Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Twinsanity
So, we're about to be launched into not-seen-around-here territory for a while - a new stadium for the Twins is going to push demand to places previously unseen except for postseason play (and frankly, demand was pretty soft for that the last few years).
My personal feeling on this is pretty simple. I'm a fairly serious baseball fan - it's neck and neck with football for my attention. That said, over the last 14 years I've lived here, I haven't gone to that many Twins games. I can't totally explain why but there are some partial explainers- I never particularly liked going to the dome for baseball for one. Growing up in Chicago and Connecticut spoils me on that front.
I'm quite excited about outdoor Twins baseball, but I see the tizzy people are already getting into over getting tickets to the first games at Target field, and my immediate reaction is "Don't want to deal with that shit."
Granted, I've got other priorities, like a baby due sometime in the first month of the season, a house that still needs a lot of TLC and a fair amount of money thrown at it and an utter lack of discretionary income to boot.
But unless you can afford it and are willing to pay exorbitant prices to scalpers or already have some other way in, good luck getting tickets to the first week or two. Demand is going to greatly exceed supply. I already see it where guys are sending around emails to my fantasy leagues offering up their tickets for double face to any home game and 4 to 6x face for the first couple of games. That's fucking nuts, and that's somebody I know. Either he's grossly overestimating demand, or a lot of people are going to have sticker shock.
I still have a small chance of getting tickets to the season opener for near face, but even that's looking like a longer shot. My wife doesn't want to go because she's 8 months pregnant, and frankly, I think I'd rather watch it on TV in the comfort of my own home.
The first week of games features several daytime matchups which will cause work interruptions anyway.
I guess my point is that there's 81 regular season home games and not all of them will sell out. Plus, I'd much rather be sitting outside on a balmy July night than a cold April afternoon anyway. I'm sure the Twins will sell out a lot of their games, but their will be some tickets available for face, no doubt.
But it will be nice to go see baseball outside. Really nice. An entire generation of fans here grew up watching indoor baseball. What a treat to be going back outside.
My personal feeling on this is pretty simple. I'm a fairly serious baseball fan - it's neck and neck with football for my attention. That said, over the last 14 years I've lived here, I haven't gone to that many Twins games. I can't totally explain why but there are some partial explainers- I never particularly liked going to the dome for baseball for one. Growing up in Chicago and Connecticut spoils me on that front.
I'm quite excited about outdoor Twins baseball, but I see the tizzy people are already getting into over getting tickets to the first games at Target field, and my immediate reaction is "Don't want to deal with that shit."
Granted, I've got other priorities, like a baby due sometime in the first month of the season, a house that still needs a lot of TLC and a fair amount of money thrown at it and an utter lack of discretionary income to boot.
But unless you can afford it and are willing to pay exorbitant prices to scalpers or already have some other way in, good luck getting tickets to the first week or two. Demand is going to greatly exceed supply. I already see it where guys are sending around emails to my fantasy leagues offering up their tickets for double face to any home game and 4 to 6x face for the first couple of games. That's fucking nuts, and that's somebody I know. Either he's grossly overestimating demand, or a lot of people are going to have sticker shock.
I still have a small chance of getting tickets to the season opener for near face, but even that's looking like a longer shot. My wife doesn't want to go because she's 8 months pregnant, and frankly, I think I'd rather watch it on TV in the comfort of my own home.
The first week of games features several daytime matchups which will cause work interruptions anyway.
I guess my point is that there's 81 regular season home games and not all of them will sell out. Plus, I'd much rather be sitting outside on a balmy July night than a cold April afternoon anyway. I'm sure the Twins will sell out a lot of their games, but their will be some tickets available for face, no doubt.
But it will be nice to go see baseball outside. Really nice. An entire generation of fans here grew up watching indoor baseball. What a treat to be going back outside.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Snow, Snow and more Snow.
I've had a generally good demeanor about the weather this winter here in Minnesota. It's no secret, I'm not a native and while I've always lived in temperate climates, this area offers the most sustained cold of any other I've lived (Philly, Chicago and New York City metro areas being the other 3) - and usually the most snow as well. Not this winter though, I'm pretty sure Chicago and the east coast has gotten more snow than Minnesota, but we have a lot on the ground because it doesn't melt and we keep getting 3-6" just about every other week.
It's funny that I've had a good demeanor about it, because for the first time, I'm responsible for snow removal around my property. Living in a townhouse with a condo association for the last 7 years spoiled me a little bit. But I've enjoyed the exercise that comes with snow removal (even if it's mostly pushing around a heavy snow-thrower).
That said, my commute is relatively painless - I reverse commute out to the St Paul suburbs and my drive is normally not that bad and the snow doesn't really add much to it. I hear my co-workers horror stories and I'm glad I don't live where they do.
Still, I find myself starting to long for warmer temperatures and not having to go out and remove snow at butt o'clock in the morning a few times a week. Soon enough. But the snows lately have been really pretty when you pause for a second to look around. People should remember this when they get cranky.
It's funny that I've had a good demeanor about it, because for the first time, I'm responsible for snow removal around my property. Living in a townhouse with a condo association for the last 7 years spoiled me a little bit. But I've enjoyed the exercise that comes with snow removal (even if it's mostly pushing around a heavy snow-thrower).
That said, my commute is relatively painless - I reverse commute out to the St Paul suburbs and my drive is normally not that bad and the snow doesn't really add much to it. I hear my co-workers horror stories and I'm glad I don't live where they do.
Still, I find myself starting to long for warmer temperatures and not having to go out and remove snow at butt o'clock in the morning a few times a week. Soon enough. But the snows lately have been really pretty when you pause for a second to look around. People should remember this when they get cranky.
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