Mets fan doc in National Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival

We're going to Cooperstown. You in?
Mathematically Alive screens at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's 3rd Annual Baseball Film Festival on Sept. 20th at 3PM.

Hall of Fame Film Festival returns Sept. 19-21
20th anniversary celebration of Bull Durham to kick off event
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will recognize the twin traditions of baseball and film when, for the third consecutive year, it hosts a Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, Sept. 19-21.

The 2008 Film Festival will be preceded by a salute the night of Sept. 19 to the 20th anniversary of the release of Bull Durham, featuring appearances at the Museum by the film's director-writer Ron Shelton, along with three of the film's actors: Tim Robbins ("Nuke LaLoosh"), Susan Sarandon ("Annie Savoy") and Robert Wuhl ("Larry Hockett"). The 7 p.m. program will feature a moderated discussion with the four participants in the Museum's Grandstand Theater, hosted by nationally renowned movie critic Jeffrey Lyons.

Tickets for the Friday evening Bull Durham anniversary salute will first be available to Museum members beginning Monday, Aug. 25. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and can be purchased in person at the Museum's membership desk or by phone at 607-547-0397. Should any tickets remain following the Members-only purchase period, the general public will be able to purchase tickets for the discussion beginning Monday, Sept. 15.

"We're delighted to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bull Durham, and we are honored to welcome Ron, Tim, Susan and Robert to Cooperstown," said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "As evidenced by our 'Baseball at the Movies' exhibit, Hollywood's romanticism with baseball has extended the reach of our national game to worldwide audiences for nearly a century through more than 150 films. This 20th anniversary event is all about celebrating the film's impact in a comedic exploration of Minor League Baseball. To partner it with our fledgling Film Festival is a great fit in fulfilling our educational mission."

Several films will be screened on Saturday and Sunday, as filmmakers compete for two awards given at the conclusion of the festival: Best Film and the Award for Baseball Excellence. The list of the films competing for top honors during the weekend includes:

• Gandhi at the Bat by filmmakers Stephanie Argy and Alec Boehm, based on an original short story by Chet Williamson
• Fuera De Liga (Dreaming in Blue) by filmmaker Ian Padron
• Base Ball Discovered by filmmaker Sam Marchiano
• Eye on a Dream by filmmaker P.J. Moynihan
• Mathematically Alive: A Story of Fandom by filmmakers Joseph Coburn and Katherine Foronjy
• Cobb Field: A Minor League Day at the Ballpark by filmmaker Craig Lindvahl
• Dummy Hoy: A Deaf Hero by filmmaker David Risotto
• Pitching Man: Satchel Paige - Defying Time by filmmaker Craig Davidson
• Yankee Stadium: The Golden Age by filmmaker Les Krantz

Tickets for the screening of Film Fest entries are free of charge to Museum members, but they are limited and must be reserved by calling the Membership Department at 607-547-0397, beginning August 25. Any remaining seats will open to the general public on site beginning Friday, Sept. 19. Museum guests can then reserve tickets by visiting the Membership Desk located in the Main Lobby of the Museum.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will continue to celebrate baseball in film in 2009 with a 25th anniversary salute to the epic film based on Bernard Malamud's novel, The Natural. Previously, the Museum has saluted such Hollywood classics as A League of Their Own and Pride of the Yankees, featuring appearances by actors from both films at the Museum in Cooperstown.
Saturday, September 20, 2008 - Sunday, September 21, 2008
met
For more info check out www.baseballhalloffame.org

Mets fan filmmakers make a video for GaryKeithandRon.com

The makers of Mathematically Alive make a video of the 1st Gary, Keith, and Ron charity event. Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling talk about their personal charities while meeting their fans.

Here's the link for the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE1ivDtY7i0

Check out garykeithandron.com for more info

Mathematically Alive aired on Mets Weekly

Mets Weekly profiled Mathematically Alive and it aired last Saturday August 2, 2008. I'll have a video of it up soon. I look like a freako!

Mets fan documentary mentioned in The Village Voice

Check out this article from the Village Voice about New York's two new baseball stadiums. Joe and I were interviewed by Allen Barra for it and he gives Mathematicallya Alive a shout out. Woo Hoo!

Thanks, Allen.

www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-09/news/the-houses-that-ruthlessness-built/1

Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez & Ron Darling's "Pitch in For Good Cause"

Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez & Ron Darling's "Pitch in For Good Cause" Website and Anonymous Donor Make It Possible for Underprivileged Children to Attend Mets Games on July 10

Website Also Offering $10 Mets Tickets for Fans Who Purchase Special Tee-Shirts

(NEW YORK CITY, June 20, 2008). SNY television announcers Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez & Ron Darling's "Pitch in for a Good Cause" website known as garykeithandron.com (GKR), today announced that it will make it possible for more than 100 underprivileged children from the NY Metropolitan Area to attend a Mets games on July 10th.

GKR was launched in May to bring Mets fans together around common community problems by buying tee shirts for the sportscasters' favorite charities. The website is also offering $10 seats on July 10th and 22nd to fans who previously purchased or who will purchase the special GKR tees.

