Always An Adventure With Airtran

I’ve mentioned in the past my disdain for Airtran, easily the worst of the so-called value airlines. Flying Airtran is just like partying with the North Carolina basketball team…only the exact opposite. It was another recent adventure trying to get back to New York from Milwaukee this week with the airline. I had booked a one-way flight from Milwaukee to LaGuardia as I had flown into Chicago for my brother-in-law’s graduation. Get to the airport, through security and board the plane without issue. As I’m watching the plane board, I’m noticing that the flight is less than 40% full, which is always a bad sign. Sure enough, immediately after everyone has boarded, they announce that there is a 30 minute ground delay, which isn’t a big deal except that they are going to allow people to deplane while waiting. Always a bad sign, meaning they know it’s going to be more than 30 minutes. Sure enough, within 10 minutes, they announce the flight has been cancelled due to “weather in New York.” Really? Do they really think we’re this dumb and gullible? I had spoken with my wife and looked at the weather on my blackberry. I’m not a weather man (I’m right more than 30% of the time, so I’m overqualified) It was 60 degrees, cloudy with no rain and winds under 10 miles per hour in New York. So that’s the weather cancelling the flight? Or is it actually that the plane was so empty it didn’t make business sense to waste the fuel flying an empty plane out to New York? I understand the decision, but don’t just make things up.

As we’re deplaning the lady at the desk is overwhelmed by the people begging her for information about what’s going to happen and what flights they can get. She starts telling people they will either be on the next flight or be routed through Atlanta. As I’m walking to another agent at a gate 50 yards away (in order to circumvent the line and get rebooked immediately) I get an email from Airtran notifying me that my flight was cancelled. Thanks Airtran for keeping me informed about my flight after I’ve exited the plane and am already rebooked on a different flight.

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A couple of quick thoughts while cruising at 35,000 feet…..

The Celtics have absolutely dominated the Magic in no small part because Vince Carter has went back into his shell as a less than clutch performer. With a healthy Garnett, an accurate Pierce and a dominating point guard in Rajon Rondo, the Celtics look unstoppable. The Magic are lost offensively because the Celtics are inviting them to feed Howard in the post so they can foul him and not leaving the Magic shooters open on the perimeter. The only way the Magic can score is with penetration and the only guy on their roster capable of doing that is Carter because Rondo has owned Jameer Nelson. And Carter isn’t capable.

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I was going to save this for a separate post, but it may be time to put Trevor Hoffman out to pasture. It’s a shame that the future Hall Of Famer and all-time saves leader has fallen so far so fast, but he just doesn’t have it. He has blown 5 of 10 save opportunities and has an ERA over 13. The problem the Brewers have is who to put in that spot. LaTroy Hawkins has closing experience, yet he’s on the disabled list and has been hammered this season as well. Todd Coffey just came off a shelling at the hands of the Reds so his confidence can’t exactly be peaked. Does that leave Carlos Villanueva as the closer by default? The Brewers are on pace for a 100 loss season as of this moment and need to do something to turn the tide of this ship. More tomorrow on the people calling for Ken Macha’s head……..Kenny is not the one blowing late game leads and Kenny is not a starting pitcher that can’t last past the 6th inning and Kenny is not the underachieving first baseman worrying more about his contract than about earning this year’s salary.

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The Lakers will take a commanding lead in the series tonight, and the reason will be that despite the Suns playing better defense this year than they have in the past, they are still not playing complete defense. The biggest culprit? It’s easier to score on Amare Stoudemire than it is to score as a cast member on Gossip Girl. Doug Gotlieb described Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol as getting “microwaved” by Stoudemire’s “defense” because as soon as you see him guarding you, you’re already warmed up and about to be on fire. And then for Amare to come out and say Odom had a lucky game when he got lit up for 19 points and 19 rebounds? And yet despite his obvious deficiencies, Amare is going to opt out of his contract this summer and someone is going to give him an outrageous contract. Just doesn’t make sense and I’ve questioned it in the past as well.

