Watching baseball this week has taught me a lot about myself as a sports writer, and as I wrap up my year as America's Oldest Rookie Sportswriter, I thought I’d share some of those lessons. And no, I have no idea who takes the title from me, but I'm guessing they'll have little recollection of the 1970s. I know the names of a lot of the players in baseball 's postseason, but I don't know them personally. Before last week, I didn't know who Carlos Gomez is. Or Evan Gattis. Or Tony Sipp. (It should be obvious I don't play fantasy baseball). But in the last year I've met Duane Burkhart, Tippecanoe Valley High School’s Athletic Director, and I’ve watched him carry on under difficult circumstances at best. I also had the chance to watch, and much later meet Whitko High School athlete Brianna Cumberland, and absorb a small bit of her resolve for myself. There are at least a dozen others I can't think of at the moment. The point I'm making is that these people are more important to people around here and it's a privilege to tell their stories. While I love college and pro sports, I really enjoy covering local sports stories and trying to paint a picture of the great people in our area. Other things on my mind: It was vital for the Kansas City Royals to win the first two games of the ALCS at home, and that became more obvious after Johnny Cueto was muy no bueno Monday night. I'm glad the Royals didn't just fold the tent up and go home, and this afternoon's game could be a classic, even with Chris Young getting the start for KC. Here's hoping it doesn't come down to Cueto in a seventh game, but if it does thank goodness that game will be at Kauffman Stadium. The Twitter Universe just blew up after the Indianapolis Colts’ epically bad fake punt Sunday night against the Patriots. On Monday, people were invited to Tweet this questions in to The Chuck Pagano Show. Two of my favorites: “Coach, what was the name of the kid who won the ‘you design the play, we'll run it on national television’ contest?” And “Coach. Video game much?” Last, will the real Bears team please stand up? Then again, they have two more chances to show they'd win the AFC West.
