Summer of Baseball 2008

Trip Statistics

2008-09-25T20:07:00.006-04:00

In this head of mine, tons of numbers are always running through. I'm good with them. Most of the numbers I know are sports related.. be it the height of my favorite NBA player Chauncey Billups (6'3") or the scores of all the Super Bowl games my Bills lost in those four consecutive years (I hate my life). I admit.. this is pretty trivial stuff when looking at the big picture. But some numbers.. they're important. Social Security number: IMPORTANT. Credit Card number: IMPORTANT. The phone number of some sexy babe that you're able to procure: IMPORTANT. You want another new category of important numbers? Easy. The Trip Statistics of my Summer of Baseball 2008. I kept a running tally of lots of key numbers along my drive so that I always knew what the statistics would be behind the greatest summer ever. Here they are.. unedited.. the cold and hard numbers that combine to make up the Trip Statistics of the Summer of Baseball 2008.

FINANCES

I know what you're thinking.. "You spent an entire summer driving around the country going to every Major League Baseball park in every major American city? Holy fucking shit fucks! That must have cost a fortune!!!" Don't worry.. those are my thoughts exactly as well. I tried to remain painfully unaware with how much I was spending for this 4+ months of traveling and instead I wanted to just wait and see how much damage I made when I got home and was able to look through all my credit card statements. I was able to do this successfully and I was able to have a fantastic time on my trip. But then came the day where I looked through the statements. One word can describe that day.. horrifying. Here are the numbers behind the day where I swear I died for a second when the final 'enter' was pressed on my calculator.

The Bare Minimum - This category is made up of all the expenses that relate solely to the bare necessities to traveling around the country and living like I did. And for those that don't know how I lived.. the Hotels subcategory is no typo.. I barely went to hotels and instead opted for sleeping in my car most nights.. so that number truly is as low as it says.

Fuel: $5,266.53

Car Services (Oil, required repairs): $1,211.70

City Parking: $213.05

NYC Subway Card: $20

Food: $1,306.81

Hotels: $883.41

The Bare Minimum Total: $8,901.50

At the Ballpark - This trip is titled the Summer of Baseball 2008.. so there unquestionably must be some money spent for my time on game day, which included a grand total of 33 days spent at the ballpark.

Game Food: $304.47

Game Souvenirs: $444.73

Game Parking: $401.75

Game Tickets: $2,599.25

At The Ballpark Total: $3,750.20

Entertainment on the Road - Not all of my time was spent driving.. I had to entertain myself so that I would not go clinically insane. Technically, these were optional purchases, but in my mind they were absolutely necessary for me to enjoy myself while on the road.

Movies: $143.24

Books/CD's: $320.62

Location Activities: $193.75

Souvenirs on Location: $497.39

Entertainment On The Road Total: $1,155.00

Neither Here Nor There - Not everything fit into a handy little subcategory. Some things were random little things that were necessary for me to be organized while on the trip. While you may question why on some of these things.. just know that without them I probably would've been left for dead in a hotel parking lot.

Random Trip Items (laptop case, tripod, sleeping bag): $187.56

Internet/Printing: $31.95

Computer Hard Drive (first one broke in CA): $318.95

UPS (for shipping stuff home mid-trip): $131.89

Cell Phone Bills: $346.28

Neither Here Nor There Total: $1,016.63

Gray Area - These two items are debatably on my Summer of Baseball 2008 finance list. I decided to separate them from other sections due to their highly controversial nature. Basically, they are pricey things that had an increased urgency to buying them because of the trip. I wouldn't have gotten an incredibly nice camera in 2008 if it wasn't for all the scenic spots I knew I would be seeing, but I might have eventually because I like photography. I would not have gotten XM Radio or new speakers in 2008 if it wasn't for the many thousands of miles that I knew I would be driving, but I might have gotten at least the speakers at some point since I had a few of them blown out. You can choose yes or no on whether or not to include these items on my overall trip finances.. I chose yes, because without the trip, they wouldn't exist in my life.

Nikon SLR Camera: $2,795.10

XM Radio/Stereo System: $1,021.44

Gray Area Total: $3,816.54

By now, I'm sure you can see the huge font right below this regular size text, but in case you don't I'm going to go on as if you're not a complete idiot and can't see it. At first, when I saw the number below, I was absolutely shocked and I felt a little ill. Not once did I ever imagine that this trip would cost this much. I was thinking more in the $10-12,000 range, so to see that number was hard to comprehend. But then, I thought about it more. I was gone for almost 4.5 months, living completely out of my car and having to drive everywhere during a time where the gas prices were the highest this country has ever seen. That turned out to be incredibly bad timing, but everything else, I really did live on the cheap. The sleeping in the car idea I figure saved me a good $7-8 thousand, and the mostly frugal way I nourished myself also paid large dividends. The more and more I thought about it, the originally perceived huge number turned reasonable. But still.. it is a huge number to spend. You may think.. "was it worth it.. would you do it if you knew you would spend this much?" My response? In a heart beat.

Grand Total for Summer of Baseball 2008: $18,639.87

STATISTICS FROM THE ROAD

I drove this summer. A lot. I always wanted to know how much, so I kept a detailed report on exactly how much. It was painstaking.. when I woke up in the morning, I had to record my starting miles for that day. When I crossed a barrier that I wanted to remember, I had to whip the pen out and write it down while driving so I wouldn't forget (this might make up one of the reasons why some people consider me a crazy driver.. to that I say.. I drove around the entire fucking country without incident.. can you do that?). The numbers behind my time driving were that important.. I was incredibly dedicated to keeping a detailed report. Here is a review of the cold hard numbers behind my time on the road and also some other interesting figures.

Total Miles Driven: 24,950.. starting in Boulder, CO and ending in Whitehouse, OH

Length of Trip: 130 days.. from May 14th to September 20th, 2008

Most Miles Traveled in One Day: 1,083.. from Houston, TX to Fort Myers, FL

Most Miles Traveled in One State: 5,090.. not surprisingly, it was in California. It's a good thing it was pretty!

Total States Visited: 40 (sorry Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas)

How Did I Sleep at Night?: 66 in car, 13 in hotel, 50 in other (Chicago family, California family, Florida family, North Carolina family house locations). I didn't think I would have as many nights as I did in the 'other' location, but I'm sure glad I did. I'm very thankful for all the people who let me stay with them or in their home while on my drive!

Longest Stretch of Nights Spent in My Car: 12.. from August 22nd to September 2nd. Along with no bed this also means I didn't truly get clean.. no shower, no brushing of my teeth. Nothing but deodorant for 12 days to keep me fresh!

Amount of Cavities Gained: 0.. incredibly surprising since I probably brushed my teeth at best half the days I was on the road. Can you say dentists are overrated?

Number of Speeding Tickets: 0.. for a lead foot like me, this is another surprising statistic. I guess I was never in a hurry to enjoy this great country of ours.

Times I Went to Panera Bread: 34.. true story. Can you tell I loved that place? But to be fair.. the only reason why I went there so much was to work on this site. You're welcome.

The Greatest Hits: Baseball Stadium Edition

2008-09-24T18:56:00.024-04:00

In my summer filled with baseball, I went to a total of 30 different stadiums. You may think.. "how in the fuck can you possibly tell one from the other? If you can.. you seriously must be some sort of Hindu God, cause that shit would be hard hard HARD!" Well, I'm no Hindu God, but believe it or not I was able to separate all of the different stadiums in my head. I can remember which had the best this and which had the best that for many different things. In order to make my ultimate top to bottom list, I went through each team and meditated on its positives and negatives and determined if the net of these positives/negatives were better or worse than another team's net positives/negatives. I did this until I had a complete list that ranked each and every team. The main things I considered were the fans enthusiasm, the charm of the experience, and the stadium itself. To me, the most important thing was the fan enthusiasm, and the least important thing was the sexiness of the stadium (this is just a sweet way of saying the prettiness of the stadium.. which includes the view and look of the stadium. I kept a running tally of this through the year and included each team's rank in with their section). What this generally means is that a team with an outstanding fan base but poor stadium would be higher on my list then a team with an amazing stadium but a poor fan base. In most cases, it was a real tough choice, but I just tried to think of the entire experience as a whole in a very general way when comparing it to a team that it was close to in order to figure out which was better. Without any help from the heavens.. here it is.. the Greatest Hits: Baseball Stadium Edition.

30. Florida Marlins (Dolphins Stadium)

The Good... Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is literally the only stadium where there are absolutely no positives to speak of.

And the Bad... Everything. The stadium was an absolute hole that literally showed no signs that made anybody believe the Marlins played in the NFL's atrociously decorated Dolphin Stadium too and the fans were so incredibly apathetic for their team that you could hear pins drop. I could go on and on. I never wanted a sporting event to be over until I went here. This place should be avoided at all costs.

Distinctions: WINNER: Overall Worst Fans

WINNER: Worst Outdoor Stadium

RUNNER-UP: Worst Stadium

RUNNER-UP: Dumbest Fans

RUNNER-UP: Most Dead Atmosphere

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 29th

29. Washington Nationals (Nationals Park)

The Good... Home to the newest stadium in Major League Baseball, the Nats provide a nice place to see a game with new everything that does not leave a grungy aftertaste to the sports going experience. Simply put, this place hasn't experienced the wear and tear that other stadiums experience since it simply hasn't existed that long.

And the Bad... The whole experience to a Nats game is extremely dead. The biggest reason is the cost of everything related to the game. It had some of the highest prices in all of baseball, and the team is one of the worst franchises in the sport. Since they are a new team, the fan base hardly exists in the first place, and having high prices doesn't help that one bit. The makeup of the city itself also makes the games dead. The people of D.C. are all business/government types who likely have sports very low on their list. From this, you get a fan base that really does not get into the game and the entire atmosphere suffers.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Dead Atmosphere

RUNNER-UP: Overall Worst Fans

RUNNER-UP: Root, Root Root for the AWAY Team

RUNNER-UP: I Think They're Ripping Me Off!

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 10th

28. Toronto Blue Jays (Rogers Centre)

The Good... The only team north of the border gives a unique experience to America's game. Instead of going to the Rogers Center, seeing a home run go 387 feet, and hearing the Canadian National Anthem responded to apathetically, you are going to the Rogers Centre, seeing a home run go 118 meters, and hearing damn near everybody sing along to the Canadian National Anthem. Only in Canada can baseball ever be like this.

And the Bad... Not surprisingly, these people don't care that much about baseball. When things got interesting throughout the game, you could hardly separate it from the uninteresting times as the fans never really reacted too differently to the events of the game. It's simply not their sport.

Distinctions: WINNER: Foreign Baseball Experience

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 27th

27. Oakland A's (McAfee Coliseum)

The Bad... Going to a game in Oakland is like going to a game squarely in the ghetto. While other teams also have their home stadiums in bad parts of town, with Oakland, you can actually tell. A majority of the Oakland fans had a street vibe to them that I did not see anywhere else. It made for a unique MLB experience to say the least.

And the Worse... The fans of the team had a pretty pathetic turnout. Weekend games against a rival opponent like the San Francisco Giants was poorly attended by the home crowd, so much so that it almost felt as if it was even between the two supporters, and the home fans that were there really didn't give a damn about their A's. If there is no atmosphere against a big rival, I couldn't imagine how bad it would be against lesser teams.

Distinctions: WINNER: Thug Life

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 25th

26. Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field)

The Good... The stadium was an example of when a dome is done right. It was spacious but you still felt like you were at a baseball game as the stadium wasn't too big for its own good. It's hard to pull off the indoor stadium, but this place along with Milwaukee, Seattle, and Houston succeed beautifully.

And the Bad... The fans of the Diamondbacks are pretty much crappy. It felt like nearly every single fan there was a retired transplant who came to Phoenix to die in the desert heat. With this dynamic comes the majority of the area's inhabitants holding allegiances to the teams they grew up around, not the team they currently live by. They may cheer for them, but in the end they could care less if they have success since they care much more about the home team they left behind.

Distinctions: WINNER: Root, Root Root for the AWAY Team...

RUNNER-UP: Who Says Baseball Can't Be Played Indoors?

RUNNER-UP: Most Fans Near Death

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 12th

25. Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field)

The Bad... The stadium the Rays call home is horrid. You would think that a nice and tropical area like Tampa Bay would have a nice stadium to go along with it, but you would be mistaken. Instead, you are left with a drab and ugly dome that feels nothing like watching an MLB game and more like witnessing a cheap, knockoff version of the sport in Juneau, Alaska.

And the Worse... The fans are absolutely terrible in every way. They get loud and exciting for big moments, sure, but they are so incredibly bandwagon. You could not pay them enough to go to games last year but now all of a sudden they're good so everybody is rabid supporters? No thanks. I don't buy it. Show up in the bad years to impress me. Until that happens, they're shit.

Distinctions: WINNER: Bandwagon Bastards

WINNER: Most Fans Near Death

RUNNER-UP: Worst Indoor Stadium

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 28th

24. Atlanta Braves (Turner Field)

The Bad... A game in Atlanta is the only place where you can experience the ugliness that is the dirty South. The hierarchy of the area was easily seen, with African Americans appearing as if they were second class citizens by holding the service jobs and the White people holding all the more respected jobs, even if it is something trivial like an usher. This wasn't the only example, but just the whole area had that overtone along with it. It was kind of sad to see this type of societal setup still exist today.

And the Worse... The fans were absolutely pathetic. They appeared like they were loud and into the game, but their enthusiasm was entirely based on what the stadium fan coordinator decided to get everybody into. If the dude wanted the fans to do their famous tomahawk chop, they would play the song that makes the fans do it. If they wanted a chant, they queued it on the big board. None of this stuff sprung up organically. The fans were the biggest sheep in all of baseball and it just shows how clueless they are.

Distinctions: WINNER: Dumbest Fans

RUNNER-UP: Southern Hospitality

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 20th

23. Texas Rangers (Rangers Ballpark in Arlington)

The Good... The charm of the experience for the Rangers is like none other. This is the only place where you can watch a game that has true Texan and "country" spirit. They sing songs that show their love of all things Texas and have the country drawl to boot. Coming here is like going to a Texas pride parade.

And the Bad... The very Texan fans are also fans who do not get overly excited about baseball. They never really got into the game and showed that baseball is not an important part of their life. The actual game experience suffered because of this as you need excited fans to feel emotionally connected to the action which doesn't happen here.

Distinctions: WINNER: Southern Hospitality

RUNNER-UP: Foreign Baseball Experience

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 21st

22. Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ballpark)

The Good... In an area where you would not expect a nice and pretty stadium, you get one with the Reds. The view in the stadium is of the Ohio River and it really is surprisingly pretty. While the view is only experienced in full force for the fans in the upper deck, the rest of the stadium is new and modern and as a whole it is a nice and comfortable place to see a game.

And the Bad... The fans did not show themselves to be real solid in their support. They rose up at times, but it was not the kind of excitement I was expecting for a game against a cross state rival (which I saw). It makes me think that most games showcase even less enthusiasm for their Reds, which means that the atmosphere can't be considered the best at this place.

Distinctions: WINNER: Psst.. You Don't Know We Got A Pretty Stadium

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 7th

21. Colorado Rockies (Coors Field)

The Good... The stadium for the Rockies fits in beautifully to the city it inhabits. The view of the Rocky Mountains can be easily seen from downtown Denver, and the stadium is designed in such a way that the mountains can be seen from most of the stadium vantage points. The stadium is also in a vibrant area and it plugs in wonderfully to its surroundings where many of Denver's hotspots are not all too far away.

And the Bad... The fans have proven themselves to be incredibly bandwagon. I have had the ability to attend games at different times of the Colorado Rockies history, both before and after their playoff success of 2007. Before, the place was dead and no person in Denver truly cared about the Rockies. After? Everybody did. It took a successful run to bring excitement to the ballpark. While it's better than nothing, it shows the fans aren't totally true to their team.

Distinctions: WINNER: Best Natural View

RUNNER-UP: Bandwagon Bastards

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 5th

20. Los Angeles Angels (Angels Stadium of Anaheim)

The Good... This place represents the Southern California vibe at its finest. The fans have a laid-back approach to following their team in that they don't live and die by their success. If they win, great, if not, so what.. they got better things to do. This kind of thing usually is a turn off, but here, it works. It's the general feeling of the area.. if things don't go the Angels way, you can always go to the beach and relax.. Southern California style.

And the Bad... The look of the stadium is less than ideal. It is not very pretty and does not suit the glamour of Southern California. This place would make more sense if it were in an industrial town, but it's Tinseltown, and its out of place.

Distinctions: WINNER: California Dreamin'

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 24th

19. San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park)

The Good... Like the rest of San Francisco, the stadium is absolutely gorgeous. The stadium is perched squarely next to the bay so much so that home run balls can be hit into the water. Because of this proximity to the bay, incredible views can be had from all around the stadium. The overall aesthetic of the stadium itself is also outstanding, as it fits in beautifully to its surrounding area, which is also first rate. Everything about this stadium is incredibly well kept and beautiful.

And the Bad... The expensive nature of the city of San Francisco has dramatically hurt the baseball experience. Everything relating to the game experience was pricey, so much so that fans who regularly attend would have to be wealthy. This leaves a snooty and apathetic fan base that really could care less about the results of their Giants. The high cost to go to a game have priced out the real fans and all that is left is a bunch of pretenders.

Distinctions: WINNER: I Think They're Ripping Me Off!

