Category Archives: Sports

Kansas City: Steelers – Chiefs

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This past weekend we  took a road trip Kansas City for the Steelers – Chiefs Sunday Night Football game.  During our time there we managed to hit a couple of BBQ joints, the National World War I Museum and we experienced one of the best tailgating scenes in the NFL.

Steelers vs. ChiefsSteelers vs. ChiefsSteelers vs. ChiefsArrowhead Stadium: Chiefs - Steelers
This was the third Steelers road game (2007 & 2009) I’ve attended and the first Steelers victory. The game wasn’t exactly an example of stellar play by either team but I’ll a take road when when I can get it.

Arrowhead Stadium was all it’s been made out to be. The atmosphere was exciting, the Chiefs fans were great and the wind wasn’t too bad. We had good seats and as usual were around a decent amount of Steelers fans.

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Short Buses
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I’m not sure why but Kansas City fans prefer short buses when it comes to their tailgating vehicle of choice. More short buses in one place than I would have imaged possible.

The National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial TowerThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I Museum

National World War I Museum
The National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial TowerThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumNational World War I Museum
Since the game was a night game we had the better part of the day to check out a couple of places in Kansas City and the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial was on the top of my list.  I can’t remember how I found out that the museum was in Kansas City but it’s only about a mile from the center of downtown.  It was well worth the five minute cab ride.

The memorial site was dedicated on November 1, 1921 (the planning began within two weeks of the Armistice being declared to end the fighting in World War  I) in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 people.  In attendance were the Supreme Allied Commanders during the war:  Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium; General Armando Diaz of Italy; Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France; General John J. Pershing of the United States; and Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain.  The memorial sits on a hill across from downtown and if you travel to the top of the monument you have the best view in Kansas City.  The museum actually sits under the monument and is really well layer out. The exhibit hall is set in chronological order in a circle and then on the outer wall are artifacts from the war that correspond to the timeline.

The National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumThe National World War I MuseumKansas CityUnion StationThe National World War I MuseumView from Liberty TowerView from Liberty TowerNational World War I MuseumNational World War I MuseumNational World War I Museum

Union Station
Union StationUnion Station
On our cab ride over to the WWI Museum our driver mentioned checking out Union Station to see the bullet holes that are still there from a shootout in the 30s.  I think we found the bullet holes on the east side of the station but Julie disagrees because we didn’t see the plaque. The shootout is referred to as the Kansas City Massacre which occurred on June 17, 1933.  Several gangsters, including Pretty Boy Floyd, were attempting to spring their recently captured colleague Frank Nash who was in the process of being transported back to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth.

Arthur Bryant’s
Arthur Bryant's BarbequeArthur Bryant's Barbeque
Before the game on Sunday we headed over to Arthur Bryant’s for some Kansas City-style BBQ.  I thought the pulled pork was solid but I’m more a fan of ribs in Memphis.

Side Notes:


* In suburban Chicago we came across the Scottish Plumber, if you look closely in the photograph you can see he’s giving me the bird.


** The Sprint Center where the Kansas City Penguins play in a parallel universe.

Steelers vs. Chiefs
*** The View From My Seat at Arrowhead Stadium.

Steelers vs. Chiefs
**** Ed Hochuli was the head of the officiating crew.
***** Most of the game photographs were taken by Julie and are on Flickr.

Year of Baseball Concludes.

Year of Basbeall

My Year of Baseball has ended. I started out on this journey as a way to give Baseball as a sport more of a chance and to put Football out of my mind for 4 months. It worked in both regards. I attempted to keep score during each game to varying degrees of success which kept me much more involved in following the game play by play. It was fascinating to see a couple of the newer ball parks in contrast to the two oldest. It’s also interesting to see how each area/neighborhood around the park is setup. All the while I ignored the NFL Strike/Insane Free Agency.

