Baseball and old friends

You may know already, which makes me very late posting, that I went to DC to see my old friends DCHomer and TPUBGU (aka George and Rick), two of my best friends in the world and old Marine Corps buddies.  So I'm here to just give a little rundown of my visit, mostly focused on going to a couple of minor league baseball games.
I landed at Reagan National, where Rick picked me up and went straight to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA, picked up some goodies and had a beer in the replica Tun Tavern.

New shirt bought at the museum
 

 Then we headed over to George's, where we caught up, told old "war stories" and drank plenty of scotch and had some very good Chinese take-out.

Me, George & Rick after a few scotches
 

Next morning we got up and headed to Gettysburg, where we spent a few hours with a tremendous guide who took us around the whole battlefield area and taught us history buffs a few things.  Then we had dinner at Dobbin House, which is a great restaurant that happens to be in the oldest house in Gettysburg and pretty much has always been at least a tavern.  If you've never been, go!
Then we hustled on up to Harrisburg for a AA Eastern League matchup between the hometown Senators and the Altoona Curve (it's still a stupid name, G!)  We had a very good time, of course but two things of note:  George decided he was going to be the world's biggest fan of this kid who played for Harrisburg, a first baseman by the name of Shawn Pleffner.  So G was hollering/rooting for this guy with every at-bat and every play at first base.  We had a great time with that.  On the way out I noticed a plaque, which George took a picture of but no longer has.  But since we all love baseball and history, this plaque telling us the history of the Harrisburg Giants of the Negro Leagues was pretty cool.  Oh, and the ball field is on an island in the river, same place that the Giants played.

The next day G had a prior engagement, so Rick and I shuttled off to Richmond to see his son and go to another Eastern League game, this one pitting the hometown Richmond Flying Squirrels against the Bowie Bay Sox.  Of most interest to me is the ballpark  in Richmond, which from the outside looks like a major league stadium.  There are very few of these "mini-major league" ballparks left.  Pawtucket is another, though even older than this one.


Me, Rick and Eddie.

It was a fabulous trip, getting to see old friends, drink and reminisce together and see baseball in the sunshine, which had yet to come to Maine.  And Eddie, thanks for suggesting Joe's, the food and beer were great.  Thanks for the ride also.

 George wanted to add these two pics.  The top one is of two pillars that border one end of a bridge that we drove through.  When you're coming across the bridge heading south, you'll see the State Capitol building between them.  Pretty cool.  The second photo is of the island that the ballpark sits on, and you can see it in this picture.   We did not take this.

Oh those abused Fargo Force hockey players!

It is a take-off form the ASPCA commercials for abused animals.  It is funny.  The Force are my local USHL team and I will give them props for doing a parody for trying to sell Season Tickets.

The Red Sox are Champions!

The Pawtucket Red Sox anyway.

The the 2012 winners of the Governor's Cup, awarded to the International League champs each year.

Not Really About the Maine Red Claws

JMC and I went to see the Maine Red Claws play the Erie Bay Hawks in a D-League game at the Expo in Portland on January 20th. One of us was going to write a blog about our attendance but we never got around to it and there really wasn't much to write about, since I have blogged about going there once already and nothing stood out (I thought at the time anyway) about the game itself. There are a couple of funny anecdotes that happened on the way to the game, which I'll get to in a moment; but as far as commenting on the game based on what we saw that night, I would have only commented that the Red Claws were overmatched, despite a reasonably close final score of 122-113, especially in that they had no answer for Erie's 6' 3" point guard, who ended up having a triple/double. You can see video highlights of the game here, which if you do will give away the surprise.
First, I'll go back to the brief anecdotes and then I'll reveal why I finally decided to blog about going to the game. I parked the car where I always do when I go to see the Sea Dogs or Red Claws (the venues being side by side) at an office building parking lot about 5 blocks away. Our intention was to grab a bite to eat somewhere between the car and the arena, and we decided on Amato's Italian Sandwich Shop on St. John's Street.  We had over a half hour to get our order, eat and walk the 2 or 3 blocks to the game. So I ordered a Cuban and some hot wings, JMC ordered a meatball sub and a dessert pastry. It took a good 10 minutes for our order to be ready (JMC's dad called while we're waiting and he can tell you that story) and just before it was, JMC leans over to me and says, "You know, there's no tables in here."
So now we have this messy sit-down food to-go and it's like 30 degrees out. So we're walking down the sidewalks, over snow banks eating this messy food with our fingers freezing, throwing chicken bones in the snow banks.  (This is where you laugh heartily because you got a good visual)  The other story is that we got to the arena before our food was finished but we were mostly full. So we bet on whether, if we left the bags of food on the sidewalk against the arena, the food would still be there when we came out. I won the bet because I said it would be because it was too cold and the game was on, so the arena workers wouldn't bother. If I've left out anything, hopefully JMC will fill you in in the comments.
So why am I finally deciding to write this blog? Well, for a few days, even if you don't follow the NBA, you've probably been hearing about the rookie point guard who's been a sensation for the NY Knicks in their last three games. Well, given the fact this point guard is of Asian decent, you'd think it would've clicked sooner than this morning that the Erie Bay Hawks are the NY Knicks D-League team and the unguardable point guard we saw a few weeks ago was Asian; in fact, his last name was Lin. Yeah, that Jeremy Lin...the Asian decent, Harvard grad point guard who's been lighting it up for the Knicks lately.
This guy right here:

