The Packers beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV to win their 4th Vince Lombardi trophy.
I couldn't make it to Dallas but I enjoyed the game surrounded by friends, beer and bratwurst.
It brought back memories of the big game I saw in 1998 when the Packers played the Broncos at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The great thing about going to a Super Bowl is the fact you will see a national champion crowned. I've been to the World Series, The Rose Bowl and NBA playoffs but until Super Bowl XXXII I'd never seen a title game in person. It was everything I thought it would be except for one little thing: the wrong team won!
I became a Packer fan in 1965 when Don Chandler kicked a game winning field goal to beat the Colts in a sudden-death playoff game.
I was eight years-old and I'd never heard of "sudden-death" before and I could only imagine the pressure felt by Chandler. Growing up in Orange County you would think I’d have rooted for the Rams, who held training camp at nearby Fullerton State College. I even have pictures of me posing with legends like Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones. That didn't keep me from worshiping Bart Starr and Jim Taylor who ended up leading the Packers to victory at the very first Super Bowl in 1967.
As a kid I always dreamed about seeing a game at legendary Lambeau Field, site of the famous "Ice Bowl" in 1967 where the Packers beat the Cowboys in below freezing temperatures. Sometimes those childhood dreams come true and in December 1990 I went to my first game in Green Bay. Unfortunately for me it was the second coldest game in Lambeau history with the wind chill dropping as low as minus-35. Being a California kid whose only experience with winter came from skiing at Mammoth Mountain I was ill-prepared for the elements. When my friends noticed my windbreaker and tennis shoes they thought I was nuts.
"When I go skiing I dress in layers like this," I explained. "Well you're not going to be working up a sweat like you do on a mountain," said my buddy Stuart. "You are going to be sitting on a metal bench for three hours and you are going to need the heaviest jacket and boots you can find."
They actually borrowed clothing from strangers in the parking lot which included a pair of lady's ear muffs and fur lined Sorel boots. It was so cold my beer froze by the time I made it back to my seat! To add to my misery the Packers lost to the Barry Sanders-led Lions but thanks to my friends I avoided getting frostbite.
I was able to go to that game because I was actually living in Wisconsin at the time. For some reason I still don't understand I left sunny SoCal and ended up living on the beautiful Door County peninsula for three years. In 1992 I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Working for a small radio station I was assigned to cover the Packers for the upcoming season. That meant not only going to the games but actually getting access to the hallowed locker rooms at Lambeau. It turned out to be a quite a year which began with the hiring of coach Mike Holmgren and the acquisition of an unknown quarterback named Brett Favre.
The Packers missed the playoffs by one game but I knew great things were in store and I was right. They won the Super Bowl in 1997 and were huge favorites to beat the Broncos in 1998. By then I’d landed in Playa Del Rey and still had connections back in Green Bay, including a former girlfriend who scored me a precious ticket. I happily paid the $275, still the most I've ever spent for any event, and drove down to San Diego with high hopes. The night before the game my friends and I rode the trolley to various NFL sponsored parties and heard bands like Smash Mouth and Kool and the Gang. I was out late but still managed to get to the stadium by nine the next morning.
For the next six hours I treated my friends to bratwurst for breakfast and grilled chicken for lunch. (I remember it cost $10 to park back then, now its $100 just to stand in the parking lot!) Once inside I could feel the energy flowing throughout the stadium. The anticipation was nothing I’d felt before and by the time Jewel finished singing the national anthem I was ready to explode from the excitement. When the game finally began the action on the field had me riveted. Players always talk about the atmosphere at the Super Bowl. To call it “electric” would be an understatement.
Especially this game, a back and forth battle between quarterbacks Favre and John Elway, whose Broncos led at halftime 17-14. I hadn’t left my seat the entire time and was ready for a cold beer since it was an unusually hot day. Little did I know that the ushers would be stomping down the aisles, issuing instructions to everyone for the upcoming half time show.
