The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Man, I’m starting to feel old. And not just in the “every joint in my body creaks when I wake up in the morning” sort of way. This past week I played golf with a kid who looked kind of familiar; turns out he’s the younger brother of a kid who was a couple years behind me in high school; now he’s about to graduate from college. Man, time flies, regardless of how much fun you’re having.

Think about this, those of you in my generation. Before 9/11, what was the one moment in time that really stuck out for you, in terms of the whole world being drawn into one single moment? I would wager that for about 7 out of every 10 people out there, it was the O.J. Simpson trial. 10 years ago.

Yes, it has been a decade since The Juice went on trial for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole, and Ron Goldman - the guy caught in the ultimate “wrong place, wrong time” situation.

Obviously, 9/11 is the single day that will define our generation, for better or worse. That is, at least until something bigger and more awesome (I don’t use that word in the good way) happens, which it undoubtedly will. But before that day, the California jury coming back with a “Not Guilty” verdict was the single most recognizable moment in our generation. I know I remember exactly where I was during the actual verdict: Mrs. George’s freshman year Geometry class (a class I absolutely despised), when they rolled in the television to watch the verdict be handed down. I remember that Mrs. George, a woman who used to force us to pay her every time we swore in class (at the end of the year I handed her a twenty and called it even) actually sat at her desk with a blank stare for a full minute before muttering, “The son-of-a-bitch got away with it”. We were too young for the Challenger disaster (although I remember exactly where I was for that one too), or for the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The first war with Iraq wasn’t exactly a single defined moment, as much as it was about a month long excursion into the desert that ended up taking almost 15 years to finally finish the mission.

Yeah, I’ll admit. I was about 12 years old in 1994 when the whole OJ case unfolded. And I remember watching the Bronco chase thinking, “Damn, he really must be guilty”. But when they passed the “Not Guilty” verdict, I, along with most of the guys in my class, cheered; we wanted to see a football hero go free, regardless of whether or not he did it. To us, it was all the same; we didn’t know him, we didn’t know her, we didn’t know the other guy. Who cared if he went to jail or not?

I now realize that I was just a naïve idiot. I’m still an idiot, just no longer naïve. The Juice belongs in jail, not doing interviews about how he’s “still looking for the real killer or killers” on every golf course in America, but in the mean time he’s got enough time to do his own reality show (I shit you not).

So that’s my time on the subject. I just look back on the big moments in the world during my life, and I can’t believe that so far, my generation is going to be defined by a group of 19 crazy terrorists and one single crazy obsessive ex-football player. Something seems out of whack there.

Switching gears a little. Well actually, switching gears entirely…

Congratulations to that hotbed of hockey, uh, Tampa Bay?! Yes, in what was a fitting end to the NHL season, and the NHL - period, Tampa Bay defeated Calgary in 7 games to claim the Stanley Cup. And Gary Bettman did a fine job of keeping the Cup out of Canada in order to promote the league in the US for the next season; not that he had ANYTHING to do with the blown cap in Game 6 that cost Calgary the Cup (yeah, right).

So say “adieu” to the game fans, because in about a month or two, the league will shut its doors, and probably won’t resume until about, oh, I don’t know, let’s just say 2008. It’s been a great ride guys; don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

As for the basketball playoffs… Dear God, they’re not over yet?! How in hell are these things still being played? More importantly, how in hell does Larry Brown NOT foul ANYBODY at the end of Game 2 and let Kobe get off a ridiculous game-tying shot? There’s a theory in baseball that about 3-5 times a season out of 162 games, a manager can win or lose a game for you. Well, in basketball, there are only 82 games, so figure 2-4 times. Guess that counts as one of them. And you thought I didn’t watch the playoffs this year…

Finally, my personal sports life, which consists of BlackJack, Poker, and the occasional sit-up or 100yd jog…

Nothing new to report about the games; made a lot of money in about two hours at Mohegan Sun last weekend, then forgot to leave and gave it all back. Still not fully recovered from that one, but let’s just say that I probably could have paid for about ¼ of the new car I desperately need, but I wanted to pay for ½. Oops.

As for the reason I was at Mohegan in the first place, well, I got an opportunity that only comes along once in a very long while. I was given free tickets to go see Bob Dylan perform live in the Connecticut Sun’s Arena (A WNBA team), and you can imagine my surprise. I mean, I didn’t think the WNBA still existed, let alone had an entire arena…

In all seriousness, it was a great show. And although Dylan, whom I consider to be a living legend, and one of the best songwriters ever, sounded like a cartoon character for most of the night, the show was still very enjoyable. I mean, no one goes to a Dylan show expecting to understand the lyrics anyway…. The final encore was “All Along The Watchtower” which I was very happy to hear, because I love the version he performed.

And, best of all, during the show my mother, who actually got the tickets and just decided that I’d want to go too, gave me more fodder for my “Quote of the Week”:

During the show, they turned on the smoke machines to give the stage more ambiance. My mom, always right on top of the situation comes out with this gem…

“David, I think something is on fire. There’s a lot of smoke up there, and this is a non-smoking arena…”

Sometimes, she just makes it too easy…

Oh, one last note. By the next time I post something, there will be two new additions to my family. Decided to adopt, so I will have pictures of the boys up here by then.

posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM