Ramblings on Sports and Superdome Re-opening

The New Orleans Superdome, which just over a year ago became a symbol of the chaos and suffering, re-opened yesterday for the Monday Night Football. Katrina destroyed much of the New Orleans last year, including the Superdome. Till Katrina happened, Superdome was the site for big time events - site of six Super Bowls, a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II and the convention that propelled Bush to the presidency. Katrina changed all that. Superdome became a symbol of misery. After one year of repairs and 185 million dollars the Superdome is once again fully functional. I am very glad thats its re-opened and Saints are back in Superdome playing football. If Superdome can be rebuilt in one year after that tremendous destruction, people believe that their houses and neighbourhoods can be rebuilt too. It is a symbol of recovery now.

The fans and people of New Orleans can look to their team for hope and happiness. Like almost everything else about life in the United States, the way we approached sporting events changed in past few years. In the wake of Sep 11 events, many New yorkers turned to their favourite teams for some joy and hope. Sports remain a joyous escape not just for the people in suffering, but for everyone. I think we need sports to fill some sort of genetic void in our modern lives.

My love affair with sports started at the age of 10. It all began with Cricket and as the time progressed, I started liking other sports too. Now, I follow most of sports known to Mankind. I guess I'll always be one of those guys that sifts the sports page out of the newspaper. But, what I love most about sports is the worlds into which it can take you. As a fan, brazen emotions spill forth, and you maintain little control over yourself. I have spent many sleepless nights because of too much joy or too much sadness, whenever my favourite team wins or loses a final. It's all part and parcel of being obsessed with sports and I love each and every bit of it.

ESPN commercial says it right, "Without sports what would we(I) hold on to??"

Beach Hopping in Florida

Whenever you think of sunny Florida, the first thing that comes to mind is: Beaches. We made a last minute plan to go to Florida for the Labor day weekend to visit some of the best beaches there. Our trip was in doubt because of theTropical Storm Ernesto. But, the storm was a non-event that turned into a tropical depression, was little more than a wet inconvenience for the whole weekend.

We took a flight from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale on friday evening. Saturday morning, we started for the Tampa Bay area located in the west coast of Florida. The Gulf beaches in the west coast are famous for the white sand and warm water. Our first stop was the Clearwater Beach. Inspite of being a very popular beach with lots of visitors, the beach is very clean. It is one of the best beaches to see the sunset. We reached the place at sunset and spent some time there enjoying the spectacular sunset and the warm water.

Next day morning, we went to Honeymoon island and took the ferry to Caladesi Island state park. The isolation and lack of crowds are what help Caladesi Island Beach make the top 10 beach list year after year. Caladesi is a barrier island. Pine and palm forests lead to rolling dunes covered with tenacious grasses, which in turn lead to a long strip of white sandy beach. We stayed here for couple of hours swimming, playing volleyball and soaking in the sun and little rain. After this, on our way back to Ft.Lauderdale, we went to the Siesta key Beach. This is the best beach I have seen till date. Period.

Siesta key Beach is known as one of the most beautiful beaches anywhere in the world and it is very evident as soon as we stepped into this beach. One thing that stands out here is its sand. It has the whitest and finest sand. The beach sand is soft, floury and cool to the touch. After spending some time here, we returned to Ft.Lauderdale. It was a very short trip to the Florida west coast, but we managed to see some of the best beaches there. The west coast of florida is very different from other coast lines. It has miles after miles of white, sandy beaches and magnificently, beautiful natural resources.

On our last day, we went to the most popular beach in Florida, South Beach(SoBe). SoBe in Miami is a short drive from the Ft.Lauderdale. The south beach is famous not only for its beach but also for the restaurants, shops and the crowd. Everything is beautiful here; the people, the buildings, the scenery and the weather. The party never stops in the SoBe. It's a great place to just relax and watch people and thats what we did.

On the whole, we relaxed, soaked in the sun and had lots of fun visiting these best beaches..