All done and ripe for the recapping

Another journey is done and more lessons learned. The last two days were about as different as any two over the whole week. Thursday was rainy, miserable, and had four flat tires (the most of any day. Friday, on the other hand, was sunny, hot but not overly so, and had no mechanical malfunctions greater than a chain coming off. We were also done with the day earlier than any other, getting to Fenway before 1pm with almost the same mileage. Needless to say it was the best way to end our journey.

While not really fair to this trip, I can't help but compare it to last year's (again). One thing that was similar to last year was what it was like to arrive at Fenway. The stadium sneaks up on you as a part of the city and before you know it you smell hot dogs and everyone is wearing red, grey and navy blue. We were again greeted by Lucias bearing Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and again we celebrated by touching the plaque of Tom Yawkey. Once again we were also met with a sense of anticlimax as few people around seemed to notice that, while they arrived by SUV, we arrived by way of physical exertion and mental determination.

As much as discussion regarding the rivalry, this trip was also a learning experience for me in other areas. I am now much more confident in my bike maintenance abilities. I'm hoping to build a road bike in the next year, so this was a good intro for that. While I am no expert by any means, it was cool to have the tools to adjust brakes and change tires when in the middle of nowhere. I also learned a great deal about no budget doc filming. Of course, most of it was what not to do, but c'est la vie. Working with my footage from this and last year will be a good exercise in editing, but I'm not sure yet what the end product will look like.

As far as the Rivalry, it's still extremely interesting to me. I can't just make myself a baseball guy in a week, but I never fail to enjoy the heated "discussions" that are generated by the love of these teams. Walking around Fenway yesterday and today I noticed several couples and families representing both sides. It might be like other situations involving different groups of people. Those who continue to champion the impression that "Yankee fans are a-holes" or "Boston fans are d-bags" are probably people who haven't really spent much time with the other. Once they do, it seems that mutual respect over loving the game overcomes the dominant prejudices.

Now that doesn't mean there's less trash talking. In fact, there's probably more because it doesn't get personal as much. Over this week John didn't hide his dislike for Pedroia just because Liz was around. It just stayed there. It wasn't about Boston or Boston fans sucking. The only moment of that this week was yesterday when the cashier at the liquor store was giving John a hard time for being a Yankee fan and talking sh*t about New Yorkers being whiney. I'm no Yankee fan, but the guy was being a douche. I'd bet that this guy hasn't ever watched a game with a Yankee fan or really hung out with one.

There's nothing wrong with good natured ball busting, but the best baseball fans I've ever known are the ones who understand that can appreciate other baseball fans. Just as I enjoy debating politics with people who vote opposite of me, a great debate over baseball seems to be one of the best things about being a real fan. The personal attacks should be saved for those who deserve it -- fairweather fans.