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Conference rdvax::grateful

Title:Take my advice, you'd be better off DEAD
Notice:It's just a Box of Rain
Moderator:RDVAX::LEVY::DEBESS
Created:Thu Jan 03 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:580
Total number of notes:60238

111.0. "Dateline: Stupor Bowl" by SCAM::GRADY (tim grady) Sat Jan 26 1991 11:51

    Well, it seems like there ought to be some mention of this weekend's
    assualt on Tampa, and since I live there, I thought I'd write some
    impressions about it.
    
    First of all, for Tampa, the weather sucks.  It's been overcast,
    drizzling and quite cool for days now, and will likely be so for the
    'big game' tomorrow.  I know that temperatures in the 50's in January
    is fine for most of you, but Tampa isn't built for it.  On the brighter
    side, we've been having a drought for a few years now, including water
    restrictions, so we could use the rain.  Frankly, I'd rather see the
    game rained out, were it not for the tens of thousands of hostile fans
    we'd have to tolerate until the rain date.  Still, my lawn could use
    it.
    
    Which brings me to the crowds.  The roads are packed with idiots in
    AVIS Chevy Caprice's driving 30 in the FAR left lane.  That includes
    the Interstates.  Now, usually we're pretty patient with the annual
    crop of snowbirds, but these people are truly lost.
    
    "It's over there, bonehead, are you BLIND?  It's a STADIUM, for God's
    sake, how can you miss it?  I don't know which Holiday Inn is your's,
    this is Florida - we've got one on every corner!"
    
    And I think too many of them bought the bullshit tourist advertizing
    about Tampa being walking distance from Disney World.  Actually, it's
    about 70 miles away, and Interstate 4 is just heaving with lost
    football-heads who apparently have a surplus of cash and need to go
    make a deposit with Mickey. :-).
    
    Finally, there are the locals.  Six years ago, which was the last time
    the NFL did this to us, the city decided to 'spruce things up' around
    town by spending a $million on public landscaping.  Apparently they put
    in flowers and palm trees and such, and then a week before the game
    there was a hard freeze, and it all croaked.  They would have been
    better off spending the money on getting the sewer systems to work
    right.
    
    Anyway, all the people who did that must have moved out of town,
    because once again we've got crews of people plugging palm trees into
    public road easements and tacking them up with 2-by-4's.  You would
    think that people who live here would know that palm trees are not
    indiginous to the Tampa area, mostly because it gets too cold here in
    the WINTER (like January?).  Palm trees grow in Miami, and only if
    they're far away from the burning ghettos.
    
    There's a lot of partying going on, with various flavors.  Frank
    Sinatra is going to screech through a show at a local domed venue
    tonight.  No comment.  On the other hand, in the area of LIVE music, Winton
    Marsalis is also in town, and last night Jimmy Buffet sold out the new
    Florida Suncoast Dome.  That's a domed baseball stadium that the city
    of St. Petersburg just built for it's professional baseball team.  Ok,
    baseball fans, what's wrong with that picture?  Right - St. Pete
    doesn't' HAVE a baseball team, but they built it anyway.  The average
    age of the population in St. Pete is in the early 60's, and that's
    including all the infants, children and law enforcement officers.  So,
    I just figure they're generally a few bricks short of a full load over
    there.  Probably from over-exposure to the summer sun.
    
    So, there's a little local color that you probably won't get in the
    pre-pre-pre-game warmup shows on ABC (or whichever network it is).
    Can you tell I'm not much of a fan?
    
    tim
    
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111.1The sceneSCAM::GRADYtim gradySun Jan 27 1991 13:2238
    Yesterday, I made the mistake of driving by the stadium.  I knew there
    would be a mob, but I didn't envision the scale of the mess.  The usual
    pre-game (i.e. Bucs game) tailgate tents have mutated into Wringling 
    Brothers scale, and multiplied.  There's a new crop of satellite antennas, 
    with a platoon of media vehicles standing guard.
    
    There's lots of concrete barriers and some chain link fence to keep the
    bad guys (Iraqis?) out.  Don't know what they might have done about the
    fact that the stadium is just off the end of the runway at Tampa
    International, though.  Who knows.
    
    I had a reason for going by - I was headed for a stereo store to
    exchange a boom box I bought my 8 year old son - it was roken.
    Turned out to be worth the trip, since they gave him the next model up
    in exchange, for free.  Unfortunately, my route took me directly past
    the stadium and the local 'scene'.
    
