All posts in category Sports

Reds baseball game #3.

It was really pretty out this afternoon. So we walked down to GABP to see the Reds take on those Chicago Cubbies for Reds game #3 of the season…

We got some walk-up tickets to the game for just $6 using our PNC Reds card. We had no idea what was going on at the front gates to GABP. But there were incredibly long lines waiting to get into the ballpark, and this was right as the game was about to start…

It was worse than trying to get into last summer’s All-Star Game or one of the Reds postseason games…

It was a surprisingly full house for Sunday baseball despite the Reds being walloped 16-0 and no-hit by the Cubs Jake Arrieta back on Thursday…

I wonder how many of the people at the game were Cubs fans though. There was an awful lot of Cubbie blue in the stands this afternoon…

There was the Sunday live edition of the Reds Mascot race…

And this one belongs to Mr. Redlegs…

One of favorite Reds, Tucker Barnhart made an appearance…

We got some dogs…

Then we moved up to the view level out in left field…

It’s hard to take a selfie with your sunglasses on…

This one was better…

Boom! Pow! Cubs win! Cubs win! Holy cow…

Oh well. It was beautiful Sunday for baseball, and it’s always fun to be at the ballpark regardless if Reds win or lose. And I can only imagine that they’ll be doing more than their fair share of losing this season.

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 24, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Reds baseball, Sports

Tagged 2016, April, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Downtown, GABP, Great American BallPark, MLB, Ohio, Reds baseball

Posted by Thadd F. on April 24, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/24/reds-baseball-game-3/

Cyclones hockey game #16: playoff edition.

CYCLONES PLAYOFF HOCKEY! :The quest for the Kelly Cup. Tonight was game 3 of the first round, best-of-seven series against the Fort Wayne Komets. The ‘Clones won the first two games of the series in Fort Wayne. The Cyclones could close out the series by taking two out of the three games at US Bank Arena between tonight and the two games this weekend…

Paul McCartney is coming to US Bank Arena in July…

Tickets are too rich for our blood. At least, we got to see him at GABP. Back to hockey…

A minute into the game, and the Cyclones were already trailing 1-0…

And at the end of the first period, the ‘Clones were down 3-0…

At the end of the second period, the Cyclones were getting thumped 7-0…

Yep. It’s not a mistake. Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you…

In the third, the highlight was one of the plexiglass panels came loose…

And the game ended, 8-0. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Cyclones game where they lost that bad.

Hopefully, they’ll be able to bounce back and take the series this weekend.

UPDATE: The Cyclones lost game 7 of the series 2-0 to Fort Wayne to end their season. 😦

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 20, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Cyclones hockey

Tagged 2016, April, Cincinnati, Cyclones hockey, Downtown, Kelly Cup Playoffs, Ohio, US Bank Arena

Posted by Thadd F. on April 20, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/20/cyclones-hockey-game-16-playoff-edition/

FC Cincinnati versus Louisville City.

We grabbed an Uber and headed up to UC early again to have a couple of pre-game happy hour beers at The St. Clair. What a difference a week makes with the weather. The area was absolutely buzzing with activity in a sea of blue and orange…

After a couple of beers, we made the short walk over to Nippert Stadium…

FC Cincinnati was playing host to Louisville City FC in what has been dubbed the River Cities Cup. But a lot of the fans have started calling it The Dirty River Derby, which I really like a whole better. With Louisville being just a hop-ship-and-a-jump down I-71, it makes sense that a rivalry has already started to form.

Here we go…

GOAL FC|C! 1-0!

Louisville City was awarded what I thought was a pretty cheap penalty when the ball bounced up and brushed an FC|C defender’s hand in the box…

1-1.

And it all kind of went downhill from there pretty quickly…

Louisville City were reduced to 10 men just before the end of the half on a second bookable offense…

It was just a gorgeous night for football…

And there was such an incredible atmosphere at tonight’s match. Nippert was rocking all evening despite FC|C playing from behind for most of the match…

FC Cincinnati managed to pull a goal back in just before the 90th minute. We headed out just before the end of injury time. And the match ended 3-2 to Louisville City…

But FC Cincinnati set a new USL regular season attendance record at tonight’s match!! I think that Cincinnati is definitely embracing their new sports team!

FC Cincinnati’s next home match is against Wilmington on April 30th, which happens to be the five-year anniversary of our very first date. See you at Nippert! 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 16, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in FC Cincinnati

Tagged 2016, April, Cincinnati, FC Cincinnati, Louisville City, Nippert Stadium, Ohio, Soccer, University of CIncinnati, USL

Posted by Thadd F. on April 16, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/16/fc-cincinnati-versus-louisville-city/

Reds baseball game #2.

