Sun, 20 May 2012 19:39:30 -0800WeeblySat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0800http://30ballparks-in-1season.com/49/post/2009/08/first-post.html Friday, August 28, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - stopsads.org

 



Over the course of the Quest I have made many great new friends and have had many great experiences but I never felt I had a purpose to this except get to all the parks in one season - that may have all changed yesterday when I got an email from Laura from the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome (SADS) Foundation.

My wife Shawn Marie passed away from Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). Technically ARVD is not classified as a SADS condition but the symptoms mirror that of SADS. SADS affects mostly young people who appear completely healthy as was Shawn Marie. In our case we saw many doctors who did take her at face value that she had dizziness. In retrospect I wish we would have been more aware of these types of heart conditions.

What exactly is SADS?

Sudden arrhythmia death syndromes (SADS) are genetic heart conditions that can cause sudden death in young, apparently healthy people. These conditions can be treated and deaths can be prevented. Warning Signs: family history of unexpected, unexplained sudden death; fainting or seizure during exercise, excitement or startle; consistent or unusual chest pain &/or shortness of breath during exercise.

Today will be my shortest but potentially most important blog to date. If you click on the banner at the top of the screen for SADS it will take you to stopsads.org. Please take a moment and visit their website and pass this information on to anyone that you deem fit. If we can save just one life from this then I may have found my purpose for the Quest I have been on this summer.

Thank you!!!

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 144

 



There are only a few sporting venues left in American that just by saying you are going to an event there that you get an immediate burst of energy. I can only think of 3 venues – the Garden (Madison not TD Banknorth), Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. The old Yankee Stadium had that, but now when you say you are going to the new one you get an immediate burst of “how am I going to pay my mortgage and go to a game?”

This past Friday night was Fenway and my 28th ballpark. Just about every person I have met along the way has mentioned that they either want to go to Fenway or tell me their story of being at Fenway. There is energy around the ballpark that I have only felt at Wrigley Field. From the people milling around, to the great bars adjacent to the ballpark, to the street vendors selling various food and souvenirs - it all adds to the allure of Fenway. Since tickets to Fenway are the toughest ticket in the Majors – people line up 5 hours prior to game time in hopes that some same-day tickets will be released for sale. There are of course scalpers everywhere selling tickets and if you want to take a chance there is a scalp free ticket area at gate B. The other thing that is evident is that everyone is wearing Red Sox stuff of some sort – the only exceptions are the fans from the team that the Sox are playing and this one dork wearing his Cubs stuff. To assist with buying Red Sox apparel – there is the largest souvenir store I have seen at any of the ballparks over on Yawkey Way.

As I mentioned in the previous blog – we had been at Fenway early on Friday and wanted to be in the ballpark the minute the gates opened. The nice thing with Fenway is that they open the gates 2 hours before first pitch – most ballparks open 1.5 hours before first pitch which means you miss the home team taking batting practice. The Red Sox also allow fans to get close to the dugouts during batting practice – it is so much fun watching the kids being that close to their favorite players. As Teddy and I were watching the Yankees take batting practice (that is Teddy saying hi to everyone in the picture) I had a major flashback to the game when Shawn and I went to Fenway. As I mentioned in a previous blog – she ran around trying to get Derek Jeter’s autograph. She said she had never been so star struck before but being so close to your hero has that effect on people. I know when I met Ernie Banks recently at spring training – I was certainly star struck.

Our seats for the game were in the Right Field Roof Boxes. Over the past few years the Sox have added seats to the upper areas of Fenway trying to shoe horn fans in where ever there is an open spot. For the game Friday the shoe horns came with Vaseline because wherever you went in Fenway there were people. The Red Sox sell standing room only tickets and if you have a seat and decide to stand get ready to be yelled at as you are not allowed to stand if you have a seat – trust me on this; Mikey, Teddy and I got yelled at a few times for standing. Also if you go to Fenway keep your ticket stub handy as it is checked all game long. Better yet – buy a lanyard with a pouch and wear it around your neck.

A few Friday’s ago I was at Yankee Stadium and saw the 15 inning 0 – 0 battle between the Yankees and Sox. No worries about a 0 – 0 game on Friday, there was high humidity and the wind was blowing out - add to that Brad Penny pitching against Andy Petitte and we had a recipe for a high scoring game. Before the game Mikey and I said the over/under for total runs should be around 18. Well the Yankees covered the over by themselves scoring 20 runs. The Sox scored 11 runs making this by far the highest scoring game I have been to in my life. In one inning Hideki Matsui hit a 3 run homer and came up in the same inning with the bases loaded which led me to ask if he hit a grand slam I wonder if that would be the most RBI’s in one inning. Well the answer to that question is 8 which was done by Fernando Tatis who in 1999 hit 2 grand slams in the same inning.

Since the game was a blow out the ballpark was mostly empty by the time the middle of the 8th inning came around – why mention this? Well there is a Fenway tradition of playing “Sweet Caroline” in the 8th with everyone singing along. Only issue this night was that nobody was left to sing except Mikey, Jo and I. If Randy Jackson was there he would have been “Dog, that didn’t work for me – very pitchy” – Paula though would have said we looked good, Jo especially. Simon would be sleeping because he just doesn’t understand this bloody American rubbish.

As the crowd thinned I was able to stand for the 8th and 9th inning without worry about being yelled at. As I was standing behind the right field roof boxes a very nice couple, Mike and Elizabeth, said they had seen me on WBZ before the game. We started talking and they told me how baseball was the reason they met. Both are originally from Boston but had moved to DC. During the playoffs a few years ago they were at the same place to watch a Red Sox playoff game and that’s how they met. Kind of cool how they had to move from the Boston area to DC to meet. They now live back in Boston and try to get to Fenway as often as possible. As I was talking to them – I made the observation that of any team in the majors, the Red Sox female fans are the most intelligent and passionate. It was an observation that Shawn made when we moved here and there is no bigger fan of the Sox than my friend Just Jill. She watches every game – every inning and knows trivia that many men don’t even know.

During the game I found myself having flashbacks to the game Shawn and I went to. I would close my eyes and just envision Shawn with the silly smile on her face as she tried to get Jeter’s autograph and wearing all her Yankee stuff proudly. It was great having Mikey, Jo and Teddy there with me and they each knew the significance of the night. When the last out of the 5th was made and the game was official – Mikey gave me a quick high five and said “congrats on #28”.

