KRAC Blog

2011-08-16T17:20:00.000-04:00

GJA posted an impressive 1:33:10 in the Sun Herald City to Surf, a 14k. I was blown away when I saw that this was a 6:39 pace until I realized that the Aussies express distance in Canadian. His American pace, while still quite respectable, was not as world-beating. This race sounds nuts-- 85,000 starters.

2011-07-15T12:57:00.001-04:00

Every year I look at the Boilermaker pix and marvel at the fact that this is as good-looking as I am ever going to get, because next year will be worse.

Wendy and Coleen do not have this problem.

By the way, 11,074 finishers this year.

2011-07-12T18:08:00.000-04:00

I could cruise to a late October 13.1 if I can stick to this....

2011-07-11T12:38:00.000-04:00

I had a great Boilermaker weekend, with a radically re-engineered group this year. The usual KRAC stalwarts were unavailable, but Wendy and Coleen proved to be amiable companions. Coleen located the best hotel I've stayed at for this event. (Hard to believe I've run a dozen of them, but I have the glassware to prove it.) It was bigger than ever this year, and every year I marvel at the oddness of it. For one weekend this worn out old city is filled with athletes. When we went to the supermarket after dinner to buy breakfast stuff and Gatorade the bottled water aisle was cleaned out-- the stocker told me that this was the third time he'd reshelved that day. At Dominique's Chesterfield, which has added a room, there was a long table next to ours that gradually filled up with the members of the Belle Watling Track Club, the only team in the region with a name to rival ours. (I had the hats, and we split an order of the greens Moreli.)

No llama. At the zoo here was a tortoise, which is amusing, and a big caiman, but the Utica Zoo really has to get with the program and bring on the large charismatic mega-fauna. On the other hand, the orange popsicle was perfect, the most refreshing thing I will eat all summer. The race, you say? Yeah, that was good too. I was under-trained, and although It seemed like it was going to be a cool morning by the end of the first mile the cloud cover had cleared and I knew I was going to struggle. I reckoned the best strategy would be to take water every stop, and for a while that worked, but at the top of the six mile hill, before Utica College, I determined that I was in sufficent gastrointestinal distress to warrant an extended rest stop. I will spare further detail, but it cost me on time, although I was able to soldier on successfully thereafter. This year's flyover was sort of lame-- we got a big helicopter instead of jets. I'm not crazy about jet flyovers as a general proposition-- they seem more than slightly totalitarian I think-- but there is an undeniable cool factor with jets that choppers don't deliver.

2011-06-29T17:04:00.002-04:00

CLA has developed IB band issues, so we went to my stack of old Runner's Worlds to see what to do. Man, I have a lot of old RWs.

Related, sort of, Science Based Running.

2011-05-31T09:35:00.000-04:00

2:16:36, a PR for CLA.

2011-02-07T11:23:00.000-05:00

289 finishers at Mr. Ed's yesterday, although I saw numbers going well into the 300s. There was a one mile fun run too, so that may have skewed my estimate -- I thought there were about 400, but some of that may have been Middleport Mr. Ed's groupies. The usual appalling conditions prevailed: cold, windy, alternating slippery footing and footing that resembled running on the beach. I rolled my ankle on the towpath, and it's a bit sore today, but I would have regretted not running this more than I regret a minor ding.

It's a funny thing that Niagara County takes over the running calendar in the winter months: Mr. Ed's is the only one I do, but there's the Lockport Y10, which I tell myself I should do, and the Olcott Polar Bear Run, which I suppose I should try as well. Next year maybe; for now, on to the Chilly Challenge.

2011-01-19T11:04:00.001-05:00

The Western New York Running Hall of Fame is a great idea-- although it would come as a surprise to many people from here and from other places Buffalo and its environs has a long history with the sport, and a large and active running community. I can't think of too many places where the sport is more accessible, actually. There are races essentially every week, from 5ks on up (we have a spring marathon and a fall marathon. How great is that?), multiple specialty stores where knowledgeable people give advice about equipment, a biweekly column in the Buffalo News (seriously, how many papers cover participatory sports as well as the News?), and a sporting culture that welcomes newcomers and encourages competition.

2010-12-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

David Flemming's marathon training program resembles my approach to the LA Marathon more than I'd like to admit. For my next one I'll go back to Hal.

The question is, when is my next one? Had life zigged instead of zagged EGA would have been in NYC last year, and we might have done that one. There was no way I was going to be able to join her in Kansas City this year, so she went on ahead alone. CLA has a marathon on her To Do list, but I don't think it's something she feels a particularly pressing need to get done right away; if she did it would be tempting to do it with her.

2010-12-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

Dead Butt Syndrome.

2010-10-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

EGA KC. She reports that she's thinking of a spring 13.1

2010-10-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

I need to get back into a more regular running pattern, and one way that I'm trying to do this is my tracking my runs with the adidas miCoach app. I like that it had me do an assessment workout and built a plan from there; unfortunately the plan it has built for me has me running on days when I haven't been able to fit a workout into my day. This means that I'm doing what it calls "Free Workouts", which is fine, but not really part of the plan.

2010-10-17T11:14:00.000-04:00

EGA, Kansas City Marathon.

4:15:53	, 9:46 pace.

