The Madness of St. Patrick's Month

Maybe St. Patrick's Day has gotten a little out of hand.

March has become St. Patrick's month now. Bars have St. Patrck's celebrations every weekend leading up to March 17. Celebrations are no longer just one day, or a single weekend (the closest one to St. Patrick's Day). It's now every Thursday, Friday and Saturday for several weekends in a row. In the weeks before St. Patrick's, there are lines forming outside of Irish Pubs just to get in ... at 2:00pm! And of course, there's the big celebrations on the actual day itself (this year even bigger because it was actually on a Saturday). Irish Pubs move out their furniture just to squeeze in more people!

Of course, another big bar-themed event takes place in March: March Madness (not to mention the conference tournaments right before). People gather together and watch games in bars, and the NCAA tournament games tend to be on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (weekends, plus their neighbors, Thursday and Friday). Sometimes, you'll drink more in celebration, or to drown your sorrows.

So, St. Patrick's celebrations are covering every weekend in March, and college basketball is on the same weekends. St. Patrick's Day and March Madness are coming to be synonymous in bar culture, and March is becoming a great big slosh-fest.

I'll drink to that. Cheers!

Soccer in the U.S.

David Beckham is coming to the United States. He'll be playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Obviously, he's being brought to the U.S. to try to generate some interest in professional soccer. How many people have heard of the Los Angeles Galaxy? How many people can name one American professional soccer team?
Why has soccer not caught on in the United States? Americans do like their professional team sports. There's baseball, basketball, football. And hockey has caught on so well that American cities keep stealing teams from Canadian cities. Baseball, basketball and football were all invented in the U.S.. It seems that Americans like sports that they create. Conversely, American sports aren't so popular in other parts of the world. Baseball, baseketball, and soccer have not caught on so well around the rest of the world as soccer.

So, why has soccer lagged behind in popularity here? We like sports on fields, and that use a ball. Plus, soccer is one of the most popular sports for kids. Tons of children play soccer every year! There doesn't seem to be a reason why soccer would not draw crowds. Maybe it's market forces: there's only room for 4 major spectator-team sports in the U.S..

Bowl Games - Toilet Bowl? Cereal Bowl?

Today is New Year's Day. One great American New Year's tradition is the Bowl Game. College football teams get together to play in a post-season game. A reward for a great regular-season.

At first, bowl games seem to be named for agricultural products grown in the area. For example, there's the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Peach Bowl, and of course, the Rose Bowl. There were also bowls that seemed to stand for random things associated with their geography, like the Fiesta Bowl, the Gator Bowl, or the Sun Bowl. Some had random names, like the Hall of Fame Bowl, in Tampa, Florida. Where on earth did that name come from? There is no Hall of Fame in Tampa!

Oftentimes, the stadium where the bowl game was played actually shared a name with the bowl game itself (like the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Gator Bowl). But some of these bowl games have moved out of the stadium that shares their name.

Like everything else, these grand old institutions have gone commercial, and traditions have broken down. Many of the major bowl games are not even played on New Year's Day anymore. In addition, the bowls now have corporate sponsorships, which are included in their names: for example, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the FedEx Orange Bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the AT&T Cotton Bowl, and the Toyota Gator Bowl. Some of the bowls have completely lost their original name to the corporate sponsor, like the Chik-Fil-A Bowl (formerly Peach Bowl) or the Champs Sports Bowl and Capital One Bowl (formerly Citrus Bowl), or the Outback Bowl (formerly Hall of Fame Bowl). Other bowl games simply started their bowl-life with a corporate-sponsorship name.

But does this really matter? What is in a name (for a bowl) after all? It seems like a stupid name for a game - a "bowl". Is this based solely on a stadium's shape? If that's the case, why aren't all games in the stadium bowl games.

I can understand a name like "sugar bowl." Most homes have sugar bowl in the cupboard. Maybe there are places with orange bowls, too. But a fiesta bowl? And, a gator bowl seems like it's just asking for trouble....

So, maybe there should be more bowl games with normal sounding names. I suggest the Toilet Bowl, and the Cereal Bowl. These are actual "bowls" found in every home. Plus, there are obvious corporate-naming opportunities. For example, the American Standard Toilet Bowl, or the Kellogg's Cereal Bowl. Yeah, that sounds good!

New York City Marathon - Part II: The Race

Just before the open start, the stars of the musical Jersey Boys (about the lives of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons) sing the National Anthem, and the U.S. Air Force does a fly-by.


Everyone moves through their lines toward the start, which is at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Some people wore costumes. There was a blue-feathered bird, and a pair of rhinos behind me. Although the bridge is "closed", the electronic overhead signs are still flashing the traffic announcements, which are especially appropriate for the marathon: "heavy traffic expected - be prepared to stop". The course uses both the east-bound and west-bound lanes of the upper deck, and the west-bound lanes of the lower deck (though we were going east). What a sight, seeing over 37,000 runners all heading across the bridge. A lot of people had their digital cameras or phones with them and were snapping pictures. We passed the first mile of the marathon while on the bridge, which is the steepest part of the whole race. Some guys already had to use the facilities. With no port-o-potties on the bridge, some people used the east-bound lanes, some people just pee-ed over the side of the bridge into the Narrows. How often do you get to do that?

So, with Staten Island behind us, we trek through Brooklyn. Just like any marathon, a lot of people have stuff written on their shirts. Some put their names on their shirt so that the marathon-fans can yell out encouragement. Some have pictures, or phrases. I even saw one Virgin Mary. A lot of the marathon fans have signs. Usually something like "We're Proud of You *insert name*" or "Go *insert name!*" or "Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever". My favorite said "GO NAD!" Sometimes, it's good to laugh. Brooklyn takes up the largest chunk of the marathon (miles 2 - 13).

