Turn out the lights, the party's over...

Well fans, it's time to face the hard facts. The Victoria Seals will not be making the playoffs in 2010. I know, I know -- they're only 2 1/2 games back of Calgary with seven games to go. But with Calgary playing the last four games of the year against Tijuana, holders of a 10-68 record this season, the Vipers are virtually guaranteed four more victories. That means that for Victoria to make the playoffs, the Chico Outlaws would have to sweep their three-game series against Calgary this week and Victoria would have to defeat the solid Edmonton Capitals seven games in a row. Ain't gonna happen.

Turn out the lights....

There's no reason for anyone to hang their head in defeat. A little perspective goes a long way and overall I'd say this season still has to qualify as a successful one. After last year's team stumbled to a .390 winning percentage, the Seals took a big step forward in fielding a team that will likely finish above the .500 mark. You may remember that last year's team started selling off its best players in August and the lineup that took to the field during the last week of the season would have barely beaten the hapless Tijuana Cimarrones. What a difference a year makes. The Seals haven't sold off any of their talent and -- barring any last-minute deals -- we'll probably get to see our regular squad in action on the last weekend of the season.

Some of us may argue that this team actually underachieved in 2010 and that it was capable of winning the second-half North Division title. That may be so, but this summer was still a ton of fun at Royal Athletic Park. There are a mere four home games remaining this year, so be sure to free up your schedule and come on out to the ballpark one last time next weekend (or four more times for you super-fans).

As an added bonus, we might get to see a unique promotion at the old ballyard if the Seals are mathematically eliminated by Friday or Saturday. This promotion was pitched to the team by yours truly, so I'm particularly interested in seeing the idea take flight. It might not happen, so I won't give away much more at this point, but let's just say that it may involve a certain under-utilized player on the Seals roster.

We'll see you on Friday night!

Seal Blubber Bits

• The Seals and Capitals kick off their three-game series in Edmonton on Tuesday night at 6 PM PST.
• Josh Arhart hopes to return to action before the end of the series in Edmonton. The worst-case scenario is that he'll return to the lineup on Friday night at RAP.
• Brrrr... the game-time temperature in Calgary on Sunday afternoon was seven degrees Celsius.
• Yuma beat Maui 12-11 on Saturday night to break an 18-game losing streak.