episode 47 of tvlgfhf

hey podcast loving friends, we've got a new episode of the view looks good from here, fresno podcast up and available. it's a fun little interview with scott carter, who runs the promotions for the grizzlies. check it out.

the great fresno tweetup

ah, twitter. i know that some of you, along with myself, joke about twitter. one of the best descriptions i've heard or seen lately about twitter is that it is a great marketing tool masquerading as a social networking site. and i see a lot of local folks using their tweets to advertise their job skills, their businesses, their blogs, and so on. most tweets aren't just the stereotypical "pooping, then a shower, and maybe some lunch at el torito."

twitter is also becoming a way of organizing people. i wonder how future protests might use it to organize meet ups and avoid police. i know ithttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=14878403 was used somewhat in iran recently for this very idea. locally, and on a much smaller scale, the fresno grizzlies and the beehive have joined forces to gather local twitter users for a game.



so, i've already rsvp'd myself for the game. $5 ticket, + i get a $1 drink coupon. it's thirsty thursday, so my first beer is on them. sweet. and, as many people as want can come along (although i'm not sure on the drink tix thing).

so, who wants to brave the heat and see the grizzlies play?

willie mays day @ the grizzlies

hey, on sunday the grizzlies are having a special event



anyone interested in coming along? i'll be honest, i've got four tickets and am willing to hook a few people up, but i'd love for a bunch of us to get seats together and enjoy a nice day at the ballpark. the projected high on sunday is only 83 so that shouldn't be a problem at all. and, the grizzlies are playing pretty well right now so there's a good chance they'll win, for those that only want to see winners.

who wants to go?

here are some details from the grizzlies
Say Hey Kid Pack
Get 2 Super View Tickets for $22 and enter yourself for a chance to meet Willie Mays*** on June 7th.

Click Here To Purchase Your "Say Hey Kid Pack"

*Willie Mays will be in attendance at Chukchansi Park on June 7th. He will NOT be signing autographs for the general public or appearing on the concourse or 600 Club. Only a very select group of randomly chosen fans will win the opportunity for a private meet & greet with Willie Mays on June 7th. These winners will be randomly selected from the following groups:

**Fifteen (15) winners will be randomly selected from Grizzlies Sponsors, Premium Seat, Season Ticket, and Mini Plan package holders. Each winner will be allowed to bring one (1) guest with them for the meet & greet. All Grizzlies Sponsors, Premium Seat, Season Ticket, and Mini Plan package holders will be automatically entered into the drawing. These winners will be notified prior to the event on June 7th with further instructions concerning the meet & greet.

***Five (5) winners will be selected from the pool of "Say Hey Kid Pack" purchasers for a private meet & greet with Willie Mays. Each winner will be allowed to bring one (1) guest with them for the meet & greet. "Say Hey Kid Pack" will be on sale through Saturday, June 6th at 12:00 PST. These winners will be notified prior to the event on June 7th with further instructions concerning the meet & greet.

****Five (5) additional ticket stubs will be pulled randomly during the June 7th game for a private meet & greet with Willie Mays. Each of those winners will be allowed to bring one (1) guest with them for the meet & greet. All fans in attendance on June 7th will be eligible for inclusion in this drawing during Willie Mays Tribute Day.

fresno grizzlies game 4/16

last night i went to the grizzlies game thanks to free tickets from fresno famous. thanks fresno famous. it was my second game of the new season, and sadly it was the second time i saw the grizzlies lose.

the night started with a quest for food. this time i tried the bbq nachos from the meat market bbq stand, located sort of behind first base on the concourse. they were pretty nice. the shredded pork was sweet and it contrasted very well with the nacho sauce and the spice of the salsa. the order is a generous portion, and i was satisfied with my dinner.



it was the first thirsty thursday of the year, so that meant cheap tecate. this cost me $2.



we had a nice view of the field.



this guy was wearing a big, stupid, foam cowboy hat that screamed "i need attention." so, here you go buddy, attention on the fresno blogosphere.



later in the night, the moths came out. big ones.



finally, there was one or two ladies in the first level that were blowing bubbles. it was pretty cool and amazing how many bubbles there were, and how they filled up the night sky.



thanks again to fresno famous for the tickets.

