I was on what might have been one of the last regularly-scheduled flights between the US and Cuba, back in 1981. It was on a DC-3 taildragger, and, if memory serves, the name of the airline was "American Airways." The flight went from Miami to Varadero, a nice beach resort area about a half-hour flight away. The airline also had regular service to Havana.

Actually, "regular service" is a somewhat generous description. Our flight from Miami was delayed two days - yes, 2 DAYS! - with airline staff consistently telling us that the plane would be leaving within an hour or so. We shifted our return reservations so we would still have a week in Cuba, and then our return flight was postponed another day, but the extra day on the beach in Varadero was much nicer than the 48 hours in the Miami airport. It took months before the airline would reimburse us for the hotel in MIA.

Speaking of MIA, those sure were different times. My brother and I had the run of the airport. We would wander around entire wings of the airport without ever going through a security check, simply because no planes were flying from that area at that time. We could have brought in small arms and just waited in some boarding area until they set up the security zone an hour before the flight, and then we could have hijacked a plane the old-fashioned way - straight to Cuba. At least we would have gotten there sooner!

The routes between Miami and Cuba were open during a short-lived warming at the end of the Carter administration. After Reagan was elected, it was decided that friendly overtures would perpetuate Castro's hold on the island. Apparently, allowing people, ideas, and a bit of cash to flow back and forth was much more dangerous than forcing the island to exist in an ideological vacuum, even though we promoted all sorts of cultural exchanges with Eastern Europe that eventually contributed to the end of communist totalitarianism from Bucharest to Vladivostok. The flights were cancelled, and haven't been allowed to resume ever since. That was a quarter of a century ago. We've been through Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II, seen Gorbachev open up to the West and dismantle the Soviet Union, and watched China turn into a locus of global capitalism. Cuba is still enjoying the reign of Castro. Looks like the suspension of flights between our two countries is really working out for us, no?

...but I LOVE reading about airline route structures. I was a travel agent for 23 years - in a former life and a much different agent/airline business model - and I adored sitting at SABRE, playing routing games. How to get from Missoula to Tashkent, using the fewest flights. And other silly games to test both my and SABRE's knowledge.

My dream job - I live in Chicago - would be a route "determiner" for United. And, I'd be DAMN good at it, too!

For what it's worth (less than nothing, perhaps), Morocco won that football match in 1984, 1-0.

Patrick, I love your column, but I have to say that in this age, the "I can't remember" bit falls a bit flat, as we all know that in many cases the information can be found quickly.

And now for something completely different, I heard that Uruguay's largest city is upgrading, and will be known as MontiDVD.

And love your column in general.

But the football ignorance? Man, all that keeps me from teeing off on you is your Boston origins. No need to kick someone so fundamentally disadvantaged in the sports arena, says I.

"I've tried deciphering soccer's strange appeal, but best I can tell, it contains none of the nuanced strategies and moments of tension found in other sports, and especially in baseball."

Why don't you stick to commenting on things you actually know about? Why cause readers like myself to question your intelligence and therefore compromise the value of your column? If you can't decipher the appeal of a sport with billions of rabid fans, that's your problem. Perhaps if you had watched Zinedine Zidane in the Brasil v. France game last week, you would know the gravity of what you just said. Idiot!

I'm no expert on international travel, but I have flown čsa exactly once, from NY Kennedy to Sofia, and if I remember correctly it was a codeshare with Delta. IIRC, Delta lists čsa routes in their inflight magazines, and on lists behind their kiosks at all airports. Why would a corporation repeat a service, when they can get other companies to do the carrying for them, especially when competition is discouraged by the presence of a perfectly competent national airline?

I fully agree -- Patrick, your column is great but you know about as much about soccer as honeybees know about nuclear physics. If you can't find the strategy and tension in the game -- which far outstrips that found in baseball, a game I dearly love -- then you should refrain from commenting about it.

What is it about the World Cup that makes every ignoramus have an opinion all of a sudden? I don't start pretending I'm a pilot when I read your column.

For many developing countries, having a non-stop flight to New York is a cornerstone of economic development. It opens the country up to foreign investment and tourism. They are willing to subsidize the service for the overall economic benefit it provides. But the amount of traffic to some of these countries is small and the subsidized service completely satisfies the demand. There's no room for an American carrier, and no profit. And American carriers haven't taken upon themselves the job of providing economic growth opportunities to other countries.

Why there are no non-stops to Poland, however, remains a mystery since it's a big country, with lots of Polish Americans.

Two other points -- I wouldn't be too harsh on the FAA for being strict about safety and I think you're wrong about soccer.

Well, if you wanted football fans to jab ya, Patrick, you succeeded this time!

There was a great Simpson's episode that included a soccer game. The entire stadium watched robotically as the teams kicked the ball back and forth, like slow-motion ping-pong. Dead silence. Funny, yes, but also a perfect illustration of American ignorance of the game.

As others have and no doubt will point out, a sport with hundreds of millions of fans must have something going for it. There's incredible finesse to the game, and, perhaps best of all, no damned commercial interruptions on TV. And THAT, folks, is the reason it hasn't caught on in the States. No sponsors = no marketing.

As for baseball, please. Dull, dull, dull. Basketball? Fine, if you like watching glandular cases flinging sweat on each other for an hour or so as the score predictably heads toward 300-290. American football is an absurdity wrapped in body-armor. Try Aussie-rules football for the real deal.

Cheers.