Hunter Checked Out Too Soon To Meet Wx Gal at Derby

Yesterday, my pal Chad in Tennessee said this sports weather blog thing may attract a larger readership if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. After all, Awful Announcing has picks of the weather chick all over its page with posts about the weather for the ALCS in Cleveland, Chad said. So, I took Chad's advice and posted a photo (see below) of Stephanie. That photo is probably the most popular shot of her for obvious reasons. Later, I wondered if Stephanie is a sports fan or has any background in athletics. Turns out, she has covered some significant sporting events for The Weather Channel. According to her TWC bio, Stephanie's assignments since joining the network in 2003 have included "on-the-scene weather reports from major sporting events in the country like The Daytona 500, The Kentucky Derby, The Chicago Marathon, and Major League Baseball spring training." Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Florida and received a bachelor's degree in meteorology from Florida State, or as she was quoted in a U. of Florida alumni magazine, "that other university in Florida." The screen capture above is of Stephanie at the 2005, I think, Kentucky Derby. There. That should increase my Web hits, and steal readers away from Awful Announcing and Deadspin and maybe even Profootballtalk.com.

I Thought This Was Winter League

The Rockies did it. They finished off Arizona Monday night in four games and clinched the team's first ever World Series appearance.

Wonderful! But wait.

The Series begins Oct. 24, and is still eight full days away. That's a lot of downtime. If you heard Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio Tuesday morning, you may have heard the duo offer suggestions to the National League champions on what they can do during their down time. Visit Britney Spears kids, apply for the Yankees managerial job and print out a roster of their own team and try to figure out who the heck they all are were among the suggestions.

Funny. But what will the Rockies really do?

Baseball guru Seth Everett said on Steve Czaban's radio show – wow, that's two days in a row I've mentioned the Czabe – that the Rockies may move Rocktober Fest to some winter league location to practice where temperatures will be a bit warmer than those on Rocky Road. (Man, I'm getting in all the new Rockies bandwagon slogans, aren't I?)

The weather in Denver over the next eight days isn't exactly summer-like, but it's not too bad. According to The Weather Channel's extended forecast, the best day for the Rockies to practice in their home city is Saturday, when temperatures are expected to reach 75 degrees. The worst days will be Wednesday (60 degrees, chance of thunderstorms) and Thursday (54, morning showers and windy) of this week.

By the way, my pal told me this blog might actually get some readers if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. So, there ya go. Now, how can we work Erin Andrews on to this blog?