Sara Pepitone

NYC Bars for Fans of Non-NY MLB Teams

Given the number of games (ten times as many) baseball doesn’t draw regular season crowds like football. But that doesn’t mean you gotta sit alone on your couch in your jersey to root for your favorite team, even if that team resides outside the five boroughs. If you’re looking for your kind, a good rule of thumb is to check out your usual NFL (or even NCAA) spot because often the affiliation is based on owner homesickness. Otherwise, check out the list below and be thankful you live in a city unafraid of opposing cheers, though we do not recommend, say, parading into Stan’s (836 River Ave., Bronx) in anything but pinstripes. Ditto for orange and blue (and black) at McFadden’s (36-2 126th Street, Flushing).

Read complete story on NYPost.com: NYC is FAN-tastic

'cause you surely don't have good enough eyes to de-blur this:

Dublin down: Ireland wants to welcome you home

Worldwide, some 80 million people claim Irish ancestry. And this year the motherland is calling everyone home. “The Gathering” is a yearlong tourism promotion launched to encourage everyone of Irish descent to congregate with their kin.

Gatherings can be created and hosted by all kinds of folks, from corporations to McCarthys to red heads. Non-Irish welcome too, of course. But while you can go from coast to coast, my recent trip focused on gatherings (and more) that were city-based.

Established as a Viking settlement more than 1000 years ago, Dublin is home to 1.2-million of Ireland’s 6.4-million population. And if a few days of guided tours are any representation, just about all of them are entertaining. Subtle, dry humor reigns but there’s plenty of outright hilarity too, and it rounds out a travel itinerary like nothing else. Just don’t expect any story to be short.

If you missed it in print, read full story on NYPost.com: Dublin down: Ireland wants to welcome you home

Yankees Spring Training in Tampa

Spring! Training! I am delighted to be an expert in this field (pun!)...

The Yankees spring training home opener is this Sunday, against Toronto. Home meaning Tampa, Fla. Through March 28, the team will shape up for the regular season at Steinbrenner Field. And you’re invited.

Spring training isn’t just for die-hard fans. Sure, you can check out the prospects and consider who might make the regular roster, but this is also about experiencing the national pastime on a smaller scale (in terms of seating: 11,026 versus 50,291; but the center-field wall is the same 408 feet). Yankee Stadium is awesome, but there’s nothing like hearing the crack of a bat and seeing what 195 pounds of Derek Jeter looks like when you’re crazy close to the field, something most of us rarely experience. Plus, it’s not freezing. Remember how good it feels to walk outside in a T-shirt?

If you missed it in print, check out the complete (mini) travel guide on NYPost.com: Earn your stripes at spring training: Yankees preseason fun in Florida

Photographer at Work: Anne Wermiel

I got to watch another photographer at work for my recent Super Bowl Food/Party story - Anne Wermiel. Nice to be reminded of the artistry beyond the phone.
Here's my part...

This year’s Super Bowl may be lacking in big blues and gang greens, but that doesn’t mean your party has to lack in color, or spirit. We reached out to two NYC chefs — who are fans of the teams actually playing — for suggestions of eats to celebrate both San Francisco and Baltimore. Here are four quarters worth of party food to put you in the mood at kickoff time...

If you missed it in print, read complete story on NYPost.com: Crunch time! Two top NYC chefs with a rooting interest in the big game offer their takes on a Super Bowl supper of tasty treats out of Baltimore and San Francisco

NYC Marathon Cancelled; Riot Averted

It's hard to find a NYer who supported the running of the NYC Marathon given the widespread and severe devastation left by Hurricane Sandy. Are we mindful of the 47000 people who trained and prepared? Of course. We support them too, but we know how to prioritize here.

Looking for something to do on Sunday? Volunteer opportunities are easy to find. Check out the NYC Service Website to find out what you can do to help the City now.

Photographer at Work: Eilon Paz

Eilon and I spent an afternoon in Central Park, Oktoberfesting it up with lots and lots of people in costume for New York Post story: Hold Your Booze!, about the 4th Annual National Maßkrugstemmen Championship, and various Maßkrugstemmen events around town. That's the sport you win by holding up a stein full of beer longer than your competition. It's unbelievably difficult.

Photographer at Work: Alexander Michael

Here's some news: Cheerleaders are popular with NFL fans. Thanks to Jets Flight Girls Alyse and Laura for coming out to help photographer Alexander Michael and me put together Trucksdown!, our Food Trucks / Jets Tailgating story. The minute these girls arrived, a swarm of salivating fans appeared. You're welcome, guys.

Photographer at Work: Gabi Porter

Swapping boozy cupcakes for sautéed squirrel, photographer Gabi Porter and I spent a morning in Brooklyn with author-TV personality-hunter Steve Rinella, whose new book Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunterwas released earlier this week.
Wow is that a sentence. Sorry, racing the internetcrashesmylaptop clock here. Here's the story on nypost.com: Urban chow boy. The print version is (was?) considerably more attractive and fun.

Steve Rinella, Javelina, and Me

I've surely said it before; the best part of my job is the frequency with which I get to meet interesting and amazing people. Though there are many people who frustrate me (simply: anyone disinterested in facts), there are many more who have something worth sharing. And I don't just mean meat from a javelina they hunted (skull above), but that is excellent too (literally). Thanks to Steve Rinella and family for letting me in. Check out Steve's new memoir Meat Eater, and if you're lucky enough to have Sportsman Channel (which I do not becasue I only have 3700 channels so obviously no space), you can watch his show of the same name (produced by Bourdain's production company, btw). We're talking mega travel, hunting, cooking, and brains (sometimes part of the cooking). The world is good.

The London Aquatics Centre

This is the London Aquatics Centre (Not CentER), which I got to study in some depth for my recent global design story. Thanks to Zaha Hadid Architects for the images.

Legacy – what happens after the 2012 Olympics are over – was first and foremost in the design process of the London Aquatics Centre. That’s how London won the overall bid says project architect Glenn Moorley, Zaha Hadid Architects. There was a clear statement from the government regarding how best to convince the International Olympic Committee, he says.

Zaha Hadid has been involved since the bid book was assembled, more than seven years ago, and before that when they bid to be part of the bid. And the end-result, well, near-end-result of so much time and effort is extraordinary.