We Are The Champions.......

St John Flames v Philadelphia Phantoms, June 10, 1998
Spectrum, Sec 21 Row 14


Philadelphia was on a horrible non-championship streak, not having a winner since 1983.  I'll take a minor league title if that is all that is being offered.  The place sold over 17,000 seats for the team's 9th sellout of the year.  Rumor has it the team turned away almost 10,000 at the gates for this potential Calder Cup clinching game.

The boys were there with us.  Not sure if my 1 year old daughter was with us or with a baby sitter.

The Phantoms play a virtually flawless contest as they defeated the Flames, 6–1, behind the stellar goaltending of Neil Little who had allowed just 48 post season goals on his way to a 15–5 play-off record. Winger  Mike Maneluk earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the play-off MVP while also being the league's leading post season scorer with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists. Team captain  John Stevens (who had also won Calder Cups with Hershey in 1988 and Springfield in 1991) and his teammates paraded the Calder Cup around the same ice as the Flyers had skated their first Stanley Cup twenty-four years earlier.

Fight at the Bat Rack

New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles, June 9, 1990
Memorial Stadium, Sec 8 Low DD2

One of the biggest plays of the game was a Brad Komminsk double to left in the first.  He also homered in the third.  Komminsk was a Richmond Brave when I worked for the team.  

The Orioles are coming off an terrible season and were currently in 3rd place in the AL East.  The Yanks were pitiful this year, 12 1/2 back in 7th place. And the O's took advantage of this woeful team by driving in 6 runs in the first. 

Cal Ripken went 1 for 3 while brother Billy went 2 for 4. 

The Yanks always seem to draw on the road.  Over 45,000 were on hand on 33rd Street. 

Glacier Bay

Toronto Blue Jays v Baltimore Orioles, June 8, 1991
Memorial Stadium, Sec 10 Row 8
 

Back in the early 90's a Boston buddy turned me onto a Canadian Beer called Glacier Bay. The bottle had a built in bottle opener etched into the bottom of the bottle. It was a cheap beer on the par with more expensive American swill.
Rumor has it the beer company was forced to change their name because there was an ice cream company in Canada called Glacier Bay. These were the days before the internet so information wasn't readily available to research rumors such as this. The beer company changed the label to Arctic Bay.
We were on a bus going to the stadium with a bunch of Jays fans from Toronto. I asked them if they drink Glacier Bay. None of them heard of it. It made me wonder if it really was a Canadian beer or one labels as such like a Fosters.
The Jays were shaping up to be a formatable rival of the O's. To draw 45,569 in that stadium was no easy feat.
The Jays got to Orioles starter Jeff Robinson in the first. Roberto Alomar singled to left then stole 2nd and 3rd. Rance Mulliniks singled to drive in the game's first run.
Toronto continued to add runs in the 3rd when Joe Carter drove in Devon White who singled and stole 2nd. The bottom half of the 3rd brought the O's bats to life. Billy Ripken doubled to left followed by a Mike Devereaux triple. A sacrifice to 2nd scored Devereaux.
The game remained tied 2-2 into the 8th when both teams respective bullpens took over. The Jays piled on 6 in the 8th. The O's made a mini run in the bottom of the 9th with a 2 run Sam Horn home run but fell to Toronto 8-4.

Infield Tailgate

Pontiac 400, May 6, 1998


Richmond International Raceway, Infield Seating

My brother in law had infield passes so we loaded up the truck and pulled into the infield.  My first time seeing a race from this vantage point.  The infield in Richmond sit down below the race surface in the corners as it is a banked track.  You really get an appreciation for how high the bank is when looking at it from the bottom.

Pre race they trot all the drivers around one by one in convertible cars.  A few driver draw loud applause like Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.  Jeff Gordon was reigned on with boos.  Almost to the point that it was uncomfortable.  Today, Gordon has lost that crybaby label.  Many other new drivers have taken the whiners torch passed on to them .

There was a wood photographer platform constructed at the end of Turn 1.  After being around the fence for hours a photographer asked my son if he wanted to come up on the tower with him.  He did and also go to witness a Jeff Gordon wall rub/crash in that corner.  The same crash photo appeared on the front page of the local Sunday paper the next day.  The photo was taken by the guy who took my son up on the tower.

Results:

Terry Labonte
Dale Jarrett
Rusty Wallace
Ken Schrader
Mark Martin

Wailers No Marley

The Wailers, June 4, 2008

Innsbrook Pavilion, GA

I already seen the Wailers some about 8 years earlier.  It was an OK show.  The year prior I took the family to Jamaica.  The oldest boy got into Bob Marley (and probably some of the habits that go along with liking Bob Marley.  So I offered to take him to see the Wailers.

I guess he was excited.  The band came on.  A few of the songs were old Wailers staples.  It really wasn't a good show but I did not want to disappoint him so pretended to have a good time.

Near the end I asked him how they sounded.  He said they suck.  I asked him if he wanted to leave early before the encore.  He turned and started walking towards the exit without even answering.

Stanley Cup FINALS Game 4

Chicago Blackhawks v Philadelphia Flyers, June 4, 2010

Wachovia Center, Sec 217 Row 15

This season the Flyers needed an OT shootout in the final game of the year just to secure a playoff spot.
Then they proceeded to take a couple series to 7 games before advancing. 

We traveled into town in a pick up, set up a tent along the fence at Broad Street, unloaded the cooler, stereo and Molson Canadians and settled in for a 4 hour tailgate.  A few hours later a guy pulled up with his truck, opened the doors and started cranking Sirus radio.  Now I'm a huge fan of Sirius but tonight was a night for local radio.  The rock stations were here, the atmosphere was Philly all the way this 40 year old teenager with a jacked up pickup, amp and sub woofers overtakes the entire section with satellite radio. 

I had a life size blow up Stanley Cup hanging in the tent.  A local ESPN radio channel came and took photos for their website.  They ended up never posting any Stanley Cup Final pix. 


We went inside and sucked up the atmosphere.  CBC had their broadcast team had a stage set up at one of the entrances.  I'm a huge fan of Hockey Night in Canada so I was like a little kid watching them.

The national anthem was electric.  American TV usually runs commercials during national anthems.  Canadian TV celebrates the moment.  Lauren Hart did a rendition of God Bless America.  I never heard this barn so loud.

So the ends, the Flyers tie up the series.  The place erupted.  The eruption carried out into the concourse and into the parking lot.  After we came down the huge escalator we were still wandering around not wanting to leave.  I looked up at the escalators banks and noticed no one was on them.  People were hanging over the railing from the top level and from the luxury suite level yelling and chanting.

Then it occurred to me.  The security guard at the top stopped a single guy in a Blackhawks jersey and allowed the escalator to clear.  Then they sent him to the wolves by making him lead the crowd down the escalator.  The place went nuts booing and cursing at the guy.  I felt no remorse.  The mob ate this guy up.