Thanks for the Nationals.

Welcome to November! Also known in these parts as Thanksblogging.

Man, October was a rollercoaster. I don’t know how many Nats fans read this blog, so you may or may not understand what I’m talking about. So here’s the deal: I have never been that into Sports Games, but I do enjoy a good championship series. Even better when I care about the team. Theo, on the other hand, is a sports fanatic all year long and is specifically a big Nationals fan. He and Matt were at Nationals Park for the wild card game 4 weeks ago, where the Nats beat the Brewers in the final inning, securing a spot in the playoffs.

Theo was riding high all month, through the NLDS when they somehow beat the Dodgers, through the NLCS when they swept the Cardinals, and through the first two games of the World Series... until they started losing (badly) to the Astros at home. Three games in a row.

He got teary. He got headaches. He lost sleep. He lost reason. Basically, he was following in his father’s footsteps (in terms of emotional investment as a fan) and the stakes felt so, so high.

If the Nats had lost the World Series, everyone would have understood. Even Theo would have understood, I think. This team overcame every hurdle to get to where they were last week.

Luck and hard work smiled on them though, and they won it. Theo had fallen asleep halfway through Game 7, but Matt woke him up to watch the ninth inning. The joy and exuberance of a 12-year-old boy whose team wins the World Series after a long hard fight, can not be overstated.

See. You. Later! (Specifically, in March to start it all over again)(in the meantime there’s still football and basketball)