I am 24

I am 24.  That’s 7 years of driving, 6 years of legality, and 3 years of alcohol. ;) 

24 year-old quarterbacks are called “babies”.  24 year-old gymnasts are called “retired” and 24 year-old horses are called “deceased”.  I am not certain where I stand on this scale.

I still consider myself to be a young person.  I can bench press more than your boyfriend.  I can stay awake past the Charlie Sheen hour.  I can still do the hot-step.  Even with all these obvious signs of youth, it’s getting harder and harder to keep the same carefree mind of my early years.  I can’t have a rerun of Family Matters on for more than 3 minutes before I slip on the Evening News.  I spent so many happy, zombielike hours of my childhood in front of a Nintendo 64, playing whatever Madden was out that year.  Now, if I touch a game controller it’s in a Best Buy for about 10 seconds, and its followed by a vigorous hand cleansing with sanitizer. 

I read Businessweek. Crissakes. Businessweek? And I actually enjoy it?

Yes, I suppose I do.  Rue, please punch me.  It seemed like five years ago I was running out to the street to rip the latest Disney Adventures from our Piney Hollow mailbox. 

I never knew what a filibuster was nor cared about gun control.  I never drank or ate anything that had less than 8 scoops of sugar in it.  “Sweet tooth” they called me.  If you go to dinner with me tomorrow, it will be iced tea, unsweetened for dinner and coffee, black for desert.  I prayed for snow, and thanked the heavens when it came.  This winter, the thought of a winter snow day makes me think of nails on a chalkboard. 

I don’t think it’s avoidable.  I don’t believe I chose to “grow up”.  Rather, I think a little hobbit in my brain flipped a switch and my childhood was over.  I know we all can’t go to school forever, and we all can’t live with our parents for eternity but I didn’t expect my innocence to end so abruptly. 

Some of my friends still play video games.  Some even watch marathons of Family Matters after work.  I envy them.

Knowledge excites me.  My own ignorance disgusts me.  Productivity is my middle name, and Louis is also my middle name.  Justin Louis.

I am not 24.

“Tattooed Youth: A Novel” Coming Soon.

Searching For Answers

It’s been ten days. Ten days ago I was sitting on a bench at a bar with two of my best friends, a blank look on my face. For a second, I wasn’t sure where I was, who I was with, what was going on. Then, like a swift punch to the gut it hit me, the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies season was over. As I looked up at the TV watching Chris Carpenter and the rest of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate on my home field, I was filled with a lot emotions, shock, anger, disappointment, sadness just to name a few. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this; this wasn’t supposed to be the end.

It’s been ten days. You would think after ten day’s I’d be over it after all it’s just a game. But to me and to so many other fans around the Delaware Valley, baseball is more than that; the Phillies are more than that. From March to October my life revolves around this team, 3 hours a night every night. We know the players so well it’s almost like we know them on a personal level. When you have so much invested in this team, financial and emotionally it’s almost like the Phillies are your family. You want them to win not just for yourself, but for them too. So to see this team fall short of winning the World Series was devastating.

Ten days later and I’m still searching for answers. How could this happen? The Phillies won 102 games in the regular season, a franchise record. They had the best pitching staff in the majors lead by the 4 Aces, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt and not mention rookie Vance Worley who had a spectacular season. The veteran lineup lead by Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had their share of struggles until July when General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. traded for All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence. Pence seemed to rejuvenate and solidify the lineup Ryan Howard had protection in the five hole and Manager Charlie Manuel had his right handed bat he desperately coveted since the start of the season. They won their fifth consecutive National League East title and seemed to be rolling into the playoffs after a sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Little did they know that the sweep of the Braves would eventually be their downfall.

The St. Louis Cardinals were ten and a half games out in the last week of August won the National League Wild card on the last day of the regular season. They were the hottest team in baseball and were one of two teams in the National League that had a winning record against the Phillies. I just didn’t feel good about this matchup. In the end the bats were dead, the brilliant Cliff Lee was blowing 4 run leads and Ryan Howard lay slumped on the ground in pain after weakly grounding into the final out and 8 innings of 1 run baseball pitched by Roy Halladay was not enough. The Season was over.

So where do they go from here? Will Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson be back? Who’s going to play left field? How much time will Ryan Howard miss? Is Dom Brown ready? These are just a few questions facing this team in the off-season. An off-season that shouldn’t have been here this quick, maybe these questions would have felt a lot better after a World Series Championship. Now the front office has to figure out a way to re-shape this team into World Series Champions until then it’s time to stop whining and to get over the 2011 Season, look on the bright side Phillies fans it’s just 5 months till Spring Training.

-Zorzi

Podcast 1

NLDS Preview