Redskins vs Cardinals

Maureen and I went to the Redskins game yesterday.
I was fortunate enough to procure tickets from a business associate of Teamsters Local 67. Our seats were on the club level so we decided to go early to walk around and have lunch in one of the restaurants. The orange parking pass got us pretty close to the stadium. As we walked nearer the stadium we saw a little crowd gathering and decided to investigate. NRG, the company that is providing solar power to Fed Ex Field was putting on an event (NRG Bowl) with 4 celebrity quarterbacks. The way it worked was, four people would enter at a time. Each was paired with one of the quarterbacks, then for 30 seconds the quarterback fed footballs to you, which were thrown through a hole in a target about 10 yards away. The contestant who hit the target the most won a nice Redskins hat. I was paired with Joe Montana. He did a great job feeding me the ball. I was throwing every couple seconds and hit the target eight times, which was good for the win in my group. I shook hands with the other three Theismann, Flute and Rypien on the way to the prize table. Maureen went next and was paired with Mark Rypien. The competition was pretty weak and they let her move up a little, so she won too. We got 2 hats and 2 tee shirts.

The game was very exciting. It started off early with Rex throwing a couple of picks and Arizone taking the lead 7-0.

The Skins came back in the second with a nice rushing attack that lead to a Gano Field goal and a Fred Davis TD. Skins lead at he half 10-7. Beanie Wells scored early in the third giving the Cardinals 14-10 Lead. Gano cut it to 14-13 with another field goal.

Then the Redskins looked to suffer a dagger, as Arizona star wideout Larry Fitzgerald caught a 73-yard pass from Kolb for a score that would give the Cards a 21-13 lead.

At that point, it was up to the Redskins offense to carry to load and lead a comeback charge - something that seemed unlikely immediately after the score.

But score they did, as Grossman led a touchdown drive that culminated in a fourth-down, 18 yard throw in the right corner of the endzone to Santana Moss to make the score 21-19.

The Redskins failed on a two point conversion to tie the ballgame up. After forcing an Arizona three and out, the offense had to march down field yet again for the winning score. With the offense failing to capilaize in the red zone, it was up to kicker Graham Gano to boot the Redskins to a fourth quarter lead.

Gano proved clutch when he sent his field goal attempt through the uprights from 34 yards, giving the Redskins a 22-21 lead that would stand.

What a fantastic finish to a fantastic day.

Nats vs Dodgers

We went to see the Nationals play the Dodgers at Nationals Park yesterday with Jenna, Maureen, Nephew Zachary and his girlfriend.

The Washington Nationals put together one powerful start Monday.
Morse hit two of Washington's four homers and John Lannan pitched into the sixth inning to lead the Nationals to a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Morse,Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth all went deep in the first inning as Washington grabbed a 4-1 lead. The Nationals had dropped 10 of 12, while the Dodgers came in winners of 11 of 13. All four homers -- Morse hit No. 26 in the sixth inning -- came against Hiroki Kuroda (11-15), who entered with a career-high four-game winning streak. The right-hander had a season-high nine strikeouts, but gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Lannan (9-11), who had lost his previous four starts, allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. Collin Balester, Tom Gorzelanny, Tyler Clippard and Sean Burnett combined for the final 3 2/3 innings.

Morse drove in three runs and was one of five Nationals with two hits. The first baseman-outfielder leads the team in home runs, average (.315) and RBIs (82).

"Over the course of my career I've hit behind some pretty good hitters. Mike is having a big year," said Werth, who often followed Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in Philadelphia's lineup before signing with the Nationals last winter.

"When I signed here he was one of the guys I really liked and thought he had a chance to be a really good player. He's really done a good job this year and turned himself into a force to be reckoned with and a guy going forward who's going to be a pillar in this organization."

Kuroda had never allowed three or more home runs in the same game, let alone the same inning. The four-year veteran threw 114 pitches.

