July 3, 2008 (on plane to Atlanta)
Independence Day thoughts
• I like our flag; looks good when it waves. But like most folks would be happy to change our national anthem to either: America the Beautiful: This Land is Your Land; The Bill of Rights Song (still unwritten); or my dark horse: Roll Over Beethoven;
• I wish we would declare independence from fossil fuels, at least in my kids’ lifetime;
• I am tired of talking about gas prices and drilling. The November election can’t get here soon enough for me.
July 1, 2008 (hotel room in San Francisco)
Just got back from watching the Giants defeat the Cubs 2-1 at AT&T Park. Impressive performance by Matt Cain, who struck out 11 in 8 shut out innings. Brian Wilson made it interesting in the ninth when he gave up a lead off triple to Derrek Lee and left two more on before he finally got the third out.
Many consider AT&T the finest of the new parks, and it’s hard to argue after our visit today. First and foremost, it is impressive how they fit that park on such a small parcel of land. AT&T is wedged in between the water and the Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco. That alone makes it one of the most authentic of the throwback parks.
Wrigley and Fenway – and parks like Shibe Park in Philly or the Ebbetts Field and everyone other old time park – are quirky in part because they are squeezed into a cityscape or crammed into one or two city blocks. It's like Fenway in that if you were walking down the street you would have no idea that there was a ball field behind the outer wall (at least the one that faces the Embarcadero. The other side of the Green Monster is the same; from the street it looks like the wall of a warehouse or factory, at least to me). AT&T is as small as those two classics, and intimate does not do it justice. I felt like we were ON the field from our seats in the 18th row down the third base line.
For being on such a small strip of land the stadium doesn't feel steep or crammed in, either. From our seats it felt like we were at eye level with the players in the Giants bullpen a few yards in front of us.
A few more impressions:
• San Francisco has always been a great baseball town. Even when they played at Candlestick and did not draw well – mainly due to the weather – television ratings were always high. AT&T has proven that San Francisco is a great baseball city; they continue to draw without Barry Bonds and with a fairly lackluster team. Bengie Molina is their clean up hitter and they have no marquee players on that squad but are on pace for 3 million fans.
• Ran into some great fans at the game. I wore my Cuban X-Giants Negro League jersey and received three unsolicited compliments.
• The concourses are narrower than the ones at other new parks I’ve been to, and there were lines for the MEN’S ROOM! What, I ask you, is up with that?
• The Giants pull it off even though there is almost no parking around the park. To compensate there are three trains that service the area near the stadium, and tons of folks walk down the Embarcadero water front to the game from other parts of downtown. The Nats should take note on how the Giants do it.
• Good selection of food and beer; at the Say Hey sausage stand you can chose from Italian, Bratwurst, Spicy Louisiana, Lemon Chicken, or a Kosher hot dog. There were some local restaurants stands offering things like garlic chicken, a ravioli bowl, churros, etc.
One last baseball note: check out the Fire Jim Bowden page at Facebook, courtesy of Stephen Biel @ http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=18696068003&members=1#/group.php?gid=18696068003
June 25, 2008 (plane to San Francisco)
EURO Final Four
When you look at the Final Four of Euro 2008 you see nations that did not have a great 20th century. All four have quite a bit of baggage, to say the least. You can take your pick from a depressing slate of human tragedy, from fascism (Spain, Germany), totalitarianism (Russia), genocide (Turkey, Germany), and of course crazy nationalism (Russia, Germany, and Turkey). Of course, things have gotten better in at least 2 of those countries, but that foursome is hardly Greece, France, Holland and the Czech Republic. [That second foursome is not based on the 20th century history, rather than historic contributions to liberty and liberalism.]
Even though the Hellenes did not earn a point in defending their title, in retrospect they had a decent tournament when you compare them to the final four. Greece outplayed Russia but lost due a terrible goal given up by Nikopolidis and a bad off sides call, led Spain for most of their contest, and during qualifying marched into the city and defeated Turkey 1-0 in Constantinople.
On to the World Cup! If I win the lottery between now and the spring of 2010 the kids and I are off to South Africa to watch the United States, who should qualify, and hopefully Greece.
Carolina Baseball
The Tar Heel baseball season ended very much like the basketball season did – a loss in the Final Four with a nagging feeling that the best team did NOT win. Against Fresno State on Sunday Carolina looked worn out, at the plate and on the mound. Nonetheless, a third straight trip to Omaha is hard to do, so by any stretch it was a very successful season.
