Brilliant.

Since Fox was dropped by the major cable providers in the New York metro area this week, we have been forced to be creative to watch the Giants/Phillies NLCS showdown.  (Twice, we were forced to watch an illegal live stream of a Spanish network's coverage, wired to a TV from a computer with a shoddy internet connection that tended to freeze every time the game got exciting.  Fun.)  Last night, tired of our makeshift solutions in the Bronx, we headed to the Upper East Side and its bountiful selection of sports bars and pubs for what turned out to be an extremely tense, extremely exciting, extremely weird game of baseball.  (Dropped balls?  Players hit by pitches?  Runners bowling catchers over?  Both teams storming the field?  Weird.)

So what is the "brilliant" all about?  The bar.  Why?  The bar food.  Particularly what?

TATER TOTS.

The end.

Charming New Yorkers

The title is sarcastic.  Kind of.  All week, I did a very brave (or perhaps foolish?) thing: I wore my Twins gear (hats, shirts, jerseys - anything and everything).  Normally, no one looks twice if you wear sports-affiliated clothing. In Minnesota, it's likely no one would even notice, much less care, if you wore an out-of-state team's jersey.  Not so in the Bronx.  On any given day, wearing non-New York baseball apparel will get you some strange looks.  Not necessarily hostile, but certainly quizzical, at the very least.  To New Yorkers, it's incomprehensible that anyone would care about any team except their own.  During playoffs, though, it changed.  I was wearing the enemy's colors.  I became a target.  Acquaintances asked me if I was following the games.  Friends cheered in solidarity or enmity.  Security guards bantered and heckled.  Strangers on the street, who normally never even look at your face, squinted and stared me down.

A little bit of team spirit at the bar

I was nervous - I wanted the Twins to do well.  Elena and I bravely ventured to a Bronx Applebee's to watch Game 1, wearing our Twins shirts and cheering loudly and enthusiastically.  The Yankees fans heckled us (yes, even at an Applebee's), but they were nervous.  And then it all fell apart.  As soon as the game was done, we scurried out as quickly as we could, still able to hear the raucous celebration inside.

In the hall of giants 

On Saturday, with little hope for a win, much less an ALDS title, I still proudly donned my red shirt, jersey, and cap.  The subway was my first interaction with the enemy game-goers.  Typical New York sass, but I was prepared.  Strategy?  Show them exactly what "Minnesota nice" means.  Respond with a smile, a laugh, and a refusal to be flustered by their banter.

 My second post-season Twins/Yankees match-up.  Can I hope for a third?

At the game, there were comments.  LOTS of comments.  Whenever we saw any other Twins fans, we'd shout and cheer and give high-fives.  Did the 49,500 Yankees fans feel threatened by the 500 Twins fans?  You'd think so, given their insecurity that necessitated their booing us everywhere we went.  When we walked up to our seats (one row from the very top), we heard comments such as, "Twins fans?!"  "BOOO!" and, "Go home!"  We laughed it off.

Unfortunately, the game did not go well - not at all.  It wasn't even close.  By the 8th inning, most Twins fans had already left, but we were staying until the very end.  At that point, the guy sitting next to us (who had first been obnoxious but gradually just turned into a goofball who was actually quite funny) decided it would be fun to alert the entire section that we were still there.  "HEY!  We've got TWINS fans up here!" he yelled, loudly.  The entire section turned around, pointed, booed, and started chanting, "Asshole!  Asshole!  Asshole!" at us.  We raised our arms, laughed, and cheered as loudly as we could for Minnesota.  Obviously, they didn't win, but we still made the best of the experience, enjoyed being at the ballpark, and began hoping for better luck next year.

Fans no matter what.

That Team Again

Another week.  Another Mets game.  This time, it was more exciting - unlike the Pirates, the Brewers were not the worst team in the country.  It was a close game, a fun game, and an exciting win.  The Mets were down in the 9th, but they pulled through to win.  It's always fun when the home team wins...as long as you're not cheering for the away team.  I know plenty about that.  More baseball coming soon...

In the awesome Einstein (free) seats again 

Mighty excited that we made it on the dance cam - TWICE!

That Other Team

I like baseball.  I even like it when teams I don't care about play inconsequential games in the rain.  After a brief tornado (possibly) whipped through Queens last Thursday, the Mets played the Pirates at Citi Field with only a 10-minute game delay.

Pretty field.  Great seats.

The Mets are no threat to...well...any team.  The Pirates are currently the worst team in America.  So why would I go to this game?  Because it was free.  Einstein has GOOD season tickets which it gives out to students for every home game.  I won the pair of tickets for Thursday's game, so Cat and I braved the rain and had an enjoyable night of baseball.

And burgers.

And what do you know...the Mets won!  No surprise, really, but it was still fun to be cheering for the winning team.  It was also fun to hear everyone cheering when the announcement came on that the 7 subway would, in fact, be running.  (Apparently it was flooded by the tornado...or something like that.)

A classmate let us borrow some of his hats.  Thank goodness, because Cat and I certainly don't have any Mets gear.

Home in Minnesota

As usual, I am short on time.  Here are some highlights (and pictures) of my 6 days at home this summer:

To make things easier yet slightly more travel-intensive than usual, I stayed the first few nights in St. Paul with Heidi and Kate.

Heidi, as usual, went out of her way to make me feel at home.

A large group of us went to see the Twins vs. Royals game on Thursday night.  On our way to Target Field, we ran into a Target Corporate employee.

We literally ran into him on the street.  It wasn't planned.

The new field was beautiful.  It seemed like a fitting home for our team.

It wasn't a bad night, either -- just a little bit of rain for 2 innings or so.

After a disappointing first half of the game, the Twins suddenly turned on the heat.  It looked as if they would pull an upset...but alas, the Royals held them off, winning the game 9-8.

It's okay.  We're still fans.

The rest of the week was filled with meeting friends all over the place.  India classmates for brunch in Minneapolis, high school friends in Rochester for coffee, drinks, dinners, you name it, and college friends for ice cream.  Despite it being rainy every day except the last, I thoroughly enjoyed just being at home.  Even running in my neighborhood felt more exciting than it should (although I suppose it's no stretch to understand that I might enjoy running in Rochester more than the Bronx).  Six days after arriving, I left again.  It was too short, but there was really no choice: tomorrow I leave for Jess's wedding, and then on Sunday I will fly to San Antonio for Air Force training.  Today, understandably, has been filled with packing and not much else.  Yes, it's busy, but the excitement is certainly worth it.

Things That Make Me Happy

Getting free stuff from the enemy...

...because it makes it easier to mock them.

A trellis made out of skis...

...because every garden needs a little kitsch.

Really cool friends...

...because they send me boxes from really cool places.

An inspiring grocery store...

...because I never would have thought to cook swordfish steaks had they not been on special.

And finally, caffeine gum...

...because, well, why not?