Dealing with the Success of your Team

Congratulations to the Giants. I couldn't have dreamed that this team could have done this, this year back in Spring Training when our leadoff hitter was Aaron Rowand and the biggest glimmer of hope beyond our great pitching staff, which was never in doubt- was Pablo Sandoval having another great year after batting a breakout .330 (that turned out well).

As happy as I've been throughout these playoffs and watching the Giants win the World Series!!!! (Still surreal to me) It has been especially hard for me to see just how crowded the Giants bandwagon has become over the last couple months. I can only ask myself, where were these fans before the playoffs? In 2008-2009 when the only thing we had to root for in September was Lincecum winning the Cy Young? Hell, what about 2006 when our #1 starter was Matt Morris? And that's only 4 years ago...

I know this can easily come off as bitter and condescending so I will try to be careful how I word this. I cannot put into words how happy I am for the team and I have lived and breathed them for years. But I cannot help but be upset a bit about trying to cope with all of the "fans" who have conveniently shown up.

This should absolutely be the high point as a fan of the team. And I know that as a sports fan if you want to see your team succeed, dealing with fair-weather and some out-right fake fans is absolutely something you will have to deal with. I guess dealing with that and coming to accept it is all you can really do. At the end of the day your love for the team, if you really are a fan, should trump the annoyance of logging onto facebook and seeing your wall flooded with status updates from people who didn't know who Madison Bumgarner was before the All-Star break.

Instead what anyone else in my situation should be enjoying, is how much more you savor this World Series win. Following a team through its ups and downs, and to see them reach the pinnacle of their sport is absolutely surreal and rewarding. To have followed this team for so long, and reflecting on when Matt Herges was the closer for your team and your best hitter at one point was Pedro Feliz... only to see the team draft players like Posey and Bumgarner after watching them in the CWS and watching them contribute on the biggest stage for your team... there's nothing better as a fan.

Really, at the end of the day when the team you loves wins it all.. nothing else should matter. It shouldn't matter what anyone else says or how many quotes they spit out from the latest ESPN article about Buster Posey they read last week. In the end its about you and your team and nothing anyone else says or does should ever influence that.

So, to you other true Giants fans out there- Congratulations, its about damn time.

To you other true fans of other franchises, not named the Lakers or Yankees, I will leave you with this...