Pardon me for veering off the Olympic train for a second, but there was something very Olympic-like about the Saints’ victory in Sunday night’s Super Bowl.
I think, on a general level, we all understand that a championship for a team means a celebration for a city. The Yankees win the World Series; the team parades in downtown Manhattan. The Lakers win the NBA Finals; Los Angeles revels in their glory.
But rarely do we truly place a city’s glory on par with a team’s title. What do we care if New Yorkers get to celebrate another championship, or if Pittsburgh natives get to rejoice in a Stanley Cup? For the most part, the unbiased sports-fan nation glorifies the team that wins the crown, not the region it represents.
Sunday was different.
Of the many defining shots of celebration, none could beat the revelry of Bourbon Street, packed to the brim with Saints fans going wild. It’s a celebration usually reserved for later in the month and Mardi Gras (although, if you’ve ever been to New Orleans in late January or early February, you know Mardi Gras is generally a season-long event anyway). This was exceptional, and this fan base definitely deserved it.
There’s been a lot of talk about how the Saints’ success has uplifted the city, and how their Super Bowl win — and the city’s fervor about it — proves how football is “more than just a game”. I’m a bit ambivalent about these sentiments, for a few reasons: first of all, the Saints’ victory doesn’t — by itself — get any homes rebuilt or neighborhoods rejuvenated. Secondly, a football team’s success shouldn’t validate a city’s self-worth. I mean, if the Saints had lost to the Colts, would that have tarnished New Orleans in any way? If they had never made the playoffs, would that somehow have been a pock mark on the city’s post-Katrina resilience?
But most importantly, the Saints’ success in some ways overshadows the determination and grit of the people of New Orleans, who have withstood the damage and held their ground amidst terrifying circumstances. I had the privilege of going down to the Crescent City last year at this time; I spent a week helping to rebuild a home through the very impressive St. Bernard Project. Amidst the many emotions I felt that week, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how the character and soul of the city still breathed so effervescently through it. That comes straight from the people — the small-town restaurant owners still making po’ boys, the street musicians rocking Canal St. at 4 pm on a Sunday, and the ordinary citizens who keep their smile and their heart through the worst of times.
It’s a testament to a city that will not be broken; in that respect, the Saints are almost as much of a reflection of their city as an inspiration to it.
(Although, let’s be clear, the Saints are absolutely an inspiration. The work of the players and coaches in the community has been absolutely stellar over the past few years; Drew Brees alone deserves all the accolades he gets for his off-field work. It’s truly impressive.)
And that’s why, ultimately, I’m so thrilled that New Orleans gets to celebrate this championship. It’s not because the city somehow needs it, or that the people are somehow validated by it. And it’s certainly not because a Super Bowl victory somehow makes the challenge of rebuilding any easier.
It’s because a city that has suffered through the worst of emotions now gets a chance to experience some of the best. And it’s because, in this rarest of moments, the joy of the championship team seems secondary to the joy of the city that gets to cherish it.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Hearts and flowers can be pricy but they don’t have to be!
Lissa Miller, who writes a blog called Saving Your Cents buys Valentines the week after the holiday and saves them for a year. She also recommends saving saving red sprinkles, baking supplies, candy and decorations from Christmas and repurposing them into Valentine treats. To read Miller’s blog go to savingyourcents.net
Instead of spending money on flower delivery, consider an elegant potted orchid that will last for months or even years if you take good care of it.
The dollar section of Target is a great place to find inexpensive Valentine treats, especially if you go early while there’s a good selection.
Instead of an expensive spa day, try a place like the International School of Skin and Nail care, where students under close supervision from instructors pamper you from head to toe. It’s located at 5600 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30342
(404) 843-1005
Or, for a romantic date that won’t break the bank do some gallery hopping. For example the Decatur Market and Gallery is having a reception Saturday night, February 13th. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be provided. The gallery is located at 153 Ponce De Leon Place, Decatur, GA 30030 (404) 377-0755.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
It’s four days till Ted Hall and I depart for Vancouver.
And right now is the worst part.
(”Worst part” is, of course, strictly comparative; even the worst part is still a heckuva lot of fun …)
I have had the privilege to travel quite a bit for my job, and the most stressful time isn’t the travel itself — it’s the prelude to the travel. It’s making sure you have all the necessary equipment, all your bases covered at home, and all your collective ducks in a row before your bags are packed and there’s no turning back.
And that’s usually for a 2-3 day trip to another state; this is for three weeks in another country.
