Pre Streak

Cal Ripken with rookie Cal Ripken, Jr. 

California Angels v Baltimore Orioles, May 2, 1982


Memorial Stadium, Section 63U, Sec 4 Row 5

It was my high school graduation.  A neighbor knew I was a sports fanatic.  He brother was an O's fan who lived not far from the stadium.  She arranged for me to go to Baltimore and be his guest.  He was affectionately known as Six Pack Jack.  True to his name, he was a character.
On the date May 30, 1982 Cal Ripken began his streak of playing 2,632 consecutive games.  This game preceeded The Streak.  There was a hometown connection for me.  In 1964, the year of my birth, the Phillies had a utter collaspe at the end of the season to finish 2nd to the St Louis Cardinals.  The Phils had such a large lead in September that they printed World Series tickets.  Gene Mauch was the manager.  Gene Mauch was today's manager for the visiting California Angels.  The legendary Earl Weaver was the skipper for the O's.
The Orioles Eddie Murray doubled in Al Bumby in the 1st.   The 2nd found the visitors responding quickly.  Ron Jackson singled in Doug DeCinces to tie the game.  Former Phillie Bob Boone doubled in Joe Ferguson for the early lead.
In the bottom of the 2nd Dan Ford bunted, Rick Demsey walked then Ford advanced to 3rd on a passed ball.  The O's young third baseman Cal Ripken stepped up and singled in Ford and Dempsey to tie up the ballgame.  The O's scored 2 more in the 3rd.
In the 5th the Orioles added another run when Ken Singleton singled in Al Bumbry.
Boone doubled in Brian Downing in the 7th to pull the Angels within 2 runs.
Scott McGregor stayed in the game to close it out himself.

Obama Suckfest 2008

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, April 30, 2008


John Paul Jones Arena, Sec 314 Row BB

I first saw Springsteen in 1984 or 1985.  Saw him numerous times since.  After using this tour holding his audience hostage as he preached about Obama, I swore off going to any more Springsteen shows on my dime.  To date, I held my promise to myself.  Once a Hollywood elitist starts preaching about how much more enlightened he is than you and I, any form of rationality is thrown out the window.  

I used the Obama suckfest preaching moment to take a piss so I missed all of the boring diatribe.

This was a reunion of sorts for me and a buddy who went to a 1985 Springsteen show at the outdoor RFK Stadium in Washington.  

A spirited start for this sold-out show, with "Loose Ends" another Tracks rarity to kick it off, just as "Roulette" and "Don't Look Back" started the night on a high at the previous barnburner in Greensboro. "Mary's Place" turned up again, too -- but that's where the affinity between the two shows end, Charlottesville being one where things didn't quite click. Hard to say, but it could be that after more than a week of channeling so much into the performance, an emotional drain has understandably taken its toll. Whatever the reason, this was a shorter show, with a less inspired setlist and a performance coming up short of others on this astounding recent run. The penultimate show of a leg has been one to watch on Springsteen tours, often turning out to be the stand-out... not so this time.

"No Surrender" was an audible, the message not quite reaching everyone at the start -- "Hang on, we're getting there!" said Bruce. On the setlist but not played were "This Hard Land" (Bruce had the harmonica in hand, but let this one go, leaving only "Mary's Place" between "Livin' in the Future" and "Devil's Arcade"), "Streets of Fire" (given the boot again!), and "I Wanna Be With You." 

"For You" was tonight's oldie going out to Danny, and Springsteen came up with more fun tales of the old days, this time about how they got around to gigs. At first, it was Mad Dog's car. "That was uncomfortable," Bruce said, "because the Big Man took up a lot of room." Then they stepped up to an Econoline van. "That was uncomfortable, because the Big Man took up a lot of room." Then it was a Jersey Central bus, modified with cots in the back, and Bruce shared his technique for putting his hand down to keep from rolling off when they took a curve. Finally they graduated to "country singer buses," and a memory of Danny, who "fell out of the middle bunk, bounced across the wall, fell to the floor, and grabbed a bag to use as a pillow... all without waking up." Bruce also recalled that their first gig as a band was opening up for Cheech & Chong, and as their set went on, someone tugged on Bruce's shirt with a message: "Cheech says it's time to get off the stage."

