Gee Whiz, They Play Basketball In Canada...

[rubato]

We were in ATT park watching the SF Giants give a convincing drubbing to the Milwaukee Brewers in-between ferry boat rides from Larkspur. (Ok Matt Cain was pathetic)

Pretty fun from great seats 6 rows behind the SF dugout. They bring you any food and drinks you want there! It's like a fairy land! Disneyland with tequila!

The boat ride is the best way to get to that park. Great views of the SF Bay, the most amazing natural harbor in the world.

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

Game 6 will be ours and that just leaves one game to go in the most amazingest historicalest comebacky thing of all time!

[Long Run]

Wrong Hank:

[Bicycle Bill]

We were in ATT park watching the SF Giants give a convincing drubbing to the Milwaukee Brewers in-between ferry boat rides from Larkspur. (Ok Matt Cain was pathetic)

Pretty fun from great seats 6 rows behind the SF dugout. They bring you any food and drinks you want there! It's like a fairy land! Disneyland with tequila!

And how much do you pay for that, and how much is paying for the ball game and how much for the open bar and non-stop munchies?

It's shit like that — premium catering with 'gourmet' food, $12 beers, $10 hot dogs, special "club" seating in the best parts of the parks, and tickets to the same usually being sold to people who come to the game only to be seen at the game; people who couldn't tell you the difference between a balk and a walk instead of people who actually come to watch the game — that's even worse for baseball than the designated hitter rule, the steroid scandal, juiced balls, and corked bats combined.

-"BB"-

[Bicycle Bill]

Still the wrong Hank.  Here's the real one:


-"BB"-

[rubato]

We were in ATT park watching the SF Giants give a convincing drubbing to the Milwaukee Brewers in-between ferry boat rides from Larkspur. (Ok Matt Cain was pathetic)

Pretty fun from great seats 6 rows behind the SF dugout. They bring you any food and drinks you want there! It's like a fairy land! Disneyland with tequila!

And how much do you pay for that, and how much is paying for the ball game and how much for the open bar and non-stop munchies?

It's shit like that — premium catering with 'gourmet' food, $12 beers, $10 hot dogs, special "club" seating in the best parts of the parks, and tickets to the same usually being sold to people who come to the game only to be seen at the game; people who couldn't tell you the difference between a balk and a walk instead of people who actually come to watch the game — that's even worse for baseball than the designated hitter rule, the steroid scandal, juiced balls, and corked bats combined.

-"BB"-

It was all very expensive but I don't really care, personally. Why? It is entertainment. The two guys next to us were from Calgary and flew down for the NHL championships and had a great time.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Tossed Curry and scrambled GS!

Cavaliers have left the building!

[Lord Jim]

Well, they want to win it at home...

[Long Run]

Lebron showing who the real MVP is. Game 7 -- stay tuned sports fans!

[oldr_n_wsr]

It's shit like that — premium catering with 'gourmet' food, $12 beers, $10 hot dogs, special "club" seating in the best parts of the parks, and tickets to the same usually being sold to people who come to the game only to be seen at the game; people who couldn't tell you the difference between a balk and a walk instead of people who actually come to watch the game — that's even worse for baseball than the designated hitter rule, the steroid scandal, juiced balls, and corked bats combined.

I agree. I stopped going to baseball games years ago. I do attend one football game a year, and it's not a cheap day. It's not even a moderately expensive day. It is expensive. And I don't drink alcohol.

[Big RR]

It's all gotten pretty expensive, but then I just read that the Broadway show Hamilton (which I really have no interest in seeing) just upped its premium (best 150 or so seats in the house, nothing more) to over $800, so everything is going that way. I recall when I was in high school you could get into a baseball game for less than 2 hours minimum wage (about what I made at my jobs) and get a seat at a Broadway play for about a day's pay at minimum wage (football games were a bit higher, but not all that much--but then they didn't sell out wither and seats were always available, at least for the Giants and the Jets).

[oldr_n_wsr]

I heard on the radio, that the Hamilton people upped hte price because scalpers were charging that much so they could/should charge that much and take that money out of the scalpers hands.
Yeah, that's the ticket......

I think the last broadway show I saw was A Chorus Line with the original cast. My GF at the time got tickets for her birthday. I was dead set against going as my Islanders were playing the hated Rangers in the playoffs that night. But being the good guy I was, I went to the play.