I should have known it was coming since I’d been handed a seat cushion with a pocket full of goodies when I arrived. Now they were yelling at all of us to be prepared for the big production. I couldn’t believe how quickly a stage was set up and it looked liked hundreds of people had flooded the field. I was told to use a flashlight and then hold up a banner while Smokey Robinson and The Four Tops belted out a tribute to Motown. I loved the music and only later found out we were creating the illusion of a record album spinning around the stadium.
The second half action was even better than the first. John Elway scrambled for a first down and landed right in front of me after spinning around like a helicopter. Eventual game MVP Terrell Davis scored to make it 31-24 Broncos with 1:45 on the clock. The Packers made a desperate drive down the field but when time ran out the Broncos were Super Bowl champions.
I knew I’d just seen one of the greatest NFL games ever played. I knew I’d been part of history. There was just one problem. The wrong team won!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Good Luck Makes for Good Football Trip
The rain is falling again on Playa Del Rey as I write this while watching the last NFL game of the regular season. On my TV its the Rams vs Seahawks for the division title. Or maybe its a replay of the Rose Bowl. It seems like I've seen a year's worth of football in the last ten days so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I've just come home from a 1400 mile road trip during the holiday break and I'm the most grateful person in the world. I did not hit a single traffic jam during my journey which took me through three states. While miserable travelers were stranded in airports due to the east coast blizzard, I avoided three major traffic jams by pure luck! They say luck and preparation are the makings of success. This journey proved it.
For the past twenty years I've tried to make a trip to see a college bowl game at the end of the year. The games are full of blaring bands and rabid fans and great half time shows with fireworks better than the 4th of July. A couple of times that meant a short trip to the Rose Bowl before ticket prices became absurd. This time I planned to go to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona and the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Two games, two days and 350 miles apart. A perfect storm of football mania.
Then another storm of the rainy kind hit the southland and flooded my hotel in San Diego. The Days Inn sent me an email and promised to rebook me but all the rooms near the Holiday Bowl were sold out. Fans from icy Nebraska and rainy Washington were coming south to bask in the sun and I had to change my plans. If I couldn't go the Holiday Bowl I would go to a place where I could bet on the game: Las Vegas. I booked my room for the following week and with my plans finalized, I was ready to hit the road. On a sunny Christmas Eve morning, I headed north to my first stop, Santa Maria, where most of my family lives.
Highway 101 was clear and beautiful all the way up the coast before I turned inland to take the San Marcos pass through the Santa Ynez valley. I stopped at a turn out overlooking Lake Cachuma and took a couple pictures.
I used to live in Santa Barbara and drove this route countless times but never stopped to"smell the roses." This time I dropped by the Chumash Casino and won $20 from a video poker machine. Not a bad way to start a vacation.
I had the usual fun with my family playing card games like UNO and catching up with my sisters and their husbands. On Christmas Day it rained hard and I was glad I wasn't going anywhere. The next day I drove back to Playa Del Rey under clear skies and pondered taking PCH once I hit Oxnard. Fortunately I turned the radio to KNX and found out Highway One was closed due to a mudslide. I stayed on 101 and avoided the first major traffic snarl of my trip.
I had one night at home to pack and prepare for my 400 mile drive to Tempe. When I was younger I would sleep late before starting a road trip. Now I know I better. When there's less cars on the road there's less chance of a major accident so I was on the freeway by 6am. The weather was fine and the road was clear for all of us heading east but for anyone heading back to L.A. the scene was quite different. Major highway construction had reduced I-10 to one lane in each direction about 50 miles outside of Tempe. For some reason I skated through the area while cars heading west found themselves in a five mile backup! I don't know know why more people were going that way on a Monday at noon but it looked like a nightmare. I counted my blessings and filled up on gas which was about twenty cents cheaper per gallon than back home. That's why I always buy gas after I cross the state line.
