I gave up season tickets the year before Joe. And, I believe, because I am so powerful, that because I gave up my tickets and watching the Bengals eke through 20 miserable years or so at the stadium, that they turned around and became the winners I was waiting to see. I'm personally happy they, the grandkids, are having some fun updating the stadium inside. When I entered, I felt like I was in somebody's basement. It was dark and wet and I climbed over buckets of beer trying to get to the ramps up to the seats, while being pushed aside by Pittsburg fans. It truly needs to be lightened and brightened up so you can feel like you're going to a football game, and not an underground Speakeasy Bar during Prohibition.
I hope the food is getting better. I only got a Met, but had to spoon my onions and mustard out of a cup in the midway being crushed by the Pittsburg fans. The onions were usually frozen.
Change is good when needed. The girls should be commended.
I visited GASP for the first time this season on Saturday. It took me a full inning to find the pitch count among the flashing, dancing and occasionally bouncing numbers.
One of the benefits of old age is the knowledge that overkill is a waste of time and energy. One of the drawbacks is that the world is moving on with us or without us. I do wish that I could take my millennial kids to a game at Riverfront in 1979 so we could compare experiences. Hopefully, if we've done anything right as a generation, I and they will be equally convinced that our our experience was best.
Jul 26, 2023·edited Jul 26, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty
I would choose your 'Then' experience every time. If I want an 'experience', I can go to my timeshare in Orlando that is attached to the Marriott World Center resort. I can sit by the pool and watch sports on their stadium sized TV's by the pool, surrounded by waterfalls. I watched a soccer world cup game their last year and enjoyed the 'experience' and the surrounding scenery. The cost for my whole week in a fully furnished 2BR condo was less than it would have been for a premium seat at Paycor, and the refreshments served by the pool were cheaper than those at the stadium.
I would not be eating at that Blue Ash restaurant again. I'm sure their prices weren't cheap, but their attitude sure is. I refuse to be a customer to any place that nickels and dimes you to death. You can get a Turkey club double decker at Blue Ash Chili with everything you need on it for $10.99.
Thanks for the travel tip. Those are two of the three (Greece is third) overseas trips I would like to take if I ever decide travel to Europe is worth the cost and hassle again.
Today's entry reminds me of why I always remember how much I love reading Fredrik Backman's hockey town books, once I get into the next one. Read Beartown and Us Against You when they were new. Didn't know The Winners existed until I found one for five bucks in Friends of the Library bookstore. Four hundred and some pages in and deeply in love again.
I had a solid white transistor radio. Not a whole lot bigger than my hands. Of course there were only AM stations then. WAKY in Louisville dropped power at sunset (Gary Burbank a dj spinning rock and roll then, had not found fame and fortune in Cincy). Local station had to do.
Reds finally prevailed against the Brewers last night. Not for nothing I shudder when Duarte takes the mound.
Silly Doc, how dare you pay for mayo! You should always BYO mayo to a restaurant. Never know what concept they will spring at ya...
The NFL is a glorious experience anyway you take it in. I'd argue they are more responsible for selling TVs than say a filmmaker such as Scorsese or Spielberg.
The two primary reasons I come to this forum are 1) Doc OG rants 2) Doc Nostalgia pieces. I feel like Doc has shaped my personality to where I am 35 year old trapped in a 64 year old Boomer's body. Initially, I thought Doc was reaching a little bit but he hit on a point of why I have become a little disenchanted with the NFL in my Dad years. The NFL is an exceptional product but now it feels like you're eating at the Capital Grille or some other high end chain with limited soul. It has also become a place where I am reluctant to bring my kids given some of the behavior from the fans. College Football on a macro level is in shambles but it still has some charm on a micro level. I love heading to Nippert or even Yaeger Stadium in Oxford, OH with my kids. Less moronic behavior and the product is not overly commercialized. I also feel like people attending college football games care more about the actual game and less about binge drinking and yelling expletives without repercussion.
"Attending games used to be special because we left our living rooms for a real-live setting. Now, we simply bring our living rooms with us. That’s the essence of the whole 'experience.’"
