Is Tim Tebow the most polarizing player in sports history?

Ask 10 football analysts what they think of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and you will get 10 extreme responses.

Lots of people love his determination, tenacity and will to win. They think he'll be a decent NFL quarterback if he's given time.

But there is a large group of analysts that are adamant that he will never be a success. They continue to say that Tebow will never win games with his unorthodox mechanics. They think it was a bad decision to remove Kyle Orton as the starting QB for the Broncos.

The problem with that argument is that Kyle Orton, a prototypical drop-back quarterback, hasn't had much success over the last two years. In 2010, Orton started 13 games. The Broncos record in those games was 3-10. This season, Orton started and finished three games, losing all of them.

So my question to all the analysts calling for Tebow to be benched: Why can't you just let him go out and play? Give him a shot. We know he's not fundamentally sound. But What's the harm in seeing if he can turn the Broncos around. Kyle Orton wasn't turning them around. Brady Quinn is not an answer. If Tebow fails, he'll be out of the league soon enough.

There is no harm in giving Tebow a chance. The Broncos can't go out and bring in someone else in the middle of the season.

So to all the analysts that want Tebow run out of the league, unless you want to suit up and play quarterback for the Broncos, sit back, take a chill pill and just let him play.

Major Props to the Genius Bar

I love most Apple products. I have a MacBook Pro. I have an iPod.

But I've always found it odd that a good portion of every Apple Store has been dedicated to fixing problems with Apple products. And no matter what time you visit the Genius Bar, it's always full.

Some friends have countered my point by saying that it shows Apple's dedication to customer support.

In August, my trusty MacBook Pro wouldn't turn on. I thought the hard drive had died. I took it to the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco, and after running so diagnostic tests, it was determined that the Logic Board had died, not the hard drive.

It was a $310 repair and my laptop took a vacation to Texas.

Four days later, on a Sunday, I got a call alerting me that my laptop was ready to be picked up. When I got there, and turned on the machine, the hard drive had been wiped clean. I had be warned that might happened. There were also tool marks near the disc drive that made it look like it had been pried open. The keyboard was different (the volume keys were in a different spot) and the trackpad wasn't smooth like mine. I figured because they had to replace the logic board, they must have had to install a brand new keyboard and trackpad.

I took the laptop home and started re-installing all the apps and putting my files back on it.

Two days later, while at work, I got a call from someone at the Apple Store informing me that there had been a mistake and that I had been given the wrong laptop. They had my laptop at the store.

On my lunch break, I went to store and made the switch. I was upset that a mistake like that could be made, but I didn't blow up them. To make up for their mistake, the manager on duty told me that they were going to reimburse me for the cost of fixing the logic board. She gave me a 10% discount card for any purchase at the Apple Store. As we were wrapping up the switcheroo, she asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. I showed her the screen on my laptop. It had a scratch in the middle of the screen, presumably from the keys scratching against it while in my bag. I told her I'd like to get it replaced.

After a few minutes, she told me that they would replace my screen for free. I told her I couldn't do it right away because I needed my laptop for work. She told me it was a $300-400 repair. She told me she would put a note on my Genius Bar account and if I came in within three or four months, they would repair my screen for free. I was a bit skeptical, but I took her word.

Last Tuesday, I noticed a crack on the bezel on the left side of my screen. By Wednesday morning, I was worried that the screen might break.

So I made an appointment at the Genius Bar. Part of me expected them to say that no note was every made on my account or that the offer had expired. But to my surprise, the offer still stood. They were going to replace my screen without charging me.

Today, I went to pick up my laptop. When the manager gave it to me, she told me that not only had they replaced the screen, but they had replaced the top case, the bottom case, the keyboard and the trackpad...all for FREE. Then she handed me the paperwork.

It was actually a $1240 repair! I was shocked!

Needless to say, I am a believer. I will never question the Genius Bar again.

Who wins World Series first, Cubs or Red Sox?

The Cubs introduced their savior, Theo Epstein, today.

10 years ago, Epstein was the wonderkid being given the keys to the shiny luxury car. Today, he's the grizzled veteran being brought in to turn around another franchise starving for a championship.

