SECTION 331

Turns out I have more internet than I thought I was going to this weekend. Thanks, random unprotected wireless provider!

Most of yesterday’s game was listened to while I was standing on the bow of  MV Kalama, enjoying the sun, and watching other commuters chat and their kids play. Just a word to the wise, you can’t get many radio stations in the cafeteria of a WSF boat, and I neglected to realize that the word “wi-fi” doesn’t come with the word “free” before it. I wound up getting a beer, but I sacrificed further beer so I could hear the game. Took some pictures, and for the sake of my fellow passengers, tried hard not to yell when Ichiro made that error, or when both I and the Yankees got “on board” at the same time. Last night was also the debut of the series-awaited (and game-winning!) home run from Russell Branyan. I love when the opposing outfielders just give up running before the warning track and stand there and watch it go. After we got to my friends’ place, my buddy Jesse then proceeded to taunt me by rooting for the Yankees. He’s from the east coast, and is a Mariners fan by location, but a Yankees fan by choice. Aardsma was brought in for the save, but not before allowing two men on base, and causing me some degree of stress. Thankfully, he got Hideki Matsui to pop up, instead of giving him a home run or a hit, or some other thing that would have killed us. And how about that Ryan Langerhans, eh? Talk about overachieving! I’m very much looking forward to seeing more of him,  which I probably will if Balentien continues not to bring the hits.

I’ve come to realize that I’m not a sports fan in the sense that a lot of other people are. I understand rivalry, it’s part of what makes the game entertaining. But I don’t get violence or anger towards fans of other teams, or the teams themselves. I just can’t be that person. I just want to go to a game, support the team I’m there to support, and have fun. Obviously, I have sworn or used the phrase “I hate” such-and-such a player or team, but that phrase is a pretty large part of American vernacular, even when it’s not meant with the sentiment that the word indicates. I mainly use that word in the heat of the game; but it never goes any further than that, and wouldn’t.

There was a Sounders/Timbers game thread on LL the other day that brought this subject to my attention. Someone mentioned that Sounders fans were being turned away from bars because they were visibly Sounders fans. I thought that was silly. I can wear my Ms jersey in a bar full of Red Sox fans, and indeed, every time I go to Pyramid, there are numerous jerseys from the opposing team, and even teams that we don’t happen to be playing that night. At the height of 8th-inning drunk down by the bullpens, the fans still behave accordingly – most of them seem to avoid each other, but I have never seen any fighting or evidence of anything I would refer to as hatred amongst Mariners fans and others – not inside OR outside SafeCo. If anything, people are cordial to each other, and avoid making eye contact, but I’ve never seen anyone verbally or physically fighting with anyone else. And I’ve never heard of anyone being turned away from a bar in Seattle for wearing an opposing team’s jersey. Why would they? Your money’s just as good as mine, and in this economy, I really don’t think a lot of places should be picky. I know others don’t feel that way, and that’s fine, but it’s not for me.

I’m aware that soccer and baseball are two different game cultures, but I abhor violence, and if, in the future, I find myself in any sort of altercation with any Timbers fans, that will be the end of my attending soccer matches. I can say the same thing about baseball. I think people have the tendency to forget that this is a GAME. It’s supposed to be fun. Maybe some people’s idea of “fun” is getting tanked and committing assault, but I personally  prefer to exist outside of that mindset.