Miss Adventures

Now that summer has ushered in the monsoon, there seems to be hardly any justification for India to use sun-baked haziness as a reason to be blinded by Sania Mirza’s incredible mediocrity.

Anytime that the young Indian tennis star plays, it’s a national obsession - at least as far as Indian newspaper editors are concerned. Stories about Sania help break up the monotony of articles on Sachin Tendulkar’s waning abilities and soccer game results that are more than a day old (thanks to the time difference at press time). So, of course, when the 18-year old phenom played at Wimbledon’s Centre Court yesterday, all eyes - and media outlets - were on her.
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Alas, the Yankees couldn’t pull it off against the Red Sox last night, er, this morning. So, the only thing that could possibly soften the blow of a Yanks loss is…a day off of work.

Woohoo! Tomorrow is Dussehra here in India and it’s a national holiday. So, two four-day weeks in a row..and Diwali isn’t even here yet!

But, back to baseball. I’ve got two questions:

1) Does this mean that Bostonians will finally stop whining?
2) Does this mean that Unfrozen Caveman Johnny Damon will finally cut his hair?

The one hope is that the Sox’ win will give Kerry the big mo’ on the campaign trail. Though, god help us if we have to endure a Boston/Texas series before a Massachusetts/Texas election.

So with that, I say:

Go Cards!

Hey…while I’m working on the blog, I thought I’d register my happiness at the news that it looks like DC will get baseball after all. Hoorah!

So, I won’t be there for the initial excitement. But, that’s okay. The Expos’ first year in DC will probably be hard. Plus, the team is currently in LAST place in the NL East…dead last and DC just go together. It’s perfect.

I’m still not too keen on the name the Washington Expos, as I’ve mentioned before. And, I hear that those who bought the Senators way back in 1971 own those naming rights and will not sell them. So, maybe we should go with the Washington Grays, the name of DC’s former negro league team.

All of my advocating for a team will be for naught if they change the team colors to teal and puce or try to rename the Expos something like the “Sting” or the “Raptors.” Yes…those are WNBA/NBA names. I actually don’t hate some of the new-fangled baseball names like the Devil Rays or the Diamondbacks. Couldn’t care less about the teams. But the names aren’t that bad.

What I really hope is that the team keeps its official website in English and in French, just to piss off all those anti-”Old Europe” types. That would be icing on the cake.

I hope all of you in the States are enjoying the Yankees/Red Sox weekend. I see the teams split the first two games, so hopefully Mussina and the Yanks will be able to pull off one more win today. I’ve been praying to Ganesha (also god of removing obstacles), so Pedro, Millar, Ortiz, and the others should worry. Come on, Ganesha…I’m counting on you.

In my world, I’ve got my own little rivalry to look forward to this afternoon. Anthony and I have been watching tons of cricket - if it’s not live, then there’s always some rebroadcast somewhere - and we’re starting to figure out the rules. Wickets, runs, bowlers…it’s kind of fun. Anyhow, India and Pakistan play each other today at 2:45 - about an hour or so from when I’m writing - and it should be quite a competition. Not sure if we’re going to try to head to a sports bar to watch or if we’ll just watch at home.

Nevertheless, since I won’t get to enjoy watching Jeter and Bernie, I’ve found a new favorite player to root for. Check out Harbhajan Singh of the Indian team. He’s been dubbed the “Turbanator” and it’s a trip to watch him play.

By the way, cricket commentary is also quite hilarious, and it almost has to be because the games are so long. We were watching a replay of a recent game in the ICC tourney between India and England, and England made a mistake (took off running when they shouldn’t have, giving India a chance to knock down their wicket).

“That’s too bad for the England side.”
“Yes, but who the hell cares if you’re an Indian. I say, who the hell cares.”

Can’t you just hear the droll British? Anyone for a Pim’s?

So little time these days to blog, but thought I’d highlight a website that someone made a comment about.

The site rememberthegrays.org seeks to move a team to DC and rename them after Washington’s erstwhile Negro League team the Grays. It’s not totally a bad idea. I mean, just think of all the other likely names if DC gets a team.

