COUGARS PLAYOFF GAME

So Andrew and I took the boys to see a Cougars game. It was a First Round Playoff game. They were tied with the Lumber Kings. Phillip and Andrew had been before with Tim when they went on Three Fires Council Day (Cub Scouts), but I had never been to one of their games (and of course, neither had John). I have been to a major league game before, but never a minor league. I think I liked the minor league game better. First of all, the stadium's a bit smaller - so you can actually SEE what's happening instead of "Hey, I think that little speck there is the pitcher, and he just threw something to that other speck, which is I think is the 2nd baseman." Anyway, here is a set of pictures that we took while we were there.

Here is the team warming up. You will notice the outfield is splattered with ads. I felt for a moment like the announcer guy in Major League II when he tells people that the outfield is looking like the yellow pages, and if anyone needs a good protologist they should check out the sign behind 3rd base. Ah, well, they are a minor league team and need funding from somewhere.

Oh, the other thing nice about minor league games is that you actually have a chance to get a seat behind home plate! Good luck getting that kind of a seat at a Cubs game or a Yankees game - unless it's in the nosebleed section.

Here's a better picture of the team stretching and so on. My favorite is the guy on the far left side. You can almost hear him chanting "1-2-1-2" like Jack Lalanne.

Here is a picture of the field. It's actually pretty nice.

Andrew took this picture of the boys. He's such a ham - oh, wait...do I mean Andrew or Phillip or Johnathan. YES! Haha! As you can probably make out - we had what they call "box seats." No cold, hard benches for us!

This is the team's mascot: Ozzie! He's a Cougar, obviously, but I'm not sure where the name came from. I suppose I could look it up for you, but then I thought, Hey, why should I deprive my fans of a little Internet searching fun.

Phillip and John both had a good time waving and talking to this guy - whoever he is, he either loves kids - or is good at faking it. He was mobbed by children everywhere he went. John was a little shy when - later in the game - he was working through the stands and was up close - but he got over that.

He answered Phillip's big thumbs up with one of his own! Talk about a publicity photo!

Maybe we should sell this to the Cougars franchise?

This guy was a heavy hitter that they walked because they were afraid to pitch to him.

Later in the game - they decided it was safe to throw him something decent, and sure

enough - he was a power hitter!

YAY! We got another run! Whoo-hoo!!!

Okay - I have no idea who this guy is - but I swear he knew EVERYONE! I thought he was going to turn around and say, "Hi, Pam. Hi, Andrew. Oh, and here are the boys, Phillip and John. Where's Allison?" It was bizarre. And it wasn't just people he knew, it was the concession people, and other stadium staff that came to talk to him. Maybe he was an owner or something. I don't know - still, it was entertaining to watch him talk to others and comment on the game.

This is apparently the Bat Girl. I didn't see a cape or motorcycle or anything, but maybe she's undercover or something. ;-) She spent a lot of time running around behind home plate picking stuff up. I don't just mean bats and balls - I mean all kinds of other stuff. I don't know if she gets paid or not, but after picking up some ballplayer's sweaty glove and helmet - I'd demand to get paid some cold hard cash. Ewwwww....

No baseball game would be complete without the vendors! This place was great as it had Dippin' Dots and all kinds of junk food galore! During the game, they have some guys who come by in true Chicago tradition and scream at people to buy their stuff. This guy was peddling beer ("MGD and Bud"). There was another guy who had popcorn and "Red Ropes". Phillip couldn't resist answer them every time they came by. He'd say, "We're fine. Thanks." I finally got him to stop. I'm not sure who it was annoying more - me or the vendors.

Yes, I have a weakness for chocolate Dippin' Dots - but I do share. Here is evidence on John's face that Mommy does share her Dippin' Dots. Besides, who could resist that adorable little voice saying "Pease - bite. Pease - bite."?

This was the press box behind us. There were several booths - each housing either a radio, t.v., or newspaper guy. I say guy because after having investigated each one I realized there was not a woman to be found. That's a shame. I know there are women sportswriters/casters - I guess they're just not covering minor league playoff games. Still, it would have been neat to see -one-.

They really do have meetings on the mound. I wonder what they were really talking about out there. Probably something along the lines of "Hey, if we lose, do you guys still want to go and get a beer? Mike's house? Cool." Nah - let's give them the benefit of the doubt - they did play better after this little pow-wow.

This guy from the enem...er...other team had an attitude problem. He seriously needs some anger management classes. I wanted to shout out "Hey, buddy, they might put up with that in the major leagues, but we don't cotton to it here in the minor leagues!" Then I realized he wouldn't get it anyway. After he was struck out (Yay!), he threw his bat. Now, the way I was raised, that kind of thing would get you in big trouble with the ump...not apparently here. 'Course, the ump may have felt sorry for him; after all, HE STUNK! (Haha)

Oh, and speaking of those who STUNK! This ump was the worst - it seemed like every batter's first pitch was a strike - especially if it was the first batter after the switch. Sheesh! I could ump better than this guy. He got many boo's from the crowd - from fans of both teams. I think if you could've taken a stadium-wide vote on whether to boot him - it would be a unanimous YES!

Here he is sweeping the plate. Notice his rearend is not pointing to the audience. He was probably afraid one of us would run out there and kick it!

ACTION SHOT!

This guy can pitch pretty well - too bad for the other team the batter couldn't hit! Ha!

Imagine having *this* guy's job. He had to go out there between innings and comb the dirt. That's one for the resume. "What have you been doing the last several years, Mr. Smith?" "Oh, I've been a dirt comber at a minor league stadium." Still, someone has to do these things, and he seemed to not only enjoy his job - but he was darn good at it too!

Here is Phillip giving Ozzie the Mascot a hug. Phillip had such a great time. I think he likes baseball more than football. We will have to make sure to attend more games next season. After all, the tickets aren't that expensive, you can get seats behind home plate, AAAANNNNDDDDDDD.....

You get to do the

HOKEY-POKEY! ^_^

They played a lot of music during the game. Sometimes it was music to which people could certain dances (Hokey Pokey, the Chicken Dance, the Macarena, etc.); other times it was intro music for the Cougars players. Regardless, John (and Phil) was having a blast. For a 2 year old at a game that started just about his bedtime, he was fantastic! Maybe it was Mom's Dippin' Dots......

Well, the sad news is - the Cougars lost the game by 2 runs - and so were out of the playoffs. It was a great game, though. Next year will be better, I'm sure. I'm not going to turn into Randy Quaid's character from Major League II and lose all hope. 'Til April, then.....