Suffice to say that I've always wondered how my Padres and Chargers fandom would have been different had I moved to San Diego in August 2000. Let's start with the Padres. Knowing myself, in my single days, and with nothing more than schoolwork to occupy my time, I'm guessing I would have attended 40+ home games a season. Certainly for a cash-strapped student, taking the trolley over to the Q and grabbing a cheap seat in the upper deck would have been very appealing. I've always envisioned myself studying Contracts or Torts up in the upper sections of the Q during a weeknight game, no one else within 10 rows of me, then heading home after the game - maybe to OB or PB or Mission Beach - and sitting at a bar sipping beers and imagining being a surfer despite having little interest in actually getting into the ocean. It's all very romanticized.
Just imagine my time in San Diego in the early oughts watching Padres games at the Q! I would have been there for the Golden Age of Klesko and Nevin. I could have been excited seeing Mike Daar emerge as young outfielder and then crushed by his untimely death. Maybe I would have spotted Bret Boone's roids use. I might have been as disappointed in Ruben Rivera as was Geoff Young. I could have seen Tony's final days. Seen Rickey break some records. Welcomed Kotsay for his first sojourn with the team. Been there for the rise of Peavy and for Trevor's post-surgery comeback. I'd have been there for the Q's last game and Petco's first game, and seen live the team, in 2004, play their best baseball since 1998. Those were some great years to be in San Diego.
And the Bolts too. How many games would I have seen live each year? Probably not all 8, but maybe 4? 5? Certainly possible. Maybe not in 2000 though. That was one of the worst teams of all time with Ryan Leaf leading the way to a 1-15 record. You'd have to give me a break on that one. I was too young at the time to go to games just to appreciate the work of Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau and John Parella on defense. But I remember 2001 and the team's 5-2 start and the young LT, the old Doug Flutie, and the chatty Marcellus Wiley. And in 2002 I was fully on board with Marty and Brees and LT and the team's 6-1 start. Even as the season turned, I watched every game in a dark, cold sports bar in D.C., wondering what it was like to watch live in SoCal. Being at the Q nearly every Sunday in '01 and '02 watching LT emerge as one of the great young running backs of all time would have been an irreplaceable experience. I envy those who got that done.
What this all comes down to really is cred. Street cred with Padres and Bolts fans. There's no substitute for the experience of going to the stadium, not only during the glory years, but in the worst years too. Meet other fans, cheer on the team, get to know every inch of the stadium or the ballpark, know it like your own house, amass tales of epic comebacks, walk-off victories, dagger losses, random run-ins with the players, boozy nights where maybe the ushers you've gotten to know by name throughout the long season tire of your antics. All these things add up when you go to the games night in and night out. They are stories that can't be replaced about games that will never be played again. You become part of the team's history in a very real way. Twelve years of that is what I missed out on by not moving to San Diego in 2000.
But I also gained an immeasurable amount by living in D.C. and New York, and I'm not just talking about sports. Most importantly I met my wife and now have an 18-month old daughter. Those are the two greatest things ever to happen to me ... especially since neither the Padres, Bolts, nor Illini have won a title. (Since you asked, those three events, were they to happen, would slot in as 3, 4, 5 on my greatest moments list. Though if Deron and Luther and Dee and Augie and Powell had got it done in '05, my wedding night might have slipped to 3 on the list. I'm only being honest here. Also note, I say "three events," not four, because let's be honest, the Illini aren't winning a national championship in football. On the other hand, maybe this guy is just crazy enough to do it.)
That's not to say the sports on the East Coast aren't great. Here follows just a short list of sporting events I attended live largely, if not wholly, because I lived in D.C. and New York City for over a decade:
1. seeing the final round of the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage;
2. watching playoff baseball, in particular Game 6 of the '03 Yanks-Red Sox ALCS, Game 2 of the '04 Yanks-Red Sox ALCS, Game 1 of the '06 Mets-Dodgers NLDS, Game 2 of the '07 Red Sox-Indians ALCS, Game 2 of Yanks-Twins '09 ALDS, and Game 2 of the '09 Yanks-Phillies World Series;
3. seeing the Padres at Old Yankee Stadium in '04 and '08;
4. seeing the Illini at the Garden (2003 v. Providence, 2010 v. Maryland and Texas);
5. seeing the '05 Illini at Georgetown and against Temple at the Palestra;
6. seeing Iverson score 50 at the Comcast Center in Philly;
7. watching the Illini lose at Rutgers in 2006 in possibly the ugliest college football performance of all time;
8. taking three trips to watch the Padres play the Pirates at PNC Park;
9. seeing the Padres at Fenway last summer;
10. seeing the Padres at RFK and at Nationals Park, including this memorable Peavy performance;
11. seeing the Padres at the Vet and at Citizens Bank Park, including this memorable Peavy performance; and
12. never seeing a meaningful Knicks game at the Garden despite going to several Knicks games at the Garden.
It all adds up to a great decade and, considering everything, I don't regret moving to the East Coast instead of San Diego in 2000. But this whole post is just my long way of saying I no longer live on the East Coast. As of this summer I moved to Southern California. I'm not all the way to San Diego - at least not yet - but Los Angeles, in large part because it puts me within regular striking distance of the Diago, isn't a bad place to call home.
Just so long as the Bolts don't join me up here.
No comments:
Post a Comment