View My Seats

At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

Photo Credit for Header: Alex Foucre-Stimes

Bracketscapes: Washington, D.C.

by

Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center (March 17 & 19: Rounds 2,3)

Why your dad likes D.C.: Because all dads love history. Fact: every dad claims to know more about history than their kids. Dads also really like to tell you what they know about history over and over and over again. Growing up, my dad must have told me a hundred times about Abraham Lincoln writing the Gettysburg Address on the train ride up to deliver his most famous speech. To this day, whenever I have to give a presentation my dad will remind me of this story.

Signature Food/Beverage: Got to be the martini, or a scotch on the rocks. Those government types are so refined. Anytime I visit friends in DC I end up drinking cans of PBR. Why travel all the way down to DC for a PBR when I only need to go to Brooklyn. So ironic. For food, I would go with Five Guys. Best “fast food” burger I’ve had. The chain started in DC but has migrated north to New England which is fantastic for my appetite but not so much for my cholesterol, blood pressure, and physique.

College Basketball History: With all the fallout following the recent Fab Five documentary, maybe now people will give the Georgetown basketball program its due. Patrick Ewing and John Thompson were as transcendent as Jalen Rose or Chris Weber and their Hoya teams actually won something.

Bracket Predictions: Round 2 – (8) Butler over (9) Old Dominion, (1) Pitt over NC-Asheville, (3) Connecticut over (14) Bucknell, (11) Missouri over (6) Cincinnati Round 3 – Pitt over Butler, UConn over Missouri

view from the Verizon Center courtesy of @howtoJimmyK

Bracketscapes: Denver, Colorado

by

Denver, CO – Pepsi Center (March 17th & 19th: Rounds 2,3)

Why your dad likes Denver: My 58 year old father use to fashion himself somewhat of a downhill skier, although I can’t remember the last time he took to the slopes. He loves traveling out west but usually sticks to the National Parks of Montana and California. At one point in his life my dad had a boss who was a co-owner of the Broncos and he was able to travel to San Diego to watch Timmy Smith, Doug Williams and the Washington Redskins run all over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

Signature food/drink: Coors has got to stop running those NFL coach press conference mashups with Herm Edwards, Jim Mora, and Mike Ditka. What ever happened to Pete Coors? I use to love those ads where he was knee deep in powder talking about how his grandfather learned how to brew from his great grandfather who just happened to “buy” his Rocky Mt land from the Apache.

College basketball history: My favorite player from UNLV’s 1990 National Championship, played in Denver, team was Stacey Augmon.  I loved Augmon for several reasons including his great intangibles -defense and rebounding – , prolific dunking ability, and great nickname “Plastic Man”. All the talk recently has been about ESPN’s Fab Five doc but I thought the Running Rebels show on HBO was much better.

Bracket Predictions: 2nd round – (5) Vanderbilt over (12) Richmond, (4) Louisville over (13) Morehead St., (6) St. John’s over (11) Gonzaga, (3) BYU over (14) Wofford 3/19 – Louisville over Vanderbilt, BYU over SJU

view from the Pepsi Center courtesy of @KentTaylorWAVE

Bracketscapes: Tampa, Florida

by

Tampa, Florida – St. Pete Times Forum (March 17 & 19: Round 2,3)

Why your dad likes Tampa: I use to think Florida was a place reserved for Spring Training, strip malls, and retirees. But, as it turns out, there’s a whole lot more to the Sunshine State than just palm trees and pavement. As it turns out, Florida also has its fair share of golf courses. With this in mind, what’s a father not to like about Tampa/St. Pete? One of my favorite parts of the area is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which spans Tampa Bay. I have never seen so many people fishing from the side of a highway in my entire life.

Signature food/drink: Why is it that all old people like gin? Don’t they realize that there are much better alcoholic beverages available? I once went to a wedding in late August where the only alcoholic offerings were red/white wine, a local craft beer, and gin. Gin! Did they not expect people under the age of 75 to actually attend the wedding? Not to mention the fact that gin, tonic, and 100% humidity do not mix well. I almost passed out before my first sip.

