Finishing up with N.C. Baseball

7. The Kannapolis Intimidators-Fildcrest Cannon Stadium: Obviously, I take particular interest in the Intimidators because Dale Earnhardt Sr. bought the franchise shortly before his passing. The stadium is simple and clean. Their staff puts a lot of effort towards cleanliness and good service. The design is fairly unique in that it’s so wide open. Other than a couple of luxury boxes and the main entrance, there isn’t much too it…and that’s not a bad thing.

8. The Kinston Indians-Grainger Stadium: This park is in the same category as Burlington. Old-timey, inviting facility. Awesome renovations that didn't question the authenticity of the park, and a friendly atmosphere to boot. The K-tribe is a big draw in K-town. Have they had a Jaime Pressly night yet?

9. The Winston-Salem Dash (formerly the Warthogs)-Ernie Shore Field…no wait, Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park: Where should we begin with this travesty of a baseball franchise? Folks they are averaging less than 200 people per game, and there’s a reason for it. First, they were suppose to be moving to a new downtown ballpark this season, but something happened…they ran out of time and money! Maybe the fans would be a little more understanding if the franchise wouldn’t have spent $12 million of taxpayer money to come up short. $38 million in total has been spent so far to NOT move in this year. In late may, they officially announced they would not make it to the new ballpark until 2010. So, they moved back to Ernie Shore field which has since been bought by Wake Forest University. Luckily for the Dash, Wake Forest was nice enough to let the old tenants back in for this season. As for historic Ernie Shore Field: it was nice in its prime, and still has what it takes to be a minor league facility, but the owners wanted more. Say what they will, they were jealous (and understandably so) of their neighbors, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Ernie Shore was another old-timey park with ad-covered outfield walls and tons of fan-friendly promotions. Ernie Shore will live on, but it will go by a different name from here on out.

10. Zebulon-The Carolina Mudcats-Five-County Stadium: Remodeled in 2002, Five-County stadium really offers some cool attractions to its fans. They have a restaurant located at the stadium, but you won’t find ballpark food in “Cattails,” a fine dining establishment. As for the actual ballpark food…it’s awesome! Excellent choices and quality including a CATFISH SANDWICH! It’s a must have; or at least a must try. Originally built in 1991, it was placed right in the middle of an old tobacco field. The Mudcats are most associated with the city and capitol of Raleigh, but it’s nearly 20 miles away from downtown and from the campus of North Carolina State University.

NC Baseball cont. & MORE!

Moving on down the list of North Carolina Minor League Baseball teams:

3. The Charlotte Knights-Knights Stadium (Fort Mill, S.C): That's right; there's no typo there. The Charlotte Knights play in Fort Mill, South Carolina. They have tried and tried to get a stadium in downtown Charlotte, but the future looks bleak. With the economy in its current state, there's less hope than ever. Either way, the team is considered a North Carolina team. The most interesting dynamic going on with the Knights is that they desperately want to move downtown, so the front office wants to point to discouraging attendance facts as incentives for the team to move...However, they also still want to maximize profit. The easiest way to do this...more fans. A catch-22. This is one of those places you go just to say you've been there.

4. The Durham Bulls-Durham Bulls Athletic Park: I was a fan of the old Durham Athletic Park (DAP), but after overwhelming popularity, the Bulls moved to a bigger nicer facility (the DBAP). Solid stadium; questionable management. You have to go to see the bull above the left field wall that shoots fire out of its nostrils after a home run.

5. The Greensboro Grasshoppers-NewBridge Bank Park: The best part about no longer working in minor league baseball, is that I'm not worried about burning bridges any more. NewBridge Bank Park is top notch; a must see. The management however, is unfriendly and terribly inefficient. Their business like approach is overkill in the world of FAN-ENTERTAINMENT. But again, I love the ballpark. The beer garden beyond the leftfield corner is the nicest you will find in the state and arguably in the entire country. It's huge and accessible, and the prices are right on a Thursday night. The designers finally had a the foresight to put a beer garden in a proper location. A beer garden shouldn't be along the left or right field line where foul balls can pick off drunks. It also shouldn't be somewhere where patrons can't see all the action. The one in G-boro is neither; it's perfect.

6. The Hickory Crawdads-L.P. Frans Stadium: Misters to keep fans cool in summer...80-year-old dancing ushers keeping the mood right...one of the first new stadiums to infiltrate the South Atlantic League. The Crawdads have it going on.

Still to come: Kannapolis, Kinston, Winston-Salem, Zebulon

IN OTHER NEWS

*The Southern 500 in Darlington was awesome. From the 55-year old Mark Martin fan who probably still lives in his mother's basement, to the female South Carolina student wearing an American flag-themed bikini without a pool or watering hole within 2 miles, to sleeping in the back of trucks and sleeping in camping chairs, it couldn't have been better.

