Just a Fan

[SF11704]

A 67 year old fan at that! It's 10:15am EST. Just waiting on the game 3 start in STL. Doing some work at the office but my mind isn't really in it. Time to ramble.

As I look at what I'm writing here I'm amazed. I never appreciated this until very recently. Probably this morning. Here I am, part of a social community of Giant fans. We are physically located all over the country but we get to share a common experience through the GDTs. I can sit at my computer, laptop, IPAD, phone or whatever and follow the game. Within the GDT we can exchange thoughts, insights, anger, happiness almost anything we feel as a collective entity. Just amazing! I can look through the thread and see Tzill with a 'FUCK' and immediately know that something didn't quite go our way. I can almost sense the pain within the letters. When Buster hit the Grand Slam I felt it as much as sensed it within the fibers of this forum. I knew he hit it without actually seeing it. I felt it!

As a kid growing up in NY these were 'solitary' moments for a fan. Not unhappy moments. Just solitary. I either listened to the game on the radio our watched it on TV. I could share the experience with my father but it never was a 'community experience'. As I grew older I could go down to a local bar and watch the game but only if they mounted a TV somewhere. We didn't have any 'sports bars'. That concept didn't really exist. The only real 'social' feel you could get was if you attended the game with the other 40,000 in the park. As a kid that was the greatest feeling you could experience.

Now, at a young age of 67 these GDT threads and this forum give me a sense of something I never imagined could exist. I can share 'the experience' with fellow fans. Fans that can be of all ages and from all over the country. The one common thing we all share is the love for our team. I would be willing to bet that most of us on these boards have at one time or another 'launched' something at a wall, the TV or something in the local viewing area. Otherwise, without the passion .... why be on these boards?

I thank you all for being part of this experience. This is really something that is special. Never thought I would experience anything like this in my life time .....

 

[tzill]

Awesome post, SF. Virtual rep.

Here's hoping Cainer pitches like he can today.

Oh, and FUCK Holliday.

 

[Heathbar012]

Awesome post, SF. Virtual rep.

Here's hoping Cainer pitches like he can today.

Oh, and FUCK Holliday.

Seconded on all counts!

 

[gp956]

Seconded on all counts!

Thirded on all counts.

 

[msgkings322]

Moi aussi
Yo tambien
Etc

 

[Robotech]

That's really cool that you go way back to the New York Giants. I sometimes fantasize about what it would've been like to watch baseball in the 1950s and 1960s. Mays, Mantle, DiMaggio, Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field. Cool stuff.

 

[ColinCoby]

A 67 year old fan at that! It's 10:15am EST. Just waiting on the game 3 start in STL. Doing some work at the office but my mind isn't really in it. Time to ramble.

As I look at what I'm writing here I'm amazed. I never appreciated this until very recently. Probably this morning. Here I am, part of a social community of Giant fans. We are physically located all over the country but we get to share a common experience through the GDTs. I can sit at my computer, laptop, IPAD, phone or whatever and follow the game. Within the GDT we can exchange thoughts, insights, anger, happiness almost anything we feel as a collective entity. Just amazing! I can look through the thread and see Tzill with a 'FUCK' and immediately know that something didn't quite go our way. I can almost sense the pain within the letters. When Buster hit the Grand Slam I felt it as much as sensed it within the fibers of this forum. I knew he hit it without actually seeing it. I felt it!

As a kid growing up in NY these were 'solitary' moments for a fan. Not unhappy moments. Just solitary. I either listened to the game on the radio our watched it on TV. I could share the experience with my father but it never was a 'community experience'. As I grew older I could go down to a local bar and watch the game but only if they mounted a TV somewhere. We didn't have any 'sports bars'. That concept didn't really exist. The only real 'social' feel you could get was if you attended the game with the other 40,000 in the park. As a kid that was the greatest feeling you could experience.

Now, at a young age of 67 these GDT threads and this forum give me a sense of something I never imagined could exist. I can share 'the experience' with fellow fans. Fans that can be of all ages and from all over the country. The one common thing we all share is the love for our team. I would be willing to bet that most of us on these boards have at one time or another 'launched' something at a wall, the TV or something in the local viewing area. Otherwise, without the passion .... why be on these boards?

I thank you all for being part of this experience. This is really something that is special. Never thought I would experience anything like this in my life time .....

Beautiful. We can make this the gratitude thread.

Grateful:

For the awesome gifs by gp.

For the humor provided by all (Stokes/Mays/Cal being among my many favorites)

For the wicked smart incite provided by all. Blown away continuously by how well so many write on here, and how much knowledge they are able to share. Too many to mention in this category...but Heath, gp, Anthem, Best deserve a tip of the cap.

For the passionate fans on here. All of us!! Tzill and Filo stand out in this and other categories.

For the utra-sentitive jinx meters. Alright, maybe I'm not so thankful for these.

I know I left out a lot of great posters. As I've said before, being a Giants fan would be far less fun without this board. Cheers.


Edit: MSG-best poster on here on taking advantage of a Giant win.

 

[SF11704]

That's really cool that you go way back to the New York Giants. I sometimes fantasize about what it would've been like to watch baseball in the 1950s and 1960s. Mays, Mantle, DiMaggio, Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field. Cool stuff.

It was cool! It was all through the eyes of a kid. The perception/involvement of a 10 yearold is just something that is so much different than an adult. You're not affected by money, salary caps, FAs, whatever. You're there for the team and game itself. I do remember Mickey, Willie and the Duke. Also remember Koufax and Drysdale. Not too much of DiMaggio or Robinson. Think I may have seen Williams once or twice. I can still remember getting soooooooo upset whenever they lost. I remember being crushed when they moved to SF. Still followed them though. I was born and raised a Giant fan. Didn't matter where they played. Really hated when they lost. Just seemed like the end of the world .... and here we are 57 years later ..... and the reaction is ...... still the same! Sort of in your blood.

