Stick that in your pipe

Forget the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Think of the Great Pyramid of Giza as just another set of building blocks constructed by a toddler. Envision the Lighthouse of Alexandria as simply another lighthouse dotting the shores of the Egyptian coast.
Here are the new Seven Wonders of the World. The Wonders of the Sports World. The places to which man must make a pilgrimage in order to celebrate the purity and simplicity of sport.
The new Hanging Gardens of Babylon is Wrigley Field. The home of the lovable Chicago Cubs. The hanging ivy wall stretches and forms the last boundary that Sammy Sosa’s ball has to clear, before a cheer erupts from the rooftops of West Waveland Avenue and the press box of the late Harry Carey.
A mecca for all lovers of the great American pastime, Wrigley Field has seen some great moments, such as Pete Rose’s 4,191st career hit that tied him with Ty Cobb for most career hits and Babe Ruth’s infamous “called shot” in the 1932 World Series. This is a field all sports’ fans need to visit; where all need to sit in the outfield, bake in the sun, pop open a Budweiser and “root, root, root for the Cubbies.”
The Great Pyramid of Giza flattens into the dome at the University of North Carolina, where the beautiful tan floor of the Dean E. Smith Center is decorated by a baby-blue image of the state of North Carolina.
The floor in Chapel Hill is where the greatest man to ever play basketball started his apotheosis in the basketball realm.
Michael Jordan epitomizes the essence of sport, determination, and victory. Jordan, the greatest player, and one of the greatest coaches (Dean Smith for whom the court was named after) were Tar Heels and the floor bears their memory.
The memory still lingers and seeps into every person who enters the Dean Smith Center to cheer for the Tar Heels as they rally against Duke.
The majesty of Jordan and Smith are enough to make the Center worthy of veneration and one of the Seven Wonders of the Sports World.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria no longer points the way to Egypt’s shores. Now it shines on another haven, Lambeau Field.
The field becomes the center of a simple game. One team faces another and attempts to move a little ball to the other side of the field and into the endzone.
The NFL got big in Green Bay. In 1967, Bart Starr led the Packers to the first Super Bowl. The team repeated the following year.
They were coached by a man that exudes triumph, the great leader Vince Lombardi, who later lent his name to the silver trophy presented to the winner of the greatest game of the year.
The cheeseheads, the cold, the biting playoff weather, the Lambeau leap into the stands after a hard earned touchdown, Bart Starr and Brett Favre all coalesce into one of the greatest stadiums where fans watch this brutal game in which one team is defeated and one team is victorious. For the Packers it has been more of the latter.
Next week holds in store the remainder of the Seven, when we will depart the shores of North America and discover Wonders abroad.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 6 2004. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry