MLB Opening Day

March 30th, 2011 Heather Kovar

The New York Yankees open the season at home Thursday, March 31 against the Detroit Tigers. April 1st the Mets kick it off away with the Marlins and the Red Sox at Texas Stadium facing the Rangers.

We have a week of build up until the Mets home opener April 8th against the Washington Nationals, but the hot ticket is the Red Sox home opener on the 8th– against the Yankees.

Of course it’s sold out- but tickets second hand are reported to be the most expensive of the home openers in MLB, with an average price of $250.00. (Plus hotdogs.)

These prices keep many cheering for the home team (or adopted team) from home. But you can still have your hot dog- and save money there as well! Here is a picture from Citi Field showing dogs cost nearly six bucks- but with a surprising low calorie count of 260. (Just don’t have the healthiest item on the menu, peanuts at 960 calories!)

You might not save on calories eating hot dogs at home, but who’s counting? Let’s leave the stats for the players– and not disappoint the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

According to the council’s website, hot-dog.org, consumers spent more than $1.6 billion on hot dogs in U.S. supermarkets in 2010.
(That’s ten times the combined yearly salaries of Yankees Alex Rodriguez, (33 million), CC Sabathia ($24.3 million), Derek Jeter ($22.6 million) and Mark Teixeira ($20.6 million).)

Stay-at-home fans can even pay tribute to their team via hot dog.
A man who has his own line of hot dogs, sells hot dog carts and calls himself the “Hot Dog King” has the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry recipe.
For Yankee fans, he says top a hot dog with onion sauce and spicy yellow mustard on a toasted plain bun.
For Red Sox fans, grill the hot dog then smother with baked beans and coleslaw.

If you are out looking for a dog, a few years back my dog Willamena helped put together a tour of New York’s finest hotdogs.
Hope it helps you enjoy the 2011 season.

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An Evening with Al Jazeera English Ayman Mohyeldin

March 22nd, 2011 Heather Kovar

New York Press Club member Achilles Schiano takes us to “AN EVENING WITH AYMAN MOHYELDIN OF AL JAZEERA ENGLISH.”
Here is what Schiano writes about the NYPC’s latest event:

   Fundamental differences on how the American media covers international events, versus Al Jazeera English, were outlined Monday night to the New York Press Club by Correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, fresh from covering the upheavals in Egypt which bought down long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak.

     Al Jazeera was founded in the ’90s by the Emir of Qatar and is not ratings driven as the US media, Mohyeldin stated, explaining that the Arab network strives to put events into a “conceptual” context. He believes this context behind news events is placed last in the “hyper-competitive” and “personality driven” atmosphere of the US outlets. The Middle East is very complex to cover, Mohyeldin said, pointing to this key difference between his network’s approach and the Americans. Using CNN’s Anderson Cooper as an example and making it clear it was not a reflection on Cooper’s credentials as a newsman, he said the American approach is to ask the reporter on the scene what he or she is experiencing. Instead, he said Al Jazeera tries to give context to what is actually happening on the street, and in the case of Egypt, the constant demonstrations that went on for about 18 days. In fact, during that time, the youngish-looking Al Jazeeran correspondent related how the Egyptian military blindfolded him and “detained” him for about nine hours in a holding cell near the demonstrations scene.

    Born to Egyptian and Palestinian parents and fluent in Arabic, Mohyeldin  and his family came to the U.S. around 1980 and  is US-educated.  Starting his career with NBC, his Al Jazeera coverage includes the Gaza War in 2008–2009, sectarian violence in Lebanon, and human rights abuses in the Gulf. He made it clear that the Middle East is the area he knows best and is happy to be stationed there.

            Moderating the program was Stephanie Gaskell, founder and editor of The War Reporter, and herself a war correspondent.

      One veteran press club member lauded  the Arab-American newsman for his looks, energy, intelligence but said he got “shivers up his back” when Al Jazeera’s man said he would be willing to give his life for the story. He cautioned however, that didn’t mean taking foolish risks. The exchange provided some interesting philosophical moments on how far should a reporter go in getting the story. As for those stories, Mohyeldin emphasized that his network has never tried to dictate his writing. He also noted that  charges of anti-Americanism abroad are overplayed. He said there is opposition to American foreign policy, but not to Americans. And as for Israelis and Palestinians, he said they have more in common than differences. But he felt that is not accurately portrayed in the U.S.

 One big issue–getting Al Jareera on US cable outlets: Talks are going on but Mohyeldin is not privy to that.

    About 100 people attended the meeting held at CUNY’s Macauly Honors College on W. 67th St.

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March 21 Event: Al Jazeera reporter to speak with NYPC

March 21st, 2011 Heather Kovar

Here is your assignment.
Write a three or four sentence summary of the latest news in Libya.
It has to be concise, and viewers (or listeners) have to be able to comprehend.

(And no copy blocking the latest AP wires.)

How do you think your summary would differ from that of a reporter working in the Middle East?

Find out tonight (March 21.) AN EVENING WITH AYMAN MOHYELDIN OF AL JAZEERA ENGLISH

Cairo based Al Jazeera English reporter Ayman Mohyeldin will speak with the New York Press Club to hopefully help us better understand recent issues in bordering countries Libya and Egypt, as well as spreading unrest in that region.
He reported from Cairo during the protests that led to the resignation of Egypt’s fourth president, Hosni Mubarak.
Click here for more info: AN EVENING WITH AYMAN MOHYELDIN OF AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
Click here to see how Al Jazeera English is covering the strikes.

Oh, and while you prepare for tonight- and write that three sentence summary on Libya- here is an article to help you understand “Libya’s complex political history.”

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First 2012 Olympic Rings

March 3rd, 2011 Heather Kovar

Hats off to the first 2012 Olympic Rings unveiled today at St. Pancras International Station.
Read the press release.
Read story on BBC.

Since I’m now living in London, I’m proud to own one of these knit caps New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave out during a press conference during the city’s 2012 Olympic bid.

Too bad they are summer games. It might be too warm to wear the hat in London from July 27th to August 12th, 2012.

Back to the Rings unveiled today- they are measure 20 metres wide by 9 metres high and weigh 2,300 kilograms. That’s …. uh, hold on. I have to google a conversion chart.

That’s nearly 66 feet wide by 29.5 feet weighing more than 5,000 pounds! That’s 2.3 tons.

No wonder they had to transport the rings in 39 separate parts to St Pancras International. The press release says they were secretly assembled and installed over seven nights.

St Pancras will be one of the key access points to the games, transporting visitors on a high-speed Javelin Train to and from Stratford International. Stratford International is adjacent to Olympic Park, which is under construction in Stratford, East London.

If New York had won the 2012 bid, the first Olympic Rings might have gone up at Grand Central or Penn Station. Though you have to wonder if the assembly would have been kept secret like in London. My bet is coverage would have been of olympic proportions, from the time the first piece of metal arrived, to the type of aluminum used, where it came from, the people putting it together, until finally the unveiling. Though probably by then the story might have switched to “commuters fed up with crowds” trying to get a glimpse of the monstrous logo.

If you’d like the follow the build up to the Olympics, you can check out the London 2012 Headquarters website and follow on twitter.

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