The Ball Drop

Somewhere along the way New Years went from being one of my favorite holidays to the one I dislike the most. It probably has something to do with having to walk past all the drunk people throwing up outside and all the strangers who come out of hiding each year to crowd my favorite bars. I also realized last year that I hate watching TV to know exactly when it's midnight, but I also have to admit that I don't trust myself to know exactly when it's midnight, so I find myself relying on Dick Clark or whoever has replaced him. And the tradition of the ball drop has to be one of the oddest. Where did it come from? Why bother watching a ball drop? It would make so much more sense to have a timer count down like they do at basketball games. It's not like we rely on balls sliding down sticks to mark the passage of time under normal circumstances.