We don't do much talking in the 209 + Post No. 500!

You knew I was going to write about it. How could I be an A's fan in Stockton and not comment on this??!?!

First of all, I think Dallas Braden is kind of an idiot. That's just my personal opinion, I'm entitled to it. He's a pugnacious kid from Stockton (and if you don't know what my city's all about, it's kind of ghetto and parts are also rural agricultural areas with lots of immigrants. It's an interesting mix of folks), and went to high school the same year as one of the girls I work with. So he's only two years older than I am. And at 25, I still feel like I have the mentality of a kid sometimes.

Apparently, so does Dallas Braden. A few weeks ago, A-Rod stormed the mound when the A's played the Yankees (ew) and it was just handled so poorly. Braden was spouting about it and venting live on tv for hours that night. Now fast forward to a few days before his start this weekend and what does he say, "We don't do much talking in the 209 [Stockton's area code]." Seriously, he's an idiot.

But that set the scene for this weekend. When Braden tossed MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S 19th PERFECT GAME dating back to the 1800s. As in, no hits, no runs, no errors. Nothing. That is impressive.

We get DirecTV on the bus during road trips and this weekend drove back and forth an hour north to UC Davis. Our Division I collegiate baseball team completed a three-game sweep of UC Davis, and down in Santa Barbara our women's softball team also swept UC Santa Barbara. To the point where the Gauchos never even once scored... which kills me a little inside to write, since I graduated from there and all.

So on the bus back, all the guys could not stop talking about Braden's perfect game, saying how this was a great weekend for the 209. As we drove away from the baseball field, still on the campus of UC Davis, the trees lining the road kept interfering with the DirecTV signal. So on SportsCenter when Braden's teaser aired, we essentially missed the entire thing before it cut to commercial break. And all the guys on the bus kept screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO, NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO," with every interference from the trees. It was almost akin to a record skipping. Classic.

It's always a very entertaining ride back when we win.

In other news, my new "boyfriend" as he's been dubbed - don't worry, still dating J.D. this is only a joke - and I didn't have any interaction whatsoever this weekend! I don't know why, this is silly actually, but I'd been super nervous about making the trip to UC Davis and having him remember me. I wished he'd forgotten and I guess this weekend he did just that! So crisis averted, I live to tell about another day. Too bad though, that could have made for some more comical blog posts.

If you're curious about the incident I'm referencing which led to this "new boyfriend," so delicately labeled by my female coworkers you're going to have to read about it here, on my sports-writing blog.

And I made it to 500 posts in under three years! Thanks to everyone who's been reading my blog and encouraging me to keep writing along the way. This was only meant to serve as means of updating my friends and family across the pond when I lived in France for a year. I'm glad I kept it going!

Now, I think it's time for me to pass out...... after running SEVEN MILES in about 66 minutes. I know, impressive right?!?! I couldn't even believe it.

It's not a rivalry unless.... wait, it's not at all.

Obviously since I've graduated from and spent many years at UC Santa Barbara, my athletic loyalties lie with the GAUCHOS. However, this is somewhat difficult to manage working for another Big West Conference team in the University of the Pacific.

When I was first hired on board here in the athletics department, nearly everyone inquired as to where I spent my undergrad years because I am one of the few non-Pacific alumni to secure a job here. Apparently they like to keep it all in the family, especially with the grad assistants.

Anyways, most of the coaches shunned me, my boss almost didn't hire me and many other employees downright told me they were upset with me, solely because I used to be a Gaucho. (Once a Gaucho, always a Gaucho, right?)

After his resignation, the men's tennis coach even told me, "If that's your car with the UCSB sticker, I wouldn't be surprised to one day find a brick in the windshield. And you can't do anything about it because I'm moving back to Europe next week."

For a little bit of background, UCSB has won the Big West Conference championships for many sports over the years. Pacific, who historically has had a really good men's basketball program, only had a handful of teams finish above .500 last year. Not looking very good when measured against Santa Barbara's success last year.

So long story short, a bunch of coworkers have told me they don't like Santa Barbara because we're simply rivals.

However, as a fervent Gaucho supporter who attended/worked at many athletic events in my four years at UCSB, I never noticed such a rivalry. In fact, the only team we vehemently hated was Cal Poly because of the geographical location of the two schools. Last I checked, Stockton is five and a half hours north of Santa Barbara and less than an hour from UC Davis, another Big West team.

Did I miss something here?!