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What’s wrong with sports

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Sports Illustrated had an online article this Friday that in one sentence encapsulates what’s wrong with the modern sports-entertainment complex.

In writing that “It’s time to get rid of Wrigley,” Richard Rothschild quotes a Chicago Sun-Times columnist who says the following:

“There’s still rust, the concourses still resemble dark alleys and people still have to elbow their way to their seats. … It’s a great park when you look at the field from your seat. It’s not so great on the way to and from your seat.”

Isn’t the purpose of the ballpark to look at the field from your seat!?  Can I tell you how many BAD ballparks I’ve sat in where the view of the field was lousy; but hey, we have an arcade to distract the kids (they shouldn’t have to suffer and watch an entire game!), we offer a wide variety of sushi, and we have television screens in the bathrooms and team stores so you don’t really have to go sit in your seat.

Jeez!

Wrigley Field doesn’t need to be torn down to be improved.  It just needs renovation – like the award-winning renovation of Fenway Park a few years ago.  I’ve sat in seats at Wrigley as recently as two years ago, and it is – without a doubt – one of the best places on earth to feel you are one with the game.  Do we really think that the corporate types that run baseball will get a new field as right in the one key element that’s critical for a great ballpark experience?

Rothschild also says that Wrigley needs more parking.  Really?  Take a look at the photo above.  The park is full, the streets are teaming, and the elevated train which brought most fans to the park in an efficient and environmentally sustainable way is zipping along just outside the park.  Go to FedEx Field in Washington if you want the suburban experience of miles of parking lots without a real public transit option in sight.  I have – once – and I’ll never go again.

Give me a break.

Greater, Greater Washington gets it right when they note that “Given that Wrigley is always packed despite not being surrounded by seas of parking lots, the status quo seems just fine.”

Owners (and the sportswriters who enable them) need to stop salivating over plush new parks (paid for by the public), recognize and renovate the great places they have, and get on with putting a winning team on the field.

More to come…

DJB

Landmark alert: World’s best custard

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Travel has its benefits.

I was in Milwaukee yesterday for the announcement of the 2011 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.  We had a terrific event with our local partners, pointing out the threat to a real national treasure:  the National Soldiers Home Historic District.  One of three homes built for Civil War veterans after Abraham Lincoln authorized them as one of the last acts of his presidency, the Milwaukee Soldiers Home is the only one to maintain the context of the historic buildings and landscape.  One of the veterans who spoke at our event said that this place was critical to his recovery from PTSD, noting that the two words most associated with the site by veterans were “peace” and “serenity.”  To lose such a place of healing would  be a travesty.

On this trip my colleague Genell introduced me to another national treasure (though not endangered):  Leon’s World Famous Frozen Custard.  My, my!  What a wonderful frozen custard.  It was great to watch the employees pour a large bucket of milk into the machine to make the custard right on site.  The result was beyond delicious.  As the Wikipedia entry notes, Leon’s IS a Milwaukee landmark.

So on a day of celebrating a Civil War-era historic place, it is nice to remember that 1942 landmarks can be important as well.

More to come…

DJB

Graduation Day

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Andrew and Claire following Claire's Graduation June 13, 2011When I graduated from high school, the year was 1973 and the future – even with war, inflation, and changing social values – looked bright.  For many of us it was.

Fast-forward almost 40 years.  The world is a very different place.  But to Andrew and Claire, who graduated from high school this weekend, this is their rite of passage to a new world full of equal parts promise and challenges.  I can’t imagine even 1% of what their world will be.  Seriously, as recently as 10 years ago did you figure you’d be sending kids pictures to your family via Facebook or watching movies on smart phones?  Could we have conceived of the rise – and possible fall – of suburbia, at the same time that some cities are booming and others are losing population at an alarming rate?  How many of my generation – in 1973 – would have seen China as the biggest economic superpower in parts of the world?  Would we have imagined that the Boston Red Sox would ever win a World Series, much less two?  Well, we do still have the Cubs, so some things never change.

(Blog interruption:  And let’s not even go into how 40 years passed and I have high school graduates.  Heck, my younger sister has grandchildren out the wazoo!  I’m just a late bloomer, I guess.  Now,  back to the regularly scheduled blog.)

Our approach to raising Andrew and Claire was to give them the best education we could, share our values, support their growth into adulthood, and love them every step of the way.  The last part has been easy.  On Saturday and again today we saw the fruits of the first three decisions.

Andrew (St. Albans, 2011) and Claire (Maret, 2011) have received top notch educations.  The schools are very different, but fit the personalities and needs of our children.  The graduation ceremonies reflected the DNA of the two schools.

