Game 48 - Houston Texans

Game 48 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Houston Texans @ NRG Stadium in Houston, TX (9/27/2015)

In my previous post, I talked about how little things seemed to work themselves out on my trip to Tampa Bay with Ryan.  This trip to Houston was quite the opposite.  Nothing too terrible, but after a great deal of planning, Taylor and I did run into some unexpected changes.  In the end, it all worked out for the best and Taylor and I had a great weekend in Houston together.

For starters, the plan was to fly in Saturday afternoon in plenty of time to go see the Houston Astros.  We had booked a hotel next door to the stadium.  A week before the game, Major League Baseball decided to move the start time to noon; therefore, we ended up missing the Astros game and although I was able to resell my tickets on Stub Hub, but it did cost me a bit.

The fortunately thing about missing the game is that it allowed Taylor and I to visit the Space Center Houston (which in reality was probably a lot more fun for her than watching silly baseball game).  After getting our rental car and driving the 45 minutes south, we still arrived with just enough time to see all of the exhibits at the museum.  Both of us really enjoyed it as I think we both learned a lot.  The nice thing about this sports tour is that it has allowed me to visit a lot of places I might not otherwise visit...the Space Center is one of those.

After an afternoon of checking out space history, rockets and shuttles, we checked into the hotel and looked for a place to eat dinner.  The aquarium was just a short cab ride away so we eat dinner there and checked out a few exhibits.  The main restaurant was way too busy and we were too hungry to wait so we ate at the outside bar.  The restaurant itself was pretty cool with an enormous fish tank to view.  Finally, we stop into the sting ray exhibit.....ironically this is the second trip in a row that the kids got to pet sting rays (see trip to Tampa Bay Rays).

On Sunday it was off to the Houston Texans game at NRG Stadium.  Again we ran into a little problem on our trip...this time with parking.  I should have prepaid for a parking pass, but figured we would not have any trouble finding a lot, like most stadiums.  I was wrong and in the end we over-paid for parking close to the stadium....one well, it was a short walk, which was good since it there was a light rain.  The rain of course did not matter inside the stadium as it has a roof.

The stadium itself reminded me a lot of Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis because of the large retractable roof; although it does not have a cool endzone wall that opens like Lucas Oil.  I thought the concourses were nice and wide, the food options were exceptional and there were plenty of small team stores; as well as a larger one on the lower level. 

I read a lot of negative comments that the escalators were crowded, but Taylor and I decided not to bother with that and took the ramps each time we went up and down.

This was the first NFL game played at this stadium on field turf.  Prior to that, all games were on real grass, but after some issues, they decided to change it to turf for the rest of the season.  It is kind of weird because only the Texans' games were on grass and when a college or high-school team played there, they changed it over to turf....seems like a lot of work to me.  However, it seems that they will go back to natural grass next year after fixing some of the problems they had earlier this year.

I didn't realize the AstroDome was next door as well (photo on the left is from inside NRG Stadium)....that place looks like a dump.  Once nicknamed the "Eight wonder of the world" because it was state-of-the-art, it has recently been the topic of much debate around what to do with it now.  It seems the city of Houston is split between raising it or preserving it.

Our seats for this game were definitely in the nose-bleed section, but
has Taylor pointed out, you can really see so much more of what is going on from up here.  I am always a bit nervous about taking the kids to games because you never know about the crowd.  All-in-all, outside of a little language a few times, the crowd was great.

The Texans and Buccaneers have not started the season out very well.  This was a very sloppy game, but in the end the Texans did win 19-9.  It was cool to get to see the Buccaneers' rookie quarterback and #1 overall pick in the draft, Jameis Winston.   Here are some sad statistics about the kicking in this game. 
Total FGs made:  3
Total FGs missed:  4
Total XPs made:  1
Total XPs missed:  2
There was also a total of 16 penalties accepted in the game.
Don't get me wrong, despite the fact that it was a sloppy game, it was still very entertaining and I think Taylor really enjoyed her weekend in Houston....I know I did.

Only $28 raised for the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research this weekend, but every little bit helps.  To find out more about my mission and / or to donate, please go to: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

Game 47 - Tampa Bay Rays

Game 47 - Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers @ Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL (5/9/2015)

This post is very late (and a bit short) as I forgot to finish and post it back in May.

It seems an open weekend is a rare occasion lately.  Most of our weekends are spent at Ryan's baseball games, but this particular weekend happened to be 1 of only 2 weekends from May until August that he did not have a baseball game / tournament.  With that said, we decided to make a last minute trip to Tampa to catch a Rays game.  We were literally in Florida for only 13 hours.  It was very interesting how many things fell into place on this trip.  For starters, since I booked the flight at the list minute, Ryan and I were not scheduled to sit together, which caused a bit of panic for him.  However, after negotiations with both the gate attendant and other passengers, I was able to get us seated together. 

