Monday, June 28, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - Guest Blogger Dan McGinnis

 



Now that I am back to reality after the West Coast Swing of 5 ballparks in 5 days – hey, wasn’t it supposed to be 8 ballparks in 8 days. Yes it was but some personal stuff popped up and I had to head back east earlier than planned. I have reworked the schedule and have it updated on the 2010 Quest Schedule page.

Back on Memorial Day weekend when I was in Toronto I sat next to Dan and Sue. We have become very good friends and Dan and I email frequently. Dan also adds his own commentary to my blogs in the comment section. Today I received an email from Dan that read like a blog so I figured why not post the email and have Dan be a guest blogger this week while I rest up, get caught up at work and fire off a few blogs later in the week. So without further ado – I introduce the coolest 5 Pin Bowling Center owner this side of the North Pole – Dan McGinnis

Hey Bob,

On Friday afternoon Sue came home from work around 1:30 pm, and I said "hey, let’s go to Philadelphia for the weekend to watch the Jays". So we did. It's a 10 hour drive so we hit the road in my 1990 Mazda Miata with the roof down and went as far as a little town of about 4,000 in N.Y. State called WEEDSPORT. Is it just me or does WEEDSPORT sound like a pie eating contest? We found a pizza and wings joint there that puts out an awesome pizza and 20 meaty wings for $21.00! We took this treasure back to our Days Inn room and we ate about 1/3 of it. Lots of grub considering there was only I, Sue and Amanda. Amanda is our GPS and she doesn't eat much.

I had planned for a 7 am departure to get us on the final 5 hour leg of the journey. Everything went well and we pulled into the parking lot of CITIZENS BANK PARK at 11:45. I was a little confused about the lack of activity around the area and after an inquiry or two, I found out that the 1pm announced time on the Blue Jays site was wrong and the game wouldn't be starting until 4. Even though I explained to them who I was and how far I had driven, they refused to start the game at 1:00! What’s up with that?

Anyhow, we checked into the Holiday Inn a block or so away and Amanda guided us through a tour of Old Philadelphia and then safely back to our hotel. With a couple of hours to spare before the game, I noticed the parking lots surrounding the park where full with tailgaters and so I convinced Sue to go for a walk and check this out. Remember, tailgating is an American thing. Because of our liquor laws here in Canada, there is no tailgating. I must say it was lots of fun to watch the entire make shift games of bean bag toss and washer toss and whatever that game is where balls are attached to the end of ropes and the object is to throw the balls over horizontal rods near your opponent. I put on about 10 pounds walking around smelling all the charred meat smells coming from all the bar-b-q.

We ventured into the park and took in the Phillies batting practice. Jason Werth and Ryan Howard hit a lot of bombs and I couldn't help but notice how the ball jumps out of that park. In batting practice, it seemed a routine fly ball to right field ended up 10 rows back. We had lots of time to walk around the stadium and I must say it is a nice park. There wasn't however one thing that jumped out at me that would make me tell someone "you gotta see that park", if you know what I mean. We found our seats and we were given quite a few dirty looks, me in a Jays shirt and Sue with her baseball cap. There were quite a few homies there because of the fact that the series had been moved there from Toronto because of the G-20 summit. We quickly made some friends anyway with the surrounding Philly fans. We took quite a bit of ribbing about the fact that this might be the only chance we have to see a sellout. I had to inform a few people that the Jays where the first team in the majors to sell 4 million seats in 1 season.

The National Anthems fire up and they sang the Canadian one first. Amongst the boos I sang away proudly, again receiving glances of displeasure from the locals. The American anthem comes up and again, I sing away. That was very confusing to the crowd around me. It seemed unreal to them that a Canadian could somehow find a way to remember the words to "their" song.

As it turned out, Sue and I picked the right game to go to (she had to be back to work for 7am Monday morning so wouldn't be staying for the Sunday game.) The Jays got off to an early lead and won 5-1. We witnessed to pros and cons of tailgating. It's great to see the fun going on outside, but unfortunately many people are bombed when they get to their seats. We had 3 young guys, late 20's, sit down in the 2nd inning or so and they instantly gave Sue and I dirty looks and the one guy in particular, whose head had to bigger than my Miata and a frame to match was swearing and spitting his chaw all over the place. He fell asleep a couple of innings later and his personality improved at that point.

I just had to try something different from a concession booth and some of the locals told me I had to try the "CRAB FRIES". I love crabs, look no further into that comment please, and so I tried this dish and was not impressed. It was nothing more than over seasoned French fries with an overpriced dipping sauce - shoulda went with the Cheese Steak. About this time of the game, buddy, with big head wakes up along with his bad personality. A couple of beers later his buzz kicks back in. In the 7th inning or so between innings the stadium announces they are doing some Canadian Mounted police spoof on the Phillies dugout. As soon as they say Canadian Mounted Police, the crowd starts booing as though the just remembered the Mitch Williams to Joe Carter World Series home-run. I know I should have kept my mouth shut but what the hell they are booing for is a bit beyond me so I say, and not too loudly, "isn't that classy"? Big head and his buddies informed me that they are Americans and didn't need to be classy. Thank God there where many good people around us with normal sized heads.