Epstein relinquishes his post as General Manager of the Red Sox to become President of Baseball Operations for the North Siders. He will report directly to Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts, who was sitting alongside Epstein at the press conference today. Jed Hoyer, the GM of the San Diego Padres in 2011, will take over the vacant Cubs GM position.



The Cubs are a team in desperate need of an overhaul. After winning the NL Central in 2007 and 2008, they have finished 5th in the division the last two seasons. Previous management has burdened the team with unmovable contracts, such as Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano. Zambrano, the volatile starting pitcher, will make $18 million in 2012 and Soriano, a defensive liability in left field, is set to make $18 million each of the next three seasons.

Epstein and Hoyer will have some major holes to fill. The Cubs will be looking for a first baseman and it is expected that they will make competitive offers to superstar free agents Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder with the hope of making one the cornerstone player for the next seven or eight years. Right field and starting pitching are also priorities.

On the other hand, the team Epstein leaves behind, the Red Sox, are an organization in turmoil. They were the big offseason winners prior to the 2011 season, signing top free agent Carl Crawford and trading for MVP candidate Adrian Gonzalez. But the Red Sox blew a 9-game lead in the AL Wild Card race in September, the greatest collapse in history.

Since that walk-off loss to the Orioles to end the season, the Red Sox have parted ways with manager Terry Francona, allowed Epstein to leave and had to defuse a story that starting pitchers Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jon Lester were in the clubhouse during games drinking beer during the pennant race.

Once again, the two teams are linked. Prior to 2004, they were the two teams rich in history but lacking in recent World Series titles. Now they are linked through Epstein, the Red Sox savior now trying to revive the Cubs.

It will be interesting to see which team will experience success faster.

The Red Sox have the on-field talent (MVP candidates Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia as well as All-Stars Crawford and Kevin Youkilis) but are trying to stabilize the front office. Do they have players that need to be traded for the sake of clubhouse chemistry? Who will manage the team? Will all the turnover in the dugout and front office hurt the team? Will it be a distraction?

The Cubs now have a solid brain-trust in position but need to overhaul the talent on the field. Superstar-in-waiting Starlin Castro is the cornerstone player Epstein and Hoyer can build around. A decision will have to be made about third baseman Aramis Ramirez and his $16 million team option. It's believed he wants to stay with the Cubs, but will the team want to pay that much money to a guy that hasn't hit 30 home runs since 2006 and hasn't driven in 100 runs since 2008. How much are they willing to offer to Pujols or Fielder?

Both teams have a lot of questions to answer and a lot to prove on the field over the next few seasons. We'll have to wait and see which one of Epstein's projects will produce first: his abandoned project or his reclamation project.

Making Something Out of Nothing

Today, I was supposed to be on assignment for Sports Star Magazine covering the St. Ignatius - Sacred Heart Cathedral high school baseball game. The game was originally supposed to be played on Tuesday at AT&T Park as part of Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic. But because it was raining on Tuesday, it was rescheduled for today.

After work, I walked down to the ballpark. When I got there, the gates were closed and after asking a Giants employee, I discovered that there was no baseball game on the schedule at the ballpark.

If I had checked MaxPreps.com before I left the office, I would have noticed that the game was relocated to Marchbanks Park in Daly City, about two blocks from the BART station.

So Since I was in the area, I walked around to McCovey Cove.



Then I took the scenic root back to BART.

Hey, batter, batter, batter...swing!

This past Saturday, I went to the Cal Baseball Classic at AT&T Park to watch a couple games. The first game, between Louisiana and UC Santa Barbara started at 11am. At 12, My buddy Matt showed up and we went and sat behind home plate. After that game ended, we were able to move to the first row directly behind home plate for the Long Beach State - University of San Francisco game.

I hadn't shot baseball in at least a year, but I felt like I came back with some shots I was happy with.









For the rest of my photos, check out my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/alithanawalla/

Pier to Nowhere

I've always been fascinated by the long pier at the Berkeley Marina, so whenever I go there, I hope for interesting light. Today, the sun was shining through the clouds and reflecting brightly off the water. I felt the diptych was an effective way to show the pier from both sides.

