Friday, May 30, 2008
What's that Lassie? There was a fire at the F.X. Matt Brewery! Oh no!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Each time I run one I like 13.1 better. Yesterday was about as nice a morning for this sort of thing as you'll see, blue skies, cool breeze off the lake. I like the course, too, which emphasizes the waterfront. The second leg takes the runners through the nicest parts of the city-- it really is a race that shows Buffalo off to its best advantage.
The real story was Nancy N., who blazed over the track with a 1:55.3 (8:47 pace). Preparation has its rewards. So does grit, of course, as demonstrated by Scrap Iron Jarvis, 1:55:36 (8:50 pace). And having a charming personality is apparently also helpful, as Dave showed with a snappy 1:59:22 (9:07 pace).
Possessed of none of these qualities, I was nevertheless pleased with my 2:29:15. Since I was so badly under-trained, my plan going in was to be well-rested, and it seems to have worked. I'm thinking of it as a foundation for the rest of the season.
The real story was Nancy N., who blazed over the track with a 1:55.3 (8:47 pace). Preparation has its rewards. So does grit, of course, as demonstrated by Scrap Iron Jarvis, 1:55:36 (8:50 pace). And having a charming personality is apparently also helpful, as Dave showed with a snappy 1:59:22 (9:07 pace).
Possessed of none of these qualities, I was nevertheless pleased with my 2:29:15. Since I was so badly under-trained, my plan going in was to be well-rested, and it seems to have worked. I'm thinking of it as a foundation for the rest of the season.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Two interesting notions about sport gleaned from my reading the past couple of days. First, from the New York Observer, on why the Yankees and the Mets struggle with high-priced talent. It's funny to think about, but both teams have had their greatest success when their teams are composed of home-grown and developed players, supplemented with a few veterans in key positions. Josh Curtis notes that, "buying talent at market rates all but forecloses the possibility of creating value because the team has to pay top dollar for whatever it gets. In the best circumstance, the high-priced acquisitions will play up to their salary, thereby producing “even” value. But because free agents are usually older and signing at the peak of their ability, their new contracts often prove to be a negative long-term value. And as value turns negative, teams find themselves having to spend exponentially more raw dollars just to maintain the same level of performance from season to season." What he doesn't say, is that these same economic forces operate to help make teams like last year's Colorado Rockies competitive. By necessity they must find younger talent, and if they do this well, what you see is a young, exciting team. Teams like that are more fun for fans, too, which means that in theory it is possible to build on success.
I also enjoyed Dan Lyke's thoughts on of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee, should be allowed to compete for a spot on his country's Olympic team. The controversy was that Pistorius's prosthesis arguably produced an mechanical advantage. The panel said no, but what Lyke says is, "I think this really shows up the silliness of sport as anything other than a training mechanism: At some point it's just an arbitrary optimization of a rule set, and though it's great to cheer that on, why are we cheering on people who optimize that rule set and not other ones, like, say, stock markets?" It's funny that track and field, which looks like the simplest, most basic form of sport is instead as complicated as anything else. "Arbitrary optimization of a rule set" is what I'm going to think about out on the course Sunday.
I also enjoyed Dan Lyke's thoughts on of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee, should be allowed to compete for a spot on his country's Olympic team. The controversy was that Pistorius's prosthesis arguably produced an mechanical advantage. The panel said no, but what Lyke says is, "I think this really shows up the silliness of sport as anything other than a training mechanism: At some point it's just an arbitrary optimization of a rule set, and though it's great to cheer that on, why are we cheering on people who optimize that rule set and not other ones, like, say, stock markets?" It's funny that track and field, which looks like the simplest, most basic form of sport is instead as complicated as anything else. "Arbitrary optimization of a rule set" is what I'm going to think about out on the course Sunday.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The 10 best beer names ever. McQuire's I'll Have What The Gentleman On The Floor Is Having Barley Wine sounds mighty good, although I don't usually care for barley wine.