I really enjoyed my night at Fenway and look forward to going back often – actually I just scored a ticket on eBay for this upcoming Sunday’s game with the Blue Jays in town. My seat for the game – first row in the center section on the Monster. This is the toughest of the toughest tickets to get.

I guess I have rambled on a bit about the game on Friday. In a few days I will post a blog about the remainder of the weekend and the list of all the times that we got yelled at over the weekend. Come to think about it – that might take 2 blogs and that doesn’t count all the times that Jo yelled at us. So for now this is so long and good bye where earlier today I learned what a Winkee is and no it’s not a person who has just been winked at. And it is something I know I definitely did not have a hand in the invention of.

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Saturday, August 22, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 141

 



Where to start – I have no idea. Usually the beginning is the easiest but the past few days here in Boston have been so amazing. Well the thank you’s to start – first off to my friend Jill (the PR Queen) who used her connections with the Boston media to set up 2 TV interviews and a newspaper interview for me regarding the Quest. Thanks also go out to WBZ (Boston CBS affiliate) reporter Ron Sanders and Fox News 25 (Boston Fox affiliate) reporter Adam Pellerin for taking the time to meet with me and put together an amazing report on my Quest and the story behind it. I also would like to thank Matt McCarron a staff writer for the Eagle Tribune here in the Boston area. At the top of this page are the links for the TV interviews as well as the newspaper article. They take a little bit to load and make sure to watch the video on the 2 pages.

All along I have been looking forward to this weekend ever since we got the tickets for the game back in March. How we got the tickets at face value you ask? Well let’s say we may have had a little help. For the first few months after Shawn passed away I woke up every morning at 12:34 on the dot. I had no idea what the significance was for 12:34. I had a few times when I was booking flights that I saw that the arrival time for the flight was 12:34 so I didn’t book those flights. The Red Sox each pre-season when they put their single game tickets on sale hold back the Yankee games and hold a random drawing for the opportunity to purchase tickets from the Sox. Mike and I get into these drawings every year and every year we get our “loser” letter from the Sox saying we didn’t get chosen to purchase tickets. Since I am registered with redsox.com they send me emails all the time. The email to enter for the random drawing for Yankee tickets came to me in early March and the time stamp on the email was 12:34. I sent Mike an email asking him what Yankee game we should get. He said we will just get our “loser” letter like every year. I told him not this year – we are getting a little help from above. Sure enough a few weeks pass and I get an email from the Sox saying congrats you were chosen in the random drawing to buy tickets.

The Commish and Jo get into Boston on Thursday afternoon. We head from the airport to our hotels and then dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy. If you ever go to Maggiano’s make sure you go with at least 4 people and get the family style 5 course meal for $27.95. Best deal you can get there. After dinner we head to McGreevy’s to watch the Sox – Blue Jays game. McGreevy’s is a famous bar in Boston and is the unofficial home to the Dropkick Murphy’s. If you don’ know who the Dropkick Murphy’s are then Google away and make sure you listen to their song Tessie. I well leave it to Mikey in the comment section of the blog to describe McGreevy’s better as this is his and Jo’s favorite bar in the world.

Friday – game day and ballpark 28 at Fenway Park with the Yankees in town. So I am at work Friday morning and I get a call from Ron Sanders of WBZ TV Channel 4. He says that WBZ is very interested in my story and would like to interview me and then run a story on the 5:00 pm news. Woo hoo – I am going to be on the news and not in handcuffs and a jacket over my head. We decide the best place for the interview would be at Fenway on Yawkey Way. My bosses John and Dave are real cool about it and tell me it is ok to head to Fenway (I have to give them a plug here encase they are reading this). I get to Fenway at 12:30 and Ron calls and says the interview is going to be bumped because of a water main break at the Pru Center and he has to go cover that. He mentions there is a chance that after he covers the water main break he will swing back and do the interview. I had called my buddy Ted to come down and see if I can get him some face time on camera. So there we are standing right next to Fenway and no interview. I am bummed but Ted says not to fear – things will work out. We head to the Boston Beer Works – have lunch and halfway thru lunch Ron calls and says they are on their way back to do the interview – Ted was right and if you don’t believe me, ask him he will tell you. The whole interview took about 45 minutes to do. We got real good at walking up and down Yawkey Way while we were being filmed. A small crowd had gathered and Ted (the consummate salesman) was working the crowd handing out my Quest business cards and telling people what was going on. I think he even sold 2 cars and a space heater. Ted can sell ice cubes to Eskimos.

After the interview it’s time for air conditioning (it was 90 out with 100% humidity) and some beer so off to Cask and Flagon we go to meet Mikey and Jo. We are having a good time and my phone rings again – this time it is Adam Pellerin from Fox News 25 in Boston. He said that Fox is also interested in the story and wanted to know if we had time to meet with him. He says right outside of Cask on Landsdown St. would be fine. Adam gets to Cask around 4:30 and we go thru the same routine (I am an old pro at this now) with less walking this time. The crowd is much bigger around us wanting to see why this big ole dork is being interviewed. Poor Teddy got interviewed by Adam as well but his part ended up on the editing room floor. Teddy did get to get on camera – walking again. Jo and Mikey also were walking but did their best to hide behind us.

Both Ron and Adam were very nice and it really surprised me how prepared they were in such a short time. As I am typing this blog I looked up and Fox News is on TV and there was Adam reporting on Hurricane Bill – he has already moved on. I do want to thank them again for showing so many pictures of Shawn during the report and even one of the Jetes made it on Fox. One thing that kept going thru my head during the interviews is that it was so hot out that I was sweating pretty badly and I kept thinking how is this going to look in high def!!!

Check back in a few days for the blog about the game on Friday night, our Sam Adams Brewery tour and a list of all the times we got yelled at during the weekend. At last count it was 12. We got yelled at for standing in a standing room only area but had a ticket for a seat, basically we got yelled at for downgrading. And don’t get Mikey started on the illegal toothpaste he tried to smuggle thru security at Dulles. He almost got on the “do not fly” list for toothpaste. I could see Mikey being arrested for his illegal toothpaste and being in jail and all the jailbirds saying “stay away from that guy, he is in here for toothpaste”. So for now this is so long and good bye from Boston, MA where I just want to thank Jill again for all she did to get my story and more importantly Shawn Marie’s pictures on TV – her memory lives on!!!!