Doggie Singles Party!

That's what the Dog A'Fair felt like.

Anybody that know's me well knows that I'm not fond of dogs at all. I don't like over-friendly Man's Best Friends. I can deal with small dogs, but I have a difficult time being around any dog that has the ability to maul me (okay, jump on me and knock me down). So I wasn't sure if I had made the correct choice in allowing Zahir to take me the dog festival at the Radio Club.

But I will be the first to admit that I enjoyed photographing the dogs. All the dogs were on leashes, and for the most part, the dogs were more concerned with doing a little speed sniffing...er, I mean speed dating rather than bothering an unfamiliar human.



For more of my photos from the Dog A'Fair, go to www.flickr.com/alithanawalla

After the dog festival, I met up with Samira and her friend Gunjan at Kala Ghoda in an attempt to do some shopping for gifts. It took as about five minutes to realize it was a lost cause. A street art festival on a Sunday afternoon? I think everybody in all of Bombay was there. So we just started walking away from the festival. Because there were so many people, we were finding it difficult to hold the conversation, so we stopped in a little alley. As we started talking, a guy started banging on a drum and a little girl, probably six or seven years old, started doing somersaults.

Street Performer 01 from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

Then she climbed up the poles and started traversing the tight rope as the man continued to bang on the drum. As you can see from the video below, there was also an element of call and response between the two.

Tight Roping Street Performer from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

I read that the terrific weather that the Bay Area has been spoiled with since I left will be overtaken by rain in the next day or two. I hope Mother Nature gets it all out of its system by the time I get back next Monday. I'm getting used to nice weather and I'm not looking forward to returning to rain. Please proceed to collectively curse at me.

A Day of Remembrance

I must warn you, the theme of the day was a bit sad. Some might say morbid.

On Friday, my aunt told me that she wanted to go to her grandmother's grave, as yesterday was the anniversary of her passing. My Badi Nani (Great Grandmother) passed in 1994, two years before my mom. I was 10 when Badi Nani passed, but I still remember spending time with her when my mom and I would stay with her and my grandmother.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I had been to Badi Nani's grave.

We stopped to pick up pre-made flower arrangements from a custom flower shop. Once we got to the cemetery, before we could lay the flowers, place the incense or pray, we had to get someone to pour water on the grave. Once we placed the flower arrangement over the grave, my aunt lit incense and each of us placed two or three sticks in the grave.

Day of Remembrance from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

A few other family distance family members were buried in the same cemetary, so we went around to all of them and placed some loose flowers and incense on them.

I know this is going to sound weird to some of you, but I'm glad I got to experience this.

In the evening, I went with my aunt and cousin to the memorial service for my cousin's friend's mom, which I mentioned in an earlier blog post. It was a much smaller, low key service than the one we had for my mom. There were no speeches at this service. Anybody that wanted to pay their respects was allowed to come by and see the family. My cousin's friend was surprisingly composed. She cried a little bit during the prayer towards the end. My cousin and I were just trying to keep her friend's spirits high by making her smile and/or laugh.

One week left on my trip. Still have a lot of things to do and a few family members to visit. I think Samira and I are going to go back to the Kala Ghoda Festival today and look at the crafts to see if there is anything worth buying.

Bring on the World Cup...of Cricket

Good morning everyone. It's actually almost 3pm here on Thursday, but most of you will be reading this as you wake up.

Not feeling too good right now. I think I ate some bad food last night. Wasn't a pretty scene last night. But I slept off the bug and I feel better today. Decided to stay home and take it easy. My aunt and cousin have gone out for lunch.

Anyway, before my near-death experience last night, per my request, Zahir took me to a spot on Marine Drive I had been eyeing for a couple days. As evidence by the video a posted last week, Marine Drive a long stretch of road. From the far end, you can see all the major Government and office buildings. But this year, there is a new character in the Marine Drive skyline: Wankhede Stadium. New in the sense, the lights are on in the evening because construction crews are making last minute round-theclock preparations for the Cricket World Cup which is starting on the 19th. So just about evening since I've been here, the lights have been on. Below is a 30 second exposure.



