Category Archives: Sports

Trust Issues

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There are two types of baseball fans. The real ones who have the “catchers and pitchers report” date on their calendars and happily tune in for all 162 and the fake dilettantes who pace themselves and wait until October to start caring.

My friend Mike is a real one. Has been for decades. I’m a fake dilettante. Our text exchange is prob repeating all over the PNW.

And In Sports

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  • The pre-season #1 and #2 ranked college football teams just fell out of the Top 25. So much for high falutin analytics.
  • I was 39 years young the last time the Mariners won a playoff game. I hope I won’t be 87 the next time.
  • Sometimes it takes awhile. SDarnold and BMayfield were putting on a quarterback clinic yesterday. DanDantheTranspoMan chalked it up to bad defense, but what does he know about football anything?
  • UCLA won a football game against a formerly great team. So much for going winless and getting the number one draft pick.
  • I finished fifth out of seven on Michigan Hill Saturday. A shell of my former self. TMAT was second.
  • Can we please make the Ryder Cup Great Again by kicking out every single loud and obnoxious American knucklehead on their first offense? Related. Who wants to go to Adare Manor with me?
  • Pogačar won. Again.
  • Keep an eye on Quenton Lanese of Olympia High School. He’s got the goods. Related. My 1k/year running streak is in serious jeopardy as a result of very stubborn left heel bursitis that has put a serious dent into my mileage. Try not to let that ruin your day.

Scheffler For The Win

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Not the fleeting kind that ends in hoisting a trophy. The real “meaningful life” kind.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s #1 rated golfer, is winning more tournaments than anyone else and just asked at one of the most honest and provocative sports pressers in recent memory, “What’s the point?” You don’t have to be a golf junkie to watch/appreciate it.

Maybe his perspective is even more impressive than his game. He somehow knows fame is fleeting. And ultimately, unfulfilling. Especially compared to family.

I quit competing in triathlons after conducting a mental exercise. I thought to myself that if I truly committed to consistent training, age group wins at decent races were possible. And qualifying for the Kona World Championships. And these best case scenarios didn’t move the needle nearly enough for me to continue racing. I concluded, “What’s the point?”

There is one convincing reason for aging weekend warriors to keep entering races. Races provide many the needed motivation to train.

Back in my earliest triathlon racing days, I integrated swimming, cycling, and running into my life to the point that I regularly do some combo of all three each week*. Thus, that rationale doesn’t hold for me. I get “out the door” without signing up for anything. But, I suspect I’m an outlier in that respect.

*Haven’t swam in July yet. Father/Mother, forgive me, for I have sinned. My excuse is I’m allergic to something in the lake. And it seems like a crime to swim indoors in July.

A Great Idea

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Our newish house sits atop a hill on the edge of downtown Olympia. Which is really nice when starting a run because gravity helps get you in the groove. But not nearly as nice when ending a run or long, hard ride.

Don’t tell Travis, but sometimes, like Friday afternoon, I pull the plug early or mid-hill and walk it in. I was so spent at the end of my wee 5 miler, I leaned on the bridge to collect myself before starting the uphill walk home.

And that’s when it came to me. The great idea. To jump off the bridge into the southernmost part of the Puget Sound sometime this summer. Being hot and sweaty prob contributed to this genius.

I’m sure it’s illegal, but how bad could the consequences be? The height of the jump is flexible depending upon how far up one goes on the bridge, and to a lesser degree, the tide. I’m thinking mid-bridge at high tide to make sure there’s ample water underneath. I’ll plant a second pair of shoes onshore and prob leave my original shoes on the bridge before going airborne.

I see one problem besides the inevitable fame that will follow from the jump. The Puget Sound’s southernmost water is polluted, so much so, the shore is dotted with “No swimming” signage. But it’s not like I’m going to linger. In and out in a few minutes. Shower off. And hope to live another day.

The only thing more bad ass than this plan would be just doing it without telling anyone. So, please, if you will, strike this post from the record.

Don’t Drink The Water

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The Wall Street Journal headline asserts, “The Dirty Secret of Olympic Swimming: Everyone Pees in the Pool”. Two main reasons. The swimmers are super-hydrated and their speed suits take 20 minutes to take off and put on. Chlorine for the win.

There’s an unspoken rule that you don’t let loose near others. That is, most swimmers most of the time. Apparently, there are some exceptions.

For the record, I would never whizz in any body of water that’s not encased in porcelain.

Everything Is Going To Be Alright

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Now that it’s looking like the Demos have a Presidential candidate who is two decades younger than the other teams. The Other Team is livid at the eighth inning substitution which is as clear an indication as there is that everything is going to be alright.

Or is it?

Hardly anyone is paying attention to the most recent sign that the U.S. is in decline. The (d)USA Olympic basketball team was down 14 to South Sudan at halftime of their recent Olympics tune-up. And won by 1 point thanks to LeBron’s last second heroics.

South Sudan. Do the South Sudanese players not understand the concept of American exceptionalism? In case not, here’s a primer.

Because I like to keep it real, I’m going to tell you what no one else will. It doesn’t do a nation any good to be “unique and even morally superior. . . for historical, ideological, or religious reasons” if that country doesn’t box out and clean the glass.