Changing Colors

I'm declaring myself to be a Cincinnati Reds fan. I was a St. Louis Cardinals fan from the time I was a wee one until maybe, yesterday. Maybe earlier. I do know that I was cheering for the Reds this week during two televised games and that I watched them instead of the Cardinals and Cubs game. I also know that when the Cardinals won the World Series last year I wasn't nearly as geeked up when the Cardinals were in the postseason in earlier years. In fact I simply had a "that's nice" attitude. Eh.

This isn't a matter of being a front runner. In fact, the Reds are the worst team in baseball right now. I was a Cardinal fan in keeping with a strong family tradition. My grandfather and father were Cardinal fans. Being from northeastern Arkansas, it was a matter of geography for them. In my father's later years he wasn't as enthusiastic as before about the Cardinals. With free agency, 30 teams, and players moving around so much, it became a mater of rooting for the "shirts" as Jerry Seinfeld once noted, rather than the players who filled the shirts. One of the last Cardinal thrills was the Mark McGwire 70 homer season. Besides that feat now being tainted and the record broken soon thereafter, it still was like McGwire was on loan from the Oakland A's. My father is gone now, and I'd like to say that he died a Cardinal fan, but in all honesty, he really didn't give a shit about them anymore. He was more of a White Sox fan because he was able to see them on TV in South Bend. Baseball has long since abandoned many traditions and all bets are off when it comes to team allegiance.

Fantasy baseball has also eroded my loyalty to the Cardinals. Sorry, but if Tim Lincecum shuts St. Louis out, that's good for me. The current collection of players gathered in St. Louis are the enemy on that night when my fantasy team's pitcher faces them. I guess that goes for the Reds too, but the Cincinnati Reds are now the local team.

The Reds have started showing their games in HD. I can see just about every game on TV. The drive to Cincinnati is only 90 minutes and there are always "many good seats available".

The Reds will do just fine as my new favorite team.