Ballgame Number 4 - Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners

Last week I was up in Seattle/Portland talking to youth ministers about the Portland Believe event coming up in October. Being the smart guy I am, I looked at the Mariners schedule before the trip was planned and found a home game to go to. This was the first game that I have been able to go to with my wife this year. Here are my thoughts about the game in the great Northwest.

• Safeco Field was probably the nicest stadium I have been to all year. It is only a few years old and you can tell they put some money into the stadium.

• Granted it was the Orioles, but there was a significant low number of fans at the game. Maybe this had something to do with it being a little cold or the threat of rain (though they have a roof), but I think there still should have been more fans there.

• I know Ichiro is the big star for the Mariners, but this was the most cross cultural group of fans I have seen.

• Though there were not that many fans, they were the most supportive fans as far as apparel goes I have seen all year. Everyone was wearing a hat or shirt to support the home team.

• Only in Seattle do I get to decide between clam chowder in a bread bowl or sushi (I could have got an "Ichiroll" for my in park meal. I chose the chowder in a bread bowl.

• The bullpen was stinkin cool. You could walk up to a chain link fence by the bullpen and literally be 5 feet away from the pitcher warming up.

• We bought a $3 program (not an official program, but a team program right outside the stadium) and it was one of the funniest things I have read all year. You would have thought the person writing the player bios hates the team. I read three all of them ripping apart their own team. Examples - Mike Hargrove, Manager - "We're pretty shocked to still be writing Mike Hargrove profiles for another season." Richie Sexton, 1st base - "For an annual salary exceeding $15 million, the Mariners and their fans deserve so much more. C'mon Richie, start earning your money!" and my favorite, Jeff Weaver, pitcher - "If he never throws another pitch for the Seattle Mariners, he'll go down in history as the worst player to ever play for the franchise."

• The closing of the roof was pretty cool. The game started out outside, but with the threat of rain, about the 4th inning, they closed the roof. The entire process took about 7-10 minutes.

• Another cool feature at Safeco, was that you could order food via text message and have it delivered to your seat. There were fliers that had instructions and corresponding codes to each food item. You texted what you wanted and waited for additional instructions. We did not try it out, but having it available was still pretty cool.

• Tip for the game: Get early for parking. We parked a few blocks away at a "non-official" parking lot and paid $5. We arrived about 30-45 minutes before game time. As we were leaving the stadium we saw that the same sign had been changed $15.
  

Ballgame Number 3

Ballgame Number 3 of the year. A few weeks ago Josh, Krystle and I were down in Arlington, TX to look at the venue for the Texas Believe in the fall. No other way to plan a trip then to look at the baseball schedule and see when the Yankees are in town. So we drove down from Joplin timing it so that we would hit Arlington about game time.

I think this was the first time in my life I have seen the Yankees play. I have not been to a ton of American League games, but now I can say I saw the Bronx Bombers. Also, this was the closest I have ever got in my life to seeing a no-hitter. The Yankees carried a no-hitter into the 8 inning and then gave up a hit. It was also the first win for Phil Hughes for the Yankees. Phil Hughes has been regarded as "The Next Great Yankee Pitcher." Anyways, here are the observations from the game:

- All Texas Police Officers have to wear Cowboy hats.

- There are more Yankee fans in Texas than there are Ranger fans.

- Don't take your kids to a game and go sit in the bleachers during a blow-out.

- Alex Rodriguez really is that good.

- Starbucks is taking over - they were giving out free samples when you came in, and there was a location inside the stadium.

- The Rangers are horrible.

- Yankee fans need to go back to New York and stay there.

How did my bag arrive before me?

On my last flight I was flying home to Joplin, MO from Jacksonville, FL. On the flight down to Florida, I carried my bag on the plane with me. Why I didn't care them with me on the way back I have no idea.

I knew when I landed in Joplin at 3:25 pm on Friday there was a chance my bag would not be there. I flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta to Kansas City to Joplin and only had about a 30 minute layover in Atlanta. When there was no bag at the huge Joplin airport, I figured it was because my bag got lost in Atlanta. Though slightly annoying, my house is 4 minutes away and there was nothing in the bag I needed immediately.

After the bag ladies threw the bags out of the roll up garage door (seriously) and I didn't see my bag, they told me to go the counter. I go to the US Airways counter and the other lady looks at me like they have never lost a bag before. Before looking anywhere for my bag, she gives me a paper to fill out. I hand her the filled out form and ask if there is anything else I can do. "Well, here is the US Airways number - you can call that in a little bit and they might be able to help you." I had two phone numbers on the bag and one of the phone numbers was my cell phone which was dead - no big deal right, surely they will call both phones?

I waited until noon the next day (almost 24 hours later) to call the US Airways number, and they gave me the phone number the the US Airways baggage claim. I call the US Airways baggage claim but because I don't have a claim number (I never received this information from the lady behind the counter) and because my first flight was on Delta and because of some "baggage claim agreement" , I needed to file a claim with Delta also. They were so kind to give me the Delta number. I call Delta, they give me the number for Delta baggage claim. I call Delta baggage claim and after about 10 minutes I find out they can't help me because of the baggage claim agreement." I kindly let Carlos know that I don't care about any "baggage claim agreement" I just wanted to talk to someone who would help me find my bag. The only thing he could tell me to do was to go back to the airport.

