FROM KEITH GROLLER
Ok, this is finally the end of our look back at 2011, and we've finally reached the last two things I will remember the most about the year just completed.
To recap, here's what we've covered so far from the year here on Groller's Corner:
No. 11 -- Freedom grad Johnny Lahutsky being honored by the New York Yankees during "Hope Week"
No. 10 -- Allen boys basketball team sings Happy Birthday after winning District 11 4A title.
No. 9 -- Was "treated" to four laps by Clint Bowyer at Pocono Raceway and then raced to Philly to see Brian Schneider welcome Carpenter Cup champs to Citizens Bank Park.
No. 8 -- Basketball great Bill Walton delivers memorable speech at Thanksgiving eve event in Fogelsville.
No. 7 -- Catty's Anthony Recker gets to the big leagues at Yankee Stadium on same day an earthquake rocks the East Coast.
No. 6 -- Andre Reed's charity golf tournament attracts all kinds of former pro athletes, including several former Buffalo Bills, to the Lehigh Valley.
No. 5 -- Tommy John may have been the best guest ever on the "Calling All Sports" radio show.
No. 4 -- Lehigh football run takes me to Fargo, North Dakota, and Fargo makes a nice first impression.
No. 3 -- The trip with the LV Yankee Fan Club to America's Heartland.
Now the final two.
No. 2: The Cardinals somehow make the playoffs, and beat the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers, too.
Sometimes I wonder why we care so much. Why do we attach ourselves to sports teams at early ages and never let go of those teams? I can't explain it. Albert Pujols certainly didn't have an attachment to the St. Louis Cardinals even when they offered him $210 million, why shouldn't I?
But since I was a little boy and knew what baseball was, I have been attached to them.
I usually get to see the Cardinals play in Philly every year, either as a fan or as a reporter and this year I had the thrill of seeing them play in St. Louis in August. The team was on life support when I saw them beat the Rockies in August in St. Louis and they were really teetering on the brink when I saw them at Citizens Bank Park with my father on Sept. 19 (picture from that game below).
I thought I might be watching a world championship team that night, but it wasn't the one from St. Louis. Kyle Lohse outdueled Roy Halladay in that Sept. 19 game and I thought of it as a cruel tease. The win kept the Cardinals alive, but they couldn't possibly still make the playoffs, could they?
But they kept winning and the Braves kept losing and on the final night of the regular season nine nights later -- they got a big assist from the Phillies -- and they made the playoffs.
Just great, I thought. Now they'll get swept by the Phillies and I will get to watch the first two losses from the press box at CBP.
And through the first few innings of Game 2 when the Cardinals trailed the Phillies and Cliff Lee 4-0, I still thought the Phillies were going to sweep.
But the Cardinals rallied to win that Game 2 and rallied again from a 2-1 deficit in games. They won Game 5 behind Chris Carpenter in an amazing 1-0 game on a night I will never, ever forget.
And they didn't stop there. They went on to beat the Brewers, then in that absolutely ridiculous Game 6 of the World Series, they found a way to keep going and wound up beating the Rangers in relatively boring fashion the next night.
I was in Norwich, NY for Game 6 and I will never forget the text messages I received from so many congratulating me on the title. The next day, Lehigh football coach Andy Coen also congratulated me after his team beat Colgate, and Andy's a diehard Phillies fan.
I don't know why we care so much; I really don't.
All I know is that I just think this title for the Cardinals was meant to be.
My son, Chris, was born the very next day after the Cardinals beat the Brewers for the 1982 World Series.
His first son was not born the next day, but he would make his appearance very soon after the Cardinals celebration was over.
No. 1 -- Ryan Keith Groller is born on Nov. 2
Grandchildren are the best. And now I have two.
Ryan Keith Groller came into the world in the wee hours of Weds. Nov. 2 -- I was rooting for a Nov. 1 birth day that would have been on 11/1/11 --- but make no mistake this is my No. 1 grandson and he'll always be No. 1
His grandfather is already trying to convert him into being a Cardinals fan (see below), but whether he's a Phillies, Mets, Yankees -- or, oh God -- a Cubs fan, he will be loved for years and years to come.
My only wish on this New Year's Day is that he has a long, healthy and happy life and that I can at least stay around long enough to see him grow into a young man.
And the wish from Groller's Corner to all readers is also for a happy, healthy 2012.
Happy New Year.
http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
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