I ran into a former student of mine, who is a Giants fan (and has seats in the owner's box at "the plastic glove"), at school a couple of weeks ago.  He keeps trying to get me to go to a Giants game with him, but I told him I can't until next year since I'm going to so many A's games.  His response was "Ah, they're gonna fold."  I said, "we'll see", but secretly am pissed because I don't diss his team, and don't appreciate him dissing mine.  

So I run into him again last Wednesday (after Tuesday night's win-A's 1.5 games back).  He had called me over the weekend, and I hadn't returned his call.  He said, "I had an extra ticket... you could have seen Barry hit one".  My reply: "I've seen him hit lots.  And I have to save my baseball time for the A's"  And he says it again: "Ah, they're gonna fold".  At which point I got pissed.  "They haven't folded yet, and they've already had a great season, and passed my own expectations for them.  Believe me, I could say negative things about your team, but I don't, so I don't appreciate you saying them about my team."  I was clearly pissed, and may have burned my bridge with him with my (over-?) reaction.

The trouble is, watching the game last night, I wondered if this was the beginning of the "fold" he predicted.  The poor efforts with runners in scoring position were suspect, and Crosby and Ellis' botched DP was particularly onerous.  

I don't mind not making the playoffs, but don't want to see the season end with the Angels pulling away.  I still think no matter what happens, this has been a great season, but my pride is on the line now... I want to be able to face this guy and say the A's didn't "fold".

I don't know if this deserves a diary, but I'm going to submit it anyway...