Phillies 2009

Sports... what can I say, I enjoy them. As I write currently, I am dealing with the de-throning of the Phillies as World Series Champs. I might live in Brooklyn, but I will always be a Philly sports fan. The Yankees beat the Phillies in one of the best series baseball has seen in years. In my opinion, the best series since the Red Sox beat the Yankees in 7 games in the ALCS a few years back.

Each game had a new hero. Cliff Lee had 2 masterful World Series games, both of which were capped off by 2 Chase Utley home runs (who in the process tied Reggie Jackson for most home runs in the World Series with 5). A.J. Burnett's game 2 appearance was equally masterful as he totally shut down Philadelphia. Jayson Werth had his 2nd 2-home run game of the post season. Johnny Damon single-handedly created the 9th inning momentum the Yankees needed to pull out a win in Game 4. Mariano Rivera beat Whitey Ford as the pitcher with the most post season and World Series appearances. And finally Hideki Matsui played the game of his life with 6 RBI's and nearly a complete hitting cycle to dominate the Phillies and clinch the World Series in Game 6.

And for me, watching the World Series in "enemy territory" has been interesting to say the least. I try to keep a low profile (unlike many of my Philly friends), but I must say that all the fans I've encountered have been very cordial despite finding out that I'm a Phillies fan. New Yorkers seem to respect the Phillies for their accomplishments and have enjoyed the fight. In many respects, I think their win is that much sweeter having to fight the reigning Champs.

But as I say "fight the reigning Champs", it also occurs to me that sports is really all fight and very little reigning. They say that to the victor go the spoils, but in this situation there are few spoils. Really, just a trophy, a few rings, and some bragging rights. This isn't a Roman conquest. New York does not get to pillage and loot the streets of Philadelphia just for winning the series (though that would be an interesting twist on the whole thing...). There is no real difference in money considering all of the players are already millionaires and any bonus they might receive is pocket change to them. And yet athletes go out year after year just to win that trophy. Just to say they are the best for a year (or 4 years in the case of the olympics... which are coming up this winter by the way).

I enjoy competition, and I enjoyed this series because it was so even. The drama of real, unscripted, fair and passionate play is never dull. Every game has the chance of being record breaking. Every moment can bring a never-before-seen anomaly to the game. And as baseball ends, I look to football to fill the void. I think the 6-2 Eagles will do nicely!