Taking Things to the Next Level

Last year, I had the opportunity to be a part of history during the Major League Baseball season as on a couple of occasions I was able to land a seat in the Cleveland Indians' Social Deck. This was an area set aside for fans, bloggers, and other personalities to use social media platforms during games to spread the word about the Indians, the game, and whatever else they wanted to talk about. The Indians were the first pro sports team to have a special area set aside on a game-by-game basis for their social media community.

Fast forward one year. Much like the team on the field that sports the best record in the majors, the Indians' communications and creative services staff has upped the ante again by moving their social media community from the Social Deck in the leftfield bleachers to the Social Suite along the third base line above the Indians' dugout.

On Sunday afternoon versus the Cincinnati Reds, I had the privilege of checking out the Social Suite for the first time with my family and my friend, George Hartz, and his family. We picked up our tickets at will call courtesy of @tribetalk and quickly found our seats. As we were walking to the Social Suite, one of my daughters commented that it was like we were entering a fancy hotel. Little did we know just how right she was as we prepared to enter the Social Suite.

While the Social Deck was nice last year, there was the disadvantage of being stuck outside if the weather was inclement or extremely hot with no shade. Well, the Social Suite has nice shade and protection with the overhang, and the option to sit inside in the air conditioning was something that the kids enjoyed as well. The Social Suite is also much more conducive to in-game blogging if attendees so desire.

Well, the game moved along and the Indians dominated the Reds 12-4. In the bottom of the fifth inning, my opportunity to play in the game came when Jack Hannahan fouled a ball up to the Social Suite which I promptly snagged in mid-air (photo above). It's the third foul ball I've grabbed over the years, but the first outside the state of Colorado as the other two came at a Colorado Rockies game and a Colorado SkySox (Triple-A) game. (The ball at the SkySox game was off the bat of Alex Rodriguez.)

We enjoyed the rest of the game and the kids had a great time. It was the first MLB game for George's two boys and it was fun to watch them take it all in. The only downside is that it will be a little bit of a letdown when they go to their next game and don't have such great seats. :) Following the game, the kids all got to run the bases to cap off what was a great day (photo below).

I need to say a big thank you to Curtis Danburg, Rob Campbell, and Danielle Cherry for the great job that they are doing and for making our fun day possible. For more information on how you might score a seat in the Social Suite, check out this link and follow @tribetalk on Twitter.

Grandma Goes on the DL

I started this blog so that from time to time I could share about the people who have influenced and impacted me whether over many years or just by dropping into my life for a short time. Relationships are really what makes life so much fun, and I enjoy seeing how they all weave together.

Last Wednesday, I got a phone call from my cousin, Robert, that I was not ready for. Grandma Mahaffey had fallen in my uncle's driveway and was being taken to the hospital. Robert wasn't sure what the extent of her injuries were, but he knew that she was in a lot of pain. Immediately, my heart sank because I knew that this could be really bad. But, more on that later.

Grandma will turn 89 in April. She and I have a special relationship because I'm the oldest of her nine grandchildren. However, our relationship goes much deeper than that as she may be one of the single biggest influences on why I'm doing what I'm doing as far as my career goes.

Grandma grew up near Athens, Ohio. She graduated from Ohio University in 1948 and taught school. She later helped Grandpa run a Maytag appliance business while taking care of three children. Grandma and Grandpa also moved to Florida for nearly a decade where he served as a maintenance man in a retirement tower and she worked as a housekeeper. They moved back to Ohio in the late 1980's as Grandpa's health began to deteriorate, and he passed away in the spring of 1990 the week that I graduated from high school.

Grandma's influence on my career path started at an early age as I can always remember her listening to the Cincinnati Reds and the Ohio State Buckeyes on the radio. She used to save me the baseball cards that came on Hostess boxes and bought me my first packs of cards when I was just six or seven years old. My early childhood memories were of her talking about the Big Red Machine (pictured below) or Archie Griffin. She definitely got me hooked on Marty and Joe calling all the Reds' action and I'm a die-hard Buckeye fan as well.


