Strange creatures with oddly-shaped heads are in great demand

While we were waiting through the Phillies’ rain delay on Wednesday night, several little sociological events transpired to occupy my [sick] mind. One involved the evolution of technology. A guy next to me had one of those bigger-than-necessary cell phones and he was watching the weather radar on the screen. OK, it’s raining. We could both see that. I could see it for free by looking up. He pays $80 a month to see it on a little screen while he is waiting in a rain delay at the ballpark. Somebody is being hosed.

The second was the little gathering of young men behind me, conducting their own ersatz sports talk show. The “host” was the loudest guy, who pontificated on all manner of topics, barely allowing his minion co-hosts to work in an edgewise word. He had an opinion of everything from the color of socks to the meaning of life, and covered each topic until he talked so much that he gradually disappeared into his own mouth hole. At some point both the rain and the talking stopped. What occurred to me was the idea that the combination of fantasy sports and the proliferation of talk TV and radio have given birth to a whole new species of men who have evolved into expert sports commentators and are now experts at repeating everything they hear on radio and TV talk programs. I wonder if he has a blog?

Lots of people showed up at the ballpark this week. Four games against the Brewers will bring in about 160,000 fans. Monday night’s special offer was one dollar hot dogs. The idea there is that people who otherwise would not go to a game would go so that they could load-up on cheap hot dogs. Marketing is a strange discipline. Somebody figured (accurately) that people are willing to spend $27.50 for a ticket to a baseball game if they can buy a hot dog for a dollar that normally costs $3.50. Otherwise, they would stay at home. How many hot dogs and buns can you buy at the supermarket for $25 and how many can you eat for a buck at the game without feeling like a pig – or looking like one? They had better be coming for the game, because economically they look goofy.

Then, there is the bobblehead doll … err … Bobble Figurine. We’re adults here. They give these things to adults because adults are permitted to sell them later on Ebay. Thursday morning’s count showed approximately 50 of them for sale, ranging in price from $9 to $25 to start the bidding. The game ticket was $27.50.

I gotta go pee.