On Tuesday, my aunt and I went to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Kala Ghoda is a big artsy area in the middle of South Bombay with lots of old British-built buildings. The festival was your typical street fair. There were booths where people were selling crafts, there was entertainment for kids. People were taking photos with statues and shrines built for the festival. And there was a large stage set up for dancing and plays. From about 5pm to 10pm, there were a number of performances. My aunt and I watched three performances.







After the festival, we stopped so that my family could buy some snacks from one of the street vendors. These guys were popular. They were making Bhel Puri and Sev Puri. And it wasn't that expensive. My aunt, cousin and friend all ate two helpings and the total for all three of them came to 70 rupees. That's literally a $1.50. And that was pretty much their dinner for the evening. That's not too shabby if you ask me.



Alrighty, like I said, I'm supposed to be taking it easy today, so I'm going to go do a little reading and take a nap before everyone gets home.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

I haven't blogged in a few days, partly because things have slowed down and I haven't done much of anything worth writing about. But also, I caught a case of Writer's Block, which tends to happen to me after a few days of writing. I love to write (I originally got into journalism to write) but I can't do it consistently enough to make a career out of it.

Anyway, yesterday was an interesting day. The events led to a lot of retrospective thinking.

At about 9am yesterday, my aunts cell phone rang. It was in her bedroom, but we were in the living room talking, so I ran to get it for her. It was my cousin Samira's best friend. From the moment she answered the phone, my aunt knew something was wrong, so she went into Samira's room and woke her up.

About two minutes later, Samira came out of her room and told us that her best friend's mom had just died. Samira's friend had just left home and was on the train headed for work when she herself got the call that her mom had died. She wasn't sick. So within the time she had left the house and 9am, something had happened to her mom. It's amazing that your life can change that dramatically that quickly.

The original plan was for all of us to go to Samira's friends house, but eventually, I ended up going to Zahir's office, while Samira and my aunt spent the entire day at her friend's house. A big part of me wanted to go because this friend had helped me just this past weekend look for gifts for friends. Even though I don't know her that well, I do know that she's a sweet girl. But I also knew that since I didn't really know the family, it wasn't my place. Samira and my aunt picked me up at 7:30 and that's when they told me that the lady had suffered a stroke and passed away on the way to the hospital.

For those that don't know, my mom suffered a stroke and died in 1996. So this whole situation really got me thinking about how the whole episode unfolded for me, and if it had happened like it happened to Samira's friend, how would I have reacted. Back then, I was unbelievably close with my mom. If she were still alive today, I imagine we'd be just as close. I can't even begin to imagine my reaction if, while on a packed BART train, I got a call from my dad or a friend telling me my mom had collapsed and died just like that. The idea that it could all be over so quickly, to me, defies logic.

Anyway, enough of the depressing rambling. Back to our regularly scheduled programming: Photos!

Today, we went to Bandra to take care of errands so we stopped by the Mount Mary church for a few minutes. Simply beautiful. There are two parts of the church. Across the street from the main building is the statue of Mary. The statue is encased above a small chapel. This first photo is of the chapel and the case containing the statue of Mary.



This is the main building. The front entrance was closed, so I couldn't go in.



While waiting for my family to finish their business, I stopped to admire the palm trees.



Two nights ago, we went to Colaba to do some shopping. We passed by the woman on the way to a shop. On the way back, I stopped for a minute. I had hoped to catch someone giving her some money.



I didn't post anything about our weekend road trip to Lavasa, a hill station 4-5 hours outside of Bombay. I'll keep it brief. It was magnificent. Because it was secluded from the city, there wasn't much smog. I felt like it was a combination of Lake Tahoe and Anderson Lake County Park in Morgan Hill.





Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl. It's not on TV here this year (Ten Sports used to broadcast it, as recently as two years ago), so I'm going to have to try to stream it online. Gotta wake up at 5am on Monday here. I'm rooting for the Steelers for two reasons. 1. I grew up hating the Packers, so despite the fact that Aaron Rodgers is their QB, I can't root for them. 2. Despite his numerous stupid personal decisions, I'm a huge Roethlisberger fan. The guy just finds ways to win games.

