No, you CAN'T root in the damn press box

On my end, not sports or mainstream media, that just screams this will get a lot of traffic. Big company names even. Just doesn't matter. Some of the most viewed stuff can be some random product release from a place no one has heard of. Time of day almost matters as much as anything. There have been the occasional when someone from outside the industry picks it up and it goes crazy, but you never know when that is happening and if we played to that, we wouldn't be playing to our audience. My bosses haven't reverted to clickbait yet, but with it being industry news I would think if that happens they would alienate who they sell to because it is so specific so I think it lessens the chances of that happening. That said, even being specific there we still want strong traffic on our level. It is such a weird game.

 

My grandpa was on the first hoops and football teams, back in the early 1930s, at the community college I attended. My dad, aunts and uncles and cousins all went there too (legacies!) and most of us played sports. My uncle was also the women's hoops coach there for 30-plus years. So between all of us we have a lot of fun stories considering how bonkers junior college athletics can be (while also being awesome). Minnesota has always had a strong JUCO setup. When my uncle played it was just one division for all junior colleges in basketball and they missed out on the national tourney by a game. He would have had the chance to face Bob McAdoo's team if they'd made it. By the time I came there were national divisions but we managed to beat the eventual D2 champ (we were D3) my sophomore year, when I biffed the free throws. The conference has lost several teams over the years, including powerhouse Minneapolis CC, but it remains incredibly strong in hoops. At the most recent women's D3 national tourney, teams from MN's Southern Division placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th.

For years I've wanted my four-year alma mater St. John's to recruit more JUCO kids. Especially with the cost at SJU now there are a ton of kids at two-year programs who could make an impact. And this past Saturday in their season opener, they rallied from 17 down in the fourth, helped by two touchdowns from...a junior college transfer.

 

This topic would have some better stories if the Aussie/Kiwi concept of “rooting” was used.

 

I spent way too much of my summers there, from 1985 to about 1991. The lighting was horrendous, the music was hokey but that is exactly what I remember -- the clunker car night. Only night we'd have a packed section around us, behind the first base dugout. That right field fence, backing right up to I-630, was trippy.

 

On vacation one year, we went to a Binghamton Mets game and between all of our game programs, we won just about every giveaway (i.e. in the 7th inning, turn to page 69 and if your code matches, you win Prize X). We walked out of there with armfuls of groceries, a gift certificate for an oil change (sure, why not), a gift certificate to some electronics store (we bought something, can't remember what) and a few other things we just couldn't use. I think there was also a trivia question (believe it was asking gave up Wade Boggs' 3,000th homer) and of course I won that prize as well. It was hilarious.

 

LOL. Binghamton. Do Elmira and Ithaca have teams too?

 

Elmira used to! But not Ithaca. Even that's too bumfuck Egypt for the good ol' days. But so many podunk towns had teams. Even Utica and its steamed hams had a team! But then MLB got all big and haughty yada yada yada now it's basically just Binghamton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York–Penn_League#Cities_represented

 

I had never really been to Upstate/Western New York but have recently spent a fair amount of time there. I had not realized how pleasant it is. The nice little mountain ranges, the beautiful lakes, the gorges and waterfalls and all the and the pleasant little cities make for a very nice area. For example I spent a delightful afternoon in Corning. That is all I got.

 

Spent an afternoon at one of the finger lakes not far Syracuse during one four-day stretch during a summer years ago. So much nicer and more pleasant on so many fronts than my homeland. Granted, my homeland's idea of winter would make anyone from Upstate/Western New York laugh until they cried.

 

I imagine it's dated at this point but it functions beautifully as an archive.

BallparkReviews.com - Minor League Index

 

I saw Michael Pineda make a rehab start in Binghamton. That's about all I've got