The most overused cliché in sports talk radio when it comes to the Colorado Rockies is “What’s the definition of insanity?” For those of you that may have been living under a rock (a close second) for twenty plus years, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result was the answer I was looking for. It is cliché because it is true in life and certainly true when it come to the Rockies. And once again I will say that if you are going into this baseball season as an eternal optimist (there’s a third), well then my friend, it is you that has gone insane.
It always seems to surprise me; every April baseball fans in this fine state of ours begin talking about “this being the year.” This is the year they finally figure out how pitch at Coors Field. This is finally the year the team figures out how to score runs consistently on the road. I’ll stop because clearly you have heard all of this before.
But why? Why do you allow yourself to get caught up in the hype? You know how this movie ends (number four), don’t you? It’s like being cheated on by someone and continuing to go back to them because this is the time they change. Look I get it, they are hot, they are funny and fun to be with. Just like the party deck is fun, the summer nights in Colorado are second-to-none and there’s no better place to take a date. Just not that cheater mentioned above!
But just like that cheater, there will be no change because there are no repercussions. The cheater knows you will be back so why would they change anything they do? They get to have their cake and eat it too (five), if you will. Just like the Colorado Rockies, why would they even attempt to change anything? There was an average of 31,334 fans per game at Coors. That was good for the 14th-best attendance in all of Major League Baseball last season. So as the old saying goes “if you build it they will come” (six).
Well Dick and Charlie, you built it and they’re coming. I used to be the guy that did not go to games. I discouraged others from attending – but no more. I will not only encourage people to go, I will be a regular customer this summer. My presence at Rockies games this season will have little to do with the team or game of baseball. In fact baseball doesn’t really do it for me. Three hours of guys going 30 percent at best at the plate and pitchers taking their sweet time in between pitches is not what I call a good time. I will be there to enjoy good company in a good environment. Lets face it, the party deck is the best bar in Denver during the summer months and I plan to be a regular.
I have accepted the fact that this is just the way baseball works in my great state. This is just what we have come to know. If you can’t beat them, join them right (seven!)? So I am, I am not going to be rooting or buying into the hype. I am simply saying I will attend and I will give my money to the Monforts, despite disagreeing with everything they stand for.
In the past I have tried to get behind another team so that I could enjoy the game again. That got me through about June because the Cincinnati Reds had their worst season since 1982. I got behind the Reds because as a kid in Indiana they were the closest MLB team we had.
This year I will try it again, I am backing the Reds and doing my best to follow the game all season. Here is to hoping another inevitable disappointing Rockies won’t turn me off by the middle of May! Either way, the Monforts won’t give it a second thought (eight!).