Time To Weigh In....

The Dodgers and Giants rivalry is one of the most storied and fantastic rivalries in all of sports... I was born hating the Giants. I've always despised them, I didn't figure out why until I was a little bit older & by then it was too late. It used to be really bad... Like, I couldn't be friends with someone who was a die-hard fan of that team... A few years back, I was dating a guy who lived in SF, we argued about baseball & it all came to a head when he called me a heartless Dodger fan... Heartless? Me? This coming from a man who was a fan of Barry Bonds... & I'm heartless.... Needless to say, that didn't last long :)
Today, it's a little bit different... I have fun with it.. Do I despise the Giants? Absolutely! Was I sick to my stomach when they won the World Series? You betcha!!! I was rooting for the Rangers like I was a lifelong fan... I was devastated that the Giants won... A few things kept me warm.. One, it was their first WS win since moving to California in the '50s.. My guys have 5 :) And Two... Everyone says the NL West is the worst division in baseball... Welp, the worst division in baseball won the Series... Now what?
Today, I have a plethora of Giants fans in my life... I work with a bunch of them, heck, I got my foot in the door at my awesome job because I was waiting on Giants fans every day for almost 2 years... Today I have fun with it. Today my smart aleck friends photoshop pictures of Giants gear on me & put it up on facebook... & today I laugh at it :) It's fun... It's supposed to be...
I haven't written or said much about what went down on opening night because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. I've read a lot of editorials that blame everyone, The Dodgers, Frank McCourt, the City of Los Angeles, Beer... but let's place the blame where it should lie.. at the feet of these 2 cowards who did this awful & terrible thing... And it exists, everywhere. Not just at Dodger Stadium, but also at every other stadium in the country... The Giants serve the beer in cups that say Beat LA on them. I heard a rumour that they do this when not even playing the Dodgers... Giants fans hired a plane to fly over Dodger Stadium on opening day with a banner that read"BEAT LA" to which the Blue Birds replied GIANTS SUCK :) Yay for chanting...
It exists... on both sides, but it's time to take a step into the real world... Last season Clayton Kershaw got suspended for hitting a batter, he was retaliating against the Giant pitcher that hit a Dodger.. this is what they do. Let them do it. Let the players battle it out... I go to games with my Dad & my 82 year old grandmother, families bring their kids... Couples go on dates. There's no more beautiful place than Dodger Stadium when the sun is setting & the boys are winning. Baseball is fun, rivalries are fun... All this guy did was go to a game wearing a jersey in support of his team. I'm sure it got rowdy in the stadium & I'm certain that these two idiots had too much to drink. While I'm deeply saddened by this event & my thoughts and prayers are with this young man & his family... I'm glad that this incident is getting so much attention.
It's time to stop this insanity. When I lived in San Diego, I went to every Dodger/Padre game that I could decked in Dodger Blue from head to toe & people talked trash to me & anyone that knows me knows I gave it right back :) I loved going to Charger games. However, I would never go to a Charger/Raider game because of all the disorderly crap that happens. There's always fights. Booze infused testosterone pumping fights...Calm the frik down! It's a game!! It's supposed to be fun...
When did going to the ball park mean going to a war zone?! We have the right to feel safe in our surroundings... I pray to God that this man makes a full recovery & I know that these idiots will be brought to justice...
But maybe, just maybe, some good can come out of this... Maybe with all the attention that this is getting, people will start to wake up... I've talked a lot of trash & held my own when it comes to baseball... I've covered a co-workers desk in Dodger printouts after a sweep, I will do it again too... But I would never ever ever ever resort to violence... This isn't the first time that there has been unnecessary fan violence at my beloved ball park, but hopefully... We've seen the last of it..