Oh Happy Day

Last February, I received an email from a friend-of-a-friend of the publisher at Philadelphia magazine who wanted to know if The Daily Examiner, the Philly mag blog I was writing for at the time, would be interested in having weekly interviews with Shane Victorino throughout spring training. The guy told me Victorino was trying to increase his profile going into the season as the Phillies new center fielder. The goofy Flyin' Hawaiian was replacing Aaron Rowand, who was coming off career year at the plate and a man who'd endeared himself to the Philly cretins for all eternity after h e smashed his face into center field wall. "He wants the fans to like him and get to know him," the guy said. It seems incredibly silly to think about that now. In fact, until I'd typed his name, I had almost completely forgotten about Aaron Rowand. I think Shane did his job. But you forget about a lot of things at this moment, after the third out, when the team is jumping around on the field and there are screams of joy outside the window and car horns blaring. This is good. I'm full of three-quarters a bottle of Robitussin Night Time right now, but I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same exact way if I hadn't. In fact, Heather O'Rourke could jump out of the television right now and start gnawing my leg and I don't think I'd blink. The Phillies are National League Champions. Oh happy day. See you tomorrow. Oh and thanks to the guy who sent me the dejected photo of Pat Sajak.

PHOTO: Philly.com