can still meet up with us inside.

If you plan to attend any of the days events with the gang, please state your intentions below (even if you already have tix).  I especially need to know who will be at lunch so that I can get a table that is properly sized.  If you won't be at lunch but need to get your ticket from me, please let me know when you plan to meet up to get the ticket.

After we have a complete list, I will email my cell phone number to all those that are attending so that we can “hook up.”  Let me know if there are any questions.

Jerry Narron has a myspace profile
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile &friendid=89300450

as does George Grande
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile &friendid=97957165

So you can send them some love……

In the Enquirer Reds notebook today, Ryan Freel revealed his own personal motto.

My motto is, 'If it ain't broke or you don't have a tear or something like that, you try to play through it if you can.'

I can so see that selling like gangbusters on t-shirts.