Last weekend my brother came up for a day and we went to the Harvard Princeton game. Harvard shellacked Princeton who seemed to have only one offensive play that could work. The day threatened rain and in the beginning of the third quarter we had to put on ponchos for a few minutes to stay dry. I once took my father to a Harvard game in the rain and he insists, to this day, that sitting watching that game was the most foolish thing he has ever done. Nevertheless, Bobby and I watched the Princeton game last week and we were hardly alone. In fact, there was a reunion of some sort. The class of 79 at Harvard was reuniting. We are not alums of fair Harvard and graduated well before 1979 but were so impressed by the spread of barbecue laid out for the alums that we, sans badges, indulged lest some of the good food for the class of 1979 go to waste.
Today I went to Harvard alone to watch Harvard pummel Dartmouth. Harvard stadium is beautiful, a truly great place to watch a football game (as long as you bring a cushion--the seats are cement). Today I sat near the top of the stadium near the 40 yard line and was surrounded by alums with a fervid interest in the team. It was a joy to listen to them discuss the game knowledgeably. A fellow to my right kept commenting about the plays and provided insights I had never considered. Occasionally, he would tap me on the shoulder and say something like, "not smart to call a time out" "do you think they will take it off tackle here." In front of me a fellow with a cap reading class of 1959 turned and smiled each time Harvard pulled off a successful play. To my left a septuagenarian explained patiently to either his wife or his partner (I'm guessing the latter given the patience they both had for each other) the nuances of the game, like a seventeen year old explaining football to his teenage sweetheart.
Fans everywhere rooting for fair Harvard.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
college football championship begins
College football is the one sport that begins with playoffs and ends with an exhibition season. Professional football, for example, is completing its exhibition season tonight and tomorrow night, and then will begin a regular season, and then have playoffs.
Not in college football. The bizarre process begins tonight and then this weekend in full force. Any major team that loses this weekend, the very first weekend of the season, is virtually eliminated from championship contention. A loss before labor day can ruin, literally ruin, a championship run for Ohio State, Florida, Penn State.
Once the regular/playoff season is over in November, then teams play a series of bowl games that are essentially exhibitions. With only one game predetermined as the national championship game, these Gator, Citrus, whatever bowls are for show.
So, if you are interested in college football and care about national championships, every single week, for better or worse, is sudden death for any team who aspires to be the number one team in the nation.
Not in college football. The bizarre process begins tonight and then this weekend in full force. Any major team that loses this weekend, the very first weekend of the season, is virtually eliminated from championship contention. A loss before labor day can ruin, literally ruin, a championship run for Ohio State, Florida, Penn State.
Once the regular/playoff season is over in November, then teams play a series of bowl games that are essentially exhibitions. With only one game predetermined as the national championship game, these Gator, Citrus, whatever bowls are for show.
So, if you are interested in college football and care about national championships, every single week, for better or worse, is sudden death for any team who aspires to be the number one team in the nation.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Pitino
Rick Pitino is a very successful college basketball coach who is being excoriated in various circles these last few days. Pitino claimed that an inamorata had attempted to extort moneys from him. Recently allegations have surfaced about the nature of the relationship and Pitino's alleged requests of his paramour.
A fellow in the locker room the other day asked me what I thought about this.
Here is what I think.
This is none of my business or anybody else's. Nobody but Pitino and his accuser know the nuances of the situation and anyone on the sideline who decides to adjudicate the matter might, I would suggest, have--or should have--better things to do.
Why this is news relates to (a) folks' insatiable desire to discuss prurient activities and (b) the fact that some people's favorite pastime is offering an opinion because it is easier to spew critically about someone else than be introspective. Newscasters are in the business of creating news that is appealing to readers and listeners, otherwise they are out of business. The notion that the news is what is newsworthy is as spurious as thinking that any business enterprise exists to satisfy inherent altruistic leanings.
If you want to be part of the solution, the next time someone asks for your opinion about someone's alleged carnal transgressions, change the subject to something more intrinsically newsworthy.
A fellow in the locker room the other day asked me what I thought about this.
Here is what I think.
This is none of my business or anybody else's. Nobody but Pitino and his accuser know the nuances of the situation and anyone on the sideline who decides to adjudicate the matter might, I would suggest, have--or should have--better things to do.
Why this is news relates to (a) folks' insatiable desire to discuss prurient activities and (b) the fact that some people's favorite pastime is offering an opinion because it is easier to spew critically about someone else than be introspective. Newscasters are in the business of creating news that is appealing to readers and listeners, otherwise they are out of business. The notion that the news is what is newsworthy is as spurious as thinking that any business enterprise exists to satisfy inherent altruistic leanings.