Go to NBA.com and it's his face you see first, even before LeBron.  The Knickerbockers host the Lakers tonight, with Jeremy Lin as the likely starting point guard. "Lin, an undrafted guard from Harvard, has led the Knicks to three straight wins, scoring more than 20 points in each game."  And even though Lin was born in the US, the Chinese and Taiwanese are scrambling to air his games.  And I thought all I had to talk about was chicken wings on frozen fingers.

Great sports town

In honor of the passing of Dan Burke, the only owner the Portland Sea Dogs have known, I thought this would be a good time to let you in on a little secret; that Portland, Maine (and the rest of the state for that matter) is one of the best little sports towns in America, due in part to Dan Burke.  As you've seen from my posts on here, I have attended games at Hadlock Field on a regular basis, and the place is always full and the team and owners put on an excellent show.  The Boston Red Sox didn't move their Double A affiliate to Portland because it was geographically convenient (there are other local options), it is because of the quality of the operation of the Sea Dogs and how well Dan Burke's management team worked with the big club, something John Henry knew because he was an owner of the Florida Marlins when the Portland Sea Dogs were their Double A affiliate.
If you would like to know more about Dan Burke, you can find information at the two links above.
But Dan Burke's passing prompted me writing this story that's been in my head for awhile; that Portland, Maine is arguably the best minor league city in the country.  For a city of less than 75,000 to continually fill Hadlock Field's 7500 seats and to be home to the Portland Pirates and the NBA Development League's highest drawing franchise says an awful lot.  In just two seasons the Maine Red Claws have become the D League's model franchise.  The Red Claws have done this without playing at the Cumberland County Civic Center, the home of the Portland Pirates of the AHL, but in the old barn that is Portland Expo, the second oldest arena in continuous use in the country, having been built in 1914.  Having seen a Red Claws game there, seated in old backless bleacher seats, reminds you of a bygone era but is illustrative of the fact that the product on the floor makes you forget you're sitting in a building reminiscent of the old armories around the country.
Finally, there's the Portland Pirates, the longest running franchise in this city, dating back to the Maine Mariners of the mid 1970s.  Show me another city, even one that's five times larger than Portland, that can boast continuously having a minor league franchise for 35 years (to say nothing of the fact it supports three franchises in total).  Despite many changes in affiliation, the Pirates always draw; and when the big club wants to move their affiliate to supposed greener pastures, there's always another team ready to have its AHL affiliate be in Portland.  Fans of the Mariners/Pirates have been fortunate to have four Calder Cup winners over that time but are hungry for another, since the last was the Pirates winning in 1994.
All three franchises know that the fans are loyal but that making their franchises a part of the community is key, and they have both done that and then some. If you need more proof as to how great a sports city Portland is, you can read this marketwatch article that puts Portland in the top 10 nationally or this Street & Smiths article that has Portland fifth, ahead of the likes of Charleston, Syracuse, Spokane, et al.

