B2B: Game Over?

It was not quite a year ago that I discovered a whimsical and magical place. A place where there were no rules or laws, where the alcohol flowed freely and clothing was optional. A place where you could talk politics with a gorilla, then turn around and hop on the Love Boat and cruise through a sea of happy faces. I speak, of course, about the annual Bay to Breakers 12k race through San Francisco.

In its 98th year, it gathered over 60,000 participants, costumed and float-toting, for a unique parade through the streets of the City by the Bay. I was there, and I must say, I had never seen anything quite like it.

It was amazing, mostly because I had trouble believing that we could get away with all this. Every float carried a stockade of kegs, people you didn't really want to see naked marched proudly through the streets, and the severe lack of port-o-poties made for a "go where you can!" mentality. Was it OK for this to be going on in the middle of a busy metropolitan area? Probably not, but everybody seemed cool with it... so hey, when in Rome!

So as the days counted down until this May extravaganza, I'm sure you can imagine my pain when I stumbled across an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, declaring The End to Bay to Breakers as We Know It. Indeed, it seems that there is to be a "zero tolerance" mandate on alcohol consumption, nudity and float-toting during the race this year.

"No," I said. "No, this must be a typo. There must be some kind of mistake." As a tear slipped from my eye, I looked up from my newspaper and out the window at the sun shining in. The world just didn't seem to be as glorious as it used to. The chirping of the birds seemed sorrowful. The laughter of children seemed contrived. Without this exposition of drunken debauchery and celebration of artistic freedom to look forward to every year, then what, pray tell, do we have to live for?

It is a sad day in America. Next up, I hear they're trying to ban drugs from Burning Man, then it'll be outlawing beads at Mardi Gras. It's a slippery slope that the country has embarked upon, and I pray that they see the error of their ways before it is too late.

So how many drunken jackasses will show up to the race in protest of the new rules? That is yet to be seen. I just hope that this isn't the end of an era... just a slight and temporary misjudgement that will soon be corrected, so we can get back to what the race is really all about...