If you want to be part of the solution, the next time someone asks for your opinion about someone's alleged carnal transgressions, change the subject to something more intrinsically newsworthy.
hot heat
On Sunday I went to Patriots training camp to watch a practice. It was 90 degrees, I discovered later, as I sat in the bleachers--hardly alone, some 1000 people were present--and watched the drills.
About an hour into the practice a lineman had to be carted off the field because he had cramped up. Shortly thereafter another lineman was taken from the field. At one point in a drill a player jumped offside and was compelled, apparently by rule, to run a lap around the field. There are turtles who run faster than this player. I can still see him, number 62, moving as if in slow motion. Even the fellow lugging "cold water. cold water, here" seemed to be oppressed.
Today I read in the Globe that the Patriots will practice twice and the high today is to be 97 degrees with what can only be described as thick humidity. It would be swell to be a professional athlete, methinks, but not a Patriot today.
About an hour into the practice a lineman had to be carted off the field because he had cramped up. Shortly thereafter another lineman was taken from the field. At one point in a drill a player jumped offside and was compelled, apparently by rule, to run a lap around the field. There are turtles who run faster than this player. I can still see him, number 62, moving as if in slow motion. Even the fellow lugging "cold water. cold water, here" seemed to be oppressed.
Today I read in the Globe that the Patriots will practice twice and the high today is to be 97 degrees with what can only be described as thick humidity. It would be swell to be a professional athlete, methinks, but not a Patriot today.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
beer here
Last night I went to Fenway Park and saw the Red Sox pummel the Tigers 8-2. In many ways a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Fenway Park has become an expensive place to watch a game. I understand the new Yankee Stadium is now extraordinarily pricey and may have surpassed Fenway in that regard. In recent years, the cost of a "blue" grandstand ticket at Fenway was 40 dollars. This charge for the opportunity to sit in a seat built for a 1912 sized person, too narrow for many 2009 sized waists and with insufficient legroom for 2009 sized adults. Still the place is packed with people paying 40 dollars and up.
Used to this cost, I was surprised to find that my seats were only 28 dollars a piece. Then I realized why. The seats were in one of two non alcoholic sections in the park. That is, one could not drink beer and sit in our seats. This was not a problem for me, but apparently is a factor that renders these sections less desirable. In essence, one pays a 12 dollar surcharge to be able to buy 8 dollar beers at the Park.
In the Madness of March I refer to the remarkable beer consumption in Las Vegas during the course of the first four days of the tournament. I enjoy a beverage now and again myself, but the amount of beer guzzled in Las Vegas was--in both meanings of the word--staggering.
Of course the problem with beer--and with betting--occurs when one can not stop. One of my earliest recollections of going to a baseball game as a very young boy, was watching and hearing the vendors walk through the stands shouting, "Beer here. Beer here." At Fenway and at many sporting events beer is here, there, and everywhere. For all sporting events, betting opportunities are similarly omnipresent. You know that you are having a good time with sport when you can, if you'd like to, abstain.
Fenway Park has become an expensive place to watch a game. I understand the new Yankee Stadium is now extraordinarily pricey and may have surpassed Fenway in that regard. In recent years, the cost of a "blue" grandstand ticket at Fenway was 40 dollars. This charge for the opportunity to sit in a seat built for a 1912 sized person, too narrow for many 2009 sized waists and with insufficient legroom for 2009 sized adults. Still the place is packed with people paying 40 dollars and up.
Used to this cost, I was surprised to find that my seats were only 28 dollars a piece. Then I realized why. The seats were in one of two non alcoholic sections in the park. That is, one could not drink beer and sit in our seats. This was not a problem for me, but apparently is a factor that renders these sections less desirable. In essence, one pays a 12 dollar surcharge to be able to buy 8 dollar beers at the Park.
In the Madness of March I refer to the remarkable beer consumption in Las Vegas during the course of the first four days of the tournament. I enjoy a beverage now and again myself, but the amount of beer guzzled in Las Vegas was--in both meanings of the word--staggering.
Of course the problem with beer--and with betting--occurs when one can not stop. One of my earliest recollections of going to a baseball game as a very young boy, was watching and hearing the vendors walk through the stands shouting, "Beer here. Beer here." At Fenway and at many sporting events beer is here, there, and everywhere. For all sporting events, betting opportunities are similarly omnipresent. You know that you are having a good time with sport when you can, if you'd like to, abstain.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
then you're crazy
There were many sport fans who looked forward to Sunday night August 9th because after six months of deprivation an NFL football game was broadcast. For true zealots this meaningless exhibition game provided an instant fix and, moreover, signalled the beginning of a stream of games that would help pass the time between August and February. Such fans count the months between the superbowl and preseason football like an inmate counting the days before a release from jail.
