Pop vs. Soda

One of the key ingredients to a successful fantasy baseball draft is the food and drinks. I write this because my teams have not fared so well over the past 15 years, so I must enjoy the food and camaraderie. Anyway, when the draft took place in Pittsburgh, we had fries from The O (the Original Hot Dog Shop for those not familiar with this Pittsburgh landmark or the "Dirty O" for regulars). Some years are more difficult for me in terms of eating good food since the draft often takes place during Passover. I should actually do a study to determine if there is a correlation between where my team finishes in the standings based on whether or not I am eating matzah or macaroons during the draft.

With the draft taking place this weekend, a flurry of e-mails has gone back and forth discussing who is bringing what. One such e-mail was from the Commissioner who simply wrote, "I'll bring soda." I was and still am appalled by this sentence. The Commissioner, Marc, was born and raised in Pittsburgh and has lived in Michigan for several years. The last time I checked, both of these areas are "pop" country. I would understand if Marc lived in the Washington area and tried to assimilate by saying the dreaded "soda" (I wouldn’t agree, but I would understand), but again, he lives in Michigan. Marc, are you turning your back on your yinzer roots? :)

You may be wondering how one defines pop or soda or even Coke territory. The map below, which I found on what appears to be the now defunct Tasty Research website, shows the most popular term used for carbonated beverages throughout the United States. I wish I knew who created this map, although I think Alan McConchie deserves the credit. I saved an article from the October 6, 2002 edition of The Sunday Capital which describes how McConchie started a website at California Institute of Technology asking Americans to respond to the pop/soda/Coke question. Unfortunately, when you type in the website, you receive a message that the page is not found. However, the Cal Tech site may have turned into popvssoda.com, which does not appear to have been updated in years. Regardless, this is truly an awesome map.



I expect that Marc will bring the pop this weekend.