Opening Night at Dow Diamond

What up, players.

Today probably signaled the end of 'Winter' (if we can even call it that this year) more than any other freakish, 72-degree day we've had over the last month or two. Not that it was particularly warm out this evening or anything - far from it, it was in the upper-40s and overcast - but nothing really cries 'SPRING' like Opening Day with the Great Lakes Loons at Midland's own Dow Diamond.

As most of you very well know by now, I'm hardly what one could consider a sports enthusiast by any means, but I thoroughly enjoy going to a game at the local arena (or whatever you call the place where baseballers play.) Our group of dads down a few 32 oz beers, we walk around the bump into other locals we know about town, and otherwise enjoy the bread and circus.

(We sat and watched the game for, like, 20 minutes.)

We occasionally watch the game, too.  Once and a great while.

This year we stayed until the end of the 8th inning, and left when it was obvious the Loons had the game in the bag (they ended up winning anyway. . . not that any of us really cared.) Afterwards, we walked downtown and met the wives over at, what I consider, the shittiest drinking hole in town - Three Bridges. I steadfastly refrained from buying a drink during the 20-30 minutes we were there, out of protest (I despise that bar but the wives love it), and probably due to my groaning we went over to Whichcraft and there hung out to close out the night.

So here you go, folks - Opening Day of Spring.  Sort of. 

Some edgy dude carved this above one of the urinals in the men's room. So hardcore.

Some of the guys met up earlier in the evening at Decker's (a nearby bar downtown), but that was about the same time I was getting out of work so I just had Kris drop me off at the arena (or whatever it's called) around 6pm. After meeting up with everyone, we grabbed some beers and made our way to our reserved seats.

Those empty seats there between Morgan and Tom is where we ended up staying for, like, 20 minutes or so.

Some sun would have been cool this evening, but it was in the high-40s/low-50s with little wind, so it was manageable. After sitting for a bit we got up and did a lap around the Diamond.

Morgan, Mitch and Tom

Getting a group selfie for Opening Night (Morgan, Lonnie, Erik, Yours Truly, Tom and Mitch.)

Coming back into the Concourse for another round of beers, we bumped into the legendary Captain of Z93 fame. I managed this pic of him talking to Erik about something-or-other Loons related (he does PR for them and the surveying company Erik works for is doing some work with the organization.) I got to pose for a pic with this dude last year (I grew up listening to him on a daily basis while in high school.)

After a few beers (and very little baseball-watching) we decided to leave and head downtown to meet up with the wives. 

On our way out Erik wanted to stop and check out the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame (which is just as impressive as it sounds. . .)

(Most of these people were local coaches, or else state champions or record-setters - not like pro-ballers or anything.)

When we arrived at super-shitty Three Bridges, it fortunately wasn't as packed the last time we had all been in there (after our St. Patrick's Day outing to Clare), and we were able to find an empty table. The wives were seated at the table behind us, so it kinda defeated the purpose of us even being there. But whatever.

Tom gets another group selfie. The other guys ordered a round here but I wasn't about to give this place one cent of my money - this place sucks.

Tom gets a group pic of the moms doing a round of shots (you can spot Kris there right to the right of Mitch's head.)

Susan, Courtney, Kris, Danielle, and Stephanie.

After one round of drinks there - maybe because I was boycotting it, who knows, but I'd like to think the other guys had come to their senses - we decided to peace out and head down a block or two and hit up my favorite downtown watering hole, Whichcraft.

Passed by the ol' Larkin Building on our walk down (our Masonic lodge meets on the top floor a few times per month.)

Whichcraft. We had sat at a much smaller table at first, as the wives were still finishing up the drinks at the last place, but when one of the larger, bench-styled tables opened up that could accommodate our whole group opened up we moved. For whatever reason, Tom - which you can see in the center, there - refused to move for a bit (he was a bit tipsy at this point.)

A few folks ordered some appetizers and snacks while we polished off a couple, last rounds for the evening.

We ended up staying there for about an hour and a half, before folks decided to call it a night around 11pm or so.

The whole group (sans Yours Truly, who - of course - was the one taking the pic.)

Everyone dispersed towards their respective cars at the end of the night, with the Johnsons and Griffins sticking together because they had parked on the same side street. When they were stepping onto the street, Stephanie tripped off the curb and totally ate shit on the pavement. . . directly in front of a parked cop car (which you can see right behind Lonnie.) Fortunately the guy didn't tail any of their vehicles home. . .

This is what Kris and I came home to. Alayna and the dogs asleep in bed, with Abby passed out on the living room couch with a movie blaring. Gotta love Fridays. . .

- Brian

Date Night with the Loons

What's up, Readers.

The weather this evening was awesome - sunny and low '70s. . .

