Monday, December 3, 2007

ESPN zone

I am a major sports fan. For every sport I have a favorite team and I keep track of the games all season long. One of the coolest things about being a sports fan and living around NYC is the ESPN Zone located in Times Square. A restaurant with a whole bunch of TV sets with major sporting events. I could spend hours in there.

On Sunday night there was a major football game. New England Patriots versus the Indianapolis Colts, and of course my friends and I needed to be somewhere special to watch such a great game. So we decided to go into the city and watch the game with all the other crazy fans in the city at ESPN Zone. There were probably close to over a hundred people on the floor we were at it was loud and insane just so much fun.

The great thing about ESPN Zone is how big it is and the different levels and bars. It’s really nice and every floor is different. My friends and I watched the game on the second floor in the Bristol Suite overlooking Times Square. When the game got boring or there were time outs, watching the people down on the street was just as entertaining. The second floor, Bristol Suite isn’t the only area within the building though.

You can watch your favorite sporting events from any one of three floors. The first floor at the Zone is the Studio Grill restaurant, with the baseball tonight bar, and Zone stuff the gift shop. I honestly recommend if you need a gift for someone who is a sports fan they would most likely love anything from that shop.

On the second floor there is also a screening room, which is just that, huge screens for your entertainment, plus the skybox which is like a lounge. The third floor of the Zone is a sporting arena, with arcade style games, fun for everyone. There is another bar on the third floor, the 19th hole bar. The bars are usually the most crowded area of the building or at least they have been the couple of times I have been to ESPN Zone.

ESPN Zone is different then any other sports bar that I have ever been to mainly because it has the ESPN title. I felt something special in there, like some kind of weird pride to be a sports fan. I have been to the Zone in Baltimore and it has nothing on New York. My friend Tom likes Baltimore better, but he is foolish because hands down being in New York makes everything better.

I am a New England fan and one of my friends who I was watching the game with is an Indianapolis all the way type of guy, for some reason. So whenever these teams play each other it’s always a fun time with us, we get really into the games, and being at the Zone with fellow crazy sports fans, people make friends. Like when we were there this weekend I met a guy named Matt, and we talked for about an hour about how awesome Tom Brady was. My friend found a guy who felt the same about the Colt’s quarterback and we formed alliances in our ongoing football fight. It was just a fun night, good time.

The people who work at ESPN Zone are some amazing waiters and waitresses. They are so friendly and helpful. The bartenders are cool. The Zone is just such an interesting environment. The food there is equally perfect. I could die over the chicken wings that they serve, better then anywhere else in my opinion. I go to the city ever so often, but making a special trip just to go to ESPN Zone is highly worth it, and if you haven’t been, you should go and watch a game, have a soda and some chicken wings.

Transportation

Transportation is key when you live in a busy city. There are many methods of transportation a person could use for example there are buses, the ferry, taxis all at your disposal. To walk the entire area of Manhattan could take you forever, too much to see and do. It would be a cause of distraction if your trying to make it somewhere in a hurry.

You can take a bus and ride until you either reach your destination or until you find a place to take another bus, which then drops you off where you need to be it can get confusing, but they just run in circles so there is no fear of getting too lost.

Another way to get from point A to point B would be to take the ferry, which drops you off right at the start of the city and there you can find anything you’re looking for. The ferry is free, which makes it convenient for everyone. But it takes longer then a lot of people want to wait. I myself don’t mind taking the ferry, but I wouldn’t take it alone, and from what I hear its not too safe at night, so I avoid that as much as possible too.

Subways are also great, they don’t cost too much and it’s a pretty quick way to travel around, the biggest perk is no underground traffic. There is little that is easier then taking the taxi, the only difficult part is finding your train. You meet the most unique people on the subway and the views you get of the some buildings once your up and above ground are cool.

I absolutely love taking cabs, there is no hassle. You flag a car down and tell the driver where to take you, so simple. Sometimes you may get that crazy driver who listens to strange radio stations and asks you questions the entire time you’re in the backseat, but even then the cab ride is fun. Cab drivers know where they are going most of the time, and if you have an experienced driver, they know the easy routes to take you where you need to go.

Just last week I took a taxi by myself for the first time which is something I may never do again, I got in the car and sat in silence as they took me back across the Verrazano Bridge, and there wasn’t even the radio on. We were stuck in traffic for a while too and I tried to spark a conversation but the driver just kind of snorted and sat there, it made for an extremely long and kind of creepy ride home.

That is the major downfall to taking a taxi - the heavy traffic in the city that you just can’t escape. Then the drivers get cranky and it makes for an awkward social environment, which is why you should bring something to do while you’re in the car, iPod, and book, something to keep you occupied while stuck in those long lines. During certain times of the day it would be much smarter to take the subway then to hail a cab.

Despite these great ways of transportation you could always have a friend drive you into the city, granted parking is horrible and expensive, it may make it easier then finding your way around. Of course if I didn’t know exactly where I was going and the exact way to get there, I wouldn’t drive into the city for fear of getting lost.

Capitial Punishment

Lately the topic of Capital Punishment has been coming up in my Criminal Justice class. I am in between weather I believe Capital Punishment is wrong or right. I do believe that if you do have it in your self to kill someone then you have evil inside you. If you take the life of someone else or rape someone you do not deserve to live. Taking the life of someone damages the victim’s families and friends. There is nothing you can do that will bring that person back to the people that have loved them. Also rape is a serious crime. It damages the victim and their family.

On the other hand I don’t think that killing the inmate will solve the problem. After they are dead there is still that hurt inside of the people that will never go away. You can never get the person back and killing someone does not make everything better. Sometimes it is worse for the person to sit behind bars all their life thinking about the crime they committed.

In conclusion Capital Punishment can be either a good way to deal with the death of someone you love or it could be completely the opposite. There is no one person who can decide if it is wrong or right. There are many different views on this matter and in the discussion of Capital Punishment will go on without a end.