Pics are likely blue because white balance (color temp) is set wrong. I can't see white balance in EXIF data, so no idea what setting you were using.
White balance is on one of the arrow keys (down I believe?)... you can choose one of the preset color temps, or you can do custom white balance if you have a whiteboard. I just use whichever preset is closest and correct it in photoshop as needed.
Good luck with the XTi, I love mine. Working (slowly) on processing the 800+ clicks I took at the Porsche club race at TWS last weekend. I don't do a whole lot of post-processing, but with action shots a little crop/center never hurts.
Which lens did you end up going with?