seekingferret (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seekingferret) wrote2013-09-04 10:06 am
seekingferret) wrote2013-09-04 10:06 am
(no subject)
I went to the Yankee game last night with some old college friends. The Stadium, on a almost out of contention September weeknight right after the Labor Day Weekend, was half empty, which was kind of novel.
I kept making jokes about it. 'Half of the stadium is excited right now' when a rally struck, or 'Half of the stadium really wants the game to be over' when the whole crowd got to its feet to cheer Mariano's last strike. But two slightly less frivolous observations:
1.Half-empty Yankee Stadiums are a lot easier to get out of after the game. This pleased me greatly.
2. Yankee Stadium is a great place to watch a game even when it's not a game that matters much, because the fans get it. I've been to probably a third of the major league parks, and there are parks where the fans know what they're doing and parks where they don't have a clue. In Camden Yards, which is a beautiful stadium with great amenities and great views, I watched in bemusement as a rally happened and people continued to sit in their beautiful seats and enjoy their beautiful views. In Toronto the fans get riled up, but only to the beck and call of the Jumbotron's commands. It doesn't take much to get Yankee fans to their feet, to get them riled up, to get them starting chants apart from the Jumbotron. Watching a Yankee team rally in Yankee Stadium is an electric sensation, even in a half-empty park.
Another thing I wanted to talk about, day before Rosh Hashanah, was how weirdly moving it is to gather by the hot dog stand at the seventh inning stretch, while everyone else in the Stadium is listening to Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" and then singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", to pray Ma'ariv, the Evening prayer service, with the other dozen religious Jews who happened to be at the game.
I've written many times here about how I love Judaism as a totalizing system, a prescription for daily life that extends far beyond the holidays everyone knows about. Entering into one of those holy days, it is important, I think, to recall that Rosh Hashanah is a focal point for a much broader tradition. Rosh Hashanah matters, but it matters because of its context within the rest of the year. It is a moment of re-commitment to that whole tradition.
I kept making jokes about it. 'Half of the stadium is excited right now' when a rally struck, or 'Half of the stadium really wants the game to be over' when the whole crowd got to its feet to cheer Mariano's last strike. But two slightly less frivolous observations:
1.Half-empty Yankee Stadiums are a lot easier to get out of after the game. This pleased me greatly.
2. Yankee Stadium is a great place to watch a game even when it's not a game that matters much, because the fans get it. I've been to probably a third of the major league parks, and there are parks where the fans know what they're doing and parks where they don't have a clue. In Camden Yards, which is a beautiful stadium with great amenities and great views, I watched in bemusement as a rally happened and people continued to sit in their beautiful seats and enjoy their beautiful views. In Toronto the fans get riled up, but only to the beck and call of the Jumbotron's commands. It doesn't take much to get Yankee fans to their feet, to get them riled up, to get them starting chants apart from the Jumbotron. Watching a Yankee team rally in Yankee Stadium is an electric sensation, even in a half-empty park.
Another thing I wanted to talk about, day before Rosh Hashanah, was how weirdly moving it is to gather by the hot dog stand at the seventh inning stretch, while everyone else in the Stadium is listening to Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" and then singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", to pray Ma'ariv, the Evening prayer service, with the other dozen religious Jews who happened to be at the game.
I've written many times here about how I love Judaism as a totalizing system, a prescription for daily life that extends far beyond the holidays everyone knows about. Entering into one of those holy days, it is important, I think, to recall that Rosh Hashanah is a focal point for a much broader tradition. Rosh Hashanah matters, but it matters because of its context within the rest of the year. It is a moment of re-commitment to that whole tradition.
no subject
Have you been to Fenway? I always find/found it weird how Massachussans (sp?) are so rabidly against Yankees while New Yorkers don't seem to care about the Sox.
no subject
I've been to Fenway a couple times, always for Yankee-Sox games, which are about the best sporting experience you can get for your money. I don't think it's really true that New Yorkers don't care about the Sox. Most Yankee fans I know hate the Sox. It's the Mets that Yankee fans are pretty apathetic about- I know a lot of Yankee fans who will cheer casually for the Mets when the Yankees aren't playing. I've only met one Yankee fan who rooted for the Sox casually when the Yankees weren't playing, and he was a transplant of some sort with muddled parental loyalties.