“Dodgers Suck”

Although my city of residence is closer to Anaheim than Los Angeles, I am a Dodgers fan and always will be. Nothing will change that.

But there are some in the area who choose to make that stadium in Anaheim and its team of residence – the one with an identity crisis that can’t choose which town they hail from – their lifeblood. And that’s fine.

Then there’s those who take their fanaticism to ridiculous levels and think that their current team (now 5 games under .500 with no chance of making the playoffs) is still better than this year’s Dodgers (87-64 with a Magic Number of 2).

I had a run-in with one such gentleman at Anthony’s school today and it was classic.

I had just picked up Anthony and was nearing an intersection bustling with kids crossing in every direction. There was some kind of SUV in front of me, one that could imply more than a few things, whose driver apparently couldn’t decide whether to pull over or stop at the intersection. The driver eventually did park all caddywhompus with the rear of the SUV sticking out into the street. I maneuvered around it to the stop sign.

Approaching the busy crosswalk, I told Anthony – he chatting away as usual – to tone it down while I took in all the sights and sounds around me so as to proceed with caution.

Even with him quiet, there was still a steady cacophony from the kids leaving school and crossing in front of me. Then as I was sitting there, I heard the following being mumbled on my right side.

“Dodgers suck.”

It was from the guy driving the SUV who no doubt saw my lanyard hanging from my rearview mirror (see image above). I turned down the radio and looked over at him, smiling.

“I’m sorry, but what did you say?” Dude probably figured his little sotto voce sentiments would go unheard by me but alas, even with my tinnitus acting up, I heard him loud and clear.

“Oh…I’m just waiting for my son,” he said uncomfortably.

“That’s funny because I thought I heard you say, ‘Dodgers suck’ instead.”

Trying to justify his statement he simply replied, “Well, they do,” which is akin to a child wagging their finger in another’s face and saying, “Told you so!” Put simply, there is no justification for his remark when given the stats from this year’s Dodger season. I won’t bore you with those but he apparently forgot about this.

Maybe he figured I was going to start yelling and screaming. Maybe he thought I was going to get out of my car and get in his face. I did neither. I’m not that fanatical and I know the facts, so I just kept on smiling and replied.

“Oh, well I’m sorry you feel that way, guy. See you in the playoffs. Have a good day!” I threw him a peace sign and drove off, still smiling.

Dude didn’t know what hit him. His face was blank, as if Mom just found his porn stash/pot under his bed while she was cleaning his room and confronted him with it.

He had nothing else of substance or fact to contribute to this unscheduled conversation, and it’s doubtful he will bring this up with his wife or anyone else.

A guy named Mahatma Gandhi said it best:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

So thanks for expressing your knee-jerk opinion, Mr. Angels Fan! And I truly hope you have a good day…although my Dodgers may have already ruined 2013 for you…