Phillies - WE WON!

JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" Vince Lombardi

Life is hard. Job, family, bills, school, taxes, bosses, teachers, doctors, parents, kids, commutes, mortgages, crime... managing to keep your head above water, inside and out.

Then one magical autumn afternoon it all fades away. Nothing matters but this:

WE WON!!!

If only briefly, all our cares and woes seem a little less burdensome. There's a bounce in the step. A smile on the face. A cheer deep in the belly:

WE WON!!!

Philadelphia is Electric. Ecstatic. United. Filled with joy and walking on air. If only for the next few weeks, we're on top of the world. And life seems a little easier to handle.

If only it were that simple. One poignant reminder of the world outside Philly almost "harshed my mellow" as we used to say. A message board comment on this AP story Phils Complete Comeback to Claim NL East.

"All the way from IRAQ!!! YOU GO PHIL'S! YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!! i LOVE YOU GUYS! BRING IT HOME!" SPC HILL, UNITED STATES ARMY

Suddenly I was reminded life's not as simple as baseball. There's war. And suffering. And death.

On the other hand... SPC Hill, all the way across the world from Iraq, in harm's way, is as pumped as we are here at home in Philly. I'm glad the Phillies brought him some much needed relief, release, happiness, a reason to cheer.

I hope the Fightin Phils "bring it home" for him and all our military men and women too. As I hope we can bring them home, alive and well.

But for a little bit longer, I'm going to savor an all-too-rare thrill in Philly:

WE WON!!!