Giants Fever Everywhere!

I taught my first Yoga Classes after 'The Day' on Tuesday night. Of course, I had to mention my great mood, & many others whooped it up, too. I began each Class by reading the following quote, saying that it was spoken a famous Yoga Guru, asking the Students to guess which one:

"I try to tell myself all the time to relax & take deep breaths, control the breathing. It helps me relax & stay calm & act like it's not a big deal."

No one guessed it, but a couple of Students were on the right baseball track (one said 'Yogi Berra'). Then, I repeated the first part of the quote & continued:

"I try to tell myself all the time to relax & take deep breaths, control the breathing. It helps me relax & stay calm & act like it's not a big deal. Obviously it is, it's the World Series. I just tried to go out there & relax, & it's worked out," said Madison Bumgarner, 21-year old Starting Pitcher & Winner of Game 4 for the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants!!!!!!!!!!

I then challenged them to control their breathing throughout Class, because, if a 21-year old Kid pitching in the World Series could do it, then they could, too. They had great Classes, especially their breathing!

Yesterday, I took my first Class since 'The Day'. Vince was teaching the Class. He's a Yankee fan, but helped me out by trading Classes, so I could watch games & was genuinely happy & supportive throughout. Also in the Class was a long-time Student, John Boller, who had bet me $5 on the Phillies series, then double-or-nothing on the World Series. I insisted that he pay me in Class, so I practiced next to my new $10 bill (helping to inspire me throughout a very hot Class - in reality, the bill may have been green, but it looked orange & black to me!). There was a Woman in the Class named 'Audrey', but Vince called her 'Aubrey' throughout the entire Class! After Class, I heard him talking to her to verify her name, so I reminded him that it was 'Aubrey Huff' who had confused him!

Hands down, my favorite Giants' speech of the day yesterday was Buster's - I think that he will become more & more of a Team leader than he already is & will back it up:

"San Francisco Giants, World Series Champions. Let's enjoy this today, tomorrow, this week, this month. Then, let's get back to work & make another run at it," he said, as he pounded his fist on the podium for emphasis.

Translation: have some fun, enjoy it, work hard again IMMEDIATELY, but baseball's tough (notice that he didn't see that we're going to win again, he said that 'you make another run at it'). 29 other Teams are out there going after it, too, so success doesn't just happen every day or every year. Take care of the details. Don't take anything for granted.

I LOVE THAT GUY - he really has it together, & he is our Catcher for a long time to come!!!!!

While the feelings of disbelief come & go, I always get giddy talking about what happened, the Games, the interviews, the Parade, the history behind my Giants' fandom, my 'good-luck charm' Family (who show up & get to celebrate in only their second full season), you guys, everything. And, emotional, especially when talking about our mutual Candlestick Park Section 30 history, Zo's situation, & every time I see Willie McCovey. I became a Giants' fan, when Mays, Marichal, & McCovey were all there. I saw all of them play. But, mainly because of his exciting return to the Giants in 1977 & his part in the 1978 season, an ultimately frustrating, but unexpectedly good one, I will always feel more fondness for Stretch. His big 3-run HR in the Friday night game (http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197805260.shtml) of the series against LA which was eventually capped by Mike Ivie's pinch-hit Grand Slam on Sunday (http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197805280.shtml), was a hugely emotional moment. I'll never forget Lon's call:

"The Fans really want Willie to tattoo one here ... Here's the pitch ... There's a high drive to right field ... Way back ... Way back ... You can tell it 'Goodbye'!!!!!"

Big Mac also seems to be barely hanging in there, physically, so I think that this victory meant more to him than the others. He looked great yesterday in the Parade! Seeing him was my teary-eyed moment of the day.