Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

The sky is falling! The sky sucks!

Whew, this weekend was exhausting. And like the overly emotional sports fan I am, I've stayed up way too late every night reading blogs and messages boards, both Nationals and Capitals.

Actually I've been reading them (almost always lurking) for a few years, but in the last few weeks, the post counts have gone up considerably. Publicity does that, I suppose. But obscurity has its advantages; I used to read lots of insightful, sometimes provocative comments. Now I'm seeing lots of bad grammar and hysteria.

I should just turn off the computer and go to bed, but its like watching a train wreck.

Lack of rest aside, I feel pretty good. Friday night, the hockey game could have been a bit better (the Caps had that second-period slump thing going), but I was happy with the final score, and truly amazed by the atmosphere. I think it was the first Flyers game I ever attended where it didn't sound like the Spectrum for at least part of the game. Kudos to everybody who kept the tickets out of the hands of Philadelphians.

Saturday's Nationals game was a depressing blowout, following a string of losses, but that sort of thing happens. It's a long season, and rebuilding can be tough. On the way home from the game, I said "If we don't sit though games like this, we won't have such an appreciation for the playoffs when we finally get there." And on the plus side, the stadium is still as nice as I thought it was two weeks ago, even in the rain. (And when it's just a light, straight-down rain, my seat is dry, just like RFK.)

Today the Capitals looked awful, frankly. (I imagine all over America, NBC viewers were saying "I don't see what the fuss is about.") But I'm not even that upset...for one thing, in spite of what several thousand people at Verizon chanted, the Flyers do not suck. And it can't hurt to remind these guys that being called a team of destiny doesn't mean you don't need to show up and play. We listened to the post-game interviews on the way home, and all the players were saying the same thing...tried too hard to set the perfect shot, squandered the power plays, let Huet down in the zone...I think they are well aware of what not to do on Tuesday.

And the Nationals won, in dramatic nailbiting fashion (I followed it on my cell phone, which was not as heart-stopping as being there, but still exciting.)

An interesting thing, on a normal weekend I check my work e-mail a few times a day, and I think about work, well, all the time. Right now, I can't even remember what I was doing on Friday, and what the first thing I need to do Monday is. I'll guess I'll figure it out tomorrow when I see the stacks on my desk. But this emotional fan thing sure served one good purpose this weekend.

Posted by Nic at April 13, 2008 07:12 PM | TrackBack