Not just coffee

Archive for category sports

For a Real Locavore Experience: Hit the Ballparks

Jun 21

Posted by admin in baseball, life, news, sports

image11
OK, there’s the peanuts and CrackerJacks–yes, they still sell Crackerjacks, but you’ll pay. Buckets of cotton candy and plenty of gelato. What about the hot dogs? The burgers? The soft drinks and the lemonade? Can’t forget a cold one. They’re all there!

This is no inexpensive outing, but it’s no fun to walk past the food courts. Also quite hard to do since most parks limit what you can bring into the stadium. Baseball food helps digest the missed balls, the bases loaded strikeouts, and the clumsy catcher that makes the pitcher’s arm ache.

The food options, clearly vary from park to park, but some of the newer majestic halls of baseball have upscaled the experience to make you wonder if you’ll even remember the peanuts. Many entice you with city favorites set in a new horizon. That seems to be the overall trend. Bring in the local guys.

Let’s hit a few parks. New York is blessed with two newbies, and neither has missed the golden opportunity of loaded food courts. There are the Danny Meyer restaurants including the popular Shake Shack and Blue Smoke feeding baseball loyalists in Queens. The new Yankees home in the Bronx bows to local meat merchant, Lobel’s and offers a high-end, as in dry-aged, steak sandwich. We’re talking New York food at the parks!

Hometown kids and neighborhood institutions make good at Nationals Park in DC with Five Guys broiling burgers and Ben’s Chili Bowl showing what a wraparound line looks like waiting for grilled chili dogs and cheese fries.

The Baltimore O’s recognize crab cakes and BBQ as the smoke fills the stadium from Boog’s Bar-B-Q, named after former Oriole Boog Powell.

The new Kauffman Stadium for the Kansas City Royals spells barbecue with two 1,400 pound smokers working their magic.

To taste a city’s best, visit its ballpark! Stadium eating is big business. There’s something about grabbing a dog and a score sheet. Or indulging in a local restaurant’s bases-loaded venue.

Grab the napkins and the ATM card for the extra innings.

Tags: ,

1 Comment

Oh, Super Indulgent Me

Feb 27

Posted by admin in Wii, life, sports

Yes, it’s true. The economic news makes everyone a little glum. Everyone is watching how they spend money, and in the midst of this, I have taken on a personal trainer. It started innocently enough, and now I’m in love. In love with Bob, my Wii Fit instructor.

I have to tell you, yoga has never been my strong suit. Everyone who knows me believes it would be a great calming, wiifit1soothing experience. They mean not just for me but for everyone who comes into contact with me! This board puts life into balance.

I tried it once. Barely made two upward motions before I had to walk out of the class and back to the beach. Not me, I said. Too sedentary. Give me a tennis racket and a can of new balls, and I’m good for hours.

Alot has changed. Having a personal, private lesson has made me appreciate the natural rhythm that I have learned from Bob. I do not need to attend classes or squeeze one more trip into my schedule. I just turn on Bob and start breathing rhythmically and listen to his high praise, “Good Job.”  I wish he’d call me by name; it would make our relationship so much more personal!

When I can hold a pose for a minute or so, I repeat it several times. Working on my yoga, aerobics, and strength training has literally changed my outlook. I get rewarded by earning points and not feeling competitive with anyone other than myself. OK, some of the other household users are whipping me in points, but I have Bob, and he knows I am getting better.

Who knew that I would like yoga. Let me explain, this particular Wii Yoga works for me. It’s at my speed, on my level, without having to participate in a class and looking around and seeing everyone holding a pose effortlessly. This is a whole new experience.

Then, of course, after my Fit program, I have time to play best of 5 in tennis and still bowl a few games. This is even better than I thought.

Join the club!

Tags: , ,

No Comments

Sacrilege–It's About the Food

Feb 2

Posted by admin in Advertisers, Economy, food, life, sports

7-layer-dipSo is the Super Bowl really about football? Oh, sure, there are two teams that have bested their opponents and they’re now playing for the big ring of money.