Andrew’s graduation, held in the Washington National Cathedral, was full of academic gowns, bishop and clergy, tradition, and…tradition.  I enjoyed the commencement address, because rather than following the “predictable path…framed around pursuing your passion,” this speech spoke to the class of 2011 about deciding what type of man you will become (this is an all-male school, mind you).

You see, life will present a multitude of opportunities through which you will choose the character that will form the contours and relationships of your life. Natural gifts are fulsome for some and spare for others; but character—character is there in great abundance, for all of you. My message is not about discovery. It’s about decision.

That message fit the values of the school and is one that privileged young men and women – as well as all of us who live in relative wealth compared to the rest of the world – need to hear.  So the pictures below of Andrew’s graduation show the tradition of the pomp and circumstance of the cathedral…along with the tradition of a good cigar after graduation!

Claire’s graduation this morning under a beautiful sky on the school’s front lawn was just as full of tradition, but it is tradition that springs from a school that nurtures a spirit where – as the class speaker described it – the football running back will have beautiful pottery in the art show and the softball player will also have a lead in the spring musical.  I also loved this commencement address, from a local entrepreneur who spoke to the value of the education the class of 2011 received…not only the academic kind but education in life.  He told this from a perspective of someone who was kicked out of St. Albans as a junior.  The comments from his high school report cards were hilarious AND instructive.

So here are photos from the weekend, beginning at the top with the twins giving each other a hug after Claire’s graduation.  I hope you enjoy.

And now after a week or more of all twins all the time, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled blog.

More to come…

DJB

UPDATE:  Oh yes, the Cubs finally won the World Series, in 2016.

Celebrating Andrew

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If Thursday was all about Claire, then yesterday was Andrew’s turn.

(Editor’s Warning:  I treat my blog like the 21st century version of letter writing, in that I can write one item and it can go out to family and friends everywhere.  This weekend’s blog posts are all about family.  If you don’t want to read about how wonderful my children are – then stop reading.  Note…you’ve been warned!)

We’re lucky with twins in different high schools that the schedule has worked so that the multiple events around graduation are held on different days.  Andrew’s day started early yesterday morning with the service of Holy Communion in The Little Sanctuary for members of the graduating class and their parents.  The service began with the beautiful Kyrie Eleison from Missa Secunda by Hans Leo Hassler.  The acoustics of The Little Sanctuary were perfect for the Madrigal singers to blend the voices as well as I’ve heard them over the past three years.  A little later in the service Andrew sang a wonderful solo in the Brazeal Dennard arrangement of the spiritual Great Day.  For many parents, it was the first time they were in a setting so intimate and focused with Andrew singing.  The rest of the day, we received countless congratulations.  It was a great way for Andrew to end his term as co-president of the Mads.

A breakfast followed where each boy was individually recognized with a tribute by the headmaster.  Then in the afternoon the scene shifted to the National Cathedral, where the upper school held its prize day.  Andrew received honorable mention for Spanish and – along with his friend Ben – was the co-winner of The Prize in Choral Singing.

But while Andrew has accomplished a great deal of which we are very proud, I’m here to celebrate the person he has become.  Andrew has always been curious and able to balance multiple interests with a prodigious work ethic.  But several years ago he came to the full realization that we loved him for who he is – no matter what – and that opened doors for the growth of his soul.  His curiosity now takes him off in directions with the understanding that it is okay if he’s not the best or even if he decides he doesn’t like this new part of life.  His growth on the stage is an example…and his high school yearbook says that in 20 years he’ll BE Corny Collins!

The piece we wrote for Andrew’s yearbook pretty much sums it up:

Congratulations, Andrew!  We love you and are proud of the person you are.  Your admirable self-discipline and curiosity support and nurture the musical talent and intelligence you show every day.  The faith and kind spirit we see and respect are central to your being.  We appreciate your willingness to help, unfailing sense of humor, and excitement for all life has to offer.  With your inquisitive spirit and work ethic, we know you’ll always be out there giving it your best.  May God bless you and go with you as you venture on to college.  Mom, Dad, and Claire.

I love you, Andrew.

More to come…

DJB

Passages

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Life has a way of reminding us about the passages that await.

In the midst of activities surrounding the twins’ high school graduation, a passage we’ve been anticipating and celebrating for more than a year, we have also been called to attend two funeral services this week.  Both friends were accomplished.   Both touched many  lives.  Both died too young.