It all gives a somewhat uneasy feel to these next few days. For the past few weeks, even though the trip has been drawing near, I have been so jam-packed with work that I honestly haven’t had much time to think about it. Now it’s time to focus and prepare — I’m Santa-like in my making of lists and checking them twice, and I have already marked roughly 20 different errands I need to run before Wednesday.
But amidst the housekeeping, there’s also extraordinary excitement.
There’s the anticipation of all the great stories I’ll get to cover; there’s the desire to explore the Vancouver area, which so many folks have told me is absolutely beautiful; and, of course, there’s the exhilaration of knowing we’ll be right in the center of the extravaganza that is the Olympics.
There’s also a certain non-work assignment that I am looking forward to fulfill: the request submitted by friends, family, and co-workers to “pick me up something from the Olympics”. A few days ago, one of my co-workers cornered me in a dark crevice of the newsroom and took out his wallet; as I stood there perplexed, he started thumbing through his cash and finally snared a $20 from the pack. He then gave it to me and said the following:
“This is for pins.”
Pins?
“Yes, Olympic pins. I want as many as this will buy.”
I will do my best.
And of course, I am looking forward to keeping everyone informed throughout the Games. Ted Hall and I each have Twitter accounts (@tedhallnews & @MattPearlWXIA11), and we’ll be blogging all month long. It should be terrific.
In the meantime, Santa’s gotta get back to his lists …
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Target now has
Mobile coupons! You can get your monthly offers via text message with a link to a barcode that can be scanned at checkout. The same barcode can be used for multiple one-time-only coupon deals throughout the month. Offers always arrive on a Sunday. Thanks for the tip from
http://becentsable.blogspot.com/ and
Couponing to Disney
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Aqua Blue Restaurant in Roswell is giving away free Birthday lobsters with the purchase of any other menu item. The free two pound lobster offer is valid 30 days before until 30 days after your birthday on Monday through Friday. Reservations are required and there is a limit of one lobster per table.
Aqua Blue is located at 1564 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell, GA 30076.
Fulton County residents can go to the High Museum of Art free on the first Saturday of the Month courtesy of the Fulton County Arts Council. Bank of America cardholders can also go to the High Museum, the Atlanta History Center and Millennium Gate Museum on February 6-7, March 6-7 and April 3-4. Zoo Atlanta, Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Atlanta Botanical Garden Atlanta are no longer participating in the free Museums on Us program.
Atlanta.momslikeme.com is having a Free Play Date at KangaZoom party and play center in Smyrna on Thursday February 11th, from 10am to 1pm. The first 45 people to RSVP here get free admission.
Free Circus tickets are available for babies on ringling.com. The promotion is called Baby’s First Circus and is for kids under 12 months old. Those who register will get a voucher for a free ticket that never expires. Admission is free until age 2 so the voucher will not be needed for the upcoming circus at Phillips Arena.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Instead of eating chips or candy as a snack, have some fruit to satisfy you.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Just a hint for everyone out there. When I started to do this weight loss journey I
was eating 2 or 3 times the size a 12 year old should . Not only was I eating big but
I was eating alot of carbs and sugars. I have changed. For dinner tonight I had a
piece of grilled salmon and 1/3 of a Caesar Salad.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Hey Everyone!!! Its Tiger Greene. As you know I am on a weight loss journey with Dr.Oz . He set me up with a whole bunch of great people who are going to help me on my journey . I know there are alot of other kids out there like me and hopefully if you follow my journey on this blog or on 11Alive or the Dr.Oz show you can see and learn how you can get healthier and more fit.The Dr.Oz Show with me and my family on it will air February 19,2009 at 3:00 PM on 11Alive.
ALL THE BEST,
Tiger Greene
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Departure Day for Vancouver is now just eight days away!
But back in October, I got a little preview of the work I’ll be doing — not to mention a glimpse of how much fun it is to cover the Olympics.
In preparation for the 2010 Winter Games, the folks in charge sent me up to Lake Placid, NY for three days. You might recognize it as the site of the 1980 Games, or, as they’re commonly known, the “Do you believe in miracles?!?” Games. But Lake Placid is also where many of the US Olympic athletes train … and that’s how I found myself on a plane to SLP Airport on a Sunday in mid-October.
First, when I say “plane”, I’m not talking about your typical Delta flight. I’m talking about a nine-seater where you can actually see through the front of the cockpit. And when I say “airport”, I’m talking about a building barely bigger than your standard McDonald’s; it has just one terminal and serves just three flights a day.
