Last night, my son Ethan, who is now 4, and I went to see the Double A New Britain Rock Cats play an Eastern League interleague game against the Connecticut Defenders, the team in Norwich on a seasonably warm spring evening.
It one of those experiences one has in which you could just as well stay home. It was a night game, and I had to be up at 5:30 to go on a day-long field trip to Massachusetts.
We went, though, and had a great time. Of course, we ate a lot of junk food (hot dogs, soda, ice cream, peanuts). We played iSpy around the ballpark, including identifying the giant milk bottle beyond the fence in left-center field. We laughed at the mascots and the between-inning contests. It was quality father-son time. We left in the middle of the sixth inning, which was surprising, especially since my son asked after the first inning, "How much longer is it, Daddy?"
One thing that intrigued me was information displayed on the scoreboard for each batter. Every batter was identified by name, hometown, height and weight.
I wondered about the reason for the height and weight. I mean, how much does this actually tell you? That a guy is big, medium-sized, or small. Beyond that, it doesn't indicate very much about the quality of an athlete, though.
Plenty of men have the same height-weight statistics as professional athletes. Like me. for instance, I am 6'1 1/2" and I weigh 195 pounds. This is misleading, however, because way too much of that weight is centered in the wrong area. I was in my best shape in college, when I weighed about 185.
I think new data needs to be proposed in the place of the height and weight. Tell us the batter's on-base percentage. How many hits does he have? How fast can the guy run 50 meters? What is the team's record when the player plays? While I'm mentioning offensive statistics, I'd rather know the number of runs scored and average than knowing the home runs and RBIs.
For pitchers, provide the ERA, innings pitched, wins, losses and strikeouts.
My point, here, is that we don't need to know a player's height and weight. They are irrelevant numbers that don't mean a thing. A player's age, for instance, would tell us much more.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Lucky breaks
Ordinarily, I'm not one to catch lucky breaks. I'm not saying I'm unlucky, but it seems that others are generally more lucky than me.
So when the good fortune rolls, I'm noticing. And I'm happy.
Tonight, while at Barnes and Noble buying books for the kids and me (the Easter Bunny sent gift cards), we were set to pay at the front registers. The front counter person (wearing, proudly, his name tag on a lanyard around his neck) was scanning our stuff - which included two stuffed panda bears, presents that I didn't feel like arguing about - and I noticed that it was Teacher Appreciation Week - 25 percent off. Sweet. Probably saved 10 bucks.
We arrive home and I pop in a construction truck DVD that came with one of my son's books and I go online to check the Scrubs episode that I thought I missed last night when I was out. I go to the site and it says the episode is tonight at 8, not last night. I keep forgetting that Scrubs has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday night. So now, I'm planning to watch Scrubs in 7 minutes, live, but not really live. Nice.
If my luck is truly ringing true, this last matter will work out in my favor, too. We're heading up to Boston tomorrow, staying overnight. We'll go to the Children's Museum, walk around the city, take to the T to Quincy Market, and swim in an indoor pool (my wife's big request). But if the Red Sox game is rained out tonight - I'm hoping it will - then chances are many people will need to get rid of their seats since the makeup game is tomorrow at 1:35. Might be able to grab some tickets off craigslist later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Good things come in threes, the claim goes, so even though the tarp has been taken off the field and the game is scheduled to start tonight at 7:55, perhaps some significant rain will prevent the game from lasting past the fifth inning, which games need to do in order for them to officially count.
Don't mean to sound like a jerk to those at Fenway tonight, but rain, baby, rain.
So when the good fortune rolls, I'm noticing. And I'm happy.
Tonight, while at Barnes and Noble buying books for the kids and me (the Easter Bunny sent gift cards), we were set to pay at the front registers. The front counter person (wearing, proudly, his name tag on a lanyard around his neck) was scanning our stuff - which included two stuffed panda bears, presents that I didn't feel like arguing about - and I noticed that it was Teacher Appreciation Week - 25 percent off. Sweet. Probably saved 10 bucks.
We arrive home and I pop in a construction truck DVD that came with one of my son's books and I go online to check the Scrubs episode that I thought I missed last night when I was out. I go to the site and it says the episode is tonight at 8, not last night. I keep forgetting that Scrubs has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday night. So now, I'm planning to watch Scrubs in 7 minutes, live, but not really live. Nice.