Looking out our window a few hours before game time, it looked like it was going to be a really nice day. The sun was out. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. And there wasn’t any wind. The wind’s been the kicker this week. After we walked Oscar, we decided to head down to the ballpark to take in our second Reds game of the season. We just got some walk-up tickets from the box office. When Genifer went to pay for the tickets with her PNC Reds debit card, our $14 tickets instantly became $6 tickets. Who knew that our PNC Reds cards got us discounted tickets Sunday through Thursday at the GABP? So that was pretty awesome. And we were so impressed that I forgot to take a photo of the front of the ballpark. I must be rusty and out of practice.

We decided to watch the start of the game from under the PNC Power Stacks…

I never did figure out why all the mascots started the game in bib overalls…

Tim Melville was making his Major League debut today…

We moved upstairs to our normal Reds habitat, upper deck down the third base line…

And that was about the last time we saw the sun…

They’re doing Strikeouts for Slices again this season! HOORAY!

The first live Sunday Reds Mascot Race of the season. This one belonged to Mr. Red…

We had our first under review play of the season…

And they got it right on the field, he was out at home…

The sun completely disappeared on us and the wind picked up. So we ended up watching most of the game from the relative warmth of the Cincinnati Bell FiOptics Gigabar out in the left field corner of the view level.

Tim Melville went 4 innings giving up five hits and a run in his debut. Eugenio Suarez crushed his fourth home run of the season. And the Reds won on a Jay Bruuuuuce walk-off triple score BP all the way from first base!

Two games. Two walk-off wins! Another chilly but great day at the ballpark! Who would have thought the Reds would start the season 5-1? ⚾ 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 10, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Reds baseball

Tagged April, Baseball, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Reds, Downtown, GABP, Great American BallPark, MLB, Ohio, Pittsurburgh Pirates, Reds baseball

Posted by Thadd F. on April 10, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/10/reds-baseball-game-2/

FC Cincinnati’s inaugural home opener.

This evening was FC Cincinnati’s inaugural home opener at Nippert Stadium…

We grabbed an Uber up to UC. And stopped in for some prematch drinks at 4EG’s The St. Clair. When we first got there, it was pretty empty. By the time we left, you could hardly move in the place…

We started the trek over to Nippert Stadium…

Here we go…

FC|C’s Sean Okoli scored the first home goal in FC Cincinnati history at Nippert. And it was a stunner! Such a stunner that it made #4 on Sportscenter’s Top Ten…

It took the scoreboard operator a quick minute to get the goal up on the board…

At halftime, it was 1-0 to FC Cincinnati…

To say it was a very chilly evening was an understatement…

There were four minutes of time added on…

FULL TIME! 2-1 to FC Cincinnati!

It was such an incredible atmosphere for tonight’s match in front of 14, 658. FC|C head coach John Harkes had to be thrilled with the support…

We can’t wait for next Saturday’s home match against Louisville City FC! 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 9, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in FC Cincinnati

Tagged 2016, April, Charlotte Independence, Cincinnati, FC Cincinnati, Nippert Stadium, Ohio, Soccer, University of CIncinnati, USL

Posted by Thadd F. on April 9, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/09/fc-cincinnatis-inaugural-home-opener/

Downtown details.

When we were walking Oscar this evening, we couldn’t help but notice that the tiara atop the Great American Tower at Queen City Square was glowing FC Cincinnati blue…

Tomorrow is FC Cincinnati’s inaugural home opener! And we couldn’t be more excited! 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 8, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Central Business District, FC Cincinnati

Tagged 2016, April, Central Business District, Cincinnati, Downtown, FC Cincinnati, Great American Tower, Look up in the sky, Ohio, Queen City Square

Posted by Thadd F. on April 8, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/08/downtown-details-14/

Reds Opening Night 2016.

Tonight was Opening Night of the 2016 season of Reds baseball. It was another cold and rainy start a Reds baseball season. But at least this game started on time unlike last year’s Opening Night.

We had about all we could stand of the rainy and the cold and the wind. The wind was the worst part. It just cut right through you. We wandered down the third base line of the upper deck to find the latest addition to GABP, the brand new The Fioptics District sponsored by Cincinnati Bell located in the left field corner of the View Level…

Upstairs there are soooo many TVs on this amazing patio. Tickets for the Fioptics District are just $15 and they include a $9 drink voucher for your first beer. The ticket also gives fans general admission access into sections 408-410, with both traditional ballpark seats as well as standing drink rails. And access to this incredible patio overlooking all of downtown and Mt. Adams…

Underneath the Fioptics District Rooftop is The Fioptics Gigabar…

The Reds were trailing 2-1 going into the ninth. Time for some rally caps!

