Sunday, March 30, 2008

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Without a doubt baseball was the first true love of my life. And as far back as I can remember opening day of the Major League Baseball season has always had a kind of it's-my-birthday feel to it. However, sadly, the older I get the less magical that day feels. That less than magical feel was attached with a reason this year because MLB in there infinite wisdom decided it would be a great idea to open the year with two games on the other side of the globe. Boston and Oakland played two official games that counted in the standings in Japan. Everyone on this side of the globe was sleeping when they played so very few saw the games....so they didn't count....but they really did. The crazy thing is that after they played those "official" games both teams came back to spring training for 3 or 4 more games that didn't count in the official standings. The Sox and A's will resume their 4 game series tomorrow.

Having said all that, I still love opening day and it still possesses a certain charm to it that not every day possesses. It's the start of a new season....a new beginning....my team is in the thick of the race to begin....I get to follow the box scores every day with my breakfast and coffee.

"Play Ball!"

Monday, March 17, 2008

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD!!

I'm just going to go ahead and get this out there....we live in crazy times! As if you needed me to tell you.

The money that's being thrown around in sports in general and college football coaching specifically is crazy, skewed, out of whack and every other off-kilter adjective you can think of. O.K., let it be said that the SEC is a veritable "who's who" of big name football coaches: Saban, Petrino, Miles, Tuberville, Crooms, Nutt (hold your comment) and that's just in the SEC west! And, yes, I realize that football basically funds the vast majority of most schools' athletic budgets. But come on! Saban was the benchmark of high watermark salaries at 3.75 MILLION A YEAR, and yes, I'm shouting! 3.75 MILLION!!

And then comes along the cocky Les Miles. He just got a raise over the weekend and now he makes 3.75 MILLION.....plus $1,000.00. That's right, plus.....$1,000.00. So, let's examine that: It wasn't good enough that he made 3.75 MILLION (still shouting), he had to assure that he'd arrogantly be the highest paid coach by demanding an additional $1,000.00. As if I needed a reason to dislike LSU.

You know, it's not that I begrudge anyone from making as much money as they can....it's what we do...it's our society. We pay for entertainment and college football is entertainment. And we pay for a winner and LSU has won. But, it's the attitude and arrogance that gets me. Whatever happened to being humble? It's like Miles is treating every other coach in the SEC like a dog, especially Saban, and rubbing their noses in the mess they each left on the new living room carpet.

Here's to LSU racking up some L's over the next several years forcing Miles to justify his outrageous salary and his even more outrageous ego.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

CONFIDENCE & ENERGY

I got my April Triathlete magazine in the mail yesterday...I always enjoy the day that's in the "box". I seem to always pick up a jewel of information here and there from each issue and it definitely stokes the motivational fire each month!

I always read it in stages....first there's the "once over", which is a solid glance at it from front to back. Then I'll go from back to front and look at all the classifieds at the back just to make sure there's nothing out there that I absolutely need but don't have. I also like looking at all the advertisements....pictures, really, of what could possibly make me stronger and faster! You really have to be careful with this though because you don't want your bike catching you looking at pictures of "other" bikes...and this month is especially hard and tempting because it's the annual buyers guide!

My next stop is the "Training" section. It's always nice to see what others do and what might possibly make me more efficient in the water, stronger on the bike or faster in my shoes and certainly something that's going to improve my endurance.

"At The Races" is always a must see as well just to see who the top triathletes are, what their times are and how unrealistic those times are for me to achieve. The usual suspects seem to always be in the top 5...they just, often, switch places.

From there I'll check out Scott Tinley's article that's always on the last page...He's the great philosopher for the sport.

Let me apologize here because it's taken me this long to get to the reason for the post. I don't always read his "Starting Lines" article near the front but last night I read the "The Sandbagger" by Mitch Thrower. The gist of the article is that triathletes will train wherever, whenever and however is possible and they'll overcome great obstacles to do so. So much so that often times it causes other people to raise an eyebrow....and not in a good way. More like in a "man, you're a freak" kind of way. Why are triathletes this way? Well, the answer is simple, yet complex. If you ask 20 different triathletes you might get 20 different answers. But, in the end it comes down to this, and I didn't realize it until I read the article, and I quote: "There is no way non-triathletes could understand the energy and confidence you gain from this sport".

That's it! It's simple, descriptive, complete. Each time you complete a training session, each time you break down a barrier, each time you complete a race, feed off the crowd, "Bonk" and get back out there the next day, succeed, set a PR, endure a tough day and in the process embrace a completely different lifestyle that's healthy and keeps you moving, you build confidence and create more energy.

Friday, March 07, 2008

WOW!!


Wow! It's not everyday we get this in Central Arkansas....a winter wonderland.

finish...with a lower case 'f'



I've been avoiding this post for a while now because I'm not pleased with my performance and, with hindsight in eagle-eye focus, my overall effort and/or preparation leading up to the Little Rock marathon.


I'm not ready to say that I disrespected the distance because I don't think I did....I just didn't have the fire in my gut needed to get the job done. I ran a 4:42 and change....my marathon time at Ironman Wisconsin was 4:57 and change.


I did finish and I'm please about that because at mile 14 I was ready to accept my first DNF. So, there's that.


There is a silver lining in this story....I got some base miles under my belt, which was a goal, as I begin to prepare for the upcoming tri season. I also learned something....again....there's usually a correlation between the outcome of something and the effort put in to achieveing it!



Wednesday, March 05, 2008

SRO FUNERALS

OK, not the most joyous of subjects. But then again, maybe it should be. Funerals certainly can be joyous as you reflect on the impact that person made on your life and remember the stories you'll always cherish. Maybe you didn't know the deceased all that well but you're there to support a family member. Whatever the case may be, funerals are important for many reasons.

I went to the funeral of the father of an old friend today. I didn't know the deceased all that well and I haven't seen the friend in several years. I was there to support my old friend. And I know it meant something to him for me to be there when I was able to give him a big hug and tears rolled down his face. I know I would want as many people as possible to be there to support me.

All that leads me to the real point of this topic. It was standing room only at this funeral today. This man loved and was loved by many people and he had an impact on many directly or indirectly. You don't have a standing room only funeral without touching people's lives.....connecting with people.....investing in people.....and gaining the love and respect of people.

My prayer is that we can all have a SRO funeral because that will mean that we've had a postive impact on many people's lives!