Near the end of the game, the crowd around us had been riding Jose Bautista all game and he was responding to them a bit with little waves and stares and fake throws of the warm up balls. One lady in particular had been really obnoxious and before an inning starts, Jose tosses her a ball and it slipped through her hands and back on the field. He fakes to throw it back to her and throws it to someone else instead. The crowd really starts heckling him now and "big head" yells the old "hey Jose, you know what I like about you" line. Of course the crowd responds with "nothing". I say to Sue "I really like his major league leading 20 home-runs.”Big Head" snarls at me "well, that's good enough for last place in your division". I informed him that with a win today, the Jays would have more wins than the Phillies. Of course his response is "when was the last time they made the play-offs" and I couldn't refuse of course to inform him that it was in 93 when we beat the Phillies in the World Series! The crowd around us was actually laughing as I was giving it back to Big Head. His response to me that I must have only been 10 when the Jays won the series last was supposed to be an insult but I was actually around 30 so I wasn't upset by the comment.

The game came to an uneventful close and I gotta give it to "Big Head", he turned around and shook my hand and said "all in good fun, no hard feelings". Respecting the life of Sue and me, and knowing I had to get out of the park with my Jay's attire, I shook his hand with a "no problem" response and we said our goodbyes with the non-cranium challenged fans and departed the stadium. (Wow, this got long. I was just dropping you a quick line and got carried away).

We headed back on the road at 8am on Sunday. Sue slipped into a Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. It comes to $2.04. She hands the lady 2 singles and 4 pennies. One of the pennies was Canadian and the lady wouldn't take it. It seems to me there are many people down there that have no idea that we share this continent. I hope you had no experiences like that when you were here. 10 hours later I was back at home visiting with my Dad at the home and longing for the days when he could have made the road trip with us. Hope you had fun on your road trip. Will be in contact soon.

Dan and Sue

Great blog Dan – loved the non-cranium challenged fans line. Look for Dan in the comment section of each blog.

I have now been to 19 ballparks this season and this weekend I am heading home to Wrigley Field for ballpark #20. My mom and dad are flying up from Tampa for the weekend to share in this very special weekend. On Saturday my dad’s family will be joining us at the Red – Cub game and on Sunday my high school best friend Mark Clement and 2 of his kids will be joining us. This is a weekend that I cannot wait for. So for now this is so long and good bye from Columbus, OH where this non-cranium challenged American is so happy that he didn’t read anything into Dan’s line that he loves Crabs – or did I? He is Canadian you know.

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 81

 



Sorry for the lack of blogs lately but I have been just a bit busy with this west coast swing thing and haven’t found the time to type one up. This one will be quick as I only have a few minutes then it’s off to the airport and a flight to Seattle for today’s Cub – Mariner game at Safeco and ballpark #19. I am meeting up today with a good friend from High School, Joe “Cool” Kuhlman and the world famous ballpark chaser himself, Ken Lee. This will be a great day and one I have been truly looking forward to when I made up the schedule.

So far starting on the past Sunday I have been in San Diego and Petco Park, Monday was Chase Field in Phoenix, Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Tuesday and Coors Field here in Denver yesterday. I bunched up that sentence on purpose because that is how this week has been feeling, all bunched up but in a good way. Years from now when I am 92 sitting on the front porch of my palatial estate in Northern Illinois, I can look back on this week with a sense of accomplishment. I will have bounced all over the west coast, meeting wonderful people along the way and helping spread the word about SADS and maybe, just maybe impacting a life or 2.

I do want to take a paragraph and give a shout out to all of the school teachers and administrators out there they make differences in the lives of children all across America. Most of what teachers do is behind the scenes and their contributions are most often unsung. Today I will sing just a bit about one of them (off key though and kind of pitchy, sorry about that.) Hey teach, I got it right. I won’t go into the details but yesterday the official teacher of the Quest took the time out from her summer break to make a difference in the lives of some kids. It was a totally selfless act that might seem minor to most, but to these kids it will be a day they will remember for the rest of their lives. The official school teacher of the Quest also doubles as a very special person in my life and I can’t begin to express how tremendously proud I am of her!!! I am sure there are teachers all across America that do similar things and will go unnoticed and if any are reading this – thank you for all that you do!!!

Well I gotta go now – time to catch a flight to Seattle and see the ever underachieving Cubs play the Mariners. I promise there will be oodles and oodles of blogs in the future about this week. So for now this is so long and good bye from Denver , CO where I tried Rocky Mountain Oysters last night and they do taste like….I will save that for a future blog. I gotta run, plane to catch…

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Sunday, June 20, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - Happy Father's Day

 



I have to be careful now with my grammar, punctuation and conjugating verbs because when your girlfriend (yes, I said it – my girlfriend) is a 4th grade teacher your blogs get graded for content and grammar. Let’s just hope she uses a sliding scale or bell curve. The grammar lessons I get after posting a blog are nice because well, weren’t we all hot for teacher at some point in our lives and now I am at a point that being hot for teacher is awesome. So grammar lessons take on a whole new meaning ;)

Now that I have that out of my system – well not really (you know, hot for teacher here) but we need to move on to wishing all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!!!

To my dad Denny – I am sorry for not being around in the past but I am very fortunate that you had an open mind and let me prove to you that I am so thankful to be a part of the family once again. I look forward to hanging out, the cruise in November and hitting Bike Week in Daytona again next March (only next time we have to take in the nightly contest of not so dry t-shirts when the real talent shows up). Hey gf – should that period be inside the parenthesis. See – grammar lessons are cool ;)

To my father Leonard – same goes here only we haven’t reconnected and that I will work on changing. I do miss your friendship and guidance and I would like to think you would be proud of the man I have become as I seem to be following in your career footsteps. My final game of this year’s Quest is on September 18th a few miles from your home at Sun Life Stadium. I will leave 2 tickets at the will call for you and Joyce – I hope, no pray, that you will join us. It would be great to go to a ballgame again with you especially this one – it’s a Cubs game!!!