Hammer hits nail on head ref. that quote. The ballgame used to be the sole reason for the venture downtown. Heck, it was actually a fun activity trying to load up the refreshments, etc., and figuring out a way to get them into the ballpark. You got your seats, and unless it was a restroom break, you were in those seats for the whole four quarters, nine innings, etc. You might get lucky and get a ice cream helmet from a vendor, and maybe get really lucky with a stop by the few souvenir stands (actual stands, not stores) after the ballgame to get a ball or a team set of cards, but that was it.
Not knocking the Bengals, because they gotta keep up with the times, but as a whole, the sporting world has become a display of excess. Fireworks during introductions, loud music, 15 different souvenir stores throughout the stadium, themed food areas, playground areas for kids, etc., etc., etc. And there ain't no going back. The can was opened a long time ago, and instead of worms crawling out, instead some crazed mixture of WWE and Disney World oozed out.
Give it a few years, I could even see something like the entire NY Jets starting 11 parachuting from a passing jet onto the field during pre-game introductions.
Those of us who used to simply enjoy a dog, a beer, a seat and a game are becoming few and far between anymore.
Finally, regarding the restaurant and mayo, just another sad example of how places all over will attempt to nickel and dime you into the poorhouse for things they used to provide free or complimentary. Makes me think of the air pumps at gas stations, like, how do you charge for air?
Have a great day, all ... now get off my lawn and out of my driveway! Haha.
BALL-E (2023) : In a distant present, a small-market, mom and pop NFL franchise awkwardly embarks on a PR journey that will ultimately decide the fate of affordable housing, infrastructure and public services in hometown flyover America.
I appreciate your electing to be kind to a small business*, but that Blue Ash grill really deserves to be named and shamed. *If it’s a chain, you have a civic duty to inform the public.
Was your Pop allowed to bring the Schaeffer's into the Stadium? Bring me back to those days PRONTO!
I can remember my Dad having to use these corny, faux-wraps to turn a can of Stroh's into "Caca-Cola" at Riverfront. Ham sandwiches and real coke's for the kids. Our content consisted of the on-field brass band in the end zone.
And props to you and Larry for building out a trip. He is the best!
Doc, I’d say I am a good 8 ish years more OG than you so, yeah, I completely see where you’re coming from regarding the “Bengal experience.” It really makes no sense to me but, then again, I’m ol…uh, mature. That said, if the Bengals can draw more people to PayJOE then I say, GO FOR IT. I have NO problem with it. And, with all that in mind, I truly believe the organization and Joe are going to work out a long term deal that will keep he and his weapons or friends in the Tiger stripes for a long time. As a guy who has followed the team since they were playing at Nippert back in ‘68, I want and desire nothing more than to see them become a regularly winning organization. Regarding the Super Bowl, I have a Bengal shirt in black with orange that states…JUST ONCE BEFORE I DIE. THAT pretty much says it for me.
I too have experienced the gratuity included in a carry-out order; really unbelievable. On a related note, as I stood in a long line for the self-checkout at our local Kroger store recently, I was frustrated by the fact that the store wouldn't pay one worker $10-12 an hour to open the same area at the other end. I like to tell folks that I not only shop at Kroger and pay their high prices, but I often work for them for no pay. I do my shopping, serve as the cashier, and then also the bagger.
Ballgames have always been an 'experience' of some sort. I'll never forget seeing all the colored seats of Riverfront, the smells, the organ, the dark ramps, etc. It was a unique and mammoth building (for a 7 year old). The problem is that we've all gotten jaded and sports attendance has gotten more expensive. So there is a need to up the ante. It also seems that the trend of making games a social event/night of entertainment began with the Lakers as a way to bolster interest in an average team. Now the 'Showtime' element has become a requirement.
I'm glad the Bengals are sprucing the place up a bit--moving away from the 'turn of the millennium parking garage' motif can't be a bad thing. I still think it is one of the cooler looking stadiums out there (the outside). And they can enhance the experience without simply dumping tons of money into it--for example, in NOLA they have a whole jumbotron segment of roasting the opposing city (Cincy has an abandoned subway, we have the oldest streetcar system.....Cincy has chili on spaghetti, we have a host of unique cuisine-and don't forget beignets). Stuff like that just takes creativity and effort. Personally though-I prefer the rough and tumble experience of Longworth and sec. 226 if I'm going to attend--more focus on the game. But I understand that not everyone likes to end their weekend with large doses of alcohol, adrenaline, and frostbite.
