President's Cup

Does anyone do spectator sports like the US?

Got the best kind of tickets to see the President's Cup; free ones.

It took place at some nominally public course just to the side of the main city of SF. The Cup is a bi annual golf event to give a nominally international ( though pretty much all of them live and work on the US golf circuit) side a Ryder Cup experience. And to the delight of the US they've managed a consistent losing streak.

The crowds were phenomenal starting with queues to get into the venue, with the usual admonitions of no cellphones or, god forbid, copyright breaking cameras. Once inside there was a second queue for perhaps the coolest gadget of the year; a mobile TV/radio linked into the course coverage.

As well as being able to change between individual holes, I could also replay shots just after they were played. The advantage of living near silicon valley....

With my freebie ticket came exclusive access to an enclave within; a club within the club. All it was, was a place of longer lines with uniquely mediocre food. But like all clubs, people were trying to sneak in as it had the advantage of the unknown....Too late I saw better munchies outside.

Works pretty well until I got to the toilets. Yes, we're dealing with 50,000 people but must they truly be so utterly disgusting? The worst bogs on my African bush trips did not prepare me to stare into the filthy abyss. Made Slumdog's scenes look like a Ritz Carlton commercial. Truly revolting.

And the golf? Pretty good, all things considered, despite the conclusion being as definite as a Matthew McConnoghey/Mcconnoghy/mconnog /mcc chest exposure. And the stars did come out to play, from the ultimate Tiger to the newly re-divorced Greg Norman (a case of a conquested Norman?) sporting a newly broken arm (coincidence? Hmmmmm). Good natured, with a chatty, knowledgeable crowd; give or take an obligatory Jewish compliment. (They kept shouting " Jewde man" or something like that..)

But what was Michael Jordan doing there? He was apparently an advisory captain? On which cigar to smoke in celebration, maybe, but golf? To paraphrase Oscar Wilde "different balls, sir, different balls."

The Greek Theatre Berkeley

One of the great things about living in the US is that everywhere you turn, you see an iconic name. Driving through Silicon Valley to my monthly Backgammon I pass names like Apple, Adobe, and if I really get lost; Google.





Which brings me to the Greek. I thought I was going to the Neil Diamond one ( live concert album, etc) and even wore my spangly hommage jacket with removable tassles. Famous





Nope, this is the Berkeley one. Built by William Randolph (Citizen Kane) Hearst as an adjunct to the University it looks the same but no fame. But what the hell, it was still fun.





It's an open air theatre which means it can be lousy when the weather's cold (which is pretty much all the time in Berkekly/SF). Like any good Greek, the best way in is through the back entrance. And then you enter the arena. In keeping with the US penchant for expensive tickets, and hard, uncomfortable steep seating, the arena did not disappoint. Unlike the horrifically expensive booze ($7-10 a small plastic cup.) Goldman Sachs would be ashamed of this over charging. And then the bands started.





It was the Counting Crows augmented by Augustana( a group I'd just started hearing about on my XM). Having said that, I didn't know much about the Crows either, apart from their 3 big hits. And they rocked.





They mixed and matched their sets, helping each other out on songs, trying new ones and giving and getting a great night. They played most of what we knew of theirs except for the SHREK song (Accidentally in love. ) I guess they can't bear to play that anymore in case people chuck green underwear at the stage.....

I'd definiely go back but as the tickets say, no refunds for inclement weather. You've been warned.