When I was a kid, my dad advised me not to hold grudges. He saw revenge as a powerful but ultimately empty motivator.
Dad was the exception in our clan. Most of my family never forgets even the smallest slight. (My grandmother is still sore over all the times I whipped her in Scrabble.) We just file the snubs away and dust them off when the time is right for reprisal. I believe most therapists would find that approach entirely healthy.
It's been two years since the Phils were unceremoniously dismissed from the playoffs by the then-sizzling Rockies. A lot has happened since then. The Rockies got swept in the 2007 World Series and didn't do much of anything last season. The Fightin's, in case you're just now waking up from your protracted soap opera-esque coma, won it all last year.
A lot of people - fans and players alike - believe payback shouldn't be an issue since the Phils got to hold that swell parade. That makes perfect sense. Truly. When you finally get the girl and the happy ending you always wanted, why obsess over the jock who momentarily pushed you out of the way and went to the prom with your secret crush?
Because I'm a small, petty man, that's why. I freely admit it.
Thanks to yesterday's convincing 5-1 Phils victory, I feel a little better now. Colorado received the first installment of what I hope will be an embarrassing, series-long comeuppance. Take that, Rockies - and have some more in Games 2 and 3 if you wouldn't mind.
"We won the World Series last year," Jayson Werth reminded me. "I think that took care of anything that had to do with [revenge]."
I get it. I do. This is all a little (probably a lot) irrational, but I can't help it. After the Phils made the playoffs two years ago, I was consumed by the prospect of postseason glory. Then the Rockies crushed those hopes and delayed the celebration. That was difficult; I've never been a patient man.
Yesterday, after two years, the intermission was lifted and the Phils began to repay the wrong they (and we) suffered in 2007. My dad used to say revenge will keep you up at night, but I'm not so sure. So far, it feels like a pretty comfy place to rest your head.
