That's nice

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!

The Red Sox did it again, winning the World Series last night for the second time in 4 years.

While no less satisfying, this one felt much different than 2004. That year, I think I blacked out during the last out while screaming in some random bar in Seattle (where, oddly, I was completely surrounded by Boston accents). This year, the final inning was more of a formality than anything. There was one tense moment, when it looked like a light hitting shortstop would ruin it, but Kimberly's new boyfriend, Jacoby Ellsbury (the pride of Madras and Navajo Nation), erased that with relative ease.

Up there, that's the Red Sox Japanese contingent. Matsuzaka-san (Kimberly's other Red Sox boyfriend) on the right, pitched well, but it was that one scene of Ortiz putting gum on his hat, then their wacky handshake/bow that really stood out. And on the left, Okajimi-san, who, in my opinion, was the Red Sox MVP this year. Especially considering he came over to keep Matsuzaka company. He was lights out all year, only faltering when he was obviously out of gas after being overworked in the World Series.

I have to admit that I was a little scared of the Rockies, even telling one of my friends I thought the series would go to 7 games. But boy was I wrong. The Sox dominated from start to finish.

I'm a little sad I'll miss the victory parade this time, but it's just not possible to make it back to Boston on such short notice, especially with another trip looming at the end of the week. I hope everyone back east enjoys the celebration.

And a helpful hint, falling off a traffic light is probably not the best way to celebrate winning (I hope this kid is alright):


(photos from Boston.com)

This Looks Like Fun

Nine years ago, the Red Sox made the playoffs for the first time in a long time behind Pedro, John Valentin, Troy O'Leary, and Nomar. They won the first series against the Indians (behind a crazy pitching performance from Pedro) and were facing the Yankees for the American League Pennant.

Since this was the first time I understood the Sox were good (although I have memories of 1986 and that tragedy, I was only 8 at the time, and didn't really understand), me and my friend Van drove down from Vermont for game 3. We had the naive plan that we would just walk up to the ticket booth and get tickets for the game. Ha!

When we got to Fenway, there was a buzz, even though the game didn't start til the next day. We wandered around, not really sure what to do, when a radio reporter approached us (I think he was from BU, which potentially means he was from NPR (since BU is the carrier for NPR in Boston)) and asked us where we were from, how excited we were, and how much we were willing to spend on tickets. Being fairly poor college kids, we said $50, like that was a lot of money. The reporter audibly guffawed.

On the day of the game, we got up at like 4, and got a ride into Fenway; we were going to be first in line!

When we showed up, the line was already long. Really long. Pedro was scheduled to pitch against Roger Clemens.

We hung out, bs-ing with the other people in line. Eventually, I think around 10, the ticket office opened. We really weren't sure if there would be enough tickets for us. We certainly knew we wouldn't be able to afford scalper tickets.

As we approached the front, they started cutting people off from the line, as the tickets were getting low. They stopped the line maybe 10 people in front of us, and we were sad. But then a few minutes later, they opened up again. We inched forward, hoping we would get past the ticket bouncer.

As we timidly passed him, we were elated. Then he put up the hand to the people behind us. We were the last ones in.

When we got the ticket booth, there was a weird pause, like we weren't sure what to ask for. I mean it was pretty obvious why we were there, right? So finally, we asked if there were any more tickets.

'Well, we have 4 left, but they're standing room, obstructed view. $50.'

I don't know if it is possible to answer 'we'll take em' any faster.

This was game 3 of a 7 game series, which the Sox were down 2-0 (they eventually lost 4-1). But this was the ultimate game. Pedro and Clemens at the top of their games. Fenway was rocking the way only old, cramped, smelly, uncomfortable stadiums can. The fragile steel beams were shaking with every chant of "Rog-er, Rog-er, Rog-er" and with every Pedro strikeout. When Valentin (or maybe O'Leary) hit a grand slam, the place went insane.

Eventually, Roger was chased from the game, Pedro pitched maybe 6 innings of good ball, and the Red Sox cruised to an easy victory, their only one in the series.

Whenever I watch a Sox game like last night's, or all those crazy playoff games in 2004, I remember Fenway that night, in all its crumbling, shaking, green beauty.

