Major minors

Dayton welcomed a minor league baseball team after I no longer lived in the area. My parents may have moved away by then too. So, until last night I'd never been to a game at Fifth Third Field to see the Class A Dayton Dragons. Adding to my reasons for never having attended a game there: the first season sold out before any games were played, and I'd heard they were perpetually sold out. I hadn't heard incorrectly. Apparently they've sold out every game since the team began playing in 2000.

Having read an article about the franchise being on the verge of breaking the North American professional sports record for consecutive sellouts, I decided that the time had come for me to drive over to Dayton to see a game. My great aunt fell and broke her hip recently, so I felt like I needed to go back there to visit her. Going to a ballgame would just be a way of maximizing the trip.

As it turns out, last night's game was the record breaker: #815. I swear I didn't know this. I thought they broke it last weekend. While the team easily exceeded capacity in ticket sales, those like me who just needed one seat could still find scattered spots. I ended up in the first row of the upper deck, which provided the added benefit of as much leg room as I could ask for.

I'd been to the ballpark once before. My dad stopped there and we walked around on the way back to my parents' home from a Reds game. The stadium was under construction at the time, so it was easy enough to walk into what would become the outfield seating area and see what progress had been made. Until last night that was the only time I'd seen the place.

I arrived closer to first pitch than I preferred, and I didn't have a chance to look around the bordering area to see how it's thrived since the team's arrival. Based on some other parts of downtown Dayton that I've seen, this portion has definitely fared a lot better.

When it comes to minor league games, I can't say that I have a vested interest in who wins. The Dragons are a Cincinnati Reds affiliate, but old hometown loyalty was the main factor in my cheering on the team. (Plus, to do otherwise would have been rude.) I was there simply to enjoy a fine night outside watching baseball.

In this respect the Dragons management mount a worthwhile production. Maybe it's being overly familiar with (and mostly bored by) the between innings shenanigans at Reds games and unfamiliar with the Dragons way of doing things, but this minor league team seemed more inspired with how they passed the downtime. Granted, they're not dealing with breaks as long as those in the big leagues. They're also not facing as many restrictions that would prevent an MLB team from having kids race Big Wheels from first to third or putting three toddlers onto a padded racetrack in the third base foul territory. The toddler race might have been the best of the activities because it didn't work. The kids knocked their helmets off and basically refused to perform.

After the end of the fifth, when the game was now official, the announcement came that the Dragons had broken the consecutive sellout record of 814 previously owned by the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Balloons were released, and streamers were shot into the stands. The Dragons came onto the field and applauded the fans. At this level the players turn over on the team far more than in the majors. I doubt anyone out there was in Dayton five years ago, let alone when the streak started. That doesn't matter. The message was clear that the organization is grateful for how the community has embraced the team.

I would have loved it if this team had been in place when I was growing up. The Reds are about an hour's drive from my hometown, and they would have still been my primary team. Still, to have a local team that you could seen more frequently and for less money would have been a dream. I imagine as a teenager I would have made a point to go to games as much as possible.

I haven't lived in the Dayton area since 1993, but I want to see it do well. I know it's been hit hard by losses in manufacturing, and parts of town definitely look the worse for wear than what I remember. Going to the ballpark, though, let me take some pride in what used to be home and know that the dedication I feel for my chosen teams seems to be consistent with how people there accept their teams.

I don't need to drive to Dayton to see professional baseball. The Reds, much as they're aggravating me these days, will always be where most of my fanatical baseball energies will be focused. Columbus has a minor league team and a nice new stadium of its own. Who knows when I'll be back to a game in Dayton again. Every now and then, though, it'd be nice to return and see how a sport I love has blossomed where I used to live.

First Four

I've returned to the Dayton area to take in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The play-in game is dead. Long live the play-in games.

The first game between #16 seed contenders University of Arkansas-Little Rock and the University of North Carolina-Asheville was easily the more entertaining of the two. Both teams scrapped to see who gets smashed by a #1 seed on Thursday, but they played energetically and as if they were excited to be there. There was a late shot made to send it into overtime, so it wasn't a bad start to the evening.

The second game between two of the last four teams to receive at-large bids should have been better. Clemson and the University of Alabama-Birmingham have higher caliber players and richer traditions. Maybe it was the late start--tip-off wasn't until almost 9:50 p.m.--but this game was mostly a dud. UAB's passing was terrible, and they dug a hole they never really could climb out of.

