*Some day this stuff will be so routine, it won’t be newsworthy anymore.
But for now we’re still noting how many passengers there are–or are not–flying to Cuba out of Tampa International Airport. Last year it was 46,000 inbound and outbound, a 3 percent bump from 2012.
Currently three charter services offer a handful of flights weekly. That’s because the demand is artificially limited–family, researchers and “People-to-People” tour participants. That’s because Florida remains a battleground state and few politicians not named Kathy Castor, between the Sunshine State and the White House, want to risk doing the right thing–and officially advocate for unfettered travel as well an end to the counterproductive economic embargo.
Alas, “some day” is not mañana.
*And now we have the University of Tampa baseball team finishing up its week-long stay in Cuba. Given that Tampa and Havana are historic soul mates, this should be an annual occurrence–with reciprocity. Instead, it’s practically “historic.”
But we’ll take it. Schools such as the University of Alabama and Grand Valley State have already gone, so why not UT?
“Charlie Miranda came to coach (Joe) Urso about it,” said UT sports information director Tom Kolbe. “It happened real quick. Our international people told us it would take years.
“But it’s really more of a cultural thing,” emphasized Kolbe. “We don’t get into the political part. You just look at the itineraries. There’s a ton of different things, not just baseball games.”
Indeed, the team traveled on cultural literacy and international education licenses through the People to People organization. And while the team played three games (Industriales, Mayabeque and Artemisa), it also ate at local restaurants, engaged with college-aged contemporaries and left behind donated equipment, some of it by the–muchas gracias–New York Yanquis.
By the way, Industriales shares Estadio Latinoamericano, a vintage 1940s facility, with fellow Havana team Metropolitanos. I was privileged to see a game there in the late 1990s. I don’t remember the winner or the score, but I do recall the atmospherics.
Thermos-wielding vendors were cruising around selling paper-cup shots of espresso, others hawking cones of peanuts. The crowd was rhythmically engaged–with a constant metallic drum beat–and it was vocal. Big time. The umpires were ongoing targets. Some things never change.
However belated, the UT trip represents progress. Go, Spartans.
In fact, go again, Spartans.