Wizards Basketball Game

Believe it or not, a DC sports team actually won a game last week! Yay, go Wizards. They crushed the NJ Nets by 20 points, a lead which carried on throughout the entire game.

The Wizards blue thing mascot and blue guy basketball player need a little work, but they're still lovable nonetheless. The best part about the basketball game was the stadium atmosphere. From 3-D glasses, the kiss cam, dance cam, wave your arms cam, insert your way to get on jumbotron here cam, free Chipotle, t-shirt launch, halftime show, and excited fans, being at the game was a lot fun.

Whats with DC Sports Teams?

I have to say, DC sports teams are weird. What's with their mascots? We have the Nationals which have an ugly bird and presidents with wrinkly faces. The Wizards which are a blue hairy wizard. The Redskins which are a politically incorrect Native American. The Capitals which are another blue bird-like furry thing. And DC United which is another bald eagle wanna-be. Come on! Why do you have to have such sucky mascots? If it weren't for the fact DC is a city full of nerds, i would say that's why DC sports teams never win.


Nevertheless, making fun of bad mascots is all part of the sporting event fun (as I'm getting quite used to with a turtle as my current school's public face). I went to my first Nats baseball game last night and despite the pouring rain that delayed the game 2 hours, wet seats, overpriced concessions, and loss to Florida Marlins, it was a lot of fun. I hate watching baseball on TV because it is soooo boring, but watching a game in person is actually exciting. I have to admit though, rather ashamedly, my favorite part of the game was the president's mascot race. Just when it looked like Abe Lincoln was going to win, he got sacked by a giant cat, and good ole George Washington pulled ahead. Yay first prez. But how come Teddy never wins?

Futbol

While Emily was visiting me in Montevideo, we went to a futbol (soccer) game at the estadio central (which also happens to be where Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930 for all you sports fans out there).


The game was fun, although I felt a little out of place for three major reasons.

1. We were two women in a sea of testosterone.
2. We didn't know the cheers of the "barra brava" (aka. crazy futbol fans, mostly 19 year old boys with firecrackers and drums)
3. I dressed inappropriately. I knew our team's colors were blue and black because I made a specific point to ask someone which colors to wear. But, it was rather cold that night so I wore my red coat over my blue and black shirt only to find the other team showed up in red. Great.


And on topic of discomfort, my stomach was less than pleased with me that evening as well. I have never eaten a more greasy hamburger in my entire life. My stomach gurgles just thinking about it. The bread's only function was to sop up the grease from the burger. And the woman I bought it from touched my money and then touched my hamburger. Yummy.

But even more yummy was the torta frita (fried dough) we had afterwards. There's just something about sports stadiums and fried foods together--they're universal.

Terps Football

I went to a REAL football game yesterday. Maryland vs. California. We did not get creamed. Or pulverized. Or chopped up and served for dinner like everyone seemed to predict. We actually won, 35-27. Go Terps!

I was amazed at how many people showed up. The Byrd Stadium holds over 50,000 people, and seemed to me like it was full. For students, they have a lottery system, so sometimes you get tickets, sometimes you don't. We, fortunately, did.

The cheers however, are kind of cruel. There is one that features the line, "Hey, you suck" over and over again. A real classy way of celebrating a touchdown. The most compassionate one though, was when a player on the other team got hurt and people in the crowd start chanting "you got f*@#ed". Well that was nice.

My face really hurts from the game. It's probably because it was about a million degrees outside and only two clouds were in the whole sky. My skin is about as red as the red shirt that I was wearing. Oh, good American sports.

Win Me an Olympic Medal, and I'll Pay You

8.8.08 The Olympics start today. Go USA!

My favorites to watch are beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, diving, indoor volleyball, synchronized swimming, basketball and the rarely broadcasted, rhythmic gymnastics.

Watching the opening ceremony, it sort of makes me feel bad that America is so good at everything. What athlete wouldn't want to train with the best coaches and resources in a country where the standard of living is probably 10 times better than their home country? It's almost unfair. Some small and poor countries march in with one lone person on their Olympic team, and you know they have no chance competing against giants like the USA, Russia, Canada, and China.

The NBC broadcasters were saying that some nations pay athletes from third world countries to compete on their behalf. In some cases, countries offer $20,000 for a medal win. That seems to go against the spirit of the Olympics to bring the nations of the world together for celebration and fair competition. I get the sinking feeling that "buying" athletes tiptoes toward a vague and undefined ethical boundary.

Volleyball

Today is the first day of intramural volleyball for Ship. I'm excited. I feel like it's been so long since I last played--forever since real competitive v-ball. Truly, I'd have to say some of my fondest memories include volleyball.

Sand. Nets. Rain. Bruises. Indoor. Outdoor. Physics Video. Sweating. Competition. Parks. Spring. Little courts. Friends. Crashing into friends.