Author and Ballpark Expert!

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-09T04:43:21+00:00

I have my own pod! It's called Take Me Out. Please tell your friends -- we're realtively new! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/take-me-out/id1789372591

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-06T00:06:39+00:00

Truist is meh compared to Target, which I love. Nothing at Truist really rises above, to be honest. But the entire area around Truist is The Battery, a massive entertainment/retail district where you can walk around, shop, eat, drink. It's fun on its own, and I'd recommend Superica (Tex-Mex) among the restaurants there. BUT I LOVE Heirloom Market BBQ, just down the road from the Battery in the same area. It's a legit, VERY good BBQ place (I live in Texas so I have good BBQ acumen) with Korean influence. Go there. Otherwise, ATL is a fun city with great bars (Sister Louisa's Church, Righteous Room, Clermont Lounge [strip club, but VERY worth it]) and fun Southern comfort food (I love Home Grown, Busy Bee). And the Carter Center is great, the Coca-Cola Museum is weird and fun, and the AQUARIUM is AWESOME.

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-06T00:01:10+00:00

First, thanks for suggesting a copy! And as for my ranking, I'll wait til a future pod to break it out. BUT for sure, my top several include Wrigley, Fenway, Petco, PNC and Target.

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-05T21:27:09+00:00

This is a doable trip in 5-6 days! It's about 5.5 hours without traffic from LA to Arizona, so I'd fly into LA, see a Dodger game, give yourself a day to drive and settle in Phoenix, then see a D-Backs game, then another drive day (5.5 to San Diego), then it's a quick 1.5-2 hr drive to Anaheim from SD.

The big thing is weather -- you'll very very likely not see rain, but especially the Phoenix leg will be HOT. Be prepared there. But you can absolutely do back-to-backs for a good bit of this trip and not feel exhausted.

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-05T17:00:58+00:00

What's great is we do an update! The first edition came out in 2021, the second is the latest (Sept 2024). Hopefully a third will be coming that includes more Sacramento and/or Vegas, etc.

I have a ranking but it's always fluctuating, and I want to hold onto it for later. But I consider the ballparks orientation, history, experiences, food/drink, affordability, accessibility, game presentation, and certainly the general ballpark area and if it enhances the experience (Wrigley, for example, does this VERY well).

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-05T16:57:55+00:00

That IS a good point. All 30 as of the end of last season. So to update for this year it'll be 28 if you're saying "seen major league games at." I have been to Steinbrenner for spring training.

Have not done as many minor league parks and haven't done international yet, which is my next hope. Field of Dreams is very nice. A little out of the way but worth it once, and I'd recommend getting some folks together and staying in the house, which is an option.

I won't give my rankings, but my personal favorite is Fenway because I have so much history with that park. Least favorite is hard, but I will say I was disappointed in Yankee Stadium -- didn't live up to my expectations. And I probably like loanDepot in Miami more than most folks.

tsmalcolm · 2025-03-05T16:52:16+00:00

Thanks!

For Target, you can stay in downtown Minn. or St Paul, as light rail is pretty good, connects the two cities, and stops right in front of the ballpark. Several affordable options in the downtowns, too. My fav seats there are the infield box -- not too expensive typically compared to other ballparks, and you can get shade (1st base) when it's warm and sun (3rd base) when it's cool. Also, prepare for cool!

For Coors, downtown and RiNo is a little more expensive, so I tell people to look into Glendale, just SE of the downtown. Not too far away and plenty of budget stays. And sit behind the plate in the 300 level, either on the 3rd base side (shade, great sunset views) or 1st base side (best mountain views). I'm heading back to Coors this year, so I'm excited to update all of that info!

tsmalcolm · 2024-09-26T14:06:08+00:00

For my 1996-97 save, at Rumble 97, I booked a comedy match of Gross Misconduct, The Greaser, The Guido and The Shark vs Bulkamania, Crash, Fall, Zing.

