November 20, 2008

WINNER! (PART 2)

Tuesday was very strange. Obviously, the game was never far from my mind. As the day wore on, the bitterness started to fade, a little, and I started to think, “Why not?” Work that night was especially humorous. People didn’t know how to approach me. Everyone knew how excited I was to go to the game, and how disappointed I must have felt. So they all wondered when the continuation of the game would be and whether or not I would be there. As I discussed my situation over and over, the reality started to sink in. Thank goodness we were busy so I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

By Wednesday night, I was definitely ready to get it over with. Thankfully, I spent most of my afternoon working on my “Halloween bit” for “Chicago Tribune Live”. Nothing says comedy like a fat guy in a neck beard. Continuing my “man crush” on Kyle Orton theme, I attempted to dress as him, not convincingly I might add, but the point was made. The “star” of the segment though, was “Mini-Kyle”, my faithful sidekick, portrayed by Matthew “Chopper” Roberts. “Chopper” bears an uncanny resemblance to the QB, is half his size, and comes with his own neck beard!

As game-time approached, the bar was packed, and Philly faithful were in abundance. I even had two other guys in my same situation, unable to attend, even though we had a ticket to the game. It made it more enjoyable to have people from back home in the bar, along with several regulars, but it still seemed like a weird out-of body experience.

I don’t know if that’s attributed to not being at the game when I should have been, or due to fact that I was actually watching one of my teams win something! Oddly, once the game “resumed”, I never had a doubt that they would win. I’d watched this over and over. The better team was going to win. Only this time it was actually a team that I root for.

Once the game ended, the celebration at the bar started. I was reminded of that much repeated Hollywood movie wrap-around “shot”, where, at the climax of the “big-game” you see the reaction shots of all the people involved, at all of there various locations, brought together by the joyous outcome. (This technique was also used in the original “American Pie” albeit for a different kind of “game”.) All of us had different stories and now, this shared moment together. Then, in a sign-of our-times moment, we were all on our cell-phones to share with everyone back home.

As the party started to wind down, it was time for a patented Frankie O sermon, nothing says celebration like the sound of my voice! It seems that I had 4 youngsters, anyone under the age of 30, unfortunately, is a youngster to me, who were in town for business. When I asked when they were returning to Philly, they all answered Friday night. Since it was announced that the parade was going to be Friday afternoon, I had to offer a little friendly bartender “advice”. 28 years ago, after the Phillies last World Championship, the parade of all parades was held to honor our victorious heroes. Everyone I know was there, with one exception, me! At the time, a fresh-faced Frankie O was working at a local super market, a job I had because my uncle, the manager, got it for me. What are the odds that I would be scheduled for a 3-hour shift at exactly the same time as the parade? (Have you been paying attention?!) While everyone left for the party of a lifetime, I left to bag groceries and straighten up boxes of Rice-a-Roni! At the time, calling in “sick” was not an option. It would have been very obvious what I was doing, and I didn’t want to tick-off my uncle. Of course, that job only lasted only a month longer, “downsizing”, only further making me ticked-off that I didn’t blow-off my shift for something much more important. I’ve regretted that decision to this day. So don’t think that I was going to let these “fresh” faces get away without hearing the rantings of someone who can’t let go. Being from Philadelphia, this should have sounded very familiar. I pleaded with them to do “whatever it takes” to get home and be part of the party. I hope I scared them into doing so. (Lest they turn into a raving middle-aged lunatic.) They can thank me later.

The time since that night has been surreal. I know that they’ve won. It’s still hard to believe it though. For me it’s been wonderful to watch. I can say that now in hindsight, as the real-time version was torture. The best part has been the conversations with family and friends sharing our feelings. The best thing about rooting for any team is how it brings us together. For all of the suffering that many of endure because of our allegiance to a particular team, it’s the sharing of those experiences that make it all worthwhile. The 2nd best part has to do with “bar conversations”. Finally, someone from Philly doesn’t have to hear, “When’s the last time one of your teams won anything?” I was struck by what Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said about what all of this means. That because of this that he will be known as a “winner”, no matter what happens now, this will be his legacy. For Phillies fans it’s the same thing, we’ll still be as ornery as ever, some things never change, especially when the Mets come to town, but we now will be tempered with the memory of ’08, for now we’ll be considered winners also. Thank goodness. We need something positive, have you seen the Eagles lately?