Today was the kick off of the Pirates Winter Caravan which will travel through four states and make numerous stops, mainly at areas farther away from Pittsburgh.  I decided to attend the kick off of the Caravan outside of Somerset PA at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort.

My wife and I stopped over at my parents’ house for lunch since it was on the way.  The roads were pretty bad on the way there as we received about 5 inches of snow overnight.  Just as we were about to leave for Seven Springs, Holly noticed a herd of deer in my parents’ backyard.
Notice that there are two deer in the above photo.  There were two more that are hidden by the columns on my parent’s back porch. They were eating berries from that bush

Something startled the herd, probably the flash, and they ran away.  I was able to take a pretty good picture at one as it was leaving past the kitchen window.
It was about 1:45 and we left my parents’ house for Seven Springs.  We allowed ourselves about an extra hour of driving time in anticipation that the roads would be bad.  We mainly traveled the highways, so the roads were clear until we got on the local roads that headed to Seven Springs.  They were pretty bad, so we took our time and still managed to arrive 45 minutes early.

We parked in the main lot near the Convention Hall and walked towards the two giant Pirates Caravan buses.  There was no activity around the buses.  Apparently, they parked in front of a building and the Pirates players were probably inside the building.  I took the opportunity to get my picture taken in front of one of the buses.

When we entered the Convention Hall, there was already a large line formed.  We unfortunately ended up standing between the main doors and the stairs that lead down to the lifts.  Therefore, dozens and dozens of skiers and snowboarders kept squeezing past us to go down the stairs.  It got rather annoying after awhile.  The man in front of us kept getting shouldered as people went past and kept muttering and swearing under his breath.  The highlight of standing in the line was when some late 20′s guy came up to the beleaguered man in front of us and asked, “What is this line for?”  The man responded in an annoyed tone, “The Pirates.”  Even though there were large signs welcoming fans to the Pirates Winter Caravan, the man followed up his original question with, “Is there a game or something?”  The man in front of me rolled his eyes, shook his head, and didn’t respond.   Think about it, a baseball game… with 26 inches of snow on the ground at Seven Springs… in January… inside of a Convention Hall?   I heard the guy in front of my mutter, “F*c**n R*t**d.” 

At 3:30, the doors finally opened and we were allowed in.  The Convention hall was about 1/5 the size of the hall the Pirates use at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.  At one end of the hall there was a movie screen playing Pirates video highlights and Pirate player autographs.  At the opposite end there was a stage set up for Pirate Trivia and Pirates Deal or No Deal.  In the middle, there was a large inflated jungle gym for kids, a booth to get your face painted, a booth to have a caricature drawn of your face, a ticket booth, a raffle booth, a guitar hero booth,  a spin-the-wheel booth, and a 104.9 radio table.

Upon entering, we went straight to the autograph line.  It wasn’t a very long wait, maybe 15 minutes at the most.  Signing first was manager John Russell, pitcher Sean Burnett, catcher Ryan Doumit, and third baseman Andy LaRoche.  I snapped a few photos while I was in line waiting:
 Ryan Doumit (below)Sean Burnett (below)
Andy LaRoche (below)
The autograph line (below)
After getting autographs, we wandered around for a bit and made our way over to the stage area.  There would be a Pirates trivia game at 4:15, followed by Pirates Deal or No Deal at 5:00.  On the way over, I snapped a picture of Ross Ohlendorf being interviewed by 104.7 wpgb radio personality Rocco DeMaro.  DeMaro hosts Extra Innings after every Pirates radio broadcast.  I make it a point to listen to his show after every home game.  He also hosts a weekend show.
 When we settled in for Pirates Trivia, I became unsettled because the battery in my camera died, and I didn’t have any extra batteries.  Even though my wife brought her camera, I moped as we did Pirates Trivia.
 

The game was hosted by Pirates announcers Greg Brown and Bob Walk.   They asked 10 Multiple Choice Questions to the crowd.  The crowd had a piece of paper and a pencil to record their answers on.  Afterwards, the Pirates season ticket reps and members of the Bucco Brigade collected the papers, graded them, and revealed the winner.  Only one person got a 10/10.  It was some 15 year old girl.  She won 2 Pittsburgh Baseball Club seats to a 2009 game for winning.  Some of the questions they asked were:
1)  What group sang the 1979 Pirates theme song, we are family?
2)  Who did the Pirates draft first in the 2004 amateur draft?
3)  What Pirate won their first game on Aug 8 2005?
4)  What minor league team did Tony Beasley manage before coming to the Pirates?
5)  What are the color of the seats at PNC Park?
6)  Who is the right field wall named after at PNC Park?
7)  How many different Pirates have won batting titles in Pirates history?
8)  Who was the Pirates representative at the 2008 All Star Game?

There were 2 other questions that escape my memory.

The tie breaker question was to name the 3 game combined attendance for the home games of the 1979 World Series.

