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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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There Are No Actual Animals in the Oakland Zoo

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It took me forever to figure out why the Pitt student section went by the name “Oakland Zoo”. Granted, I could have figured it all out with a quick visit to “the google” but I must have wanted to make things harder for myself. Possible early guesses behind the name included: 1) Charles Oakland was a former player for the Panthers back in the early 1970’s. NOT TRUE. 2) University founders built the current campus over a prehistoric animal sanctuary. Also, NOT TRUE.  3) And this was a stretch, there is no true connection between the University of Pittsburgh and the name “Oakland Zoo”. You guessed it, NOT TRUE.

So, as it turns out, “Oakland” is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh where the university is located.  “Zoo” refers to the wild and crazy antics of the student body that has been pouring into the Petersen Events Center ever since the doors opened back in 2002.

One of my favorite parts about “The Pete” are the floor level luxury boxes that extend along the entire length of the court. Great idea that was probably modeled after Qwest Field in Seattle and perhaps has since gone on to serve as the inspiration behind similar designs in Cowboy Stadium and the New Meadowlands. It’s good for the upper class folk to mingle with us common people every now and again.

view of “The Pete” courtesy of @Chris_Gates

The Long New England Winter Just Got a Little Longer

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With the loss by my New England Patriots, this playoff recap was about as tough to write as any previous post. Alas, I’m a professional and I know most of you kind souls out there don’t care for a single second that Mark Sanchez will be taking his A Night At The Roxbury routine to Pittsburgh next weekend.

Pittsburgh Steelers 31 Baltimore Ravens 24: Catch the ball Housh!!!! Catch the ball Anquan!!! Help your young quarterback out. Granted Joe Flacco wasn’t playing all that well either but those drops by his two best receivers went a long way towards determining the final outcome of the game.  Give credit to Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers who just continue to find ways to win playoff games. Are you aware that Roethlisberger is two wins a way from his 3rd Super Bowl victory?  Personal life aside, guy is a beast of a QB who usually comes through in the clutch. (View of Heinz Field courtesy of @trixietraci)

Green Bay Packers 48 Atlanta Falcons 21: I think it’s safe to say that Aaron Rodgers is playing himself on to a Wheaties box. That was until the folks over at ProFootballTalk mentioned some pretty damning video regarding Rodgers snubbing a cancer patient looking for an autograph.  Not the most inspiring footage.  Luckily, Clay Matthews was there to save the the day for the Packers, but for Rodgers, the damage may already be done.  As a professional athlete, airports must be a claustrophobic nightmare with pimple faced face fans climbing the walls just to catch a glimpse of their gridiron heroes.  But, as PFT points out, this was not your typical fan and Aaron Rodgers should have had the decency to take a quick moment to sign an autograph for a person who was clearly battling something much more devastating than a Cover 2 defense. (View of Georgia Dome courtesy of @Brian_Chrispigna)

Chicago Bears 35 Seattle Seahawks 24: So much for the momentum. In the immortal words of Denny Green, the Seahawks “are who we thought they were”. Not much suspense in this one, except for those gamblers who took Seattle at +10 and were hoping Pete Carroll went for the 2 point conversion on that last TD. The future isn’t all that promising for the Hawks fans who are probably hoping for a disastrous 2011 campaign if only to have a chance at drafting Andrew Luck. The Bears, and their fans, have got to relish being 3 point underdogs at home against the Packers in the NFC Championship game.

New York Jets 28 New England Patriots 21: And it wasn’t even that close.  As a Patriot fan, what can I say?  Rex Ryan outcoached Bill Belichick.  Mark Sanchez outplayed Tom Brady. Done and done. The team of destiny rolls on to the AFC Championship Game. I do wonder what sort of sophomoric barb the Jets will use to get under the skin of their opponent this week. Will they emasculate Troy Polamalu for having long hair? Do they say something derogatory about all the middle class iron workers who populate the Heinz Field stands? Or dare they go as far as to challenge the authority of Pittsburgh head coach Darnell Jefferson? One thing’s for certain, the New York media market is going to be alive with energy this week and I am going to do my best to maintain complete radio silence. (View of Gillette Stadium courtesy of @RyanFox25Sports)

Delusional Divisional Playoff Picks

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PITTSBURGH (-3) over Baltimore: As I was reading an article in Golf Digest on Trent Dilfer I was struck by a few things. Most significantly, I had totally forgotten that Dilfer was not the Baltimore starting QB heading into the Ravens 2000 Super Bowl Championship season. That honor belonged to…Tony Banks!!! Remember him? I remember Banks more as a QB for the Rams than I do Ravens and if memory serves me correct, he was inconsistent at best wherever he played.  We give Trent Dilfer a lot of crap for being arguably the “worst QB to ever lead a team to a Super Bowl victory” however, the Ravens do not win in 2000 if Tony Banks is their QB.  That’s a fact.

Green Bay (+1.5) over ATLANTA: Mike Francesa continues to crack me up.  During his show on WFAN yesterday he picked the Falcons to beat the Packers for “no real reason whatsoeva”. Now that’s what I can ANALYSIS!!!! Seriously, he could not come up with a single reason why his Atlanta pick made sense.  Green Bay is playing better, they have a hot quarterback, and a resurgent running game. The closest Francesa came to justifying his pick was that the entire betting public is on the Packers which makes him a little nervous.  That’s it. No, “I have faith in the Atlanta ball control offense and Georgia Dome crowd”. No, “Mike McCarthy is an awful game manager who will find a way to challenge at least two stupid plays a game”. Nothing.

