A Family Divided

Tonight I'm facing the prospect of a family divided. It's nothing on the scale of those living along the Mason-Dixon Line during the Civil War and being forced to judge the economic benefits versus immorality of slavery. It's not quite as debatable as whether the Three Stooges are really funny, or even who is the sexiest . . . Ginger or Mary Ann. But, it's still an issue that will cast my family into pseudo-turmoil for the next week. Will it be the Houston Astros or the Atlanta Braves moving on to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Playoffs? You notice that I have already written-off San Diego. Too bad, too sad. I grew up in Atlanta. I lived there for 29-years before making Houston my home and adopting its sports teams as my own. I remember going to the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and enjoying every minute of it. I remember listening to Hall of Fame announcer, Milo Hamilton, calling Hank Aaron's record-breaking home run from there. I remember seeing the Beatles perform at second base in 1964. But today I am an Astros fan. That's were the family division comes in. Mom and dad still live near Atlanta and my brother, Dave, never gave up the Braves-bug when he moved to Florida several years ago. So, tonight we are a family divided. Divided by two teams going head-to-head on Thursday afternoon within the confines of Turner Field. The battle should be intense. The Braves have been in the play-offs for 14 consecutive years. The Astros fought their way back from the second-worst record in Major League Baseball earlier this year to win the NL Wild Card behind arguably the strongest trio of starting pitchers in all of baseball. When the chalk dust has cleared on the day of the final game, one side of my family will be disappointed while the other side will be looking forward to a possible World Series appearance. On that day the family divided will again become one. After all blood is thicker than pine tar or the spit on the dugout floor.