Monday, October 16, 2006

happy sad

I didn’t get to start listening to the game until about 8:30. For those not paying attention, I was at CBGB’s for the closing night tonight.  As many of you may have seen on your local news broadcasts, it was a media circus outside that little club on the Bowery tonight, and getting into said club and finding a sweet spot in front of the stage took some time. I took off my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist, revealing my #30 Mets number shirt. (Hey - it was black, so it fit right in.)

Feeling a little silly, I took TBF’s little AM radio out of my bag and put an earphone into my ear. Surprisingly, I had good signal, and equally surprisingly, I could hear it over the pre-show music coming out of the PA. Despite a ticket time of 8pm, word was the the show wasn’t going to start until 9:30, so I had plenty of time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see my friend George, fellow music and Mets fan, ensconced close to the wall. I wave frantically and signal 2-1 and point at my shirt. He leans forward and gestures at his headphones. I guess I was not the only one crazy enough to engage in both activities tonight.  Once the show was about to start, I send TBF a text message that I am turning off the radio and it is time for the text messages… except that I didn’t have to bother.

A few songs into the show, I feel a tap on my arm. I look over and it’s George’s girlfriend, who is in my line of sight. She holds up five fingers, and then two. “Us?” I ask, incredulous. Emphatic nodding. When it came time to tell me it was 11 to whatever it was, it required additional hands, and they were prepared to relay the score to me more than once - but I had already gotten the update from TBF so it wasn’t a shock. Otherwise, I would have surely been: “What??? No. What’s the score??”

At intermission, I am suddenly everyone’s beacon for score updates. Everyone, however, turns out to be Yankees fans, but they seem to be genuinely glad and I accept their congratulations. They have have bad taste in sports teams but they have excellent taste in music.

Now I am home watching the post-game show, and this is a good thing, because when I walked out of the club more than a few tears were shed.  It’s good to not think about the end of an era in one part of my life, and good to think about the beginning of a new one in another part.

As to the game: earlier today, TBF and I were discussing the Star-Ledger article referenced in the entry below this one, and how he liked their assertion that what was required right now was a miracle. Well, I’d say 12-5 in St. Louis after the massacre of the last two games rates miracle status for me.