There was notably strong guitar work tonight -- Nils, as always; Steve shining on "Gypsy Biker"; Bruce taking a mean lead on "Adam Raised a Cain." And even a rare off-night still brings something like "Meeting Across the River" into "Jungleland," with Springsteen in fine voice. Before that magical pairing that started the 4/5 Born to Run encore, Bruce recalled the old days again, saying, "We've always been connected to Virginia. We could play two places in those days -- we could play New Jersey, and we could play Richmond." He also gave a shout-out to his old Steel Mill band mate Robbin Thompson, who was in the house tonight. That house was packed, a new and attractive smaller venue with not a single seat left open; but it was an intimate setting unfortunately not parlayed into a particularly special show.
-Photograph by Guy Aceto

Setlist:
Loose Ends
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
The Promised Land
Magic
Gypsy Biker
For You
Adam Raised a Cain
Prove It All Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Meeting Across the River
Jungleland
Born to Run
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
American Land

2 OT Win

Boston Bruins v Carolina Hurricanes, April 30, 1999


Greensboro Coliseum, Sec 109 Row SS

I recently began a new job in a new city.  I found a hockey fanatic, a Bruins fan, working with me.  He wanted to travel to Greensboro for this matchupa and asked me to come along.  Another guy joined us for the trip.  
This guy was so serious about his teams that he had zero tolerance for anything to the contrary.  When we entered the Greensboro Coliseum girls handed us some red pom-poms, which me and the other guy took.  The serious guy refused his.  Not only that, he walked past us as we were ahead of him.  He took both sets of pom-poms from our hands and threw then in a trash can.  It was so pitiful it was humorous.  So we decided, on a beer run, to purchase Hurricanes jerseys for ourselves.  We both put on the red jerseys, walked down to our seats, delivered the beer we bought for the serious guy and sat back next to him.   After a first stop he turned to talk to us.  When he saw the new red jerseys, he got up, stormed off and sat the rest of the game by himself. 

Anson Carter scored on a backhander with 5:15 left in the second overtime as the Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 last night to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference series.
  The Bruins came into the second OT holding a 47-31 lead in shots on goal, and Carter's breakaway goal on Carolina's Arturs Irbe was Boston's 52nd shot.
  Joe Thornton and Ray Bourque assisted on Carter's game-winner in the longest game in Carolina franchise history.
  Boston has a chance to improve to 21-5 all-time in 26 Stanley Cup series after winning the fifth game with a victory Sunday in Game 6 at the FleetCenter.
  If necessary, Game 7 would be played in Greensboro on Tuesday.
  Boston had seized the momentum in the best-of-7 series with three goals in a span of 1:52 early in the third period, erasing a 2-0 deficit and quieting the boisterous pom-pom waving sellout crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum.
  But Sami Kapanen, back in the lineup after missing Game 4 in Boston with a bruised knee, sent the game into overtime with 1:45 left in regulation, taking a centering pass from Gary Roberts and smashing it past Byron Dafoe.
  Ron Francis, also back after missing three games with a sprained ankle, added an assist on the game-tying goal as regulation ended with the teams tangled in a glove-shoving, pushing match that has been typical of the hard-hitting series.
  Ray Sheppard scored in his franchise-record fourth straight postseason game late in the second period as Carolina took a 2-0 lead -- its first two-goal lead of the series.
  But the Bruins, who had outscored Carolina a combined 6-2 in the third periods of the previous four games, came out aggressively to start the final 20 minutes and the complexion of the game quickly changed.
  Bourque, quiet offensively most of the series, scored 34 seconds into the period to begin the scoring barrage, netting his 36th career playoff goal.
  Fellow defenseman Darren Van Impe followed with a power-play goal a minute later as Roberts was off for boarding and the noisy crowd grew anxious and quiet.
  Less than a half-minute later, P.J. Axelsson converted his first playoff goal of the series off a turnover by Marek Malik and the momentum was Boston's until Kapanen's first goal of the series tied the score at 3-3.
  Sheppard's goal from an almost impossible angle to the left of Dafoe with 4:41 left in the second period was Sheppard's fifth of the series -- tying Detroit's Steve Yzerman for the NHL postseason lead -- and ninth in 10 career postseason games against the Bruins.
  Carolina scored the first goal for the third straight game in the series.
  Bourque failed to clear the puck on a Carolina power play 3:49 into the game and Steve Chiasson made him pay, blasting a high slap slot past a screened Byron Dafoe for a 1-0 lead.
  It was the first goal for Chiasson, who missed 46 games because of a shoulder operation, since the season-opener Oct. 10 against Tampa Bay. 

     This game finished so late.   Coupled that with our 5 hour trip back home and you have me being greated with a fresh delivered newspaper in my driveway when I arrived home, just in time to take into the can and read about the very game I just got home from.