    Scene is a good word, in Dead context.  They have vendors, selling
    t-shirts and lots of souvenirs.  They have miracle people, standing on
    the Dale Mabry Hwy roadside, holding signs that say 'I NEED A TICKET'.
    No shit.  Funny, though, because none of them are holding up the
    traditional index finger, and saying 'I need a miracle' to no one in
    particular.  These guys have a lot to learn about begging.
    
    Near the stadium, the normally busy streets were approaching gridlock,
    still 30 hours before the game.  The nearby strip joints were bursting
    at the seams, at 2 in the afternoon (and they don't even have liquor
    licenses - go figure :-).  Rumor has it that one of the teams (the one
    that plays in New Jersey most often) is staying at the Hyatt, directly
    across from Tampa's most notorious establishment, and profits are WAY
    up.  I guess they're not 'in training' anymore, at this point.  No
    wonder they're not favored to win.
    
    I haven't heard anybody comment on how nice the new shrubs look, yet.
    
    tim
    
    
111.2No much of a fan either...BIODTL::FERGUSONIs it just a waste of time?Mon Jan 28 1991 13:002
Well, I managed to watch 2 pre-recorded Hawaii 5-Os last night during the game.
Occasionally, I'd stop it to check the score...
111.3FURTHR::HANNANBeyond description...Mon Jan 28 1991 13:5410
re:      <<< Note 111.2 by BIODTL::FERGUSON "Is it just a waste of time?" >>>

> Well, I managed to watch 2 pre-recorded Hawaii 5-Os last night during the game.
> Occasionally, I'd stop it to check the score...

I watched a rented flick called "Thank You Alice B. Tolkas" from 1968 starring
Peter Sellers as a straight-laced-lawyer-turned-hippie after ingesting some
"magic brownies".   It was hilarious!

Ken (not into the commercialism and hype of the supid bowl)
111.4DASXPS::HENDERSONDon't go near that riverMon Jan 28 1991 14:1511
Well, I watched the Super Bowl.  It seems like most of them turn out
to be pretty boring games, but this one was real good.  Except for the 
outcome.  The commercialism wasn't as bad as it usually is (sponsors 
toned down because of the war in the Gulf (tm).  A certain cola product
that starts with "P" has a new ad campaign that, IMO, sux.





Jim
111.5super huh?TERPIN::SUSELDanced my feet down to the knees!Mon Jan 28 1991 14:305
    Well I was stripping wallpaper with Tracy all weekend....FYI- a
    HOT 50-50 vinegar and water mix will loosen wallpaper off the wall
    very nicely.
    
    Bruce
111.6;^)CLOSUS::BARNESMon Jan 28 1991 14:523
    God Tim what's worse? All those fuutball heads or all those Parrotheads
    ?????????????????????????
                             rfb
111.8AD::VAUKsleep in the starsMon Jan 28 1991 16:0412
    
    I enjoyed watching the game - a close one for a change.  Football is
    the only sport I can watch on TV without getting terminally bored.  I
    like hockey - but it is just to fast for TV, you miss a lot.  
    
    One thing that always erks me is when - for example when the Bills were
    going to try the last minute field goal and the TV showed some Giant
    players on their knees - are these adults praying to GOD for a victory
    in a football game????
    
    Happy Cheese-
    Jerry
111.9TERAPN::PHYLLISWake, now discover..Mon Jan 28 1991 16:146
    
    I won $125 for the halftime score!!!!!  :-)
    
    And the right team won too!!!!!!!
    
    
111.10believe it if you need it, if you don't....SUBWAY::HERMITTYou and I while we can...Mon Jan 28 1991 16:2318
    
>  One thing that always erks me is when - for example when the Bills were
>  going to try the last minute field goal and the TV showed some Giant
>  players on their knees - are these adults praying to GOD for a victory
>  in a football game????
    
