I Was Right The First Time...

Okay, so if you read the blog yesterday or the day before , you'll see I've had varing opinions about Yankee fans.

Well, after the Braves defeat at the hands of the Yankees tonight, I've decided that Yankee fans are gracious lossers and annoying winners. Loud loud yells, lots of chants. It sounded like freaking Yankee Stadium tonight. Very bad.

The walk up was still low, but I did get a pretty cool assignment. I've been talking about bidding for batting practice the last couple of days. Today, I was the doorman to the field. There was some concern that people would try and reuse their batting practice wristbands from the day before. Well, low and behold we did have some punk try it and I ran him off. Don't try any of that low class stuff with me. I'll get you everytime. I was extremely close to the Yankees and Braves tonight. Gag me with the Yankees though.

Oh, by the way, batting practice will be available to the public past the Yankees and Red Sox series at a set price of $50. That rocks. 50 clams gets ON the field, stationary right behind the players to get all the pictures you want during both batting practices. Neat.

Back to the walk up real fast. Yesterday's was the second LOWEST of the season. In case you don't know what the term "walk up" refers to, it's anyone who arrives at the ballpark for the game without a ticket and purchases their tickets just before entering. Walking up as opposed to getting it in advance at the box office or through the Internet. Second lowest this season. That's really bad. We've had games with rain, potential rain, extreme heat, week day games at night, week day games during the day, and we are in the same division as the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals. So, that really says something about people's collective thought about ticket availability. It's shocking. I mean, all of the parking IS sold out, but the seats are not. Interesting to day the least.

So, Bobby Cox wasn't ejected tonight, but Yankees skipper Joe Girardi was. But don't be discouraged. Cox is still awesome in the " You Are Outta Here " department.

On a total side note, watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog. Joss Whedon at his "grrr-arrgh-y-est". ( What the hell is he talking about? )

Don't settle for it just once. Go out and buy it and watch all the extra features, including "Commentary, The Muscial!" Wow, now that's a bit of all right.

I Stand Corrected

Well, I was wrong. Yankee fans are not worse than Cubs Fans . They were generally polite and civil. Of course, there was the typical booing and cheering and chants and such, but that's to be expected.

The sad part was that the Braves have been advertising for some time now about this homestand. "Get your tickets now! They go fast!" and things like that. There are even tips for fans attending the game. In fact, for the last week the message boards on the Interstate system have been saying "Braves Permit Parking Only. Others use MARTA."

Well, there was a ton of people there, but the walk up was nothing. We had about 30 police barracades placed in our sales line to help with the overflow of people, but the people didn't come. I think most were scared that if they didn't have tickets already, they couldn't get them. I mean, we had additional staff, Atlanta Police in force with their mobile command unit and horseback patrols, and a ton of management from the front office around. And it was nothing. No line to speak of at all. No window had a wait of more than three people at any given time.

Now, I'm not one to say I-told-you-so, but I totally called this one. My memory of the Red Sox series from two years ago was a good predictor of tonight. I worked almost every day out in the line and it was so boring. My theory is because there was so much fanfare about this game and so much hype, that fans assumed that if they didn't have tickets, they can't get in. On Friday and Saturday, that will be true but not for the rest of the homestand. My slight fear is that people will sit at home and see the empty seats and actually show up in droves for the rest of the games. Possible, but still pretty unlikely in my book. We shall see if I'm any good at this whole prediction stuff.

Today was really hot though. I mean, REALLY hot. Fans and employees alike were falling over like crazy. I can't really comment on it, but let's just say I had to stay late tonight for some paper work related duties. That means I got stuck in the traffic, which was horrible.

But at least the Braves pulled out a victory . A nice one too. And just in the nick of time for one Turner Field landmark. That big Coke bottle is being retired on the 2nd of July.

Before I forget, I did get and email from Georgia State Athletics today. That's good. I haven't worked there in over a month because of a Maymester and surgery. In addition to the email, I saw Carlos (marketing guy) at the game. Huge Yankees fan and he actually did bid the auction I talked about yesterday and won along with about 70 other folks. He paid $51 if you are interested. And it sounds like Georgia State is still interested in me from what he says. That makes me feel good. I really did put in some good work and I hope they have some good work for me. I don't know if they want me to come back until I go to Disney (about a month), but I'm willing if they are. I'll have to see.