Hey Cubbies

My Sports Bar 2010

Minnesota Twins v Boston Red Sox, April 30, 1988


Fenway Park, Section 41 Row 31

The whole inspiration for this blog comes from this game.
A few years back I decided to pull all of my sports memorabilia and build a sports bar in my garage.  I envisioned a Fenway Park replica scoreboard.  When I figured out how to make the scoreboard I decided I wanted to put an actual game on the board, not just random teams and random scores.

I found a website which had all box scores going back decades.  This weekend I traveled to Boston with a girlfriend who landed a job in Boston after graduating.  I went along this weekend before graduating to help her find an apartment.  And we found time visit Fenway Park for the first time.  And we did not find time to find a nice apartment because we blew all Saturday afternoon at a ballgame.

We struggled to find the ballpark.  I can't remember if we drove or took the "T".  I have only been to 2 stadiums prior to this.  Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.  They were big structures surrounded by large parking lots.  Fenway could get lost if it weren't for all the people outside.

Not knowing where to sit we bought cheap tickets which put us in the bleachers.  The bleachers at this time were sequestered from the rest of the stadium.  We had a cub scout troop a few rows in front of us and some drunks a few rows behind.  The drunks began taunting the scouts.  Nothing vulgar, just fun stuff.
After a few innings this drew the ire of security.  Somehow someone behind us threw a balled up paper cup forward.  And that was enough to start World War III with not only security but with the Boston police.

No less than 20 cops and security rushed our section and indiscriminately started grabbing men out of their seats and hauling them off.  A guy in the aisle in front of us was dragged by his feet with his head smacking every arm rest in the aisle.  In front of me and behind me dozens of guys were yanked from their seats.  The only explanation as to why I was left untouched is that I was with a girl.

My girlfriend, from a small town in the South, has never seen anything like this in her life. 
Eventually she ended up being my wife.  We both ended up in Boston.  We both fell in love with Fenway.  And after 20 years of marriage she allowed me to takeover an entire room to turn into a sports bar.

So I decided to make the scoreboard in the new sports bar something special for both of us.

The teams from this game are represented on the replica.  The starting pitchers (Charlie Lea and Bruce Hurst) are represented.  The inning by inning score is accurately represented.  The paint formula took me about 10 years to find.  The walls are Fenway green and the scoreboard paint is the exact shade.

There are 3 inaccuracies on the board for the time period..............

Centennial Running

Back Stretch Franklin Field

Penn Relays, April 30, 1994


Franklin Field, GA

Harvard beats Penn in the mile relay for the first championship before 5,000 fans.  That was in 1894.

Jeff Hollobaugh from Track & Field News reported, “The gods of relay racing smiled upon Franklin Field for the 100th running of the Penn Relay Carnival. The sunshine was so splendid that the all-time attendance record (from ‘58) was trampled by 43,830 onlookers on Saturday.”

Penn Relays

First Turn Franklin Field

Penn Relays, April 28, 1990


Franklin Field, GA

I just moved back to Philadelphia.  I was still hungry for all of my old traditions.  The Penn Relays was one of them.  I had a buddy from college who worked for a company that set up corporate tents for big events.  He invited me to a few US Open tennis matches but I never made it.  He was in town for the Penn Relays.

He ushered me and my wife to the infield for the Saturday running of the Relays.

Villanova's women completed their second consecutive distance ''triple'' in the Penn Relays at Philadelphia's sweltering Franklin Field before a crowd of 39,158.Villanova's magnificent distance runners, under the direction of Coach Marty Stern, held on to win the 3,200-meter relay, adding that title to the distance medley relay championship they won Thursday and the 6,000-meter relay crown they earned Friday.When the Wildcats won those same three races last year, 1988 Olympian Vicki Huber was the key performer in each race.

Olympic Year

1984 Olympic 800 Finals

Penn Relays, April 27, 1984


Franklin Field, GA

Unsure how I have a ticket stub for this.  I was coaching a high school this year and we had a 4:08 miler running this day.

A brilliant 1984 meet that saw four national collegiate and 17 meet records fall.

A sidebar to the Penn Relays.  Since 1984 was an Olympic year, the Penn Relays was amped up.  Later this summer I was sitting with my dad watching the 1984 Mens 800 Finals.  A few years prior our team got to practice with legendary college coach Fred Hardy at the University of Richmond.  Two of his runners at the time were Edwin Koech and Sos Bitok from Kenya.  We got to train with some of Coach Hardy's runners from time to time.

I was watching the LA Olympics with my dad in our living room not far from Franklin Field and the field is announced with Edwin Koech running in the 800 Finals.  I told my dad I knew that guy.  He didn't believe me.  Koech actually was within medal contention until the final kick of the 800 Finals.
During the same Games, Kenya's Sosthenes Bitok finished 6th in the 10,000. 

