IS IT TIME TO WHEEL OUT DOC’S WACKIEST IDEA EVER?
Why, I believe it is. The Reds were rained out yesterday; they just played three games in Philly under rainy, funereal skies. Unless you play in FL, CA, AZ, TX or under a roof, you’re going to play in crappy conditions in April.
Why not (1) Reduce the schedule to 154 games, eliminating eight March/April contests and (2) play the first 7-10 reg-season games at spring training sites?
Is this crazy? Is it?
How much better might the weather be if Opening Day were mid-April rather than late March? How cool would it be to see a real game played under sunny skies-and-80 degrees or under the stars?
Goodyear Ballpark seats 9,500, if you allow for 1,500 fans in the grass beyond the outfield fence. On Monday, Reds-Brewers drew 10,382 at GASP. On Wednesday, it was 10,388.
They could make up that tiny difference by jacking up the tickets for any regular-season games in Goodyear. Would you pay more to have an up-close-and-personal seat to a real ballgame? Me, too.
It has marketing potential. Ditch the gloom of Cincinnati and see a real game in an unmatched intimate setting.
What say you?
Now, then. . .
I was sitting at a restaurant bar in Pittsburgh when the The Bronco intruded upon my dinner. The menu was cheeseburger, IC Light and Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The food and drink were fine. The Finals got OJ’d out.
I was in town covering Arnie’s Last Open, at Oakmont. We remember these things, even as we can’t find the glasses perched obviously atop our heads.
The game’s about to tip and the TV goes to the overhead shot of The Bronco. What?
OJ Simpson became a part of our lives after that. . .
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