2010-10-15T13:42:00.001-04:00

"Some of my most outrageous nights I can only believe actually happened because of corroborating evidence." Good slideshow and reminiscence about the '72 Tour.

2010-10-04T16:38:00.000-04:00

As miserable as the Mets have been for the last four years, at least now they are admitting it. What they are going to do about it is another question, but they are still a step ahead of the Bills. We are off to the start of what could be a historically bad season for the Bills. The light at the end of this tunnel is the oncoming train of relocation. I can't even look.

2010-09-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

GJA battled back from a gout attack to turn in a 2:00:06 chip time in Blackmore's Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon. Impressive. On the other hand, that beard.....

2010-09-22T14:14:00.001-04:00

I didn't realize the they still ran the 5th Avenue Mile. I'd like to do that again some time.

2010-09-21T09:46:00.001-04:00

423 men registered for Disney's Princess Half Marathon this year.

"Some men run at the behest of girlfriends and wives. Mr. Mederos, unheralded winner of last year's Disney race, says he ran as a 'prince; for his girlfriend, not to show up females.
"Other men see a target-rich environment. 'If you want to meet fit young women, it's hard to beat,' says Maj. Christopher Sopko, a 31-year-old pilot in the Ohio Air National Guard."

2010-08-19T14:48:00.002-04:00

A perjury indictment for The Rocket! I'd have guessed that Barry Bonds was going to be the Pete Rose of the steroids in baseball scandal, but maybe not. Or maybe there'll be a Mount Rushmore of these guys, with Mark McGwire joining Clemens and Bonds. We'll need a fourth if that's how it's going to go. Sosa? Papi? Palmeiro?

It is interesting that PEDs may end up destroying more reputations than the cocaine scandal of the 80's. The Pittsburgh trials are probably what's keeping Dave Parker out of the Hall of Fame, but Tim Raines was forgiven. Of the players implicated in PED use I'd say that only A-Rod will receive similar deference. I suppose that might be because the use of performance enhancing drugs implicates the accomplishments of the players, but it seems to me that people are a lot angrier about doping than is proportionate.

2010-07-14T16:01:00.001-04:00

Boilermaker pix are a bit of a disappointment this year. This is the best of Jim and Wendy that I've seen; I haven't seen one with Caroline in it at all.

2010-07-12T12:14:00.001-04:00

To the Utica Boilermaker over the weekend, after a one-year hiatus. CLA ran it with me, and Jim's sister Wendy ran it with him, a pleasant family outing. It's still one of my favorite summer things to do. We committed late, so getting a place to stay turned into staying in Syracuse, and there were a few other adjustments. The llama wasn't there for some reason-- I hope it's okay-- but the zoo was represented by a goat and a pig and a cayman or an alligator or something. My Popsicle was grape, and Caroline's was lime. The weather was tolerable-- hot but not melting. We were there for the experience, but still ran respectably. It's never easy, but it is also always great.

I guess conditions were pretty good: three men broke the course record. 11,524 runners finished out of the 13,000-plus who started-- I didn't see anyone getting medical attention on the course, and I wonder what became of all the DNFs.

Home in time to see the end of the World Cup. Spain, it turns out, is awesome, and I was wrong. That happens a lot.

2010-06-20T11:59:00.004-04:00

To the Jog for the Jake with CLA this morning-- an odd race. Years ago EGA and I had a little tradition of doing the Hamburg Bun Run on Father's Day, and it was pleasant to renew that with CLA, but the race itself was rather indifferent. $25 bucks to run two loops around the ring road is nuts, first of all, and the race itself is a little too big for the course. It seemed to have a higher than usual proportion of dabblers too, people who clogged the first mile or so. It looked like a very organized event, but the reality was somewhat different-- there were golf carts and a guy on a minibike, and all kinds of volunteers, but the gun went off three minutes early, with no preliminary announcement, and there were cars moving on the ring road as we came around for the last lap. I guess the picnic is a big part of the point of the event, but that was sort of a mess as well, a bunch of long tables in the middle of a big open field, with chairs tilted up to show that seats were being saved. The food, by Delaware North, was respectable-- the suddenly ubiquitous sliders and grilled chicken and hot dogs. Beer and soda were plentiful, but I'd say the highlight for me was the frozen strawberry fruit bar, which was exactly what I wanted after a hot run. If I have a daughter in town next year I'll run it again, but I don't think I'd do it by myself.

2010-06-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

2010-06-02T09:12:00.001-04:00

I couldn't put my hands on my KRAC singlet the night before the race, so I went with my Parramatta jersey-- my brother's colors. I figured it would add a bit of international flair. Wouldn't you know it, I wasn't to Porter Avenue before someone ran up beside me and said, "Parramatta? That's me home town!"

2010-05-20T10:18:00.002-04:00

Floyd Landis, the Jose Canseco of the two-wheeler set. What would really make this interesting would be a defamation lawsuit, but only if the plaintiff(s) played by US rules.

2010-05-17T09:22:00.002-04:00

Big props to my brother, who turned in a 2:02.45 in the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon.

2010-03-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

2010-03-23T16:05:00.002-04:00

Incredibly, my Final Four-- Maryland, Texas, Kansas State and Purdue-- is still half alive. I doubt it will help.

