Boys of Spring

After almost missing my flight back to Indy Saturday morning, I finally arrived back home at about 4:00 p.m. My Dad met me at my apartment at 4:30 p.m. While I was telling him about Skip's in Dunedin, I packed my bag for Phoenix. We were off to the airport to fly out at 7:30 p.m.

We got to Phoenix at 12:00 a.m. Saturday night, and got a cab to a hotel near the airport. Unfortunately, the rental car counter was closed for the night. Both of us crashed hard and woke up at about 7:00 a.m. We took a cab back to the airport and got our rental car. We were off to Glendale to see the brand new Spring Training facility that brought the White Sox from Tucson and the L.A. Dodgers from Vero Beach, FL. We had been reading about this grandiose field for several weeks now, and we were very anxious to see the new park.

We had a blast taking pictures, trying to see if Manny Ramirez was there and trying to find the great hamburgers that Hawk Harrelson had been ranting about on the Comcast Chicago channel my Dad gets at home. There was an autograph session on the field that my Dad took part in. He was on a mission to get a couple of autographs on a Program for a friend of his that is a White Sox fan. He hit the jackpot with signatures from Jerry Owens and DeWayne Wise. We got a dog, a beer and some peanuts and headed to our seats to watch the game.

We scored a treat from the young players that are still vying for a spot on the Opening Day Roster. A yound Second Baseman named Gordon Beckham dazzled us with 3 doubles and an RBI. A career Minor-League Catcher named Donny Lucy blasted a home run late in the game as the Sox creamed the Dodgers 9-4 in the first game on Sunday. Most of the regular starters got to see action Monday, but the Sox lost to the Indians 9-3. The 3 Sox runs coming on an inside-the-park home run by Chris Getz, another guy battling for the Second Base position.

The best part of the two game stint came after the game on Sunday. While we were soaking in the sun after the game, we were drawn to an event going on in Right Field. We had walked around the stadium and watched the end of the game from the walkway along the Right Field line. A non-roster invitee (like a walk-on) named Brian Myrow was playing catch with what seemed to be his two sons. One was probably around 3 and the other maybe 5 years old. I'm thinking we stood and watched them play catch for more than 20 minutes before we decided to leave the game. We kept talking about how cool it had to be for his kids to be playing catch with him on the field he just played on. More than that, I couldn't help but think of all the time my Dad spent with me playing catch throughout my life. We could play catch for hours without even saying a word to each other, but I could tell it was as important for him as it was for me to spend that time together. The scene reminded me why we were there. Baseball has played a significant role in us being friends for so long. We can talk about anything because we are friends, but baseball is what really brings us together. From my Dad lying about my age to get me into a Tee-Ball League when I was 5 years old to him and I sharing a bag of peanuts at Camel Back Ranch, baseball has always been there making sure we don't lose track of each other.

Dun-Eden

The journey all started when we were awarded to projects in Florida. One in Brandon, FL, and one in Valrico, FL. Both towns are just East of the Tampa area. I arrived in Tampa at approximately 9:30 a.m. Thursday, and by the end of the day, I had our paint crew ready to start work on Friday morning. The next day, I made sure the crew had everything they needed, and then they got off to a good start. This left me Friday afternoon to see a Spring Training. I just needed to decide where to catch a game. I first thought of heading to Tampa and checking out the Yankee game. We had painted at Ledgends Field last summer, and I thought about taking a look at our job, but another game caught my eye.

When I was a teenager I was obsessed with the Toronto Bluejays. I dropped out of baseball from 1994 to 2005, and have recently surfaced as a Chicago White Sox fan. The combination of a broken leg and a Dad that has been a White Sox fan for most of his life made it easy to jump on the Sox bandwagon in '05. Long story...back to the Bluejays. Toronto plays their Spring Training games in the Gulf Coast hamlet of Dunedin, FL. That was only 40 minutes away from where I was staying. It was easy to decide on watching the Jays Friday night when I found that they were playing the Philadelphia Phillies. This was a classic rematch of the '93 World Series. The height of my childhood baseball compulsion.

The game was a drag except for talking old-school Jays with a couple of Canadian couples sitting to my right and left. Fortunately, I had spent some time gobbling up some Tempura Grouper cheeks at Sea-Sea Riders Restaurant before the game. Not as tender as the Halibut cheeks I have had in the past, but I'll take them anytime I can get my hands on them. While stuffing my face with fried fish, I started a great discussion with the bartender. The small talk was easy because she had visited Michigan many times to visit her Father that was a chef at many different places in the state. I started asking questions about Dunedin, and it sounded like a very interesting place. She explained that it was a friendly place for people living alternative lifestyles and had a rich tradition of art and music. Then she told me about a bar called Skip's. After hearing her rave about the bar, I made up my mind to head there after the game. It was next-door to the restaurant, and I was parked right there.