Take A Ride

Riding in a car traveling along Marine Drive is always enjoyable. It's about two minutes with very few stops. People are always walking or sitting on the sea wall. Here is a video I recorded yesterday on my iPod.

Take A Ride Along Marine Drive (Mumbai) from Ali Thanawalla on Vimeo.

Yesterday was Samira's 30th birthday, so we went to one of her favorite restaurants, 5 Spice, a chinese restaurant in the Fort area of Mumbai. We were the last people to leave the restaurant, so the area was deserted, except for a few security guards and stray dogs.



We are heading out on a road trip early tomorrow morning. We're going to go to a new hill station city called Lavasa and possibly stop in Pune. My family has been telling me to go to Pune for a long time.

On a side note, the images from Egypt are insane. I've been glued to CNN all morning. I feel like we're watching a major international country crumble before our eyes. For a country known for it's tourism, it's going to be interesting to see how dramatic of a fall their tourism industry takes.

Signing off. About to head out with Samira to an Astrology Exhibit.

They have won, we have lost

Today is Republic Day in India. It's their 4th of July. I wanted to go to the Gateway of India to take photos, but the entire area was sealed off to traffic by barricades. You could walk down towards the Gateway, but they wouldn't allow cameras. I can't imagine security at Pier 39 being so tight that they wouldn't allow people to take photos. It's official. Those bad guys that want to cause mass destruction and mass chaos have won.



In the evening, I took a walk down behind our building with Zahir. People tend to gather on the sea wall and watch the sun set or exercise.



Alright. Off to bed. Visiting one of my favorite aunts in Bandra tomorrow.

Is it "sari" or "saree"?

When I used to visit Bombay with my mom, I would always tag along with her and her sister when they went shopping for jewelry or clothes. The men behind the counter would always offer me something to drink, usually a mango juice box.

Today brought back some of those memories. I met up with Naseem Aunty, who is also visiting from the US. We had lunch with her husband's parents at the Cricket Club of India (CCI), which is literally a cricket stadium. We ate lunch in one of the many restaurants in the concourse.



After lunch, Naseem Aunty and I went to a sari (or is it saree? I've asked Shehnaz Aunty and Samira, and they've both said it's interchangeable and that either one works) store a few blocks from CCI. She needed to get some gifts for friends back home. We spent about an hour in this shop and I watched her try on at least two dozen saris. The most amusing part of all this was that all of the men that worked there started to gather around and watch her try on the saris. I had been joking with her that she was becoming a Bollywood Diva, and anybody walking into this store during this hour would not have been blamed if they thought they had stumbled upon a Bollywood actress shopping for saris.



Afterwards, we went back to CCI, found her in-laws and had some tea before going our separate ways.

As I write this, we are trying to plan a short 2 day family trip for this weekend. We're looking at tiny hill station towns, like Lavasa. There are a couple other options, we feel like some of them require more than two days and one night.

Tomorrow is Republic Day here in India, which is their Independence Day. Not sure what we're going to do, but I've been told that the Air Force conducts an aerial show, so hopefully I'll get to check that out.

I survived a Big Bazaar Sale

Imagine a Black Friday-type scene inside a Mumbai all-in-one grocery store/supermarket. Nowhere to go. Carts hitting the back of your legs. Reaching over strangers to get the product you need. Store employees on bullhorns exclaiming the deals of the day. It was quite an experience. Next time you go to Safeway or Whole Foods, imagine having to spend 30 minutes in line, while the family in front of you unloads and pays for three carts of goods.

We are a house full of exhausted souls.

Yesterday was a bit more relaxing. Spent the afternoon going to Hanging Garden and Chowpatty Beach at sunset. The beach was full of kids running around, flying kites and riding the ferris wheel rides.







In the evening, I had dinner with my cousin Zahir and his girlfriend at the Radio Club never the Taj Hotel and Gateway of India. There was a wedding party taking place on the patio.



After dinner, while walking back to the car, we stopped to say hi to one of the horses pulling the carriages. He was quite tame.



