The Great Plotnik

Monday, October 11, 2010

Through the Fence



JJ-aka-PP is having the same problems lucky baseball fans have this time of year, except for those of us whose teams were so bad they couldn't even make us tense in September, let alone October. A diehard Brave fan from Atlanta, today she writes: "I may have to give up on baseball as my heart can not take such trauma."

Anybody heard this kind of lament before?

Having a team to root for is not really all that fantastic because you suffer through every pitch and then, win or lose, you don't get a day off. You're already worrying about next year.

But what it is, aside from the joy (and pain) you get while they're playing, is the chance to have something else to think about each day, to look forward to, to program the DVR for or set your alarm so you won't miss the first pitch that afternoon. You can shmooze on Facebook. You can think about your lineup and about the other team's defense.

Then the game comes, you're ahead the whole way and BAM the other guy hits a home run in the bottom of the 8th and you're crushed. The whole season, all the effort you put in, has just gone into the dumpster. Meanwhile, the other guy is hyperventilating with unexpected joy! Ohmigod we're gonna win! Oh! Oh!

Then the other team falls apart in the ninth and you win after all.

(You): Oh! Oh! Happy! Joy!

(The Other Guy): Oh! Oh! Dirt! Death!

Plotnik feels your pain, my friends, but he'd really rather be in either of your shoes right now, with all the angst, than staring through the fence with nobody to cheer for. Or against. It's easier to root against the Phillies than the Yankees. The whole world is upside down.

Don't anyone tell Bellybone -- that NY Knicks #4 shirt she's wearing? That was Nate Robinson. They traded him to Boston.

5 Comments:

At 3:29 PM, Blogger mary ann said...

I don't know why we invest soooooo much in our team. But it is an intense and demented time for us. I forgot that sis is from Atlanta...

 
At 6:16 PM, Anonymous jj-aka-pp said...

I hesitate to write as we are in the bottom of the 6th. Right now, things are good for Atlanta.
Great post Plottie AND GREAT pix of Belly.

The part you failed to mention is that if we loose, its the end of Bobby Cox's run as manager and NO ONE wants to see that happen...and yes...that's an extra bit of powerful energy running through the team, the fans and the ATL....

End of inning...ok...breath....breath....

 
At 8:49 PM, Blogger DAK said...

Oh JJ, you REALLY ought to know better. Bobby's done and it's all your fault now.

 
At 5:45 AM, Blogger notthatlucas said...

Thank you jj-aka-pp! I was scared that the Braves were going to win tonight and then we would have an ultra-tense Wednesday. But you fixed all that with your nicely-timed comment. And now we get a few days to build up our heart health before the icky Phillies series.

 
At 7:17 AM, Anonymous jj-aka-pp said...

Glad you all think I have that much power! The fact that there were only two guys playing last night that were there opening day, that we were playing third string players due to SO MANY injuries might have had more to do with it.

Cheers to the Giants for showing some class - they stopped their celebration to cheer for Bobby.

Oh, and trust me NOW....I'm rooting for the Giants! Go Giants! Beat the Phillies!

 

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