For those who don't go to watch the players

I am a huge sports fan and when I go to ballpark I go to watch the game/players, this especially true when I go to Pirate games. In case you haven't realized it yet, but I am a HUGE Pirate fan.  Ask any of my friends when I go to a baseball game you can't distract me from what is taking place on the field, especially when Garrett Jones is up at bat.  

For others like my roommate Samantha Church, the players/what is happening on the field is the least of her concern. Sure she enjoys baseball and the players, but this doesn't compare to how she feels about the famous Parrot. Below is a non-tradicional PNC Park visitors take on the events of a Pirate ballgame.

First off, I want to explain that I am attending Slippery Rock University to become and elementary teacher. This may very well attribute to my love of the Pittsburgh Pirate Parrot. Sure, I enjoy going and watching the men play their game of baseball...I mean I myself played softball for 17 years so I do enjoy the game. I just find a greater interest in the mascot. I have always loved mascots. My first love was C-Wolf. He is the mascot for the Erie Seawolves. I used to beg my parents to take me to a game so I could watch him. I have since moved on to bigger and better mascots. To help you understand my fondness for the parrot I will share a short story with you. On Monday when the parrot came to visits at Boozel dining hall, I became so ecstatic. The only problem was that I have a class at 5 (when the parrot was supposed to show). I really wanted to see him and get my picture taken so I emailed my professor explaining my dilemma. She was very nice and told me I could come to class at 5:30. My friends and I went to dinner in hopes that he would arrive early. 5 rolled around and no parrot. So I went over to ask a guy who was sitting at a table selling pirate tickets and asked him when the parrot was showing. I quickly added that I would get extra credit....I didn't want to look goofy. As Steph and I waited the clock kept ticking closer to 5:30. I was just about to give up and leave when I saw him walking up over the hill and my face lit up. I was so excited. After I got my picture with him I declared that this day was the happiest day of my life! One of the goals on my bucket list is to get a picture with as many professional mascots as I can. So far I am not doing to well but once I am able to travel I will hope to accomplish my goal. So the big question we want to ask you is whether or not you go to the baseball game for the players or the mascot. Who knows maybe there is another reason you go. LET US KNOW!

MLB Surprises

The start to the MLB season has been very interesting. First of all for me a Pirate fan, I had hope that this year would be different but then they started playing like the always do.  Through the first couple weeks of the season there has been a few surprises across the league. Below are my top three MLB surprise teams.

• Boston Red Sox- Who would've guessed a team with a payroll of $163 million would start the season off 3-10 and at the bottom of the AL East?
• Cleveland Indians/Kansas City Royals- The teams who are usually basement dwellers in the AL Central are off to an impressive start. Both teams are 10-4 and enjoying the early season success. Only time will tell if these teams can compete constantly throughout a long season. 
• Colorado Rockies- To me the Rockies are the most impressive/surprising team thus far in the season. They are now 11-3 and sitting high atop the NL West. Troy Tulowitzki is one of the main reasons they are where they are. Their All-Star Shortstop is batting .365 with seven home runs.

It is only a matter of time before we see if these early season results will set the tone for these teams for the rest of the season.  Will Boston be able to rebound? Will Cleveland, Kansas City, and Colorado prove that the small market teams can compete with the likes of the Yankees and Mets? What do you think? What has surprised you most about the 2011 season so far? 

Cutting the budget doesn't mean cutting sports or the arts, or does it?

Hanging out with my band director, who was more than
a teacher but a mentor and friend!

I was talking to my mom this week and she was telling me all the proposed cuts our supernatant is pushing for and it is ridicules.  First of all she wants to cut our Athletic Director's job. My question is how are you going to run high school sports (note...our high school is a junior/senior high school) without an AD? Mr. Clapp, our AD, did everything and was at every game both junior and senior high. He had no help it was just him. And he is only being paid $8000 a year. It is completely crazy. Secondly she is cutting our band directors hours in half so he won't even being working full time. This made me extremely upset-because I was in band/musical my from seventh grade year until I graduated and Mr. Pearce is one of the reasons I am who I am today. Now we might not have a marching band or be able to put on a musical. See our school is decent in sports but we are most widely recognized for our music program which constantly places at every parade we participate in.

School actives like band and sports give students a
to learn skills and develop friendship that wouldn't
be found in a typical classroom.

