Vacation Review - Spring Training 2008

Hey, as always, we had a great time on our Spring Training trip. For those that weren't there, here are the highlights:

Wed: There was a little anxiety getting ready for the trip as APD was sick, having missed school on both Monday and Tuesday. By Wed, he was feeling well enough to travel and apparently to infect perfectly healthy members of the traveling party (see Dolberry, Sunday). We had an easy trip down to Sarasota when the first of the more-than-usual vacation bugs bit ... I'd booked a different Comfort Suites than I had the past straight 5 years. Oh well, not a huge deal. Drove an extra 10 miles or so, but accommodations were just as nice. Also, I walloped APD and the beautiful KMD in our annual putt-putt game by an embarassingly (to them) large margin.

Thurs: Always fun to celebrate the beautiful KMD's birthday ... walking on eggshells all day not to mention a certain number (this year, 46); or use any of the following terms: "grizzled veteran", "retirement home", or "ol' lady". We picked up El Cueto and Grandma Cueto at their usual flea-infested hotel in Tampa and headed down to Sarasota for a Reds-Yankees game. APD got a ton of autographs: Eric Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, Dusty Bakey, Jeff Keppinger, and others. The Reds scored 6 runs in the first on an EE grand slam en route to a 12-8 victory. The picture at the top is from Day 1. We then retired back to the hotel (where there was another snafu upon registering) and had a lovely dinner w/ Angela and the Twins. Fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Fri: El Cueto had us out of bed at 5:15a to go play golf. It was the least fun round of golf I have ever played thanks to: a) my complete inability to hit a golf ball in the proper direction and b) a course starter who had apparently taken customer service training from a WWII German cable company. Dolberry thinks only Eliot Spitzer has gotten more grief on an recent investment than my $130 outlay to get scolded by a bitter Florida retiree. The game against the Pirates was far more pleasant. The Reds burst out to a big lead again on a Brandon Phillips bomb & we got to see Johnny Cueto (the next great starting pitcher) absolutely dominate 10 Pirate hitters over three innings. Got to meet our favorite Florida State House Democrat for dinner and APD had a blast playing w/ the Twins in the hotel pool (approximate pool temp ... 73 deg ... brrrrr.)

Sat: Dolberry had a weird episode in the morning packing hotel bags. My back locked up quite painfully. I guess it was a back spasm. It did get me out of carrying bags down to the car which was nice. Apparently, taking 126 golf shots in a 3.75 hour period can wear your back out. Then, we drove down to Ft. Myers to watch the Red Sox play the Marlins. Interestingly enough, Josh Beckett came out to pitch before, he too, was felled by back spasms. The Fish won 5-2 despite a Jacoby Ellsbury HR. APD got Hanley Ramirez' autograph which was very cool. We drove back to Clearwater that night and actually checked into a hotel uneventfully. Had shrimp linguini at the Bahama Breeze which I will mention more about in the Sun section.

Sun: Around 2a, Dolberry spent his first moments of 2008 Daylight Savings time participating in the fun experience throwing up a full plate of shrimp linguini. I bet I was one of the first Americans to vomit in Daylight Savings Time this year. So, I have that going for me. Of course, Dolberry's first thoughts were not for himself, but for the the annual Phillies game Philly Cheesesteaks I was planning to enjoy in less than 10 hours. I devoted myself to a cautious but arduous set of stomach-relaxing techniques to prepare my digestive system for the meaty bliss of a La Spada's cheesesteak. After watching BP in the outfield, and catching a ball thrown up by a shagging outfielder (the other kind of "thrown up"), we settled into our seats. BTW, it was extremely cold in Florida the last two days of our visit. Disturbingly cold. Colder than it ever has been in past vacations. Cold and windy. Cold enough, that I think the Florida House should do something about it. Of course, like all good blog entries this one has a happy ending. I ate one cheesesteak (they're even better when their warmth warms you) and then devoured another one a few innings later and I didn't get sick the whole 11 hour ride back to Raleigh. Dolberry has the strength of 12 men.


Great vacation as always. Due to the people we spent it with (excepting that starter), I give it 5 stars.

Future spring training trips in jeopardy?

It's looking pretty bleak for future spring training sojourns to see the Reds in Sarasota FL. The Sarasota Herald Tribune has run several articles recently on the (lack of) progress in securing a long-term arrangement. Earlier in the year, it looked like the Reds, the State of FL, Sarasota Co., and the City of Sarasota were going to jointly fund a $55 million dollar stadium that would rival Clearwater's Bright House Networks gem of a facility. The political environment in the area appears to have somewhat soured on public funding of a ballpark in the last local election cycle. In recent weeks, the Reds have advanced a scaled-back plan ($45 mil) that would upgrade the current Ed Smith Stadium (which I never realized is built on a landfill), but that doesn't look to get local public funds either.

I don't really blame the local Sarasota government for not wanting to fund it. Here's my quick estimate of how much money goes into the local economy based on our travels there: a) we spend about $200-300 dollars a day there (mostly to hotels, but some to restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, golf courses, & then $ to the Reds for tix, souvenirs), b) by my calculation there are probably 500-1000 families / spending units doing the same thing on any given home date that wouldn't be there w/o the Reds (figuring the crowd is ~50-75% local). My rough guess would be about $2-4 million a season comes into the Sarasota economy. There are costs as well (traffic control) that would have to be subtracted. Over 30 years (length of proposed deal), the $ in would almost certainly exceed the initial investment (probably about $25-35 mil after overruns). But the investment would directly only benefit a few sectors of the economy and only indirectly help (taxes, jobs) the local populace as a whole. The apparent competitor for the local money potentially slated for the Reds is seaweed cleanup along the beaches. That would appear to help more people & would also probably maintain more tourism inflow. Also, cheaper events like the Sarasota Marathon probably have way higher tourists/investment ratios.

