Things I don't necessarily get

Maybe it's just me, but there are some things that I just don't get. Here they are:

• Why is South Airport Blvd north of the airport? This one has bothered me for years and I noticed it again last Sunday. On 101 south from San Francisco to SFO the sign says "So Airport Blvd" like about 2 miles north of the airport.
  
• Speaking of airplanes, often when coming into a airport the pilot will announce the temperature, wind and visibility. Like "visibility 12 miles". Dude, that's your problem, if it's enough to land the plane then it's enough for me. I would only care if there is so much fog that I couldn't see the road thank you very much.
• Another favorite of mine that's maybe not to most people is the sign on I880 that announces "A Street Downtown". I'm really glad there's a street downtown, after all every downtown needs a street. I hope all of you driving past Hayward will get bugged too after reading this.
• Behind me on the tube the Stanford women are up 12 to 5 in the NCAA finals and good for them. Flipped over and Houston and S.F. are tied in the second game of the season. Nothing says spring more than the rhythm of a baseball game. Yesterday at the first game the original President Bush was seated behind the plate and stayed for the whole game. Today he's back in the same seat and good for him too, nothing to do with politics but a guy who loves baseball and stays to the last pitch is something in my book.
• So who's the genius that put the NCAA logo on the top of the backboard so that when the camera is shooting down for a free throw we get reminded what mega corporation in putting on the show. Oh, sorry, it's scholar athletes right?
  

I could go on about why the best places to turn left have "no left turn" signs or such similar nonsense. It's obvious to me that UConn is losing to Stanford because they have a man for a coach. How can he snap towels on the players after practice? Isn't that the essence of coaching?

Maybe I can think of more annoyances in the future but this will do for now. Hard to be grouchy with two good games on the tube.

Sports Betting

Watching the Manchester United v. Chelsea match this morning, I was noticing the ads being shown on the electronic side boards. Besides the usual airlines and Budweiser, BetFair was featured. And there were odds being displayed to. Odds for Chelsea winning the league and later the odds for ManU winning. That's convenient for the punters (as the British call them) and maybe they will rush to the phone or downtown to the local betting parlor to get in on the action. When the score got to 2-1 for Chelsea I noticed the odds had changed. Odds of Chelsea winning the league had gone from 2.1 to 1.75. How's that for real time on the pitch action?

The American sports leagues have a very delicate relationship with betting. In most of the states betting is illegal, but everyone knows that if it were not for the office pools on the NCAA basketball tournament there would be a lot less interest and TV audience. Illegal (and legal) betting on American football is well known as a major contributor to ratings as well. Right now I am watching the San Francisco Giants opening day game coming in from Houston. Guess what the first ad was? A local casino.

I prefer the British plan, make betting legal and available and it's no big deal. As you can see from some of those links in the previous paragraph betting in the U.S. is alive and well. By the way it's not true that most of the English Premier League (EPL) teams are sponsored by betting establishments. As of today (it changes regularly) only three out of the 20 EPL teams are; Sunderland, Tottenham and, West Ham. Unless you consider AIG a casino who had sponsored Manchester United but have now canceled that deal.

BTW, Chelsea defeated ManU 2-1 to go the to head of the table. My hero Didier Drogba had a goal after being brought in on a substitution. Despite a red card in a previous Chelsea UEFA cup game he will be ready to play for Cote d'Ivoire in the upcoming World Cup. Talk about betting, I wonder how many billions of how many currencies will be riding on those games?