Sep 22, 2008 17:36
I'm not ashamed to admit that I got misty-eyed watching the Yankees festivities last night. There really is something mythic about baseball that I never see in other spots; maybe it's all the years and history, but I really think there's something in the rhythm of the sport that lends itself to storytelling. The slowness of it, the way you get the chance to watch each player individually and how for all that it's a team sport each play comes down to an individual player making an idividual hit or play. Football is like lightning, short, quick blasts of glory, but unless we're talking about the QB it's rarely an idividual player the audience connects with. It's all about the team. Baseball is builds tension like a horror film when it's played perfectly, and it's most remembered and cherished records belong to indiviuals, not teams. Not that teams don't matter, of course.:) It just seems like baseball is experienced differently from any other team sport.
Oh, Jeter. I loved his little speech, and how he had to duck out of the last out because he was nervous about it. It reminded me again of him telling Aaron Boone about the ghosts of Yankee Stadium being out the night he hit that home run; he's such a dork about the mythos and really buys into it. The crowd chanting his name all night gave me chills; I can't imagine what it'll be like when he retires.
And I loved all the old timers (Yogi!), especially Whitey Ford and Larsen taking dirt from the mound right there during the ceremony. Seriously, guys. When Larsen looked around like he was trying to see if anyone was watching I almost *died*.
*sniff* My boys.
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Mere hours until Heroes! Hours! *dances*
sports