DAY ONE: Road Notes

Some notes from my first "road day":

1.) I had the chance to catch the Vikings broadcast of the Minnesota/Colts game all the way down on Sunday.  Anyone who appreciates sports will understand this, and anyone who appreciates having to listen to a sporting event on the radio that you'd rather be watching will appreciate this even more.

The "Voice of the Vikings" is Paul Allen, and I've only ever listened to him on his KFAN radio show once in a while in Minneapolis.  I don't listen to football on the radio, mostly because it's incredibly hard to picture a football game.  I love listening to radio baseball, because the calls are very simple... Single up the middle, Ball low and away, "a high, long drive over the center field fence!"  You know.

I wanted to give a public shout to Mr. Paul Allen, because his play-by-play was absolutely amazing.  No dead air, you could picture the play they were running just from his description.  There's a lot to cover in football, what with 22 players on the field at once, substitutions, formations, but Paul impressed me greatly.  He never missed a beat, never missed a detail, and colored it all so it was vivid in the imagination.  For the first time in my life, I really enjoyed listening to a football game.  I'm a great big fan of Vin Scully, the long-time Dodgers announcer, for all the same reasons.  You don't just get the facts, they're painting a picture.  It's something that has to be heard to be appreciated, but I wanted to say "well done, Paul Allen."

2.) A long-forgotten song popped up on my iPod, "New York City" by They Might Be Giants.  What an apropos song, I said to me.  But especially when the following lyric came up:

"I packed my stuff, got on the bus, I can't believe it's true
I'm three days from New York City and I'm three days from you"

Nice way to start a road trip.  Can't wait to see you, baby.