Year of Baseball by the Numbers:
Being that it is Baseball, I kept my own stats throughout this experience. I’ve seen seventeen games in seven different stadiums with an average ticket price of $36. The most expensive game was Cubs – Yankees ($80) and the cheapest was the Sea Dogs – Mets minor league game ($9).* The farthest I traveled for a game was 918.9 miles (Coors Field), the shortest was 0.7 miles (Wrigley Field) and the average distance was 227.5 miles. The oldest ballpark I visited was Fenway Park in Boston at 99 years, the youngest was 2 year old Citi Field in New York. The average ballpark age was 48 years. On this odyssey I had a total of 49 beers (averaging a mere 3.3BPG*). The highest temperature game was the Boston – Mariners game at 100°F, by contrast the coldest was the third Cubs – Mets game at 42°F.

Here’s the complete list of games I attended:

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Nationals – Mets in New York on April 8th

Coors Field
Cubs – Rockies in Denver on April 17th

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Twins – White Sox in Chicago on May 3rd

The View From My Seat: US Cellular Field - White Sox - Rangers -
Rangers – White Sox in Chicago on May 17th

Serious fog at the White Sox - Indians game -
Indians – White Sox in Chicago on May 19th

Panorama of the White Sox - Dodgers game:
Dodgers – White Sox in Chicago on May 21st

Wrigley Field: Cubs - Mets
Mets – Cubs in Chicago on May 24th

Rain Delay at Wrigley -
Mets – Cubs in Chicago on May 25th

Panoramic View of the Cubs - Mets game at Wrigley Field - #Yearofbaseball
Mets – Cubs in Chicago on May 26th

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Tigers – White Sox in Chicago on June 4th

PNC Park Panorama - #Yearofbaseball -
Mets – Pirates in Pittsburgh on June 11th

National Anthem for Sunday Night Baseball at Wrigley Field: Yankees - Cubs - #Yearofbaseball #WrigleyField
Yankees – Cubs in Chicago on June 18th

Panorama of the Seadogs - Mets game at Hadlock Field -
Mets – Sea Dogs in Portland on July 19th

Panoramic of Fenway Park - #Yearofbaseball
Mariners – Red Sox in Boston on July 22nd

Panorama of US Cellular Field: White Sox - Red Sox - #yearofbaseball
Red Sox – White Sox in Chicago on July 30th

Panorama fro US Cellular Field: White Sox - Yankees - #Yearofbaseball
Yankees – White Sox in Chicago on August 3rd

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Yankees – White Sox in Chicago on August 4th

Holy Shit. Yankees 13, Sox 1 -

Throughout all 17 games Julie and I kept score with the Eephus League scorebook, always adapting our methodology and penmanship. At many times it made the game go faster and more enjoyable.

Side Notes:
* BPG = Beers Per Game
** The least expensive Major League game(s) were all four White Sox games in May ($14).


View Year of Baseball in a larger map

*** With more than 3,868 miles traveled these are the stadiums I visited.

US Cellular Field: White Sox – Yankees (Game 2).

DSC_0269.JPGDSC_0248.JPGPanaroma from US Cellular Field: White Sox - Yankees. #Yearofbaseball -DSC_0266.JPG

So we headed down to US Cellular Field for one last beating by the Yankees and they did not disappoint. These were actually the ‘better seats’ we bought during our seven game pack and it was not worth it. We were in section 149 and unless you had an isle seat or were in the first 10 rows you really had a hard time seeing the batter at home plate. It didn’t really matter as the Yankees won 7-2 and completed the series sweep of the White Sox.

Side Notes:

The View From My other seat - #Yearofbaseball
* The view from the seat in the outfield after we moved away from our real seats since we could not see the batter.

** Year of Baseball Stats:
Game No. 16
Stadium Opened: April 18, 1991
Capacity: 41,432
Attendance: 28,088
Food: N/A
Beer: N/A
Opponent: New York Yankees
Pitchers: W: Nova, L: Humber
Miles From Home: 9.6
Ticket Face Value: $54
Seat Location: Section 149, Row 31, Seat 4