What happened to the Times Square Ball Drop?

[KK4AMI]

I kept my bleary old eyes open all night, but NBC didn't show the ball drop. First, no Mayor, plus no Mayor-elect and then a Sorta Mayor to drop the ball, then no ball drop on most of the networks I hear. What gives?

[NQ6U]

Someone dropped the ball, it seems.

[W5BRM]

I wouldn't know. Last time i paid attention to the ball drop was when I hit puberty.... and it wasn't in Times Square! :lol:

[KG4CGC]

NBC does not show the ball drop. That is something that ABC has exclusive rights to.

[suddenseer]

I kept my bleary old eyes open all night, but NBC didn't show the ball drop. First, no Mayor, plus no Mayor-elect and then a Sorta Mayor to drop the ball, then no ball drop on most of the networks I hear. What gives?You are watching the wrong network. Go with the one that dragged Dick Clark out of the nursing home, and tied him to a vertical stretcher, and slapped pancake mix make up on him.

[N2CHX]

I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

[NQ6U]

I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

You wouldn't. It's an old man thing.

[KG4CGC]

I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

The purpose was so that large groups of people for a long distance can accurately count down the remaining seconds. Started some time around 1907.

[N2CHX]

You wouldn't. It's an old man thing.

Hahahahaha! Nice.


The purpose was so that large groups of people for a long distance can accurately count down the remaining seconds. Started some time around 1907.

Interesting. Makes sense.

[W9JEF]

.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=559147030841616&set=vb.161290320627291&type=2&theater

[N2NH]

NBC does not show the ball drop. That is something that ABC has exclusive rights to.

And CNN but they had a 15 second delay on the whole evening, even the ball dropping. WTF was with Kathy Griffin? I'll take whatever she had. I still doubt if I would've gone anywhere near where she did.


I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

I never got it either and I lived in the Times Sq. area as a kid (1/2 a block away). The last time I saw it live was when I was 2. I remember it being dark, lights were being shone on the crowd and there were a lot of people. Saw it from the 2nd floor of a office building with floor to ceiling windows. Figured out back then that it wasn't worth doing again.

Most of the people who do go there are tourists. New Yorkers are usually somewhere warm.

[KC9SQR]

I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

Me too, I just don't get it...

I remember as a kid the first time I was allowed to stay up that late to watch it, and I was expecting it do DO SOMETHING... I kept watching as the tension built and the seconds ticked away and it started SLOWLY going down the pole.. I was rather disappointed at the end when really not much happened... As a kid I was expecting it to blow up or something lol

[n2ize]

I kept my bleary old eyes open all night, but NBC didn't show the ball drop. First, no Mayor, plus no Mayor-elect and then a Sorta Mayor to drop the ball, then no ball drop on most of the networks I hear. What gives?

The old mayor is too busy trying to cut the pensions for city employees and the new incoming mayor is too bust trying to get horse and buggy rides banned and off the street. Looks like NYC has gone from 16 years of republican control freaks to a democratic control freak. As far as the ball goes, I don;t know. last I saw was an article showing them getting it ready But I didn't watch any TV or anything and I generally avoid Times Square on New years Eve.

[n2ize]

Me too, I just don't get it...

I remember as a kid the first time I was allowed to stay up that late to watch it, and I was expecting it do DO SOMETHING... I kept watching as the tension built and the seconds ticked away and it started SLOWLY going down the pole.. I was rather disappointed at the end when really not much happened... As a kid I was expecting it to blow up or something lol

Actually it would be much more fun if they somehow fired it way up into the sky at midnight. Like a giant catapult of something and send it streaking across the sky spewing a trail of smoke and fire and have it splash down in the Hudson River or the East River. Or if you really want to see a riot, ereplace it with a huge lighted balloon filled with money that busts at midnight and rains thousand dollar bills onto the crowd below...LOL. Or how about just having the ball on the ground and let people roll it through the streets.

[KG4CGC]

Kathy GriffinShe is always like that.
You should have seen her last year when she was trying to embarrass a recently out, gay, news guy.
She was trying to kiss him and get him to talk dirty to her.

[n2ize]

I never did understand the significance of the ball drop.

There is no real significance to it. It began in the early 1900's as a way to raise a spectacle for the eve and then caught on as a tradition. When I lived in Brooklyn people used to ring in the new year by banging on pots, pans, and garbage cans and shouting "Happy New Year".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball#Beginnings_.281907.E2.80.9319.29

[W5BRM]

Or how about just having the ball on the ground and let people roll it through the streets.

Or Inside it!

HUMAN HAMSTERBALL FTW!!!

