I am a sports fan. I particularly love baseball and am passionate about the San Francisco Giants. While their are many teams and schools that I follow and cheer for, the Giants have a special spot in my heart and for them to win the World Series, well, I just can't fathom that because it has been so long since they have done so, long before I was born. While they have had some good moments in my life and some great players, my outlook always becomes, "Wait til next year." I know that when they do win it, I will probably cry.

Knowing this, I go into every season with optimism and this year, that optimism was rewarded. The Giants opened a brand new ballpark, one that is perfect for baseball and has beautiful views of the San Francisco bay. They ended the season with the best record in baseball and looked good going into the playoffs. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to games 1 and 2 and looked forward to sitting with 41,000 other Giants fans, screaming at grown men playing a kid's game. Game 1 was a win for the Giants and elation for me. Game 2 was a different story.

The Giants were down early in game 2 and I felt nervous anticipation the entire game. It came down to the 9th inning. The Giants had two runners on base and the Mets closer was in. Everyone was on their feet, cheering, hoping, wishing for a miracle. One moment, I was nervous, scared of the outcome, the next, I watched J.T. Snow hit a homerun to tie up the game, and joined everyone as we went BERSERK!!! It was incredible! As one announcer put it, he watched 41,000 people simultaneously pee their pants. I was jumping up and down, high fiving the drunks around me, screaming, afraid my knees would give out or that I would hyperventilate. The place was rocking. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes later, this feeling changed as the Mets went back ahead to stay and our joy turned to sorrow. The Giants eventually lost the series and now have to go home and a part of me goes with them. That is a different story.

My thoughts on this go back to the emotions. I know I have never had such extreme swings of emotion in such a short amount of time. Going from worry, to pure, unbridled joy, to sorrow in about 15 minutes is very draining on you. The only comparable experiences that I can think would be similar probably involve birth and/or death. Emotions are a strange thing and can affect us through sensory stimulation, like what I went through, and can mess with you chemically, such as with mental disorders. Has anyone ever had such an experience, sports or otherwise? I'm guessing that if you have, it was for something you were passionate about.

Fer"Wait til next year, Giants, wait til next year"rick