Looking back on New York City

" Leaving New York's never easy" (Michael Stipe)





Ever since I first visited New York City as a teenager it has drawn me in like a pin to a magnet. Even when it was not financial possible to visit, I was still drawn to the films and music that it delivered. In recent years I've been fortunate to return more frequently, and therefore when it was suggested that we should plan a trip to celebrate my retirement from teaching, New York City was the obvious choice of venue.





The trip was planned to coincide with both some New York Knicks home games and the opening of an exhibition to the life and work of Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia. Having visited before I felt that this tripshould allow us to explore parts of the city not immediately on the tourist route. Anyway with a hotel a short walk from Times Square, the centre of town was never far away.





I am always left with the feeling that nobody cooks at home in New York, restaurants and take aways always seem to overwhelmingly outnumber food stores. Spoilt for choice but determined to experience everything from the local deli for breakfast to the delight of Junior's cheesecake.





Although watching the Knicks was my main focal point, for the first time I planned a visit to the theatre. Like London most Broadway theatres play safe showing musicals that attract the crowds. However I wanted to see a show , not available in London and with at lease some level of message. After some research I chose "Memphis". It deals with the racial segregation in music in the South during the 1950s. The acting,music and dance ensured that attention never wandered from the stage. The theatre built in earlier times provided everything except legroom.





While away Arsenal played AC Milan in the Champions League. Now the less said about the game the better, but it gave us the opportunity to travel downtown to visit 14th Street East the home of the Blind Pig . This bar is home to Arsenal NYC. It was mid afternoon and over 200 fans gathered to watch the game , beer flowed,food was served and a fair selection of Arsenal songs were sung. The bar was well decked out with Arsenal memorabilia. Shame that the manager failed to get in extra bar staff, but you can't have it all.

New York is a walking city, I love exploring it on foot and inevitably recount when I've seen this site in a particular film. A trip to the Guggenheim allowed us to explore the Upper East Side and likewise a visit to the Museum of New Yoek allowed us to explore the West Side overlooking Central Park. In downtown it was so easy to move about. On Saturday a friend visited us from Pennsylvania and we were able to see NYC from a taxi cab, something I've not experienced at length before. Sitting next to and engaging the driver in conversation I discovered that the old yellow cabs are being phased out, and the new vehicles are hybrid.

Without doubt my favourite walk is from City Hall over the Brooklyn Bridge, it's a walk that has helped me overcome my fear of bridges/heights; it also permits a great view of lower Manhattan. At the end of it a short walk into Brooklyn and a diner where I made a wonderful Burrito, a fine reward.

Leaving New York early morning, the shuttle bus came at 4am, the last thing I expected was a further tour, but the driver had pick ups in Greenwich Village, Chinatown and the Lower East side. After a week I felt we had gone someway to exploring the parts of NYC where many tourists never tread. I'd seen the Knicks in the Garden, replenished my wardrobe, visited an excellent art gallery, eaten more than I should, and seen the Bruce exhibition. No surprise that I fell asleep soon after take off on the way home.

So much more than a picture

LINsanity

I blame Michael Jordan for developing my interest in the NBA. While football and cricket are for life, basketball has been like a mistress. At times it consumes you with passion, but at others you feel content to walk away. I think this may be because the standard of basketball in the UK is not the highest. The late 90s were great years for the London Leopards and I filled my boots following them around the country as well as watching the NBA.

Sadly the Leopards for a range of reasons were not sustainable at that level and frankly neither was British Basketball. THe crowds and the quality has slipped. While the NFL has brought regular season games to London, the NBA focussed primarily on pre season fillers. This together with a lack of TV coverage stunted the growth of the sport, that has been saddled with "the next big thing" label for too long.

In the late 90s I was drawn towards following the Indiana Pacers and Reggie Miller. I say because the idea of seeing games was not an option. We were lucky to get to the USA on a couple of occasions and witness the NBA in Charlotte and in NYC. On the school visits to the USA I've built in trips to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Knicks, and more and more the Knicks have become my team.

While a trip to Indiana is about as likely as an overseas tourist visiting Wolverhampton, New York City is obviously more accessible and attractive. At the start of this season I decided to buy an internet package that has allowed me to watch all Knicks game online. Great value and it has allowed me to follow their progress at a depth previously not possible.

However in truth the Knicks have been under achievers in a city that demands success. Last year I was in NYC when new signing Carmelo Anthony made his debut. Anthony is a genuine all star player, the type of marquee signing that New York expects. The problem is the team hasn't gelled andtoo many games have been lost.

Circumstance of no established point guard, an injury to Carmelo Anthony and the tragic death of Amare Stoudemire's brother, meant that the Knicks went into the last fortnight very short handed. Enter Jeremy Lin. Lin defies all basketball stereotypes , he is an Asian American of Taiwanesse parents, he went to college at Harvard. He was undrafted, and was cut by Golden State Warriors after one season. The Knicks picked him up when no one wanted him. For weeks he sat at the end of a bench collecting the minutes that no one else wanted.

Then came his moment. Five games later and the Knicks haven't lost with Lin at point guard. He dropped 38 points on the LA Lakers last Friday. He went head to head with Kobe Bryant and came out victorious. The Knicks had played slow half court basketball in the early weeks of the season, now Lin has energised them, and the can play fast break, Tyson Chandler has benefitted hugely being the recipient of many pick and rolls and ally-oop passes.

