What a Weekend!

Our four-day weekend was very eventful, to say the least.

Friday night, we went to the Plaza Theatre near Midtown to see a performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, called “Lips Down on Dixie”, that is unlike any you can experience in a lifetime.  The show is welcoming to LGBT people especially to give them a place to go and have a good time without the pressures of a club or bar.  Not only is the traditional heckling of the film going on during the film, but a variety of just wonderful people are up on stage in front of the screen performing the film as well in front of you.  There were also fun things before the movie to really get the crowd loose and turned on.  The hosts (named Nik [ironic, huh?] and Candace) had great chemistry.  It certainly is quite raucous and fun.  We had a great time and want to go be in that audience again.  If you’re ever in Atlanta and need something to do on a Friday night, go see this show, you’ll have a blast!

The highlight of Saturday was seeing my first soccer match in person.  This was an event I will cherish for a long time.  I said to myself, “I want to be a fan again!” after seeing Atlanta United FC in person.  I am rooting for them all the way.  Rain delayed the match a few minutes, but it didn’t hurt things.  I had such an awesome time.  I need more team colors before I go the next time. 🙂  They also beat Columbus Crew SC 3-1, in spectacular fashion.

Sunday, which was Father’s Day, we went to SunTrust Park, the new home of the Braves, to watch them take on the Miami Marlins.  The previous night, a friend of mine was there to watch them win in 10 innings on a walk-off hit.  They did it again on Sunday as well!  The experience was really mesmerizing.  I miss the Ted, but I think I will grow to like this place.

Let’s rewind a bit.  Thursday night as we were coming home from work to start packing, we noticed a very bad grinding noise coming from the car.  I determined very quickly that we were not going to drive the car all the way there and back.  I quickly got a reservation to rent a car from Enterprise the next morning and we drove that there and back.  It turned out to be the smartest move I could have made.

Monday, we took the car to the Hyundai dealership to have them look at it.  Turns out there was a lot going on in the front end and it was going to be well over $2,000 to repair it.  Given that the car is almost 10 years old, it would only be a matter of time before something else would probably go wrong with it as well.

As any smart person would probably deduce at this point, it was time to part ways with our car.  We surely hadn’t planned to do that.  I thank my lucky stars that we had a lot of money saved in the bank to where we were able to negotiate quickly, get a car loan and drive out in a new 2017 Hyundai Elantra in a matter of a few hours.  Check it out…

Pretty neat, huh?  While we weren’t planning on the prospect of having a car loan again so soon, everything will be OK.  It certainly beats sinking money into a car that was starting to slowly die a painful death.  I think, in the long run, that we did the absolute right thing in putting it out of its misery.

Note to self: Take more pictures!

We’re Back!

Me and my husband are back in Atlanta for 3 days.  After what happened the last time here, I surely think that we won’t see anymore Interstate bridges burning on live television.  The traffic, on the other hand, is just as bad as always.  But… that’s Atlanta for you!

If we move down here, that is what we will have to get used to.

I will be sure to blog about our exciting venture tomorrow, as we go to our first MLS game!  Atlanta United FC vs. Columbus Crew SC.

Sunday, Father’s Day, we’ll be at the new SunTrust Park for the last of a 3-Game series between the Braves and the Miami Marlins.  Hopefully nobody will fall and hit the dirt racing against the Freeze this time!

 

Hop on the Bandwagon!

I am confident in saying that I have never been a fan who jumps on the bandwagon.  I do tend to see it happen a lot.  I’m talking about those fans who start rooting for a team when, all of a sudden, they are in the spotlight playing on a sport’s biggest stage.  They can be very, very annoying, especially when one has been very devoted to a team’s cause throughout the course of a season.

What brought this thought on is, of course, the Nashville Predators winning the Western Conference in the NHL last night.  They are going to play in their first ever Stanley Cup Final in a few days.  I like hockey, I think it’s a great sport, and I’ll of course hope that they do well.   I’ve always liked them and always wanted to go to a game in Smashville (maybe one of these days.)

I’ve said in years past that I tend to just like watching a game, or a sport, from afar, not rooting for any team.  I’m starting to slowly change, with rooting for Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer, in their inaugural season.  In fact, Greg and I are going to their game against the Columbus Crew on June 17th.  I am excited about that.

I’ve always been a closet Braves fan.  I guess I’ll be right at home if I get to move to Atlanta.