The bottom line is (to me) that there's already enough tourists in Sarasota in March to support the local economy. When bargain-basement hotel chains can charge triple-digits a night, the demand is strong. Also, I think the Castellini-led Reds deserve some praise here by (at least according to the local paper) not blatantly trying to extort a new stadium from the local government w/ threats and artificial deadlines.

So, while Dolberry will miss the times in Sarasota here are my preferred locations for future Reds spring training locations:

1. Orlando FL - I believe Griffey Jr would likely personally defray $2-3 mil of any costs associated to spend March at home. Hotels are way cheaper in Orlando & the non-baseball entertainment is pretty nice.

2. Clearwater FL - The Reds could share Bright House w/ the Phillies, thereby enabling Dolberry to eat cheesesteaks 4 times a year, instead of only 1.

3. Apex-Cary NC - They could play at the new USA baseball academy; Josh Hamilton could spend his days at home; and we could charge people to sleep in our shed (which is at least as nice as that Knights Inn in Sarasota). The weather's pretty nice in March.

4. Toyko Japan - The Reds could just play Japanese league teams all March & in 30 dates maybe draw 750,000 people. If they could make an additional $1 per ticket than present, they could funnel that $750K into buying a relief pitcher that could get a guy out in the 8th inning occasionally.

5. Las Vegas, NV - The potential Pete Rose tie-ins are innumerable.

6. Anywhere but Arizona - The world does not need any more 17-11 Spring Training games.

7. Oh yeah, and not Winter Haven FL - Ugh.

Holiday from Blogging

Hey, a lot's gone on since I last blogged ... here's a quick update:

June 1: Mom, Dad, Tim, Kris, & Mojo came in from Louisville for trip.

June 2: Went to Carowinds w/ TCC youth group. Much fun. It rained on us despite my assurances to all that it would not (for about three hours). Saw the Newsboys which is always nice.

June 3: Headed to Emerald Isle w/ the extended Dolberry clan. Caught up to the tail end of former Tropical Storm Barry. Swam in the pool in the rain. Ocean was a churned up.

June 4: Am sure we had fun on this day. Can't remember exactly what we did.

June 5: I'm gonna say we went golfing on this day. None of the golf was that memorable. APD and Sparky impressed at times. Scott & I hit a (curiously stupid) fish with our drivers.

June 6: Maybe we putt-putted and go karts on this day? I remember I lost at putt-putt. G'Ma won.

June 7: More fun at beach. I think I clinched the pool battle royale between KMD & I on this night. 3 nights to one.

June 8: APD and I made a cool sand stadium that got wiped out by a rising tide, despite numerous Dolberry forecasts that it would not.

June 9: Sad goodbyes to beach clan. What a great, relaxing, fun trip. Blow was softened by returning to a softball game. We only had 8 players and got pounded. I'm too out of shape to play OF in a 3 OF alignment.

June 10: First game of Apex tournament. We lost to #3 seed (as #2 seed) 14-9.

June 11-12: Two crazy days at work. Catching up from a week off & trying to prep for three more days away.

June 13: Headed out to Boulder/Denver for conference. Got to see Aunt Jane, Uncle Mike, and Jeannine, Shannon, and Michelle (and families). It was very hard to see Aunt Jane so sick. Was so glad to hear she was able to be returned to Louisville & hopefully will be transferred to a rehab center soon. As sad as it was to see Aunt Jane, it was equally happy to get to see all the (former) Fitzgerald cousins and their families. What a great group. I'm proud to be related to 'em.

June 14: My day to lead the conference and give two talks. Think it went well. Ate dinner in downtown Boulder. Boulder is always nice ... even the time I went out there for a job interview at NCAR and totally bombed the seminar I gave. Once the bombing was complete, I went and drove into the mountains which saved the trip.

June 15: Left Boulder at 3:15a local time to get back for our softball tournament that night. Plus, I was able to catch a show from a band that a YG member drums for. The key to good softball is waking up 2000 miles away, flying coach most of the morning, going to a smoky bar for loud music, than playing ball from 8-11p. I was 4-4 w/ two walks and flawless SS defense in two St Andy's wins (17-12 and 19-6).

June 16: Unfortunately, Catholic Blue team ran up against Baptist Blue and they beat us again. 9-6 this time. I had a chance to get us into a tie in the 5th, but flew out w/ 2 outs & a runner in scoring position.

June 17: Fathers Day was nice. I was treated to Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch & we had a TCC picnic that evening. Started to itch from poison ivy contracted presumably from yard work the day before.

June 18-21: Everything basically settling down. Over this month I applied for my own job and got it. So, I'll be switching over from NOAA to EPA sometime in July. It's only a slight raise, but is good to be actually working for the agency I've always done work for (if that makes any sense). The humorous bureaucratic thing is that I'll be on a 1-year probation (again) & they're doing a background check on me. I told HR that if there was anything worth stealing; I'd have stolen it already ... which they didn't think was funny. I itched profusely over these 4 days and moaned unceasingly to KMD and APD.

June 22: Went to doctor and got steroids. Immediate relief. Went swimming w/ APD and KMD. Very much fun. Hung out w/ some friends that night.

This weekend was fine. Went to Harvest Crusade w/ youth group. Other than that, just relaxed.

There! You are now all caught up on the tediousness that is Dolberry!