Philadelphia Chronicles

9:50am- The alarm clock buzzer began to sound, waking me from a short night of sleep and a very big day both personally and in Philadelphia sports.

Wikipedia defines the word dating as, any social activity performed as a pair with the aim of each assessing the other’s suitability as their partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse. The word refers to the act of agreeing on a time and “date” when the pair can meet and engage in some social activity.

The definition although strong, doesn’t even begin to describe the anxiety involved.

The time was to be any time around 11:00am. The activity, the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field for the NFL’s week eight match up. I had been conversing with Jacqueline for a few weeks through an on-line dating site. After acquiring digits, I asked her if she would be interested in attending an Eagles game. I knew from her e-mails and her profile that she was a huge Philadelphia sports fan. And I also know the key to any sports fans heart is a live game. Since I have been living vicariously thru Philadelphia fans all October, I figured an Eagles game was the perfect social activity. The tickets cost me a small fortune but so would have a wasted weekend alone in Atlantic City. Attending a football game with a very attractive lady was a far better alternative, regardless of the money.

11:07am- I received a text message that Jacqueline was close, and I rushed down the stairs from my apartment to meet her in the lot. Shortly after she pulled up and I met her for the first time. My stomach in knots, my mind in a million different directions, I shook her hand and began walking with her to my truck. It was then that I noticed she was wearing a number 36 Eagles Jersey. I asked her who number 36 is.

My question almost blew the whole damn date!

A look of shock and disgust crossed her complexion and I would swear in court that she appeared to make a slight turn back to her car. In hindsight I can’t say I blame her. If someone took me to a Yankees game and asked me who number 2 was within the first 30 seconds of meeting them, I would probably be looking to bail too! I blame THE OLD MAN! TOM, that pain in my backside had me up until 3:00am on the phone the night before. He was talking my ear off about John McCain, and other idol nonsense! The sleep depravation had me in an obvious state of mental bewilderment!

Number 36 is of course Eagles Running Back Brian Westbrook. Lesson learned!

11:15am- Jacqueline decided to join me anyway, and I began our drive over the Delaware to South Philly.

11:47am- We parked three lots away from my usual spot. The atmosphere on Pattison Ave was insane! Part of the reason I wanted to attend the game was to see the city with both an Eagles game and a Phillies World Series game all in the same day. Eagles / Falcons and game four of the 2008 World Series with the Phillies up two games to one.

The tailgaters were out in full force. The sounds of Tom Petty and AC DC were blasting on stereos throughout the lots. The smells of beer and grilled hotdogs were in the air everywhere. The crowds gathered like herds of cattle throughout the lots.

12:11pm- We entered the turnstiles and walked the lower square before climbing the stairs to the main concourse. We made our expedition to section 210 row 4 seats 15 & 16. They turned out to be very good end zone seats, with a great aerial view.

12:49pm- The National Anthem was sung and we were moments away from kick off. The sea of Phillies red attire and Eagles green digs being worn by fans throughout the stands made Lincoln Financial look like Christmas.

1:01pm- The Falcons won the coin toss and elected to receive.

1:37pm- As the first quarter began to close, neither team was able to score and both sides looked pour on offense. Eagles defensive end Trent Cole knocked Falcons QB Matt Ryan to the turf late in the first. Although an exceptionally hard hit, the play resulted in a very questionable roughing the passer penalty against the Eagles. The NFL going above and beyond to protect thier QBs! The disgusted Eagles crowd began to boo. It was by far the loudest I have ever heard a crowd boo in all the events I have been to.

1:42pm-A drunken Eagles fan sitting behind me began to heckle me. He assumed that because I was not wearing any Eagles green that I must have been an Atlanta Falcons fan in disguise. (The logic of a drunkard!) Even a neutral football fan is not safe from the Eagles fanatics’ wrath at Lincoln Financial! Lesson learned!

2:03pm- Matt Ryan passed deep down the middle, complete to Roddy White. The play resulted in a 55-yard touch down at 9:05 in the second quarter. Atlanta scored the first points of the game and took the lead 7-0.

2:14pm- Donovan Mcnabb infiltrated the end zone from three yards out for the first Eagles T.D. of the game. The game was tied at 7-7.

2:22pm- The Eagles got the ball right back and just before half time David Akers converged on a 36-yard field goal.

At the half the Eagles lead 10-7.

3:43pm- The Eagles dominated the third quarter and after a 16-yard Brian Westbrook touchdown run, and another David Akers field goal, Philadelphia was up 20-7.