Then while boarding another plane, one of the flight attendants asked Ryan if he would like to sit in the cockpit and meet the captain.  As you can see from the picture, he really enjoyed it and the captain was extremely friendly.  Then, when we were checking into the hotel, they accidently gave us a room that was not yet cleaned.  After discussions with the hotel desk, we were upgraded to a suite over-looking the ocean.  Finally, the last thing I worry about on all these trips is finding tickets to the game.  I bought the tickets last minute and didn't really even pay attention to where they were located.  As it turns out, we were in the 2nd row over the right field wall.  Nice.

This stadium gets a lot of criticism as one of the worst venues in all of professional sports.  Sure it is not in the best area of town, it is a rather old-looking dome, the turf looks awful and players sometimes have to play fly balls off the catwalk.  There is also so much signage inside that it almost gives you a headache from sensory overload.  However, if you are traveling with small children and don't mind missing some of the game to take time to explore it is actually a fun place to visit.  The sting ray tank is of course a must-see and a fun experience, but there are a ton of other fun things for the kids, including craft areas, photo opportunities to get your picture on a baseball card, etc. 

The best part of the experience was by far the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters' Hall of Fame.  Ryan and I could have spent hours here checking out all of the various displays and information on all of the inductees.  The level photos, history and level of detail was terrific and it was much bigger than expected.  If you are into sport history, it is a hidden gem.  http://www.tedwilliamsmuseum.com/

As for the game itself, there was not a lot of excitement.  A small crowd of barely 20,000 watched the Rays win 7-2.  The one interesting thing to note is that all 9 runs were scored via 4 homeruns.

As many of you know, I'm using this tour to raise money and awareness for cancer research.  To date, I have raised over $4,500.  If you would like to donate, please go to the following link.  Thank you.

As for this weekend, another $201 ($1 for each point scored in both games) raised for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.  I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

 

Games 45 & 46 - Cleveland Indians & Cavaliers

I had a free weekend on the schedule before Little League baseball begins so I decided to check off two more games on my quest.  I was able to catch up with a good college buddy of mine, Matt Aiken, to join me in Cleveland.  He was kind enough to even pay for the tickets....much appreciated Matt!  We attended both games on the same day, a first for me.

 

Game 45 - Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers @ Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH (4/10/2015) 

After a slight delay, I landed at the airport just 40 minutes before game-time.  I grabbed a cab and met up with Matt at the hotel bar.  From there it was a short walk over to the Progressive Field.  It was the Indians home opener, which made for some expensive tickets (once again, thanks Matt!).  For opening day, the crowd was not as rowdy as I anticipated.  It was nothing compared to opening day of the Atlanta Braves I attended in 2012.  Read about that game here.  That game is, by far, the most out of control crowd I have ever witnessed.  Perhaps it had something to do with an evening game and 80 degree temperatures all day in which the fans had plenty of time to tailgate.  The weather in Cleveland for the Indians game was better than expected.  Earlier in the week I thought we would be sitting through cold, wet weather, but it turned out to be sunny and high 40s, which wasn't awful.

The game itself was rather exciting if you like offense.  A total of 28 hits and 12 runs scored.  However, for Indians' fans, it was not so fun as their team was on the losing end of the scoreboard, 8-4.  We spent a good deal of time walking around the stadium and checking out all the sites, which is half of the fun for me.....seriously, who wants to sit there all day and watch the Indians?  Progressive Field is a great ballpark.  I really like the design and the outfield offers a nice view of the Cleveland skyline....although not as nice as PNC Park.  The upper deck of right field (pictured) is a bit odd with a bunch of "small walls."  It is like they are trying to create mini-Green Monster seating (like at Fenway); however, after reading a bit more about the stadium, I understand this was recently done to give a better view of the field and city.  They removed about 5,000 seats to do so, but perhaps additional seats to watch another Cleveland team is not necessary.....stated by a die-hard Pittsburgh fan.  There is also a wind turbine in right field that helps to power the stadium, but I did not see it.  There is a nice monument park (Heritage Park) in the outfield with statues of legendary Indians.

 

I'm not sure what was more exciting for Matt - the fact that he found his favorite beer (PBR me ASAP) or that he was interviewed by a local TV crew.  Those of you that know Matt, know that he is never short of words.  He seemed to be right at home during the interview; although I have no idea what he was saying.  Great weather, great game, great ball park and a great friend as I check off game #45.  We left the game a bit early so that we could get to the Cavaliers game, which is literally right across the street.

Game 46 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics @ Quicken Loans Areana (the Q) in Cleveland, OH (4/10/2015)

It is late in the season and the Cavs did not have much to play as they already secured the #2 playoff seed regardless of what happens the rest of the season.  I had a fear that the Cavs may rest all of their stars, but they did play both Lebron James and Kevin Love.  Kyrie Irvin sat out the game.  It was a very important game for the Celtics as they were fighting for their playoff lives.  Ironically, they made the playoffs and will have to play the Cavaliers in the first round.