All Right.......
After being in Augusta for 2+ years I have found that people here take care of Megan and I. The Booster Club wants me to use them more for the girls basketball team. Business owners (usually parents of former/current students/players) give Megan and I a discount for just being us. I am not sure how I feel about this yet. I am very thankful for the community helping out a young couple, but I don't feel like I deserve any special treatment for being a teacher or coach. But, it is nice to be taken care of by so many generous people in a community that I wasn't sure about when I first moved here. The generosity of a few community members has changed my view of what Augusta is, and can be. Plus, my kids in my classroom just broke out into song on Friday ( we listen to a Beatles CD every Friday) and sang Yellow Submarine. It was one of my happiest moments in the classroom, I think it shows that my class will be a fun, and they get along.
On Friday I got ticket offers for two different sporting events, one was the KU football game on Saturday, the other was for the Royals game on Sunday. Both tickets were for amazing seats, the KU game seats were in the corner of Memorial Stadium were the student section and the alumni section meet and 9 rows up. The Royals tickets were located 3 rows behind the Royals dugout. I would have loved to do both, but decided that I should attend just one of the two amazing games. After some thought I decided that sitting a few feet from Billy Butler and Bryan Pena at Kauffman stadium would be more fun. Plus, I got to take my brother and brother in law to the game.
For my brother it was his first game in the renovated stadium, and for Daniel it was his first Major League game ever. The seats were easily the best seats that I have had in my close to 20 games at Kauffman. We sat less than 100 feet from home plate and less than 40 feet from first base. When players would come off of the field they could actually hear what I said and some even acknowledged my praises for hustle and effort. The Royals played like the Royals usually do, 12 hits and 2 runs. Lets just say that their roster only has 3 or 4 major league batters and 5 or 6 major league pitchers. The lack of offensive production was not the low point of the game though, it was the Angels fans behind us.
In typical L.A. fashion(guessing here) the young family (parents around 30 and daughter was about 6) showed up after the first inning was over. Then the Angels got a run and the mother screamed "Alllll Riiiiiiiiiight!" Her shrill voice would have been loud enough to be used as a tornado siren. She was a bi polar fan as well (again this is a typical L.A. sports fan in my world). Gary Matthews Jr. strode to the plate with his .245 batting average and 3 home runs (he would be a Royals starter with those stats) and she screamed, in front of her 6 year old daughter, "I hate when Matthews plays, he is worthless." (Overpaid might be correct term since he is making $10 million this year) Matthews gets a hit and then the "tornado siren" belts out an "Allllllll Riiiiiiiiiiiight!" and her husband pipes in with "Game over, oh man, this game is in the bag."
Yes, the Royals probably wouldn't be able to score enough to over come a 0-0 game, but I consider myself an educated sports fan. Someone who doesnt think that every good play for my team is a winning play and that any good play for the other team is the final nail in the coffin.
Thank goodness that the typical L.A. fans left in typical L.A. fashion, after the 4th inning. Their daughter wanted to play in the "Outfield Experience", which is very cool. My kids will need to do this before the game, I hope they will be able to take in sporting events for more than just entertainment, and use them as a learning experience for any sport. No matter how bad a team is, you will always hear cheers for players who hustle and play with passion, and thats all a fan or coach can ask for.
I hope these pictures do our trip justice.
On Friday I got ticket offers for two different sporting events, one was the KU football game on Saturday, the other was for the Royals game on Sunday. Both tickets were for amazing seats, the KU game seats were in the corner of Memorial Stadium were the student section and the alumni section meet and 9 rows up. The Royals tickets were located 3 rows behind the Royals dugout. I would have loved to do both, but decided that I should attend just one of the two amazing games. After some thought I decided that sitting a few feet from Billy Butler and Bryan Pena at Kauffman stadium would be more fun. Plus, I got to take my brother and brother in law to the game.
For my brother it was his first game in the renovated stadium, and for Daniel it was his first Major League game ever. The seats were easily the best seats that I have had in my close to 20 games at Kauffman. We sat less than 100 feet from home plate and less than 40 feet from first base. When players would come off of the field they could actually hear what I said and some even acknowledged my praises for hustle and effort. The Royals played like the Royals usually do, 12 hits and 2 runs. Lets just say that their roster only has 3 or 4 major league batters and 5 or 6 major league pitchers. The lack of offensive production was not the low point of the game though, it was the Angels fans behind us.
In typical L.A. fashion(guessing here) the young family (parents around 30 and daughter was about 6) showed up after the first inning was over. Then the Angels got a run and the mother screamed "Alllll Riiiiiiiiiight!" Her shrill voice would have been loud enough to be used as a tornado siren. She was a bi polar fan as well (again this is a typical L.A. sports fan in my world). Gary Matthews Jr. strode to the plate with his .245 batting average and 3 home runs (he would be a Royals starter with those stats) and she screamed, in front of her 6 year old daughter, "I hate when Matthews plays, he is worthless." (Overpaid might be correct term since he is making $10 million this year) Matthews gets a hit and then the "tornado siren" belts out an "Allllllll Riiiiiiiiiiiight!" and her husband pipes in with "Game over, oh man, this game is in the bag."
Yes, the Royals probably wouldn't be able to score enough to over come a 0-0 game, but I consider myself an educated sports fan. Someone who doesnt think that every good play for my team is a winning play and that any good play for the other team is the final nail in the coffin.
Thank goodness that the typical L.A. fans left in typical L.A. fashion, after the 4th inning. Their daughter wanted to play in the "Outfield Experience", which is very cool. My kids will need to do this before the game, I hope they will be able to take in sporting events for more than just entertainment, and use them as a learning experience for any sport. No matter how bad a team is, you will always hear cheers for players who hustle and play with passion, and thats all a fan or coach can ask for.
I hope these pictures do our trip justice.
So cool! I bet Justin was so excited! And Daniel too, of course
ReplyDeleteDang straight I was excited! Except for the fact that they could pull one out.
ReplyDelete