This summer marks the 10 year anniversary of the baseball extravaganza! Ten years ago, somewhere around June 10-11, 2007, four of us packed into my buddy's SUV and drove over to Detroit for what would be the first of several baseball trips -- at least for some of us. We stayed in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and came back with the stuff of legends! 

Okay, maybe not legends, but definitely the stuff of many inside jokes and a story or two. It was the birth of El Sombrero which is kind of a legend, at least amongst the people that were there and witnessed its power. But I digress...

Ten years we've been at it and have hit many a stadium in the eastern United States. 

This year only checked off only one new stadium for me, Minute Maid Park in Houston. I'd been to the Astrodome, but a new stadium means I have to go back. I suppose by that notion SunTrust Park in Atlanta was a new one too. We also hit up Globe Life Park in Arlington while we were in Texas. 

Globe Life was meh. Not bad by any means, but nothing to really write home about. Non-descript, unremarkable, generally forgettable, though not in a bad way, if such a thing is possible. It was better than where the White Sox play in Chicago, not nearly as memorable as where the Royals hang their crowns. 

While in Dallas we also stopped by the Dallas Cowboys gift shop while at Cowboy Stadium or whatever it's called these days. It was a gift shop. 

Things did pick up at the Fort Worth Stockyards. We had some phenomenal food and wandered to a record store past several longhorns. The Fort Worth Water Gardens were also worth checking out. This trip was somewhat unusual. More often than not, it's just two of us wandering around a city finding cool things to check out within walking distance from where we're staying. We've been known to hit up museums, fancy and not so fancy restaurants, and solve math equations at water parks. 

This year, some of my buddy's family met us in Dallas and very kindly chauffeured us around so we could see things we wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. We also met a friend of mine that recently moved to Ft Worth and had lunch with my sister in Houston. 

Minute Maid Park in Houston blew the pants of its counterpart in Dallas. We stayed downtown, a few blocks from the ballpark. We found plenty to keep us occupied, including pressing a random red button we found around the area. I could definitely spend more time in Houston.

This year's trip ended in Atlanta with a visit to the brand new SunTrust Park. I can't properly evaluate the park because I'm so annoyed with its location. 

I've seen 20+ major league ballparks in my day and at least another 5 minor league parks. SunTrust gets one of the most important things wrong: location, location, location! A ballpark should be in or near downtown. Yes, traffic will be annoying -- work around it. If you can't be smackdab in the middle of downtown, that's fine, but you must have reliable public transit. 

Minneapolis does this well. One of the metro transit stops right outside the stadium. Atlanta does this as well with Philips Arena - public transit right to the sporting event. If you want public transit to SunTrust maybe you can catch a bus, but not on Sundays. Good thing they don't play baseball on Sundays. 

They do. They do play baseball on Sundays. 

Houston wins this round of the baseball trip. Atlanta is probably second, with their new ballpark features. It was almost a fair quality (fair as in cotton candy and rides not fair as in slightly below average) to the area. If it weren't so out of the way the experience may have been better. 

I suspect Denver will be checked off next year and maybe Tampa or Seattle as well. Still need to make a trip to Yankee and I'm sure that'll be an adventure in and of itself. 

In February, yeah, I'm slow with the updates sometimes, my team and I flew to North Carolina for the regional Academic Bowl competition. As I've stated before, it's one of the things I most look forward to during the year. I feel like I actually make a difference, though that's hardly the case. The students compete. My job is to make sure they show up for their matches on time, know the rules, and follow them. Typically, a stern talking to the first day is all it takes and my work is done! 

This year was no different. I was impressed by how well our students handled themselves, especially in contrast to some other teams that were there. I won't drop any names of course, but not every school displayed the same positive attitude and respect that our students portrayed. Wins and losses fade; character endures. 

The highlight for me was when the students took it upon themselves to practice and study between matches. The other coach and I had been preaching, telling, showing, practicing, and encouraging them all year, but sometimes you have to see for yourself. And once they did, they took off with it! I was especially proud when we returned to school after competition, the team wanted to continue to practice for the remainder of the year so they would be better prepared for next year!

We had to say goodbye to one of our students, as his 4 year eligibility is up (students can only compete for 4 years) and though his positive attitude and contributions will sorely be missed, I think we have the making of a good team for next year! 
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Tennessee School for the Deaf, here we come!