Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2008
WE COULD taste it. We could feel it. We could see it.
It wasn't to be. Not yet.
The shirts were ready. Celebratory beers had been downed. But sometimes we have to wait for glory, for bliss, for utopia.
Last night just wasn't the night. We couldn't grip our hands on the World Series championship trophy. That's what rain does. And that's what life does.
Philly fans may be rowdy and boisterous, but they're patient. We'll wait for the glory that is ours. We'll live in limbo. We'll wait for our dream.
The crowd near Citizens Bank Park was ready to celebrate or riot, whatever took their fancy. Some middle-aged guys had been ready to strip. "Dude, if they win, I'm going home naked," one said.
But by the time the game was officially suspended, there was cursing and aggravation. Universal theme: "It sucks!"
Under an awning at 15th near Spruce, Jeff Arlen, 24, a biology major at Drexel University and mold maker at a Fishtown bronze foundry, summed it up best: "It sucks, man. I wanted to see them win and I'm not going to be able to because God decided to pee on us."
At McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon near Citizens Bank Park, Eddie Madueno 35, of Reading, said, "This rain-delay sucks. The game started off the way we needed it with a two-run lead. I thought honestly we were going to win. If they pick up the game at 4 a.m., I'll be at home watching it."
Sue Nicklaus, in her mid-40s, said, "It sucks because I was here last night and came back tonight because we were going to burn the city down.
"We'll kick their ass. This is not going back to Tampa Bay."
Zach Griffin, 21, Collingswood, N.J., said he was pretty upset. "I have to work tomorrow night so I won't be able to come back."
Across the city, bars were packed. Four Drexel University students were angry after being turned away from many filled establishments.
"I'm a bartender so I get hookups everywhere, but all these bars were packed," said Aaron Witz, 24, who works at Eulogy Belgian Tavern at 2nd Street near Chestnut.
"I'm trying to seal this up tonight. I don't want to wait till tomorrow," said Witz, who wore a Phillies retro black-on-black ball cap and puffed on a Camel light.
Some people out and about weren't even die-hard fans. Dexter Connor, 21, said he was tagging along for the fun.
"I just wanted to be out," he said, "in case the city started to burn." *
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