Victory for the City

If you live in the home city of a team that wins the World Series, you have the opportunity to hear car horns honking excitedly as they drive down the street, as well as the opportunity to watch 24/7 local news coverage of those same car horns honking excitedly as they drive down the street.

The San Francisco Giants are the winners of the World Series for the second time in three years.  The team beat the Detroit Tigers last night on the road to clinch the series in a four-game sweep.  I’d say the City is quite proud of this accomplishment.

When the victory occurred, Dave, his visiting sister Jess, and I were out to eat at a nearby Thai restaurant called Osha.  While this was not exactly a sports bar, all three TVs over the bar area had the World Series game on, and the entire restaurant erupted in applause and screams at the end of the game.

On our walk home we saw groups of people in Giants gear outside bars, but it was fairly quiet.  Yet, about an hour later after we were home, the celebrations outside began.  The victory “street party” included horns honking, screaming, chanting, fireworks, garbage can fires and overall ruckus, which happened until late into the night.

To continue the celebrations, there will be a parade down the main thoroughfare of downtown led by the Mayor of the City later this week.

After a weekend of hard work, Dave and I were pretty tired and probably could have done without some of the City noise last night.  However, we agreed that it is pretty exciting to be in a city that takes home a major sports championship win, which is something neither of us has experienced before.  (Well, I lie, I was in fact in Gainesville when the Gators won a national basketball title.  It was scary, fun, insane and a little painful at times with the crowd stampede.  I recall an inebriated and shirtless young man climbing a light pole on University Avenue and falling … that wasn’t pretty.)

It was a great weekend for the City of San Francisco.  And, quite frankly, it was a great weekend for me too.  I passed my CXWORX Initial Training, and learned some valuable coaching and teaching skills that I can take with me as I work toward full certification in the program.  I challenged myself physically (ever held a hover position for 5 minutes and 15 seconds while coaching an entire song of choreography to someone standing above you?), and I challenged myself mentally.  Over three years of teaching Body Pump, I’ve become quite efficient at memorizing choreography and cues, however learning a new program — specifically one designed to be so intense that it is only 30-minutes long — requires a whole new level of fitness and focus.  I’ll be spending a lot of time practicing for the next 60 days to prepare to submit my video, and hopefully, I’ll get my own class in the coming months.

Back to the City …

I’ve noticed that the City of San Francisco and its local retailers and businesses are not only eager to support local teams, but they are also are eager to support holidays and seasons.  Take a look at the extensive Halloween décor in the Thai restaurant we visited last night.

Don’t you love to patronize a festive place?