TYSONS CORNER, Va. — Something that I think people forgot in all the antipathy between fans of the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans is the Nats won season series victory last year. That won me a cheesesteak from a friend who follows the Phillies, the Ombudsman. It was only the second time in the brief history of the rivalry that the Nats beat the Fleas head-to-head over the course of a season. The last time around was in 2006 and we met up in Philly. We skipped that since we now work a mile apart in Tysons; I claimed my winnings at The Philadelphia Cheesesteak Factory in the food court of Tysons Corner Center.
I think I may have overdone the enthusiasm there a bit, I look the kind of guy who would write things like OUR WASHINGTON NATIONALS and talk about MY BEST FRIEND in my blog posts. The cheesesteak was enjoyable (though needlessly salty) along with not having to buy another half-smoke for the Ombudsman. I owed him a lot of those over the years. The challenge resumes in May for its 7th year — the first year we didn’t do it and the teams split anyway.
This rivalry is starting to get good.