I’m not knocking Mike, in fact, I love listening to his show and will continue to do so.  For this pick however, I’m going to disregard his “advice” and go with my gut and take the Packers.

Seattle (+10) over CHICAGO: Since it worked out so well the last time I picked the Seahawks, I am riding them again this week. I have no real reason to believe that Seattle will go in to Soldier Field and win the game outright but I do think these two teams are closer than the +10. It also remains very hard to root for Jay Cutler.  I don’t know what it is about the guy that breeds such great disdain and animosity.  A lot of it has to do with his body language – slumped shoulders, dour expression- which inspires very little confidence.  This raises a great question, which NFL quarterback has the worst body language: Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers, or Peyton Manning?  If I were to open this question up to include all professional athletes DeMarcus Cousins would have to be somewhere on the list.  That guy is an ENORMOUS baby.

New York Jets (+9) over NEW ENGLAND: The Pats will win this game by less than a touchdown.  That 45-3 score the last time these two teams played in early December was an aberration and I would expect a much more competitive game this time around. On a personal note, my wife could go into labor at any moment and I have kindly asked that she wait until after the game ends tomorrow evening.  Mid week is best for me, miss a few days of work and then back from the hospital in time to watch the Pats host the Steelers in the AFC Championship game. Of course I’m kidding. Anytime the baby is ready is fine by me. Healthy and happy, that’s all any parent can ask for.

view of North Dakota vs Minnesota courtesy of @eyevonsa

A Morning of Thanks and Appreciation

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Last night, the #1 ranked team in college basketball lost for the first time all season. Usually this would be the lead story on most major news outlets and sports blogs.  But not today.  No today is a little different. Following the moving tribute by the President and others last night, today is all about remembering those we lost in the horrific shooting in Tucson last Saturday. It’s also important to keep our thoughts with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and all  others injured who are currently fighting to stay alive.

Sports continues to be the ultimate form of escapism for Americans.  We look to sports as a release from the daily grind of our jobs and responsibilities.  The never ending cycle of breaking news and commentary will continue to roll along. But sometimes, like this morning, we should all step away from our iPads and twitter apps and take a second to appreciate what we have and how fortunate it is to be alive.

view of FSU/Duke courtesy of @smar1e

A Seattle High Five with The Boz (No not that one)

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As Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Slapping hands is the lowest form of male primate ritual.” We here at VMS fully support the high five and believe it has a clear and important place in this world.  In our latest set of 5 questions, we asked close personal friend, and Seattle native, Ben aka “The Boz” what he thinks about his Seahawks and their glorious run to second round of the NFC playoffs.

VMS: On a scale of Nirvana “Nevermind” down to Mudhoney “Superfuzz Biggmuff”, where does the Seahawks playoff victory over the Saints rank on your all time list of Seattle memories?

The Boz: Really high.  I honestly think this was a solid Pearl Jam “Ten”.  Ten was a seminal, accessible album for the Seattle sound, and is a real classic – plus it was during Vedder’s pre-soapbox years, so that’s an immediate plus.  Saturday’s moment wasn’t quite “Nevermind” (doesn’t yet have the depth of 2005, 1983, 1995 Mariners), but still an epic moment which everyone outside of New Orleans loved, and it will be remembered for a long time by ‘Hawk fans.  Far above Superfuzz Bigmuff – but I’ve only heard that album once.

VMS: Did it take much to convince your wife to name your next child “Marshawn”?

The Boz: I think she was so excited to get me off of “John Cougar” that “Marshawn” was a relatively easy sell.

VMS: Tell the truth, part of you is kind of hoping Charlie Whitehurst has another opportunity to “resurrect” the Seattle offense.

The Boz: No way. Not this season, and maybe never.  Clipboard Jesus may be the next great ‘Hawks QB, but I kind of don’t think so.  He managed the Rams game semi-competently, but anyone can look like Joe Montana when they actually go to their checkdown instead of floating balls into double coverage, which was Hasselbeck’s M.O. for the 10 weeks preceding Saturday’s unconscious performance.

Either way (and this may not be a popular opinion right now), I think it’s time the ‘Hawks pull a Dave Krieg on Hasselbeck and let him walk before the wheels start coming off the bus.  It sucked to see Krieg in a Chiefs uniform in the early-90s, but we had to pull the band-aid off.  It feels like we’re getting there with Hasselbeck.  I’m hoping that by some miracle we can land Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft.

VMS: If the Seahawks lose to the Bears this Sunday, does their playoff run still take some of the sting out of the SuperSonics departure to Oklahoma City in 2008?

The Boz: No. I can’t go too far down this road because it’s still really soon, but suffice it to say that losing Seattle’s longest-tenured professional sports franchise was a bitter pill.  I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Oklahoma City team, and I barely acknowledge the existence of Oklahoma City itself.

VMS: Last question, Seattle weather….bad as advertised?

The Boz: I don’t believe so.  Rainy winters, but the summers are nothing short of glorious.  Just got back from a 10-day trip to the Emerald City, and there was measurable precip 7 out of 10 days, Dec. 20-30.  So there’s your objective metric.  Not too bad, but definitely not sunny and nice either.

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There you have it.  Thanks to the Boz for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions.  He has promised VMS a free month of fresh/hot hand delivered coffee if the Seahawks pull off another miracle and beat the Bears this weekend. Go ‘Hawks!!!

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view of the Jon M. Hunstman Arena courtesy of @erikzeiner