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Take me out to the ballgame

Congratulations to Curt Schilling. Congratulations to Luis Gonzalez. Congratulations to the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

Goodnight Yankees.

A Mets fan watched in anticipation as the Diamondbacks and the Yankees are tied at the bottom of the ninth. “I hate the Yankees,” she said, rooting for the Arizona team 3,000 miles away, “but i feel like New York really needs this win.” As if New York, the target of a massive terrorist attack, would somehow be magically healed by a win from the Yankees. And with those fighting words, Gonzalez got the winning hit making the Arizona Diamondbacks the youngest team ever to win the World Series in just their fourth year of existence.

So what of New York? Are we any worse off since our beloved, invincible team has lost the title of number one; a win which would have been their fourth in a row and the fifth in six years? The Sept. 11 attacks were not just against New York. The entire nation suffered as a result. We all need to heal.

This widespread belief that the Yankees needed to win for their city is ridiculous. I’ve heard everyone from famous sports personalities to the average Joe saying, “how can you not root for the Yankees after Sept. 11? Sure, a win would’ve made New Yorkers a little happier, but are they the only sports fans who needed a little extra joy?

Whether a Diamondbacks fan, a Yankees hater (Red Sox / Mets fan), or a Yankees fan, you have to admit this was one of the best World Series ever, with four of the games coming down to the wire. If you weren’t on the edge of your seat during the ninth inning of game seven, not to mention games four and five, you should check to make sure you have a pulse.

The entire nation needed to thrive from these games. The same way that we have blurred the partisan lines of Republican and Democrat in the wake of tragedy so too we need to blur the lines of Diamondbacks and Yankees fans.

We are all Americans and baseball is the great American pastime. The series brought us together for 10 glorious days. Whether we sat in front of the television with friends or spent the evening in the local sports bar with a pitcher or two, the games helped us to forget our worries of everyday life, while at the same time celebrating our being Americans.

The television ratings for the series were 26 percent higher than last year, as many Americans embraced some good old, healthy competition, and some great baseball, while still taking the time out to remember our citizens, friends, and family members lost because of the actions of terrorists.

The World Series helped us to remember, yet move on. They don’t play take me out to the Ball Game anymore, they play God Bless America. Buy me some goddamn peanuts and crackerjacks. Please.