He’s Smiling

My Dad loved the Boston Bruins. We lived in Rhode Island when the Bruins hockey games were broadcast over a UHF station out of Boston. We had only one television that could pick up the UHF signal. It was a little black and white TV with the round wire UHF antenna on the back. Dad had to position it “just so” in the northeast corner of a second floor bedroom. Even with his careful and repeated adjustments, he still watched nearly every Bruins game through a field of electronic snow. Truly, I do not know how he ever actually saw the puck. Between the tiny screen and the chronic snow I think he must have intuited the position of the puck as it flew across the ice. It didn’t matter. He loved the game. He loved the Bruins.

So when the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup last night, for the first time in 39 years, I know that Dad was smiling. And I sure hope that they had an enormous, state-of-the-art, HD TV up in heaven so that Dad could watch his team win the best of seven and bring the Cup back to Boston. If there was a cold Heineken on hand, well, so much the better!

Mike Lowell

Mike “I only know how to hit doubles and home runs” Lowell is still going to retire at the end of this season. The Red Sox will be honoring him before the October 2nd home game. Lowell is one of my favorite players and I hate to see him go. This article by Ian Browne is a great read. It sums up Mike Lowell and his terrific career.

Update: Thankfully, it looks as if Mike was not seriously injured when he was hit in the right temple by the ball, during tonight’s game against the Evil Empire. A game which we won!

Where’s The Off Switch?

You know those ball machines that serve tennis balls or pitch baseballs to you at a steady clip? You remember the “Lucy and Ethel work in the chocolate factory” episode when the conveyor belt speeds up and overwhelms them? Life came at us a little like that this week. Some of it was very troubling: a relative with a serious health diagnosis. Some of it was curious: Chuck with a fever and no other specific symptoms. Some of it was frustrating: the domino effect on our family when Chuck’s fever meant we had to cancel a visit to Rhode Island. Some of it was just plain stupidly-small: our e-mail service changed formats and left us feeling like all the easy, useful features had been stripped in the name of “new & improved”.

You get the idea. The sense that every time the phone rang a new challenge was being delivered - major, minor and every size in between. I know that many things will resolve themselves on their own or yield to some attention, effort and maybe a little homemade chicken soup. Worrying won’t really help - but it does occupy one’s time and energy. Tincture of time is frequently effective - but requires patience. Perhaps a good night’s sleep will leave us better prepared for whatever life sends our way tomorrow. Hey, including being able to truly enjoy some good news - - - O.K. Universe?

Need some inspiration? Click here.

Thank You “Nomaah”!

By the time Nomar Garciaparra left the Boston Red Sox in 2004, I was reluctantly ready to have him leave. From the moment Nomar arrived in 1996 I thought he was the bees’ knees. He had it all in both offense and defense and he was unfailingly polite and cheerful. He had a quirky at bat routine which was all too easily imitated, but who cared? The guy delivered - sometimes amazingly so. Chuck’s Dad used to tease us that it was unfair of us to have two shortstops: Garcia and Parra! And the way Nomar played, you could be forgiven for thinking we had an extra player in the field. But prior to his departure in 2004 he seemed so darned miserable every day. There had been the ugly trade-that-never-was at the end of 2003 which seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth - not to mention having freaked out Red Sox Nation. Ironically, it was after Nomar left in 2004 that the long drought/curse came to an end and the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. But the players knew how important Nomar had been to their overall success and voted to include him as a recipient of a ring.

Today, Nomar signed a one day contract with the Boston Red Sox so that he could officially retire from major league baseball as a member of the organization. Watching the news conference I saw the Nomar we had all adored during his eight years in Boston. Gone was the pain of the trades and the injuries. What shone through was the kid who had played in the Cape Cod League, made it to the majors and got to live out a dream. Along the way he earned a permanent place in the heart of Red Sox Nation.

Less Than Two Weeks...

Olympics shlympics!
The very first spring training game for the Boston Red Sox will take place Wednesday, March 3, 2010!

Yes, I know the Olympics are happening in Vancouver, British Columbia. (I’m even aware of the oddly international family of skaters: The Reeds. There are interesting sports and less interesting sports; nifty outfits and zany outfits; and fabulously beautiful medals being awarded - and occasionally broadcast. Despite NBC’s endless hours of frenetic, scattershot coverage, they seem less interested in the events and more interested in their “packages” and interviews in front of the fake (Thank you Stephen Colbert!) fireplace.)

