[Note from Dan Gibson: Alex Budish is a senior at the University of Arizona. Who better to check out the first Thirsty Thursday and review it from a drinking perspective, right?]

What an awesome city we live in. There’s great people, amazing weather, the Tucson Padres, and, oh yeah, their $1 beers. On Thursday, the Padres had the first of their nine “Thirsty Thursday” nights at Tucson Electric Park, and it was definitely worth checking out.

That’s right folks, just $1 got you a smooth 12-ounce plastic cup of that sweet, sweet nectar you all love, Budweiser or Bud Light. A difficult decision for sure, but most were going for the Bud Light (it is beach season, after all).

Not your taste? No problem. For just $1 more you can get yourself 12 ounces of “premium beers.” Those include: 90 Shilling Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Hefeweizen, or Tucson Blonde.

With all these amazing prices on so many good beers, what more could be better? Getting to watch some great Triple-A baseball with your friends. The most expensive ticket is $10.50, and being the baller-on-a-budget I am, I began thinking, is it all about the beer? Let’s take a look at some of the other items for sale at the Padres game.

For $33, a young man or woman can purchase a fitted cap ... but wait, that’s 33 beers. You can get a T-shirt for $17, but that’s eight premium beers, and a Bud Light. If you like pompoms, those can be yours for just $5 ... or you can get five more beers.

All right, that’s a little bit extreme. The pompoms are actually really cool, as are the hats and shirts. I must say the overall experience was truly special. It’s a great feeling to be able to enjoy a ball game with your friends. Perhaps the best quote I heard all night was, “Baseball and alcohol, the two go hand in hand,” said David Blattman, a senior at the University of Arizona. Maybe he was right, for the youthful spirit that drives Tucson.

Can $1 beers revitalize the game of baseball this city has loved in the past?

So that brings us to perhaps the last question of the article. (I’ve asked so many after all). Why should the citizens of Tucson, and maybe more importantly, the students at the UA, care about going to a Thirsty Thursday event at a minor-league baseball game?

It’s a question that can really only be answered by going to the game and seeing it for yourself, but let me try and paint the best picture I can for you. Regardless of the crowd, the air is always filled with excitement and fun, that, and the booming voice of Homer Simpson echoing, “Mmmm, beer.” Maybe it’s just my nostalgia kicking in, but as a graduating senior from the UA, just taking a minute and skipping the bars one day a week, and enjoying a classic American pastime with your friends is exactly the type of thing everyone needs to really get the full experience of Tucson.

A Thirsty Thursday at the Padres game isn’t just a chance to get some cheap beers with your friends, but it could be the best way to get those summer vibes rolling.

Oh, and Jack-in-the-Box gives free tacos our every time the Padres win, so you can eat for free after spending all you money on beer, and a cab home.