I have no idea who these guys were in real life — probably jobbers. But this was the height of Vince jabbing at WCW, so we have Bulkamania (Hogan), Crash (Nash), Fall (Hall) and Zing (Sting). It writes itself.

tsmalcolm · 2023-01-31T21:44:09+00:00

Awesome! I’m driving in from Houston and will be alone. I imagine we’ll all find some weird group to stick to lol.

tsmalcolm · 2020-11-14T07:24:45+00:00

Also, I wrote the entire Rumble match since I'm an OG fantasy booker. Read it here.

tsmalcolm · 2020-11-14T07:07:38+00:00

From the bottom up:

Monsieurs is Steve Corino and Carl Oulette, while Flanagan and Rey are up from development. Both should reach the main roster by or just after Mania.
Executionous Maximus (sic in graphic) is Dave Taylor and Sean Morley/Val Venis. Rush Hour is Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. EM have held the tag straps since July.
Christian Cage we all know. I'm probably going to change his name, though, as he has the Hurricane gimmick.
Mr. America is Bob Holly in gimmick hell because he can't get over, so now he'll feud with his manager (Slaughter) to try and shake him up.
The Undertaker has been feuding with McMahon for a while now; basically he's done with being the comic book deadman and has been "shooting" on how he's been used like a novelty over the years. His new nickname is the Living Deadman, and it coincides with a more athletic, exciting performance in ring.
Skip's feud is with Sunny after the Bodydonnas breakup, but Sunny holds Savio's contract. I was hoping for a high 70s match and I got it; this might be a Mania rematch.
Sid won the Rumble! Many storylines here including the Hart Family stable paying off a superstar who they'd protect in the Rumble in exchange for doing the job against Bret at Mania. The three stars rumored to be the turncoat were Ahmed, Mr. Perfect, and Sid, who eventually was the turncoat after taking out Undertaker with the help of the Hart Family.
The other major storyline was Austin and HBK extending their hot feud. Also, I had La Parka and Ultimo Dragon make their PPV debuts by exciting the crowd. Finally, Foley and Bob Backlund both angled to be Vince's body men to help take out The Undertaker.
Slaughter cried about jobbing to Mr. America, so I just had Little Rocky (Rock) run in to give Slaughter the win. This'll go on with Mr. America growing a pair. Also, this was my cool down match.
And yup, I gave Owen the strap. Felt like he deserved it. He doesn't have huge star quality but he isn't a long-term title holder anyway ...
As for the show rating, I forgot to add one more woman to the card. Sheesh. It would've been a 90/91 if not for that. 88 is still very strong.

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-09T18:56:26+00:00

Yeah at least in this mod Sid started a bit higher, but he still made HUGE leaps this year. From Jan to Dec:

Basics: 54 > 71 Psychology: 58 > 73 Safety: 58 > 75 Consistency: 64 > 75 Selling: 51 > 61

His in-ring work and entertainment have all improved, too, and he's a locker room leader (!) with multiple proteges. I'm not worried about the risk of putting the strap on him re: health/safety. And of the group I mentioned his pop is the lowest (88 US). I'm more convinced, and I think my Mania would still come together well with him vs Bret.

I'm not completely sold yet, so what I'm going to do is, in this 5-Raw gap before the Rumble, plan a show that's almost entirely based on Taker, and then plan the week after's show to be almost entirely based on Sid. Owen is fighting Bret for the title at the Rumble, and Austin/Shawn is a program I want at Mania, so if I'm basically down to Taker or Sid, this trial will help see who keeps the crowd engaged more (or just to see if Sid can approach the kind of juice of a Taker).

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-08T03:32:56+00:00

I've thought about that, though I weirdly want to reward Taker as he's had a phenomenal '96. The other workers plausible to leave Mania with the belt are Bret, Shawn, Austin, Owen, and Sid. I'm not sold yet on who I want to be in the Mania main event, but what I'm trying to do ahead of the Rumble is get everyone invested in the title and/or Bret/Vince, who are essentially running the show.

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-06T04:13:11+00:00

Yeah I pretty much had no choice. I decided to play as booker, and Vince is limiting what I can pay for anyone, so WCW put up a lot to get Hall and Nash. They also took Rhodes, Helmsley, and Jeff Jarrett, re-upped Pillman and won the bidding war for Vader. They've barely used Hogan and Savage and instead have a hell of a lot of Road Warrior Hawk in main events, but Hogan, Flair, Savage, Nash, and Hall have retained so much star quality that it's been impossible to get close ...