RUNNER-UP: Best Stadium

RUNNER-UP: Best Outdoor Stadium

RUNNER-UP: Best Natural View

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 2nd

18. Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park)

The Good... When going to a game at Miller Park, it's hard not realizing you are seeing a game up in Milwaukee, an area known for its beer making. Their was a large presence of tailgating to the Brewer game, which is incredibly rare with baseball since there are so many games in the year. The fans also get pretty buzzed that by the time the end of the game rolls around, the fans are basically drunk. Only in Milwaukee can you really see this.

And The Bad... The fans appeared to be pretty apathetic towards the game until good things happened for them. The game was close the whole time, but excitement wasn't really felt until they scored some runs. There was plenty of chances for them to get excited throughout the game, but it only truly happened when they scored. It makes me wonder why they can't get excited for anything else but a sure thing, which is disappointing.

Distinctions: WINNER: Drunk Idiots

RUNNER-UP: Northern Exposure

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 13th

17. New York Mets (Shea Stadium)

The Good... What you see is what you get with the Mets fans. They are true New Yorkers who do not like the trendy team of the city but instead cheer on a team that gets no love from the media and is largely forgotten. And while they may not get overly excited during big games, you know their loyalties are not fake and they hold true to their team through thick and thin.

And the Bad... The stadium is incredibly poorly designed. Useless metal rails fill each section which takes away from the overall look of the stadium. The overall appearance just feels very drab in general. The sight lines are also less than ideal and constant maneuvering is required to see the action.

Distinctions: WINNER: We're Not Trendy and We Like It Like That!

RUNNER-UP: Worst Outdoor Stadium

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 26th

16. Minnesota Twins (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome)

The Good... The fans of the Twins are some of the most enthusiastic you will see. Loud roars can be heard for even the smallest of good plays and hope never wavers even with a deficit. They are true diehards that live and die by the fate of their team through thick and thin.

And the Bad... The Twins play in by far the worst stadium in Major League Baseball. The huge dome is also host to the NFL's Vikings and as a result the baseball vibe is nonexistent. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors with a stadium that fits the field, but here, the stadium is indoors and if it wasn't for the diamond on the field you would think you are watching football because of how expansive and empty the stadium feels. It's so bad that it makes you forget the good fans that do exist here.

Distinctions: WINNER: Northern Exposure

WINNER: Thickest Accents

WINNER: Worst Stadium

WINNER: Worst Indoor Stadium

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 30th

15. Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park)

The Good... After many years of losing seasons, the Tigers still have faithful fans that come out in droves. Sure, they had a World Series season that brought a lot of fakers out to the ballpark, but after having a highly disappointing season the fans still sold out the stadium even when all hope was lost. The fans are true to their team and they support them through thick and thin, which is an admirable trait for a fan base to have.

And the Bad... While not one of the worst areas in baseball, the Tigers are pretty close. The depressed economy that is Detroit is readily apparent when leaving the area around the stadium, as everything feels worn down and the Tigers had the highest level of beggars seen compared to the rest of the teams. It's a sad city to see and it is not hard to get a feel for the struggles of the city when going to a game.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Booing Our Own Shows How Much We Care!

RUNNER-UP: What a Shit Hole Area!

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 17th

14. Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field)

The Good... The South Siders have a unique crowd that is truly one of a kind. The fans seemingly hold a grudge against the more popular northern neighbor and the popularity that they have across the country. Some may see this as annoying, but it just shows that they are real fans who are not afraid to like an unpopular team and instead hold true to their roots.

And the Bad... The area of the stadium is absolutely horrible. The South Side of Chicago is known country-wide as the worst of areas. The area is high crime and no baseball related businesses exist in the surrounding blocks because of it. The stadium itself also feels as worn down as the rest of the area. There is no before-and-after celebration to be had around the stadium, it is simply just going to the game and back.. nothing more.

Distinctions: WINNER: What A Shit Hole Area!

RUNNER-UP: We're Not Trendy and We Like It Like That!

RUNNER-UP: Thug Life

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 23rd

13. Kansas City Royals (Kaufman Stadium)

The Good... The Royals fans remind you of what you would see if watching a game many years ago. It seemed like a simple and authentic country experience where the people did not show the same flashiness as people of the big cities but instead were simple folk who simply enjoyed going to a baseball game on an easygoing weekday in the summer. The fans really took you back to a simpler time.

And the Bad... There was not much excitement to the game itself with the Royals fans. They have been bad for a long time, true, but that doesn't excuse the fact to have such a lax attitude towards big moments for the game. There are fan bases out there who still get up for their poor teams, and the Royals fan base is not one of them.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Best Bargain

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 22nd

12. Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park)

The Good... The fans of the Astros were surprisingly smart and engaged in the action. They knew when to cheer and the opportune times to rise up and try and get their team going. They weren't just mindless drones who followed along with the big board but they actually had an impact on the game. I didn't think it would be like this seeing as how they play in a shiny new stadium, so I was pleasantly surprised.

And the Bad... The Astros play in a nice retractable roof stadium, and while I get the reason for it since it is incredibly hot in Houston, I don't get why they had it closed for the game when it wasn't that hot out. Baseball should be played in the outdoors, and it was a comfortable night where the roof most definitely could have been off, but instead they opted for it to be on so people could be comfortable. It's baseball.. come on. Keep the roof open if it's nice out.

Distinctions: WINNER: Who Says Baseball Can't Be Played Indoors?

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 9th

11. Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field)

The Good... The fans of the Indians are the real deal. They saw their team start with huge expectations of being a World Series contender to becoming a highly disappointing third place team in the division. No matter. The fans still showed up fully and created a memorably loud atmosphere even in an incredibly insignificant late season game. They showed that no matter how good or bad the team is, they will still show up and have the same level of enthusiasm.

And the Bad... The stadium itself wasn't exactly memorable. It felt like any ole stadium in the league and did not make itself fit into the area. It was just a separate entity that had no charm to it. While it looked nice and had a decent view, it didn't exactly stand out in any way.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Drunk Idiots

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 15th

10. Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards)

The Good... Even with a perennial loser, the fans still come out and strongly support their team. It's hard, considering they are in the best division in baseball and are largely forgotten year after year. It just shows that the fans who do show up are the real deal and they truly love their team no matter how little love they get.

And the Better... In what is widely regarded as the first modern stadium, it is also the first one that does everything right. It perfectly mixes in the vibe of the city by using brick in its design, which is heavily seen across the city of Baltimore. The entire style of the stadium feels like it is many decades old, but it is still relatively new. This is really hard to pull off but this place does it beautifully and it makes for a good experience.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Overall Best Newer Stadium Experience

RUNNER-UP: Popped Collars R' Us.. East Coast Style

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 14th

9. Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium)

The Good... The Dodgers are one of the most historically significant teams in all of baseball, and it's hard not to realize that when games are played in the well known Dodger Stadium. A lot of great players have been Dodgers throughout the team's history and a lot of big moments have taken place in their stadium. It's one of the few places in baseball that can really be considered historically significant to the fabric of Major League Baseball.

And the Bad... While there are many real Dodger fans out there, there are a lot of people that go who really don't give a damn about the team. Many of these people leave early during the game with only the true fans sticking until the end. It is kind of sad to see a stadium that starts out impressively full empty out to a stadium that is 3/4th full by the end even for a closely contested game. If only the real fans went to the games and not the dreaded pretenders.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Unexplainably Good Vibes

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 11th

8. St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium)

The Good... The city of St. Louis can be seen in full view from anywhere while watching a baseball game at Busch Stadium. Other views I've experienced could only be seen from the upper deck, but here, it's all over, and the view is spectacular. The iconic Arch is centered perfectly in the middle reminding you that you're in St. Louis no matter where you look. The rest of the stadium is pretty nice too.. very nice and clean.

And the Better... The Cardinals fans are some of the most dedicated in all of baseball. Even when it is low 50s and there is a persistent rain coming down during an early season day game against a bad team, most of the fans still show up. It was an impressive display of their dedication by having a solid atmosphere even in terrible conditions, so I'm sure that when it is nice out, it would be even more impressive.

Distinctions: WINNER: Rain or Shine.. WE'RE HERE!!!

WINNER: Best Premium Hot Dog

RUNNER-UP: Best City View

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 3rd

7. Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park)

The Good... The stadium itself in Pittsburgh is the definition of beauty. Located by all three of the major Pittsburgh rivers, the bridges and the heart of downtown are in full view wherever you look. Pittsburgh is a surprisingly pretty town, and the view you get when watching a game here captures the essence of the city itself perfectly.

And the Better... The Pirates fans are some of the longest suffering fans in all of baseball. They have endured 16 straight losing seasons. Even with that said, they still come out and fully support their team as if they had 16 straight winning seasons.. they excitingly cheer big plays and never give up hope even if they fall in a deficit. It's incredible to see a fan base that has seen so much losing still supporting their team.

Distinctions: WINNER: Best Bargain

WINNER: Best Stadium

WINNER: Best Outdoor Stadium

WINNER: Best City View

WINNER: Yeah, We're Bad, But We Still Love Our Team!!!

RUNNER-UP: Psst.. You Don't Know We Got A Pretty Stadium

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 1st

6. Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field)

The Good... Safeco Field is a stadium that perfectly fits into the city it calls home. The entire style of the place fit into the decor of the area with the same color schemes and everything else going along with the mood of the city. It also has a really nice inside and is an overall quality place to see a baseball game.

And the Better... The fans of the Mariners are outstanding. In a year that was greatly disappointing for the team, the fans still came out and fully supported their Mariners, even when the opponent was a horrible team (like their own). Even with a large initial deficit, the fans still cheered their hearts out wanting a victory and not giving up, while a lesser fan base surely would.

Distinctions: WINNER: Unexplainably Good Vibes

RUNNER-UP: Yeah, We're Bad, But We Still Love Our Team!!!

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 6th

5. San Diego Padres (Petco Park)

The Good... The Padres have a surprisingly strong fan base. They produced a sellout crowd even for a meaningless mid-summer game while their team struggles in last place. Watching a game in front of a packed house gives a whole different feel to the game, and when sellout crowds are seemingly commonplace for the city of San Diego, you can surely always expect a good time at a game here.

And the Better... Even though Petco Park is a new stadium that hasn't had the chance to accumulate a rich history, it makes up for it by being an incredibly unique stadium. Most stadiums don't really fit in with the city and are just these separate objects, but here, you can't say that in the slightest. Many different architectural choices were made to blend the stadium seamlessly with the surrounding blocks of the city so that you almost forget you are in the stadium boundary. It makes for a very charming experience that you can't feel anywhere else.

Distinctions: WINNER: Overall Best Newer Stadium Experience

RUNNER-UP: California Dreamin'

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 4th

4. Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park)

The Good... The Phillies fans are some of the best in all of baseball as they created a mind blowingly incredible atmosphere. The Phillies saw an early seven run deficit through four innings but the fans still believed they could win.. they remained incredibly loud and were not deflated. When things got interesting on their way to comeback victory, the atmosphere was absolute mayhem. Even the smallest of good plays led to high fives with complete strangers. It's impossible not to be brought into the excitement of the game with fans like them.

And the Bad... The charm factor to this place is next to nonexistent, and it most definitely should have something. The Phillies are one of the oldest teams in all of Major League Baseball, but you could not tell when going to their very ordinary stadium. The place was very cookie cutter and it felt like seeing some expansion team instead of a team with a 125 year history. It really is a shame because if this place had its history readily apparent it could be the best in all of baseball because of the incredible fans that fill the seats.

Distinctions: WINNER: WE CHEER UNTIL OUR EFFING HANDS BLEED!!!

WINNER: Booing Our Own Shows How Much We Care!

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 8th

3. New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium)

The Good... The stadium the Yankees call home is by far the most historic place in all of baseball. 26 World Championships have been won here and many of baseball's all time greats have donned the Yankee pinstripes throughout the team's 107 year history. Baseball has always kind of revolved around the Yankees, and the mystique of Yankee Stadium plays a large part in that.

And the Bad... The Yankees are unforgivably tearing down their old stadium in favor of a new state-of-the-art one. Because of this, the old Yankee Stadium has become must-see for the millions of Yankee/baseball fans around the country and these out-of-state Yankee/baseball fans far outweigh the local Yankee fans who make up the spirit of the Stadium. The atmosphere is kind of killed this year because of this (and I know it usually is top-notch.. I went to two games last year and there was more of the New York spirit present with less of the pretenders filling up the stands).

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Historic Stadium

RUNNER-UP: Best Basic Hot Dog

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 16th

2. Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field)

The Good... The Cubs fans are some of the most dedicated fans you will ever see. This team hasn't won in 100 years, but by looking at the turnout they get, you would never think otherwise. These fans have never-ending hope who always believe that this will be their year, no matter what. They are also incredibly knowledgeable and their excitement towards the game easily bring you in to the point where a non-fan wants the Cubs to win just as much as they do.

And the Better... The Cubs provide the most authentic and charming experience in all of baseball. It has to do with Wrigley Field. This place has remained unchanged for its entire existence. There is no video board or modern amenities that you see everywhere else.. it's the way it was since day one. It's simply baseball, and nothing more.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Authentic Baseball Experience

WINNER: Most Loyal Fan Base

WINNER: Baseballtown, USA

WINNER: Even Prince Charming Thinks It's Charming

WINNER: Best Premium Hot Dog

RUNNER-UP: Overall Best Fans

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 18th

1. Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park)

The Good... The Red Sox call the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball home.. Fenway Park. This place is one of the most revered stadiums in all of sports and simply being within its walls and seeing the incredibly famous field is worth the price of admission alone. It is one of the few places that truly gives you chills while just being there.. it's everything that is good in the world of baseball.

And the Better... The Red Sox Nation atmosphere is absolutely remarkable. Chants spring up organically and are not forced by the queue of some stadium jingle or the request of the big board. They never give up and go 100% in their support of the team.. through thick and thin. The atmosphere is so strong that even somebody who hates the Red Sox will find it hard not to be doing the chants by the end of the game. I can confidently say that these fans are the best in all of baseball and watching a game with them is the best thing any true fan of baseball can ever do.

Distinctions: WINNER: Overall Best Fans

WINNER: Best Basic Hot Dog

WINNER: Popped Collars R' Us.. East Coast Style

RUNNER-UP: Most Authentic Baseball Experience

RUNNER-UP: Most Historic Stadium

RUNNER-UP: WE CHEER UNTIL OUR EFFING HANDS BLEED!!!

RUNNER-UP: Baseballtown, USA

RUNNER-UP: Most Loyal Fan Base

RUNNER-UP: Even Prince Charming Thinks It's Charming

RUNNER-UP: Rain or Shine.. WE'RE HERE!!!

RUNNER-UP: Thickest Accents

STADIUM SEXINESS RANKING: 19th

Game Thirty: Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers @ Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio on September 19th, 2008

2008-09-20T08:37:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Progressive Field in the city that supposedly rocks. The Indians of Cleveland take on the Tigers of Detroit in the last series of the season between two rivals who have had highly disappointing seasons. The Indians are coming off a 2007 season where they went to the ALCS and were just one win short of the World Series. They were expected to strongly compete again this year with mostly the same roster, but instead the expectations got to them and a lot of the players underperformed. The Tigers are coming off two solid years with the highlight being a World Series appearance two seasons ago. Many were calling them the heavy favorites for the AL Central in light of their big off-season acquisitions, but instead they are under .500 and in the midst of one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. Both of these teams want nothing more then to put this 2008 season out of sight and out of mind, but they can’t.. not yet, at least. They still have a few more games to play, and a win might be able to take away the sting from not living up to expectations.

After going down by three late in the game, the Indians were able to get some clutch hits off the struggling Tigers bullpen to win 6-5. Through the first 7 innings, the only runs scored were by home runs and each team had two apiece, except the Tigers hit theirs with a man on base. Both Tiger home runs were hit by Miguel Cabrera, which vaulted him to the top of the AL in home runs. The Indians appeared flat at this point of the game. This changed after Gary Sheffield was hit by a Fausto Carmona pitch in the top of the 7th and took exception to it. After words were exchanged, Sheffield charged the mound and the two teams’ benches were cleared. After a long delay, the Indians no longer were flat.. excitement was high. After Dusty Ryan of the Tigers added another run in the top of the 8th, a three run home run by Shin-Soo Choo, who also had a solo home run in the 1st, tied the game up at five going into the 9th. The Tigers were held scoreless, but Jamey Carroll hit an RBI-single to give the Indians a walk-off win.

I figured Cleveland would be a pretty loud and exciting place to see a game with a winning team. But with a losing team? I wasn’t sure. When I went, I was a little surprised to see they were loud even at the end of a highly disappointing season. This series with the Tigers was almost guaranteed to be a really important one when looking at it from the start of the season, but it wasn’t. This didn’t matter to the Indian faithful, who still cheered their hearts out just as they would have if this series played a role with first place in the division instead of third. The stadium took a while to fill up, but once it was, it was rocking. Their level of commitment towards their team even through the bad times only indicated to me that they are good and loyal fans. As for the stadium, it was one of those new ones, but not incredibly new. It didn’t feel as cookie cutter as some of the other ones.. it had its own style to it that made it different. It had a nice view of downtown. I know that it’s hard to make Cleveland look pretty, but this stadium pulled it off. As for the charm factor, the only thing I could really think of was the singing of Hang on Sloopy, which is a popular song at Ohio State University football games. Want to know how you could tell? Because they added the O-H-I-O shouts the same time they do it at the OSU games. I HATE Ohio State, but I thought it was kinda cool they did that and a lot of the people shouted out. With all of that considered, I’m going to give the Indians a B and 15th overall, ahead of the White Sox but behind the Tigers. This place has a lot to like with all of the facets I look at, and they remain solid even during the crappy years, making Cleveland a good place to see some baseball.

