Pro Bowl in Hawaii and Perfection
Aloha,
Today I watched the Pro Bowl in Hawaii and sighted a Kwaj. sign in the stands. I can recall guys going there for the Pro Bowl as the closest professional football game to Kwajalein atoll. I enjoy watching any sport called football, while my favorite is what I refer to as “real football” or what my country men usually refer to as soccer (short for association football), I grew up cheering for the Cleveland Browns and have always loved American rules football (where ironically you rarely use your feet and the guys that do are not respected by their teammates). So knowing I am about to enter a dead time in American football viewing I enjoyed the game itself but I also quite enjoy the shots of Hawaiian scenery and some of the unrelated stories about activities to do there. One sport that I was ignorant of before today is the ancient Hawaiian sport of paddle surfing. It appears that you stand on a surf board and use a paddle to move around. I wish I’d learned of this sooner because that would be a great activity to do on Roi. On the west shore of Roi is Kwajalein lagoon which is usually quite calm in the lee of Roi. I think it would be an ideal place to paddle surf. If I ever have the opportunity to go back to Roi or to Hawaii again I think I’m going to give paddle surfing a try. I have also always wanted to try real surfing and though I’ve had opportunities to try it for some unexplainable reason I never availed myself of them. Watching the game today made me want to go to Hawaii for a vacation soon.
Figure 1 Eric surfing at North Pass on Kwajalein Atoll (without a paddle)
While we’re on the sport of football I can’t help but climb onto my high horse and rail against the legion of sports writers and broadcasters who keep mentioning either that the Miami Dolphins were the only team to win all their games in one season or to go undefeated. Neither statement is true. In 1948 the Cleveland Browns had a perfect 15-0 season. This has gone largely unnoticed because at the time they were in the AAFC not the NFL. While I might buy this argument if it was not for the fact that in 1950 when they entered the NFL they won the championship their first year in the league and continued to be a dominant team for many years afterwards. Miami is not the only team to go undefeated in the NFL (no losses but maybe a tie). In 1920 the Akron Pros went undefeated, and in both 1922 and 1923 the Canton Bulldogs went undefeated though all of those teams had a tie or two. So if you are a journalist or sports broadcaster reading this I would ask respectfully that if you mention that Dolphins as going undefeated or having a perfect season please qualify it as the only team not from Ohio to go undefeated or have a perfect season.
Today is sort of a pot pouri of topics and I will apologize slightly for not sticking to a Roi theme. Last night I had the pleasure of hosting a BBQ with various friends from the Marshall Islands in my home. It was a good time of talking story regarding life back in the islands. I am working on a blog talking about other places I have worked over seas. Stay tuned.