I walked back from the game and headed into Skip's. I couldn't help but notice the $1 bills stapled to every solid surface around the bar and the randon crock-pot behind the bar. Interesting to say the least. I was told to drink PBR while here, so I obliged and ordered a bottle. I instantly knew I was in a safe place when they proceeded to wrap my bottle of PBR in a small brown paper bag. Seriously...PBR in a brown bag...I was loving this place. I was soon ordering from Skip, the owner. He has worked his own bar for 17 years. Got to shoot the shit with him for a while before I had to leave. Unfortunately, he had stopped making his "Famous Pressed Cuban Sandwich", however he did have home-made jerkey and Buffalo Chicken Legs behind the bar. Hence the crock-pot.

I explained that I would be back soon to get a picture of the brown bag action and to try the Cuban Sandwich. I will be there next Tuesday night, as I have to re-visit the projects East of Tampa. I will definitely bring my camera so I can share the pictures here.

Requiem for a Week

Last Thursday, I began a heck of a roadtrip. That morning I flew to Tampa early. I had two projects to start just east of the Bay area. I was scheduled to fly back to Indy on Saturday, arriving at 3:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. that same night, my Dad and I were flying out of Indy to Phoenix to catch two Spring Training Baseball games on Sunday and Monday. We would fly back Tuesday morning, arriving back in Indy at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday started a company retreat in Eastern Kentucky that I did not want to miss. So upon arriving back to my apartment and seeing off my Dad, I cleaned up, rested and caught up on some work before taking off for Kentucky to meet up with my company. I arrived there at approximately 12:15 a.m. and proceeded to drink and laugh very hard until we all left Thursday morning. I can't begin to describe the feeling of getting to sleep in my own bed for the first time in over a week. The following blogs will describe a couple of memorable moments that took place during the jaunt.

Hockeytown

For Christmas this past year, I purchased Detroit Redwings tickets for April. I do not remember her ever talking about being a hockey fan in the past, but last spring she began talking about her love of the Redwings. I questioned it, but she explained that I just never paid attention to her love of the game because I wanted nothing to do with it. She was probably right. I hate hockey. Seriously, I am aware of just enough about the sport to know that I would rather clean litter boxes and hairballs simultaneously than watch a hockey game. Yes, even the playoffs.

The game was Friday night, and we both took time off of work to make the 4-5 hour drive to Detroit. I was anxious, but it was Friday and I enjoy a good road trip. I was excited to start the drive, and with a positive attitude we took off from Indy at about 12:30 p.m. With the game starting at 7:30, we would have plenty of time to get lost a couple of times Downtown, and maybe grab a drink before the game.

We did get lost. I came about 10 seconds away from making a turn that would have taken us across the bridge to Canada. Fortunately, we did not make the turn, and finally pulled into a parking garage @ Cobo Arena (Old Redwings arena that is connected to Joe Louis Arena).

After walking around for a while, we found the entrance to Joe Louis Arena. There were no bars or restaurants close enough for us to walk in the freezing cold temperatures, so we decided to wait in line to enter the arena when it opened at 6:00. That would give us plenty of time to eat, drink and take a look at merch, which we did. I had a decent Italian Beef along with a couple of Molsons. You can never go wrong with food at a sporting event. Although I had never been to a hockey game, I was already impressed.

Upon getting to our seats, I found myself pointing out the similarities to NBA games. I felt the seating, the view and even the team warmups to be very much like the NBA. It wasn't until I looked up at the rafters that it sunk in. I was definitely in one of hockey's Holy Shrines. I have never been to Montreal. I have never seen a game at Yankee Stadium or Boston Gardens, but I have to say that I have never seen so many Championship banners at any stadium I have been to. The funny thing is, most places I have seen games have had more retired numbers than Championship banners. With this said, I found it refreshing that out of all the banners hanging from the rafters (there must have been 30-40 banners including Division Championships and other Specialty banners), only 6...6! were retired numbers. 3 of these 6 players were with the team for over 20 years consecutively, including Gordie Howe's rediculous run of 25 years.

As a sports fan, I have an extreme respect for the franchise. After watching a 2-1 Redwings victory, I am still not a fan of the sport, but I definitely have a new respect for the Detroit Redwings and the history of this program. This history and the excitement of the fans made my firsts hockey game one to remember.