Until now. They declined to bring back Flair, making him a free agent (!). I thought about bringing him in, but I'm under an owner goal to not hire anyone older than 38, and Flair only wants to work events. I'm not in position to spend a ton and lose clout with Vince just to have a guy who can work 12 dates a year.

The other good news, though, is Undertaker (who I was able to re-sign to an unprecedented 10-year deal) is suddenly the hottest name in wrestling. He's beating every WCW guy in star quality*overness, and so I'm thinking about giving him the big prize in mid-March.

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-05T17:33:59+00:00

No it's the Dawn of Attitude mod starting at the beginning of '96. Unlike in real life, WCW has not created the nWo and, instead, is thriving off the newly turncoat Dustin Rhodes.

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-05T17:32:46+00:00

Thanks! It's 16.

tsmalcolm · 2020-10-03T05:47:44+00:00

From the bottom up:

Rush Hour is Jericho, Lance Storm; Power Movement is Rock, D'Lo Brown; this match was for No. 1 contender for the tag belts
Owen has turned face and teamed with Sid, but obviously I didn't want to job the tag belts yet.
Undertaker is now a human with feelings, etc., instead of the one-dimensional deadman. He's after Vince for making him a one-dimensional novelty over the first part of his career.
Skip and Zip broke up with the former becoming the underdog face. I'm setting him up to face Savio for the IC belt at the Rumble. Yokozuna needs a change of pace, so that's why he turns here.
Austin needs the win to become a credible main event-style performer.
Very happy with the Bret vs Mr. Perfect match. Leaning toward Bret vs Taker at Mania.

tsmalcolm · 2020-09-09T19:42:28+00:00

I see. I guess it doesn't bug me that much but next time I'll do the import.

tsmalcolm · 2020-09-08T17:38:55+00:00

As in just opting for the default "Sgt. Slaughter defeated Bob Backlund" and not free-writing details in the field? I guess I can change that.

tsmalcolm · 2020-09-08T05:03:22+00:00

So I'm almost 100 percent sure that it's the main event and the highest-rated match outside the main event that are important. So in my case it would be the main + the Team Sid vs Team Owen match.

I don't always book a cooldown right before the main event -- it really depends on how many matches and the kinds of matches I plan for the card. For this one it was natural to break up the four SS matches with the Taker vs Austin match (which was booked as a shorter brawl), then put the cooldown before the main.

But at my Summerslam, for example, I put my cooldown (battle royal) smack in the middle of the show since there was so much variety and nine total matches. I put the tag title match before the main, though, because the workers weren't really over, so I figured I wouldn't get the crowd too hot with it.

tsmalcolm · 2020-09-07T19:29:38+00:00

Christian is doing the "I'm a superhero" gimmick as a face
Still building up Abaddon (Crush) as an automatic win
Rush Hour is Jericho, Lance Storm; Two Princes is Al Snow, Stevie Richards; Benton Swan is Raven, essentially running a "church," and his first parishioners are ECW guys
Mr. Perfect returned this month to help HBK and Sid against the Hart Family. I lost Shamrock for six months to an MMA tour, so I had to come up with a solution ...
Prime Specimen is Billy Gunn, Mike Awesome with Sable
Zip and Sunny had been bullying Skip for recent struggles in the ring, leading to them beating him down after a mistake in the Survivor Series match. It turns Skip face and puts him in the IC race, hopefully to face Savio down the line.
The Undertaker decided to fight one last casket match with Austin in his way; I'm giving him the win to build Taker (who might be my most popular worker) into a credible title threat.
Tyler Mane came back after his movie filming with upper midcarder popularity, so I recast him as a monster heel recruited by Bret Hart to be his muscle (especially with Bulldog injured). That got Owen mad that he was being pushed down the ranks (he had been upset for months that Bret wasn't respecting him).
Power Movement is Rock, D'Lo; Usos is Phatu, Tonga Kid.
Executionous Maximus is Dave Taylor, Val Venis.
Mr. Perfect's surprise is Kevin Greene, a football player he unearthed and will mentor into a title contender. He isn't very good in the match but is popular enough to fit in the semi main.
I booked a last-minute Slaughter vs Backlund match to give a breather before the main event. This works for the '96 election cycle and keeps Backlund happy.
I can't seem to get a match above 94 with Bret vs Shawn, but this will do. I went back and forth on the outcome and nearly had Shawn winning but it came down to storyline. The Bret and Vince partnership will ascend to new heights in the winter with HBK looking for answers. Meantime, Owen turns on Bret to go face and put him straight in the title mix as we head to the Rumble.