AND THEY WORKED! Scott Schebler delivered a walk-off double with the bases loaded to give the Reds a 3-2 victory over the Phillies and the first two games of the season-opening series!

It was another great Opening Night! It definitely could have been warmer. But it was a great Opening Night nonetheless. Welcome back, baseball! 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 6, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Reds baseball

Tagged 2016, April, Baseball, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Reds, Downtown, GABP, Great American BallPark, MLB, Ohio, Opening Night, Philadelphia Philles

Posted by Thadd F. on April 6, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/06/reds-opening-night-2016/

FC Cincinnati’s friendly versus Dayton.

Tonight, FC Cincinnati’s reserve squad took on the University of Dayton men’s soccer team in a friendly match at Nippert Stadium. We were anxious to finally get a glimpse of what Nippert looked as a soccer venue, what the view of the pitch looked like from our season ticket seats and whatever else we could glean from this evening’s match…

Nippert looked very bit as beautiful as a soccer stadium as I imagined it to be…

This is view we’ll have of the pitch for the season from our season ticket seats…

Here come the FC|C guys…

And the man, the myth, the legend, FC|C head coach, John Harkes…

We ducked into UC’s Catskeller for a quick beer before the match started. Glub, glub, glub… And then we were ready to go for kick-off…

We watched the first half from our season ticket seats…

25998581600_32d6a5c58c_b

Genifer got some nachos and I got some Bosco Sticks from Catskeller. Cheese sticks covered in more cheese. Maybe it was just warm breadsticks on a cold evening, but man, those things were good!

At half, it was UD lead FC|C’s reserves 1-0…

At the start of the second half, we were looking for someplace to sit to get away from the wind because it was starting to get a bit nippy out there at Nippert…

We were kinda taken aback by just how few FC|C fans showed up to support their team tonight. To say Nippert was sparsely populated would be kind.

We watched the last ten minutes of the match standing behind The Bailey out of the wind which was getting colder and colder…

It’s kinda tough to see corners from over there…

FC|C had some really good chances especially in the final few minutes. But at full-time, the match ended 1-0 to Dayton.

After getting to move around Nippert a bit, and get to see the game from different vantage points, we’re very happy with the location of the seats we chose for our season tickets. All tonight’s match did was get us even more excited for the first official USL FC Cincinnati home game at Nippert Stadium this Saturday!

Apparently, FC|C has eclipsed the 5,000 season tickets sold threshold, and has sold over 10,000 tickets to this Satuday’s inaugural home game. It should be an amazing atmosphere for what should be a very memorable night! And we can’t wait! 😀

Click to see all the FC Cincinnati photos I’ve taken so far!

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 5, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in FC Cincinnati

Tagged 2016, April, Cincinnati, FC Cincinnati, Friendly, Nippert Stadium, Ohio, Reserves, University of CIncinnati, University of Dayton Men's soccer team

Posted by Thadd F. on April 5, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/05/fc-cincinnati-versus-dayton/

HAPPY OPENING DAY!

Happy Opening Day from Eighth Street in downtown Cincinnati! #BaseballIsBack!
⚾️👍👌:) Here is the rundown of all today’s pregame events around downtown Cincinnati. And more here. But… with FC Cincinnati’s inaugural home opener on Saturday, I think this should officially be dubbed OPENING WEEK! ⚽️ 🏆 💯

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 4, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Central Business District, Reds baseball, Sports

Tagged 2016, April, Central Business District, Cincinnati, Downtown, Ohio, Opening Day, Reds baseball

Posted by Thadd F. on April 4, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/04/happy-opening-day/

FC Cincinnati.

This afternoon FC Cincinnati was having a 20% off sale on all FC|C merchandise at their store on Fourth Street…

Genifer added a hoodie to her FC|C wardrobe, and I added a t-shirt. And we both picked up FC Cincinnati home jerseys! We have our fingers crossed for nice weather for the reserve match against University of Dayton on Tuesday. But regardless of the weather, we’ll be at Nippert Stadium to watch FC Cincinnati’s inaugural home game on Saturday. And we couldn’t possibly be more excited. 🙂

Leave a comment

by Thadd F. on April 2, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in FC Cincinnati

Tagged 2016, April, Cincinnati, Downtown, FC Cincinnati, Ohio

Posted by Thadd F. on April 2, 2016

https://tplusg.com/2016/04/02/fc-cincinnati/