National League fans have a World Series win to be proud of!

I was at Coors Field yesterday afternoon, filling in for the regular reception desk staff, all of whom had conflicts they couldn't postpone. It's always fun to be down there, and as I walked through the tunnel on my way to the elevator, I was reminded of my blog entry of April 13 of this year. The stadium is an entirely different place in the off season. The various logos of our 2007 NL championships are still on the wall, and the painted lines indicating where trash dumpsters are to be positioned are still on the floor, but there is an empty, silent overtone. There are no vendors with their beeping, reversing forklifts. While one or two employees may walk along the halls, they are few and far between and the many rooms and cubbyholes they pass are dark and silent. Lined up in every available cubic inch of space are rack upon rack of folded chairs; huge dollies with folding tables in off season storage; box upon box of unused programs and undistributed giveaways, many of them with the shrink wrap broken open - whether by a curious passerby with sticky fingers or by someone on a legitimate errand, no way to tell; a gurney from the first aid room, with oxygen bottle, restraint straps and back board lying in wait for opening day; empty beer kegs; a couple of gas grills with signs advertising sausage selections - now just garish instead of mouthwatering; a kiosk where one could sign up to win an automobile in a prize giveaway; and on and on.

At the All Star game at Yankee Stadium this past summer, someone had the bright(?) idea to construct a collection of replicas of the Statue of Liberty, each one wearing the insignia of a Major League team. When the game was over, the idea was to auction them off for the benefit of the Yankee's charities. Well, for some reason, no one wanted the Rockies version, so it's now in the reception area at Coors Field! To my eyes, it's really pretty ugly. I think the plan is for it to be moved out to the concourse when the season begins, but for now the front office staff gets to look at it every day. Try to picture a Statue of Liberty, about 9-10 feet tall, wrapped in a black and purple robe with the insignia of the Rockies as part of the design. You're right - it should be forgettable.

But the sense of suspended animation at the stadium got me thinking about other suspensions. A few Monday's back, game 5 of the World Series was halted and begun again two nights later. I suppose it was inevitable that I saw the entire delay from the point of view of a stadium employee. I thought of the field security staff, who no doubt have heavy rain gear, but still endured a miserable couple of hours on Monday standing on the field, and then stayed in place as the stadium emptied. The usher staff in the seating areas without roofs were also soaked, I'm sure. Even during a playoff game, that kind of weather sends hordes of people back to the concession stands and concourse areas, to crowd around the available TV monitors and badger stadium staff with unanswerable questions. The gate staff would have remained at full staffing for a playoff game, and a rain delay on a playoff night would not have sent people trickling out little by little. The overwhelming majority of those at the game would have waited until the suspension to leave, meaning the gate staff also waited in the miserable wet. Countless ticket stubs were dropped on wet, muddy walkways, drenched in exposed pockets, creating another nightmarish evening on Wednesday as all entitled ticket holders were checked back into the stadium. For about the only time this post season, I was glad the Rockies were not in it. Although no doubt the Denver weather would have been OK.

The off season is similar to a long drawn out rain delay, without the physical discomfort, but still carrying the sense of something not quite completed, something still anticipated.