Well, IMHO, these adults are praying to GOD for a victory in what may
well be the most important moment in their professional careers. 
Maybe they were thanking their god for bringing them this far in a
quest for the ultimate achievement in their chosen field of endeavor. 
(Then again, maybe they were praying for the kicker to get a severe
leg cramp!)  If I were in their shoes, I think I would say a little
prayer, too.  Heck, I've seen adults pray for good mailorder concert
seats to a certain rock'n'roll band I know!!!  Granted, there *are*
more important things to pray for, and it is "only a game", but I
guess I don't know why exactly it irks you. 

tom 
111.11LEDS::MRNGDU::YETTOchild of countless dreamsMon Jan 28 1991 16:3215
	
	Hey Phyllis ... Congratulations!!!!  I'll be in NYC this
	weekend to help you celebrate your winnings!!  :-)

	Tom Hermitt, thank you for your perspective.  I agree ...
	however wierd to many (many in this file included) 
	yesterday wasn't just a game to many others.  Haven't any of
	you ever been told the Dead are just another rock band?
	I know I have, and I obviously don't agree but they don't
	see it that way.  .... and don't have to either!  I mean
	hey, whatever floats your boat and value each others differences
	and all that.  Being part of a misinterpreted subculture we
	should all understand, or at least appreciate, that.

	Lisa
111.12it was a good gameBINKLY::SIEGELIn the end, there's just a songMon Jan 28 1991 16:5815
I haven't paid much attention to football this year, or for the past few years
(I've been more into baseball lately), but I didn't want to miss the NY
showdown.  The game was the best Super Bowl I've seen in several years.  As you
know, most of the last few Super Bowls were boring blowouts.  This one was very
competitive, well played (no turnovers), and established a new record for the
tightest score (1 point).  Several other records were broken as well.

I was disappointed that the Bills didn't pull it off, but I'm happy for both
teams.  I think the kicker is the most stressful job on the team.  More often
than not, the game is decided on that last field goal.  Too bad the Bills
couldn't get 10 yards closer to the goal post.

Time for baseball season again!

adam
111.13I love an underdogAKOCOA::GLOVERMon Jan 28 1991 17:0715
    I loved watching the ball game on the tv - I always love it when the
    underdog wins!  I used to always watch football with my Dad. 
    Father/Daughter bonding you know. It drives my mate nuts because I know
    more of what's going on than he and his buddies - I love that!
    
    Prudence
    P.S. I lived in Palo Alto during the 49ers/Pats Superbowl, maybe
    100-200 yards away.  I still remember vividly; people staggering by my
    window at all hours looking in, they used our back lawn as a "potty",
    jets from Moffet field flew over for about two hours - I went deaf. Our
    town was transformed and our space was invaded but it sure helped all
    the local businesses. With the ression now, it will help Florda.
    I wish they held it in Massachusetts!!!
    Sorry...Tax-us-chusetts.
    
111.14DASXPS::HENDERSONDon't go near that riverMon Jan 28 1991 18:1725
RE:          <<< Note 111.9 by TERAPN::PHYLLIS "Wake, now discover.." >>>

    
       
   > And the right team won too!!!!!!!
    
    
  Did not. ;^)






RE: Praying...years ago when I was involved in church stuff I played on a
volleyball and softball team (we didn't play both at the same time).  Before
each game we'd pray not that we'd win, but that no one would be hurt and that
God would be glorified in what we did and that we'd have fun.  I think all
the football players were doing is basically the same and that God's will
would be done..and that they would accept whatever the final outcome.



Jim 

111.15Thank God It's Over.SCAM::GRADYtim gradyTue Jan 29 1991 01:1316
    Lots of locals were pretty bent about the halftime blackout. 
    Everybody's favorite munchkin was out on that field, and I guess ABC
    showed a bunch of WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST crap.  It's the only time I'm
    glad mine didn't make the cut (she tried) - I wouldn't have appreciated
    it either.
    
    As for the Giants winning, I guess I'll have to stop making fun of the
    Tanga Lounge from now on :-).
    
    Still don't know if all the new palm trees are gonna make it.  Hope
    everyone got a kick out of the 'local color' stuff.
    
    rfb - what's a parrothead?
    
    tim
    
111.16parrotheat->buffet fanAD::VAUKsleep in the starsTue Jan 29 1991 12:384
   
    > rfb - what's a parrothead?
    
    Just a guess - a Jimmy Buffet fan....
111.17MR4MI2::REHILLCall me Mystery HillTue Jan 29 1991 12:452
    Why Happy Cheese?
    
111.18CBROWN::HENDERSONDon't go near that riverTue Jan 29 1991 13:3515
RE:              <<< Note 111.16 by AD::VAUK "sleep in the stars" >>>
                          -< parrotheat->buffet fan >-

   
   > > rfb - what's a parrothead?
    
    >Just a guess - a Jimmy Buffet fan....