The early moments of the Big Brawl with Sheffield and Carmona

The Greatest Hits: Live From The Road

2008-09-19T13:30:00.008-04:00

On a trip that lasted thousands upon thousands of miles and stretched a vast majority of the United States, there are bound to be some moments that I loved more than others. I had a ton of time to fill in between my baseball destinations.. these are the Greatest Hits of these moments.. Live From The Road.

Favorite Drive: Northern California coast.. it was everything I thought it would be. Even more. This was always the highlight of my drive and something that I always wanted to do. I'm beyond thrilled it turned out as good as I thought it would be.

Worst Drive: Houston to Fort Myers.. it was like 16-17 hours of driving and it wasn't that pretty, but it mostly sucked because of how long it was. I was really drifting in the end. Like I could've easily woken up in a hospital after rolling over in a ditch kind of drifting. It was like 2-3AM so I got really tired to say the least.

Favorite State: California.. there was the most going on from top to bottom, and it's beauty was unmatched

Worst State: New Mexico.. I remember nothing fondly from my time there (I've dissed Nebraska a ton.. you're probably thinking why isn't it the worst? Well, I wasn't technically there this trip, so I can't call it the worst state. But if I was there, it most certainly would have been. It's the worst state I've ever been to, just not in the past four months. )

Most Scenic State: California.. a serious push can be made from Washington but too much of that state sucks with its eastern half being all flat and ugly. California has the most consistently amazing landscape that isn't just amazing on the coast, it's amazing all over.

Least Scenic State: Texas.. I didn't hate the cities but the landscape was very boring

Favorite City: New York.. by far the most happening city in this nation. There's nothing to hate about it.. NOTHING

Worst City: Baton Rouge, LA.. this is mostly because of the traffic flow.. which was horrific! There were lines at dumb lights for literally a half mile and the light on the main road was empty because everybody was stuck at these dumb lights. And the main road had a longer lasting light for people that weren't there. This is a case where the city planners really suck.

Most Underrated City: Seattle.. I liked every part of it, and you never hear how great it is.. sounds pretty underrated to me

Most Overrated City: Reno.. they give it a cute little nickname that's untrue. It's just another big city that tries to be something it's not.

Most Underrated State: Washington.. there was tons of stuff there to like with all the nice pretty scenery and Seattle.. and again, you never hear much good things about this part of the country

Most Overrated State: Florida.. it's hot, humid, and extremely ugly. And the beaches suck. And it's crowded. I hate Florida.

Prettiest City: San Francisco.. say what you want about the people there but the city that goes up and down hills next to a bay with an iconic bridge spanning its most dramatic gap.. it's stunningly beautiful

Best View: Atop the Empire State Building.. it's one of the tallest buildings in the United States and is overlooking the heart of New York. It can't be beat

Most Spectacular Sunset: along the Northern California coast. It was pretty much what you envision when thinking about a sunset

Cutest Small Town: Cooperstown, NY.. it was vintage small town and the only one I could really think of

Best Day: Saturday, September 20th.. it's my last day and the culmination of a four and a half month trip coming to a close

Worst Day: the drive through Nevada.. It was like a nine hour drive where I was still sweaty from Death Valley, the sun was beating down on me the whole time, I was still a week and a half away from SoCal and 2.5 months away from being done which was a terrible thing to realize. Ahh it sucked!

Favorite Moment: first night in Seattle.. after driving in rain for ever and ever, I finally got a nice clear stretch, and it was during this absolutely peaceful and serene night on Puget Sound. It really struck me how crazy this drive of mine has been for the first time while here.

Worst Moment: Accidentally hitting a parked car in St. Louis.. that sounds really terrible and dumb but there's more to it. I just got into the city from Kansas City and I was running late for my game which put me in a bad mood. The traffic absolutely sucked in the city, I had to pee for a good two hours, and I was traveling with everything I had from Colorado in my car packed so I couldn't see a thing behind me. After I pulled in to the parking lot where they were making us get in rows, I thought I had the car in park and didn't think about it when I picked my foot up so when the foot came off, the car went forward. My mind was just really distracted with everything going on.. that's my excuse. The dude already left to head to the game so he didn't see it happen. I left a note but he never called. Maybe the rain that originally pissed me off washed the ink away. Either way it was a stressful time I couldn't enjoy the game fully because that was on my mind.

Favorite Movie: Movies were a HUGE part of my trip. I went to the theater TWENTY-ONE times. I think it deserves it's own subcategory... here's a list top to bottom of the best movies I saw on the trip

The Dark Knight (in Burbank, CA) - simply put, Heath Ledger as the Joker is one of the best performances I have ever seen. This movie has likely cracked my top 5, very hallowed ground, joined with (in order) Pulp Fiction, Big Lebowski, Shawshank Redemption, and Out of Sight (one of the most underrated movies ever.. its vintage George Clooney and is a movie where you see that Jennifer Lopez has acting skills). Not sure where Dark Knight fits.. it hasn't cracked top 2, but 3-5 for sure.
The Dark Knight (in Houston, TX)
The Dark Knight @ IMAX (in Raleigh, NC)
The Dark Knight (in Gainesville, FL)... yes I did see this movie four times. The only one on a solo trip was that second time in Houston, so if you don't believe I saw it at least three times, I have people that can confirm I was there. Gainesville was only fourth cause it was the third time I saw it in regular format so it wasn't as special.. it had nothing to do with who I was with.. and you know who you are.
Iron Man (in Minneapolis, MN @ Mall of America) - the best movie not involving the caped crusader.. it was classic Robert Downey Jr. who has slowly became one of my more favorite actors not named Keanu Reeves and Christian Bale
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (in Bellingham, WA) - I just liked this one. It was nice and sweet and Jason Segel (the lead) is good in it and the Brit Rocker was a scene stealer
Hamlet 2 (in Tewksbury, MA) - Unexpectedly great! Steve Coogan (the unknown lead) was really good he made the movie and the content was just off the wall ("Rock me Sexy Jesus" and "Raped in the Face" were the musical numbers of the play)
Burn After Reading (in Buffalo, NY) - I'm a big Coen Brothers fan.. more for their non-Oscar worthy stuff.. so this was right up my alley. It might not appeal to everybody but if you know what you're getting with the Coens.. you'd like it
Wanted (in Santa Clara, CA) - really smart action movie.. it doesn't take itself seriously and is very playful in its presentation
Step Brothers (in Houston, TX) - really dumb but I laughed the most for this one.. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are an unbeatable tandem
Tropic Thunder (in Raleigh, NC) - real funny if you know all the Hollywood cliches as this rips it a new one
Hellboy II (in Albuquerque, NM) - an imaginative action movie
WALL-E (in Santa Clara, CA) - very nice kids movie. I was touched!
Get Smart (in San Francisco, CA) - decent summer comedy
Pineapple Express (in Fort Myers, FL) - a little unbelievable in how everything plays out. I know it's a movie but it was too crazy how everything ended up happy in the end.
Indiana Jones and the Krystal Skulls (in Toledo, OH) - I saw this in the week between me getting back from Colorado and leaving for Chicago.. a week I consider very much a part of my drive since I was seeing teams at a regular pace in the area and I had to drive long distances before then too. And the movie itself was a little off. Aliens? I wasn't a fan.
The Rocker (in Baltimore, MD) - I literally had nothing to do so I went to see what looked the best. This won.. I knew it wouldn't be anything special and very formulaic but it was good to kill a few hours
Hancock (in Houston, TX) - very disappointing outing from Mr. Fourth of July
Incredible Hulk (in Seattle, WA) - this is a dumb action movie.. and it never felt very original. It's just action for actions sake.. nothing more
Traitor (in Paramus, NJ) - This movie is incredibly unbelievable in its portrayal of terrorism. Nothing was really explained for motive, especially with the people involved in the bus bombs. All in all.. a very dumb movie.
The Happening (in San Francisco, CA) - I didn't pay for this one.. I went to see Get Smart and this was being played right across the hall on the top floor of a downtown San Fran building that didn't have anybody stopping people from doing this. I wouldn't have seen if it weren't right in front of me since I read reviews that it was dumb.. and it was!

Most listened to band: Modest Mouse.. they're perfect for road trips, or any other time for that matter

Least listened to band: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Most important item: my garmin (a gps).. without this, this trip would have been really hard as it was able to find local hotels for my lot search, local restaurants, local everything, and it got me through challenging areas like cities. If I didn't have this, I don't think I could have done this thing

Least important Item: satellite radio.. I thought I would use this a lot, but the quality kind of sucked and the Tigers had a very disappointing year so they weren't must listen like they would've been if they were competing all year

Most annoying situation: Vancouver/Seattle transition.. the whole border thing was beyond ridiculous. They were such dicks up there and I had to wait around for a good hour combined between the two countries

Most humorous situation: Guido's Malibu.. I can't think of anything else there's probably something better but it was really cute seeing the sign when I was there in Malibu.. it made me think of my son (a poodle) who I missed dearly!

Favorite State Post: Washington.. the first time I really liked what I was doing on this site. Runners up are DC and NYC with the two Californias also as personal favorites.

Worst State Post: New Jersey.. it was a lazy effort where I was focusing mostly on NYC so I didn't give it much love. There wasn't much stuff to put either.

Favorite place to eat: Panera Bread.. this site would not have been possible without it. Besides a few days where I did stuff in Starbucks and at other random places that touted free wifi, the vast majority of the work was done at Panera. It doesn't hurt that they have a huge menu filled with good stuff for any time of the day with sandwiches and pastries as the main staple. I literally never got sick of it even though I came numerous times.. at least 15 but probably more like 20.

Favorite snack: Clif Bars.. an energy bar that was my main thing to eat on the road along with trailmix bars but I liked these better

Worst Snack: dried blueberries.. yuck! I got them back in Ohio at Costco when I left and I couldn't stand eating them anymore by the time South Dakota hit.. I couldn't even force myself to eat them like I was before I stopped

Favorite Thing to Wear: my green cords.. I'm a corduroy fan and they were the only pair I brought

Favorite Footwear: my Rainbow flip flops.. they were good to drive in.. nice and comfortable and allowed my foot to breathe

Worst night in my car: first one in Milwaukee area.. it was extremely cold (like 40s), I didn't have my nice sleeping bag yet, I didn't have my setup in back figured out so I was all bunched up, and I was afraid I'd get caught. I hardly slept at all.

Best night in my car: the last one.. it's never fun even though I've gotten used to it. A fear always present is a copper wrapping on the car window.. so getting through that last night will be amazing because I won't have to be worried about going to sleep again

Worst situation in my car: the night in Tacoma, WA.. A security guard was in his car doing his rounds and I felt like he stopped to really look at my car after I just pulled in and crawled in back.. I got the fuck out of there so quick.

Best Hotel: Kingston, NY (a Courtyard Marriot).. nice and classy. I didn't stay in many places but this was the best night. The wireless sucked though.

Worst Hotel: Duluth, MN (a Motel 6).. I was afraid to leave ANYTHING valuable in my car or room so I took it back and forth wherever I was.. and I had to stay two nights in this shit hole in order to watch my Pistons fuck up against the Celts and the Lost season 4 finale.

Worst sunburn: During my Northern California coastal drive on my left arm/leg.. I left the window open.. and the drive took a good two days. I was left with a one-sided burn, which is kind of funny, I suppose.

Best bathrooms: Safeway grocery stores.. really nice and clean, and very dependable. On the west coast, this was the place to go for public bathrooms

Worst bathrooms: gas stations.. they're dirty and always damp, which is gross

Best going of #2: Bend, Oregon @ Safeway.. I'm not giving details but I really had to go and I went

Most Random Thing I did: drive to Duluth.. that's pretty self explanatory

Greetings From Pennsylvania

2008-09-18T18:31:00.007-04:00

Miles Driven: 24,703

Trapped in the middle (or ends, I suppose) of a working class state are Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, two of the biggest cities in the nation. I always thought these two cities would be as dead as the rest of the state of Pennsylvania, but instead, they are two amazingly lively cities that bring up the quality of the state itself. My time in Pennsylvania proved itself to be a tale of two cities.. of two amazingly awesome and super sweet cities, to be exact.

Pittsburgh may have this stereotype of being some old school working class town, but with my brief tour through, I don’t see it. It was a nice town! I went to the downtown area for my game, and what I saw was a nice, clean and modern looking area. It didn’t feel like some old run-down Rust Belt city in the slightest bit. I was in some areas outside of town that were older so I guess it still hangs on to its roots at least a little bit, but it’s definitely a modern town. I wish I had the chance to do more there, but I didn’t. At least I had some time to see how nice it actually is.

Daytime in the Steel City

Nighttime in the Steel City

In between the two big cities and seemingly every other part of the state is anything but high development. Instead, you get hilly forests, but not as hilly and not as forest-ee as the NE part of the United States. Still, it wasn’t bad. This area seemed way more rural and low-key compared to the high population centers. I totally get why the more innovate politicians (Barack Obama) get the big cities on their side and why the stodgy and useless old fucks (John McCain) get the rest of the area filled with people who have the same interest in the 1910’s. I get it now.. I GET IT.

My name is Barack Obama and I did not approve this message

The streets of Philadelphia have a lot going on. In a good way.. a very good way. I was expecting kind of a dead town, but it was anything but. My tour started in South Philly, which you may think is a weird place to check out since there’s an idea that it’s not the nicest part of town. I beg to differ! It was actually the most unique and interesting part of town, and I never felt threatened. All the spirit of the city itself can be found here. It is an area where all the immigrants from way back when moved to when coming to this country, so there are areas filled with different cultures, namely the Irish and Italians that really came heavily to this area. This Italian influence is best seen with a Philadelphia staple.. the steak sandwich, which originated here in South Philly. This was the main reason I shot down here.. to get a taste of the original of a sandwich I love. And there’s actually an interesting story to it.. there are two places most known for the steak sandwich.. Pat’s King of Steaks and Gino’s Steaks. They are fierce competitors with each claiming they were the first. It is only made more fierce when they are located.. 50 feet away from each other. Yes.. on one corner, you got one, and on the corner across the street, you got the other one. One has a huge sign, the other one doesn’t. Don’t you think that if you really were the original you wouldn’t need a big sign to bring people to you.. shouldn’t you just let your sandwich do the talking and not have to make up for certain inadequacies in your place of business? Don’t worry, I think that too. I went with Pat’s King of Steaks, who don’t need the show to hide their lie. They stick to the original sign, basically going “like it or not, we’re located right here. WE don’t need false attention.. we’re legit. Everybody else are nothing but pretenders.” As for the sandwich, it was fucking amazing.. like it was soo good. I got more of a kick out of eating from the original chicken wing place, but I think this tasted better. But, I don’t think Philly is even most known for that. There’s something else that originated from South Philly that EVERYBODY knows about. Confused? Don’t have a clue? Does the Italian Stallion ring a bell? No? Well you REALLY need to turn on TNT or USA on Sunday, ‘cause then you’ll know what I’m talking about.. ROCKY! One of my favorite things growing up was the Rocky movies, and he was a South Philly resident. You remember that scene where he ran up the stairs? Call me corny if you want, but that was must see for me. I went there and started giggling. I even ran up them. I don’t care how dumb it looked or how trite the activity is, because I ran up the Rocky steps. My life is now complete. The last thing I checked out was what Philly is most known for from the historical crowd.. the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. It was pretty cool, I guess. I was under whelmed by Independence Hall and I don’t really get why the Liberty Bell was ever that popular, but it was cool seeing what the two things represented. They are both big things for the history of the United States.. the Declaration was signed in the Hall and the bell was wrung at some key historical events. But actually seeing them was nothing special. But that’s okay, because I really loved Philly. All I thought I would enjoy was the historical stuff of Philly and not really care for the rest of it, but I was dead wrong. I actually enjoyed the other stuff more. It actually proved to be one of my more favorite cities on this trip, and not just because of the whole Rocky thing.

Philadelphia skyline

The view of downtown through a South Philly park fence

South Philly style

A stoop to drink booze and sing... "Ohhh baby you, got what I neeeed, and you say he's just a friend, you say he's just a friend.. OHHH BABY YOU..." (a lot of you won't get this, and I don't care, but the ones that do will laugh their asses off)

Da daah da-da daah da da-da da daah... getting strong now, working hard now, gonna fly now... BMM BMM BMM BMM

Yo, Adrian! I did it!!

Rooocky! Rooocky!

The Original.. Pat's King of Steaks

The menu

The original "Philly" cheesesteak

The bastards who get all the attention even though they were second because of their big shiny sign

The current home of Liberty Bell (it's kinda visible in the glass if you blow it up)

Why is this the front.. shouldn't the crack be in the back? (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

The other side of the bell.. and look at that dude's hair!!

The Words of Liberty Bell

Independence Hall as seen from the front

Independence Hall as seen from the Back

The courthouse of Independence Hall

Where the Declaration of Independence was actually signed

The Original George Dubya sat here

Moving on up to the second floor

Fine China

A classy looking room in Independence Hall

Thug Life

Has a time warp been discovered?? No, it's just some dude who has one of those lame historical character jobs (that better not be me in five years.. if so.. I'm jumping off the Golden Gate I don't care if it's illegal what're they going to do about it? Put my corpse in jail?)

Pennsylvania proves that two P’s make a right.. a right state! That doesn’t make sense! I’m silllly. But anyway, Pennsylvania’s only two bright spots are its two huge cities.. the one on the west end with Pittsburgh, and the one on its east end with Philadelphia. Without those culturally diverse and lively cities, the deadness of the rest of the state would stick with me more, but those two cities DID happen, so I remember the state and I remember it fondly. But even with my affinity.. I don’t see myself living here. It’s true.. I loved Philly, but I loved other cites like New York and Seattle more, so they would win out if it came down to a city contest. However, if I ever had to move to Philly after getting some serious job or something, I would totally do it. Actually, that could prove to be a good thing. Everyday I could get up in my South Philly apartment, go get a Pat’s cheesesteak, and run it off Rocky style. Life would be good. It’s unlikely to happen, but life would be good.