Before I checked into my Days Inn on Apache Blvd. near Arizona State University I did a quick check of the pool area. I'd stayed there in the spring and knew they had a nice jacuzzi which is my number one requirement of a budget motel. I was dismayed to find the pool gate locked so I asked the woman behind the desk about the situation. She said they were remodeling some rooms by the pool and were worried about debris and dust but it looked clean to me. I told them I would have to cancel my reservation when one of the managers came by and said he would open the pool just for me! Another lucky break and the reason I like small motels.
This Days Inn is next to the light rail which I rode to Sun Devil Stadium for the exciting Insight Bowl between Missouri and Iowa. After spending all day in my car I appreciated public transit and the fact I didn't have to pay $20 for parking. The weather was sunny and mild for my two days in Arizona. This allowed me to get in 9 holes of golf and some serious pool time. On the last Wednesday of the year I said goodbye to my favorite college town and took off for Las Vegas under ominous dark clouds.
The Phoenix area and Las Vegas are two of the nation’s largest cities not connected by an interstate. That leaves Highway 93 as the most direct route. In the past that meant driving over the Hoover Dam which was usually congested. I’d heard about a brand new bridge over the Colorado River which was expected to shave twenty minutes off the 300 mile drive. I was halfway through the trip when a light and steady rain started to fall but once again I counted my blessings. I’d rather have it rain on a lonely desert highway than a crowded city freeway.
The rain let up when I reached the border and crossed the bridge. There wasn’t much to see from the road but people were out there, braving cold winds to take pictures of the bridge, supposedly a great engineering feat. Then things turned ugly. Apparently no one thought about the effect of re-routing traffic through tiny Boulder City after the bridge opened in October. As I headed north I noticed cars driving south were backed up for miles. Once again I was going in the right direction while others were stuck in a major traffic jam. I only hoped my luck would hold in Las Vegas.
I checked into the Super 8 next to the Ellis Island Casino and immediately went to the jacuzzi. It was about thirty degrees outside and would get much colder but I was feeling fine. The next day I heard about snow falling on Highway 93 and stranding travelers throughout Arizona. Once again I’d dodged the traffic bullet. After two fun days betting football and playing video poker I was ready to go home.
The highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is a crap shoot at best. I knew most of the traffic on New Year’s Eve morning would be heading north and once again I enjoyed a 300 mile drive without a single traffic problem. Sure, I left earlier than I usually do and of course my car was filled up with cheap Nevada gas. So I was prepared for the drive home. Yet I know it took a whole lot of luck to make this holiday road trip one I’ll never forget.
For the past twenty years I've tried to make a trip to see a college bowl game at the end of the year. The games are full of blaring bands and rabid fans and great half time shows with fireworks better than the 4th of July. A couple of times that meant a short trip to the Rose Bowl before ticket prices became absurd. This time I planned to go to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona and the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Two games, two days and 350 miles apart. A perfect storm of football mania.
Then another storm of the rainy kind hit the southland and flooded my hotel in San Diego. The Days Inn sent me an email and promised to rebook me but all the rooms near the Holiday Bowl were sold out. Fans from icy Nebraska and rainy Washington were coming south to bask in the sun and I had to change my plans. If I couldn't go the Holiday Bowl I would go to a place where I could bet on the game: Las Vegas. I booked my room for the following week and with my plans finalized, I was ready to hit the road. On a sunny Christmas Eve morning, I headed north to my first stop, Santa Maria, where most of my family lives.
Highway 101 was clear and beautiful all the way up the coast before I turned inland to take the San Marcos pass through the Santa Ynez valley. I stopped at a turn out overlooking Lake Cachuma and took a couple pictures.
I used to live in Santa Barbara and drove this route countless times but never stopped to"smell the roses." This time I dropped by the Chumash Casino and won $20 from a video poker machine. Not a bad way to start a vacation.
I had the usual fun with my family playing card games like UNO and catching up with my sisters and their husbands. On Christmas Day it rained hard and I was glad I wasn't going anywhere. The next day I drove back to Playa Del Rey under clear skies and pondered taking PCH once I hit Oxnard. Fortunately I turned the radio to KNX and found out Highway One was closed due to a mudslide. I stayed on 101 and avoided the first major traffic snarl of my trip.
