Note: I actually wrote this this at about 3 a.m. but didn't post it until now because of internet connection issues. I'm in a better mood now, I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear.

I. Am. Dead. Tired. To be fair, I should probably write about the Shea experience when I’m not still grumpy about it but who knows when I may get time so here we go.

Oh, first I want to mention the varied modes of transportation we’ve utilized in one single day (in order): car (thanks, Lyn!), ferry, bus shuttle to ferry parking, car, car, car, commuter train from Connecticut, subway to Grand Central, then switched to the 7 (express) to Shea, then those last few in reverse order back to the house. This makes for a very long day. We had a very fun day traveling nevertheless, which started in Martha’s Vineyard and ended in Connecticut, with a long stopover in Providence, Rhode Island, on the campus of Brown University. I now have many pieces of apparel that look like this:


It's my name, ya know?

You may have noticed that our game reports have had little to do with the action and more to do with our experience in the park. That’s because I’m not good with the PBP, you wouldn’t care, and Kristina doesn’t care unless it’s a Nats game. And really, this trip was more about seeing the ballparks, visiting the cities and friends, getting an idea of what the fans are like in these places, because we don’t particularly care about the outcomes of the games (except tonight, obviously, on Kristina’s part).

So, Shea Stadium. This is a nice looking park. It opened in 1964 and has escalators which is about my favorite feature of the more recent stadiums. It’s exciting to see from the subway as you roll into the Shea stop, all neon and bright and shiny.

Here’s the thing, though - I think I have an idea now
of what it’s like to be a New Yorker, especially an Angry Mets Fan. Because I swear as we made our way to our seats, if I had to f----g dodge one more f-----g loud, annoying person not looking where s/he was f-----g going, or cutting me off, or f-----g bumping into me then I was going to actually get into a f-----g fist fight for the first f-----g time in my life. AND THEN try standing in the food line, where you will wait for a group of 20 teenagers to go through the drink line and exactly one of them will actually be buying a drink, the rest just taking up valuable space. Then the rude cashier will tell you that there’s no more soda on this side, and you must go to the other side. Then on the subway back, the guy across the aisle from you will not stop staring even when you glare at him and there will be people in the car talking as loudly and obnoxiously as they possibly can. Here’s a sociological note: we’ve found that groups of grown up boys sometimes behave in a similar way as little boys - they try to be as loud as possible so that everyone will look at them. Is this just something leftover from childhood? Also, I wonder if anyone's written a paper on the difference between the Yankees fans in the Bronx and the Mets fans in Queens. Feels like a Chicago team southside/northside thing to me. Actually, here's a little article on that topic: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/kostya_kennedy/news/2000/10/20/kostya/ Anyway, Fenway, it ain't.

Glad to get all of that off of my chest. It really wasn’t that bad and it is a very cool stadium. Our seats were very good, this was our view:

and hey, it was:



so there was a free concert after (we didn’t stay). The Nats won and Kris didn’t even get her ass kicked by the AMFs for cheering loudly for Washington! It’s a good night in baseball!
Unfortunately, the Cubs lost, which we were able to see on the very detailed Shea board, and the Brewers won which makes the Cubs now three behind in the NL Central. Please, please, please let there be a Cubs postseason! I don’t ask for much, do I?
Here’s a shot in Grand Central

“It’s grand…and it’s central!” - Marty from Madagascar



In other news, go Jimmie Johnson in the Brickyard 400 Sunday! I don’t care if Brad thinks he’s a midget. Have you seen how he uses those Kobalt tools?