Beer count: Stuck on 12.
OK, here now are the 10 worst sporting events I've attended. A few things to remember when reading this list. This will be judged on my personal experience. Therefore, while the game might've been good, my experience may have been terrible. Also, in some of these cases, I've excluded pre and post game schtick. You will see as you go on.
HERE GOES
1. May 19, 1998 - The Sandcastle, Atlantic City, NJ. Some day I'll tell my grandkids I was at the first ever Somerset Patriots Game. And then I will tell them what a hellish night it was. First of all, the event itself is a step above beer-league softball. The dudes that have no shot of sniffing single-A ball. Add to that a stadium swarming with green flies and clueless newspaper big-wigs and it's a recipe for hell. How bad were the flies? In the radio pregame show, the announcers were urging fans to bring Skin-So-Soft with them to fight the flies. Thankfully, me and my cronies only stayed one inning and the Irish Pub of A.C. was only a five-minute ride away. Unquestionably, the worst sporting event - if you can call it that - I ever attended.
2. July 30, 1989 - Wrigley Field, Chicago. My friend Rich always told me never, NEVER, plan a vacation around the Mets. They will ruin your trip everytime. This was my first lesson. Me, my brother and a friend of his drove all the way to Chitown to see the Mets and Cubs battle for the NL East crown. It was a Friday day game at Wrigley. Sunny, about 85 degrees. Perfect. Mets score 5 in the third - thanks to a Hojo 3-run bomb - to take a 5-2 lead. But Dave Cone and Dick Aguilera meltdown in the 7th as the Cubs score 4 times - the big blow a 2-run homer from some dude named Smith to take a 6-5 lead. With the Old Styles now flowing, the Mets try to battle back in the 9th. With one out and Mitch Williams on the hill, the dog of all dogs Juan Samuel gets a one-out pinch hit single, setting the stage for Hojo. Hojo lofts a little blooper behind short and it's obvious to everyone in the park that Shawon Dunston will catch it. Obvious to everyone execpt Samuel, who gets doubled off first to end the game. A horrible start to an awful weekend. I thought I learned a valuable lesson that day, but still, whenever I go on vacation, I plan it around a Met road trip. I;ll never learn.
3. October, 1992 - I think this is the year, but I can't be sure. Anyway, me, my wife (who was my fiance at the time) and a mutual female friend go to see Jets vs. Colts at Giants Stadium. The problem is, it's pouring rain. POURING rain. There must have been about 20,000 people at the stadium. We stayed for most of it - a 6-3 Colts' win and then head back to my parents house for some piazza. Honestly, this may have been my only realistic shot ever to pull off a threesome, but like the Jets offense, it never materialized. If it had, this would no doubt be No. 1 on the best all-time list. Anyway, an awful day.
4. Sept, 2004 - Rutgers Stadium. Ok, let me go on record as saying the pre and postgame hijinks were tremendous. I must've had about 15 Rheingolds and a few Amstel Lights while wandering between my tailgate and my friend steve's tailgate. But once inside RU stadium, the day took an awful turn. First of all, drinking tons of beer on an empty stomach and then walking into a packed stadium on a 95-degree, sunny day is not a good mix. What would've helped would've been a nice bottle of water. Of course, Rutgers was totally unprepared for any crowd over 20,000 and ran out of water before the first quarter ended. Needing some refreshment, I settled for a bottle of lemonade. Well, let me tell you - throwing cold lemonade into a stomach filled with nothing but Rheingold and some chips is a bad move. Let's just say after feeling like my stomach was going to explode - and me actually wishing it would - i spent most of the game testing Rutgers' plumbing system. Worst yet, after the game, I had to hear all the RU fans saying they were going to a bowl game because they beat Michigan State. Again, pre and post game was tremendous. But my experience at the game makes it a bad one.
5. October, 199ish - Jets vs. Chiefs at Giants Stadium. Nothing ruins a fun day at the stadium like seeing a dude get paralyzed. Yes, I was the Dennis Byrd game. No explanation needed.
6. July, 1984 - For the first time in my life the Mets are actually in the NL East race. They had beaten the Cubs on a Friday night at Shea to take a 1/2-game lead in the East, and then on Saturday, Doug Sisk blew a game, setting the stage for a Banner Day Double Dip at Shea. Of course, the Mets get swept and the season is pretty much over. Shitty day.
