Oh, How I Love This World Series Matchup

The World Series matchup of the New York Yankees versus the Philadelphia Phillies couldn't make me happier. This is admittedly what I was hoping for all along, to see two of my three favorite teams duke it out for the championship. Here are some musings:

• This is clearly a matchup of the two best teams in the league. You can't really argue that there are any fluky "they just got hot at the right" time teams in this hunt, like the 2006 Cardinals and the 2007 Rockies.
• Granted, the World Series game start times are, for the most part, reasonable regardless of geographical location (as opposed to the division series), but it's nice to know that there's absolutely no worry about having games that will start at 10pm EST to accommodate a West Coast team, which means the game ends at 2am and I'm completely useless at work the next day.
• Scratch that, I'll probably be useless at work the next morning anyway, pouring over all the online recaps and analysis, including national and local news sites.
• As I had Twittered when the Yankees clinched, this has to be a nightmare scenario for Mets fans, most notably those die-hards who absolutely detest both the Yankees and the Phillies. I'll repeat what I had said: Mets fans are rooting for blowouts for the visiting teams (thus making the home crowds miserable) and lots of career-ending injuries.
• It must absolutely burn Cleveland Indians fans to see that the aces and Game 1 starters for the two World Series teams were both teammates on the Indians just two years ago. I'll have to needle Justin, a Ohio guy in our church: "You know what the Indians need? Starting pitching. You know, a C.C. Sabathia or Cliff Lee-type of pitcher."
• The great thing about a Yankees vs. Phillies matchup, a.k.a. "The NJ Turnpike Series" is that there are so many friendships that clearly span such a small geographical area. For example, having gone to Penn and being one of many New York residents who went to that school, I look fondly back at hanging out with people with passionate loyalties for New York or Philadelphia teams. I had mentioned to a couple of college buddies that I'd pay big money to watch the Series with Vinnie Liu (big Yankees fan), Ashok Kurian (big Phillies fan) and Nathan Tsoi (no horse in this race, but he'll just irritate both of them for the fun of it) and hear them talk smack during the games. That might be as interesting as the games themselves.
• The complexity of the Yankees and Phillies facing off is that while I like both teams, it sort of ends up lowering the angst and thus emotional factor - or the the stakes in the emotional gamble. For example, Yankees vs. Red Sox is emotionally a big-stakes game since I absolutely despise the Sox. If the Yankees beat the Red Sox (as in the 2003 ALCS), it's euphoria. If the Red Sox beat the Yankees (as in the 2004 ALCS), it's like getting kicked in the groin. I like both the Yankees and Phillies, so I'm not going to a lot of pleasure watching either of these teams lose. Oh well.
• I'm interested in seeing what the mayoral wager will be between New York's Mike Bloomberg and Philadelphia's Michael Nutter. Cheesecake vs. Cheesesteaks? Even though he's the prohibitive favorite, does the bet get cancelled if Bloomberg somehow loses the mayoral election a week from now?
• Yankees in six.