So yeah, I still wound up getting interviewed live on the radio after the game.

The reporter was sitting next to HomeFine and I with either his girlfriend or his producer. Homey made some conversation with them, giving them some of his beer and I guess they were close enough to be impressed by running commentary of the game, not to mention firm understanding of the Momensity of It All, that he felt like I would be the one to turn to. So he asked me if I could be interviewed after the game.

I actually hate being involved in any sort of thing where I'd be asked a question by a reporter (not that it happens that often) only because it's nearly impossible to not come off looking like an idiot. No matter how intelligent you are, if a camera's stuck in your face and you have ten-fifteen seconds to say something, you're not gonna come up with "Eich ben en Berliner" or something like that. But, last night, I decided to take up that task. I was in a good mood, the Giants were winning, I was pretty buzzed, and it sounded kind of cool. How many other times do you get broadcast throughout the radio universe about something like baseball. I mean, it's not politics or anything, it's baseball.

But what to say? I actually sat there, for parts of the game, figuring out what I'd tell him. I mean, there's a lot of pressure on me. Here I was, being asked innings before the end of the game to sum up not only feelings, but those of every Giants fan across the world. That's a lot of people I have to speak for, and being the witty, clever, brilliant word-craftsman that I am, besides being a die-hard fan, I had to do a good job. The last thing I wanted to do was go up there and say something like "ummm, well, it, was like a great game, and ummm…..go Giants!" Finally, after much contemplation, I came up with something I thought would work. I'd say what I've been pretty much saying here- how it's hard to really say what I feel and that I'm not used to it and how cool it is that something that you get to see everywhere else through the years is actually happening here, with the Giants, and to me, a Giants fan. Not bad.

As we all know, I never had a chance to say it. As the game went from bad to ugly, I started thinking that I had to work on something else. I felt like all those sports-writers at the game, having to completely rewrite they're lead as that damn Monkey worked his mojo. And while all this bad stuff was going on, part of me was working on my really pithy thing to say, knowing I didn't really know to say. What do you say other than "ugh" and "I feel sick."

As the game ended and the crowd quietly just got up and left, the reporter showed up in front of me, mic in hand. My big moment. I said the only thing I could come up with, how it felt like it was like waking up Christmas Morning to find out that Christmas had been cancelled (this out of the mouth of a nice Jewish boy). He then asked me how I felt about Game 7. Now, I knew that I was supposed to say something like "I know we'll get them tomorrow, go Giants!" but I couldn't say it. I mean, how can you really say that when you're team blows a five run lead in the 7th inning? How does that happen? So I said what I really, felt, that tomorrow (today) was gonna be a long day.

Looking back on it, maybe I was a little to bleak. Maybe I should have said "we'll win it tomorrow, go Giants!" but I didn't. I wish I could say I was being ultra-clever and going with my usual rule that if I say one thing, the opposite always happens (trust me, it's true). But in all honesty, I have no idea what's gonna happen tonight.

Sports teaches you about the importance of faith, especially in baseball. You need to have it in order to get by (unless, of course, you're a Cubs fan or, come to think of it, a Warrios fan). You have to think that it'll all work out in the end and that someday, somehow, your side will win because other-wise, it's impossible to be a fan. I can't, however, say I have a lot of faith, in life and in sports. I also know that another thing sports teaches you that heartbreak is a natural part of life, that sometimes awful things happen for no reason and it doesn't all end for the best. Hell, I was (is?) a Browns fan. I've sat through Red-Right 88, the Drive, the Fumble and the Move to Baltimore. And as a Giants fan, I watched them have a 3-2 lead in '87 and not score a run in Games 6 & 7 to lose to the Cardinals. I watched them win 103 games in '93 and still not make the playoffs.

I am not big on faith.

Go Giants!