humanrefutation wrote:More thoughts:
I was born in 1987. My dad immigrated here and didn't really derive any joy from sports, and so I didn't really have any appreciation for the Brewers/Packers/Bucks during my early childhood. My uncles were big sports fans, so they sort of took me under their wing and taught me what's what sports wise. Because the Brewers sucked during my childhood, there wasn't much to cheer about there. But, they had a few of the famous Uecker calls recorded on cassette tapes, so they'd play them as a reminder of how awesome it was to follow the Brewers when they were younger. I remember the calls distinctly...
"It's a curveball! Drilled to deep left! Gonna get way way way outta here...and gooone!!!...for Deer, and they have tied it at four, whoa whoa!"
"Swing and fly ball...right field and deep! Hey get up, get up and get outta here, gone, for Sveum! And they've done it again! Twelve in a row...on a two run blast by Sveum...to win it!"
Listening to those calls...the excitement in Ueck's voice...the roar of the crowd...got me hooked as a fan of the Brewers. I bought a tiny radio with my allowance and sat in my room on those hot summer nights, listening to Ueck call a game, and it didn't matter if we were up or down big, the game was still fun to listen to. He kept me a fan of baseball and the Crew even when we sucked.
Now that we're going to the NLCS, I think of my uncles, who were probably were going just as crazy after Cecil Cooper's 2-RBI single in Game 5 of the 1982 ALCS as we did tonight after Plush's walk off. They went 29 years without seeing a team that went this far, they steered me into being a Brewers fan, and they now will be watching a Brewers team in the NLCS. I think of Uecker, and all of those summer games he called where the team was awful, and will now be calling a Brewers game in the NLCS. And I think of the next generation in my family, who I will be steering towards Brewers fandom by playing mp3 files of Uecker's call of Tony Plush's game winning hit in the NLDS.
"Morgan, a smash up the middle, base hit to center! Here comes Gomez! Around Third! A throw and the Brewers win!"
I don't know why I'm sharing this with all of you, other than to say that I think other Brewers fans can appreciate this, and because I sincerely appreciate all of you for making this experience that much better. To all of you RealGMers: Cheers, and Go Brewers.
Fantastic story, thanks for sharing, personally I love hearing why people are fans.