If my luck is truly ringing true, this last matter will work out in my favor, too. We're heading up to Boston tomorrow, staying overnight. We'll go to the Children's Museum, walk around the city, take to the T to Quincy Market, and swim in an indoor pool (my wife's big request). But if the Red Sox game is rained out tonight - I'm hoping it will - then chances are many people will need to get rid of their seats since the makeup game is tomorrow at 1:35. Might be able to grab some tickets off craigslist later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Good things come in threes, the claim goes, so even though the tarp has been taken off the field and the game is scheduled to start tonight at 7:55, perhaps some significant rain will prevent the game from lasting past the fifth inning, which games need to do in order for them to officially count.
Don't mean to sound like a jerk to those at Fenway tonight, but rain, baby, rain.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
First bike ride
I seized the moment to ride my mountain bike the other day - the first ride of the season. The first ride brings so much promise, and it will hopefully be the first of many rides to come over the next seven or eight months.
Sun beamed strongly during the morning hours, warming the air just enough to take the nip out of it in the afternoon, when I took my ride. The winds picked up substantially, though, especially on the trail, and it seemed like I was riding against it both ways, but more so on the first half of the ride. The back end, which is slightly uphill, turned out to be easier than usual, which was good because I was running late.
Bike rides, even if you're not going that slow, give you so much opportunity to observe things. You get to watch people, their dogs, little kids struggling to pedal and keep up with their families, the rising water in a Hebron swamp, a tree leaning from the side of a grassy marsh at a 45-degree angle, looking as if it'll drop at the gentlest breeze.
It felt good to move the legs, to power my own movement. Running on the treadmill or elliptical during the colder months just isn't the same. There is no current of air to breathe in or birds to hear when running in my basement or at the gym.
Biking puts you in a trance of sorts, and after the first 10 or 15 minutes you can feel your body relax into it, even as your pulse is pounding. Music from my mp3 player helps provide an energy boost. The one that did it for me this time was Spacehog's "In the Meantime."
The only bummer of the ride - and I have feared this would someday happen - is that my mp3 player fell to the dirt path, perhaps hitting a stone, and the display window cracked. It still works, but it kind of pissed me off. I'll have to put the bulky leather case back on it to keep it going. Got lazy, there.
On the way home, clouds gathered above the trail, but by that time I'd been sweating. As I approached the parking lot, I saw a family of about six, including a woman who was partly disabled, pushing a walker. I silently gave the woman credit for getting outside, for not remaining a prisoner to her disability.
I threw my bike on my bike rack, and, as is customary, blared WEEI on the way home with the sunroof of the CR-V open. The trip home after a long ride is usually a blur, and it was on Saturday.
I pulled into my driveway, grabbed my bike off the bike rack, and put them both in the garage. While I was on the front walkway - in a seemingly eeriely planned way - the first raindrops struck the asphalt. They hit me for about two of my strides before I opened the door and it closed behind me.
Sun beamed strongly during the morning hours, warming the air just enough to take the nip out of it in the afternoon, when I took my ride. The winds picked up substantially, though, especially on the trail, and it seemed like I was riding against it both ways, but more so on the first half of the ride. The back end, which is slightly uphill, turned out to be easier than usual, which was good because I was running late.
Bike rides, even if you're not going that slow, give you so much opportunity to observe things. You get to watch people, their dogs, little kids struggling to pedal and keep up with their families, the rising water in a Hebron swamp, a tree leaning from the side of a grassy marsh at a 45-degree angle, looking as if it'll drop at the gentlest breeze.
It felt good to move the legs, to power my own movement. Running on the treadmill or elliptical during the colder months just isn't the same. There is no current of air to breathe in or birds to hear when running in my basement or at the gym.
Biking puts you in a trance of sorts, and after the first 10 or 15 minutes you can feel your body relax into it, even as your pulse is pounding. Music from my mp3 player helps provide an energy boost. The one that did it for me this time was Spacehog's "In the Meantime."
The only bummer of the ride - and I have feared this would someday happen - is that my mp3 player fell to the dirt path, perhaps hitting a stone, and the display window cracked. It still works, but it kind of pissed me off. I'll have to put the bulky leather case back on it to keep it going. Got lazy, there.
On the way home, clouds gathered above the trail, but by that time I'd been sweating. As I approached the parking lot, I saw a family of about six, including a woman who was partly disabled, pushing a walker. I silently gave the woman credit for getting outside, for not remaining a prisoner to her disability.