I gave up season tickets the year before Joe. And, I believe, because I am so powerful, that because I gave up my tickets and watching the Bengals eke through 20 miserable years or so at the stadium, that they turned around and became the winners I was waiting to see. I'm personally happy they, the grandkids, are having some fun updating the stadium inside. When I entered, I felt like I was in somebody's basement. It was dark and wet and I climbed over buckets of beer trying to get to the ramps up to the seats, while being pushed aside by Pittsburg fans. It truly needs to be lightened and brightened up so you can feel like you're going to a football game, and not an underground Speakeasy Bar during Prohibition.
I hope the food is getting better. I only got a Met, but had to spoon my onions and mustard out of a cup in the midway being crushed by the Pittsburg fans. The onions were usually frozen.
Change is good when needed. The girls should be commended.
I visited GASP for the first time this season on Saturday. It took me a full inning to find the pitch count among the flashing, dancing and occasionally bouncing numbers.
One of the benefits of old age is the knowledge that overkill is a waste of time and energy. One of the drawbacks is that the world is moving on with us or without us. I do wish that I could take my millennial kids to a game at Riverfront in 1979 so we could compare experiences. Hopefully, if we've done anything right as a generation, I and they will be equally convinced that our our experience was best.
I would choose your 'Then' experience every time. If I want an 'experience', I can go to my timeshare in Orlando that is attached to the Marriott World Center resort. I can sit by the pool and watch sports on their stadium sized TV's by the pool, surrounded by waterfalls. I watched a soccer world cup game their last year and enjoyed the 'experience' and the surrounding scenery. The cost for my whole week in a fully furnished 2BR condo was less than it would have been for a premium seat at Paycor, and the refreshments served by the pool were cheaper than those at the stadium.
I would not be eating at that Blue Ash restaurant again. I'm sure their prices weren't cheap, but their attitude sure is. I refuse to be a customer to any place that nickels and dimes you to death. You can get a Turkey club double decker at Blue Ash Chili with everything you need on it for $10.99.
Thanks for the travel tip. Those are two of the three (Greece is third) overseas trips I would like to take if I ever decide travel to Europe is worth the cost and hassle again.
Today's entry reminds me of why I always remember how much I love reading Fredrik Backman's hockey town books, once I get into the next one. Read Beartown and Us Against You when they were new. Didn't know The Winners existed until I found one for five bucks in Friends of the Library bookstore. Four hundred and some pages in and deeply in love again.
I had a solid white transistor radio. Not a whole lot bigger than my hands. Of course there were only AM stations then. WAKY in Louisville dropped power at sunset (Gary Burbank a dj spinning rock and roll then, had not found fame and fortune in Cincy). Local station had to do.
Reds finally prevailed against the Brewers last night. Not for nothing I shudder when Duarte takes the mound.
Silly Doc, how dare you pay for mayo! You should always BYO mayo to a restaurant. Never know what concept they will spring at ya...
The NFL is a glorious experience anyway you take it in. I'd argue they are more responsible for selling TVs than say a filmmaker such as Scorsese or Spielberg.
The two primary reasons I come to this forum are 1) Doc OG rants 2) Doc Nostalgia pieces. I feel like Doc has shaped my personality to where I am 35 year old trapped in a 64 year old Boomer's body. Initially, I thought Doc was reaching a little bit but he hit on a point of why I have become a little disenchanted with the NFL in my Dad years. The NFL is an exceptional product but now it feels like you're eating at the Capital Grille or some other high end chain with limited soul. It has also become a place where I am reluctant to bring my kids given some of the behavior from the fans. College Football on a macro level is in shambles but it still has some charm on a micro level. I love heading to Nippert or even Yaeger Stadium in Oxford, OH with my kids. Less moronic behavior and the product is not overly commercialized. I also feel like people attending college football games care more about the actual game and less about binge drinking and yelling expletives without repercussion.
Jim had 3 season tickets. And … heated socks.
"Attending games used to be special because we left our living rooms for a real-live setting. Now, we simply bring our living rooms with us. That’s the essence of the whole 'experience.’"
Hammer hits nail on head ref. that quote. The ballgame used to be the sole reason for the venture downtown. Heck, it was actually a fun activity trying to load up the refreshments, etc., and figuring out a way to get them into the ballpark. You got your seats, and unless it was a restroom break, you were in those seats for the whole four quarters, nine innings, etc. You might get lucky and get a ice cream helmet from a vendor, and maybe get really lucky with a stop by the few souvenir stands (actual stands, not stores) after the ballgame to get a ball or a team set of cards, but that was it.
