What Sport?
MLBMajorLeagueBaseball
I'm not an athlete, nor am I a fan of sports in general. That means I have trouble talking with my girlfriend about her favorite and not so favorite teams. She defines running, cycling and tennis as sports even it they're not defined as team sports, but declares that the game of golf doesn't count as a sport because nobody sweats or gets dirty. However, I like golf, but only to nap by, so I guess I agree with her that it's not really a sport.
I rarely watch football games. They remind me too much of gladiators being mauled to death while trying to kill lions or toreadors taunting bulls before stabbing them to death. Too much blood, too much pain, to much bestial behavior on the part of fans and players. Too many men giving and getting concussions as a game tactic, shortening their lives.
To be honest though, I must admit that I peak at the standings occasionally to see how the Chicago Bears "Duh Bears" are doing, fighting for their wins in sub-zero snow driven Chicago style winters. I lived in the Chicago area for over 20 years so there's a soft spot in my heart for this often derided team and its losing seasons. They're the only team I ever watched from the 50 yard line one winter evening at Soldier's field back in the late 1960s. Of course. They lost.
So years pass. They finally win the 1986 Superbowl Championship. To my surprise, I won the raffle for a free seat in the audience on the White House lawn in October 2011 when President Obama celebrated that 1986 Superbowl XX championship win 25 years after they won it. Why so late? Because, two days after the win, the NASA Challenger exploded killing all aboard, cancelling all planned celebrations at the White House. President Obama, being from Chicago, agrees with me that the 1985 Bears team was the the best team ever and should be honored. And, it was also really cool to get to shake the President's hand. Such a joyous time.
Although some people define baseball as boring hours of nothing, spiked with moments of sheer terror, I like baseball, watching the game in-person or on TV. I don't know the names of more than a few players, nor do I follow their standings or the competition until the playoffs. I know this limits my ability to call myself a fan, but I do enjoy watching tall, squat, old and young players step up and play with the dignity. I also love the pace of the game, which I know is too slow for most sports fans. For me, it's slow enough to easily admire individual and team skills executed well, or to admonish those skills when executed poorly and see where they went wrong. And, at our National's baseball park, accessible by metro so there's no obstacles to getting there, and there's always time to chat, eat Nats dogs and sip a beer in the open air on a cool spring afternoon or a humid summer evening here in Washington DC. I do sing very loudly at the 7th inning stretch, much to my friend's frowning at my tone deaf voice. It's all so reasonable.
What a time to be a baseball fan in DC! A bit of history to provide context to our excitement here. The Montreal Expos were reincarnated as the Washington Nationals in 2005 and only occasionally won their division. Prior to the Nationals, the Washington Senators won the Series against the New York Giants all the way back in 1924 (yes, that's 95 years ago). Fast forward nine years to 1933, the Senators participated one again in the World Series, but lost to the same team. After that interest in baseball in DC waned over the years. The Senators left in 1960, leaving DC without a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise until 2005. Of course, as so often the case in our history, MLB history ignores the win in 1948 Negro League Series 1948 of the Washington Grays.
Given a MLB 86 year gap of baseball excitement, watching the Nationals win in the playoffs and now fight their way through the World Series games against the Houston Astros has made me and most everyone else around here rabid fans. I hang on every pitch, swing, catch and throw. Every hit, on-base steal, sacrifice fly, bunt and home run puts me on my feet clapping and yelling. My sports fan girlfriend feeds me stats and baseball knowledge. In return, John and I feed them wings and hot dogs. Life is good. It will all end in this coming week. We're having one great time cheering for the Washington Nationals. We believe they have what it takes to come out from their underdog status. GO NATS!