"Usually, when you don't pitch good, it's that first inning," Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly said. "(Kuroda) got himself into a groove and pitched well after that. He gave us some chances to kind of creep back in."

Lack of run support was a factor in Lannan's skid as the Nationals scored a combined five runs in that stretch. They nearly generated that output in the first inning against Los Angeles.

Jamey Carroll and Matt Kemp hit consecutive doubles in the first to give the Dodgers the lead, but Desmond led off the bottom half with a drive to left-center on a 1-2 slider.

"They kind of had the momentum right there in the first inning," said Desmond, who has two leadoff home runs in the last three games. "It was nice for us to answer back and then continue to keep it going the rest of the game. That's something we haven't done this year."

After Rick Ankiel singled and Ryan Zimmerman's fly ball was caught at the wall, Morse's drive cleared the fence in left. Werth followed with another shot to left, also on a slider, for the fourth set of back-to-back home runs by the Nationals this season.

"I didn't have my slider in the first inning, or throughout the game," Kuroda said through an interpreter.

Los Angeles put two on with no outs in the fourth inning but Russ Mitchell grounded into a double play that nearly was a triple play, and Tony Gwynn Jr. flied out to left to end the inning.

Lannan was removed after Juan Rivera's single in the sixth and James Loney singled against Balester with two down. Gorzelanny entered to face lefty batter Gwynn, who struck out on a foul tip.

"I felt pretty good. A little hiccup there in the first, but I settled down after they scored," said Lannan, who threw 27 of his 94 pitches in the first inning. "It's always a little bit of a comfort when you can go out there and just try and get ahead knowing that you have a lead."

Justin Sellers hit an RBI double in the ninth for Los Angeles.

Ankiel doubled in Desmond in the seventh, and Wilson Ramos had an RBI single in the eighth.

Jimmy Buffett 2011 "Jiffy Lube Live"

The Jimmy Buffett show scheduled this past Saturday was cancelled due to
Hurricane Irene and rescheduled for last night at the Jiffy Lube Live in
Manassas Virginia. TicketMaster offered to refund money but since I had no power
until Wednesday we did not receive that notice. So with four days notice we had
to prepare and rearrange our schedules for a weekday Buffett show. I got up at
2:30AM went to work and returned home around 10:30AM took a short nap go the car
packed and off we went. We arrived in Manasses around 2PM and meet a group of
our friends at the Quality Inn and Partied there until 6:45 when we caught a cab
over tot he venue. Jiffy Lube has instituted a no tolerance policy to tailgating
and this possibly will be the last year Buffett performs there. The entire
atmosphere is changed and it is nothing like a Buffett show should be. Once
inside there was plenty of beverage available at the tune of $11 a beer, $10 for
a glass of wine or you could buy the whole bottle for $32. What a deal.

Anyway, the show was awesome. We left before the final encore to catch a cab
back to the Hotel and Maureen got us home before Midnight. I got a few winks and
was back to work by 5AM Friday. What a week.

Here is the Set list. Note "Surfing in a Hurricnae" Was rewritten especially for this event and was last performed back in January of 2011 in Sydney Australia.

1. The Wino I know
2. Brown Eyed Girl
3. Surfing in a Hurricane
4. Off to See the Lizard
5. Grapefruit - Juicy Fruit
6. It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
7. Life is JUst a Tire Swing
8. Son of a Son of a Sailor
9. Come Monday
10. We Don't We Get Drunk
11. Volcano
12. Cheeseburger in Paradise
13. One Particular Harbour
14. Use Me
15. The Weather is Here
16. Jolly Man
17. Knee Deep
18. Margaritavilla
19. Changes in Latitudes
20. A Pirate Looks at Forty
21. The City
22. School Boy Heart
23. Encore: Southern Cross
24. The Great Filling Station
25. Tin Cup Chalice

 A Great Video Of Buffet and Zac Brown Performing "Pirate Looks at
Forty" with Zac Brown "CMT Crossroads" Mac and Jimmy did great rendition last night.

