ON SPORTS ~ Fanatic...

OVAH THE MONSTAH

Fanatic:

where previously Molly created special memories by sharing baseball games with friends & family

When I first returned to Boston after college I lived with one of my former college Roomies for a few years until our boyfriends took us in different directions. While her relationship ended in marriage, mine ended in pain and an empty bank account. So I found another Roomie and we rented an apartment in a suburb of Boston called Arlington. She was a local yokel who knew plenty of her home town teams but not a lot about them. However, by the end of our time living together she was a sports fan. She took very easily to the Sox. She was particularly smitten with John Valentin and before I knew it she had pinned the Sox schedule on our family room wall.

This is the time in my life that I am consciously aware of watching game after game after game of the Sox. Perhaps it was because it was a new beginning in my life, ending a relationship, moving to a new apartment with a new Roomie, and starting all over again. The Sox were a pleasant constant in my life and I thoroughly enjoyed absorbing all their games and sharing the fun of the team with my Local Roomie. It was also the first time in my life that I roomed with someone from MA whose team loyalties were the Sox, Pats, Celts & Bruins. No outside allegiances to contend with. She was a dog person but living with my cats quickly converted her to a cat lover as well. When we moved apart, she got cats of her own – and on her own now tunes in to a Sox game and keeps tabs on their season. She was an easy student.

Local Roomie and I met at work, an insurance agency. You can take the girl out of the Insurance Capital of the World but you can’t take the Insurance out of the girl I guess. It was through this office that my boss was given tickets to a Sox game to distribute to the other agents in the office. At that time a part of my job was working on administrative issues with the agents that my boss supervised. So when he got perks from vendors he tried to set aside a ticket for me as a reward for my work.

The vendor sponsoring the tickets to this game was a very prominent investment company in Boston. The seats were on the third base side in shouting distance of left field. And so, after a few brewskies and apparently not enough Fenway Franks, shout I did – at Mike Greenwell. Never having forgiven him for almost hitting me with his SUV back in my college days, I quite boisterously yelled out my favorite obscenity at him multiple times for missed plays, lack of hustle, or just because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. This was a great source of amusement for the agents from the office attending the game. I think it was partly because they were surprised that this young chick from the office was an informed sports fan, but most likely because I lightened the mood amongst all the stuffed suits. Professionalism be damned! I was given a free ticket to a Sox game and I didn’t go to network – I went as a passionate fan. I recall that my boss asked me to tone down my enthusiasm when the vendor sponsoring the seats was within earshot. I know I thought of directing my favorite obscenity towards that suggestion but don’t believe the words actually came out of my mouth. I took the T home safe and sound and wasn’t included in another free Sox game for a while. To this day my boss cracks up retelling the story of my fan experience at that game – especially when one of the agents that was there is around to chime in. He tells people I am the biggest Sox fan he knows and warns them not to disparage the Sox in my presence or they don’t know what they’re in for. No harm, no foul I guess.

next week, LOVE AND PASSION, where Molly and Andy use Fenway to bridge the gap from friendship to dating...