I know the official Republicans are embracing the wingers and the extremists. (While they seem to relish being the party of NO, they want their power back. To get it they need, as George Steinbrenner was known to say, “meat in the seats”. To get that, they need voters in the booths. The TeaPartyTypes we see on television are just the ones who made the scurrilous signs and hit the streets. There are more of them at home shouting at their TVs. The Republicans are pandering to and partnering with them to get their votes, so they can be the party in legitimate power once again. Not just wielding the kind of power toddlers do when they throw themselves down on the floor of the grocery store, in a full blown tantrum, demanding the candy bar.)

In the good news column, I know the Public Option appears to have taken a turn for the better. (Although I don’t know exactly how the patient was resuscitated nor who administered CPR, I suspect it was the progressives - both voters and members of Congress. It is also possible that the Democrats, in a collective epiphanous moment, decided to leave the screaming toddlers wailing on the floor and act in the best interests of the American people.)

All that said, I confess to news burnout. Good, bad or truly strange news - I don’t much care. I am crispy. I am ready for spring training. I’m ready for old friends to take the field and the new players to introduce themselves. I want to hear Don and Jerry and the Eeyoresque sound of the foghorn as Jerry declares the “fog of spring training”. I want it to be simpler. And yes, the complex minutiae of baseball statistics and rules will be a blessed, comforting, distracting relief from governmental politics and the politics of international sport.

So Far So Good

It was a very quiet day at home. A hockey game was played at Fenway Park. It had a happy ending for the Boston Bruins, which even for non-hockey fans like us was pretty darned exciting. We watched a couple more episodes of “Mad Men” and continued to find them mesmerizing and creepy. A little bit of snow drifted down, but not enough to need to shovel.

True, it is just the first day, but 2010 has yet to disappoint!
;o)

Blue About Red

The Boston Red Sox lost today. That means, as far as our Red Sox are concerned, the major league baseball season is over. We are not happy campers in this neck of the woods. The photo above is the cheeriest thing I could muster.

Odds & Ends

: : Maria Shriver’s eulogy for her mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver was brilliant. It was warm, funny, inspiring, revealing (“I don’t want to hear one more yip out of you.”) and full of love.

: : Any alcohol based hand sanitizer you purchase must contain at least 60% alcohol in order to be effective, this according to the CDC. Why do I know this? I dislike the strong fragrance in commercial hand sanitizer products. I began investigating making my own unscented version after I got sticker shock over the price of an unscented commercial version.

: : Chuck brought home a perfectly lovely and petite cauliflower from the Farmers’ Market. Despite the heat, I made up a cheese sauce for it and it was very tasty. Why do I crave autumnal dishes during the dog days of summer? Why do I give in to those cravings? And how do you pronounce cauliflower?

: : What’s up with the inconsistencies with our Sunday newspaper delivery? I know you can’t answer that question, it’s just on my mind, it being Sunday and all.

: : Can the Boston Red Sox rebound from this lousy position of being 7.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East? In a similar vein: can anyone keep up with this season’s ever changing Red Sox roster?

Well Deserved

Jim Rice, 56, and Rickey Henderson, 50, were both inducted today into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. Both men were veterans of the Boston Red Sox, Rice having spent his entire career there. Both come across as good guys, were great players and are deserving of this honor. Congratulations to them both!

High Cheese

I really like Jerry Remy, the color commentator for the NESN television broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games. And I miss Jerry ever since he took a leave of absence to more fully recuperate from lung cancer surgery and some subsequent infections. Selfishly, I was worried about what the broadcasts would be like with a string of substitute co-hosts joining play-by-play guy Don Orsillo in the booth. But it has turned out great. Two former Red Sox players Dave Roberts and Dennis Eckersley, along with a few other broadcast veterans, have filled in for Jerry. Each one has his own style and has managed to be both informative and entertaining. Miraculously, none of them have been annoying; none of them have been cringe inducing or had that fingernails-on-a-blackboard quality about their on-air performance. (All of which puts the miserable baseball broadcasters over at ESPN and Fox Sports into sharp relief!)

My personal favorite has turned out to be Dennis Eckersley. “Eck” is a colorful guy. His grammar and syntax occasionally require a road map, but it’s his creative, inside-baseball lingo which leaves us charmed and chuckling. Eck was a pitcher and has innumerable ways to describe a pitch - my personal favorites: “high cheese” (an excellent fastball) and “salad” (bad pitching)*! He also speaks his mind giving frank opinions about players - both Red Sox and opposing players - but he is never mean spirited. Mind you, Eck doesn’t have much of a governor and has been caught swearing and stumbling through the occasional awkward malapropism. No matter, he’s a breath of fresh air. I wish Jerry Remy all the best, especially a swift and complete recovery. But he can rest assured, the Red Sox color commentary is in good and very interesting hands.