Tickets and Tee Shirts for the Kids
"When we offered discounted tickets to these July games for tee shirt purchasers, the demand was strong and we received favorable responses," explained Lynn Cohen, GKR director and wife of Gary Cohen, voice of the NY Mets. "Then suddenly it struck me, that this would also be an incredible opportunity to invite children who never dreamed of attending a game.

From there GKR sought out these special kids and subsequently were able to give over 100 free tickets to 3 groups of young people. "Once the decision was made to involve the children, an anonymous donor came knocking on the website's door to pay for the tee shirts. "What else could we say but yes, yes, and thank you!" added Cohen.

All the children will be wearing the GKR tees on July 10th.

Tickets for the Tee Shirt Purchasers
The GKR website is currently offering seven different shirts. One has Cohen's signature phrase, "It's Outta Here." Another features caricatures of Hernandez's fans all wearing his #17 jersey, sporting his mustache, wearing his famous footwear and enjoying a pop. The newest "Keith design" has a #17 on the back dressed in his moustache. Darling's tee pays tribute to "Mr. Perfect," as well as his many numbers and nicknames. The fifth is the official "Gary, Keith and Ron tee-shirt," providing a humorous but loving portrait of the sportscasters' fans. The sixth is a more subdued, sleek black tee featuring www.garykeithandron.com in white lettering. The latest design, just recently introduced, is the GKR "fistbump."

Fans who previously purchased or who will purchase tee shirts can to buy the $10 seats for the two July games for as long as the tickets last. The only stipulation is they must wear the tees to call attention to the charitable cause.

On July 10th, the Mets are playing the San Francisco Giants at 1:10 p.m, and on July 22nd, the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:10 p.m. The seats are located in the reserved Mezzanine section at Shea Stadium.

"This generous offer by Mets management to make tickets available at a discounted price gives GKR purchasers the opportunity to sit together and meet other supporters, and now with the children, a chance for many of these youngsters to attend a major league game, some for the very first time," said Cohen.

For further information contact: Info@garykeithandron.com.

Jon Stewart on Willie Randolf Fired

This was pretty entertaining... Check out the link
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=173865&title=intro-willie-randolph-fired

Playing for Peanuts airs on SNY on May 11 @6:00PM

I've been reading a lot about this and I'm really looking forward to watching it. John Fitzgerald is an independent filmmaker just like us so I know he worked really hard on this series so if you're free check it. Congrats to you, John!
www.playingforpeanuts.com

"Playing for Peanuts" will premiere this Sunday, May 11 across the country.
It's a TV show about minor league baseball. The show uses reality TV and documentary techniques to follow the South Georgia Peanuts in their inaugural season. The Peanuts are made up of a mix of rookies and veterans, all hoping to get back into affiliated minor league baseball. The Peanuts are managed by former Major League second baseman Wally Backman.

"Playing for Peanuts" - Episode #1
(all times are local)
---
SportsNet NY (SNY) - May 11 @ 6pm

Sportsnet Chicago - May 11 @ 7pm

Sportsnet Philadelphia - May 11 @ 7pm

Sportsnet Bay Area - May 11 @ 8pm

Sportsnet New England - May 11 @ 8:30pm


DISHNETWORK AND DIRECTV SUBSCRIBERS:

If you have Dish or DirectTV, you can see "Playing for Peanuts" on the following channels:

CSN Chicago (DISH: 429, DIRECT: 640)- May 11 @ 7pm

SportsNet NY (SNY) (DISH: 438, DIRECT: 625)- May 11 @ 6pm

CSN Philadelphia - May 11 @ 7pm

CSN Bay Area (DISH: 419, DIRECT: 654)- May 11 @ 8pm

CSN New England (DISH:435, DIRECT: 620) - May 11 @ 8:30pm

Queens & NYC screening coming up

Our NYC screening at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater was so awesome! We of course threw out peanuts, soda and beer, which has become our signature move on the movie scene. We had a nice turn out and people laughed a lot so that's usually a good sign. Thank you to everyone who took the time to check the film out. We really appreciate your support.

We have 2 screening coming up so please join us if you haven't seen it yet. The Queens screening is right by Shea and after the game so there's no excuse...

Queens premiere on May 10, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Queens Museum of Art at Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Queens, NY Tickets - Free (museum donation of $5.oo is suggested)
www.queensmuseum.org

NewFilmmakers premiere on May 14, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Anthology Film Archives at 32 2nd Ave at 2nd Street
NY, NY Tickets $5.00
www.newfilmmakers.com

Both screenings will have a Q & A after the film.

Update on Matt Hoey

As many of you know Matt Hoey who was a big part our documentary was in a bad accident a couple of months back. Though he has a long road ahead of him, he really has made tremendous progress. At this point, he is back home and going to rehab several times a week. They are helping him to work on his walking and other injuries as well.

When Matt was hurt we sent out messages to Mets community asking people to email him supportive messages. Matt received hundreds of them, which according to his wife and mother really played a huge part in his recovery. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who sent in those messages.

It's the little things in life that matter.

FOONYAS rock!

