This weekend, I’m embarking on a last minute decision to visit New York City on a 10 hour bus ride. Some may think I’m crazy. And I may never want to see a bus again after this, but I’ll do it. And here’s why…
The nightlife. The bars close at 4 AM! Or something like that. I’m usually too fuzzed to read my watch by then. But seriously. There’s something open all night, earning the city’s …”That Never Sleeps..” tag we all know so well. There’s something about hanging all night with some friends.- Sports are….different. I haven’t cared about baseball for maybe 15 years before I saw it on a big screen in the ESPN Zone with a restaurant full of people actually into the game. Call them a team of bought championships, but you don’t care when it’s your team winning. A concept that escapes baseball fans remaining in the Steel City.
- That feeling. I’ve found myself picking up on Digital City and The 404 lately, both broadcast from the city, and they’ve made me long for returning to NYC. Talk about the subway, the people you run into, the karaoke bars. There’s just an inescapable feeling to just being in that town. You never know what you’re going to see. The Naked Cowboy. Giant rats at a subway stop you pass while your cohorts are passed out. The girls with a violin jamming with a chinese guy that looks like he’s playing a string instrument made from a tree trunk on a platform. Chachi’s fake watch he bought. I can honestly go visit just to “see what I can see”.
- Just like in the movies. Just like all of the Pittsburghers experienced with that classic Striking Distance, or Dogma, to a lesser extent, it’s really cool to see a place you’ve been on the TV. The first visit we made was just after Cloverfield was released. It was surreal to see the buildings by Central Park that were knocked into each other, amongst other rememberable spots from the film.
- Passionate People. I’ve stated on this past week’s Wrestling Mayhem Show, I just loved watching New York watch wrestling. When you’re viewing a WWE show from Madison Square Garden, and Chicago is similar, the audience is as much a part of the show as the action in the ring. This resonates in the town’s girth giving way to reasons for people to focus in on a subject. The wrestling events I’ve attended (Royal Rumble, Ring of Honor) and the Comic Con and shops prove this. You don’t see such large gatherings locally. The Pittsburgh Cons are pitiful in comparison, and the wrestling crowd reactions (and some independent attendance) have lost their spark.
I’m not sure what to expect from this trip, other than catching some MMA and WWE PPV action with the Mad One, who is always fantastic in his hospitality. But keep an eye on the Twitter, Foursquare, maybe even some Latitude. I’m also going sans laptop for the first time. So lets see if I can live, and maybe even blog, from my iPhone.