My blog n'at

Today marks the home opener of the Pittsburgh Pirates and since 1984 I haven’t missed a single game… until now (somewhere in my basement or my mom’s attic are the ticket stubs). I’m not missing it out of some bullshit protest or hissy fit on the heels of 17 losing seasons. I’m spending the day home with Teaspoon so we can start a new tradition of watching each game together.

Opening Day 2007 was tough for me because that was the first without my dad (passed the previous december) by my side eating peanuts and chugging cokes. Last season it was obvious that change was going to be coming as Lushie and I went ourselves and could feel that something was missing. So this year I decided I’m staying home and watching it with Teaspoon and starting a new tradition of our own. I have a little Pirates outfit to put him in and we’re going to have hotdogs. OK, he’s having his milk and I’m having hotdogs.

So here’s to the Buccos and hopefully and end to the losing ways. I have faith, just like I have the last 16 home openers.

That’s me on the day the Pirates clinched the 1991 NL East title at 3 Rivers Stadium.

I love today, opening day of baseball. All of that hope for a winning season but unfortunately here in Pittsburgh we haven’t had that enjoyment for 16 years. Dejan, whom I think is the best sports writer ever to grace this town, wrote about things that have happened since the Pirates last had a winning season. On the verge of setting a major professional sports record of consecutive losing seasons at 17 I thought I’d put together a list of my own things that have happened since October of 1992.

• I had 1 niece at the time and she was 2. She’s now in college.
• I was 16 then, I’m 33 now.
• I stopped listening to Boyz II Men when I picked up a CD from this new band called Pearl Jam.
• Dallas Stars played in Minnesota, Colorado Avalanche were the Quebec Nordiques, Phoenix Coyotes still skated as the Winnipeg Jets and the Hartford Whalers never expected to be in Carolina.
• I averaged 15-20 Pirates games a summer while I lived in Erie. Living in Pittsburgh it’s 2.
• I hated computers unless I was playing Oregon Trail. Now, well you can figure that out.
• My best friend Tom and I would watch baseball games with the volume down and record ourselves on cassette tape doing the Play-By-Play. Now I have an internet radio show with over hundreds of thousands of downloads.
• In 1992 I drank my first beer, Golden Anniversary. Today I co-host a craft beer podcast and write beer reviews.

Teaspoon is only 5 weeks old. I hope that I can take him to see a winning team before he’s in high school. Then again I bet my brother said that after is oldest son was born too… 16 years ago.

just sayin…

Cheers!

I couldn’t resist and neither can you. go ahead and click it.

blog update on it’s way. i’ve been busy n’at.

I’m sitting here finishing up the next EP for my podcast when a barrage of emails start coming in. Apparently I was mentioned in this article on ESPN the Magazine. To find out where the quote came from click here.

Thanks to everyone who sent it in to me and as an FYI, I’ll finally be back to writing on a regular basis tomorrow or Friday so then the bashing can resume. That was a nice break from being online. Next Wednesday the Hump Day happiness will be back also.

cheers!

Today is Mailroom Mav’s 40th birthday. Now enshrined in internet history.  Many of you know him from Pirate games as the short guy with a headset who will kill you in one strike. Complaints at Guest Relations are at an all-time low.  I, the company and The Pittsburgh Pirates salute you.

Here are a couple more I did which were also posted around campus

 
October 14, 11:52pm – Atlanta, GA

The day Pirates fans will always remember as  the start of the downward spiral that is professional baseball in Pittsburgh today. It was at that moment which Sid Bream, who had 2 broken legs, a heart monitor and was on crutches, ran from second base on a Francisco Cabrera single and beat out a rainbow throw from Barry Bonds to Mike LaValliere sparking a 3 run 9th inning comeback to send the Braves to the 1992 World Series. To this day he is known as Sid “f*cking” Bream.