Game Twenty-Nine: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Los Angeles Dodgers @ PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 17th, 2008

2008-09-18T14:48:00.001-04:00

Greetings from PNC Park in the Steel City. The Pirates of Pittsburgh take on the Dodgers of Los Angeles in a game between two old and respected franchises who have had different levels of success in recent history. The Pirates are five-time World Series champions, but the last one was in 1979 and are now in the midst of a span of 16 consecutive losing seasons. The Dodgers just have one more World Series title than the Pirates, but have won two in the 80s and have enjoyed some moderate success in more recent history. These trends have continued to this season, with the Dodgers holding a 4.5 game lead in the NL West and barring a monumental collapse, they should win the division and be heading to the playoffs for the third time in five seasons, while the Pirates are again one of the worst teams in the majors. These two old-time franchises are on different levels at the moment, but a win is a win and each one wants it, no matter where they are in the standings.

In a game that started close but never low scoring, an eight run 7th inning by the Pirates blew the game wide open and was the key to their 15-8 victory. Neither starter pitched effectively, with both Zach Duke of the Pirates and Chad Billingsley of the Dodgers both lasting to the 5th inning and giving up five and six earned runs respectively. Five of the runs against Billingsley were from the bat of Adam LaRoche, who hit a solo homer in the 4th and a grand slam in the 5th. At this juncture of the game, the score was 7-4 (Duke started out in the 6th and was responsible for one of the men on base), but the Dodgers were able to get three runs off the Pirates relief from the bats of Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, and Angel Berroa to tie the score at 7 in the 7th. The Pirates just blew their three run lead and their first two batters were retired in their part of the 7th, but then, the bats awoke in a big way. RBI’s by Andy LaRoche, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jason Michaels, and Freddy Sanchez combined with a two-run Ryan Doumit home run led to their big eight run outburst. With just six more outs that needed to be recorded, the Pirates bullpen held on easily to get the win.

The only things I’ve heard about the Pirates is how great their stadium is with an incredible view of downtown Pittsburgh, and after seeing pictures online, I was pretty sure that part would be outstanding. But after that, I didn’t know much. The Pirates have been one of the most irrelevant franchises in Major League Baseball for my entire life, so not much is ever said about them. But when I actually went, I got to see that they still have great fans, even in the middle of a 16 losing-season stretch. The place was by no means packed.. it was actually one of the least attended games I went to.. but the people that were there were really impressive. They were incredibly smart and knew a lot about the game and their Pirates. While enthusiasm wasn’t incredibly feverish when all their runs were scored, it was definitely more jovial than I thought it would be for a team as insignificant as the Pirates. It probably even compared to some of the top teams in the league’s reaction to runs being scored. I mean.. it wasn’t as loud, but for the ratio of people who attended to the noise produced, it was probably pretty even. That was the most impressive thing.. there was still solid support for their extremely shitty franchise. Maybe that had to do with the stadium experience, which was a definite plus. In order to get people to come to such a bad brand of baseball, there has to be low prices for everything. And damn.. they were real low. I had a seat directly behind first base five rows up for TWENTY SIX DOLLARS. That is so effing low, like you have no idea. I paid like $60-70 for the Nationals and a similar (and probably a little worse) seat and roasted them for it because their team is really bad too. The Pirates understand they have to get people into the gates and hopefully get them on board as lifelong fans. The food was also real cheap. They had $1 hot dogs available to the fans, which were real popular. Parking was also the cheapest yet.. $5 but that was across the river in downtown Pittsburgh as a late night special so its always available, but I think the stadium has a huge influence on that price being set since its so close to the stadium. It proved to be just another way the franchise takes it easy financially on their fans. As for the actual stadium, it was as picturesque as advertised. I never knew Pittsburgh was scenic, but with all of the bridges over the three rivers and its clean looking downtown, it most certainly is.. and this view is on full display from all areas of the ballpark. There was also some charm too, but mostly just from all the old time season ticket holders who have been going since the 70s, like a group who was next to me. So, with everything considered, I’m going to give the Pirates a B+ and 5th overall, ahead of the Royals but behind the Phillies. I’m really surprised that I turned out putting them that high with the somewhat tepid fan base that was actually present, but I can totally tell that if this team was good, this place would be off the hook. But even with a bad team, they still put on a good show with the amazing prices and amazing stadium with its totally sexy view, making Pittsburgh a nice and fan-friendly place to see a game.

Adam LaRoche hitting his Grand Slam

Greetings From New York

2008-09-17T16:30:00.002-04:00

Miles Driven: 24,419

Taking away the biggest city in the United States can be devastating to the outlook on the rest of the state. Look at Illinois.. without Chicago, you’re left with nothing. But New York, it’s a different story. Without the city of the same name, you still have a nice area. New York is a surprisingly pretty state that can make you forget about New York City based on all the things the rest of the state has to offer.

When you start from Vermont and are forced to head all the way to Lake Erie, New York can prove itself to be a pretty big state. But because of my traveling route, I got to see this big state from end to end. This is where I saw that it really is a nice looking state, similar to the landscape of New Hampshire/Vermont. It had pretty mountain ranges shooting through seemingly the entire area. It wasn’t that developed, which was surprising, so driving through proved to be a relaxing enterprise that will razzle and dazzle anybody.. simply put, it sparkle-sunshined.

One of the Rolling Green Hills (took while driving = shit.. but it's better than nothing)

Big cities are hard to come by in the rest of New York. I would argue that there is just one.. Buffalo. I was actually looking forward to being in this part of the state. I realize that any regular person would think.. “Buffalo? That place is D-E-A-D DEAD! Who the fuck would want to go there?” Well, I’ll tell ya.. a BILLS fan, that’s who. In a remarkably random turn of events, I’m a huge Bills fan. Whenever I think about how I’m a Bills fan, I laugh, because they are one of the smallest market teams in the league and are one of the least reported-on teams in the league. I guess it has to do with their famous four Super Bowl run in the early 90’s. I was five during their first of four trips to the Super Bowl, and in one of my earliest memories of my sports-following life, I remember a regular season football game being on with the ticker at the bottom of the TV showing some crazy number like “Bills: 45 Dolphins: 10”. I remember being like “oooh the Bills are so good! I want to be a Bills fan!” I guess you can call me bandwagon if you want, but as a five year old? How can you blame me. But after four straight Super Bowl losses before I was ten years old and enduring the past eight years with no playoff appearances and living “wide right” (I balled my eyes out.. give me a break I was five) and the “Music-City Miracle” (I was so fucking pissed!), I think you can call me one of the real long-suffering and die-hard Bills fans. So basically, being here was really special for me. One of the things that was must see for me was going to Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the boys in blue. While it was surely nothing like actually seeing a game with the rest of the rabid fan base (which I will most definitely do some day.. they were away when I was there which was disappointing), it was cool seeing this place. I had a big grin the whole time and in awe of the place that Kelly and his K-Gun offense ruled supreme during the early 90’s. That’s not all I did though. Another thing that was tops on my list was going to what Buffalo is most definitely known for.. their chicken wings. I went to the Anchor Bar in downtown Buffalo, which is where the wings phenomenon began back in 1964. They were very good.. definitely the best wing I’ve had. You can tell they were very fresh and never frozen. They were incredibly juicy on the inside, and the meat clung to the bone more, which doesn’t happen as much with other places which no doubt freeze their chicken. I used to have wings a ton while growing up so going to the place that started it all was very cool and by far my favorite of the handful of places that I went to on this trip where culinary history was made. All in all I liked Buffalo, but mostly because of what the place represents to key moments of my developing years.

The booming metropolis of Buffalo, New York!!

"The Ralph".. where the greatest comeback in NFL history happened

Ahhhhh

Anchor Bar north of Buffalo

Inside the place that started it all

The original, the real-deal.. "Buffalo" chicken wings (I took these two pics with my cell phone.. I was already uncomfortable eating by myself at a sit-down restaurant so there was no way I was bringing my nice camera in there.. so the quality sucks.. deal with it!)

It’s debatable that Long Island can be considered non-New York City, but after going there, I don’t know how it could be considered part of the city. Part of it most definitely is with Queens and Brooklyn taking up its western corner, but the island is 118 miles long, so the city influence ends rather quickly. I didn’t know what to expect when taking this drive, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was kind of expecting it to be mostly suburban in appearance, but it really turned country-esque. I didn’t do too much here besides drive through it because of time, but I liked what I saw. I headed to one of its more easterly cities.. Montauk. You’re probably saying these exact words.. “that sounds so fucking familiar, Shawn.. why does that sound so fucking familiar.. tell me man tell me why why WHY?!?” Calm down, quit saying the F-word, and I’ll tell you. You calm? Okay. Well.. if it sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is a top ten favorite movie of mine (that sounds like nothing.. but with a movie buff like me.. that’s extremely high praise). This movie was really the only reason why I decided to go all the way on Long Island.. mostly because I had this crazy dream where Kate Winslet whispered in my ear.. “meeeet meeee in Moooontaaauuuk.” She had the audacity to stand me up, but whatever, ‘cause when I got there, I really liked the beach, which was of high quality. I don’t know how the view was, 'cause it was real foggy there, but that gave a cool vibe. So.. Long Island.. good place to check out.. even without Kate making an appearance.

The walk up to see the woman from my dream

Siiiigh.. no Kate Winslet

Was he waiting for Kate too?

"I neeeeeed your loviiing, liike the suuuuunshiiine..."

I was talking about my trip with DJ Sites back in March, and the state of New York came up. DJ said, “well I take it you’re going to make a trip to the Hall of Fame over in Cooperstown, right?” I was like “why.. I haven’t even thought of that! How crazy is that? I haven’t thought about a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame on a trip when I’m driving to every baseball park in the country.. how silly am I??” Pretty silly, but thanks to DJ for bringing that idea to light, I decided to make the most obvious trip I could possibly make. When I went there, I really liked it. It gave me a sense of the start of baseball and how special it really is to the fabric of our culture. I got to see things about some of the all time greats that I never knew about and how much they meant to the early popularity of the game that allowed it to grow to what it is today. I kind of wish I got to see this first, as I think I would have appreciated the stadiums I visited even more, since visiting this place really helped me understand the spirit of the game. If you consider yourself a baseball fan and get turned on by its history, this place is a required visit.

The front of the main building

One of the typical displays

One of the more popular displays.. the Ruth Room

Bambino's glove

This is for a certain 81-year-old out there who used to have a thing for Ted Williams

One of the 30 team lockers filled with a smorgasbord of team artifacts (See that bat in the lower left? It's the one Magglio Ordonez used to hit the AL-clinching walk-off home run in 2006.. the best time it felt as a Tigers fan during my life)

What every team plays for

The bling-bling the players actually get

The actual Hall of Fame

The famed first class of 1936 (includes Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson)

The leading vote-getter of the first class.. DETROIT TIGER Ty Cobb

Babe Ruth.. the man who wasn't even considered the greatest when judged by his contemporaries. Can you say overrated?

New York proved itself to be a nice area. The scenery is surprisingly nice and the vibe much more low key than that one big city that also calls New York home. Even though I liked the area and am a huge Bills fan, I don’t see myself living here. There’s no solid reason for that, I mean I liked it but I wasn’t "coo-coo for cocoa puffs" crazy for it. But one thing my time here did serve was to allow me to forget about New York, New York and let me know that New York can stand alone on its own.

Greetings From Ontario

2008-09-17T12:10:00.003-04:00

Miles Driven: 23,266

Canada.. I never really liked you. There were many reasons, none of them good ones. But I had to go up there. I was forced to. Major League Baseball decided to try and expand its influence and put teams up in Canada.. Toronto, Ontario, to be exact.. it’s biggest city. Out of completion for the main reason of my trip.. I had to go up to an area I never really felt comfortable in. When I did go up this time around, my negative attitude went from extremely negative to… slightly negative.

As you may remember, shooting up to Canada while I was in Washington turned out to be a very annoying preposition (if you don’t remember.. check back to my Washington section!). But to put it shortly without the gritty details, I was asked to step out of my car both times while they checked up on me further. After all that junk from my Seattle/Vancouver transition, I was really dreading my now vital return trip to Canada for my baseball game. I was convinced that I was going to be stopped both ways with my semi-packed car as the main reason. I was thinking I’d get some more good stuff to tell, but it didn’t happen. Going through at Niagara Falls is pretty low key compared to the one between Seattle and Vancouver.. like waaay more low key. They weren’t raging dicks, basically. They believed me. I guess it didn’t hurt that I had a reason to go up to Canada this time instead of just for the hell of it like before. It proved to be a piece of cake. I was also just worried about being in Canada in general as I don’t have much experience driving around up there but it was fine. My feeling of dread was all for naught.. going in and out of the Ontario border isn’t bad at all.

The only thing I really did while in Ontario was check out one of the heaviest waterfalls in the world.. Niagara Falls. You may be thinking.. “isn’t that in New York too? Why is it here, man?” Well, yeah, the falls are on both sides since the water from the falls divides our countries, but calling Niagara Falls a major part of the United States is like calling Ringo Starr the most important member of the Beatles just because he kept the beat.. its an unreasonable thing to say. That’s because the best views are on the Canadian side. Like, its not even close. I took a trip to these parts a looong time ago when I was in like the 6th grade and I forgot how big of a difference it is. On the American side, you see the “American Falls” from a shitty side view. From the Canadian, you see the whole “American Falls” plus the real deal.. the “Horseshoe Falls”, which is what you think of when thinking of Niagara Falls (this part of the waterfall is hardly visible from the American side). It literally makes no sense to see Niagara Falls from the American side after you see the amazing beauty of the Canadian side, as the vantage point is further away.. so the raw power of the falls are in better view. You’re probably like.. “raw power.. how do you see that? Is it because of all the mist that is kicked up?” Very good! That’s exactly it! While I was driving in, you could see the mist from the falls.. and I was like at least two miles away. Up close, it’s even more obvious. The sounds of the falls are very loud.. a constant rumble can be heard all around the waterway between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as the rocks crash into the water below with incredible force. It’s impressive stuff. It is by no means one of the top natural things I’ve seen this summer but it is definitely a decent one.

A View Towards the Lake Erie side (Horseshoe Falls in Distance, American close)

A View towards the Lake Ontario side (American Falls here)

Horseshoe Falls (that boat? It's the popular Maid of the Mist.. it's a two-level boat.. very decent size)

American Falls as seen from Canada

The American view of American Falls

Even though I didn’t do a ton in Canada, I had a nice little time. It wasn’t terrible getting around like I thought it was. It was a positive experience in the country.. and I guess I’ve always had relatively positive experiences up north of the border. But my silly reasons for disliking the area still outweigh the semi-good times I’ve had. After this trip, I can think that maybe someday, the positives will outweigh my dumb negative reasons and I will actually have an affinity for the area. But not now. This stuff takes time. Sorry Canada.

(If you couldn't tell.. this place is not in the running for me to live in.. and it never will be.)

Game Twenty-Eight: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles @ Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada) on September 16th, 2008

2008-09-17T09:43:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Rogers Centre in the most populated city in all of Canada (and 5th in North America). The Blue Jays of Toronto take on the Orioles of Baltimore in a divisional battle between two teams who find themselves with little to play for as the season nears its end. The Blue Jays recently had a late season push by winning ten straight that gave them a glimmer of hope for the AL Wild Card, but after losing four of the last six, those hopes have been killed and they find themselves in the same boat as the Orioles, who haven’t been close to the division lead since April. Both of these teams have no hope for this season, but they’re still fierce competitors and will unquestionably be fighting hard to get a win.

The Orioles, a team not known for their pitching, got an impressive outing from Chris Waters that resulted in their 2-0 shut-out victory over the Blue Jays. Waters was able to pitch an efficient complete game for his third win of the season. His counterpart was Shaun Marcum, who did not fare as well, as he was pulled in the 3rd inning with numbness in his pinky finger. This came after he gave up a RBI-double to Brian Roberts and walked the next batter. The guy who relieved him did not fare as well either, as he gave up a solo home run to Luke Scott to lead off the 4th inning. The bullpen calmed down after this and did not let up any more runs, but the worst offense in the league could not touch Waters and the Orioles finished off a game that never felt out of their control.

I wasn’t expecting much of anything to like with the only stadium outside of the United States (for those who don’t know and thought there were others.. the Montreal Expos.. a team that was up there for a good 30 years or so, became the Washington Nationals.. so the Blue Jays are all that remain). But, I was surprised a little bit. It wasn’t terrible. The stadium is a domed stadium that has a retractable roof, and the roof was off. This was nice. But it was a big spacious stadium that is also used for football, so the stadium quality wasn’t great.. as in, it didn’t look too nice. But there was the CN Tower (the world’s second largest free standing structure.. recently passed up by the partially built Burj Dubai in UAE.. if you haven’t heard of that look it up its effing nuts) visible from the stadium as it is literally right below it, which was cool. The fans.. they were just okay too. It’s hard to judge them though, because this was a weekday game and the Jays have absolutely no hope now, as their late push just got derailed the previous series versus the Red Sox. This might have deflated the sails of the Toronto faithful. I heard some chatter about the crowd.. and he was saying how this place would have been packed if they would’ve taken it to the Red Sox and still had a chance. As it was, they didn’t, so enthusiasm wasn’t as high. They didn’t have much of a reason to cheer either, being shut out. Because of these factors, it really is inconclusive, but nothing I saw would indicate that they were above average. They didn’t get crazy loud when they did get some scoring chances and it was just an overall sense of apathy. As for the charm.. it was definitely different seeing a game in Canada. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a real response to the Canadian national anthem, as a lot of the Canucks were singing along when theirs was played.. to a much bigger degree than the people who sing along with the American national anthem at sporting events. There was also some accents out there in full bloom, but it wasn’t as prevalent as it was in Minnesota for the Twins. The stadium experience was also very commercial. The big board had to tell people to GET LOUD and it had stadium pans to get people to do dumb things. That’s not baseball. But, it wasn’t the worst of stadiums.. it was a bit below average, however. I’m going to give it a B- and 19th overall, ahead of the Giants but behind the Rangers. The fans still gave a semi-impressive showing despite the recent dashing of hope, but they didn’t show many signs that they were extraordinary.

