Most of you who read Jaffe will know that before most (all?) major sporting events in the US someone leads the crowd in the singing of our National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. Last night I was sitting at home getting ready to watch game 5 of the NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, listening to the National Anthem being sung by Ashanti:
Those of you who like to click on all of the links in my entries may notice something peculiar about Ashanti's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. No, it's not that she improvised a bit with the tune. It's that she got a word wrong!
OK, so it was only one word, and a lot of people may not even notice. But if you're a professional singer, and are hired to sing the National Anthem, I think you should learn the words.
After not having much to cheer about during last year's Super Bowl, I was very happy to see a competitive game from start to finish. For those of you who missed the game, the New York Giants pulled it out with an amazing final drive to beat the New England Patriots 17-14.
No doubt the play of the game was Eli Manning escaping a sack on 3rd down to keep that final drive alive:
One of the big Super Bowl traditions here in the States is to go to a 'Super Bowl Party', which many times is filled with people who don't really care about the game. Advertisers understand this, and to keep the non-football lovers entertained, they unveil some new commercials. Here are my top 3 from this year's Super Bowl. Enjoy!
This Sunday the Miami Dolphins will play the New York Giants at London's Wembley Stadium in the first regular season NFL (American football) game outside of North America. Although NFL players have no problem affording to vacation in Europe, it's possible that a lot of them are among the many Americans who don't even have a passport.
Certainly Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder's tongue-in-cheek comments published yesterday in this article in the Palm Beach Post sound like they come from a guy making his first trip across the pond:
I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries. I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that. I know London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him. That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name.
Nice one, Channing. Why do you think you aren't able to locate London on a map? Anyway, I'm sure you could find the US on a world map, right?
A few days ago I was chatting with a friend about the Cubs when I realized that the team from every US city I've lived in since I was 3 had a team still in the playoffs:
Today, there's only one. Am I bitter? Not really. There was a time where I would yell and scream during a game, and get really upset when I team I was rooting for lost. Now, I appreciate a good game no matter who the teams are.
That being said, I'd still love to see the Cubs win one... and my brother says '08 is our year.