I watched only parts of the game because, at the same time on Sunday, the Boston Red Sox were on the air playing and losing to the Yankees. I thought that, perhaps, the Sox might even score a run during their game a feat that they could not manage to accomplish in fifteen innings on Friday and nine on Saturday. The Sox did muster a score in the 8th inning on Sunday, but managed to lose regardless.
I switched channels during the Red Sox disappointment to catch snippets of the football game. At one point I saw that the Titans were ahead of the Bills by a score of 21-9. The next morning I saw that the final was 21-18, a peculiar result given the 21-9 earlier score. I figured either that the Bills must have kicked three field goals to get to 18, or kicked one field goal, scored a touchdown but missed the two point conversion--this combination would also yield 18 points.
Neither was the case and what actually occurred is central to a point made in the Madness of March.
Last night just before I succumbed to slumber, I flipped the remote to the NFL channel. There a replay of the exhibition game was being broadcast. When I tuned in, there were only 40 seconds or so left on the clock and the score was 21-16. The Titans had the ball. I was almost positive that I had heard the final to be 21-18, so with 40 seconds left to go the only way the score could get to 21-18 would be if the Titans somehow were to give up two points to a safety. But the Titans were at midfield.
With only a few seconds left, the Titans faced a fourth down. The score remained 21-16. The Titans got into punt formation and I understood before it happened what would occur.
The game was a meaningless exhibition game, but even so the Titans wanted to simulate a real situation. With the score 21-16 and only a few seconds left, there was only one way the Titans could lose. If they punted and the Bills ran it back for a touchdown, or blocked the punt and ran it back for a touchdown, the Bills would win.
So what the Titans did, intelligently, was have their punter take the hike and run the "wrong way" into the end zone. This play would give up two points, but exhaust the clock. Therefore the Titans would win. The two points given up to the safety were meaningless.
They were not meaningless everywhere. Last night I heard broadcaster Al Michaels call the play and say something to the effect of "Well there might be some people who consider that safety significant, but if you do then you're crazy."
Even before he said this, I wondered if the safety would affect bettors who had wagered on the game. It had. The spread was 3 points. That safety resulted in a tie and a push.
Michaels was suggesting--and not incorrectly--that anyone who bets on an exhibition game is crazy. He is not incorrect for two reasons. The first is that exhibition games are so unpredictable. You never know what players are going to play and for how long. Second, maybe there is something a little off kilter about your hobbies if you feel you must place a bet on an exhibition game.
In watching games for several years now with an eye toward how bettors are affected, it almost never seems to me as if the coaches are concerned with the spread. It was a good football move to take the safety. Coach Jeff Fisher would have pleased those who bet on his team to punt the ball away, but I don't think who bet on what was a concern to him.
I watched only parts of the game because, at the same time on Sunday, the Boston Red Sox were on the air playing and losing to the Yankees. I thought that, perhaps, the Sox might even score a run during their game a feat that they could not manage to accomplish in fifteen innings on Friday and nine on Saturday. The Sox did muster a score in the 8th inning on Sunday, but managed to lose regardless.
I switched channels during the Red Sox disappointment to catch snippets of the football game. At one point I saw that the Titans were ahead of the Bills by a score of 21-9. The next morning I saw that the final was 21-18, a peculiar result given the 21-9 earlier score. I figured either that the Bills must have kicked three field goals to get to 18, or kicked one field goal, scored a touchdown but missed the two point conversion--this combination would also yield 18 points.
Neither was the case and what actually occurred is central to a point made in the Madness of March.
Last night just before I succumbed to slumber, I flipped the remote to the NFL channel. There a replay of the exhibition game was being broadcast. When I tuned in, there were only 40 seconds or so left on the clock and the score was 21-16. The Titans had the ball. I was almost positive that I had heard the final to be 21-18, so with 40 seconds left to go the only way the score could get to 21-18 would be if the Titans somehow were to give up two points to a safety. But the Titans were at midfield.
With only a few seconds left, the Titans faced a fourth down. The score remained 21-16. The Titans got into punt formation and I understood before it happened what would occur.
The game was a meaningless exhibition game, but even so the Titans wanted to simulate a real situation. With the score 21-16 and only a few seconds left, there was only one way the Titans could lose. If they punted and the Bills ran it back for a touchdown, or blocked the punt and ran it back for a touchdown, the Bills would win.
So what the Titans did, intelligently, was have their punter take the hike and run the "wrong way" into the end zone. This play would give up two points, but exhaust the clock. Therefore the Titans would win. The two points given up to the safety were meaningless.
They were not meaningless everywhere. Last night I heard broadcaster Al Michaels call the play and say something to the effect of "Well there might be some people who consider that safety significant, but if you do then you're crazy."
