Photo TR: Scott's Ongoing Sports Venue Thread

[sfkk339]

Awsome PTR! I'm a huge UK fan and I also attended the game.....

IMO Rupp Arena is a beautiful Arena on the inside but on the outside I would Agree with you. The fans are very loyal fans the absolute best, Really what team has 17,000 fans go to Las Vegas to watch the beloved cats play? Suck that you didn't get to visit the Meusem to get the real UK experince , It closed a few weeks ago and is being moved somewhere on campus or possibly a new Arena which is very possible in the next few Years. Rupp Arena should stay though it;s a very historic place, Yes there where faumos UK games there but there also was some really great Tourny games...Theres nothing like a filled and loud Rupp...

[mr_teisco_delrey]

A belated welcome to the Bluegrass. Yes, Rupp is very bland,but remember it was opened 32 years ago. UK is wanting to build a new arena (suite revenue). I really don't expect to see that anytime soon given the economy. I hope the Cats get back to full strength soon. The Tubby years were a real letdown.

[ginzo]

Despite being lifelong fans, Shannon, along with many of her cousins, had never been to Rupp Arena to see the Cats play (picture getting even clearer?).

 

That's pretty sad. I'm barely interested in basketball and I've seen my alma mater play a few times. But, frankly, it's not surprising considering they're UK fans. I suspect that most of the UK fans I know have never actually been to a game even though it's not far from here.

 

As for my school, they're playing Duke on Saturday. A win would be nice.

[BeemerBoy]

Philips Arena - Atlanta, Ga - Atlanta Hawks vs. Boston Celtics

 

Okay, first things first. After going back over the previous posts before merging the threads, I realized that for some strange reason I flaked out and never responded to the first two. So let me say a special thanks to those of you who had posted responses, compliments, etc. I really appreciate it!

 

This past Friday we went down to Atlanta to watch the Celtics play the Hawks! Personally, I really like Philips Arena. I've been there a bunch of times now, and while I haven't caught a concert there yet, I've seen hockey and basketball games. The place doesn't seem to have a bad seat in the house.

 

Besides being located in downtown Atlanta, I think it's one of the better "new generation" professional sports arenas.

 

Anyway, on to the pics.

Peace out. A-Town down, bitches.

 

Thanks for reading!

Guinness.....Mmmmmmm.

Time to hit the bar.

Here's what the front portion of the arena's exterior looks like. If you notice the clever design feature, email Dan and tell him what it is.

Yes, we made it on the jumbotron with our sign. People loved it. Success!

Okay, funny story. We're setting up for a group pic, and obviously people walking by notice it and politely help out by clearing some space for us. EXCEPT for this douchebag. Yeah, he didn't even bother to stop, and the photographer clicked this unknowingly. I LOVE this shot.

Two happy Boston fans.

And one final look at the court at the conclusion of the game. Boston wins 99-93!

Paul Pierce on the line, and coming through in the clutch.

The TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTH!

And here we have Stephon Marbury slashing to the hole. I honestly never imagined myself rooting for this guy at any point in my life. However, he's a Celtic now, so he's my boy....for the time being anyway.

Time for a few blurry, random game action shots.

Philips has a fairly unique design feature. This side of the arena is where all the luxury seating is located, and as you can see, is stacked to the ceiling above the lower bowl seating.

The view from our seats prior to tip off.

Time to head up to our seats.

There's actually a larger place located amongst the food outlets that's designed to look like an Irish pub. This one is the ghetto version of that, yet still satisfying.

Here's your first look at the main concourse. I'm sorry I didn't take more detailed pics of the food offerings. They've actually got a good range of options....even if you do have to take out a second mortgage to afford it.

This is a Ferrari. It is very nice. It is inside the arena. I don't know why. Evidently a lottery promotion of some kind? I didn't bother to pay attention to that.

For some odd reason, any attempts at photography in this place are hit or miss for me....usually as a miss, blurry like this one. I'm not sure why that is.

The exterior of the aforementioned arena.

Pulling into one of the parking lots shared by the Georgia Dome (not pictured in this report), and Philips Arena.

Arriving in downtown, you see this impressive video wall. That's also a great show, by the way!

Let's head to Atlanta, shall we?

