Magic.

I was among the 50,000 or so in attendance at The Ballpark in Arlington on October 9th, 1999, when the Rangers played, to date, their last ever playoff game. I remember it clearly: Derek Jeter tripled in the first inning, followed shortly by a homer by Darryl Strawberry (DARRRRRRRYL). That was all the offense the hated Yankees needed; Roger Clemens, no doubt fresh off a gigantic shot of steroids, shut the Rangers down, didn't give up a run, in comes Mariano Rivera, and for the third time in four years, Texas was promptly dispatched by the eventual world champions.

For 11 years now, I've waited to see my beloved team back in the postseason. Ever since then, in times good (a few) and bad (a whole freaking lot), I've stayed behind the wheel of the unofficial Rangers' Bandwagon. And now, barring an epic collapse, it's gonna happen. As the slogan reads: It's Time.

The purpose of this blog is not to wax poetic about the Rangers' string of awful seasons the last week or so, or to recap the spectacular, memorable season they've given me in 2010. No, this entry is an open invitation for all you sports fans: jump on the bandwagon now. I'm driving this sucker, and I've saved room for all of you.

Unless the Cowboys turn it around quickly, and somehow overcome their overwhelming schedule from here on out, Dallas games are going to revert to what they were a few years ago, which was basically akin to taking medicine: you knew it was gonna be bad, but you had to suffer through it.

Now, finally, there may be an alternative, if only for a short while. The Rangers' Magic Number (combined wins + losses by 2nd place Oakland) is at 6. Again I say, barring an epic collapse, it's. gonna. happen.

Hop on.