2010-03-18T16:58:00.003-04:00

It's not even 5:00 o'clock and my NCAA bracket, which rode Vanderbilt into the round of eight, is already done. A 13 seed beating a four seed. Picking Florida over BYU, okay, maybe that was stupid. ODU (an 11 seed) over Notre Dame (a 6 seed)-- well, I reckoned on Baylor being the team in that bracket that will go deep, so okay. But Vandy-- what happened?

2010-02-07T17:40:00.002-05:00

About 20 degrees and just a whiff of snow in the air: perfect Mr. Ed's conditions! Also, a fine example of the Mr. Ed's shirt this time-- UPS brown and gold!

2010-01-25T11:40:00.002-05:00

At the start of Colts-Jets I was concerned that I might backslide and find myself pulling for the team that ruined my youth. No worries-- my conversion is complete, and I was pleased to see that the team was assembled by the guy who saved pro football for me came out on top.

That said, I find myself conflicted by the Super Bowl match-up. The Colts play the way the game should be played, but you'd have to have a heart of stone to resist the Saints. We may be drawing to the end of the line for Manning and Company, but it is hard to imagine the stars aligning just this way for New Orleans again. I'm leaning Saints, but it is a close call, and I feel too emotionally disrupted to make a actual prediction.

2010-01-13T16:00:00.001-05:00

"When ordering a coffee at Tim Hortons, a successful chain of donut shops, the best way to blend in with the crowd is to request that your beverage be a "double-double," which means the counterperson adds two servings of maple syrup, and two dollops of beef gravy. "Travel Guide To Canada" (Look At This Fucking Idea For A Blog-To-Book Deal)

2010-01-12T09:42:00.004-05:00

Confession or no, it doesn't seem to me that McGwire has a HOF resume. The numbers over an 18 season career show him for what he was: a one dimensional slugger with injury problems, something like this guy, or this guy.

I don't think McGwire belongs in the same category as Pete Rose-- Rose actually knowingly broke an existing rule, while McGwire merely cheated. There is a place for the sort of thing that McGwire did in baseball-- Gaylord Perry, to chose one example, cheated. But Gaylord Perry was also a better player over a longer career than McGwire. (Consider Perry for a moment-- he is often reduced to a mere spitball pitcher, but this is a guy who had success spanning a couple of baseball eras-- 1962-1983, in both leagues, for 8 teams. Incredible.) What Rose did undermined the integrity of the sport by compromising transparency. McGwire's offense couldn't have been more public or apparent if he'd worn a uniform patch with a syringe on it. Context also matters here: McGwire may be the public face of the steroid era, but it was the steroid era. The use of performance enhancing drugs was sufficiently ubiquitous that we can look at the stats which were being posted and tell with a fair degree of accuracy pretty much when the period started, and when it ended. (We can do this in other sports too. Swimming and Track & Field come to mind.) If baseball's Hall of Fame is an institution that recognizes who the outstanding players of a particular era were, than acknowledging who the greatest players of the 90's shouldn't be too difficult-- compare oranges to oranges.

2010-01-05T14:30:00.004-05:00

The results of this year's Hall of Fame vote will be announced tomorrow. The nominees: Roberto Alomar, Kevin Appier, Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Ellis Burks, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile. I'd have voted for Raines and Blyleven for sure, and probably Black Jack, Parker and Ventura.

UPDATE: I like Andre Dawson fine, but Tim Raines was a better Expo.

2010-01-02T11:08:00.003-05:00

If I have the chronology right, the album Keef is referring to here is "It's Only Rock'N'Roll". According to Victor Bockris he was too strung out to play on most of that, and from the evidence of this video he should have opted for the dental plan, but he seems coherent here.

2009-12-28T16:00:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry the Colts decided to pull their starters for several reasons. I wanted to see them go undefeated, I hate that the Jets make the playoffs, and I was thinking of going to the season closer at the Big Ralph and now am no longer interested.

Just as well on the last one, I suppose. Looking out the window I suddenly recall what a Bills game is like at this time of year.

2009-12-21T10:58:00.002-05:00

At some point everyone is going to realize that football in Western New York has stopped being about the Bills, and is now about UB. We are edging closer to that moment with the announcement that Jeff Quinn, Cincinnati's interim coach will be the new Bulls coach following the departure of Turner Gill. The Bills are being publicly rebuffed, and I'd bet you a shiny new dime that they end up hiring Perry Fewell. No knock on Fewell-- coaching is only part of what the problem is.

Funny that this realization is dawning on me on the day Bill Greiner died. Over the years I had my share of disagreements with President Greiner, and although we never talked about his notion that UB should have a big-time football program, I always thought that it was a silly notion. I guess I have to chalk that up as one more time when I was wrong and he was right.

2009-12-15T17:21:00.002-05:00

Ten Signs You're No Longer a Blue Jays Fan.

4. You'd point out the team has outscored its opponents five straight seasons and has won 80-plus games nine of the past 12 seasons but then you'd remember that mediocrity only works in the NL Central, NL West or AL Central, so you decide instead to have another Labatt's and watch your DVD of great hockey fights.