*Here’s a link to a good Eck Glossary.

To Clarify

Leaving the ballpark before the game has ended just to try to beat traffic is a sin. If your team, specifically the Boston Red Sox, is ahead and you get up to leave, it is a venial sin. However, if you get up to leave the park, for any reason other than a life threatening medical emergency, while the Red Sox are trailing, it is, in fact, a mortal sin.

So behave yourself.
Or plan your Hail Marys, Our Fathers and fiery afterlife accordingly.

Oh What A Night!

We were at Fenway Park in Boston last night! Our niece Kate gave us a call Monday afternoon inviting us to join her at last night’s game. She had come into three tickets through a friend of a friend and was kind enough to think of us. She did not have to ask us twice!

This was only my third trip to Fenway. Chuck and I went together for the first time in the summer of 2001. Let’s just say that while being at Fenway Park and seeing the Red Sox play in person had been fabulous, there were some extenuating familial circumstances which threw a big wet blanket over the whole experience. Shortly after that trip, we were at my Mom’s condo in Rhode Island regaling my family about the high highs and the low lows of the night. Kate, along with her sister Carrie, slipped away to Mom’s bedroom to make a call. The next thing we knew, they were asking if we were free on such-and-such a date near the end of September. Unbeknownst to us, the two girls had called to get us four seats at Fenway. They were determined to give us a totally satisfying night at the ballpark watching our beloved Red Sox together. That was how, just a couple of weeks after September 11, 2001, we all went to the park and had a great time from start to finish. The event was certainly overshadowed by the recent terrorist attacks, but somehow the joy was also heightened. There was a sense of collective determination, courage and patriotism palpable in the crowd that night.

Last night was our third trip to Fenway Park. The Red Sox were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. The weather was perfect: mild, clear and dry. The seats were amazing. (If you click on the photo above, you can more clearly see the panoramic view from where we were seated behind home plate.) The place smelled good - the special incense of grill smoke, sausages, hot dogs and popcorn (with only a faint whiff of spilled beer near the end!). It looked good - from the new seating, to the Green Monster, to the sea of red hats, tee shirts and jackets proclaiming our membership in Red Sox Nation. And it sounded good - laughter, cheers, boos, vendors hawking food and souvenirs and the crowd singing: the National Anthem, Take Me Out To The Ball Game and Sweet Caroline.

I have to admit that it is very distracting being at the ballpark. In many ways, it is much easier to watch and follow the game closely at home via television. At the park, there is a relentless three ring circus of sights and sounds competing for your attention. Sometimes the side action is so compelling that you need the scoreboard to catch up with the primary purpose of the event. But when David “Big Papi” Ortiz came up to bat all eyes were on him. The crowd rose to their feet to cheer him on; willing the Designated Hitter and fan favorite to break out of his home run drought. It didn’t happen last night, but Papi hit one high and hard out of center field tonight!

Was last night a great night? Absolutely! Not just because the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 2 - 1, but because once again we were in the living, pounding heart of Red Sox Nation. For the third time in my 51 years I was able to viscerally feel what it’s like to be on baseball’s sacred ground. No, I didn’t genuflect, but I could have. Especially walking out of the underground concourse and up the ramp into the park. At first all you can see is blue sky above the heads of the throng of people in front of you. Then you emerge from the tunnel and the green of the field spreads out before you. It takes your breath away.

Yeah, it was a great night.

Thanks Kate!

Random Thoughts In My Head

: : One of my documents in Pages (living in iWork '09) has suddenly hiccupped, won't open and is sending me an error message: "required index.xml file is missing". I'm trying not to panic.

: : I love the opening part of the Amstel Light beer advertisement, when the old man calls out "Ladies and gentlemen, let's begin!" - in Dutch. (See it here) But despite having a pretty good ear, no matter how hard I try, I cannot repeat his call accurately. I've even tried using an online translator but I get something which doesn't scan quite right: "De dames en de heren beginnen!"

: : Using a tripod with my little Canon PowerShot S2 IS always feels like too big a production. I'm thinking a monopod would be better and easier. Suggestions?

: : Any Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees game is exciting. But this home stand has been amazing!

UPDATE: The Red Sox swept the Yankees! And Jacoby Ellsbury STOLE HOME! Andy Pettitte was pitching, Jorge Posada was catching and Jacoby dove in head first and freakin' stole home! Very rare (first time in ten years for the Red Sox - maybe fifteen years for a straight steal) and extra sweet that it happened against the Evil Empire! So Good!

