MMBF - 3/29: Let's Go Red Bulls!

Greetings children on this rainy, chilly Monday here is the New Jersey, the greatest state in all the land. This March is certainly not going out like a lamb, though if it is, it's going out like a lamb that was just dropped in a tub of ice water... before of course becoming a wonderful lamb chop or piece of veal for me to eat. Mmmmmm, delicious. I now expect PETA to throw fake animal blood on my blog.

I'd like to begin by giving CBS a big ol' F- for it's coverage of the NCAA tournament over the weekend. First of all, Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery should be doing every game. Nobody makes life more exciting than Gus Johnson, and no one color-commentates like Bill Raftery. A pairing of these two geniuses would be a never-ending wet dream. Second, I wanted to jump off of a bridge on Friday night when CBS was staying with a lame Duke team that no one likes instead of switching over to the Northern Iowa-Michigan St. game, which was in its closing minutes, was a very close game, and featured one of the biggest story lines of the tournament that EVERYONE was into (Northern Iowa's Cinderella run). Memo to CBS: WE ALL THINK DUKE IS ANNOYING. NOT AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU THINK ACTUALLY LIKE THEM. STOP MAKING US WATCH THEM ALL THE TIME. They're just a bunch of snobby white kids, where one kid is pastier than the next. They all complain endlessly about fouls like little babies, and none of them are going to succeed in the NBA. We don't need to see them. Of course, they're going to the Final Four, so I'm forced to watch them for another weekend. Go West Virginia!

Speaking of Duke, how ugly is Kyle Singler? It's like Powder had sex with the Blue Devils mascot, and they produced this horrific basketball-playing human being. When I see him, I suddenly know what hell will be like: Me sitting there with Kyle Singler staring at me for all eternity. I need to start donating more money to charity or join Habitat for Humanity or something so I don't have to go through that.



Sunday I decided to do a little DVR clean-up, part of which involved me finally getting around to watching Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks, one of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentaries. I loved it. As a kid, I didn't really get into the NBA too much (not that I do now though either. The NBA is boring). The only NBA basketball I really watched was Michael Jordan of course, and the playoff series that the Knicks were involved with, pretty much because they were the local team. I had no real rooting interest. But I do remember very clearly the rivalry between the Knicks and Reggie Miller, and this documentary showed everything about that rivalry perfectly. My favorite part was the section that discussed the trash-talking between Miller and Knicks guard John Starks (who can't have more than a 5th grade education, and you can't convince me otherwise). Really funny stuff. It was also interesting to see how much of a brawl NBA basketball really was back in the mid 90s. It's like people went to a boxing match and an NBA game broke out - fascinating to see how much the game as changed (it was more entertaining back then, though I would think basketball purists would think otherwise). Overall, a really great documentary. I highly recommend it.

I most certainly will delve into much greater depth on this topic at a later date, but I wanted to give a quick mention to the fact that this weekend was the official announcement that this season, season 8, is the last ever for 24. A moment of silence please.








Thank you. Today truly marks the beginning of the end of an era.

Ever since I went to an Ithaca (club team) vs. Cornell (JV team) hockey game when I was in college and almost got in a fight with the entire Cornell varsity team, I have been in love with college hockey. It's just really awesome to watch, and last night's game between Miami University (that's for you, Cordes) and Michigan was just another example of how great it is. The winner of the game moved on to the Frozen Four, so both teams were literally pouring their hearts out on the ice. I was rooting for Miami because my roommate is an alum, and thankfully they won a couple of minutes into the second overtime, sending Cordes into what I imagine were raptures, raptures that I hope did not cause any sort of heart malfunction. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't seen him on gchat yet this morning. Cordes! Let us know you're alive! And the rest of you, do yourself a favor and watch the Frozen Four next weekend, you won't be disappointed.

And finally, Saturday was the first regular season game for the New York Red Bulls in their shiny new stadium in Harrison, NJ, aptly titled Red Bull Arena. I decided we needed to go to this game because A) we love soccer, and B) we needed to see the new stadium, which everyone was saying is already the best soccer-only stadium in North America. We began the day with a little pregame hooligan party, only instead of smashing beer bottles and stabbing the fans of the visiting team (the Chicago Fire) in the neck, we played Mario Kart, NBA Jam and baseball (the drinking game version) all while sampling the finest of brews: Natural's Lightest, the Rocky Mountain Refreshment, and the Champagne of Beers. We then proceeded to go to the game via PATH train, which was incredibly easy and convenient. And the stadium itself was absolutely beautiful. It looks like one big UFO in the middle of nothing, but once inside, it has everything you would want in a smaller soccer venue. The roof covers the crowd but not the field, so all the noise generated by the fans is trapped inside, making it really loud for the duration of the match. All the seats have a great view, so there isn't a bad seat in the house, and the main group of Red Bulls psycho supporters are so loud that the atmosphere is pretty awesome. The Red Bulls won 1-0, which made them go even crazier, chanting loudly and setting of smoke bombs. It was pretty cool. Then the Chicago fans took their team's name a little too seriously and started setting off red flares, though luckily they didn't burn the stadium down. Fun times! You should definitely check it out.



Now onto my complaints about the experience! The concessions stands were painfully slow, almost to the point where I thought Scott and my girlfriend had been kidnapped and murdered at one point while they were getting beers and hot dogs. That needs to improve, though I would imagine it will as they iron out the wrinkles of putting on these events in a brand new stadium - it was the first game, after all. My other main complaint was the cluster(beep) at the PATH station on the way out after the game. There is only 1 entrance to the Harrison PATH station, so when 20,000-some odd people are trying to get in 1 door, madness ensues. It took forever to get to the platform. They seriously need to consider putting in more entrances and making the platform bigger, because it was a bit of a problem. Come to think of it, why even is there a PATH station in Harrison? It was there long before Red Bull Arena, but there is NOTHING there. There are 3 or 4 abandoned warehouses and lots of parking lots. Is there even a town of Harrison? Or did they just give a name to a parking garage? I don't get it. But despite these gripes, I will be going back to see more Red Bulls games, and you should too. Great times.

Ugh. Another week of work.