Bear Down and Get Some Runs, best-of: February 6, 2005

When a Beatle's doing the halftime show, the event in question can probably qualify as a national holiday.

February 6, 2005

Ric and I are disagreeing again.

“I’m just saying, I think it should be a national holiday.”

“That’s dumb. It’s the Super Bowl, man. It’s a sporting event.”

“Don’t you think that school and work should be canceled tomorrow?”

“It’s a sporting event.”

“Yeah, but think about it. It’s called Super Bowl Sunday. What other sporting events have an official day-of name?”

“Most people don’t know it as Super Bowl Sunday.”

“Yes they do.”

“No. They don’t. I like the Super Bowl and all. I’m not against it, but it’s not an official holiday.”

Regardless of what Ric says, Super Bowl Sunday is, at the very least, an unofficial national holiday, as evidenced by the amount of people who watch it despite not watching football regularly throughout the season. It’s like the High Holidays of sports; the attendance is always inflated.

From September 25, 2001: One Team, One Field

On the John

One team, one field

Originally published in the Indiana Daily Student on September 25, 2001

Mike Piazza and his NYPD helmet.

Placed 13th for the opinion-writing portion of the Hearst Journalism Award

A funny thing happened this week at sports arenas across America. One team showed up at each game, and that team had one set of fans. Jersey colors were incidental. In fact, no one even noticed them.

The jersey colors that were important were the red, white, and blue stitched in and stamped on. The New York Mets wore hats and helmets on the field that said “FDNY” and “NYPD,” and embraced the Atlanta Braves on the field, the team that they were chasing in a now inconsequential pennant race.