By the way, I got an 8/10.  I was wishing I had my Ipod touch with me to look up an answer or my med
ia guide, but that would’ve been cheating.

After Pirates trivia, Deal or No Deal was to follow.  Holly and I had seen this game before at Piratefest and were aware of how it worked.  Pirates announcer John Wehner was the host for Deal or No Deal, and Sean Burnett was the banker.  Wehner asked one of the Pirates Season Ticket reps to pick her first contestant.  All 200 or so fans put their hands in the air.  I didn’t put my hand up, but then Holly hit me and said, “You put your hand up!”  So I did.

And guess who they picked?

That’s right…

ME

The lady must have liked my Pirates outfit.  I wore my Pirates batting practice hat that Ian Snell threw me on 9/21/08, my Pirates hoody, and my Pirates Dugout Jacket.

Pirates Deal or No Deal is similar to the NBC version with Howie Mandel.  There are 12 boxes, or “cases.”  Under each box is a prize.  The goal of the game is to win the best possible prize, either by seeing the game the whole way through and accepting whatever is in the case you’ve chosen to begin the game, or by accepting an offer from the banker.

Wehner asked me to place a Pirates hat on the case that I wanted to choose.  I chose #2, since Jack Wilson is Holly’s favorite player. 

The prize board was as follows:

On the left side of the prize chart (crappy side)
-Pirates pocket schedule
-Pirates giveaway hat
-Pirates Parrot Doll
-Bobblehead
-Two Tickets to a game

On the right side of the prize chart (good side)
-Two Tickets to opening day
-Two Pittsburgh baseball club tickets
-Two Lexus Club Tickets
-Two 10 game season ticket plans
-Two 20 game season ticket plans

Wehner asked me to open 3 boxes.  I forget the numbers that I chose, but I ended up eliminating the 10 game plan, 2 tickets to opening day, and 2 tickets to a game.

Sean Burnett, the banker, gave me my first offer.  It was 2 tickets to a game, and a private tour of PNC Park, which would include the managers office, clubhouse, and Pirates press box.  When asked to choose Deal or No Deal, I paused, letting the crowd weigh in, and said No Deal.

I went on to open 2 more cases and received my next offer.  Since I kept the 2 20 game plans in play, the offer went up.  Burnett offered 4 tickets to a game + I would get to deliver the line up card with John Russell and meet the umpires and opposing manager at home plate before a game. 

Although that would’ve been real cool, I wanted to see what else they would offer.  I said No Deal.

I opened 2 more cases.  Burnett’s third offer was 4 tickets + a Jack Wilson autographed authentic game ball.  I didn’t have to think long.  No Deal!  Sea

I opened another case.  I kept the 2 20 game plans in play.  Sean Burnett upped the offer again.  He offered me 4 tickets + the opportunity for myself and friends to watch batting practice from the field, directly behind the batting cage.  This sounded awesome to me.  I would’ve been able to enter the park early at 4:15 when the Pirates start hitting and talk to the players as they stood around waiting to take their cuts.  Selfishly, I said No Deal. 

I opened one more case.  Wouldn’t you know it?  It was the 2 20 game plans.  I hung my head in shame.  I knew that I had just thrown away the chance to watch batting practice on the field.  The best remaining prize on the board was 2 Lexus Club seats ($300 value).  I had sat in these seats before, and they are very nice, so I was tempted to keep going.  I was expecting Burnett’s offer to be something like, a Sean Burnett signed baseball and a bobblehead.

I was surprised when his offer was:  4 tickets to a game, plus be introduced before the game to the crowd and change 3rd base with the groundscrew during a game.  I felt this was a pretty fair offer.  Of the five offers I’d received, I would rank it second best.  So, I said “Deal.”

I got a nice hand from the crowd and met with one of the Promotion Representatives who gave me a form to fill out and send in with my request of any game from Mon-Thur.  He said the earlier I get it in, the more likely I’ll get the game that I want.

Holly and I stayed at Deal or No Deal to watch the next contestant, a 10 year old kid, play Deal or No Deal with Ryan Doumit and Andy LaRoche as the guest bankers.  I forget what he won.  It might’ve been a personalized jersey + 4 tickets + 2 signed baseballs from LaRoche and Doumit.

Afterwards, we walked back to the autograph line and got autographs from Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, and Tony Beasley.  Maholm had been standing around, so we already got his autograph on our baseballs that we had every play sign, so Holly and I got him to sign Pirates Wall Clocks that we won at the Spin-the-Wheel game.

We went back to the wheel and played one more time.  I wanted to get an Ian Snell banner for my classroom.  I won a bobblehead instead, but the worker let me exchange it for the Snell banner.

We left around 5:40 or so and drove home to watch the Steelers beat the Ravens.

Also:
Holly took a brief video of Deal or No Deal which can be seen by clicking the link below:

PIRATES DEAL OR NO DEAL