At today’s service celebrating a life of love and service of our friend Sue Edwards, her husband Mark reminded us of a blessing that another friend, the Rev. Tim Boggs, used to end each service at our Parish.  Like Sue and Mark, I have always loved these words, which were adapted from a saying by 19th century Swiss philosopher Henri-Frederick Amiel.  In these times of passages, it is worth remembering.

Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us.  So be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.  And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with us this day and in the age to come.  Amen.

More to come…

DJB

 

In Admiration of Claire

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I am crazy about my daughter.

That observation will not surprise regular readers.  But after focusing on Claire as we celebrate the end of her high school days, I was reminded time and time again how wonderful she is.

Candice likes to say that Claire is the wisest person she knows.  I agree.  Case in point:  I’ve seen how everything she has done over the past few days has been done with a great deal of thought and purpose. Frankly, I’m amazed.

Last evening we joined Claire at the Senior Dinner – three families and a faculty member at each table, surrounded by the Senior Art Show with six of Claire’s photographs.  Claire had chosen her two table-mates – both talented friends where she feels comfortable and challenged – with a great deal of thought.  The faculty member was one of two-or-three teachers who have literally changed Claire’s life – in this case through his leadership of last summer’s six-week marine biology field school at Sanibel Island.

This morning we were back for the closing ceremonies.  Claire does not like to bring attention to herself, yet she performed with the Concert Choir, delivered – with the rest of the senior editors – the yearbook to the Head of School, and was recognized for the best photography and digital media piece in the senior art show.  As her college counselor said to us, Claire’s photography is at a “whole ‘nother level” that demonstrates a keen observational eye.  Andrew joined us and we all loved talking  about her art over a lunch in Glover Park.

The magical day ended with a dinner at the house of two classmates (also twins) and the Senior Prom.  Nothing about wisdom here…Claire simply looked lovely.

So I’ve posted a picture of the two of us at the pre-prom dinner, a photo of the Concert Choir from this morning’s closing ceremonies, and one of my favorite photographs from Claire of a good friend in an Irish setting.

I started this post by saying I was crazy about my daughter, and I am.  But I also have tremendous admiration for Claire – for what she does, who she is, and what she stands for.  We used that word in our sentiments expressed on her senior page:

With admiration and love to our dear Claire…for your generous spirit, joy, wisdom, humor, integrity, and compassion.  Our love and support go with you – Dad, Mom, Andrew (and Lilly)

I love you Claire.

More to come…

DJB

Countdown Time

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Well, we’re in the highly anticipated and/or dreaded final week.  (Pick your own point of view.)  It is countdown time.

Our twins, Andrew and Claire, will graduate from high school this weekend.  Since they attend different schools, Andrew goes first on Saturday then Claire follows on Monday.  I’m not sure I’m ready for this, but I don’t think either child plans to slow down and wait for me to catch up.

Truth be told, I’ve been having a great deal of fun over the past few weeks…so I expect it to only get better over the next 7 days.

Sunday was Andrew’s Senior Voice Recital.  We had about 75 friends and family there, and he did a great job.  Andrew’s piano teacher from 5th through 11th grade, Rosanne Conway, was the accomplished and sensitive accompanist, while his long-time friend and fellow chorister Sarah joined him for a beautiful encore.  

For the benefit of the music lovers among the readership, here’s the song list:

  • Music for a while (Oedipus) – Purcell
  • Danza, danza, fanciulla gentile – Durante
  • Amarilli, mia bella – Caccini
  • And God Created Man and In Native Worth (The Creation) – Haydn
  • Die Forelle – Schubert
  • Beau Soir – Debussy
  • O Waly, Waly – English folk song arranged by Britten
  • High Flying Adored (Evita) – Rice and Webber
  • Younger than Springtime (South Pacific) – Rodgers and Hammerstein

This was the fifth of six recitals or concerts we’ve attended in the past few weeks, and I’m amazed at the talent of these young adults.  We heard a jazz set the other night at Claire’s school that you could expect to hear from much more seasoned musicians.  Two concerts at the Kennedy Center with Andrew and other students from the area have been first rate.  And last evening was Sarah’s recital, which was as superb as the setting in the Washington National Cathedral.

But our time isn’t all taken up with the performing arts.  We had the chance to see three of Claire’s photographs in the school art show, and she’ll have five photographs in this week’s Senior Art Show.  I especially like the snow scene, which was wonderful when printed out in large format.  And as I was posting this, we just learned that she was awarded Best Photograph in the Senior Art Show for the second shot below!  She has a great eye and we’re obviously proud of her.

So this week we have a recital, two proms, a class dinner, an art show, a class breakfast…and that only gets us to Friday morning. Expect to see a few more photos.

Just so you know, I’m planning on savoring every moment.  When you have twins, you only do this one time.

