Go Texas!

Is there anything more American than the greatest sport in the all of human history, baseball? Of course not. And is there anything more American than rooting against the most despised team in all the world, except within the dark confines of New York, where they think that money can buy everything, including championships? Certainly not. And when you throw in that it gives a franchise its first ever opportunity to win a World Series, in an almost Cinderella fashion, who wouldn't get a case of the warm fuzzies? Ogres and trolls, perhaps, or maybe those arrogant denizens of New York, but on the whole, the victory of the Texas Rangers over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series is fast becoming the best sports story of the year.

The Rangers celebrate series wins with ginger ale rather than alcohol so that one of their star players can take part in the celebration without fear of his demons. All we have to do to support the Rangers is set aside for a couple of weeks the fact that outside of NY the next most self aggrandizing part of the United States is, as fate would have it, Texas. In this case, it should be easy. The underdogs have knocked out the snarky Yankees. Life is good.

Why do so many Americans hate the Yankees so much? Part of it may well rest in irony: so much of the world sees America as on the whole overly proud of herself, and rather arrogant. Maybe we recognize a bit of that in ourselves, ourselves, and sympathize to some degree. By rooting against the epitome of arrogance we are sending the message that we do, in our hearts, get it. We understand that wealth and power unchecked is bad. In some small way we hate it too.

But no point in going too far away from the feel good part of the day. The Texas Rangers are going to the World Series, the New York Yankees are vanquished, and we can sit back and enjoy the final games of the National League Championship Series knowing that we can afterwards simply enjoy the World Series, basking in the glow of baseball's finest hour without fearing that the bad guys might win again.

Baseball is America. The little guy, with courage and perseverance, can triumph. The giant can be slain. And then, we can sit back and sigh happily.