A Win For Us

As a part of the celebration of my fiftieth birthday, some friends and family went out to the ballpark to watch the Oakland A's take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. On a Thursday afternoon, the stadium was less than full, but we were admonished by an usher to clear out of the seats just behind the ones we had purchased. Perhaps there was a party on their way down to those seats and we were intimidating them away from their rightfully purchased place. Being courteous fans, we obliged. As the game wore on, a pitcher's duel that reached the late innings in a one-all tie, we became aware of the preponderance of Dodger Blue filling the stands in Green and Yellow Oakland. The score was still tied in the eighth inning when one of those blue and white clad individuals plopped down in the row behind us and began to spout drunken fan rhetoric that let us know just exactly how badly he wanted his team to win, and how boorish he could be about showing it. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodger's relief pitcher walked one batter, made a wild pitch to advance the runner, and failed to field a bunt on the second Oakland batter. This outraged the man in blue, but he kept his hooting and hollering up, right until the third batter yanked one over the left field fence. The A's won on a walkoff three run homer. The noise behind us diminished abruptly as Mister Dodger grumbled toward the exit. A very satisfying and cathartic ending to our day at the stadium.
And that's what I thought about when I read the verdict on Jerry Sandusky. Guilty, guilty,guilty. There was nothing that would save this man in Blue and White. He's done. Forty-five counts of evil, predatory conduct that will send him away for more than four hundred years. Satisfying and cathartic. Our team won.