AN Comes Through, Big Time

by Tyler Bleszinski on Feb 1, 2006 4:48 PM PST in News

Ladies and Gents,

AN has gone far beyond the call of duty on this one. We have raised a total of $4,450.00 thus far, and a few more PayPal check payments still need to be cleared. I'm stopping taking payments at 6 p.m. PST. That's about an hour from now. Some have asked if I'm taking donations any other way than PayPal and unfortunately, I'm not. It would just be too confusing. This way it's much clearer. I apologize to those who've been burnt by PayPal in the past.

As for our total, this means six season tickets and at least $2,050 in meal bucks for the kids. And that's even IF Aramark doesn't come through with a donation.

I'm sorry this has been occupying the front page all week, but I figured we sacrifice a week's worth of A's talk in January for the good of future A's fans.

I'll give you an update tomorrow after I purchase the tickets and a final count on the food bucks next week once all the money clears through PayPal. I've never been more proud of this community. I'm hoping to drop the tickets off a week from next Monday.

Thanks so much to everyone who has given so generously. If people ever wondered who the best fans in the world are, they need look no further than this.

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Comments

Helluva job...

I don't know how I keep getting here first, but seriously:

Capper, Blez, and AN, congratulations. Like Blez always says, this is the best community on the 'net, and we continue to prove it.

The Higher Pie

by HigherPie on Feb 1, 2006 5:03 PM PST reply actions

Woot, Woot!

Fantastic, everybody!

Blez, as I mentioned before, let me know the final ticket situation (nicksackett@gmail.com) and I will talk to the contact at the shelter to discuss the specifics. Thanks for taking the reigns once this got rolling.

"Don't you play the flute, Huddy?"

by capper3 on Feb 1, 2006 5:04 PM PST reply actions

Doin a little math ...

If Aramark comes through, we could probably afford to go to 8 tickets and still get the kids pretty well fed ...

just a thought ...

Check out some awesome music ...

by devo on Feb 1, 2006 5:05 PM PST reply actions

That's right

Just tryin' to fatten up the kids.

Copernicus felt the same way about the geocentric crew.

by salb918 on Feb 1, 2006 5:08 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah

I don't think Arnold is going to be very happy ;)

Joe Blanton is phat

by gojohn10 on Feb 1, 2006 5:54 PM PST up reply actions

hahaha, now that was well timed comedy

Simming Offseason.....

by robber23 on Feb 1, 2006 10:23 PM PST up reply actions

I'd agree

thought right now each kids getting like 4ish dollars for food, which seems the bare minimum.

This is a great idea, and although I am not in a situation to contribute, I think it should be a yearly event. its a great way to help some kids AND build the A's base!

"If people don't know who he is, they'd better turn on the television and check him out."

by jacobo2u on Feb 1, 2006 5:08 PM PST up reply actions

Right now

each kid would get $8.54 without any Aramark subsidy.

If we went to 8 tickets it would drop to $3.90, without subsidy. What I'd hope is that Aramark would turn that into at least $6, which I think would be enough.

Check out some awesome music ...

by devo on Feb 1, 2006 5:17 PM PST up reply actions

Remember how expensive

food is there. $8 will get them a soda and a hot dog and that's about it. What if they want ice cream?

by Tyler Bleszinski on Feb 1, 2006 5:24 PM PST up reply actions

We all scream!!!!!

"Don't you play the flute, Huddy?"

by capper3 on Feb 1, 2006 5:28 PM PST up reply actions

yeah ...

but if we're talking about the kids getting ice cream to go with their hot dog or two extra kids getting to go ...

Check out some awesome music ...

by devo on Feb 1, 2006 7:30 PM PST up reply actions

good point

i think that enough for a drink and a dog would do, and the more kids, the better.

--The Pastime--

by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 7:34 PM PST up reply actions

say what??!

2,050/(82x6)=2,050/(492)=4.16666

Am I missing something?

"If people don't know who he is, they'd better turn on the television and check him out."

by jacobo2u on Feb 1, 2006 5:37 PM PST up reply actions

sorry

it has become evident that these aren't full season tickets :)

"If people don't know who he is, they'd better turn on the television and check him out."

by jacobo2u on Feb 1, 2006 5:40 PM PST up reply actions

This is great!

I'm mighty proud to be a part of AN.

"Put a Milo on him." -Billy Beane

by kaweahkaweah on Feb 1, 2006 5:54 PM PST reply actions

Thanks Capper3 and Blez for the great

idea, and then all the hardwork of the follow through. Three of you took me up on my matching gift idea, and I wanted you to know that I did match you, so your gift was doubled:

Kaweahkaweah $50
McFood $40
Devo $10

great job by everone. hopefully we'll introduce some young fans to the A's, and who knows, maybe they will see the 2006 World Champions!!

by alamedaman on Feb 1, 2006 6:08 PM PST reply actions

darn it

I missed your matching idea... nice idea, though.

by Apricot on Feb 1, 2006 6:51 PM PST up reply actions

It is a good story

Thanks Capper3.

by paradox on Feb 1, 2006 6:18 PM PST reply actions

I'd love to donate,

But unfortunately I don't have a paypal account or a credit card and I'm most certainly underage to get one or the other. However, my best wishes go out to the lucky kids who recieve this gift, and it's awesome to AN reaching out so much!!

