By Any Means Necessary...

"No matter how much I elevate, I kiss the floor..."

Common - Forever Begins

Home Base

MVP

"It's the good life like TI said..."

Common - Play Your Cards Right

The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League Pennant Wednesday night, and unlike last year...I was on hand to participate in baseball history.

Memories

My afternoon began with a purchase of a pair of Ken Griffey, Jr. Nike sneakers...I then went home to get ready for Game 5 of the NLCS...fast forward several hours later, and I'm on the field with the Phillies enjoying the celebration. The best way I could soak it all in was to congratulate the players, take pictures, and shoot some video.

Soon after I interviewed NLCS MVP Ryan Howard in the media room. I had a feeling that my question would be the one answered on the ESPN live feed, so I did my best to make it good. Here is the score from the question and answer:

Talk about when you first came up through this organization, winning the World Series last year, and then getting back on that stage this year?

"You know, first coming up, this organization was considered to be a losing organization. And when I first got called up and saw kind of the pieces to the puzzle...where we kind of fell short in 2005, we fell short in 2006, got over the hump in 2007, and then had a quick exit. I just gained a lot of experience over those three or four years going into 2008, and then into this year.

As a team, I don't think I've ever played on a team that's been so fun. It's one of the funnest teams I've played on. Great group of guys. We all get along. Great chemistry, and we all have a lot of fun. To be able to make it to this point again, it's definitely something very special, because a World Series isn't guaranteed to anybody.

For what we did last year, that was something special. But to get back to this point, to have the opportunity to try to do it 2-years in a row...that's even more special."

Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images, Anthony Gilbert/AXG

Dreams

Monumental

Professionalism

"We got to live out our dreams, like the people on tv..."

Alicia Keys - Unbreakable

Around the sports world, I'm known as a basketball writer...and when I was younger my mother would always pray for me, as she still does today...nevertheless I just consider myself ambitious...nothing more, nothing less.

The Real Thing

I have been afforded the opportunity to not only cover not only the Philadelphia 76ers in preseason this week, but I have also been on site for the NLCS to witness the Philadelphia Phillies walk into the history books of Major League Baseball.

Baseball is one of my real loves in sports, and to interview Joe Torre, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and several others delights my heart. I truly love my job. Last night Rollins won Game 4 with one swing in the 9th inning, as the Phils went up in the series 3-1. I've been to Citizens Bank Park numerous times, however when he smacked the ball into right field I'd never felt anything like that, as the building shook, and erupted into a lion's roar.

After the game I interviewed J-Roll, and if you were listening closely on ESPN, you could hear my question. Here is the score on our conversation:

We spoke a few weeks back, and I asked you about your role as a leadoff hitter...and you basically expressed that it's just a teams game...you're out there as a team, playing together. You always hear professional athletes talk about when they step into the moment, when they get into the zone. When you stepped up there for that at-bat...did you feel things slowing down for you?

"Yeah, things do slow down. You know, you--I don't know. You already have it planned out in your head how you want things to go. Sometimes it goes that way, sometimes it doesn't. But being confident in your ability helps a lot. You don't question what you're going to do. And like I said, after the first pitch, I was able to make an adjustment. If you go back, you see me in the box trying to get my feet in the right position. I was saying to myself, 'do I want closed [stance], and not open up? I decided to go with an open because I felt my hands get in the slot. From that point it was just a matter of getting a good pitch. If you think about it, 60 feet is a long ways to see the ball, even at 100 miles per hour, and he threw it basically where I was looking.

Really it was funny, right before he threw it, I say to myself...hit a ball in the right-center field gap. Kemp was playing me slightly to left-center. [Andre] Ethier was squeezing, and I was like 'hit the ball in the gap right over Broxton's head, and that's at least one run...and it went all the way to the fence, so we were able to get two [runs] and a victory."

Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images, Johnathan Grzybowski

Big Brown

Iconic

"Stuntin (stuntin) is a habit, put it in the air..."

David Banner - Stuntin is a Habit

Going into the NLDS the questions swirled around the Phillies and their closer Brad Lidge...now as the team moves into the next round, all the chatter has subsided.

For what its WERTH

The Philadelphia Phillies closed out the NLDS against the Colorado Rockies last night in stunning fashion. They led the game after a 1st inning home run by Shane Victorino...and Jayson Werth added his own blast in the 6th to make it 2-0, however the Rockies came back not only to tie it...they took a 4-2 lead going into the top of the 9th.

There is an old saying...patience is a virtue, and the reining champions personified that, by making the most of their at-bats with 2 outs in the 9th. Ryan Howard hit a 2-run, double, making it 4-4...and Jayson Werth followed that up with a single to bring Howard home.

With the Phils leading by 1, Brad Lidge closed the door for his second consecutive save. It's one game at a time, as they move into the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies are experienced, and talented enough for the next challenge, so you can expect more of the same as Philly battles through the test of October.

Photo: David Zalubowski