GMT + 10:00

Blah Blah That's the time zone I am in. It is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time.
Now I don't watch a whole lot of TV. I have come to regard it with actual disdain. I was not a big fan of my parents and the daily restriction of half-an-hour that they placed on me as I grew up. Having emerged from my time spent under their rules, and my necessary rebellion at everything they proposed for me, I self-regulate myself to approximately an hour of television a week. When I did have cable last year, I spent my time building up my brain power by watching South Park episodes. Respect mah authoritah!
Here on Saipan I don't have cable-or even a television. But I was recently alerted to the 2008 European Cup soccer tournament, and I enjoy the sport so I decided to try and watch some of the matches. And herein lies the problem. When I asked the folks here when the game was they responded, "It starts at 4:45."
"A.M." I questioned.
Yessiree. So I set my alarm, went to bed early (Damn that was hard!) and got up and went to Dale's house to watch the game with some other devoted fans. But this got me thinking about some other sporting events. Like the recent NBA Finals. They all seemed to come on in mid-afternoon...hard to catch if you were at work, although several of the people I watched one of the games with claimed an "extended meeting" to make up for the absence at work. It is Saipan after all. What about something like the Super Bowl? Well, kick-off at 6:30 pm EST would be 8:30 am here. Heck of a time to start drinking at a Super Bowl party!
Nascar races would begin around 2 or 3 in the morning here...and go until near sunrise. And Monday Night Football is going to begin around 11 am come that time of year.
I'm just trying to point out the immense sacrifices that the dedicated sports fan has to make here on Saipan. It ain't me. I'm not gonna make those sacrifices. But some people will. Some people have to. And they should be recognized. And saluted.
The question this brings up for me is...if I can get up at 4:45 am for a soccer match, why can't I get up for all the other structured activities in my life? Maybe it just means that watching soccer matches should be an important part of my life.