I had one night at home to pack and prepare for my 400 mile drive to Tempe. When I was younger I would sleep late before starting a road trip. Now I know I better. When there's less cars on the road there's less chance of a major accident so I was on the freeway by 6am. The weather was fine and the road was clear for all of us heading east but for anyone heading back to L.A. the scene was quite different. Major highway construction had reduced I-10 to one lane in each direction about 50 miles outside of Tempe. For some reason I skated through the area while cars heading west found themselves in a five mile backup! I don't know know why more people were going that way on a Monday at noon but it looked like a nightmare. I counted my blessings and filled up on gas which was about twenty cents cheaper per gallon than back home. That's why I always buy gas after I cross the state line.
Before I checked into my Days Inn on Apache Blvd. near Arizona State University I did a quick check of the pool area. I'd stayed there in the spring and knew they had a nice jacuzzi which is my number one requirement of a budget motel. I was dismayed to find the pool gate locked so I asked the woman behind the desk about the situation. She said they were remodeling some rooms by the pool and were worried about debris and dust but it looked clean to me. I told them I would have to cancel my reservation when one of the managers came by and said he would open the pool just for me! Another lucky break and the reason I like small motels.
This Days Inn is next to the light rail which I rode to Sun Devil Stadium for the exciting Insight Bowl between Missouri and Iowa. After spending all day in my car I appreciated public transit and the fact I didn't have to pay $20 for parking. The weather was sunny and mild for my two days in Arizona. This allowed me to get in 9 holes of golf and some serious pool time. On the last Wednesday of the year I said goodbye to my favorite college town and took off for Las Vegas under ominous dark clouds.
The Phoenix area and Las Vegas are two of the nation’s largest cities not connected by an interstate. That leaves Highway 93 as the most direct route. In the past that meant driving over the Hoover Dam which was usually congested. I’d heard about a brand new bridge over the Colorado River which was expected to shave twenty minutes off the 300 mile drive. I was halfway through the trip when a light and steady rain started to fall but once again I counted my blessings. I’d rather have it rain on a lonely desert highway than a crowded city freeway.
The rain let up when I reached the border and crossed the bridge. There wasn’t much to see from the road but people were out there, braving cold winds to take pictures of the bridge, supposedly a great engineering feat. Then things turned ugly. Apparently no one thought about the effect of re-routing traffic through tiny Boulder City after the bridge opened in October. As I headed north I noticed cars driving south were backed up for miles. Once again I was going in the right direction while others were stuck in a major traffic jam. I only hoped my luck would hold in Las Vegas.
I checked into the Super 8 next to the Ellis Island Casino and immediately went to the jacuzzi. It was about thirty degrees outside and would get much colder but I was feeling fine. The next day I heard about snow falling on Highway 93 and stranding travelers throughout Arizona. Once again I’d dodged the traffic bullet. After two fun days betting football and playing video poker I was ready to go home.
The highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is a crap shoot at best. I knew most of the traffic on New Year’s Eve morning would be heading north and once again I enjoyed a 300 mile drive without a single traffic problem. Sure, I left earlier than I usually do and of course my car was filled up with cheap Nevada gas. So I was prepared for the drive home. Yet I know it took a whole lot of luck to make this holiday road trip one I’ll never forget.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Kobe v Lebron Is Perfect XMAS gift
The picture you see to the right was something I tore from the newspaper last summer and scanned earlier today. After all the hoopla and angst about Lebron James leaving Cleveland what was lost in the public relations debris was the fact that the Miami Heat were going to play in L.A. on Christmas Day. Now its just a few days away and I am actually looking forward to it. (And I make a point of ignoring the Lakers on their annual XMAS tilts just out of principle). I'm guessing by 2pm this Saturday I will need a break from my family's card games and football tosses. So all I will want is to curl up on a couch with a holiday quaff and a Christmas brownie and watch what
is going to be a tremendous game featuring the very best basketball players on the planet. Then I'll eat dinner, help with dishes and end up tossing the football around in the chilly winter night until we go inside to play some more games. I guess what I'm trying to say is Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!
is going to be a tremendous game featuring the very best basketball players on the planet. Then I'll eat dinner, help with dishes and end up tossing the football around in the chilly winter night until we go inside to play some more games. I guess what I'm trying to say is Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hey Dodgers! I Want A Divorce!