For the folks out there that their fathers are with you in spirit – my thoughts are with you today as you mark a special day of remembrance of all the great memories you have. I hope you cherish these with a smile on your face and know that you would not be the person you are today without their love, support and guidance.

This mark’s my 99th blog, well not really since there is one out there that was just for a special person. So this is my 100th blog and I couldn’t think of a more fitting one to call my 100th.

So for now this is so long and good bye from San Diego, CA where the weather is amazing, my kilt is getting ready to be tilted and I am waiting impatiently for my next grammar lesson. I might just have to make a mistake or 2 on these blogs – you know, that way my girlfriend has to teach me ;)More...

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 74

 



Is it fate, forces, coincidences, divine intervention, dumb luck or none or all of the above for why certain things happen in life? The other night my flight back to Columbus was delayed about 1.5 hours at Midway in Chicago because of storms. The guy at the bar next to me was cursing our bad fortune and the weather. I said to him that we can’t control the weather; life is too short to worry about such things and maybe in the grand plan one or more of the passengers on our flight was not “supposed” to be in Columbus on time. Well this comment spared the weather any further outbursts – as for me, well let’s just say I don’t do that to mothers - I am more of a make love kind of guy ;). He ended his tirade by saying “don’t you just fart rainbows”. I was like – I did have Buffalo Wild Wings a little while ago, Asian Zing flavor to be exact. Not sure if that qualifies as rainbows.

So why so deep to start a Friday blog? Because a lot of cool, fate, forces, divine intervention related stuff has been happening recently. Stuff that you can’t explain but once you realize it’s all good you better go with it – which I/we have. These fate related things are not usually handing you the keys to the castle – it points you in a direction and it is up to you to find the keys to that castle. Right now I have the keys to the garage of the castle, but the lock smith is on his way to make sure those garage keys work in the front door of said castle. Boy don’t you just love metaphors and trying to figure them out!!!

Last summer when I was in Anaheim to see the White Sox and Angels, fate led me to meet Oscar, Andy, Tony and Joshua. We spent 6 innings talking about life, baseball and all the other stuff guys talk about. It was one of the best nights of last year’s Quest and I cherish those memories. The other night Andy called me to talk about my upcoming west coast trip and hoping we could get together for a beer or 5 and further our friendship. When we got off the phone it struck me that the only reason I met the guys was because during batting practice someone was standing on my seat for the game and it broke. I had no place to sit. The ushers told me to go to customer service and they would take care of my situation. I never made it to customer service – instead I met the guys and formed a lifelong friendship that night. I will be seeing the guys on either Saturday or Sunday and I can’t wait!!!

The West Coast Swing starts Sunday in San Diego. This is a change from original schedule due to work commitments – see I do work, quiet there McRae. I am looking forward to Petco Park in San Diego, this is one of my favorite ballparks and the weather and surrounding things to do makes the trip to San Diego that much more Kilt Tilting – if you have ever been to a Tilted Kilt Pub you know what I am talking about. (Google searches on Tilted Kilt will now run rampant).

On Monday I take a puddle jumper over to Phoenix where I will meet up with my good friend from Tucson, Van, as we take in the Yankees – D’backs game Monday night. Van is one the truly good guys in life and I would not be here today without his friendship and guidance over the past 2 years. Thanks Van!!! Too bad we won’t be able to play golf on this trip, though I think there are some home owners who are happy about that. So instead of golf we will have to hit Sliders – the Tilted Kilt of Phoenix. There go those Google searches again. I really should have joined the Google rewards program for searches generated thru my website.

On Tuesday it is back on the puddle jumper to Anaheim for the Dodgers – Angels’ game. I am looking forward to going back to Angels Stadium because fate was so good to me last season and I wonder what it has in store for me this time. Even if nothing fate related happens it will still be cool to get back to Anaheim as last season I really didn’t take in the ballpark – I was too busy making lifelong friends.

Wednesday it’s on to Denver for Coors Field and the Red Sox – Rockies game. I love Coors Field and all there is to do around the ballpark, sadly no Tilted Kilt or Sliders but there is the Breckenridge Brew Pub and their world famous Bison Burgers. But I will have to save room for later in the day as this year I will do “it” in the ballpark. What is “it” that I am going to do in the ballpark? My mom is now worried I will be arrested. I am going to try the Rocky Mountain Oysters that they sell in the ballpark (if you don’t know what these are, please Google as just typing what they are will turn my stomach). I will make sure I get many pictures of me eating them and I am hoping that they have Frank’s Hot Sauce because you can put that s#*t on anything, mostly deep fried and I mean deeply deep fried Bull Testicles.

Thursday I get back to Seattle – I love Seattle. At the game I will be meeting up with high school friend Joe Kuhlman, the Circus Boy, “Buzzkill Joe” and the world famous ballpark chaser Ken Lee. Seems I have many friends in the Seattle area and this game will be a blast. Our seats for the afternoon Cub – Mariner game are in the left field bleachers. It isn’t a Cub game without afternoon baseball, downing beer in the left field bleachers – even if it ain’t Wrigley.

Friday I get to Oakland for the Pirates – A’s game at that crap hole McAfee Coliseum. Nuff said.