Since I didn't get out of the arena until midnight, I was glad I'd already arranged to stay in town overnight. (There are two more games I'm attending Wednesday night.) It's still going to be a crazy day trying to take care of whatever needs to be taken care of, getting home late Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and rising at the crack of dawn to catch a plane to New York City.

Busy times. Hopefully fun times too.

The Neon

When I decided to return to my old stomping grounds in the Miami Valley for the day, my plans included going to the University of Dayton basketball game and visiting my great aunt on the farm. Out of curiosity I checked to see what downtown Dayton's arthouse theater was showing and discovered that it was playing a film that hasn't yet opened in Columbus. Catching a noontime matinee fit into my schedule, so I added it to the itinerary.

I didn't see a huge number of films at The Neon, but it was an influential place in terms of exposing me to another world of films beyond the mall and multiplex screens...or tipping off my friends to stuff that would filter its way into family room VCRs when we hung out. Whatever art movies they were showing--and I imagine some of them were nonthreatening costume dramas--to my teenage mind there was a bit of danger or subversion in what they showed. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and Orlando, to name two, were not the sorts of things that would be available to you under the same roof as Waldenbooks and Camelot Records. (Come to think of it, I've still not seen either of those.) Being in the middle of the city's downtown also added to the perception of it being a place outside the safety of the suburbs.

I specifically recall seeing two drastically different films there--the gorefest Dead Alive and the urbane comedy Barcelona. Seeing that latter film was what I did on the night of my 21st birthday. Considering how much it and that director's movies would come to mean to me, I couldn't have made a better choice to spend that milestone birthday watching it.

After I'd settled in Columbus, I did go back to sample one of The Neon's Cinerama screenings in the late '90s. During one of the last Christmastimes that my parents were living in my hometown, I took my mom there to see Life is Beautiful. Late December 1998 must be the last time I'd been in this theater. Wow, it's been that long?

Revisiting the theater after all this time was a nice reminder of pleasant memories. And how's this for confirming my teenage perception of it as a place that took risks? The first two trailers--I Love You Phillip Morris and Blue Valentine-- were for films that had been candidates for the NC-17 rating.

The movie I saw, Made in Dagenham, was just okay. Regardless, I still enjoyed being in a theater that helped shape my idea of what movies could be beyond what was more readily available. Considering the difficulty in operating an independent cinema with just two houses and showing specialty films, I'm glad to see that it's still there and appears to be successful.

We are the champions

Winning the National Invitation Tournament doesn't come anywhere close to winning the NCAA Tournament in college basketball. Essentially the NIT is a consolation competition for teams that weren't quite good enough to get into the top one. Nevertheless, watching the University of Dayton claim the NIT championship tonight means a lot to me as a lifelong fan of the Flyers. My team, the one I've lived and died with for so many years, has won a title, even if others dismiss the accomplishment as meaning they're the 66th best team in the nation. (The NCAAs take 65 teams.)

In the college basketball pecking order Dayton is usually referred to as a mid-major, which means that they don't play in the top tier conferences, i.e. those that have the most money and pull. Dayton has a storied basketball history and is consistently among the attendance leaders, but they are always fighting for respect rather than having it automatically granted to them. (In fact, the bigger teams often won't play them except under the most favorable conditions because UD doesn't equal an assured win.) That they beat North Carolina, one of the premier programs and one I may loathe more than any other, to win the NIT makes the victory all the sweeter.

Yes, it's "only the NIT, but if I'm being rational, the chance of them ever winning an NCAA championship is unlikely. The way the deck is stacked means that the best Dayton can hope for in any year is a Sweet 16 of Elite 8 finish. Maybe there's a fluke year, like 2010 Final Four qualifier Butler, but it's hardly something to expect. The goal is always going to be making the NCAA Tournament rather than winning the NIT, but as consolations go, this one's pretty satisfying.

The NIT looms large in Dayton basketball history--they last won it in 1968--and growing up I would hear and was told that back when the Flyers racked up NIT appearances, it was more prestigious than the NCAAs. That's certainly not been the case for some time, but it adds more meaning to this title than it might for a school without that history. (UD ranks second all-time in wins in the NIT.)

