Montreal

Just got back from a terrific weekend in Montreal, one of my favorite cities.  A group of 8 of us went there for the birthday celebration.  Friends came in from Washington, DC, NYC and Seattle.

I love Montreal – the friendliness of the people, the restaurants, walking around Old Montreal, the proximity to DC (it’s only a 75-minute flight), the feeling that you’re in Europe, etc.

We had dinner at one of my favorite places, Garde Manger, in Old Montreal on Thursday night.  What a great, little spot.  It’s hard to get in there but my buddy, Rob, always manages to get us booked there.  After dinner, we went to Time Supper Club for their 7^th anniversary party.  The place, as usual, was off the hook!

Friday, I took some of the friends who had not been to Montreal, for a long walk through Old Montreal (including the port area) to Chinatown to Saint Katherine.  We hit another one of my favorite spots, Cavalli’s, for dinner. Then, we went to Bunonatte on St Laurent.

Saturday, we went to a pub on Crescent St to watch the ManU – Arsenal game (a few of the guys in the group played college soccer and are big Premier League fans).   Hit Rob’s great gym, Victoria Park, in the afternoon.   Dinner / b-day celebration was at Vauvert.   The group had a blast there – it was a fantastic night.

Sunday, it was back to DC but I know I’ll be back in Montreal soon.

Senator Kennedy

I was completely taken in with the coverage of Senator Ted Kennedy’s memorial service.  I thought it was done with complete class and taste.  President Obama as well as the other speakers did a remarkable job in capturing the essence of the impact Sen Kennedy had on the lives of so many people.

I was even more transfixed with the scene in my hometown, Washington, DC.   I watched for hours on CNN as the thousands of people congregated on the steps and nearby grounds of the beautiful US Capitol.  (The Capitol is a magnificent building and a must-see for guests and tourists. The thought of the terrorists potentially targeting the US Capitol on 9/11 still galls me to no end.)

The reception that the friends, former Kennedy staff members and citizens gave the Kennedy family as the motorcade embarked on the grounds of the US Capitol is something I won’t forget for a long time.  I’m not ashamed to admit that the tears flowed as I watched that remarkable scene – Mrs Kennedy embracing staff members and co-workers, the recognition from the chaplain, the wonderful rendition of “America, the Beautiful,” Patrick Kennedy’s warm and thoughtful remarks, etc.

On a personal note, this was very emotional to me to see the scenes of Sen Kennedy being laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery are very poignant to me since, as I’ve blogged about a few times, the three heroes in my life are buried there at ANC – my father, my Uncle Art and General Guthrie.

Also, as I blog about often, helping people from lower-income or less advantaged families, is something deeply important to me.   It’s remarkable to see the great efforts made by people such as Sen Kennedy and his sister, Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, to champion causes and to do so much to help others.  It’s sad to see the passing of these two great Americans, but I know their efforts will not be forgotten.  One way we can continue to honor them is for us to continue to volunteer and mentor and to help others so we can create a more level playing field.  Peace.

Washington Nationals

Yes, my hometown team, the Nats, have the worst record in baseball.  But, I feel good about the foundation they’re putting in place.  It’s going to take time, but I feel like they’re doing it the right way, especially in rebuilding the farm system, particularly with an emphasis on stockpiling pitchers.

If one looks at the statistics, the Nats are in the top 6 offensively in the NL.  They have a good core of hitters, including a few players above or near a .300 batting average, including Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Zimmerman and Cristan Guzman.  Also, Willingham and Dunn are both hitting above .280.  They also have three hitters with over 20 homers, including Dunn, Zimmy and Willingham.

The key to winning baseball, as the purists state, are pitching and defense.  Defensively, the team is playing much better fundamental baseball under the interim manager, Jim Riggleman.  In particular, Morgan has played exceptionally well in CF.  Yes, he’s hurt now but he’ll be a fixture next year.  They do need to improve the middle infield, but they get Gold Glove quality play from Zimmy at 3b and they’re well-stocked with good defensive catchers.

Pitching will be the key.  They have a number of good to very good young pitching arms.  As I’ve compared in the past, I’m hoping they build a rotation like the Braves from the 90’s – who won 14 straight NL East championships built around Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery.   I’m glad to see them sign Livan Hernandez, who can show the youngsters how the veteran pitchers get it done.  I’d like to see them resign him for ’10 or sign another veteran pitcher who can eat up innings.

Improving the bullpen is critical to success of the next year’s team, especially since the youngsters aren’t being counted on to pitch deep into games.   Yes, McDougal has pitched well … and, Storen will be a great young arm to add to the bullpen.  But, they also need a couple of strong middle relievers.