In 1994 I was at Dodger Stadium when Larry Walker of the Expos made one of the most infamous plays in Dodger Stadium history. You've probably seen the clip where he makes a catch and hands the ball to a fan, only to discover it's the second out of the inning and not the third. His frantic attempt to retrieve the ball while Jose Offerman runs the bases is part of baseball lore. I actually saw the whole thing on TV, standing next to Kings owner Bruce McNall while waiting for drinks at the Outfield Bar.
I didn't know it at the time but both McNall (on the verge of bankruptcy and prison) and Dodger Stadium (a few years from being sold by Peter O' Malley to the Fox News Corp.) were headed for big changes. One of them was the Outfield Bar, up on the club level but open to the public. The one place the average fan could get a cocktail and freshly popped popcorn. Served up by bartenders straight out of "The Shining." It sat next to the cafeteria, where a big chef in a big hat would carve out a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side. All for $8.00, or about the current price of a beer. In 2000, Fox installed private luxury suites on the club level and razed both the cafeteria and the bar. So long average guy, hello big spender.
The 21st century brought more changes, and none of them worthwhile. How about the blanket fiasco, where fans were given a nice bit of fleece saluting the championship teams of 1962 and 1966, even though the Dodgers won in '63 and '65? This was the start of the Frank McCourt era, and hopefully it will end soon.
This carpet bagger raised the price of parking to $15.00 and raised ticket prices so high that many season ticket holders relinquished seats they’d had since 1962. He instituted a police state where cars are directed to specific spots by stern-faced attendants and fans are searched upon entry. Its like going to the airport but not quite as fun! Whatever joy I felt when going to Dodger Stadium has been completely drained by McCourt’s actions, and of course, the public embarrassment of his divorce trial. Now we know Frank and his wife were just using the Dodgers as a personal ATM machine to buy expensive homes instead of expensive players.
This year on fan appreciation day only 20,000 fans showed up and most of them ending up
booing any mention of the McCourts. Its a sad situation.
It’s a crazy world when the Oakland Raiders allow tailgating but the Dodger security force will order you to leave your car immediately. Don’t even think about having a quick beer before going inside. I have traveled all over the country for sports and concerts and never been treated this way! Thank goodness for Vin Scully, the only reason to remain a Dodger fan. When I was growing up, everyone I knew listened to him. At the beach, at home or at the stadium, Scully's voice was synonymous with summer. Now Vinny only does three innings of radio and I’m not sure who the other announcers are, but I know they don’t hold a candle to Ross Porter, who was fired a few years ago for no reason.
Since my first game in 1965 I have been to Dodger Stadium at least 500 times. This year I’ve been once. I will never go again as long as McCourt owns the team.
I didn't know it at the time but both McNall (on the verge of bankruptcy and prison) and Dodger Stadium (a few years from being sold by Peter O' Malley to the Fox News Corp.) were headed for big changes. One of them was the Outfield Bar, up on the club level but open to the public. The one place the average fan could get a cocktail and freshly popped popcorn. Served up by bartenders straight out of "The Shining." It sat next to the cafeteria, where a big chef in a big hat would carve out a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side. All for $8.00, or about the current price of a beer. In 2000, Fox installed private luxury suites on the club level and razed both the cafeteria and the bar. So long average guy, hello big spender.
The 21st century brought more changes, and none of them worthwhile. How about the blanket fiasco, where fans were given a nice bit of fleece saluting the championship teams of 1962 and 1966, even though the Dodgers won in '63 and '65? This was the start of the Frank McCourt era, and hopefully it will end soon.