Saturday though is the highlight of the trip ballpark wise. AT & T Park in San Francisco – my number 1 ranked ballpark (not including the legendary parks of course). I also get to see the Red Sox play the Giants. I love San Fran and cannot wait to be there for a Saturday afternoon game. I will hit Fisherman’s Wharf this time around; have some real oysters in hopes of killing the taste from the Rocky Mountain version from a few days earlier. I have all morning to fart (the rainbow kind) around San Fran. Last season I was not able to – can’t wait for this year.

Then the final game of the West Coast Swing – the Sunday Night ESPN game from Dodger Stadium – the Yankees vs. the Dodgers. What a great way to wrap up the swing with ballpark #22 in beautiful, sunny LA. I paid a little extra for a good seat for the game in hopes of meeting a celeb or 2 or at least ogle Megan Fox from afar. After the game I head up the 405 – Andy F. McRae’s favorite freeway – to the airport and a red eye flight back to Columbus and work on Monday.

That about does it for the West Coast preview blog – I am now ready for the journey next week and all that it will offer. So for now this is so long and good bye where lately I have been smiling like the sun, falling out of bed, singing like a bird, dancing like a fool, forgetting how to breathe, shining like gold and buzzing like a bee all because YOU make me smile!!! Thank you fate, the forces or divine intervention for kicking me in the ass a few weeks ago and handing me the keys to the garage of the castle. I wonder if the lock smith is done with the front door – I guess we will find out in a bit!!!More...

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 72

 



On February 27 I posted on facebook that Milwaukee Brewer tickets were going on sale and was anyone interested in attending the Quest game with me on June 13. A little while later Charlie sent me a message and said she would be interested in going along with her son Brent. At first I was – wow very cool and then I was – holy crap, Charlie wants to go to the game with me. Why holy crap you ask? Great question and here is why:

Charlie and I had become facebook friends back in September 2009. We had attended Highland Junior High School and Libertyville High School together but as far as we can determine our paths didn’t really cross – almost lived parallel lives. I knew of Charlie, only back then I knew her as Charlene. She was this amazingly intelligent person, I was a dork. She was very pretty (still is) and all my friends had a crush on her, I was a dork. She was in the band and played the flute - ok, so many jokes can be inserted here from “one time at band camp” to, well, my own flute playing experiences but I will just say, I was a dork. She was super sweet and had many friends (still is and does), I was a dork. So when she said she was going to the game with me I headed out to Barnes and Noble to get me a “Dummy’s Guide on how not to be a Dork” book. It was a good read and I was a quick study – seems the lessons have worked a bit, at least I have elevated from dork to doofus.

Over the past months Charlie and I have become great friends. We share many common interests one of which is our love for the Chicago Blackhawks – the Stanley Cup Champions by the way. With my crazy travel schedule, Charlie would text me updates on Hawks games and “shared” the drive with me from Philly to Columbus back in April. Even though we had this great connection I was still nervous to see her, she is Charlene the everything I listed in the previous paragraph and I am Bob the Elevated from Dork to Doofus. Turns out Charlie has a soft spot for recovering Dorks ;)

And if you don’t believe me look at the photo attached to the blog. There is Charlie’s son Brent, the ultra cool college sophomore (BTW Brent, good to know they are still teaching pledges to say fraternity). There is Charlie – wowzaaa and then me, the hung over sailor who is sun burnt and looking like a stalker – looks like I have slid back to Dork status.

Sunday’s Quest game in Milwaukee actually started for me on Saturday in Minnesota. The Twins held an autograph party and for $40 you could get as many autographs as you could in 3 hours. I was stoked as I was going to get them all. I also wanted to give the ball to Brent when I met him on Sunday. He is a very cool kid and Charlie just adores him. Every time she talks about him a huge smile appears on her face. She is a very proud mom and for great reason!!! For me this ball would just collect dust on a shelf – for Brent my hope was that it would be a gift he would cherish for a long time. I also took a picture of each player as they autographed the ball and texted the picture to Charlie so they could share in my day.

My plan to get all the players autographs quickly went out the window when I walked up to Joe Mauer’s line and it was over 300 people long. The attendant told me they had cut off the line. Ok, no Joe Mauer – let’s check Justin Morneau’s line (insert loser buzzer sound here) no go. His line was cut off as well. The only line that was still accepting a person was Jim Thome (pronounced TOE MAY, got it Charlie). I figure why not get a future hall of famer. Well Thome’s (pronounced TOE MAY, Charlie) line was moving slower than a Florida retired person driving in the fast lane. This fact also made the party not much fun as the Twins had set up the autograph party outside of the ballpark – great plan if the weather was nice which on Saturday it was not. Drizzling and 50 does not make for a fun experience waiting 90 minutes to get Jim Thome’s (pronounced TOE MAY) autograph. Why didn’t the Twins host the party in their brand new, soft and fresh ballpark – I have no idea and asked that same question to any Twins personnel I saw. They too had no idea. Well to make a long story longer – I ended up getting Jim Thome (got it Charlie), Bert Blyleven, Kent Hrbek and Tony Olivia. All in all a good haul of autographs. Should have been better, but for $40 what do you want. A future Hall of Famer (TOE MAY), one who should be in (Blyleven) and 2 Twin Hall of Famers.

