I have quite a bit catching up to do on this blog about my travels of the previous week. Considering not too much interesting will be happening in the 'Nati in the next two weeks, I may actually catch up on everything with some interesting tales before I return to Somerville.
Traveling with my family is not what anyone would describe as fun or easy. It's not that I do not love my family or anything along those lines, but when any situation turns stressful, my family turns ugly. After a rather uneventful flight down to West Palm, we encountered the world of strange rental car companies and the awful I-95 Friday afternoon traffic.
Upon landing at West Palm, we headed to the Alamo counter. The agent was absolutely classless in trying to sell us a gas guzzler to fit all of our luggage while our midsize SUV could already easily fit the luggage. It was a bad sales job by the guy, but I would not have been shocked if he had gotten a lot of people to upgrade due to false information. He was likely going to personally pocket the extra money, which he may have needed, but that is no way to make an extra buck.
It gets even worse when we reach the Alamo Center off the airport grounds. We load up the car and are ready to go. However, the car will not start with whatever we try to do. It takes five minutes to find an agent to help us, but even the agent who spoke little English or Spanish could not help us. At least there was another car in the lot that could fit our luggage and actually started up. You can only imagine the tension growing in my family at this point.
If any of you have ever driven 95 South in Palm Beach, Broward, or Miami-Dade counties, you know the road is usually very wide (8 to 14 lanes) yet there are still unexplainable traffic jams. We were cruising until we hit Boca and everything went downhill from there. My family is freaking out in a relatively normal traffic jam, and I am about to lose my mind. We all knew there was going to a be a traffic jam on the way to Davie, but sometimes the physical reality causes more problems. The drive may have taken almost 90 minutes, but in retrospect the delays were not that bad except for my family's reactions.
When in Ft. Lauderdale, check out the newer Himmarshee Village. It is a really hoping area near the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The area used to be one of the worst in the city, but with the new arts district, the area has become very popular with fine restaurants, bars, and clubs. It provides a nice, smaller, yet just as hoping alternative to Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale. We ate at the actual Himmarshee restaurant, which was excellent and very filling after an afternoon of travels.
On Saturday, we headed down to the Miami airport to drop the rental car. After a filling breakfast at the Waffle House (I may be the only one, but I actually really like the Waffle House and its employees-maybe my almost Southern side in me?), we started heading down Florida's Turnpike. Passing Dolphins Stadium almost made me cry since I really want to be at this week's FedEx Orange Bowl, but with this trip, it was deemed impossible. I was so close, but I was only there 12 days early. After encountering some more Miami traffic, we reached the airport and had to wait only a few minutes to catch a shuttle to the cruise port.
Boarding the NCL Dawn takes a while since there are a lot of stages, but it took only 45 minutes. Since we had a mini-suite, we could bypass the worst lines, and once we navigated the maze inside the cruise terminal in Miami, we stepped onto Dawn. The next entries will detail the next week aboard the Dawn, which is a great ship and one where people stay on board unlike the tragedy on the Norwegian Pearl.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Big East/SEC Invitational
I had hopes a few years ago when the Big East and SEC announced that they were going to start an annual series of non-conference games between the leagues. However, this invitational works nowhere near as well as the gold standard set by the ACC/Big-10 Challenge or even the Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Classic series. On Tuesday, South Florida fell to Vandy and Marquette lost to Tennessee at the Sommet Center in Nashville. Tonight, I was in attendance as the Big East evened up with the series with victories by UC over Mississippi State and Louisville over Ole Miss at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
I am a big advocate of playing college basketball games on campus or in any full, partisan venue. Tonight, (no official attendance numbers have been released yet) there could not have been more than 6000 actual fans at the Bank, which can seat 17,000 for basketball. I have seen a bunch of games at the Bank, and with the exception of North College Hill-Oak Hill Academy (#1 vs #2 high school teams in the nation in Feb. 2007-the game was of NBA quality), the building has never had a great vibe or anything close to a full house. The place was evenly split between Bearcats an Cards fans, but the Cards fans were far more vocal than the Bearcats supporters. If anyone saw the coverage on ESPN, they could have entirely empty sections behind both hoops and maybe 3 of the 36 upper deck sections with people. Considering the fact it was a Thursday night doubleheader with lackluster matchups and the cheapest tickets cost $28, it was surprising that any non-hard core supporters showed up.
The first game got off to a quick but slopping start from both the Bearcats and Bulldogs. #32 for Mississippi State, Jarvis Varnado, kept the Bulldogs close until Deonta Vaughn got going for the Bearcats in the final four minutes of the first half. Vaughn scored 14 points as part of a 20-2 run that gave the Bearcats a 47-29 lead heading into the half. Mississippi State tried to claw their way back into the game cutting the lead into the single digits, but they never posed any true threat in the second half. Another solid but no spectacular win for the Bearcats, but clearly a step in the right direction with the first win of the season over a BCS (I know its college basketball, but you get the point) school. However, Mick Cronin's offensive strategy still bugs me since it does create anything it just hopes that someone will make a move to get open. It is so simple and a good team like Xavier hammered the Bearcats offense.
