Game 3 - Return to the D

It's been a while. Nearly 6 years. Last game I saw was a mid-September game in 2005 as the Tigers were making their push to take the American League Central. In that span I've seen them play on the South Side at least 10 times, but it's not the same. In truth, very little has changed. Only one glaring difference, I didn't drive past old Tiger Stadium this time. She's gone. But so much has stayed the same.


I made a lap down Woodward to Campus Martius and back up to the old familiar gravel lot. $10. Lock the car. Head down the block. That's when it hit. I'm a foreigner now. That sticker on my car that reads "City of Chicago" with the picture of Daniel Burnham, the plate on the front of the car, "Land of Lincoln".





But as I crossed over 75 and caught a glimpse of the RenCen in the distance I began to ease, feel like I fit back in. After all, the car may be labeled, but I had the Old English D on my hat. Walked past Hockeytown, and waited at the light to cross Woodward. As we came up on the park that smell hit me. I've been to 8 MLB stadiums and 5 or 6 MiLB parks, each one smells the same. And it's perfect.

I haven't been to Comerica Park in 6 years. Not much has changed. Even the "Eat 'Em Tigers" guy is still out front, with his cup and familiar chant. He does much better than the guy with the sax, someone even made him a shirt with his picture and catch phrase on it. He's been there as long as I can remember, not sure if he was ever outside of Tiger Stadium, but he's such a part of a game in Detroit that one day you will notice when he's not.





Walk through the gate, the tiger looking down on you. I make my obligatory visit with the Ernie Harwell statue, haven't seen him since well before he passed away. Start my walk around the concourse. It's a beautiful park, there is all sorts of energy. Not only is it a great day for baseball, but the White Sox are in town. And the Red Wings are waiting for round two to start. This city is excited.


I make my way through the crowd, around past my old seats in right field. Pausing to take in the view.


Make a trip over to center field where Al Kaline, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, Willie Horton, Charlie Gehringer and Hal Newhouser keep watch over the park. I have my pregame fist bump with Ty. Then head toward the suite, which is next to Mike Ilitch's. He's not around, but Kenny Holland (the Red Wings GM is).

71 degrees at game time. I'm in a suite behind home plate watching Brad Penny shut down the Sox. At times I'm torn. I catch myself getting pissed as the Sox keep striking out, and getting sat and needing to remind myself that I'm wearing that D on my chest. Penny was on (7 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks), he lost his no hit bid in top of the 6th in the worst way possible, a scorekeepers decision. It seems Ron Kleinfelter thought that ball Inge threw off line and in the dirt to first was how it's supposed to happen and awarded the hit. Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn proved they're worthy and Will Rhymes flashed some leather.

After giving up 3 runs in the 6th (8-0 at that point), Ozzie pulled Edwin Jackson. In the 8th Lillibridge got the Sox first actual hit and they threatened, but fell short.

As I walked back to my car, Tigers fans chanting "Carlos Quentin" in the distance, a cool breeze filled the streets. It was a great way to return to baseball in Detroit. Next time it won't be so long.

-JB

Baseball 2011

As many of you know, or at least should by now, I love baseball. It doesn't matter who is playing, where they're playing, what the weather is, or who I'm there with. I just love to watch the game. Live or on TV, in a bar or at home, from the bleachers or a suite. I love this game.

The other night I was sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley watching the Cubs attempt to mount a comeback against the Padres (it would eventually fall short) and I started talking to some of the guys around me. The quickly realized that each story I had took place at a baseball game from last season. So he asked, "Hey man, how many ball games you go to last year?" I stopped, started thinking, tried counting on my fingers but ran out. I couldn't remember each one. They all blended together, had I seen the Pirates play the Cubs four times, or just 2? Did I make it to that entire weekend series at Sox Park against the Orioles? What about my Tigers, I'm sure I saw them on the southside at least 4 times.

So, here I am waiting to head down to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers and the White Sox. This will be my third game of the season, my first in Detroit since 2005. I woke up this morning and decided to document each game, so when someone asks my next season, I'll have an answer (or at least a place I can look it up).

