COOL SUMMER

It's been a pretty cool summer from a baseball standpoint for my oldest, Alex (and for me too for that matter). The photo above is of the Junior Deputy Major Division Champions for 2008. It was taken after the final game of the season in which we needed to win to secure the championship! As the smiles (and fingers) would indicate, we won the game and championship. A brief description of the last inning of the last game is in order because it's filled with the kind of drama expected from a championship caliber game:

The above photo is of the last pitch of the game and season. Obviously it was successful, but also stressful, says the coach in the corner of the dugout who couldn't watch.

It all came down to the bottom of the 7th. Reds up 5 - 2. The inning started innocently enough as the lead off batter rolled one down the line at first. Alex jumped off the hill, hustled over and threw him out for the first out. Alex walked the next batter. Then Mason McKay made a nice play at third on the next batter getting the force at second. Two outs one on. The drama wasn't over, however. After a walk and a fielder's choice play the bases were loaded with two outs.

Next to the plate was the Braves' best hitter. He'd tripled earlier in the game and hit a two run homer the night before. With bases loaded, two outs, and the Reds holding a 5 - 2 lead this game wasn't over! Alex quickly got him down 0 - 2 throwing two great pitches. The next pitch was in a great location trying to get him to chase it....ball one. By this time, I was in the very inside corner of the dugout by the water fountain. I couldn't see the batter.....I didn't want to....I was a nervous wreck! The next two pitches were good pitches and were fouled off....Alex was still way ahead at 1 - 2. At this point I'll say that while this was the Braves' best hitter and he'd done well at the plate as described above....Alex owned him on this night striking him out two of the three times he faced him leading up to this at bat....and he'd done it on good curve balls. Then on pitch 109...Russell Mays, who'd called an excellent game all night, with the championship on the line, called for the "uncle charlie" one more time. I saw Alex wind up, throw the pitch....I never got a visual confirmation of what happened at the plate....but it was obvious that the good curve got him again when I saw Alex slap his leg with his glove and pump his fist. I heard our stands erupt and saw our players begin to celebrate. It was a thing of beauty! Alex pitched a complete game for his best game of the year!

But the fun didn't stop with league baseball. Alex also played on his high school summer team and had fun with that as well. Being a freshman he played most of his game with the JV team but he probably had his most fun playing with the varsity guys. The highlight came in a varsity tournament at the local college. After a couple of games the starting 3rd baseman had to go out of town. Alex got the tap on the shoulder to take his spot. He did himself proud, played very well, caught the head coach's eye and earned a lot of respect from the rest of the varsity guys as someone who could deliver. In the semi-final game he went 2 - 3 with a double, single and three RBI, made some nice defensive plays and helped his team get to the championship game!

The championship game was the real treat. These guys got to experience playing a game at Dickey-Stephens park...the home of the AA Arkansas Travelers. It was the first non-professional game to ever be played at the park. They finished second in this tourney against some great teams from a 4 state area.

MUSINGS FROM THE WORLD OF SPORTS

***Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run earlier this week putting him in an exclusive club of 6...In order: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey, Jr. Pretty impressive list of names. Griffey owned the '90s. From 1991 - 2000 he averaged 40 home runs and 113 RBIs....averaged! Those numbers include '91 when he hit just 22 and '95 when he played only 72 games due to injury and hit 17. It also includes the strike shortened season of '94 when he played only 111 games but still hit 40. It's too bad that since 2000 he's missed the equivalent of 2 1/2 seasons due to injury. There's no telling where he'd be on that list had he been able to play those games. Considering the fact that Hank called Griffey after he hit his 600th I'm sure he'd rather have "The Kid" ahead of him on that list then that other guy!

***The legendary Jim McKay passed away this past Saturday. From the Olympics to the British and U.S. Opens to the Wide World of Sports McKay's voice is synonymous with sports. He covered them all and did it well. The Olympics won't be the same without him.

***The Celtics are going for their first championship since 1986....that's a long dry spell for a franchise that defined the NBA and dynasties.

