What to Watch For in Cleveland: Rock Hall and LeBron. That's the List

It's his town.

Cleveland, OH

June 2016

NBA Finals Game 3 - Warriors at Cavs

When I first got to my hotel in downtown Cleveland around 1am, the fire department was inspecting the lobby.  #SoCleveland

As you'll have noticed by now, I'm a fan of random art. Here's a stamp labeled "free." Free from solid dining options maybe...

Skyline from Lake Erie.

That's the Browns stadium to the right. Bet you didn't think Cleveland rocked like this, eh???

Speaking of rock, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! What are the odds? #AmazingSegue

This is one of Bruce Springsteen's guitars. This antiquated site will not allow me to adjust the photo, so you may have to crank your neck. It's quite a gorgeous guitar that was donated to Bruce.

George Clinton's Atomic Dog slippers! Dude wore these on stage.

Michael Jackson's uniform when he served in our armed forces. #NotTrue

MJ's glove yo! It's no Franklin batting glove, that looks mad uncomfortable.

Run DMC's Adidas and glasses. Those frames would make me feel like an elderly Seinfeld character.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr bubbles baths. I already used my good joke on Instagram. Sigh.

So John Lennon created this mock newspaper when he was in grammar school! The artistry is incredibly impressive. This was done in the 50s. What's far less impressive, is that he casually dropped an N-bomb in it. Hmmmm. Sure he was young and British colloquialisms were different in the 50s, but still... Not cool, John.

The cover to his satirical illustrated newspaper, the Daily Howl.

More Daily Howl. Don't know why Winston Churchill doesn't get arms in his drawing. Is that a metaphor... or would you say... that's a reach?? #ImHereAllDay 

When Prince changed his name to the symbol, he sent this floppy disk to media outlets so they could download an use it properly. It's called a floppy disk, kids! But I never agreed with calling these things "floppy," unlike their actual floppy predecessors. Those things were great. You had to handle those things like plutonium they were so fragile.

The actual wall from a Pink Floyd "The Wall" concert. 

I'm feeling this dude. But this TV is way too new to be The Wall era. This set must've been from a later performance. Or the whole thing is a sham. I just noticed it says 1995 on the wall. Were TVs that thin in 1995? Something is awry.

Downtown before it's bombarded by fans.

This mural is so sick. The city was going to take it down, but after they won the chip, forget that.

The Q, where the Cavs play, is on the far left. In proportion to everything, that mural is massive. No wonder the dude's ego is so big, but you can you really blame him. The city worships him.

Pre-game 3 fan fest outside the arena. The Indians, that's baseball for some of y'all, play across the street.

Shirts on shirts on shirts.

Quicken loans/Cavs owner Dan Gilbert also owns Fathead. They gave these out to the seats behind the hoop, hoping to distract players shooting free throws.

Press row.

Blowout.

Suits and sneaks part 2.

Toronto: City of Silent Second T's

#TBTFiles
Toronto

Aug. 2011

I was in Detroit to attend the Asian American Journalist Association (AAJA) convention, and at the time I booked my ticket, I wasn't fully employed and quasi-occasionally freelancing for ESPN.com's Page 2, but as luck would have it, by conference time, I had landed a full-time freelance gig in San Diego. Because the economy was in the pooper at the time, I was awarded a fellowship to attend the conference for free, so I immediately put the money I was saving into more travel! Enter Toronto, a city I'd never visited and heard great things about, and less than four hours away from Detroit.

Fun fact: Canadians don't pronounce the second "T" in Toronto. Wheee! You wacky Canadians!

The border. This is not how it was presented in "The Untouchables." 

What is this, Times Square?! Actually, almost everybody from the state would describe Toronto as a clean New York.

Quick detour to Dublin apparently. 

The famous St. Lawrence Market, Toronto's first and largest marketplace. I find it interesting to note that according to toronto.com - the market is open every day except Sunday and Monday. That's almost 30% of the frickin' week! Can you get away with that? You're better than that, Canada.

The Distillery historic district. Some say it's a tourist area. Whatever, it's f'n rad! It's a short walk away from downtown Toronto. The area, established in 1832, was formerly known as the Gooderham & Worts Whiskey Distillery. They revamped the whole place in 2003, but it totally has an old-time feel. Cobblestones! 

Architects gone wild. That's actually a boob. #ItsNot

It's been way too long since I've been here, but I took a picture of it because it had some awesome food. Again, don't know what it is anymore. Cool story, bro.

The Hockey Hall of Fame.

I can confirm the sign says "Hockey" and not a zoomed-in pic of "Shockey" - a tribute to the former Saints and Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey.

The guy who inspired me to get '93 Hockey on my computer. My hockey knowledge was never so great. Tomas Sandstrom and Kelly Hrudey all-day long! 

My boy Ojima has zero slap shot skills.

I, on the other hand, have clearly embarrassed that virtual goalie. Who is that, John Vanbiesbrouck?

I was concerned this would be difficult, but they shoot the pucks out of this thing at like 5 mph (and that's like the superstar setting). I made me feel like Goldberg the goalie from the Mighty Ducks.

There are plenty of interactive things to do at the Hockey Hall, which is way better than the basketball HOF. Maybe I'll post those pics in a future blog. It would be filled with pics of me taking disappointed selfies.

Ahhhh yes. The finest trophy in all of sports, Lord Stanley's Cup.

So we went to the CN Tower to do the edge-walk, shown below, but it cost almost $200 and decided against it. The CN Tower is 147 floors. Now most of you know this is exactly the type of adrenaline-type attraction that I normally pony up for, but at this time I was unemployed (aside from random freelance gigs) for nearly 7 months! Brother had no cash left! 

This is a sample of what the CN Tower walk was like. I guarantee if I were up there, I would walk off the edge or try to jump off, because I'm so securely harnessed. That's the type of thrill I love - when I can pull some crazy shit and not worry about dying! Dying sucks.

Lot of Gretzky in Toronto.

The legendary improv club, the Second City - which helped launch careers of Bill Murray, John Candy, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, etc, etc, etc.

We ate and drank here with a local pal. It was good. That's all I got.

The CN Tower at night.

Pravda, vodka house. This place was sick. Had this crazy old school Russian decor. It's where I stereotypically imagine KGB agents and spies cavorted when discussing how to foil James Bond.

We opted to do a little tasting. We may or may not have ordered from a Russian tasting menu, as well. I don't remember. That's the problem with these TBT blogs!

We didn't taste all of these.

Post-tasting vision. Out.