Bangkok

February 1, 2012

Wednesday

 

My Dear Sports Fans,

 

I admit it.   I was about to pen some very snide remarks about Indianapolis!  Indianapolis??  The Super Bowl?? Somehow those two ideas seem so incongruous. (Admit it my friends, some of you are thinking the same thing, yes?)

 

Then I did some research.  To all my (3) friends and (2) relatives in the Midwest, I apologize for my initial  inclination towards irreverence and disrespect.  Indy really is a special place.

 

Indianapolis, Indiana:

    

Population of more than 825,000.  (Almost twice that of Staten Island)

 

Greater Indianapolis...over two million. (Just shy of Brooklyn at 2.5 million)

 

Twelfth largest city in the US.  (A smidgen behind Jacksonville)

 

Second largest city in the Midwest.  (Go Bears! Go Cubs!)

 

Second most populous state capital. ( Go Cardinals!  St Louis still sitting shiva?  Alternate side of the street lawn-watering)

 

Most populous state capital east of the Mississippi. (Take that!! Boston)

 

The Lenape and the Miami tribes were there first.  So to honor their memory (or out of guilt?) the city fathers who named this city combined....well, you don't need a lesson in etymology from me.

 

Home office of Eli Lilly...think Cialis.

 

Hey, the Indy 500!

 

The Pacers (Coach Bird!)  and The Colts (Is the shiva over in Baltimore?)

 

And to round it all off...the Indianapolis Indians (creativity at its Midwest finest)...Triple A Hardball affiliate of the Pirates.

 

I checked the All-Time Roster of the Indians.  I don't know whether they are bad or good, but they did have some colorfully named players:

 

Adair, James "Choppy" (1939)

Alexander, G.C. "Grover" (1910)

Barnes, Skeeter (1981-83, 1985-86)

Barnhart, Clyde "Pooch" (1929-31)

Bronkie, Herman "Dutch" (1914-18)

Brown, Mordecai "Three Finger" (1919)

Caldwell, Earl "Teach" (1940)

Cardoni, Armond "Big Ben" (1945)

Channell, Lester "Dude" (1911)

Derrick, Claude "Deek" (1916-17)

Durham, Louis "Bull" (1908)

Eddington, Jacob "Stump" (1914)

Fausett, Robert "Leaky" (1936-38) My absolute favorite

Friend, Bob "Warrior" (1950)

Goldman, Jonah (1931-32)  SS out of Erasmus Hall HS

Howley, Dan "Dapper Dan" (1907-11)

Lyon, Russell "Rex" (1944-45) Get it?

Matthews, H. "Smutten" (1902)

Ritter, Lew "Old Dog" (1911)

Rosenberg, Harry (1931-34) From SFO, Russian parents, in 1930, a "cup of coffee" with the NY Giants

Seeds, Robert "Suitcase Bob" (1942) A mystery

 

Ah, baseball....it really is the best game, isn't it?

 

Hey!   Anybody actually score some tix for this year's National Convulsion? 

 

Yes, there is an airport: The Indianapolis International Airport.  IND is proudly served by, wait for it, ten, imagine, ten domestic and international carriers.  Did you know that IND is the second largest FedEx hub in the world?

 

Plenty of hotel rooms for every budget:  Motel 6 and Comfort Inn to the Conrad and the Marriott.    

 

For my Jewish friends, if you are ever stranded in Indianapolis, you can davin at the shul of your choice: (I looked it up)

 

Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation - Reform (Do they actually davin there?)

 

Congregations Beth El Zedeck and Shaarey Tefilla - Conservative (Hebrew and English - tallis and kippa OK)  

 

Etz Chaim Sephardi Congregation (How's your Ladino?)

 

Congregation B'nai Torah - Orthodox (Hope the Rabbi announces the page number from time to time)

 

Lubavitch of Indiana - Chabad.  Chabad! Yes, Chabad.  Hey, if I found a Chabad in Kazan, Russia, what's so surprising about one in שטאָט פון ינדיאַנז

 

All of the above is just a preamble in order to delay making my decision: "Who do I root for?" The Pats?  The Giants?  (Hey Art F.... please don't give me any of your NE grammar lessons)

 

You might recall that in 2008, I hedged and hedged and never made a choice.  After all I am a native New Yorker (Go Dodger Blue).  But I lived in the Boston suburbs for seventeen years. (My favorite sports: snow-blowing, followed only by leaf-raking)

 

(One evening, with my then wife (CT native) at my side, as we watched a Celtics-Knicks game on TV, I gave a positive hum when the Knicks scored and at the same time she gave a negative groan.  After a few of these exchanges, she turned to me and asked, "Are we rooting for the same team?") 

 

Brady's revenge aside. A modest 9-7 Wildcard team aside.  For 2012, I decided.  I'm going with the trend.

 

With a respectful nod to the Krafts and a sincere acknowledgement of my many valued friendships in New England, I take the Giants and the points.

 

Anyone want to cover my action?

 

Cheers...from the guy who cheered for Huff and Greer and Brown and Gifford and Modzelewski and Robustelli and that bald-headed QB whose name I can never remember - Y.A....something.

 

And this Bronx memory:

 

My late dear friend Jay Gilsen and I played football together in Mullaly Park, now unceremoniously-imperiously-entombed under Stadium II.  Our defensive strategy was "You hit 'em high and I'll hit 'em low."

 

Jan (Highbridge All-Star Right Tackle)

 

PS For some entertaining reading about the 2007-2008 Giants-Pats rivalry, click on Special Occasions and scroll down.