It’s likely that Strasburg will become a stud #1 pitcher, but the success rate of the top ranked pitchers is very iffy.  But, it was definitely the right move to draft  and sign him.  And, if they continue to have the worst record, the Nats will have the opportunity to pick the heralded young catcher from Las Vegas (who some say is the best hitting prospect to come along in years).

One more month to go for the Nats – but it’s also time for football season to kick off!  Then, before we know it, the basketball and hockey seasons will start, too.  Can’t wait!

Golfing

I don’t golf very often — in fact, I’ve only averaged 1 – 2 rounds per year over the past couple of years.  I do like to golf, but I much prefer to play baseball.  I play in a couple of baseball leagues – so I don’t have the time to golf.

But, I did play a round on late Tuesday afternoon … and it reminded me why it’s such a beautiful sport.

Two of my closest friends, Kurt and Thom, suggested we play a round of golf and catch up.  Kurt lives here in VA but Thom lives in NJ.  He came down to VA for a couple of days of business travel but he made time to play on Tues afternoon.

The three of us are not very good but we respect the game and move right along.  As proof, we played our round in 4 hours, which is the average pace.   On top of that, we played at Westfield’s, the course designed by Freddie Couples, and that is regarded as one of the more difficult public courses in Northern VA.

Man, it was so much fun.   We pretty had the course to ourselves — no back-ups at all.  Playing golf, hanging with your boys, having a couple of beers, smoking a cigar, etc (of course, checking email on blackberry and v-mails on cell phone, too).   Also golfing in the late afternoon / early evening as the weather cools is  a pure joy.  Simply put, life doesn’t get much better.

I didn’t score too well but I did have a couple of pars and I was putting for a birdie on the 18th hole (lipped out).  That might be the only round of golf I play this year, but it was sure was a heck of a lot of fun.  I might need to get back out there for a couple of rounds this Fall.

Soccer in the US

Will soccer become as popular as football, baseball and basketball in the US?  That’s a great question.  But, if you were one of the 72,000+ that attended yesterday’s match between the legendary Real Madrid squad vs DC United (the MLS’ most successful team in history, you would have to say that it’s going to happen in the not-too-distant future.

Yes, many of the fans were there to see several of the world’s greatest players — Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, etc — who were all part of the $375 million in transfer fees that RM paid to secure the talents of an array of highly-skilled talent.  But, there are a number of reasons why soccer will continue to grow in popularity:

- more youth are playing soccer than any other sport — there are over 18 million kids playing soccer

- there’s a significant shift occurring in the US, r.e. demographics shifts — research states that over the next three decades, the number of Hispanics in the US will grow from 15% of the total US population to 30%.  Soccer, baseball and boxing are very popular among Hispanics, but soccer reigns as the king

- the success of the US Soccer team this summer helped stoke the popularity of soccer — if the team does well in next year’s 2010 World Cup, the growth should continue to occur

- ESPN is starting to invest heavily in soccer — having a major powerhouse media partner can only help (yes, much of the coverage will be of international matches but that will still help create more soccer fans

- the MLS has excellent management in place, at both the league and team levels.  Also, some of the new ownership groups feature highly successful people from the business, finance and media worlds.  The Seattle franchise is off to a roaring success — and new clubs in Portland and Vancouver will help, too.

- having famous clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Chelsea, etc play matches in the US will continue to help grow the popularity of soccer in the US … and these clubs will benefit from gaining news fans from the US

So, in summary, soccer has a ways to go in regard being as popular as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, etc, but the MLS and the sport are definitely on the way – for some of the reasons stated above.  It’s clearly moving in the right direction.  It will be interesting to observe this movement in the coming years.

Rock of Ages

I went to a highly-entertaining musical last night on Broadway.  I highly recommend “Rock of Ages,” the new 80′s rock musical based on life in LA, particularly on Sunset Strip.

Those of you that know me well know that I’m much more of a sports events and concerts person vs attending the theatre.  But, my friends and I had such a blast last night.  I also noticed that audience members were smiling and laughing throughout the performance.

The only actor I recognized was the long-haired, Greek rocker from American Idol a few years ago.  He did a superb job in singing a bunch of 80′s rock classics.  Although I didn’t know the other actors, across the board, they did a splendid job.

But, of course, the 80′s rock music is the star of this show.  So many classics … from Journey, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, REO Speedway, Quiet Riot, Styx, Foreigner, etc.   For those of you that lived through the 80′s music scene or are discovering it now as retro music, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the music. Also, you’ll love the outfits and classic 80′s hairstyles.

I DJ’ed for a long time (including over 500 wedding receptions) to pay for my grad school loans.  I played so many of these hits back in the day … at wedding receptions, college parties, high school sock hops, bar mitzvahs, etc.  So, it defintely brought back a lot of memories.

If you have a chance to see “Rock of Ages,” I definitely recommend.  You’ll be entertained throughout the 2.5 hour performance.