The Fall Classic

As an invited contributor to the Water cooler talk by The Waterboy himself, I decided my first post should be about something very near and dear to my heart: The World Series.

Having grown up across the bridge from San Francisco, I am of course watching every pitch of this World Series holding my breath. The slogan for the San Francisco Giants this year is: Torture. And I laugh to myself because I have felt torture being their fan for my whole life, but alas it took this long for it to be an official slogan. I felt torture in 2002, when the Giants blew a 5-0 lead in Game 6 when they were eight outs away from the championship. I feel torture knowing that ever since they moved to the West Coast from New York, they haven't won a championship. Yes, they don't have the glory of a BillyGoat Curse like the Chicago Cubs, but when you're a diehard fan, losing is losing.

But that is what makes the Fall Classic, and any playoffs for that matter, more special. It gives hopes to teams that were sought to never make it. It makes an underdog a favorite. It makes people take notice of teams they didn't pay attention to all season. It makes the Sport what it is.

The World Series is a sacred tradition that seems to be constantly changing: Recently with the addition of the wildcard into the playoff picture and more recently the addition of the home field advantage being decided by the All Star Game. But despite all these changes, the World Series is a constant. It determines a champion and gives bragging rights to fans for a whole year.

So as I watch John Legend sing the national anthem for Game 1, I can only wish that I was back in San Francisco to enjoy the madness that is playoff fever. Let the World Series begin.

First pitch is a strike...