He Knew He Was Right

So here I am at University of Phoenix Stadium. I thought it was hot yesterday, but this is just wrong. I mean, NFL football in 100+ temps? 100-deg colder would be preferable to me. Ok, the game is indoors, but I still had to step outside to get here. Thankfully, the roof will be closed for the game, the awesome spectacle of the roof opening mid-game at Chase last night notwithstanding.   When the NFL schedule was released in April, I was hoping to swing something like this--one trip out west to knock off the last two baseball teams, and get to a Cardinals game the same weekend. The multi-destination ticket cost what I would have expected to pay for a round trip to either San Diego or Phoenix, so don't ever say HKHWR isn't efficient. I meant to note yesterday the number or folks in town for both the Diamondbacks and Cardinals games this weekend. There are plenty. In fact, I'm not even the only nut who preceded these games with a trip to a Padres game. Despite the heat, ...

Soooo here I am at Chase Field! Hooray! HKHWR has done it, parking his butt in a seat at the ballpark of all 30 Major League teams. And, let me first say that...IT IS HOT! Wow! HKHWR doesn't do well in this type of weather, and really is just stymied by temps this high at any time of year, let alone in Autumn. I had noted two or three other weekends where both the Padres and Diamondbacks were home the same weekend, but one of two main reasons I opted for this last weekend of the baseball season was to hopefully avoid some of the famous Arizona heat...no dice. Thankfully, the 10-minute walk from the hotel wasn't too stifling. Going back to the 70s, when I saw my first Yankee game at Shea Stadium (yes, the Yanks called Shea home for a spell in the 70s) to today, I have seen all 30 teams play in 38 or 39 ballparks. It was in 1991 when I first hit the road for a ballgame, first traveling to Baltimore, and then a few weeks later making a day trip to Boston. It wasn't long b...

So here I am at Petco Field. Can you feel the excitement? Have you been checking back here daily or weekly since my post in Minny about the serious progress I'd be making in the first phase of this ballpark craziness? I hope you have. Petco is the ballpark of the penultimate team I've yet to see play at home. I'll hit that last one really soon. I flew into town last night, and I'll be heading out in the morning. Yes, HKHWR is up to his old tricks. It's been a few years already since I've been to San Diego. So, today, I walked around the Gaslamp District for a bit, ferried to Coronado, where I found the Coronado Brewing Company, and now I'm settling in to what brought me to town. I know a bunch of people who have been here, and everyone gives it high marks. I walked around the outside of the ballpark early today, as my jet-lagged self was rather energetic earlier in the day than usual. It is an impressive sight, with a large footprint that doesn't fe...

Wow hey Happy National Punctuation Day to all of you especially my copyediting colleagues blog writers and anyone who gives a hoot about commas colons semi colons and so forth and let me add that while this latest National Whatever Day may not hold the morning appeal of National Coffee Day nor the 5:00 pm excitement of National Beer Day and is certainly not the nutritionist nightmare that is National Cheeseburger Day National Punctuation Day is indeed one to celebrate

So here I am at Mall of America Field, 19 years after my first visit to this stadium, you know, when it was still the Metrodome, which it still mostly is. As I noted yesterday, I am seizing the opportunity to get to two games on one plane ticket, since the schedule gods kindly set both the Twins and Vikings up at home this weekend. Because the hotel is so close to the Mississippi, this morning I took a nice stroll along and across it, ending up in St. Paul before heading back to check out of the hotel and head over to the stadium. I tend to think of ballparks I like more than ones I don't particularly care for, but, as a ballpark, this was bottom three. As a football stadium, well, it's a dome. A rather typical and I suppose dated one. The outfield walls that had those weird baggies are nicely tucked away, however, which is an instant improvement over its baseball configuration. The roof is nicely stitched up too, so I've no fear of a collapse, even if an open air stad...

So here I am at Target Field...wait, Target Field? Seriously, HKHWR? That's right, for while the stated goal earlier this year was to knock off ballparks of teams I hadn't seen play at home (a goal that will be realized by season's end), and I did endure one at the Metrodome, one of those sweet schedule alignments was noted back in April, and I booked this little weekend jaunt. Yeah, me, and a number of observant schedule hounds: The Vikings are home tomorrow, so it's another two-games-in-one-weekend event for us. This is a rather good September for that, as the MLB and NFL schedule makers have nicely set us up. More on that in a few weeks. I picked a hotel within walking distance of both stadiums. It was another Marriott one that was converted from a train station. After arriving, I walked over to the very nice Town Hall Brewery, where I talked to several locals over a couple of pints, including the recommended and simply sensational Dortmuder Export Lager. S...