So an NIT championship has value. The five Flyers wins in this tournament featured the kind of effort and execution that was lacking in many of the close but frustrating losses during what had been a disappointing season. The NIT showed what this team could do if everything was going right. As a fan I was proud to watch them give it their all. Plus, to see the underdog slay giant after giant and be awarded the trophy isn't something that happens very often. For one night, though, the Flyers, a team that has meant as much to me as any other I've followed since I was little, came out on top. In its own way, it meant I did too.

Gem City hoops

Between keeping up with work and making trips on consecutive days to Dayton for college basketball games, I'm all tuckered out.

A column about Dayton's basketball appetite does an excellent job of explaining what compelled me to go back there for last night's game and why I still feel strongly about the Flyers despite not having lived in the area for a decade and a half.

In an ironic turn, attendance for tonight's NIT game was pretty terrible, although there are several possible explanations (fans disgruntled with the disappointing season, problems in the ticket selling process, short turnaround time after game's announcement, St. Patrick's Day).

Tournament time

In 2001 the NCAA added a 65th team to Division I's annual basketball tournament in 2001. That also meant the need for a play-in game, now referred to as the Opening Round Game, to keep a workable number of teams in the brackets. Each year Dayton has served as the host for this game, probably because the University of Dayton Arena has plenty of experience with tourney games and local support for college basketball. I'd never attended but was feeling the itch to go this year.

I was going more out of a sense of curiosity about the event than a desire to see the teams playing. Let's face it: the two schools squaring off tonight were competing for the right to get drilled by their top-seeded opponent on Friday. No #16 seed, which is where these two teams are slotted, has ever beaten a #1 in tournament history, and based on what I saw this evening, Arkansas-Pine Bluff won't be the first. Congratulations on the win! Now get ready to lose by thirty or more in three days!

Although I was seated about half a section behind the Winthrop band, most everyone around me was probably from the area. A little over eight thousand people showed up for some post-season hoops, but there's no way that a significant percentage of them were from Arkansas or South Carolina.

As a kid I started attending games at UD Arena in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The closest I'd ever been to the court was when I had a seat on it during my high school graduation. We had season tickets in the third row of the upper arena, so that's where I'm most used to watching the action from. They were fairly good seats, but of course there's always a wish to be closer. I sat in the lower arena a few times at some high school tournament games. Tonight, though, I may have witnessed a game from the closest I ever have in the place. I admit that was part of my reason for wanting to be there. In that way the experience didn't disappoint.

Sure, the game was pretty much a dud. Both teams shot under 30% in the first half. Scoring didn't pick up much in the second half. But who cares? I cheered for both teams when they made good plays, and the score stayed relatively close until the last five minutes. All I was hoping for was a good view of a close game, and I got it, more or less. When I return tomorrow night to see the Flyers play Illinois State in the first round of the NIT, then I'll be more invested in the outcome.

A grand day out

With a ticket for tonight's Dayton Flyers college basketball game providing the reason for returning near to my hometown area, I decided to make a full day of revisiting some old favorites and dropping in on a place unfamiliar to me. (Despite that statement, I didn't actually go to my hometown but cities close to the little burg.)

My first stop was for lunch. My love of barbecue and the ridiculous name of the newly opened restaurant motivated me to go here. OinkADoodleMoo in Englewood is sharing space with JD's Old Fashioned Frozen Custard. What a combination this place will be when warmer weather returns.

The barbecue was good. It's better than the national chain joints but not yet on the same level as City Barbecue, which I consider the local standard. That said, the smoky sweet sauce was a nice twist on what I'm accustomed to. They do beat the City in one area, though. Oink's kaiser roll easily tops City's regular white bun.

While the custard shop is closed for the season, their workers were present to fulfill holiday orders. Lucky me. I ordered a scoop of the peppermint. It was amazing. I don't recall this place being there when I lived nearby. Then again, I haven't been around much since midway through my time at college and very little since my parents moved out of state.

When I was looking for things to do during my brief visit, I kept returning to pizza. Having just polished off a good sandwich and great frozen custard, I wasn't hungry, but I figured I'd next get a pizza that I could bring home with me to eat this weekend. Such is the nostalgic pull of local food and eateries.