My treasured t-shirt from 1987 which I can obviously no longer fit into, but will let my beautiful wife wear with pride? Check.

Larry Bird Night t-shirt which will make all the real, non-bandwagon Boston fans in attendance jealous? Check.

Nasty looking Red Sox hat? Check.

It's spring, and that means time for cherry blossoms to, um, blossom. Yay for cherry blossoms, because that makes me think about visiting Japan one day. This has nothing to do with the rest of the report.

[bigstevet07]

Is that guy that walked in front of the group pic Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince? Maybe he just wanted the world to know he was still around.

 

Great pics, that is pretty strange how all the suites are on one side. I wouldn't be too happy if I paid a premium price for a suite and ended up in the rafters.

[AllenA07]

I won't bother Dan, nor spoil what that feature is, but I really like the design feature. I've never seen a building do that before.

[BeemerBoy]

^^ Uncle Phil. LOL. Yeah, the luxury suite arrangement is somewhat odd, but I like it though for some reason. Of course, now that I think about it, there were also a few behind us, which was near the top of the lower bowl section. So maybe there's a few more scattered about that I didn't realize.

 

 

^ Instead of Dan, you could always text Ryan about it too.

[Jew]

Great report! You've inspired me to post the first of my NBA reports instead of paying attention in class tonight.

 

Without having been to the arena, I have say that I like the concept of loading up the luxury suites on one side. The 300 level @ Staples Center is horrible past the first few rows because of how high up it is due to three levels of luxury boxes separating it from the lower bowl.

[ebl]

One of these days, I'll have to break down and visit Staples Center for some event. I never did go to the Forum when the Lakers were there, but I've heard I didn't miss much. The L.A. Sports Arena is...eh. My last visit to Anaheim---er---Edison Field---er---ANGEL Stadium was back in the early '80s, so I can't say how it is now compares to then.

 

Eric

[coastercrazed49]

Woooooo Celtics!

[BeemerBoy]

Homestead Miami Speedway - Pennzoil 400- November 12th, 2000

 

*Warning - this report has lots of words. If you're not into NASCAR, and especially don't like to read, then this report may not be for you....although there are still some pretty pictures too.*

 

 

Racin' time, kids! More specifically, NASCAR racing at the Homestead Miami Speedway. For those of you who know Nascar, you know that the early years of this race were flat out boring. The track was originally designed to host Indy cars, and not NASCAR. Because of that, there wasn't much banking. And because of that, there wasn't much actual racing to watch. The field would thin out rather quickly, and then it was basically single file racing with huge gaps between cars.

 

It has since improved a bit, but will never be confused with the more exciting super speedways like Talladega and Datyona. Regardless of excitement levels, I grew up a NASCAR fan, and loyally followed Dale Earnhardt, Sr. I used to tune in to ESPN religiously to watch "The Intimidator" race. I won't wax poetic about his career and his unfortunate passing, but I'll just say that this guy was the shiznit when it came to four wheels as far as I was concerned.

 

Okay, so two weekends prior to the race I was driving up to Boca to watch the Canes play on tv at some sports bar. I hear a commercial about a local car dealership giving away tickets to the race. It just so happens that dealership was coming up on my right, so I stop in. I quickly filled out the form, tossed it in the box, and made plans to come back for the drawing in a couple hours later.

 

Long story short, I leave at halftime of the game, show up, and WIN! Heck, I didn't even realize that the grand prize was two tickets to Pole Qualifying, the Busch Race on Saturday, two tickets to the Winston Cup race on Sunday, AND..........the opportunity to be an honorary pit crew member for Johnny Benson!

 

I was even offered three grand for this opportunity by a friend of mine. Although I considered it, I just couldn't pass up an opportunity like this!

 

Unfortunately, this was at a time where I all had was a crappy disposable camera, so the pictures are somewhat limited. Man, thank God for the digital age, and not having to save pictures while you tried to predict what you'd see later in the day that would be worth using one on.

 

On to the pics! Enjoy.

After I was able to hold the Winston Cup Trophy for a second, I caught up with the champ, Bobby Labonte, for a quick picture before his ESPN interview. Apparently, the photographer couldn't wait just a second more until we were both ready. Oh well.

 

Hope you all enjoyed that lengthy account of my awesome NASCAR experience!