Mingling With The Elites

Temporary Home of The Nats

Philadelphia Phillies v Washington Nationals, April 27, 2005

RFK Stadium, Section 429 Row 1

Baseball was back in Washington after a 29 year hiatus. Until a new stadium could be built the former Montreal Expos would play at the run down RFK Stadium. The place for baseball looked like a miniature Veterans Stadium with grass. It was actually a decent place for baseball. And a spectacular place for football.

The game was an afternoon matinee. It was a scoreless pitching duel until the 9th. Brett Myers went 7 for the Phils giving up on 4 hits and striking out 7. The Nats Esteban Loaiza went 8 innings striking out 11.

To start the top of the 9th the Phillies Jimmy Rollins hit a home run to break the 0-0 deadlock. David Bell went on to drive in Bobby Abreu and Placido Polanco drove in Jim Thome. Closer Billy Wagner came in for the visitors to face only 3 batters in the bottom of the 9th.

I was with my 2 boys for the day. One of them yelled down to a Phillie warming up for a ball and he threw it to him. We met a relative for the afternoon. He (and we) were invited down to Congressman Joe Biden's seats later in the game behind the 3rd base dugout. The relative ran into a staffer. Luckily the host never quizzed me on my political allegiance or asked me my opinion of Joe Biden. I trust at some level my tax dollars went to paying for the seats I sat in for a few innings.

Diary of a Madman

Ozzy Ozbourne, April 25, 1982

Richmond Coliseum, General Admission

While performing in Des Moines, Iowa in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off what he assumed was a rubber bat. It was, however, not rubber at all. The legend had come to town.

Ozzy's stage was an elaborate dungeon fitting for a man who bit the head off of a bat just a few months before.  Of course we were anticipating a repeat performance.

Ozzy's setlist:

Over the Mountain
Mr. Crowley
Crazy Train
 Revelation (Mother Earth)
 Steal Away (The Night)
Suicide Solution
Guitar Solo
Drum Solo
Goodbye to Romance
I Don't Know

Believer

Flying High Again

Iron Man

Children Of The Grave

Paranoid

Early Friday Fireworks.

Chicago Cubs v Washington Nationals, April 25, 2008


Nationals Park, Sec 104 Row T

The Nats haven't been drawing very well in their new stadium early.  It's a good thing the Cubs have fans who travel well.  It was a festive atmosphere in the park with over 35,000 in attendance, man Cubs fans.

Ryan Dempster got the nod for the Cubs.   And he was wounded early.  After a Ryan Zimmerman walk, first baseman Nick Johnson hit a deep home run to the right field line for a quick 2-0 lead.

In the 3rd the Cubs responded with a Ryan Teriot doubled scoring Reed Johnson who was on after being hit by a pitch by the Nats Odalis Perez.

In the 5th the Cubs scored again when Amaris Ramirez scored Johnson on a force play.  The Nats are capable of small ball as well.  Lastings Milledge poked a ball through the 1st and 2nd baseman scoring Christian Guzman for a 3-2 Nats lead.

The Nationals managed to load the bases in the 8th.  This is an example of the weak Nats bullpen.  Not only did the pen load the bases, reliever Matt Conner walked in the Cubs Mike Conner for the tying run.

With a packed house still in the park for a Friday night post fireworks show the Nationals got the festivities started early.  Austin Kearns singled to center field putting the game winning run on first. With one out Will Nieves hit a 0-2 deep to right winning the game and setting off the fireworks early.

Schilling in the Pen

New York Mets v Philadelphia Phillies, April 25, 1992

Veterans Stadium, Sec 550 Row 2

Sid Fernandez takes the mound for the Mets while Kyle Abbott starts for the Phils.  Abbott started the season 0-3 and didn't start off this game too well either. In the top of the 1st Abbott surrendered a double to Dave Magadan and another to Howard Johnson, who knocked in Magadan for the game's first run.  The Phils equalized in the bottom of the first when Lenny Dykstra walk, then stole 2nd base.  Mariano Duncan singles scoring Dykstra from 2nd. 

New York's Bobby Bonilla had an RBI single in the 3rd scoring Willie Randolph. 

Magadan drove in Randolph in the 5th for a Mets 3-1 lead.  But the Phils closed the gap in the bottom half of the inning when Steve Lake hit a home run off Fernandez. 

In the top of the 8th the Phils marched out young reliever Curt Schilling who pitched 2 innings and surrendered no hits.  John Franco closed out the game for the Mets win.