This carpet bagger raised the price of parking to $15.00 and raised ticket prices so high that many season ticket holders relinquished seats they’d had since 1962. He instituted a police state where cars are directed to specific spots by stern-faced attendants and fans are searched upon entry. Its like going to the airport but not quite as fun! Whatever joy I felt when going to Dodger Stadium has been completely drained by McCourt’s actions, and of course, the public embarrassment of his divorce trial. Now we know Frank and his wife were just using the Dodgers as a personal ATM machine to buy expensive homes instead of expensive players.
This year on fan appreciation day only 20,000 fans showed up and most of them ending up
booing any mention of the McCourts. Its a sad situation.
It’s a crazy world when the Oakland Raiders allow tailgating but the Dodger security force will order you to leave your car immediately. Don’t even think about having a quick beer before going inside. I have traveled all over the country for sports and concerts and never been treated this way! Thank goodness for Vin Scully, the only reason to remain a Dodger fan. When I was growing up, everyone I knew listened to him. At the beach, at home or at the stadium, Scully's voice was synonymous with summer. Now Vinny only does three innings of radio and I’m not sure who the other announcers are, but I know they don’t hold a candle to Ross Porter, who was fired a few years ago for no reason.
Since my first game in 1965 I have been to Dodger Stadium at least 500 times. This year I’ve been once. I will never go again as long as McCourt owns the team.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Favre Is At It Again!
Except this time he's borrowed a page from Lebron James and is holding an entire city hostage!
Will he play or won't he? Its driving sports talk radio guys crazy and same with me! No reason to say anything more. Read my piece from 8/20/09...same exact story a year later!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
World Cup Is Hard On The Nerves!
Watching the World Cup while drinking your morning coffee can be hazardous to your health. I realized this last Friday when the USA tied Slovenia 2-2 after trailing by two goals at the half. Watching the match at 8am PDT had my heart racing as I downed my usual get-me-going cups of java. I should have been drinking beer or anything else without caffeine because the tension kept building throughout the final minutes when the USA was robbed of the game-winning goal by a horrendous call. The match against Slovenia will be remembered for the Maurice Edu goal that referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali inexplicably waved off in the 85th minute. I was hollering at the TV (and so were others in my neighborhood) and I was still in bed! The game ended in a 2-2 draw.
In the following days the complaints of "we were robbed" were replaced by "we only need to beat lowly Algeria." A win by the USA in the final match of pool play would guarantee advancing to the sweet 16 of the World Cup, something the Americans have rarely done. In a delightful twist, the USA's main concern on Wednesday would not be Algeria but England! If England could beat Slovenia while the USA lost then England would advance and the Americans would go home. Of course, both matches would be played on the same day at the same time: 7am PDT.
If it was the weekend I would have started out with screwdrivers instead of coffee, but since it was a workday I drank my coffee with extra cream to try and cut the caffeine buzz. I switched back and forth between the two games, keeping an eye on Steven Gerrard of England, my favorite soccer player. When his Three Lions scored an early goal I went back to the USA game, and once again found myself yelling at the TV set. American Herculez Gomez got off two shots, the second of which rebounded to an unmarked Clint Dempsey at the far post, who knocked the ball into the empty net.
But the play was ruled offside, the USA once again appearing to lose a goal to an official's decision. "What next?" I barked. By half-time I knew I was done with the coffee. The tension was unbearable so I switched to a diet 7-up. Better for the stomach and my nerves. Eating was out of the question, not for another 45 minutes at least. That's my favorite thing about soccer: it doesn't take two hours to play 45 minutes. The clock never stops and neither does the action. Even if its a boring game, in the end it takes two hours to play 90 minutes and there's no commercials during play. 60 minutes of NFL football takes three hours to play yet there's only an average of eleven minutes of actual playing time!
