We’re hoping fans will be allowed for the game at SLO. Take the RV and make a small vacation out of it with wine tasting in Paso, COVID permitting.

Last week athletics stopped by with the mobile tailgate. We sat on our front lawn, socially distanced and masked, talking about football. It was a real pleasure to visit and talk about a lot of the issues that we have been speculating about on this forum. As discussed here, the health of our student athletes is the priority, including very frequent covid testing and providing our testing (and expertise) to other schools. Proud of our program.
Go Ags

That's a good question. I thought fall would be difficult because my wife and I enjoy going to the football games and listening to the band-uh. But since the team wasn't playing, it didn't feel like I was missing out. Spring might be harder knowing that there is a game going on RIGHT OVER THERE and we can't go. Winter was very hard for me as I usually go to all the b-ball games that I can. Plus with the kids home, that would have been a lot of fun (reliving their childhoods). I was even hoping that the BW would allow some fans in Vegas as the b-ball tournament is always a fun couple of days. Oh well...next year I guess.

Fall was tough because the games (home and a few away) and festivities have been so ingrained in our routine for 15 or so years. The spring league? I haven’t gotten into the groove yet so not missing it yet. Maybe after watching Saturday it will seem more real. For now, it has a XFL feel.

I am missing the basketball experience. After I retired, I was planning on coming up for almost all home games ( no worries about getting up early after a long midweek drive home). Not having in person has made it a little harder to get a strong connection with the players. That month long hiatus of course played a big part.

Jack in the Box... over Plainfield Station?

I drove by Plainfield last weekend, they were open but looking for a cook

I have been a real fan of the cautious approach to this whole thing, including sports. Easy enough for me to do because I am retired, have a pension, and staying home is what I do best. Everytime I try to figure out a sports schedule, like everything else, it changes. We hope the cautious approach works, but I can sure understand COVID fatigue. Have received the shots, but feel like I am all dressed up with no place to go.

Try to follow sports and as soon as someone establishes a schedule, it gets changed because your team or the opponent has COVID issues. Just pulled the River Cats schedule last night only to find that as soon as I hit 'Print' MLB told the minor leagues to bump the start of their schedules another month down the road. Who knew, other than Goags20172 that the minor leagues have completely overhauled their leagues. Perhaps Nashville, Omaha and Iowa weren't meant to be in the Pacific Coast League after all. The lesser sports I try to follow, (water polo, swimming, rugby...) are not competing at all. Hard to follow something as elusive as sports...and the whole season will have a big asterisk in any event.

But the dog gets walked a lot.

It is a small positive that restaraunts are looking for help, though it is probably part time and can't match unemployment benefits, at least for a while. The entire hospitality industry has been hit pretty hard. And no, let's not go too far down this road here.

The Jack N' The Box is more about getting a quick meal than quality. I typically like to get to the ballgame at least half an hour before it starts

I hope that fans are allowed at the game too. At least the desination is worth the trip by itself. That's how I'm approaching travel this year- as if I won't be able to see any sports. Except from the trip to Keizer.

I was tempted to go to TX as soon as I heard everything is now open, but had to calm down + think logically. An open TX with no COVID rules is dangerous.

It didn't make sense for teams in TN to be in the PCL. I like the new arrangement. Back in the 90's it was mostly just west coast teams and that was nice. Did you notice all the teams in the new league are affiliated with western MLB franchises ? That's nice too.

When the PCL redoes its schedule...again...maybe you can get to Texas to see the River Cats play the Sugar Land Skeeters.

This really sounds like a Disney movie.

I love minor league nicknames.

Looks like they River Cats weren't going to Texas this year anyway, and with the delayed opening they won't even play the Skeeters this season.

I plan on avoiding Texas for a year or two. The prospect of being at a sporting event with no masks and no social distancing is rather unnerving after all this

The Sugar Land Skeeters have an interesting history as an independent league team. Roger Clemens pitched for them at the end of his career, and he was still productive. He was about 50. Tracy McGrady also pitched for them for a second. if memory serves.

Another thing they did was actually play ball when the affiliated minor leagues were shut down in 2020. They hosted the Constellation Energy League-4 teams playing in the same ballpark. It gave some fringe major league/Triple-A players who couldn't find work a chance to play. That strategy has worked out to an extent. One of the CEL pitchers-Scott Kazmir-was able to turn that into a spring training invite with the Giants. He hasn't pitched in the MLB in a few years but there's a good chance he'll pitch for the River Cats this year, at least for a little while.

I am also renewing my personal boycott of games at Raley Field (Sutter Health Park). I'm not trying to cancel them or get anyone else to do it. I thought perhaps if they strictly limited attendance and forced people to stay away from each other it would be like a dream come true, but this ticket business hit a nerve. Staying away is effortless when you're not allowed to be there.

There are a few Triple-A West parks I'd like to visit (again). Reno has a very weird looking park from the outside. You just have to see it. Albuquerque has a great park. Lots of Simpsons references and a weird hill in center field outfielders have to scale. Salt Lake City has a fun 90's looking ballpark that has stand-alone restrooms out in the outfield grass seating area, which is a rare feature these days. Nice they don't make the people with the cheapest tickets walk a mile to see a man about a dog. Salt Lake is one of the teams I contacted. Oklahoma City could be neat too, with the whole Bricktown area. El Paso has a neat design that kind of resembles Wrigley Field and Petco Park in some ways. A funny thing-they have a plaque near the entrance to tell you what a Chihuahuah is in case you don't know.

Some of my favorite team names-

Rocket City Trash Pandas (Huntsville, AL I think)
Lansing Lugnuts
Hillsboro Hops
Everett Aquasox


I think Portland should have an MLB team. They could be called the Voodoo and have a doughnut mascot. I can just imagine a fan calling, "C'mon, Schmitty, put a bird on it !" After a homerun maybe the announcer could e claim "Aaaaannd we can pickle that !!!!"

The Trash Pandas are the best!

All dressed up and nowhere to go is an excellent way to summarize things right now. When they announce another stimulus payment you're supposed to be spending it on either necessities-if you're jobless, or on other things if you're not, to stimulate the economy. But how much can you eat out ? Take a trip to somewhere in which all the attractions are still closed ? Maybe go to TX, MS, or FL and maybe or most definitely get COVID-19 because of the non-existent restrictions ? I find it laughable Texas at one time had quarantine requirements for CA visitors. That's the pot calling the kettle black.

For those of us whose discretionary budgets include a lot of sporting events it's tough to know what to do. I donated a little bit to each of my colleges (about what I'd normally pay for tickets), bought a video game system. It isn't a time for being overly generous either. The gravy train has an end to it and when it's gone you wish you had that money you gave away.

Oh, and I did verify it on ESPN.COM. Tracy McGrady did pitch in 4 games for the Sugar Land Skeeters. He actually did pretty well considering he had a long period of not playing baseball like Michael Jordan. He got his first and only strikeout in the league All-Star game, then he retired. In independent leagues All-Star game doesn't always mean only stars. Jose Canseco pitched in one too.

The football season has a very "exhibitions just for the heck of it" feel to it this year for me. It's no less important to the players but it reminds me of a South Park episode (as time goes by lots of things in real life remind me of South Park, the Simpsons, or Family Guy-they poke fun at everything) in which one of the kids buys an amusement park just so he have it to himself. He takes out TV ads just so he can tell everyone they can't come .

CA college sporting events are basically Cartmanland right now. I bet the people who write those press releases get a little kick out of including parts saying that spectators are not allowed, knowing that their roles give them VIP access. Bunch of Cartmans.