On the other hand, the nightcap presented two different and more effective, entertaining offenses. After punching a cabbie last night, Ole Miss let former UC Interm Head Coach Andy Kennedy coach tonight, and he came out to a very warm applause from the Bearcats fans who stuck around. Louisville came out on all cylinders after a rough opening four minutes. Then, Louisville came out with the signature Rick Pitino full court press and opened the lead up to 19 after a 19-2 run. At that point, Louisville looked like an NBA team playing a good high school team that had no idea what had hit them. However, Andy Kennedy and his Ole Miss Rebels had a point to prove, and held Louisville to 6 points over the last 9 minutes of the half. The Cards were missing wide-open looks and their overall advantage in athleticism and size seemed to vanish. The Rebels playing sound, fundamental basketball got the lead down to 4 at the half, including a 25-foot fadeaway 3 at the buzzer.
At the beginning of the second half, it appeared as though Louisville was going to pull away as they got the lead up to 56-46. Again, the Rebels fought back and even managed to briefly grab the lead at 63-62 with 7 to play. However, the Cards were more resilient tonight, and ended the game on a 10-1 run to emerge from the Bank victorious. It was only their second win in their last seven games on a neutral court, and they almost let one slip away tonight. They head on a plane tonight to Phoenix to play Minnesota in the Stadium Classic on Saturday afternoon. Tubby and his Gophers will be ready for the Cards, and do not be surprised if the Gophers sneak one out in the desert.
While the games were not bad tonight, I hope that with the help of ESPN, the series can be expanded to include more teams and to venues with larger crowds and more passion. There is no reason this series cannot equal the ACC/Big-10 event, and I hope it does in the future. It is also interesting to note that all 4 of the Big East teams that played in this year's invitational were part of Conference USA until 2005. This series did not get a chance to improve the superiority of the Big East, but with a larger series, the Big East could end any debate about being the best in the nation for college basketball.
I am a big advocate of playing college basketball games on campus or in any full, partisan venue. Tonight, (no official attendance numbers have been released yet) there could not have been more than 6000 actual fans at the Bank, which can seat 17,000 for basketball. I have seen a bunch of games at the Bank, and with the exception of North College Hill-Oak Hill Academy (#1 vs #2 high school teams in the nation in Feb. 2007-the game was of NBA quality), the building has never had a great vibe or anything close to a full house. The place was evenly split between Bearcats an Cards fans, but the Cards fans were far more vocal than the Bearcats supporters. If anyone saw the coverage on ESPN, they could have entirely empty sections behind both hoops and maybe 3 of the 36 upper deck sections with people. Considering the fact it was a Thursday night doubleheader with lackluster matchups and the cheapest tickets cost $28, it was surprising that any non-hard core supporters showed up.
The first game got off to a quick but slopping start from both the Bearcats and Bulldogs. #32 for Mississippi State, Jarvis Varnado, kept the Bulldogs close until Deonta Vaughn got going for the Bearcats in the final four minutes of the first half. Vaughn scored 14 points as part of a 20-2 run that gave the Bearcats a 47-29 lead heading into the half. Mississippi State tried to claw their way back into the game cutting the lead into the single digits, but they never posed any true threat in the second half. Another solid but no spectacular win for the Bearcats, but clearly a step in the right direction with the first win of the season over a BCS (I know its college basketball, but you get the point) school. However, Mick Cronin's offensive strategy still bugs me since it does create anything it just hopes that someone will make a move to get open. It is so simple and a good team like Xavier hammered the Bearcats offense.
On the other hand, the nightcap presented two different and more effective, entertaining offenses. After punching a cabbie last night, Ole Miss let former UC Interm Head Coach Andy Kennedy coach tonight, and he came out to a very warm applause from the Bearcats fans who stuck around. Louisville came out on all cylinders after a rough opening four minutes. Then, Louisville came out with the signature Rick Pitino full court press and opened the lead up to 19 after a 19-2 run. At that point, Louisville looked like an NBA team playing a good high school team that had no idea what had hit them. However, Andy Kennedy and his Ole Miss Rebels had a point to prove, and held Louisville to 6 points over the last 9 minutes of the half. The Cards were missing wide-open looks and their overall advantage in athleticism and size seemed to vanish. The Rebels playing sound, fundamental basketball got the lead down to 4 at the half, including a 25-foot fadeaway 3 at the buzzer.
At the beginning of the second half, it appeared as though Louisville was going to pull away as they got the lead up to 56-46. Again, the Rebels fought back and even managed to briefly grab the lead at 63-62 with 7 to play. However, the Cards were more resilient tonight, and ended the game on a 10-1 run to emerge from the Bank victorious. It was only their second win in their last seven games on a neutral court, and they almost let one slip away tonight. They head on a plane tonight to Phoenix to play Minnesota in the Stadium Classic on Saturday afternoon. Tubby and his Gophers will be ready for the Cards, and do not be surprised if the Gophers sneak one out in the desert.
