Hello there!

It's has been a long while since I blogged - so here we go with some ramblings:

1) Had a great time on vacation this month at Disney and then the gulf coast (near Tampa / St. Pete). I know I will offend somebody here, but anyone who goes to Disney World with a 2 year old child or less is insane. Why? Our kids are 7 and 4, and I think the minimum age for a family to enjoy Disney is 4 - or maybe 3. Any younger than that - why go? The kid won't remember it, the kid will complain 80% of the day, and it's too hot/boring/tiring for them. We were there at 9:30 one morning - and saw one family (with a 1 and a 2 year old) just break down. The mother was yelling at her kids: "if you don't behave better, we'll go back to the hotel..." At 9:30! Must have been a long day.

2) At a Pizzeria UNO in Orlando, saw a man at a bar wearing a Browns hat and a Courtney Brown jersey. I was proud.

3) When in Tampa/St. Pete, we had a chance to go to a Devil Rays game. On a Friday night. I gotta tell you, it was weird.
First of all, maybe 15,000 were in attendance. We bought outfield seats but pretty much had 3 rows in a lower section between 1st and the right field foul pole all to ourselves. We got free parking - it was $10 for cars but if you had 4 people in the car, it was free! The stadium is in a terrible neighborhood in St Pete. Nothing but some industry and lower middle-class housing around there. It's like putting a stadium in Fairfield, OH, Euclid, OH, or Essex, MD. (and for those of you wondering, it was somewhat similar, but much less romantic, than the old Memorial Staidum neighborhood in Baltimore.)

I've never seen so many single men (aged 40-60) at a baseball game. It felt - honestly - like a horse track. Tons of middle aged men - divorcees? widowers? - taking in the game by themselves. Half had their scorebook keeping score.

The inside of the dome had no chemistry - it was like watching a game inside a Sam's Club. However, it was $1 hot dog night (and the Zahn family had 11) and it was the closest I have been to a no hitter yet. James Shields let up a hit in the 4th - and that was it. It was 0-0 going to the 9th, when the Rays hit a walkoff 2 run HR.

Leaving the game, I was impressed with the knowledge of those male fans. They were talking about pitch counts, at-bat strategies of the hitters, etc. (this drove Janice crazy - "we just saw the game! Why do they have to talk about it again??" - but I appreciated it.

Just - a weird but oddly fulfilling experience. It took us 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot - I can't imagine how it would be if they actually sold out.

4) I didn't realize how far Tampa and St Pete were from each other. Maybe that explained the lack of attendance. The Bucs and the Lightning play in Tampa - which is a good 30 minutes away from St Pete, where the Rays play. St Pete - from what we saw - is a depressing town. Tampa seemed much more....busier and livelier. That may explain many of the attendance problems for the Rays.

5) We're starting to get prepared for the new arrival .... went into the new IKEA here in West Chester to look at bunk beds. IKEAs are just....overwhelming. Wow.

6) Last weekend Don, Craig, Mike and I went up to Purdue to play the Kampen Course (a Pete Dye design) right before the NCAA Div I championship. Wow. What an experience.
Well, the experience was "enhanced" by plenty of drinking the night before at a favroite college bar of Don and Mike's......hoo boy, Long island Ice Teas have a lot of alcohol.

The course itself was a brutal 7450 yards, with a heavy penalty of missing the fairway (5 inches of rough, forcing a 9 iron or worse). With my driver not cooperating, and my head spinning as I kneeled down to read putts (and spinning again as I rose out of my crouch), I shot a respectable (?) 95. But it was a 44 on the back nine!

A few more quick thoughts:

7) What would the 1995 Indians' record be if they had this pitching? 130-14? My God, we are wasting our starting five's performances.

8) I have yet to find a flavor of Vitamin Water than I like. It's gross.

9) Freddie's baseball is going well - he's hitting the machine pretty good, and got a clean one-bouncer to the outfield yesterday. On Tuesday, it was too muddy for the machines so the coaches had to pitch - and our coach got him right on the wrist. Hoo boy. Someone on theblog immediately gave him teh nickname of Don Baylor.

10) Layup and I are taking suggestions for who to pick for the US Open in our golf pool. Can we depend on Tiger - or save him for later? We already picked Phil for the Colonial (in a master stroke of genius). Any other ideas? Harrington? Cink?

11) Don has reserved a Ryder Cup ticket for Saturday, Sept 20 down in Louisville. That is 8 days after our baby is expected to arrive. What are the odds that I will be attending the Ryder Cup? Early line is 50-1 against....