Thursday, March 31, 2011

football more than baseball

Wow, do I pay attention to football more than baseball! The NFL Draft begins on April 28th, which I've known for months; the baseball season starts a little earlier than I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry - it starts today!

I wonder if I should admit this but I like the NFL Draft so much, I might even like it more than... football itself. There's something about the anticipation and the potential of newly drafted players, a sense of optimism for the seasons to come (if this collective bargaining agreement mess ever gets settled) that's sometimes better than actually going through the reality of the football season. I'd rather dream.

And getting back to baseball, I read in today's paper that a Giants fan has spent $1000 for a small plane to pull a banner over Dodger Stadium today that says something like "The Dodgers suck..." in its brief message.
As much as I don't like the Dodgers, I really disagree with doing this. It's their opening day after all (it is a Giants-Dodgers game), and if it's supposed to be a reaction to mistreatment by Dodger fans all these years, why not be better than them? Why not show a little class (if you want to think silently to yourself "Dodgers suck!" - then fine). They've still won more World Series championships than the Giants, at least since the move to the West Coast, and besides it smacks of desperation and bitterness.

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I think I saw a female Allen's (or rufous) hummingbird this morning - their flight is quiet compared to the whistle that the male counterparts of their species make. I hope it was what I think it was; I just don't see them enough anymore.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

name and number

With the NFL Draft fast approaching (but not fast enough), my mind will be increasingly on football. And at the same time, with the MLB season just days away from starting, I'll also be thinking about baseball! Today's entry will involve both sports:

If you're a 49er fan, as I am, you are familiar with the running back Anthony Dixon. As far as I'm concerned, he was a late-round gem that the Niners drafted last year. As last year's pre-season progressed, we started becoming accustomed to him wearing the number 33; in football more than in other sports, the numbers they wear on their jerseys help us quickly identify who they are; after all, their faces are hidden behind their face masks, their bodies are covered by protective padding, and there are so many of them running around the field at the same time. Even though number 33 is Roger Craig's old number, I think there's been enough time since he was on the team to allow another running back to wear it.

Still, after running back Michael Robinson left the team, Dixon quickly assumed Robinson's old number, 24. Which was an adjustment for me... I had so closely associated Robinson as 24 and Dixon as 33. So okay, I suppose that after enough time, I'll know Dixon as number 24. Yet, there is another 49ers player that I would have much preferred to take over the number 24 when Robinson was no longer wearing it: Taylor Mays.

Are you on to the reason why yet? Taylor Mays wears the number 23 for the 49ers, but imagine if he wore the number 24 instead. A San Francisco athlete named Mays wearing the number 24. How perfect would that be? (for those of you too young to remember what I am referring to, the great Willie Mays wore number 24 when he played for the San Francisco Giants). And Taylor Mays playing the position of safety, otherwise known as playing 'center field' in a defensive set, well, it's fun to imagine.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

breathtaking beauty


Early this morning, I heard on the radio that Academy Award-winning actress and screen legend Elizabeth Taylor had passed away. There will surely be coverage in all of the media in the days to come, such as pages dedicated to her life and career in many magazines. As for today's blog entry, I'll just go over some of my own thoughts about her.

The guys on the radio this morning mentioned that those under 30-years of age would for the most part be unfamiliar with her; I'd have to agree, as I didn't know much about her when I was younger. I'd heard her name, sure, back in the 1970's, but didn't really know what all of the fuss was until I looked at pictures of her when she was young. WOW!

I remember when I was in my twenties, I'd go to an occasional antique show in San Mateo with my cousin - not really knowing what to do with myself in such a place (I went mostly to give my cousin some company), it wasn't difficult to while away the time looking for photos of Ms. Taylor. And then when ebay came along, I found myself bidding on photos of her. It's so fitting that she once portrayed Helen of Troy!

There was also a time, back before DVDs, when I started a mini-collection of her movies on VHS.
I ended up getting no more than half a dozen ... I'd have to say that my two favorites are A Place in the Sun (with Montgomery Clift) and Giant (with Rock Hudson and James Dean). If you're familiar with A Place in the Sun, sometimes when I think of the young and ravishing Elizabeth Taylor, the name 'Vickers' flashes over and over in my mind too!

Monday, March 21, 2011

March madness

I really don't understand the popularity of NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness. That it's popular, okay, no problem. But for it to be as popular as it is? I've just never been aware of people following college basketball all that closely throughout the regular season... and then it seems suddenly, people are drawing up brackets and are glued to their television sets.

Monday, March 14, 2011

age and perspective

Back when I was in my teens, I remember just not understanding why the father of the bride would be sobbing and getting so emotional about 'giving away' his daughter on her wedding day. I thought "She's an ADULT! What's the big deal? She's an adult and now she's getting married - quit your blubbering!"

Well, now that I'm quote-unquote grown-up myself, and having watched my nieces and nephews become adults, yes, I see it now. When I look at them, I see the past when they were little children, when they were babies, and I feel so sentimental.

What brings this up is my favorite current television commercial. I believe it's by Subaru, the car-maker. It shows a father leaning in the passenger side of a car speaking to his daughter as she's about to head off somewhere, giving her pointers on how to drive safely. But the daughter is a little girl. She's so cute! "Yes, daddy!" (or something like that). And even the first time I saw this commercial, after getting caught up in seeing this little girl in the driver's seat, I think I started knowing what was going to happen next... that the daughter is actually in her teens of driving age. The father was picturing her back when she was young. Awww... so sentimental. But now I get it.

I've seen other commercials using the same premise before, but this one is so well cast and directed. And it's not even being overplayed (like some commercials that I won't mention today - maybe next time). My mother passed away several years ago, but I better understand now how she must have looked at me and I wish I could go back and somehow convey that same love back to her. I suppose, in my case anyway, it just takes longer for guys to understand a parent's love.

Monday, March 7, 2011

garden grown

This morning I ate an orange for breakfast; well, not just an orange but I had one for 'dessert.' Lucky Charms were the main course. Anyway, the orange was oh, so delicious! What made it so delicious, you ask? It was from the tree of somebody's garden. Garden fresh from the paternal grandmother of my nieces and nephew. Just as utterly scrumptious as the oranges from one of my aunt's trees. Twice as juicy and twice as sweet as the oranges bought from the grocery store. Heck, even the pulp goes down easier. Reminds me of the tomatoes that one of my sisters grows - they are so much better than the ones that are store bought, it's as if they are different vegetables/fruits altogether.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wall Street casting

I suppose all the recent news about actor Charlie Sheen is quite interesting, but I'm finding the machine that drives celebrity gossip just as interesting. I'm fully expecting that there will be an 'expert' brought in to examine whether or not all the attention is somehow exacerbating the situation. Which is just another angle, isn't it? And the beat goes on...

Anyway, I've been thinking lately about the movie Wall Street, in which Charlie Sheen starred with Michael Douglas. If you are familiar with the movie, they cast the perfect actor to portray Charlie Sheen's character Bud Fox's father: Martin Sheen. There are several scenes in which the father gives advice about life to his son - I bet those scenes would be rather poignant to watch right now.