Then I was lucky enough to get a shot of Dale Earnhardt's car being loaded into the hauler. Folks, if you've been wondering what the haulers are all about, they are the way a NASCAR team transports its car from race to race.

 

As you see in this picture, they can hold the main car and a backup car up top. Below is like a mini garage. They can do just about anything they want to the car from the back of this trailer!

 

And forward of the garage area is a nice sitting area that's like a mini living room. Really cool stuff!

Race is over. Tony Stewart won, and then literally almost ran me over heading to victory lane. Seriously, it was like a theme for the day....let's do our best to make Scott look like a fool somehow.

 

Seen here is Bobby Labonte hoisting the Winston Cup Championship trophy. Tony won the race, and Bobby won the Championship on this day. Not too shabby for Joe Gibbs, I'd say.

Unfortunately they didn't have the full race uniform for me to wear, so I had to settle for a team shirt of some kind.

 

But listening to the driver, crew chief, and spotter on the headset was priceless!

Which made it intersting that the 'ole "Rainbow Warrior" himself was in the pit box to our left, and we were sandwiched between 'em.

 

Oh, and remember those instructions for the gas tanks? Well, I despise Jeff Gordon, so I took pleasure in lowering my shoulder into one of his jacka$$ crew members who wouldn't move out of my way on one of my return visits to the pit stall. He yelled something at me, but it's awfully loud down there. I shrugged my shoulders and kept moving. He shot some glares at me throughout the rest of the race. Chump. hehe.

This is Kasey Kane. He was a rookie, and his crew chief was Ray Evernham. Evernham used to be Jeff Gordon's crew chief during his early glory years, and at this point in time, there was a little bad blood between them.....

Pit stop #2. Seriously, watching 6 guys fully fuel up a car and change 4 tires in about 15 seconds is AMAZING!

Here's the line to refill the tanks. I was behind Rusty the first time, as you can see here. The team has four tanks, so if you're stuck back here while there's another unplanned pit stop, they have the other two to use.

 

Even so, as soon as you got your hands back on the full tanks, it was a mad dash back to the pits!

And here's Johnny's first pit stop. I was assigned the job of taking the empty fuel tanks back to get refilled after each stop. Make no mistake, this is a no-nonsense operation!

 

I was informed that I should wait for NO ONE on my way back with the tanks. The one crew member told me, and I quote, "If ANYONE gets in your way and won't move, RUN THEM OVER. I don't even care if it's someone from another crew."

 

I took this to heart, and looked forward to implementing that strategy to it's fullest. More on that later.

And the race starts! That's Ernie Irvin leading the pack to the green flag.

And then I asked the crew chief if I could walk out to the track where they had lined up the cars prior to starting the engines and running the pace laps.

 

My intention was to wish Johnny good luck, and then head back. Just as I reached this point the crowd rose and the national anthem started. I quickly snapped this shot and retreated back to the pits looking like a fool. Oh yeah, you might have noticed the color guard to the left of the frame. Yeah, I was standing right in the dead center of the infield, and it felt like everyone was looking right at me. Damn I felt stupid. LOL.

The crowd starts filling in the grand stands.

It was really cool how close you could get with the all access pass. I was pretty amazed that the crew never said one thing about me being that close. I feared that I might get my head cut off if I touched it, but luckily I was able to give the spoiler a quick touch when no one was looking.

 

On a sad note, this would be the last full race Dale Sr. would run. Just a few months later he died on the last lap of the Daytona 500.

And now, the star of the show!

I bet you didn't realize these are really electric hybrids.

Dale Jr.'s ride. "Yeehaw." "This is the new generation of Wrangler." "East bound and down, loaded up and truckin', we gonna do what they say can't be done." "Git-R-Done!!" And whatever other redneck things you can think of. I was pretty stoked to run into this badboy before the race.

 

Junior's a great guy, too.

Here's Joe Gibbs looking over Bobby Labonte's car. Joe Gibbs owned the team which consisted of Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte. Joe Gibbs is a class act! He took time out to talk with me and sign a couple things before heading to the Sunday morning church service, and the driver's meeting.

And here it is passing inspection. For some odd reason, I completely failed to get any pictures with Johnny even though I spent a couple hours before the race with him and his team at their hauler. Seriously, I'm confused as hell as to why I didn't. He was a great guy to be around, and hanging out between Kenseth and Dale Jr.'s haulers was pretty kicka$$ too.