I was nothing more than an almost innocent bystander.

by Squeaky on Feb 1, 2006 6:26 PM PST reply actions

Same

16 year olds aren't exactly allowed to do anything productive on the net, and somehow I don't think my parents would be overly open to the whole "can I borrow your credit card to open an account at something called paypal.com? What? It's used for gambling usually. What? No, I'm donating money. Seriously. Seriously, Mom. Please?"

Congrats guys, you're all superb human beings

by Alon on Feb 1, 2006 7:34 PM PST up reply actions

eBay

also useful for buying stuff off of eBay. Hey, at least that's more legit than gambling.

by ragnarok on Feb 2, 2006 12:22 PM PST up reply actions

YAY!!

This is so great, I am so happy that we are doing this for kids who normally would not be able to go to a game. Every kid needs baseball in the summer! And we are helping to make that possible. I am so proud of everyone.

"Frank Thomas's arms are the size of Huston Street!" - Kyli - 1/28/06

by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Feb 1, 2006 6:43 PM PST reply actions

next year

I was only half-kidding when I said we should challenge Blue Grey Sky to a charity competition.

Maybe we can find some other large site and have a friendly 'competition' to raise money in some clever way for a charity. Much better use of energy than 'best blog' contests.

by Apricot on Feb 1, 2006 6:53 PM PST reply actions

hmm

How about Bat-Girl? Good blog, plenty of people, and it just seems like they'd go for that kind of thing...

--The Pastime--

by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 7:04 PM PST up reply actions

Dodger Thoughts

I emailed Jon about DT doing something with this and never heard back.

by rageon on Feb 1, 2006 8:15 PM PST up reply actions

I emailed bat-girl

aka Anne Ursu, detailing what we did, and that we'd like to have a competition next year. I think it'd be great to get as many blogs in on this as possible.

--The Pastime--

by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 9:50 PM PST up reply actions

I posted something on A's Nation's parent site..

..DailyKos.com, but it was only hours before the cut-off.

However, they get millions of people to that site every week, so next time around I'll get the message out early and maybe get some non-A's people to contribute too.

by Ozzz on Feb 2, 2006 1:21 AM PST up reply actions

i don't know about that

My roommate, who happens to be a political science major, thought it was a terrible idea. He said that poor people need food and jobs, not a baseball game. He's not a sports fan, though, so he doesn't get it. I wonder if the majority of non-baseball folk out there feel like he does, that if you're going to give money, it should directly help people, not in the way we're doing it?

I still think that what we did was/is great.

--The Pastime--

by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 2, 2006 1:24 PM PST up reply actions

to an extent...

I can see his point. When the topic of food money came up, I wasnt in favor of just giving money to spend on food. If they are poor, then 20 bucks could be used in much better ways than blowing it on overpriced coliseum food. It is my understanding though that its not cash they will receive but "food bucks". Much better.

AN is an A's baseball site, so we want to help the less fortunate AND our A's.

Its really all about the kids though, and I think its great that they will get to go to a game and have a hot dog, ice cream and enjoy watching the A's.

Bill Stoneman is about to be offered three seasons of a right-handed version of Vladimir Guerrero - Rev Halofan

by pickinmachine on Feb 2, 2006 1:44 PM PST up reply actions

I agree.

What the political science major missed is that this is not an 'either/or' proposition. If he wants to donate money to the battered women's shelter to help them fix the roof, by all means do so.

But we wanted to help a few kids get to a ballgame once in their lives, and doing so surely doesn't make anyone eat less, or have less shelter, or go to a worse school.

Personally, I think if Markos would make a front page plea on DailyKos, we'd double our donations in a day. And even if we didn't, we'd surely get something, which makes it worth the effort.

by Ozzz on Feb 2, 2006 2:09 PM PST up reply actions

spoken like a stereotypical polisci major

Yeah, poor people don't have any need for entertainment. Everyone knows that. <sarcasm>

As others have said, I'm sure plenty of us spend money and time outside of AN working for justice and charity. There's nothing wrong with some of us /also chipping in to help some kids see a ballgame.

by Apricot on Feb 2, 2006 4:17 PM PST up reply actions

Won't

somebody think of the children? Is it really a good idea to get the kids hooked on baseball, which annually ends in hearbreak and tortured emotion?

Copernicus felt the same way about the geocentric crew.

by salb918 on Feb 2, 2006 4:48 PM PST up reply actions

children are the best equipped to handle it

after all, they have their whole lives to get over the traumas. And if they can't, they can always take speed, like proper baseball players.

by Apricot on Feb 2, 2006 4:53 PM PST up reply actions

and now that players will no longer take speed...

