Are you like me, did you think that the downhill skiing could be both exciting and dangerous? Well, we don’t know the half of it: at Sochi 2014, it’s extreme!
Category Sports
After all, it’s all about the kids
It’s not that I don’t like the Olympics, it’s that I am thoroughly disinterested in the Olympics. Oh, I like athletic competitions just fine, both watching them and taking part in them, and I’m fine with competing on behalf of one’s country. But there’s something about the Olympics that over the years has left me feeling…who cares? And the Winter Olympics, even more so.
On top of that I’ve heard nothing but bad things about this Olympics. The horror stories of the past week about how ill-prepared is Sochi to host the visitors; the waste and corruption in the Russian government and Olympic committee to have spent as much on this event—$51 billion!—as all previous Winter Olympics combined; the Putin government’s transparent lies about its treatment of its gay citizens—none of that would sway me over to watch even a little of the spectacle were I somehow to have had a weak moment when I couldn’t find something to watch on any of the other hundred or so channels that flow freely into my home.
But, that was all before I got the straight dope from the Russians…via Tom the Dancing Bug. Now that they set me straight on why they’ve done the things they’ve done to be ready to welcome the world to Sochi, I feel a whole lot better. I’m sure you will, too, once you know what I know.
Thanks TDB and GoComics.com
Dammit, Biggio is a sweetheart so elect him to the Hall already!
Craig Biggio did not win election to the Hall of Fame today. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas did, and they deserve it; congratulations to them. For the second year in a row, his first two years of eligibility, the Houston Astros icon was the biggest vote-getter without getting the 75% of votes required from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Last year, when the writers elected no one, Biggio was the leading candidate but came up 39 votes short; this time, it was two. TWO VOTES, out of 571 569 (nope, now they say 571 after all)! Don’t those people understand that Biggio is a great guy?
I mean, Houston’s Leading Information Source switched into full cheerleader mode last week (as it did this time last year), fulfilling its civic responsibility of promoting Biggio’s candidacy by reminding readers that he is…well, that he is a nice man. Jose de Jesus Ortiz made the point that Biggio’s teammates think he’s a great guy, and that his agreeing to switch positions showed his further greatness; new guy Evan Drellich has found that even people who knew Biggio as a kid say he’s a lovely fellow. (To a lesser degree the Chronicle tried to shine the same sweet sunlight on Biggio’s teammate and pal Jeff Bagwell, who carries credentials that match up pretty well with Frank Thomas but who also labors under the suspicion of having used performance-enhancing drugs; he was seventh on today’s list of candidates with more than 54% of the vote.)
But I’ve just discovered that even the local daily doesn’t know it all. A tweet from Lance Zierlein led me to this eye-opening YouTube video that should convince any remaining skeptics who aren’t sold on Craig Biggio being a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame. Just take a look for yourself.
What else must this man do? I mean, really…
Heralding the Classic with a clash of the brass
Are you like me, are you looking forward to what ought to be a pretty good World Series between Boston and St. Louis starting tonight? Of course you are. And this may just be me not paying attention, but I’m pleased not to have had to hear about the usual stupid bets between mayors and governors when a series like this comes around; on the other hand, I was very pleased to learn, from NPR, about this unusual throwdown between the orchestras of the two towns!
I’ll take the Cardinals in 6…
A day in the life
It’s one of those days…you know the kind I mean. The details of my today aren’t important and I’m not trying to play on your sympathy; just saying we’ve all had those days when the universe makes it clear, again, that your well-laid plans are not binding on anyone else. A day when you’d agree with the characterization offered by Ned Racine in Body Heat: “Sometimes the shit comes down so heavy I feel like I should wear a hat.” A day when a lot of frustration gets vented, or distilled out, on the drive home.
If you are lucky enough, you stumble upon something coming out of the car radio that nudges aside the pall, at least for a few minutes, and reminds you that today is just today…there will be plenty of tomorrows that are not today. For me, today, it was this story on NPR about the positive effect of organized baseball on some kids in a drug-infested neighborhood of Camden, New Jersey, creating safe pockets out of the despair where “kids can still be kids.”
Now, I know that just about any activity for kids that their parents and other adults in the neighborhood actively support could have the same impact on the kids as baseball is having for these particular kids today…and I try not to go all Ken-Burns-and-George-Will on the mystical healing powers of baseball…but on this day—All-Star Game day!—hearing about the mystical healing powers of baseball for some kids in Camden, New Jersey really hit the spot.
And then, there’s this:
(apologies for the misspelling, Bud!)
HEY, IT'S PAT RYAN'S BLOG! 