A Sports Blitz
So, for the first time on Sunday, after Naomi had gone on the bus to Heathrow (any connection there is surely a coincidence), I ordered a 1-day "subscription" to EuroSport (£4.99). My goal was to watch my first "Brighton Hove Albion" soccer game --my new home team. They were playing Southampton at 1pm, and I was bed-bound with a cough. So, after not having watched a single sporting event (besides my venture out the previous weekend to the local pubs to experience some male-bonding), I was welcomed back into the fold of sportsfandom with a cornucopia of "euro-sports:" snooker, darts, indoor track cycling, Bangladesh v. South Africa in cricket, the Mexican grand prix, but no soccer. Little did I know that EuroSport didn’t have the rights to broadcast European soccer, but, that it was on “Sky Sport.” So, after another investment, this time £6.99, I hit the sports jackpot: every kind of soccer imaginable. I eventually figured out how to find the Brighton premier league game --this is the first year that Brighton has been back in the premier league after a couple of decades of being relegated to the minors-- just in time for the game preview. So, I got my first introduction to my home team, which included a retrospective back to the 1980s, when they were somewhat of a Premier League powerhouse for a few years, and an up close and personal look at their Israeli goal-scorer, Tomar Hemed, who was just coming off a 3-game suspension for stamping on an opponent in the game against Newcastle. (Not the kind of behavior you’d expect from a nice Jewish boy). Well, Brighton tied 1-1, on a cool header in the second half. Would've been nice to see a victory, but not bad coming away with a tie, even if it took place just up the street at "Amex Stadium" --American Express has their European headquarters in Brighton, just two blocks away from our home, and so they put their name on the gorgeous, brand new stadium outside of town, right next to the University of Brighton and University of Sussex campus. Then, it took all the will power I could muster to not spend the rest of the day in bed, watching soccer --Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspurs ("Go Yids!). [A slight digression. Who knew that the Tottenham Hotspurs, also known as “Spurs,” had a second nickname, “Yids!” That’s right, that same not so polite name for a Jew. Turns out, that Tottenham is known as a Jewish team, as many of the Jewish "East-Enders" at the early part of the 20th Century made Tottenham their team of choice, and it has stuck! Their fans call themselves the “Yid Army.” Who knew? Whether you appreciation the appropriation of the slur or not, as it was explained to me by a colleague at the university, “If you’re Jewish, you support Tottenham. No questions asked.” Of course, I had to check the source of this historical tidbit. And it is supported by Wikipedia. Check out the link: Yid.] Luckily, I needed to get out of bed and make my way to the health food store for some more cough medicine and food, so, I was able to break the soccer spell pretty easily. When I got back in bed later that evening, it was around 4pm in the east coast, and guess what was now on Sky Sport --NFL Football! They had a featured game, along with the "Red Zone" which shows highlights of all games, as they are happening. So, needless to say, I indulged; or perhaps, over-indulged. And then, as if that wasn't enough, the late games came on, so I got to watch the Cowboys v. Redskins and Seahawks v. Houston from start to finish, as they kept switching back and forth, and sometimes would show both games at once. Great games both, by the way! I finally dozed off around 10:30, bleary-eyed, and football-fuzzed, and fell asleep. But when I awoke at 5am, my typical rising time even when sick, I remembered: "World Series Game 5!" And, I still had some time left on my 24 hour subscriptions to both Eurosport and Sky Sport. So, I quickly opened up the lap top, and searched madly. Nothing on either of my sports channels. What's up MLB? Only soccer re-runs, snooker and cricket from New Zealand. And to make things worse, when I pulled up the score on Google, it said: 12-12, 9th inning! Unfortunately, I couldn't ever find a way to watch the last inning live, and ultimately, the final score appeared: 13-12 in 10 innings. Go Stros! Gotta go and catch up on my snooker. Seth./.
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A Quick Catch-Up It's been quite an eventful past two weeks. Lots to share, but here is the gist. Maya came down with a case of MONO. She called us about two weeks ago to let us know. Naomi's reaction was, "I want to go back and help nurse her back to health." Maya's reaction was "No. I'm fine." My reaction was, "let's not over-react." Well, after two weeks of not being so fine, and in fact, feeling pretty shitty in the dorm, Maya finally relented, and said, "please come." Naomi found a semi-reasonable ticket to DC, and got on the plane yesterday, Sunday morning. They've got an Airbnb in DC for a week, and hopefully, that will help Maya get up and over the hump, and back into the swing of her once robust college life. So, send your healing blessings, and any excess energy you have, Maya's way. Hopefully, we'll have good news in future blogs.
The “Stile” Section So, The Sunday New York Times has a “Style” section. So, it’s time for my blog to have its own “Stile” Section. This is a rather significant achievement, since just two weeks ago, I had no idea what a “stile” was. As Naomi and I were plotting some of our country walks, we would read about “stiles” as we read through the many possible walks we could take in books such as “Pocket Pub Walks in the South Downs” or “50 Walks of 2-10 miles in Sussex and the South Downs.” A typical line in the directions would read something like: “Cross a stile to the lynchgate and walk down to the path junction." Or, “Cross a drive, go through a gate and straight across the field to a stile, then continue between fences.” So, what’s a stile?
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About MeI am a Professor of Service Learning and Director of the Service Learning Institute at California State University, Monterey Bay. I am interested in how universities can be more involved in social change, particularly in supporting underserved communities to address complex social and economic challenges. Archives
December 2017
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