(See my plane? It’s the one all the way on the left … Also, this is at Boston’s Logan Airport, not Lake Placid’s, which is far smaller …)
I could probably spend the rest of this entry making “How small is Lake Placid?” jokes. (This is true — there’s only one rental car place at the airport, and I had to call the owner at home to come in and give me my car. Thankfully, as was typical of the folks in Lake Placid, he was tremendously friendly once he got there.) The fact is, Lake Placid could never host an Olympics today; it’s way too small to handle the gargantuan number of athletes, families, fans, and media that make up the modern Winter Games.
But as a place to visit and spend a few days, it’s just about perfect.
You won’t find a resort town with much more personality than Lake Placid. During the winter it’s a palace of white, seemingly always smothered with snow while skiers and tourists come to get away.
When I was there, in the middle of autumn, I got a different view: the leaves changing all over the forest that is the New York Adirondacks. Combine that with crisp fall weather, and you couldn’t ask for a more picturesque feel.
As for my work up there, I spent three days interviewing a variety of potential US Olympians from the luge, bobsled, and skeleton. Since we will only have limited access to the athletes in Vancouver, we decided to jump the fun and talk to a whole bunch of them at the start of the season. I spoke with luge standouts Erin Hamlin and Tony Benshoof; bobsled stars Shauna Rohbock and Steve Holcomb; skeleton racers Zach Lund and Noelle Pikus-Pace; and a slew of others, including Douglasville, GA native and now-Olympian Elana Meyers. I also filmed their training sessions and got to stand atop the track as their sleds came whizzing by.
Your nutshell/understatement/summary? It was fun.
I came back with enough video and interviews for 20 stories; you’ll likely see about 8-9 of them on the Olympic Zone shows running throughout the 2010 Games. In addition to talking with the athletes, I also received a tour of Lake Placid from the town historian and got an inside look at the 1980 Arena, home of the Miracle on Ice. One of the coolest moments was at the 1980 Olympic Museum, where they were showing a tape of the actual “Miracle on Ice” game. As the third period played out, two middle-aged gentlemen stood at the screen, unable to turn away from a game whose ending they already knew.
To me that moment crystallized the joy of sports, the joy of being a fan, the joy of the Olympics. It’s the type of moment I hope I experience in Vancouver; we leave in eight days … let the Games begin.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Less than 2 weeks to go. Matt Pearl and I fly from Atlanta to Dallas then on to Vancouver. The plan is to start shooting stories right away, hit the ground running.
One of us will probably be limping.
Working out at the gym today, running sprints on the basketball court, I twisted but the bottom half of my leg didn’t.
I could equally hear and feel the pop.
Twice over the last 10 or 12 years I’ve torn my ACL, the anterior cruciate ligament. (left leg, right leg, now I think the left again) It acts as a lynch pin to keep your knee together, your leg bone connected to your thigh bone so you can keep moving your hip bone and so on. Surgery, weeks in a knee brace, months of therapy, 6 months to a year before you’re back to normal. No Fun.
Some swelling and pain right now, if memory serves the pain should go away in a week or two and I should be good as gold for The Games…as long as I don’t twist…
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
Thinkmarriage.org is a website devoted to helping couples stay married. They are sending out 400 FREE love letter kits per day until Valentine’s Day that contain materials and tips for writing a love letter. Go here to order a love letter kit. Once the offer is gone the ordering instructions disappear from the website.
Participating Pottery Barn Kids stores will be holding Valentine’s Day card making classes for kids on February 6th and 7th 10am to 2pm while supplies last.
The Mercantile food and wine store at 1660 Dekalb Avenue is having a free wine tasting on Saturday, January 30th from Noon to 2pm. That tip comes from Atlanta On The Cheap.
CED Solutions in Marietta is a computer training company that is offering FREE classes for the first 1000 people who sign up. They one and two day classes include Intro to Personal Computer, Excel and Power Point. To sign up call 1-800-611-1840.
Callaway Gardens has free admission through the end of February, no coupons needed.
And this weekend the first 50 guests through the doors at the Andretti Indoor Karting and Games on Saturday and Sunday will get $10.00 worth of game tokens. Andretti Indoor Karting & Games is located at 11000 Alpharetta Highway in Roswell.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
To say we’re “covering the Olympics” is a little off. If I want to see Team USA compete in any sport with my own eyes, I’ll have to buy a ticket.
Local stations aren’t allowed to shoot the actual events, you all get to see that live on tv anyway, so we cover the fringe…and that can be almost as much fun.
