I was watching Game 7 of the Yankees-Red Sox series while having dinner with Claire Giordano, Queen of Various Open Source Projects at Sun. (N.B. to Sun HR: That's not really her title). Claire spent some years at Brown University so she's a de jure citizen of the Red Sox Nation, although she can claim plausible deniability. Claire asked me point blank "What's the big deal? Why do you care so much?" Claire is very, very perceptive, and secretly rejoicing about the Sox.
Nearly a week of thought later, I think I know the answer. It's not borne out of bringing accolades or profit to ourselves. Sports give us a way to mark time, and through each small victory we notch our personal timelines. It's significantly more plesaant - but no more important - than remembering where we were during major events or national crises. I can recall each detail of my viewership of Game 5 of the 2000 World Series. It coincided very closely to the top of the dot-com bubble, but I remember more about Tino Martinez than stock prices or hot companies.
Even in current times of free agency and rosters more closely resembling stock portfolios rather than a community sampling, allegiance to our local - or favorite - baseball team allows us each spring to hope eternal.
Posted by Stephen O'Grady on October 27, 2004 at 11:50 AM EDT #