Life Lessons in Philadelphia Fandom: Nothing Comes Easy

So, Leitch just asked me this question: What would be worse — if the Phillies won the World Series on the five-inning mother nature rule or if they go on to lose this thing in 7 after this? I had to think about it. Obviously, if the Phillies lose this outright in the next three games (whenever those happen), the notion that this city's sports teams are perennially doomed to fail could reach a whole new level: This isn't a black cat or Bartman or Babe Ruth — this is GOD. Yeah, HE did this to us. Probably for pouring beer on children and cornering a terrified Rays fan in a bathroom stall. But the Phillies couldn't win the World Series on the count of a rain-shortened game. That wouldn't be right. The remarkable thing about this evening is that, for whatever reason, the driving rain, swirling win and puddles on the infield for two-plus innings seemed nonexistent to Major League Baseball. I think during the bottom of the fifth inning, the grounds crew actually covered second base with an old bag of the stinky sawdust stuff elementary school janitors use to clean up kiddie vomit. The whole night had a tense, eerie feel to it. Something wasn't right. My father was cranky from the opening pitch because the people in the first three rows were standing up waving rally towels. "Down in front!" he yelled, oh, ten times. (Who says that anymore?) "You know, this is the World Series. Why don't you just stand up?" I said. "Well, I cant' see!" We did this routine twice. So, now, he says he's not going tomorrow, after shivering in the standing room only section for 90 minutes which we retreated to around the top of the third because the rain made it impossible to see anything from our top tier seats. I hope he changes his mind. I want my Mitch Albom moment, dammit. The other most disappointing thing to happen this evening was the fact that Sussman''s live blog didn't show "This Week In Baseball" reruns on Hulu during the rain delay. He's so fucking fired. Now I'm going to go dry off and try to figure out what sort of emotion to approach the day with tomorrow. I'm leaning towards pensive. See you tomorrow... Reign Delayed [Philly.com]