Doin' the Math

As most of you probably already know, the Philadelphia Phillies wrapped up a World Series Championship season last night in their home park. As most of you don't know -- since I've kept it tightly under wraps as a contributor to this sports-averse blog of Tom's -- I am a lifelong fan of the Philadelphia Phillies (as well as of the Eagles, the Flyers and even the Sixers, although I only follow football and baseball closely anymore).

In other words, I am an enormous loser. And not just because of what Tom thinks of sports. No, I'm a loser because I'm 46 years old and the last time my Phillies won the World Series I was 18. When the Sixers won it all in 1983, I was 21. And that has been it for successes in my long adult life of following sports. Yet I've kept watching.

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Which reminds me of a song:

All of that time where did it go?
What did you do and what have you got to show for it?
Doin' the math is kind of a bummer
You best avoid crunchin' that number

But a World Series moment forces you to crunch. I've been at it incessantly since the final out last night, just marveling away at all of that time and at all of my life swirling through and along with it. I am ancient in moments and plays and games and days and seasons and years. And losses, and even wins.

Elections are crunch times too (helpfully to getting me out of a post like this on a blog like this). We'll all be hoping and reminiscing on fours, on eights, on decades and on eras as Tuesday approaches and we look toward a more productive future for the nation. Along those lines, Kevin Drum made an interesting point this morning on the intersection of these two crunching moments:

A WORLD SERIES WE CAN BELIEVE IN?....A friend points out that the last time the Phillies won the Series was October 1980, ushering in the election of Ronald Reagan and a long era of conservative ascendency. Tonight the Phillies won again. Another sign of a new era in politics? Maybe!

Can the long personal/national nightmare of my life be nearing its end (the "nightmare" part, thank you very much, not the "my life" part)? All I can say is, the Philadelphia Phillies are world champs, therefore ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! And if our progressive future may hang in the balance, you've just gotta love those Phils. (That means everybody, George and Steve.)