Gryffyd Eamonn Dempsey » Sports

Next Season

Gryffyd — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:35:38 +0000

The Giants are just about out of the playoff race, which is no huge surprise given the injuries to their lineup. Anyway I wouldn’t want to get greedy, not after last season. Below is a picture taken during a game I attended earlier this season. The first five pennants, in black, represent the World Series victories of the New York teams. Finally, there is a last pennant, in orange, to celebrate the first Series win in San Francisco.

Oh Hell Yeah

Gryffyd — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:56:13 +0000

I recall sitting at Candlestick Park behind the Giants’ dugout a few minutes before an evening game was going to begin. This was a couple of decades ago, exactly which season I don’t recall, but I was staring at the trio of Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, and Matt Williams standing together, probably at least a couple of them with bats on their shoulders, chatting and joking. I realised then that I was looking at three men with a collective worth of some multiple of millions of dollars, modest by today’s baseball standards but by any other an obscene amount of money for grown men to make playing a game. So I understand that the fortunes of a group of men, utter strangers to me, possibly indifferent to the city of my birth and the baseball team of that city except as an employer, are not the same as my fortunes. Their success is not my success.

Unfortunately, their failures have felt like mine. After 2002 I made myself understand that it is unreasonable to act so, and thereafter I tried to distance myself somewhat from the experiences of any of my favorites sports teams. But allegiances die hard, and so I will not feel any twinge of inconsistency if I acknowledge that THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS HAVE WON THE FREAKIN’ WORLD SERIES.

I had 1989 and 2002, and my father had 1962 as well. For all that thought this, or this, it’s finally over.

From my annual trip to see the Giants this summer, here is a superb action shot of Matt Cain, the hero of Game Two:

Raider Nation

Gryffyd — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:47:10 +0000

I have always enjoyed taking walks, but it is only because of my wish to keep the dogs’ walks somewhat fresh that we have explored practically every street within a thirty to forty-five minute radius from our house. If it weren’t for the dogs, I certainly would have no need to go walk down the series of streets between 82nd and the freeway, most of which are still unimproved roads and none of which have sidewalks. And then I would have missed the house below, the residents of which are presumably Raiders fans:

Right down to the mailbox:

Crikey

Gryffyd — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:49:45 +0000

Being at work today, and only having basic cable at home anyway, I was unable to watch today’s Champion’s League final. I followed the match via BBC live update and that was enough to nearly give me a heart attack. Since my father was watching it, being retired and having more cable than I, I called him right afterwards to make sure he hadn’t had an aneurysm. All is well.

I know I’ll be putting on my Manchester United jersey when I get home this evening.