 

Maybe that's why I didn't get those pictures. I really was distracted by all the other drivers I was secretly more anxious to meet. Shhh, don't tell.

And there's my boy's ride! Woohoo. Johnny Benson won the Busch Series one year. After that, he didn't do much while racing with the big boys. But today, I was his biggest fan!

This is Mark Martin's car before he started using Viagra. A side note: he is now 107 years old, I believe.

Kenseth's car passed inspection, by the way.

 

Here's another look at the garage area.

Matt Kenseth's car set up for pre-race inspection. The metal cut-out frame you see is what officials use to make sure every car, depending on each make, is uniform in it's set up. What that means is that, in this case, every Ford has the same dimensions.

 

This prevents any team from having an unfair advantage during the race. Nascar may seem like just a bunch of rednecks turning left, but there's a lot of science involved, folks. Nascar is a sport of inches, literally. If a car's spoiler is off by a degree or two, it could mean a second off the driver's lap time, which is obviously crucial to winning. That's why everything is monitored so closely.

 

And that's your Nascar lesson for the day, kids!

First I had to literally jump out of the way after I clicked this shot. Ricky Rudd's team didn't care who was standing in their way, they were coming through!

There's that Black 3 again. The money shot is coming up soon.

You can barely see Rusty Wallace's ride in the garage back there.

Hmmm, whose car might that be? We'll get back to that in a few. This is where all the cars are receiving their final tune-ups for the big race. Crews are allowed to make minor changes to the cars' set-ups before going through final inspection by NASCAR officials.

Here we are Sunday morning around 10am, and here's a look at the row of haulers in the background, with some of the teams' crew members preparing the race's tires they'll be using.

And the most important part....all access Garage Pass. Score! With this thing, I was basically able to enter the infield and park alongside the row of haulers. You can't get much closer to the action.

And finally, Sunday's ticket to the Pennzoil 400.

Here's Saturday's Busch Race ticket.

I think I'll start posting ticket stubs too since I LOVE saving all of them. This is for pole qualifying for Sunday's race.

Here's an overview of the complex. You'll notice there's not much around it. Yes, it's in the middle of frickin' nowhere. Welcome to Homestead, Florida!

[Hotlanta]

You wrote many superb TR's Scott, but this one is now the undisputed champ . I didn't know you are a Nascar fan. I would kill for an oppurtunity to be on somebody's pitcrew for a day (Even an abbreviated "race" with Derrick Cope would do).

 

This is what i love about nascar the most, nowhere else can you get that close to the action. I had a garage pass for the fall Atlanta race in 2004, my best afternoon ever.

[cycamps]

That was definitely cool to see. I used to be a Nascar fan, and those are the years I remember liking it. Neat to see the slightly retro pics.

[AllenA07]

I was a Ricky Rudd fan for many years, since he has stopped driving I've been waiting for a new driver to follow.

 

And if it makes you feel better, I'm sure I watched that race and never once did I think, "Hmm look at that idiot in the infield."

[ParkTrips]

This is a Ferrari. It is very nice. It is inside the arena. I don't know why. Evidently a lottery promotion of some kind? I didn't bother to pay attention to that.

Look at the banner behind it: "Whats your fantasy?". Its obviously a promotion for the Ludacris concert tonight... "cause you know it got sold out"

 

Where'd you get the Guinness? One of the Taco Mac's down there? Stats?

edit: nevermind the answer is right in front of me

[bigstevet07]

I'm not a Nascar fan, but reading that TR makes me want to do that one day. That is really cool that the drivers are so easily accessible once you can get close to them. That would never happen in most other major spports.

[BeemerBoy]

You wrote many superb TR's Scott, but this one is now the undisputed champ. I didn't know you are a Nascar fan. I would kill for an oppurtunity to be on somebody's pitcrew for a day (Even an abbreviated "race" with Derrick Cope would do).

 

This is what i love about nascar the most, nowhere else can you get that close to the action. I had a garage pass for the fall Atlanta race in 2004, my best afternoon ever.

