KRAC Blog

Maybe nobody else in the country cares, but the Buffalo/Carolina series -- and the Sabres entire playoff run to this point-- has been the best story in sports this Spring. The Buffalo News coverage has been downright bipolar, but everybody you see around town is a believer, and why shouldn't they be? The Sabres have been playing out of their minds for weeks now, and if you are any kind of fan at all seeing them get this deep into the post season has got to give you a mild, satisfying buzz.

Buffalo Half Marathon, for the record: Dave: 1:58:28, 9:03 pace, 27/57 age group; Jim: 2:01:48, 9:18 pace, 41/76 age group; Captain X: 2:11:43, 10:04 pace, 44/62 age group; Bill: 2:26:21, 11:11 pace, 59/62 age group. I'll betcha none of the 58 guys in front of me had to battle back after being assaulted and thrown to the ground by a crazed assailant. Of course, neither did I. But it makes a better story than saying that I fell, so that's what I'm going with.

Here's the mid-week injury report:

Probable: Altreuter, W. (gout).

Man, that word just never stops being funny, does it? In the last 24 hours I've experienced a substantial improvement. If it were tomorrow, I'd have some concerns, but Dr. Z is hooking me up with some nonsteroidial anti-inflammatories, and I may make it after all.

In honor of this weekend's series, I downloaded "Meet the Mets" to my iPod. "Meet the Mets/Meet the Mets/Step right up and beat the Mets" is how the jeering Yankee fans used to sing it, but somehow I don't see Randy Johnson finding his stuff tonight. 

Right now I'm thinking of boxing Barbaro and Sweetnorthernsaint. Combination will probably pay about six bucks....

Once again, Dave tops my best shot. 

The Motivator, allows you to creat an inspirational poster using your own photographs-- or stuff you find on the web. 

I don't think that there is any doubt that the Yankees can hit the ball-- but just to be sure, they put on a clinic last night. As Captain X has often observed, the presence of Jeter on this team means that everyone knows they all have to play hard. Jorge Posada gets it. Lost in this win, I'm afraid, is that they were down 9 runs in the second inning. Forget about replacing Shefield or Matsui-- this is a team that has one starting pitcher. Mad props to the bullpen for pulling it together, I suppose, but yikes, stripes. They are going to have figure something out, fast.

From the Buffalo Runners Forum, I liked this:

You know you're a jogger if:
- You buy your running shoes at Payless or any store than ends in "Mart".
-Someone asks how far you are jogging, and you give them a polite reply.
- You don't know that a marathon is 26 miles 385 yards.
- You measure your courses in a car, and then round off to the nearest mile.
- You think that 800m is a distance race.
- A woman passes you in the middle of a 5k, and she is pushing a stroller, and she is talking to her baby.
- A little boy passess you riding a bike, and you offer him $10 for the bike.
- In one of those moments when you are reliving your youth you run a hard mile, pretending that the fans are cheering, and you are passing that unbeatable oponent, etc., and your watch says 8:43. Your only response is "That deserves a cold one."

Don't you want to go see Les Dudek this Saturday? How could it not be great? 

24:30 (07:53 pace) for Jim, and not even breathing hard). Captain X turned in a very respectable 26:41 (08:35 pace). I followed, at 27:42 (8:55 pace-- could it be that I peaked at Mr. Ed's? Again?). And our distaff member Judy X-X rolled in at 29:26 (09:28 pace) and looked good, as usual, doing it. (Fourth in her age group, btw, a day before she moves into a new one-- if the race had gone off a day later, there'd have been some new hardware in the X household.)

It's never too early to start considering what cheesy movie to see while in Utica. Even though it could never live up to my sweet imagination, I'm looking forward to "Snakes on a Plane!"-- but it won't be out until August. Here's what else will be out there.

Keith Richards Attacked By Palm Tree! (That's the best I can do with this. Anyone else?)