Sweet, Sweet Schadenfreude

Last night, Alex Rodriguez, Seattle's most-hated former P-I Sports Star of the Year, came to the plate in the 9th inning of the Yankees' must-win game against the Angels. Derek Jeter, the anti A-Rod, had singled to lead off the inning.

"What if he grounded into a double play," we asked our roommate. "Wouldn't that be perfect?"

His eyes grew like a Las Vegas phone book, then he cursed us for potentially jinxing the moment. We frantically knocked on wood to remove the stain of the ill-advised comment. And on the next pitch, Rodriguez grounded a ball sharply to 3rd. 5...4...3. Double play.

We like music, we like television, and we like food. But we've never jumped into the arms of our roommate, ran screaming around the basement, and performed a ridiculous dance (as we did last night when A-Rod grounded into that double play) after hearing a perfect David Sanchez sax solo, watching William Peterson solve a murder mystery, or eating an exquisitely-prepared stuffed artichoke.

Sports fandom grants these rare but unequalled moments of euphoria. Don't knock it.

The Angels will now face the White Sox (whose last World Series championship was the same year as Seattle's last Stanley Cup championship) in the American League Championship Series, beginning tonight.