New York is in the middle of LINsanity. The Knicks never sold Lin shirts, they do now. On Saturday night at Minnesota crowd records were broken when the Knicks came to town. With Lin in the line up, Knicks tickets have become hot. Its a story that strikes at the heart of sport, it's about the little guy making good, defying the odds, its David v Goliath, as Lin drives to the hoops past the trees standing in his way.

The NBA started the season in a labor dispute where one group of rich men battled another. It was not good public relations at a time of austerity amongst basketball's main audience. Jeremy Lin has to some degree carried the NBA and put into back onto the main pages of the papers. For that the League owe him a huge debt of thanks.

7Up

As part of my birthday weekend I went to see Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers. With public transport at its worst in London, it meant changing from my accustomed route. We are creatures of habit, and a change in routine meant for me exploring the Holloway Road , an area that was previously just a road on a map.

The game seemed over almost as soon as it began. A move featuring Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott led to Walcott crossing for RVP to tap in. Arsenal then played with Blackburn in cat v mouse fashion. In near sub zero temperatures it was great to watch until Blackburn had the audacity to equalise from an excellently taken free kick. In my ways this was their undoing, the lion awoke and discovered it had a thorn in its paw. What followed was a massacre.

RVp completed a hat trick, Alex Olade-Chamberlain showed what a talent he is by helping himself to his first two Premiership goals, Mikel Arteta helped himself to a goal with a shot from 20 yards, and after a late substitution Thierry Henry entered the pitch for what was likely to be his last appearance at the Stadium and scored with nearly the final kick of the game.

7-1 and the crowd went home happy and so did I. These days a ticket to the Arsenal comes courtesy of part-time minibus driving, today it was worth every penny.

Birthdays

The first week in February is a cause for celebration, it's my daughter's and my birthdays. A time of family meals and celebrations.59 is not a special birthday but its the first since I retired. Although I've been marking some exam papers, I ensured that I'd cleared the decks so my birthday was clear.

Leaving the car in the drive, we went to Chelmsford by train. My choice of film and a meal thereafter. Now I didn't have any pre conceptions about The Descendants except having seen George Clooney in the Ides of March earlier in the year, I've increasingly felt he was a far better actor than the critics would make you believe. The Descendants in many respects isn't my ideal film, it deals with themes that I'm not immediately drawn towards. However as my birthday made me reflect on life, so did this film.

Reaching 59 makes you realise that you're getting closer to sixty obviously. My parents seemed so old at sixty, and I naturally wonder if that's as I appear to others. Age has given me experience that I would not trade. We are fortunate in being able to retire at this age, at a time when all discussion is on people working longer. Hopefully I've got the time and the energy to still make useful contributions to issues in which I believe.

Mortality is a theme perhaps not best dealt on, but I was also drawn to it, by the arrival of the new Leonard Cohen album. Leonard at 77 rightly is looking back on life but still focussing on the themes that drew me towards him over 40 years ago, when I first heard Sisters of Mercy. The fact that he still wants to write and perform is frankly inspirational.

Leopards

On Sunday morning a collection of people gathered around a coach outside a school in Barking. A number of them I'd known for many years. We are the remnants of a fanbase who supported Leopards Basketball from the mid 1990s until the then owners pulled the plug. Over the years many have drifted away, frankly it's not easy watching EBL basketball, the equivalent on non league football.

Leopards have attempted to find a home and base in Brentwood, it was the last resting place of the old organisation after they left the then London Arena. Those were heady days of decent crowds and big sponsors. Today it's more meagre fayre. But now is not the time to discuss in length the decline of British basketball, we are waiting to board the bus to travel to Sheffield to see the Leopards in the National Cup Final

The Leopards reached and won the Cup in 2006 but as I'd been hospitalised the week before with concussion I was unable to travel and had to content myself with following the game over the internet. Now I'm filled with hope that the team that's a mixture of oversea players and students from the Barking Abbey Academy can lift the trophy.

The journey on a foggy Sunday morning drifts by and we reach Pond Forge in time to sample some Sheffield pubs before entering the arena. After the introductions the game commences and it seems that Leopards team are still on the bus as the opposition Bristol City Flyers storm into an early lead. Players miss shots that they would normally execute in their sleep, and at one time during the first half we trail by seventeen points. At half time there's still a twelve point deficit.

The second half starts at Bristol begin to miss shots, Leopards begin to claw back points and reduce the deficit. Basketball is a game of runs and momentum is all important. Self belief returns to those who seems like nervous rabbits trapped in car headlights thirty minutes earlier.

However shots are still being missed from the foul line, and it still seemed improble that Leopards could inch ahead as the clock ticked down. However with Bristol struggling , the score became ever closer and a three point shot saw Leopards inch ahead, foul shots gave us a four point lead and even though Bristol scored a three point shot at the buzzer. Leopards had pulled off an improbable victory 64-63 and Ousman Krubally lifted the cup with Vernon Teel MVP.

After photo time, back to the pub and then the long journey back home. Leopards name will be engraved on the Cup but perhaps more importantly basketball although under pressure is still alive.