I threw my bike on my bike rack, and, as is customary, blared WEEI on the way home with the sunroof of the CR-V open. The trip home after a long ride is usually a blur, and it was on Saturday.
I pulled into my driveway, grabbed my bike off the bike rack, and put them both in the garage. While I was on the front walkway - in a seemingly eeriely planned way - the first raindrops struck the asphalt. They hit me for about two of my strides before I opened the door and it closed behind me.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Between seasons
It's the tail end of March now, technically spring, but if you drive around in the right places and see a hidden shady spot, you might still see icicles, or at least remnants of them. We saw some dripping from a rocky ledge along an exit ramp of Route 9 the other day in Haddam. Snow has passed. Grass isn't growing yet. We're between seasons in New England.
It's nice just to be through with winter, something that New Englanders just endure, and people are greatly anticipating warmer temperatures for purposes of better mental health. The weather guy mentions "60 degrees" and people get downright giddy. Kids start coming to school in shorts and shortsleeves these days, even though it's been in the 40s and 50s. They say they're not cold. They'd wear sandals and tank tops if they could. In their mind, it's beach season.
The transition of seasons is a good thing for lazy property owners like me because it means that no yard maintenance needs to be done. No snow to blow, no grass to mow. Of course, people are already raking debris from their yards into neat little piles (they must be bored) and some are spreading grass seed, fertilizer, and trimming bushes.
I, meanwhile, am making every effort to watch college basketball. UConn, amazingly, is still in the NCAA tournament, making it to the Final Four.
The good thing about this time of year - after having been cooped up for way too long for the winter - is that days are longer and warmer temperatures means outdoor sports and recreation are once again possible. Biking, tennis, basketball. We can walk to the baseball field down the street to watch a game. The world opens up again.
Of course, the downside is allergy season. I have severe spring allergies, sneezing profusely at pollen and mold, and 'tis the season for that. Last year, I started taking Nettles, an all-natural pill containing an herblike weed or something - I must REALLY trust the woman at Whole Foods - and so far it's worked wonders, better than prescriptions. Last year was not terrible allergy-wise, knock on wood.
So I plan to pop Nettles pills again this year with great enthusiasm and see where it takes me. As long as it enables me to taste my food and not sneeze emphatically so as to snap my neck, I'll be satisfied.
It's nice just to be through with winter, something that New Englanders just endure, and people are greatly anticipating warmer temperatures for purposes of better mental health. The weather guy mentions "60 degrees" and people get downright giddy. Kids start coming to school in shorts and shortsleeves these days, even though it's been in the 40s and 50s. They say they're not cold. They'd wear sandals and tank tops if they could. In their mind, it's beach season.
The transition of seasons is a good thing for lazy property owners like me because it means that no yard maintenance needs to be done. No snow to blow, no grass to mow. Of course, people are already raking debris from their yards into neat little piles (they must be bored) and some are spreading grass seed, fertilizer, and trimming bushes.
I, meanwhile, am making every effort to watch college basketball. UConn, amazingly, is still in the NCAA tournament, making it to the Final Four.
The good thing about this time of year - after having been cooped up for way too long for the winter - is that days are longer and warmer temperatures means outdoor sports and recreation are once again possible. Biking, tennis, basketball. We can walk to the baseball field down the street to watch a game. The world opens up again.
Of course, the downside is allergy season. I have severe spring allergies, sneezing profusely at pollen and mold, and 'tis the season for that. Last year, I started taking Nettles, an all-natural pill containing an herblike weed or something - I must REALLY trust the woman at Whole Foods - and so far it's worked wonders, better than prescriptions. Last year was not terrible allergy-wise, knock on wood.
So I plan to pop Nettles pills again this year with great enthusiasm and see where it takes me. As long as it enables me to taste my food and not sneeze emphatically so as to snap my neck, I'll be satisfied.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Walking to School in Italy
In 1969, 40 percent of students in the United States walked to school; in 2001, the most recent year data was collected, 13 percent did, according to the federal government’s National Household Travel Survey.
What the reason for the steep decline? According to the article:
"a rise in car ownership; one-child families, often leery of sending students off to school on their own; cuts in school-bus service or charges for it as a result of school-budget cutbacks and fuel-price gyrations; and the decline of neighborhood schools and the rise of school choice, meaning that students often live farther from where they learn."
