Sunday, April 04, 2004

Opening day for the Sox

I think this picture does a pretty good job of capturing one of the things I love about Boston. I took it last fall while walking around downtown for a friend's birthday celebration, which happened to fall on Game 3 of the Boston-Oakland AL Division series. We hit a few different bars that night, and at each one we joined a huge crowd that was watching the game. I suppose that's not so unusual. At some level, you know that there will always be large numbers of people from a city who are going to follow the big game. But it was really cool to actually see the crowds as we went from bar to bar. Each one filled to capacity. Each one full of fans.

I admit, I don't really follow baseball. I had to catch a stray headline to remember that today was the first game of the Red Sox season. Really, I don't follow any professional sports. I've always much preferred playing over watching. And of course, to make matters worse, I'm originally from L.A. We used to make fun of the Boston fair-weather fan. But after living here for more than a decade, I think I get it. You can't help but get swept up in the excitement. There's something about the way the whole city pulls together for something like this. (And I try not to dwell on the negatives.) The city is alive and you can't help but want to be a part of it. And for a little while, I can be a part of Red Sox Nation, too.

Go Sox!

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