*The Carolina Hurricanes are still going! Am I a bandwagon or fair-weather fan? No. I don't care if they win or lose and I don't go nuts over the 'Canes, but YES I love following their progress and supporting their best effort. If it wasn't a sport full or Canadians, French-Canadians, and Yankees, maybe I'd really love the NHL.

* The North Carolina State Senate just voted down a 2-cent reduction in gas taxes...Ridiculous. Fellow North Carolina natives, we are the second-highest taxed state in the union behind California I believe. Join me in writing critical but humane (just barely) letters to this group of A-holes in our Senate.

Let's talk about NASCAR, old hollywood movie stars, let's talk about anything in this world

"Let's talk about baseball, Talk a little small talk, There's got to be a good joke that you've heard. Let's talk about NASCAR, Old Hollywood movie stars, Let's talk about anything, Anything in this world; But politics, religion, and her."
-Sammy Kershaw (singer, songwriter, American legend)

--After the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, and after the start of another minor league baseball season, I couldn't help but talk a little NASCAR and baseball. The restrictor-plate race at Talladega was one of the most exciting and nerve-racking races I've ever seen. And, the amount of terrific minor league ballparks in North Carolina never ceases to amaze me.

--If you watched the race last Sunday, you know exactly what I'm talking about in regards to Talladega. Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman (in my opinion), and the trackside fans are fortunate to still be kicking. Brad keselowski started to make a last lap pass on Edwards; He had position underneath of Edwards; Edwards tried to get back down low; Insanity followed. Edwards' car ended up air born against the fence in front of the fans. WATCH IT HERE! Fast forward to 1:35 to start seeing all the different replays. How amazing is it that nobody died as a result of that accident?

--I'm not trying to recruit more people to be NASCAR fans, but I will say that any race at Talladega is what it's all about. It's down in the deep south where the fans are going to actually see the race; not to "see a spectacle" like the fairies in California and New Hampshire. In Talladega, the fans know that each and every driver is putting their head in the lion's mouth for 499 miles, and they respect them for it. I don't care who someone pulls for in NASCAR; when there's a bad accident at Talladega, every fan is concerned. That being said, as soon as those fans see a driver pop out of the window and walk away without injury, they will immediately return to flipping them off and yelling obscenities. Talladega and Daytona are the most dangerous tracks on the circuit due to the high speeds, and this really leads to an ultimate amount of respect from the fans.

--NASCAR fans care about the drivers and the drivers care about the fans to a greater extent than they do in any other professional athlete-fan relationship. Unfortunately, with the ever-growing purses and sponsorship deals, the drivers may eventually go the way of the professional baseball, basketball, and football player. But, for now, the drivers are extremely grateful for their support and return the favor every chance they get.

--The support that fans give NASCAR drivers is most evident when you consider NASCAR camping. Talladega is yet another track where you can see fields and fields full of RV's and tents full of people cheering on their favorite race teams. I was luck to see Talladega last week when I was driving back to North Carolina. It was the Friday before a Sunday race and the atmosphere was electric. It was 9:30 in the morning and people were already partying. Alot of campers will get to a track by Wednesday (even Tuesday) before a Sunday race to start camping and hanging out with other NASCAR fans. The camping aspect of NASCAR is an amazing event within an event. If you don't like NASCAR, I bet you'd like the camping.

--Moving on to baseball. If you're a North Carolina native, you are in the center of the minor league baseball world. North Carolina is the only state to have teams from every classification of minor league baseball represented within its borders. I'll briefly talk about the stadiums in NC. If you want to really learn some incredible stuff, pick up a copy of the book: Cradle of the Game by Mark Cryan. Here are your options in North Carolina:

1. The Asheville Tourists-McCormick Field (Single-A, South Atlantic League)-quaint old ballpark that has been renovated to keep up with the new stadium trends of luxury suites. McCormick Field is one of several North Carolina stadiums to be seen in the movie Bull Durham.

2. The Burlington Royals-Burlington Athletic Stadium (Short-season A, Most simply call this "Rookie ball." It's as low as you can go)-The BAS was also seen in the movie Bull Durham. Obviously I'm partial to this one because I worked there in '06 when they were still the Indians. You MUST get to this ballpark while you still can. It is one of a very, VERY few left of its kind. Baseball has been played there for over 46 years. The old wooden seats are gone and have been replaced with aluminum bleachers and plastic chairs, but it is still as "old school" as you can possibly get. You will never see a new ballpark designed in this way again: no luxury suites (just a sponsored seat upgrade to the roof right beside the press box).

I'll go over the other 8 soon...this post is way too flippin' long