So my good buddy, Erik, recently won a Suite at the Dow Diamond for a Loons baseball game this season (a few weeks ago, at some hunter's banquet or some shit - he's always going to one of those.)  Suites are private rooms equipped with indoor and outdoor seating, a full kitchen, and a balcony overlooking the diamond - kinda like a VIP room for baseball.  We've gotten one before, back in 2020, when it was all the dads that went, and it was a lot of fun. 

Erik consulted with the group in order to gauge interest and availability, and we ultimately landed on this evening to take advantage of it.  All of the families except for the Griffins were able to make it out, which is about the same sort of turn out you'd expect for one of our friend group's larger parties (SuperBowl, Halloween, etc.)  We all met up there around 6pm and kicked off what would end up being a super fun evening.

Let's do this. . .

This Loons mascot - I forget what its name is - always makes the rounds throughout the Suites to greet the VIP attendees, and this evening he popped in pretty early in the game (minutes after we all got there.)  The mascot generally shows up with a handler or two, staff members that go around with it to take pictures of it with the crowd, etc.  When the mascot and handlers entered our suite, I saw that one of them was a former student of mine that I had six years ago (and who consequently took this picture of us our group. . . before everyone had showed up.)  

Baseball.  Like always, we watched for a little bit, but this game is incredibly boring to watch, so folks spent most of the time standing around, having drinks, and - of course - walking around the field.

Inside of the Suite.

I wasn't here for this, but here we have the five wives from the 'inner circle' forming a giant 'A,' to be smart-asses. There's some drama with the wives these days, as it's become evident that some of the families hang out a lot more than the others.  Us dads don't really care - it's natural that some families are closer than others - but it bothers some of the wives, I guess.  There's been some passive-aggressive comments made about A Team and B Team in the past, so these five formed this 'A' thing as a way of telling the other moms to just let it go.  I'm so glad I'm not a woman. . .

The guys all were meanwhile downstairs in the concourse, grabbing more beers and food and walking around the diamond - my favorite thing to do there.

From left to right: Kris, Amy, Danielle, Mees, Deanna, Kelli, Courtney, Susan and Alicia.  The only mom missing from our tribe is Stephanie (I think her and husband Lonnie Big Balls were away RV camping this weekend.)

Was trying to be sneaky getting this pic of this lady here, who kept shuffling nearby our group.  We can only assume she's special needs.  I'm going to Hell, 100%. 

Yours Truly, Tom, Erik, Collier, and Mitch.

Behind the Lawn.

Seriously lucked out with the weather tonight. . .

Halfway through a lap around the Diamond.

Back up at the Suite with the wives.

A bunch of us decided to take another walk around the Diamond - watching baseball, as stated before, can get super boring after awhile - and as we were walking out this old, drunk guy randomly walked up to some of us dads and began showing us some sports stats on his phone.  Totally unsolicited.  We didn't know him, we weren't talking to him - he just really wanted to show a bunch of strangers something.  What a frickin' weirdo.

The group continues along its walk (and Omkar shows off his ass.)

Erik - who, through his work, knows a lot of people around town - pointed out this guy to me as we were walking around the Diamond.  His name's Joe, and he used to be on a couple shows on Z93 back in the mid/late-90's: the morning show Joe and the Poor Boy, and the infamous weekend evening show The Captain.  This is the Captain, right here.  I might have fan-girled a little over seeing this dude walking around out in public like he's no big deal, so I just had to get a pic with him (he was totally cool with it) - told the guy he provided the soundtrack to my high school years, which I'm sure he gets all the time.  A f***ing legend, folks.

The walkabout group (not featuring Kris, who took the pic.)

Me and the ol' ball n' chain.

Full team (minus the Griffins) assembled for a group pic in front of the Diamond.

The group gets excited they were captured on the Jumbotron (just missed it, unfortunately - my bad.)

Creepy red sun going on here. . .

Someone hit the ball and did the thing.  TOUCHDOWN.

Always a good night when the home team wins.

After the game, the group begins to head out (not sure what Alicia's doing with her leg, here.)

Folks weren't quite ready to head home just yet, so we walked over to nearby Downtown and hit up Three Bridges (which, oddly enough, was packed with younger Millenials and Gen Z'ers, forcing us to sit outdoors.)

Kris and I didn't feel like having any more drinks - I had to get up super early (like, 6:30am) to help plant flowers with the Masons for the annual Midland Blooms event, so I needed to be responsible.  We weren't planning on hanging out long, so we sat down on a nearby bench while folks brought drinks back to a nearby table.)  A few folks began snapping pics of us since we looked like a 'cute couple' or some shit. . .

(Kinda looks like we actually like each other here.)

- Brian