July 2018

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

– Rogers Hornsby

There is something exhilarating and contagious about people who are fanatical about their team/favorite player. It’s positively tribal the way they will don colorful jerseys, paint their faces and chest bump strangers with a grunt. I have never had a ‘team’ although when people find out I am from Montreal I do the requisite fist pump in the air and say, “Go Habs Go!” Continue reading Editor’s Letter →

By Brooke Gazer

Surfing is Jamie Tierney’s passion.  Growing up in California, he learned to surf at the age of twelve and it has become a cornerstone of his life.  After attending film school, he began making commercials and documentaries involving surfing and other things sports-oriented. While attending school, he worked for Quiksilver, a company that designs, produces, and markets surf gear. This was a useful contact when he set out to produce those commercials. Continue reading An Interview with a Surfer →

By Armin-  SoccerManiak

Mexico was one of the first Nations to be part of FIFA, having the first Mexican National Squad formed under Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación  (FMFA) in 1929. Mexico took part in the very first FIFA World Cup, being one of the 13 countries to participate in the 1930 FIFA World Cup, held in Uruguay.  Mexico finished the tournament in the last place with all defeats. Continue reading Mexico Soccer History →

By Jed Pitman

There are moments in history which are coupled with the question, “Where were you when…?”

I’m thinking of the assassination of JFK, the news that Princess Diana had died in a car crash in Paris, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA and, if you are a bit younger, the day Jay Z and Beyonce got hitched. Continue reading World Cup Fever! →

By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

There’s never a guarantee of finding hallucinogenic mushrooms in the wild. Neither the psilocybin hongo silvestre (wild mushroom) used by folk healer María Sabina in Oaxaca’s Huautla de Jiménez, now synonymous with the term “magic mushroom,” nor Alice’s wonderful white flecked orange crimson Amanita muscaria.  But searching for wild mushrooms in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte during the summer rainy season does increase the likelihood.  More importantly, being part of a group of mushroom and ecotourism aficionados during the annual Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (regional wild mushroom fair) makes for an extremely enjoyable treasure hunt. Continue reading July’s Oaxaca Magical Mushroom Tour: Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres →

By Carole Reedy

The New Yorker writer Katy Waldman describes the baseball field as “a place of illusion and possibility.”  Fans old and young will agree. The sport of baseball, known to many as the Great American Game, is met with as much enthusiasm here in the southern portion of North America as it is by our gringo neighbors in the north. Admittedly it’s not as popular in Mexico as the beloved futbol (soccer to US fans). But be it Big League or Little League, the hearts of men, women, and children skip a beat when they hear the words that start every baseball game: PLAY BALL! Continue reading The Great American Game: South of the Border →

By Julie Etra

Mexico is not known for competitive basketball. It was introduced into Mexico in 1902 thanks to  Guillermo Spencer, who directed the Methodist Institute in Puebla, the organization that sponsored the first unofficial event in that same year. Three years later, the first professional match took place. It makes sense that Mexico, with its close proximity to the United States, would take up the very popular US sport. To date, it is fourth in popularity, behind football, (known as soccer outside of Mexico) baseball, and boxing. Continue reading Basketball in Southern Mexico →

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

Although futbol or, as the Americans say, soccer, is the most popular sport in Mexico, every four years people around the country gather in front of TVs to cheer on another sports team, their Olympic diving team. Mexican athletes have participated in the Olympics in all games since those hosted by Paris in 1924.  And they have won at least one medal in all summer games since 1932 in the Los Angeles Olympics.  The Mexican athletes most likely to medal are the members of the diving team.  Over all Olympic Summer Games, the Mexico diving teams have won 14 medals.  The only Mexican Olympians who have come close to that are Mexican boxers, who have taken home a total of 13 medals.  Continue reading Mexico’s Olympic Diving Team →

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

Ardent sports fans among the snowbirds and ex-pats from NORTH North America are often devoted to the sports of the Winter Olympics, fiercely cheering on Team Canada or Team USA in one or another, or all, the 15 different winter events.  But did you know, you could also cheer on Team Mexico?  And someday soon, or maybe not so soon, you might even be able to cheer on a Mexican curling team? Continue reading Cool Runnings – Cheering Mexico at the Winter Olympics →