You would think Indiana Jones himself was responsible for placing the sacred bowl in our cupboard.

It’s easy to imagine what he went through in his quest for our treasure. Mostly likely he dodged snakes launched from the mouths of ancient gods, carved in the stone of underground burial chambers in 1930s Prague. With Nazis and rogue Hindu priests hot on his trail, he narrowly escapes by the scar on his chin in a hot air balloon with jet engines mounted on the basket piloted by a beautiful librarian/lounge singer he picked up in Marrakesh. He doesn’t lose his hat. His grin is crooked. The bowl is safe.

That very bowl is what my kids fight over every morning and snack time—ever since the Colorado Rockies began their historic and astounding bid to clinch their position in the wild card playoff back in September. Now that the Rockies have blasted through each opponent in their way, the bowl has been imbued with super powers.

What makes my kids brawl during breakfasts of store-brand cereals?

The bowl features Dinger, the Rockies rascally mascot. Anything Rockies-related has a magical aura of invincibility.

Several years ago we attended a game when Post Cereal, the Official Cereal of Major League Baseball, gave commemorative plastic bowls to fans. Printed on the bottom of the bowl is a picture of Dinger, waving hello to good boys and girls who actually drink the sugary pink milk once the corn hoops are devoured.

The Dinger Bowl is a small thing the kids can claim as their own—a sliver of the 2007 baseball season that is already legendary in many eyes. To the people of our state and the whole Rocky Mountain region, this is what we’ve been waiting for since Dinger hatched on April 16, 1994. When we told the kids the Rockies made it into the World Series, there were tears of joy, whooping, jumping, requests to watch, high-fives, big smiles.

I am not sure our smaller kids grasp what a World Series win truly means. To them, the world consists of the polygon shape I drive between schools, stores, restaurants, and the pediatrician. Someday, they will understand the expanse of tonight. It’s historic and it’s our time to shine. One game at a time, we’ll cheer the Rockies through.

It may be dirty and dangerous. Our hearts will stop and leap.

But treasure is always worth the fight.