Scott Rolen fouling one off

The Greatest Hits: National Park Edition

2008-09-15T13:36:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite question in the whole wide world is “What do you like better? This, or that?” Usually, it’s something dumb like “who do you like better.. me or Guido?” which I asked my dad a ton with humorous results (I never won!). Whenever I have posed those words in the past, usually you're about to hear something stupid. But this, this is serious. It’s a list of the best National Parks during the Summer of Baseball 2008 (in my eyes, at least). I visited 18 parks in all, which is just 12 less than all of the baseball parks I will visit. So, needless to say it was a large part of my trip, especially during my time out west. I had to make some real tough decisions on whether or not park “A” was better than park “B”, but I thought about all of the good things the park had to offer and came up with my results. I really did like them all in some way (except #18) making this list incredibly hard to come up with. But.. here it is.. The Greatest Hits: National Park Edition.

18. Badlands National Park: Unlike the Danish territory of Greenland, the name of this place truly fits the bill. This place is baaad. I thought the main draw of the park was not scenic at all. I really don't know why anybody would want to come here.

Distinctions: WINNER: Ugliest Scenery

WINNER: Worst of the Worst

RUNNER-UP: Like Dust?

17. Death Valley National Park: Besides the fact that I almost got into some serious trouble because of dehydration, I wasn't all that crazy about this park. Simply put, it wasn't all that pretty. It was very dusty and the mountains were hardly that impressive. I think the only reason why this place is a national park is because it is home to the lowest land spot on North America. That's cool, but "national park" worthy? Hardly.

Distinctions: WINNER: FUCK it's Hot!

WINNER: Like Dust?

RUNNER-UP: Ugliest Scenery

RUNNER-UP: Worst of the Worst

16. Zion National Park: This place is low because of the high crowds that stopped me from even being able to park in order to get on the bus. And with this place, if you can't get on the bus, there isn't much of a draw with the other parts of the park. I didn't spend much time here but from what I saw I didn't miss much.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Least Accessible

15. Carlsbad Caverns National Park: I liked what the park had to offer, but it wasn't exactly a pretty thing to see. It's more of an interesting place than anything else. You won't be taken aback by what's inside and instead will be like "that's odd" and move on. Because of this, there isn't much redeeming value to the park.

Distinctions: WINNER: Sooo Creepy!

WINNER: Most Annoying Park Rangers

14. Sequoia/King's Canyon National Parks: The twin combo of these joint-parks provided something that wasn't very special. The vast majority of the landscape is something you can see damn near anywhere in the west and it's not nationally recognized there. This place has some big Sequoia trees mixed in, but not to a level that makes the trees themselves feel unique to the area.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: FUCK it's Hot

RUNNER-UP: Damn That's a BIIIIIG Tree

13. North Cascades National Park: I really enjoyed the scenery of this area. It is pretty much exactly how I picture the state of Washington. But, the park itself was nothing more than a drive through an area that wasn't even considered part of the park, but only a small gap between it's top and bottom half. There really isn't much to do here unless you're super hardcore and backpack for weeks in the middle of the wild regions of the park itself.

Distinctions: WINNER: Fullest of Life

WINNER: Least Accessible

12. Yellowstone National Park: This is an okay place to check out. It's got tons of things to see. The thing that it's most known for.. the geothermal activity.. is something that you'll find interesting but not exactly breathtaking. It's biggest redeeming quality is it's other landscapes, but that part doesn't feel very different than other places.

Distinctions: WINNER: Biggest Crowds

WINNER: Most Overrated

11. Bryce Canyon National Park: In a largely unknown park resides some very unique land structures that really make this place stand out. It's tall hoodoos (tall thin projections from ground) that are in such tight concentration is something that can't really be seen elsewhere. The views of the surrounding area are pretty picturesque too. But, only a small part of the park has the interesting features, which kind of sucks.

Distinctions: WINNER: Craziest Land Structures

10. Crater Lake National Park: I hardly got to see much of the park due to weather, but from what I did see I liked, as the lake felt very unnatural in its blueness. It pretty much is the purest thing you can see in any of the parks. But after awhile you realize it's just a big (albeit pretty) lake and you would like to do something else, but the park is solely about the lake, so it can get old.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Most Stunning Single View

RUNNER-UP: Is This Real?

RUNNER-UP: Is There Anything Else Here??

9. Acadia National Park: The only east coast park during my trip was a good one. The coastal landscape is very special and when the area is shrouded in a mist like it was for me, it becomes even more special as everything feels very surreal. You can't get the kind of things you feel here in many other places.

Distinctions: WINNER: Am I Dreaming?

RUNNER-UP: Sooo Creepy!

8. Rainier National Park: This place may be named after Mount Rainier, but it is hardly the only draw. The landscape around the mountain is very Washington-esque, with tons of greenery and hilly landscapes. And unlike its northern neighbor park, it is real accessible, so you can get a better feel for the park itself.

Distinctions: RUNNER-UP: Most Diverse Landscape

RUNNER-UP: BRRRR!

7. Grand Teton National Park: It may seem like any other mountain-based park from afar, but when seen up close, you can tell that these mountains are unlike any other. The jagged peaks of the Tetons are unrivaled in the States. The trails that shoot through the area with the peaks always in sight make exploring this area first-rate.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Insane Mountains

RUNNER-UP: AHH.. Now THIS is Relaxing

6. Redwood National Park: The trees don't seem like anything special until you're actually walking right next to them. Then, this place is awe-inspiring. The densely populated giants make everything else living seem small in comparison. It really makes you realize how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.

Distinctions: WINNER: Damn That's a BIIIIIG Tree

WINNER: I Feel So Effing Small!

WINNER: Smallest Crowds

5. Arches National Park: The high concentration of the highly eroded and delicate arches is a remarkable sight to behold. There's literally hundreds of arches here, and each one is impressive. The fact that many many arches are just a hike away is a definite plus as the beauty of this place can be seen with ease.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Accessible

RUNNER-UP: Craziest Land Structures

4. Olympic National Park: Going to this place is like going to three different parks in one. High country mountains, lush jungle, untouched beach.. you get them all, and this place isn't very big. Each one produces an unforgettable experience as each area is top notch. The mountains are breathtaking, the jungle is dreamlike, and the beach is beautiful in its wildness. Many hours can be spent in one of the areas, and you get three.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most Underrated

WINNER: Most Diverse Landscape

RUNNER-UP: Am I Dreaming?

RUNNER-UP: Fullest of Life

3. Glacier National Park: This place is in the middle of nowhere. And that's a good thing, because what you get is a very peaceful atmosphere in the middle of the giant glacier-covered landscape with the huge lakes that were created from the glaciers. The endless walking paths that cover the area make experiencing the beauty a cinch.

Distinctions: WINNER: Ahh.. Now THIS is Relaxing

WINNER: BRRRR!

RUNNER-UP: Most All-Around Amazing Views

RUNNER-UP: Most Accessible

RUNNER-UP: Smallest Crowds

RUNNER-UP: Most Insane Mountains

2. Yosemite National Park: Even though this is one of the most populated parks in the country, it is one of the best. I could tell, even though the smoke screwed up my views. It's because of the amazing landscapes. The traditional high-mountain views proved to be one of the most stunning compared to the other similar parks, and the huge granite mountain walls were truly incredible in size.

Distinctions: WINNER: Most All-Around Amazing Views

RUNNER-UP: The Best of the Best

RUNNER-UP: I Feel So Effing Small!

RUNNER-UP: Biggest Crowds

1. Grand Canyon National Park: Even though this park is pretty much of the canyon itself, it still is the best. Why? Because the canyon is truly one of a kind, and not just in the U.S. but in the entire world. When looking out at the vast emptiness, it really becomes hard to comprehend how it all is possible. The incredibly unique view of this place (especially from the north rim) makes this the best park to see if natural beauty is what you're after.

Distinctions: WINNER: The Best of the Best

WINNER: Most Stunning Single View

WINNER: Is This Real?

WINNER: Is There Anything Else Here??

Greetings From New Hampshire/Vermont

2008-09-14T16:18:00.006-04:00

Miles Driven: 23,099

If you ever find yourself in a conversation with someone from New Hampshire or Vermont (like I have) and the conversation drifts towards the person’s home state, there’s one question you’re guaranteed to ask. “Oh you’re from New Hampshire? Interesting. That’s the one on the left, isn’t it?” Unless you’re from the east coast or you’re a geography buff, I guarantee that question is asked. Why? Because, like seriously, who the fuck knows anything about New Hampshire and Vermont, let alone the difference between the two geographically. That question comes out because of ignorance on the area. When I asked it, I got a “ohh.. haha nooo New Hampshire is on the right.. don’t worry, everybody gets them mixed up.” I didn’t want to feel like a fool anymore.. I wanted to get them straight.. so I decided to explore this area once and for all. I went in without knowing what I’d get and left very impressed with the incredible landscape these two states have to offer.

Here I am, driving in Maine. I see on my Garmin the dotted lines that denote a different state. What is the sign going to say? Why.. it’s New Hampshire! New Hampshire is on the right! I got to see it for myself! Good times. But enough sarcasm. When I actually got into the heart of this area, I was taken aback by how beautiful it was. It reminded me of the hilly greenery of Washington, which I remember fondly. It was weird having that feeling and realizing that those days.. when I was driving in Washington.. was a staggeringly high three months ago when it doesn’t feel like that long ago at all and yet it does.. which probably makes no sense unless you’re living this thing. But anyway, it really was beautiful. I kind of had an idea it was hilly up here, but the hills were much bigger than I ever imagined. The area wasn’t that developed either, making the green hills feel untouched by civilization. The trees were just starting to turn colors up in these parts, and I have a feeling that in another week or two it would be in full tilt and even more picturesque. But I don’t think there would ever be a time when this area wasn’t breathtaking.

Endlessly Green Hills (not too great in quality.. I took while driving)

There was one specific thing I wanted to do while in this area, but I only heard about it like the day before I crossed into New Hampshire. It sounded interesting, so I was like why not. The suggestion was a tour of Ben & Jerry’s main ice cream-making factory in Waterbury, Vermont. I was going here expecting some hugely impressive building with all these huge pieces of equipment pumping out tons of ice cream all being visible on a free tour. What did I actually see? A non-descript small building with one decently large room with average looking equipment that pumped out NO ice cream on a tour that cost $3. While I’m okay with ice cream not being made on a Saturday, I think it’s silly to charge the same price when the tour is incomplete and you don’t get to see all the interesting moving parts in action, which is perhaps the biggest draw. But I’m not even cool with being charged at all, to be honest. I went to a Coors brewery tour in Golden, Colorado around my graduation and that was free, and it also included a three-beer free sample. Yeah, we got a “free sample” here, but it can’t exactly be called free when going through this bland factory cost $3. I bitch and moan because I feel the whole idea to open a tour to the public is to expose people to your product so they would buy it in the future. I don’t usually get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, so getting a truly free sample and seeing what they’re all about might have turned me on to the company, an idea that Coors gets and pulled off beautifully. But instead, I got turned off when they charged me $3 to see an uninteresting tour that showed us ONE ROOM (WOW!!!) with the only thing gained being a scoop of ice cream in a paper cup that we had to push out like fugitives since they didn’t give spoons. Soooo to wrap it up in three words…. FUCK THIS PLACE.

Their hilly location (and a van that Ben & Jerry drove around selling their stuff in back in the day)

The outside of the building

Inside the building (they wouldn't let you take a pic of their super secret and high security machines. OOOOOO. Like I'd want to anyway. And WTF does it matter. If somebody wanted to get intel on this place on a TOUR that takes place 30 feet away from the equipment, I think they would be smart enough to figure something secret out. Dumbasses.)

Even though the only thing of note I did in New Hampshire/ Vermont left a bad taste in my mouth (figuratively, not literally, it was good ice cream), I enjoyed my time in the area. The scenery really was breathtaking.. surprisingly breathtaking. I had no idea it’d be so nice up here. But I guess I never knew much about the area to begin with, so anything nice would have been a pleasant surprise. I could even see myself living here someday, but only like way down the line and to the same fashion as I would for Montana or Wyoming, which is when I’m older and want to retire to a quiet place away from everything else. Or if I ever turned into a serial killer and turned into a crazy recluse, this place would work like a charm. But one thing my trip through these parts did was help me to remember that it’s New Hampshire on the right, Vermont on the left. No more making a fool of myself in the future! No sir.

Greetings From Maine

2008-09-14T12:29:00.003-04:00

Miles Driven: 22,852

Nestled up in the northeast corner of the United States is Maine, the only state that touches just one other state in the lower 48. Since the jewels of the state are relatively far from the heart of the east coast, I went out of my way big time to check it out. It may seem like a strange thing to go out of the way to see, but I don’t care. Why? Because I knew it was an area that had a coastal environment that is extremely unique in the United States. That’s what I thought anyway. Sometimes you go to an area expecting one thing but end up getting something else. It’s really annoying. But it didn’t happen here. Maine was exactly as advertised. It was absolutely magical and wondrous in every way possible (that sounds pretty cheesy.. mission accomplished).

The only spot I wanted to check out in Maine was Mount Desert Island, which is home to the tourist/fishing town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. I had multiple sources tell me that it was the shit (I sound like some big hot shot journalist talking up my sources that I keep unnamed.. awesome), so I decided to follow their recommendations and make the drive up even though it is four hours north of Massachusetts. Everything you do in this area has to start in Bar Harbor, so that’s what I’ll talk about first. It was a nice little town that was obviously very touristy. But it wasn’t incredibly overdone.. yeah, it had the look, but it wasn’t as blatant as other spots. That’s because the area still has the whole fishing vibe to it, as the lobster and other fish in general are abundant here. What you get is a town that has tourists but also grizzled fisherman all around still doing their thing and trying to make a living. It was an authentic tourist town that still was very much what it always was, so I didn’t mind it. To rehash an old funny moment, uber-tourist Clark Griswold would have approved of Bar Harbor.

Downtown Bar Harbor

The main dock area (it's behind this stuff)

Some Lobster restaurant (at least I think)

A rowboat dock.. perhaps for the bigger boats docked further out in the water?

A boat moving out to sea

A big sail boat that wasn't sailing at the moment

Some big and cool looking building

The final National Park on the National Park part of my trip was none other than Acadia National Park, which pretty much owns the island it’s on. I didn’t have a ton of time up in these parts since I had to start heading west for the final time, but the time I did get was very nice and I got a real sense of the place. The weather wasn’t great when I was there. It was somewhat rainy and a little cold, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. That is pretty much what I always picture Maine to be like, and it’s exactly what I got. I’m not sure if it’s usually nice and sunny for this time of year, but I have a feeling the sunny days are rare. The weather provided a very mysterious vibe through the hills and along the coast. Everything was hazy, and no I wasn’t drunk and/or high.. it was a cool mist covering the area that did the trick. I felt like I was in some horror movie and some demon was going to pop out of the hazy woods and chop my head off and fill me up with its demon magic. Not a good thing. But anyway I did the Park Loop during my time there, which was highly recommended in my National Park book for the kind of time I had. It provided a nice overview of the park filled with rocky coastlines and trees all around. This place really sticks out and is different from any area I’ve ever been in, so coming on up here was well worth it even though I got to just spend like six hours there. It’s definitely a place worth seeing.. it gets the SK Stamp of Approval (like that matters).

Higher views from inside the park

The essence of the park.. rocky coasts, hazy air, green islands in the distance

A close-up on the shoreline

Crashing waves

The never ending sky.. or is it the never ending ocean?

The wild-beach view through the trees

The view left

The view right

The hazy evergreens lining the back of the beach

Three different lakes

Woodlands

Wild coastal flowers

Even though I probably spent more time driving in Maine than the time I spent actually seeing what I wanted to see, the trip out was well worth it, as Maine proved to be a bizarro world that I never have experienced before. But as for living here.. no deal. I feel like the only people that should live here are fishers and hunters and shit like that. It did have the whole wild and uninhabited thing going for it which has worked for states like Wyoming, but not here.. even with all the magic and wonder that this place has to offer.

Greetings From New England

2008-09-12T12:15:00.003-04:00

Miles Driven: 22,392

New England (AKA Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts) is where it all began for this country as we know it (sorry Native Americans!). It was the first place settlers landed at and made permanent settlements. It was where a lot of the drama happened that led to the big American Revolution. Basically, it’s an area that is chock full of history. After going there and actually seeing it for my own eyes, it’s hard to shake that feeling no matter where you turn, which isn’t exactly a bad thing.

The real interests of this area for me always resided in the greater Boston area.. not to mention that I had my Red Sox games to hit up in Boston. What does that mean? Well I didn’t really get to see much of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and when I did see them while driving through, it was all rainy and foggy because of Hurricane Hanna. But that’s okay.. I don’t think it was a big loss. I mean.. it’s Connecticut and Rhode Island. Seriously. Who cares?