One more note - click on the picture attached to the blog to enlarge it. It really is a cool picture!!!

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Fenway Memories

 



Greetings from… is a picture email I send to Mikey (the Commish), Margaret and Just Jill at each ballpark I go to. The tradition started on May 10, 2008 when the Commish and his wife Jo traveled up from Virginia to take in a game from the Monster. The Commish is a huge Sox fan and purchased the Red Sox Nation Monster Package which allowed him to purchase 2 Monster seats at Fenway for a game. Shawn and I met the Commish and Jo at Cask before the game. When they got to their seats the Commish sent a picture (attached to the blog) that said “Greetings from the Shrine”. Shawn who had a very quick wit sent a text back that said “That doesn’t look like Yankee Stadium”.

I have only been to a game at Fenway twice in my life. The first game was way back when I was in the 5th grade. We were living in Medfield, MA at the time and my dad got us tickets to a Sox game. Our seats were down the right field line. The only thing I remember about this game is that I had my glove (like every kid) and during the game my dad went to get something to eat. He gave me the scorebook to keep – we both keep the book at every game we go to – and a foul ball hit the upper area of the ballpark and came right at me. Since I was doing my job and keeping the book I wasn’t able to get my glove ready for the ball. It hit my forearm and bounced away. Luckily over the course of going to games I have been able to redeem myself and catch 2 foul balls. One at Shea that was a screaming liner off of the bat of George Hendricks that was a good clean catch and would have made Sportscenter if only there was a Sportscenter back then. The other was at old Comisky – I was in the upper deck behind home and any foul ball that went up the net would pop into the crowd. Well I was on the aisle and a ball came up the net and popped into the crowd. I made a nice one handed catch all while not spilling any beer - come to think about it my dad was off getting something to eat that time as well.

My other Fenway game was June 3, 2007. Shawn and I had just moved to the Boston area and I was able to get us tickets to the Sunday night game that was on ESPN. Our seats were out in the Center Field bleachers. It was a typical late spring night in Boston – about 50 degrees and drizzly. Shawn was bound and determined to wear all Yankee stuff to Fenway. She had on her “Why Argue” t-shirt with her official Derek Jeter jersey, a Yankee hat and a Yankee parka for when it got cold. If she could have found Yankee underwear I am sure she would have worn it. Because in any marriage you need to support your spouse – so Shawn bought me a “Do the Math” t-shirt and a Yankee hat to wear to the game.

The day of the game was fun. We got heckled in our hotel lobby as we were leaving as well as when we were walking around the North Shore Mall. Shawn said “I don’t think this is a good idea, we haven’t even made it out of Danvers and we are already being heckled”. We got to the ballpark early and headed to Game On for a few pre-game beers. It was funny that when we got into the bar they shuffled us to the basement part of the bar and ended up in the back corner with the other Yankee fans. It was like they were quarantining us in that corner.

The coolest part of the day was entering Fenway from behind home plate. It is such a surreal moment when you first see the Monster - very hard to explain. The Yankees were taking batting practice and Shawn got right down by the Yankee dugout trying to get Derek Jeter’s attention. I saw she had her Blackberry out and handing it to a field security guy. I was like “what’s with that” and she said I wanted him to see the picture of our dog Jeter and was hoping he would come over. To sign what – I have no idea, maybe autograph the Blackberry is what I jokingly said to her.

As for the game we didn’t get heckled all that much – I told Shawn it was the pretty girl syndrome – guys won’t heckle pretty girls, only their big ass ugly husbands. The Yankees won a great game 6 to 5 with A-Rod hitting a home run in the top of the 9th off of Paps to win the game. We saw Beckett pitch against Andy “Dr. Death” Pettite. As we were leaving Fenway I told Shawn I could see coming back here often and she agreed but said only if WE can wear OUR Yankee stuff. We did buy a shirt from a street vendor as we were getting on the T that said “Jeter Drinks Wine Coolers” – we thought that was funny and had to have it.

So tomorrow is my official Fenway game that marks my 28th ballpark this season. The Commish and Jo are traveling up from Virginia for the game as well as my good friend Teddy who I am living with here in Haverhill. I am sure we will head to Cask for a few beers and probably shed a tear or 2 as we toast Shawn and then head to our seats in the right field roof boxes. As for how I was able to get tickets for this game at face value – well I will save that story for the next blog. So for now this is so long and good bye from Haverhill, MA where I still haven’t learned how to pronounce Haverhill – something about the H’s being silent is what Just Jill told me and don’t even get me started on how to pronounce Peabody or Gloucester.

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Monday, August 17, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Great Games

 



Back in 1996 I went to the ALDS game 2 of the Yankees vs. Rangers series at Yankee Stadium. Prior to the game I was tailgating (next to the prison no less) with my buddies Jay Fuentes and Tony Sanchez and while drinking (and eating) we had said we wished that the game would turn out to be memorable. Though not many people remember but the Yankees won in 12 innings on Dean Palmer’s throwing error allowing Derek Jeter to score the winning run from 2nd. The game was pivotal as the Rangers had won game 1 and a victory in game 2 most likely would have ended the Yanks season – a season in which they won the 1st of the 4 championships in the Joe Torre era.

After spending a little over 5 and a half hours at Yankee Stadium a few Friday’s ago and seeing the Yankees win on a walk off home run by Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the 15th – this got me thinking of other memorable games I had been to. So here are the top 5 memorable games that I have been to and not all are baseball games:

Number 5a and 5b – June 17 & 18th, 2006. This is actually 2 games over the weekend when the Yankees came into DC to play the Nationals. Shawn and I went to the games with her cousins Jack and Jen. The Saturday game saw the Yankees jump out to a 9 to 2 lead in the top of the 4th. The Nats came back over the next 5 innings and took the lead in the bottom of the 8th scoring 3 runs off of Mariano Rivera to win the game 11 to 9. The Sunday game saw the Yankees take a 2 to 1 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Chien-Ming Wang was pitching a gem and Joe Torre decided to stick with Wang in the 9th. With 1 out in the 9th Marlon Anderson got a single which led to Ryan Zimmerman’s walk off home run to win the game 3 to 2. Even though I was legally required to root for the Yankees – I found myself cheering when Zimmerman hit the home run. I thought what a great moment this was for the Nationals franchise – too bad it has been all downhill since. When I was in DC back in July I had been talking to a few Nationals fans and asked them what is the most memorable game in Nationals history – without hesitating they all said the 2 games over the Yankees in 2006.

