I wanted to comment on this article I read last week in the Wall Street Journal. The article is about the construction of the Capitol Visitors Center and how it is way behind schedule and way over budget (of course it is...the government is involved). I think the concept of the visitors center is nice. I like the thought that the lines to get into the Capitol will be indoors in an air conditioned space. I like that people will be able to learn about the Capitol and its history. It is a great concept. But this quote from the article saddens me:

Even its detractors agree that the center will be both informative and pretty.
Pretty enough, perhaps, to make Americans forget that by herding them underground into a separate facility, Congress - the branch of government designed by the Founding Fathers to be closest to the people - is putting even more space between itself and its pesky constituents.
It's likely that the two remaining entrances to the Capitol itself will be closed to all but members and staff, with all visitors funneled through the underground center.

I got to visit D.C. as a Junior in high school and then I lived in D.C. for six weeks after my Junior year in college as an intern for Senator Jeff Bingaman. I love D.C.! It is one of my favorite places in the world. Some of the best memories I have of my summer there revolve around the Capitol. Working across the Street in one of the Senate office buildings, I saw the Capitol every day on my way to work. It was one of the first sights I sas as I drove into town looking for my apartment. Some of the interns where I lived had a running joke about the Capitol being our "office." We would even hang out on the Capitol grounds at night time. We could walk around the plazas, sit on the steps, hang out at the reflecting pool. One of the most pleasurable things I have done is hang out at the Capitol late at night, long after the crowds are gone, and gaze down the mall at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. I was in the Capitol building numerous times. I even gave tours to constituents. My ID badge allowed me to go down some hallways that regular visitors were not in. I knew my way around. I knew where the statues were...I knew where certain staircases went. I could get around so easily. Often, I ate lunch in the dining room and would see Senators on the subway to the Capitol. And of course, I sat in on several sessions. I think most of the gifts I bought in D.C. that summer were bought in the Capitol gift shop. Needless to say, I have very fond memories of that building.

One of the coolest things about the Capitol then was the ease of getting inside. You could enter the building through most of the doors and wander through the building on your own. You could start at the Senate side and wander down toward the House side, lingering wherever you wish. You could pop in one side, stroll through the Rotunda and head to the West Front and see the view down the mall as you emerged from the building.

I knew that access to the Capitol had been tightly controlled since 9/11 and I understand why. We don't want some wacko walking in with a backpack bomb killing several hundred people and severly damaging this historic building. But it makes me sad that we are losing the "freedom" we had to enter the seat of our goverment. And now, there is talk that there will be only one access point for the public? I don't want to be an old fogie, focused on "things were better back in my day." But when I take my children there, I want to have control over the experience. I want to show them around and tell them what a cool place it was. I don't want to be part of the herd.

So I think a visitors center is a great idea. I'm all for the education. But if this is the "expense" it comes with, I don't want it. I hope that someday we can overcome our fear and open the place back up. But I doubt that will happen in my lifetime. And even if it did, we usually don't backtrack on security measures, so this is just how it's going to be.

The post 9/11 generations are truly missing something special.

It's FANtastic!

Thanks to my good friend Clay, I went to my first NBA game last night. I got to the see the Miami Heat play the Atlanta Hawks. Because Clay had his boss's tickets, we were able to sit about ten or fifteen rows up at about the top of the key. Needless to say, the seats were pretty good.

I've never been a really big NBA fan. I usually don't watch games until the playoffs start. But I will rarely turn down tickets to a professional sporting event.

My first impression was that you don't truly appreciate how big those guys are until you watch a game live. Shaq is massive and Alonzo Mourning is not what you would call small. I was able follow the game much better in the arean and was able to watch the whole court. It gave me a much better idea of what goes on during the game. For example, we were behind the Heat bench. When the ball was down on the opposite end of the floor, one of the assistant coaches was up talking to a stat guy over at the scorer's table about fouls and stuff. That was something the camera usually does not focus on or that people rarely notice.

The other interesting thing about being in the arena are the sounds that you don't hear on TV. The swish of the ball on the net. The slight ping as the ball just scrapes the back of the rim on its way in. The sound of the rim popping back into place after a monster dunk. Being able to actually hear the coaches and the players communicate. It was all pretty cool.

As for the dunking, I've been one in recent years to think there is too much emphasis on dunking and not enough on fundamentals. Well, seeing the dunks in the game changed my opinion somewhat. Seeing it live is so much more exciting and you have a much better appreciation for the sheer physicality of getting that high in the air with relatively little effort.

And of course, one of the best perks of seeing a game live are the cheerleaders/dancers. But I won't dwell on that, lest I get in trouble.

After last night, I have now been to all four major professional sports in the U.S. While living in Nashville, I was able to see some NFL games and some hockey games. I have now had the chance to see Major League Baseball and NBA here in Miami. I'm a pretty lucky guy. Hopefully, I will get the chance to go back to a Heat game, but it will be pretty hard to go back up to the nosebleeds. Those seats last night were pretty good.