Even before he said this, I wondered if the safety would affect bettors who had wagered on the game. It had. The spread was 3 points. That safety resulted in a tie and a push.
Michaels was suggesting--and not incorrectly--that anyone who bets on an exhibition game is crazy. He is not incorrect for two reasons. The first is that exhibition games are so unpredictable. You never know what players are going to play and for how long. Second, maybe there is something a little off kilter about your hobbies if you feel you must place a bet on an exhibition game.
In watching games for several years now with an eye toward how bettors are affected, it almost never seems to me as if the coaches are concerned with the spread. It was a good football move to take the safety. Coach Jeff Fisher would have pleased those who bet on his team to punt the ball away, but I don't think who bet on what was a concern to him.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
red sox nation
One could not be a follower of baseball in New England and not have heard of something referred to as "Red Sox Nation." The phrase refers to the collective fandom for the Boston Red Sox who seem to be buoyed or depressed as a function of the latest Red Sox effort. Tonight, July 21, the Red Sox lost for the fourth straight time which is, no doubt, making sleep difficult for the more ardent of the fans in Red Sox Nation.
I had heard that the nation travels. That is, when the Red Sox play away games people travel to the other cities to watch the games there. A few years back I did see this in Baltimore when I went to a Red Sox--Oriole game and the nation was well represented. However, it was just this past weekend when I noticed the phenomenon in full force.
Last Thursday I set off for Toronto where the Red Sox were scheduled to resume play after the All Star break. It was amusing to me to see several cars at rest stops that were filled with passengers wearing Red Sox garb. These observations were just appetizers. The lobby of the hotel in Toronto had no fewer than a half dozen Red Sox dressed fans at any time I happened there. At a breakfast place called, Fran's, four full tables were populated with serious members of the nation who were discussing the nuances of the pitching staff and other details as they snorted their eggs. Yonge Street, a major street in downtown Toronto, looked like it was the setting for some sort of parade with Red Sox hatted and jerseyed families bouncing up the road on their way to the Roger's Center. On Friday night when Kevin Youkilis, a Boston Red Sox player, homered in his first at bat, the roar of the crowd made me think I was in Fenway not in the Blue Jays park. I was wearing a Northeastern shirt at the park and was stopped by someone who asked me if I was at the stadium for the reunion. "What reunion" I inquired. She told me that there was an alumni function that evening in Toronto for my Boston based school.
Okay, so you are a zealot--but it is close to 600 miles from Boston to Toronto. All the games in Boston are on tv. You bring your whole family to Toronto at a cost of 30-70 dollars a ticket, plus gas, plus lodging, plus restaurant eating? The clan in front of me at Fran's had six members counting a pipsqueak who could not have been more than 4 or 5. Even if the youngster gets in free, that is 250 a game, just for the tickets.
A fan myself, I am nevertheless surprised at the serious energy that is found in Red Sox nation.
I had heard that the nation travels. That is, when the Red Sox play away games people travel to the other cities to watch the games there. A few years back I did see this in Baltimore when I went to a Red Sox--Oriole game and the nation was well represented. However, it was just this past weekend when I noticed the phenomenon in full force.
Last Thursday I set off for Toronto where the Red Sox were scheduled to resume play after the All Star break. It was amusing to me to see several cars at rest stops that were filled with passengers wearing Red Sox garb. These observations were just appetizers. The lobby of the hotel in Toronto had no fewer than a half dozen Red Sox dressed fans at any time I happened there. At a breakfast place called, Fran's, four full tables were populated with serious members of the nation who were discussing the nuances of the pitching staff and other details as they snorted their eggs. Yonge Street, a major street in downtown Toronto, looked like it was the setting for some sort of parade with Red Sox hatted and jerseyed families bouncing up the road on their way to the Roger's Center. On Friday night when Kevin Youkilis, a Boston Red Sox player, homered in his first at bat, the roar of the crowd made me think I was in Fenway not in the Blue Jays park. I was wearing a Northeastern shirt at the park and was stopped by someone who asked me if I was at the stadium for the reunion. "What reunion" I inquired. She told me that there was an alumni function that evening in Toronto for my Boston based school.
Okay, so you are a zealot--but it is close to 600 miles from Boston to Toronto. All the games in Boston are on tv. You bring your whole family to Toronto at a cost of 30-70 dollars a ticket, plus gas, plus lodging, plus restaurant eating? The clan in front of me at Fran's had six members counting a pipsqueak who could not have been more than 4 or 5. Even if the youngster gets in free, that is 250 a game, just for the tickets.
A fan myself, I am nevertheless surprised at the serious energy that is found in Red Sox nation.
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