Goosebumps

You know, I've tried friendship, family, and religion, but nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever brought me quite the happiness that these six minutes of videotape do. *

As anyone who knows me well can attest, I'm a huge sports fan, but not a HUGE SPORTS FAN. I don't don jerseys or scream at the TV in sports bars, and my email address isn't 'COWBOYFAN1@hotmail.com. In fact, it's long been my contention that with the advent of fantasy sports, traditional fandom is an outdated concept. In this day and age, we don't root for teams, we root for events, because that 12-yard catch by Tampa Bay's tight end might win you 5o bucks this week in one of your 5 fantasy leagues. And to be fair, I'm just as guilty as most. Whereas a Cowboy loss would destroy me as a 12 year old, I'll now gladly accept it if it means my fantasy team kicker nailed a 50 yarder at the final whistle to beat them.

Then there's the Phillies. Try as I might, I just can't shake them. For as long as I can remember, a day hasn't ended between April and October when I haven't had to find the answer to the question, "Did the Phils win tonight?" More often that not, the answer has been no.

As I'm sure you're aware, the Phillies recently lost their 10,000 game, the first professional franchise to do so. They've won ONE World Series in their 120-year existence. And the last time they were in the playoffs, I was a freshman in college, Jurrasic Park was rocking our world, and Dean Gray had a full head of lustrous hair.

Then again, all that losing has made it easy to love the Phils. You can't get disappointed when you always expect the worse.

I'm going to shut up now, because I want you to just watch the video and enjoy. I promise, this will never, ever, get old.

* May be an embellishment

14 years...14 long, long years.

More on this later...