Thanks. Yeah, the garage experience is definitely unique. Regarding your's and Steve's comments, it is very cool that almost all of the drivers are very receptive to the fans, and willing to stop for an autograph or picture before the race. And when you think about it, that's pretty admirable considering the element of danger involved, and the fact that they're about to somewhat put their lives on the line. Personally, I'm not sure I could be as calm and welcoming as most of those guys are.

 

 

I was a Ricky Rudd fan for many years, since he has stopped driving I've been waiting for a new driver to follow.

 

And if it makes you feel better, I'm sure I watched that race and never once did I think, "Hmm look at that idiot in the infield."

 

Kind of the same here. Naturally after Sr. passed, I rooted for Jr. That all changed last year when he started sleeping with the enemy. Now I'm pretty much a Tony Stewart fan. I think that guy might be the best driver on the planet. I mean, I can't think of anyone else that could be as big a threat to win behind the wheel of so many types of cars.

 

And thanks for the vote of confidence. It was definitely an odd feeling standing there in the middle of everyone at that very moment.

 

Where'd you get the Guinness? One of the Taco Mac's down there? Stats?

Yeah, it was The Black Bear Bar or something like that. Maybe Big Bear, or Black Bear Big, or The Bar Bear. I really can't remember for sure, but it did have Bear somewhere in the name. Aside from the Guinness, the lineup seemed fairly weak.

 

That was definitely cool to see. I used to be a Nascar fan, and those are the years I remember liking it. Neat to see the slightly retro pics.

You remember being into NASCAR at age 7? Cool. I'm trying to remember how strong my sports knowledge was around second grade. I can only remember going to Dolphins games at that point.

 

 

Thanks again, guys. Up next, it's baseball season! So naturally that means we'll probably focus on what's also happening that's even more important.......the NHL! Stay tuned.

[BeemerBoy]

Fenway Park - Boston, Massachusetts - 2002 - 2004- 2008

 

 

Okay, I lied. I don't have all the hockey pics scanned, so we're going with America's past time.....baseball!

 

I'll be honest, I'm still a Mets fan first and foremost. However, if they're out of the picture (see: the last nine years) then I root for the Red Sox. Luckily I've been able to make the pilgrimage to Fenway park several times, with my first visit happening in 2002.

 

Even while I haven't been to Wrigley yet, I'm going to go ahead and safely consider Fenway Park as the best stadium in baseball. Sure, they've modernized it a bit over the last 7 years, but I think it still retains a great bit of the old charm.

 

In fact, considering the fact that current management made the commitment to remain at Fenway gets major props from me. It'd be pretty easy to pull a Steinbrenner, and ditch the old joint in favor of new digs. However, Sox management understands the appeal of the current stadium, and what it means to all of "Red Sox Nation."

 

In this series of photos, I'll start with several shots of how it looked when I went in 2002, and work towards it's current state. A bunch of the pics you'll recognize from my other trip reports, but eh, they belong here as well.

 

 

Enjoy!

Standing on this ramp affords you a great chance to watch the Seattle bullpen, and their relief pitchers warming up.

 

We'll go ahead and stop here for now. I'll finish up with the final visit a little later. Feel free to interrupt with comments.

I hung out here for several innings so I'd be close to Ichiro in right field.

 

Hint: that's the position he plays.

And the view from right field looking towards the Monstah.

The view from center field.

Okay, now we're talkin'! A beer, a Fenway Frank, and a great day for an afternoon game in Boston = baseball heaven.

And a look at the new right field upper deck bar area. I hung out there for awhile, but didn't take any pics for some reason. Again, a very tasteful addition to the stadium (not in a sense that Budweiser is tasteful though....please do not make that mistake).

You'll see a Dunkin' Donuts ad up there. It is New England law that no citizen shall be further than 100 feet from any Dunkin' Donuts location, and/or advertisement for one.

And the view towards the plate. I thought the tv screens were a bit lame. I mean, who goes to Fenway and watches the action from those? Whatever.

As you may have noticed from the ticket to this game, it was standing room only. Believe it or not, I was able to grab this one online a week before the game for $20.00! I honestly didn't think that was gonna be possible; however, I was in cheap....yay!

And no, it didn't bother me to simply wander around without anywhere to officially sit. According to one usher, as long as I wasn't blocking anyone's view, I could sit down pretty much wherever I wanted. Here's the first view of the afternoon game.