Stamford, Connecticut (Where Jim Halpert unsuccessfully tried to get over Pam Beesly after she originally turned him down even though there was always something there. But Thank God the Stamford branch got absorbed by the Scranton branch and they got back together!)

Providence, Rhode Island (uhh... lets see..... there's that.... umm.... well.... yeah, I got nothing)

The greater Boston area was always something I was seriously dreading. Why, you ask? It’s a dumb reason, but I’ve always absolutely hated the Celtics and Red Sox because of their clash with my teams the Pistons and the Tigers to a lesser extent (although that feeling of hate did change for the Red Sox after going to Fenway Park, it will never change for the Celtics. FUCK THEM.) My fandom is pretty serious, but I still went in to the area with an open mind. And I left not hating it. But one thing I did hate were the streets. They are so weird there. I feel like I was always doing something wrong when I was driving. It’s like they have different rules there that I just straight up don’t understand, and it mostly had to do with left turns and the way streets kinda merged together at random times. I think it was scarier driving through here than Manhattan which makes no sense but it speaks volumes to the confusion of the area. I think that has to do with how old the towns are, so they got a weird setup. That was a negative to the historical aspect. A positive? The city of Boston itself. Just walking through the streets felt very historical. There were still some brick sidewalks I came across (probably roads too.. I didn’t see much of the city at all), and also randomly placed old buildings that no doubt went back to the early colonial days. It really gave you the sense that this town was old. Like I ended up shooting through the more serious part of town with all the financially related buildings and their were old buildings even in the middle of those areas. But in general I don’t know if the city itself was bigger or smaller than what I was thinking. Maybe both. It covered a larger land area than I was thinking it would, but I also thought it would have more big buildings, when instead it had tons of like 5-10 story buildings with like 25-30 being the max. Just a quick guess but the main point is that there wasn’t a huge concentration of huge buildings. It was an overall nice town although I feel like it’s not too lively. It’s got too much of the 1600’s bringing it down to make it feel very fresh and hip.

The newer buildings of Boston

The old mixed with the new

These two randomly placed cemeteries in downtown Boston

You mean Sam Adams did more than make beer?? He signed the Declaration of Independence? Really?? That's fucking interesting...

The burial plot of John Winthrop and family.. best known for his vital role to 5th grade history class during the colonial America sections

This cool looking gravestone.. it's hard to pick out but the date of death was October 2nd, 1699

Massachusetts has a real weird shape, thanks mostly to Cape Cod, a long thin arm-looking thing that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to randomly drive all the way out to the very tip of Cape Cod. Exciting, huh! Well, it proved itself to be a worthwhile drive to take. This is mostly because of the beaches I walked at the very end of the road. They had real nice sand and it was just a very serene ocean atmosphere. It wasn’t very pretty though.. nothing like the stunningly beautiful west coast. But it was exactly like I thought the east coast would be like.. all flat with cloudy ocean views with long grasses growing behind the beaches and lighthouses seen off in the distance. I guess it’s beautiful, but a different kind of beautiful. I drove the “scenic route” on the way back and it wasn’t exactly scenic (hence the quotes denoting sarcasm! I’m good like that). But, again, it was very east coast. The way the towns were and the building styles just screamed stereotype. Which is cool, I guess. But I think the best part of this drive was that now I know what it would be like to be an ant walking across the flexed arm of the greatest athlete of all time Hulk Hogan.. which is always a bonus.

Cape Cod Beaches

The very tip of the cape

The style of the coastal towns

Despite being called New England, it didn’t exactly feel very “new.” But that’s not a bad thing. I’m happy this area embraces its old colonial roots. It was what gave the area a uniqueness to it that can’t be experienced anywhere else. But it also made the area incredibly annoying just because of how dated everything felt. So, I would never live here. Not by a long shot. Even if I fell head over heels for this area and got turned on by its bland ocean views and weird city streets, I would still hate the Celtics and still not be very crazy about the Red Sox, and the love of my sports teams would trump the positives of the area any day of the week.

Game Twenty-Seven: Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays @ Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts on September 8th/9th, 2008

2008-09-10T20:51:00.012-04:00

(I ended up seeing two games in Boston. Why, you ask? Well, 'cause it's Fenway, that's why. And it's not likely I'll be up in Massachusetts anytime soon so I wanted to go as much as possible to this storied park.)

Greetings from Fenway Park in the city that gave us 2007 People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” winner Matt Damon. The Red Sox of Boston take on the Rays of Tampa Bay in a series that has huge playoff implications, which nobody would have predicted at the start of the season. The Red Sox are no stranger to the top of the division, but the Rays, a perennial bottom feeder, are the surprising team atop the very strong AL East. They have led most of this season but have recently seen their somewhat large lead shrink down to just 1.5 games. This is significant in that a Red Sox sweep can put them atop the division and the Rays in second, and that is a very real possibility, considering the Rays have not won here so far this year. However, each team is still incredibly likely to make the playoffs so this series isn't do-or-die for the two team's playoff fate. But still, the scrappy and young Rays would love nothing more than to show their mettle and prove they are a playoff-ready team by winning a game or two in front of the hostile Boston crowd, and the Sox want to keep it business as usual and gain a sweep and first place. Two playoff-bound teams in a critical late-season showdown with the fate of the division lead held in the balance.. this is baseball, at its finest.

In game one between these two teams, all of the offense came early, as the Red Sox scored the only three runs of the game in the 1st inning for their 3-0 victory over the Rays. It all started with a David Ortiz double, which brought home Mark Kotsay from first. This was followed up by a Kevin Youkilis single on a ball that was hit well enough to bring in the slow-footed Ortiz. After Youkilis’ aggressive base-running got him out after trying to stretch his hit to a double, Jason Bay hit a solo home run to stake the Red Sox to their early lead. This was all they would get after Rays starter Edwin Jackson settled down after his 1st inning struggles to provide a solid start for the Rays by going 7 innings. Even though the Red Sox could not get any more runs, that 1st inning explosion proved itself to be more than enough, as budding superstar Jon Lester was on the mound and was able to go 7.2 innings with 9 strikeouts before Red Sox closer Jonathon Papelbon came in to record the final four outs. With the win, the Red Sox pull within a half game of the AL East division lead and one win short of overtaking the top spot from the Rays.

In game two of the series, the Rays were able to stage a late comeback to shock the Red Sox with a 5-4 win. This game had all the makings of a pitchers duel with the team’s two aces both on the mound, which included Scott Kazmir of the Rays and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Red Sox. However, the bullpen became a key part of the game, as each starter did not give particularly long outings and instead had innings where they had to get out of jams. The first of the troubles came to Kazmir, who gave up an RBI double to Kevin Youkilis that gave the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead. This lasted until the 3rd, when Matsuzaka got into some troubles of his own. After the first three Tampa runners got on after a bunt single and two walks, Cliff Floyd got hit by a pitch to bring in a run, and a later sac fly by Willy Aybar gave the Rays a 2-1 lead. After each team scored a run in the 4th, the two teams pitching staff kept the game scoreless until the 8th when the real drama started for this game. Jason Bay of the Red Sox hit a two-run home run over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead going into the 9th inning. With the dominant Jonathon Papelbon in to close the game, it seemed like a foregone conclusion the Red Sox had it wrapped up. However, the Rays had other plans. A lead off home run by Dan Johnson tied it back up, and Dioner Navarro's RBI-double a few batters later put the Rays up for good. Troy Percival came in to successfully close out the game for the Rays and give them an all important victory at Fenway that extends their lead back to 1.5 games over the Red Sox.

Fenway Park. FENWAY. In baseball circles, everybody knows about Fenway. Just the mere mention of that word and there are flashes of that old and historic stadium with that huge left field wall and it’s dark and shadowy stands that come to mind. FENWAY. I knew this was the only team that had a chance to beat Wrigley and the Cubs.. before the trip, I knew it was always going to be a two horse race. I’ll save you the suspense.. Fenway and the Red Sox win. But it was so close.. a photo finish if you will. Like, I’ve been thinking about it a ton since my first game Monday night. I kept on going back and forth in my head, pondering, “who the hell is better? They’re both incredibly incredible.” That don’t make no sense, but I don’t know how else to put it. These two stadiums are everything you think about when you think about baseball in that what you get going to a game today is more or less what you would have gotten 70 years ago.. baseball at these two stadiums is the genuine article. However, there’s a “but” to that with Fenway. They put up a video screen, they have advertisements on their outfield walls, and they have a mascot. Wrigley doesn’t have any of these things. But they also don’t have the same high level of actual baseball game atmosphere, and that proved itself to be the main difference. Here are a few reasons how:

- With Fenway (like Wrigley, at least I think although they could have easily had some organ playing without me remembering), there are absolutely no sounds during the baseball game. This calls for the fans to fill in the background noise. And you know what? It was hardly ever quiet. Even after the top of the 9th home run in my second game that absolutely hushed the crowd, there were soon the LETS GO RED SOX CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP chants going and the slowly increasing CLAP.......CLAP….CLAP...CLAP.. CLAP.CLAP.CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP at other times when the other chant wasn’t being performed. These things happen at all times, even shortly after the bad.

- When something bad happens like that home run, you totally sense it across the crowd. The wind is truly deflated out of the crowd’s sails. That is an overused expression in today’s sports world because of all the other noise they put in to the stadium experience, but when there is no extra noise to begin with, you totally feel the weight of the bad moment. That was very interesting to be part of, and it can only happen at places like this.

- After big plays, like the HUGE Jason Bay home run, this place goes absolutely bananas. People were jumping up and down, slapping high fives with random strangers.. you name it. I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited as I was at that moment, and this is coming from somebody who has always absolutely hated the Red Sox. That was the power of this place.. it made somebody who has detested the hypocrisy that is the Red Sox to actually cheer their head off for them to win.

- The introduction of closer Jonathan Papelbon, which happened both games for me, is out of this world. Basically, the crowd goes nuts. They play a song as he warms up, it’s a modern Irish jig type song called I’m Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys (I’m sure you’ve heard it.. for one it was in The Departed and its just been around in general). During the song, the entire crowd is standing up, and I’d say 95% of the roughly 38,000 fans are clapping the fast beat and yelling out “ooooo oooaaayy oooohhh” at the appropriate part of the song. I can confidentially say being a part of this was the greatest moment of my baseball going experiences during this trip. It was just insane that everybody was up clapping. I had a silly grin the whole time thinking “this is so fucking awesome!”

- Another “this is so fucking awesome" moment? It came in the form of the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline being played in the middle of the 8th inning. I knew about it going in, and was always kinda confused by it, but looking at the lyrics and being there I think it kind of has to do with how much the fans love their Red Sox and what they do for them. I’d say about 60-75% of the people were singing all the words (which were displayed on video screen) and nearly everybody jumped in on the “hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you…SWEET CAROLINE.. BA BA BAAA.. GOOD TIMES NEVER FELT SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD! which was complemented with hand points with the Ba Ba’s and the So Good’s. This was probably my second favorite baseball/fan moment of the trip behind the Papelbon one.

- What totally clinched it for the Red Sox? Fan attendance even in a projected bad weather day. The second night called for 70% chance of thunderstorms with hail and heavy rain. I had a small thought that there might be some noticeably empty seats at the game because of the threat. I sure was wrong. It was exactly the same level as the previous night, which had perfect weather. Red Sox fans.. they show up no matter what.

- Quick tangent on something that only added to the experience.. my first game was the night that the Red Sox broke the all-time record for most consecutive sellouts at 456.. this spans since May of 2003. I didn’t plan for this but I was there for it. They gave out these laminated souvenir tickets that commemorated the moment to prove you were part of history and really just showed their overall appreciation to Red Sox Nation. They also announced that a list of the fans (either at that game alone or the entire streak.. kinda confused on which) is going to the Hall of Fame. That’s right, ladies and gents.. my name is going to be in Cooperstown! What have you done lately?

So the fans put the Red Sox on top, even though they had some things that distracted from the actual game, like the mascot and video screen. However, the video screen wasn’t ridiculously used with a “kiss cam” or stadium pans with fans acting dumb to get on the big screen or stupid in-stadium contest giveaways where some tool is being the facilitator of the contest. Instead, it had a basic use of showing some info for the players and other small things, so I don’t really count it as a huge negative, only minor. So to put it simply and not in 8,000 words, the Cubs are the most genuine and simple baseball experience in all of Major League Baseball with their 100% focus on the actual game, but the Red Sox had better fans with more charm and I think a more historic stadium, making it an A++ and 1st overall, ahead of the Cubs. This place made a Red Sox hater into somebody who won’t be a hater anymore because of the incredible experience you get from being at one of their home games (and also the chance to see real Red Sox fans and not all the bandwagon fucks who I absolutely detest). Going in, I really didn’t want the Red Sox to be number one, but after actually being in their house, I don’t know how I could have it any other way. It's official.. I'm going to call it right now.. Fenway Park: the best place to see a game in all of Major League Baseball.

Game One: David Ortiz hitting a double off the Green Monster for an RBI

Game Two: Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K) doing his trademark pre-pitch wiggle

Greetings From New York City

2008-09-07T20:57:00.016-04:00

Miles Driven: 21,609

The Yankees play a song after the end of their games.. a song that is so New York its sickening. It starts out with this “Bah Bah ba da da, Bah Bah ba da da…” and then those velvety words kick in.. “Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today.. I want to be a part of it.. NEW YORK NEW YORK!” Besides the fact that it is incredibly sweet that that song is played after the games of a New York institution such as the Yankees, the words of that song.. after thinking about it I realized they really apply to yours truly. Literally every line. It’s kinda funny. The line “these vagabond shoes, are longing to stray; right through the very heart of it, New York New York” is pretty appropriate, don’t ya think? I’m obviously a vagrant now.. after traveling for nearly four months and spanning over 21 thousand miles. And ya know what? I’m longing to stray too. I wanted to be a part of it.. New York New York. As it turns out, when I got to be a part of it, I loved every minute of it.

New York New York.. it’s got tons of little areas that are together yet separate from each other. The boundaries aren’t specific, but they’re there. To make things easy, I’m going to talk about all these areas that I checked out in a north to south fashion.. the northernmost item will go first, and the southernmost item will go last. I really did a ton of stuff in the city, and I did most of my checking out by walking with my vagabond shoes. I didn’t sleep in the city, though. I drove over every day from New Jersey (where I went to sleep) and parked on Manhattan. It added up, as the Lincoln tunnel was $8 a day and parking was at least $20 before I figured out parking was free and very decent up in the upper west side’s lil streets (I’m sure the upper east side is the same way but I was more familiar with the west side so I just kept going there.. and I’m sure there’s other areas besides uptown that has free street-side parking). But I don’t care how much it cost to go back and forth.. I wasn’t going to not check out this area. It’s New York New York, baby, so I had to go out on the city as much as possible. All in all, I spent a good five days in the city, so I feel like I got a good feeling for the biggest city in the country.

The Isle of Manhattan is 23 square miles. In that small space, there are over 1.6 million people living within its boundaries. Luckily, there is a nice place for all of them people to go to unwind, away from the hustle and bustle and noise and congestion of the city. That, of course, is Central Park, the huge park located centrally (good name!) on Manhattan. It’s big enough to the point that you don’t have to go very far in to totally forget that you are in the most densely populated county in the country (thanks wiki for all these stats!). All the noise that you would think would never go away goes away. All the people that are seemingly everywhere, they go away too. Walking in Central Park allows you to truly feel like you are in the middle of a forest, because you pretty much are in the middle of the forest. The landscaping job that has been done here is truly remarkable. Central Park proves that a quiet day at the park is possible.. and the best part is that you can leave the isolation you gain and go back to the most culturally diverse place in the nation within minutes. I’ve been to New York twice now, and this has been firmly established as my favorite spot to go in the city. It really is breathtaking.

