Wow, where does the time go.

As the final gun sounds in November you cannot wait for the next season to begin. The distance between the end of the season and August double sessions seem to be so far off you cannot think straight.Thanksgiving and Christmas roll by as the Winter sports pass. Before you know it, it is Easter and spring has arrived. Then the summer months of sacrifice of free time to try and achieve the ultimate team goal of winning a championship.All of that came and went and as double sessions began to wear on the body and mind their seemed to be endless days of football ahead.Today, the high school football season is plays week 8 and the league championships and post-season berths are yet to be earned.In the Colonial League, tonight's Northern Lehigh-Bangor and Pen Argyl-Northwestern contests figure into not only the league standings, but berths to post-season tournaments.Northern Lehigh (6-1) needs to topple Bangor (7-0) to keep their chances of nabbing a share of the Colonial League championship and solidify their chances to make the four-team AA field.The Bulldogs could grab 190 points with a win over Bangor and quite possibly jump to second in the standings for their week 9 matchup with Catasauqua.While a District berth is a team goal, an Eastern Conference berth is still a just reward for a team's hard work. Lacking the glitz and the glamour of the state tournament, an EC berth is great opportunity to extend the season two more games.With Districts all but out, Northwestern is still in a fight with Palmerton for a berth in Eastern Conference. Catasauqua is the current leader in the AA Eastern Division and just ahead of the locals.Tonight, Palmerton gets their shot at the Rough Riders while Northwestern gets their shot at the leader in week 10.Other teams in the running for Eastern Conference are Tamaqua (4-3) who leads the AA Southern Division and Lehighton (2-5) who is behind Pottsville (2-5) in the AAA Central Division.For our locals, it is "Go time". With few teams still vying for bonus-football, playing out the final three games can still churn out great rewards.*********This past March, I wrote a Press Pass that urged caution toward Philadelphia fans who had already crowned their Phillies World Series Champs without playing a game.While it was exciting to see the four aces in action, the Phillies had a record year for the franchise a few of the things I spoke about did happen.I stated the Phillies pitching staff was aging and at some point during the season, one of the aces of the Phillies staff would end up on the disabled list. It happened.I said the Phillies bats would be an issue. They were.I also said the Phillies winning 100-games was something that they should not cheer for. They are the 29th team since 1980 to win 100 games and still, only five teams won it all.While the Phillies fans are surely stinging over the quick ousting from the playoffs, they are not alone. It is the same feeling that other high-payroll teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets have after every season.It is also the same lesson that Eagles' fans are learning right now: You can't buy championships.*********This brings me to my final thought of the day. If you have tuned out because the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, or Mets are not in it, you are missing a pretty good start to a World Series.Two teams that had to fight to make it into the post-season put the hitting, the pitching, and the fielding together at the right time to make it to the Fall Classic.After the Cardinals nipped the Rangers 3-2 in game, the Rangers tied the series last night scoring two runs in the top of the ninth off Cardinal closer Jason Motte. The pair of runs held up for a 2-1 Ranger win to tie the series.If these two games included any of the above mentioned teams that were not in it, ESPN's Sportcenter would be touting it as one of the best series in the history of the game.Yes, Ranger catcher Mike Napoli has the only homerun of the series, but if you tune out, you just may miss out on the best series in the history of the game.