Number 4 – April 29, 1998. As for the game it was not memorable in the least but for me personally this was the last time I saw Michael Jordan play live. It was game 3 of the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs and the Bulls were playing the Nets in NJ. I had scalped a ticket for the game which was 4 rows behind the Nets bench. The Bulls were finishing their second 3-peat of the Jordan, Pippen and Jackson era. John Calipari was the Nets coach and the Bulls made an effort to get into his head. On every free throw that was in front of the Nets bench either Jordan or Dennis Rodman would be standing as close as they could to Calipari and would just stare at him – not even looking at the basket. That was some major intimation going on and was one of those things you could only see if you were at the game. The Bulls won the game to sweep the series.

Number 3 – Back in 1984 my dad’s company had season tickets for that other baseball team in Chicago. It was early May and the White Sox and Brewers had played in a game that was suspended in the 16th inning. The next night we had the corporate tickets at Comisky and were able to see the balance of the suspended game from the night before as well as the regularly scheduled game. Well the suspended game ended up going until the 25th inning and was ended when Harold Baines hit a walk off home run to end the longest game in Major League history at 8 hours and 6 minutes. The winning pitcher for the game was Tom Seaver.

Number 2 – June 8th (and 9th), 2000 - Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and Stars. The morning after the Devils beat the Flyers for the Eastern Conference championship I was on Ticketmaster as the tickets went on sale for the Stanley Cup Finals. I picked game 5 as I thought that maybe there would be a chance to see a champion crowned and I was right as the Devils had a 3 games to 1 lead over the Stars. Shawn and I went to the game with my friend Dale and his fiancé Jordana. Dale was from Canada and had played junior hockey and his brother was a back up goalie for the Florida Panthers so his excitement to see the Holy Grail of Canada couldn’t be contained. Martin Broduer and Eddie Belfour were standing on their heads this game as they took a 0 – 0 game into the 3rd overtime. Shawn hated overtime and used to always say “I paid for one game and that’s all I want to see”. At the start of the 3rd overtime she said quite loudly “Will someone – anyone- score an effing goal” which was met with looks of death by all the Devil fans sitting around us. Well someone did score an effing goal a few minutes later – only it was Mike Modano of the Stars who scored on a tip in of a Brett Hull shot. After the goal was scored all 19,000 people said “oh shoot” (well this is the PG version) and walked out of the arena at 1:20 am. The Devils ended up winning the Cup in game 6. I had my bachelor party the following October for the Devils season opener in a suite at the arena and Dale and I got to see the Stanley Cup Championship banner raised to the rafters and Scotty Stevens skate with the Cup. Dale still gets misty eyed when we reminisce about it.

Number 1 - Feb 22, 1981 the undefeated and #1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers led by Ralph Sampson came into the Rosemont Horizon to play Digger Phelps’ Notre Dame Fighting Irish. My dad used to work right next to the Horizon and made sure that on the day the tickets went on sale he was there and got them. Notre Dame was down 1 with 10 seconds to play and had the ball under their basket to inbound. The ball was inbounded to Kelly Tripucka who was stripped as he went up for a shot. Orlando Woolridge picked up the loose ball from the foul line extended and hit a 15 footer as time expired setting off a wild celebration. Our seats were in perfect line to see the shot go in. I still remember that moment like it was yesterday and will always remember how loud the crowd was after the shot went in. I was and still am a big Notre Dame fan and had been to Digger’s basketball camp the summer before – so this game was much more for me then just another Irish upset of a #1 ranked team – it is the most memorable game I have been to.

So where does the A-Rod game fit into all of this – probably top ten. Now if Derek Jeter hit the walk off then it would be number 1 but for so many other reasons than just a game and definitely would have been a storybook ending. I had sent a text during the game to my friend Jill (a Red Sox fan) in the 9th and said Jeter is going to win this game. Well after I had a chance to replay the game while chatting with Shawn’s friend Kathy – we realized that Jeter scored the winning run as he led off the 15th with a hit. Then Damon popped up trying to bunt Jeter over to 2nd. Tex struck out which led to A-Rod’s gamer – so Jeter did have a hand in the victory, just not in storybook fashion.

So that’s my top 5 – I would love to hear from any of you reading this. Just hit the comment button just below the blog and tell us about your most memorable game. So for now this is so long and goodbye from room 5311 at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas and this will be the only mention of Vegas as Jeff, Angel and Andy told me if I blog about Vegas even while in Vegas it violates the “what happens here, stays here” rule. Though I did win $500 – am I allowed to say how that happened?

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Friday, August 14, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 133

 



A few days after I go to each park I then work on were to rank that park against all the other parks. One would think this would be easy but it really isn’t. So I have devised my own way to categorize the ballparks and then rank within the category. Without further ado here is the method behind my madness on ranking the parks:

The first category is (for you fans of How I Met Your Mother) the Barney Stinson Legend..wait…wait…ary category. Not to digress but now that we have found out how Ted met their mother does the name of the show change to “How I Married Your Mother” or on the FX channel “How I Impregnated Your Mother”. Sorry – just a random thought. The Legendary category is comprised of 4 ballparks for me - Wrigley, Fenway, Oriole Park @ Camden Yards and Dodger Stadium. Dodger Stadium is one that is on the fence but as I mentioned in a previous blog there are many reason why this got anointed legendary status. These 4 ballparks are ones that even non-fans of baseball want to go to. It’s like a religious experience to be there. Even if you get beer dumped on your head Mr. Victorino.

Category two is one that is kind of easy to distinguish – basically I ask myself would I travel back to this ballpark just to see a game there. There are currently 5 ballparks that fit this category. They are AT&T in San Fran, Comerica in Detroit, PNC in Pittsburgh, Progressive in Cleveland and Petco in San Diego. For any of these parks going to that city to see a game at that park would be the reason I travel there. Yes there are other things to do in these cities which make going there even better – but the ballpark is the main reason to go.

