Super Bowl XLVIII Week in NYC

January 27 to February 2 will be affectionately known as Super Bowl Week in New York City. Well, affectionately known to me but to others it'll be known as a traffic-jam, clogged-sidewalk causing nightmare. Either way, it will be a high-energy time in NYC no matter how cold the temperatures may be.


I'll be working with the NY/NJ Super Bowl XLVIII Host Committee at various tourist welcome sites and along Super Bowl Boulevard perimeter. This gig is right up my alley. Need directions? Need help purchasing a metrocard? Need help hailing a taxi? Need help getting to your terminal to catch your flight? Need to know where to go to avoid all the Super Bowl Madness? Need to make sense of the madness that will be Penn Station, Times Square, Grand Central, or the PATH trains (the game will be played in New Jersey)? It's just a small part of what I do as {The} Native Creative Concierge and it's what I'll be doing during Super Bowl with for the Host Committee.

The Power of the Ball

What started out as a question about my outfit turned into a discussion about the Olympics. I miss the Olympics. A lot. They should be extended to a month-long event. But like my other lover who only returns every 4 years, both the World Cup and Olympics last a  mere 2-weeks. I've learned to adapt.


Almost 2 months before the Olympics, I started reading The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game by John Fox. I'd received a copy for The L Magazine Literary Upstart event. Fox travels through time and around the world to answer the question his son asked him 4 years prior to completing the book -- Why do we play ball?


Why do we play ball? What is it about football and football, baseball, cricket, basketball, tennis, water polo, lacrosse, rugby, handball et al. that enthralls us? What is it about the ball that leads to endless hours of practice and play and bouncing? Balls of all sizes and shapes are the center of drama and wars, form alliances and create enemies, decades-long bragging rights, hand-eye coordination, speed, agility, power, strength...


Alas, like the Olympics, The Ball is "over". It was an enjoyable and entertaining read. A documentary based on the book is in the works. Now I have yet another reason why I want to visit Brazil - Altinha.

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World Cup Of Women's Love

Last year, I was on South Africa time for a month during the World Cup. This year, it's Germany. My Nigerian ladies were eliminated during the Group phase. Sigh. I just finished watching the Germany v Japan quaterfinal match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011. Japan pulled the upset and eliminated Germany (1-0), the defending champions and the host country. It was a great game! Japan was the underdog coming in and they played hard. This was after France and England played to penalty kicks (and England's squad was peppered with hobbled players)! France missed their first PK and I didn't know how it was going to play out. I stood the entire time. But then England missed a PK and,well, France didn't. This sets up a pretty interesting semi-finals.

World Cup Of Love -- Addendum

I was editing the first part of a new short story I'm working on. iTunes shuffling in the background as usual...

Then "Going On" by Gnarls Barkley came through my speakers and just put me in an even better mood. It made me think of the World Cup and made me think of him (the timing is uncanny because one of the characters in the story I'm working on is based on him).

So that's why he came to mind this morning when I heard the song, but honestly, that was quickly overshadowed by the World Cup itself, the game of football, the passion. The Puma commercial they aired on television was different from this one, but I would jump up and down in celebration right along with the players on the screen.

I truly, truly enjoyed the energy of the World Cup this year (despite ALL of my teams not doing well) there was still so much to enjoy and so many people to root for. I hear this song... I watch this video and it gives me chills.


Youtube user hansbukow summed it up perfectly:

Thank you Africa for reminding us of what it's all about!!!

The fun, love and passion of simply kicking a ball with your best friends.

I feel really blessed to have the beautiful game embedded in my soul and this video helps me connect with that wonderful feeling.

World Cup Of Love

I’ve been on South African time since June 11. And it’s been worth every second. I’ve gotten used to the early mornings. This event is very consuming, I’ll admit. I still wake up in time for the 7:30am games that are no more (moment of silence). I’ve noticed a lot more enthusiasm and fervor surrounding this World Cup. Probably because I’m older, I’m more aware of these things. Or could be because the world is converging on Africa….

I grew up in a home with two immigrant parents, so watching the World Cup was the norm. Of course I didn’t go to bars to watch and I didn’t know if any of my friends were into it, but the excitement was still there. I called my father before the Super Eagles’ games during this tournament to gauge the excitement level. Yes, he cut the conversation short so he could go watch. I ain’t mad at all. I even remember in my youth and naiveté taping the World Cup finals (It could be ’94 but I think France won the year I taped so that would be ’98) so my father could watch the game when he got back from Nigeria. He appreciated the gesture but had watched the game live. Duh! It’s the World Cup. Everyone’s watching.

Playing To The Death

In college, I wrote a paper on violence in sports. It was for one of my sport “theory” classes (Sport Psychology, Principles of Coaching, I don’t quite remember) but in the paper, I discussed parents gone wild, the jail in the old Veterans Stadium for unruly fans, hockey goons and soccer hooligans. Players against players, fans against fans, fans against players; it’s a never ending battle. According to reports yesterday, an Iraqi player was shot dead on the field as he was about to kick what could’ve been a game tying goal. In most of the world, football is life. I’m not condoning the senseless murder at all, but this was coming, at some point at some stadium. The Iraqi national team doesn’t even live or practice in Iraq for security reasons. Is this just Iraq’s problem? I don’t think so. 


I’ll be rooting for Nigeria and Jamaica as well as my adopted nations of Italy, Brazil and Argentina in the World Cup 2010. South Africa will host. I wonder what sort of security measures they will implement. With the world watching, will everyone be on their best behavior or is the world stage the time to act out or “make a statement”? In Beijing this past summer, there are folks who never made it home when all they wanted to do was witness dramatic Olympic moments. Those unfortunate deaths weren’t the work of terrorists, neither was the incident in Iraq. In recent years, focus has been on thwarting terrorism and rightly so, but we can’t forget the passionate, enraged little guy who can cause big problems.