Like I said before, I lived just outside Vancouver as a kid. We got 1 tv channel, 2 if the antenna on the roof was blessed in chapel that day. One of the first news stories I remember- Sasquatch runs in front of a school bus full of kids…lots of witnesses, no debate-Bigfoot had to be real.
Well a few days later police caught a regular foot returning his ape costume to a magic shop.
Still, many people are convinced something lives in the millions of unexplored acres of Beautiful British Columbia.
There’s even a Bigfoot research group. Here’s where it gets cool for me…I get to go Sasquatch hunting with them.
Of course it is 2010, the economy and all…I get (have) to be my own photographer on this trip. It’ll be a tough story to shoot but you don’t hear bobsledders complain right?
We won’t earn any medals with our Olympic coverage, but the stories might be as much fun to watch as curling.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
I was in the car at a red light with a friend last summer when a runner passed us. You know the type: not an ounce of fat, muscles glistening in sweat, running at a speed I only achieve in my dreams. “Now, he’s a REAL runner,” my friend said.
I thought, “I’ve run half-a-dozen marathons, who knows how many halves, 5Ks, 10Ks. I know the lingo. I wear the gear. Who are you to say I’M not a REAL runner?” Instead what came out of my mouth was, “Are you saying I have a big ass?”
What happened next was the smartest thing (and the only thing) a man can say in that moment: “No, dear, not at all,” in a voice with just a touch of fear.
Here’s the ugly truth about running: I doesn’t make you lose weight. Let me alter that slightly: It doesn’t make ME lose weight. It seems so unfair that even when I run 12, 16, 18 miles; I don’t lose a single pound. My pants DO fit better. My legs LOOK better, but that’s about it. Everyone I convince to run usually does lose weight, which allows me to practice my evil-eye.
So, what’s the deal?
A recent Runner’s World magazine article titled “What’s Your Ideal Weight?” said:
“There’s no denying healthy runners will race about 2 seconds per mile faster for every pound they lose. . . the less weight you carry around, the more miles per gallon you get from oxygen.” This applies to runners with a healthy BMI, between 18.5 and 24.9. If you drop below 18.5, you’re at risk for becoming weaker and slower.
As with all things running these days, I turned to Team in Training coach Barb for some information. She passed along an article from nutritionist, Nancy Clark (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics). An excerpt:
“Why “quick weight loss” is a fantasy
While the promise of quick weight loss is enticing, runners who lose weight quickly on a severe diet inevitably regain the weight, if not more. That’s because the body overcompensates for extreme dieting with overeating. You will never win the war against hunger…
Hunger is physiological. Just as your body needs to breathe, urinate and sleep, your body also needs to eat. Urges to overeat (that is, blow your diet) often have less to do with will power and more to do with the physiology of hunger. Just as you will gasp for air after having been trapped under-water without oxygen, you will devour food after having been denied calories during a crash diet (or after a long run, for that matter). Yes, you can white-knuckle yourself to stick to your crash diet, but your well-meaning plan to quickly shed some pounds has a high likelihood of exploding into a demoralizing pattern of binge eating followed by yet-another attempt to crash-diet. Don’t go there…. it’s depressing.”
Well, darn. Then…
The better plan is to chip away at slow but steady weight loss, targeting 0.5 to 2 pounds a week. Why, by just knocking off 100 calories at the end of the day (one cookie, one heaping spoonful of ice cream), you can theoretically lose 10 pounds a year. Knock off 200 calories at the end of the day (16 ounces of cola, 4 Oreos), and you’ve lost 20 pounds a year.
Well, I can do 100 calories less a day. Until then, I guess I’ll just be that chubby runner. Recently, the Cooper Aerobics Center (fitness and BMI gurus) released a report that said aerobics fitness (not weight) is a predictor of longevity. It’s better to be fat but fit rather than lean and out of shape. And anyone that runs 26.2 miles is definately, without question, in shape.
Make no mistake; I am a “real runner”. So are you. In my book, that has nothing to do with your size, your weight, or your speed. To be a runner, you just need to put one foot in front of the other and cross the finish line. See you there.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
For a couple nights in a row our trash cans were ransacked. Since we had a big St. Bernard that lived on The Ranch, Felix, we all assumed he was the mess maker.
But as a 12 year old I really hoped we were actually being invaded by something scary. Living at the base of the Golden Ears mountain range in Maple Ridge, BC it was pretty likely.
Racoons or Big Foot or Bears oh…you know.
The noise got our attention. 5 or 6 of us kids who lived with our families at Timberline Ranch were in “the little” house when we heard something dropping out of the apple tree. Every mountain kid worth his lack of tv signal knew if you shine a light in the dark and an animal is there, the eyes will flash like little bulbs.
4 eyes, 2 bear cubs eating apples in the branches….how cute. So cute we ran under the tree. “Can we touch one”?
It might have been a growl…A bark…Just the scraping of claws on rocks. I don’t remember the sound, just the sight. 2 big black bears tearing around a corner, heading right for us with Felix trying to get in the way.
Quick survivor lesson now: momma bear doesn’t want you to touch her babies, she probably doesn’t even want you lookin at em.
Can kids who ride horses for exercise outrun bears? Maybe I could I thought but that’s because I was 12. We scrambled to get back in the house. Anita, a year or 2 younger than me fell down. I watched Murray, 18 or so pick her up by the belt loop and toss her towards the door. My 2 sisters dove in. The door slammed shut.
It might have been a bluff. It might be Felix, the dog everyone was mad at when we thought he was the trash thief cut the bears off and saved one of us a good mauling.
I always thought it was cool to be able to say “I’ve been chased by bears in Canada” one of my favorite places on earth.
I get to go home to cover the Olympics.
Just not the way I thought.
More on that later.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
I’m getting sick and tired of everyone being sick and tired.
Well, that’s probably not true; it takes a lot to get me truly annoyed. But I do raise an eyebrow every time the Olympics comes up in conversation and someone responds, “Who cares …”
On a certain level, I understand if people are somewhat nonplussed about the Games. After all, many of the events that get such attention during the Olympics can otherwise only be found on ESPN: The Ocho. And the international symbolism that spurred such intense emotions in the past is rarely found today.
But I’m a big believer in taking things as they are — and the Olympics, as they are, are still pretty darn cool.
Blinded sports fan, you think? An NBC shill promoting the network, you say? Not in the least (I won’t be writing any Jay vs. Conan blogs anytime soon …); mine are simply the words of someone who enjoys competitive sports, finds intrigue in international competition, and appreciates the escapade and extravaganza of this rare event.
Let’s start with the most obvious positive: the sheer thrill of the sports. Yes, the bobsled and snowboarding aren’t exactly household sports — and that’s precisely why they’re so much fun to watch. You and I most likely have never raced on a luge sled, and that only adds to the mystique of how these athletes do what they do. And for the most part, the events are presented very well on TV. Have you seen the camera angles on the skeleton? It’s like they’re running a 24-style spy mission. There’s a nice balance in styles among the events – the grace of figure skating, the speed of the sledding sports, the outdoor elements at play during the ski events, and the physical punishment of ice hockey. And even though the international angst isn’t as deep anymore, I still enjoy the pure fun of following the medal count and rooting for the U.S. to climb the ladder.
And let’s not discount the subtext at play when nations compete against nations. No, it’s not war — and thank goodness, in many cases, the emotions don’t run that hot anymore — but it is a test of both our athletes and our equipment. One of the stories I have already done for this year’s Winter Games deals with the secrecy involved in protecting the technological and stylistic advances in American equipment. Countries are constantly trying to come up with the perfect recipe — in terms of sleds, skis, sticks, and any other piece of equipment at play. On top of that, other countries are always trying to steal each other’s secrets. It’s actually pretty funny — especially because, in talking to the American athletes about it, everyone sheepishly admitted getting caught up in the espionage.
But more important than anything, I use a variation of that oft-quoted Chevy Chase line to describe why I like the Olympics: “They’re the Olympics, and all these other sporting events aren’t.” See, it’s easy to deride the Winter and Summer Games for a variety of reasons, but they’re still the only competition to bring in athletes from more than a hundred nations. They’re still a major point of pride for cities that get to host them (see Atlanta, 1996). And they’re still a spectacle unlike any other in sports. And listen, I LOVE sports. I’m a Hawks season ticket holder who regularly finds himself planted on the couch with a game on the teleivision. The Super Bowl, the World Series, the U.S. Open … these are all great events. But none of them match the sheer scope of the Olympics.
Now I’m not foolish enough to deny that the Olympics are flawed in a variety of ways. But, to be fair, no sport runs without its share of issues. And at the end of the day, the positives far outweigh the negatives; more importantly, the negatives that do exist, for the most part, don’t take away from one’s ability to enjoy the sheer athleticism and competition on display.
So, let’s put down the collective Haterade for a few weeks. It’s time to appreciate and enjoy two weeks of plain ol’ fun. When it comes to the Olympics, I do care — and am proud of it.
Like this entry? Share it with your friends:
