Want to know what's great about a team like the Texas Rangers being in this deep in the postseason for the first time in franchise history? From here on out, every game more or less becomes the most important game in franchise history.

After reaching the ALCS, that game 1 was the most important game to that date. After blowing what should have been an insurmountable lead and giving the Yankees a freebie, game 2 became much more important than game 1 ever was.

Credit the Rangers for responding and heading back to New York even. Losing game 2 would have meant certain demise, but they rebounded. It would have been easy for a team with lesser toughness to let that game 1 collapse haunt their collective consciousness. And winning 7-2 made a statement to the Yankees that said basically "Yeah, you got one over on us but we're not rolling over". That message is as important as anything else to any Yankees opponent- especially in October.

So now the focus moves to game 3 in New York and yet another most important game in Rangers history. Dropping game 3 puts them in a must win position for game 4 which will not be easy in Yankee Stadium.

Each game getting more important not just on a seasonal scale, but on a franchise-history scale- what could be better than that?

Ohio State football is an enigma. I can't stress it enough.

Year in and year out we hear about numerous stories and one of the constants is that Ohio State is a National Championship contender. However every year save one, they haven't been able to win the big game- bowl game or not.

Yesterday's loss to #18 Wisconsin is another such statement in the case against the "legacy" of Jim Tressel. As friend of the program Mike Walsh mentioned to me this morning: "The big 11 isn't the conference it was when wewere kids. And don't forget losing these games is Senor Sweater's MO.Take away an invisible pass interference and what has he ever won?"

Sure, Ohio State attracts premium talent and that's why they're always in the conversation. However, recent results dictate that they show a bit more on the field before contention is considered a given.

Kudos to the Giants for strolling into Philadelphia and telling Philies' starter Roy Halladay where he can stick his NLDS no-hitter. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration but still, winning on the road in the playoffs is no small thing and Citizen's Bank Ballpark can be a tough place to play.

Because the fans are trash, but anyways...

What I really want to talk about is the difference in my attitude toward the Giants since the jettisoning of Barry Bonds. Since 2000, whenever the Giants would be in the postseason I absolutely could not bring myself to champion their cause.

In my mind, Bonds is PED user. Case closed. Too many shady events have been brought to light. All I needed to see was a look at my 1993 Barry Bonds baseball card I found a couple years ago. The difference in body size from then to 2000's version we all know is too dramatic to not be artificially enhanced.

Due to that, I reviled the Giants and placed them in a category right next to the anti-christ. Now, however it's a different story and I find myself not nearly as conflicted as I once was. Of course, the fact that they're playing the Phillies also makes it easy for me to root against them.

However, it was a bit shocking to me to realize just how much Barry Bonds was a part of my Giants hatred. I really was not aware until last night. It's a sad testament to the collateral damage of the Steroid Era.

Part of me wants the Giants to win it all simply because Barry didn't and stick it in his needle-tracked posterior.