Super Morning

I woke up bright and early (OK, it wasn't bright at 6am) to catch the Super Bowl. I figured I'd watch most of the first half online and then head to Shekou to meet a friend at a bar for the rest. 

I went to the site I used for the Rose Bowl last month since it was a success (the broadcast, not the game that I'm still grumbling about). To my horror, the Web address was being re-routed to a .cn domain, which means the channels I potentially want to watch are censored. With that I checked the good ol' TV, which had ESPN (I had no idea I got that). As it was prior to the game, they were showing women's billiards. 

Off I went to Shekou. I arrived just in time for kick-off. Unfortunately, they had the British feed of ESPN--it lacked the most important part of any Super Bowl: the commercials. But, it was still nice to talk with my friend, and the game turned into a good one by the fourth quarter.

In other news, stupidity runs rampant in Fujian province. That should've been the headline. It seems a group of brain-dead baijiu swillers decided to celebrate a friend's birthday by setting off fireworks from their table in a bar. At least seven of said morons are still alive and in police custody. But, 17 people did die in the resulting blaze.

And closer to home, authorities are asking people to not send up balloons or sky laterns near the airport as it could cause a plane to crash. People think that the authorities are exaggerating. Vendors near the airport see nothing wrong with selling these products to people who have no concern for safety.

Bad Badminton

This weekend began with a trip to Futian district for participation in the badminton "Friendship Cup" that was organized by Shenzhen's foreign affairs department. I was told that this was going to be a fun event for foreigners. I'd like to state for the record that I was misinformed.

The group from my university included myself, one Chinese staff member, and three PhD candidates from Pakistan. There were 10 other foreigners in the competition--mostly from Shenzhen University. Not a single one of us won a game. It's not that we were all poor badminton players (OK, I'll admit I sucked, but some of the other foreigners were good), it had more to do with the large number of Chinese who were involved in the competition. We were grossly outnumbered by a group of people who appeared to spend all their free time playing badminton. They looked like they were in training for the national team.

Probably because they felt bad for us, all the losers got a prize--some cheap sweat bands that are made in Shanghai (I couldn't believe they didn't find a brand made in Shenzhen). To really make us feel better, they ensured that the sweat bands had the initials "LP", which we guessed stood Loser Prize.

Aside from the humiliation of being thoroughly defeated by the Chinese teams, we had a nice time meeting some of the students from Shenzhen University. It was also nice to talk with the Pakistani students--they're a great group to talk with, and I don't get to see them on campus much.

Choke

How does a team go 18-0 and lose in the Superbowl to the wild card team that was a double-digit underdog? Just ask the choke artists up in New England. Congratulations to the Giants for shutting up those damn Patriot fans.

I hate Boston

Everything was all set. The bar told me they had ESPN, and I checked to make sure the Alamo Bowl would be on. I was happy to wake up early on a Sunday to take a 20 minute bus ride to Shekou to watch Penn State for the first time in two and a half years. Of course, those stupid Patriots had to ruin everything. Why must they broadcast a game in which two teams who have their playoff spots set? Who really cares?

I've always hated the Patriots. Now I have one more reason to wish they were dead. Screw you Tom Brady! I also now harbor a hatred for Mitt Romney--and anything else from Massachusetts. That reminds me, I still hate John Kerry for being such a loser that he couldn't beat that monkey to the White House (of course, I hated him even before he ran for president).

Now I'm forced to look at updates online about the Penn State game and hope that the Patriots not only lose but also die a painful death on the field. Go to hell New England! You bastards ruined my Sunday morning.

J-E-T-S!

They won? Really? No joke?

Wow, I can't believe they beat Pittsburgh. Now I have another reason to laugh at my friends from the 'Burgh.

I'm still a little shocked about that news. The Jets are 2-8 and there's still a few games left in the season. I think I can forget about them making the playoffs, but now there won't be the humiliation of sharing the worst record with the Dolphins.

Now, where did I bury my Curtis Martin jersey? I better wear it for the rest of the day.