Always Next Year

I had to opportunity to attend Sunday's Brewer game against St. Louis. Unfortunately the Brewers lost bringing our baseball season to an end. That happened to be the only negative of the event. J had been able to secure some tickets which I am very grateful for.
We left for the game about 45 minutes before the parking lot was to open. As we were heading toward Miller Park we were a little taken back by the lack of traffic. There was no line until we were already in the park area and there were about 15 cars ahead of us. Managed to park in the 4Th row toward the end. Best parking I've ever had. The atmosphere was great, fellow fans were friendly and the weather was accommodating (except when the sun disappeared behind the clouds). We even scored on some free hot dogs being passed out for our grilling pleasure.
We went in to the stadium about 1/2 hour before game time and there wasn't much of a line. Then we did the climb to the top row in the park. Good view of the entire field and the scoreboard.
The "surprise" guest ended up to be Sully to throw out the first ball. I thought it was a pretty good move to honor Prince in what could be his last stand as a Brewer at Miller Park.
Being at any game at Miller Park is special but viewing the sea of white towels waving in the air was beyond belief. The fans were ready for a game and still had faith after a few bad innings. Up until the 7th inning you could still sense the glimmer of hope. In the 7th J and I noticed a lot of people leaving. We discussed how bad those people would feel if there were a rally. We decided to stay until the very end. In the back of my head I kept thinking about the 3 or so hours of sleep I was going to get, but this being one of those "once in a life time" experiences I saw no problem with staying.
By the eighth inning we began to notice the St. Louis fans making their way to the seats behind their dugout. I assume Brewer fans were giving up their seats for them. By the ninth inning about 80% of the section behind the dugout was taken over by St. Louis. At first I felt a ping of anger, but then after logically thinking I thought "how exciting for them". At the final out and loss Brewer fans still cheered on their team as St. Louis began to celebrate. Guess it would have been better for them to win the game at home, but there seemed to be quite a few fans to cheer them on.
I thank the Brewers for a good season and the excitement experienced in their run for the World Series, for the guys on the team that make it special and for the fellow fans who appreciate the game and back their team no matter what. There's always next year (as I heard the father tell his visibly upset youngster).