As you can tell, I'm running out of steam here.
7. March 30, 2004 - Knicks vs. Blazers at Garden. Let me preface this by saying I hate the NBA. Every player is an a-hole, the game itself is a fucking bore and did I mention every player in the league is an A-hole? Anyway, I had to be at work in the city real early the next day (like 5 a.m. early) so my company hooked me up with a hotel room across the street from the Garden and some Knicks tix. Let's say, I've never had a bigger non-drinking enduced headache at a sporting event like I had at this game. If it wasn't the loud music blaring during timeouts and during actual gameplay (another reason I hate the NBA), I had some dame screaming in my ear the entire tilt. I couldn't wait for the game to end, unfortunately I was at an NBA game, and they take forever to end. MISERABLE.
8. October, 2000 - The Big Shea. Once again, worked hooked me up with some Mets playoff tickets. It was Game 3 of the NLCS againt the Cards. In case you've forgotten, the Mets took the first two at Busch and were primed for a sweep. So me and my neighbor get into the city around 1:30 for a 4 p.m. first pitch and start eating and drinking - on his company's dime - at ESPN zone. We hop on the 7 train around 3 and roll into Shea just in time to see the Mets totally mail one in. I think the Cards got 4 runs in the first and after Mike (Padre) Piazza kills a first-inning rally with a tailor-made DP, the Cards get a few more. Me and my neighbor were back in Times Square - eating and drinking for free again - by the 7th inning. Of course, to rub it in, the Mets roll the next two games and reach the Series.
9. Sept. 1, 2000 - Texas A&M at Notre Dame - If there's on sports combo I can't stand it's football and heat. Honestly. I could watch a grid tilt in -20 temps and never complain. However, I can't stand watching football in any weather hotter than 80 degrees. I mean, I could watch a baseball tilt in 100-degree temps and have fun, but for some reason, to me, football and heat don't mix. So obviously a jam-packed Notre Dame Stadium and 100-degree heat was not a good mix. Add to that some yahoo sitting in front of us yapping about how great the Texas A&M band is and you get the picture. How hot was it? Me and the three guys I went with sat in the interior of the stadium for most of the third quarter. The only highlight was my friend Joe snapping a picture of Jerry Faust (whom, for some reason, is still loved in South Bend).
10. October 20, 2004 - Beaver Stadium. The final score, I believe was Iowa 6, Penn State 4. Yes, a total of 8 points scored. In addtion to brutally boring football, I didn't even get to sit with the guys I went to the game with. Now, this is a case where pre and postgame schtick has been excluded, because the before and after was tremendous. But, based on game only, this was a horror show.
So that's a glimpse into my miserable sports existence. For those of you included in this list, it's nothing personal.
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14 comments:
I'm just shocked there were no Yankees tilts on that list.
Nice job with the NBA photo. That says it all.
Arse. Stench. Pew.
I haven't been to many Yankee tilts. I've been to two Met-Yank games and the Amazins have won both.
TEE HEEE
#2 - The Cub in question was DWIGHT Smith, who finished second to teammate and future Somerset Patriot Jerome Walton in the NL ROY voting that season. But you had to figure any Mets game that involved Juan Samuel was gonna be a disaster.
#6 - Yes, the Mets got swept that weekend vs. the Cubs, but they were still in the race until the last week of the season thanks to a 19-year-old fire-balling right-hander out of Tampa. the same man who within two years had inhaled his entire future up his nose. And please warn me before mentioning Doug "I am the Anti-Christ" Sisk again. He is right up there with Samuel, Roger Clemens and John Rocker on my list of current and former baseball players I would like to set fire to.
#8 - I was at that NLCS game vs St Louis, too. Brutal. Like they expected to win just by showing up. Luckily, by the time I returned to the Mecca in Flushing the following evening, the Orange and Blue had gotten their shit together and were on their way to the World Series.
1. It is worth noting the geniuses in charge of the San Castle had not completed the facility until about five minutes before the opening pitch.
Thus, we were sitting on a bed of sandpaper. Dick L. didn't mind, though.
