Saturday, November 13, 2010

World Champions Part III: The Ceremony

Read Part I: The Crowd
Read Part II: The Drama


We left off with me not being able to watch the whole parade due to the heavy cloud of smoke in the air. Fortunately, as the final ceremony was beginning, the haze died down and a slight breeze cleared some breathable air for me. Unfortunately, I resurfaced from my leg-shelter to see this--


--excited fans with their hands in the air, completely blocking my view. Not a great situation for a short person trying to watch history unfold.


Every once in a while I was able to catch snatches of the action from between heads (like this shot of Gavin Newsom giving his little speech about how excited/proud San Francisco is).

Mostly, I got a lot of this, so I did a lot more listening of the speeches and a lot less watching. Until...

...the crowds parted, and I was able to weave myself through--to the front! The long wait, the heat, something was causing people to drop like flies and leave, which allowed me to strategically step through to a prime view as Bruce Bochy was speaking. I had a clear view of the stage (you can sort of see the seated players on the right), but 1) my zoom wasn't long enought to take clear shots of the speakers 2) the guy immediately to my right had a camera, too, and blocked my shot every time something good happened. Shots of the jumbotron are better than nothing, though.

Perfect timing, too, because right then, the speeches from fan favorites began starting with the South American boys (though, to be correct, Andres is from Puerto Rico).


Such a sweetheart, Andres made sure to greet his wife happy birthday and tell her he loved her.


Can you feel the elation of the crowd? The excitement was palpable.

Brian Wilson ending his crazy speech with "Where's the machine?" Being World Champions must be delicious.

Timmy! I honestly don't remember his speech. Either that, or I couldn't hear it over the famous three word chant that I'm not going to write out here in case younger eyes run across this.

Matt Cain. Yes we CAIN!

Freddy Sanchez. Such a rockstar.

Buster Posey, my number 2 favorite, ended his speech with "Let's celebrate for a month, maybe two. Then let's get right back to work and do it again!"
The crowd loved that, of course.

They saved the best for last. Aubrey Huff gave his speech in which he stated that as much as he and the players deserved this win, the loyal fans who believed in them from the start deserve it even more. And then he decided to show everyone his special talent.

Yes, his hand is in his pants.

He miraculously pulled the rally thong out of his pants (a la Zoolander)! Cheers erupted. I couldn't stop laughing.

The perfect ending to a celebration 55 years in the making.



We're World Champions!



The aftermath wasn't pretty, though. The trash made my heart ache a bit. Food, alcohol bottles, newspapers, confetti, even a dirty diaper. Gross.

But did I mention that we're World Champions? Because we are.


(photo of me courtesy of my brother)

No comments: