Thursday, October 21, 2004

"You have to be from here to understand" 

I was a jerk probably to about twenty people last night. I had several people call during the game; Elder and I were chatting in the comment box from my Game 7 mojo offering; Mrs and Littlest Scholar were keeping a respectful distance after I had had to watch the second and third innings from my church between running through Sunday's service with the worship and praise band. Why? Once again from the BSG:

We were doing our own celebrating at The Office, reacting like college kids in Cancun who just found out that Lindsay Lohan was entering a wet T-shirt contest that night. Exchanging high-fives and heterosexual man-hugs, I couldn't stop glancing at the TV. It's official, right? We definitely beat them, right?

"What's wrong with you?" Sully asked.

"Honestly? I keep waiting for them to announce that there's a Game 8." ...

To recap: Greatest comeback in sports history. First trip to the World Series in 18 years. First meaningful victory over the Yankees. All at the same time.

You have to be from here to understand. You just do. It wasn't just that the Yankees always win. It was everything else that came with it -- the petty barbs, the condescending remarks, the general sense of superiority from a fan base that derives a disproportionate amount of self-esteem from the success of their baseball team. I didn't care that they kept winning as much as they were a-holes about it. Not all of them. Most of them. In 96 hours, everything was erased. Everything. It was like pressing the re-start button on a video game.

And yeah, I know. We need to win the World Series to complete the dream. But you can win the World Series every year. You only have one chance to destroy the Yanks. As my friend Mike (a Tigers fan) wrote me last night, "Everyone outside of Yankee brats are celebrating quietly with you guys. It's like you killed Michael Myers, Jason, Freddie Kreueger and Hannibal Lecter in one night."

It was the choke of chokes, an unprecedented gag job. For once, finally, the Yankees have some baggage. Just like every other baseball team.

It's not Schadenfreude. It's a cosmic convergence. "1918? 2004!" is now the STFU every Sox fan can drop on a Yankee drone. And it's our gift to Twins fans, Tiger fans, and everyone else that roots for baseball.

So Elder, Atomizer? You want to ride the bus, or not?

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