Again and again the Americans came close to scoring but it was still a 0-0 tie with a few minutes of stoppage time to play. Two minutes away from going home, Landon Donovan came out of nowhere to score the unbelievable winning goal for the USA and all hell broke loose. I heard a loud barrage of cheers emanating from the bar down the street. I saw Landon do a face-first victory slide before getting mobbed by his joyous teammates. I jumped out of bed and jumped around while my neighbors made their own noise. All of this at 9am! A great day for me since I was also rooting for England to move on and they did with a 1-0 victory.
The most amazing thing of all is I'm listening to the Jim Rome radio show right now and he's been talking about the match for two hours, calling it amazing and a "huge win" for the USA. He's interviewed two reporters from South Africa and taking calls from USA soccer fans. Now if you've ever listened to Rome you know HE HATES SOCCER! Bashes it every chance he gets but even the king of sports talk radio said he didn't want to be a "buzz kill." Believe me, after watching the USA beat Algeria 1-0, I was certainly buzzed, with or without the caffeine!
In the following days the complaints of "we were robbed" were replaced by "we only need to beat lowly Algeria." A win by the USA in the final match of pool play would guarantee advancing to the sweet 16 of the World Cup, something the Americans have rarely done. In a delightful twist, the USA's main concern on Wednesday would not be Algeria but England! If England could beat Slovenia while the USA lost then England would advance and the Americans would go home. Of course, both matches would be played on the same day at the same time: 7am PDT.
If it was the weekend I would have started out with screwdrivers instead of coffee, but since it was a workday I drank my coffee with extra cream to try and cut the caffeine buzz. I switched back and forth between the two games, keeping an eye on Steven Gerrard of England, my favorite soccer player. When his Three Lions scored an early goal I went back to the USA game, and once again found myself yelling at the TV set. American Herculez Gomez got off two shots, the second of which rebounded to an unmarked Clint Dempsey at the far post, who knocked the ball into the empty net.
But the play was ruled offside, the USA once again appearing to lose a goal to an official's decision. "What next?" I barked. By half-time I knew I was done with the coffee. The tension was unbearable so I switched to a diet 7-up. Better for the stomach and my nerves. Eating was out of the question, not for another 45 minutes at least. That's my favorite thing about soccer: it doesn't take two hours to play 45 minutes. The clock never stops and neither does the action. Even if its a boring game, in the end it takes two hours to play 90 minutes and there's no commercials during play. 60 minutes of NFL football takes three hours to play yet there's only an average of eleven minutes of actual playing time!
Again and again the Americans came close to scoring but it was still a 0-0 tie with a few minutes of stoppage time to play. Two minutes away from going home, Landon Donovan came out of nowhere to score the unbelievable winning goal for the USA and all hell broke loose. I heard a loud barrage of cheers emanating from the bar down the street. I saw Landon do a face-first victory slide before getting mobbed by his joyous teammates. I jumped out of bed and jumped around while my neighbors made their own noise. All of this at 9am! A great day for me since I was also rooting for England to move on and they did with a 1-0 victory.
The most amazing thing of all is I'm listening to the Jim Rome radio show right now and he's been talking about the match for two hours, calling it amazing and a "huge win" for the USA. He's interviewed two reporters from South Africa and taking calls from USA soccer fans. Now if you've ever listened to Rome you know HE HATES SOCCER! Bashes it every chance he gets but even the king of sports talk radio said he didn't want to be a "buzz kill." Believe me, after watching the USA beat Algeria 1-0, I was certainly buzzed, with or without the caffeine!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
NBA and LeBron JaMEs are Ruining The Game!
After seven long weeks of interminable playoffs the NBA finals have finally arrived. As a long time Laker fan I should be excited but I'm just exhausted. Instead of building up momentum to the championship series, the NBA's policy of stretching out each playoff round has resulted in tedium and boredom. How come the NHL can play games every other day when the NBA's convoluted schedule has resulted in several days off between games? The Lakers clinched the Western Division last Saturday and the first game against the Celtics is set for Thursday? Game 2 is Sunday, two full days off and the teams don't even have to travel between games! It's frustrating and downright ridiculous. It was even worse in the earlier rounds.