Oh wait, that was the second to last play/musical/whatever I attended. The last one was Annie. Nell Carter (?) was in it. It was a big family thingy, me and mine, my brother and his and his inlaws and theirs, the grandparents...... They closed the bar in the lounge after halftime (or whatever they call halftime on broadway). I was pissed.

Plays/musicals are not my thing at all.

[Big RR]

I used to go to the theater more, and still see some regional theater, but it's been a number of years since I've seen a Broadway show. At the current pricing (even before the $800 Hamilton), I'm pretty picky, and none have interested me enough to even go in and see if half price tickets are available. And from what I can see, the increase in ricing has made Broadway a lot more derivative--few new plays, mainly revivals or plays made based on movies or TV shows (just take a look at what's being offered), usually starring recognizable TV or movie actors instead of seasoned stage actors (especially bad in musicals). There are some good offerings off Broadway, but even that is being affected by the price increase bug.

[Guinevere]

BigRR, really no interest in Hamilton? Have you listened to the libretto at all? It is so fabulous, all original, not in the least derivative, and utilizes many fresh new faces and voices.

Ticket prices were still $175 for premium seats on Monday morning (after the Tonys), no idea where the $800 seat comes from ==== and yes even $175 is out of the range of too many people. If you go to Broadway.com you can get seats that aren't available on Ticketmaster for a $195 premium where part goes into a fund to support access to theatre.


As for the insane prices for baseball in particular, I'm frustrated and disgusted. NO wonder the sport is dying. I hate the elitism and the ridiculous prices and I'm voting with my feet. I haven't paid the extortionist prices for the Red Sox in the last 2 years. I wanted to do a birthday party at an Orioles game this summer, and that cost was also out of reach to get a party suite of some sort.

[Big RR]

Guin--here's a link from the NY Times as to the rise in Hamilton ticket prices:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/theat ... .html?_r=0

As for the show, yes, I have listened to a number of the songs and I don't really care for them, but it is a matter of personal taste (I like a lot Sondheim songs and know many others who can't stand them--to each his own). And I will agree it is different and not derivative, so hopefully other new shows will come out. Tis one caught on for some reason, but most other new productions don't. FWIW, I do have a moderate interest in seeing Fun Home, but the pricing is a bit too high for that level of interest (I did try to get half price tickets a couple of times over the winter and they were not available, so if they can sell out at their pricing (around $200 a seat, I can't blame them for charging it).

But as I said, when I used to see a good number of shows (in high school and college), you could get tickets for about a day's pay at minimum wage; I don't think you could do that today for most Broadway shows, although I do recall reading that some shows (I think Wicked is one) set aside a number of seats for reduced price sale each day (but I don't know the prices). I understand they have expenses and are a money making proposition, but when the production costs are that high, producers will tend to shy away from anything new and be derivative. For every Hamilton, there are probably hundreds of good shows that will never see the light of day because they might not command the audiences or ticket prices the producers want.

Sports have gone the same way; even college football and basketball tickets have gone high now. I used to take my kids to minor league parks (on A and the other AA) to watch baseball, but I haven't been to one of them in a few years, so I don't know how those have increased.

[Guinevere]

Thanks for the article. Wow. More elitism. I saw they are increasing the number of $10 lottery tickets from 21 seats to 46 seats, which is great, but the $800+ price is obscene. I agree, scalpers and ticket re-sellers are a horrible scourge and I don't understand why they were ever tolerated when the ticket face says straight out it cannot be re-sold. Of course these days, some of them are "authorized" by the leagues themselves, which is shameful.

[rubato]

Tossed Curry and scrambled GS!

Cavaliers have left the building!

Draymond you crazy diamond.


yrs,
rubato

[BoSoxGal]

Peon Red Sox fans like me and my family pay $30(ish) for bleacher seats, which in a small park like Fenway still means good views. It's worth it to be at Fenway and watching the Sox in person

[MajGenl.Meade]

Hey rubato - Draymond Green for MVP (if GS wins) - why not?

[RayThom]

The NBA Finals
Game 7 - Cavaliers won series 4-3
Sunday, June 19, 8:00 PM
Oracle Arena, Oakland

Cleveland Cavaliers 93 - 89 Golden State Warriors