Partying like it's 1985

By going to bed early?

The Royals won the World Series last night. I checked Twitter on commercial breaks, devoured the Internet stories, liked all my KC fans' Facebook posts, and reveled in the joy that my hometown won its first championship in 30 years.

My mother spent the rallies group texting with her friends. This is not my grandfather's transistor radio. Times have changed.

The things I like about this year's Royals are a lot like the things I liked about last year's team. They seem to be having fun. They have a great deal of confidence. They play good baseball. What I realized though, as we traveled deeper into the playoffs, is that the narratives that I read and heard from the announcers didn't always play out. Maybe KC did want it more, but haven't plenty of teams who have wanted it more lost?

And yes, they are a good contact team, but at least one of the Mets hurlers managed to strike them out in bunches so perhaps the "you can't strike these guys out," was closer to hyperbole. They appeared to be a good defensive team, but hyperbole appeared to strike again when viewers were told that these Royals just don't make mistakes. They made several, but they timed them better and found ways to get out of the jams.

The one that does appear to make sense is that these Royals were clutch. Maybe it couldn't last forever, but during this post-season run they were. They were pretty incredible after the 7th inning, and heck they had a guy come off the bench after a month to hit in a run. That's good stuff.

I can complain about the narratives, but as I think about it the narratives in my head don't add up either. I still believe in the announcer's jinx. "He hasn't hit a homerun in X days." I think it's going out when they say it about the bad guys. I could believe in the Royals heartily, but still couldn't quite believe that last night or even the night before that was going to be their night. I kept it quiet, perhaps a superstition of my own, a narrative I tell myself when I'm rooting on my teams.

This victory seems important somehow. Maybe not as important to KC as last year's near-victory which seemed to restore Kansas City's swagger, but like something the city needs. They've needed to believe and these past couple years have brought them together. It's another narrative, but KC was ready for something to be proud of. I'm proud to be connected. I wish I hadn't lost my Royals cap.