YAHTZEE!!

 Its funny what you get to talking about at baseball games, especially after 2 rain delays and its only the 7th inning around 1130pm. If you remember the childhood card game Yahtzee, this will be a funny story for all of you. I'm just going to assume, since I'm lazy, that everyone remembers Yahtzee.

Back story, we attended the game with the Mitchell's friends Courtney and Erin Miller- we stayed with Courtney and they got us the hookup for tickets (prime foul ball territory). Any who, Courtney is a kindergarten teacher, who on summer break, forgot how many letters where in the alphabet- she said 10... Of course there are 26. Had a rhyme for everything, because kindegartners can't remember anything without a fun rhyme (a process Tim Geraty and Peter Olinto are doing in my CPA studying too). Well the conversation turned to onomatopia's in conversation. Of course, being the genius that I am, I said "YAHTZEE!" Because in my mind, the yahtzee sound is what I think of when we're playing a game of yahtzee, kind of how like boom accurately describes a gun blast or a firework. Well, of course no one would let me live this down so "YAHTZEE" became the rallying cry for the rest of the game. When Brandon Phillips went first-pitch-pinch-hitting swinging and went boneyard, of course the refrain was "YAHTZEE!" Oh what fun Mariemont's kindergarten class will have in class this fall.

Now, prior to Yahtzee, what we wanted to talk to you guys about/educate everyone about, was the apperance of "Bottom"s Up Beer." Maybe you have seen this on the news or at a game, but this easily could be one of the best inventions right behind the wheel, the light bulb, and sliced bread. The contraption fills the cup from the bottom through a little hole in the bottom covered with a magnetic covering to keep the beer in. What results is less foam/head and more beer for your money. While the cups are a bit expensive(59 cents/cup), it will be interesting to see how this takes off across ballparks. Mike also demonstrated what could be a new fun game by pushing up on the hole of the cup, popping off the magnet and allowing the beer to flood out (I always thought he was the smarter one). Its kind of like a modified game of shotgunning/torpedoing a beer. I think we'll have to investigate this along the way as we find more bottom's up beer guys.

Before the game we went to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and saw some pretty cool exhibits. They had a Johnny Bench exhibit and it did well to educate us all on how great of a ballplayer Bench was. Its crazy to think he was 19 when he started and came to be a central part of the Big Red Machine. That team/time for the reds was one of the most dominating times in baseball, winning 210 games over 2 years+ 2 championships. Unfortunately, since then they've only won 1 World Series (1990) and have struggled in futulity most of the time.

Of course the elephant in the room was Pete Rose, but they did an okay job honoring him with a wall of baseballs symbolizing his 4256 hits, which was pretty awe inspiring. They had photos and statues of Charlie Hustle all over the place, but missing from the cincy hall of fame plaques was pete. Its a shame, we all realize what he did, but to not let easily the greatest hitter in baseball into the hall is a travesty. If players start getting into the Hall with steriods inflated numbers, I believe Rose has the best case to be included in the hall. Here's my vote for Pete Rose.

And now what you've been patiently waiting for:

Coming Attractions: St. Louis and the land of Budweiser. We're on the road now with the express goal of trying to hit the Budweiser factory in time for a tour before the game. We might even see a fight tonight between the Cards and Brewers spilling over from last week's brawl in Milwaukee.

What I Like: Great American was a beautiful ballpark, filled with passionate fans, even though the teams god awful. Cincy is one of the historical teams and it would be great if they can get back into it in a few years. It was also awesome seeing Brandon Phillips go boneyard on the first pitch of his only at-bat. Talk about electricfying!

What I DIS-like: the rain. We had another delay last night, 2 to be exact, as the rain just opened up and drenched the field. This needs to change and change quick.

The Food Debate: its official, I'm going to be fat at the end of this trip. We tried everything great in Cincinnati, Skyline Diner (delicious chili- 5-way of course), Montgomery Inn's pulled pork sandwhich with delicious BBQ sauce, and most importantly Greyter's ice cream- huge chocolate chip chunks. Just delicious food all around!

Bleacher Bums: its always a good sign when the bar tender's at the "Bottoms Up" beer stand see you coming towards them and immediately begin to fill a cup for you. We definitely became friends with them last night. Another big offensive game last night. 6 home runs, highlighted by another 2 home run game from Seth Smith. We bring the fireworkes to every game no doubt.

I think that's all. We're going to stop and pick up Watch the Throne for our drive, and then we'll be in St. Louis! Enjoy everyone!

- W+M