Some hither and yon reflections while waiting for the rain to stop…
:: We used to go to the Plaza lighting ceremony almost every year but haven’t been the last three or four. Sometimes it’s been the weather, sometimes circumstances and sometimes just lack of motivation. One thing that has seriously crimped my motivation was the addition of fireworks. The Plaza Association or Highwoods, or whoever, for some reason decided some years back that one of the most distinctive, heart-warming events you can find anywhere in the country wasn’t strong enough to stand on its own. I guess some executive sat bolt upright in bed one night and said, “What the Plaza lighting ceremony needs is some rootin’-tootin’ fireworks to work up the crowd”!
However it came about, it was a supremely stupid notion. In times past, when the lights went on, it was an “Ah, yes,” moment that also illuminated the collective spirits of tens of thousands of people standing side by side. It capped off a day of quiet celebration and thanks-giving. And then, in the glow of the lights, many people would mill about, strolling around the Plaza and enjoying the communal uplift, before drifting back to their cars and heading home.
Now, those personal, calming moments that come with the turning-on of the lights are quickly followed by the ka-bang! ka-boom! ka-whoosh! of commercial fireworks, the kind you can see so many places these days, including after every Friday night home game at Kauffman Stadium.
I don’t know about you, but I’m good for maybe one fireworks display a year. And it should not be on Thanksgiving night at the Country Club Plaza.
It came out recently that Highwoods is putting the Plaza up for sale. Let’s hope the new owners have enough sense to turn back the hands of time as far as the Plaza lighting ceremony is concerned.
:: On the subject of overkill, how about those college bowl games? Twenty-five years ago, in 1990, there were 19 bowl games. This year there will be 41 — so many that, for the first time ever, teams with losing records will be invited to participate. Until two years ago, teams had to have a record of at least 6-6 to be eligible. This year there won’t be enough 6-win teams to cover all the bowls, so several schools with losing records will be invited.
What’s at work here? Why, TV, of course. In a Kansas City Star story a few days ago, college sports reporter Blair Kerkhoff said bowl-game saturation isn’t going away:
“ESPN wants live programming around the holidays, and even the lowest profile bowl games rate well. Plus the market supports the enterprise. Communities benefit from the tourism and it’s a big week for local charities.”
Of course, I understand the need for all these bowl games…The holidays just wouldn’t be complete without the Potato Bowl, Dec. 22, in Boise…Put the TV in the oven at 325 for two hours and it’s done.
:: This headline on The New York times home page got my attention last night — “Don’t Feel Bad About ‘Bad Sex’.”
I immediately thought, “There’s a story I need to read.” I mean, don’t we all — or most of us, anyway — live in fear of the possibility of bad sex? Just about as disappointing as the Royals’ Game 7 loss to the Giants last year, right?
When I got to the story, though, I quickly realized I’d been duped, along with a couple of million other NYT readers, I’m sure.
The story was by a novelist named Manil Suri, who was writing about the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award, handed out by the Literary Review of London. The award is of interest to Suri because he was a “winner” last year.
…Sadly, then, I’m still waiting for the definitive (and comforting) article on not feeling bad about bad sex.
Hey, Jimmy, why don’t YOU write the article?!!
I thought about you when I saw those dang fireworks this year, ’cause I remember you writing about it last year. So aggravating and unnecessary, a testimony, I guess, to what some people think is important in our world today.
Now there’s an idea — me writing the definitive story on not feeling bad about bad sex. I think I have a comforting way about me, don’t you, Gayle? I could dispense a lot of solace and encouragement, citing a few personal experiences.
…You know, I don’t even remember complaining about the fireworks last year. Starting to repeat myself…
I stand corrected: it was two years ago, and there it is right on this page under “Related”!
How can Nebraska, KSU and others be on the cusp of being “bowl eligible”
Nebraska is finished with its regular season, finishing 5-7, so they could be in one of the Losers’ Bowls. KSU is 5-6 and can hit the requisite six wins by beating West Virginia on Saturday.
…I would also like to see KU (0-12) in a bowl just so the coach the school hired because he was from Texas (and theoretically would bring a bunch of southern drawlers to Lawrence) could lose 13 games and set an all-time collegiate record.
Seen one fireworks display, you’ve seen them all.
The number of buildings participating in the lighting ceremony has decreased as well. I remember when all the apartment buildings along Ward Parkway had lights. We have friends who live in a condo at the top of the hill north of the Plaza and we have noticed the decline in recent years
I’m writing a new, hit song, It Smells Like Angry, White-Man Angst.
There aren’t 82 bowl worthy teams in the Universe much less ‘Merica.
ESPN creates the news it reports. How quiet the sportzballerz are about the head of Disney giving ESPN the bestest conflict of interest in these United States. Heading the mob which (despite lack of interest among the citizens and players) will return the NFL to LA and the company which will report on said effort.
I reached my fill of bad bowls ’bout four years ago and inked a tongue in cheek preview of each. As you rightly note, it’s gone steadily downhill from there.
From 35 in 2012 to 41 in 2015. Maybe it will be 50 by 2020.
I think Congress should pass a bill calling for a return to the five games that were played in 1940 — Sugar, Cotton, Orange, Sun and, of course, Rose Bowl. All games should be played on New Year’s Day, and the new playoff system should be dropped. It’s not right that student-athletes should play as many as 15 games, pushing the season into the second semester. Of course, if they start paying the players, making them semi-pro, they can play 40 games for all I care.