One of these years, it would be nice to go to one of these series clinching games, where the players spray champagne on you after the ninth inning and people don't want to go home. With the rapidly escalating cost of tickets, and increasing rabid-ity of Sox fans, this may be getting more and more impossible with each passing year.

But really, that looks like fun. And I was able to experience it once 8 years ago.

(photo copied from Boston.com)

The Silver Lining

I haven't found full time work here in Iowa just yet. And while it's great not having to work, my days are becoming more boring and I look forward to getting a job eventually.

However, there is a benefit to being unemployed this time of year: I get to watch the baseball playoffs in their entirety. Because baseball is played pretty much every day and each game takes almost 4 hours, they need to start the games in the middle of the day and play them all night.

The Red Sox start in 3 hours.

Chris Dodd Missed A Great Ending

A couple weeks ago, we were invited to go to the biggest event in Iowa not called the State Fair: the Iowa - Iowa State football game, often referred to as the Iowa Super Bowl. This is a big time rivalry, with the coveted Cy-Hawk Trophy up for grabs (ISU is the Cyclones; Iowa is the Hawkeyes. I suggested it be called the Corn Trophy, the Pork Chop Trophy, or at least Trophy on a Stick(my favorite), but no one seemed to like any of these ideas). Recently, ISU has been winning in the rivalry more than they should be, even though Iowa is a superior football team with a longer tradition of success (Iowa won for like 15 straight years before 1998; Iowa has won like 6 of 8 since). This year, they played at ISU, where wewe live a short trip from the stadium.

The tailgate area, full of custom RVs and buses. People here really
like flags, as you can see.

I was pretty excited, since I went to a school that got rid of its football program over 30 years ago (or as we like to say, 'Undefeated since 1974'). And Kimberly never went to a game as a spectator, even though her football team was pretty good and went to the Rose Bowl. So going to our first football game, and it being a rivalry game, was pretty exciting.

On a perfect crisp fall day (although Kimberly thought it was cold; she'll learn soon enough), we headed out to our pre-game tailgate party, which some friends invited us out to. The game started at 12:30, so that meant we HAD to start drinking at 10; it had been a long time since I drank before noon and I wasn't sure how I would hold up. On top of the early start for drinking, the event turned out to be a party for the Democratic Party of Iowa, which promised to be a happening place, what with the Presidential caucuses coming up and the candidates needing to take advantage of every opportunity to show off their 'everyman' persona.

[One interesting thing that we've touched on a couple times here, but should probably expand on at some point, is that Iowa is the first state in the Presidential whittling-down process, so there's always news of one of the candidates having an event close by. It's very interesting]

The tailgating scene was pretty crazy. Apparently, this is the biggest tailgate of the year for the ISU fans; they aren't so good at football and really get up for their big rivalry game. I think that the tailgate at big football schools like Texas, Oklahoma, the Florida schools, and most Southern universities is probably bigger and crazier than this, but people were definitely living it up.

'Official' ISU tailgate tents. Notice the eye-catching color combo.

We started out with some cheap beer, that stayed nice and cold due to the outside temperatures, masking the lack of taste. And we stuffed our faces with over-cooked hot dogs and hamburgers. There was some potato salad, but I was disappointed there were no casseroles or jello salads (I was informed I need to go to a Lutheran church gathering to fully experience these culinary delights; and I use the term delights loosely).

Our fearless authors, a few beers in. If you'll notice, Kimberly has a winter hat on. In
September. I fear she may turn into a popsicle in February.

Our Iowa friends who invited us to the party; guess who they were rooting for
(hint: The U of Iowa's colors are black and gold)?

I have to tell you, it is pretty strange to be drinking a beer at 10 am while you're talking to Chris Dodd.

'Isn't that guy running for President?'

Yup, Chris Dodd. Senator from Connecticut. Democratic candidate for President. He was there, as were representatives from some of the other candidates' camps.

After we were petitioned by several candidates' camps and they started making sense, we decided we had had enough beer and it was time to head into the game.

On the way into the game, we noticed a pretty good split in the rooting interests of the fans. We were at ISU, so there was definitely more Red and Yellow in the area (ISU's colors are Red and Gold, derisively referred to as Ketchup and Mustard by the Iowa fans). But the Iowa fans had a pretty good showing, with at least 25-40% of the crowd sporting the Black and Gold (Iowa's colors).

