It started out with the Lakers.
Of course it did, could it have happened any other way? Coming off a decade of Michael Jordan dominance, I was a pre-adolescent starving for another basketball superstar to worship. How could I not root for Kobe and Shaq's dynasty? They were absolutely unstoppable and I loved every second of it. Despite the fact that New York fans aren't supposed to like LA teams. Despite the fact that Manu Ginobili, who hails from the very same country I spent a large part of my life in, was taking the NBA by storm. Forget the fact that my mother and her eleven other siblings grew up in the heart of Queens, New York- I loved my Lakers.
Now don't get me wrong, if New York and LA ever face off in anything, it's New York all the way, but on any other day, it was all about LA.
7 years. For all the frustrations Kobe might have felt in his post-Shaq era, I was just as frustrated and somewhat bewildered that a guy many considered the new Michael Jordan couldn't carry a Smush Parker-Kwame Brown-Vlad Radmanovic team to the NBA finals. He was Kobe for Godsake, he is still the only player that New York Knicks fans constantly chant MVP for in the Garden while he tears us to shreds. And despite his long-time deal with Nike, as far as I was concerned, Impossible Was Nothing for this guy, or at least it was supposed to be.
So as I stood mid-shift inside Papa John's and took peeks at the clock winding down for game 5, knowing the Lakers would get their 15th title, I went nuts.
I tried to control myself, but it was hard. I needed to gleam to my boss about how long I'd been waiting for this moment. I needed anyone in my general vicinity to understand that this was a big deal. It needed to be acknowledged that Kobe Bryant just won his fourth championship and that this time there was no 7 foot behemoth next to him holding the Finals MVP trophy. Kobe was holding both. Just Kobe.
The LA Fever's Other Symptom:
Just as the Lakers restored order to the basketball world and that little basketball void inside of me was finally re-filled, I took a look at this year's MLB standings and noticed the LA Dodgers are on top of the world.
Yup, those same Dodgers that once hailed from Brooklyn, New York. Those same Dodgers that, before Yankee legend Joe Torre arrived to coach the team, really hadn't been relevant since the 1980s. And now I find myself hopping on that bandwagon too. I am sold. I'm still a die-heart Yankees fan and would take no other over them, but I no longer hate guys like former Red Sock Manny Ramirez. I think he looks great in Dodger blue and I love seeing him play well.
And I'm thrilled for Joe Torre. While many people will grill me for this, there is no doubt in my mind that the Yankees needed a coaching change. It was not Torre's fault, but they absolutely needed a fresh start. They never really recovered from the series-that-will-not-be-named in 2004, and they needed a big shake-up to get things rolling again.
And Torre's move to LA (with yankee great Don Mattingly by his side as an assistant coach) was the best thing that could have happened to him. He makes the NL Championship round in his first season, and his team is best in the league this year without Manny Ramirez. It would only be fitting that the Yankees and Dodgers meet in this year's World Series.
But before I pack up my things and move to LA, before I indulge myself in beaches, surfing, Hollywood and outdoor roller hockey, I just need to say, as a die-heart fan of all New York Sports, LA isn't all that bad. And now that their clubs are back on top of the world, I'm happy I've been on board for this long.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pilot Dies In Mid-Air: What We Take from it.
First of all, best wishes and regards go out to Continental Flight 61's captain, who died while flying the Newark-bound plane. He was 60 years old. Thankfully, the plane landed safely in Newark and everyone else was ok.
There are a lot of different ways to look at this situation. First of all, was the flight crew right in not notifying the passengers that their captain had died? I think so. Spreading the news while still in flight would have caused an absurd amount of panic that would not have made the plane land any safer than otherwise.
I feel one element that gets lost in this story, however, is the sheer amount of talent present on any given flight. Think about it- after realizing that their pilot/captain was severely ill, the flight crew (according to the NY Times) asked for anyone with medical experience to make their way to the front of the plane. Five traveling doctors immediately made their way to the front, one of whom pronounced the pilot dead and promptly returned to her seat.
Think about all the different professions and careers that could have been represented on that flight. It is amazing to think of how a small group of people on any given aircraft- an airplane holds what, 230 people tops- can represent such large contributions to society.
For those 5 doctors who were passengers on that flight, there were probably just as many lawyers, businessmen, politicians, school teachers, psychologists, construction workers, and whatever else you can think of, a microcosm of society.
You can venture even further and consider how talented the flight crew was to not only keep passengers calm while trying to save their co-worker's life, but to then assume control of the plane and safely reach their destination after learning their co-worker was dead.
How do you prepare for a situation like that? You don't. Plain and simple.
Those who travel frequently know that the flying community really is a small one, and that anyone who flies back and forth between cities frequently is very likely to run into the same flight crews time and again and even develop relationships with them. I have been flying since before I could walk, and some of my most cherished memories are of that nice stewardess from the Miami-New York City trips, or the pilot who would always let me sit in the cockpit after our flight landed. They're real people too, and seeing one of them go at the young age of 60, whether or not you knew him, is a terrible thing to have happen. We can only be thankful that the plane landed safely, and commend everyone-flight crew and passengers- for tending to the situation in the most efficient manner given the circumstances.
Let's hope stories like these remain an aberration.
There are a lot of different ways to look at this situation. First of all, was the flight crew right in not notifying the passengers that their captain had died? I think so. Spreading the news while still in flight would have caused an absurd amount of panic that would not have made the plane land any safer than otherwise.
I feel one element that gets lost in this story, however, is the sheer amount of talent present on any given flight. Think about it- after realizing that their pilot/captain was severely ill, the flight crew (according to the NY Times) asked for anyone with medical experience to make their way to the front of the plane. Five traveling doctors immediately made their way to the front, one of whom pronounced the pilot dead and promptly returned to her seat.
Think about all the different professions and careers that could have been represented on that flight. It is amazing to think of how a small group of people on any given aircraft- an airplane holds what, 230 people tops- can represent such large contributions to society.
For those 5 doctors who were passengers on that flight, there were probably just as many lawyers, businessmen, politicians, school teachers, psychologists, construction workers, and whatever else you can think of, a microcosm of society.
You can venture even further and consider how talented the flight crew was to not only keep passengers calm while trying to save their co-worker's life, but to then assume control of the plane and safely reach their destination after learning their co-worker was dead.
How do you prepare for a situation like that? You don't. Plain and simple.
Those who travel frequently know that the flying community really is a small one, and that anyone who flies back and forth between cities frequently is very likely to run into the same flight crews time and again and even develop relationships with them. I have been flying since before I could walk, and some of my most cherished memories are of that nice stewardess from the Miami-New York City trips, or the pilot who would always let me sit in the cockpit after our flight landed. They're real people too, and seeing one of them go at the young age of 60, whether or not you knew him, is a terrible thing to have happen. We can only be thankful that the plane landed safely, and commend everyone-flight crew and passengers- for tending to the situation in the most efficient manner given the circumstances.
Let's hope stories like these remain an aberration.
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