Way back in Episode 7 you got the pre-game and first inning of game 11. It's been a while, but the Cards are in town tonight and it seems like a good time to get the rest of the game out there for your listening enjoyment. Game 12 will be posted tomorrow.

You won't be able to follow the game or anything from the audio, but it was a crappy game anyway. Pretty much, it's just a preview of the on-line sass that we'll be enjoying here at RHM tonight.

Lots of people have asked what I thought of Busch III, and I guess I thought it was just OK. Many of the problems that it had were transient because it isn't really done yet. The speaker system wasn't working in our section, so we couldn't hear the announcer properly. The scoreboard (or scoreboard operator) was usually behind or just plain wrong. It's utterly undramatic to see Pujols hit homers into an empty section of the stands that doesn't even have seats yet. Stuff like that.

Other things were problems with the design that seem like they're just a result of thoughtlessness. The seats are not angled toward home plate, so by the end of the game you have a stiff neck from looking off to the side for three hours. The foul poles and guard rails obstruct your view of the field. Though there are a million souvenir shops, bathrooms, and beer stands, they all still have lines.

And then there's the eerie way that sound falls dead around you, such that your cheers seems to hit a wall and go flat. I stood in the middle of a crowd of 40,000 screaming fans, feeling the stadium shake under my feet, and could still converse with the person beside me.

Of course, there are lots of good things about the stadium, too. It's got some neat historical stuff up on the walls for your perusing enjoyment before the game starts. There's some cute architectural details on the concourse. And, of course, the view is fantastic.

It's just too bad about the team.

Episode 9: Game 11, Part 2. (16.5 MB, 22:55)

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