[KC9SQR]

There is no real significance to it. It began in the early 1900's as a way to raise a spectacle for the eve and then caught on as a tradition. When I lived in Brooklyn people used to ring in the new year by banging on pots, pans, and garbage cans and shouting "Happy New Year".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Ball#Beginnings_.281907.E2.80.9319.29


Now I know why I heard that last night... There were a few people banging on pots and pans right at midnight lol

Part of my tradition for new years and has been for years is right at midnight go outside and listen to all the gunshots around Rockford... Like many previous years Rockford sounded like a warzone from 12:00 to 12:10 or so lol

[n2ize]

Now I know why I heard that last night... There were a few people banging on pots and pans right at midnight lol

Part of my tradition for new years and has been for years is right at midnight go outside and listen to all the gunshots around Rockford... Like many previous years Rockford sounded like a warzone from 12:00 to 12:10 or so lol

Hah. I love it. Down here it's a bit too urbanized and crowded for gun shots at midnight. But go a little ways north of my location where it becomes much nore rural and population is much more sparse and you will hear guns being fired at midnight. In fact rifle and shotgun blasts are quite common up there.

[N2NH]

She is always like that.
You should have seen her last year when she was trying to embarrass a recently out, gay, news guy.
She was trying to kiss him and get him to talk dirty to her.

:shock::wtf::nuts:

She really should get a room and buzz it up. I'll even pay for the batteries.

At least I got to see the ball drop. Too bad they missed her.

(BTW, this is much better than my first reaction which would've made the meltdown last summer look tame. Very tame.)

[KG4CGC]

:shock::wtf::nuts:

She really should get a room and buzz it up. I'll even pay for the batteries.

At least I got to see the ball drop. Too bad they missed her.

(BTW, this is much better than my first reaction which would've made the meltdown last summer look tame. Very tame.)

She started in the limelight as a comedian and someone who could do 20 minutes worth of talking in 5 minutes.

[N2NH]

She started in the limelight as a comedian and someone who could do 20 minutes worth of talking in 5 minutes.

I remember her feud with Howard Stern a few years back. I also remember her saying some very nasty things about NYC (which Stern brought up), which is why I find her train-wreck fascinating to watch.

NOT.

[W3WN]

You are watching the wrong network. Go with the one that dragged Dick Clark out of the nursing home, and tied him to a vertical stretcher, and slapped pancake mix make up on him.Ah, that would have been a little tough to do this year. He's dead.

[suddenseer]

Ah, that would have been a little tough to do this year. He's dead.Weekend At Bernie's""
http://officialmancard.com/omc/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WeekEndatBernies4.jpg

[n2ize]

I don't even know who Kathy Griffin is.

[KG4CGC]

I don't even know who Kathy Griffin is.

NSFW


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oEQsd5n_Rk

[n6hcm]

And CNN but they had a 15 second delay on the whole evening, even the ball dropping. WTF was with Kathy Griffin?

it's on 15s delay *because* of kathy griffin. she's said stuff in the past that made cnn nervous. last year it wasn't what she said, but what she did (simulate oral sex on anderson cooper off-camera) that created the drama. cnn whines but she's back every year and it's pretty awesome, imho.

[n6hcm]

Ah, that would have been a little tough to do this year. He's dead.

that would make it easier ... if they embalmed him right they could just tip him out of the box and onto a backboard ... kinda surprised they don't have him embalmed ala lenin, kim jong-il, ...

[kb2vxa]

"When I lived in Brooklyn people used to ring in the new year by banging on pots, pans, and garbage cans and shouting "Happy New Year".

That's because you moved out before John Goatee and his fireworks moved in.

As for gunshots, that's standard in my old QTH West Creek, firecrackers too where they have State Police miles away at night when the Tuckerton barracks strangely in West Creek are closed. Phil K2PG dug out blockbusters he bought out of state a few years before and we tossed them out the back door. The reports were so loud they sounded like pops, a short delay, then a roar that echoed through the pines for miles. For the broadcast engineers and AM Gangstas out there, it was like a peak limiter pushed to the max, pumping. In the morning I looked outside, the pocked with craters back yard looked like a war zone after a bomb run.

Could be we blew up a few moles, they had a nest on the side of the house and tunnels all over his and the neighbor's yard. Bill Murray should have called us. (Caddyshack)

[n2ize]

NSFW


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oEQsd5n_Rk

I like the fact that she is a redhead (I dig redheads) but i didn't find her routine very amusing. In fact I maintained a straight face throughout it.

[KG4CGC]

Then try to catch some of her stuff on Comedy Central or Netflix etc. Look for her older stuff so you can see what made her famous.

[WX7P]

Kathy Griffin is funny as hell.

I loved her bit bating Anderson Cooper before he came out. It was obvious she was making him uncomfortable, and not because of the TeeVee.

That comment she made one year to the heckler was classic.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVWtQqNSHM4

[n2ize]

Then try to catch some of her stuff on Comedy Central or Netflix etc. Look for her older stuff so you can see what made her famous.

I'll be open minded and give it a try. After all one cannot gauge a performer on one performance and... besides... she is a redhead...

[n2ize]

Kathy Griffin is funny as hell.

I loved her bit bating Anderson Cooper before he came out. It was obvious she was making him uncomfortable, and not because of the TeeVee.

That comment she made one year to the heckler was classic.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVWtQqNSHM4

Still not making me laugh :(