Folks, if you don't like baseball, then you don't need to be around the Bay Area right about now. The Giants are really in the thick of it...half a game out for the lead in the National League West, about that for the Wild Card...lots of games at home, and Dem Dodger Bums from LA are in town. Sadly, we have their best pitchers going against us right now, and the Boys in Orange and Black are having a tough go of it. But we have our best pitchers going for us, too, so it's been a tight, well-played series thus far. Last night the Giants lost 1-0; the one run came in via an error. Tonight, there's no score, and right now it's the bottom of the 6th.

For those that have zero knowledge of America's Pasttime, it's like watching a nil-nil soccer match, but there cannot be a tie game. You go until someone wins. And it's the end of the season.

Truly, I love sports, but baseball has always been closest to my heart. I used to listen to the radio broadcasts as a child: while doing homework, while in my room, even when I was at the game itself. I would live for the games to be on the tv, so that I could watch my favorite team. I played summer co-ed leagues as a kid, and always played catch with my parents. We would go to several games each summer, cheering the boys on.

Of course, if you're a Giants fan, you know that the team has been cursed since they came out to California from New York City in 1958. The story goes that the Dodgers and the Giants decided to move out to California at the same time. The Dodger owners told the fan base early on, and gave the fans time to say goodbye--they didn't want to see their team go 3000 miles west, but at least they could see the team off. The Giants owners supposedly didn't announce the decision until right at the very end of the season...and the New York Giants fans put a curse on the team, that for as long as they would make their home in California, the team would never win another World Series. So what's happened? 1989, an earthquake erupts *in the middle of the series*...see? Even Mother Nature is against us. 2002 was the other recent chance...it still hurts. I don't want to talk about it.

Anyway, the awesome part is that now in the new place, I have my couch in front of the tv, my footrest nearby...my kitchen is stocked, and I'm ready to sit and watch the game. My boys are going to go all the way...I can feel it. Unless, of course, the Fates decide that it's not meant to be. But c'mon...the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, the White Sox broke their curse in 2005...time to break this one, too. Just as long as it's before the Cubs break their curse...and that ain't happening any time soon.