While the games were not bad tonight, I hope that with the help of ESPN, the series can be expanded to include more teams and to venues with larger crowds and more passion. There is no reason this series cannot equal the ACC/Big-10 event, and I hope it does in the future. It is also interesting to note that all 4 of the Big East teams that played in this year's invitational were part of Conference USA until 2005. This series did not get a chance to improve the superiority of the Big East, but with a larger series, the Big East could end any debate about being the best in the nation for college basketball.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Swing State
Tonight, I had the privilege of seeing the Cincinnati premiere of the political documentary "Swing State." The screening was a part of a fundraiser for the Hamilton County Democratic Party, which is still celebrating their well-deserved victories at most positions across the ballot. The film was directed and produced by Jason Zone Fisher, who is the son of the current Lt. Governor of Ohio Lee Fisher. I have seen quite a few political documentaries in the past two years, but this film took a very different, more personal approach to the campaign than any other documentary.
Jason had just graduated from the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse right before the 2006 election cycle heated up, so it made sense for him to film his father's run for office from his vantage point. This view consists of two major aspects: the first being the national significance of the Ohio governor's race and the other being the personal toll it takes on the family. On the first aspect, the race attracted many of the top Democrats and Republicans in Ohio and the country, which gave Jason a very easy starting point for obtaining interviews. Many of these leaders which include an introduction from Madelaine Albright, President Clinton, President-Elect Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Jerry Springer, talk about the national importance of this gubernatorial race in determining the future of the Democratic party and the 2008 election. Well those efforts paid off handsomely with Obama carrying the Buckeye State in 2008 led by Aaron Pickrell, who was the campaign director for Strickland/Fisher in 2006.
What was much more interesting about the film was the personal tale of Jason seeing his father becoming a workaholic in trying to become Lt. Governor. Lee Fisher ran for governor in 1998 as Ohio Attorney General, but was defeated in a close election by Bob Taft. Therefore, Lee was even more determined to win in 2006, but he made clear changes. First of all, he wanted to make all of his fundraising calls from his house in the most comfortable fashion possible. For the final six months of the campaign, about 10 people lived in the Fisher house in Cleveland helping out the fundraising effort while Lee often worked into the wee hours of the morning. There is even one scene in the movie where the viewer sees Lee checking his e-mail after midnight shirtless, proving how useful and stressful having the office at home truly was. By the end of the movie, you can understand the true toll a campaign takes on a family, and why I would never want to run for office. I advise anyone running for office with a family to see this movie before doing so, and I greatly respect the people who choose to run despite familial considerations.
The movie also does an effective job at telling the story of Ted Strickland vs. Ken Blackwell battle. Jason shows the infamous debate clip with Mr. Blackwell accusing Mr. Strickland of being a NAMBLA supporter and other clips that tell how the Democrats recaptured the Governor's Mansion. However, you would have no idea that Ted and Lee won by 25 points from the film. The viewer sees many of the problems with Ken Blackwell, but it never mentions just how poorly he did at the ballot box.
After the screening, Jason and Lee took a series of questions from the audience, and they were very open about all questions. Afterward, I went up to Jason and bought a DVD, which he kindly signed. We talked about screening the movie at Tufts when he is in Boston later this winter/spring, and I would love to have Jason show the film and have a q&a session with Tufts students. After talking to Jason, I got a chance to have a chat with Lee about the current state of politics in Ohio. My own mother use to work with Lee on Jewish causes back in the 80s, and he surprisingly remembered her. It turns out that Lee was the only candidate that ever got my dad to vote in a primary in his 30 years living in Ohio (including Hillary/Obama). Lee seems very upbeat about the Democrats political progress from the November's results, which a newly Democratic state house. On a side note, one of those new representatives Connie Pilich (OH-29) was in the audience, and she is going to be a great new voice in Columbus. It was very nice for me to finally get to congratulate Connie in person, and we know that she has a lot of work ahead in Columbus.
Another question, I got to ask Lee was about his former opponent Ken Blackwell's run for RNC chair, which appears to be gaining momentum (there will be a future post on Blackwell's run closer to the RNC election). Lee described Blackwell as an extreme social conservative even within the Republican party, and that his election would further reduce the GOP. He said he was rooting for Ken to win since "It would only help the Democratic Party" in the future. After signing the cover, we parted ways, but not before a strong call to return to Ohio to help with the 2010 re-election campaign (which will be harder than 2006 and especially so in Southern Ohio if Rob Portman runs). I'd call it a good night.
Jason had just graduated from the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse right before the 2006 election cycle heated up, so it made sense for him to film his father's run for office from his vantage point. This view consists of two major aspects: the first being the national significance of the Ohio governor's race and the other being the personal toll it takes on the family. On the first aspect, the race attracted many of the top Democrats and Republicans in Ohio and the country, which gave Jason a very easy starting point for obtaining interviews. Many of these leaders which include an introduction from Madelaine Albright, President Clinton, President-Elect Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Jerry Springer, talk about the national importance of this gubernatorial race in determining the future of the Democratic party and the 2008 election. Well those efforts paid off handsomely with Obama carrying the Buckeye State in 2008 led by Aaron Pickrell, who was the campaign director for Strickland/Fisher in 2006.