Honor & Sportsmanship

Despite how many basketball games I attended in high school, it is not a game close to my heart. But the story of a basketball game between players from Madison High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and DeKalb, Illinois High School tugged at my heart. In the swirl of media coverage over illegal steroid use by extraordinarily high paid professional athletes such as Alex Rodriguez, a bunch of high school kids and their coaches held the moral compass to true north. A-Rod and all of his ilk should read this moving report from Art Kabelowsky on a daily basis.

Thanks to Rachel Maddow for her coverage of this story.

That’s Super Not Stupor!

Despite not caring whether the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Arizona Cardinals won the Super Bowl, I really enjoyed the game! It was very exciting with some terrific and unusual plays including a stunner of 100 yard touchdown run after an interception by Steelers’ James Harrison. Wow!

The halftime show was Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band performing for a way, way, way too short 12 minutes. The Boss was rocking and struck a great balance between arena rock and not being too frilly in the stagecraft department.

The vaunted and always over-hyped Super Bowl advertisements were O.K. The Budweiser Clydesdale and Dalmation advertisements still have what it takes to tell a story and draw you in. I’ve recently become aware of Hulu.com and think it’s pretty cool. (You can see all the Super Bowl ads on Hulu.) That is very good because tonight’s Alec Baldwin Hulu ad was a turn off and did nothing to make me want to go check it out! The Coca Cola Happiness/Avatar ad was sweet. But I think the real winner of the Super Bowl Ad Wars was Miller Time’s one second advertisement. I Tweeted that if I hadn’t heard the buzz about a one second ad, I might have thought it was an error. Yet even though I only heard it and didn’t see it, I knew it was Miller Beer just like that. Money well spent.

When the New England Patriots aren’t in the Super Bowl, Chuck often refers to the event as the Stupor Bowl. Tonight? Not by a long shot!

Dad

You’ll have to imagine his deep, blue eyes.


That’s my Dad, George, around age 18. He wasn’t just a good looking fellow. He was a real gentleman and a genuinely nice guy, with a great sense of humor. Had the Alzheimer’s not taken him, Dad would have been 89 years old today. But he passed 21 years ago next month, at the age of 68. The acute grief of the early years has long since eased. But there are so many times when I wish I could tell Dad something; share something with him; make him laugh; tell him I love you and thank you once again.

For instance, when we bought an HD-TV and tuned in to a sports network, I thought: “Man, Dad would have loved watching Bruins’ hockey or the Patriots play football on a television like this!” Back when we first had access to UHF in the mid 1970s, the Boston Bruins’ matches were broadcast on channel 38 out of Boston. Dad would get the tiny black and white TV set up "just so" in the northernmost bedroom on the second story of our home in Rhode Island. Then he would painstakingly adjust the rabbit ear antennas until a snowy, static-y picture emerged. I don’t think he could even see the puck for the snow, so HD-TV would have been a revelation!

Other times when I miss my Dad are food related. When we first discovered the beer from the microbrewery in Bar Harbor, I wanted Dad to try it. It was the same thing with Ethiopian and Eritrean food. Dad enjoyed spicy, exotic meals and I think he would have gotten a kick out of eating the Injera soaked with lamb and chicken dishes, heavy with berbere sauce.

But I miss Dad most when I’m happy. Family was everything to Dad. His career was secondary; primarily a means to provide for all of us. I’m lucky to still be able to talk with my Mom every day. And Mom has been able to be at her grandchildren’s weddings and other festive occasions. Yet those are the moments when I think how much Dad would have treasured, celebrated and loved being there in the middle of his joyous, laughing, dancing loved ones. Then again, those are the moments when he really is with us most intensely in spirit.

Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Rightful Place

Both Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were named to the Baseball Hall of Fame today! Rickey made it in on his first round of eligibility; Jim got in on his very last chance. These guys, both left fielders, were terrific players and deserve this honor. Sweet!

Team Handball

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are now in full swing. I want to recommend that you watch a sport I used to play in high school: Team Handball. It is a bit like basketball, but with a soccer (football) net instead of a hoop. It is also a fast paced, wildly under-appreciated sport! In order to learn it, my classmates and I had to watch films of the U.S. Army competing against the U.S. Navy. We girls were loving the sport and once played "boys against the girls" at the boys laughing-up-their-sleeves request. We kicked their butts! All these decades later, I can still vividly remember slamming the ball so hard into the net that the big, burly, football player of a goal keeper ducked!

Here’s a schedule of the Team Handball matches being held over the next two weeks in Beijing.