The upper deck was supposed to be good for baseball and fireworks.
A group of friends was putting together a July 4 trip to see the Colorado Rockies play the Florida Marlins. The seats were in the infield, high enough to see the game and the show afterward. Tickets were expected to cost about $35 each.
The organizer wanted answers quickly so the group could buy together. One person replied with a written firework impression: "Boom boom bang sparkle sizzle." Another could not make it because of a concert.
My own reply is not in the archive. I may have gone, or I may only have been on the list. The plan still says something real about Denver that summer. A major-league game, a holiday, fireworks, and a group of friends could fit into one email and one fairly affordable ticket.
The Rockies were coming off their 2007 World Series run, so baseball had more attention in Colorado than usual. The actual July 4 game would happen weeks after this thread. At this point, the only thing anybody had committed to was an email answer and the possibility of an upper-deck seat.
Group plans always looked clean in the first message. Pick the event. Estimate the price. Set a response deadline. Then the replies turned it into real life: yes, no, maybe, a joke, another person to invite, and somebody who missed the deadline.
This one had a simple pitch. Thirty-five dollars bought the game and the fireworks.
The parking, beer, and reply-all traffic were extra.