We stayed up for the whole game.
I'd been up since 4:22 in the morning yesterday (yes, it's that precise) because Julia, (who else?) had been awake and I hadn't seen the whole game the night before (Saturday night's game) because we were so far ahead and because I was falling asleep on the couch. So I stayed up with Julia from 4:22 on because I was trying to find a news channel or sports channel that would just give me the score. That didn't happen til after 6:00. And yes, I could have just gone online, but Julia and I were snuggled up nice and cozy on the couch, and I didn't feel like moving except to press buttons on the remote.
Anyway (and be warned, I will ramble off in many directions as I babble away this morning), last night Bill and I were in it for the long haul. Because - this could be IT! So we watched and cheered and occasionally, as the game went on, dozed off for a few minutes - him in the big chair, curled up like a contortionist to fit all 6'2" of him comfortably, and me on the couch, stretched out and comfortable.
And then it was the 7th inning. And the 8th. And I swear there were like 850 commercials played in between innings or at the halfway point or whenever there was a pitching change. The same commercials. Again and again. And we were both just begging for the game to come back on so we could prop our eyelids open and watch and be one step closer to winning and to sleep.
And it was so NERVE WRACKING!!! A one run lead was not a COMFORTABLE lead.
And then it was the bottom of the ninth. And we were wide awake and I was perched on the edge of the couch, leaning forward toward the TV as though somehow that would help. After the first out, I snuck a quick look at Bill and his eyes met mine, and then we both looked away, like this might jinx it. Same thing after the second out. So close....so close....
May I just state right now that I am in love with so many of our guys. I was just yelling it at them - like an idiot girly fan. But whatever. They can't hear me. I can be an idiot if I want. But not that girly - I'm in love with how they play. How HARD they play.
And then - down to the last out. The last strike. And - there it was. At 12:06 by our clock.
WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was off the couch and jumping up and down - in a crouch, because the ceiling in the basement is kind of low, and can you imagine that? Knocking myself out like that? It would be kind of funny. Eventually.
Anyway. We watched a bit longer, watched them show all the players, all the camera shots, as the realization hit them all and those cautious, waiting expressions just fell away and they were all leaping up and down with joy. I could watch that again and again. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing.
And then - it just figures, doesn't it? Julia woke up. WIDE awake.
I said it in 2004 when she would wake me up during the postgame season to see miracles happen at weird hours of the night - she is a Fan. And I say it again. She must have sensed that we won, and she just wanted to be a part of it.
So I brought her downstairs, and we snuggled together, wrapped in a blanket, and watched, for a while longer, the jumping up and down and the champagne flying everywhere and the ecstatic expressions on the faces of these phenomenal men - and the little boys inside of them who still can't quite believe that they get to do this for a living.
At least that's how they looked to me.