One thing that really helped Grandma right after Grandpa passed away in the spring of 1990 was following the wire-to-wire run in first place that her beloved Reds had as they captured the World Series title with a sweep of the A's. She was so excited, but definitely wished that Grandpa could have been there to see it. Chris Sabo and Jose Rijo were two of her favorite players on that team.

To tell you how close Grandma and I are, how many college freshmen do you know that would offer to drive their grandma and her sister to Florida for spring break to see one of their other sisters. Well, that's exactly what my roommate and I did and we had a great time - even if we did have to strategically cover the speedometer as we drove so they wouldn't see how fast we were going. :)

The following year on spring break, my best friend from high school, Brion, and I basically camped out for a week at Grandma's to watch all the March Madness college basketball games with her. She had a two-liter of pop for each of us and made us all the grilled cheese sandwiches or hamburgers that we wanted as we watched games from noon until after midnight each day. She is a huge college basketball fan and always knows all the story lines. She loved to watch Bobby Knight coach and get fired up and he was special to her because he was a former Buckeye. She also loved to make fun of Gene Keady's crazy comb-over whenever Purdue would come on and she always wondered if he ever had fun coaching since he never smiled. But, most of all, she loved to pace back and forth when her Buckeyes were playing. She cheered them on and got excited when they were doing well, and she got frustrated when they struggled.

As I headed into my senior year of college, I got the opportunity to work in the sports information office at Mount Vernon Nazarene. I never knew that this type of job existed and I really had no formal training for it, but the love of sports that Grandma had instilled in me made this job one that I knew I wanted to pursue. Now, 17 years later, I'm still doing that job and consider myself very fortunate to get to spend pretty much every day watching some kind of sporting event. Lots of times, I envision myself sitting on the couch in Grandma's living room. She's still the first person I want to call after a big Buckeye football or basketball win or when the Reds are playing well. I can still remember how excited she was in the wee hours of the morning in 2003 when I talked to her on the phone minutes after Ohio State beat Miami in double overtime to capture the BCS national title.

Well, back to the infamous phone call from last Wednesday...When they got Grandma to the hospital, they found that she had broken her right femur above her knee. This was a pretty serious injury that ended up requiring surgery later that day to insert a rod from her hip to her knee. She came through the surgery as well as could be expected and finally this afternoon was released to a rehab facility that will now be her home for the foreseeable future as she cannot put any weight on that leg for at least eight weeks.

When I had a chance to talk to Grandma after the surgery, in typical fashion she told me what had happened. Like she does most days, she was headed out to go to Curves with one of her friends. (Yes, for all of you who have struggled with starting some kind of fitness program, take it from my 88-year-old grandma that you CAN do it. She really should be a spokesperson for Curves as she plans her trips out of town based on whether the place she is going has one or not.) She was extra excited because this was going to be her 250th visit. At Curves, you get a shirt every time you reach 100, 200, 300, etc. visits. Well, Grandma was so excited that she hurried down the driveway so her friend wouldn't have to drive up it. Unfortunately, she hit a slippery spot and went down hard.

When I told Grandma that her rehab would be like another form of a Curves' workout, she quickly responded with "I wonder if each day that I do it if Curves would count it as a visit." I just started laughing. I told some of my running buddies about this and they instantly knew where I got the drive that has me setting a goal of trying to run at least one mile every day in 2011.

As I tried to ask her how she was doing, Grandma changed the subject to sports. She excitedly told me all about Joey Votto's new three-year contract and how he's her favorite player because he's such a "nice looking and clean-cut young man". Doesn't hurt that he had an MVP season either. Then, she changed gears and started talking about the Buckeyes' basketball team. She had been a little frustrated that she had to miss their first game as the No. 1-ranked team because that's when her surgery took place on Wednesday, but she was happy that they took care of Iowa in fine fashion without needing her cheering after all.

Well, you can see why I love my grandma and why I love sports. She is just a very special person in my life. And, that's why I am still very concerned about the days, weeks, and months of rehab that are ahead for her. Since I work with college athletes, I see the struggles that injuries can cause for them. They have good days and they have bad days. The nice thing for them is that they are young and they have their teammates and coaches around them for support.

Grandma has a long road of recovery ahead of her. While she is young in spirit, this will not be an easy process for her. I know that she will do her best to work at it, and I know that her goal is to get back to Curves and continue working towards that shirt for visit No. 300. However, it is not going to be easy.