Not knocking the Bengals, because they gotta keep up with the times, but as a whole, the sporting world has become a display of excess. Fireworks during introductions, loud music, 15 different souvenir stores throughout the stadium, themed food areas, playground areas for kids, etc., etc., etc. And there ain't no going back. The can was opened a long time ago, and instead of worms crawling out, instead some crazed mixture of WWE and Disney World oozed out.
Give it a few years, I could even see something like the entire NY Jets starting 11 parachuting from a passing jet onto the field during pre-game introductions.
Those of us who used to simply enjoy a dog, a beer, a seat and a game are becoming few and far between anymore.
Finally, regarding the restaurant and mayo, just another sad example of how places all over will attempt to nickel and dime you into the poorhouse for things they used to provide free or complimentary. Makes me think of the air pumps at gas stations, like, how do you charge for air?
Have a great day, all ... now get off my lawn and out of my driveway! Haha.
Cleveland municipal stadium in the 50's and 60's
I need someone more eloquent than I to describe Cleveland municipalm
BALL-E (2023) : In a distant present, a small-market, mom and pop NFL franchise awkwardly embarks on a PR journey that will ultimately decide the fate of affordable housing, infrastructure and public services in hometown flyover America.
I appreciate your electing to be kind to a small business*, but that Blue Ash grill really deserves to be named and shamed. *If it’s a chain, you have a civic duty to inform the public.
Was your Pop allowed to bring the Schaeffer's into the Stadium? Bring me back to those days PRONTO!
I can remember my Dad having to use these corny, faux-wraps to turn a can of Stroh's into "Caca-Cola" at Riverfront. Ham sandwiches and real coke's for the kids. Our content consisted of the on-field brass band in the end zone.
And props to you and Larry for building out a trip. He is the best!
Doc, I’d say I am a good 8 ish years more OG than you so, yeah, I completely see where you’re coming from regarding the “Bengal experience.” It really makes no sense to me but, then again, I’m ol…uh, mature. That said, if the Bengals can draw more people to PayJOE then I say, GO FOR IT. I have NO problem with it. And, with all that in mind, I truly believe the organization and Joe are going to work out a long term deal that will keep he and his weapons or friends in the Tiger stripes for a long time. As a guy who has followed the team since they were playing at Nippert back in ‘68, I want and desire nothing more than to see them become a regularly winning organization. Regarding the Super Bowl, I have a Bengal shirt in black with orange that states…JUST ONCE BEFORE I DIE. THAT pretty much says it for me.
I too have experienced the gratuity included in a carry-out order; really unbelievable. On a related note, as I stood in a long line for the self-checkout at our local Kroger store recently, I was frustrated by the fact that the store wouldn't pay one worker $10-12 an hour to open the same area at the other end. I like to tell folks that I not only shop at Kroger and pay their high prices, but I often work for them for no pay. I do my shopping, serve as the cashier, and then also the bagger.
Ballgames have always been an 'experience' of some sort. I'll never forget seeing all the colored seats of Riverfront, the smells, the organ, the dark ramps, etc. It was a unique and mammoth building (for a 7 year old). The problem is that we've all gotten jaded and sports attendance has gotten more expensive. So there is a need to up the ante. It also seems that the trend of making games a social event/night of entertainment began with the Lakers as a way to bolster interest in an average team. Now the 'Showtime' element has become a requirement.
I'm glad the Bengals are sprucing the place up a bit--moving away from the 'turn of the millennium parking garage' motif can't be a bad thing. I still think it is one of the cooler looking stadiums out there (the outside). And they can enhance the experience without simply dumping tons of money into it--for example, in NOLA they have a whole jumbotron segment of roasting the opposing city (Cincy has an abandoned subway, we have the oldest streetcar system.....Cincy has chili on spaghetti, we have a host of unique cuisine-and don't forget beignets). Stuff like that just takes creativity and effort. Personally though-I prefer the rough and tumble experience of Longworth and sec. 226 if I'm going to attend--more focus on the game. But I understand that not everyone likes to end their weekend with large doses of alcohol, adrenaline, and frostbite.