A grateful nation…

First, this isn’t my planned blog for this weekend. I have it on pause as I felt compelled to write a different story. Second, this is a short blog. There are so many reasons for that but I’ll just settle on the “I’m really tired and trying to get a whole lot done this weekend” excuse.

So, the blog.

Our world is filled with chaos driven by anger, hatred and greed. Our neighbour, a country with whom we do massive trade and to whom we are geographically the closest is being ruled by a figure who seems to thrive on the underbelly of those emotions. The seat of his power, a building that was intended to be the “people’s house” is a mess. Tearing down part of it to create a huge ballroom that most of those “people” will never see is something beyond my comprehension. We are inundated day in and day out with images of destruction, of fear and rage. It’s exhausting. It’s hard to find hope from a global perspective.

And our nation? We’re fighting to stand firm. To maintain our identity. To support our farmers and industries. To stand up and say we won’t be bullied.

In the midst of the swirling debris, one sports team took us above it all.

I’ve never really followed baseball although my mom and friend are both avid Blue Jays fans. I went to a game once with my mom. It was a lot of fun and it was especially interesting to see how well my mom knew her team, their stats and completely understood all the nuances of the game.

Me? Well, I don’t get all the ins and outs. I understand the basics. There are nine innings and a top and bottom of each. I learned that the home team is always up to bat in the bottom of the inning. I know there are pitchers and catchers and all the different field positions - the bases and shortstop and outfielders. I understand the concept - take a bat, hit the ball and if it isn’t caught without hitting the ground, run to the base. I know what a home run is and I’ve discovered just how thrilling they are. I’ve learned about relief pitchers and designated hitters.

What I read was that the Toronto Blue Jays were the underdogs. They weren’t “meant” to make it anywhere.

What I know is they took their fans on a magical ride. And a whole nation jumped onboard, myself included.

What I felt is the emotion of each pitch, each ball, each strike. What I wondered is how do these fans live through this each game? My goodness, my heart was held captive watching the games.

This past week I was travelling for work. On Tuesday morning I was presenting to a group of managers in Halifax. The talk was all about the 18 innings that were played the night before. Two full games! AND they were going to play again a mere 16 hours later. Memes flooded the internet of Jays fans with 18 cups of coffee in front of them at work.

You know for almost a week I barely heard about politics. The talk was about who was going to  be the starting pitcher in the next game. It was about the national anthems - who would sing the next one; what did you think of the last one?

One thing that stood out to me throughout it all was the teamwork. Yes, there are stars - there are in every sport. But the Jays stood together as a team. It wasn’t one man who would win or lose the series. They were there as playing partners, as a family and shoulder to shoulder were doing it together.

Canada was on the edge of its seat. Win or lose they stood behind their team. It wasn’t just Toronto’s team. It was Canada’s. Football games, hockey games, soccer games - all shared live scores. The Blue Jays’ home stadium was packed for the away games. From the video clips shared online you would have thought they were playing at home. The energy was electric, even thousands of kilometres from the live game. People were travelling from everywhere in the country to watch in person or at least in the city. I heard a woman talking Saturday morning about how she and her husband were heading to Toronto for the game. No, they didn’t have tickets - they just wanted to be in the city and soak up the vibe. She said they’d find a bar from where they could join in and watch.

Thank you, Toronto Blue Jays. You united a country at a time when we’re all feeling stressed. You took us, even those of us who don’t know the game, on a magical ride. You may have lost (and in an extra inning in game 7!) but in our hearts you are the people’s champions. This is what brings people together. Not hatred. Not racism. Not huge ballrooms that only the super wealthy will ever see.

This. This heart. This teamwork. This is what makes a nation proud. From one lowly fan, along for the ride, I thank you.

I took this image from social media and couldn’t find someone to credit. It says it all!

I got this from the Facebook page, “Nature is Amazing”.