9 posts tagged “nyc”

It was the first sellout game at The Garden that I was in attendance for all year, and the game lives up to all the hype.  Two top 10 college team facing off in the world's greatest arena.  It appearing that Pitt lost all hope of keeping the game close in the first half, but they came out ready to play in the second half and forced the game into overtime.  DeJuan Blair is a beast of a freshman, putting up 15 points and 20 boards.  However, Pitt would not have won the game if it were not for Lavance Fields, who hit the game winning 3 with seconds left in the game.  Another shot that brought the crowd to their feet was DeMarcus Nelson's reverse lay-up, after getting hit by Blair.  This game was filled with emotion and Duke fans had to leave the stadium sobbing and with their first loss of the season.  Definitely the best game I have seen all year and the best time I have had.  For entertainment purposes look how stupid Tony Kornheiser looks now.

LIC Marathon Section

Sunday November 4th marks the 37th New York City Marathon.  But even before this event begins New York is hosting the Men's 2008 Olympic Trials in Central Park.  While a select few will have a chance to run in Beijing the rest of the world is invited to run on Sunday, in the NYC Marathon.  Last year was a record breaking year and produced that largest ever marathon in history.  2007 has a few thousand less applicants than 2006, but could still have more people participate in the race.  Millions will watch the runners race through all five boroughs of New York City, and it will end in Central Park.  I will try an watch the race around mile marker 14, which is in Long Island City.  While I know very little

Rop_rodgers

Grand Central Whispering Corner

There are secrets and hidden treasures all over New York City, and I discovered one last night in Grand Central Station.  There is a whispering corner right in front of the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant where I was able to whisper into one corner and have my sister hear what I was saying across the room.  You and a friend can stand at opposite corners and the sound waves are able travel across the archway, which allow the recipient to hear your message without the rest of the bystanders ease dropping on the conversation.  Next time you have a free moment and you are in Grand Central, walk down to the dining concourse and check out the hallway in the middle and in front of the Oyster Bar.

101 Women's Basketball Drills

Theresa Grentz

Yesterday I was at Madison Square Garden buying tickets for a Bloc Party concert and ran into former University of Illinois Women's Basketball Coach Theresa Grentz.  I never went to a Women's game and I was surprised I remembered her name.  The only places I saw her on campus was at Midnight Madness and other various Illini Pride activities.  I think because she was so involved with the community and her excellent track record I was able to remember to her.  We chatted for a little bit, on how she in enjoying her retirement.  The former Big 10 Coach of the year, A10 Coach of the year, and Coach of the United States Olympic Women's Basketball team was in New York visiting Pay Coyle, the current head coach of the New York Liberty and one of her former players.  Its funny where you run into people.  This past week I have met up with former Illinois Tennis Players, seen the former Illinois Women's Basketball coach, and of course I always have my neighbors Jose Valentine and Larry Johnson (who we have yet to see in the building besides on the HBO show Hard Knocks).  Maybe I will see some former Illinois baseball players at todays Mets game, even though I would have no clue who they are.

Note:  Theresa Grentz is a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, a member of the NIKE Hall of Fame, author of the book above and Theresa Grentz: Effective High / Low Post Player Moves, which are among many of her accolades.

Flushing Queens has welcomed over a hundred professional tennis players this week to compete for 16 spots in this year's US Open.  The tournament is free for the public and features great match-ups for up and coming players.  Former qualifiers who have found success at the US Open are Lleyton Hewitt & Benjamin Becker. 

This year I had the opportunity to watch American Scoville Jenkins come in the first round of the qualifying tournament, using his power to complete the upset.  The former Illini who are competing in the qualifying tournament are Brian Wilson, Ryler DeHeart, Rajeev Ram, and Amer Delic; he has already qualified for the US Open because he ranked in the top 100 in the world.  Rajeev was the Carmelo Anthony of College Tennis in 2003, but has lost in the first round of the qualifiers in '06 and '07.  Brian Wilson just completed his match with a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory over Grega Zemlja.  Ryler's match will be complete later today after it was postponed due to rain yesterday.  Currently he is tied at one set each.  I wish the former Illini the best of luck.  Watch out for Amer Delic in the first round of the US Open against Lleyton Hewitt. 

I would have put pictures of this guys up here but all of them are protected by interweb security, and I did not bring my camera yesterday to take any pictures.  So instead, I have a video of Amer playing a close match against Marat Safin. 

I'd also like to note that I was an unofficial player agent yesterday but didnt qualify for a US Open security badge.  Maybe next year I will get to be an honorary coach.  I plan on going to the Open for at least one day or night.  And if you gave me odds for  Federer vs the rest of the field, I would take the field.  I just have a feeling that someone else is going to win this Grand Slam.

Check out tennis.com or usopen.org to follow the players and the rest of the tournament.  Also here is an NYMAG article about Ryler from last year.

Update (8/24):  Brian Wilson and Ryler DeHeart both lost in the 2nd round.  Also, Scoville Jenkins went on to win in the 3rd round and will move on to the 1st round in the US Open.  It's always nice to see more Americans in the US Open.

7 train

As I was getting ready to walk out the door one of my roommates (#1) stopped me while he was on the phone with my other roommate (#2).  While I know #1 misses me when I leave every morning without him, that is not the reason he would not let me walk out the door.  After a severe storm and possible tornado in Brooklyn, NYC transit was in shambles.  #2 called to let us know that he was walking from 42nd street all the way downtown.  Personally, that was just not an option for me.  Me and #1 waiting around the apartment, with bum on the couch, until we could figure out which trains were running.  As the morning went by we decided to try the 7 train and see what would happen.  There was a huge crowd outside the entrance and a nice MTA lady instructing us where to go (so nice of her to give up her free time and work unpaid over time).  Anyway, we back tracked to Queensboro Plaza to get the N train.  Lucky for us the subway doors stopped right in front of us, because there were hundreds of people trying to get on the subway and there was not enough room for everyone.  This was by far the most packed I have seen the subway.  As me and #1 ride the N train downtown we realize it will not take us as far as we need to go, and we transfered to the R train.  It was bad advice that we took to transfer, because the R train was not running locally and the next stop was going to be in Brooklyn.  This led to the end of our subway voyage, as we began to walk to our respective offices from Canal St.  After seeing a dead rat on the corner we called #2 to see if we could say hello at his job site.  The rat had nothing to do with the reason why we called, but maybe it was a sign of bad luck because #2 was in the middle of a meeting and could not spend time with us.  And, in case you are curious, I got to my cube at 11:00.  

Trump Tower

This week and next New York's most expensive and elegant restaurants are opening their doors with $25 Lunch and $35 prix fixe menus.  Yesterday, I ate at Jean George, located in the Trump Tower at Columbus circle, and enjoyed a five course meal.  The food was cooked to perfection and the service was top notch.  My favorite part of the night was leaving my seat and returning to see my napkin folded and placed back on the table, very sneaky those waiters are.  Even with the prix fixe menu the bill came out to $80 per person, due to all the drinks one person ordering off the menu and getting lobster.  Honestly, who goes out during restaurant week and does not get the prix fixe menu?  The night was capped off a bar in the the Time Warner Building across the street.  Luckily for me we played credit card roulette to see who would cover the tab and my credit card was not selected.