Fortunately, I live close to the airport, but when I arrived there was no one at the US Airways counter because there wasn't a flight coming in for another couple of hours. So, I would need to come back. Why did I not carry on my bag? One of the rental car workers I think felt bad for me , and told me they would call the security officer in the barn. She did say though that if he was mowing, he would not hear the phone. This just keeps getting better. My luck, he wasn't mowing at that moment, he came out and what do you know but my bag was behind the counter.

I get in the car, pull out my charger, plug in my phone, and there was a message. It was from US Airways. Thanks US Airways for calling only one of the two numbers written on the bag. But this is the real twist. The message was at 2:43 pm on Friday. That means that my bag was in Joplin 45 minutes before my flight landed. That means my bag was behind the counter when I filled out the sheet that apparently lacked a "claim number." She didn't even look for a bag.

Now my question is, if my bag arrived at 2:43pm, why couldn't I have arrived at 2.43pm?

Ballgame Number 2

A few weeks ago the Believe team was able to see the Atlanta Braves take on the Washington Nationals (and watch John Smoltz pitch). This past Sunday I enjoyed my second Major League game of the season. Josh, Krystle and I were driving down from Indianapolis to Gatlinburg, TN and what better way to enjoy a pit stop than to go to a baseball game.

Let me first say that I have never been a big fan of the town of Cincinnati - every time I am there it just seems cold and bitter. Not that the game changed my opinion about Cincy, but it was nice to actually enjoy the town for at least one day in my life.

The Philadelphia Phillies were in town and it was a beautiful day in Cincy to enjoy a ballgame. Below I have listed my observations of the ballpark, the teams and players, attending a baseball game in general and so on. Hopefully there will be many more games this season to come.

- Picking up tickets at will call was about the easiest thing I have ever done. There were kiosks (like at an airport) - you walk up, scan your credit cards and out pops your tickets. Stupid easy.

- You can get Skyline Chili at the ballpark.

- Bringing young children to a baseball game can be a bad idea. I felt so bad for Tommy (the boy in the row behind us) because he couldn't do anything right. My favorite was when he asked his mom for some water and she snapped back, "I drank it all!" Poor Tommy.

- Obtain seats where you can see the large scoreboard. It will make the game much more enjoyable.

- The Lemon Ice is good, but man is it sour!

- You don't help your team's chances when you give up 2 runs before your teammates even gets to bat.

- If you want to make a lot of money, go get some coolers, fill them with ice and bottled water you bought from Wal-Mart, stand on the sidewalk after a game and sell them for $1. It will seem like a steal after everyone have been paying $4 a bottle inside the park.

- The Reds are bad, but they can still beat the Cubs.

Opening Day Predictions

As far as I can tell, this is the first time in human history that three important dates happened on the same day. Palm Sunday, April Fools Day, and Opening Day of Baseball.

This year, like every other year of my life, I plan to get more into baseball than the year before. I also plan to attend as many games as humanly possible without losing my job, wife, house, etc.

With the excitement of the upcoming season, here are my fearless predictions:

• The Royals will be one of the hottest teams in baseball until mid may when they realize they are not suppose to be this good...they get rid of their up and coming franchise player (ex. Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon) and finish last in their division.
  
• The St. Louis Cardinals will finish 23-139 (this is more of a hope/prayer).
• Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's record at home in San Francisco after sitting out a 8 game road trip because everyone outside of the Bay Area knows he cheated.
• Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will be on the disabled list 12 times.
• Sammy Sosa comes back with a fury and sets the single season home run record even after being drug tested everyday for the last two months of the season.
• Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, will be arrested for drunk driving (oh wait, this already happened during spring training).
• The Yankees will spend a lot of money, the will make the playoffs, ARod will all of a sudden strike out every time, make lots of errors and they will lose before the World Series (this is almost a guarantee - it happens every year).
• The Cubs will beat the Indians in 5 games in the World Series. (Hey, it’s April, no games have been played yet, and there is still at least 3 weeks before the Cubs can be statistically eliminated)

Bad Dancing

I will cheer for Florida in the tournament and they will be the team that I want to win, but in no way do I support this horrible example of dancing. Not that I could do any better, but Joakim Noah is annoying.

Diamonds are forever..maybe

For all of you who are done with Valentine's Day...enjoy yourself.

He finally wins the big one

For those of you living in a hole, Peyton Manning and Colts got the monkey off of their back by defeating the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl 29-17 in Miami on Sunday.

There are two interesting stories that have surfaced in the last day or two about a man named Peyton Manning. One of them is confirmed the other is not.