That said, it still stinks to lose so close to the championship.
No Heels in Draft
With Lawson, Ellington, and Green withdrawing from the NBA draft, anything less than the national championship in 2009 will be seen as a disappointment for Carolina.
The good news is if anyone can handle that kind of pressure and expectations, I think it’s Roy Williams. The only player not returning is Alex Stephenson, who is transferring to a school closer to home in California to be near his ailing father.
The expectations going into this season will be very similar to the ones placed on the 2005 team (and the 2007 Florida squad). There were lots of comparisons between the 2005 and the 2008 teams. Those comparisons will only increase this season.
As always, Go Heels!
For being on such a small strip of land the stadium doesn't feel steep or crammed in, either. From our seats it felt like we were at eye level with the players in the Giants bullpen a few yards in front of us.
We were hoping to see Manny Burress, the first DC native in 30 years to make it to the majors, a DC Little League alum, and graduate of Wilson High School, play but he never got off the bench. Even though Omar Vizquel is hitting a Nats-like .180 Burress did not play.
A few more impressions:
• San Francisco has always been a great baseball town. Even when they played at Candlestick and did not draw well – mainly due to the weather – television ratings were always high. AT&T has proven that San Francisco is a great baseball city; they continue to draw without Barry Bonds and with a fairly lackluster team. Bengie Molina is their clean up hitter and they have no marquee players on that squad but are on pace for 3 million fans.
• Ran into some great fans at the game. I wore my Cuban X-Giants Negro League jersey and received three unsolicited compliments.
• The concourses are narrower than the ones at other new parks I’ve been to, and there were lines for the MEN’S ROOM! What, I ask you, is up with that?
• The Giants pull it off even though there is almost no parking around the park. To compensate there are three trains that service the area near the stadium, and tons of folks walk down the Embarcadero water front to the game from other parts of downtown. The Nats should take note on how the Giants do it.
• Good selection of food and beer; at the Say Hey sausage stand you can chose from Italian, Bratwurst, Spicy Louisiana, Lemon Chicken, or a Kosher hot dog. There were some local restaurants stands offering things like garlic chicken, a ravioli bowl, churros, etc.
• And despite cheesie elements like the giant Coke bottle in left, it’s a gorgeous stadium. It’s like Camden Yards with it’s brick, iron and green seats, but has nice unique touches such as palm trees, McCovey Cove, and an open right field fence where you can watch the game for free (obstructed view, but still free). I’m a sucker for that style, and prefer the brick and green seat style to the more modern and sleek look of Nats Park.
If I had to rank all the stadiums, new and old (existing parks only), that I’ve been to it would be:
1. Wrigley
2. Fenway
3. Camden Yards
4. AT&T Park
5. PNC Park in Pittsburgh
6. Tropicana Field in Houston
7. Nationals Park
8. Ballpark in Arlington, Texas
9. Jacobs Field in Cleveland
10. Joe Robbie in Miami*
11. Shea Stadium*
12. New Comiskey*
* Kind of hard to rank these since they all stink; special dispensation goes to New Comiskey for building such a terrible park in the modern, supposedly more enlightened era.
If I had to rank all the stadiums, new and old (existing parks only), that I’ve been to it would be:
1. Wrigley
2. Fenway
3. Camden Yards
4. AT&T Park
5. PNC Park in Pittsburgh
6. Tropicana Field in Houston
7. Nationals Park
8. Ballpark in Arlington, Texas
9. Jacobs Field in Cleveland
10. Joe Robbie in Miami*
11. Shea Stadium*
12. New Comiskey*
* Kind of hard to rank these since they all stink; special dispensation goes to New Comiskey for building such a terrible park in the modern, supposedly more enlightened era.
A final AT&T Park note - at the end of the game, a great win with the crowd way into it, they played "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" by Tony Bennett. Now I love Tony Bennett, but that is a very sedate song, so it was odd to hear it after such an excited game and finish. Where 'New York New York" is an energetic song that fits in after a win or a loss, "ILMHISF" is too mellow for a post-game song. I'd go to the East Bay and play "I Fought The Law and I Won" by the Dead Kennedys after a win.