Worse still, said Roger L. Mackett, professor at the Center for Transport Studies at University College in London, there is growing evidence that children whose parents drive a lot will become car-dependent adults. “You’re getting children into a lifelong habit,” he said.
What an unfortunate thing for an already car-dominent society. I don't see it getting any better in the U.S.
But at least one town in Italy has it right.
What the reason for the steep decline? According to the article:
"a rise in car ownership; one-child families, often leery of sending students off to school on their own; cuts in school-bus service or charges for it as a result of school-budget cutbacks and fuel-price gyrations; and the decline of neighborhood schools and the rise of school choice, meaning that students often live farther from where they learn."
Worse still, said Roger L. Mackett, professor at the Center for Transport Studies at University College in London, there is growing evidence that children whose parents drive a lot will become car-dependent adults. “You’re getting children into a lifelong habit,” he said.
What an unfortunate thing for an already car-dominent society. I don't see it getting any better in the U.S.
But at least one town in Italy has it right.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Whole Foods Junkie
A while back I wrote about Stew Leonard's, the three-store supermarket chain that features its own dairy products, singing cows and a giraffe and monkey, I believe, and a zigzag maze that winds through the store in a throughly market-researched design that ends in the piping hot prepared foods section that you can't walk by without buying something, like their awesome storemade meatballs.
Today, we turn to Whole Foods, the hip, organic, ecofriendly market. There is a store in Glastonbury, the next town over, where I work, and where we do most of our shopping. The store is powered by a fuel cell, and they donate 5 % of their profits to some cause that I don't quite remember.
I am a sucker for Whole Foods. I pretty much like everything there. That's an exaggeration, but it is a truth that you can't go there without spending at least $50 (my friend Jeremy maintains the figure is $100 for him.)
From their Italian rustic pizza (I ate it tonight) to their milk (not glamorous, but organic and relatively cheap) to cajun shrimp (great in pasta) to cereal bars (good when you're running out the door in the morning), the salad and hot foods bar, cookies, bread, olives, the place features aisle after aisle of good food. Their beer selection is also impressive. Their store brand dark chocolate bars are the best I've eaten.
The quality of course comes at a price. We spent $78 tonight and essentially got dinner, two chocolate bars, some frozen foods, and a bunch of the aforementioned products. But the thing is, we didn't buy much, only two shopping bags of food.
It is a weakness of ours, definitely, and we have no business shopping there, living on one salary. However, the food is so good that it's hard to turn the car from there at times (not for full blown groceries, but once every few weeks for special dinners/lunches) and go to Stop and Shop, or worse, Shaw's. Can't do Shaw's.
We're grocery store snobs. We know it. We'll go broke in the process. At least we'll go broke with good food in our stomach.
Today, we turn to Whole Foods, the hip, organic, ecofriendly market. There is a store in Glastonbury, the next town over, where I work, and where we do most of our shopping. The store is powered by a fuel cell, and they donate 5 % of their profits to some cause that I don't quite remember.
I am a sucker for Whole Foods. I pretty much like everything there. That's an exaggeration, but it is a truth that you can't go there without spending at least $50 (my friend Jeremy maintains the figure is $100 for him.)
From their Italian rustic pizza (I ate it tonight) to their milk (not glamorous, but organic and relatively cheap) to cajun shrimp (great in pasta) to cereal bars (good when you're running out the door in the morning), the salad and hot foods bar, cookies, bread, olives, the place features aisle after aisle of good food. Their beer selection is also impressive. Their store brand dark chocolate bars are the best I've eaten.
The quality of course comes at a price. We spent $78 tonight and essentially got dinner, two chocolate bars, some frozen foods, and a bunch of the aforementioned products. But the thing is, we didn't buy much, only two shopping bags of food.
It is a weakness of ours, definitely, and we have no business shopping there, living on one salary. However, the food is so good that it's hard to turn the car from there at times (not for full blown groceries, but once every few weeks for special dinners/lunches) and go to Stop and Shop, or worse, Shaw's. Can't do Shaw's.
We're grocery store snobs. We know it. We'll go broke in the process. At least we'll go broke with good food in our stomach.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
United We Overconsume
Here's a new theory about why we're in a recession - because we're a nation of overconsumers. Makes good sense.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08friedman.html?em
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/opinion/08friedman.html?em
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