More to come…

DJB

Got Plans for the Summer?

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My colleague Sarah has a great blog that – like More to Come… – covers her range of interests outside of work.  So I was thrilled when I saw her recent post on top ten things to do this summer at the top of the “best blogs” on Word Press earlier today.

Sarah took the idea from The Daily Post.  Her plans looked like such fun that I decided to try my hand at making a list that had an equal smile-inducing factor.  You can be the judge in determining if the DJB list for the summer of 2011 passes the test.

1.  Play more music with friends.  I’ve found a group of guys that I enjoy playing roots music with, but we tend to let it slide over the summer.  I get such joy out of playing with them that I’m going to work on getting everyone together between songwriting and guitar camps.  (Yes, these guys are good!)

2.  Summer in New England.  I’m cheating on this on as I was just in Portland, Maine, this past week; however, it was for work.  But seriously, we had such a wonderful time in the northeast last year, I’ve added it to my 2011 list.  Candice and I bought a week on Nantucket at a recent church auction for a great price, so we just have to ensure we cash it in!

3.  Savor the last year of summer swim team.  Andrew and Claire have been Franklin Knolls Gators for more years than I can remember.  This is their last year of the summer swim team before they head off to college.  Rather than resent those 6:30 Saturday morning meet-ups at the pool, I want to savor all the friendships, sunny days, and hamburgers on the grill.

4.  Take at least three friends to a wooden-bat baseball game.  We’re lucky to have a strong wooden bat league in the metro Washington area, with both the Silver Spring Thunderbolts and Bethesda Big Train nearby.  Wooden bat league baseball is where college players learn how to hit with – yes – a wooden bat!  It is small town baseball in a big city setting, and I love it.

5.  Reread The Last Best League and watch Bull Durham.  This item is connected to #4.  The Last Best League is one of the best baseball books ever written – and it is all about the Cape Cod wooden bat league.   Bull Durham is THE best baseball movie ever. (Don’t give me any back talk about The Natural.)   Summer isn’t complete unless I watch Bull Durham  for about the 30th time.  (For the record, I don’t believe in saddling yourself with lots of heavy reading over the summer…there are nine other months for the tough stuff.)

6.  Ride my bike.  There was a time when I rode my bicycle every day…but that’s been a while.  However, we just bought Candice a new bicycle for her birthday, and that’s just the reason to jump in the saddle.  I hope we can get into a weekly routine.  I love the feel of being on a bike in the summer.

7.  Balance, balance, balance.  This promises to be a very busy summer at work.  To balance that I want to eat more meals outside in the evening.  Savor the glass of wine with family or friends.  Watch less Sports Center on TV and listen to more baseball on the radio. Laugh.

8.  Connect with a friend every day.  Use the slower pace of summer to connect to people in places outside of work.  Reach out to those who can make me smile, and to those who might smile if they hear from me.

9.  Learn how to play an alternating bass pattern on guitar.  I’ve never been very good at the “Travis” or country blues style of fingerpicking.  (Too much James Taylor growing up, I suppose.)  But I received a Homespun Tapes video on the topic for Christmas, and I want to use the summer to work on combining that bass and melody line so I can impress my friend Oakley when I see him at Thanksgiving!

10.  Try not to cry when we drop Claire and Andrew off at college.  I’m not going to be able to do this, but I’ll put it out there as a goal nonetheless.  At best, I’ll try to avoid embarrassing the kids and myself.

So that’s it: the DJB list for summer of 2011.  Feel free to add items from your list in the comments section and check back after Labor Day to see how I fared.  But most of all, enjoy the summer.

More to come…

DJB

Disappearing governance, disappearing heritage

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Preservationists  have grown increasingly concerned about the nationwide trend to balance national and state budgets on the backs of our heritage.

This isn’t a new issue but the impact is now being felt nationwide, not only in national programs but in state after state.  A large number of legislatures this past winter went for  disproportionate cuts to historic preservation, historic parks, and incentives for reusing and revitalizing our communities.

It is such a short-sighted approach to governing.  But perhaps – just perhaps – the national media and the public are finally beginning to see the issue.

Just yesterday, two stories came out that spoke to this folly.

The first, a column by NY Times writer Timothy Egan, speaks to the misguided approach by the State of California.  Egan is a favorite of mine, who writes from outside the New York-to-Washington echo chamber and has two great histories out in his Dust Bowl-related The Worst Hard Time and The Big Burn, which chronicles the founding of the Forest Service.  Yesterday’s Fall of the Wild column in the Times included the following observation:

Along with 69 other sites, Jack London State Historic Park will be shuttered, gates locked, and left to meth labs, garbage outlaws and assorted feral predators. Nearly 50 percent of all of California’s historic parks are on the closure list. This is not a scare tactic from the state. Parks go dark starting in September.