     And a good guess at that...


   
   Jim_semi_parrothead
111.19AD::VAUKsleep in the starsTue Jan 29 1991 18:2212
    
    >Why Happy Cheese?
    
    
    	I guess that this is directed towards me.  The
    Happy Cheese man.  No special reason - just one of
    those nutty phrases that catch people off guard.  I
    have this tendency to come up with crafty little phrases.
    
    For example:
    "On a quiet day you can hear your levi's pull the hair out
     of your legs"
111.20YIKES!!!!!!!STRATA::DWESTDont Overlook Something ExtraordinaryTue Jan 29 1991 20:099
     re .19
    
    ooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    i HATE when that happens!!!!!!!!!
    
    				:^) :^) :^)
    
    					da ve_with_the_extra_hairy_legs
111.21Say "cheese!"SKYBRD::MIRASSOUWe've all gone to look for America...Wed Jan 30 1991 00:4516
    RE: 111.19 by AD::VAUK "sleep in the stars"

       > >Why Happy Cheese?
        
    >	I guess that this is directed towards me.  The
    > Happy Cheese man.  No special reason - just one of
    (remainder deleted)
    
    I'd been wondering about this one, too.  Especially after a weekend
    several friends and I spent in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere.
    Sometime during one of the late night discussions, the term "cheese"
    began to refer to, well, shall we say a certain interaction between two
    consenting members of the opposite sex. (Just which is the opposite sex,
    anyay?)  Gave us a whole new perspective on a lot of common sayings.
    I always figured your signoff fit right in with that. ;-)
    
111.22stuffBOOKS::BAILEYBSmilin' on a cloudy dayWed Jan 30 1991 11:0217
    RE "Happy Cheese"
    
    I always thought it was like the bumper sticker I had on my last
    Baileymobile ... it had dancing cows, and underneath it said ...
    "Grateful Dead Cheeseheads, Hey!"
    
    RE: the kids at stupor bowl halftime show ...
    
    Yeah, I caught some of that on the news.  One thing really stuck out
    too ... 99.9% of those kids were white (I saw two black kids in that
    crowd).  What's wrong with this picture?  I mean, this was supposed to
    represent a tribute to our soldiers in the Persian Gulf, right?  Aren't
    something like 40% of the soldiers in Saudi Arabia black?  Where'd they
    get all those kids from ?
    
    ... Bob
    
111.23Banking on a connection.BIODTL::FERGUSONIs it just a waste of time?Wed Jan 30 1991 12:219
RE:  <<< Note 111.21 by SKYBRD::MIRASSOU "We've all gone to look for America..." >>>
    
>    I'd been wondering about this one, too.  Especially after a weekend
>    several friends and I spent in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere.

Did you happen to stay at a cabin near Mt Moosilauke ?  Like a Dartmouth
Outing club cabin or something ?

Curious...
111.24MR4MI2::REHILLCall me Mystery HillWed Jan 30 1991 12:264
    Superbowl kids, My guess would be that they got them from Tampa....
    Grady, can you clear this up?
    
    
111.25CLOSUS::BARNESWed Jan 30 1991 13:465
    Yes, a parrothead is a devoted Buffet fan. I had the pleasure of
    seeing Little Feat open for Buffet one sunday afternoon at an outdoor
    show, between all the deadheads, old feat freaks, and parrotheads...
    what a party!!!!!!!!
                        rfb
111.26Nope, it's a left coast cabin.31734::MIRASSOUWe've all gone to look for America...Thu Jan 31 1991 02:1739
    RE:  <<< Note 111.23 by BIODTL::FERGUSON "Is it just a waste of time?" >>>
                         -< Banking on a connection. >-


>> Did you happen to stay at a cabin near Mt Moosilauke ?  Like a Dartmouth
>> Outing club cabin or something ?

    Nope, I'm a West coaster (or am I being stupid, and Mt. Moosilauke IS
    on the West coast?)
    
    Anyway, this cabin is in a little town called Bee Rock (population <
    100), about 150 miles south of San Francisco.  It's one of the few
    places I know of that one can go outside at night, walk up a nearby
    hill and look around, and still not be sure if electricity has been
    invented yet.  The cabin has a gas pump for water, a stove that'll run
    on a tank of natural gas, hooks to hang up propane lanterns, and not
    much else.  Though they did work it out so that gravity can drive a
    flush privy using the water tank on the hill behind it.
    