fresno grizzlies season opener

little write up over here about my experience @ the season opener for the grizzlies last night. why not check it out?

grizzlie dance

in case you don't read it, there's a funny video up over @ wide world of fresno sports.

friday night baseball

anyone want to go to the grizzlies game tonight? perhaps go to the downtown vibe before?

i think we got some tix available.

weekend odds and ends

so, this has been an interesting little weekend filled with all sorts of things.

yesterday, i got my first crack at supernerdery. i mean, geocaching. it's really not as nerdy as it sometimes sounds, but i had an enjoyable enough time searching for little things around town in a high tech scavenger hunt type of way. we went twice on saturday, and it was more fun when we made a little competition out of it. and when we actually found things.

last night, we went and saw m.night shamalamadingdong's movie, the happening. i enjoyed it. i won't tell you anything about it, although marky mark, whom i enjoy, makes me chuckle @ points just due to his voice. he'll say something, and it will take me back to fear (nicole 4 eva). some of the foreshadowing was a little ham-handed, but i did like the film. go see it before you hear too much (if you're so inclined) because it'll be one of those movies that the word will spread and it can spoil it for you. i will warn you that it is graphic. and it's also r rated. so, i'm not really sure why there were kids in the theater for our 10:20 (PM!) show.

on the way home, we drove a guy passed out in a dirt lot behind one of the bars by our place. i didn't see him, but heather did and so we looped back to check out if he was okay. i had seen his shopping cart knocked over, but not him, and i had a good idea which of the regular homeless guys of the area. it was. when we had initially drove by i did see a car passing where he was in the lot and not stopping. when we pulled up, another guy, who was out picking up cans, was also there. basically the guy was super drunk and passed out, but he was sort of convulsing, so i called 911. there was also another car there, and these people did ask if the guy was alright, but when they saw i was calling for help they rightfully were able to leave the scene. now, i mention this story because it was odd to me the number of people in the area doing nothing. it's not like i did some amazing thing, i called a phone number. but while we were on the scene, there were easily a half dozen people that were standing with this guy in their line of sight that hadn't done anything. this guy had been there a while. and, while we were there another dozen or so walked by and didn't pay any mind. the cops weren't there, i was off the phone, so it's not like they knew help was on the way. but they just passed by.

die hard was on when we got home, and although it was edited for tv, i ended up watching a good hour of it before i went to sleep. got to pick that up on dvd.

this morning has been enjoyable. i watched a track meet (from oslo) on espn2. yesterday, i watched part of the ncaa championship meet on cbs. while i was happy to track and field on tv, i was frustrated by the coverage of the meet on cbs. i repeatedly griped about it to mike and adam, who were over @ the time. the coverage today was much better. i think the overall coverage was an hour shorter, but i know i saw a whole lot more of the meet. some networks know how to do some sports it seems. espn, naturally does a good job covering pretty much every sport they show. they really think about it. cbs does a great job w/college basketball and football, but the don't have a clue with track and field. nbc does a good job (i credit all their olympic experience), abc does okay (they're the same company as espn). fox sports does good work with the college meets they show. something funny about catching meets on cable is that you're not always sure when they happened. this meet was june 6th (today's the 15th) but it was still very enjoyable.

anyway, after the track coverage ended, the coverage of euro 2008 started, which i'm watching right now. today, both games are on simultaneously. i've been recording them both daily and watching most, today i'm only recording one and watching one. i'm not as intrigued by today's match ups. after these games i'll be recording the first game of qualification for the u.s. men's national team for the next world cup. i'll probably watch it this evening.

while recording that game, we'll be taking in a grizzlies game over @ the chuck'. it's father's day, and so heather and i are taking my dad to the game. we would have also taken her dad, but he had to be out of town this weekend. some other time. or, maybe we'll sneak up to sf and take in a game there.

finally, be on the lookout for the next episode of the view looks good from here, fresno. we'll be recording on monday evening, so the next one should go up on tuesday.

take me out to the blogpark

today was the closest thing for me, a blogger, to getting paid. well, sure, some bloggers get paid, just not me (anyone want to scratch a check?). you see, today i was treated to a grizzlies game. and this wasn't just any old ticket, we're talking luxury box. post enough junk on a website, and maybe they'll invite you to a game, too.



