Some thoughts on yesterday.

I went to evening classes at Widener for 8 years, and for the greater part of that time I had a class on Monday night. The biggest issue was when the Eagles were on Monday Night Football. Some students would cut-out at 8:15 (or during our first break) to get home to see the game. I always thought it was short-sighted, since the education was the thing. Tonight, I'm sure there is a class going on and I'm wondering if the profs have a heart and just cancelled class, figuring that nothing is going to be accomplished anyway.

Yesterday, before I left, one of the local stations was running the original NBC broadcast of the Phillies' 1980 World Series game 6. The thing that always strikes me about those old broadcasts is how simple the broadcast is. There isn't the constant barrage of junk on the screen, the graphics are simple and they don't replay every play. Now, there are replays of balls and strikes, baserunning and tons of shots of the dugout and the fans. In 1980, pretty much all you saw was the game and one replay of a close play or big hit. The game was the thing. Now, it's more of a TV show. Not surprising, really.

During my interesting conversation with the FedEx pilot at the sports bar yesterday, we started talking about their competition and what a bargain the USPS is since, for 42 cents you can send a letter across the country. Not a bad deal. UPS is more of a trucking company and doesn't have the airplanes that FedEx has, but what I found out was that your Express Mail packages that the Post Office sends out go on FedEx planes. Come to think of it, I've never seen a US Postal Service airplane. They have some kind of deal with FedEx. I find that kind of inside stuff fascinating, but I'm funny that way.

I think my buddy and I got screwed out of a souvenir last night. When we sat down, the guy next to us showed us a commemorative coin that he said he was given when he walked in. Usually, they just hand out those white rally towels, and I have enough of those to open a spa. But the coin is a nice item that commemorates the Series and I don't know how we missed out on that deal.

I guess I was in some kind of zone, (or really drunk) because I completely missed the National Anthem. It doesn't bother me, because I really can't stand Patti LaBelle, and I understand she butchered the song. When I got home, Big Daddy Graham, the overnight guy on WIP was talking about it. I'm assuming she turned it into some kind of gospel thing with that caterwauling style of hers. Not singing as much as it is wailing. She is from Philadelphia and winds up killing most big sporting events here with her screaming.

From the seats, it looked like Jimmy Rollins evaded Evan Longoria's tag at third base in that rundown in the first inning (photo above). When I saw the replay at home today, Longoria practically gave Rollins a rectal exam with his glove, and the umpire was standing three feet from the play and completely missed it. Sometimes you have to get a break. Mostly, the umpiring in this series has been horrible. Not just balls and strikes, but missed calls on the bases and general incompetence. It's clouded an otherwise nice event. At least the Rays can take solace in the fact that it wasn't the reason they lost the game.

I guess we got lucky with the game choice. Season ticket holders are randomly given playoff tickets. We skillfully avoided the rain-delayed game 3 and tonight's cold, windy and rainy game 5 - even though it's possibly the clincher - for a nice autumn evening and a blow-out win. There is, however, a 100% chance of rain at 8pm, and I'd hate to think they'd keep us up until 2am again. I took the day off work today, but I have to go in tomorrow.

I looked it up on Yahoo Maps. The walk I made from the ballpark to the PATCO station was 3.42 miles. Point "A to Point "B". I've done a lot of walking in that city over the years, but I think that's the topper. I had every opportunity to hop on the Broad Street subway, but reneged in order to enjoy the car horns, screaming fans and the occasional high-five. I suppose if you stop to think about it (which is a waste of time) you wouldn't volunteer to walk through a major city after midnight without a weapon, but the feeling was electric and it seemed like a waste to sit in a subway car.

Game 5 starts in about two hours, weather permitting. I've been waiting for years to get a subscription to Sports Illustrated. They offer a special discounted rate and a commemorative edition and some other junk whenever a major sports team wins something. I guess people in the Boston area are good for the next ten years by now. Their subscription base in Philly will probably quadruple over the next week.

I'm going to go watch the game now. Talk amongst yourselves.