I only recently became a sports fan. I mean, I watched the Giants and 49ers growing up, and I never ignored the Giants entirely, but after Will Clark (still my favorite ever) and Steve Young were gone, we took a bit of a breather, sports and me.
Unfortunately, for sports cred’s sake, I appear to have begun to be a fan again right as or right before my two teams became FREAKING AWESOME!!!
But whatever. The Giants I watched with my sister 2003-2008 when they played the Dodgers, so I think I get some credit for that.
And the 49ers, they just happen to be amazing right now (knock on wood) but that was happenstance for me — I suddenly realized that once post-season MLB is over I will have nothing to be excited about, sports-wise. So, football.
But people! SPORTS! Don’t get me wrong. I am a feminist and a liberal. I do not approve of rapists, dog-fighters, cock-fighters, people carrying guns, guns generally, or douchebags.
But sports. SPORTS!! I love the camraderie, the rooting for teams, the beer, the hot dogs, the nachos, the groan when that pitch/throw gets away from us, the way your heart beats faster when you wait for Romo to get that last out, and you know you’re not the only one. It is COLLECTIVE.
And even more than that, it is EPIC. I wish I could capture the way watching a game makes me feel generally, baseball particularly, and the way I felt this afternoon, sweating my way through the Giants game with 25 other coworkers in our lunch room, better than Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles does here, but I can’t. Those last two innings tonight were a battle for us. A battle. I feel like I barely breathed through it all.
Partly it’s that I’m learning more about the games, having read a couple baseball books now and about to head into some football literature. I’ve got more history, more statistics under my belt, which makes every game either a predicted loss or a miracle — something I can shrug off as typical, or revel in as a statistical anomaly that MY guys made possible.
But mainly it’s that I’ve come home to the Bay Area, to MY teams, and that my family, my coworkers, strangers on the street, the marquees on our buses for goodness’ sake, they’re all in this with me, for better for worse, in Wilson’s sickness and in Posey’s (THANK THE EVERLOVING LORD) health.
And together, we can do anything. GO GIANTS!!!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
One of the best evenings I had this summer was sitting in the bleachers watching the Giants play (and win). I was there the night that Melky — or He Who Shall Never Be Mentioned Again — landed in the laps of fans while catching a ball. And the love from all the folks around me? Nothing will ever measure up to that.
Well except the love of A’s fans since I’m an East Bay girl and all. I had really wanted another Battle of the Bay but I guess it was not meant to be this year. And yeah, on this side of the Bay the buses had “Go A’s” on their marquee. Also by 6 or so tonight, the streets of Oakland were completely quiet.
So now I’ll be cheering for the Giants once more (I have caps for both teams.) and eagerly awaiting the start of the season next year. Hmmm. And maybe I should go to spring training like I’ve always wanted to.