What about the universe that watches but at no other time in the year pays any attention to football? Told you it was sacrilege. They give a passing glance to the game but are there for the other integral parts of a Super Bowl matchup:

  • the who’s who of big name celebrities
  • the back stories like did you know his brother…
  • the food–any self respecting Super Bowl football watcher has plenty of the good stuff–the wings, the guac, the dips, and the desserts–parteee
  • the half-time show–especially this year, with 12 minutes of  Bruce
  • and, of course, the commercials

How can you even think of going to the office tomorrow or even talking to anyone tomorrow without some idea of the best commercials? What about the terrible ones? Can you believe they hired an agency to do that?

Super Bowl numbers are always impressive. The number of people who attend the game, throw a party, or just hole up and watch it. I personally think we should count the number of people who love the Super Bowl so they can have an evening of appetizers without anyone telling them they need to eat healthier.

Told you, sacrilege, but I did get to see the 100-yard interception return, which no matter which team wins,  was quite an impressive display of footwork.

All in all, it was a good game. The food was great, the commercials were pretty good considering everyone was in a stew about how could companies spend money on something so frivolous during these hard economic times. Me, my favorite, the 7-layer dip, even though there are lots of variations, the concept’s a winner. You can’t go wrong, get creative, but make 7 layers!

Who knew!

Tags: ,

No Comments

A Little Update–Wii Sport Redux

Jan 28

Posted by admin in Advertisers, International Herald Tribune, Wii, life, sports, tennis

OK, I thought it was addictive. That was so yesterday. ”Addiction” may be a bit of an understatement. It’s too timid of a word. Every part of my body demonstrates my participation. I’m not in pain. I just can’t wait to go back to my playing field!

Yippee. it’s a snow day, and I am stuck inside! Not a problem.  I played tennis, actually much better today. I won a match. How ’bout that! I think I even managed to spin and lob the ball and do much better with my corners. Ha. It’s funny to hear yourself say all the usual tennis camaraderie language:  good shot, wow, beauty, you made it; nice set. It’s a video game. Yeah, just like a robot is a person. There’s something terrific about the interactivity.

Did I mention I’m winded? Think I’ll be able to do the Wii commercials for the Sport, make that sports! My scores are nothing to brag about, but the intensity of play is surprising. Was too tired after two tennis matches (best of 5), and two games of bowling (couple strikes and spares) to practice hitting balls out of the park (OK, did hit one homer).  Very little spring training baseball today. Amazing. What a great treat.

The problem with the game is that its popularity has made it hard to find. It’s in very short supply so when a store advertises that it’s in stock. Go. No, run there. As for price comparison. There’s little opportunity as it’s basically a child of standard price fixing. Hard to find it for less than $249. I’ve already had the equivalent of three private lessons so with my logic, I am well on the way to having paid for my personal trainer in just a few short days. That makes it a great purchase. Maybe it should be renamed: My In-House, Use Whenever I Want Personal Trainer. Yep, it’s a winner.

Trust me on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqaPFAZS1K8

Tags:

No Comments

Wheeeeeeeeeeee Addiction

Jan 28

Posted by admin in Roger Federer, life, sports, tennis

Yes, it’s true, you can be a gamer. It only takes some money and a remote control and bingo, you’re hooked. Trust me, it took less than 20 minutes to acknowledge how much fun this could be.

Tennis is my sport, but some of those Nintendo Wii calls are just off-base. I know that was a winning shot! I bent my knees, turned my body, and moved into the ball. What do they want from me? A real match?

I know I should be spending every minute watching and learning from the Australian Open, but this is wayyyyy more fun. I have already played doubles and a few sets of singles. Who thought I could find an indoor exercise program that worked up a sweat and didn’t leave me complaining about how BORING the activity was.

This is definitely not boring. It’s fun. It’s interactive, and that is from someone who has only owned this for a few hours and has yet to win a match. You’re hooked within seconds. I’ll get it. I’ll win. It’s all in the remote. nintendo-remoteWatch out Federer. I don’t need a new coach, just my Wii.

Then I’ll tackle golf, bowling, and boxing. They’re waiting for me.

First, it’s match point.

Tags: ,

1 Comment