It Ain't Football Season Yet

So have I mentioned the New Britain Rock Cats?

Go Red So... uh, I mean Rock Cats!

Like it or not, the proper football season isn't kicking off until mid-August, and something has to fill the void. I wouldn't suggest baseball on TV, which tends to be boring. But what about at the park?

It's amazing what a difference your actual physical presence at a game makes. When you're actually in the park there's something real about the crack of the bat, the dust that gets kicked up by a slide into home plate, and the cheer of a crowd you're smack in the middle of. Baseball on TV has a dreary dreamlike quality to it: you see the game, but it's almost like it isn't really happening. Just a lot of pictures on the screen. No smells of dirt and hot dogs (hopefully not in the same place) and beer and that slight metallic tinge you get from the bleachers. Sounds are muted. There's just no energy to it.

Which is why I find it funny that I'm not sure that I like football in the stadium more than I like watching it at home. The level of passion at an in-person game is intense--even an only partly full Rentschler Field has a gigawatt of spark to it. But foobaw is a tremendously complex game, with multiple camera angles that help viewers understand what just happened in the middle of the clouds of dust and heaps of players, and pauses in the action that are perfect for instant replay. It's more of mental experience at home, and a heady, emotional one on the field. Both are great.

"But coach, they have sharp corners!"

Hmm, did I just fall back into football chat in a post about baseball in a football blog?

In any case, I have fond memories of attending New Britain Red Sox games with my parents and aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents back in the day. And also attending Rock Cats games. I'm not bitter about the 1994 switch to being a Twins affiliate, though I think young me was a little disappointed in it. But this isn't Minnesota's team or Boston's team, it's New Britain's team, and there's a certain pride in supporting the local guys, even if the glamor isn't there.

Check em' out this year. The team is currently sitting at 27-17 and looks like a winner. Meaning they have talent you could be seeing in a different, much more expensive uniform next year.

Anything else good about going to see a ballgame in person? Beer and nachos. Yeah yeah, you could have those at home, but there's a charming, picnic quality to Bud in a plastic cup.