Pirate fans have never forgiven Barry for the play and in a few short months would jump ship for San Francisco where he remains today.  The Pirates haven’t had a winning season since.

Joe Starkey was the only reporter who bothered to recognize this anniversary and did so with an excellent article which you can read here.  I remember where I was and I remember my brother, who then worked for the team,  calling and uttering the words “what the hell just happened?”

I’ve been a Pirates fan for as long as I remember. My family has had some involvement with the team from 1984 until last year so when I see things backwards I sometime take it personally when I see something backwards and want to shout “wtf are you doing!”.  As we sat watching the final game of the regular season I started to think of what could be done to make the fan experience better. Most are based off my observations as a fan for once and not someone in “the family” as a certain person on the staff likes to say.

1) Adopt the hockey courtesy rule of “No walking to/from your seat will the game is in play”.  This is one of my biggest peeves with attending Pirate games is that people can not sit still and then they find it necessary to block your view while they look for your seat.

2) Save the planet and quit giving away so many free things.  I’m a fan of free swag but since the team was destined to repeat the previous 13 years of losing (which they did btw making it 14 years) the promotions group had 75 promo nights out of 81 possible dates. Promotions are great but now it’s to the point of desperation.  I’m a HUGE advocate for Roberto Clemente but he can’t be the “go to” dead guy when you need a filler.

3) Make an area that’s kids free. Those of us who want to watch the game and not be bombarded with cartoon figures, cotton candy and antsy kids (see #1) would like a break. I want a hotdog, a beer and my seat.

4) You’ve upgraded the food, now how about the beverages. $10.50 for a crabcake? $6.75 for a piece of burnt fish on a bun? $7 for a Miller Lite?  If you’re going to gouge us by raising  the normal cost of these items by 300% then how about upgrading the beer. You started with serving Dogfish Head  BUT the ladies pouring  it are uneducated on  how to serve. $5 for a 3/4 cup of foam is not cool. There are multiple microbreweries around the Western PA area,  so why not support the local guy!

5) Tuck in your shirt and smile. Every game I’ve gone to, and I’m not exaggerating when I say EVERY, the people working consessions are miserable, moody and dressed like slobs. I know it’s not the greatest job in the world but someone was willing to give you money for this so try to look presentable. Last game I went to the guy was so miserable that when he told me they were out of Pepsi he didn’t feel like going to the station next to him that HAD Pepsi. Oh and then the Sierra Mist we ordered was all seltzer water and we got attitude when we wanted it replaced.

6) Take lessons from the Pens on how to treat your ticketholders.  This is more of a side note since it’s not a game day thing. Take a few days and see what the Pens do for their ticket holders. Friends of mine that have Pirates season tickets are amazed at the loyalty that the Pens have to their fans and they care they show.  Maybe it’s a volume number for the Pirates, who knows but I will say that there is a reason for the loyalty of hockey fans in this town, the team isn’t afraid to step up.

Saturday was a long day. My original plan was to meet up with sickpuppy for lunch, come home for a few hours and then head to PNC Park to meet up with Griff and Emerson for the Pirates game. So much for plans!

Lunch was at the Double Wide Grill on the South Side. The place reminds me of a smaller Quaker steak but with a better beer selection. The food was OK but overpriced for the quality. The beer selection was decent but the prices were favorable. Bartenders were pretty cool but the highlight was this college aged American Eagle reject guy. He came in and wanted beer to go. The bartender said there were growlers available but if he wants a 6pk to go 2 blocks down. This dumbass orders a growler of Miller Light for $16! Not only an insult to the growler but just plain friggin stupid. 2 blocks down and he would have had a cheap 6pk of Miller.

Instead of heading home I was talked into visiting bar 1311 which is… at 1311 Carson St. I’ve been to my fair share of bars on the South Side and I can say that by the time I left a few hours later that this is one of my favorite bars. What i liked – GREAT craft beer selection at a reasonable price. VERY VERY clean. I mean clean to the point that the bathrooms are cleaner than some hospitals. Staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. Overall this was a fun place to be with a multitude of LCD TVs and a projection screen. I also came away with a 1311 Work Shirt as a gift. Apparently they’ve heard our show and had good things to say. Oh yeah, Plus they would love to have us record there.