I will skip category three and go on to category four. This category is the spinach category. As I mentioned in a blog a while back – when we were kids our mom’s made us eat our spinach because it was supposedly good for us. We didn’t want to eat it but we had too. Well there are 4 ballparks that fit this category because to go to all 30 ballparks – I HAD TO GO TO THESE. The 4 ballparks are the Metrodome in Minnesota, Tropicana Field in St. Pete, McAfee Coliseum in Oakland and Landshark Stadium in Miami. The way to describe these “ballparks” are that even if you are in the city and someone offers you free tickets unless it is your favorite team playing you would turn down the tickets and go watch the grass grow. This is the last year for the Twins to be playing in the Metrodome and in 2012 the Marlins will open a new ballpark which will leave 2 spinach ballparks.

Now to the hard part – the others. This category has the most ballparks in it so I had to sub divide the category onto a scale of 1 to 10 of how likely would I be to travel there to see the Cubs play and there are 3 ballparks that scored below a 1. Those ballparks are Minute Maid Park in Houston, Andy Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. These ballparks are borderline spinach but all have something worthwhile to see while visiting them. As for balance of the ballparks they get ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best and most likely I would be to go back. To see the current rankings hit the stats link to the left.

So why did I just waste 579 words – well I am trying to figure out where to rank the new Yankee Stadium. First off it is not legendary; the one still standing across the street with the construction drapes would be – but not the new one. It is not a spinach ballpark though for some it may be as the cost to go there is so high that it would not make anyone’s list to go to. So that leaves category 2 and 3 – the big question is would I travel to New York just to go to a game there? And the answer is maybe. If the ticket prices weren’t so high I would go for sure but since the face value of an infield upper deck box seat is $85 makes it less desirable to go. I paid $50 face value in Kansas City for a seat 3 rows behind the KC on deck circle and $70 for the same seat in Cincinnati. Other stuff at the ballpark is highly priced as well – parking is $19, beers are $10, a hot dog is $7. The ballpark itself is huge and as my friend Ken said in a message to me on Friday – bigger isn’t always better. Also the old place had a nice area for Monument Park – the new place it almost seems as an afterthought in dead center field.

So with all that said it would seem closer to spinach than a must see. Well it is Yankee Stadium and the Yankees play there – that makes it a must see, well almost. So after careful consideration and much thought and now 853 words in this blog – I have ranked Yankee Stadium as a tweener just below Petco which is a must see and Coors which was ranked as a ten in the “other” category. Wow that was much harder than it should have been and took almost as long as the game the other night.

I did enjoy my trip to Yankee Stadium. The Grand Hall at the main entrance is a must see with all the banners of former players. There are 2 Yankee stores at either end selling everything and anything Yankee there. I love the open concourse to the field. After the 12th inning the other night I worked my way from the upper deck to the field level to watch the last 3 innings. Was great to be able to stand and watch the game and when A-Rod hit the walk off I was right next to the exit and made it to Paramus, NJ (about 13 miles) in a little less than 25 minutes.

I am going to put a disclaimer now – if you are easily offended skip the next paragraph. If you read the next paragraph and are offended it is your fault. I warned you. If this were a TV show there would be a caption that shows TVSLA right now. But it is kind of funny.

I did have this whole other idea for the ranking of the ballparks – comparing them to bra sizes. It is kind of funny to think about it. The legendary ballparks would be the Teri Hatcher category (remember Seinfeld – they are real and they are spectacular). The must see ballparks would be the D cuppers because well - they are must see. The spinach ones are the IBTC’s and the others would be ranked on a scale of 1 to 10. I did have a few issues with this though – not sure where to rank Yankee Stadium again, it did cost $2 billion to build so that makes them store bought and so legendary would be out (not real nor spectacular). And using the phrase tweener takes on a whole new meaning. Also Petco would become legendary because the surrounding areas are so fun to visit. See I told you – kind of funny, but don’t want to offend anyone.

After being at 2 walk off home run games in a row over a 6 day period – it started me thinking of the most memorable sporting events I have been to. I think next week I will blog about them. So for now this is so long and good bye from the Omni National Golf Resort and Spa in Tucson. Boy that sounds expensive but it’s not – only $69 a night for a 1,000 sq. ft. room. Gotta love off peak prices here in the desert.

BTW - Mikey was at the game - good to see you getting in touch with your inner Yankee Fan there Commish!!!

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Sunday, August 9, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 128

 



At 12:22 am on Saturday I got a message from Shawn’s friend Kathy that simply said “I can’t believe you are at THIS GAME!” For those out there that don’t follow baseball on a regular basis “THIS GAME” was the 15 inning zero to zero marathon between the Red Sox and Yankees at New Yankee Stadium eventually won by the Yankees on a walk off home run by A-Rod. Yes I was at the game and yes I did stay to the last pitch – I have pictures to prove it. The reason this game was picked for the Quest was more than just opportunity – the game had to be special, had to be one of the last games of the Quest and the Red Sox had to be involved. And for you Kathy – this whole blog is Shawn memories, no highlighting needed.

For those of you who are not regular visitors to the blog or new to finding my site – my wife Shawn was a huge Yankee fan and loved Derek Jeter to the point we had a dog named Jeter. Our first Yankee game was in the 1999 season. I had been working at Ecolab and was working on a lease agreement with Penske for some trucks. The Penske rep asked if Shawn and I would like to join him for a game in the Penske seats – no not the Penske file you Seinfeld fans. Well the seats turned out to be great – 6 rows behind the Yankee on deck circle. The seats also allowed us waiter service during the game. Shawn always had this look about her when she was in total wonderment on stuff and for this game she had that silly smile on her face all game. To enhance the deal – everything was on Penske that night. Shawn felt bad about ordering stuff so the Penske rep took it upon him to order us food and beer during the game. Now the issue was that when you are first dating don’t show your “A” game early – you can never top that. Every time after that game when I got tickets for a game – Shawn would ask “Penske Seats?”

Baseball had been a big part of our life together and even on our honeymoon. The Subway Series in 2000 started during our honeymoon. We were in Aruba and for game one of the series we found a sports bar at the Marriott. We got there about 30 minutes before the game and got the last table. The place was packed with Yankee fans and 5 Met fans at the bar. Shawn was decked out in her new Jeter jersey and quickly made friends with the people at the table next to us. They devised a drinking game and we got totally loaded. The only 2 things we heard being chanted during the game was ‘Let’s Go Yankees’ and ‘Asshole’ with the entire bar standing and pointing in unison at the Met fans at the bar. At one point I looked over and there was Shawn standing on her stool chanting and pointing at the Met fans with that silly smile – well silly drunk smile.

