For San Francisco Giants fans...

While we wait for a shortstop to appear under the Christmas tree, here’s 10 reasons why it’s completely awesome the Giants won the World *Flippin’* Series:
 
1)      Every once in a while, when you’re washing your car, driving, deciding what to make for dinner, petting a dog, brushing your teeth, watching a movie, or doing one (or two) of any number of ordinary, mundane, or spectacular things, you remember. You remember that not only did they win the World Series, but that right then in that moment, they are the champs. It still hasn’t hit you. Will it ever? Then you smile, and then you just can’t even believe it. You’re suddenly overwhelmed with uncontrollable, unbridled joy. And often, you’ll text a friend, brother or relative to remind them. And should this friend, brother or relative not be a Giants fan – I do admit to being friends with a Padres fan or two – you just go head and text them anyway, because that’s what friends are for.
 
2)      The next time you go to a game at AT&T versus the A’s, a subhuman, impossibly intoxicated by the first inning Oakland A’s fan – I’m not suggesting they all are gassed top one or subhuman – cannot say: “The Giants have never won a World Series.” Why? Well, for one, this wasn’t the case before the Giants took home the ring in 2010; they were quite successful while in New York. This fact, however, didn’t used to stop them unfortunately. Had they then said the “San Francisco Giants have never won a World Series,” they would have been absolutely correct. Until November 1, 2010, that is. Perhaps now they’ll also be less inclined to spit tobacco all over your bleacher seats at the last pitch of a shutout Tim Lincecum was throwing against their Athletics (and hurriedly scurry to the gates); but I won’t guarantee such behavior will stop. (This DID happen to me.) But I digressed; never again can they say it.
 
3)      The next time the Dodgers come to town, or should you ever encounter a Dodgers fan in public (or in private), you absolutely can say: “The last time the Dodgers were even in the World Series was 1988 – correct, when Ronald Reagan was President. The Giants have since been to the World Series three times – to the Dodgers’ zero – winning most recently in 2010.”
 
4)      You can also say: “your catcher is NOT Buster Posey,” to almost anyone*. While this isn’t exactly directly tied to the World Series, it’s still fantastically fun to do.
 
*Good rebuttals for Joe Mauer and Brian McCann are: younger, better catcher, and cheaper.
 
5)      You can wear your Giants cap in any bar, any city, any park, and any sporting venue in the United States, and you are invincible. It’s like a child-imagined force field, capable of deflecting the most (and least) clever razzings, name calling, and fan vitriol, even if it’s coming by the buckets. Come backs aren’t even necessary. And if you’re in San Francisco, it’s still quite good for a high five.
 
6)      When the World Series Championship commemorative DVD’s (and Blu-Ray’s) come out, it won’t be annoying. Not in the least bit. It’ll only stand to remind you, yet again, closely followed by a wide smile.
 
7)      No person, ever again, can say that the Giants’ stellar pitching – I’m talking elite Tim Lincecum, in his prime Matt Cain, and shutdown, Looney Tunes closer Brian Wilson, emerging Madison and Dirty Sanchez – was “wasted.”
 
8)      You FEEL like if they never won a World Series again, it would be OK. (It wouldn’t be.) But you also know their pitching is locked up for the next several seasons, that they have a fighting chance. And for this reason, and others, you want more. You’re now as greedy as a Yankees fan.
 
9)      You bask in the fact that the 10 of 10 ESPN “experts” chose the Phillies in the NLCS, and 9 of 10 “experts” chose the Rangers in the World Series. And across the country, few gave them a chance to even lose in six or seven games, let alone win in five.
 
10)   The cloud of Bonds has lifted, the Croix de Candlestick pins mean so much more, the Garlic Fries taste so much better, the Jersey Shore Fist Pump is now somehow alright, the mere sound of the Taio Cruz song “Dynamite” brings you back to the park, the lyrics for Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” are forever changed, the city is now and forever will be a Baseball Town, the rally thong is immortalized, Cody Ross is boss, Renteria’s contract was somehow splendid, baseballs sometimes hit the top of the fence and bounce back, neither Cliff Lee nor Roy Halladay are indomitable, Javier Lopez is a lefty slayer, Mike Murphy got his ring, Juan Uribe WAS clutch before he was painted blue and littered in green, beards are extremely cool, run support is for the faint of heart, and finally, whatever else  you can recall and is in your heart, that too. Because while this was similar for many of us, in some way it was different for all of us too. And no one can take that away.