 

[Robotech]

It was cool! It was all through the eyes of a kid. The perception/involvement of a 10 yearold is just something that is so much different than an adult. You're not affected by money, salary caps, FAs, whatever. You're there for the team and game itself. I do remember Mickey, Willie and the Duke. Also remember Koufax and Drysdale. Not too much of DiMaggio or Robinson. Think I may have seen Williams once or twice. I can still remember getting soooooooo upset whenever they lost. I remember being crushed when they moved to SF. Still followed them though. I was born and raised a Giant fan. Didn't matter where they played. Really hated when they lost. Just seemed like the end of the world .... and here we are 57 years later ..... and the reaction is ...... still the same! Sort of in your blood.

I really appreciate your perspective in here. That's dedication for staying with the Giants even after the move. If the Giants had moved to Florida in 1993, I don't think I would've stayed a fan. I would've just moved on. I know what you mean about being upset as a kid. I think I cried in 1993 when they didn't win that final game.

 

[Heathbar012]

I really appreciate your perspective in here. That's dedication for staying with the Giants even after the move. If the Giants had moved to Florida in 1993, I don't think I would've stayed a fan. I would've just moved on. I know what you mean about being upset as a kid. I think I cried in 1993 when they didn't win that final game.

Agreed. I would've been out if they moved, too. My loyalties are to the region, but I can certainly appreciate the loyalty to a franchise (especially when the only other choice, at the time, is the Yankees). I don't remember crying on the final day of the season in '93, but that is probably because I was just happy to be at the game. My dad took my sister and me to the last two games of that season at Dodger Stadium. I even got Salomon Torres' autograph the day before the flop. I'm not quite sure where that might be now. My dad might have burned it.

 

[SF11704]

Agreed. I would've been out if they moved, too. My loyalties are to the region, but I can certainly appreciate the loyalty to a franchise (especially when the only other choice, at the time, is the Yankees). I don't remember crying on the final day of the season in '93, but that is probably because I was just happy to be at the game. My dad took my sister and me to the last two games of that season at Dodger Stadium. I even got Salomon Torres' autograph the day before the flop. I'm not quite sure where that might be now. My dad might have burned it.

You nailed the reason!!!!!!!! Both the Giants and the Dodgers moved together to the West Coast. That left us fans with the Yankees. Just couldn't root for them. Still can't. Really not sure why though. Maybe them being an AL team also influenced my decision.

 

[calsnowskier]

I really appreciate your perspective in here. That's dedication for staying with the Giants even after the move. If the Giants had moved to Florida in 1993, I don't think I would've stayed a fan. I would've just moved on. I know what you mean about being upset as a kid. I think I cried in 1993 when they didn't win that final game.

We had a conversation about this a couple years ago. I do not even live in the BA, but I cannot say, 100% that I would remain a Giants fan if they left the area. I think I still like them because of the region. The region is where I grew up, so it is still "home".

 

[msgkings322]

We had a conversation about this a couple years ago. I do not even live in the BA, but I cannot say, 100% that I would remain a Giants fan if they left the area. I think I still like them because of the region. The region is where I grew up, so it is still "home".

Rooting for laundry...

But what else is sports about, you root for a team you pick as a kid, mainly because everyone around you and your dad roots for them. The attachment is formed, to the local laundry. If they leave, it makes sense that most detach after that.

What happens next depends on the choices offered. Like SF, if you have to pick the Yankees, no thanks! You can root for your team that moved, but it won't be even close to the same because the city you live in won't be getting into it when they do well anymore, so that pleasure is gone. And if you move away like cal, you stay loyal because it's like staying loyal to your friends/family/hometown

 

[Heathbar012]

Rooting for laundry...

But what else is sports about, you root for a team you pick as a kid, mainly because everyone around you and your dad roots for them. The attachment is formed, to the local laundry. If they leave, it makes sense that most detach after that.

What happens next depends on the choices offered. Like SF, if you have to pick the Yankees, no thanks! You can root for your team that moved, but it won't be even close to the same because the city you live in won't be getting into it when they do well anymore, so that pleasure is gone. And if you move away like cal, you stay loyal because it's like staying loyal to your friends/family/hometown

This. Plus, as a practical matter (as if there is anything practical about being a sports fan ), these teams have the potential to generate a significant amount of revenue for the areas that they inhabit. Along with rooting for laundry, I'm rooting for economic prosperity in the place where my parents were born and raised, I was born and most of my extended family still resides.

 

[SF11704]

I was 11 when the Giants moved to SF. I really had no other options for the next 5 years (Mets in 1962). Being an 11 year old kid that lived for the game I had to be able to root for someone or something. I was still in the mode of collecting baseball cards. What the hell would I do now? I couldn't root for the Yankees. Not really sure why other than that they were the hated cross town team. They were also a different league. It was just easier to follow the Giants in SF. After 5 years of 4PM/11PM games and 3000 miles away ... I sort of adjusted .... they had remained my team .... and here we are 56 years later and they are still my team! Maybe this is the reason 2010 wa so very special for me. Even though they were in SF they were still my WS Champions and I wore their sports attire like it was a freaking 'Banner of Glory' .... it was very cool to be living in NY an d celebrating a team located in SF. THIS IS THE EXACT REASON I LOVE THIS BOARD. It connected me to other SF fans and together we all celebrated OUR WS Champions.