A fountain near the center of park

The area surrounding the fountain (and my super crooked pic.. damn I suck)

These awesome rows of trees and the only straight part of the park (according to some tour guide who I overheard.. the rest is curvy and hilly)

Sunset through the tree rows

Tall buildings, Serene Lake

Is this Louisiana? No, it's New York

Lake-side reflection

A view of midtown over the park reservoir

A ride through the park old-school style

Greenery

Open spaces

Plaza Hotel (on opposite side of street that boarders the southern part of park.. this is where Kevin McCallister was "Home Alone" in Home Alone 2)

Upper West Side streets that run perpendicularly to park

Sunday performers (these guys aggressively went after money.. kind of annoying especially when I only saw them for like three minutes)

When you think of the heart of New York City.. the place that never sleeps.. you’re thinking of midtown. This is where everything is at.. and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. There are just blocks and blocks of shops and restaurants followed by some more shops and restaurants after that. There is seemingly always something going on here. This is best seen with Times Square, which is most likely the hottest piece of real estate in the country. This place IS America. Anything that is new and current and considered “hot,” you’ll most likely see something about it on Times Square. I’m talking about the advertisements. It’s what makes this place sparkle and flash at night. But they really make you feel like you’re walking through a dream world because of all the bright lights they give off that gives life to the city. There’s even a glow that can be seen over the buildings of this general area from a good 20 blocks away. There’s also a lot of shops and restaurants and some hotels and the Broadway shows along this stretch too, but none of that stuff is what really makes Times Square so damn cool. Walking through this place, and simply being there, is all the motive you (or at least I) need. Going through this area at night was actually the last thing I did in New York, so I guess you can say I went out with a bang. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Wide shot of Times Square looking at both directions

A closer view of the 1st wide shot

A closer view of the 2nd wide shot

That ABC ticker on the left that you always see on ABC (go figure)

More Bright Lights

Daytime in Times Square

That one really skinny building

Where David Letterman does his thing

Sam Champion.. CBS weather-man extraordinaire of Good Morning America (a relatively newly-wed couple in Sherman Oaks, CA is jealous right now)

That one LOVE statue (I think the real/original is in Philly but I could be wrong)

Radio City Music Hall in greater Rockefeller Center area

That one Atlas statue in Rockefeller Center (pic sucks.. didn't take my time with it)

Located squarely in midtown Manhattan is one of the most iconic things of New York City.. the Empire State Building. It was the first true sky scraper this world has seen, having been built in 1932 and holding the title as the tallest building in the world until the WTC north tower was completed in 1972. It reaches 1,472 feet at its highest point, which truly is incredible even for today’s standards.. imagine it back in 1932. That is why it has been designated a historical landmark (goddamn wiki is awesome) and continues to be the most famous thing of the New York City skyline. Simply put, it’s a really sexy looking building, no matter what year you’re in. And even if 9/11 didn’t happen, it still would have provided the best views of the city since it is centrally located, making it easy to see all the different areas of the huge metropolis. Saying all this, I just had to go up in it. I went last year when I was in the city, but I wanted to go again. It’s kind of a wait to get to the top, and it’s not free (it’s like $17 I think), but it always would be worth it. Why? On a clear day (like the day I went up on), the view is amazing. Here you are, standing on an observation deck located outside some 1200 feet above the land below you while looking out at the greatest city in the world. To make it even more amazing, you’re standing in an area that was once inhabited by the great Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan for their shot in Sleepless in Seattle, so you’re part of movie history as well. The only bad thing was that there was an incredible amount of Euro trash up there, and especially on my day. I was so annoyed by it. NOBODY spoke English up there. Instead, it was all prettyboy Europeans with their Capri pants and sleek sunglasses and overall impeccable style who don’t know how to move away from prime real estate and let others enjoy the view. Anyway, I digress. This is must-see when you’re in the city, so much so that if you find yourself in New York and don’t go to the top of this thing, I’d have to ask.. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!

Empire State Building looming over a Manhattan night

The biggest building in NYC

The tippy-top

Waiting in line inside

The scene up top

Typical Euro Trash (the vast majority on this day sadly.. see that strap? It's a purse.. his purse)

The View North (Central Park in center.. that green spot.. Bronx is way off in distance)

The View Northeast (Chrylser Building notable in this one.. make it big to see.. if you don't know what Chrysler Building is it's the only unique one near center of pic)

The View East (and the East River, oddly enough. Queens is kinda that way)

The View Southeast (Brooklyn is this way, Brooklyn Bridge is one of those bridges you see if you blow it up.. the furthest right if you can tell)

The View South (the financial district are the big buildings.. Liberty Island is in horizon in water you can barely pick out Statue of Liberty but it's there)

The View Southwest (Hudson River is the water.. it along with the East River makes Manhattan an island)

Looking West (Madison Square Garden edge can be seen on bottom and New Jersey is the land on the other side of Hudson)

The View Northwest (big buidlings are going up this way)

The View Straightdown (on eastern side, I think)

The View through the bars

That one skinny building from up high

Midtown's big buildings close/Downtown (financial district) off in the distance

Chrysler Building Towering over the others

Why do I always make the same dumb face?

Throughout New York, there are tons of little neighborhood pockets that make it differ from other areas. This could mean it has a different architectural style to it or simply just the types of people that inhabit the area. One of the most known neighborhoods is SoHo, which is located south of midtown, and, more specifically, South of Houston Street (get it?). This place I guess used to more recently be known for the arts, but now, it’s also a super trendy area of the city.. a place where all the young hipsters live. Since it has a label as a “hotspot,” there’s money here. With money comes douchebags. I was sitting in a vegan coffee shop one day (they pushed wifi and I had to finish my DC post.. I didn’t know it’d be like it was) and I got to see the types of people who live here up close. Basically, I saw a douchebag! In walked a guy who was up on all the newest styles and looked like hot shit and knew it. He wanted a bagel, specifically, he wanted a salt bagel. But not just any ole salt bagel. He said, and I quote, “can I get this salted bagel? This one closest to me?” Instead of taking his request for what he considered the only bagel good enough for him lightly, he watched to make sure the vegan got that exact bagel and didn’t leave the window until he got it. I guess to a hot shot like him, the only things he can have are perfect. But we’re talking about a bagel here. They’re all the same. After seeing this play out I was just like WHAT. A. TOOL. Still, it was cool being in this area since it’s a historic part of town that used to be known as the cast iron district since there is lots of iron out front on the buildings (or something). This helped to make the buildings look like the buildings when you think of New York.. what with the fire escapes out front and just the general appearance of everything. The hipsters made this specific neighborhood a tad bit annoying, but it was cool seeing one of the many neighborhoods of the city and how they can be different from each other.

That one arch kinda north of SoHo

The architecture of SoHo

Perhaps the most important district in New York is also the most important district in all of the world.. the financial district.. a place where nearly all of the financial decisions of the economic superpower we know as the United States take place. It’s the only place in New York that has a super serial (wait, I mean serious) vibe to it and nothing else. There are no cute little shops here.. only official looking skyscrapers. Everything is bland and lifeless, not colorful and full of life like you would find in one of the more happening areas. But this is as it should be. The people working here are top shit who care about nothing but work and the stock market. It would have to take a dull person to want to work here, so the place is dull. Not a hard connection to make, huh. But its cool at least checking it out. It’s nice to see the center of the universe in the economic sense.. see who is responsible for killing all my funds (you bastards!).

The Corner of Broadway and Wall Street

New York Stock Exchange

Federal Hall (where I guess Washington was inaugurated for his presidency)

A guard packing some serious heat

Some sort of interview going down for NBC's financial channel on the heart of Wall Street

"The Charging Bull" of the Stock Market

Where the World Trade Center used to stand

Trinity Church

That one red cubey statue

Some other red thing across the street from the other red thing

Food Carts serviced mostly by Indians in the Asian sense of the word (these stands are all over NYC.. it's something that makes it cool)

???

Located near the southern tip of the Financial District is Battery Park, which is the gateway to another one of the most iconic things in New York.. the Statue of Liberty (there’s a ton of stuff that is iconic to New York I’ve noticed). This is the thing that best represents our country’s beliefs.. the idea that is freedom for everybody to have in this world. It’s one of the most American symbols we have because of all the things it stands for. The statue is located on an island off the coast of Manhattan called Liberty Island, which is also close to Ellis Island. A ferry can take you over to both of them from Battery Park for only $12. It really is something that should be done, as the view from Manhattan isn’t that great. You can’t really see the details of the statue. Up close, you see it all. It really is an impressively sized statue that only gets more impressive the closer you get. I greatly enjoyed seeing this piece of American history. Something else that I didn’t know I was signing up for on this ferry ride was a stop at Ellis Island (the ship takes you directly to Liberty Island, then on return trip it makes an optional-to-get-off stop on Ellis Island). Since I may never make the trip over to the Statue of Liberty again, I was like why the hell wouldn’t I stop on Ellis Island, the place where it’s likely that at least one of my ancestors rolled through. There wasn’t a ton to see here, but it was very well put together. In the main building and (I think) the only building you can really walk through, they have all these visual displays that showcase the statistics of immigration to this country and the role Ellis Island had in this. It was cool being here.. a gateway island that literally millions of people have at least some connection to. All in all the ferry experience proved itself to be very worthwhile and really showed how deeply historical New York is.

A statue that used to be near the WTC but is now in Battery Park.. it was slightly destroyed from the attacks

How'd this get in here?

Oh yeah.. it's NYC (near the boat landing for ferries to Liberty Island)

The Coast Guard escort for the ferries to Liberty Island (don't ask me why)

Lady Liberty and her pedestal

Upper half of the woman of New York

Her torch (which sheds light of freedom on world)

Her head (with seven-point crown that represents seven seas and seven continents)

Her tablet with July 4, 1776 in Roman Numerals

Lady Liberty walking away

The foliage on Liberty Island

The front of the main building on Ellis Island

The back of the main building

First floor where all the displays were located

Second floor

The view from the stairs

A cool looking window on the second floor

The view your ancestors had of New York if they came to the country through Ellis Island

Yet another iconic part of New York is none other than the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects Brooklyn with what is now the financial district. You may think.. “it’s just a bridge, and not a big one at that.. what’s the big deal?” Well, I’ll tell you. This bridge is a suspension bridge that stretches over a mile long, it was the first one to use steel wire suspensions, and all of this was done back in 1883. Not exactly a time of high technology. Sure, things were starting to boom, but things like this simply weren’t being built. The fact that the bridge that was built in 1883 still is capable of bearing all that weight and can allow cars to go over (something which obviously wasn’t its original intent) is pretty incredible. Because of this, it along with many other things has become an essential part of the New York skyline. I decided to walk over it since I unintentionally ended up right by it from my walk through SoHo down to the financial district. It was even better to see it from up close and is yet another thing which makes New York so great (so it's too bad it keeps getting destroyed in movies like I Am Legend and Cloverfield).

The walk from afar to close to one of the posts of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Bridge going to the Financial District

The road of the Bridge

The View of Brooklyn from its Bridge

New York also has an ocean coast in its expansive boundaries, but mostly just on Brooklyn, one of its more southern boroughs. One of the more known stretches of coast on Brooklyn itself is Coney Island, an old carnival-type area that forever makes you feel like a kid again. That’s because the games and activities of Coney Island are very dated and are the kinds of things you would see at local fairs.. things like little merry-go-round type rides and carnival games where you can win fantastic prizes like a huge stuffed animal or novelty glasses. It also features one of the most iconic roller coasters in all the land, the Cyclone, which has been running since 1927 and is right on the shore. Coney Island also has a nice beach next to all this stuff, which is a good place for all the New Yorkers to get some rays on a beach. But sadly, I learned that the carnival-esque part of Coney Island, Astroland, will be closed down after this summer (today, actually). I guess there has been a recent dispute with the land and the carnival-type rides are being taken down. This is a historical locale, and they are taking it down all because of money. It really is sad to think that I was one of the last people to enjoy an iconic place like Coney Island that has been going strong for almost 50 years. Maybe it had to do with the seedy type of area the place is in and a desire to spruce it up. But you got to wonder why do such a thing. Oh well. I’m really happy I went here and got to see how this place will always be known. It’s too bad it can’t stay that way. It might look better when they do whatever they want to do to the area, but it will never have the same spirit that has captured imaginations for many years. R.I.P. CONEY ISLAND.

Coney Island

The Wonder Wheel in Astroland

Carnival-esque games

Brookyln's oldest (and only?) rollercoaster.. the Cyclone

The View from Coney Island's pier

The pier from the beach

The Boardwalk scene

Main Street's scene

A Coney Island tradition.. Nathan's Famous

I couldn’t walk EVERYWHERE around New York. It’s a huge city. I had to take a few.. shortcuts. What did I use? Why, the subway, of course! It has the ability to take you all the way up from the Bronx down to Brooklyn faster than you can read the complete collection of William Shakespeare’s sonnets (154 in total.. I’m guessing that would take a good hour if read quickly.. it’s still impressive! That’s kind of a large distance if you go from end to end on the subway). While I didn’t have to do that trip specifically, I did have to shoot down to Battery Park, up to the Bronx for my Yankee game, over to Queens for my Mets game, down to Brooklyn for Coney Island, and to and from nearby Central Park gates a few times. In other words, I got really familiar with the New York Subway system. You know how cool it is to be able to say that? Looking at the subway map can be pretty intimidating at first (it was for me last year), but now, I can look at it and figure out a real good way to get from one spot to the next. The subways really are the best way to travel around the city. They cover a large area and despite what you may think about the subways, they really are a clean and safe way to travel (at reasonable hours.. no idea about 3am through Brooklyn or Bronx). So if you find yourself lost with only $2 to your name.. find your nearest subway to see what new part of the city it can take you to! (I sound like one of those cheesy NYC tourism dudes right now.. WTF is wrong with me)

Subway sign (those circles are the train labels.. that many is not common but since it's Times Square it has a lot of trains going to it)

Grand Central Station (has local subway train stops along with faraway trains from outside of New York)

Subway hall

A train whizzing by

Express Train shooting through the center

Waiting for the train to come get me

On the inside (this is an older one.. the newer ones look a bit more modern and are usually pretty busy)

Celebrities are a dime a dozen in New York. You can seemingly always turn a corner and be face to face with somebody who is known by millions. Just last year I saw Andy Roddick during his birthday celebration. It didn’t even feel weird, since many people who are a big deal usually have some sort of business to attend to in New York from time to time. He had to play in the biggest tennis tournament in the year for him. It’s expected he can be seen there. While I was totally stoked, it truly didn’t feel weird. Why am I saying this stuff? Well, I saw somebody in midtown Manhattan my first day there. I had the clues up for awhile.. really famous, not part of any of the major sports but it gets really popular at different times, is proven to be the best ever in their sport.. to me, these clues make it really obvious. Think about it.. what gets really popular every once in awhile that isn’t major.. how about the Olympics? That has lots of minor sports. What is one of its biggest attractions and isn’t considered major? Swimming fits that, yeah? And who, I might ask, has proven themselves to be the best ever in their sport.. no questions asked? Well, Michael Phelps, of course. Yes, yes, if you couldn’t figure it out before, I saw MICHAEL PHELPS in New York. He is definitely the biggest person I have seen in my life, even bigger than Larry David who I just saw in Frisco (sorry LD!). This probably has something to do with the fact that he has proven himself to be the greatest Olympian of all time. That’s no small feat. He was being escorted around town between New York obligations. I guess he was striking while the iron is hot for him. I barely saw him, as I was mindlessly walking around midtown trying to kill time before my Yankee game. As I came up, I saw people gathered around and I was going that way anyway and when I got up there I saw the man himself. Maybe he was doing some autographs, I don’t know, but when I got up there he was heading inside his really nice SUV with his bodyguards close by. I didn’t have time to get my camera out for a good pic, so instead I got a blurry one that is too light since I was making it lighter for the shadowy Times Square. You may not be able to tell it’s him, but trust me, it is. I saw Michael Phelps in New York. BIG DEAL. Just another day in the city.

IS THAT..

MICHAEL PHELPS?!?!

I'm a constantly fibbing man, but not about this.. it was him

Frankie Sinatra.. were you writing those words to your most known song for me? I don’t know how you couldn’t have been. Those vagabond shoes that are longing to stray right through the heart of New York? COME ON.. I haven’t stayed in one place for an extended period of time since May! And there’s nothing I want to do more than stray away in New York. Those little town blues? I’m from Whitehouse, Ohio. If that’s not little town, I don’t know what is. Being a part of the city that never sleeps? How could I not feel part of the city? I spent all day there for like five days! That’s me all the way! But it's not for me you say? Well, Frankie, I can see that angle too.. I can see how you didn’t write it for me. That line of I’m leaving today? I’m not sure if that’s true. Because if I ever go back to New York New York, I may never end up leaving. This place might not be a place I move to soon, but someday, I would love to never leave the city that never sleeps.. make a brand new start of it in old New York New York.

Greetings From New Jersey

2008-09-07T15:54:00.002-04:00

Miles Driven: 21,527

To be brutally honest, I’ve always had a really negative opinion on the state of New Jersey. I thought it was the state that was meant for all the rejects of the world. I don’t really know why I thought this, but I guess it had to do with the knowledge that it is the most populated state in our country (most people per square mile for its state size) which obviously would make it busier and more dirty by the simple fact that a lot of people are in a smaller area. You also never hear anything good about it. Like, for example, on my site I get my stupid shirts from, they have one that says, “Jersey girls ain’t trash (trash gets picked up).” That doesn’t sound very flattering, now does it? On top of the bashing, there’s also that idea that all the mobsters flock to Jersey and bring their corruption to our society (thanks Sopranos!). Going by the kind of press that New Jersey gets across the nation, I don’t know how you can think anything but bad things. However, from what I saw I think all the stereotypes are overrated and it isn’t all that bad of a place to be.

Since my main interest of this area was the cities bordering New Jersey, most of my time was spent driving through the state. Going by the stereotypes of Jersey, I thought it would be gridlock driving the entire time through slummy areas that are all dirty and gross. But from what I drove through, that simply didn’t happen. Jersey’s nickname is the Garden State, and for the most part the drive was nice and green like the nickname implies. There were times Jersey felt dirty, but that was only like half the time and most of that was just up towards New York City and down by Philadelphia. The rest of the areas were decent and felt like any other ole place. I guess Tony’s crew hasn’t gotten to the majority of the state yet.

One of the very few things I actually wanted to do in Jersey was check out Atlantic City. Like everything else, I had a negative idea about this place. I always thought it would be a seedy and dirty version of the other gambling locale, Las Vegas. When I actually got there, I was surprised to see that it was very similar to Vegas. It had the big casinos aligned mostly in the same area instead of small and dirty casinos spread out, which I kind of thought it would be. The main area of the city, the boardwalk, was also real nice and clean too. However, this came as a disappointment. I was hoping Atlantic City would have this edge to it, but instead it felt like any ole tourist town. This is disappointing if you’re going there for a different experience, but good if you like tourist towns by the beach with gambling right there too. But perhaps the most significant legacy of Atlantic City is that the best board game ever, Monopoly, had its origin from the city streets of Atlantic City. It made going here totally worth it. Whenever I play Monopoly from now on I can be like “Baltic has cleaned up its image! I’d pay serious dough for this street! WHAT A STEAL!!” ..or something like that. Well, actually, probably not. That's actually a really dumb thing to say.. I'm a fuckin' idiot.. I'm a fuckin' idiot... (at least I feel that way after saying something stupid, unlike Scotty who felt that way after asking Dirk Diggler for a kiss on the mouth in Boogie Nights.. there's yet another obscure movie reference nobody will get.. I'm good at that).