After Brooklyn, it's on to Queens. Not a lot to say ...it's Queens. We had to go over a bridge to get in, and another bridge to get out - the Queensboro bridge. The Queensboro was quite high and long across, and my legs were really feeling it as we continued to go across the bridge. Yes, there was more peeing off the bridge into the water below. Somehow, I don't think this is the first time anyone has taken a whiz into the East River, though.

Off the Queensboro bridge, and in Manhattan. The crowd was raucous as we came off the bridge and entered Manhattan. Only 10 miles to go. After a couple of turns, we get to First Avenue at 59th Street, and head north. One of the best sights to see - lots of people lining both sides of the street. First Avenue is very wide, and the runners going north are visible as far as the eye can see. Some people have political signs, encouraging people to vote for Hillary, or "Reject George Bush's Radical Policies".

Over the Willis Avenue Bridge, and into The Bronx. The marathon could stand opening up both sides of the bridge. The race spends a very short amount of time in the Bronx, where I was passed by a guy wearing a suit and hat that made him look like Robert Redford's character in The Sting. He was tipping his hat to folks along the way. Makes you wonder two things: (1) why do people wear costumes/suits for marathons? and (2) how can they run so fast with all those clothes?

After a couple of turns, the course goes over the Madison Avenue Bridge (there are bridges everywhere!), and back into Manhattan - this is Mile 21. There, the course heads south on Fifth Avenue. Fifth Avenue (heading south) starts to go uphill as it is alongside Central Park - not a good feeling as you're close to the end of the race.

Just to show you how some people are in great shape despite personal difficulties, a guy with an artificial leg finished a few minutes ahead of me, as well as a woman who appeared to be blind. I'm not sure if she really was blind, though. She was running with a guide, and had two balloons pointing her out to others, but was wearing a "sleep mask". So, it made me wonder if she was actually blind, b/c there is no reason for a blind person to wear a mask. Or, maybe she was wearing the mask to indicate to people that she was blind. Although, the presence of the guide would tend to do that as well, thus making the mask unnecessary. But, why would a sighted-person wear a mask and run the marathon "blind"? hmmm, what do you think?

Finally, we reach mile 25, and run along the outer perimeter of Central Park.

I finished the Marathon with no major interruptions, and no problems. Yay! After the race, we all had to pick up or stuff in our checked bags. That seemed to take longer than it did to run the marathon! Unfortunately, it also required more walking. I didn't get out of Central Park until 89th Street.

If you run a marathon, be aware that there is likely a lot of pre- and post-marathon walking that you'll have to endure, too. Plus, you may lose toe-nails! In all, though, it's a great experience.

New York City Marathon - Part I: Before the Start

I had the privilege of taking part in the 2006 New York City Marathon.

One of the special conditions of the NYC marathon is that it starts in Staten Island - so that the marathon can include all 5 boroughs. If you are unfamiliar with New York City, Staten Island is not especially close to Manhattan, or convenient to get to. Also, it is an island (which most people could probably figure out from its name). Because the Verrazano Narrows Bridge closes for the marathon, runners have to get to Staten Island especially early.

At about 4:55am, I leave to walk to the New York City Public Library (to take a bus to Staten Island). Over my running clothes, I'm wearing a heavy shirt and sweatpants. As is often the case in New York in November, it was cold. About 37*F. Every block I walk, I see more and more runners walking to the Library. There's also people on their way to work. And some people who you could tell were drunk and just heading home after a late night. Throngs of people were at the Library, with buses continuously arriving and departing for Staten Island.

I arrive in Staten Island at 6:30am - right at sunrise. It is even colder in Staten Island than it was in Manhattan. The open start time (for non-elite runners) is not until 10:10am.... The marathon "staging area" at Fort Wadsworth was a hub of activity - with people divided into three groups: Blue, Green and Orange, based on your bib color and expected finishing time. There were a lot of international runners. The loudspeaker continuously looped announcements in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese. It felt like being at the United Nations, except without the fighting, name-calling, or discussions about weapons of mass-destruction; and noone was at a podium declaring that someone else had committed human rights violations. We all spent three and a half hours sitting, getting cold, standing around, and eating food, waiting for the start.

Finally, as it gets closer to the start, the sexlingual (isn't "sex" the prefix for when there are 6?) announcements ask runners to get into their places by bib numbers. Everyone sheds their outer-clothes, and puts them into a bag that can be checked and re-claimed at the end of the marathon. As people get crowded together into the starting line, it feels a little warmer, and you can detect the odor of foreign runners from places where deoderant is not yet in style. A number of guys who were unable to make it to the port-o-potties find some relief in the bushes. For men, the whole world is your bathroom.

Miniature Golf and Pirates

It seems like most (or at least a good number of) miniature golf places are pirate-themed. Why is this?

Did pirates have a particular affinity for mini-golf? Maybe back when the pirates roamed the high seas, they played mini-golf on deck, or below deck, or in the caves where they would hide out. At least, that's the impression we get from playing mini-golf nowadays. No pirate treasure was complete without a collection of colorful golf balls.

Or, maybe miniature golf has a strong connection with piracy. Mini-golf uses only putters, which is the golf club most like a sword (especially when you hold it backwards/upside down). Plus, there's all that water and sand. And pirates surely loved fake grass and artificial rock structures ... and windmills.