Part of me wants to just post a big blank space, because there is no way I can type everything that has been going through my head for the last 14 hours.

I know you all know I'm a big sports fan and you can take one look at this page to know I'm a Cardinal fan, but I'm not sure I have ever effectively expressed on this blog what this sport, and this team in particular, mean to me. It's a lot easier to blog about college football, because the games happen once a week, and I've had such a terrible track record in the past of jinxing the Cardinals just by mentioning their successes here that I've been very conservative this season. (No, really, I have.)

When I was six weeks old, I was taken to my first sporting event; a AA minor league ball game between my hometown Tulsa Drillers and the Arkansas Travelers, then the St. Louis AA team. In 1987, my parents let us eat in front of the TV (a big deal then) so we could watch the Cardinals play the Twins in the World Series -- my first memory of watching a game on TV from start to finish. The first three real family vacations we took (as in not for someone's soccer or softball tournament and not for an event with relatives) were to St. Louis to see games at Busch Stadium. My first semester of college, I cut out and saved every article in the Oklahoma City paper about Mark McGwire's 70 home run season. (The crude webpage I put together is still here.)When I drove up here to New York with my dad, we crossed into Illinois on the day the 2002 strike was averted, just in time to hear the Cardinals-Cubs game on the radio. And last year, I had the thrilling opportunity to see Albert Pujols hit a home run in Yankee Stadium.

This season has been extra special, too, because the Cardinals weren't supposed to even make the playoffs this season. Just because we didn't get a bunch of name pitchers like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, or Greg Maddux, we were supposed to get out of the way of the Astros and the Cubs. Watching this team not just stand up to, but completely dominate the division during the regular season is the most fun I've ever had as a sports fan. And how fitting that we beat Clemens to get to the World Series. (But hats off to the Astros; that was one heck of a NLCS, even if most people were paying to much attention to Yankees-Red Sox to notice.) This is the kind of season you spend almost two decades waiting for -- and, unless you're a Yankee fan, they happen about that often.

I love this team. I love Albert Pujols hitting .500 with a two strike count, and promising to leave his NLCS MVP award in the clubhouse so the entire team can share it. I love Scott Rolen running modestly around the bases after hitting a go-ahead home run. I love Tony Womack playing the entire game with exruciating back spasms and throwing himself around as if he felt 19. I love Julian Tavarez making up for breaking two fingers in a temper tantrum in Game 5 by pitching near perfectly in Games 6 and 7. I love Larry Walker trying to start the trend of teams shaking each other's hands at series end (only worked once, but there's always next year). I love Jeff Suppan making the pitches when we need him the most. I love getting to see Rick Ankiel opening champagne bottles in the clubhouse.

I love these guys. This is what makes sports worth it to me. I won't say I won't be disappointed if we don't win the World Series, because that would be lying. But win or lose, I'm going to remember this season fondly for the rest of my life.