In March of 2001 we moved to West Virginia or as Shawn used to tell people – just west of Virginia. The first thing we did when we moved there was buy Sunday season tickets for the Orioles. The only reason we did that was because there were 3 Yankee games as part of the 13 game package. Our seats were first row – upper deck just behind home plate, great seats but not quite Penske quality. Shawn loved the fact that there were always 10 times more Yankee fans at Camden than Oriole fans. We would usually buy tickets for the Saturday game of the series and Priceline a room in Baltimore and make a great weekend of it. We would hang out at Pickles Pub and had made friends with all the bartenders. Shawn loved to be hanging there with all Yankee fans – really made her feel at home, at least for that weekend it did. Our most memorable game at Camden was the O’s first home game after 9-11. The pregame ceremony had the O’s and Yankees standing on the baselines as all the rescue folks who were at the Pentagon came out to the loudest ovation I have ever heard. On the 3rd base line Roger Clemmens was holding an American Flag and Cal Ripken was doing the same on the first base side. I looked over at Shawn during the ovation and tears were streaming down her face – she looked at me and said she will never forget that moment. The other thing that stands out to me was that Jeter, Joe Torre and Andy Petitte stayed on the field as the ceremony was completing and shook hands with every rescue personal. Cal did as well – very classy move by very classy players.

Over the years we saw the Yankees play every time they played in Baltimore. We spent the weekend in DC a few years ago with Shawn’s cousins Jack and Jennifer. The Yankees were in town to play the Nationals and we got to the games on Saturday and Sunday. Both of those games are extremely memorable as the Nats won both on walk offs in the 9th. We drove up from just west of Virginia to Yankee Stadium so I could see the Cubs play at Yankee Stadium a few years back. Of course Shawn stole the moment when Derek Jeter hit his first career grand slam during that game.

Our last game was May 17, 2008. We drove down from Boston to Yankee Stadium to see the Yanks play the Mets. Great pitching matchup as Johan Santana pitched against Andy Petitte, Dr. Death as Shawn nicknamed him. We had horrible seats – upper deck outfield in left. We had gotten to the game early and hung out for a few beers at Stan’s - then did some souvenir shopping for a Yankee t shirt for Shawn. Our seats were directly in the sun and we both got toasted. The Yanks got beat and we left in the 8th to beat traffic. There is a song from the movie 8 Seconds – If I had only known, well if I had only known I would have made sure we stayed to the end of the game and been the last people out of the stadium. It is for this reason I stay for the last pitch of each game I go to.

I guess I rambled a bit and will save the blog about the Sox – Yanks game for a few days. I promise it won’t be as long as the game was – well not quite as long. I will wrap this up now – time for dinner. So for now this is so long and good bye from the Bonefish Grill in Paramus, NJ where I am not sure what to get for dinner – I guess fish of some sort. Bang Bang Shrimp for sure though for an app – that much I know. Maybe the Chilean Sea Bass – so many choices….

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 125

 



Let’s see – where were we. That’s right; I had just dropped Angel off at his condo and got back to my hotel Sunday morning at 3:30 am. Sleeping was not an issue and when I woke up at 10 am – I did my best Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon saying “I am too old for this stuff”. Well I didn’t say stuff because this blog is the TNT version of the movie.

The plan for Sunday was for me to pick Angel up at 2 and then go to The Le Tub Saloon for lunch. Le Tub is a burger joint in Hollywood and has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show. Who would have thought that the place would be packed at 2:30 on a Sunday – but it was. We drove around the block a few times to find parking and then decided Oprah’s favorite burger joint would have to be visited the next time I am in Miami. So the 2 land sharks decide we would have lunch at the place named after us – Landshark Stadium.

We had better seats on Sunday as we were 3 rows (not 4) behind the Marlin dugout and closer to the aisle. Our seats also allowed us access to the club level in Landshark. In many of the ballparks along the Quest I have had access to the club level. Landshark Stadium’s club level has to rank right up there with Comerica Park. The main dining area has all types of food choices and one of the coolest (literally) bars you will ever see. The bar top has this steel plate that forms a layer of frost which allows you to keep your beer or other drink cool while you hang out. If you attend a game at Landshark – pay the few extra bucks and get a seat in the club section – it is well worth it.

A quick review of Landshark Stadium – for football I bet it’s a great place to watch a game but for baseball not so much. The infield sightlines are great, but the seats offer very little leg room. My knees are still sore from the games. The Marlins are building a new ballpark on the site of the old Orange Bowl and will be ready for opening day 2012. Not sure why it takes over 2 years to build a ballpark.

On Saturday the Cubs jumped out to a 6 – 0 lead after 2 innings. Angel’s good friends Jerilynn and Marc Gidney are season ticket holders for the Marlins and have great seats in the first row of the club section between home and first. On Saturday they left in the 2nd inning when the Cubs took the lead. They said they had been to enough games to know the Marlins would not win the game – and they were right. On Sunday they didn’t leave and saw one of the greatest games I have ever attended in my life. The Cubs took a 1 – 0 lead early in the game with the Marlins tying it in the 7th. In the top of the 9th Jake Fox for the Cubs hit a monster home run to put the Cubs up 2 to 1. Bottom of the 9th and in comes Cubs “closer” Kevin Gregg. The night before Gregg blew a 3 run lead in the 9th – luckily Derek Lee saved the game for us. First up in the 9th for the Marlins – Hanley Ramirez. This guy is scary good. Somehow Gregg got him to pop out for the first out. Next up is Dan Uggla and he hits a shot into the upper deck in left field – a no doubter as the kids say. Oh well, we are tied at 2 – 2, looks like more free baseball coming. But nooo, Cody Ross is up next; in the 7th he hit a 450 foot home run to dead center. On the first pitch he launches a home run into the left field blue seats. End of game – back to back home runs on back to back pitches. The Marlins go crazy, the Marlin fans go crazy - all 300 in attendance, the rest of the 25,969 were Cub fans. What a great game – actually 2 great games in Miami.