    The cabin was built in 1938, using lumber from the original cabin built
    when my friends great-whatever-grandparents homesteaded the place back
    in the mid-1800's.
    
    It's kind of a shame. though.  In return for access to the now existing
    road, my friends let a nearby farmer graze his cattle on the land. 
    Unfortunately, the farmer is from the land-o-plenty era, and both his
    and my friends property is getting pretty overgrazed.  Guess I can't
    blame him too much, since that's how he's been doing it for 50 years,
    and is probably the only way he knows, but it's still a shame...
    Between that and the drought we've been having for the last several
    years, a lot of the surrounding plant life is dying out.  We spent a lot
    of time that weekend making firewood from part of a huge oak which had
    broken off and fallen.
    
    They're trying to work something out so that, without alienating the
    farmer, he'll do something about the grazing patterns of the cattle. 
    Hope they can do it.
    
    john    
111.27SCAM::GRADYtim gradyWed Feb 06 1991 18:1413
    Yup - most of the kids were from the Tampa area, and were recruited
    months before hand.  At the time (like last summer) there really wasn't
    any intention to mention the Middle East conflict - I'm not sure it had
    even started by then.
    
    BTW - throughout the game there were several helicopter gunships
    circling the stadium, intending to shoot down any craft that flew over. 
    I guess they did think about the proximity to the airport after all.  
    
    There were still vendors selling t-shirts and caps on Dale Mabry
    highway a week after the game.
    
    tim
111.28My advice to you..start drinking heavily..CSLALL::LEBLANC_CPlease don't dominate the rapJACKMon Jan 16 1995 11:544
    Bender in Manchester NH Super Bowl Sunday..Kegs on the premises
    The Hosts ask that all bring a dish..kinda pot luckish..All kinds
    of activities going on besides the game..83 1/2 Liberty Street
    be there
111.29Bender StatusCSLALL::LEBLANC_CPlease don't dominate the rapJACKFri Jan 27 1995 14:2733
    Due to circumstances that can be viewed as a better alternative the
    party has been moved to Coaches Sports Bar and Grill in Manchester..
    we have struck a deal with the owner that says if we get 30 people in
    there in our own little section the owner will give us (not for you
    beer snobs :^) 50 cent drafts the entire game...we already have a 
    guest list that exceeds 30 so join the fray...warm up and warm down
    sessions will take place at 83 1/2 Liberty as planned..
    to get to Coaches-
    for you southerners 
    take rte 3 north thru Nash Vegas into Manchesta....
    get off of rte 3 at exit 6 i believe, the 2nd to last exit in the
    city..go over the bridge pass the Bank of NH skyscraper( all 15 floors)
    and take a left on Elm Street...next set of lights take a right..this
    will bring you to an intersection with a Dunkin Donuts ...go thru the
    lights BUT make sure the row of car dealerships is on your immediate
    right....sorta stay to the leftish...the Apple Tree Mall is up on your
    right at the next set of lights..past the Bonneville & Sons Jeep
    dealer..
    
    from the south up rte 93...
    take exit 9 i believe, right at end of ramp and you will come to an
    intersection where a mall is on your right, Burger Slop on your left..
    in the mall is Shorty's Roadhouse...go thru this set of lights and the
    Apple Tree Mall is on your left after the Mall with D'Angelo's subs in
    it....
    
    And if you are a beer snob they have Bass and Sam's there...good wings
    FREE at halftime..cheap eats too....lotsa TV's....
    see you there..
    any ?'s 
    call me at 603-880-6435 or call Royce's house where we will be sunday
    morn at 603-668-1258
    BOWL ON!!
111.30Well, I guess cheap beer is nice...QUARRY::petertrigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertaintyFri Jan 27 1995 17:139
Hmmm, why?  Is there a football game or something going on this 
weekend?



;-)


PeterT_won't_watch_couldn't_care
111.31SMURF::HAPGOODJava Java HEY!Mon Jan 30 1995 14:4416
What a lousy game eh!?!?!

At least the commercials were good (I can't believe I just said that).

San Diego was everything the papers/sports_writers/bookmakers cracked them up 
to be....all along I was hoping they were wrong though at least to make
a decent game.

On the other hand it was fun watching a football machine like the 9ers in
action. 

Deon said what everyone already knew, "the super bowl was 2 weeks ago when
we played the Cowboys!"

bob