Saturday, October 30, 2010

A tale of two (World Series) cities

I had a (likely) once in a lifetime sports opportunity happen this week: a sports teams from each of my two hometowns competed against each other in the championship game of the sport (and I could afford a ticket to the game)!

I grew up in the Dallas, TX area and moved to the San Francisco, CA area seven years ago. In both cities I attended the local sports events but never thought I would see my dual allegiances challenged in the ultimate game for the sport. In some sports the event can't happen since both teams are in the same division and could only play each other in the playoffs. In other sports, one team or the other, to put it bluntly, has no chance to play in a championship game in the foreseeable future.

When this year's baseball season began I thought the latter would be true. The San Francisco Giants had never won a World Series, and the Texas Rangers had never even made it to the World Series. Yet, as luck would have it, both made it to the Fall Classic and played in the opening game just minutes from my house. I couldn't miss this opportunity, bought the first available ticket, and was on my way to the game of my life.

In the end, my heart leaned towards the Rangers as I had been to more of their games and wanted closure with them so I could move on to the Giants. But the Giants won the game (and the series) and I am just as proud for my new home team. Plus, I can actually see the winning ceremonies here in town (and I don't have to bear the ire of my California co-workers if the Rangers won)