2. Dykstra and McDowell for Samuel might be the worst Mets trade of all time, and that's saying a lot when you consider the team traded away the likes of Scott, Ryan and Kevin "I lopped off the cat's dome" Mitchell.
Pete,
The Dykstra/McDowell trade was absolutely the worst Mets trade of all time. Two established players who were leaders in the clubhouse and fan favorites on the field. It all part of Frank Cashen's plan to rid the Mets of anyone with personality that didn't conform to Cashen's bowtie-wearing, church-going, straight edge philosophy. Same reason Mitchell was dealt.
When the Mets dealt Ryan he was a young, unproven pitcher who had serious control issues and had bounced back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen. What they got, primarily, in return was third baseman Jim Fergosi, who, though on the decline, still filled a huge hole at 3B for NY-N.
As for dealing Kevin "World" Mitchell -- along with Stanley Jefferson and Shawn Abner neither of whom amounted to anything -- they did get Kevin McReynolds (and the great Gene Walters) in return. K-Mac helped lead the Mets to the 1988 NLE title, finishing second to Kirk Gibson in the MVP voting that season. Mitchell only really had one great year after leaving Flushing, winning the 1989 NL MVP with San Fran. He was out of baseball soon afterwards.
Three weeks until pitchers and catchers report!!
Oh, and Mike Scott was a no-name pitcher without much perceived potential who had never had a winning season in the Majors and was coming off major surgery. He was traded for Danny Heep, a valuable part of the mid-80s Mets.
Yeah, no one had shown Scott how to scuff until after he was out of New York.
The Mitchell-for-McReynolds deal is understandable, if not short-sighted. Like you said, Cashen traded a personality for a dolt who hated New York.
Not sure if you cats saw this, but the Great Omar Minaya hired Samuel to be the Mets' Double-A manager last week.
On the same day, Mookie and Tim Teufel left the organization.
I don't know how you could bring that stiff back to the organization. Here's a guy who dogged it from the minute he got here and now he's teaching our minor leaguers what to do.
As for worst Met trades of all time, the one ranks right up there. Also, don't forget a few weeks later, we dealt Mookie for Jeff Musselman.
Don't forget the tom seaver deal - though I was always a fan of Steve Henderson.
I'm gonna change my last named to Rodriguez and challenge Jay Horowitz for the Mets' Director of Media Relations gig.
In fairness to Cashen, it was shortly after the Mitchell-for-McReynolds deal that he pulled off what might be the best team in team history.
Ed Hearn and Rick Anderson to Kansas City for a young man named David Cone.
I was also at that NLCS game in 2000, having come up from Philly that morning with one buddy who's a Mets fan and another who hates the Cards because he's a Royals fan.
About the 7th inning, some lady (I use the term loosely) in front of us, in the second to last row of the upper deck, gets hit in the head by a lit cigarette. Somehow, she got it into her head that my friends and I were responsible and started raising holy hell. Like a lot of the things on your list, the pre and postgame were fun, but that entire afternoon was abominable.
Jesse: For the most part, the people around you are crucial to your enjoyment of the game.
What I used to hate - and I swear I'll never do it - is the parent behind me who has to explain every little detail to his kid.
For example:
PARENT: "OK, so you see junior that was ball 1."
Junior: "Can I get some ice cream."
PARENT: "If he throws 3 more balls, he gets to walk."
JUNIOR: "I have to go pee pee."
PARENT: "See the guy on second, he might steal second."
JUNIOR: "Can I get some cotton candy.
PARENT: "If they get three outs, then the other team gets up."
JUNIOR: "Can we go home."
I took my daughter to a game this year and I never once, tried to school her on the rules of baseball. When we watch on TV, I'll try, but I'll never, ever do that at a Stadium.
Plus, when I take my son to his first game, I'll be too busy pointing out the hot chicks to him.
Yeah, Hearn and Anderson for Cone was quite a steal. Right up there with Rick Owmby and Neil Allen for Keith Hernandez and Hubie Brooks (a great Met), Mike Fitzgerald, Floyd Youmans and Herm Winningham for Gary Carter.
I also enjoyed Walt Terrell for Howard Johnson.
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