What was much more interesting about the film was the personal tale of Jason seeing his father becoming a workaholic in trying to become Lt. Governor. Lee Fisher ran for governor in 1998 as Ohio Attorney General, but was defeated in a close election by Bob Taft. Therefore, Lee was even more determined to win in 2006, but he made clear changes. First of all, he wanted to make all of his fundraising calls from his house in the most comfortable fashion possible. For the final six months of the campaign, about 10 people lived in the Fisher house in Cleveland helping out the fundraising effort while Lee often worked into the wee hours of the morning. There is even one scene in the movie where the viewer sees Lee checking his e-mail after midnight shirtless, proving how useful and stressful having the office at home truly was. By the end of the movie, you can understand the true toll a campaign takes on a family, and why I would never want to run for office. I advise anyone running for office with a family to see this movie before doing so, and I greatly respect the people who choose to run despite familial considerations.
The movie also does an effective job at telling the story of Ted Strickland vs. Ken Blackwell battle. Jason shows the infamous debate clip with Mr. Blackwell accusing Mr. Strickland of being a NAMBLA supporter and other clips that tell how the Democrats recaptured the Governor's Mansion. However, you would have no idea that Ted and Lee won by 25 points from the film. The viewer sees many of the problems with Ken Blackwell, but it never mentions just how poorly he did at the ballot box.
After the screening, Jason and Lee took a series of questions from the audience, and they were very open about all questions. Afterward, I went up to Jason and bought a DVD, which he kindly signed. We talked about screening the movie at Tufts when he is in Boston later this winter/spring, and I would love to have Jason show the film and have a q&a session with Tufts students. After talking to Jason, I got a chance to have a chat with Lee about the current state of politics in Ohio. My own mother use to work with Lee on Jewish causes back in the 80s, and he surprisingly remembered her. It turns out that Lee was the only candidate that ever got my dad to vote in a primary in his 30 years living in Ohio (including Hillary/Obama). Lee seems very upbeat about the Democrats political progress from the November's results, which a newly Democratic state house. On a side note, one of those new representatives Connie Pilich (OH-29) was in the audience, and she is going to be a great new voice in Columbus. It was very nice for me to finally get to congratulate Connie in person, and we know that she has a lot of work ahead in Columbus.
Another question, I got to ask Lee was about his former opponent Ken Blackwell's run for RNC chair, which appears to be gaining momentum (there will be a future post on Blackwell's run closer to the RNC election). Lee described Blackwell as an extreme social conservative even within the Republican party, and that his election would further reduce the GOP. He said he was rooting for Ken to win since "It would only help the Democratic Party" in the future. After signing the cover, we parted ways, but not before a strong call to return to Ohio to help with the 2010 re-election campaign (which will be harder than 2006 and especially so in Southern Ohio if Rob Portman runs). I'd call it a good night.
Star Tribune Feed of the Minnesota Recount
If anyone is bored right now, you can watch a live feed of the Minnesota canvass board ballot-by-ballot. http://www.startribune.com/video/?ls1=1?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUycaEacyU
The process is pretty straightforward and you get to see each ballot and see if their rulings have been logical. So far they are going through Franken's challenges, which have been going mostly for Coleman, but there are quite a few valid challenges. I thought it would make for boring TV, but each ballot has something interesting, so I'd recommend giving the feed a look.
It will be very interesting to see how many votes Coleman leads by after all of the Franken challenges are complete. Then, we will know how many unsuccessful challenges from Coleman will be needed to produce a Franken victory. A bunch of the ballots are going into an other pile, which will likely decide this election. Its been one heck of a ride, it does not appear to be ending anytime soon.
The process is pretty straightforward and you get to see each ballot and see if their rulings have been logical. So far they are going through Franken's challenges, which have been going mostly for Coleman, but there are quite a few valid challenges. I thought it would make for boring TV, but each ballot has something interesting, so I'd recommend giving the feed a look.
It will be very interesting to see how many votes Coleman leads by after all of the Franken challenges are complete. Then, we will know how many unsuccessful challenges from Coleman will be needed to produce a Franken victory. A bunch of the ballots are going into an other pile, which will likely decide this election. Its been one heck of a ride, it does not appear to be ending anytime soon.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Exit 9
Being back in Cincy is nowhere near as strange and awkward as it should be since it provides a nice balance between old and new. Last night, I got a chance to see Freshmen 15, an all-male a capella group from Northwestern, which was great. They provided quite a concert to the small crowd at the Madisonville Arts Center (MAC) putting their own twists on traditional songs. We hung out after the show, which was great, and celebrated Steve's (Bubbles) 20th birthday.
Today I headed back down 71 to Exit 9 again to visit teachers and the kind at 7 Hills. I was having lunch at Wooster with Duke (AD) and Glen (transportation director-i.e guy who decides on snow day closures), and the snow began to come down. For those of you not familiar with Cincy, when it starts to snow, people panic and act irrational to the max. At lunch, they were getting all sorts of calls from postponing tonight's basketball game @ Lockland (damn, I wanted to see that game) to seeing half of the junior and senior class leave school to keeping the 1:06 fire drill in place despite the snow.
While 7 Hills may have had fewer students today than normal, it was still fun going around and talking to former teachers and the like. Great stories all around and its encouraging to see the place still up and running. While the Internet situation may be Soviet and the food worse than awful, it is still one heck of a school, and today proved that point straight home.
