Tank Road Tales RNR 14
Another Rough N' Rowdy is in the books, and another great experience on the road was had by all. This trip did not feature the fraud of Jose Canseco showing the world that he is a rat bastard, there was no private jet and no Super Bowl party, but there was some raw doggin', unexpected prizes at Cracker Barrel, and adventurous flights.
The journey began Wednesday night, following my second COVID shot. The Mets suffered an embarrassing loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, allowing seven runs in the fourth inning as their defense fell apart with four errors and several other fielding mistakes. All of this happening before recording my "Allow Me 2 Be Frank" podcast, with my home PC crashing and my mouse on my MacBook malfunctioning. After the podcast, I packed in a hurry and tried to buy a new mouse only to find every store closed. So this meant heading to Morgantown. I needed a new mouse as I am all thumbs when it comes to the touchpad.
With only a few hours of sleep, I woke up at 7 am and caught an Uber to Newark Airport, a short trip for me. The flight was to leave at 10 am and land just over an hour later. A group of us, including Nick and KB, Tom, and Devlin, were on the same flight and took a rental car from Pittsburgh to Morgantown, an 80-minute ride. The flight, however, was harrowing. High winds made the takeoff from Newark somewhat harrowing, and the landing in Pittsburgh was not much better as it felt like we were being pushed sideways at times. Of course, while in Pittsburgh, I had to make the correct call on the Immaculate Reception.
We landed in Pittsburgh and got to the rental car around noon. This called for lunch and the chance to film a Raw Dog Episode. We went to a local Hot Dog place just outside of Pittsburgh called Franktuary, look for the episode in the next week. Believe it or not, the man who managed Franktuary was a Mets fan. I won't spoil the review, but it was a fun time as I ate my fire pierogi and lived life like a true Yinzer, taking in the sights of the Steel City, including Heinz Field and PNC Park.
The event took place at the Marriott in Morgantown that we were staying at, though finding it was somewhat hard as there was a maze on the way to the Event Center. I was in the Stone Cold Room 316. It had a nice couch and a comfortable bed. At 6 pm it was time to head to the Event Center for the weigh-in that was shown live on Instagram. I was the host, and it was a great start to RNR 14. One fighter nearly knocked me over with his breath, but otherwise, it went smoothly as Swoogle thought I was Duggs.
After the weigh-in, it was off to Walmart to get some items for the event and my mouse. This included the buns for the Feltman's Hot Dogs I was to cook at ringside and the Foreman grill I used. Sadly, I forgot about plates and napkins, but that is not necessarily needed when you are Raw Doggin'. We got to the hotel in time to see the Mets lose again in extra innings, watching the game on MLB.TV as their incompetence with RISP showed its ugly head in the tenth inning.
Friday was event day and the one full day we spent in Morgantown. Looking for lunch, Frank and the Frankets went to Cracker Barrell as Nick reminisced about his days at WVU. It was the first time I have been to a Cracker Barrel. The food was fantastic as I had a Chicken Fried Steak, with mashed potatoes and green beans. The Country Fried Steak and potatoes were delicious. Something very few places in New Jersey or New York are capable of cooking correctly. The biscuits were terrific. The green beans were solid and came with a prize, a nice piece of metal. It is the type of metal you find on a bag of vegetables. See, VEGETABLES are dangerous. I bit down and felt a crunch and spit it out. I made a video but did not complain as I got some sodas on the way out for future reviews. Figuring it was my Cracker Barrel prize like Cracker Jack, I kept the metal clasp as a souvenir.
After returning, I took my walk on the riverwalk by the Monongahela River that ran outside the hotel. It was a nice scenic view on a nice day in West Virginia. The walk took an hour as showtime approached. I had the dogs I brought in the fridge and got ready to bring it for the fans at home, wishing that we could have had some of them in the venue with us, as it was limited to the friends and family of the fighters.
After my victory over the ring ropes and kicking off the night with the RNR pump-up, it was time to serve up the hot dogs. I had an earpiece to hear from the control room with the broadcast mixed in. Serving up dogs to ring girls and fighters for two hours had a slow start, but as the event went on, the dogs went fast. The 20 fights were entertaining, with the Kountry Hoodlum beating Vito the Torpedo in the best fight of the night. After the fight, it came time to announce the ring girl winners with KB feeding me my info, which at times turned into a game of telephone.
After the event, I got back to the green room and found out that Jacob deGrom had himself a night, and the Mets surprisingly won. Knowing I would be distracted, I wisely kept my phone in the back to keep my focus on the show. Getting back to the room, it was time for bed as we had to leave early for Pittsburgh to get the flight home. I had a nice burger at a microbrew that was near my gate as the flight home was smoother as the weather in Newark was nice.