Posts in the category "Sports":

This past weekend I headed north from Seattle to the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, B.C. to eat grilled squid at the Summer Night Market and learn slimy details about fish gutting at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site.

I intended to spend my evening watching airfield activity at Vancouver International Airport from my room at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport but instead ending up watching hockey.

I had no choice.

The 2011 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are underway and the Vancouver Canucks are up against the Boston Bruins.

Saturday night was the second game of the series and the entire city was getting ready to watch what they they hoped – no, assumed – would be the Canucks second win.

YVR airport was no exception. In addition to that giant banner on the tower, there were Canucks souvenirs for sale everywhere, travelers wearing Canucks t-shirts and jerseys, Go Canucks! messages on all available display panels and, come game time, a broadcast of the game on a giant screen in an airport food court.

I’ve never paid much attention to hockey, but it was easy to get swept up in the excitement. And it helped, of course, that the Canucks won Game 2 in the first 11 seconds of overtime. And now that I’m a Canucks fan, it was a treat being at the airport Sunday morning, when fans lined up to cheer the players (and get some autographs) as the nattily-dressed team members arrived for their flight to Boston for Game 3.

My stay at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport was hosted. A very excited young boy in the elevator tipped me off to the arrival of the Canucks team members in the airport lobby.

Categories: Airports, Souvenirs, Sports
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Here’s another celebrity airplane safety video: soccer players from Manchester United pop up for Turkish Airlines.

Categories: Air Travel, Celebrities, Safety, Sports
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Instead of asking you to donate cash or cans of food, Emirates airline is having a tennis racket drive.

Emirates returns this year as the official airline of the BNP Paribas Open played in Indian Wells, California. The event is billed as the biggest tennis competition outside of the four Grand Slams and, as they did last year, the airline is asking fans to bring gently-used tennis rackets to the stadium for recycling.

Used rackets collected between March 10 and March 20 will donated to the non-profit National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network of Coachella Valley and anyone who donates a racket will have a chance to win two round-trip Business Class tickets from Los Angeles to Dubai. Nice.

Categories: Sports
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Chicago Cubs’ player Ernie Banks checking out the spring training exhibition game schedule at Rendezvous Park, Mesa, 1950s Courtesy of Tim Sheriden, Mesa Historical Museum

A new exhibition at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport celebrates the fifteen major league baseball teams that head to Arizona each year for spring training as part of the Cactus League.

Play Ball: The Cactus League Experience includes original Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks baseball cards, photographs, signed baseballs, paintings and other cool baseball memorabilia. Look for the display in the Terminal 4, Level 3 gallery through September 11, 2011.

Here’s a preview:

Young baseball fans getting their gloves autographed by a Baltimore Orioles’ player, 1950s.
The Orioles trained in Arizona at Panther Field in Yuma in1954 and Scottsdale Stadium I from1956 through 1958. Courtesy of Mesa Historical Museum

The Boston Red Sox were welcomed in Arizona at Scottsdale Stadium I by the Sheriff’s Posse.  Ted Williams is on the far right. Courtesy of Mesa Historical Museum

The New York Yankees team wearing cowboy hats at the “old” Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 1951. Courtesy of Mesa Historical Museum.

Batter up!

Categories: Airports, Exhibits, Sports
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(Even PIT’s T Rex is excited about the Steelers being in the Super Bowl)

Super Bowl mania is reaching into airports: four airlines have added extra flights from Pittsburgh to Dallas for the Super Bowl and on Friday morning (February 4^th), Pittsburgh International Airport will be hosting a black-and-gold-themed pep rally for Arlington-bound Steelers fans.

The rally will take place in the airside terminal between 8:30 and noon and feature live music, special guests, “Hudsy” the Dog from Hudson Booksellers, Steelers merchandise and lots of excited fans.

To celebrate two new airberlin routes, The Bavarian Strollers will be playing oompah-filled songs at Gatwick Airport and Victoria Station on Monday, February 7^th. The song list will be made up of requests voted on via Twitter and four random voters will win airberlin tickets from Gatwick Airport to Nuremburg or Hanover.  Details on the airberlin oompah contest here.

And there’s a new video arcade at Orlando International Airport: the “King of Kong” arcade is in the main terminal near the food court.  At the grand opening Twin Galaxies, the authority on video game high scores and world records, unveiled a set of video-game-related trading cards. The first two cards in the series feature Billy Mitchell and Walter Day. Mitchell has numerous world records for Donkey Kong and Pac-Man; Day is known as the founding father of organized video game playing and competitions.

Categories: Exhibits, Fun Stuff, Openings, Sports, Uncategorized
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