N L C S

The Phillies/Dodgers game last Friday was a great experience.

Citizen's Bank Park was a blur of rally towels and RBIs by the fightin' Phils. The sellout crowd particularly enjoyed Bret Myers' d.i.y. approach at the plate as he helped himself with three hits (all on the first pitch) to drive in three runs. Incidentally, the end score was PHI:8-LA:5 after "Lights Out" Lidge applied the final touches to earn his 45th consecutive save. That put Philly up two games to none in this series.

The weather was perfect, and the seats were decent. Drank some beers, waved the rally towel, threw a few high fives. I know Davy had a blast; the thorough shaking I received when the Phils went ahead was a good indicator.


Last night Phils went up 3-1 in the NLCS, making a trip to the Fall Classic very likely.


P.S. - I was a little disappointed (none surprised) by a few "Manny Sucks" chants to greet Manny Ramirez coming to bat. I am generally hesitant about collective recitation, as it tends to appeal to the worst parts of our nature. Needless to say, sports arenas are quintessential for mindless crowd-speak. Groups often succumb to the boorish behavior of a few, even when it makes most of us uncomfortable (as anyone who went to junior-high or has worked at Parcels knows).

Also, the FOX broadcasts of this series have been abusive (and exclusive) in their alternating employment of the "Rocky" tune and "I love L.A." as cut music. The height of cliche, the lowest of denominators.