First off, a quick rundown of the week before the game. We got a baseball mitt for me and got to play catch, we watched the Final Four games with a big group of friends from church and got to meet new people, we got more wedding thank yous written, finished our taxes, I made my grandma's barbeque meatballs recipe (which is part of my concrete aspirations list, making the recipes from my mom), and I saw a man listening to rap music and smoking a bright blue hookah outside our building, right before I stepped into the crosswalk and was almost hit by an old man driving a black Lexus. Spring and warm weather are here!
Which brings me to our excitement last weekend: the Cubs/Phillies game. I'm going to criticize again. I promise I'm keeping up my thankful list, I'm not bipolar, and I'm not just a generally angry person. But Ian and I were very disappointed by our first Phillies game experience, and not just because the Cubs lost.
We were very much looking forward to the game.
We intended to cheer for the Cubs, of course, but thought we'd cheer for the Phillies in other games, since, after all, it is our city, even if only for a short time. We arrived, thought the stadium looked nice if a little generic, and got excited about seeing a Chickie & Pete's crab fries stand. After wandering around the concourse and consuming cheesesteaks, we meandered over to our seats. I was mildly pleased there was a decent handful of Cubs fans around us. The game started, and one of the Cubs fans in front of us, a rather rotund and jovial man most likely in his early 20s, started heckling the Phillies player in front of us (we were sitting behind right field, second row up. Yay StubHub!). This is fairly normal to happen both ways, and doesn't really bother me. What bothered me was what ensued the rest of the game. A good portion of the Phillies fans around us, even a dad with his young son, proceeded to make fun of this fan, mostly for his weight, even though half of them were as big as he was, and even though they were heckling Soriano (for the Cubs) a lot more than the Cubs fan was doing to their player. As we left the stadium, the group sitting behind us yelled "welcome to Philadelphia!" Yeah, thanks, you're over three months late with that one. Walking back from the subway station, other guys in a car yelled even nastier words at us that I cannot mention because I'm a lady. Ian and I have vowed to disassociate ourselves with Philadelphia sports teams, which is opposite of our original intentions. Phillies fans, you lost two potentials because you don't know how to be good sports.
I understand that fans get competitive, but do you really have to make fun of fans personal appearances to make yourself feel better, especially when your team is winning? And might I point out, the fans didn't win the game, the players did. You can share in their joy, but trust me, your not-so-skillful yelling techniques did not help score a run or cause an error for the other team. Just because your team beat our team, it doesn't make you better than us. I don't appreciate fans like that.
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| this is me irritated at the fans. Well, not really. Ian just likes taking funny pictures of me. |
Another note, why is the Phillie Phantatic green?
Their colors are red and blue. And he is scary. He looks like the pot-bellied, estranged alcoholic green cousin of Big Bird with an inverted beak. Their little skit in the middle of the game pitted the Phanatic against Darth Vader who, gasp, is a Cubs fan. They had a light saber duel with storm troopers cheering on, and to defeat Darth, the Phanatic had to distract him to actually land a hit on his helmet. He concluded by stomping on Darth's Cubs hat. It was pretty lame. And why is it okay for the Phanatic to dance around on top of the opposing team's dugout and jiggle his fatness during the inning, serving as a very possible distraction to the opposing team's pitcher? Is that legal?
Anyway. Three other quick things, because I want to share pictures.
First, the Sunday after the game, we used Philly Car Share for the first time (got a mini cooper!), so we could go to Crate & Barrel and get our silverware, etc. And we drove around and saw Bryn Mawr and Villanova. Unfortunately , I got carsick (perhaps because it's been so long since I've ridden in one?), so we stopped on the Schuylkill and wandered around the cherry trees. Fun photos!
Second, the LOVE Park fountain was on this past Wednesday for the first time this spring. And the water was green for some event. It looked radioactive.
Third, the plumeria are growing!
Well, this is superbly long, and I want lunch. Have a lovely day!