Personally, I feel really bad for all the kids in high school right now. What has education come to, that they are cutting the arts and sports? I don't know about you but I learned a lot more in band then I did in the classroom and I know for most people they learned things about themselves in sports they wouldn't have had the opportunity to discover in the classroom. I mean in both sports and musicals/band you learn confidence and how to step out of your comfort zone. And if kids are given this chance to build self confidence, dedication, and discipline in these activities where are they going to learn them?

I can honestly say I don't know where I would be if wasn't for marching band and musical. I know I wouldn't have the confidence that I do today. I just hope that people realize this and find other ways to cut the budget. 

Tell me what you think! Where would you be without sports or the arts? 

The Pride of Pittsburgh: PNC Park

I went to the Pirate game last night and even though they lost it was still a blast! PNC Park is one of the most beautiful ball-park in Major League Baseball. You can see anywhere in the park. We sat in the cheap seats and you could see just as well as other more expensive seats.  I love the view of the Pittsburgh skyline. It so scenic and Pittsburgh looks wonderful right as the sun goes down.

It is too bad the Pirates aren't a winning team because PNC Park would look so good on an ESPN Sunday night baseball coverage. Out off all the sporting venues in Pittsburgh PNC Park is the nicest with the best view, but because of the product on the field many people miss out on the chance to visit and explore this beautiful facility. Also, because of the Pirates poor record there is no national coverage of the team so the rest of the baseball world misses the chance to see the wonderful PNC Park. 

Do you agree with me? Is PNC Park the best sporting facility in Pittsburgh? Tell me what you think!

A successful first series for the Buccos!!!

The 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates have started the season out on a very good note, winning the opening series 2-1 against the Chicago Cubs. Sure there are 159 games left and countless more road trips ahead, but there is nothing stopping us from savoring the first road series win of the season. For the Pirates, this is something noteworthy. Last year it seemed they couldn't win a road series to save their lives. 

This opening series win is noteworthy for a few other reasons too. 

Reason 1: The Pirates had a come from behind victory in the series finally. Reason 2: They were able to rebound from sloppy defensive plays and secure the victory in Game 1 and Game 2. 

 Reason 3: The young guys stepped it up and made some extraordinary plays in crunch situations-Neal Walker's grand slam for example

Take what you want from the opening series, there was a ton of good to build on and there was alway a few of those Pirate moments we have come to expect. Even though there is a lot of baseball left I am hoping the Pirates can build upon the good and maybe just maybe put together that all elusive winning season. 

Spring is Officially Here!!

It is baseball season-which means that spring has officially arrived (no matter what the weather outside tries to tell us). With the arrival of baseball season, comes the arrival of talks on salaries in Major League Baseball.  This year there are 12 teams with a payroll of over $100 million. They include:

Chicago Cubs
Detroit Tigers
Los Angeles Angels
New York Mets
Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Yankees
St. Louis Cardinals
Boston Red Sox
Minnesota Twins
Philadelphia Phillies
San Francisco GiantsI can honestly say that I am not surprised with most of these teams on the list. I could've predicted most of them.  I am surprised with two of the teams on the list, the Minnesota Twins and San Francisco Giants.  I really thought they were two of the middle market teams, but I guess I was wrong. The average salary on both of these teams is around $4.5 million, but that number is on the higher end because of the high salaries of the top players on the team. Joe Mauer for instance makes up 20% of the team's payroll with a salary of $23 million.  Also the Giants have a majority of their payroll invested in star pictures Barry Zito ($18,500,000) and Tim Lincecum ($14,000,000). 

So tell me what you think about the list. Were you surprised by a team on the list?

The Last Cowboy Standing is sure to be a huge success!

The PBR is offering fans and riders a new event that is sure to be extremely exciting. The Last Cowboy Standing will take place on April 16th and will be available on PPV.  The motto for the event is "Ride 8 Seconds. Move On. Come up Short. Go Home". This motto pretty much sums it up.  It will start out with the top 40 riders will be competing against the top 40 bulls. The rules are simple if the rider bucks off he goes homes, there is no round two or short-go to make amends for the buck-off just one chance. The rounds will continue until there is just one cowboy standing.

This is sure to be one of the PBR's best events.  I am really excited to watch these riders go head-to-head with the rankest bulls.  This will give the rider a chance to showoff their skills, since they won't be competing for points-just money. I can't wait to watch it. If you have never watched bull riding before I highly suggest you check out the video clip and http://www.pbrnow.com. The PBR is highly addicting and once you start following it it is pretty hard to stop!