***There's the BCS bowl season in football and March Madness in basketball, but one of the most exciting seasons in all of college sports is upon us. The College World Series kicks off later this week in Omaha, Nebraska. Although I've never been to see it personally I've watched plenty of games on the tube and it's one of the most exciting, action-packed, enthusiastic events in sports. It seems like no lead is ever safe and the crowd is always into it.

PFFFFfffffssssssss.......and various other sounds

ZA,ZA,ZAzzzippppppppp, Ka-thump/Ka-thump/Ka-thump/Ka-thump/etc., KLUNK-klunk-bumpalump (x2), sandwiched by a couple of PFFFFffffsssssssssss's!

If you've ever thought of triathlons being filled with a bunch of sounds........the above sounds are not ones you want to hear. Come to think of it, it's pretty hard to spell sounds....try it sometime!

OK. Some explanations are in order. Following the explanations no further descriptions of how my race at the Route 66 Olympic in El Reno, Oklahoma should be needed.

With 5 minutes to race start I'm pulling my wetsuit onto my shoulders and reaching back and grabbing the string attached to the zipper that helps zip it up.....I get a ZA,ZA,ZA as the zipper locks a few teeth together with some resistance....then all of a sudden....zzzzzziiiiipppppppppppppp. Well, now, that was way to easy and fast. Sure enough, the zipper broke! Three minutes to race start and I'm takin' off my wetsuit trying to fix the zipper! A couple of nice volunteers see me and come over to help but to no avail. We had to put the wetsuit "down" right there on the track for everyone to see. Now I'm the only one not in the water and the guy on the loud speaker says, "wait, here's one more swimmer". That would be me.

The name of the triathlon helps explain the Ka-thump/Ka-thump/Ka-thump. The race is the Route-66 as in the OLD, famous, Route 66 highway that stretches across America. Stories are told about it, songs have been written about it and now curse words have been heaped upon it. You see, this stretch of Route-66 is still the original road. Concrete road. With some not so skillfully patched portions of the road. Every 20 yards or so the sections of concrete are separated making a distinct Ka-thump sound as one passes over. So, for 16 of the 25 mile bike portion it's a constant Ka-thump, Ka-thump, Ka-thump and on and on and so forth and so forth. It's enough to drive you nuts all by itself. Except not only does all the Ka-thumping drive you crazy, it also can, and did, cost me dearly in more ways than one.

That brings me to the KLUNK-klunk-bumpalump. The first one was my water bottle bouncing out of my holder on the back of my seat and landing on OLD Route-66. I wasn't the only one losing a water bottle. That particular portion of OLD Route-66 was like a graveyard for water bottles that day. I'm not quite sure what was worse...all the Ka-thumping or avoiding all the water bottles on the road. Anyway, the second KLUNK-klunk-bumpalump was my salt capsule container bouncing to the concrete. It escaped from my bento box while trying to down a GU.

By now I'm sure you can guess what the PFFFFffffssssssss represents. Yep, in the famous words of Howard Cossell (with some variation) "Down goes the tube, Down goes the tube". I'm flying down this hill and at the bottom is one of those not-so-skillfully patch portions of OLD Route-66. It's asphalt with about a 3-inch lip. I hit it doing about 35 - 40 mph. PFFFFffffssssssss is the next sound I hear. My first flat in an actual race. The silver lining in this thing is that I get to practice changing a flat. I proceed to do so and in the meantime I watch everyone zip right by me. I'm not quite sure because sweat ran into the corners of my eyes but I thought I actually saw a three-toed sloth pass me at that point. Anyway, I got it fixed, got back on and headed on my way passing some of those same folks who passed me earlier (no sign of the sloth). I'm back up to speed with a good cadence Ka-thumping my way back to the transition when.....PFFFFffffssssssss.....AGAIN. I usually watch my language but it was at this moment that curse words were heaped upon OLD Route-66.

I'm sure I looked pretty goofy walking a bicycle along the side of the road with a goofy looking aero helmet on and wearing these awfully tight shorts and shirt to all the farmers and ranchers whizzing by me in their cowboy Cadillacs in Western Oklahoma.

Mercifully a race volunteer picked me up and took me back to the transition area ending my misery and my race.....Ka-thumping all the way!

