Lion, lions, lions, and lions (#294; Topic D)

On the last day of our visit to our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, our grandchildren's paternal grandmother took us to dinner at a very nice restaurant, the Capital Grille. On either side of the restaurant's entrance is a statue of a lion. The thought suddenly occurred to me that, in the last month or so, I had come across lion or lions at least four times -- two while visiting our son and two while visiting our daughter. While in New York, our son took us to see a Broadway musical, the Lion King. The following day, on my own, I visited the New York Public Library. (An exhibition was on at the time; it inspired me to a thought on which I planned to write an entry in this blog. So far, I could not find time to do it.) The NYPL's entrance also has a pair of lions, one on each side, similar to the entrance to the Capital Grille. While in Detroit, our son-in-law treated us to a professional football game, Chicago Bears v Detroit Lions, on Christmas eve. I have been to only two professional football games before (Miami v Washington in a Super Bowl played in Los Angeles, and a Washington regular home game a couple of years ago); I found both games boring. For this third pro game, the start was equally boring. (We arrived at the stadium a bit late, at the opening moments of 2nd quarter; the first quarter's score was 10:7 Chicago.) For the entire 2nd quarter, there was nothing but 3 down and punt; there was no first-downs, to my recollection. For the second half, I thought one of Lions' ends (R. Williams) played well, catching some long passes for scores. Thus, while Lions were behind by two touchdowns, they came back and even led by a couple of points for a while. Then, through two consecutive field goals, Bears led. With the clock running down, Lions received the kickoff and, for practical purposes, had the last possesion of the ball. Deep in home territory, Lions managed to move the ball forward. Perhaps in desperation, they gambled to gain a first down (rather than to punt) on 4th and survived. On the very last play of the game, another receiving end (M. Williams; no relation to Roy Williams) had his hand on a long pass in the end zone. Had he held on to it, Lions would have won; he didn't, and Lions lost. A very exciting game toward the end, with spectators who chose to remain well pleased. (A sports columnist advocated, in Detroit Free Press, that spectators walked out at 8:47 in 2nd quarter, as a protest of Lions' miserable season. Many, apparently, complied, including some 20 near where we were sitting.) Bears' record was 12: 2, readying for post-season games, while Lions' record was 2:12, tying for the worst-record season with another team. Since the team with the worst record has the first crack at this year's draft pick, it really is to Lions' advantage for losing the game to Bears. So, the write-up in next day's paper was not particularly harsh. Who knows? Maybe Detroit, by losing this game we saw, would have the season's first draft pick. The Capital Grille is a steakhouse. I rose to the occasion and ordered a steak; it was prepared just right, and I really enjoyed it; the food is excellent. Still, our grandson, who enjoys filet minon, ranks it second to Antepasta, an Italian restaurant in Ocean City MD that features charcoal steak (60 oz, good for at least 2 or even 3), which we had visited on two occasions in past years when we congregated at the Bethany DE beach during summer.