This is a wall. It has a sign painted on it. Yeah, that's all I got.

Noted.

Hey, where'd those seats come from?

 

This was the trade off for not leaving Fenway for a new stadium. In order to bring in as much new revenue as possible, they added as many new seats as possible, and found plenty of new places to slap advertisements on.

 

Personally, at first I was skeptical, but after seeing the outcome in person, it was done pretty well.

A quick look at a billboard outside the stadium.

Fast forward to 2004. The Mariners were in town, which either meant that some battles at sea were about to ensue, or I'd just get to finally watch Ichiro play.

 

Place bets on the latter. He happens to be my favorite Major League player to watch.

I almost touched Fenway's famous left foul pole. It is now named the "Fisk Pole," after Carlton Fisk.

 

Just Google it.

I was hoping that by switching the settings to black and white, that Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio would be playing.

 

I had to settle for Jeter and Nomar (Boston accent: Nomah).

And once again in classic black and white.

The view looking towards home plate.

It was Memorial Day weekend, so the Monstah got a decidedly patriotic touch during the National Anthem.

And once more. Notice the far right portion of the picture. The upper deck might change by my next visit as well.

This would be the view from my seat.

Yours truly, taking in the sights from a box seat prior to game time.

You'll notice that there are no seats atop the wall. That will change by the next visit.

Here's a look at the back of the left field wall, affectionately known as the "Green Monster." And with a Boston accent, it becomes the "Green Monstah."

As promised, my first Fenway ticket stub. Catching the Yanks in town was an added bonus. And as you can imagine, it cost me slightly more than what the face value reads.

An overview of Fenway Park.

[DiSab]

I was in Boston for a week this past winter break, yet I didn't get to Fenway. Even if I couldn't go in, I would've loved to see it in person. Next time I'm there, I'll be sure to catch a game. Boston is one place I'm definitely going back to within the next few years.

[Jew]

Keep the awesome TR's coming...Fenway is at the top of my "must visit" stadiums. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a visit this season...

[BeemerBoy]

^ & ^^ Thanks, guys. To me, it's answers like that which completely validate current management's huge decision to stay where they're at. They completely understand the historical value of the place, and that people will continue to visit year after year. All it takes is some renovation work and a little creativity with the older stadiums that are worth saving.

 

Here we go with the final installment!

Goodbye, Fenway. Time to walk back to the T station.

 

Oh, by the way, supposedly Manny jacked one onto the highway at one point in his Boston career. Granted, it may have bounced, but yeah.

 

Thanks for viewing. Hope you enjoyed!

I LOVE the classic touches like this.

Looking back over the Monstah to Lansdowne Street.

A SNL skit comes to mind here.

A look at the new Gulf ad in the left field corner.

I'd pay top dollar for those puppies.

...The Fenway Frank. Seriously, I'll put these up against any others, from any ball park, on any planet.

Me, holding the most important part of Fenway......

It's because he was closing in on 500 home runs.

Okay, I guess this was technically the last shot. Why was it somewhat important?

My last shot of Manny being Manny in Boston. Now Joey has the opportunity to see this every day in L.A.

The next few pics will be random shots from the park.

 

Oh, and by the way, we were playing the Brewers. Is there a better team nickname in sports?

 

I mean, the Detroit Automakers would be lame. The Florida Fishermen would suck. But they actually named a team after guys that make beer. Stop and think about that for a sec......classic, ain't it?

The Cask 'n Flagon. It's a crappy pic, but great bar. I took this after the game, which is why the sky suddenly looks horrible. ESPN is right, this does deserve to be high in the rankings!

Just a short walk from the T Station, you come to Lansdowne Street....this time sporting a banner.

I doubt they're packed in as tight as in Japan, but it's definitely a squeeze on game day.

Time to hop on the Green Line towards Fenway.

[ebl]

"And with a Boston accent, it becomes the 'Green Monstah.'"

 

People in Boston have an accent?

 

Nice TR. Even though I'm not into sports so much, I do enjoy the venues.

 

Eric

[BeemerBoy]

^ Thanks again, Eric.