Never really cared for the Falcons or the Hawks.  (Apologies if that offends football or basketball fans, it’s just how I feel.)

To the original point:  I’d put myself in between a bandwagon fan and a true, loyal supporter.  I’d like to think I can root for any team that I choose to root for, but I recognize and respect someone else’s devotion that would far exceed anything I could ever contribute.

Know your place, sports fan!

 

Stupor Bowl 51

 

As you probably know, the Birds blew a 28-3 lead and lost to those other guys.  My friend Chelsea posed this question on Facebook:

My response is: the Warriors.  They were so heavily favored to win the NBA Finals last year, and they blew that lead, and the record winning season was all for naught.  That was the worst of the three, in my opinion.

Is it baseball season yet?  Ironically, the Indians pitchers and catchers report in one week, February 12th.

Football Weather

As you no doubt have heard, the NFL is considering several plans to either move Super Bowl XLVIII up to Friday or Saturday or push it back to Monday.  Several people have already said what I agree with on this matter, that the NFL should have expected that this might happen when they announced that they were playing the game there a few years back.

But, the thing that gets me about this is that everyone is acting like it’s going to be the end of days if the NFL decides to move the game to a different time.  Yeah, I know you planned that party and booked that room, but it’s just a game!

Oh, what’s that, it cost you $225 for that Banquet Hall?  Oh…….. well, since you put it that way. Gee thanks, NFL.

DISCLAIMER: I in no way know what the NFL is going to do. The preceding is just a premonition.

Football at Wrigley Field – 2010 Edition

OK, so I have to complain.

Tomorrow, there is a football game at Wrigley Field in Chicago between Northwestern and Illinois. This is the first football game to be played in the Friendly Confines since the Bears defeated the Packers 35-17 on December 13th, 1970. Then, the football field stretched from the first base dugout across to the left field wall (north-south.) For this game, they will be going from the third base dugout to the right field wall (east-west.) In 1970, the goal posts were on the goal line in the NFL and college. They are now on the end line in the back of the end zone (and have been since the fall of 1974.) Due to this, the goal posts on the right field side in the east end zone had to be attached to the right field wall.

So, meetings have been held in the last couple of days, and it was decided due to “safety issues” regarding practically no space in the back of the east end zone before you run into the brick wall, every drive and every play will be going west towards the third base dugout side of the field. Excuse me? You’re changing the dynamics of football because of a little cramping? Are we now so scared of a society that someone might run into a padded wall and possibly cause a life-altering experience? So what! Let them play some good ol’ football in a classic setting.

You may be wondering why aren’t they using the old configuration? I don’t know. Some have alluded to it being because of seating expansions since 1970, although I can’t find references showing seat expansions since then.

So, we violate the game of football and its sanctity for safety. Makes you wonder if those people who complained about the policing of hits in football earlier this season might have some sort of an argument there.

So, I’m watching NFL Network and what’s on is a NFL Films show on I don’t know what in particular, and the subject on fat guys in the NFL comes up. It’s one of those tounge-in-cheek films they did in the 1980s.

After the segment is over, the fade to black for the commercial, and what comes on…

..an ad for Taco Bell.

Now that’s suggestive product placement!

The Amazing Mets

Wow, how low can upper management go? Firing a manager that has been rumored to be on the chopping block is one thing. But, to do it at 3:15 AM via a press release? After game one of a six game road trip?

I think I speak for everyone here when I say, “What the f!@%?”

Shame on you, upper level Mets managment. You could have done this with much more dignity than to issue PR in the dead of night.

At least I slept just as good, nonetheless…

(Reading responses on LJ) At least baugh217 kind of expected this, so maybe it’s not as annoying as it seems on the surface.

YMMV.

Edited to include mention of it being a road trip…

Here’s What Grinds my Gears today… steroids.

I don’t know whether or not to be ashamed to be a baseball fan today after the culmination of Mitchell and Co.’s investigation. It seems that baseball and dishonesty regarding its players goes hand in hand throughout the course of time.

I don’t know if this will damage the popularity of the game permanently, as has been evidenced in the past, the game has come back from stains of dishonesty. (See: 1919 Black Sox scandal) But never in my life have I ever considered that so many players of so many different teams stretching over a decade would ever have occurred. This is bigger than the Black Sox, Pete Rose or other controversies combined. This will hurt the game forever.