DUBLIN – Thursday was my second day in Ireland, and, thankfully, my first with my luggage.
After retrieving my rolling suitcase at Dublin Airport about 24 hours after I landed (thanks, American Airlines and Aer Lingus, although I will offer sincere thanks to the helpful Aer Lingus employees who helped me track my suitcase down upon its arrival), I had a full day of reporting for Saturday’s game between Georgia Tech and Florida State. Some photos from my day’s adventures:
1) I call this one “Wi-Fi Signal Bars.” It’s a stretch of buildings along the River Liffey in central Dublin.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
2) I call this one “Gigantic Hard-Boiled Egg Slicer.” It’s the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin, not far from the aforementioned Wi-Fi Signal buildings. The bridge is actually supposed to evoke a harp, which is the symbol of Ireland. The logo for Irish brewery Guinness is also a harp.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
3) Immortalized in the seminal movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” a Circle K in central Dublin offers convenience and snacks and drinks. I did not venture in, as strange things were afoot.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
4) McDonald’s-Burger King is almost as strong a Dublin rivalry as Georgia Tech-Florida State. We owe our thanks to the separating Eddie Rocket’s, which would seem a knockoff of Johnny Rocket’s, for keeping the pace. This is along O’Connell Street, a principal thoroughfare in the city.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
5) Eight years later, it looks like the vendors got it right. Georgia Tech fans may remember that, in 2016, when the Yellow Jackets played Boston College in Dublin, souvenir shops were filled with merchandise commemorating the matchup between “Georgia” and “Boston.” A photo of a Boston-Georgia shirt that I tweeted (below) remains among my top social-media achievements. This year’s scarves, though, aren’t knit like the ones that were for sale in 2016, although more quality merchandise may be available elsewhere than this stand.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
6) As things would have it, another tweet that I sent out Thursday (a photo of the Ireland-inspired helmet decal that the Jackets will wear on their helmets Saturday) joined the ranks of my 2016 Dublin tweet in their wide spread. Please don’t read this as the launch of my career as an influencer or a flex of my social-media prowess. I just find it a funny coincidence.
7) We continue with the salute to 1980s movies. Not far from the McDonald’s on O’Connell is McDowells, a jewelry store in Ireland that was established in 1870. I wonder how many times Americans have walked in and asked for a “Big Mick.” (The reference is from “Coming to America.”) For my sake, but probably not for the sake of McDowells employees, I hope the answer is many.
It was not long after I took this photo that I ran into former Tech running back Synjyn Days and his wife Ashlee. It occurred to me shortly after we parted ways that a snapshot of the Days couple probably would have made for a much better photo for this collage than pretty much anything I’ve actually included. Apologies to all.
Now a financial adviser, Days was his typically energetic and personalable self. I will long remember (and laugh at) former Tech assistant coach Bryan Cook comparing Days’ running style, instrumental in the 2014 Orange Bowl championship season, to that of a runaway golf cart. Jokingly, I believe, Days predicted “Tech by 1,000″ in Saturday’s game.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
8) The Spire of Dublin, which stands 120 meters tall, or, if it were in the U.S., a little less than 400 feet. That’s longer than a football field. It was completed in 2003 “in celebration of Ireland’s confident future in the third millennium.,” according to Ian Ritchie Architects, which designed the very tall pin.
In 2015, to celebrate the opening of the first installment of the final Star Wars trilogy (”The Force Awakens”), the city of Dublin fashioned a hilt for the base of the spire and lit the needle blue to resemble a lightsaber, which should be two words but is somehow one.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
9) Speaking of Tech by 1,000 points, Dubliners and visitors in for the game can make legal bets on the game at sportsbooks around the city. There were dozens of different types of bets that could be laid on the game. On the page pictured, for example, gamblers could bet on the straight-up winner (separate from the spread), the point total and the first team to 10 points through the first to 40. The odds for Tech to win were 3/1, while it was 1/5 for the Seminoles. Other pages had parlay bets, such as Tech wins and the point total is over or under 51.5 points. (10/3 for over, 4/1 for under)
(Days’ prediction was presumably made for entertainment purposes only.)
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
10) The field at Aviva Stadium prior to it being painted for American football. I love the wavy contour of the roof. The game is sold out, with more than 47,000 tickets sold. One significant difference between Aviva (the Irish refer to it as “the Aviva”) and U.S. stadiums is that the lowest seating is at ground level, whereas in American stadiums the lowest seats are higher off the ground, presumably in part to enable fans to be able to see over players on the sideline. A less significant difference is that the white bank of seats in the upper deck is referred to as the media tribune, or what we know as the press box.
Credit: Ken Sugiura
Credit: Ken Sugiura
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