Sometimes A Fantasy Is All You Need.....

June 5th, 2010

I think Billy Joel said it right. Today was going to be a day where the fantasy comes true.

It's 9:45AM and we are just entering PNC Park to see our friend, John Szymanski play in his Fantasy Camp Reunion game. There they were, all decked out in their official Pirate uniforms, ready to play ball.

Of course I had camera in hand, and since this was a very limited guest list, our choice of seating was GREAT. Right behind the dugout, right on the 1st base line. It was pretty much take your pick! John had his own cheering section (all of section 9) and I left the kids to sit with his daughter Jackie as I snuck over to the seats right near the end of the dugout. I wanted to take some good shots as his team came up to bat!

Well, before I knew it, I look across and what do I see, but my kids in the dugout! How exciting for them to be sitting where the big leaguers sit! The umpire was nice enough to give each kid an official baseball as well.

Well not to be outdone by my kids, I was oh so close to one of my fantasies. The photographers pit. (yes, wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth). So I figured if the kids could be in the dugout, why not and off to the usher I went. He just smiled and said, if you can get there, go for it. Well over the fence I went and I think I had a personal moment as I stood where all the local sport photographers do at every MLB game. Talk about a WOW moment! What even made it more interesting is that I was right at ground level. Definitely made for a different POV with the camera.

So for 60 wonderful minutes I got to live out my fantasy as John lived out his. This was his second time as a Fantasy Camper but I am sure the excitement gets better each time you go! I have definitely added Fantasy Camp to my Bucket List (will talk about this on a later post).

And to think, this was just the beginning of Banner Baseball Weekend! Let's Go Bucs!

Memorial Day Fun and All You Can Eat!

This was the game my kids were looking so forward to. Memorial Day. Cubs vs. Pirates and we had "All You Can Eat" seats. It was not the greatest of weather days and we watched the first few innings under the safety of a roof. By the 3rd inning the rain had subsided and we were back in our seats enjoying all the "free" goodies that PNC Park had to offer.

Interesting for us to be sitting in the far right field corner of the park. Probably not the best seats for a photo junkie like me but it was fun to be in potential HR territory. Garrett Jones thrilled us with one in the 6th inning but it was well out of our range.

We were also treated to Red, White and Blue hats, as a Pirate giveaway and the game was tied till the 8th inning when Crosby (the other one...Bobby) hit a single to score Garrett Jones and we took the lead and went on to win!

It was also great to see a decent crowd at the park for the game! Let's Go Bucs!

My 15 Minutes of Fame.....

It was Andy Warhol, who said in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." If Andy is correct, I still have about 14 minutes and 30 seconds left of mine.

June 3rd, 2010 and I get a call from one of the women at my gym while I am at work. Apparently, I came in second in the Biggest Loser contest that was held at my gym (and 7 other Curves locations in the Pittsburgh area). I had no clue. I knew I had won for my gym, but that was as far as it went. So I was told to pick up the information when I came in for my workout that night.

So now the dilemma. On the field, at PNC Park, really? Normally a standard game at PNC does not draw a big crowd. But that night, June 5, 2010, was a Skyblast night including a concert with Collective Soul. Skyblasts are almost always a sellout!

I fought the thought of not bothering to show up. I mean if TV puts on 10lbs, that damn Jumbotron Screen will probably put on 100lbs and gee, then I won't look like I lost anything...LOL. However, here comes the call from the owner of my Curves, offering me 2 free tickets to the game. Well, what was going to be a "girls night out" is now a family night. I was able to take my daughter on the field as my guest and my son was going to attend with his father. I had to talk him into it but you know, it's not every day that the kids get to see their Mom recognized on the big screen at a Major League ballpark.

So earlier that day we went PNC to see our friend John enjoy his moment in the sun and later that night it would be mine! Mother Nature however wanted to make things interesting, and a few hours before game time, just an hour before the Curves Tailgate Party was supposed to start, the skies opened up and it looked like my moment in the sun was going to be a rain out!

But we waited it out and when the rain slowed, off we went. We enjoyed a brief visit to the tailgate party and then Shannon and I went off to our trip onto the field. Daniel and his father went in to find their seats early.

There were supposed to be eight winners on the field, but due to the weather, only 3 of us showed up. Great, so now I could not hide in the crowd...LOL It was very cool to see the underbelly of the stadium. Where all the hidden secrets are. So it's 35 minutes to game time and off we go. About 6:30pm and it's our time on the field. Thankfully the stands are not that full and I say a small "thank you" prayer to Mother Nature.

So there we are, the camera man is ready and Joe Klimchak, the Pirate's host, began his speech.

If you want to see and hear it all in it's entirety, here ya go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIkbJXYL4bA

I survived my time on the field, the weather held and the Pirates went on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3. We only experienced a few raindrops just as the game started and just a few more as the Skyblast began.

Collective Soul and Zambelli Fireworks were an outstanding display, as expected. This was my second Skyblast night and I have to tell you, it's get better every time we go!

So another item is added to my baseball bucket list. Life is good! See you tomorrow. Let's Go Bucs!!