My first game this year was Opening Day at the Cell. The Sox started the season on the road and came into this game 3-2, having scored more runs that anyone in the league. It was a chilly day, I think it was 38 degrees on the scoreboard at game time and we had been tailgaiting since 9. Edwin Jackson was at his best, through the fog that settled over the field we watched him throw 13 Ks, only give up 1 run and 4 hits through 8 innings. The Sox came out on top 5-1. We all headed over to what used to be Jimbo's, I think it's Cork and Kerry now, but didn't stick around (it's not the same anymore).

Game two came on short notice. The previous day the Cubs and Padres had been rained out and they rescheduled it at 6pm following the Wednesday night game. I was sitting at my desk when a client walked in with two tickets in his hand, "Hey, you live by Wrigley. I can't get downtown for the make up, want these?" One thing every man knows is you never, ever, never, ever ever turn down free tickets to anything. Shit, I'd even take your WNBA ticket off your hands on the off chance that one day, down the road you have an extra ticket to the Stanley Cup game 7. I made a few calls and couldn't find anyone to join me, but that wasn't going to stop me. So I got home, changed and walked up to the game. I got there during the bottom of the second inning, the Padres were already up 2-0. The Cubs had given the start to James Russell (only his second career start) and San Diego had Aaron Harang on the hill. Harang by the way has been lights out this season. The Cubs, lead by Reed Johnson (3 for 4) and, believe it or not, Alfonso Soriano (2 for 4 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs) tried to mount a comeback late in the game but fell short, 5-4, after only pushing 2 across in the 8th. When the game ended I picked up my Tyler Colvin bobblehead and wandered on down Sheffield home with the horror of Robbie Gould's version of Take Me Out to the Ballgame ringing in my ears.

So I'm on the way down to my third game of the season shortly. Look for an update tomorrow (maybe tonight if I'm really ambitious).

-JB

Spring!!!

Kind of a funny thing, seasons. While in general they never really change, we can't help but complain that this years winter was so much worse than the last. Or the summers always seem to be rainy. But despite our constant need to complain about something, I will say there is nothing like that first real day of spring.

For those of you that don't live in the north you may not experience the dramatic change we do. But as we all know here, there will always be those 2 or 3 days in February or early March when the temp spikes. Everyone says the same thing, "Hope this lasts!!", they're all wrong. Just as we start to get excited about it Mother Nature throws a haymaker and puts us back in our place, that bitch. We snap back to the reality that spring is still a long way away.

Then, comes a day like yesterday. It creeps up on us, one day it's 28 degrees, then a few later it's 32, then another day or so it's 40. And suddenly 67! Yes, we've dropped again, but this time only to the mid-40s. This my friends, is the onset of spring we have been waiting for. It's finally here! In a few short weeks we'll all be running around in shorts and packing up our winter gear. I'll stop short of declaring Winter 2010 over, but it's on the way out, and that dear old Mother Nature is making up for those dark, windy, cold days she put us through.

Patios and rooftops will be open soon, and when they do...you'll know where to find me.

-JB

10 Sports Pilgrimages I Intend to Complete

Pilgrimage: a journey, esp. a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion.

There is no better way to define my relationship with sport, religious devotion. And what better way to proclaim your devotion than take a pilgrimage? So here they are, in no particular order, the 10 sports pilgrimages I intend to complete in my life.

1) Attend a baseball game at every Major League Baseball stadium in the bleachers.

2) Tailgate at and attend a Big Ten football game at each of the 12 schools in a single season.

3) Spend 5 days at both the Summer and Winter Olympics and attend one event a day.

4) A World Cup Championship Match.

5) Go to all the Baseball All-Star Game events. The Home Run Derby, the celebrity soft-ball match and of course the game itself.

6) The Super Bowl.

7) To compete in the 24 Hours of Moab.

8) Spend the weekend watching the F1 Grand Prix Italy from the pits.

9) Ride along with a support vehicle in the Dakar Rally.

10) Be at the opening and closing ceremonies of the America's Cup.

Canada too?

Remember when I freaked out about kids all getting trophies, even if the suck and lost, just because their crazy parents made them go to practice? Well, this sickness has hit our little brother to the north too. Check out this article from Deadspin.

Obama, do something, would ya?

Well, I'm not exactly what one might call, a democrat. Nor am I really republican, but that's a whole different post. We'll stick with, not being a democrat, for the sake of argument today. See, I'm watching this whole thing go down in the gulf and I'm as appalled as anyone about the blame game being played between BP, Transocean and Cheney Inc...I mean Haliburton. I am by no means defending any of them. But I've got to step in an defend Mr. President on this one. If I hear one more person say "Obama should have done more!" or "Why hasn't Obama accomplished more in stopping this spill?" or "Shit, this Obama dude just let all us people and animals down here suffer." I swear, I will eat a baby seal.