#1 - "Going to Disney World!"
I heard this story on the radio, but have been unable to find it in print.
After every major professional championship event, Disney World somehow gets the most prominent player/MVP to say that the next thing they are going to do is "Go to Disney World!" The first time I every remember seeing this was when the Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Orel Hershier beat the Oakland A's in the World Series. He was on top of his teammates shoulders and he was going to the Magic Kingdom next. Other have included John Elway, Barry Bonds, Magic Johnson.
Well, after the Super Bowl, Disney approached Peyton Manning about saying the famous line. He asked how much was the payout, Disney replied with $30,000. Not a bad check for saying one line if you ask me. Peyton, (also known as King of Endorsements), said no, but he would do if for 1 million dollars. Disney passed, and had the real MVP of the game (Dominic Rhodes) and the coach, Tony Dungy, saying the famous line.
I know Peyton is good, but asking for a million dollars?

#2 - Losing a bet
Back in 7th grade, I lost a bet (have not idea what it was about) and had to shave my head. When the Twins beat the Braves in the World Series, my dad had to wear a Twins tie to work. If Ohio State had beaten the Florida Gators Robert Pierre would have to wear a Speedo at a pool party. I am glad Florida won on so many levels.
Now let me bring you to a vow that happened over the Super Bowl. I can only guess how much alcohol was consumed when this man agreed to do what he did (It is fitting this happened in a bar). Scott Weise, a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, will officially change his name to Peyton Manning because of the outcome of the game. Peyton Manning was MVP of the Super Bowl. Scott works at Staples. I know about being a true fan, but changing your name, when is it too much?

Jeep Dealership --> You win this round

Jeep Dealership wins round one. Hopefully this will be the last round.

A few weeks ago I received a coupon in the mail for an oil change, tires balanced and rotated and a brakes inspection from the Jeep Dealership (at Continental Auto Mall) for my wife's 2002 Jeep Cherokee. It actually wasn't a bad price for all that was included (usually there is no way in the world I would go to the dealership to pay their astronomical prices) and I love coupons, so we decided to take them up on their offer. Never again. It is a scam.

I scheduled my appointment, took the Jeep in and waited. The clerk/salesman (you will see why he has both titles in my eyes) comes out to the waiting area and lets me know the results of the brake inspection. Basically he informs me that my front brakes need to be replaced. But he does it in a way where I feel as though I could run off the road or into the back of a semi-truck if I don't get them replaced immediately. I had no problems with any of my brakes before he looked at it! So of course with the pressure on, instead of saying "No thanks" and going to someone else that won't drain my bank account, I cave to to the pressure and let them install the brakes. About 2 minutes later, after I come to my senses, I regret my decision.

This is not the first time I have been suckered with a vehicle scam. I will never take my car to the Firestone in Joplin after their little scam on my Explorer two years ago.

I really regretted my decision when I wrote the check. I felt like I had just written a check in response to an e-mail to get the Prince of Nigeria's treasure over to America.

Piece of advice - if the dealership tells you that you need to fix something, go to someone else get a second opinion and let them install it for a fraction of the price.

Yes, the Jeep Dealership won that round. I am a moron. And Continetial Auto Mall --> get a new jingle.

Make the process as hard as possible

This past week I received a notice in the mail letting me know that I needed to renew my tags for my vehicle. No big deal, right? WRONG. This was one of the most annoying and not customer friendly processes I have dealt with in a long time.

On the notice to renew in big bold letters - "Three Easy Ways to Renew!" Man were they lying. The first was by mail, the second was online, and the third was in person. I was somewhat skeptical already about it being easy, so I thought I would choose the path of least resistance and go in person. This way I could know I got it done, get my sticker for my tag and go home.

I showed up to office, handed over my form and asked who I needed to make the check out to. She takes a look at the form and then looks at me, "Do you have your insurance form?"
"It is in my car, I will go get it."
"Do you have your car inspection form?"
Because I have owned my car less than a year, it was inspected last year - surely I didn't have to go again this year. Oh no, because my car is a '99 I have to get it inspected every odd year from here on out. But the inspection is not the last thing I need.

I also need to go get a personal property tax receipt. The wonderful lady at the DMV then informs me of the process to get the receipt. Here you go (kinda like choose your own adventure):
- Go to the Jasper County Courthouse. If you have already paid go to room 107 for a receipt, if you have not paid go to room 207.
- I had not paid, so 207 here I come. I stand in line for a while, make it to the counter, tell the lady my name, she looks something up on a computer, takes a scratch piece of paper, scribbles down about 7 numbers and then tells me to go to room 107.
- In room 107, I wait in another line, hand the scrap piece of paper to a guy who goes and looks something else up on a computer.
- Now I write my check to the County Collector. I ask who to make it out to (expecting "Jasper County Collector") and I make the check out to "Steve Holt." I know he is the County Collector, but it would make me feel (1) safer, (2) like I am not living in redneck Missouri, and (3) nobody could embezzle money if I could make it out to something official, instead of an individual.
Now I have my receipt, next is the inspection.

Please is whatever business you are in, please make the process as stinkin' hard as you can for the consumer.