[5/12/23] #27 - The Beauty Of It All

[5/12/23] The Beauty Of It All

I was reminded of a really incredible time in my life today. I wanted to try to relay some of my most cherished memories.

I don't know if I was supposed to be in love with sports betting but I am endlessly romantic about my relationship with sports.

My mom let me stay up for the CU buffs vs N.Dame champ game despite it being a school night. We were going to move there after all, someday. I didn't know who to root for with my sox or Celtics not being involved but mom was insistent Colorado was the right side.

My earliest live pro sporting event memory involves Rob Deer hitting a home run off Clemens and the next batter got plunked and charged the mound with bat in hand and the Sox catcher tackled him and a brawl broke out.

My stepdad and his friends along with the entire bleachers in right field thought this was the best thing ever. I just remember thinking Clemens better not get hurt!! He was my hero.

Fast forward a decade I met one of my best friends. Paul was a chess master who had no real job and we would take refuge in a goth bar where they allowed free refills for chess players. I met many friends at Cafe Netherworld but Paul and I were inseparable every summer night.

Besides his skill at a chess table he played a integral part of my young adulthood. No one, I mean no one loved going to Coors field as soon as the gates would open and we would stay well into the night even if it was a complete blowout or the bugs were out.

Right field box, section 109 ushers Bill on weekdays and Allison (still there) on weekends. Best seats as you can peer into the bullpen and also hear the leather get hit by a ball closing in on 100 MPH as relievers ready.

We went to 43 games in 2009 the year of the run. Game 163 where Holliday knocked himself out on homeplate & the most alive I've ever felt in my life.

We sat in the Mezzanine for that game. We were fairly broke and our normal $17 ticket was something like $150. Didn't matter that night

We froze to watch Philly (playoffs) beat us and it was so cold that every usher gave out hot chocolate every night. We were nosebleeding at this point haha, who cared.

Here's some highlights of my second favorite place on earth which is 20th and Blake.

Rick Ankiel throwing out the 2 fastest runners on the Rockies at 3rd from right field in the same game. 300 feet on a rope.

Thome hitting it completely out of the park. Heltons 300th double same game.

Fuentes walking the bases loaded and then striking out the side in back to back games. Why did they let him keep closing games??

Pre humidor game between marlins and rox 21-15. I didn't bring sunscreen & some girl I was dating stole someone's aloe plant to help me that night.

Entire stadium doing the Tulo chant and the bleachers would shake.

Ubaldos dominance and the blackout on the 3rd pitch of the NLDS... I could go on and on.

My dear friend got fired over a Rockies game. He called in and was playing hookie from a job he didn't enjoy for whatever reason. Rain delay and we just decided to sit right behind home plate with no one at the game. Guess who was on TV every inning for 3 hours?? He forgot his supervisor was a die hard rox fan, doh.

Paul is now a engineer and like most good Rockies fans is in a boycott until the owners put a better team on the field.

He goes to some avs games but mostly devotes his time to his wife and spending time with his tribe in Alaska 4-6 times a yr.

I still sneak into a game with a scalped ticket once or twice a month. I feel a need to say hello to all the ball park employees who are friends at this point.

This year many employees moved on with less hours, with the shortening of the games workers were a after thought. The season ticket seats sit vacant sadly as well.

Brady and I met on a hiking trip to Brazil in 2015. I had just hiked 10 14ers that summer we arrived with a group of 6 ready to see what Rio was like and see what the hype of Brazil's trails held.

Rio's parties overtook any serious hiking to be transparent but a bond was formed around plans to attend nuggets and avs games, as many as possible.

We suffered through the bad years. We went to a game once where a couple of Nuggets PR people asked us to move up so the arena would look more full.

We saw some iconic stuff too. Lebron in his prime, Kobe killing our G league Roster, JR Smith revenge game.. again could go on forever.

I think this last 2 years I'm watching the best basketball player that I've ever seen in Jokic. I've been to 33 games and have never left unimpressed beyond description of watching a live artist filling out a canvas.

Brady quit his job and all the security it held to start a business of his own so he can now go to as many games as he wants... That his woman will allow, I digress.

We have added Teddy, Pat and we all try to all go as much as possible. I prefer fans over bettors when watching games but prefer bettors to talk games which is odd I suppose.

I never get tired of going to games. I never tire of watching games, researching games, talking about great games.

I don't get the thrill I once did from watching a great do great things. I've gotten spoiled. Spoiled by the beauty of it all. Truly spoiled in life.

Will report from my first Western Conference and with any luck my first live finals experience soon enough.

Enjoy it...the game. All of it.

Thank you to all as always for the space. Your friend, Eddie