Today I headed back down 71 to Exit 9 again to visit teachers and the kind at 7 Hills. I was having lunch at Wooster with Duke (AD) and Glen (transportation director-i.e guy who decides on snow day closures), and the snow began to come down. For those of you not familiar with Cincy, when it starts to snow, people panic and act irrational to the max. At lunch, they were getting all sorts of calls from postponing tonight's basketball game @ Lockland (damn, I wanted to see that game) to seeing half of the junior and senior class leave school to keeping the 1:06 fire drill in place despite the snow.
While 7 Hills may have had fewer students today than normal, it was still fun going around and talking to former teachers and the like. Great stories all around and its encouraging to see the place still up and running. While the Internet situation may be Soviet and the food worse than awful, it is still one heck of a school, and today proved that point straight home.
Why I dislike the Delta at Logan
It’s a balmy (60 in Boston mid-December) mostly cloudy day at Logan Airport. Even though, the nation’s grid looks awful, the air channels between Boston and Cincinnati are clear and all looks good to go. As I step up to the baggage drop, I have a bright smile on my face having just finished my exams ready to embark on a month-long break. However, Delta quickly swiped the smile off my face when my large suitcase came in at 53 pounds. After some shuffling, I was able to the bag down to 49, and I though I was off on my way.
As I approached TSA, I had my carry-on and backpack in hand. The bored TSA attendant noticed that my carry-on was way over the legal limit. I argued my case on length and the fact that I was flying Comair (Delta Connection) so they would pink tag it anyways. He felt sympathetic, but he had to obey the law, since my bag did not even come close on the width requirement. By the way, I had carried on the same bag from Boston to San Francisco on American and managed to get a gate check. So, it was back to the Delta counter for me.
I am traveling on a miles ticket from my dad’s account (he’s in the million-mile club and platinum medallion), so I figured they would be light on any fees. Since his status had got me the first bag for free, the laid the push in the second bag. At first glance, they said it would be $25, and I gave them a look, which caused them to look up the structure. That was an incredibly stupid move on my part since now I was looking at the true fee of $50. Luckily, I was able to contain my emotions to some nasty looks and some quiet expletives under my breath.
After that, flying to Cincy, has been a breeze. Aboard flight 6678, the flight attendants are great as they usually are with Comair, and they have the best peanuts, but the bags are tiny, so I always snatch two bags. At least the peanuts and drinks are still included, but that may not last long. With empty seat next to me, the longest sunset ever (due to the westbound flight at the beginning of the sunset), I guess my moaning about Delta needs to be limited to Logan employees and upper management. Somehow, I’ll be back flying Delta again in less than 96 hours down to West Palm Beach, which is suddenly a much poorer city due to today’s economic scandal. In the meanwhile, I’ll be writing about my stories in Cincy, which will surely be interesting in one way or another.
As I approached TSA, I had my carry-on and backpack in hand. The bored TSA attendant noticed that my carry-on was way over the legal limit. I argued my case on length and the fact that I was flying Comair (Delta Connection) so they would pink tag it anyways. He felt sympathetic, but he had to obey the law, since my bag did not even come close on the width requirement. By the way, I had carried on the same bag from Boston to San Francisco on American and managed to get a gate check. So, it was back to the Delta counter for me.
I am traveling on a miles ticket from my dad’s account (he’s in the million-mile club and platinum medallion), so I figured they would be light on any fees. Since his status had got me the first bag for free, the laid the push in the second bag. At first glance, they said it would be $25, and I gave them a look, which caused them to look up the structure. That was an incredibly stupid move on my part since now I was looking at the true fee of $50. Luckily, I was able to contain my emotions to some nasty looks and some quiet expletives under my breath.
After that, flying to Cincy, has been a breeze. Aboard flight 6678, the flight attendants are great as they usually are with Comair, and they have the best peanuts, but the bags are tiny, so I always snatch two bags. At least the peanuts and drinks are still included, but that may not last long. With empty seat next to me, the longest sunset ever (due to the westbound flight at the beginning of the sunset), I guess my moaning about Delta needs to be limited to Logan employees and upper management. Somehow, I’ll be back flying Delta again in less than 96 hours down to West Palm Beach, which is suddenly a much poorer city due to today’s economic scandal. In the meanwhile, I’ll be writing about my stories in Cincy, which will surely be interesting in one way or another.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Derry, NH
I spent many weekends this fall semester canvassing for the New Hampshire Campaign for Change based out originally out of Manchester then Derry then Raymond. My transitions kept showing how the campaign was transforming even further into the grassroots with each week as the election approached. Raymond is only a town of 15,000 people, but yet we had a huge office out of an old furniture store, which showed the great support for the Democratic ticket in New Hampshire's reddest region (Rockingham County, but it went blue in 2008!) With the Democratic ticket of Obama, Jeanne Shaheen, and Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) winning all of these counties, we know that our work really paid off.