That's where you and I come in. We can all play the role of teammates and cheerleaders for her. If you are reading this blog, you know me or someone who knows me has forwarded this to you. As a personal favor, I wonder if you might possibly consider taking the time in the next month to just pick up a card or write a note of encouragement and send it to Grandma. Yes, she might be a total stranger to you. It doesn't matter. Just tell her to hang in there and keep working hard. Who knows...there may come a time in your own life where you'll need that kind of encouragement from others to help you get back on your feet again.

Anyway, if you are willing to do this, I would be extremely humbled and grateful if you could send a note or card to her at:

Olive Mahaffey
Chesterwood Village
8073 Tylersville Road
West Chester, Ohio 45069

In addition to your cards, notes, and prayers, I'm hoping that following the rest of what has already been an exciting season of Ohio State basketball and then getting ready for the tradition that is Opending Day for the Reds will be just the medicine that Grandma needs to make a complete and speedy recovery.

48 Hours in Boston - Fenway Park

For those who know me, you know that one of my favorite summer activities is going to Major League Baseball games. My wife, Carla, shares this love with me and throughout our dating and married years we've been to more than 100 games together.

With our 14th anniversary approaching (actually it's today - Aug. 10th), I thought it would be fun for us to travel to Boston for a couple of games at Fenway Park and to also see the sights of one of the oldest and most historic cities in this great country. (Heading into the trip, Boston and Miami remained as the only two cities we hadn't seen an MLB game in and when Fenway was crossed off our list it marked the 34th MLB ballpark we have seen a game in.)

We left our daughters with my parents and headed out early last Wednesday to Columbus where we hopped on a Southwest Air flight. A couple of hours later, we had arrived at Logan International Airport and soon our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott.

After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we set out for Fenway Park via the Boston subway system - the T. We climbed out of the terminal right into the middle of the city like ants from a colony. Quite a crowd had already gathered two hours before game time and it was very festive as we approached the park after grabbing a couple of hot dogs from a street vendor on Lansdowne Street.

When we first walked in the ballpark, I was surprised with how big the stadium seemed to me. For whatever reason (maybe it's the home run dimensions down the lines), I always thought that Fenway seemed smaller than most ballparks when watching games on TV. However, while you do have an intimate feel sitting in the crowded seats, the park seems larger than life when you are there in person.


After surveying the ballpark from left center with the visiting Cleveland Indians taking batting practice, I quickly maneuvered my way down to the front row at field level about 20 feet inside the Pesky pole in fair territory. Within about five minutes, I was using all 6-foot-6 of my wingspan to snag a ball off the warning track. Of the 30 or so balls that I've gotten at games over the years, this one may go down as my favorite since it's got a little Fenway dirt on it, too. I had a shot at a couple of other balls, but I didn't pursue them too hard since I already had one and there were plenty of kids who hadn't gotten any.

When batting practice ended, I made my way to the Indians' bullpen so that I could say hello to Tim Belcher, the Indians' pitching coach who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1983 draft out of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. He noticed me and came over and talked for a few minutes. He's always been really good about keeping connected with MVNU.

From there, we moved to our seats and got to chat with Hillary Haynes, a fellow sports information director I've met through Twitter who was also at the game with her fiancee, Dan. I always enjoy meeting people in person who I've come to know through social media. She joined us as some of the few Indians' fans at the game.

Well, the game unfolded and the Indians put together a solid 9-1 win over the hometown Red Sox. This score was good for us because a lot of the Boston fans started leaving in the eighth inning, which allowed us to move closer and closer to the field. By the end of the game, we were sitting a few rows up from the Indians' dugout and I was able to quickly talk to Tim Belcher again when the game ended before we headed back to the hotel on the T.

Thursday was a full day of sight-seeing (which is a story for another blog) before we came back to Fenway for a second game. I got on to the Green Monster for an inning during this game and tried to get pictures from all across the park. The Red Sox won 6-2 this time.


