Saratoga Irish

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Sadie Hawkins Day



Well ladies I hope you are ready. It only happens once every four years but tomorrow is "Sadie Hawkins Day". Thanks to cartoonist Al Capp in his comic strip Li'l Abner, in 1937, February 29 will ever be known as Sadie Hawkins Day. The original strip had Sadie's father, Hekzebiah Hawkins, a prominent member of Dogpatch, set up a race for all the unwed ladies to pursue a bachelor. By the end of the thirty's Sadie Hawkins Day had swept the nation. Girls were allowed to ask out boys to a dance. In 1939 over 200 colleges across the country held Sadie Hawkins Dances.
That's pretty nice of Mr. Capp to allow women the freedom to choose a man, be it only one day and it only occurs once every four years. I am all for women asking men out, as a matter of fact, any women out there that want to ask me out feel free. I believe in equality between the sexes, women should feel the same anxiety that men feel when they ask someone out. Women should feel the same rejection that men feel when they are turned down over and over and over and.......well you get the picture. On the other hand, men should feel the same insecurities that women feel waiting for some one to ask them out. Sitting by the phone (ok so in these days of cell phones, "sitting" by the phone has a much different meaning then in the day of one land line per house) pining away, worrying that they will grow old alone. In one of my favorite movies, The Quiet Man, John Wayne, is referred to as "Sean Thornton, Bachelor" while Maureen O'Hara is, "Mary Kate Danaher.....Spinster".  That movie was made in the fifty's so you see, a lot hadn't changed since 1937.  I don't think women today would handle the asking out in the same manner as men. I can't see a woman being a wingman (wingwoman doesn't sound right, sorry) willing to "take one for your buddy" by picking up the good looking guys ugly friend. So once every four years we men get to know what it's like to wait. Ladies take the time to choose right, it will be a long time before you get to do it again, if we adhere to Mr Capp's world. Then again this is the 21st century and we don't live in Dogpatch so ladies if you do choose wrong don't worry about it just pick again on Thursday.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The First Blue Jay, Oriole, Cardinal of Spring


Some people when they see a robin they know it's a sure sign of spring. With me it's more than just robins, today is the day the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Cardinals as well as Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees report to spring training, now that's a sure sign of spring. As a New York football Giants fan I am still basking in the warm glow of the Super Bowl but as a Yankee fan today is the best day of the winter. I love baseball. Anyone who tells you that baseball is a boring game doesn't understand it. There is so much going on during each pitch of the game that it is almost a human chess match between managers. Baseball is different from any other sport, the infield is the same in every ball park but that's were it stops. Baseball stadiums are not made with a cookie cutter, center field in Yankee Stadium is 408 feet from home plate to the wall, Dodger Stadium is 395 feet. Fenway Park is the shortest, only 390 feet to dead center. All this difference is part of the magic of baseball. Years ago George Carlin did a bit comparing baseball to football, although it was done for laughs some of his points were true. Baseball is pastoral, you play in a park. There is nothing better then sitting in a ballpark watching a game, drinking a cold beer and eating a hot dog, explaining the game to one of your kids. I have been to Yankee Stadium, old and new, Fenway Park, Shea Stadium, Camden Yards, National's Park, Olympic Stadium and outside Wrigley Field. All the places were different but the game was always the same. Today, pitchers and catchers reported and are having their first workout, next Monday the position players report. The season opens on April 4th and runs through October 3rd. This year there is one new stadium in Miami, it will be the home of the Miami (no longer the Florida) Marlins. So where ever you go, sit back and enjoy, summer will be here soon.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Great White Way


