I've been in Denver for about 3.5 weeks now, with only three non-sabbath days to go. I haven't been yet to the Rockies (the mountainous kind) because all my fellow publishing students seem to have developed a habit of taking those trips on Saturday mornings. I figured, as a fairly decent substitute, I could go see the Rockies (the baseball kind). So last night, with 24 other baseball-tolerating aspiring publishers I did just that. This was my sixth ballpark, after, in chronological order, Shea and Yankee Stadia, Fenway Park, what is now called the Rogers Centre (i.e., the one in Toronto), and Dodger Stadium. But Coors Field was my first ballpark named after a beer; not surprisingly, the beer isn't any cheaper there.
The game itself was pretty dreary, which may have been expected in a contest between a home team eleven games under .500 (and after Monday's defeat, make that twelve) and a visiting squad which ranks as the worst in baseball (the DC Nationals). The stadium witnessed its loudest moment when the club, using the jumbo-tron, welcomed the DU Publishing Institute. Section 207 rocked to the sound of our infamous "We Love Books" cheer. The only other reason the crowd worked itself up was to participate in The Wave. The weird sporting event thing and not the peer-pressure book, that is. Like so:
The Colorado Wave wasn't as good as the one in the video, but, to be fair, Jerseyans are known for their ability to stand and sit in an organized manner. Although, to be fair about this also, we missed the Rockies's first three runs (out of four) because we were doing car bombs. It looked on TV like the crowd was excited about that, but it was kinda hard to tell at that point.
The ballyard itself it pretty beautiful. Relatively comfy seats, wonderful sight-lines, and the Rocky Mountains peek up over the left-field foul pole. It always strikes me as nice that most ballgames begin in daylight and conclude after darkness has hit. Bob Costas would make a big deal about how this represents the importance of a boy's game being played by men, with the love of the game being preserved with a child-like enthuasiasm for this pasttime of the nation. But he's kind of an idiot. I just think it's nice to be able to watch the sunset during like pitching changes or whatever.
7 comments:
so i have been wondering why you have certain words underlined and highlighted in blue. i decided to click on one of those today, which took me to a description of musical chairs. i have no idea what that had to do with your posting for the day and i am still confused as to the blue, highlighted words.
@joseph
See, on the "internet," a word that is underlined and blued means that it's a link to a different "internet" or website. The worldwide internet is pretty meta-textual in that way. The musical chairs thing is there because it's related to my claim that New Jerseyites (New Jerseyans?) are known far and wide for their organized sitting and standing skills, as depicted in the youtubular video showing people from New Jersey standing and sitting in a highly organized manner. Musical chairs is kinda like that also, what with all the sitting and standing.
A few thoughts that I hope they are funny, not not funny, and not f-ing idiotic:
-Apparently Mr. Rogers can't wave either: http://remixtheory.net/remixImages/mrRogersRemix.jpg.
-I think Joseph might be my grandma in disguise.
-@Avi: I think the House of Commons just might edge Jerseyans at sitting and standing in an organized manner. Case in point: http://www.leaderofthehouseofcommons.gov.uk/files/images/Commons%20Thur%2014%20large.jpg.
Starting when it was light outside and ending after it got dark is what always made me depressed about Rav Ahron's shiur clali (it didn't help that I usually fell asleep when it was light out and woke up disoriented when it was light).
Also correct me if I'm wrong but Joseph wanted a summary of your previous post, which I thought could be, you can find something that you previously disliked to be interesting if you see it in the proper light. And analyzing data correctly is important (like it says in freakonomics).
@joshua
The summary is pretty good, but I would focus on the storytelling ability of numbers. The famous quote of Benjamin Disraeli, popularized in the US by Mark Twain, I think is appropriate here: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." My point is that not all statistics lie; some, as Bill James taught me, become fiction, drama, and poetry. It's just a matter of recognizing which numbers are which, and what truth they tell. All three fields covered in that post--math classes, baseball stats, and online marketing--tell the truth about reality in different ways. And the better story they tell, the more powerful the numbers are.
@avi
(Apparently, on the interweb, you use the '@' symbol (know in Israel as a 'strudel', to address someone.)
San Diagans.
@etan
San Diego-ans?
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