2009-12-01T09:55:00.002-05:00

I spent Sunday grading papers, so I missed what was probably the best Bills game of the season. As grim as the Bills' games have been this season, the papers were mostly worse, but that is a story for another day. Right now I find myself in the odd position of still enjoying NFL enough to follow it, and the team I find I'm following is the Indianapolis Colts. In theory I shouldn't like the Colts. They belong in Baltimore and I disprove of teams that abandon their cities. On the other hand, it is hard to look at Indy's success over the past few years and not think "That team could be the Bills". I am also liking that it is this late in the season and there are still two undefeated teams, one in each division. It's still little early to think about it, but wouldn't that make an awesome Super Bowl?

2009-11-24T09:41:00.001-05:00

Goodnight Keith Moon. (Via The Morning News)

2009-11-15T15:57:00.003-05:00

I was happily trying to figure out how to wrangle apportionment out of a worker's compensation case in which the claimant had sustained a prior non-compensable injury when I thought I'd open a new tab to see the score of the Bills game. It was tied, and in the fourth quarter, and I very nearly went upstairs to watch it. Glad I dodged that bullet. The thing that impresses me the most about this Bills season is that there are actually teams which seem worse. I'll bet they aren't worse. I'll bet the Bills could lose to anyone this year.

This really does look like owner malpractice. It is hard to look at the Colts and realize that their success could have been Buffalo's. It's too bad that Ralph Wilson is unlikely to see the Bills win a Super Bowl, but he doesn't have anyone to blame but himself at this point. As I cast my eye down the schedule-- Jaguars, Miami at home, Jets in Toronto, Chiefs, New England at home, Falcons and Colts at home-- what I see is one maybe win, in KC. The good news is that we'll see the back of Dick Jauron, I think. The bad news? The rest is all bad news for this club.

2009-11-05T13:24:00.001-05:00

A-Rod Had Portraits of Himself as Centaur Hanging Over His Bed. This is so awesome I can hardly stand it. Were they on velvet?

2009-10-09T11:37:00.002-04:00

LCA's Thursday night dance class this year is 7:30-8:30. Last night A thought it would be a good plan to go to the Sterling for dinner while LCA danced. We walked in and the place was mobbed-- turns out it was the Greater Buffalo Track Club's annual meeting. I knew we were in trouble as soon as we walked in, and Judy confirmed it: "We're not even taking dinner orders for another hour." As it happened I was stylishly attired in a Mr. Ed's sweatshirt and could have blended right in, but that would have left EGA and A high and dry, hardly the gentlemanly thing to do. It looked like a classic evening at the Sterling, but we settled in (Dogfish Head on tap after a long day) and ended up getting our burgers. You know what? If you can get one it really is the best burger in Buffalo.

2009-10-07T09:27:00.002-04:00

"The Jets are never as good as their record, not till the season is over, when they turn out to have been the Jets all along."

What is the Bills' corollary for this proposition?

2009-10-05T10:43:00.002-04:00

Here's what we have learned in Week 4. The Bills established that they can lose to bad teams just as handily as they lose to good teams. The Saints are a good team. The Patriots are making adjustments, and are still good. The Jets are the Jets, but won't be fully the Jets for a while yet. It's going to be a long season for Cowboy's fans.

I watch the Bills and continue to conclude that this is mostly a coaching problem. It's a respectable D-- not great, but better than the scoreboard suggests. I actually like the O-line. Fred Jackson has been a pleasant surprise; and Josh Reed has been solid. TO has been on his best behavior, but it is becoming increasing obvious that his chief skill was in getting open. He really doesn't seem to have great hands, and now that he's dropped a half step or so he's having a problem. Lynch looks like he's at or near his sell-by date. Edwards would be a good enough QB on a different team. It's irritating that they are so very bad. I don't see watching another game for a while, and I like watching the NFL.

2009-09-27T14:01:00.003-04:00

To the 20th edition of the Linda Yalem Safety Run this morning, literally a game time decision. My alarm went off at 7:30, and I listened hard for the sound of rain, but to no avail. That dodge having failed I motored out to UB, where race conditions were just about perfect, although my race conditioning was far from so. I like this race, which has grown into a meaningful tradition at UB and in the area. Missed it last year, so this was my first time on this course, which is more of a big loop instead of a little tour of the Amherst Campus. Student support was strong though, and I felt good running, and thinking about CLA, who had a 5k with her rugby team this morning.

2009-09-24T15:14:00.001-04:00

GJA at Blackmores Half Marathon Sunday.

2009-09-24T09:48:00.001-04:00

Stupid tats never stop being funny. (Via Flutterby.)

2009-09-22T11:11:00.002-04:00

I'm going to have to post an unflattering photograph latter but for now mad props to my brother, who posted a 1:57:28 in the Blackmores Half Marathon Sunday. (It looks like a fun course, too, over the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.)

2009-09-21T10:31:00.002-04:00

One of the things that's great about football is that there isn't too much of it. This means that each game takes on a particular importance, and this ratchets up the tension. (I get the same feeling during the World Series, when it seems like each pitch is critical, but baseball's pleasures are usually more leisurely.) I approached last week's Bills/New England game with a attitude of resignation and shocked is probably not too strong a word for how I felt watching it. What did that game tell us? That if he gets some favorable calls and a couple of lucky breaks, and if he has nine months Dick Jauron can come up with a game plan that will come close to beating the best coached team in the league? Bad teams find a way to lose, and that was my first reaction last week, but now I'm not so sure. Yesterday's game felt important because it seemed like the sort of game a team on the rise ought to win. The second week of the NFL season is fun because it acts as a kind of lens to view the first week through. Although Bils fans were unhappy with Week One, I think we can now say that New England fans have greater cause for concern. Watching Belichick on the sidelines you could see that he was frustrated. Watching Brady on the final drive you could see that he still burns with the knowledge of what he has to do, but it isn't as easy as it was two years ago. Will he get it back? I wouldn't bet against it, but the rest of the Pats are getting older too. We might be looking at a shift in the AFC East. Losing to the Jets has to have New England fans freaking out. You could make the case that the Jets win against Houston is more or less the equivalent of the Bills beating Tampa, but I don't buy it-- the Jets won on the road against Houston, and then played a tough defensive game at home to beat the Pats. I hate to say it, but they look like a team that is on the rise, and I wouldn't be surprised if its the Jets' defense that wins the division for them. Going into next week the Jets have the Titans at home, a game they should win. The Bills have New Orleans at home, and I'd say that's a longshot. The Saints look like one of the five best teams in the league to me. Hard to say what advantage home field will bring-- not so much is my guess. New England gets the Falcons at home, which should mean that they will be 2-1. And Miami, who have the Colts tonight, get the Chargers next week, and the Bills the week after that. It could be Columbus Day before Miami gets a win.

2009-09-15T11:13:00.003-04:00

I'm not one to call for a coach to be fired-- there's only so much a coach can do, I figure, and there is something to be said for continuity. Even so, I think Dick Jauron has pretty conclusively established that he is in way over his head. I don't know what was more painful-- watching the team crumple, or watching Jauron watch it, looking like something the fishmonger rejected.

With five minutes on the clock I was prepared to think about a win over the Pats as a happy fluke. Sadly, it proved to be neither a fluke nor a win, but instead just one more example of a bad team finding a way to lose.

2009-08-13T11:26:00.003-04:00

GJA turned in a respectable 80 minute 14k in the Sydney City 2 Surf, a race that I've always thought sounded pretty cool.

2009-08-07T16:58:00.000-04:00

The Beer Mile. I know it's wrong, but if they held one locally, I'd go.

2009-07-09T16:40:00.002-04:00

David Cone is going to testify in the Sotomayer confirmation hearing. Ron Darling once said that Cone "Came out of Kansas City like George Michael came out of Wham!", which I've always liked, and I wonder if anyone on the Judiciary Committee will ask him how come he doesn't have a dance.

2009-06-30T16:22:00.002-04:00

Governor Palin has a sub-4 hour marathon to her credit and sounds like she's a pretty serious runner, but what I really like about this photo is that it brings to mind the stuff Lana Lee used to peddle out of the Night Of Joy. Say what you will about Republicans, at least they know how to keep sex dirty.

2009-06-27T15:26:00.002-04:00

I've been gouty all spring, but on Thursday I had a full-blown attack, and finally Dr. Z came across with the real drugs. It's a five day course, but last night's dose knocked it right down, so I took the bike out for a spin. Ornithologically speaking the coolest thing I've seen this summer was the big raptor at the West Seneca campus of Houghton College, but today's adventure was nearly as good. I saw a pair of loons on the Niagara River, and was dive-bombed twice by red-winged blackbirds. They hit hard. I've been attacked by one once before, and was glad of my helmet today.

2009-06-02T14:50:00.006-04:00

CLA cruising to the finish in her first 13.1;
Jim showing how it's done;Dave bring it all back home; and Nancy looking good doing it.

Oh, and me. Now I have a goal for the season: I want a better race photo.

2009-05-21T08:29:00.004-04:00

I was never a big fan of Wade Boggs, who always seemed to be less than the sum of his eccentricities. Five batting titles, sure, but all that chicken. Home and away wives, okay, but he was a big crybaby in '86, and everybody knows there's no crying in baseball. When the Yankees acquired him it was the kind of signing the Yanks make that I hate-- a star on another team who has certainly peaked. Riding the cop's horse after the World Series was stupid. And the deal he made with the Devil Rays about his Cooperstown plaque? No class.

What I didn't know was that Boggs is apparently a prodigious hops fan. Now I am reconsidering my position.

2009-05-20T10:49:00.002-04:00

Michael Vick to Buffalo? I don't see it. Oakland, maybe-- they have a history of hiring sociopaths. Maybe the Jets-- they have a history of making bad choices. But it would be completely out of character for the Bills. I have to think that Ralph would touch base with Marv on something like this, and I can't imagine Marv saying, "What the hell? Go for it". This isn't a fan base that would support it, either. TO is a prima donna on the downside of his career. A convicted felon-- and a dog-abuser-- is another thing altogether.

All the same, it would be funny to see Larry Felser's expression if it happened.

2009-05-17T17:24:00.002-04:00

Today I worked out just how gouty I can be and still manage 10k. The answer, to my surprise, turned out to be more gouty than I thought, although the 10k wasn't very amazing. Even so, I love the Amherst Bike Path in the spring.

Next week we'll see what 13.1 is like when the farthest I've managed is 10k. I'm afraid I already have a pretty good idea about that one.

2009-05-14T13:33:00.001-04:00

Pete Rose says A-Rod belongs in the Hall of Fame. Well, that clears up any doubt I had.

2009-04-09T16:42:00.001-04:00

EGA getting it done at the Bloomington Mini Marathon.

2009-04-05T19:09:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to EGA, 1:48:14 in the Bloomington Mini Marathon, 08:15 pace, and a snazzy 11th place in her age group. She knocked six minutes off her PR over a tough looking course:

2009-03-23T16:44:00.002-04:00

I woke up Sunday reviewing each course and trying to decide which I loved the most.

For the record:

Prosciutto di Parma-Black Pepper Quesadilla with Rosemary Oil
Pear and Butternut Squash Soup with Gorgonzola
Seared Wasabi Tuna with Avocado Cream and Maple-Soy Sauce
Arugula Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
Lime-Basil Ice
Beef Braised in Barolo
Mashed Potatoes and Carrots
Sauteed Julienned Vegetables
Toasted Espresso Biscotti with Cranberry Sorbet

...and the wines: Grayson Cellars pinot noir; Chateau Lemothe de Haux blanc, and Gaffigna Centevaro, a malbec from Argentina. I forget what the cognac was.

2009-02-27T08:40:00.001-05:00

What my BAC was the night before based on what I'm wearing when I wake. There is an Anne Adams joke to be made here, but I'm too much of a gentleman to make it. Unless I just did.

2009-02-05T14:10:00.001-05:00

Gives "well-preserved" a whole new spin, doesn't he?

2009-02-04T17:15:00.000-05:00

Here's good news! Or maybe not....

2009-02-03T10:43:00.004-05:00

"Hi! We're completely out of ideas!" Bad Band Photos. (Via The Morning News.)

2009-02-02T10:12:00.002-05:00

To Mr. Ed's Super Bowl Warm Up yesterday with Jim, the 20th edition of this event. I think the conditions were probably about as good as it is possible to expect in Middleport in February. Mid-30's, sunny. The track was mostly clear, except along the towpath where it was sloppy, but not difficult to traverse. The event seems better run every year, although it seems like it is always about the same size, and mostly the same people. This year's shirt was an aberration: an attractive Carolina blue with a modest embroidered medallion of the race's eponymous equine icon. No advertising, nothing to distract from the clean design. I'm not sure what to make of this. One of the things I like about this race is its local quality. Time was that when you ran a race you'd show up wearing the oldest version of that races shirt you had, to demonstrate your veteran status. This is a tradition that has mostly gone by the boards, but people stilldo it at Mr. Ed's, and the worn, faded quality of the shirts established pretty clearly that these people by gum wear these shirts, fashion be damned.

Jim is resting his kidneys, so we didn't linger, but I'd say it was a quality morning. And I made up for not lingering by working my kidneys out with a few Dogfish Head IPAs later.

2009-01-27T08:56:00.002-05:00

The 9 Least Rocking Items of KISS Merchandise. Why not ten? Or an even dozen? You can't expect me to believe that all the rest of the KISS merch out there is substantially more rocking.

2009-01-26T15:22:00.002-05:00

A more managable Beatles list: Beatles Songs You're Not Sick Of Yet. Some of these would be on my list; "Taxman" would not.

2009-01-21T11:36:00.002-05:00

Playing the Beatles Backwards is a reverse ranking of the Fab Four's oevre, worst to first. It is an impressive catalog, and an interesting way to review it-- you wouldn't bother reading if it ran from 1 to 185.

2009-01-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

What Your NFL Jersey Reveals About You.

1. Brett Favre, Jets
You are widely respected. But you have trouble making decisions. And when you do commit, you often take too big a risk, leading to disastrous results.

2009-01-12T14:41:00.002-05:00

Ricky Henderson was probably the greatest ballplayer I ever saw-- maybe that I'll ever see. Just because he wasn't much in a Mets uniform doesn't mean that I think any the less of him. Wouldn't you love to know who the 28 voters were who didn't have Rickey on their ballots? Who do you suppose they would vote for? Jesus Christ was good, but had trouble going to his left. Abe Lincoln's career was too short.

I guess I'm glad that Jim Rice suddenly got better over the last year. I'd like to have seen Tim Raines get it, but he will. So will David Cone.

2009-01-09T16:16:00.001-05:00

Google advises that there is a Picasa site with the photographs from this page. It isn't complete, but it is a pretty funny melange all the same.

2008-12-31T15:04:00.002-05:00

John Elway made Mike Shanahan a genius, but I'd still love to see him coaching in Buffalo. Apparently it isn't going to happen, and we'll have Dick Jauron for another year. I don't get it. If you want an 8-8 coach, why not take a run at a guy who has won something once?

2008-12-30T17:11:00.001-05:00

Here's a useful tool that I will be using to fill out my NCAA Pool in March: the 2008 NCAA Graduation Success Rate chart.

