The Washington Nationals somehow won the World Series last night. I say “somehow” because it was a strange series. No home wins by either team and it seemed to be the theme of the entire thing that one team would take a lead only to have victory snatched away in the late innings. And it was Washington. It’s not like they don’t have other things going on in that town that are competing for headlines.
But they won for the first time, which is nice. To people in Montreal, it could be a bit frustrating, since before 2004, this was the Montreal Expos. Well… sort of. The team had been scattered around the league before the franchise moved.
One employee that didn’t move… the mascot, Youppi. As giant, furry mascots go, Youppi is a pretty cool mascot and the fact that his former team won the championship the day before we could all dress up as Youppi and wander around in public without people thinking we’re totally bonkers is somehow fitting. But Youppi stayed in Montreal. He switched teams. Became the mascot for the Canadiens. He has been gainfully employed since his former team left town, which is good.
But here’s the thing. The Habs haven’t won a cup since 1993, long before Youppi joined them. The Expos looked like they might make a run a couple times, but never quite pulled it off. We won’t talk about the stolen season, where it really looked like they would take the title, only to have a strike take it away.
The thing is, I feel a bit sorry for Youppi. He still doesn’t have a championship. Although really, he has pretty big furry fingers so the ring probably wouldn’t fit anyway. But his former owners sort of left him on the side of the road and moved to another town where they are doing pretty good. As for his present owners… well… this could take a while.
For now, he still doesn’t have a championship.