Ok – I am lost now. Where were we before I started that long winded story of 4 autographs. That’s right – ballpark #14, Miller Park in Milwaukee. Since Miller Park is the capital of pregame tailgating we decided we had to give this tailgate thing a try. Charlie set us up a great spread of sandwiches, snacks and beer. Oh my did we have beer in the 85 degree heat with the sun baking down on us. The tailgating was a blast, Charlie and I enjoyed our adult beverages and Brent was a good kid having pop (soda for the rest of the world). I actually didn’t want the tailgate to end. The ballgame was going to interfere with our fun. And in a way it did. The game was kind of a dud – but what do you expect from the Brewers and Rangers. If you are not a fan of either team this is not a game you would go to unless you were on a Quest to get to all 30 ballparks. We had great seats, saw Prince Fielder hit 2 bombs for home runs, my favorite Ranger Josh Hamilton had a dinger and a double and the Rangers won – I think. We left in the 7th inning to beat the traffic and get to Buffalo Wild Wings for our post game fun.

A few other notes – Charlie was amazed by all the modern features to Miller Park as she has only been to Wrigley many times, the Old Busch and Cellsky (US Cellular). She commented that it didn’t feel like a ballpark and I couldn’t agree more. It has a stadium feel – not a ballpark feel. Baseball for me needs to be in a ballpark and the night before at Target Field with all its ultra modern features still feels like a ballpark. The Brewers also had a military salute prior to the game which made the National Anthem and God Bless America that much more touching for us ;)

The rest of the day was spent at Buffalo Wild Wings (Bdubs, right Brent) just enjoying each other’s company and playing NTN trivia. Then an idea struck us – since Brent is away at school and I am in Columbus and Charlie in Northern Illinois – we should pick a night, find a bar near each of us with NTN and play “together” since the questions are the same in every bar. We could text each other our scores and compete for wonderful prizes such as iPads. Oh that’s right, Charlie already has an iPad. What a cool way to stay close to people who live a distance away from each other and maybe Brent can win an iPad since his mom won’t give up hers and I most definitely am not giving up mine.

This past weekend – the M & M weekend – was the best of the Quest so far. It all started on Friday reconnecting with Mark, Saturday in Minnesota where for a while I felt like somewhat of a celebrity (a modest one at that) and Sunday hanging out with a special “new” friend and her ultra cool son. I also made many new friends and created memories that will last a lifetime. The weekend also reenergized me for the upcoming West Coast Swing – 8 ballparks in 8 days in order San Diego, Phoenix, Anaheim, Denver, Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. After the West Coast Swing 22 ballparks will be Quested and the balance will be a breeze - which will be perfect as it will be time for me to move to the next Quest – family and friends and …

Check back on Friday for another blog detailing the upcoming West Coast Swing. So for now this is so long and good bye from Columbus, OH where this one time at band camp…this very intelligent, pretty flutist found a soft spot for a kind of cool dork!!!

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Monday, June 14, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 71

 



I am complete again on the lifelong goal of seeing a regularly scheduled game at every active MLB ballpark after attending a game at new Target Field in Minnesota. Where does this ballpark rank? I will save that for the end of the blog to build suspense. But this was only a minor footnote to a wonderful weekend that started Friday night reconnecting with a great friend from high school and ending on Monday morning at 1:22 am when I finally walked into my apartment. What happened in between will make up 2 blogs – maybe 3 if I find the time. I surely have enough to write about that could make up a few chapters in a book – hmmm, write a book – seems someone may have suggested I do that. Might need some scholarly assistance though ;)

Last summer thru facebook I reconnected with one of my best friends from high school, Mark Clement. Mark and I were day camp counselors at APDC (Adler Park Day Camp) and coached little league together. We also went to many Cub games and other adventures along the way. Mark and I met at a bar in our home town Libertyville, IL on Friday night. Mark has done very well in life; he has 5 wonderful children and is one of the top principles in the Illinois Public School system. I can see the joy in his face that his family brings him. I immediately could tell he is a very proud father and husband. Mark and I hadn’t talked in over 25 years so a lot of catching up went on. The one thing that stood out for me was his remembrance of my brother Jeff. Mark had always helped watch out for Jeff when we were coaching and was always a good friend to my brother. Mark and I will be going to Wrigley Field together on July 4th. I was already excited for this game but after hanging with Mark on Friday – I cannot wait!!!

Saturday was met with an early puddle jump flight from Milwaukee to Minnesota for ballpark #13. The Twins were hosting an autograph party that afternoon and I had bought a ticket for the event. I will hold off the review of this until the next blog as this part of Saturday has more relevance to Sunday. I know that may not make sense now but I usually can tie these things together.

Saturday night turned out to be hard to juggle all the cool stuff that was going on at Target Field. It was a bit overwhelming to me but I have been taught by a very smart person (very beautiful as well) to chunk these things out. What is chunking? It is breaking out a big thing into smaller things to make it feel easier to accomplish. I was to meet Brian at 4 at a bar near the park. Brian and I had become friends last summer and he had become more than just a casual observer of the Quest. When I published the schedule for this season Brian contacted me and said his company would love the opportunity to assist with tickets, food, whatever. Well the whatever turned out to be tickets to the Champions Club at Target Field. What is the Champions Club you ask? If you watch a game at these newer ballparks and see the high back leather seats behind home – well you guessed it - that is the Champions Club at Target Field. Other than having seats 8 rows directly behind home plate, the Champions Club comes with a full pre-game buffet and all the beer and wine you can to partake in. To say the least – we partook.