4:00pm- Matt Ryan and the Falcons tried to make things interesting, but in the end it was another Westbrook touch down that sealed the victory for the Eagles 27-14. Jacqueline was thrilled with both Westbrook’s performance and the overall Eagles victory.

4:17pm- We began our departure from the 200 level and walked the properties between Lincoln Financial and Citizens Bank Park. We were both exhausted and quickly made our way back to my truck. I enjoyed the game thoroughly. Although it wasn’t an ideal date to get to know someone, it was a perfect activity nonetheless. We parted company quickly once back at my place. And I fell asleep for a few minutes while watching the end of the Giants game.

11:39pm- The Philadelphia Phillies clobbered the Tampa Bay Rays in game four of the World Series. Two Ryan Howard homers, and five RBI’s for the big man helped Philly take a 3 games to 1 lead in the series. It was the competition of a perfect day in Philadelphia sports. One more win and the Phillies will be World Champions. It is now Tuesday as I finish writing this Blog article and I am still not recovered from all of the events from Sunday!

World Series Preview

It started just days after the 2007 National League Division Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies were knocked out of the post season in three speedy games last season. General Manager Pat Gillick went right to work. The biggest issue haunting the Phillies was the lack of pitching, both in the rotation and the bullpen. With pitching at a premium in Major League Baseball, and teams wasting money on lack luster stars, the Philadelphia organization knew their options were limited.

Pat got creative.

Instead of wasting money on Johan Santana or Tom Glavine or Carlos Silva, the Philly G.M. went in a most unconventional direction. He traded center field prospect Michael Bourn and bull pen pitcher Geoff Gery to Houston for Astros closer Brad Lidge. The move was two fold. First, it gave Philly a legitimate closer, and moved current closer Brett Myres back into the starting rotation where he had been most successful. The trade resulted in Philly gaining a closer and indirectly gaining a high quality starter too.

When April rolled around the pitching moved to the back burner while the offense exploded. Pat Burrell and Chase Utley carried the team early in the season, while Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins picked up the slack in August and September. All season long the Phillies epitomized timely hitting.

With contributions from all 25 players on the roster, key trades, (including the addition of starter Joe Blanton from Oakland) tremendous timing, and a city dieing for a winner, the Philadelphia Phillies put together a magical season. The Phillies surpassed the wildcard Milwaukee Brewers, defeated Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez in five games, and now find themselves in St Petersburg Florida for the 2008 World Series.

927 miles south of Philly it began over ten years ago.

When the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the American League in 1998, they quickly became the laughing stock of the all of baseball. They had tried everything in the first nine years. Acquiring former greats like Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff in an attempt to build a winning team.

Old Veterans didn’t work.

They brought in Sweet Lou Piniella, one of baseball’s most famous and successful managers. After two losing seasons Lou skipped town, clueless on how to fix the organizations troubles.

Lou didn’t work.

The front office began blasting music on the public address system and began promoting the fan favorite “cowbell”, in an attempt to create “false noise” in an empty Tropicana Dome. Desperate to create buzz and attendance the Rays averaged 12,000 a game.

The buzz didn’t work.

Then this season, second year manager Joe Maddon came into spring training starting a slogan of “nine equals eight” among his players and staff. The slogan has lead most everyone to ask, “What the hell is nine equals eight”?

As the season went on we all learned that nine equals eight refers to nine players, playing hard for nine innings, resulting in the acquisition of one of the eight-playoff spots in the post season.

Joe Maddon’s coaching worked.

In the late hours of May 13th this year the laughing stock of the American League ceased to exist. That night the Rays moved into first place for the first time ever that late into any season. The Rays haven’t let up a day since. Ten years of scouting finally developed a core of tremendously gifted baseball players. Finishing the regular season in first place in the most competitive division in baseball, the Rays are champions of the American League.

Now today the World Series begins.

I am pulling for the Phillies, my official B-team behind the Yankees. However I think the Rays will win in six. It is sure to be one of the most exciting, well-played World Series in years. It’s a shame too, because all signs point to the lowest ratings since 2000.

Tail Gating

Tail Gating

It is as Joe Cahn (self proclaimed Commissioner of Tailgating) called it “America’s last neighborhood”. For millions of Americans every football season begins a new chapter to the time honored tradition of attending football games hours before the gates open and eating, drinking and socializing without end. For millions more in America tailgating serves as a business of stable economic growth. Thousands of companies set up tents and trailers and promotional events in the lots at professional games all over the country. I personally have worked well over a dozen tailgating events, and my current employer conducts 35 percent of its business thru outdoor marketing events associated with football tailgating. These marketing promotions filled with giveaways for fans and marketing for capitalists create work everywhere in the country.