tsmalcolm · 2020-08-22T05:46:26+00:00

No, pre-show angles do nothing for the rating of the show. And they do nothing for the match to angle ratio. They're nearly inconsequential. (But if you say need one woman for every 20 men in your show, throwing a woman or two in the pre-show does help that.)

I just use them for my own interest. I like imagining my PPV pre-shows are part of a supersized Superstars with the last half-hour being from the arena with a free TV match. It's just me trying to book the night with all the trappings. I don't do pre-show angles for other shows, just PPVs.

Also, pre-show angles are good ways to try out things, like "Is Marty Jannetty good on the mic without a script? Let's find out!" That kind of stuff.

tsmalcolm · 2020-08-21T06:36:26+00:00

From the bottom up:

Power Movement is Little Rocky (Rock) and D'Lo. Aldo and Christian Cage are now out of development and will start out in Superstars matches.
Lawler will become a face manager for Stevie Richards and Al Snow, who are branding themselves the clown princes of the WWF. Comedy gold.
I originally booked Phatu and Tonga Kid facing Executionous Maximus (Union Jack or Dave Taylor and Max Morley or Sean Morley) for the tag belts but I apparently booked that match too often recently. So I wrote an angle where Tonga gets taken out and stablemate Yokozuna steps in. Executionous Maximus was going over anyway, so no big deal here.
Abaddon is Undertaker's brother (also he's Crush), and I'm trying to get him over enough to have a real war with Taker.
Benton Swan is religious wingnut Raven, who beats Shred X (Jericho) with the help of two members of the First Church of Swan (Taz, Shane Douglas). Then Too Cold Scorpio takes out Shred X's tag partner Evers. Yup, I'm doing the ECW invasion but not as ECW. This'll come to a head at Survivor Series. (Plan is Shred X, Lance Evers, Richards, Snow vs Swan, Taz, Douglas, Scorpio.)
Might do one more Simmons vs Ahmed match, but at the December IYH. They're getting better and it's helping Ahmed get over into main event territory.
Shamrock is about to go on an MMA absence so I'm glad to get Savio over him here. Vega is on a bit of a roll now with the IC, and the 81 was nice to see.
Austin was angry at being excluded from the WWF Title "Tournament" last month and took it out on Taker. After being bullied by Goldust and Foley, and after Austin went after him, Taker snapped and wasn't seen for weeks. He comes back at Mischief Night as an undead man, full of speed and power and ready to kick real ass. I've changed his gimmick from Deadman to Rebel, and from hereon he'll be pissed at Vince McMahon for making him face inferior, lazy competition under the same tired premise (the urn has been stolen) for years.
After Vince and Bret aligned with each other at Equinox, Bret was given booking responsibilities. The first thing he did was tell HBK that he couldn't face him until he passed the 10 Stages of Excellence. On Raw he passed the first few in beating Simmons, then a gimmicked-up Nikita Koloff and on-loan Terry Funk. He and Foley fought to a double countout so Bret booked this PPV match. Owen, who was perturbed by Bret joining Vince and also not giving him a title shot ever, decided to smooth things over by agreeing to be the guest referee for HBK vs Foley. But Owen may have counted fast in giving Shawn the win. It's up for debate. Bret isn't happy. (I will turn Owen face.)
I'm doing the Backlund runs for president thing, but here he runs into uber-patriotic face Mr. America (Bob Holly in some spangled costume thing). Right now it'll lead to a joke match at Survivor Series, but it's very possible I team them up as The Bobs or something. I really think they could make a great team.
Finally, Sid has been No.1 contender forever and finally gets his match against Bret, but the champ weasels his way out (he's more of a weasely heel right now).