These journeys became more and more epic as we got closer to the election. Usually riding up in a unstable, speeding van, we would dash up Route 93 to Exit 4 for Derry or to Exit 7 to Exit 5 for Raymond. In Derry, we grew particularly fond of a local diner called Sundae Delite. The place is a true down-to-earth diner with the some of the nicest owners in the world. Besides being huge Democrats, these people would go out of their way to make sure that they could get whatever we wanted. In addition, their sandwiches, which are incredibly delicious and made in front of our eyes, are crazy cheap with my favorite the light rye tuna melt costing a mere $2.50.
Due to the great atmosphere and amazing food, we had to take a return trip to Derry before the end of the semester to cap it off. As we crossed the NH state line, we were reminded that all of the rain that has fallen in Boston the past 3 days froze in NH creating a spectacular ice storm (This is a link to a bunch of ice storm pics http://www.boston.com/news/local/gallery/121208_readersweatherphotos/). Trees were split all along Route 93 creating huge traffic jams statewide. This storm also knocked out power to over half of the NH customers including the area around Exit 3. Before taking the backroads into downtown Derry, we were scared that we would arrive to a powerless Sundae Delite, thus negating our 45 minute drive. However, downtown Derry somehow never lost power like the surrounding regions, and we gladly pulled into Sundae Delite. The owners were just delighted to see us, and they were a bit surprised we had made the trek up. They had lost their power in the ice storm and were going to be living at the restaurant until the power was restored, which is not supposed to happen until Wednesday.
Even despite these awful conditions, they still treated us like the first family. Upon arrival, two large plates of popcorn arrived on our table, which we devoured upon site. After our meals arrived and were devoured in record time, cups of their swirl soft serve ice cream arrived on the table for each one of us. This give and take relationship signifies the core of NH values where each of us are giving to each other in the spirit of humankind. So if you are ever in Derry, stop by Sundae Delite and say hi from the Tufts for Obama.
These journeys became more and more epic as we got closer to the election. Usually riding up in a unstable, speeding van, we would dash up Route 93 to Exit 4 for Derry or to Exit 7 to Exit 5 for Raymond. In Derry, we grew particularly fond of a local diner called Sundae Delite. The place is a true down-to-earth diner with the some of the nicest owners in the world. Besides being huge Democrats, these people would go out of their way to make sure that they could get whatever we wanted. In addition, their sandwiches, which are incredibly delicious and made in front of our eyes, are crazy cheap with my favorite the light rye tuna melt costing a mere $2.50.
Due to the great atmosphere and amazing food, we had to take a return trip to Derry before the end of the semester to cap it off. As we crossed the NH state line, we were reminded that all of the rain that has fallen in Boston the past 3 days froze in NH creating a spectacular ice storm (This is a link to a bunch of ice storm pics http://www.boston.com/news/local/gallery/121208_readersweatherphotos/). Trees were split all along Route 93 creating huge traffic jams statewide. This storm also knocked out power to over half of the NH customers including the area around Exit 3. Before taking the backroads into downtown Derry, we were scared that we would arrive to a powerless Sundae Delite, thus negating our 45 minute drive. However, downtown Derry somehow never lost power like the surrounding regions, and we gladly pulled into Sundae Delite. The owners were just delighted to see us, and they were a bit surprised we had made the trek up. They had lost their power in the ice storm and were going to be living at the restaurant until the power was restored, which is not supposed to happen until Wednesday.
Even despite these awful conditions, they still treated us like the first family. Upon arrival, two large plates of popcorn arrived on our table, which we devoured upon site. After our meals arrived and were devoured in record time, cups of their swirl soft serve ice cream arrived on the table for each one of us. This give and take relationship signifies the core of NH values where each of us are giving to each other in the spirit of humankind. So if you are ever in Derry, stop by Sundae Delite and say hi from the Tufts for Obama.
Future of the Crosstown Shootout
When every Cincinnati and Xavier see the college basketball schedule, one of the games they instantly circle is the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. There is no doubt that these teams dislike each other due to their history and proximity. However, for a rivalry to succeed both sides and their rampant fan bases need to remain actively engaged in the game.
With its move to the Big East and the whole Huggins/Zimpher debacle, the Bearcats athletic department has begun to take a more all-around approach to athletics. For years, UC was primarily a basketball school with a very rich tradition. However, with the move to the Big East, other teams have begun to strengthen from the women's volleyball team making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament to the baseball team's success in making it to the Big East finals last year. Most notably, the football team has won the Big East and is heading to FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami. For the time in UC history, the football team is getting far more coverage than the basketball team. More UC fans will travel to Miami on New Year's Day than will pack Fifth/Third Arena tonight vs. Xavier. Crosstown Shootout tickets used to be the hardest tickets in Cincinnati to get, and now I can still go online to gobearcats.com to get a ticket. People used to camp out for these tickets, but now its no big deal. Can you ever imagine being able to buy even the worst seat in the house for a Duke/UNC on game day? I think not.