...there's going to be more of it available for the rest of us. It's a win-win!

"You don't look up truthiness in a book, you look it up in your gut." ~ Stephen Colbert

by Poppy on Feb 2, 2006 9:13 PM PST up reply actions

This is seriously awesome.

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." -Robert S. Wieder

by Kyli on Feb 1, 2006 6:55 PM PST reply actions

AN Pride

I feel proud to be part of AN and an A's fan.

Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles called electrons, that you cannot see with the naked eye unless you have been drinking. -Dave Barry

by davebenfremont on Feb 1, 2006 7:05 PM PST reply actions

This is sooo awesome!

This has gone way beyond what I thought it could. This just goes to show what great people we have here one AN. Props go out to EVERYONE to donated. Im only 14 so I can't donate anything yet, so its cool that everyone else can come through. Thanks to everyone who helped, your making those kids very happy.

by paige20 on Feb 1, 2006 7:09 PM PST reply actions

This makes me really proud.

I am proud to be a part of a community of fans like this, thanks to things like this. The A's as a team do a lot for charity and I know a lot of the individual players do, as well. I think they'd be thrilled to hear about this. This is great :)

Street is a friggin physical marvel... -Mychael Urban

by rookieoftheyear on Feb 1, 2006 7:34 PM PST reply actions

warm fuzzies

just woke up from the wip van winkle nap. everyone please pat themselves on the back.
but is it true? the A's are already 4 games up?

by elephantman on Feb 1, 2006 8:10 PM PST reply actions

Truely Amazing

I don't often post, but what the AN community accomplished is fantastic. I also donated $30.

by oaklandbbfan on Feb 1, 2006 8:39 PM PST reply actions

wow

all i can say is ... wow.

"you know it's way cooler to be an A's fan" - billy beane to larry krueger

by gotgreen on Feb 1, 2006 8:50 PM PST reply actions

great job!

Its pretty awesome to think about A's fans from all over the place, with all our differences, coming together to give the main thing we all have in common: love for A's baseball.

Thanks to Blez, Capper, and everyone else on AN!

Bill Stoneman is about to be offered three seasons of a right-handed version of Vladimir Guerrero - Rev Halofan

by pickinmachine on Feb 1, 2006 9:01 PM PST reply actions

burnt by paypal

Simming Offseason.....

by robber23 on Feb 1, 2006 10:20 PM PST reply actions

Let this be the start of something huge.

We should invite every sports blog to compete with us next year for the Kings of Charity title.

I've already vowed that Notes From The Nat will copy the A's Nation charity drive in Vancouver at season's end, and any blog that doesn't do likewise is clearly run by craven homers who don't deserve to share the same sunlight as A's fans.

by Ozzz on Feb 2, 2006 1:48 AM PST reply actions

wow.

I am really proud to be an ANer right now!

by CyZito on Feb 2, 2006 6:43 AM PST reply actions

Media

Blez, have you contacted any media about this? I'm sure it would make a great little story.

by Yanny on Feb 2, 2006 7:07 AM PST reply actions

media

more kids=more fans.

it makes an even better story without 1/3 going to food.

by Hatteburglar on Feb 2, 2006 8:14 AM PST up reply actions

The media reads this site

if they feel it's worthy of a story, I'm sure I'll hear from them.

But that's not why we did this. We did it to create more A's fans and put smiles on kids' faces, not media attention.

by Tyler Bleszinski on Feb 2, 2006 9:28 AM PST up reply actions

LOOK AT ME

LOOK AT ME!

Copernicus felt the same way about the geocentric crew.

by salb918 on Feb 2, 2006 9:30 AM PST up reply actions

Still...

Blez, I absolutely agree, but I still say that this is an act which deserves praise from outsiders.

There is no shame in taking credit for such an amazing act. It may inspire others to do the same.

by Yanny on Feb 2, 2006 1:20 PM PST up reply actions

Especially if...

..we make it a challenge to other blogs to do likewise.

How about it, Angels blogs?

by Ozzz on Feb 2, 2006 2:10 PM PST up reply actions

So terrific

I have been marveling over this since it started, and was very happy to contribute. Like my name says, I mostly lurk, but I feel very connected to this community and am especially proud to be a part of it this week.

VERY nice going, AN!

by lurkerD on Feb 2, 2006 9:31 AM PST reply actions

no to media, and yes to 6 tix + $8 food

This is great! And it all came together in just a week -- thanks again, capper3 & Blez :)

"You don't look up truthiness in a book, you look it up in your gut." ~ Stephen Colbert

by Poppy on Feb 2, 2006 10:16 AM PST reply actions

Can't get over this

I read the figure $4,450 to my boyfriend, and he teased me about being choked up. It was true, and I'm generally not too sentimental.

This took one week, AN. You know that funny feeling you have right now? Well, AN is a community and that little tickle is some serious community pride.

High fives, y'all.

by eebie on Feb 2, 2006 10:41 AM PST reply actions