AC Surf Going To Pay Your Tolls, Kinda

The Atlantic City Surf, formerly the chief rivals of the Camden Riversharks in the battle of the Atlantic City Expressway, open up the season on May 26. For some reason the team put out a press release today saying it will pay your tolls for you if you show your receipt. And by that, of course, I mean you will get $1 off.

Howzzat work? The Surf is actually just paying your toll at the Pleasantville exchange of the AC Expressway, which is 50 cents each way. The Surf claim in a release they “have you covered” if you’re “tired of tolls,” but only if the only toll you’re tired of is the 50-cent one at Pleasantville.

“Surf games have always been inexpensive family entertainment, and we don’t want that to change for our fans who come from outlying areas,” Surf VP Ryan Conley said. “Just show us your receipt from your way into the game, and we’ll cover the cost of your tolls – 50 cents each way.”

In other news, the Surf are having will also have William Hung at a game this year. I think the toll promotion has something to do with Gov. Corzine wanting to make tolls $80 per axle by 2010.

OMG BAT DOG PUPPIES !!!

Chase, the adorable bat dog for the minor league Trenton Thunder (with Hideki Matsui at right) is now going to be a father. The water-bringing, bat-retrieving dog has been matched up with a dog from from Cynazar Golden Retrievers. A litter is expected at the end of the month.

Wacky promotions have been a part of baseball ever since men like Bill Veeck realized the teams play like 450 games a season and there are like 30 leagues and so the teams need to send a dwarf to the plate every once in a while. Chase is just another part of that tradition of hilarity, along with 10-Cent Beer Night, the 1994 players’ strike and the opening day starting lineup of the 1997 Philadelphia Phillies.

You can actually contact the breeder if you are interested in one of the puppies. Be sure to ask if they have models that can retrieve other sporting equipment. (Jock straps?)

The Thunder’s press release is here. There’s video of Chase picking up the bat here.

You See, This Is Why We Don’t Let Women Into Locker Rooms

Ha ha! Just kidding, folks. Most of the female sports reporters I’ve met are among the most professional in the business. Plus, they dress nicer than the guys, who are mostly slobs. (The exception is the Inquirer’s Kevin Tatum, who always dresses magnificently.)

And, yeah, it sucks being a female sports reporter, since a large number of the guys hit on you, sometimes players don’t treat you with respect, and sometimes players who treat male sportswriters with respect don’t treat the female reporters with respect. (Ha ha! Just kidding. No players respect sportswriters.)

So, right: Anyone not wanting women to cover sports is stupid. You know the drill. But, because men’s sports are more popular than women’s sports, every once in a while a woman (a gay man could do it, too, I suppose) gets all giddy while she covers sports. (It happens every once in a while when a man covers a women’s sport, too, of course.)

And you get things like this, from NBC 10’s blogger Teresa Masterson, who went to a Trenton Thunder game. I’m actually kind of torn on this, because, well, her recap of a Trenton Thunder game was actually a pretty enjoyable read, but, well, it did contain this:

Here’s the thing: I was promised a chance to meet the players, and had visions a la Carrie Bradshaw using her press pass to get into the Yankee locker room.

Boys. I’m not going to lie — I stayed for the boys. What I forgot is just that. They’re boys.

I followed my fellow pressmen into the locker room post loss only to find a group of angry, silent boys eating chicken fingers, who forbid the lone female reporter from taking pictures of angry, silent boys eating chicken fingers.

Then again, maybe this is a lesson on why major league baseball doesn’t give press passes to bloggers.

Blog: Take Me Out Of The Ballgame [NBC 10]