As Mariano Rivera threw the final pitch of game 6 of the Yankees-Phillies World Series on Nov. 4, I sat and held my breath. After Shane Victorino grounded out to Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano for the final out, I was able to take a long breath of fresh air.

Somehow, this breath was crisper, fuller, and more excitable than any other breath that I’ve taken since 2000 – the last time the Yankees won the World Series.

My initial reaction: disbelief. As I regained my composure, I found myself grinning from ear to ear, watching the Yankees celebrate their 27th World Series championship.

As a New York City native, I was a part of Yankee culture growing up, and became a Yankee fan before I could crawl.

The Yankees winning the series is like getting an A+ on a final exam, or beating Zelda for the first time. You know that sooner or later victory is inevitable, however, until it happens, there is a question of ‘what if?’

What if I have to keep playing this level in Zelda over and over again? What if I spend all this time working on advancing farther, but I just can’t beat the game, or can’t get an ‘A’ on a test?

Uncertainty is a dreadful feeling, but as soon as you win, you realize that the uncertainty was what fueled you to continue playing, or to continue believing in your team.

Yes, in the back of my mind I never doubted that the Yankees could win, but until it actually happened, I sat glued to the television.

I have waited nine long years since I last watched my team win the championship, and damn it felt good. I remember watching the 1996 series against the San Diego Padres with my dad, which inevitably started the Yankee dynasty in the 90s.

As great as watching the game with my old man was, I appreciated this year, watching the game in the same room as a Phillies fan.

Call me ‘sick,’ but I enjoy watching other fans suffer after a tough loss, and then rubbing their defeat in their face. For me, the more tears, the better. In fact, I will continue to talk trash until the next World Series that the Yankees don’t win – in whosever lifetime that may be in.