And some revisionist history....

At the expense of being too assertive a guest blogger, I would like to remind Mr. Collins, who at the time was fondly referred to simply as the "Golden Boy", that way back in the Fall of 1996 when we first met, we did so not in the laundry room, but in his suite in D-High, while he was looking through his CD's and trying to figure out how to keep people from using his living room as a thoroughfare. After reviewing his CD's he asked if anyone else was interested in competing head-to-head in what was then the most advanced sports game on the market.....Hardball! for Windows 96.

Rather than ease into the relationship by playing a few exhibitions, we went right to the best of seven World Series. We immediately disagreed over how teams would be chosen, but had reached consensus fairly quickly on the fact that neither of us could be the Red Sox or Yankees. That said, he chose the Expos, and I chose the Padres.

After six hard-fought contests and having to share a keyboard in what seemed like a 50 square foot room in the midst of an indian summer, it came down to the final at-bats. In the top of the ninth, tied 2-2 with two outs, Tony Gwynn launched a two-run double into right field, giving the Padres the 4-2 lead, ensuring his legacy as one of the games great hitters. Then, with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wil Cordero (who Nate decided to leave in the game despite being one of the worst human beings on earth) hit a line drive to right field. What should have been a routine play for an otherwise sure-handed Tony Gwynn, leading to an epic Padres victory, was instead booted into the right field corner. The bases were cleared and the Expos went on to win their only World Series (granted a fake one). As it was happening, I screamed "No Tony Gwynn, not....this....waaaaaaaay!", to which Nate responded "Yes, this WAY, this WAY!" Our friendship was essentially built on the collective laugh that we had at the expense of digital Tony Gwynn. We were never the same, and neither was Gwynn. Though a first ballot Hall of Famer, Gwynn stated in his acceptance speech "I have accomplished many great things in my baseball life. Although I have otherwise been extraordinarily blessed, one thing that I will never forget is the friendship that was forged at the expense of my low-resolution failure to catch that Cordero line drive."