I found myself in a deep dark funk yesterday upon hearing the news that Game 6 of the World Series had been postponed.
I, the self-proclaimed hater of the American national pastime, have become two things I said I would never be: a baseball freak AND a bandwagon fan!
With my beloved NBA in jeopardy of having no season at all, I had to find something or someone to throw my passionate fandom into. Who better for me to get behind than our hometown Texas Rangers, who have endured even more years of title-less irrelevance than did the Dallas Mavericks?
Yes, you read that right. This lifelong basketball junkie has shifted sports and been welcomed with open arms by the multitude of Rangers’ fans in the Metroplex.
It has been exceptionally easy for me to join the legion of local Ranger fans because I can sympathize, as well as empathize, with their plight. I spent over 25 years as loyal, long suffering Mavericks fan before I was finally able to see my team achieve the pinnacle of the sport, winning the NBA title, this past June. Having been through it all before with my team, it was only logical for me to make the switch to the Rangers. (Plus, this is what happens when there’s no @#$%^& NBA!)
Initially I was just killing time, keeping up with the MLB playoffs while still clinging to the hope that the NBA would work something out. But at some point, and I’m not really sure when it happened, I actually became fascinated with the Rangers and their brand of baseball. I started watching the games, reading the box scores, and last week, I even sat in the car – willingly! – in the driveway listening to Game 2 of the World Series on the radio because all the TV’s in the house were tuned to something else. I had only ever listened to baseball on the radio once previously, and that was only because it was to be immediately followed up by a preseason Mavs vs. Spurs showdown. But what I realized this past weekend is this: I would rather watch Ranger baseball than Cowboys football, than any NFL football actually. And even if the Mavericks were playing, I would have chosen to watch Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night over my Dallas Mavericks! Never in my life did I think I would utter (well, type) those words!
I have a special affection for the Rangers now, and it actually dates back to their World Series run last fall. I don’t know how to explain it really, but as I watched the Rangers advance through the playoffs and finally establish real relevance in their sport, something in the back of my head just told me that 2010-2011 would finally be the Mavericks' year as well. There was no logical connection, it was just a gut feeling. Now virtually every year since the Fairy Godfather (you might know him as Mark Cuban) bought the team and brought my Mavericks out of basketball oblivion, I start as an extreme optimist, believing Dallas has a chance to win it all. But this past year, it was something different, I could just feel it. And for me, that intuitive belief began when I saw the Rangers go where they'd never gone before. It was almost like they had so much good mojo or juju or whatever you wanna call it that they spread it around to the Mavericks -- who turned it into their first championship.
So tonight, as I will sit at work listening to what will hopefully be the final game of the 2011 World Series, I sure hope the Mavericks can return the favor and send good champion vibes all the way to St. Louis. Nothing, aside from the end of the NBA lockout, would make me happier.
LET'S GO RANGERS!!
