Baseball

That's right, folks. It's baseball season once again. And while my Red Sox have been doing poorly (they're 5-9 as of right now), I'm still so happy that baseball is back that I almost don't care.

The beautiful thing about the beginning of the season is that anything can happen. Sure, we've gotten off to a rough start, but there are still 147 games left (after tonight's, which is currently tied) in the season. Anything could happen.

I know that a lot of people think baseball is stupid, but it really is my favorite sport. I adore football, I go kind of crazy when March Madness comes around, and I may have a crush on the Olympics, but baseball will always be my first love, and the love of my life. It's the sport I have the most experience with (I played softball for eight years, and I started going to minor league games when I was really young) and it's the one I care most about.

There's something about going to a game, about sitting in the sun with a cap on, eating cotton candy and spiedies, cheering, hearing the booming voice of the announcer and the hitter's music...I love the atmosphere of a stadium. There's nothing quite like watching a home run, or seeing a shortstop turn an incredible double play. I think I would probably live there, if it had cleaner bathrooms.

I also love baseball because it'll never leave you. Even if you miss a game, the team will always be there tomorrow, trying again to make history, or just the highlight reel. They'll be there every summer, ready for you when you get home from work at night, or on TV at just the right time when you've got the day off.

The bookends of the season (Opening Day until mid-May, and late August until the World Series) are always either really exciting or really tough. But the sweet spot, the middle of the season, when anything is possible...that's my favorite part of the year. It's hot, sunny, and my Sox still have a chance. To me, baseball and summer go hand in hand, and always will.

Being a Red Sox fan in NYC isn't always easy, especially last year when the Yankees won the Series. I walked through Union Square, past throngs of people celebrating and cheering, and I felt so disappointed. But I know that this season is a clean slate, and I can't wait.

Insanity!

This week is crazy, all the way around.

I feel like professors are mad that we had a week off for spring break, and therefore are determined to make us do an obscene amount of work this week to make up for it. For one class alone, I have two papers due: one this Friday, and one next Monday! What?!?!

But I digress.

Last Sunday I did something I've been waiting to do for quite a while: I walked from my dorm, to the Brooklyn Bridge, across it, and then back across and all the way back home. The entire walk is about 3.5-4 miles (about the same amount I walk when I go to the gym or when I walk the hills at home) so it was a nice alternative to being in the basement of Palladium on such a nice sunny day.

I hadn't been downtown in quite a while, and I had never taken that route before, so it was really interesting to see a part of the city that was unknown to me beforehand. That's one of my favorite things about living here: having the opportunity to go discover something new about the city every day. I walked down Lafayette Street, passing the Laf dorm, where quite a few people I know live. I have some friends there, but I've never actually been in the dorm; it's really far from campus, there isn't much to do in that area (it's awkwardly sandwiched in lower Chinatown, close to the Financial District), and almost everyone else I'm friends with lives in the Union Square area.

The nicest thing about the walk, though, was crossing the bridge. I arrived there relatively early in the morning (around 10:45), so I was able to actually take some time to look at the sights without a ton of tourists around. It's definitely one of the best viewpoints around for seeing all the big landmarks: the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, etc...and of course the photos you could take of the bridge itself would probably be stunning. This was only the second time I'd walked the bridge- the first time was on one of the hottest days EVER, I was wearing the absolute worst clothes possible, and I was with people I could have done without. Needless to say, this was a much more enjoyable experience. I'm probably going to make this walk a regular thing, now that it's getting nicer outside. I'd so much rather be outside in the sun than in the gym!

This weekend is jam-packed with things going on. I'm working all day Friday, Mass Transit has their show on Friday night, and then Saturday night is Richie's show. Somewhere in there I have to fit in writing two papers, a few parties, and celebrating my dear best friend's birthday (he's going to be twenty! that means I'm going to be twenty soon! eek!)...I'm sure that somehow, it'll all get done. I hope.

Syracuse is playing again tomorrow, at 7:00. They're up against Butler. This is definitely going to be their toughest game yet, but I'll be rooting them on. I'll definitely be wearing my Orange shirt all day, just like on all the other game days, and it seems to be a good luck charm so far. If they lose, my bracket will really be worthless. Of the teams in the Sweet 16, only 6 of them were the ones I chose in my bracket. But at least I'm not the only one with a worthless bracket; it seems like everyone is having a rough go of it this year.

An Obligatory Post About The Nice Weather

Yes, it's been absolutely gorgeous outside this week. I love spring, and even though it freaks me out a little that it hits the high 60s while still technically winter, you won't find me complaining.

One of the reasons that the nice weather is so...nice...is that my boss appreciates it as much as I do. He's let me leave at least an hour early every day this week because he thinks that one of us should be outside in the sun. And also, we're not busy at all, since it's spring break week.

I'm currently watching the Syracuse-Vermont game...I've resisted the urge to liveblog the whole thing because no one needs that much basketball commentary from me. They're doing extremely well (currently have a 25 point lead), which is excellent. I wore my Orange shirt today and got a lot of blank looks from the people I work with (I think they think it's supposed to be ironic, since the shirt itself is orange and it says Orange on it...sigh...working in the Math department of a school that cares nothing about sports is really frustrating sometimes) but I was stopped quite a few times by the guys doing construction around the building to talk about basketball. One guy even yelled "GO CUSE!" while I was walking down the street. Giggle.

Tomorrow's plan is to go to the Met and Central Park, since I haven't been up that way in quite a while. It's supposed to be beautiful again tomorrow, with a high of 71, so I'm looking forward to spending the day enjoying the sunshine. I also need to get some cleaning done (my room looks like a tornado hit), so it should be a nice busy day.

This weekend is going to be pretty relaxing overall. I've got a busy week next week, along with quite a full weekend, so it'll be nice to have a few days to decompress before "real life" starts again.