I've been partial to the Dayton chain Cassano's, although I'll admit to it lacking much substance. This time I thought I'd pop into Marion's Pizza, which was just around the corner from where I had lunch. Yes, I realize how silly it was to buy a pizza that was going directly into my car's trunk, but I can't remember the last time ate something from there. I got an individual size, not the least of which is because they only took cash, and will hopefully enjoy it on Saturday.

Their restuarants are known for having old photos of celebrities eating at their shops. The actors were in town for Kenley Players' summer stock productions. You might be able to pick out a few celebrities you recognize in the above photo I snapped at the Englewood Marion's.

Then it was off to the University of Dayton area for a little bit of browsing. Second Time Around was a place I'd go regularly with my friends to shop for used CDs. I was pleased to see that the store looks to be booming and that the neighborhood it's in has been built up since I was last there. A used CD store with decent selection can be a dangerous place, but I held myself in check and left with just two CDs, which I bought for the price that one of them alone would have been new.

A short walk up the street let me catch a glimpse of the UD campus, seen above, and pop into the fan store for all things Flyers. Then it was a a couple blocks' walk to Cassano's for some pizza that I would actually eat rather than squirreling away for another day.

Finally it was time for the main reason I'd come back here: the basketball game. My dad was a season ticket owner when I was growing up, so my affection for the team runs deep. I try to attend one game a season as a reminder of all the fun I had as a kid going to the games.

I did not have as good of a vantage point as you see in these pictures. (Best I could do was seven rows from the top. Keep in mind I even bought the ticket a couple weeks in advance.) The first was taken upon my entrance during pre-game warm-ups. The last was snapped near the end of the game after I had made my way down to stand at the back of the lower bowl. The idea was to be poised to see the final seconds tick off and then quickly hop outside to be in a prime position to catch one of the first shuttle buses to where I was parked. (The empty seats you see are the result of others doing the same.)

I had a delicious Mar-Chele soft pretzel. The Flyers won. What better way to cap a really good day that gave me tastes of home.

Talking PC

I drove over to the greater Dayton area to see John Hodgman reading from his books. Some of you may know him from his appearances on The Daily Show. Most of you will be familiar with him as the PC in the Apple computer commercials.

I don't think I've ever gone to a book reading until tonight, so I wasn't sure what to expect or how many people would be there. Although I was once a little familiar with the area where the event took place, it's totally different--read: developed--now. Like Easton Town Center, the shopping complex is constructed like a fake small town with large parking lots and parking garages. (Hodgman jokingly compared it to the village in The Prisoner.)

By my estimate there were about sixty to seventy people there to listen to the writer talk and read from his works. He proved to be a skilled presenter who is quick on his feet. There's a blurry line between John Hodgman and "John Hodgman", but whether he was in more of a character mode or as himself, he was consistently funny.

During the Q&A he talked about how anyone can be famous for an instant today, but the people who endure or succeed are those who make something. Clearly it takes no skill to attain a moment in the spotlight in today's media-saturated world, but to remain there requires an ability to make something. I don't know that it's an original thought, but it's something that bears repeating to my students, some of whom can be more interested in the allure of being in front of the cameras.

He numbered each book that he signed, with separate counts for paperbacks and hardbacks, which tickles my inner obsessive-compulsive. (I don't know if the counts are from this book tour alone or not, but I can tell you that there weren't 2734 people ahead of me.)

While I'm loath to place my photo on this site, I feel as though I need one from the event. Since my quickly snapped shots of him speaking are too fuzzy, I present one of me and a veritable talking PC here.

Shuffle

Since I don't have anything worth writing about, how about hitting shuffle on the iPod and seeing what comes up? If you'd like to hear these songs, most can be found by using Google to search for the artist and song title and hitting play on the embedded Lala player. (It's a new tool Google offers, but it doesn't provide anything for me to link to.)

1. Laura Cantrell "Yonder Comes a Freight Train" When the Roses Bloom Again (2004)

I haven't given this theory much thought, but I'm going to propose that the best songs about forms of transportation are about trains. Sorry cars. There's something about how the engines chug that lends itself to the rhythms of these songs and conveys the feeling of riding the rails.

2. The Streets "Who Got the Funk?" Original Pirate Material (2002)

There's a left turn--from country to British hip hop--provided by the shuffle. This short track doesn't make much sense out of the album's context. "The day in the life of a geezer," repeats Mike Skinner, essentially summarizing the concept for album about British lad culture. The song is more connective tissue than a standalone piece.

