HOUSTON I
The classic Cubs rivals are the St. Louis Cardinals and whenever these two teams meet, it's a wild ride. The rivalry is pretty amiable though, nothing like Boston and New York. For a perspective of this amiableness, think back to the delightful 1998 season when Cardinals first baseman, Mark McGuire, and Cubs right fielder, Sammy Sosa, competed with great aplomb and camaraderie to be the first to exceed Babe Ruth's homerun record. Can you imagine, say Boston's Manny Ramirez and NY's Alex Rodriguez, chasing a similar goal with anything close to civility?
For an old fashioned feud and "hate your guts" rivalry, I look to Houston. I can't vouch that all of Cubs Nation feels this way and should admit that part of my "hate your guts" enthusiasm has to do with my proximity to the Mosquito Swamp
(official slogans for Houston have included "The Bayou City," "Houston's Hot," "The Real Texas," "SpaceCity" and, most recently, "Houston, It's Worth It"; my favorite Houston slogan actually comes from San Antonio: "Thank God we're not Houston"). Austinites in general don't love their eastern neighbors and can point all the way back to 1842 for reasons why. In that year, Sam Houston ordered his men to steal the government archives from Austin and relocate them--and, in effect, the Texas capitol--to Houston. Fortunately, Mrs. Angelina Eberly (Big Mama, as Andrew and I have been calling her thanks to the looming intensity of her statue on Congress Ave.) fired a canon to alert fellow Austinites of the events in progress. The town rallied, captured the thieves, returned the documents to their rightful place, and celebrated with a big, howlin' party (The Archives War - Texas State Library and Archives Commission).
Despite my lack of goodwill for Houston (or maybe because of it) I travel there frequently to see the Cubs and the Astros battle it out. I'm always anxiously hopeful in these match ups, but as often as not, Houston has our number. Tonight, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux will duel it out. It's the first time in 17 years that two pitchers with more than 300 wins have faced off. Roger Clemens has pitched four games this year and has a ridiculously low ERA of 0.32. The good news is that he's only been credited with a single win as the Astros bats and bullpen have not backed him up. The same can be said for Greg Maddux who has been pitching well but still in search of his first victory. My gut says this game is going to be close. My stomach is already tying itself in knots.
Our seats for tonight's game are about 30 rows behind home plate, slightly on the first base side. I've rented a couple 35mm lenses (one a high power zoom, the other a nice wide angle) and expect to get some great shots over the next two days. My friend Ryan picks me up in an hour. Go Cubs!
For an old fashioned feud and "hate your guts" rivalry, I look to Houston. I can't vouch that all of Cubs Nation feels this way and should admit that part of my "hate your guts" enthusiasm has to do with my proximity to the Mosquito Swamp
(official slogans for Houston have included "The Bayou City," "Houston's Hot," "The Real Texas," "SpaceCity" and, most recently, "Houston, It's Worth It"; my favorite Houston slogan actually comes from San Antonio: "Thank God we're not Houston"). Austinites in general don't love their eastern neighbors and can point all the way back to 1842 for reasons why. In that year, Sam Houston ordered his men to steal the government archives from Austin and relocate them--and, in effect, the Texas capitol--to Houston. Fortunately, Mrs. Angelina Eberly (Big Mama, as Andrew and I have been calling her thanks to the looming intensity of her statue on Congress Ave.) fired a canon to alert fellow Austinites of the events in progress. The town rallied, captured the thieves, returned the documents to their rightful place, and celebrated with a big, howlin' party (The Archives War - Texas State Library and Archives Commission).Despite my lack of goodwill for Houston (or maybe because of it) I travel there frequently to see the Cubs and the Astros battle it out. I'm always anxiously hopeful in these match ups, but as often as not, Houston has our number. Tonight, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux will duel it out. It's the first time in 17 years that two pitchers with more than 300 wins have faced off. Roger Clemens has pitched four games this year and has a ridiculously low ERA of 0.32. The good news is that he's only been credited with a single win as the Astros bats and bullpen have not backed him up. The same can be said for Greg Maddux who has been pitching well but still in search of his first victory. My gut says this game is going to be close. My stomach is already tying itself in knots.
Our seats for tonight's game are about 30 rows behind home plate, slightly on the first base side. I've rented a couple 35mm lenses (one a high power zoom, the other a nice wide angle) and expect to get some great shots over the next two days. My friend Ryan picks me up in an hour. Go Cubs!
posted by Erik at
12:00 PM
1 Comments:
Have fun! Go Cubs.
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Anonymous, at 2:16 PM
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