The “Washington Expos” sounds like something at the convention center. Both the Senators and Nationals would be fitting, given the area’s baseball history, but the former name is already taken (by Ottawa’s hockey team…different sport, sure, but not totally original anymore) and the latter name is too reminiscent of the local airport. (I’m sure after some time some Congressmen would vie to change the name to the Washington Reagans…)
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I just watched what is sure to be one of the most thrilling matches of the entire Wimbledon tournament, and I never even turned on the tele.
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You know, if you’re going to use a foreign language phrase in your headline, by all means check the spelling:

Auf Wiedersen Germany

Sorry, but what do you expect from a copy editor who minored in German?

Last night, I had the pleasure of watching the New York Yankees trounce the Baltimore Orioles 10-4. So the Yankees bought their talent – isn’t that what professional baseball teams are supposed to do? Alex Rodriguez’s salary is indeed bloated, but after seeing him belt two homers – and drive in half of the Yankees’ runs – I certainly feel like he was worth every penny. He made me a believer.

I’m sure he made a number of Orioles fans believers, too, even if they didn’t like the score. Last night was the highest attendance EVER at Camden Yards. 49,696 people came to the game. And though it was a great night for a ballgame, I’m pretty sure that many people showed up on a Tuesday evening just to watch A-Rod play.

Baseball is back, and early attendance records can back me up. For this reason, but not for this reason alone, I’d like to advocate the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, DC.
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All I have to ask is what’s with all the spitting?
Totti Gets Three-Game Spitting Ban
UEFA Revive Frei Spit Charge

Woo hoo! I’m so glad the Pistons proved my whole theory wrong. Now maybe I’ll have more confidence in former and current Washington players. How about Ben Wallace getting 10 rebounds in the 3rd quarter alone? It was so heartwarming to see the looks on the Lakers’ faces when they started to realize that they really aren’t that good of a team.

Well, since I’ve proven that such a good predictor of future events, I will now predict that I will NOT win the lottery. I will NOT win the lottery. *wink*wink*

I have been an avid follower of the Euro Cup since 1992, when a start-up Denmark beat reigning World Cup champs Germany. I was an apathetic exchange student in Germany at the time, and was more than happy to cheer on – along with my Nirvana-loving host brother – the defeat of a powerhouse. My love for underdogs goes way back.

Now it’s time for Euro Cup again, and I’m ready to watch. Only thing is that you can’t watch any of the matches in the U.S. unless you get pay-per-view. I clicked on ESPN2 this morning and got to watch the wife of NRA President Wayne LaPierre hunt down and kill big game in Africa. Why can’t I watch something more civilized like the second biggest soccer tournament in the world??
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It was a great weekend for sports and a great weekend for the underdog. I’m happy to see the Detroit Pistons proved me wrong last night with their defeat over the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Let’s hope their streak continues.

Now I was a bit disappointed to see Smarty Jones lose his bid for the Triple Crown. Although I watched the Belmont on tv, I could hear the anguished yelps from the crowd as they lost hundreds - maybe thousands - of dollars on a “sure thing.” I wanted to see history in the making, but it was not to be.

When it was all over, I found myself rooting in retrospect for the underdog - Birdstone - who came up from behind at the last moment. In fact, I think it was a bit of schadenfreude because I’d bet on “Read the Footnotes” at the NY OTB for the Kentucky Derby and he’d let me down.

Anyhow, what irked me at the end of the race was that no one really talked about how Birdstone gave a tremendous effort. When it came time for interviews, the cameras turned from the winning trainer Nick Zito to a “smarting” John Servis. That showed an utter lack of class.
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This Sunday, when the NBA Finals kick off in L.A., the Detroit Pistons will be overwhelmingly the underdogs. Forget that the team is young and that most of its players have never been this far in the playoffs. Forget that the Lakers have home court advantage. Forget, too, that Pistons Coach Larry Brown has an incredible track record of winning conference finals but losing when it counts.

The real reason why the Pistons will lose ultimately comes down to this fact: four of the team’s starters once played for the Washington Wizards.
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