The beach of Atlantic City

Walking down the boardwalk

Inside one of the casinos

Jersey.. why do you get such a bad rap? You weren’t thaaat bad. Sure, driving through you is extremely fucking scary when in the busy parts (the drivers are fucking crazy), but other than that, this feels like any other area. I don’t get it. Maybe the ass holes of the state are the loudest of voices, so they carry the most weight with the opinions being made. Whatever. I’ll remember you’re garden-ee too. But I won’t be living there anytime soon. If I want a garden state, I’d rather stick in Ohio. But this place is a decent alternative.

Game Twenty-Six: New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies @ Shea Stadium, New York, New York on September 5th, 2008

2008-09-06T15:07:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Shea Stadium in the Big Apple. The Mets of New York take on the Phillies of Philadelphia in a huge NL East showdown that seems eerily similar to the 2007 season. Last year, the Mets had a sizable lead in the NL East ahead of the second place Phillies, but a late season sweep by the Phillies in New York played a huge role in the Mets collapse that ultimately resulted in the two teams switching spots atop the NL East, with the Phillies going to the playoffs and the Mets staying home. Flash-forward to today, where the Mets find themselves just three games ahead of the Phillies. Unlike last year, the Mets are playing solid baseball, but it doesn’t matter, as a sweep will still get things all tied with the end of the season in sights. The Phillies would love for history to repeat itself with another division championship jump-started by a sweep, and the Mets want nothing more than to lay to rest the demons of the past by successfully hanging on to the division lead they have held for so long. This series will either prove itself to be a case of deja vu to last season, or another reality will be created.. one where the Mets hang tough.

A 1st inning run proved itself to be enough for the Phillies, as they won by the score of 3-0. The Mets have one of the better offenses in the National League, with numerous all-stars at the heart of their order. That didn’t matter to Phillies starter Brett Myers, who put on a masterful pitching display by going 8 innings with ten strikeouts and just three hits given up. Mets starter Mike Pelfrey also pitched extremely effectively going 7 innings and giving up just three runs (two earned), but just not as good as Myers. The only offense came by the hands of Chase Utley’s 1st inning RBI via groundout and an insurance two-run home run in the 7th by Greg Dobbs. Things got interesting in the bottom of the 9th for the Mets, but ultimately, Phillies closer Brad Lidge was able to finish it off and give the Phillies the all-important victory.

With the somewhat storied tradition of the Mets at a stadium that is on its final legs, I was expecting an electric atmosphere from beginning to end. Sadly, I was slightly disappointed. The Mets can simply be called an average place to see a game and nothing more. The stadium was far less than stellar, but I was never expecting much. My only frame of reference was during (I think) a Seinfeld episode where Jerry said how Shea was a dump (the alternative was he said that in real life). Sure enough, Jerry was right. This place was one of the more confusing stadiums to get around. Each section was divided by metal railing, and each section was made up of only like four seats. This resulted in a ton of metal bars that didn’t help make the stadium look all that nice. The sightlines were also bad, as the rise between rows was slight so that you had to keep maneuvering yourself to change with what the people did between you and the action, and this wasn’t helped by the constant traffic down the aisles. The charm wasn’t all that great either, as nothing really stood out from this team to differentiate it from the rest of the teams besides a LETS GO METS chant that featured celebrities like Kevin James, Chris Rock, and Darryl Strawberry trying to get it started via a jumbotron recorded video. But out of everything, the fans disappointed me the most, as I was expecting something at least up to par with the other east coast teams I’ve seen (except the Nats but I don’t count them.. they’re new). This was an extremely big game with a division rival that kept them out of the playoffs last year, which you would think would make it all the more exciting.. much like with the game I saw between these two teams in Philadelphia that included the same stakes as it does now. That place was off the hook, this place was loud but not HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO FUCKING HUGE loud. Maybe it had to do to the pitchers duel this game became with no runs being scored by the Mets, but even if it did the Mets had a small deficit whereas the Phillies had a large one for their game and it was still really loud there. To be fair, this place did get loud when things got really interesting in the 9th, as the Mets fans reacted loudly to the situation. But where was that the rest of the game? There were runners in more innings than just the last one. However, this did raise the experience up a bit. They are good fans, I could tell, since they still had real hope even down 3-0 in the 9th. But I was expecting something amazing, and I can’t say it was, but it still was pretty good. With all that said, I’m going to give the Mets a B and 14th overall, ahead of the Angles but behind the White Sox. If the fans were as good I thought they would be, it would be a top five experience, but they were just okay, so they have to be middle of the pack.

Carlos Delgado getting a hit in the 9th to make the Phillies nervous

Happy Birthday Keanu Reeves!

2008-09-02T11:55:00.000-04:00

Game Twenty-Five (second game): New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays @ Yankee Stadium, New York, New York on August 29th, 2008

2008-08-30T12:12:00.008-04:00

Greetings from Yankee Stadium in the city where that big ole ball is dropped for every New Year. The Yankees of New York take on the Blue Jays of Toronto in a game between two AL East foes who are holding on to their slim chances of a postseason appearance. The Yankees find themselves in a better position than the Blue Jays, as they are six back of the Wild Card position but three games ahead of the Blue Jays, who have played well of late to get back above .500 and into the playoff picture. Both of these teams need to win and win a lot to make up their rather large deficit. The winner of this series will likely be the team that is more up to the challenge, and both teams would like nothing more than to get a win to get a good start in the first of three contests.

The surprisingly effective pitching performance by Yankee starter Carl Pavano kept the Blue Jays in check just enough for a 2-1 Yankee victory. Pavano, who has been injury plagued over the past four seasons after signing a huge contract, gave up just one run through 6 innings and was only pulled to keep his pitch count low since he really hasn’t pitched much of late. His opponent of what turned into a pitchers duel was one of the three Blue Jays aces A.J. Burnett, who had the bad luck of losing even though he lasted 8 innings and gave up just two runs. All of the damage came in the 4th, when Bobby Abreu hit a double to bring in a run and Jason Giambi got a sac-fly to bring in another run after a catch in foul territory. Marco Scutaro added an RBI single for the Jays in the 6th, but it did not amount to anything more. The Yankee bullpen kept the Jays scoreless for the remaining innings, which included an impressive 5-out save by Mariano Rivera to give the Yankees another victory.

Yankee Stadium. There may not be a more storied stadium in all of sports, and certainly not American sports. Like it or not, the Yankees and baseball go hand in hand. It is the sport’s most popular team in it’s largest city, and then there’s that little fact that they have won 26 World Series titles, with all of them being won while they called Yankee Stadium home. Simply put, this place is soaked in history. A ton of the all time greats have played here while wearing the famous pinstripes and winning titles. Like seriously, there’s Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, and on and on. I know I’m forgetting tons of guys of an already impressive list, but you get the idea.. lots of guys have played in Yankee Stadium delivering an infinite list of some of the most celebrated moments in baseball history. It really makes you nostalgic when watching a game here.. thinking about all the big moments that happened here on one fine Summer/Fall day. Why am I bringing this up? Well, if you know anything about baseball, you would know that the Yankees are building a new stadium and tearing this one down, and this is the last season the Yankees will play in this incredibly historic stadium. To me, this is an outrage, but I won’t get into that. But the fact that they are tearing this place down makes every game here a big event, since it’s end is so near. Accordingly, the two games I saw were two games I was looking forward to the most. I went last year for a pair of games to make sure I went here in my lifetime, but it still felt just as special coming here for this year's games. But, this led to a somewhat bad dynamic for the actual game experience. Since there are like 12 games left here after my two, a ton of tourists are doing what I originally did last year in the form of catching a game here in their lifetime before it comes down. This becomes really obvious when tons of pictures are being taken with the field in the background and the cheers not as loud as what you would expect. I know it gets better, since I saw more what it was like last year for my visit, and that is more rabid and loud and not kind of lifeless. So I was kind of disappointed with my games, but I totally get why they are like that, I just wish they weren’t. However, something that takes away points for me no matter what is the fact that this place has gone a bit commercial. The biggest sign of this? The hated video screen with stupid video clips that appeals to casual fans. That’s not baseball, and it detracts from the game. So with everything considered, I’m going to give the Yankees an A (based mostly on last year’s vibe) and 2nd overall, ahead of the Phillies but behind the Cubs. It kills me to do this but the Cubs didn’t sell out with the video screen while the Yankees have, and there were less pretenders for the Cubs (although I know the same thing would happen if they announced Wrigley was coming down). But this is still THE place to see if you’re a baseball fan. Because to me, this stadium is baseball. It represents all that is good with the game because of how deeply engrained baseball is with this place. A team like the Yankees made the sport popular all across the nation. There’s not much time if you haven’t been there, and I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Go now if you fancy yourself a baseball fan to see history in action.

Mariano Rivera winding up for a pitch

Game Twenty-Five (first game): New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox @ Yankee Stadium, New York, New York on August 28th, 2008

2008-08-29T12:03:00.009-04:00

Greetings from Yankee Stadium in the biggest city in all of the United States. The Yankees of New York take on the Red Sox of Boston in a game between the two most heated rivals in all of sports for the last time in the house that Ruth built. The Yankees find themselves in an uphill battle to make the playoffs for the 14th straight year. Their biggest obstacle in the standings? The Red Sox, who lead the AL Wild Card spot the Yankees covet but are behind the surprising Tampa Bay Rays by 3.5 games in the AL East. The Yankees lost the first two games to the Sox for the series, and another loss will put them at eight games back, which is most likely an insurmountable deficit. But six games? You never know. The Yankees will try and get it to that and keep their glimmer of hope alive for something that is usually a lock for them, while the Red Sox will love nothing more than to shut their hated rivals out of the postseason.

What started out bad for the Yankees turned into a highly dramatic and close 3-2 victory over the Red Sox. The Red Sox had trouble getting anything going off of Yankees starter Mike Mussina, but that changed in the 5th when two RBIs were produced by Jason Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury to put the Red Sox out to a 2-0 lead with Sox starter Jon Lester pitching beautifully. When the game went to the bullpen in the 7th, the tides changed. After a Cody Ransom double, pinch hitter Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer to deep center off of reliever Hideki Okajima to tie the score at two. The Yankee bullpen fared better than their counterpart, allowing no more runs for the final two innings. The Sox can’t make the same claim, as a single by Giambi with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th gave the Yankees a walk-off win and making Giambi the big hero in the process by getting all three Yankee RBIs in this critical victory.

Check out my Yankee write-up with the Toronto Blue Jays as the opponent for my complete thoughts on Yankee Stadium. Just to say a little bit… This game was in the bleachers so it provided a different experience. The section I was in is I guess known for the personalities of the section. In the top of the 1st inning, one of the Yankees faithful calls out one of the Yankee players and the section then chants his name. The reason? To get a response from the player, and to not stop until they acknowledge them with a wave of the glove or a point. This continued through the whole defensive lineup between plays, with the obvious exception being the pitcher and catcher. This is done only by section 39, AKA the “bleacher creatures.” When I got the ticket I didn’t know about this but I’m glad I was there. The whole vibe of being in the bleachers was that you were kind of in it together, which was cool. We were all out there, in the hot sun, in our tight little seats, cheering on the Yanks. The bleacher experience proved itself to be a real positive since it brought the charm level through the roof for my time at Yankee Stadium.

Alex Rodriguez fouling one off

Greetings From Delaware

2008-08-28T13:18:00.003-04:00

Miles Driven: 21,017

Delaware.. let’s see.. the only thing I could think about when driving through that state is this story involving the Broiler. In the way way back in time days, there was this thing that happened every August.. this father/son canoe trip that my father and I got into that involved some friends of his. We went a good ten years I’m guessing. Anyway, one year, some shit went down for the Broiler. He was probably like 19 or 20 at the time, and he had lots of beer in his canoe. Drinking was a big thing on this trip for most of the involved parties. Talk about some father/son bonding, especially when I’m like 14 at the time and I get to see my dad acting all silly. Back to the story. Broiler has beer in his canoe and is underage. He had to think he was okay.. I mean.. it was some scenic little river in northern Michigan. What kind of trouble could there be if he has beer in his canoe? Plenty. Because little did the Broiler know, he was being watched.

On the way up we got a flat tire and were behind the rest of the group by quite a bit of time. The Broiler actually got a flat tire on the way up too, on the same pot-hole no less, but he had a better flat tire transition so he got out quicker. So we are trying to catch up to others (along with one of my dad’s friends and his son who stayed behind to keep us company) by paddling like crazy once we get in the water. As we turn a corner about an hour in, we see the Broiler with his canoeing partner friend. We guessed he would be first, since he got a late start too. When we turned and sort of saw him up ahead, we were like oooh there’s somebody we know! And as we get even closer we see there are two cops and the Broiler is looking all annoyed and reserved. We were like oooh shit and carried on in our canoe (most likely because there was a 6-beer limit to every canoe, and my dad didn’t want to get busted with his probably a case or two of beer. Good uncle to the Broiler, huh.). The Broiler caught up later and we heard all about it. I forget the small details, but I remember the big ones. The cops name was Donald Johnson. What’s the short of Donald? Don.. the same name as the actor who is most known for playing Sonny Crockett on the hit 1980s TV show Miami Vice. The Broiler, thinking who the fuck is this guy, gave him a fake name and fake social security number, which the cop actually was serious about seeing it through and called it in and found out it was fake. The Broiler also said he was from somewhere other than his real home state of Ohio. Where? DELAWARE.

So, to recap, my cousin the Broiler got caught by Don Johnson of northern Michigan and tried to shake him lose with fake info and Delaware being his chosen fake state. Luckily, the cop didn’t come down hard on him and just took the beer away. This, coincidentally, was the last year the Broiler made it to the annual canoe trip, with the flat tire surely not helping the cause. Because of all this, the only thing I think of when the word Delaware is spoken is this here story. If it never happened, this write up would have literally just been a road pic up and me just like “yeah.. that’s it.” So thank you, Mr. Broiler, for making Delaware relevant.

(and there's no way I'd ever live here.. I don’t want Don Johnson looking for the Broiler’s relatives thinking they’re bad seeds too and thinking they deserve to go down after the one that got away)

Greetings From Maryland

2008-08-28T00:08:00.002-04:00

Miles Driven: 20,964

With all the rivers, lakes, streams, mountains, and oceans that span this world, some landforms and political boundaries aren’t going to be very uniform. They’re going to have a wackness to them that makes them all goofy. Most states are like this, but none are like Maryland. I’ve never really looked at it intently before but.. holy shit. This state is weiiiird. It looks like a dude sitting on a chair with his hands above his lap flipped 90 degrees counterclockwise. IT DON'T MAKE NO SENSE! But even though its shape is all ass backward, it’s pretty much just like any other normal state I’ve come across.

One of the few things I did (albeit lazily) was tour the city of Baltimore. With my short scamper through, it seemed like a nice city. It had its own style to it that made it different than other cities.. it was unique. With what, you ask? Well, if you are intent on bugging and driving me to death to hear what the fuck I’m doing, then I’ll tell you. But not after a long, profanity-laced and pointless ramble about the inner complexities of giving you the information. Like seriously, I could have said so in mere seconds, but instead, I’m going on and on about nothing in particular. La-de-da, la-de-da la-la. You’re still this far huh? It’s not toooo interesting. Baltimore, that is. I mean, yeah, it’s different, but it’s a pretty small thing. Like, once you hear it, you’ll be like “Really? All that build up for that? I hate you Shawn.” But if you made it this far and you’re okay with being let down then I guess I’ll tell you what it is. But not happily, my friend. NOOOOOOO. Not happily at all. Quite angrily, actually. To get this far through this stupid rambling, you really have to be nosy. Like, really, REALLY nosy. I’m going on and on and you still are right there on my ass wanting to know what Baltimore is all about. WELL FINE. I’ll fucking tell you. So you can ease the fuck up. The biiiiig secret is…. a lot of the buildings are made of brick! That’s the big secret. You happy now? Did you get what you came for? Are you satisfied? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?? No? Well fuck you, ‘cause that’s all I’m saying about Baltimore. DEAL WITH IT.

The brick buildings (I don't like putting another road pic in after that standard first one but I don't have a pic of the buildings without the city. Chalk my annoyance with it to another thing that you are like "huh?" and I'm like "DUDE IT'S A BIG RULE I'M BREAKING!!")

Some government building I drove by

Since I’m your little jack-in-the-box and you still are spinning the crank, I’ll pop out and tell you about other small things about Maryland. This state is really effing small. I know a lot of them are small on the east, and this is no exception. Driving from DC to Baltimore is like thirty minutes if traffic is good. Those are two major cities within a mere stones through between them. It’s weird to be able to do that. But traffic does suck in this state at rush hour.. so the drive might not always be that easy. A lot of the hot-shot government people commute back and forth, making the drive a pain in the ass even though they’re close. Everything else I went to felt very suburby in appearance. Which isn’t a bad thing, I suppose.

Maryland. Pretty normal. Learned not to judge a book by its cover after going here, 'cause I thought it would be strange going in with its weird ass shape but it wasn’t. But since it’s just some normal state that I have no connection towards, this state isn’t in the running for me to live in it. And that’s all I have to say about that. I hope it entertained you. If not.. you know how I feel about that.