When you absolutely, positively, truly must have a list of New Year’s Resolutions, call them bold predictions.
Sounds fancier. Probably not.
What might I try to accomplish in the upcoming year? Let’s find out!
In 2018, I predict I will…
When you absolutely, positively, truly must have a list of New Year’s Resolutions, call them bold predictions.
Sounds fancier. Probably not.
What might I try to accomplish in the upcoming year? Let’s find out!
In 2018, I predict I will…
2017 is here! New Year’s Resolutions sound so passé, so I do Bold Predictions. This is that.
But don’t get too worked up, predictions and resolutions amount to the same thing, right? No idea.
I like counting, so I liberally litter these predictions with numbers. Often ones I can’t even count to.
2016 was a year that lasted 366 days, and is now over. You can skip to the bottom to see how I did on my 2016 Bold Predictions…not too bad actually if you have low standards.
Last year I also tried to do more, more, more. This year I’ll just do. Let’s go.
In 2017, I predict I will…
…finish my Major League Baseball stadium quest that is years in the making! You heard me! Only two stadiums left! San Diego and Kansas City.
…hike over 304 total miles.
…read six books I own that I haven’t read. I have so many…
…hit up another Seattle Seahawks road game. Nashville? New York? San Francisco?
…do an adventure trip. Whitewater rafting? Island hopping? Trekking? Who’s in?
…start one new venture.
…organize, clean and get rid of stuff. On an epic scale.
…complete three home improvements.
…tear down walls.
…steal your dog to play with. Forget to give it back.
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Let’s look at how I fared from my 2016 list:
Success rate: 7.5/10
…visit two new baseball stadiums. Only four left! Result: Complete! I went to Denver for the Colorado Rockies (Coors Field) and Phoenix for the Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field).
…read 33 books (one more than last year); watch 101 movies (one more than last year). Result: Got there just under the wire! Read 33 books and watched 111 movies.
…visit two new countries (one more than last year). Result: Success! I went to both Honduras and India for the first time.
…run in at least four races (one more than last year). Result: Fail! I only ran one race, the Semper Fi 5K. I tried to run the Army Ten-Miler but had to travel for work. I did the One Day Hike (50K) for the fifth time, but that’s not running.
…find a reason to do something even crazier than the last time. Result: Last crazy time was whitewater rafting down the Zambezi River, so for this crazy time…let’s see…how about 4 nights/5 days backpacking in Colorado? A total of 43 miles with a 39-pound backpack while being stalked by a bear!
…hike over 250 total miles. (Last year I hiked 185) Result: I crushed it and hiked 358 miles! Easy.
…take no prisoners and give no shits. Result: Hard to quantify this, but I tend to give a shit, so 1/2 right only!
…pick a few musicians and go deep into their music catalog. Result: Nope! Did not do this.
…binge watch three new TV shows. Result: Indeed. In fact, I quadrupled my output and binged 12 new TV shows. See which ones here.
…play with two puppies. Result: This is a given. One of them was my niece’s new wiener dog, Jedi. He wants to come back to DC with me, I know it.
My seemingly never-ending quest to see a baseball game in every Major League Baseball stadium continues.
I’ve visited 28 different stadiums* so far, just having executed a whirlwind Texas Two Step to Houston and Arlington.
Only five more stadiums to go.**
Now, let’s look at the 27th one I’ve visited. We went to two games.
Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas) – Home of the Houston Astros
Highs
Lows
Verdict: A solid stadium and worth a visit. Doesn’t do enough to be in the top 10 that I’ve been to, but there is nothing wrong with it and Astros’ fans (such as they exist), should take pride in it and attend more games!
Next: Globe Life Park in Arlington
* Mathletes take note: There are 30 MLB teams. I’ve been to two DIFFERENT stadiums for three teams (Seattle, Texas and Washington).
** Remaining: Kansas City, St. Louis, Colorado, Arizona, San Diego
In a recent post, Choices, I hypothesized two potential road trips I could take in September.
It’s time to reveal The Decision!
Dun dun dun…
I’m going to Houston and Dallas to see Minute Maid Park and Globe Life Stadium in Arlington!
I’ll also stop in for a Sounders game in Dallas.
Round trip from D.C. is a mere 3516 miles!
Along the way, I’ll stop at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and a night in New Orleans. On the way back, I’ll probably stop off in Nashville.
Kuma is excited to ride shotgun. Somewhere in all this, we’ll eat good food, try new beers and listen to lots of music.
Map it!
On the road again. I just can’t wait to get on the road again.
Football season is finally here!