Excellent hockey value

I was not expecting a tight defensive, scoreless first period nor a 1-1 tie with 5.2 seconds remaining when I walked into the Androscoggin Bank Colisee last night.  This is not the first Lewiston Maineiacs game I've attended but I think like most people I still have a perception about the style and quality of play in the QMJHL.  That perception was permanently dispelled last night.  The quality of play, especially defensively and between the pipes, was at a level nearly rivaling the AHL.
Now these are still just kids and sometimes the play does get sloppy and the stick handling is probably the most noticeable aspect of play that's not polished but at least in this game last night you could easily forget what level of professional hockey you were actually watching.
My intent with this piece is not to write a review of the game (for that you can go here) but to attempt to help promote a league and a team that deserves more attention.  Where else can you pay $15.50 to sit in the seventh row of a professional hockey playoff game, pay three bucks for parking and get out of the parking lot in under 10 minutes?  If you combine those things with the quality of play and fervor of the 1,500 plus fans in attendance, I call that value.  Now 1,500 is a disappointing number for a second round playoff game, especially being the first home game of the series and where going in the series was tied 1-1; but this is a very small market and the only U.S. team in a Canadian league full of Canadian players.  Once you're in your seat and play has started, you don't remember any of those things, just that the quality of play and atmosphere in the building are high.  So if you're looking for something to do tonight or Sunday, get over to the arena and enjoy yourself.
Back to the game briefly:  The Maineiacs mascot, Lewey, put the puck in the net during intermission as he was demonstrating to a fan selected from the crowd how you go about winning a car shooting at a tiny hole from the opposite blue line.  The gentleman seated next to me said that wasn't the first time Lewey had done that.  I would like more beer choices than Bud, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra.  Four bucks isn't a bad price but for someone like me who wants something better tasting than beer-flavored soda, it was a little disappointing.  From my seat in the seventh row half way between the blue line and the opposing net, you couldn't have had a better view of the game-winning goal by Lewiston's Etienne Brodeur with 5.2 seconds remaining.  I could clearly see the puck, Brodeur, the opposing netminder and the opening top shelf, glove side; and that's exactly where I saw Brodeur put it.  Finally, while the shots on goal favored Montreal, in this viewer's opinion Lewiston played the better game and deserved the win.

A Night of Hockey with my Boys...

...and my youngest son's new girlfriend.

The game was Portland Pirates vs Charlotte Checkers and final score 5-4 Charlotte. I have only been to a handful of hockey games but enjoy live sports... who wouldn't! The fighting is a bit much at times but am told it is part of the game. Spending time with my sons is always THE BEST!!!

The venue, Cumberland County Civic Center, is small enough so every seat is a good one which helps with the enjoyment of the game. We enjoyed doing the YMCA dance in our seats, trying to convince the half-dressed, cute girl to throw a t-shirt our way, tried to be crazy enough to get the camera to put us on the big screen (which did not happen) and eating greasy, cheesy, fattening food. TOO much fun! I recommend any family or group of friends to give a game a try instead of a movie... but be warned you might get hooked!

Back to the game... the players are young and talented. The game is slow enough for a novice to keep up but fast enough to not be boring. I felt bad for the visiting team, from Charlotte NC, because there was no one clapping or giving a yell when they scored.

We didn't get our free fries from McDonald's because our team did not score five points, bummer.

I highly recommend checking out your local farm league for whatever sport(s) you enjoy... it is a great deal financially and loads of fun for family/friends.

I would love to hear your experience, please share!

A little AHL love

Buffetfan and I had a challenge regarding a two-game series between my Portland Pirates and his Norfolk Admirals, which was probably unfair to him since he's very new to this blogging thing and neither of us were in a position to follow the games.  I was able to listen to the first period of the first game on the internet and I did see updates on my Facebook wall for both games.  Based on what I did hear and see, they were very competitive, high-scoring games, both won by the Portland Pirates in OT, the first in a shootout.
If you're a hockey fan and have the luxury of having a minor league team in your area, go out and support that team.  The level of play is quite high, especially in the AHL, but even in a league like the QMJHL, which I'm fortunate to have a team in that league 45 minutes away that I don't support enough.  In fact, the Maineacs are home tonight...thanks for the idea!
Again, these leagues play at a high level, the ticket prices are family priced and the atmosphere is great for any sports fan.
So Buff, even though my team took both games and on the road at that, in the old days both games would have been ties.  So you're off the hook this time.  You won't be so lucky next weekend when my Pats bury your overrated Steelers.   Maybe next time we'll be able to watch these teams play each other together in person, like we did when I visited and we went to a Norfolk Tides game together.