I paid for a seat in the sun

Yesterday, Adam and I went to the Rangers home opener.  We've been to either the Rangers or the Cubs home openers for the last 5 years and I have to say this was the worst ever.  The openers are always day games so we at a minimum take the afternoon off.  We had planned on leaving at 11:30 for the 1:00 game so that we could have plenty of time to get to Arlington and be in our seats when George W. threw out the first pitch.  Since neither of us give a squat about the Rangers, I was really looking forward to seeing W more than the game.  

11:30 came and went and I was still trying to save an excel spreadsheet I had worked on all morning for work.  Of course, it was not responding and when I finally convinced my manager to monitor it from the server and save a new copy it was already noon!  Adam drove like crazy and we got to Arlington about 15 min before the game started.  We had agreed we would just valet so that we could make it in by first pitch.  The traffic around the ballpark was horrendous which even though it's a major sporting event the Rangers rarely have much of a crowd so we didn't get the traffic sitch.  We waited patiently to get to the valet and were informed it was full - no sign, no warning, just wait 30 min in line for nada.  

We drove around the entire ballpark and all Ranger parking we were directed to was full, again without warning...only verbal information once you got to the front of the line.  We finally decided to park at Six Flags and walk.  By the time we got to Flags, there was at least 15 cars in front of us...we had to park right by the entrance gates and walk all the way to the ballpark.

By the time we got our tickets from will call, fought the crowd to our seats, removed the people from our seats, and sat down, it was the top of the 3rd.  Uh, the closest I came to George was hearing his commentary over the loud speaker while I was in the bathroom line.  

As if this couldn't get any worse, it was the coldest opening day in Rangers history.  It was in the low 40s with 20 mph winds.  I had plenty of layers but was still pretty happy that our seats were in the sun...at least for the next few innings.  

View from our seats - looks a lot warmer than it was!

Adam went to go fight the lines for some food and while he was gone a slight altercation took place on the row behind us.  We had bleacher seats which are assigned seats but it is not specified how much space each person gets.  This couple shows up and asks everyone on their row to scoot down since they have 2 tickets and there is only space for 1 of them.  This incredibly large mexican guy next to them asks someone towards the end of the row to move down and the man replied, "No, I'm in the seat on my ticket...I paid for a seat in the sun".  I literally almost burst out laughing.  I've been going to Ranger games since I was a little kid and NEVER once heard anyone say they paid to sit in the sun.  If anything, people lie, cheat, and steal a seat from a newborn just to get a seat in the shade.  The large man was not going to let this one go...he said, "you don't have to get upset, I'm just trying to help a brother out and eat my nachos".  They traded snide comments for a good 5 min.  I really restrained myself from providing my 2 cents, not because I feared he would dump his nachos on my head, but because I didn't want to turn around in my seat and possibly touch the freezing metal that my bootie had not already warmed up.

I was so anxious to tell Adam what he missed out on when he returned from his food run since it was the highlight of my day thus far, but he was pouting because the stupid Rangers no longer have Hebrew National all beef hotdogs and replaced them with some hokey Texas BS called Sheriff Blaylocks grilled dogs...uh, really?  I hate hotdogs but enjoy a Hebrew National when it is brought to my seat by a acne ridden teenager carrying a metal box in the 100 degree heat...I don't necessarily think Adam's hotdog crisis trumped my 'sunny seat antics' but I'm just sayin.

By the 5th inning our entire section was in the shade and it was freezing.  Overall, the weather sucked, the game was boring (8-1 Rangers), and I missed the highlight of the entire trip...George!  So the next time I go to a Rangers game and someone says they paid for a seat in the sun, I will reply "well I paid for 80 degree weather, an empty valet line, a hebrew national, and FREAKING GEORGE W BUSH, so pipe down and enjoy your GD nachos!"