Over the next couple months, I’ll be attending or watching or playing in a good number of sporting events. To make my monthly goal easier, I’ll just add all those up and call it awesome. Plus I’m still training for the Army 10-miler on October 12th, so I’m sure to run a heaping helping of miles.
September/October Goal: Watch, play in or attend enough sporting events and run enough miles so they total 75
Here are some of the ways I can top-up on sporting events:
Get it!
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Now let’s look at how I did for my July goal…
July Goal: Complete enough projects in my apartment and run enough miles so they total 35
Final stats:
Total: 35.35
Result: Success
First off, I hurt my back in mid-July. Probably doing too many activities. So for one week, I didn’t run. Rather then scrap the goal, I just added an extra week into August. I make the rules.
I did not do nearly as many projects around my apartment as needed, but it was good to get the few I did do out-of-the-way.
List of projects:
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And how about my August goal?
August Goal: Watch zero TV shows
Boom clap! Success!
My goal to see a game in every Major League Baseball stadium continues…
I have seven stadiums remaining.
I’m debating between two possible road trips this year in September.
What say you? Which should I pick?
Vote Now! Give ideas!
Option #1: Houston Astros/Texas Rangers
What I could do:
Option #2: St. Louis Cardinals/Kansas City Royals
What I could do:
Help me decide! Vote!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/baseballproject
As the Boston Red Sox are in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, let’s muse on my recent visit to Fenway Park in Boston.
My quest to see a game in all MLB stadiums continues. Only seven more to go (San Diego, Colorado, Arizona, St. Louis, Kansas City, Houston and Texas).
Fenway Park (Boston, Massachusetts) – Home of the Boston Red Sox
Highs
Lows
Verdict: In the top 3 or 4 of all 26 stadiums I’ve visited. But not the best! I haven’t really tried to rank them all. Someday.
It’s a home run!
Next up: PNC Park
In 2012, I visited four new Major League Baseball stadiums. My quest to see a game in all MLB stadiums is progressing nicely. Only nine more to go.
Here is the run-down.
Marlins Park (Miami, Florida) – Home of the Miami Marlins
Highs
Lows
Verdict: As the newest MLB stadium, it is not very good.
O.co Coliseum (Oakland, California) – Home of the Oakland Athletics
Highs
Lows
Verdict: Somehow not as bad as I expected, but Oakland needs to raze this beast from the ’60’s and build a new stadium.
AT&T Park (San Francisco, California) – Home of the San Francisco Giants
Highs
Lows
Verdict: Among the top 2-3 stadiums I’ve visited so far. Well worth the visit. Go.
Citi Field (New York, New Y0rk) – Home of the New York Mets
Highs
Lows
Verdict: I liked this stadium much better than Yankee Stadium. A good stadium but it takes a long time to get to.
Photo gallery
Part 3 of 3
This, luckily for you, is the final entry in my road trip trilogy of terror. Finally, we get to the root cause of why I roadtripped to begin with…baseball! Hold on for a short treatise on the highs and lows of each Major League stadium I sauntered through like a deluded dignitary. I suggest you pause now to get a hotdog and a beer. If you pause long enough, you may even escape reading this.
Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati, Ohio) – Home of the Reds
Highs
Lows
Comerica Park (Detroit, Michigan) – Home of the Tigers
Highs
Lows
Progressive Field (Cleveland, Ohio) – Home of the Indians
Highs
Lows
Verdict: Originally, I was going to give Comerica Park the edge as the best of the three (those tiger statues!), but Progressive Field (originally called Jacob’s Field until 2008) was among the first of the new wave of retro stadiums built, and it just grows on you the more you think about it.
Also see:
As I’ve told anyone that will listen (and even those that won’t), I have goal to see a baseball game in every Major League Ballpark in North America. Why? Because I can.
It’s not a goal I can do in a year or even two, but it will build over time. As long as I go to 3-4 new stadiums a year, I’ll be happy with the progress. And with 30 Major League Baseball teams out there waiting for my dollars to line their coffers, let’s call the task epic. Or crazy. Or random. But never impossible.
I’m still a bit away from accomplishing my goal. This year I’ll do a mini-road trip to three Mid-West cities (Cincinnati, Detroit and Cleveland) to add a few more to the list.
As this is a long-term goal, I’m going to create a new page on this blog called “The Baseball Project” (see along the top) to track progress. Mostly for my own amusement. Feel free to also be amused. Or bemused. Or confused.
So if anyone wants to organise a trip to one of the remaining cities for a game, or join me on one of my trips, I’m listening…
Play Ball!