Destiny?
You know the one about never leaving the ballpark early because you might see something you've never seen before? Well, it happened last night: against my better judgement I 'left' the Devil Rays / Blue Jays game after a couple of innings to go watch England play Portugal in the quarter-final of Euro 2004, and I paid the price. The Devil Rays rapped out a franchise-record 24 hits on their way to a 19-13 victory (a score reminiscent of some - in fact, most - of the games our ballclub has played this season...).
To make matters worse, I made a 50-mile round-trip to watch the England game with Tim, a friend who is a die-hard England fan, only to see them crash out of the tournament after a penalty shoot-out.
For a moment during the game, I got a brief glimpse of what it must be like to be a member of Red Sox Nation. I'd told Tim that I wasn't going to watch the game with him, because we've been there too many times before - England playing crucial games in the latter stages of major soccer competitions and losing them in penalty shoot-outs - and this is the reply I received:
"There'll be lots more Tampa Bay / Torontos to enjoy during your lifetime. England taking on the host country in the quarter-final of a Euro tournament... it's perhaps not a one-off but definitely a rare delight. I suggest therefore that you opt for the football! What if it all goes horribly right for once? You wouldn't want to miss out on it...".
So I watched the game, and as the penalty shoot-out drew closer, there was a sense of impending doom. Just as Red Sox fans know that no lead against the Yankees is safe, so I knew that the penalties were a disaster waiting to happen - it was just a case of waiting to see which player the gods would choose to carry the weight of England's guilt and misfortune for another two years. In the end, the gods demonstrated a delicious sense of irony in choosing a footballing legend, but it didn't really matter, because we knew there was the game was lost before it ever began. Just like Bill Buckner and Grady Little, Beckham was merely an unwitting bit-player in a much bigger ongoing tragedy...
To make matters worse, I made a 50-mile round-trip to watch the England game with Tim, a friend who is a die-hard England fan, only to see them crash out of the tournament after a penalty shoot-out.
For a moment during the game, I got a brief glimpse of what it must be like to be a member of Red Sox Nation. I'd told Tim that I wasn't going to watch the game with him, because we've been there too many times before - England playing crucial games in the latter stages of major soccer competitions and losing them in penalty shoot-outs - and this is the reply I received:
"There'll be lots more Tampa Bay / Torontos to enjoy during your lifetime. England taking on the host country in the quarter-final of a Euro tournament... it's perhaps not a one-off but definitely a rare delight. I suggest therefore that you opt for the football! What if it all goes horribly right for once? You wouldn't want to miss out on it...".
So I watched the game, and as the penalty shoot-out drew closer, there was a sense of impending doom. Just as Red Sox fans know that no lead against the Yankees is safe, so I knew that the penalties were a disaster waiting to happen - it was just a case of waiting to see which player the gods would choose to carry the weight of England's guilt and misfortune for another two years. In the end, the gods demonstrated a delicious sense of irony in choosing a footballing legend, but it didn't really matter, because we knew there was the game was lost before it ever began. Just like Bill Buckner and Grady Little, Beckham was merely an unwitting bit-player in a much bigger ongoing tragedy...
posted by Iain at
09:11
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