We stay and watch the celebration – see Ross and Uggla get the traditional shaving cream pie in the face as they were being interviewed on television. Sitting behind us were Dustin, Robert and their family - very nice folks who we had the pleasure of talking to most of the game. As we get to our car we meet up with a bunch of Cub fans – Angel who networks better than anyone I have ever seen – strikes up a conversation and we make a bunch of new friends. We pose for pictures as they are totally into the Quest. I have posed for more pictures now of my back when I wear my All 30 Parks shirt than I have of my front. I know Andy – my better side.

We start heading to Le Tub to give it another try – I still want to try the Oprah burger. We come up to the Upper Deck Sports Lounge and Angel says lets go here instead. I suggest we sit at the bar and this is where fate comes into play. Angel and the bartender in unison say “I know you” to each other. They start going thru all the places they could know each other and then Danielle says to Angel “You weren’t an exotic dancer, were you?” Luckily I wasn’t drinking beer at that time as it would have been sprayed all over the bar. Turns out Angel resembles a famous male exotic dancer in Miami. They finally figure out where they know each other and no - it wasn’t from a male strip club.

We are having a nice time talking with Danielle and having dinner and then Angel notices a guy sitting across from us and he says he is 99.9% sure that it is Chris Coghlan who is the rookie left fielder for the Marlins. We dispatch our new friend Danielle to make sure that Angel was not 0.1% wrong. Sure enough Angel was correct. We make small talk with Chris – I ask him where tonight’s game ranks in most exciting games he has ever played in. He says definitely top 5. As we were getting ready to leave we decide to ask Chris for an autograph. I have him sign one of my Quest business cards and Angel gets him to sign “the hat”.

What is “the hat” you ask? Well on Saturday before picking up Angel I was at a Lids store and they have the embroidery machine. Angel is a Marlins fan, so I get him a white Marlins cap and have “26” put on the hat. I thought this would be a nice souvenir and the 26 stands for Ballpark 26 on the Quest. In the picture attached to the blog you can see the frost bar and the 26 on Angel’s hat.

The weekend in Miami was amazing and I can’t thank Angel enough for being such a gracious host. We shared memories of college and our fraternity – had many laughs and found inspiration to find other fraternity brothers we had at ISU and maybe set up a reunion some day soon. What do you say Angel – our next Quest!!!

So the final big trip of the Quest is over. From here on out its 2 games (Yankee Stadium and Citifield) that I will drive to, 1 game (Toronto) a puddle jump flight and 1 game (Fenway) that I will take the “T” to the game.

Next up is tomorrow’s (Friday Aug. 7) game at Yankee Stadium. I have been to Yankee Stadium already this year way back in April for the 2 preseason Cub-Yankee games but this one will be special and not because the Red Sox are in town. It is because the last time Shawn and I went to a ballgame together was May 17, 2008 in old Yankee Stadium and we were in section 334. My seat for tomorrow is in section 334 – upper deck outfield, by far the best seat I will have for a game this year. Looks like I will be going to the game with an Angel tomorrow as well….

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Quest Day 123

 



Not even sure where to start with all that happened over this past weekend in Miami. Well I will start with the thank you’s first. Big thanks go out to tracfone as the seats that we had on Saturday and Sunday were compliments of them (more on this later).

When I first came up with the schedule for the Quest I had marked this weekend in Florida as one that I looked forward to as I had the opportunity to see the Cubs for a few games as well as relive some nice memories that Shawn and I had when we visited Miami for our friends Alison and Scott’s wedding in January of 2007. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this weekend would be so much more thanks to facebook and reconnecting with a college fraternity brother.

About 3 months ago I received a friend request on facebook from Angel Chion. Angel had joined our fraternity – Sigma Pi – my last year at Illinois State. Since Angel was friends with a few older members of the fraternity it afforded him to hang out with the big boys even though Angel is all of 5’3”. Angel and I hadn’t seen or heard from each other since May 1985 but once we reconnected on facebook it was like it was just yesterday. Angel said he has some connections and he would take care of getting us tickets for the games – boy did he ever.

Before the game on Saturday Angel took me to Capone’s Flicker Lite in Hollywood, FL. It is right on the water and made for a nice setting having a pitcher of Sam Summer and a dozen oysters each. Angel has done very well for himself – after leaving ISU he moved to Florida and became interested in bodybuilding. Angel did very well in bodybuilding - winning some competitions and now works as a personal trainer. Just talking to Angel I can see how he is very successful in his line of work. He is an ultra positive person and sees good in everyone. I know why fate brought Angel back in my life, it was clearly evident immediately.

As we were driving to Landshark Stadium (formerly known as Dolphin, Joe Robbie and Pro Player) Angel kept saying what great seats we had and boy did we ever. The seats were 4th row above the Marlins dugout about halfway between home and first. I thought I had an outgoing personality but compared to Angel I am an introvert. We quickly made friends with everyone sitting around us and had a little party going on. I would like to thank Alex for the round of beer he bought us with his Cub Mastercard and everyone else who made the night so much fun.

Angel is not quite the beer drinker that I am and he made the mistake early of breaking the seal. Every inning or so he would head to the restroom and on one trip back he was visibly upset. Me being 6’5” I don’t know the troubles a person of 5’3” has at the urinal. Most stadium restrooms have a bunch of urinals for normal sized people and 1 for the vertically challenged. The 1 that Angel could use was occupied by a normal sized guy so Angel had to use a normal size one. This made for issues as the bowl wasn’t deep enough and caused blowback from the urinal. To make matters worse a young kid was in the urinal next to Angel and hadn’t quite mastered his equipment and had his own issues with blowback which Angel was the victim of collateral damage. After Angel returned from the restroom I got a 20 minute dissertation of the whole restroom deal and proper restroom etiquette. I will leave it at that and Angel please feel free to use the comment section of this blog to add any commentary you would like about this. All I can tell you is it was very funny and had me needing to go to the restroom.

The game on Saturday was great. The Cubs opened up a 6 – 0 lead after 2 innings. The Marlins battled back and tied the game in the bottom of the 9th with 3 runs all coming after 2 outs. The Cubs won in the 10th on a monster home run by Derek Lee (effing clutch as Jeff put it in a text). After the game the Village People was having a concert – this led for a tough call, head to South Beach or watch the Village People. We flipped a coin and South Beach won. Not really – would couldn’t get out to the stadium fast enough and off to South Beach we went.