The next part to the night was the emotional part of me. Meg Sullivan had contacted me back in March telling me that her sister passed away at the age of 48 from ARVD, the same condition Shawn Marie passed away from. Since ARVD is hereditary, Meg was tested and diagnosed with ARVD as well as few other of her relatives. Meg and I have been emailing over the past months and she told me she would be at Target Field on the 12th – what I didn’t know until I met Meg and her family is that the 12th was her sister’s birthday. Brian said he wanted to experience the “Quest” and walked with me to the left field area of the ballpark where Meg, her hubby Denny and other friends and family were enjoying an adult beverage or 2. Meg greeted me with the biggest hug I have gotten in years. The smile on her face was priceless and showed me how much my – no, our Quest means to so many people. I wish I could have spent more time with Meg and her family, usually at Quest games meeting Meg would have been a whole game experience but forces and fate were such that I couldn’t, at least this time. I do want to say to Meg and your family – you guys are my heroes, meeting you and seeing how you are living with a condition that has stopped others from living is truly inspirational. The picture I have posted is Meg and me – isn’t her smile priceless!!!

Next up to chunk was to meet my high school buddy Chuck Winkler. Chuck had moved to Minnesota after high school to play college hockey. Chuck was an excellent goalie back in the day, a stand up goalie as he told us during game. Chuck fell in love with Minnesota and stayed after graduating from college. Chuck has made a nice life for himself in Minnesota and reconnecting thru facebook with him has been great. Chuck’s family was also at the game and was sitting in the home run deck, which is Target Field’s way of putting a positive spin on the worst seats in the house. During the 1st inning Chuck got a text from a family member who saw where we were sitting – the text said “you suck on so many levels right now”. With that Chuck toasted them with his free beer (told you we partook in the free beer, didn’t I?).

At this point the night was already amazing but it had only just begun. Brian’s boss Blaine was the person responsible for us having the great seats. We were having a wonderful time talking, laughing and trying to stay dry in the constant drizzle. Sitting behind us was a wonderful group who we had started talking to. I had explained to them all about SADS and what we are doing in trying to raise awareness. After the game ended they gave me a gift – it is a commemorative Twins penny in a protective case. Again it is the little things in life that make the biggest difference. 3 hours ago these folks were just strangers sitting behind me at a ballgame – as they were leaving I was afforded a gift, handshakes and hugs. And to Dark – it was a privilege to have met you and any assistance you can provide in helping our Quest in saving lives would be much appreciated. If I lived in Minnesota, I would definitely be one of your listeners!!!

Ok – Brian the next paragraph is for you. Brian has been a reader of my blogs from the start and he mentioned that he still likes the current ones but misses the edginess and R rated comments of last season’s blogs. He does though understand that my audience is more national now – even international – and I have had to tone it down a bit. So if you are easily offended, please do not read the following paragraph – but it is funny and surely has the edge.

Brian, Chuck and I met this one female fan early in the game in the Champions Club. She came over to us asking for my shirt – saying she was a big Cubs fan. I said if you were such a big fan why you didn’t have one of your own – good point Bobby D, score one for the big guy. We talked for a bit and she asked us to meet her for a drink after the game. I told Brian she was interested in him and he laughed it off and said stick to the baseball Quest, Bob. After the game she saw us and yelled for us to join her for a drink. She had a big bag of licorice and offered us some. She said it was soft and fresh. I asked Brian is she talking about licorice? Later on during the night I noticed her offering her licorice to other guys and I said to Brian – I am not sure how fresh that “licorice” really is?

Wow that felt good - had to get the edge back, if just for a bit. If you are now offended, you were duly warned.

As for my review of Target Field – well I now have it ranked as the second best ballpark behind AT&T in San Fran (remember Wrigley, Fenway, Dodger Stadium and Camden Yards have been anointed legendary status). Why the second best. I have no idea – I just have that feeling about it and maybe that is it – the ballpark has a feeling to it. PNC does not, Comerica does a bit, Petco does not. Yankee Stadium has a feel, but I can’t afford to feel it too often. So because of soft and fresh feel (that was bad and didn’t come with a warning – see what you started Brian), Target Field is the second best ballpark according to me – the grand poobah of this kind of stuff.

Wow I am approaching 1,700 words in this blog – looks like I had just a bit to say about this day. Check back in a few days and I will blog about my very special day in Milwaukee this past Sunday and ballpark #14. So for now this is so long and good bye from Columbus, OH where I will never look at a big bag of licorice the same way and as for eating it…..Brian – look what you started!!!!

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - It's the Chicago Blackhawks Man!

 



I woke up this morning a fan of the Stanley Cup Champions. My all time favorite hockey team is now the sitting champions of the NHL. The feeling is like none I have felt with other championships won by Chicago teams. The Bears were so dominate in 1985 that winning the Super Bowl was a foregone conclusion, the Bulls teams of the 90’s with Michael were special and I celebrated those championships with huge cigars and expensive scotch. But last night – was a night like no other.

I became a Hawks fan in the early 1970’s. I remember a neighbor Mr. Stieger had an extra ticket for a Hawks game and he took my best friend at the time David and I. The only thing I remember about that game is our seats were in the lower section around the blue line and during the game Bobby Hull broke free for a break away and scored a goal. The place went nuts. At that moment I was hooked – the Hawks were my team.

In 1973 the Hawks were thisclose to winning the Cup. They were up 3 games to 2 against the Canadians. My father had been in Chicago that day and saw a vendor who had a banner that said 1973 Stanley Cup Champions and he talked the vendor into letting him buy one before the game. The Hawks didn’t win and that began my jinxing superstition with sports.

Over the years I went to many Hawks games – usually sitting in the 2nd balcony of the old Chicago Stadium. My father was a Blackhawk Standby which meant he worked the gates, handing out free stuff and once a year he would get to go to a banquet that featured a Hawk sitting at each table. My sister Kim is also a Hawks nut – her favorite player was Dennis Savard. Though I am a bit disappointed in you Kim, when I sent you the text with 5 minutes to go you were sleeping – what’s up with that?!?!?!? Need to pretend it is a NASCAR race I guess.