Xavier on the other hand is one of the best mid-major programs in the nation along with Gonzaga, Creighton, Southern Illinois, and a few others. While scheduling marquee matchups has gotten much easier for the Muskies in the past few years, they clearly still have more to gain by beating the Bearcats. If the Bearcats lose today, they will have lost to a superior team. However, if X loses, it will be their third straight loss at 5/3 Arena, even though the past few years have been much stronger for the Muskies than the Bearcats. The reverse was true throughout the 90s, when X would regularly upset the Bearcats. Then, the Bearcats were #1 in the country and the game was of national focus. While X has climbed back into the Top 10, I would make a safe bet that a much larger audience will be watching the presentation of the Heisman Trophy on ESPN than the Shootout on ESPN2 at the same time.
In addition, without Bob Huggins' arrogance, the rivalry takes a hit. This is a man who refused to shake Pete Gillen's hand after an X victory in the previous decade. Now, Coach Cronin and Coach Miller get along and its not that much different of a game. Even in Cincy, the attention is down. On cincinnati.com's sports section, the #1 story is about Redfest, #2 about the Shootout, and #3 the five-day old Bearcats football going to the Orange Bowl. Honestly, X is probably more excited for their matchup vs Duke the following Saturday in the Meadowlands than tonight's game. I guess we will just have to see who shows up in front of a crowd that will likely not be a sellout for the first time in recent memory.
Who knows what lies ahead for the rivalry? It should continue since it gets both teams excited for a key non-conference matchup. With 18 Big East games for the Bearcats, nothing should be considered a lock with non-conference scheduling. Also, if the Bearcats continue to struggle, the Muskies may drop the Cats from the schedule in order to improve their strength of schedule while playing in a weak A-10. Hopefully, the rivalry will continue, but it needs to regain some flair to recapture the attention of the city like in the 1990s, which is truly beneficial for both teams.
With its move to the Big East and the whole Huggins/Zimpher debacle, the Bearcats athletic department has begun to take a more all-around approach to athletics. For years, UC was primarily a basketball school with a very rich tradition. However, with the move to the Big East, other teams have begun to strengthen from the women's volleyball team making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament to the baseball team's success in making it to the Big East finals last year. Most notably, the football team has won the Big East and is heading to FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami. For the time in UC history, the football team is getting far more coverage than the basketball team. More UC fans will travel to Miami on New Year's Day than will pack Fifth/Third Arena tonight vs. Xavier. Crosstown Shootout tickets used to be the hardest tickets in Cincinnati to get, and now I can still go online to gobearcats.com to get a ticket. People used to camp out for these tickets, but now its no big deal. Can you ever imagine being able to buy even the worst seat in the house for a Duke/UNC on game day? I think not.
Xavier on the other hand is one of the best mid-major programs in the nation along with Gonzaga, Creighton, Southern Illinois, and a few others. While scheduling marquee matchups has gotten much easier for the Muskies in the past few years, they clearly still have more to gain by beating the Bearcats. If the Bearcats lose today, they will have lost to a superior team. However, if X loses, it will be their third straight loss at 5/3 Arena, even though the past few years have been much stronger for the Muskies than the Bearcats. The reverse was true throughout the 90s, when X would regularly upset the Bearcats. Then, the Bearcats were #1 in the country and the game was of national focus. While X has climbed back into the Top 10, I would make a safe bet that a much larger audience will be watching the presentation of the Heisman Trophy on ESPN than the Shootout on ESPN2 at the same time.
In addition, without Bob Huggins' arrogance, the rivalry takes a hit. This is a man who refused to shake Pete Gillen's hand after an X victory in the previous decade. Now, Coach Cronin and Coach Miller get along and its not that much different of a game. Even in Cincy, the attention is down. On cincinnati.com's sports section, the #1 story is about Redfest, #2 about the Shootout, and #3 the five-day old Bearcats football going to the Orange Bowl. Honestly, X is probably more excited for their matchup vs Duke the following Saturday in the Meadowlands than tonight's game. I guess we will just have to see who shows up in front of a crowd that will likely not be a sellout for the first time in recent memory.
Who knows what lies ahead for the rivalry? It should continue since it gets both teams excited for a key non-conference matchup. With 18 Big East games for the Bearcats, nothing should be considered a lock with non-conference scheduling. Also, if the Bearcats continue to struggle, the Muskies may drop the Cats from the schedule in order to improve their strength of schedule while playing in a weak A-10. Hopefully, the rivalry will continue, but it needs to regain some flair to recapture the attention of the city like in the 1990s, which is truly beneficial for both teams.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Rainy Thursday-The Beginning
As I writing this post on a Rainy Thursday in my dorm room at Tufts University in Somerville, Mass, I just wanted to tell you the inspiration for the blog and what you should expect on the site in the coming posts. The blog's name is directly based off the fact it somehow on average takes 24 minutes driving from my house in the suburbs of Cincinnati to reach the broad, murky waters of the Ohio River and the same amount of time via walking from my dorm to Davis Square and taking the T's Red Line to reach the Charles River. It was just too strange of a quirk not to notice, and I enjoy traveling.
Discovering the world is one my main passions. I have been to 30 states (some big holes to fill in the West, Great Plains, and Deep South), 2 US territories (Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), and 12 other countries (Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Bahamas, Antigua, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland) with travel already booked to the Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, and Nicaragua. I will be blogging about these trips and hopefully many future ones on this blog. My digital camera may not be the best, but the pictures from it should end up on the blog.