Throughout the course of the two games at Fenway Park, I thought about all the baseball history that had happened in its 98 years of existence and also about the stories of the people who had come to the over 7,000 games that have been played since it opened. Just days after the Titanic sunk, the ballpark opened with the Red Sox beating the New York Highlanders (who would go on to become the Yankees) 7-6 in 11 innings on April 20, 1912. Those two teams have been bitter rivals ever since.

Over the years, players such as Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk, and Carl Yastrzemski have all called Fenway home. Even though the ballpark doesn't have all the amenities and fancy seating sections that the modern parks have, Fenway has an aura about it that exudes baseball tradition from a different era where it was played for the love of the game. Even with its cramped seats, long aisles, and occasional obstructed views, I, for one, hope that they never tear it down as it along with Chicago's Wrigley Field remain as significant living memorials to the history of our great national pastime.

(Note: To see all my pictures from Fenway, you can check them out on my Facebook page by clicking here. I would also like to thank Sports Travel and Tours and specifically Mike McGarry for helping us secure good tickets to both games.)

Opening Day...A Tradition Like No Other

The day has finally arrived.....Major League Baseball Opening Day! Yes, I know that the Yankees and Red Sox played last night in a made-for-TV matchup on ESPN. However, the true Opening Day for me is always the day that the oldest francise in baseball dating back to 1869, the Cincinnati Reds, takes the field for the first time each spring.

For years, the Reds always played the first game of the season much like the Dallas Cowboys' and Detroit Lions' tradition of both playing on Thanksgiving Day in the NFL. While the Reds' opener has been pushed aside somewhat over the past decade or so with ESPN taking over with Sunday Night Baseball, the tradition is still very much alive in Cincinnati as witnessed by the 91st Opening Day parade that took place this morning and the fact that standing room only tickets are going for $140 for a team that hasn't sniffed the playoffs since just missing out in 1999.

Nothing can compare to Opening Day. Just as the weather starts to turn from the brutal cold of winter into the sunny signs of spring, each team and their fans have the eternal optimism of what could be a magical summer with a blank slate ahead of them for 162 games. While I'm hoping that this will be the year that my Reds will break through and reach the playoffs after not being close since falling to Al Leiter and the Mets in the one-game playoff in 1999 (which I witnessed first-hand), it also gives diehard Cubs fans like my buddy, Jay Stancil, the hope that the Cubs might finally get back to the World Series for the first time since 1945 to end the curse of the billy goat. It could also be the year for the Cleveland Indians and new pitching coach (and MVNU alum) Tim Belcher to break through and bring the city its first championship in a professional sport. Or maybe, it's something a little more simple like my friend Pat Neville's team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, having a winning season for the first time after a record 17 straight losing seasons that started with Francisco Cabrera's game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 1992 NLCS.

Regardless of who your team is, Opening Day is the day that you always look forward to. If you are like me, you've spent the past month (or longer) getting to know the new faces on your team through spring training reports or maybe even a trip to a spring training game (which I highly recommend). All of the offseason acquisitions will now be put to the test and the hope of an injury-free season will also play a part in your team's success.

I've had the privilege of attending two Opening Day games in Cincinnati and I really enjoyed the pagentry that accompanied these long-awaited events. Unfortunately, my first Opening Day experience lasted just seven pitches when homeplate umpire John McSherry collapsed on the field and died. That was a very surreal experience and I've never heard such a hush come over 50,000 people before. After a delay of about half an hour, the game was understandably postponed. My second Opening Day experience came in 2003 when I went to the first game at Great American Ball Park after being at the final game of Cynergy Field (Riverfront Stadium) the previous year. I was hoping to possibly get to this year's game, but trying to find a last-minute ticket proved to futile. I'm jealous of my friends, Matt Hannaford and Michelle O'Malley, who along with Niki Murray will be at the Philadelphia Phillies-Washington Nationals' opener in D.C. In fact, I'm guessing that Michelle may get on TV at some point with this sign.

While today is just one of 162 game days during the MLB season, I would argue with anyone that it is the best day as every fan has the childhood hope and enthusiasm of an 8-year-old going to their very first game. Good luck to all of your teams today - except yours, Brad Taylor, since your Cardinals are playing my Reds. Well, former Reds broadcaster (and Hall of Fame MC) George Grande just threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Johnny Bench, so I have to go as the season is about to get under way. Play ball!