Carlos Pinero of Santa Monica, CA emailed us
after watching the film. He included some great info about how "FOONYAS" like him follow the Mets from a far...





Left: Carlos riding his "Metsmobile" which he used to commute to work for 2 years in Dodgertown. Right: Carlos's dog Mookie.




Dear Kathy and Joe,

I hope the film takes off with the 2008 season in full swing. It's a great movie. All I have out here are the games in LA & SD (SF is too far for a day trip), but I get to every one of them on TV. Here's some Mets stuff from one more fan; me.


On the Mets forums out there, I coined the phrase FOONYA a few years ago. I am a FOONYA. FOONYAS are the Fans Out Of the New York Area. The out of market Mets fans who can't get to Shea everyday or for that matter, any day. We fly planes and take trains to get to Mets games, and we're always wearing our Mets gear in some other team's town and at other team's ballparks. When the Mets finally come to the town we live in, the whole world stops for three magical days while we take Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off from work to the total bemusement of our co-workers.

We search the internet for Mets forums, drive to newsstands to find copies of the New York Post for $2, and TIvo expensive MLB packages just to get a taste of Mets. We FOONYAS are the Mets fans that no one notices back in New York, because they never see us. We can't just pop our head into a tavern to see the score on TV where we live, because no one is wearing orange and blue in those games. If you ask a cab driver what the score is, neither of the two cities he mentions are New York. And on the rare occasion that we see the Mets on TV in a public place, it's a national game with no Keith, no Ron, and no Gary, and no one in the joint cheers when Reyes steals second. Half the time, you don't even get a replay; all you get is a highlight clip from another game in another city.

In our towns, we are known as the biggest Mets fans our friends know, mainly because we are they only people the've ever seen wearing a Franco Mets T-shirt every day. There is always a Yankee cap in the room somehow, usually the fashionable all-black version, worn by someone who doesn't follow the team, but on the rare occasion you see another Mets cap in a store or across the street, you smile and wave lioke you know them, and somehow the person in the Mets cap always smiles and waves back or thumbs up back because we are not only Mets fans, we are a special kind of Mets fan.

We are FOONYAS.

Lets Go Mets.

Carlos Pineiro
Santa Monica, CA

Our interview on Sports Talk Live with Frankie the Sports Guy

Frankie the Sports Guy interviewed us tonight. It was a lot of fun.

Check it out at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/SportsTalkLiveWithFrankie

Thanks Frankie!

Grainbelt performs in Woodstock, NY & more shows

If you've seen the movie than you know Howard Glassman is cool people. The music throughout the movie is from his band Grainbelt which totally rocks! They're playing in Woodstock, NY so check em out if you can.

Sunday, April 27
Colony Cafe
22 Rock City Road,
Woodstock, New York
845.679.5342
Grainbelt acoustic!
Opening for Mark Olson. Yup, that Mark Olson. The one from the Jayhawks.

www.colonycafe.com - buy tickets here
www.thegrainbelt.com
www.myspace.com/therealgrainbelt

More shows:

Friday, May 16
Garden Grill
276 Second Avenue, Albany, New York
518.462.0571

Friday, May 30
Sol Bar
Main Street, Delhi, New York
607.746.8886

Saturday, June 7
Towne Tavern
2850 NY Route 43, Averill Park, New York
518.674.3040

New screening in Maine - Dr. Wann will be there

We're screening in Portland, Maine and we're really excited because Dr. Daniel Wann, the sports psychologist from the movie will be present. We'll have a Q & A with me, Joe and Dan after the screening, which should be really fun.

For more info on Dr. Daniel Wann check out http://www.murraystate.edu/ialu/DanWann.htm

Here's the info for the Maine screening:
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 7:00 PM at Hannaford Lecture Hall, Abromson Community Education Center, USM Portland Campus.
https://www.usm.maine.edu/index.html

Let us know if you plan on coming :)

New Screenings in NYC, Queens & NJ

Mathematically Alive - A Story of Fandom
Joseph Coburn & Katherine Foronjy
www. mathematicallyalive. com

NYC premiere on April 29, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Pioneer 2Boots Theater 155 East 3rd Street NY, NY
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer

Trenton film festival on May 03, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Broad Street Bank Auditorium 143 West State St. Trenton, NJ

http://www.trentonfilmfestival.org

Queens premiere on May 10, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Queens Museum of Art @Flushing Meadows Corona Park Queens, NY
http://www.queensmuseum.org

NYC screening on May 14, 2008 at 6:00 PM
NewFilmmakers @ Anthology Film Archives 32 2nd Ave at 2nd Street NY, NY
http://www.newfilmmakers.com

Opening Day raffle winners

On opening day we handed out flyers about our NYC screenings. Those who registered for our mailing list were automatically entered into a random raffle to win a free DVD.
The 10 winners are...

Becky Barker
Bill Bajor
Don Cambria
Lou Moulnar
IIana Engel
Kristen Sibeniecher
Freddy Cassel
Jose Gaydieto
Craig Estenes
Linda Booner

Congratulations to the winners. Each person will receive an email shorty.