at the game i was joined by other famous users, but i didn't meet them all. i've met wiffle before, and it was cool to chat, and even get interviewed by him for dorktown & flowing with famous. and i think a hint of greatness might have rubbed off on me because i got to sit next to famous whitewater. sadly, we heard an announcement about fresno famous users being there and to check out the website, but we didn't get on camera.





and the game was even pretty good, too. there were a few dingers hit, including two by scott mclain. fresno's pitching was good, and i think that the starting pitcher nick periera had 11 strikeouts. and, the closer had snazzy shoes (not pictured). finally, i was surprised to see major leaguer omar vizquel playing for the grizzlies. this is the first work he's done all year as he recovers from knee surgery. he looked pretty good in the infield, but his bat needs to come a little more alive when he heads back up to san francisco.

weather: good
seats: good
price: free is excellent!
company: good

all in all, a nice day at the ballpark. if you haven't been out to the chuck yet, get there. and, apparently they've got good garlic fries

fresno grizzlies vs tuscon sidewinders

so, saturday night we headed over to the chuck to watch the grizzlies play the sidewinders. the game started around 7, so the sun was setting on the stadium as i arrived. this is fortunate, because we were sitting in the left field bleachers. they're cheap tickets ($7), and for night games they're pretty nice. you get some breeze, and you feel really close to the action. we started sitting in this area during fuego games, and this was the first time i've watched the grizzlies from there. i'll definitely sit there again for night games. the sun/heat/etc may be too much during a day game.

most of the game was either good pitching or bad hitting, i'm not sure which. the grizzlies had a 1-0 lead for a bit, and then it was tied @ 1. the game looked like it could go to extra innings, and then tuscon took the lead in the top of the eight. i actually figured we were done for even though it was only 2-1.

but the grizzlies proved me wrong. the grizz put in pinch hitter who promptly was down 0-2 and looked to strike out. and then he homered to left. not quite near enough to us to grab the ball, but close enough for us to watch the small scrum. then the grizzlies got some men on with timely hitting. the bases were loaded by an intentional walk. this turned out to be a bad move because the pitcher threw a wild one and the winning run came in. three quick outs in the top of the ninth and the fans went home happy.

some other moments from the night:
- i bought a new hat. the grizzlies changed up their logo and color scheme to be more in line with the giants, so i sprung for a fitted cap. this is the first grizzlies hat i've owned, and mainly i got it to represent fresno & the giants. i was always baffled why the aaa affiliate didn't work the same color scheme.
- my hot dog was cold, this chili fries were mediocre, and the pretzel heather had tasted a bit off. mike said his pretzel was stale. not good for the second home game of the season.
- we were sitting behind a very strange, and later rather drunk man that provided some comedy. the guy was wearing a kobe bryant jersey and two hats (one lakers, one free grizzlies hat given out @ the game). he was yelling the whole night, which was fine. the comedy comes in when he decided to go get a beer in one of the later innings. on his way out he stepped on someone's nachos. twice. cheese all over his shoe. didn't say sorry, didn't really acknowledge that he just stepped in someone's nachos, just kept going. on the way back he stepped gingerly around the nachos and then told his wife that someone spilled nachos. yeah, it was you. he later dropped the beer he was drinking (#5), which was fine, because clearly he had enough. later, supernut needed to use the restroom and he plowed into a family on the way out and in. these are the same people with the nachos. again, no sorry, no excuse me, just plow through. while he was in the restroom he missed the homerun. ha ha.
- mike had the comedic drop of the night with, "remember when kobe bryant jacked your nachos?" this was funny, loud, and somewhat awkward because kobe's wife was sitting in the row in front of us. but we had a good laugh about it then, and later as well.
- we got on the jumbotron. i think it was in between the 8th and 9th inning. the funny thing is, the didn't get our whole group. there was only 6 of us, but i think they cut off the ends. so, heather, mike, kasey and i were on it, but not adam and dennis. adam might have been on, i'm not sure. but dennis was a tad upset the cut him off.

grizzlies anyone?

hey, i'm wondering if anyone wants to go to a grizzly game this weekend? on friday, they're giving away orange shirts, and it's the home opener. also, 50 people can win free me 'n ed's for a year, which is would be fan-effin-tastic. saturday, they're giving away free hats w/the team's new logo.

both start @ 7 pm.