Skip to main content

A tale of Two Balls

America is in the midst of a variety of ball fevers.  As in Football and Powerball.


1.  The '50th' Super Bowl (American Football's crowning match) coming to town early FEB and
2.  The Powerball lottery (now estimated to payout $1.5 Billion before taxes and relatives) with the winner announcement imminent or so it seems


Both events are top of mind for the nation even as the POTUS aka Obama was waxing on his annual report card in front of the nation last night.  More so the California crowd who at best seems suspicious of whoever is going to lead our highest office come 2017 is planning a mental escape dreaming of either or both of the above mentioned ball events.  What with the 50th event happening right in the heart of Silicon Valley (typically not known for its Hollywood like extravaganzas) at the newly minted Levis Football stadium (named in honor of the sponsors - the late SF, California resident and businessman Levi Strauss who gave the world blue denim).


The Super Bowl is an annual phenomenon that the American public has come to appreciate despite its inherent dangers for those on the field and off - at least the suckers on the field have the ability to earn in the millions (without winning the Powerball) while the ones occupying the seats are enjoying modern day gladiator like warfare fought on a rectangle 100 yards long.


With the lottery serving as a vicarious escape for the duration the ticket buyer waits for 'what might be' dreaming up possible outcomes, this one has topped itself as America's largest jackpot yet with latest tally coming in north of $1.5B in prize money.


Office workers (with their pool going) and random people who may not have participated in the purchase of a ticket before are now suddenly wanting a piece of the aciton (can be had for as little as $2) and are seen lining up at variety of stores sometimes more than one to in their words increase the chance of hitting it.


So whether America has what it takes to lead the world through sensible politics and value add education for the upcoming graduates, or with an economy that thrives on diversity and ingenuity; for the next few weeks it would appear we only want to have a Ball.


Well if there is any consolation prize it is that the Government will come out a huge winner in either ball with tons of revenue going into its coffers (think tax revenues), which if they had the right people at the helm could actually help solve some problems and then some.  But that is like wishing that I had won the lottery (without playing it)!





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New England is gleaming in the fall

 This autumn the weather gods cooperated as we took a family trip in the northeast to see six states that qualify or makeup what is known colloquially in America as New England. Mass, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island (tiniest state in the union). The outing helped tally up the states we either lived in, visited or have worked in to 47. Guess which three have eluded this intrepid traveling family. Any rate the drive was all in about 1,800 miles and included some memorable geographic wonders or points of interest.  Easternmost part of state of Massachusetts being one.  Furthest drivable road east in Mass being another. Visit to all Ivy League schools (term harkens to a collegiate athletics conference and generally regarded as elite academic institutes of some repute worldwide) is another random bucket list item of which this trip afforded the chance to knock two more of the list.  Dartmouth in Hanover, NH and Brown (and its sister institute the RISD  - school f

Searching for a lavish 'fill in the blank with other adjectives and gender' in bed

 Many of the readers of this blog have experienced this. Strange sounding messages popping up in your text or WA or emails all day long from some exotic sounding locale with an out of this world individual looking for love, sex, money or other paraphernalia to get a high. I mean granted that electronic spamming is a low cost enterprise and all but the sheer volumes and the variety in these exhortations is beyond imagination. Having a desire to engage you in some sort of sexual payola or invest in some arcane crypto scheme must be a profound algorithm that someone from Oklahoma to Odessa is cranking on through the night and watching one in a few million fall for. Otherwise this nonsense would not exist I suspect. It would be funny to watch the lifecycle of some such persona that creates said content and that of a prospect for this invite becoming an unwilling or willing participant. Then that whole thing could go on some social channel and earn likes and subscriptions for someone else a

Lakeside frivolities

 We moved to the Charlotte area not knowing where exactly our new home would be. Turns out it was by a popular lake formed by the damming of the Catawba river which flows north to south in the Carolinas. Local electricity generation utility built a series of dams along the waterway for hydro and couple nuclear plants as well to supply the state grid.  The lake our house butts into is Lake Wylie. While tract home build has picked up in the Carolinas the developer often carves out parcels that they can get their hands on leaving behind privately owned lots that the individual owner may not want to sell. Our house is part of a subdivision but backs into actual lake front yardage that has always been part of legacy family owned properties who chose to build a cabin or getaway and did not sell to a corporation wanting to build in the hundreds. As such we can see the water through the year but it does not afford actual water access.  That privilege is to our neighbors who still maintain thei