2008-12-23T08:01:00.000-05:00

One of the cool things about being a baseball fan is that just about every day there is an interesting obit documenting the life and times of a former player. The Hall-of-Fame guys are fine, but where it really gets interesting is when you spot the name of someone you haven't thought of in years. We should all pause for a moment and recall the career of Dock Ellis, who pitched the only LSD laced no-hitter we know about, and who died last week. KRAC should name an award for Dock, who walked eight batters and hit one on his way to immortality. I've never seen a no-hitter in person-- imagine what it must have been like to have been in the stands in San Diego, and then, years later, when the story came out, learning that you'd witnessed a guy who was tripping shut your team down. If you were the sort of person who kept score you'd probably still have that scorecard. Imagine pulling it out of a dusty box in the garage and going over it again. The Bucks were a powerhouse back in 1970: these were the Pirates of Clemente, Alou, and Stargell. You'd think they'd have drawn more than 9,903 for the first half of a twi-night doubleheader.

Dock had a 12 year career, 138-119 with a 3.46 ERA, mostly with the Pirates. In 1976 he was 17-8 with the Yankees (3 and 7 with the Mets two years later, in his penultimate season). He was a solid starter on some pretty great teams.

2008-12-22T12:19:00.002-05:00

Watching the Bills get pasted by the Jets a few weeks ago it would have been reasonable for anyone to doubt that the Jets were still the Jets, but I had faith. The New York media are saying that it's the coaching, and when you consider that the Peagreens had the talent to beat the Titans and the Patriots this season, perhaps there is something to this evaluation. The Bills haven't beat anyone good all year (probably the best team they've beaten is Denver, actually), but I'd say that coaching is probably the root explanation for the Bills' season as well. Coaching is why they lost to the Jets. Indeed, swap "Jauron" for Mangini, and this quote might be a macro on Jerry Sullivan's computer:

"And all the while, Eric Mangini has taken exquisite pains to betray no sense of alarm or urgency. As has been his wont since day one, he has remained the very picture of outward calm, tirelessly repeating his ever-familiar mantra about avoiding mistakes and moving forward. To witness his manicured media persona is to think him as always in control, never given to the whims and folly that mark the behavior of many other coaches around the league. But the bottom line belies the façade."

There is a difference between the two teams: the Jets are in the largest media market in the country. Their owner is under 100 years old. They are moving into a new stadium, and will continue to sell it out. They will always be able to do stufff like signing Brett Favre. They will also always suck-- this is an article of faith with me-- but they won't suck in Toronto.

2008-12-20T10:53:00.002-05:00

It gets so crazy around the holidays. Keef's birthday was Thursday and I didn't send a card or nothin'.

2008-12-17T13:06:00.001-05:00

Interesting article about how the Kenyans get to town. "Kenyans and Eritreans and Ethiopians are no longer coming over only for the big, prestigious races in New York and Boston. They come to stay for years at a time—some permanently—and they don't just want to break the tape at the races covered by media. They want to come and take your club medal away, too, weekend warrior."

2008-12-15T09:04:00.001-05:00

Motivational Posters. (Via Making Light.)

2008-12-09T19:04:00.001-05:00

It is not at all obvious to me that K-Rod was the best reliever on the market, but the Mets needed somebody, and Rodriguez was available. I'm certainly not complaining.

2008-12-04T09:14:00.002-05:00

Not to be missed: a gallery of actual romance novel covers. (Via Flutterby.)

2008-11-27T16:54:00.000-05:00

2008-11-18T14:21:00.002-05:00

I was thinking about it last week, and in a way the Bills' start this season was kinda nice. For a month and a half it was like we had a really good football team, and now that they have been revealed as dreadful, well, there's hockey. With last night's game the Bills have taken all of the anxiety out of football for me for the rest of the season.

Gregg Esterbrook's take is a little different: "When the Bills started the season 5-1 and stood atop the AFC East, players, coaches, fans and management began to celebrate as though they'd already accomplished something. Management awarded "Cheerio, Chaps" a lucrative contract extension, even though his career record is 55-73 and it was unlikely Jauron would be recruited by other teams in the offseason. (That is, he received a retention bonus although no one else was bidding for his services.) Since reaching 5-1, the Bills have played four straight cover-your-eyes awful games, in all four cases using the kind of ultra-conservative strategy that makes sense when holding a big lead but is inexplicable when trailing. On its current course, Buffalo could end the season among the year's worst teams. But at least it has Jauron locked up for more losses in the future!"

2008-10-29T16:42:00.001-04:00

EGA. Indianapolis. 13.1. She reports that it was too warm for her KRAC shirt, which has long sleeves, but in keeping with tradition made a political statement instead.

2008-10-28T12:22:00.001-04:00

In the back of my mind is the inevitability of running the NY Marathon. EGA is thinking she might run Chicago if she is still living in Indiana next year, and that would be fun to do again, but when I think about Father's Office I know that I need to get back to LA.

2008-10-24T12:47:00.002-04:00

I am a slug. I haven't run three days a week since I can't remember. I am pointing towards the Turkey Trot (we'll be in town this year) to re-energize my training, but I think what I need is something to point towards, and here is what I am thinking: the New York Half Marathon. It's run some time in January (they haven't announced the date yet), and then after one or more of these joints.

2008-10-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

Mad props to EGA, who turned in a snazzy 1:54:36.9 (08:44 a mile, 31st in her age group) at the Indianapolis Half Marathon. 13.1 is a lovely distance, and she reports that the weather was ideal. Hal Higdon got her there, but the real secret was training on the Bloomington hills. Indy is a pretty flat course, but every time she encountered an incline she was able to open it up a little and motor past runners who were struggling. (Cross-posted from Outside Counsel.)

