The Yahoo! cap – Cool, in a dull sort of way

At a convention last week in Las Vegas, the presenters tried getting our attention by tossing ball caps into the audience whenever anyone gave a correct answer.

I was, naturally, taken in completely at the opportunity to score another cap.

On Day Two, I finally found a question I could answer and beat the others to the punch. This Yahoo! baby was tossed my way.

It’s a minimalist kind of cap, with a small Yahoo! logo on the left side of the crown. A cap this simple demanded a complex background for its portrait, but in my hurried state the best I could do was plop it atop a pillar at the entrance to the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino.

Next time, I’ll scour the strip for Liberace’s piano or a phalanx of Elvis impersonators.

Saluting the Devils’ Martin Brodeur

This is a great day for the Irish — and for hockey.

On this St. Patrick’s Day, Martin Brodeur of the New Jeresey Devils will will try to become the winningest goalie in National Hockey League history. Brodeur, who spent much of the season off ice with an injury, has been almost superhuman since his return to net a few weeks ago. He tied Patrick Roy for the most goals at 551 the other night in Montreal, and Brodeur will be on home ice in Newark tonight as the Devils face the Chicago Black Hawks.

I’ve had the privilege to see Roy and Brodeur for real, the former late in his career as a member of the Colorado Avalanche and the latter in the middle of his terrific career with the Devils.

So here’s a tip o’ the cap from this Irish American to the French Canadian Martin Brodeur. May the puck never be behind ye.

NCAA Selection Sunday: A curmudgeonly take on “The Dance”

The annual “Selection Sunday” ritual of choosing teams for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is this weekend, and I am officially going on record to say I loathe describing the tournament as the “the dance” or “the big dance.” What a lame cliche. Let’s put a cap on it, so to speak.

That objection aside, it’s hard to say anything bad about the NCAA tournament. It’s a truly national event that pulls in schools and their fans from all across the map. I was traveling through San Francisco Airport earlier this week and spotted a seasonal display in one of the souvenir shops, with a Stanford shirt and cap on one side and this Cal shirt and cap on the other. (The Stanford photo came out a little fuzzy and I’m not going to post it. Sorry, Cardinal fans.)

Within 24 hours, both schools had been eliminated from the Pac-10 tournament. Stanford is in all likelihood headed to the NIT, and Cal will have to wait around nervously to see if it gets into the main event.

Having lived in California for more than 10 years, I probably should take a side in the epic rivalry between Cal and Stanford. I know many graduates of both schools, and I’ve visited both campuses often. They are both outstanding universities on just about any level on which you care to evaluate them, from academics to campus life to athletics.

Although I’m officially neutral, I must note that I was thoroughly entertained by visiting Palo Alto several years ago during football season around the time of the “Big Game.” Cal students had painted blue every other lemon on a lemon tree to give it a blue and gold look. I thought that was pretty clever.

Party time, excellent! The Wayne’s World cap

It’s a late-winter weekend, and we could all use a little comic relief.

To wit, the “Wayne’s World” ball cap sported by Mike Meyers at right. I don’t own one of these, but I do admire it. Maybe not quite as much as Wayne Campbell admired and coveted the white Fender Stratocaster on display in the music store in the original “Wayne’s World” movie.

Party on!

The 2009 New York Yankees cap

The New York Yankees will be sporting a new cap when they take the field at the new Yankee Stadium this year. The team isn’t messing with the classic interlocking “N” and “Y” (thank goodness). The Yanks are adding a commemorative patch on the back to mark the stadium transition. For details, check out this post on the New York Times’ “Bats” blog.