mrneoluddite/sports

From the page: "
Diamonds Aren't Forever
By Dave Sikula
Mon, August 11, 2008

August 11 marks the 79th anniversary of Babe Ruth's 500th career home run. That in itself might make for an interesting post, but what caught our eye was that Ruth hit the homer in League Park, a stadium that served Cleveland Indians fans from 1891 to 1946, before being torn down -- well, most of it, anyway.

Thinking about League Park reminded us of all the other great ballparks that have gone to the great beyond -- and more specifically about Yankee Stadium: The "House That Ruth Built" will meet the wrecking ball after the 2008 season. But there's something irreplaceable about an old ballpark. Looking at the field at Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, one can almost see the great players who stood on that grass and dirt in decades past.

Baseball is a game about constant comparisons between the past and the present, and old stadiums allow us to see both simultaneously. That's why it's so heartbreaking when a grand old lady like Tiger Stadium or Comiskey Park or Ebbets Field is demolished; something is taken out of the world that is irreplaceable. We're grateful for the new generation of quirky and individualistic stadiums like PNC Park and AT&T Park -- so many new ballparks, in fact, that 1962's Dodger Stadium will soon be the third-oldest in the majors -- but they just can't conjure up the memories that Sportsman's Park, Crosley Field, or Forbes Field did... or they won't for a while, anyway.

So, as we come down to the end of another season, we encourage you to get out and visit one of these parks while you still can They may not all be as old as Rickwood Field, but it'll be about as close to the Field of Dreams as you can come."

From the page: "The Olympics of Symbolism
By Dave Sikula
Fri, August 8, 2008

The Olympics are here! And as we celebrate the Games of the current Olympiad, our thoughts turn to -- no, not to steroids and genetic testing, or the ways in which protesters will be relegated to the far reaches of Beijing. No, we're not getting nostalgic for the events of yesteryear: croquet, golf, and Jeu de Paume (Jeu de what?). We're not even thinking of how Beijing's air has the consistency of pea soup (or perhaps birds' nest soup this year), though Chinese officials are doing their darnedest to keep competitors from horking up a lung.

No, as the Games begin, we like to concentrate on the symbols that identify the Olympics: icons like the flag, whose rings represent the five continents of the world and the colors found on every flag. Or the Torch Relay -- devised by Hitler's propagandists, but which culminates in the lighting ceremony that can choke up even the hardest-hearted cynic. American television viewers associate Leo Arnaud's "Bugler's Dream" with the Games, though in recent years, that musical theme has been replaced by John Williams' "Olympic Fanfare and Theme." Most of all, we love the mascots of the Games -- cuddly creatures like Waldi (who admonished other daschhunds against urinating on the Olympic flagpole) or Calgary's lovable polar bears Hidy and Howdy -- or even Los Angeles' Sam, who fended off accusations that he looked more like a chicken than a bald eagle. Perhaps the least-loved mascot was Atlanta's Izzy, if only because no one was really sure what the hell he (she? it?) was.

The final verdict on this year's Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini is anyone's guess, but we're pretty sure that they'll end up being less creepy than Turin's Neve and Gliz -- an anthropomorphized snowball and ice cube with unnervingly cheerful expressions."

An amazing montage image of the Bird's Nest

sites by climbers about the mountain, the logistics and dangers of climbing it.

From the page: Nazi Party Pooper
By Dave Sikula
Fri, August 1

Hitler thought it was a good idea. So did Goebbels. The rest of the world? Not so much. We speak today of the Berlin Olympics, which opened on this day in 1936.

To be fair, getting the Olympics for Germany wasn't originally a Nazi idea -- the Games were awarded in 1931, before Hitler came to power. Still, the National Socialist Party saw the Olympic Games as an opportunity to show off the alleged superiority of the Aryan race. There were calls for a boycott, which was opposed by worthies as different as Franklin Roosevelt and United States Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage (whom many suspected was a Nazi sympathizer). There was even an alternate competition set up in Spain, though it was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War).

Despite the controversy, the games went on as scheduled -- and were even televised (granted, it was a limited broadcast, but there's no telling who was watching). Hitler's celebration was spoiled, however, when his German supermen were upstaged by a young African American from Alabama named Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals (thanks to tips from a German competitor and Brundige's demand that Jewish sprinter Marty Glickman be replaced on the 4x100 meter relay team), and shattered Hitler's scheme.

Of course, history being what it is, not everything went as we in the 21st century might have hoped. Germany did indeed win the most medals, but more interestingly, Owens had a freedom in Germany that he didn't in America, and was able to frequent the best hotels and restaurants with no worries about segregation. When he returned to America, not only did he not get so much as a telegram from FDR, but he had to take the freight elevator to attend his own welcome-home celebration at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel."

From the page:
"The Battle of Baltimore
By David Price
Thu, November 29, 2007

For college football fans, this is going to be a big weekend, with several important BCS match-ups. But the real combat will occur as longtime martial rivals sneer at one another across the line of scrimmage in the annual Army-Navy game. While some traditional duels boast names like The Big Game or The Civil War, none attract the hoopla of the vaunted Army-Navy fight. This year will be the 108th year the teams have met -- ever since a young Cadet accepted a challenge to have the squads face off on The Plain at West Point in 1890. No doubt this year's game will be a whopper, featuring sharply dressed fans, fancy marching, and a show of military might. Even though neither team is headed to a bowl game, the players and fans take the game very seriously. For them, the showdown at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium is the game of the season. The annual clash between the Cadets of West Point and the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy is one battle the military actually looks forward to fighting."

Now this is more like it!


From the page: "For years, ridiculously priced brand-name shoes have dominated athletic footwear: LeBron James' new shoe, from Nike, costs $140; the latest Air Jordans rise to $175. In fact, kids have been killed for the latest "cool" sneaker. But the Starburys, sold exclusively at Steve & Barry's, cost just $14.98, and consumers have been scooping them up like shrimp at a buffet. In the two months after their August 2006 debut, Steve & Barry's sold over 3 million pairs. And the cheap-shoe love has lasted. "C'mon, this is the best thing that has happened in a long time," says Curtis Washington, 44, before bouncing out of a store with five Starbury boxes."

From the page: "Being a cheerleader, you're on a mission: lead to victory, fight for your ideas. Activists and politicians must have perceived this inner strength that moves cheerleaders: no wonder then that Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and George W. Bush all animated sports fields before entering the political arena. Does anyone know if Barack, Rudy, Hillary, or Mitt were cheerleaders? The results of the 2008 elections may be one pom-pon throw away."