San Francisco Giants - 2010 World Series Champions!

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 Monday evening to win the 2010 World Series.  The win gave San Francisco it's first ever championship baseball team since the Giants moved to San Francisco over 50 years ago.

I will freely admit that baseball is not my favorite sport.  That distinction belongs to basketball.   However, the first ever professional sports event I attended was a San Francisco Giants game back around 1984 when I was about 10 years old.   I don't remember much about the game itself.  However, I remember that I went to the game because of a promotion the Giants ran.  The Giants were giving free tickets to "top students" who applied.  I asked my parents to help me with the application and next thing you know, I was at the game.

Over the years, I follow the Giants (and the A's as well).  I loved it when the Giants played the A's in the 1989 World Series.   Unfortunately, the A's were the better team that year and the A's swept the Giants in the earthquake interrupted series.  My craziest memory of the 1989 World Series was being at the Polo Fields before the start of game 3.  I had finished running in a cross-country match and was waiting for my other teammates when the earthquake struck at 5:04 PM.

The other moment that stands out is the 2002 World Series.  My friend was able to secure tickets to Game 6 in Anaheim and made the long drive to Southern California to watch the game.  We were thrilled to see the Giants take a 5-0 lead late.  LIke all other fans, we were stunned when the Giants lost 6-5 and then proceeded to lose Game 7 the next night.

However, with the 2010 edition of the San Francisco Giants winning the Series, all of the previous bad memories have been washed away.  I throughly enjoyed this year's Giants team.  They truly lived up to the definition of a "team".  Other Giants teams may have had a little better talent or bigger super stars, but the 2010 Giants probably had some of the biggest hearts ever.

While the previous Giants teams won't get rings, I'm sure all of the former players and others associated with the Giants organization are enjoying the moment.  Congratulations!

A Highly Anticipated Evening of Sports in the Bay Area

For many San Francisco Bay Area sports fan, tomorrow (October 27th, 2010) will be one of the most anticipated days in a long time.  The main attraction will the San Francisco Giants as they play game 1 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers at AT&T Park in San Francisco at 5 PM.  For another subset of fans, the Golden State Warriors will open their season against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena at 7:30 PM.   Almost as an afterthought, the San Jost Sharks (who already started their season a couple of weeks ago) will be playing at home against the New Jersey Devils.

I am admittedly not one of the biggest baseball fans though I followed the Giants throughout the season and was riveted throughout September into the playoffs and now the World Series.   Yet, I am also a huge basketball fan.  Like many Warriors fans, I am happy that the Chris Cohan / Don Nelson era has closed.  While my expectations are low for the Warriors this season, I am eager to see how the team will do under new coach Keith Smart.

As for the Sharks, I throughly enjoyed their playoff run last season and will follow them a lot this season, thought for tomorrow night, they are going to be shoved to the background.

It's gonna be hard to focus on work tomorrow but I will do my best.  Go Giants, Warriors and Sharks!