Wednesday, February 28, 2007

BASEBALL! BASEBALL!!

THERE’S BASEBALL TODAY!

AND IT’S NOT THE CARIBBEAN WORLD SERIES!

THE METS ARE PLAYING BASEBALL TODAY!!!!!!

This is of course about the time I lament that my current desk is, essentially, in the middle of a hallway (we’re having space problems at work).  And given that THE ENTIRE OFFICE aside from three people are all Yankees fans (die-hard, if you’d hear them talk), it would be a little obvious.

BASEBALL!!! TODAY!!!!!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

reprise on the city of brotherly love

Some of you may have noticed that I had a post about Brett Myers, and that it was removed. You may have noticed that I changed my snackbar quote (the one at the top of the sidebar over there) instead. I stole that from TBF, and when he shared that with me (he posted it somewhere else), only THEN did I realize that Brett Myers was That Guy. I read my post and it sounded totally shallow - yes, tickets.com sucks - but it made me seem like a total lightweight. So I took it down.

In an email discussion with Bob Sikes yesterday (who I still offer much gratitude towards as one of the first folks to acknowledge Mets Grrl), I shared part of this thought process with him. And then today, he came back and suggested that I needed to offer my thought process to the rest of you. Combined with this some levity in the blogosphere at a MetsMerized headline entitled, “Brett Myers Can Beat His Wife, But Not The Mets,” and my discomfort as a female at 1) the headline and 2) the humor around it, I decided that he was right.

I only learned about Brett Myers last year when I was doing some research online, looking for other blogs by female baseball fans. I found a blog written by a Phillies fan (which I cannot find any more - it was on MLB blogs), an older woman who was distressed at the Phillies for a lot of reasons, but whose ire turned into moral outrage over what she perceived to be their non-handling of the incident in Boston between Brett Myers and his wife. None of which I knew about, because it happened when I was not yet clamoring to watch Sportscenter every night.

However, Google is your friend. I typed a few words into the search box, and bingo. Within 15 minutes I was sharing this woman’s outrage. I understand PR, I understand spin, I understand damage control. But there are some things that are inexcusible.

There are things that are funny, and there are things that are not funny no matter what. I can make off-color jokes, and laugh at things I shouldn’t laugh at, I’m not saying that I’m perfect. I’m not trying to start a First Amendment debate here - I’m not proposing that we legislate that you can’t make jokes about certain subjects. But on a personal level, there are things that aren’t funny to me: racism, anti-semitism, misogyny, and assholes who beat the crap out of their wives. I’m not going to laugh at wife beating jokes, and I should be able to say that I think that people who are making them and are laughing at them are wrong, and maybe they should think about it a little and perhaps make the choice to not do so.

Which is what I’m doing here.

There is no shortage of pejoratives one can direct at Brett Myers. I issue a challenge to the rest of the blogging community to avoid this particular direction and take our humor up a level for the rest of the season.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

on a positive (sort of) note

I forgot to mention my letter from the Mets yesterday, inviting me (as an account holder, or rather, a “valued patron” *snort*) to purchase single game tickets (excluding, of course, opening day and the Subway Series) before the rest of the world.

[The fact that the password is so freaking obvious as to be completely worthless, therefore ensuring that everyone’s going to get in on it somehow (no, REALLY. It might as well be ‘METS’) was a subject for additional derision. And no I’m not telling you. xoxo]

However, what I missed in my initial pissed-off, fling-of-worthless-letter-onto-MG-desk was THIS:

“Highlights on our home 2007 schedule include… (blah blah blah about the Cardinals that would be appropriate for any team except the Mets, because it feels like it was written by some intern who somehow FORGOT who BEAT us last year) and--”

--wait for it--

“Great giveaways, including Mr. Met T-Shirts, PAUL LO DUCA BOBBLEHEADS (emph. mine), David Wright Jersey Bags and Build-A-Bear Workshop Day...”

There is no way in heck that Lo Duca bobbleheads are For The Children.

Right?

“We are sorry to inform you…”

”...that your entry was not selected in this drawing.”

TWO SECONDS after I received this (and TBF confirmed that he, too, got shut out), I went on Craigslist… to find that people were *already* selling their PIN numbers.

Just for fun, I wrote to a few of them to ask how this was going to work - and all three of them responded back that they had already closed deals and that their codes were not available. I wouldn’t have bought one no matter what - I mean, I might as well buy a Ticketfast ticket from someone on eBay - but WTF?

How on earth does this make things fairer for fans? Two of the people who had ads up explicitly said they weren’t trying to rip people off, but they just didn’t have the cash right now. There’s *no way* that type of person would have gone and waited in line at Shea to buy opening day tickets. So, instead of letting the fans earn the privilege of attending Opening Day, they let anyone with an email address sign up, whether or not they actually really want to go, probably with the hopes of making a quick buck instead.

I ask again: how on earth does this make things fairer for fans?

::sigh::

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

AN ACTUAL CONVERSATION.

TBF holds up a slip of paper: “Mega-millions.” His office has a weekly pool.
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s $151 million now.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Even if they took half of it, that’s still a lot of money.”
“Yep.”
“The first thing I do would be to call the Mets ticket office.”
“But of course.”
“Do you still want to sit behind the visitor’s dugout, or the Mets dugout?”
“Visitor’s dugout.”
“So I call them up and say, ‘I want the best seats you got, and I don’t mean mezzanine box.”
“And I want four seats.”
“So we can take friends?”
“And so we can donate to children’s charities when we’re not using them.”
“Right. They can take the kids, or sell the seats.”
“Exactly.”
“Then, I look for a place to live.”
“I’m glad we have our priorities straight.”
“Hey, it’s going to take us time to find a place to live. The season starts soon!”

Labels: shea tickets

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Monday, February 19, 2007

THE BEST NEWS OF THE SEASON SO FAR.

From the Daily News:

The popular “Profesor Reyes” segments, during which Jose Reyes teaches Spanish to fans, will return to Shea. After it took Reyes an hour and a half to tape the 2006 season’s segments last spring, Mets officials planned to spread the duty among several players this year. But Reyes enjoyed the segments so much, he asked to again tape the entire season.

Have you ever watched the dugout during these segments? All the Spanish-speaking players cluster down around the steps, watching avidly, laughing their asses off, and (I imagine) giving Jose endless amounts of good-natured grief. Pedro, especially, always displayed special interest.

[Okay. I admit here, as you all know, that I sit on the MEZZANINE, so all of this is my vivid imagination and a pair of binoculars. But I think I’m right.]

I’m just very glad that a promotional bit that allows the personality of the players to shine through will continue through 2007.  And, Hey Mets Front Office, while you’re at it, let’s remember:

Labels: reyes, shea

do not adjust your set

Yes, we are doing a little spring cleaning and light rearranging behind the scenes here at metsgrrl.com. New colors, tweaking the layout, and making the best of the constraints of Blogger until we can pick up and move house.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

gorgeous photos from spring training today

Click here to see the AP photo feed from today’s spring training session.

*sigh*

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

another “help d.wright with his at-bat music” request

On the NY Post’s Spring Training blog.

*AHEM*

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS!

7 Train
Originally uploaded by Triborough.

Less than two months before I’m walking into Gate B again.

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