 

 

AT&T Field - Chattanooga, TN - August 8th, 2008 Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Tennessee Smokies

 

 

We'll stick with baseball for now. Minor league baseball to be exact. For those reading who are unfamiliar with professional baseball in the United States, here's how it's broken down. There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball. Each of those teams has a network of minor league teams which they use to develop players until they're ready for the top level, referred by many as, "The Bigs," as in the Big Leagues.

 

Minor league baseball basically has three levels: Single A, Double A, and you guessed it, Triple A, with Triple A being one step away from "The Bigs." In the case of this trip report, we'll be watching the Chattanooga Lookouts, which up until this current season were affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. They are now the Double A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

With all of that said, I absolutely LOVE minor league baseball. I'll visit a local minor league game any chance I get! The atmosphere is unlike the big leagues, where money and attitudes can easily corrupt players. The thing I like most about the minors is watching the young kids work their a$$es off for very little pay.

 

Again, to those unfamiliar, there are no charter jets, no plush locker rooms, and no million dollar contracts when you work your way through the "farm system," as the minor leagues are also called. We're talking bus rides, and average hotels.

 

And on top of that, these kids are mostly very open and receptive to their fans. I guess I could go on and on about the minors, but I'll get to the pics.

 

Wait, one more thing. I know you'll rightfully be wondering, "what the heck is a Lookout?" Have no fear, this is why they were named so.

 

Enjoy!

A beer, a $5 ticket, a good cheap hotdog, and John Fogerty's "Center Field" on the iPod. This is baseball at it's purest!

 

 

Ooops, I started this update thinking I'd have time to finish, but unfortunately have to leave the house for awhile. I'll post the second half when I return in a little while!

To the right of the outfield pavilion, you can walk out and see the Tennessee River.

Another look at the outfield pavilion.

Beer!

If you're a Big Lebowski fan like I am, you can go ahead and imagine the caption I'd like to go with right here.

Sorry son, this ain't the bigs yet. You'll have to carry your own equipment.

The interaction with minor league players is always a cool things....mostly for the kids.

A look back down the right field line toward home plate.

This is in the right field corner. It's basically the group "picnic" pavillion before and during games.

A wood carving of their mascot. Yeah, I know, fascinating stuff.

A look at the concourse.

"I can't believe that kid's still on the escalator!!"

AT&T Field - Home of the Lookouts.

[Hotlanta]

I love minor league ball as well. This season i am looking forward to see the Gwinnett Braves (AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) who just moved from Richmond to the Atlanta suburbs.

[BeemerBoy]

^ Oh yeah, I forgot they relocated there. I remember hearing about the potential move sometime last year was it? The big question was whether them being so close to Atlanta would take some business away from Turner Field, right? It does seem rather odd to have the AAA team that close to the big boys. Either way, I guess it'll be a Braves trifecta this year then.... with a visit to the Rome, Gwinnett, and finally, Atlanta Braves.

 

Anywho, let's finish out the Lookouts game.

Okay, this was really cool. All minor league teams seem to have cool, quirky contests going on all the time. Throughout the game you could purchase tennis balls with sequential numbers written on them.

 

You'd pay a dollar a ball, they'd write your name down with the number on the ball(s) you were given, and you'd hold onto them until after the game was over.

 

Then, as you see here, they'd place this shallow tub on the pitchers mound. The object was to throw your balls (hehe), and try to land them in the tub. You could launch 'em from anywhere in the stands.

 

This may be done elsewhere, but it's the first time I had seen or heard of it. It was really cool to watch and listen as the crowd reacted to close calls. Any winner(s) would split half the pot, with the other half going to a local charity.

 

For the record, I bought two balls, and one hit the tub, but did not land in it.

 

That concludes this update. Hope you enjoyed!

Game over, man.

Beer!.....and a traditional bag of peanuts. Damn, these captions really suck today. I need to call dandaman in from the bullpen.

Hi, Rick! The manager got tossed from the game moments later. I unfortunately missed capturing that.

Same applies here.

The first pitch. If you can find the ball in this picture, you're better than me.

The four triangular structures in the background are the tops of the Chattanooga Aquarium, which is a short walk from the stadium.

The Southern League logo. A friend of mine designed that logo. Is that important? Not really, but it just came to mind.

Some local little leaguers got to take the field for the playing of the National Anthem.

The Vienna Lager was quite tasty.

More beer! This is brought to you by a local joint.