Tuesday Ramblings - Things That Confuse Me

I’m thoroughly confused by many things in life: carnival workers, the game of cricket, clowns, solving the Rubix Cube, the appeal of Lady Gaga, and people walking down the street that just stop abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk to talk on their cell phones or stare in store windows. I can now add to a few more things to that list: Phillies trades, Jake Locker & Roy Williams.

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It is now being confirmed that it is two separate trades by the Phillies, the first sending their top prospects (the ones they wouldn’t trade in July) to the Blue Jays for pitcher Roy Halladay. The second is then trading pitcher Cliff Lee to the Mariners for prospects. Why would they make those deals? Why would they not keep Lee and lock themselves in as the favorite to win it all next season. Can you picture a rotation of Halladay, Lee, Cole Hammels, JA Happ, Joe Blanton and Pedro Martinez on the ready if there are any injuries halfway through the season? That would be as good as any rotation since the Braves of the mid-1990’s.

I get that they will have Halladay sign a contract extension and Lee wanted to test the free agent market after the season. I get that Halladay has been a little better than Lee in the regular season during their careers. But we know that Lee is a stud in the playoffs. We don’t know how Halladay is in the playoffs because he’s never been there. I just don’t get it. Yet, as a Brewers fan, I’m glad they screwed up their team. Thank you, Ruben Amaro Jr.

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North Carolina men’s basketball coach Roy Williams is a great coach and despite bearing a strange resemblance to Droopy the cartoon dog, he has a great reputation as being a great person. Yet at a recent game he had a fan removed from the Dean Dome during a game against Presbyterian for yelling “Don’t miss it Deon!” during a free-throw. First, Prebyterian? It’s a school of 1200 students and 84 professors on 240 acres in Clinton, South Carolina. They are 2-8, only having beaten Montreat and Southern – and yes, Montreat. That was not a misprint.

But more important, really Roy? Your players can’t handle a little ribbing – ribbing that was not crass, profane or offensive? I mean, maybe I’m biased because of a little story from back in college. It’s Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, 1999, and Nick Saban’s 11th ranked Michigan State Spartans are coming to town boasting one of the best run defenses in the country. We had a tradition of missing the first minutes of the game because we were, ummmm, “fueling our energy” for the team. Unfortunately, on our way to the stadium, we miss Ron Dayne bust off a 51 yard touchdown on the 4th play of the game. But we didn’t miss a chance to let Michigan State know about it as we were walking behind their bench on the way to our seats. We were calling out players by their numbers, reminding them that they’re going to see those plays all day, and that Dayne is going to do things to their girlfriends after the game. To top it all off, Diggity decides to call out an enormous defensive lineman, and when the player turns to look, Diggity busts out his best Hulk Hogan flex and tells him he can’t handle us. Needless to say the security guards came over and hustled us along to our seats. And by the way, MSU couldn’t handle him, as he rumbled to 214 yards in a 40-10 Wisconsin victory. Oh, and after that game, Camp Randall changed their policy and you had to enter the stadium closest to your seats. Coincidence? Maybe.

That may have just been an excuse to tell that story, but the point is that college kids get fueled up with booze and will taunt the other team. That’s part of the experience. So if your team can’t handle a little taunting from a Presbyterian fan, how are they going to react to the Cameron Crazies when they play Duke? I don’t get it.

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Quarterback Jake Locker has decided to return to the University of Washington for his senior season. Why? He was going to be a first round pick, and Todd McShay of ESPN has him penciled in as the first pick in the draft. So what is the benefit of staying in school? I get the whole education thing and they like being college kids – who doesn’t? I mean, the parties, the co-eds, being the big man on campus, the co-eds. It’s all amazing. But you have a chance to get $40+ million in guaranteed money. Did you not see what happened to Sam Bradford? He would have been in the mix for the top pick last year, and now he’s an injury concern and may fall to the middle or late end of round one. I don’t get it.