Opinion: Are we going to get left at #SavedTheCrew altar?

When a “d” started getting thrown in the #SaveTheCrew hashtag on Friday, it felt like we were on the verge of winning a world championship.

Naturally, my mind began drifting back to 1990…

Game 4 of the World Series was in Oakland—not a place I could get to. Instead, I took in the first few innings at a friend’s house in Cincinnati.

But, I just knew we were going to win so I jumped in my car and headed down to where all the action was: Fountain Square. 

The place was already packed, with radios blaring and people cheering. When the Reds scored two in the eighth to take the lead, the crowd went wild. 

The game wasn’t over, but we just knew we were going to win.  

That’s what Friday felt like. 

I was on my way home from Dayton, listening to Man and Bone on The Fan.  They were really trying to be non-specific about the details with all that reporter banter like, “reports are” and “my sources say.”

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But just like in 1990, even though the game wasn’t over, I knew we were going to win.  And I didn’t want to be by myself. 

So, I headed to Endeavor Brewing on 5th Ave.—the official gathering place of #SaveTheCrew…or is it now #SavedTheCrew?

Every one of the 30 minutes it took to get from the front door to the bar was filled with high-fives, smiles and cheers. It felt like the moment just before the final out in Game 4 back in 1990.  

The only problem: It stayed that way. 

Another beer? Nah, don’t want to fight that thing again. 

Any updates? I was refreshing Twitter every 5 seconds hoping my phone didn’t die and looking for any sort of announcement. 

What came was encouraging: “We’ve agreed to agree to talk and we’ll be talking soon, things look good, come back later for real news…” but not the final out.

Were we all celebrating too early?  Is there a chance this won’t happen? 

Ask any jilted bride—until the groom shows up at the altar, the deal is not done. 

Hopefully that will happen soon. Perhaps then we can have a real celebration. And more beer… 

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