Final Four

Well, the Final Four is set, and I must do a little bragging. I am in second place in my Facebook group (don't ask about my other brackets) thanks to going 4/4 in picking this year's Final Four. I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I have ever nailed all four teams in the Final Four in a single bracket, and I have filled out many brackets in my time. Of course, that does not mean anything if I don't get the final two or the champ right. But I will bask in this glory for a few days at least. In case your wondering, I've got the Buckeyes beating the Gators in the championship game.

That is a very intriguing matchup. Stewart Mandel at CNNSI.COM had a great column talking about the Final Four subplot with the potential OSU/UF rematch in the final game.

Personally, I think OSU fans are scared to death of the prospect of playing UF in the final. After the basketball team lost to UF in December and after the football team got destroyed in the Fiesta Bowl, I would imaging that Buckeyes everywhere are dreading a game with UF and are rooting for UCLA accordingly. As for that Fiesta Bowl, I must confess, even though I hated seeing UF win a football championship, there was a part of me that took pleasure in the beating OSU took. As any good Miami fan, there will always be a part of me that harbors some bitterness at the way the UM/OSU Fiesta Bowl went down back in 2003. So, for me at least, even though I can't stand the Gators, it was kind of cool to see OSU come into that game as prohibitive favorites and lose, much the way Miami did in the previous game. Kind of poetic justice.

Anyway, I don't really care who wins this weekend, except of course as it relates to my bracket, so I will pull for Ohio State, if for no other reason than my Buddy Adam may never come see us if UF beats OSU again.

Trumped Up

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I am currently reading Rick Reilly's book: Who's Your Caddy?. I'll give my overall impression of the book when I am done (like i promised
a long time ago...and no, I never finished Stealing Elections). But the basic premise of the book is that Reilly spent a couple of years caddying for various people. Of course, one of the people who took him up on his offer was Donald Trump. The chapter confirmed a lot of the things I have come to think about Trump. Trump is an ego maniac who only values things by their monetary worth. As I said yesterday, the theme song for his show is about money and he always implies that the number and worth of the things you own are how you measure success. He usually introduces tasks by calling the company sponsoring the task as the best in their industry or they have X amount of revenue. It gets annoying. Well, according to Reilly, that's just the way he is. Everything he does has to be the best. And he'll tell you how much he spent to make it so. As Reilly notes, his golf club up in New York has the "best cheeseburger chef in the East" or something along those lines. As Reilly quipped, "they rank cheeseburger chefs?" Everything boils down to a dollar figure with Trump. That's the only way he knows how to measure something. But is he really that unique? I think many Americans are like that. We live a culture that is saturated with possessions. So the only way we can tell a difference from one another is by who spent the most on their possessions. I am fortunate enough to have an education that put me into a career where I will have to opportunity to have a nice living. I just pray that I don't measure its worth in dollar signs. I pray that I will be a generous person and that I won't get caught up trying to have what the Joneses have.

Tidbits

Just a couple of observations from this past weekend:

1. How hard is it to turn of a cell phone? Julie and I went to a move this past Friday (we saw Sandra Bullock's new movie Premonition...I was very disappointed in the movie...I love Sandra Bullock and the movie looked really cool...I was extremely disappointed by the end of the movie...on the other hand, we some great trailers for new movies, including a trailer for Vacancy) Before the movie, there were three separate "ads" reminding people to silence their cell phones. I chuckled to myself and wondered if that was really necessary or if people really are that stupid. I found out it's because people really are that stupid. Of course, someone's cell phone went off during the movie. How hard is it to check your phone when someone "reminds" you to turn it off. I have a cell phone and I feel like I can't go anywhere without it, but I also think cell phones are one of the worst inventions ever!

2. Watched the apprentice on Sunday night. Prior to the boardroom, they showed the girl who eventually got fired reading her bible. In her confessional shot, she talked about strengthening herself by reading scripture and, "God willing" should would not get fired. When they showed her reading her bible, in the background, you could see her chief rival reading one of Donald Trump's books. Then they did a confessional with her saying Mona should not be reading the bible, Trump makes the decision, not God, etc. I looked at Julie and wondered if that was necessary. Sure enough, Mona (bible reader) got fired that night. I think the editors of the show were very intentional to put that in as a slap to Christianity and people of faith. Perhaps Mona has the faith to realize God may have something different and far better for her than being the next Apprentice. Maybe Mona has the faith to realize Trump is extremely greedy and, at least on the show, makes it sound like money and wealth are the ultimate measure of a worthy life. Heck, the show's theme song is the O'Jay's "For the Love of Money." This was a blatant episode of christianity mocking which I find unfortunate. I will probably keep watching the show, but it just reinforces the things I think about Donald Trump.