redbirdbrain

… So what do I do to end a seven-game attendance losing streak?

Oh! I know: Book tickets for the September 22-24 series against the Astros in Houston! I’m going to break my losing streak, I just know it. Not only that, but I’ll be sitting with Danyah, who was kind enough to invite me down there, in the first place. And my roommate, who’s a pseudo-Astros fan, will be joining as well. All around fun and good times!

I can’t wait!

Okay, so I was at the game tonight. And guess what? I don’t want to talk about it. Whatever. We all knew that homer was coming. I’ve never felt confident with Izzy on a one-run lead, so I’m not particularly cursing his name. Say it with me: “Eh, we all knew he was going to do that.” This is why I’ve registered the website oh-come-on-like-you-didnt-know-izzy-was-going-to-blow-that-save.com. (No, I haven’t really registered that site. That link is a total lie. But I’m considering buying geez-the-mets-suck-i-am-shocked-that-the-cards-cant-beat-them.com. Although it’s probably not available any more, after tonight’s game, right? I’ll have to think of something else.)

Anyway, moving on.

My date for the game was a Yankees fan. I must say that I have a bit of a crush on this particular Yankees fan. What’s funny about the situation is that the guy kept talking about the Yankees. Yankees this, yankees that. And I kept thinking, Dude, how could you possibly STILL be talking about the Yankees? What’s so interesting about the stupid Yankees? And then I realized that this is EXACTLY how my friends feel about me when I’m rambling about the Cardinals 24/7. So I guess I’m not really one to judge? Is this karmic justice, after so many years of torturing my friends through nonstop Cardinals discussion?

The other problem with my Yankees-fan-who-I-have-a-crush-on is that he bought me a beer (yea!) except that it was a Coors. (Cue sad music.) Honestly, people. The ONE THING that you must not do is buy me a Coors. Or a Miller. Ok, that’s two things you must not do, but the point remains. If I’m going to drink a crappy yellow beer, it’s going to be a Bud, damn it!

Anyway, I’ll be at the game tomorrow, and I promise not to bore you with lame stories of my boring love life. Instead, I’ll discuss the GAME! (Ok, that is a lie. I probably will just gossip about the people I was sitting with or something.)

1. The CARDINALS ARE HERE! Naturally I’m planning on attending all three games with various friends. I’m so excited that I’ve got my outfit for tomorrow night already planned out!
2. I just might have one more new ballpark trip in the works for this year. I don’t want to say too much (for fear of my sisters noticing and talking me out of it), but pieces are suddenly (way suddenly - this trip wasn’t even on the horizon a few hours ago) aligning for me to see my fifth new ballpark of the year. Cough cough. I wonder, though. Would my possible host have invited me to see her ballpark because she knows THE CARDS GET SWEPT EVERY TIME I TRAVEL TO SEE THEM? Hmm…
3. Numbered lists! Apparently I love them and can’t stop using them.

While I’m waiting for the Cards/Cubs game to start (grr, not like I’ll be able to listen to it anyway, stupid work computer), I thought I’d write up a little report on my adventures in Pittsburgh. Better late than never…. Or a day late and a dollar short? You decide. Details behind the cut.

(more…)

My computer at work is crappy. Make that INCREDIBLY crappy. Usually, I don’t really care, but today it wasn’t letting me load Gameday Audio. Grr. Fine, I’ll just look at gameday.

Which I don’t like doing. It’s an exercise in torture. Especially these messages that always seem to pop up:

In play, no out recorded
In play, run-scoring play

AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT FIVE MINUTES TO SEE WHAT’S WHAT. I think the gameday people do this on purpose, just to milk the suspense. Why are they so cruel to us?

And then there are the times when the damn thing just stops loading in the middle of a count… Until five minutes later you see… another pitch. Honestly, the VEB posters are faster than gameday. What are they DOING in there? And I can’t even listen to Mike Shannon to console myself. Poor me. All alone in a cubicle, dying from the suspense.

It’s just so mean!

Having said all that… Today was a blast. How much fun was that win? Fun in retrospect, I mean. Pitching duels are particularly stressful and miserable to live through. But damn it, the endings sometimes make all the suffering worthwhile.

“I came all the way to Pittsburgh! I showed up! Why didn’t the Cardinals show up?”

Hmm. So I travel to see the Cards play in Detroit. And they get swept. And then I travel to see them play in Pittsburgh… And they get swept. So should I cancel my trip to DC over Labor Day? On the other hand, I’m not generally a superstitious sports fan. The answer could be that the Cardinals just aren’t very good, whether I’m in the stadium or not. 

Actually, I have lots of thoughts and reports from my weekend in Steel City, and work permitting I’ll try to get them up today or tonight. (If you’re expecting Cards analysis, don’t. These are reports of the chitchatty variety.) But first I wanted to say just a few things:

1. I already miss Larry Borowski! Only six days until he comes back from vacation! To be expected, given my cardsblogger abandonment complex, I suppose.
2. Anything from any team that isn’t the Cardinals is lame.
3. Unfortunately, the Cardinals are also lame.
4. I use the word “lame” more than any human has a right to. (Just ask Fritz who apparently received a drunken phone call awhile back with an unholy number of “Is this video game laaaaaaaaaaaame?” type questions. Or Danyah, who posts blog titles to that effect). 
5. I should wean myself off this word, no doubt.
6. But it seems to be the best word to describe the Cards right now.
7. So where does that leave me?

No, my new favorite team isn’t the Yankees, although I do have a brand new Yankees pen that I’ve been using to write with this morning. (Don’t harass me, I got it for free at Yankee Stadium on Sunday! I love free things!)

Apparently, I’m now a fan of the young, surging pirates, as we snagged the last room available for this deal for next weekend vs. the Cardinals (heard of them? they’re that shoddy team from St. Louis that has now lost six in a row - as if the gritty, hustling pirates would ever do that!). I’ve changed my allegiance because the always-a-threat Pirates are going to give me LOADS of free things:

Pirateball - http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com
The young, surging Pirates are the talk of baseball. With their young
power pitchers and gritty, hustling play, the Pirates are always a
threat in the National League. And since the team’s home field, PNC
Park, is rated as the best in the nation, a trip to see the Pirates
rates as a memorable experience. Only a 10 minute walk from PNC Park,
The Priory is proud to offer its Pirateball package, which includes a
one night stay for two in one of the Priory’s standard rooms, two Left
or Right Field Box Seat tickets (Sections 105, 107, 108, 125, 127,
12 to the Pirate game of your choice, two Pirates hats, an in-room
ballpark fun basket, including popcorn, peanuts, cracker jack and
other treats, and a valuable discount coupon book. click to reserve

The Pirateball Package may be yours for only $184.00-199.00 (plus
tax). Pirates tickets are subject to availability; the portion of the
Pirateball package attributable to the Pirates tickets is not
refundable once the package is purchased. Click here to check the
Pirates’ schedule…

In all seriousness, my feelings on the Cardinals can be summed up in the words of one Mr. Alex Fritz, who sent me the following text message from a wedding back in early June: “They were playing ‘Celebration’ at the wedding and I just didn’t feel like celebrating. 1982 this is not.”