Any sport that takes nearly two months to complete the playoffs is in serious need of revision. The Olympics combine hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries and somehow get it done in two weeks. Look at the NBA Finals schedule: Game 1 set for June 3, the seventh game set for June 17th. Why? Of course the answer is television and the big bucks the networks pay to air the games. So ABC and TNT make the scheduling decisions while commissioner David Stern counts his money and the fans succumb to apathy even if they love the sport. What should be a thrilling month of action is now a drawn out ordeal where the players get rusty and the fans get angry. There's got to be a better way.
I applaud the radio hosts Petros and Money on Fox radio for continuing to bash the NBA for ruining what was once an exciting product. Now its just a war of attrition that goes from November to June. Even in the regular season teams get as much as 5 days off at a time and you can't blame TV for that.
Even worse than all the delays is the eminent free agency of a certain Lebron JaMEs. Yes, the narcissist from Cleveland can go to the highest bidder when the playoffs are done. Every single human being should know this by now because that's the only thing this guy has talked about all season long. He's barely mentioned his team, a talented group of guys with whom LeBron has led to exactly zero championships. After his last loss LeBron did mention that his "team" had some big decisions to make, but he was referring to his posse of sycophants and toadies who surround him when he's off the court. These parasites are more important to JaMEs than the Cavaliers and they've been giving him bad advice from the get-go.
JaMEs has scheduled an interview with Larry King to air during the NBA finals, making sure he steals the spotlight from the players who've actually earned it. JaMEs has called for a "summit" meeting of other free agents like Dwayne Wade to discuss which teams are worthy of their talents. JaMEs is the same guy who did nothing but celebrate himself during the Bejing Olympics while Kobe Bryant mingled with the fans and conducted free clinics. JaMEs is the guy who believes there is an "I" in the word team just like there's a ME in his last name.
He'll get his millions but hopefully he'll never get his championship. Even if he does, the NBA playoff schedule will make sure he'll have to wait a long time to get it.
Any sport that takes nearly two months to complete the playoffs is in serious need of revision. The Olympics combine hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries and somehow get it done in two weeks. Look at the NBA Finals schedule: Game 1 set for June 3, the seventh game set for June 17th. Why? Of course the answer is television and the big bucks the networks pay to air the games. So ABC and TNT make the scheduling decisions while commissioner David Stern counts his money and the fans succumb to apathy even if they love the sport. What should be a thrilling month of action is now a drawn out ordeal where the players get rusty and the fans get angry. There's got to be a better way.
I applaud the radio hosts Petros and Money on Fox radio for continuing to bash the NBA for ruining what was once an exciting product. Now its just a war of attrition that goes from November to June. Even in the regular season teams get as much as 5 days off at a time and you can't blame TV for that.
Even worse than all the delays is the eminent free agency of a certain Lebron JaMEs. Yes, the narcissist from Cleveland can go to the highest bidder when the playoffs are done. Every single human being should know this by now because that's the only thing this guy has talked about all season long. He's barely mentioned his team, a talented group of guys with whom LeBron has led to exactly zero championships. After his last loss LeBron did mention that his "team" had some big decisions to make, but he was referring to his posse of sycophants and toadies who surround him when he's off the court. These parasites are more important to JaMEs than the Cavaliers and they've been giving him bad advice from the get-go.
JaMEs has scheduled an interview with Larry King to air during the NBA finals, making sure he steals the spotlight from the players who've actually earned it. JaMEs has called for a "summit" meeting of other free agents like Dwayne Wade to discuss which teams are worthy of their talents. JaMEs is the same guy who did nothing but celebrate himself during the Bejing Olympics while Kobe Bryant mingled with the fans and conducted free clinics. JaMEs is the guy who believes there is an "I" in the word team just like there's a ME in his last name.
He'll get his millions but hopefully he'll never get his championship. Even if he does, the NBA playoff schedule will make sure he'll have to wait a long time to get it.
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