Monday, April 11, 2011

My First Giants Game Day, by Katie Jackson

The Giants opening day/weekend was pretty phenomenal. Those first two games mimicked scenes from last season - tons of excitement as well as nail biting last innings. I was fortunate enough to bring a friend of mine to this big ol’ San Bruno tailgate that apparently has been going on every Giants Opening Day for years. It was my first time heading to this tailgate and my friend, Katie Jackson’s first time EVER attending anything Giants related.

You see, my friend Katie Jackson is from the South. She moved back to San Francisco from Alabama just over a year ago and is a big football fan. We’ve chatted for the last year that we needed to do a little baseball schoolin’ and what better day to do that than on Opening Day 2011! While we were hanging at the tailgate, seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of the orange and black clad fans, enjoying the nice weather and bobbing our heads to the sounds of Snoop Dogg, Katie was having a moment. She looked at me and said, I get it, I kinda love this…..

As those words lingered in the air, it clicked. I instantly asked Miss Jackson if she’d like to write up her account of her first ever Giant’s game day. Katie has a fantastic way with words and description and I thought it would be interesting to get her point of view. A little tip when you read this, Katie has a southern drawl that makes everything she says sound a bit poetic and covered in sweet tea. It's not a heavy drawl at all, just nice and easy (like Sunday morning...) so just keep that in mind while reading. Enjoy!









My Giants Moment

.....


It happened. It finally happened. I’m as joyous as dear, little Margaret because evidently there is a God, and It’s here in the city. We met at the Giants’ Opening Day San Bruno Tailgate last Friday. I have been a resident of San Francisco proper on and off since 1995, for a total of about five years. Somehow in this time I’ve never had my baseball moment, let alone my Giants moment. I’ve either been neck deep in a groove somewhere or feeling myself through a paintbrush, I suppose.

I have to attribute my slow affection for sports and mega-fandom to my first love, the Alabama Crimson Tide (RMFTR), whose University I found myself attending to my utter dismay after my first year at City College of San Francisco. Banished home to Mobile after one glorious year of unbridled flying of the freak flag, I hated football. I was an artist, dammit. Football was... common. But by my final semester I too, was swigging Bud Heavy, singing along to David Allan Coe, and getting in line to kiss Shaun Alexander on the cheek at the local bar.

Upon my third and final return to San Francisco in January of last year, I decided to take up a new sport. I had just come from the Mother of All Football Seasons, as both of my teams had won it all: The Tide had taken the BCS National Title, and the Saints finally took the most emotional, cathartic, Super Bowl Victory there ever was in history. (I tear as I write it.) I had officially maxed out in terms of football enthusiasm. 

I began to try to watch and learn baseball, and was enjoying the local enthusiasm for the Giants. However, the 997 games a season were more commitment than I could give, emotionally speaking. Recalling my recent football season, I was played out. I couldn’t find the need, I couldn’t find the energy to go on that many more dates. I mean to any more games. Playing the get-to-know-you game was just not on the menu. But then they won the freaking World Series. I recalled the soaring feeling as one watches the little, beaten, persecuted, all-heart (and mind, and SOUL! HALLELUJAH!) guy slug Goliath in the f*cking nuts. My heart began to warm, and thus, my attraction was finally sparked.

SO when my girl, Urban Baseball Chick hollers at me for a tailgate, I says yes, indeed.

The trip down to the ball park was a little unnerving; I’d started down the path with a hell of a great attitude, but fidgity fiends eyeballing my purse while trying to sell some Jordans for $35 and a guy “showing it to me” from the bushes shook me a little. As I finally met with UBC (I believe I actually jogged when I finally caught her eye behind some big orange wayfarers), the sunshine and masses of orange and black were folding me into them. I was feeling safer and less vulnerable along the walk over the bridge to the Hella Formal Tailgate.