In high school my buddy Dave Kahan and I would go to Hawks games without tickets and fish for seats. Fishing was the art of buying and selling tickets before the game to obtain the best seat for the lowest price. Dave was an artist at Fishing and we would always sit in the lower bowl of the Stadium. Going to Hawks games were always the best times – times that I always cherished.

After I moved away from Chicago I never lost being a fan of the Hawks. I saw them when they came into MSG (Madison Square Garden) or the Meadowlands Arena. Last season when I was living in Tucson I drove up to Phoenix and saw them play the Coyotes and this season saw them in Boston at the Gahhhden. And in every arena I see the Hawks play – I wore my Jeremy Roenick jersey until this season when my family gave me for my birthday a Jonathan Toews jersey.

Last night watching the game time seemed to stop once the Hawks took the lead. The 3rd period took forever and when the Flyers scored to tie the game with a little over 3 minutes to go visions of Bartman, Leon Durham, the black cat at Shea and Rex Grossman under center for the Bears in the Super Bowl all popped into my head. My heart sunk to my toes. We were thisclose again and it was slipping thru our fingers. But not this Hawks team – they are like Jordan’s Bulls, they refuse to lose. When Kaner scored the championship winning goal in OT I didn’t know how to act – we were the Stanley Cup Champions, 49 years in the making. I wasn’t even alive in 1961 – my parents were just dating.

I watched the celebration while texting, it is not safe to celebrate and text at the same time I learned (better stick to driving and texting – just kidding mom). I still didn’t know how to act. It had been 12 years since one of my teams won a championship and that was the Bulls who just had won their 6th in 8 years, back then it was just assumed we would win. NBC then blew the intro of the Stanley Cup. I love it when they cut to the PA announcer and he says “Ladies and Gentlemen – the Stanley Cup”. I just got goose bumps typing that. It was awesome seeing all the Hawks skate with the Cup but I still didn’t know how to act and feel and then JR (Jeremy Roenick) who was a studio host for the game on NBC, choked up when talking about the Hawks winning. When he said to Dan Patrick “it’s the Chicago Blackhawks man” it summed it all up for us. That for me will be equal to the “hey Dad, wanna have a catch” scene from Field of Dreams. It’s the Chicago Blackhawks man!!!! I know many of my friends were choked up as well. Charlie sent me a text and said – what is it with you men and sports? It’s the Chicago Blackhawks man!!!!

Yesterday for me was a day I didn’t want to end. It started with a song in my head and ended with the Hawks skating with the Cup. In between my company signed a huge contract that I helped negotiate, the largest contract I have ever been a part of. The Hawks won the Cup. And the 3rd thing is the best of all, but I am going to keep that one to myself. At times I have been a bit too open with my personal stuff on here and for now, this special thing will be kept to me and a chosen few. Maybe someday I will blog about it all – then again probably not.

Now it’s back to the Quest. This weekend I will be in Minnesota on Saturday where I will be at Target Field, the only ballpark I have never been to. I am reconnecting with a great friend from High School Chuck Winkler on Saturday for the game. On Sunday I will be in Milwaukee at Miller Park for ballpark #14 and with me will be Charlie from the Blogs and her son Brent. This weekend will be special in so many ways!!!

I could go on for days gushing about the Hawks but I better get going to work. I couldn’t sleep this morning so I got up early and typed up this blog. The events of yesterday have me standing on top of the world. So for now this is so long and good bye from Columbus, OH where if you happen to get choked up today thinking about the Stanley Cup – no worries – it’s the Chicago Blackhawks Man!More...

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

 

Pre order the "Where's Bob?" shirt today!!!

 



Hit the more button below for the link to pre-order your very own "Where's Bob" T Shirt!!!More...

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Monday, June 7, 2010

 

Bobby D's Blog - 2010 Day 64

 



I know it has been over a week since my last blog. I am finding out what writer’s block is all about plus the time it takes to type one of these suckers up. Work has been crazy along with other stuff that goes on in the everyday life of Bob. To get caught up I will have a little to say about the Memorial Day Crawl weekend and then maybe vent a bit.

I had made the schedule for the Quest back in November and Memorial Day Weekend was key to knock off 3 ballparks. So I scheduled Detroit, Toronto and Pittsburgh – a nice natural 949 mile drive around Lake Erie.

In Detroit I was joined by great friends. Owen and Melinda Baier with their 3 year old son Matthew along with friends I made last summer in Detroit, Jeff and Sarah. Owen and I had worked together many moons ago at Ecolab. Owen is one of those really great people that you need in your life, his wife Melinda happens to be one as well. I was excited to see the Big O and Melinda at the game since I hadn’t seen them since their wedding day over 4 years ago. This was also a big day for them as they made this day the first ever game for their 3 year old son Matthew. After hanging out with Owen and Melinda for the day I see that they are truly blessed, Matthew is a wonderful kid and when I look at the attached picture it brings a smile to my heart.

