i feel so exciting

the listmaker has been bugging me to post about the mets. i've been more than happy to abstain from writing about them since they've been winning and i didn't want to change my routine. i like to pretend i'm not superstitious, but i totally am. if the mets lose tonight, you know who to blame. what is there to say? i'm excited and nervous and scared and antsy and every 5 minutes it's like i'm having a low blood sugar attack.

so i'd like to share a little story about the first time i ever experienced sports emotions with one china-latina chowhound. it's really not all that interesting and i can't tell stories for shit, but i gotta fill up space. it was back in 1997, when we were young turks living on st. mark's place, right off tompkins square park. we knew it then, but looking back at that place now, man, it was really gross. there were mice and huge water bugs that crawled out of holes in the brick wall that separated the kitchen from living room. we had some great times there - from the 100 ounces of bud party to the time we watched waiting for guffman for the first time to the bubble bobble marathon and my 21st birthday party where isaac hanson went missing and sandi d. made out with steve b. much to everyone's delight (or was it disgust).

the two of us shared a three-bedroom with a third roommate as well as various significant others. we were watching game seven of the world series between the marlins and indians. i believe we were getting heckled by others in our living room for even wanting to watch sports. clc, correct me if i'm wrong since your memory is way better than mine. the marlins staged a big upset to win the series and it was such a joyous moment; we both erupted into tears. and when a strapping young cuban defector named livan hernandez was named the mvp asked how he felt, he so genuinely answered, "I FEEL SO EXCITING" and it would be forever cemented into our heads.

what does this have to do with the mets? i'm not really sure, except that when and if little jose is in the same position and blurts out something similar, you'll just have to excuse me.

the sporting life

my eyes hurt from watching way too much television late night. between the us-mexico wbc game and the gazillion ncaa games, i watched like 6 hours of sports. around midnight, i couldn't even open my lids halfway and yet i could not bring myself to turn off the television while there was still games being shown.

as i've mentioned before, i love the ncaa tournament. baseball may be my favorite sport, but the tournament is probably my favorite sporting event and during it, i probaly get the absolute worst case of sports emotions.* i get sports emotions so frequently and during totally insignificant moments, even i can readily admit how pathetic and silly it is.

the other day we had dvr'ed the korea-us wbc game, but the listing was all messed up and we only got the final 2 hours of it. however, i got a bonus! the dvr wound up taping espn classic's top 20 buzzer beaters in ncaa history. christian laettner's game winning shot in 1992 against kentucky in the regional finals was chosen as the top play. i will never get tired of seeing that highlight. the sports emotions were a-flowin!

any time that dumb song "one shining moment" is played over a montage of ncaa highlights, i absolutely lose it. who is this david barrett that wrote it? does he hang out with lee greenwood? the lyrics are totally corny, but it works so perfectly to capture all the joy and heartbreak off the tourney. i truly look forward to the grand montage they have after the title game to close out the season.

i have the worst headache today.

np: gram parsons

*term coined by beth to describe the feelings one gets while watching sports, often resulting in tears of joy.