OK, is everyone sitting down? I have something very important to say. I like the new TV show Smash. I don't watch Glee but this show has me hooked. The musical drama about the musical theater is very good. The cast includes Broadway veteran Megan Hilty (9 to 5, Wicked ), along with Academy Award winner Angelica Houston ( Prizzi's Honor ), Emmy Award winner Debra Messing ( Will & Grace ), American Idol season five runner up, Katherine McPhee, Christian Borle and Jack Davenport.
Hilty and McPhee play the two actresses vying for the lead role in a new musical based on Marilyn Monroe. Messing and Borle are the writers, Houston is the money behind the production, so all that is left is the shows director. Jack Davenport fills that role spectacularly. Davenport has been in the Pirates of the Caribbean films with Johnny Depp. I first saw him in the BBC sitcom Coupling (the British version of Friends ) a few years ago and he was great. In Smash, he is outstanding. He portrays a bit of a slimy type trying to bed both of the young actresses before they are cast in their roles, (what did Mel Brooks say in History of the World, "it's good to be the King"). The show is on Monday nights on NBC and you should try to catch it as soon as you can before the storyline goes too far.
Now I have been a fan of musical theater for a long time. I wish I had been part of those great shows that Guilderland High School put on when I was there but I did get to see both Mike and Jack on stage at Saratoga High School, in five or six different shows. I saw my first Broadway show a long time ago, it was A Chorus Line, and it was fantastic. After that I saw Evita during the first year with Patty LuPone (Life Goes On ) and Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds ). I also got to see Kevin Kline before he was a movie star with Angela Landsbury (Murder She Wrote ) and Linda Ronstadt in The Pirates of Penzance. There is something special about seeing live actors on stage instead of a film. You have to use your own imagination a little more, but the outcome is some much better. So laugh if you want but don't call me after ten on Monday nights

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

The Right Time and Place For a Parade



Yesterday was the ritual ticker tape parade in New York City for the World Champion New York Giants. The parade went down the "Canyon of Heroe's", better known as lower Broadway in the financial district of Manhattan. Why you ask, does New York City host a parade for a NFL team that plays in New Jersey? A better question to ask is why is it still called a "ticker tape" parade when in actuality they toss shredded paper and confetti. Alas we will go back to the first question. Although they play their games in New Jersey, the Giants are still the New York Giants. The Buffalo Bills don't play in Buffalo, (Orchard Park, NY), The Dallas Cowboys don't play in Dallas, (Arlington, TX) and The Washington Redskins don't play in Washington DC, (Landover, MD). When The New England Patriots won their championships the celebration was held in Boston, not Hartford, CT, or Montpelier, VT. So you see, where the location of the parade is does not really matter. Now we come to a bigger question, should the taxpayers pay for a parade for football players? Please feel free to replace the words football players with any other sport. Again the answer is yes. The parade is not "for" the players but for the fans, the community, the people that live in the city. I'm sure everyone didn't just drive to down town NYC and find a parking place to just view the parade. Money was spent. Increase use of subways and buses, fines for parking tickets for those that did drive. Restaurants and shops had a banner day. So to all you nay sayers, a parade and celebration for a winning sports team is very good for the community.
     Now the bigger question, is someone that can throw or catch a ball be called a hero and deserve a parade over, let's say, a returning veteran? Absolutely not. You must be out of your mind to think that but you are comparing apples to oranges. Not just sports "hero's" have been littered with confetti on Broadway in NYC, on October 28, 1886 an impromptu parade was held on the dedication of The Statute of Liberty (and no, Lady Liberty, was not paraded down the parade route). After that, some of the parades included, Admiral Dewey on his return from Manila in 1899, in 1910 Teddy Roosevelt on a return from a safari, General "Black Jack" Pershing in 1919 after WWI. The roaring twenty's had no less then 25 ticker tape (when they still used ticker tapes) parades for everything from visiting heads of state to our own Olympic athletes. Bobby Jones winner of the British Open (golf), aviators Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. The 1930's kept up the pace including Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan following his flight from New York City to Ireland in 1939 (he was scheduled to fly from New York to California). The 1940's were more for war hero's and leaders after 1945, the 1950's it seemed the only way to get rid of all your ticker tape was to toss it out the window with over 60 parades in the decade or about one every two months.Things started to slow down after the 1960's and a ticker tape parade became more of a event then just getting rid of excess paper. In May of 1985 a parade was held for Vietnam War veterans only about 10 years too late. Not as late as the Korean War vets had to wait, 1991. So you see, it is not just sports teams that get the paper tossed parades down the canyon of heroe's so don't get your knickers twisted up in a knot. Just sit back and enjoy.