Strike Up The Band! We're Coming Back!!

We here at the global nerve-center of the “It’s Game Time Somewhere” Tour pride ourselves on two things that you might not expect. First, we pay close attention to the things that Americans care most deeply about – I speak of course of celebrity kerfuffles. Second, we make every attempt possible to work words like “kerfuffle” into any random conversation.

So in light of my former Governator’s recent admission that there was another pitcher in the family bullpen, so to speak, I dedicate this edition of The Lists to Arnold Schwarzenegger by appropriating perhaps his most memorable utterance:  “I’ll be back”.

I probably would have gone to that Great Big Grandstand In The Sky without having ever seen many of the sports that were introduced to me during the recently completed IGTS Tour. Prior to the Tour, an invitation to attend some of these events would have drawn from me a response along the lines of “Come again? You want me to watch what?”

Truth be told, many of those are best left in the “one and done” category – enjoyable experiments, but not my specific cup of tea. Some however, captivated me through their charm, their uniqueness, or their heaping helpings of just plain fun. The following is a list of sporting events about which I would never have expected to say…I’ll be back.

And I will.
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Memorable Performance: Mascot Category

…Continued from the previous post.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering what gives me the right to insert one full week in between Part I and Part II of The Ten Most Memorable Performances, when David Letterman, the Godfather of all Top Ten lists gives you everything all at once.

Point well taken.

But consider the exhaustive research that goes into this. Like having to read my own blog posts, for example. Which almost always leads to pouring myself a beverage appropriate for that point in the day, and warmly reflecting on the circumstances surrounding each Memorable Performance.

Keep in mind that I also have to carve out time to make sure that all of the functional departments that report up through the “It’s Game Time Somewhere” global franchise are operating smoothly.

But truth be told, it’s mostly that beverage and reminiscing thing. I’ve seen some remarkable things, and reliving them is almost as good as seeing them for the first time. Why don’t you grab a libation of your own and join me…
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Memorable Performance: Super-Hero Category

I was going through a bunch of pictures from the recently completed “It’s Game Time Somewhere” Tour when I came to a stunning realization – I’ve seen a lot of athletes in the course of visiting 100 uniquely different sporting events. Yes, implausible as this may seem, the entire year-long Tour was not entirely about moi. Crazy, I know.

The thing about athletes is that each time they take the field, court, track, pitch, diamond, etc. they all aspire to doing something memorable that day. It may not be something that carves their name into a record book or guarantees enshrinement in a Hall of Fame; but it will provoke a warm feeling of accomplishment when they look back on their athletic career at that particular performance. To shamelessly steal and subsequently misuse a Chris Berman line, “That’s why they play the games.”

It was my great pleasure to witness some of those performances…
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The Friendly Confines Of IGTS Tour HQ

I like home entertainment technology as much as the next Sports Fan. Much more often than ever before, there is nothing in the sports world more inviting than my couch, my HDTV and my remote. So it doesn’t surprise me in the least that a considerable amount of hand-wringing is taking place among the owners of Big Time sports franchises, who are seeing attendance erode at the same time that television ratings are going up.

In fact, the most ironic thing I’ve read about sports in a long time was a piece in Sports Business Journal that described the efforts underway to make football fans at stadiums feel more like they’re watching the game at home.

But as a pretty well-informed observer of live sporting events, I am here to tell you that there are some sports that not even the best technology in the world can fully capture. Some that even 3D HDTV can’t improve upon. I boldly say this with full knowledge that I’ve just torpedoed any chance of a massive sponsorship deal with Sony.

I now present five sports that, once you see them live, cause you to say “Now I get it.”
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The idea for this, the first of “The Lists” list was a no-brainer. As with almost anything in life, the memory of a place often outlives the recollection of what actually brought you there. 

The actual selection process though…not quite the cakewalk I expected. Much of what made an “It’s Game Time Somewhere” Tour venue memorable was the quality of the event that I witnessed there. Consequently, it was tricky separating out environment from experience.

But I persisted. Over my morning coffee I made an initial list of contenders. I had a second cup and identified the finalists, reveling in the memories. Trying in vain to narrow the selection to a Fab Five, I had a third cup. Which then, of course, led to a caffeine-induced sprint of several laps around the well-manicured campus of the IGTS World Headquarters.

Exhausted by this, I had to take a nap. Evidently, this List-making is going to be tougher than I thought.

In struggling to define the selection criteria, I eventually decided to use the “This Is So Cool” test – a yardstick which measures exactly how far into each event’s notes the first reference to how much I’m enjoying my surroundings occurs. Much to my surprise, the International Organization for Standardization is on board with adding the TISC test to their ISO 9000 Standards. We’re currently hashing out the details for the press conference.

In the meantime…

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