The ISU Stadium is named after Jack Trice, the first black athlete ever at ISU in the 1920's,
who subsequently died during a game.

We really didn't have any rooting interest in the game, even though Kimberly attends ISU. We decided we would hope for a good game and let the people surrounding us try to convince us who we should root for.

Apparently at Iowa, they let the convicts out to cheer on their team.
Actually, for some reason the striped pants, and especially the striped overalls,
are really popular for both teams.

This ISU fan looked lost. I think he was looking for the 'Food on a Stick' stand. This may
be my new most favoritist picture ever.

Once we got inside, we were pretty evenly surrounded by both Iowa and ISU fans.

These 2 women, who were sitting behind us, were very 'hands on' in their support of Iowa. The one on the left told me 'If i get excited, I might grab you, so be prepared.' Um...

The two of them were ringing cowbells the entire game. Here I am right before I threw it away since it was giving me a killer headache.

My 'Iowa Great State Map' T-shirt got rave reviews from the crowd.

They were less touchy with Kimberly. But they did offer her beads, which she politely declined. I would have taken them; those things are valuable, especially during Mardi Gras.

Chris Dodd also came in to watch the game. He was stuffing his face with hot dogs pretty much all game. Then he left in the third quarter. He missed a pretty good ending.

'No really, I'm running for President. I'm such a regular guy
I don't even bother ironing my pants.'

At first, I was disappointed that he didn't have on jeans and a plaid shirt, so he could be a 'regular' guy. But then I realized it was kind of nice he wasn't posing and went with the 'relaxing day at the yacht club' look of khakis, loafers, and a Member's Only jacket you might expect of a Connecticut-ician. The weird thing is his pants were not ironed and the cuffs were all frayed. You would think a Presidential candidate could afford an iron, no?

So behind us, we had the loud touchy Iowa fans. In front of us, we had the way too nice ISU fans. They were resigned to the fact that their team was pretty terrible, and if they were to win this game, it would be quite the upset.

Everyone's nice in Iowa, even when their team is generally terrible. Check the
overalls on the guy on the left; he's apparently the pediatrician from
some small town of 7,ooo people. He snuck in Vodka in a water bottle.

All the fans were actually really nice. This picture was taken as Iowa was about to lose to a team that isn't very good. As you can see, people are still generally happy.

So, as for the game, ISU was leading 12-0 at half time, with 4 field goals. Iowa came back to take the lead at 13-12 with about 4 minutes left in the game (Chris Dodd was gone by this point). Iowa fans were pretty happy at this point, because they were going to win a game they should win.

But then ISU took control and marched down the field. With 5 seconds left, they lined up to kick the winning field goal.

By this picture you can probably guess how the kick worked out:

I remember when Red Sox games used to make me feel like this.

After the field goal was good, Iowa had one last chance to run back the kickoff. The kick returner brought it back pretty far, but eventually ISU was able to tackle the guy, and the game was over. Resulting in:

The ISU Students rushing the field. Some people were taking chunks of the
turf. I guess it would kind of be cool to have 3 square inches
of turf from a football field. I guess. But really, who am I to talk - I have a paint chip from
the old Boston Garden that I used to carry in my wallet.

As the guy in front of me explained that ISU is an engineering school, so they know
better than to rip down the goalposts like other schools.

The ISU players, surrounded by some students, carrying away
the unfortunately named Cy-Hawk Trophy.

So ISU upset Iowa in the Iowa Super Bowl even though they couldn't score a touchdown. It was a pretty big deal in the sports world, as Iowa was on the verge of being ranked after earlier impressive victories. Now both teams will be forgotten.

The ISU crowd around us was real happy, but weren't jerks about it. The Iowa and ISU fans all talked about what a great game it was and wished each other good luck. Being a child of the Red Sox - Yankees rivalry, this 'good sportsmanship' was a new and novel idea to me.

The students were understandably jubilant walking back to campus. I'm not sure if there was any rioting, but I'm pretty sure the parties were pretty good. I can imagine a lot of headaches and hangovers this morning as a lot of people were partying from early yesterday morning until the wee hours of last night/this morning. 24 hours of drinking can really take its toll on the body.

More pics from the big game here, and in handy slide show presentation here.

[Edit: As I look over this post, post-publishing, I realize that the ISU colors really clash with our blog formatting. That's a big strike against them]