What made Detroit doubly fun was that Jeff and Sarah joined us as well. If you have been a regular reader of my blogs you will remember when I met Jeff and Sarah last season at the Hockey Town Café prior to game 1 of the NHL Western Conference Finals. I have kept in touch with them thru facebook, had set up things to do but my crazy work schedule got in the way. Jeff is a huge Hawks fans so it was killing him being at the ballgame while the game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was on. I appreciate Jeff hanging at the game for as long as he did. I met up with them at the Hockey Town Café after the ballgame and was able to watch about half of the Hawks game with them. I really enjoy Jeff and Sarah’s company; I see a lot of Shawn and me in them. Sarah was kidding that the Hawks better win, if not the weekend in their home would not be a happy one. Shawn used to say that about the Bears or Cubs when the playoffs rolled around. Please God – for the sake of a happy home let the Bears or Cubs win. Being a Cub fan – that prayer never worked.

Sunday morning was met with a 250 mile drive or so (struggled with the metric system up there) from Detroit to Toronto. I wasn’t looking forward to Toronto – I didn’t know anyone up there and was just going to because it is part of the 30 ballparks I have to go to get to all of these done. When I left Toronto after seeing a great game I am so glad to have gone to Toronto because I would not have met Dan and Sue. Dan and Sue were sitting a few seats away from me and we became instant friends. We talked thru the entire game about baseball, Canada and life. Dan and Sue have become another in the long line of great people I have met along the way. Dan and I have been emailing regularly since meeting and will meet up again one day up in Canada where Dan will teach me all the benefits of 5 pin bowling.

After the game on Sunday I had a 321 mile drive from Toronto to Pittsburgh. This is where present day Bob wanted to jump into the Delorean, go back to the future and punch November 2009 Bob in the nose for scheduling such a hectic day. The only saving grace (well not the only…) to the drive was knowing that I was going to see my good friend Cousin Jim Cowan and his son Jimmy on Monday for the Cub – Pirate game.

Our seats for the game on Monday were down the right field line in the first row – perfect foul ball territory. During Cub batting practice Cub outfield Tyler Colvin flipped a ball our way and I made a perfect, pain free catch. Well I thought it was pain free – later in the game I commented to Cousin Jim that my hand still hurt from when I caught the ball. I did give that ball to Jimmy who later got one after he flirted with the ballgirl as only a 9 year old could. We did have a chance at a foul ball though. In the 3rd inning a shot was hit right at us that was just foul. I reached to knock it down so I could pick it up but I missed. My dad sent me a text a few seconds later asking if I was sitting next to the ballgirl (which we were) and said he saw me miss the ball. My mom said it looked like I was going to fall out of the stands onto the field. That would have been cool – maybe I would have made Sportscenter.

Bobby D's Note - after I posted this Cousin Jim gave me a call and thanked me for the blog. Jim and I sadly share a bond that luckily not too many others do. He reminded me as we were leaving the game Jimmy gave me the ball that Tyler Colvin flipped to us. Jimmy said "Mr. DeVries didn't get one and I have two". Very cool gesture by a very cool kid. I will cherish that ball forever Jimmy!!!

Overall the Lake Erie Memorial Day Crawl was a great success. I know I left out a bunch of stuff like being on the field for photo day at the Rogers Centre or the whole I have no idea what all those coins are in Canadian currency – it was funny, when I went to buy a beer I just held out my hand with all this change and told the vendor to take whatever. I am sure he added a big tip for himself. Maybe someday I will go back and write more about that weekend but I do not have it in me. Which I guess will bring us to the ventilator part of the blog.

Thru these blogs my life has become a bit more public than I would have thought. I have used the blogs as therapy as a way to get my feelings out in a positive manner (well mostly positive) and hopefully help others out there that may be struggling with the same type of issues.

At 4:29 pm on 9/10/08 my life was just about perfect. A wife who I loved dearly and was also my best friend, dream home out in the country in New Hampshire on 2 acres, great job, working on having kids and had 3 dogs that I just adored. At 4:30 when I walked into that hotel room my life as I knew it ended. Today I still have that great job and the one thing that stopped my life from being perfect back then is my family - who I thank God are now back in my life - but everything else is gone. I now have a 2 bedroom apartment, no dogs and many good friends but no one best friend that I can call at any time of the day or night who will talk me off the ledge. Back then I was living – today I am existing. So why the self pity trip Bob? Well because I took my pre 9/10/08 life for granted. I just always assumed that was how my life was going to play out. But that’s not how life is – as the commercial says, life comes at you fast. I have been trying to recapture what I had. Totally ruined a great potential relationship with JK who I am truly sorry for how that all played out. You were more than just a starter girlfriend – hope you know that. I also have lost touch with good friends and put undue pressure on others all because I wanted my life back. It’s not coming back – I now understand that.

So the takeaway here is do not take good things in your life for granted. If you have a wonderful spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend – tell them that, repeatedly. Tell your kids you love them and are proud of them. Buy your dog an extra treat or go out for an extended walk with them. Call a friend and tell them you are grateful they are in your life. Post a blog that a thousand people will read and hope a special person is one of those thousand. And finally, honor your past, live for today and embrace your future – one day at a time.

I guess that’s it, thanks for listening and I promise if you do one of those things I listed above – you will make a positive impact in that person (or dog’s) life and will leave them with a smile on their face as well as yours. Feels so much better to smile than frown. So for now this is so long and good bye from Columbus, OH where today it is very cloudy – I wonder hidden in those clouds is one that is numbered nine. I really liked that cloud…

I have decided to end each and every blog from here on out with the following – “if you know of anyone who faints or has constant dizziness this could be a sign of a deadly heart condition. Please visit stopSADS.org for more information and consult your physician. The Shawn M DeVries Memorial Fund stands at $3,000 which is 30% of our goal. Please visit the link at the top of the page for more info and the donation link. $50 could go a long way to saving a life!”