Even during the Great Depression, when this state had 30 million fewer people, California somehow found a way to keep its parks and heritage sites open.

The nuclear option is being executed to reach a budget cut of $22 million mandated by a failed state that is forcing lethal whacks for all, even with an improved budget forecast. That’s right, $22 million — one-fifth the price of a recent sale of a single private mansion in Los Altos. It’s a broken California, sadder by the day…

That type of action is being taken in more states than California.  Our land – our parks and historic sites – are being closed to us because our governments can’t do the basic tasks of governance.

Which brings me to the second article that hit yesterday’s media.  Regular readers know that I don’t typically spend time on the likes of politics when there’s so much more of interest to discuss.  However, I’ll break that rule today to share a link from Alyssa Rosenberg in Think Progress.  Her description of Sarah Palin’s Federal Employee-Assisted Vacation reminds us all that these places that we all love and cherish aren’t saved for future generations by chance.  Federal employees, advocates, volunteers — and taxpayers — keep these places open for everyone, so we can learn from history instead of repeating its mistakes.

If we don’t start focusing less on politics and more on governance, then we can expect more and more of our heritage to be at risk.  What a shame.

More to come…

DJB

Wrestling With Edward Glaeser

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I have finished two books in the past couple of weeks that are about the same general topic: the future of our cities.  These works, however, come to strikingly different conclusions.

 Triumph of the City is a 2011 work by Harvard economist Edward Glaeser.  In a burst of amazing publicity, Glaeser has been all over the media touting his ideas of more density, more density, and – did I say – more density as the prescription for our cities and the planet.  In contrast, my son passed along his copy of the 2009 book by former Boston Globe reporter Anthony Flint, Wrestling With Moses:  How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City which I finished last week.  This small yet eloquent tale reads like a novel and carries the punch of the biblical story of David vs. Goliath.

In Triumph of the City, Glaeser makes a compelling overall argument:  that cities are efficient, inherently environmental, and healthful for the future of the planet.   I agree with that general thesis.  Where he goes off the rails is how he sees the future success in cities coming from density through skyscrapers and misses the larger point that cities are complex organisms that require a mix of uses, building types, and density to work well for human beings.

Glaeser likes to throw out bombs against things he doesn’t like (e.g., historic preservation, environmentalism, regulation in general) that – upon reflection – don’t hold up to scrutiny.  His attacks on historic preservation, for instance, make it sound as if all of Manhattan is under the rule of the New York City Landmarks Commission, when in fact only 3% of the tax lots in New York City are designated as either historic districts or individual landmarks.  One of the best rebuttals of Glaeser’s work that I’ve seen comes from Kaid Benfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who has a great blog on The Man Who Thinks Manhattan Isn’t Dense Enough.  Benfield takes apart Glaeser’s attacks, noting that what makes cities attractive can often be their inefficient places that people like.  In fact, when Glaeser says he “will take the side of people over buildings any day,” he’s not only setting up a false choice but he’s missing the point that people are drawn to the places – like Greenwich Village – which under Glaeser’s formula would have been demolished to make room for more skyscrapers.

Jane Jacobs understood how economists, city planners, and others who think they know what’s best for “people” let their egos get in the way of sustainable and livable communities.  In Wrestling With Moses, Anthony Flint provides a lively and page-turning tale of how a bunch of “busy housewives” defeated Robert Moses’ plans to demolish Greenwich Village and his desire to take the Lower Manhattan Expressway through the heart of what are now some of the most vibrant neighborhoods of the city.  In the past two months I’ve walked these neighborhoods twice with family and colleagues, and the prospect that they may have been lost to large overflight highways is stunning in its audacity.

Wrestling With Moses shows what one person can do when they focus on bringing power from the power brokers to the people.  I find it interesting that Jacobs’ seminal work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, was originally attacked from the left and supported from the right.  It is interesting because Glaeser – who notes in his acknowledgements the imprint of Jane Jacobs, “who bestrides the world of cities like a colossus,” on his work – nonetheless attacks her findings from his libertarian point of view.

When we think of the future of the American city, there are important points from Glaeser that need to be recognized and supported.  Yet, when I think of the kind of city where I want to live, I’m glad that Jane Jacobs wrestled with Robert Moses – and that her ideas continue to hold up well today as we use them to wrestle with the likes of Edward Glaeser.

More to come…
DJB