College basketball history: What do you think Jake Voskuhl and Khalid El-Amin are up to right about now? Both players were instrumental in UConn’s 1999 National Championship. Of course the star of the team was Rip Hamilton but Voskuhl and El-Amin had what basketball announcers like to call “charisma”. I wasn’t surprised El-Amin didn’t have much of a NBA career. I always figured he had the type of game and body type better suited for the European leagues where teams require their players to take siestas during halftime.

Bracket Predictions: Round 2 – (12) Clemson over (5) WVU, (4) Kentucky over (13) Princeton, (2) Florida over (15) UCSB, (7) UCLA over (10) MSU Round 3– Kentucky over Clemson, and Florida over UCLA

view from St. Pete Times Forum courtesy of @GatorzoneMBK

View from Spring Training: 2011 Colorado Rockies

by

2011 Colorado Rockies

NFL Equivalent – Miami Dolphins: My favorite NFL player growing up was Dan Marino. He was the consummate fantasy football quarterback before fantasy football ever existed. If the Dolphins had any a semblance of a defense I am convinced Marino would have won at least two Super Bowls in the 80s/90s. He also had great hair! I mention this only because Troy Tulowitzki, the star SS for the Colorado Rockies, pursued a similar look this past season. Call it the “crullet” – curly haired mullet. Another similarity between these two franchises…their home climates can, and often do, affect the outcome of a game.  Between the humidity/heat of South Florida and the altitude of the Rocky Mts, opposing teams need to prepare, both physically and psychologically, days in advance before playing in Miami or Colorado.

Google Search: Speaking of Tulowitzki, the Rockies inked their franchise player to a seven year $134 million extension in November, which means he’ll be making an average of $20 million until he’s 35 years old.  That equates to nearly a quarter of Colorado’s mid market payroll. I haven’t watched “Tulo” play on a regular basis but it seems like a lot of money to tie up in a single player these days. If Tulowitzki is worth $20 million to Colorado, than Albert Pujols has got to be worth at least $30 million to the Cardinals, Cubs, or Yomiuri Giants.

Famous Movie Quote: That John Denver’s full of shit, man. – Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber and Anchorman may be the two most quotable movies of my lifetime. (All apologies to Wedding Crashers, Blazing Saddles, and Dazed and Confused.) As far as I am concerned, Dumb and Dumber II never happened, kind of like Godfather III and the last 3 Star Wars movies. (Thanks for ruining my childhood George Lucas!) The Colorado Rockies are hoping for a strong follow up to their 83-79 campaign in 2010. With Tulo, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Carlos Gonzalez, this team is built to win now. 2011 prediction: 90-72, 1st place NL West

view from Corbett Field courtesy of @desertsamurai31

View from Spring Training: 2011 Detroit Tigers

by

2011 Detroit Tigers

NFL Equivalent – Oakland Raiders: I can remember a time back in the early to mid 90’s, when the LA/Oakland Raiders were the epitome of urban/gangsta rap brashness. After all, a prerequisite for membership in NWA was whether or not you could pull off the Raiders cap. Al Davis may be the face of the franchise today, but back then, Ice Cube represented Raider nation best. For some reason I feel like at one time or another the Tigers hat carried a similar street cred. Call it the Eminem effect. Or maybe it chalk it up to one Magnum P.I.

Google Search: After Detroit won a bidding war for the services of prized free agent catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez, all was well in Tigertown, that was until Miguel Cabrera was arrested for DUI in February.  Will the arrest affect Cabrera’s 2011 performance? Can his Tiger teammates trust him when it counts? Is anyone else worried that Cabrera has to deal with some bigger issues than just baseball?

Famous Movie Quote: I love poetry, and a glass of scotch, and, of course, my friend Baxter here. – Ron Burgundy Anchorman

Scotch is one of those drinks that I say I enjoy but really don’t. It seems like most of my friends enjoy a nice glass after dinner, but me? Unless you load it up with a bundle of ice cubes I simply can’t stomach the raw masculinity. Miguel Cabrera doesn’t seem to have the same problem. What was most alarming to me about his DUI arrest is not that he was inebriated but that he was drinking scotch. Doesn’t Florida seem a little warm for scotch? I feel like scotch is a winter drink reserved for the ski lodges of British Columbia. 2011 prediction: 93-69, 1st place AL Central

view from Space Coast Stadium courtesy of @davextreme