So we get to South Beach and stop at Rustic Pizza – famous pizza place I was informed. We get the biggest slice of pizza I have ever had and take a seat out on Washington Ave. This was the best decision of the night. Now have you ever looked at one of those catalogs with the dresses that you wonder “who in the world would wear those?” Head to South Beach and you will find the answer to that question. Add to the outfit the highest stilettos you will ever see and that is what every girl is wearing. After drooling over our pizza we head to Ocean Blvd which was packed at 1:30 in the morning. Back in 1997 Shawn and I hung out at Fat Tuesday’s on Ocean Blvd (no Shawn wasn’t wearing any of those dresses) and met this wonderful guy Marcus. As it turns out Marcus is a very good friend of Angel’s so we just had to go there and say hi. The place was packed – all the places on Ocean Blvd were packed. There is not a need for any stimulus package here in this part of Florida. I guess that line could be taken a few ways.

I drop Angel off at his condo at around 2:30 am and he says tomorrow we do this all over again. Yeah right – 25 years ago no problem there buddy. As I am driving back to my hotel it hits me what we used to say to all prospective pledges in college – that brotherhood in a fraternity is forever. Tonight was the perfect example of that. Funny that I had so-called family at the game who didn’t take the time to come and say hello but someone who I hadn’t seen in 25 years rearranged his entire weekend around hanging with me. I guess though I was with family – my brother Angel.

Check back in a few days for the Sunday portion of the weekend and the story of the line said to Angel “you weren’t an exotic dancer, were you?” So for now this is so long and good bye from my HOME Boston. Yes I am back in the Bean baby!!!

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

 

Bobby D's Blog - Beaunos Noches Tucson

 



The other day I received an email from my friend Joe Howell. I was very fortunate to meet Joe thru work a few years ago. Joe is one of those people that everyone should have in their life – that one person that just the sound of their voice or getting an email from makes you feel better. Joe told me he is enjoying retirement down in Jacksonville – says everyday feels like a Saturday. I am sure the fish are not enjoying your retirement Joe. Joe mentioned that maybe I could borrow something that Peter King does at the end of his columns – do a 10 things I know list. Well Joe in your honor here is my first top ten list:

The Top Ten Things I will miss about Tucson:

10. Mexican Food – Tucson is about 45 minutes to the Mexican border and the Mexican places here are awesome. My favorite is El Charro and I always get the fish taco Burro, elegante style with red sauce. Add to that a few house margaritas and you are set.

9. Golf – Tucson has some of the finest golf courses in America. The city courses are great which makes the resort courses amazing. My favorite course is the 36 hole track at Ventana Canyon. This is desert golf at its best. The mountain course allows for amazing views of Tucson and some cool down hill shots that if you really connect you feel like Tiger. The canyon course is target golf at its finest. One thing about desert golf is that you are either on the fairway or in the desert. And when in the desert you have to watch out for rattlers. A major hint on golfing in Tucson – check out golfnow.com – greens fees at major discounts. It’s the Priceline for golf.

8. The Weather – In the 10 months I have been here I have not once turned on the weather channel or looked at weather.com. Tucson gets 350 days of sun – the other days when it is not sunny is a welcome relief and makes you feel less guilty for not being outside. Yes it gets hot in the summer, but it’s a dry heat and the line I have come to know and love “You don’t have to shovel sunshine”.

7. The drive to my condo – My condo is set at the base of the Catalina Mountains in Ventana Canyon. To get there you have to drive thru Sabino Canyon directly facing the mountains. There are saguaros (the cactus with the arms) everywhere. The 30 minute drive from work to home is so relaxing that even after a bad day by the time I am home all the stress is gone.

6. The Lifestyle – Tucson has a laid back feel to it while still excelling in first class service in restaurants and hotels. It’s not uncommon to see people biking, hiking, rollerblading and jogging at all hours of the day or night.

5. The flyovers – the Davis-Monhan AFB is right next to the distribution center where I work – we are actually right at the start of the runway. All day long C-5’s, Warthogs and F-something or others land right over our DC. My cell phone doesn’t work all that well in the DC so I have to go outside to take a call and will witness numerous flyovers. It is amazing the power that the military jets have.

4. The People – Tucson has a very diverse community with a large Mexican population as well as folks from the many other parts of the US. Not too many people here are Tucson natives so it makes it fun to go out and hang at a bar and see who you will meet from where. I actually met a guy who lived 3 blocks from my home in Libertyville. The people here are also very kind and friendly – not the fake friendliness you find in many parts of the country.

3. Things to do – Tucson and the surrounding area have so much to do. From the Desert Museum to Mount Lemmon to all the outdoor activities. There are caverns to visit and Tombstone and Boot Hill are only about an hour away. As mentioned before the golf courses are great. The University of Arizona is here so you can catch a football or basketball game. They have 3 casinos that offer table games. Bottom line is if you are bored in Tucson it’s because you are a boring person.

2. The Memories – Tucson has played a major role in my recovery from Shawn’s passing. From the friendly people to the wonderful weather and the great golf, all of these things have given me the strength to get out of bed each day with a determination to do something positive. The most important role in my recovery has been….

1. Van, Sue, Pam, Marlene, Elba, Vic, Brad, Kathy, Victor, Shawn, Corrine, Gaylie Syndor and the rest of the wonderful staff at the distribution centers of Arizona Mail Order. It has been my sincere pleasure in working with such a professional staff. I never felt like I was coming to work which made each day a blessing that I was so lucky to work with such wonderful friends. I will miss each of you and will remember the kindness you have showed me.

I would like to take a moment and thank the police officers and detectives of the Tucson Police Department, the paramedics of the Tucson Fire Department and the staff at the Embassy Suites Hotel for their professionalism, kindness and support during a very tough situation.

I guess that’s about it for today. It’s now on to Boston and to begin that chapter of my life. I have some great friends there as well and look forward to spending some quality time with each. As for the Quest I am in Miami today finishing this blog and then going to see 2 Cub – Marlin games with an old college friend Angel who I reconnected thru on Facebook. I wonder if South Beach will be able to contain two Sigma Pi’s. So for now this is so long and goodbye from Miami where the heat is bad but the humidity really sucks. Seems I may have typed that line before – oh well – it’s an oldie but a goodie.

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