Looking back on a summer’s worth of memories

A little less than four months ago, a friend and I sat at a local bar, throwing back a few… A little less than four months ago, a friend and I sat at a local bar, throwing back a few pitchers of our favorite beverages and decided that this was going to be the greatest summer of our lives.

Here I sit, 117 days later, and I have to admit that I must have been looking at the summer that lay ahead of me through extremely thick beer goggles.

Sure, there were some high points, and, while those peaks of the summer were incredibly high, the valleys were not far behind.

But that’s my personal life, which I’m sure none of you want to hear about, and since this is the sports section and I am the sports editor, I’ll share with you my favorite sports memories from this summer, along with some fearless predictions of the semester to come.

Six years ago, an old high school friend – who is a Red Sox fan – and I discussed how great it would be if Boston and Pittsburgh could play each other.

We decided that destiny would put the two teams in the World Series in 2003, the year that marked the 100th anniversary of the first Fall Classic, in which both teams played.

While the Red Sox might have a chance to be still playing in late October, the Pirates are in the midst of their 11th consecutive losing season.

But those crafty schedule makers did not disappoint.

During the first week of June, the novelty that is interleague play brought Boston to PNC Park for a three-game series against the Pirates. For the first time since 1903, the two clubs played a game that actually meant something.

While it would have been nice to see the Pirates sweep the series, seeing these two teams play each other was an experience I will never forget.

And that doesn’t mean I have to give up hope for 2004.

One of the perks of this job – or one of the downsides, depending on how you look at it – is that, sometimes, people recognize that the picture that runs with this column is a real person and will occasionally say hello.

That hello is usually followed by the person asking me some sports-related question, and a discussion occasionally follows.

But there are some times that the person doesn’t actually want to engage in a conversation but wants to be supportive or something like that.

Like the time, a few months ago, when I happened to be walking home fairly late at night and saw a car take a turn just a little too fast. As the driver sped on by, one of his passengers in the back seat leaned out the window and yelled “Hey, that’s that guy from The Pitt News!”

Everyone in the car proceed to wave, including the driver, although he stopped once he realized he was swerving into the wrong lane.

While I didn’t experience it first hand, Randall Simon’s whacking of a giant sausage has to go on everyone’s memorable moments list.

Since I happened to be in a watering hole when the incident took place, I initially thought I had had a few too many to drink.

But when it replayed about a thousand times that night and was all that the radio stations could talk about the next morning, I knew I hadn’t dreamed it.

Simon’s arrest was pointless. Even the woman in the costume thought it was funny.

And it’s ridiculous to think that beating the meat will get you a three-game suspension, but corking your bat – also known as cheating – will only get you seven.

My final memory comes from this past evening and was a new and enjoyable experience.

No, I didn’t have my first threesome or snort a line of coke off of a bar.

I participated in my first-ever fantasy football draft. Yes, I lost my draft virginity last night, and, as far as I can tell, it was good.

I hadn’t really thought much about it heading into the day, but when I entered the draft room to see more than a dozen people huddled over magazines and rosters, drooling over stats, I realized I might have been in over my head.

After I ended up with the 14th out of 14 picks, I didn’t think I was in good shape, but I suppose only time will tell.

And, finally, here are few things to look for over the course of the next four months.

The Pirates will trade Brian Giles and Jason Kendall. It’s inevitable, but hopefully they will be able to get more back than just a jock strap and a bag of peanuts.

Larry Fitzgerald’s hamstring will bother him for the remainder of the season. It’s unfortunate, but it’s easy to see how this injury could end up like Antonio Bryant’s ankle problem two years ago.

And, at some point this season, Walt Harris will refer to Pitt’s offense as “tremendous.”Joe Marchilena is the sports editor for The Pitt News and he wishes you the best of luck in the coming school year.