But is it possible to have too much of a good thing?

That is what organizations like the New York Jets and Giants have begun to ask. For the first time this season Giants stadium (home to both the Jets and Giants) is limiting access to its parking lots. More specifically four hours before the game and four hours after is all fans are permitted to tail gate. There reason: alcohol consumption and potentially dangerous situations developing in the lots around the Meadowlands.

On September 14th I attended the Jets home game at the stadium against the Patriots. As a working vendor I was permitted access to the lot just outside gate D nine hours before kick off. But at 7:00am, when I entered the lot, fans were already lined up on the streets outside, waiting for lot attendants to allow them access. While talking to Jet fans I began to understand their perspective of disgust. As one fan told me “we only get 8 games a year as it is, and many of these folks here in the lots are like family”. The sprit, preparation, and creative influence all seem to be restricted by “The Man”. As if these fans haven’t suffered enough. With personal seat licenses, and the ticket boom from companies like Stub Hub, fans are already feeling the crunch.

However I also see the other perspective. It’s the perspective of ownership trying to avoid a NASCAR situation in the NFL. NASCAR tailgating is largely affective because of the nature of their events. Stock Car events are usually weekend long races with venues built on the outskirts of towns. Most Speedway parking lots are set up to accommodate fans in RV motor homes and tailgaters with a strong desire to linger. Where as Giants Stadium, for example, is just 9.42 miles from down town Manhattan.

However a big part of this new mandate is not for the safety of fans. It's not to promote responsible drinking, and its not proximity of stadiums to cities, really. It's because beer revenue is down inside the turnstiles and up out in the lots. Ownership revenue is the most important thing in professional sports.

Period.


But what can fans do?

Owners hold all the cards. So as much as I enjoy tail gating myself and count on it as part of my livelihood, it would seem as though the tradition has reached its peak. I expect more of the same to follow. More teams and more cities will begin to limit the access of parking lots for Tail Gaters and fans.
It seems as though even America’s last neighborhood has a timetable to extinction.

Letter To The Commissioner

Dear Commissioner Selig

My name is Ryan Dugan, and I have been a baseball fanatic my entire life. For the last 28 years the National Past Time has been webbed into my life in very extreme ways. I have been to 29 of the games 30 home ballparks. I have seen a half dozen games in the Grape Fruit League. I have sat in the front rows for post-season games. I have been to the World Series. Over the last three years I have become an independent amateur Journalist and Sports Blogger. As I type this on the evening of October 1, the 2008 Division Series has just begun. As this paragraph plays out on my laptop, the Cubs find themselves down 7-2 against the Dodgers in the 9th inning of game one of the NLDS.

Which brings me to the point of my letter.

I will refrain from commenting on my concerns for baseball’s economic escalation that is bound to lead to disaster. I will exclude my thoughts on elitism in the seats at the park. And I will avoid writing about troubles I see in the marketing of today’s game in the media.

Instead I write you regarding a much lighter topic, but one that seriously troubles me.

My letter is a plead to you and to Major League Baseball to Change the format of the division series from a best of five series to a best of seven series. My problem with the current format is this: teams work all summer long to make it to October baseball, and regardless of effort, numbers, or record, all teams find themselves in the position of being eliminated as early as 72 hours after the post season begins. It’s simply not fair to the players, and maybe more importantly it’s not fair to the fans.

As a life long Yankees fan, over the last three seasons (prior to this year) I have seen my team eliminated in less then a week. The preparation and dream seem to be gone before even starting. And it’s not just my Yankees either. Believe me I realize I am spoiled by my organizations successes. But take Philadelphia as an example. Last season, after waiting fourteen years to return to the playoffs the Phillies were eliminated in three lightning fast games. The Atlanta Braves too. (Prior to 2005) Year after year they work all summer just to return to their prior point of elimination and continue to get knocked out inside of five games. There is just too much at stake to decide these games in a best of five series.

As each breath of our respective lives passes, the great game’s history and tradition continues to build. The more it builds that harder it becomes to make changes. I could continue to site examples or scenarios that support my request, but I am certain you’re already well aware of them all. I believe this change would be for the good of the game. It would be a vast improvement for fans and players, and for the record books too.

Now I realize that this is baseball’s hot topic, and the odds of any Commissioner seriously listening to some scoob such as myself are hopeless. But as I continue to devote countless amounts of my time, money and resources to the great game, I feel as though I have to try.

Thank you for reading my request, and any consideration you might give it.

Regards,

Ryan J. Dugan