By: Joe Conroy

Published: September 01, 2011

It’s been more than three months since the announcement, but concert-goers
are still pretty steamed about Jiffy Lube Live’s no tailgating policy.
Signs explicitly stating that “It is unlawful to possess or consume alcoholic
beverages on this premises” are posted throughout the parking lot and Prince
William Ciounty police cruisers and motorcycles patrolled the area Thursday
evening.
An electronic sign at the parking lot entrance reminded attendees that there
is “Zero Tolerance for alcohol” in the lot.
Squad cars — with their lights flashing as early as 4 p.m. — were also
stationed at various intersections on Wellington Road as far east of the
pavilion as Freedom Center Boulevard.
Before Thursday night’s Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer concert —
rescheduled from last week when Hurricane Irene hit the area — the “Parrotheads”
trickled into the venue’s parking lot and few were happy given the
circumstances.
Bill Barnhart, dressed in a grass skirt and a coconut bra, said he won’t be
returning to Jiffy Lube Live under the new restrictions.
“We’ve been coming here to Buffett shows for, what, six, seven years?” said
the Fairfax County resident. “I’ve never seen anything like this where there
there’s nobody here. It used to be a festival. There’d be a party, a good crowd,
a friendly crowd. Now you’ve got a bunch of people that are angry coming in.
“It’s nothing like it used to be. Nothing like it should be.”
Barnhart’s ride, the Fiore family, agreed, with their white minivan sporting
messages on its windows like “Jimmy... Next year, anyplace but here!” and “JLL
sucks... You can’t keep a good parrot down!”
Jim Fiore, a Maryland resident wearing an outfit matching Barnhart’s, said
Buffett himself wasn’t happy with the new rules.
“I know we’re never going to come back to Jiffy Lube [Live] again,” Fiore
said. “We’ve been coming for years to the country music concerts, Buffett — this
is our last concert [here].
“It’s half — it’s more than half, like 80 percent of the experience,” he
said.
Barnhart and the Fiores — Jim, Pat and Jenny — purchased their tickets in
March, well before Jiffy Lube Live outlawed tailgating.
 “We also bought the Mega Ticket, the country ticket,” Pat Fiore said.
“If we had any idea, we wouldn’t have come,” Barnhart said. “I had six other
friends who were going to come and they said to trade in their tickets.”
Jiffy Lube Live organizers originally said ticket holders wouldn’t be allowed
into the parking lot until an hour or so before the start of concerts — in
Thursday night’s case, 8 o’clock — but something changed.
“They opened the parking lot at 4,” Barnhart said. “They’re telling us
they’ll force us [through] the gates at 5. That’s what the Jiffy Lube guy told
us: 5 o’clock we’re forcing you guys to go into the gates.”
Back in May, when the Bristow venue’s owner Live Nation announced that
tailgating and especially alcohol are banned from the parking lot before and
after concerts, music fans railed about the policy.
A post on the Jiffy Lube Live Facebook page cited safety and Virginia’s law
against public alcohol consumption for the change.
Jiffy Lube Live is still selling alcoholic beverages inside the pavilion
during concerts.
Since 2009, four people have died in drunken driving crashes following
concerts at Jiffy Lube Live, including two teenagers in August last year.
“My worry,” Barnhart said, “is that they’re going to have a bunch of people
who decided to get drunk someplace [else] before the show, drive in drunk and
someone gets hurt. ... Now you’re going to have drunk angry people trying to get
here instead of happy people who have sobered up over the course of a three-hour
show.”
A group page named “Boycott Jiffy Lube Live Tailgating Policy” quickly sprung
up on Facebook, protesting the change. That page was created by and is comprised
of mostly Buffett fans who haven’t taken too kindly to the decision.
Underscoring how upset fans are with the policy, Alan Rickert made his
displeasure known, falling just short of saying he’d return to the pavilion only
when it’s a cold day in the underworld.