Notes from Game 4

I don’t get personal on here too often – and I certainly don’t talk about my job in specific detail, but those who know me know how I feel about my job and what the atmosphere is in my office.  And they know how the people I work with, especially my bosses, not only accept, but fuel the fire that is my love of the Red Sox.

I’m in the position not many bloggers are in, which is that my bosses know about my blog.  I respect boundaries…I don’t usually post during work hours (unless something dramatic like Bronson Arroyo being traded or the Red Sox winning the World Series happens!) and my bosses are more than supportive of my ‘obsession’.   The Red Sox are a big part of the culture in my office so the fact that I was at game one and my boss was at game four meant a lot to many of us there.

I asked him to give me a little write-up to post here.  Hoping he could give us a taste of what it was like out there, but not convinced he’d want to take the time after partying all night – and I was terribly pleased when he emailed me this afternoon with a letter he wrote me on the flight home today. 

I’m hoping for a picture or two from him when he has a chance to decompress, and I’ll add them if I get them. 

For now, I leave you with the message from him, which means the world to me – and I add my thanks to him for being so generous, not only in doing this, but for everything else that I don’t need to mention here.  🙂 

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October 29, 2007

Hi Cyn,

First time long time.   As I write this, I have my 6’5” frame stuffed into a middle seat on a 4 hour Denver-Boston flight after game 4.   I’m hung-over.   I can’t talk.   I’ve slept maybe a total of 6 ½ in the last three days.  

Does it get any better than this?

I wanted to share some observations from my game four experience in Denver to maybe supplement some of the Red Sox news and happenings that we’re all immersed in right now.   This was the first away playoff game that I’ve been to and I have to say that the Nation showed up in Denver big time.   I was a little concerned heading out there about being outnumbered in hostile territory but a) it wasn’t hostile territory, which I’ll get to in a minute, and b) we were nowhere near as outnumbered as I had expected.   I’d say 20% of the crowd was Sox fans and they really made it seem more like half.

From the Blake Street bars to Coors Field, Red Sox Nation was everywhere.   Most Sox fans that I happen to meet were from neither Boston nor Denver but they were all true Nation members, knowledgeable, loyal and wicked glad to be there.   When the game ended and the Rockies fans had filtered out of the stadium, I’m guessing there were 10-15k Sox fans in the stands cheering the team.   An hour and a half later, there were still half of those.   We all missed the details of the clubhouse celebration and the interviews on the field but it didn’t matter.

And I have to say that I have nothing but respect for the Rockies fans.   As tough as it must have been to have been swept, particularly after such a remarkable run up to that point, I did not have a hostile interaction with a single Rockies fan the whole night.   In fact, a lot of the Denver fans in our section were sharing high fives with us after the game and sincerely congratulated us.   Now,  granted, they don’t have the storied history that we do, the magnitude of seemingly eternal disappointment that has caused so much psychological scaring.  

And good for them, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

But they were truly generous hosts.   Some of us could learn a little something from them.   A few headlines from the Denver Post this morning read;  “Colorado’s miraculous late-season surge comes to a sad ending in final four games”,  “Nothing can erase joy of Rockies amazing ride”,  “Rockies feel the pain, but not the shame”.  

Sounds a lot like Dan Shaughnessy doesn’t it?

Thanks for adding something special to an unbelievable season Cyn.  

Now get back to work.