3. The Black Crowes "Sister Luck" Shake Your Money Maker (1990)

The Black Crowes bring back memories of the heritage AOR station WTUE in Dayton. While they sounded like a lot of the classic rock bands, at the time they were a new group. I don't know if this particular song would have been heard on the air, although surely their debut was played at least once at midnight, which is when they'd play one side of an album, take a break, and play the second side. Yes, albums used to have two sides (or sides at all), and rock stations used to be worth listening to.

4. The Beastie Boys "Time for Livin'" The Sounds of Science (1992)

Surely I've heard this before,but this isn't one that stood out to me. Beasties more in punk mode than rapping.

5. David Gray "Easy Way to Cry" A New Day at Midnight (2002)

Can't say that this particular song stirs up any memories, but the album it's from is inextricably tied in my mind to hearing a single from it on WXRT while in Chicago for a high school friend's wedding. Come to think of it, is that the only high school friend's wedding I've attended?

6. The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting for the Man" The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

This album isn't considered one of the most highly influential in rock history for nothing. Funny how it can still sound current all these years later.

7. The Beta Band "Al Sharp" Hot Shots II (2001)

Totally random fact (probably): I think I bought this CD in a Rhode Island Borders.

8. Guided by Voices "Gold Star for Robot Boy" Jellyfish Reflector (1996)

I was into the Dayton indie rock legends-to-be a lot at the time because they were from where I am from (generally speaking) and because I was able to find an internet e-mail list to feed my interest in all things GBV. I didn't have a computer at home, but I'd go to the library to check my freenet account--two hours of access per 24 hours, thank you--for the daily digest in my inbox. The album in question is a live bootleg (or semi-official release). Being hip to these kinds of records was like knowing a secret, which probably helped stoke my interest, although it didn't hurt that they were at their creative peak at this time too.

9. George DeVore "Standing Right By Me" Austin, Texas Through the Eyes of Terri Herbert (2001)

Yes, it's on my iPod, but I've never heard this before. I bought the album solely for a rare Kelly Willis track (a cover of Gene Clark's "Full Circle Song") and never bothered listening to the rest. (I don't remember exactly how I acquired it, but it may have been among several CDs someone was selling as a lot on eBay.) It was a bit difficult to come across. Since it was an Austin singer-songwriter's tribute to his girlfriend killed in an accident, I don't know if this was even sold outside of Texas. Collecting songs by downloading them just isn't the same.

10. Soundgarden "Switch Opens" Down on the Upside (1996)

Shuffle goes deep again. It may be twelve or thirteen years since I've heard this cut from Soundgarden's final album.

I don't know how representative this sampling is of my musical tastes, but it's certainly eclectic.

In the arena

Earlier this year I wrote about what University of Dayton Flyers basketball meant to me growing up. That blog entry is probably one of the best pieces I wrote all year, so I'm not going to dare try to repeat it tonight. But what to do when today's quick trip to Dayton and back was to squeeze in my (likely) one game for the season and is the only thing I really have to blog about... Mere reportage?

I picked this match-up because UD was hosting George Mason, a scrappy competitor whose unlikely run in the 2006 NCAA Tournament made them the underdog darlings of the college basketball scene. I figured it would be a good game--it was--and I wasn't sure if my plan to take my dad to the Flyers game at Toledo on Friday, weather permitting, would happen. As I learned via a phone conversation during the drive home, my aunt and uncle are visiting my parents in the coming days, so chances are he can't meet me in northwest Ohio even if the snow and ice hold back. So, it turns out that going to tonight's game was the right decision for more than one reason.

Of course, the fun that comes with going to a tightly contested game attended by a near-sellout crowd of 13,000-plus was reason enough. Since I arrived plenty of time before tip-off, I could quietly marvel at how the arena was spruced up in the last however many years.

It looks quite nice for a building nearing forty years of age, and the exposed, less glamorous parts, like above the concessions area, manage to be invisible. This isn't a sleek, spiffy gym, but it looks plenty sharp and feels cozy like a basketball arena should be rather than like some of the new, slick caverns. The seats look pretty much the same as I remember them, so I'd venture to guess that if they're not the originals, they've been in place for some time. For instance, there are no cupholders. Honestly, I didn't miss them, in part because it gives one more room in the seat or at one's feet.

