I grew up an All-American kid, playing All-American sports. I played countless hours of baseball, football, basketball, kickball, soccer, tennis, tehtherball, lacrosse - you name it- in my neighborhood we played it. Most days, especially in summer, we'd play so late you couldn't see the ball anymore. So, I love sports. I played baseball and football through high school, and excelled in football. So much so, that I was accepted by and played for one of the greatest collegiate programs at the time, in the country. We were considered an elite program, and finished 2nd in the nation my senior year. I love football.
But, as I've grown older, I'm drawn more to baseball each year. As much as I love football, I don't watch football as most spectators do. You can have a strong understanding of the game, but once you play at an elite level- you wind up more often than not, analyzing every play and every situation. I've tried turning that off, but I can't. No more than a surgeon can turn off how to operate on someone; or a mechanic thinking about engine timing, while watching an auto race; or a pilot going over his mental pre-flight checklist when watching an air show. So, when I watch a football game, it can be exhausting.
I was a linebacker, so my role was to break down every play on Defense, in a matter of about 3 seconds, and call out one of about 70 different stunts we had before each play, based on down, distance, offensive set, and tendencies. There were more than 30 that started with the letter T. "T" words could be heard best on the field over our fans, who at one time were the loudest on the planet. Tank, tonk, turner, trip, Tennessee, travel, Travis, tiny, talk, tape, taxi, teacher--- all had particular nuanced meaning. And EVERY football game I watch, I'm instinctively doing that, every play.
I find that as much as I know about baseball (and that's a lot), I can watch and cheer for my team. I can just be a fan. I love baseball. The tradition, the pace, the strategy, the history, the grind. It is, the perfect game. To quote Paul Auster, "Baseball is a universe as large as life itself, and therefore all things in life, whether good or bad, whether tragic or comic, fall within its domain.”
I say ALLLL of that, to see this...Unless you were a fan of the Sox, did anyone else think the end of that last game was just sort of meh?
It was just kind of uneventful. I get that it was on the road. I'm saying it was kind of anticlimactic. Here we are, the Big 162. Go through the playoffs, then the series- and it was as exciting as watching paint dry. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but close.
Anyone else worried about baseball's issue with fans losing interest? I am.