TORONTO FANS ARE AWESOME

Saturday, June 18th I took my girlfriend (and after the game fiancé…thank you) to the Reds/ Blue Jays game. I have a few observations on the evening. First of all, scalping is awesome. We paid $25 per seat to sit 17 rows from 3rd base. Secondly, Blue Jays fans are awesome and travel incredibly well. And third, the Reds don’t seem to really care at this point.


I was really surprised to see as many Blue Jays fans at the game as what I did. There were several in our section, including one wearing a Canadian flag one in a Nacho Libre-style wrestling mask, and they all stood up and begged for a souvenir each time the Blue Jays retreated to their dug out after a defensive inning. I have always heard that the nicest people in this country come from the Midwest and Canadians are famously polite. So what happens when you have a group of Canadians at an Ohio sporting event? Pure awesomeness. I had a running conversation with a group of 4 guys from Toronto throughout the night about Joey Votto, the NL vs AL rules, Corey Patterson, the best parks in baseball, Molson vs. Labatts, and so on. We each rooted for our teams, talked a little smack on the other and shook hands at the end of the game. I honestly wished our kids were at the game to see how to be an honest sports fan. And then, the post game happened…


After the game, the girlfriend (at the time) and I went downtown for some drinks and an appetizer. We sat outside by a fountain and spotted the Blue Jays closer Jon Rauch walking into the restaurant. Not being a huge BJ fan (strike that) Blue Jay fan, I decided against asking for an autograph, but will tell you the dude is huge. We sat next to a group of younger Reds fans (early 20’s) who had plenty to drink for the night. Out of nowhere, the exact group that sat behind us from Toronto from the game came into the restaurant. Unfortunately, the drunk 20 year olds spotted them and heckeled them to the point where I actually told them “guys, those people are actually really cool and came here from Canada to watch some baseball. They had a really good time tonight and have been really impressed with the city of Cincinnati, give them a break”. That was not well received and they continued to heckle to the point that the manager asked them to leave. That being said, I was terribly disappointed because I truly felt like we had reached a new level in sports fandom. Isn’t it sad when someone is hurt for wearing the opposing teams jersey to a game? Isn’t it sad that you can’t go to a city where your team is visiting and grab a burger and a beer post-game. It is absolutely barbaric and that is why I am “outside the inside of sports” because as much as I love sports…they are just games.


Anyway, as far as the game goes, it was disappointing. The Reds had a great 2010…and they seem to be pleased with making the playoffs last year and then looking like a deer in headlights in the post season. The highlights of the game: Chris Heisey played well in left field, Edinson Volquez pitched well (but got a lot of criticism from the local media), and the stadium did have a bit of a buzz even if it didn’t come until the eighth inning and I thought we had a legitimate shot at a comeback. The downside: outside of Heisey and Volquez nobody really seemed to care to play baseball on Saturday June 18th, an American League team came into a National League stadium and put on a 3 game clinic in how to play small ball (embarrassing), and the less than 10% crowd of Blue Jay fans showed more enthusiasm than any Red fan or player in the park.


On a parting personal note I will add the following. I did ask my girlfriend to marry me following the game. It did not go according to plan, it was awkward, and spectacular all at the same time. Cincinnati always has had a special place in our relationship because of the Reds. After passing my boards for my medical profession she told me to block out a certain weekend and she was kidnapping me. She took me to a Reds game, we fell in love, and I knew that was where I was going to propose. You will get to know her as I have asked her to write 1 entry every 2 weeks to capture the true spirit of “Outside the Inside of Sports”. However, I wanted to share the story because as much disappointment I felt from the society of sports at the restaurant while the Reds fans were badgering the Blue Jay fans, I felt a proportionate amount of joy in the realization that one of the most important events of my life is connected to the culture of sports.