People, what do you expect Obama to do? Swim down to the bottom of the ocean dressed as Aquaman, call all his fishy friends to help him plug the well?



Or maybe he could have personally taken over the role of BP's disaster management team and use his vast knowledge of off-shore oil well engineering, obtained at University of Hawaii, to devise a plan that would stop the leak!



I know, call the BP executives three times a day every day asking for an update, then he could have held the BP executive's families hostage until there was a resolution!



Or maybe fine BP an additional baggillion dollars a day for every day the hole is still leaking!

Ok, I think you get the picture. My point is, his hands are tied. Is there really something he can do, other than continue to publicly hold BP accountable for their actions, delays, and errors. Was his schedule supposed to stop because there's an oil spill? Did the wars, economy and unemployment all suddenly get resolved so that he can stand on the Louisiana coast to keep a watchful eye out over the shore line?

Grow up people.

-JB

Sub-urban America

Ok, those of you that know me well, know that I am a very upbeat positive person. Yes, I go on rants and I can get a bit grumpy, but for the most part I am a happy person. I wanted to approach this post from that root happy person, but I couldn't figure out how. I thought I would write about the reasons I love the city and the country, but that approach really fell short of the point i was trying to make. And in the end I realized I just could not come up with any way to do this other than the way it ended up...

WHY I HATE THE SUBURBS!!

1) Sidewalks - A pretty simple concept. A strip of pavement along the side of the road that people can...get this...walk on. Now I know that everyone that lives in the 'burbs has lost use of their legs from countless hours sitting in a cubicle and driving their SUVs to the Starbucks down the street, but it's anti-human. You don't even have the option to walk, run, or ride anywhere if you wanted too. Well, I guess you can, but with all the SUVs flying around, you might not want to run along the shoulder of the road.

2) "Food" Culture - I think it's about time the Mexican government sends a delegation of food critics to the US to review our "Mexican" restaurants. Ladies and gentlemen, nachos are not Mexican food. Qudoba, Taco Bell, Taco Fresco, Cancun and most other restaurants serving Mexican food would be shut down immediately. People, putting sour cream and yellow cheese on a taco or gordita in Mexico is as shameful as putting ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago, or mayo on a hamburger in Detroit. You just don't do it. In the land of bland, people really believe Olive Garden, Chi-Chi's, Outback and P.F.Changs are fine ethnic dining. No personality, no creativity, cookie cutter recipes served in branded restaurants that are duplicated a million times a week all across the country.

3) Conformity - Everything looks the same, across nearly every American suburb. In fact, I bet that if I blindfolded you, knocked you out and drove for a really really long time then pulled off the highway into any given suburb, you'd never know where we were. Typical first mile off the highway in sub-urban America contains 2-5 fast food restaurants, maybe a Cracker Barrell, at least 4 car dealerships, 3 gas stations and a "big box" store (Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-mart). Then you've got "The Mall": Abercrombie & Fitch, two Victoria's Secret's, kiosks sell crap we don't need, the Disney Store, Foot Locker, The Gap, Lids, Bath & Body Works, Sharper Image and many more. All anchored by a food court, Nordstrom, JC Penny's and a Macy's. All selling pretty much the same overpriced, made in China clothing. Now that we've made it about 3 miles into this cozy little sub-urban town we start to see the sub-divisions. A place where people live in their own mass produced 4 bedroom house, with their nice two car garage and their white picket fence. Only they need to follow the associations rules...no trees taller than X, no fences in the front yard, only mow your lawn on Tuesday, Friday or Sunday if your address ends in an odd number, don't water your lawn on the third friday of every month. Yes, each house looks a little different, but you can't just paint it any color you want without the association or township telling you that you're a freak and need to change it. And each sub-division has it's own style of houses that you need to select yours from. No wonder people buy boats and cars they can't afford and force their kids to play sports they're not good at...they need to find a way to separate themselves from all the other cult members.

Now you're probably saying "Yeah, the city's got all this stuff. But the country doesn't even come close to any of this."

You're right, which makes the middle of nowhere the best place to live. Your way, your pace. Simple.

-JB