"You put on a great party," said one of the guests as he and his wife gathered their belongings for the long walk up the stairs and to the parking lot. Thank you very much, but we did have help. From the Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field, the U.S. men's soccer team, and the Barenaked Ladies.

Bet you never thought you'd see those four things in the same sentence, now, did you?

Sporting events, like the Tampa Bay Chapter of Emory Alumni's June 26 outing to Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, really do attract the broadest range of alumni. Young and old ... singles, couples, and families ... urban dwellers, suburbanites, and those from the hinterlands ... all come out for sporting events. In in St. Pete, all did. More than 50 Emory guests enjoyed the Rays' 5-3 victory.

The half-price box seats and free Rays caps definitely played a role in the fun, as did our pre-party in the Center Field Street Brewhouse, where we watched the exciting albeit eventually disappointing U.S.-Ghana World Cup knockout game.

The most fun part for me was simply talking to everyone (both in the seats and at the brewhouse) about Emory, Tampa Bay, the Rays, even the Barenaked Ladies, who closed out the evening with an hour-long concert (it was 90s night at the Trop). Several alumni stayed 'til the end, too.

So many different alumni, so many different stories ... we had a family from Lakeland, a pediatrician with a very pretty new baby daughter, a doctor who is just one of more than a half dozen Emory grads in his family, and so many more.

And to top it all off ... a free concert from the Barenaked Ladies ... and the new stuff was pretty good, too!

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, Emory Alumni Association

*******

Barenaked Ladies set list

The Old Apartment

Get in Line

Falling for the First Time

Ad Lib (The Start of a Pattern)

Who Needs Sleep?

Another Heartbreak

Every Subway Car

Theme from The Big Bang Theory

Four Seconds

You Run Away

One Week

Too Little Too Late

It's All Been Done

Pinch Me

If I Had $1,000,000

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Brian Wilson

This happy coincidence of scheduling added an additional layer of relevance (as if that was possible) to Sunday's Faculty Destinations: Tampa event, Why Health Reform Can't Wait (And You Can't Either), at the Tampa Yacht & Country Club.