We're all just lying around right now. Samira, Rahim and I are watching CSI NY. Zahir is about to update the OS on my Blackberry. Just another chill evening in the Wallani household.

Gonna see family from my dad's side the next few days.

Health + Love = Happiness

I love my grandmother.

Not much creativity in the writing. Just the truth.

I got to spend some time with her yesterday. She's healthy and happy, and nothing makes me happier.



Samira took me to Bandra via the much-talked-about Bandra Worli Sealink. If a suspension bridge and a freeway had a child, it would be this Sealink. When I was here two years ago, construction on the Sealink had not yet finished, so this was my first time on it. As you can see, cranes are still present, meaning work has yet to be completed. Whatever the cost of the Sealink, and I know it was costly, it was worth every paisa.



While waiting for my cousin to finish some work, I watched this man take in his surroundings.



While in Bandra, we stopped to eat dosa's on the main road. Walked this stretch of road many times when I was younger.

The setting moon and rising sun of Mumbai

I've been in Mumbai a little over 24 hours. But it feels like I never left.

Even though I haven't been here for two years, my family has a way of making me feel like I've been here the whole time. I slide into their lives naturally, like the final piece to a puzzle.

The first 24 hours weren't that interesting. Didn't leave the house. But today, the plan is to go see my grandmother. I still can't get past the fact that my first solo trip in 2005 was primarily to see her due to some health issues(I was told she may not live much longer), yet almost 6 years(and 4 trips) later, she's still going strong. (PS - As I write this, I am glancing out the window at another awesome Mumbai sunrise - the kind my mom loved.)

More to come...

MaxPrex Test 2

MaxPreps Test

Just some stuff from the last few weeks

Went to the Tea Party Rally at Union Square a few weeks ago. It was pretty mellow. It was basically a bunch of people standing in front of a microphone screaming that Obama is ruining this country. This was really the only photo I get from the event.


Some family came to town two weeks ago. On their first day in San Francisco, my dad and I met took them to Pier 39. My two cousins, Jennifer and Stephanie, were walking ahead of us. Just a cool moment.


Last week, I was given the chance to go cover a story with Chronicle Sports Columnist Scott Ostler. He was doing a story on two Harlem Globetrotters, Curly Neal and Wun Versher. We had lunch with them near Ghiradelli Square. After lunch, we took them up to a basketball court on Lombard and Hyde. I only had 3 minutes to take these portraits as they were in a hurry to get to their next event.


After taking the portraits of the Globetrotters, Scott and I were heading back to the Chronicle building. We were heading back on Powell, stopped at a red light at Pine, when a red taxi cab went racing right by us, running the red light and slamming into a white Chrysler PT Cruiser. The two cars ricochetted into a couple people walking up Powell. This photo shows the driver of the Chrysler being prepped to be loaded into the ambulance.
I never saw a follow-up story, so I don't know how any of the injured people are doing, or what caused the taxi driver to run the red light.

The week that is..or was...

It's been a fun week so far.
On Saturday, I spent the day with my buddy Eric and his son Erik. We went to Fry's in Walnut Creek to do a little shopping, and on the way home, we took the scenic route.




We ended up driving through some interesting towns along the Carquinez Strait. First, we stopped in Port Costa, which was this little old town with old Western-style bar.


Then stopped off at a pier in Eckley. Some random kids were fishing on the pier. You can see the Carquinez Bridge from the pier, and every few minutes, the Amtrak train will come rumbling by.


Next, we drove down to Crockett to the C&H Sugar Factory. The train tracks run by the factory and there were a bunch of old train cars just sitting on the track. It looked like they hadn't been used in a while.



On Monday, we found out that our Editorial Cartoonist Mark Fiore had won a Pulitzer Prize for his animated political cartoons. Late in the afternoon, we found out that there would be a mini press conference in our office. CBS sent a team to record it for the evening news. As you can see, a lot of the Chronicle staff showed up for the event.



Yesterday, myself and fellow SFGate intern Chloe Roth ventured up to the roof of the Chronicle building. She had been sitting all day and needed to stretch. She proceeded to do some yoga. I happened to have my camera.