Well, I'm pretty exausted and tomorrow is round three (of ten!). And the forecast for tomorrow calls for more 90 degree weather. Drink plenty of fluids if you are going to be outside tomorrow.

Welcome to Hell Week (plus!)

Well, tomorrow begins the most impressive homestand the Atlanta Braves have had in at least the last three years.

Starting tomorrow (Monday), the Braves play a make up game against the Cubbies of Chicago. The Cubs are always the biggest opponent of the year that we can count on at Turner Field since they are in the same league.

Tuesday thru Thursday matches the Braves against the overrated New York Yankees. Even those that don't know anything about baseball know the Yankees. And anyone with half a brain hates them. The Yankees ball club is where the good players go to end their careers and whither away. It's like the retirement home for MLB.

I just can't wait for those fans. All the "ey's" and "yo's" and better-than-you attitudes. Should be fun. I'm not against fans getting ejected for pulling stupid stunts and acting like idiots.

After the Yanks, the Red Sox come into town for a weekend series. Another gigantic opponent. Not nearly as annoying (as memory serves), but numerous nonetheless. Plus, it's a weekend series which always up the fan-alcohol intake. You know, I've been doing this job for a few years and I'm not stupid. It still amazes me when a fan will pull alcohol out of their pocket and put up a verbal argument when I call them on it. We don't sell in glass bottles and we don't serve in 12 oz cans. I mean, if you're going to sneek stuff in: be smart about it.

Icing on the cake to these monster series is a mid-week series against the Phillies. For those counting, that's 10 games in 11 days. So, I'm going to be missing trivia the next few weeks.

On top of that, I've got a few important school meetings this week. Beyond class (with test on Thursday by the way), I've got a meeting with the Department Chair on Thursday at 1:15 to discuss my participation in my internship in the Spring and my non-conventional class this Fall. Friday has me meeting with the internship coordinator to finalize some details. Should be alright.

So, I apologize right now if I miss a little while worth of posting. Hopefully, I'll have some observations about Yankee fans and Red Sox fans. It will likely be biased. I try to be unbiased when talking sports, but there is only one exception: Yankees. While I'm always a Braves and Thrashers fan, I can realistically look at a loss and give a neutral stance, if I want to. I'll always root for them, but can handle a loss. The exception that is the Yankees: I always want them to lose. Always. No other team has this kind of moniker. I just can't stand a team that is so full of themselves they would build a more expensive stadium with less seating. Huh? A team that spends more money on players than any other team and STILL can't win the pennant with the dependancy one would expect.

One interesting point though. The Florida Marlins mascot is reportedly paid more than the Yankees mascot though CC Sabathia makes more than the Marlins Payroll.

Just how much are they getting paid? Well, let's look.

MLB Salaries

That's $201,449,289 for the Yankees. Second is the NY Mets at $135,773,988. Boston is in at four with $122,696,000 and the Braves are at 11 with $96,726,167. Bottom of the list the Marlins at $36,814,000.

So why do I hate the Yankees? Because of their "mighter-that-thou" attitude without enough sufficent evidence to back it up. Yes, they've been to the playoffs a lot, more than most teams. Yes, they have a number of World Series Championships, more than any other. BUT, they should absolutely dominate if the tried and true theory of economics means anything.

I mean, if one pays more for something, shouldn't it be better than something else that costs less? I'd be ticked off if I payed $20 bucks for a meal that came with a burger where the guy next to me paid $12 for a steak with choice of sides and a dessert. That's what happens everytime New York doesn't win the division behind Boston or, dare I say, finish behind the (Devil) Rays. And how are the Yankees doing this year? Right now they are second in their division, 4 games back of the Red Sox. Money does not buy championships. Heart does.

Okay, enough for now. I've got to meet with the surgeon tomorrow. Fun times.

Oh, and Bobby Cox was ejected today along with Chipper Jones and Eric O'Flaherty in a Braves loss.