Sporadic

I was gonna talk about last night’s debate, but I feel like after reading Factcheck.org– they did a pretty comprehensive job and honestly I’d have a hard time adding any color.

What I will tell you about was our trip to Game 2 of the NLCS.

So one of the advantages of having a roommate even though we could afford the place by ourselves is the fact that we can spend big money on “silly” things.  One of those silly things was $311 on NLCS tickets for game two against the cardinals.  Which Nicole was kind enough to put on her discover (“it all comes from the same place” she says) The Giants have definitely struggled at home so it was with a little trepidation that we arrived at the yard on Monday  They had just dropped game 1- although not in classic Giant’s style.

Up to this point usually when the giants lose one it’s pitching falls apart and they get shelled and then the batting never shows up so it ends up like 6-2 and the whole game feels like a slog through wet sand. Game 1 started out like it was gonna be that- Giants are down 6-0 and Baumgarner is out of the game. Then all of a sudden stuff came to life and we ran it up to 6-4 before starting the walk through wet sand. So, it just felt slightly more hopeful.

But anyway, I digress, we get to the park around 5 for a first pitch at 5:07. We were running a little late but that was largely my fault, I have issues when temps get warm, Nicole calls it “Hot-angry” (pronounced haTangry). Basically I have become so much a of a bay area person that when it gets up to about 75 or any humidity at all, my body shuts down and I get grumpy.

They were predicting normal bay area temps- 71ish but with normal fog rolling in around dusk and temps getting down into the 60’s. So I put on an under-layer- I use my running tights as a pair of long-johns- so I stay warm when it gets foggy or windy. So I’ve got another layer on and it’s still sunny and 75 at gametime.

We stopped just before the stadium to have a burrito and let me get back to normal less sweaty body temp.  We still had plenty of time after I returned to the living so we walked over to the park only to find that Muni had broken down in between downtown and the park, so everyone got to the stadium at pretty much the exact same moment. There were lines around the corner at every entrance. So we were in line when Angel Pagan put one in the center field seats.

It’s kinda fun to get to a game when your team’s already winning.

It’s also funny when the people in the seats next to yours (who you don’t know) ask you where you’ve been.

So the game progressed and things went very, very well. In the post Season, my record is 1-2 so far. I went to 3 games during the last playoff run in 2010 and with the exception of the World Series game, they were heartbreakers. So this was nice… the giants played the whole game with the lead and there were very few truly tense moments.

The fans behind us were wasted, but thankfully  they were wasted fans of the same team we were cheering for.  Here’s why: Every time something cool happened- Giant’s score, solid single to advance the runners, strike out: we all stood up. Why this is important: Every time they stood up they covered our seats in beer & vodka. So as long as we all stood up in the same moment  we stayed dry while our seats got wet. As long as we remembered to towel off the seats in between good things we were fine.

Our bags were not: they emerged somewhat beer soaked.

My bag was mostly full of game stuff so it was easy to wash out gloves, scarves, hats etc and  even the bag was one of those crappy backpacks that everyone has and I put it straight into the laundry. The only real casualty from my bag was my cool Indian head scarf from the street market in Dehli but it’s still usable – just not as a head scarf anymore (which if you ask Nicole is a good thing).

Nicole’s bag didn’t do so hot and we’re gonna have to work extra hard to get it back to Timbuk-2 coolness.

However, it’s all worth while to walk out of the stadium after a win and listen to the whole crowd go crazy. We cheered the whole way down second street to the Muni stop.  That sort of thing is fun to experience.  To get some of that. Here’s the last strike of the game from Sergio Romo (apologies for my terrible iPhone camera work)

All in all it was a great day. Lots of high-fiveing, Gangdom styling, beer wiping, chant yelling and the like. Let’s hope we get more like that.

I went to my very first World Series game last night. The Giants won 11-7. Very nice.

I look like I have boobs

However, the thing that I have most enjoyed about this post season came in game 5 of the NLCS. As I mentioned earlier, I have enjoyed being  sanctimonious Steeler fan for the majority of my life. As we were building up to the series, I was following with increased interest the tales coming out of the Rangers/ Yankees series. I read a recent account of the Yankees fans apparently being more than a little mean to Cliff Lee’s wife. Now, I don’t know how the giants fans behaved last night but there’s been nothing in the press about it yet. Maybe that’s because we took Cliff Lee from “unhittable” to “guy who got completely shelled”. So Giant’s fans didn’t have to have that whole I’m so mad that I can’t believe this and I have to aim that anger somewhere. I also don’t think that Giant’s fans would have that simply because all of us are just shocked speechless that we’re even here. There would never be any incredulity with a loss, sadness sure, but  not shock. There’s more shock associated with the fact that we’re even here.

Anyway….so I’m at NLCS game 5…Phillies are up 3 to 1… we’re one game from clinching…it’s the last chance we have to clinch at home.  Every single Giants fan, while hopeful and well wishing, has some serious fears about sending this game back to Philly.  As the innings progressed and the runs failed to appear, some fans started to move towards that kind of directionless frustration. It was at this point that Philly knocks a pretty good ball into the outfield. I can’t remember who hit it, but it was one of those insult to injury moves. The time when you throw your hands up into the air and just sigh.

or

If you’re a philly fan it makes you jump up and yell something about how awesome the phillies are. If you’re one Giants fan, it makes you hurl your empty plastic beer glass at that Philly fan. And in an incredible twist of fate…your beer cup hits the Philly fan in the head. This was one of those points where things could have gone two ways. The first way, the bad way, would have been if those Philly fans yell back and then the Giants fans get riled and then there’s a melee.

What happened was not that… and what happened was so refreshing it made me suddenly sanctimonious again. From the cheap seats, walking on the backs of the bleachers comes this guy, wearing an orange Giants be-logoed suit, a foam beard and a pair of Elvis sunglasses replete with side burns. Suddenly he’s right on top of these phillies fans and he’s got a hand on the philly guys head and he’s yelling in the direction of the cup.

It completely diffuses the situation. Suddenly, this crowd that could have gone to riot, feels guilty about what it’s just done and just sort of stops it’s antagonism.

In a night that had little to recommend itself…Giants lose, series goes back to Philly, it rains…there was this one thing. And honestly, it was a pretty good thing.