We were presented with commemorative cups and rubber wristbands, as well as a paper wristband denoting the “Bruno Style” of the event. I felt instantly at home. Seconds later I had my fist wrapped around a big Bud Heavy keg tap, and was pulling to my heart’s utter comfort. The DJ was bumping gratuitously obnoxious music of every crowd-loving type, and the grills were ON TIME. Two of them, each about 6’ x 3’ and waist high, were piled deep with chicken, dawgs, and some tasty, tasty roast beef. The ballpark was in the distance, and again, the sun and crowds of black and orange seemed to literally be holding me tightly and petting my head as I nursed my Bud Heavy. So of course, I got emotional. I must have touted “religious” a few hundred times to UBC over the course of the day, never cheapening the moment or diminishing my sincerity. She gets it. She ushered me into the fold. The path before me is humbly paved with orange and black, and I have a whole new wardrobe to create in its likeness and honor. Thank God.


Miss Katie Jackson's first ever San Bruno Tailgate. She's diggin' it.


KJ


**There is one portion of the story that KJ didn't write. We watched the game at a local bar called Zeke's from start to finish. During the game I was going over the players, who was on the DL, etc. and of course professing my love of Pat Burrell. When he came up to bat and I was silently eyeing the poor bastard like he was the last man on earth, Miss Jackson got "it" once again. As she put, he's like the Stetson Man. Why, yes, yes indeed m'aam, he is like the Stetson Man. :) **

Monday, April 4, 2011

Thanks For Your Support Fair Weather Fans! Now You Can Move On and Let The Die Hard's Back In!



Fair Weather Fan:
A fan of a sports team who only shows support when the team is doing well. During hard times they usually bandwagon other teams. They basically have no real loyalty to the team, but still manage to get better seats than you at the game. Strangely they mysteriously vanish at the first sign of trouble.


 How'd you like them Giants? You win a World Series title and now you can only win one game outta four against the Dodgers in your 2011 regular season debut. Well, this is exactly what it means to be a Giants fan. From start to finish, this is the kinda baseball that the Giants play. It's not always pretty and every game is not a winning game, but it's played day in and day out with heart. I give you the example of Aubrey Huff. That guy is 34 and taking one (well.... three, four, five...) for the team because the Boss is out on the DL. His teammates even made fun of him at batting practice before the game on Sunday with a chalk outline of his less-than-graceful right field catches. Honestly, Huff looked like the bad news bears out there making belly flopping catches that I couldn't help but giggle at because who wouldn't laugh at those attempts? But Huff is out there, making a fool of himself just to support his team at whatever the cost.

This is what Giants baseball can look like. This is the team that won the World Series title and had a huge parade last November with millions in attendance, but now it's a new season with some early hurdles to overcome. With that being said, all I can hear is the tick-tock of the fictional clock over the heads of those bandwagoners thinking about how much they can re-sell their tickets for if the G-Men keep playing this way. Don't get me wrong, our pitching was good throughout the four game series, even Zito came through after being in a car accident a few nights before his start, but everyone always looks at the win/loss ratio and right now, it ain't looking too good.

As a long time fan, it's been nice to hear the buzz around town and see so many more Giants t-shirts and paraphanalia out there, but if you are a fan and have gone through year after year, game after game with the team, you honestly want all of those "supporters" to just fall off the face of the planet. Call me a hater, it's fine, cause maybe that's what I am, but I have seriously put in some decent time and energy with the Giants and have sat through games where people have arrived mid-way through and then leave in the 7th inning to get home and all I think is, why'd you show up? Where's your heart?

I know, we're only four games in, but how many of those millions that showed up at the parade or even any of the WS games are singing the praises of our team? Do they even know who is on the DL or who will be pitching agains the Padres tomorrow? There are always room for newbies, and I'm proud to say I brought in a new Giants fan last year who really took to the game and the team. I was proud of him as he rode the Giants wave, even through Lincecum's bad months and Barry Zito's "I have to close my eyes and hold my breath" kinda outings, but how many other 2010 fans could talk about the 2010 Giants prior to September? Just curious.......

Hey, my arms are open wide to the fans who can take the losses with the wins, the belly flops with the homeruns and I hope you will hang on no matter what the ride will bring you. If you can rally then you'll get "it" and maybe even appreciate "it" and realize it's not always about the big win, parade or gimmicks. Just sayin'.