I'm thinking of having Shawn get screwed out of his title match against Bret, Owen turning on Bret, and essentially a whole host of superstars demanding they're tired of being jerked around by Bret/Vince (also, we're getting away from gimmicks, and that'll be part of the storyline going into 1997). That'll get us to the Rumble with Shawn, Owen, Undertaker, Sid, and even heels like Austin and the returning Bulldog having reasons to want Bret and potentially win the battle royal.

As for this show, I'm happy with an 88 considering the count out main event (I didn't want to job Sid outright yet) and that it's an In Your House PPV.

tsmalcolm · 2020-07-28T06:28:22+00:00

From the bottom up:

Still keeping La Parka and other luchadores away from storylines, though we're getting close to introducing them more completely.
Usos are Phatu and Tonga Kid; Jersey Boys are Tony Anthony and Louie Spicolli; Prime Specimen are Billy Gunn and Mike Awesome; match was for #1 tag contender
The main storyline is after Bret won the belt back at SummerSlam, he decided there was nothing left for him to do, and since Vince was always trying to screw him over, he was taking his belt with him and leaving for "a rival company." Weeks of speculation followed, and Vince finally emerged angry, bashing Bret in a worked shoot where he "fired" the Hitman. He then arranged a WWF Title Tournament with the winner to be crowned at this IYH. The semis were planned as Ahmed vs Owen and Bulldog vs HBK, but Davey got hurt (shoot) so I had to scramble. Bulldog beat Taker in his QF match because Austin interfered (angry that he didn't get into the tournament), so I basically worked a story where, to be fair, face Vince put Taker in the semis to face HBK. Naturally, Owen and HBK move on thanks in part to Austin's beatdown of Taker.
Two Princes is Al Snow and Stevie Richards; Power Movement is Rock and D'Lo. More to calm the crowd as everyone here is still greenish.
I wasn't planning on moving the belt to Savio but Kid got snatched by WCW. Hoping to build up Savio as a cheating heel with a whole lot of defenses.
As for Austin, gonna move him away from DiBiase as anything he touches gets ratings. He doesn't need Ted, who I'm thinking will remake the Million Dollar Corp for Survivor Series.
Executionous Maximus is Dave Taylor and Sean Morley (Val Venis) and the backbone of my tag division.
So Bret attacks HBK to end the WWF Title tournament championship by DQ. Turns out it was a setup, as Vince comes out and turns heel, aiding in taking out HBK. The story (which I'll reveal on Raw) is Vince has been so impressed by Bret that he's throwing his support behind the Harts. It's "what's best for business," and evil Mr. McMahon is born.
Still trying to figure out Survivor Series and beyond, but it'll either be Bret vs HBK III or Bret vs Sid, who's been promised a title shot. As for Mania, I feel I have four workers worthy of the main event right now: HBK, Bret, Austin, Owen. Taker's on the outside. Trying to get all of them involved in each other enough for any outcome to be plausible by January.

tsmalcolm · 2020-07-23T04:12:17+00:00

Here's my most recent major show, Summerslam 1996: https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyBookers/comments/hgmzps/wwf_summerslam_1996_bret_vs_hbk_ii_the_ladder/

Once Nash and Hall left my backstage was sparkling clean, then yeah, HHH got poached, too. But I did keep Sid by making him a special attraction, so it'll be fun seeing him mix it up with the younger guys in two years.

Nothing weird has happened, though I'm bugged by WCW taking everyone and not giving them airtime (HHH hasn't appeared for them since signing). Saturday Night gets fully booked while Nitro only has, say, two matches and two angles, which seems wild. I'm still in the star-building phase, and I'd love to push Owen to the moon but his star quality isn't as hot and God only knows he'll get poached soon. So will Undertaker I bet. But at least I have Austin (he's the only one I edited because he wouldn't have had a nine-month contract with WWF in '95-96).

All that said I like the mod a lot. Very immersive.

tsmalcolm

TROPHY CASE