One last baseball note: check out the Fire Jim Bowden page at Facebook, courtesy of Stephen Biel @ http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?gid=18696068003&members=1#/group.php?gid=18696068003
June 25, 2008 (plane to San Francisco)
EURO Final Four
When you look at the Final Four of Euro 2008 you see nations that did not have a great 20th century. All four have quite a bit of baggage, to say the least. You can take your pick from a depressing slate of human tragedy, from fascism (Spain, Germany), totalitarianism (Russia), genocide (Turkey, Germany), and of course crazy nationalism (Russia, Germany, and Turkey). Of course, things have gotten better in at least 2 of those countries, but that foursome is hardly Greece, France, Holland and the Czech Republic. [That second foursome is not based on the 20th century history, rather than historic contributions to liberty and liberalism.]
Even though the Hellenes did not earn a point in defending their title, in retrospect they had a decent tournament when you compare them to the final four. Greece outplayed Russia but lost due a terrible goal given up by Nikopolidis and a bad off sides call, led Spain for most of their contest, and during qualifying marched into the city and defeated Turkey 1-0 in Constantinople.
On to the World Cup! If I win the lottery between now and the spring of 2010 the kids and I are off to South Africa to watch the United States, who should qualify, and hopefully Greece.
Carolina Baseball
The Tar Heel baseball season ended very much like the basketball season did – a loss in the Final Four with a nagging feeling that the best team did NOT win. Against Fresno State on Sunday Carolina looked worn out, at the plate and on the mound. Nonetheless, a third straight trip to Omaha is hard to do, so by any stretch it was a very successful season.
That said, it still stinks to lose so close to the championship.
No Heels in Draft
With Lawson, Ellington, and Green withdrawing from the NBA draft, anything less than the national championship in 2009 will be seen as a disappointment for Carolina.
The good news is if anyone can handle that kind of pressure and expectations, I think it’s Roy Williams. The only player not returning is Alex Stephenson, who is transferring to a school closer to home in California to be near his ailing father.
The expectations going into this season will be very similar to the ones placed on the 2005 team (and the 2007 Florida squad). There were lots of comparisons between the 2005 and the 2008 teams. Those comparisons will only increase this season.
As always, Go Heels!
8 comments:
Wow! That is a lot of pent up blogging, Athan! Definitely "This Land is Your Land" despite its sing-song repetition it's the strongest testament to American ideals. I also thought Spain played beautiful soccer--they deserved to win, and yes, it was hard to root for any German national team, though they are always great competitors. Welcome home!
Christine
sorry you are tired of talking about gas prices b/c it's not going to go away... At Towson's 4th of July parade, one of the McCain supporters marching behind the McCain "float" had a homemade sign w/ a picture of a moose, a tree and the words "drill here"....people were clapping! I booed and yelled, "drill here for 4 months of oil" or something to that effect. What a bunch of maroons, to quote bugs bunny.
and how can a downtown SF hotel NOT have free WiFi? What's up with that?
With Lawson, Ellington, and Green withdrawing from the NBA draft, anything less than the national championship in 2009 will be seen as a disappointment for Carolina.
Ha! I begin every season with that sentiment.
P.S. Come to Seattle in the summer. I'll take you to SafeCo field. It's beautiful. (It's even better when the M's aren't playing in it.)
Only bad thing about SF's ballpark is it's on its third corporate name already. It was PacBell Park when Becky & I went there on our honeymoon. Bonds hit two HRs, including a splashdown in the Cove, to beat Heathliff Slocumb "If Ya Got 'Em" and the Cardinals. you can look it up on retrosheet.org. That was a great, great day. I need to get back to San Fran.
Correct about the corporate thing (though SBC is the same company as AT&T; they simply bought the name AT&T because it was available). But I can live with the corporate name since that stadium was privately financed with no taxpayer dollars (though they did get a zoning thing from the city). I think it's the only privately built baseball or football field built in the US in 30+ years.
To his credit, our Abe Pollin here in DC privately built the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, a move that single handedly revitalized a part of down that was literally empty for 30 years after the 1968 riots.
11. Shea Stadium*
* Kind of hard to rank these since they all stink...
Shea may be a dump, but it's OUR dump and we still love it. The only good thing about the fake Comiskey? Comiskey dogs.
A notable thing about new Comiskey, and to follow along with the theme of disparaging corporate-named ballparks, is that its now called "U.S. Cellular" Field. Its made worse by the fact that the dreaded White Sox play there.
This Land is your Land would be an amazing National Anthem, especially given the progressive leanings of its author... the song also gave rise to a popular internet video, which is a nice segue to talking about the upcoming election:
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/this_land
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