Colorado Rockies: NL West Talk and Blank Stares in Paris

Jul 4, 2015; Paris, France; General view of the Eiffel Tower from the Champ de Mars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 4, 2015; Paris, France; General view of the Eiffel Tower from the Champ de Mars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

If I learned one thing while I was in Paris, it was this … the City of Lights is not a stronghold for the Colorado Rockies.

I’m sure that statement has blindsided you completely, right? I’m sure you believed that there were sports bars throughout Paris that would stay open all night just to make sure Drew Goodman’s voice was coursing through the aging streets. However, I can tell you that’s simply not the case. I know … your world has been rocked.

However, I did see plenty of National League West representation in Paris. Unfortunately, it was people wearing Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants hats.

The LA hats were prominent on some of the souvenir sellers walking around the Eiffel Tower. Whether they’ve ever seen Chavez Ravine in person or even on the television is a question I simply couldn’t ask, both for fear of getting punched and the fact that my French is horrid at best. However, I think the name of Clayton Kershaw is translatable across the ocean, correct?

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The San Francisco hats were seen on some tourists from the Bay Area going up to the Eiffel Tower at the same time my wife and I were visiting. I was going to talk baseball with them but they were already engaged in conversation with another group … about baseball. I just sat back and listened.

“(Mark) Melancon was the missing piece,” one Giants fan said about the closer’s recent signing with San Francisco. “There’s nobody in the West who can stop us now.”

I bit my lip and just listened as he went on to talk about how they would win, even though this was an odd-numbered year.

Of course, the one time I mentioned to one of our tour guides in Paris that we were from Colorado, his eyes lit up. He smiled and put his fingers to his lips like he was smoking a joint.

Yep, that’s our state.

“We also have a pretty good baseball team there,” I said.

He blinked at me, trying to understand my words.

Nolan Arenado? Colorado Rockies?”

More blinking.

Well, at least he knows we smoke pot … and he didn’t mention anything about the altitude at Coors Field. I guess that’s a win.

Next: The 7 Things Rockies Fans Must Never Do

We will see if there are any Rockies fans in Germany. That’s the next stop on our European tour. I know at least there is pork knuckle and Kolsch ahead. That will help drown my sorrows if I can’t find any fans of the purple pinstripes around the cathedral in Koln.

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