I enjoyed the game and wish I could see the team in person again on Friday; however, my dad may be doing me a favor in saying he probably can't go. It's been a hectic month and a very busy week. I could use to stay put. Tonight's game was a nice break, but my next break should be parking myself at home. After all, a new year is coming, and next week is sure to bring a flurry of more activity.

Talk to my publicist

I never know who might read what I write, which is the main reason why I've worked at staying anonymous to a certain degree. Yesterday I received an e-mail from someone in the Communications office at the University of Dayton because of my entry about their basketball team.

He was complimentary about what I had written--he browsed more than just that single entry pertaining to the university--and wanted to know if I was an alumnus. If so, he wanted to write something about me for the alumni magazine and assured me that he could do so without using my name if that was what I desired.

I did not go to school there, so I expect that nothing will come of this. I am amused and a little flattered, though. I don't hold any illusions about what I write here being important or worthwhile to a broad readership. I'm fine with that even if, in one sense, this effort is profoundly narcissistic. Still, it is nice to receive a spot of attention and be considered interesting even if it baffles me.

This comes not quite a year after something I wrote on my other blog landed in the New York Times. Careful with what you write. Search engines might turn up the most innocuous comment that someone else wants to use.

Now when are the book publishers going to starting tossing seven figure contracts my way?

Flashback

I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. University of Dayton Flyers basketball was one of my big obsessions growing up, due in no small part to the fact that our family had season tickets. UD has a rich basketball history, and Dayton is a college basketball town. The Flyer faithful regularly pack the UD Arena so that the school ranks among the top in the nation for home game attendance.

I loved going to the games with my dad. We listened to the pre-game and post-game reports on the AM radio station. Depending on how long it took to get out of the parking lot, we might hear some music--yes, on AM--before getting home. For some reason it seemed liked Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride" and Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" always popped up then. (Dayton assembled winning teams most of those years, so the latter wasn't being played as a musical response to a loss.)

Sports have always been something my dad and I can talk about. There were many nights spent playing ping pong in the garage while 700 WLW's Sports Talk, hosted by Bob Trumpy (and Cris Collinsworth later on), was on in the background. Of course I am a Reds and Bengals fan like him, but UD games were special because we went to the home games regularly and occasionally made the trip to Oxford when they played at Miami University.

I have no doubt that all of the great games and visiting teams and players I saw spoiled me as far as what I consider the proper basketball environment. UD was one of the few remaining independents when I first started attending games, so they played an impressive schedule to prove their post-season worth. (I'm fairly certain I saw Len Bias play for Maryland, if that means anything to you.)

The music was important too. "Gonna Fly Now", "25 or 6 to 4", and "Fame" were among the songs the pep band blasted their way through. Until a desperate search tonight to name the tune, I never knew the title of "Hot Lunch Jam", one of my favorites the band played then and still performs. Apparently I never heard the Fame soundtrack.

I kept score, at first in game programs and later in a notebook I brought with me. I don't remember if I bought a Marchele soft pretzel every time, but I loved them and probably got one more often than not.

UD Arena was a place where I felt at home, a spot that had a kind of magic about it. For a school assignment--fifth or sixth grade, perhaps--I wrote a short story about being locked in the arena overnight. The details of it are gone, but it was like having a gigantic playground to myself. Of course, I got to go on the floor, that hallowed area of Tartan, at one time, and then hardwood.

I made it onto the floor a couple times. I went to basketball camp, which was held at the fieldhouse, but I'm fairly certain we went to the arena once. In high school I interviewed the team's play-by-play announcer and one of the local newspaper columnists, which got me down there. My neighbor ran the scoreboard or the clock, but I don't recall that earning me a courtside view at any point. Oh yeah, I graduated from high school at UD Arena and was seated on the court.

If that isn't enough, my parents knew I needed glasses when I had trouble reading portions of the scoreboard.

I've tried to get to one game a year since I've been away, although that doesn't always happen. I went tonight, and I'm happy to say the place felt as comfortable as ever. The game was sold out, the Flyers stomped the St. Louis Billikens, and I got to eat one of those terrific pretzels. During the hour-plus drive home I called my dad and talked to him about the game. Since my parents no longer live near where I grew up, he had to listen to the radio broadcast over the internet. Both of us weren't able to be at the game physically, but whether he knew it or not, he was there too.