2008-10-09T13:08:00.001-04:00

There are so many reasons to love hockey it is hard to know where Don Cherry belongs on the list, but he's on the list for sure.

2008-09-29T09:12:00.004-04:00

The trophy awarded to the winner of the Indiana-Michigan State game is the Old Brass Spittoon. I never knew that before this weekend. The ~~Trojans~~ Spartans (thanks, X) took the Spittoon home this season, which is probably a relief to them. For the Hoosiers this game looked like the start of a real rough part of the schedule; for Michigan State the Hoosiers must have looked like a place where they could gain some ground. Michigan State faces all four of the top Big Ten programs -- Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State -- and also has a pair of tricky non-conference games at Notre Dame and against Pittsburgh. Enjoy the Spittoon, fellas.

Mets and Yankees finish with identical 80-73 records, but you could make a case either way as to which team had the more disappointing season. The Yankees were old and injured. The Mets were killed by their bullpen-- in theory, one of the easiest things to fix. In a way going down to the wire the way they did seems worse, but either way it is a melancholy thing to know that I'll never see a game at either of those ballparks again.

The Bills are 4-0. Last week I thought, well, it's not like they are 3-0 the way the Cowboys are 3-0. This week the Cowboys are 3-1. As of this morning there are now four undefeated teams in the league. The Giants had their bye, Baltimore had theirs last week and play tonight. Tennessee is the only other 4-0 team. It is early yet, but I'd like to be in a position to start taunting Mercury Morris. I am really starting to like this team. Trent Edwards has a rifle. Marshawn Lynch is running over defenders like they are Canadian pedestrians. One way to look at the fact that the Bills have had to come from behind is that they've had to come from behind playing the dregs of the league, but I'm a glass half-full guy. This team knlows it can come back from behind, and knowing that is going to come in handy later in the season.

2008-09-25T08:30:00.001-04:00

Nils Lofgren, who you'd think would be an Oreoles fan, has written a farewell to Yankee Stadium. It seems peculiar to me that he says his wife saw Babe Ruth-- did Nils really marry someone that much older than he is?

2008-09-24T08:14:00.002-04:00

GJA, showing the club colors (colours?) Down Under at the Sydney Marathon on his way to a family record 4:32.37. That's a 10:24 average mile pace-- he went out 2:05.06, and ran the second half at 2:27.41.

2008-09-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

A game and a half back. These Mets are just toying with us. Like the "Can't anybody here play this game?" Mets of Casey Stengel this team seems bent on demonstrating that it knows all kinds of ways to lose. To be sure, their specialty is the blown save, but this is frustrating stuff to watch.

Meanwhile, the Bills played like they were surprised the Raiders bothered to show up. The game never really felt out of reach, but you got the sense that they could easily have run out of time. If Herm Edwards were coaching, that would be the analysis, and it seems fair to say it here, too. No way this one should have come down to a field goal with nothing left on the clock. 3-0 is 3-0, I suppose.

2-1 is what the Hoosiers are, and unlike the Bills, who have the Rams and the Cardinals next up Indiana has Michigan State followed by the Golden Gophers. Ball State came to play, and Indiana has a tough looking Big Ten schedule to get through. This has been another edition of the sports I follow because I don't have enough frustration in my life already.

2008-09-21T08:10:00.000-04:00

Interesting list of the top 100 sports venues. I'm a little surprised that I haven't been to, or at least by, more of these, but I was happy to see PNC Park at #78: "Because a team that gets almost everything else wrong got everything right with this, the finest sports facility in the country. Because it is the perfect blend of architecture and environment. Because if the Pirates ever produce any historic moments here, this baby is going to wind up in the top 10."

2008-09-20T08:10:00.000-04:00

10 Books Not To Read Before You Die.

"9: Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien
The best I can say about this book is that it was a very useful tool at school for helping to choose your friends. Carrying a copy of Tolkien’s monstrous tome was the equivalent of a leper’s bell: ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ I knew I would have nothing in common with anyone who had read it. Their taste in music, clothes, television, everything was predetermined by their devotion to Gandalf. Without a shadow of a doubt, in a few years, these people would be going to Peter Gabriel gigs and reading Dune."

2008-09-19T11:59:00.001-04:00

Obama Names Musician Rick Astley as Running Mate. He had a big fat hit, it was ghastly.

2008-09-15T09:40:00.002-04:00

Nice to see that the Jets are still the Jets. I like Cassel's quote: "He's a great quarterback, and it was fun to compete against him. I remember watching him growing up."

My hunch is that New England will improve. All the chatter about the AFC East being wide open following Brady's injury was probably premature, but I like Buffalo's schedule for the next three weeks. Over the same span the Pats get the 'Fins, Niners and Bolts, the last two on the road.

Best game of the weekend was UB/Temple, something I never thought I'd hear myself say. Indiana was idle Saturday, but is 2-0. The Hoosiers take on Ball State this Saturday, Michigan State the week after.

2008-08-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

LP Cover Lover. Terrific stuff. (Via Boing Boing.)