First detail. I know nothing about baseball. Well, being American has exposed me to it enough that I have a general idea of bat, ball and base. Rudimentary understanding of some of the rules and some of the positions, (but the definition of “short-stop” remains elusive.) The passion of fans is baffling of yet. Season tickets seem a quant and ridiculous thing to crave. By no means do I hate sports either. Just never cared.
Second thing : I recently moved to Seattle. The move was a glorious coup, leaving Southern Californian suburbs to fester without me; my days freshly filled with Space Needles and city blocks thick with falafel purveyors. There’s a lot to see and do. An early tour thrilled me with the things I expected, the sort of establishments I craved during Best Buy or Olive Garden visits down south. A modern stationary store. Gay places. Vegan food all over! I logged the touristy sites and the skyscrapers. Safeco Field was pointed out and duly ignored.
Thirdly, recently two friends hosted me at their apartment to discuss my exciting new life in Seattle. It was a Sunday. It was, in fact, Super Bowl Sunday. As per my preceding statements, I slightly resented the television being on. John Madden (maybe?) discussing each play. Geico and Budweiser and Go Daddy executing moves choreographed by focus groups and ad agencies. I nursed my beer and endeavored to save us all from ourselves, boldly throwing out new topics at the group whenever I perceived a lull in conversation. Alas, we slowly succumbed. First at neck, then at torso, each of us redefined our focus. I even selected a team to “root for.” The game actually turned into a fairly riveting thing. For the first time in my life, I enjoyed watching football, indeed, I enjoyed sport itself! It was a revelation. I decided to take swift action, to explore this new side of myself fully.
This veritable triangle of events and details have moved me to embrace the Seattle Mariners. Baseball season is coming up. I have no Mariners details yet. Except that they are my team. Google News alerts have been set, their website added to my bookmarks. I will follow them like mother and child. There will be player profiles, Mariner history recaps, perhaps even livetweets of games! You, humble reader, can by the virtue of this blog embark on this adventure hand and hand with me. Let’s laugh and learn!
