So there are no pictures here, because there were too many people and the last thing I need is to get dragged out of an arena for “disruption” or “being weird.” I was there for the Seahawks/49′ers game on 9/20/09 (game-wise, I’m not sure the Seahawks even showed up, but maybe the 49′ers are gonna have *shudder* a good year). For what it’s worth I’m a Carolina fan, so my team isn’t starting off to a good year, either. Frank Gore tore through Seattle for over 200 yards—it wasn’t pretty. A fight broke out when some random 49′er fan hit a Seahawk fan’s girlfriend, and then a bunch of 49′er fans broke it up (most of the fans were pretty cool til after the game, then they sounded like 49′er Nation…frankly my experience wearing a Broncos jersey to last year’s Broncos/Raiders game was better from a fan standpoint…although there were more fights in Oakland).

This bathroom sucked. At least it was clean with running water, but I hate troughs. They’re stupid, they don’t really save space (let’s face it, most guys aren’t willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder while using the restroom), and they’re really pretty disgusting. Add to that the fact that there are tons of bathrooms at 3Com (just about between every other section), and both the HP Pavilion and Raley Field have urinals. I’m sure it’s a sign of the age of 3Com, but especially in this economy, it seems more fiscally responsible to renovate the bathrooms than it would be to build an entirely new stadium. Starting with the bathrooms would be a great plan, and then renovating as you go along should still be cheaper than building a new stadium from the ground up. We can’t all be Jerry Jones. Two-and-a-half rolls because the bathroom was clean and had running water, but again…I can’t stand troughs. I’ll do my best to get pics next time.

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So Friday night (9/11/09) at Raley Field…the Sacramento River Cats beat the visiting Tacoma Rainier 13-2. That’s a couple rough innings for Rainier fans, and put the River Cats up 2-1 for the series. During the game, someone got hit with an errant ball (this is why paying attention during sporting events, and baseball games especially) is so important (important enough for it to be mentioned on the relatively large stats screen before the game). Seriously people, you’re on the first base line, the crowd reacts quickly when balls go into the stands, you need to be aware of your surroundings. As Cotton McKnight says, “There’s a souvenir for a lucky fan.”

On Saturday (9/12/09), the ‘Cats won 13-8…there were some parts where it looked like the Rainier were comin’ back with a vengeance—but then both teams brought in relief pitchers and that was the end of that. You’ll notice in the very last picture they had a sign talking about saving water and how the toilet you’re sitting on saves water. Interestingly enough, the sign was printed with “Sacramento River Cats” logos, but not with the name of the local water authority (instead it said “Regional Water Authority”). Those last 3 pictures are from Saturday…everything else is from Friday.

Onto the bathroom!

If you’ve already seen the pictures, I’m sure you can tell that I love this one (probably based on the sheer volume of pictures)…it’s clean, it’s colorful, and it includes quotes of some of the greatest (some would say Harry Caray and Yogi Berra were the greatest) announcers ever. Keeping with the theme, the designers put up posters/advertisements for River Cats “specialty” nights (like “Flashback Baseball”—baseball from the 40′s to the 80′s), the current run for the pennant, etc. When you think about it, this really makes a whole lot of sense…because when lines get long, it helps to have something to take your mind off how badly you need to use the facilities. Four rolls for design, keeping people stuck waiting thinking about other things, keeping the bathroom clean (have you seen Oakland Coliseum?), and keeping it interesting with the quotes.

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