I left 1311 around 5:30 so that I could make it to PNC Park in time to meet up with Griff and Emerson. It was around 95F when we entered the park and enjoyed a night at the park up behind home plate. It’s always a good time when I get to hang out with those guys even if we were sweating our asses off. I know that I’ve said I wouldn’t pay for another ticket and honestly I stayed true to my word… these were freebies   BTW, Pirates lost 5-1.

I’ve been negligent from updating on here because of a hella busy schedule.  Friday night was my company’s outing at PNC Park. I organized the event which sold over 100 tickets. The weather was perfect, the game was decent and the fireworks… eh, I’ve seen better.  It seemed like everyone had a good time and I haven’t received any hate mail yet.

Saturday my good bud from back home, Mario, and his family came to town for the weekend. We met up at the Pittsburgh Zoo and brought our cousin Bella (pictured above sleeping) with us. 5 hours with 4 kids in the sun is tiring. Stop right there for anyone thinking “welcome to my world”. We don’t have kids so I can say it The highlight for me was the Penguins. I could sit there for hours watching those guys. The new Polar Bear exhibit was pretty cool and the glass lined tunnel so they can swim over you (just like the commercial) was impressive.  While by the shark tank a scuba diver came down and unrolled a message. Someone named Elizabeth was getting engaged right before us.  Nice move buddy! She said yes.  We ended the day at Primanti’s in Harmar before heading home.  It’s always good to have friends visit!

Sunday was a working day at the new place. I spent several hours fighting with contact paper while Heather washed down the walls. Yeah I know they cleaned before we could come in but we needed to do a few touch ups.  We can start moving in boxes shortly and man I can’t wait to get this over with!

*note: everything that Karen Price has written caused great pain in my head and eyes to bleed. This is your only warning.*

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_513583.html

Pittsburgh Pirate fans are pissed off. Pushing 15 years of finishing under .500, a disastrous MLB draft this year and on field play that is borderline summer beer league, a grass roots group of fans started a protest in that fans should protest the June 29th game vs the Washington Nationals.

As news spread on local TV more details started to come out and momentum picked up. This morning Karen Price reports the following (from the link above)

The protest will consist of a pregame rally and petition-signing on Federal Street from 5-7 p.m.

- OK this is starting out well…

During the game against the Washington Nationals, protesters will leave their seats after the third inning and will have the option of staying in the concourse until the fifth inning or leaving the ballpark.

- Stop, right there. WTF. Rewind… So you’re asking people to PAY for their seat, thus already giving the Pirates their money. Secondly, they have the “option” of staying until the 5th. So while waiting you’re probably going to BUY something to drink and maybe something to eat. Oh and you’re still watching the game live or watching the TV in the corridor.

Chomos, a 43-year-old business owner from Wexford, wants fans to wear green shirts, to symbolize money leaving the building.

- What if I paid with a credit card, do I dress in plastic? (thanks, dma) What if I paid with American Dollar Coins, do I dress in gold? What shade of green? You all really should match.

“The goal is to give upset fans, fed-up fans, an outlet to voice their opinion publicly for the first time in 14 years of losing baseball,” said Lucas, 25, of the North Hills.

- Your outlets are message boards and blogs. Stand by the stadium and do your protesting thing but for the love of God don’t give the team money and then go “ha ha we’re leaving!”. If you’re going to go through with his how about each of you hand me the money you’re going to pay for tickets and we’ll watch it on TV somewhere.

A Pirates spokesman said the team has no comment on the protest.

-That’s because everyone in the front office hasn’t stopped laughing long enough to compose themselves.

*sigh* this idea had so much potential…