Women’s basketball has come a long ways in recent decades with the WNBA’s positive momentum as one poignant example. But there’s still a ways to go in terms of parity in Division 1 college bball as evidenced by this nail biter from last night. Check the quarter-by-quarter scores below. Texas Southern did their best Midterm Republican impersonation in the second quarter.
1A. I will get a lot of texts today from politicians asking for money. 1B. I will grow increasingly annoyed.
2. That is not a Blue Wave forming on the horizon, it’s a Blue Tsunami.
3A. The Minnesota Gophers will beat the UCLA Bruins Saturday. 3B. Afterwards, following a failed attempt to center himself at Saint Mike’s Adoration Friday morning, DDTTM will send me a snarky, no make that mean text, relishing my misfortune.
4. Luka will lead the league in scoring this year.
5. The President will graciously accept having lost the House and Senate. He’ll talk smartly about working with Democrats to do right by the American people.
Say it isn’t so. These four have the best chemistry in sports. Ernie has always been the glue.
That I’ve been keeping things especially light lately with my focus on the decline of the (dis)U.S. Empire and homelessness as just two examples.
So in an effort to dial up the substance and significance of the Humble Blog, a nod to one of the most weighty developments of the present day.
The UCLA Bruins are 5-0 and ranked 12th in the (dis)U.S college football rankings. Which begs several questions, among them, can one be both a basketball and football school simultaneously? And how long can we stay undefeated with an untested backup QB who had a cup of coffee at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last year?
I am expecting a reversion to the mean, but until then, I will continue to shout happily at the t.v.
Alternative title, You Can Put A Fork In Me.
Ride six was supposed to be an easy 25 mile recovery ride, but by the time I arrived at the start it had morphed into a regular 43 miler with a healthy dose of climbing. I felt depleted mid-ride because I didn’t eat a 43 mile breakfast and I didn’t pack three hours of nutrition in my jersey pocket.
But I managed. Running on fumes meant few pictures. Like the (dis)United States in 2026, I’m a shell of my former self. One more ride tomorrow. Sunday it’s going to rain and Monday is travel home day.
I am very lucky to be healthy and to have the friends, time, and resources to have made this trip possible.
Today, Greg, Alex, Tom, and I rode a hell of a long ways to get coffee at a coffee/bicycle shop. Which, in September, is only open on the weekends.
“Gonna see a guy about a cow” became code for “I’m going to take a nature break.” Which is cycling parlance for “I need to whizz.” Which is a crass way of saying, “I am going to dismount in order to urinate.” Since we’re on the subject, get a load of this.
So, it’s okay to pee in the urinal if you bend from the waist a little. And it’s a-okay to levitate slightly about the toilet seat. And to pee into the toilet as long as you lead with your mid-section. What is NOT okay, is squatting on the rim of the toilet. For heaven’s sake, if you feel compelled to squat, put the seat down first. Yes, the length and difficulty of today’s ride could be effecting me. Here are the deets I know you’re dying for.
I couldn’t have found a nicer group of fifty-somethings to beat on me. Really, a spectacular day on the bike. Brilliant roads, more Belgium countryside goodness, and air conditioning with sunshine, blue skies, and temps around 60. One particular stretch, a straight smooth gentle downhill that cut through a heavily wooded forest was as good as it gets.
At the midpoint, Alex and I tried to rebound from the coffee/bike shop being closed by splitting a pizza. Which he washed down with two fahncy coffees. Eating five pieces of pizza mid-ride may not have been the best decision I’ve made today.
So says British Airlines. Dammit BA, what did I ever do to you? I was hoping to have started including you dear reader in my Belgium cycling adventure by now, but major baggage feck ups have delayed that. It started in Seattle when someone apparently sent 85 people’s baggage to arrivals instead of departures.
First world problems of course. I am coming to you from a warm apartment, drinking coffee, and I have quality company, so I will be A-okay. I even have my bike, contact lenses, and a change of clothes since two of my three delayed bags arrived yesterday.
Still missing . . . cycling kits, all bike tools and other accessories, among other things, so I will be the only no show at today’s shakeout ride. The loneliness epidemic.
I do have lots of reading material. Yesterday, I read a long New Yorker article about the kidnapping crisis in Nigeria. Kinda put my British Airway “problem” in perspective. Long story short, it’s mostly in the Northern Muslim part of the country and it’s fueled by economic desperation which is a fancy phrase for poverty. Nigerian police don’t have anywhere near the resources to fight kidnapping and it is working in the sense that most people pay ransoms. Brutal numbers, stories, scenario more generally, with hardly any hope for improvement any time soon.
Meanwhile, I wait for my expensive cycling kits, computer, radar, etc. And you wait to come along for the ride. Boohoo for you, boohoo for me.
Alternative title, “Felony Allegations to Ponder”.
From ESPN:
“Cornerback Terrion Arnold, who was released by the Detroit Lions earlier this summer after being charged with multiple felonies, plans to sign with the Seahawks, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Thursday.
The deal will be for one year, sources told Rapoport.
Arnold, 23, is facing eight felony charges stemming from a kidnapping and robbery in Tampa, Florida, in February. He was arrested in Hillsborough County in June after turning himself in and was released the following week by the Lions, who drafted him in the first round in 2024.
. . . Arnold is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and beating of three men who prosecutors believe he wrongly suspected of stealing $100,000 in cash from him, along with luxury watches and bags.
Arnold has pleaded not guilty, and, through his representatives, he has denied the allegations. He is facing four counts of kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery, which carry a potential sentence of life in prison.”
Normally, I’m pretty chill. Just don’t survey me, or drive into me in downtown Olympia, or call me Slip twenty plus years after one fall and hella athletic recovery on wet grass.
Oh and one more thing. If you’re going to build a lap pool make it 25 or 50 yards or even better 25 or 50 meters. Don’t make it slightly less than any of these four standards unless you want me to turn completely chilly.
Today I found myself at the Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, WA. First things first, check out the pool and fitness center. Decent pool, but looks a little short. Pace it off, 23 golf steps times 3 feet equals 69 feet. Let’s call it 70. FIVE FEET SHORT of the bare minimum! Code Red! Blood pressure check!
Trying to contain my rage, I double check with the attendant, a middle aged woman who has no idea who she’s dealing with. “Do you know how long the pool is?” I inquire. “Yeah,” looking at her desktop computer for help, “60 feet? 64 feet?” Looking more intently at her monitor, she says more confidently, “It’s 84 degrees.” Which, of course, is too warm, but I digress.
There should be a severe penalty for anyone involved with building short pools. No trial by jury. Just me issuing a final judgement. Something less than life in prison, but not by much.
