Say Cheese

(First let me say that I hate the title of this post, but it was the catchiest thing I could think of that had "cheese" in it. Perhaps its fitting and extra frustrating that the word "cheesy" is the only word to describe this.)

I'm sure many of you remember my old roommate from Penn State who has always been affectionately referred to as "Cheese" on this blog (as well as by me essentially since we've known each other and by anyone who knows him through me). It was a goal when I started this blog to turn him into a die-hard Phillies fan, a goal that has fallen by the wayside over the past 2 years.

This weekend, however, I was able to make the trek out to the lovely Pennsylvania metropolis known as Mechanicsburg. Although you know Mechanicsburg as the site of Jubilee Day, the home of the "wrench drop" every New Year's Eve, or perhaps Bret Michaels' home town, to me Mechanicsburg is mostly known for its main export: Cheese (ugh...sorry about that everyone). As one of my best friends for the past few years, the only area of our lives that Cheese and I did not fully connect from the beginning was sports, among other things (no, that doesn't make sense). Things have changed over the years, though.

Cheese came to Penn State not really caring that much about football. I, on the other hand, was all about the sport that makes State College Pennsylvania's third largest city on Saturdays in the fall.
During March Madness every year, you could find me hooking up as many TVs and computers as necessary to catch every second of every game. Cheese's favorite parts were the commercials reminding us of some upcoming golf tournament that no one would shut up about (Masters? Something like that? Who cares?)
I could not get enough of the Phillies. Cheese simply went along for the ride whenever the team was looking good.

Since then, I have wisened up to the stupidity of the game of football and the blindness with which Penn Staters will follow their team, no matter how many players have been caught committing various criminal acts. At Cheese's house this weekend, I actually watched a good amount of the Masters, even going so far as to continue to watch once I got home (and apparently appearing to be some type of expert. I don't know where Adam Scott is from. No, I couldn't tell you how many people are tied for the lead right now. How should I know how a playoff system works in golf, Mom?)
And perhaps most important of all, Cheese has totally immersed himself in the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the first things I noticed after our tears of pure, unadulterated bliss cleared up upon first seeing each other was the background of his iPhone being a Phillies "P". He asked if I had heard what was going on in the game, and, although I had been listening on the radio, he was able to give me an accurate play-by-play of anything important that had happened on my way. Despite his love for the Masters, we used Saturday and Sunday afternoon to focus on the Phillies, only flipping to watch a little golf during the short commercial breaks between half-innings. A few more Cheese Phillies stats for you:

-Cheese has paid somewhere around $15 for an app that allows him to follow the Phillies on his phone while at work
-He searches day and night for a new Phillies hat (a fitted one that's not a flat brim and looks just like what the players wear. Preferably with a red little button on top, not blue. If you can find one of these, let one of us know)
-He likes Raul Ibanez (I don't know if this makes him a really good fan or a really ignorant fan)
-Cheese has been known to text me after exciting Phillies games or even after exciting events within Phillies games

Perhaps the most exciting of all of this, though, is something he told me this weekend. When discussing people who are bandwagon fans, it was suggested that he could possibly be a bandwagon fan himself. He informed me that "I don't follow the Phillies because they won the World Series, though. I started following them more because of you." Reflecting on this statement and actually typing it out makes it seem a lot less heterosexual than it was initially, but I am not all that concerned, and I would like to think that he isn't either.

Because of all this, the Braves series this weekend may have been one of my favorites of the season no matter what the result. Lucky for my peace of mind, though, we ended up taking 2 of 3 in beautiful fashion. Friday night was rough, but Saturday was a great display of our catchers' offensive firepower, and Sunday was a brilliant bounce back by Cole.

Positives of the series:
-Our offense is unreal. Every one of our regulars is hitting above .300 except Ibanez (.257). (Side note: I personally can't really stand Ibanez as a player anymore, and I plan on proving throughout this season that he, along with NASA and the city of Pittsburgh, can be blamed for every problem that arises for the Phillies, possibly the country, possibly the entire world)
-Hamels is OK. I told you he would be.
-Our bullpen put together what felt like a real save. There haven't been too many close ones this season, but we got close to a bind at the end of the game and were able to conserve the shutout
-Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson are pure poetry. I loved listening to them both Friday night and today while travelling. I feel like I'm really good friends with them when I listen. Like they are constantly telling an inside joke that I'm a part of.
-We are controlling the NL East up to this point in the season. It's early, but first place always feels nice

Negatives:
-There aren't really many, but I would be more concerned about Cliff's outing on Friday night than most people were about Cole's on Tuesday. Cliff was getting hit hard all over the park. I am not actually worried about this because he's Cliff Lee, but it was not fun to listen to him getting abused like that
-Thomas McCarthy and Christopher Wheeler are a pure train wreck. I hate listening to them all the time while watching on TV. I feel like I want to strangle them when I watch. Like they are constantly just making up jokes that neither one of them gets and neither do I.

Overall, this was an excellent series and a good way to head into what should be another series win against Washington.