Crying in Baseball
by Scott Hardie on September 20, 2009
Kelly and I won tickets to see a Tampa Bay Rays game in a deluxe suite last night. We've been excited about it for weeks, looking forward to a good game, good seats, and good food, all paid except the parking.
What we got was a let-down. The game wasn't so good, due to eight scoreless innings, but this was Rays vs. Jays so that wasn't a big surprise. The food wasn't so good, but hey, it was free, so whatever, we made a meal of it. The problem was the seats: We were told that twenty people would be there, plus a representative from the company that owns the suite. When we arrived, there were only nine seats with any view of the action, all taken. There were a few empty tall-boy chairs in the kitchen area toward the back, where we could watch the game on TV and listen to the crowd cheer. Hooray. We drove all this way to see something we could have watched on TV at home. Why did they invite twenty people to a suite that only seats nine? After some people got up, we stole their seats for a couple of innings late in the game, but by then the excitement was over and we were already looking forward to seeing friends in Tampa after the game.
I don't want to sound ungrateful, since the people who ran the contest went to a lot of trouble, and I really had fun playing it. I just wish the prize had turned out to be what was promised, and I could instead be writing a blog post about what a great time we had.
Three Replies to Crying in Baseball
Steve West | September 20, 2009
I went as a kid to an Orioles game after winning tickets similarly. They were advertised as tickets to sit in the 'Bird's Nest' This was when the Orioles played at their old stadium, Memorial Stadium. The seats were part of the concrete infrastructure that held up the overhang. Seats so high even the birds got nosebleeds. Catering consisted of a special visit from the hot dog vendor. Once. And it still cost money. I'm not sure about parking. What we could see of the game between the concrete pillars was exciting enough but my brother and I kept having to switch seats between innings to give the other a chance to see the game. But I remember my Dad getting a beer and letting me have a sip. That was pretty cool.
Amy Austin | September 20, 2009
Aww... and all these combined experiences are what helps to put the millions in the pockets of those 'roid-munchers. I'm sorry, Scott. ;-( (Congrats on "winning", though... ;-))
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Bad Housekeeping
If you're lazy like me, there's not a right time to put away the clean dishes. Who cares if you use them one-by-one out of the dishwasher? But there *is* a right time to discover that they're still dirty, and that's long before you're putting away the last couple of items after eating out of the dishwasher for days. Go »Música de la polca
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My name is Scott, and I'm an addict. I'm not an alcoholic. I almost never drink alcoholic beverages. Go »Going Green
This thing might turn out to be as short-lived as my other two attempts at a personal blog, but damn it if I haven't craved having such an outlet for the better part of a year now. It seems like a week doesn't go by that I don't have some little adventure to turn into an anecdote or a frustration to rant about. My idle thoughts are as pointless as anybody else's, I realize, but that's what the Internet is for (besides porn). Go »
Aaron Shurtleff | September 20, 2009
Yuck! I'm sorry that the experience wasn't all it was cracked up to be. My wife got tickets to a game once, and I think it was in a similar spot to that. Two rows of cramped seats up front, and a food/drink area out back?