Day: July 8, 2005

ramblings

London

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I for one am deeply saddened by the London bombings, especially since I not only used to live in London and am familiar with the areas affected but because I used to take the Edgeware Road stop very frequently (it was right by one building I took classes in). The tube is scarier than the NYC transit system – it is in many places hundreds of feet underground (much farther than NYC) and the tracks and stations themselves are very narrow. If there is a problem, there aren’t many options so I can only guess what the fear must have been like for those trapped below.

In the aftermath, a new form of online news outlet seems to have emerged as well – photo sharing sites such as Flickr, which encourage users to share photos and comments in a communal setting. I suggest you go, look at the pics, read the stories and read the comments. It definitely makes you appreciate how fragile life really is…

As a NYC resident, and as someone who values his apartment for, among other reasons, its close proximity to the subway, I am definitely unnerved. If something were to happen to the 4-5-6, I can only imagine what it would do to my property value, my commute but most importantly my way of life. To me, the subway is one of the greatest things in the world and it’s the heart of my urban experience. If something were to happen to it, my internal compass would be totally thrown off. I thought I was hardened to this kind of stuff by now but I’m not – the panic that shot through me at 9:00 AM yesterday — when first my house phone rang (which I didn’t answer), then my cell phone rang (not a good sign) which I answered to hear Jessie say, “The underground has been bombed” to which I replied “Where?! NY or London?!” — is not something I like to feel.

As a brother, I am saddened that my parents may not let my sister study abroad in London now. She has been looking forward to this experience ever since I was there in 98, hoping to follow in my footsteps in a way and now who knows if she will go, if she’ll be allowed to go or if she even wants to go. She should go. I didn’t move out of Manhattan after 9/11. In fact, I did the opposite – I moved downtown in February, 2002. Jessie and I moved into our first apartment together 2 blocks north of Ground Zero and were part of the rebirth of downtown NYC.

The worst part about this attack is that the sound of sirens again to me is troubling. After 9-11, whenever I heard a siren, I thought “what disaster has just happened?” but that faded over time till it was a normal sound again – “Oh, that siren must be for a robbery, not a disaster; that ambulance probably is rushing a heart attack to the hospital, not a victim of a bombing, etc.” I’ve heard sirens a few times today and always waited to hear more. While I hate this feeling, I will not be cowed, I only hope it fades again, sooner rather than later.

sports

Catch The Damn Ball!

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You know you are pretty bad when, as a fan, your ineptitude is so great that even the AP mentions it in their game recap: “Rob Marchese, a 41-year-old businessman from Queens sitting in a folding chair in the first row in the right-field stands, fumbled away both Rodriguez’s and Giambi’s homers.”

I was watching the Yankee game last night on the tele with my friend Dave.

In the first inning, A-Rod hit one that just cleared the right field fence, the kind of homer Donnie Baseball made famous. The ball went right through the hands of a middle aged guy wearing a gray tee shirt, hit him in his shoulder, then hit his chest, then went through his hands again and bounced onto the field. The second he dropped it he made the biggest commotion, slapping the wall and flailing about because he knew he blew it – he had an A-Rod homer in his hands and lost it. I have never been close enough to even try and catch a ball but I’m always aware of the ball when its hit. Catching a major league baseball is just one of many little things on my life’s to-do list that I hope to accomplish. You just don’t get a second chance on something like that.

Or maybe you do. Like the very next inning. Sure enough, in the bottom of the second Giambi hit one in the exact same place. Sure enough, the same gray tee-shirted guy was there, in the exact same spot. And yes, sure enough, it went through his hands, hit him in his chest, then his arm, and then bounced back onto the field. Again, he made a commotion except this time it was more rueful, as if he knew the Fates were conspiring against him so what are you gonna do, right?
If you’d like to see photo evidence, click here.

Rob: you have the privilege of being awarded 15 minutes of fame due to incredibly poor fielding skills. To that I say, “mazel tov.”

After the jump, you can read what the NY Times had to say about it. It seems that everyone is talking about Rob…

From the July 8th Edition of the NY Times:

It was Rodriguez’s 22nd of the season, and it seemed to delight all but one fan, who might have had the most exciting night of anyone at the game.

The ball hit the 41-year-old Robby Marchese in the chest and the hands, but it fell back to the field. Marchese was crestfallen, slumping his body on top of the wall, his head down, for several seconds.
“I didn’t get all of it, but I got enough,” Rodriguez said. “I think I hit it to the fan in the gray shirt who almost got two balls.”

Marchese’s next chance was just an inning away. Jason Giambi led off the second inning with a liner to right. Casey Blake chased after it, and the ball deflected off his glove – and onto Marchese’s chest. Again, he dropped the ball.

“It didn’t hit me where it was supposed to,” said Marchese, who had never sat in that seat before.

“I’m going to be on SportsCenter for the rest of the week.”