Monday, October 27, 2008

Bits and pieces



I've added a few new photos to the other parks page of the Brooklyn Ballparks site, including the one shown here. It was a lovely day at Red Hook last weekend, with all of the Central American food vendors out in force and serving the best baseball food you will find anywhere.

The Silver Ball page has also been updated, reflecting Texas' new status as champion. With 17 wins in Silver Ball matches, Texas is now tied with Nebraska and St. Mary's (CA). Next weekend they face a difficult road trip to Lubbock to meet undefeated Texas Tech.

Grant Hackett has retired with two Olympic gold medals for 1500m freestyle and some brave silver medal finishes at 1500m and 400m, too. At last it seems Australia's run of greatness in men's distance swimming might be at an end. It took a long time for Glen Houseman to appear and fill the shoes of Steve Holland. I hope this gap isn't so long.

I was going to post a long piece about Isiah Thomas, but I haven't the heart. Although he's been mocked a great deal in this blog, we wish him well and hope for the best. It's apparent to us that he needs some help right now.

Finally, a word about corporate naming rights. Could we have some kind of international treaty to prevent a change of name? I believe that once a stadium is named, that's it. Even if the company collapses in disgrace. Once Enron Field, always Enron Field. The latest example to catch the eye is back in my home state of Victoria, Australia. When under construction in 1998, the Docklands Stadium was generally known by that name or Victoria Stadium. However, a short term naming rights deal saw it open in 2000 as Colonial Stadium. In 2002 it became the Telstra Dome, and after a record 6 1/2 years it will become Etihad Stadium in March 2009. Five names in a decade. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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