UPDATED as of July 31st

Alrighty, I hate to do this on the fly, but I wanted to find out as much facts as I could prior to making an update on this.

I emailed ACFB, and received confirmation about the Smoltz food drive - It is still on:  John Smoltz will be signing autographs with a minimum donation of 25 (one autograph) or maximum of 50 (two) cans of food at Turner Field's Monument Grove between 2-3 p.m.

I can't stress it enough, if you're interested; get there early.  They will do a cut-off, and then you'll be left donating food without getting to see Smoltzie.

Tickets

Nothing's been pre-purchased.  Considering there are only about 8-10 people verbally confirmed people showing up, this is what I am suggesting:  Meet-up location; upper deck at ChopHouse/Tomahawk Tavern at like 4:30, maybe prior to first pitch, who knows.  We'll iron it out.  You can get drinks there, stand around in the shade while watching from the outfield or something.

Seating wise, since nothing's been purchased, I'd suggest somewhere kind of out of the way, where it will be cheap and relatively easy to sit and watch from.  I'm thinking sections 417-421 (three possible sections), since those areas are generally deserted, no matter what.  Tix should be anywhere from $6-8, a student ID will get you half-price, or 2-for-1, however you want to look at it.

Thoughts, suggestions, share 'em.  Who cares about the buzz and news around the baseball, let's make the best of a bad situation, and try to enjoy an afternoon game and play some spoiler.

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I figure discussing this after a nice win would be more kosher than trying to talk about it through the blinding rage of another agonizing loss.  Good thing is, we don't face our daddies, the Nationals, back here, until after Labor Day.

So anyway, the idea's been tossed around, there are a couple of people committed, but there's been little discussion on the topic lately, and with August 3rd now only two weeks and some change away, now's as good as time as any to throw some ideas up on the board.  And gondeee, the most active SBNation blog owner ever, has made no mention one way or the other his thoughts on the matter, or let alone if he endorses it, so for the time being, this is for all intents and purposes "non-sanctioned," and may or may not have anything to do with TC depending on the success of the turnout and/or if bigjoe gets arrested for public intoxication/disturbance of the peace.

When:  Saturday, August 2nd
Time:  Game time of 3:55 p.m. (FOX-TV Broadcast)
Opponent:  Milwaukee Brewers

Interested members: ???
Group tickets: ???
Meetup place: ???
Meetup time: ???

As you can see by all the question marks, there is great reason why this stuff needs to/should be ironed out before the date in question, so that it doesn't turn into one gigantic fustercluck, nobody finds anyone, and on Monday morning there is a fanpost consisting of the words "epic," "fail," "I didn't see you," "I didn't know," and several pictures of cats in compromised positions, and crying babies.

1.  First off, who IS coming?  I encourage those who ARE showing up to comment with definite answers.  Maybes need not comment as much, unless you're pretty darn sure of it.  Also, I encourage users to recommend this post, so that it sticks to the top, and won't get bumped off as quickly by an influx of post-loss/trade-rumor fanposts, Pujols knows there's still plenty of time for plenty of those to surface.  And it makes me look like I write important stuff, too.

ICING ON THE CAKE:  This may or may not help make up your mind for you.  That particular Saturday is also tentatively scheduled for John Smoltz's second annual autograph signing session for Atlanta Community Food Bank "John Smoltz Strike Out Hunger" program. 

People are to bring 25 canned goods for one autograph on any memorabilia you bring, or 50 canned goods for two.  No more than that is allowed.

Event typically starts two hours prior to game time, but I'd highly recommend arriving earlier, because a line will no doubt form, and there is a cut-off point.  To put it into perspective, I showed up 3.5 hours early last season, and suffered through dehydration and sunburn to get a Smoltz-signed baseball, and still almost missed the cut-off point.

Also, this is a very cut and dry event - no matter how friendly Smoltz looks in the photo on the link, ushers and security herd the line as quickly as possible, and Smoltz himself is kinda in auto pilot, signing everything without many words to patrons.  If you want a photo with him in the shot, not necessarily looking back at the camera, have someone else with you to take the photo.

2.  Tickets - I suppose the bigger question is asking if you all want to sit together and watch the game in the stands, or if we should just meet up at like the Chop House upper deck, and just kinda mill about, socialize, before dispersing to our individual seats.  So far, I haven't seen close to 25 members show interest to this, which is the number we'd need to be eligible for any sort of group packaging discount or anything of the sort. 

Personally, what I was thinking of was not necessarily pre-buying, and either finding a scalper to sell me a cheapo, or just buying a general-admission ticket on the cheap side, and just going to socialize; and if not, then attempting to enjoy the game wherever my ticket might be.  Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions also very welcome.

3.  Meetup Place/Time - Well considering most people will likely want a Smoltz autograph I'm assuming, I'd say a prior to first-pitch meeting would be a little harder.  Or rather one, that has everyone showing up.  So I'm under the general assumption that the best meet-up time/place might be during the game, which leads me to suggest the upper patio at the Chop House.  Any other ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

So I guess that's about it, about what this discussion should be about.  bigjoe wants to go to Carrabba's after the game, since he's clearly been suckered into the barrage of Carrabba's commercials we've been forced to endure this season thus far.  I also hear he's going to trade in his dad's car for a Navigator with 36" spinning rims, and when any of us tries to call him, like thirty times, none of us will be able to get in touch with him, because he'll be shooting hoops with the townies blasting that Braves song by some group called Whiskey Falls.

Discussion, ideas, recommendations highly encouraged.  This is a good opportunity to actually put some faces to the avatars, and to put your money to where your mouths have been all season long.  I don't imagine anybody as bad people, and would like to know a lot of folks for what we do have in common - love for Braves baseball.

Okay, I was just blowing smoke there.  I really just want an excuse to wear my Jamie Kotsay shirt, and have people around that actually get it.