October 01, 2002

Sell Out

You know, this blogging thing is kind of addictive. I never kept a journal, for many reason, including, but not limited to:

October 12, 2002

Why Are All Refs Blind?

Dammit, good for the non-touchdown that resulted in a Cal football loss. The USC receiver plain dropped the ball as he dove to catch it, but it bounced back into his arms, and he came up with it. The Umpire, unable to see anything, called it a touchdown, and since there is no instant replay in college football, the touchdown counted, even though the Fox replay showed it clearly: no contest, no discussion, no controversy. He dropped the ball and that was it.

Minus seven points from the USC score, and what is the result? 28–23, Cal wins. But NO!!! Instead, 30–28 LOSS to USC! Stuff like this makes me bitter: there is nothing to blame specifically here—that's the worst part. It wasn't the umpire's fault; he couldn't see it. It wasn't the receiver's fault, he was just doing what anyone else would have done. I think the only entity to blame here would be the system, which doesn't allow for replays, but even that is questionable, considering instant replays lag games a LOT!! So I guess this result can be chalked up to luck. Damn!

October 27, 2002

America's Sport

Let me extend a hearty congratulations to the World Champion Anaheim Angels, who tonight won the World Series, defeating the San Francisco Giants 4-1 in Game 7. A most anti-climatic ending to a most anti-climatic sport. I always loved playing baseball when I was a kid—I still do, but seriously...watching it just ain't my thing. I started watching Game 7, and after the first inning, composed of many foul balls, some strikes, and a general lack of excitement, I must say, even World Series action cannot make the sport much more exciting than it is.

November 11, 2002

The Big Game Is Coming!

Two weeks until the Big Game (between Cal & Stanford). Why does this matter? Well, the Big Game also represents the end of school for me, essentially. After the Big Game is Thanksgiving (going home for the first time in 5 months), then a week of basically nothing except my hardcore practical Bio lab exam. This is followed by dead week and finals and Winter Break!! Wow, I can't wait! It's so close...almost within grasp! And yet, not at all.

January 05, 2003

Hackers and Con Artists

I read an interesting article in The New York Times today, which is delivered to my email box on a daily basis, comparing Abagnale in Catch Me If You Can to modern hackers. Read it if you have the time or inclination (and a registration to the N.Y. Times site).

January 13, 2003

Snowboarding Adventures

I have triumphantly returned from my mountain adventure, having fallen on my ass more times than need mentioning. My ass & hands are incredibly sore, as is probably the rest of my body, if I could feel it. However, my trip to Lake Tahoe all in all went very well. There were no serious problems or mishaps, I returned in one piece, and it was very relaxing being away from everything for a couple of days. Thus, fun was had both on and off the mountain slopes.

January 19, 2007

Next Stop, Wimbledon

More than one year after making a resolution to return to the tennis courts, I finally picked up my racket and played a full set of tennis. Last year's rain and travel in the first part of the year prevented me from joining the Golden Gate Tennis club; the latter part of the year, I was too busy to do much but work. This year promises to be different: next stop, Wimbledon. And by Wimbledon, I really mean the concrete court in the Richmond district with weeds to add the semblance of a lawn court. (Golden Gate Park courts charge money, those fascist bastards!)

August 30, 2007

Bears, Don't Break My Heart

With the Cal vs. Tennessee game only days away, in recent weeks, I have become overwhelmed with anticipation as I wait to see whether my beloved alma mater will avenge itself for the ignominious loss delivered to it last year by the dastardly Volunteers in front 100,000 people (and national television), or will it hold steadfast in its long-held reputation as an also-ran in a conference perennially (or so it seems) dominated by the evil Trojans of U$C. Such are the luxuries of unemployment.

October 07, 2007

Cal's Dilemma

In what may come to be known as the biggest college football upset in a year teeming with them, Stanfurd yesterday beat #2-ranked U$C 24–23 in the final seconds of the game. I think I speak for most Cal football fans when I say that this unexpected result presents a moral and ethical dilemma of proportions unknown to humanity since Sartre first presented his famous example of moral conflict in 1957. Should we support—either implicitly, or worse, explicitly—our arch-rival's success against another, more worthy enemy, or should we remain strong—like McCarthy, a true American hero—in our hatred of all that is (cardinal) red? To wit, just as in Sartre's example, neither answer is particularly palatable. [...]

October 14, 2007

Boys Don't Cry

For those who have had the displeasure of making my acquaintance in so-called real life, it should hardly be surprising to learn that I have never been one to cry; my emotional unavailability is surpassed perhaps only by my unabashed elitism and perennial depression. Even my parents, who arguably would have the best perspective, readily admit that I almost never cried as a child. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I even felt like crying, let alone actually let loose a few salty tears in name of sorrow or misfortune—that is, until last Saturday night. [...]

September 13, 2009

On Football and Friendships

I realized last night as I left the Cal alumni bar in Chicago, having just watched my beloved Golden Bears rack up fifty-something points for the second week in a row, that I probably care more about Cal football than almost anything else in my (necessarily futile) life—including people. The sheer silliness of the previous statement ought not be dismissed lightly. But neither should the grain of truth that rests beneath it. And as I made my way back home on that warm autumn night, if there was anything I was certain about, it was that surely there was some truth to that sentiment. The realization, moreover, made me profoundly uncomfortable, though I am still at a loss as to explain precisely why.

April 17, 2011

Boston and Back

Fenway Park
April 2011

Back in the luminous days of 1524 SF, there was a common phrase deployed by the house (as we called our collective unit) whenever any member proposed an idea or activity: idiotic or genius? And as might be expected out of a collection of maladjusted twenty-something miscreants, the ratio of genius ideas to idiotic ones tended to hover around 1:10, as judged by the house. As assessed by normal folks, I would imagine the ratio was closer to 0:∞. Some things don't change.

A few weeks back, G-Unit, a former 1524er now also in New York City, asked if I wanted to go up to Boston to watch a Red Sox game for which he had a few tickets. I liked the idea: I had never been to Fenway Park, and getting out of the rat race in New York for a weekend seemed like a good idea. I agreed to go. But as we approached closer to the planned trip, it began to become clear that I could not commit to the whole weekend (largely for work reasons). And there was born an idea that would again test our judgment of genius and idiocy: travel to Boston and back in one day solely to watch a game at Fenway Park.

January 22, 2012

Some Thoughts on Sports Allegiances

Obsessive allegiances to sports teams have always mystified me, even as I myself hold and act upon these obsessive allegiances. This most worthless of sites, for instance, has long documented my ire and despair over the trials and tribulations of the ever faltering Cal Golden Bears. But as I myself observed some years back following an especially devastating failure by my alma mater that nearly brought me to tears, the notion of caring enough to weep about a sports institution whose only relation to you is that it represents your undergraduate university is difficult to explain—at least as a rational matter. The notion that one might care the same way about a team whose only relation is even more tenuous—that it represents a city which you may have once called home—is downright preposterous.

All these rational thoughts notwithstanding, each August I inevitably get excited for the upcoming college football season (and by October, am usually reduced to despair by atrocious quarterback play). Worse still, I would have been getting similarly excited about the NFL each year, but for nearly a decade, the team I've long rooted for—the San Francisco 49ers—was stuck in a rut of horribleness that actually made it seem like Cal had a better chance of getting to the Rose Bowl than the 49ers to a playoff game.¹ One might think that after a decade of next to no expectations, my allegiance to the 49ers might have lessened. Instead, hours away from the NFC Championship, I again find myself anxiously awaiting the game—and wondering why it is that I care so much.