The fact that I am wearing a replica Pavel Nedved jersey while typing this entry should tell that I am a huge sports fan. If I ask me what my favorite sport is, I would probably say football, since all levels of the game from high school to college to the NFL are so exciting. I enjoy high school and college basketball more than the football counterparts, but as long as the NBA is based on personalities and not playing defense, count me out. Being a Cincinnatian, I am a total homer for the Reds and Bengals no matter how poorly they are playing. Even though I am a proud Jumbo, my Division 1 team again is the home Cincinnati Bearcats, whose football team I have been on the bandwagon long before they were going to the BCS! I have been to at least one game in each of the past ten seasons, so I have the amazing and the ugly. Also, Bearcats basketball is improving again under Coach Cronin, so watch out for an upset Saturday night when crosstown rival #10 Xavier comes to the Shoe (5/3 Arena). I have been known to support Liverpool FC, who are playing hanging onto the top of the EPL, the Israeli national soccer team, the Boston Celtics, and the Minnesota Wild. I can get excited about any sport from rugby to field hockey. I also passionately dislike certain teams including any sports team from THE Ohio State University, the Pittsburgh Steelers (stealers?), Ed Hightower, Ted Hillary, CHCA (Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy), the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees, any player playing against my fantasy football team (which sadly went 6-8 this season and missed the playoffs by losing the 2 biggest games of the season by a total of 3 points).
In addition, I am very passionate about politics. I spent a large portion of the past 18 months in helping elect Barack Obama, the next President of the United States, by canvassing and volunteering in five different states. I took a few months off from doing Obama stuff to intern full-time for Doctor Victoria Wulsin who ran for Congress in the Ohio Second District, and was defeated by conservative Republican Jean Schmidt. I am heading to DC for the inauguration, which should be an amazing experience and I will provide full coverage. Even though I am a progressive, I am not a down the ticket Democrat, and for example I agree with the decision of the voters in LA-2 to kick icebox Jefferson out of Congress this past weekend. Blago must resign from office! I agree with Obama's centrist cabinet, since his bi-partisanship should be able to bring about pragmatic change from the ways of Bush and Cheney. Not quite sure I would have made Hillary the Secretary of State since her strengths lie seem to lie in health care, but he could have made a far worse choice. The Obama administration should be fascinating to watch.
I have been putting off the creation of this blog for a long day, so I hope you will enjoy hearing my take on the world.
Discovering the world is one my main passions. I have been to 30 states (some big holes to fill in the West, Great Plains, and Deep South), 2 US territories (Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands), and 12 other countries (Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Bahamas, Antigua, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland) with travel already booked to the Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, and Nicaragua. I will be blogging about these trips and hopefully many future ones on this blog. My digital camera may not be the best, but the pictures from it should end up on the blog.
The fact that I am wearing a replica Pavel Nedved jersey while typing this entry should tell that I am a huge sports fan. If I ask me what my favorite sport is, I would probably say football, since all levels of the game from high school to college to the NFL are so exciting. I enjoy high school and college basketball more than the football counterparts, but as long as the NBA is based on personalities and not playing defense, count me out. Being a Cincinnatian, I am a total homer for the Reds and Bengals no matter how poorly they are playing. Even though I am a proud Jumbo, my Division 1 team again is the home Cincinnati Bearcats, whose football team I have been on the bandwagon long before they were going to the BCS! I have been to at least one game in each of the past ten seasons, so I have the amazing and the ugly. Also, Bearcats basketball is improving again under Coach Cronin, so watch out for an upset Saturday night when crosstown rival #10 Xavier comes to the Shoe (5/3 Arena). I have been known to support Liverpool FC, who are playing hanging onto the top of the EPL, the Israeli national soccer team, the Boston Celtics, and the Minnesota Wild. I can get excited about any sport from rugby to field hockey. I also passionately dislike certain teams including any sports team from THE Ohio State University, the Pittsburgh Steelers (stealers?), Ed Hightower, Ted Hillary, CHCA (Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy), the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees, any player playing against my fantasy football team (which sadly went 6-8 this season and missed the playoffs by losing the 2 biggest games of the season by a total of 3 points).
In addition, I am very passionate about politics. I spent a large portion of the past 18 months in helping elect Barack Obama, the next President of the United States, by canvassing and volunteering in five different states. I took a few months off from doing Obama stuff to intern full-time for Doctor Victoria Wulsin who ran for Congress in the Ohio Second District, and was defeated by conservative Republican Jean Schmidt. I am heading to DC for the inauguration, which should be an amazing experience and I will provide full coverage. Even though I am a progressive, I am not a down the ticket Democrat, and for example I agree with the decision of the voters in LA-2 to kick icebox Jefferson out of Congress this past weekend. Blago must resign from office! I agree with Obama's centrist cabinet, since his bi-partisanship should be able to bring about pragmatic change from the ways of Bush and Cheney. Not quite sure I would have made Hillary the Secretary of State since her strengths lie seem to lie in health care, but he could have made a far worse choice. The Obama administration should be fascinating to watch.
I have been putting off the creation of this blog for a long day, so I hope you will enjoy hearing my take on the world.
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