To reiterate

The headline here should be that the Texas Rangers won the American League. Advancing to the World Series is a happy reward for that, but first and foremost: they won the damn league. But no. ESPN, Yahoo Sports, everyone leads with "Rangers advance to first World Series."

First things first, people.

Here's a simple test. Cast your mind back to 1951, when Bobby Thomson broke so many Brooklyn hearts with that home run. And if you listen to the radio, imagine that you hear Russ Hodges' epic call of the event, 2010 style:

The Giants advance to the World Series! The Giants advance to the World Series! The Giants advance to the World Series!

Nuff said.

It's a whole other country

But they still let Texas play in the American League - and they finally won the pennant, in the 50th season of the franchise - the first eleven being in Washington, DC. Game six ended with A-Rod (remember him on the Rangers?) looking at strike three from Neftali Feliz. Oh, the joy. Oh, the rapture. Oh, the irritating country music over the PA system.

Of course, nowadays no-one really cares about the pennant. It's all about advancing to the World Series. Well, I care. Winning your league is still a big deal to me. So congratulations, Rangers fans. You've earned this with half a century of waiting.