WHY PEOPLE DO IT

There are many cool things about Ironman. It tests yourself to the very core of your existence both mentally and physically. It's a lesson in persistence, endurance, toughness, failure and rising above it, humility, triumph, confidence, exhaustion and the list goes on.

Another intriguing aspect to Ironman is everyone has a story. Ironman finishers come in all shapes and sizes and from many different walks of life. Everyone has a reason for why they are an Ironman....and they all are inspiring in one way or another. Below is a link to one such inspiring story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMCnjMbUOFg

Pre Route 66

Gearing up for my second go-round with the Route-66 oly in El Reno, Oklahoma this weekend. The ankle is feeling much better (I bought stock in a generic ibuprofen company....shorting, of course). Swam 2500 this morning with an opening set of 1800 straight. I was planning a 3000 workout but had to get to the house and take the kids to school. I'm also doing a short brick this afternoon.

Did a nice 50-miler (actually it ended up being 47.5....rounding up, don't you know, always looks better) this past weekend with the guys & gal. It was my first trip around the Cato loop this year and that dad-gum hill is still there. Incidentally so are the three subsequent hills after the dad-gum hill. In all it was a good workout and a confidence boost.

More on the 66 next week.

MiM 2008

Two out of three isn't bad, as they say, but it feels crappy. More on this shortly.

Memphis in May was my first triathlon of the season. It happened this past weekend, May 18th. It's a great race and usually someone famous is on hand for the event. last year it was Macca. He captured the victory and the $10,000.00 check. No high profile pros were in attendance this year but a celebrity was there non the less. Sister Madonna Buder was in the ranks and well recognized.

I've said many times that baseball was the first true love of my life, but ironically it did me in for this race. This past thursday night (before the race Sunday) I was coaching my 15-year-old son's baseball game. It's a nice field with dugouts that you step down to the main part of the dugout. In between innings I was stepping down into the dugout to get a drink of water from the fountain. What I didn't see was the baseball I was about to step on that would ultimately cost me the run portion of this race. As soon as I stepped on it my ankle rolled and I swear I could hear tendons pulling beyond the normal limits. I went down like a sack of 'tators and my ankle swelled up like a hot air balloon.

Actually it healed pretty well over the next two days thanks to a lot of ice, heat and ibuprofen. But not enough healing to allow me to run. I was able to tackle the swim and bike portions and went through both transitions but as soon as I crossed the timing mat to start the run I pealed off and ended my day.

I was the first DNF of my short triathlon "career" and it goes against everything I believe and know about finishing events like these.....I want to finish at all costs. But I thought better of it considering it's the first race of my season and not the last and not my "A" race.

About the race....a great race that's well supported. My swim was a little slower than last year at 29:ish (can't remember the seconds) and the bike was roughly the same averaging 21.7 MPH (22.1 last year). Both transitions were faster than last year.

The post-race food was awesome. There was a lot of pasta, burgers, dogs, cole slaw, fruit, chips and the peach turnover was fantastic.

If you've never done this race before I highly recommend it.

AERO HELMETS AND CUFF LINKS

It's pretty difficult to compare aero helmets and cuff links. One protects your cranium while riding a bicycle, the other holds your shirt together at it's sleeve cuff. While wearing one you hope to break a sweat and get in a good workout. But while wearing the other you hope to avoid sweating at all costs. One is pretty good size and is very apparent when seen. The other is much smaller and doesn't stand out quite as much. Of course there are many more differences that I choose not to go into here because the point of this post is how they are similar.

Aero helmets and cuff links are very assuming, in my opinion, and both make a statement. An aero helmet does more than just protect your head in a crash. It's there to make you more aerodynamic, more streamlined, faster! Cuff links do more than just hold your cuff together. They're more sophisticated, they say something about you.

Both aero helmets and cuff links force you to step into an arena where casual is no longer an option. It's serious now and you're playing for keeps. For the helmet not only are you preserving your health you're saying I'm fast and I want to be faster. For the links not only are you keeping your cuff together but you're doing it with a certain pizazz.

O.K. Now comes the self realization. I have both an aero helmet and cuff links. I guess that makes me all that's above with certain caveats. As far as the helmet's concerned I'm really not that fast I just got an incredible deal on it and couldn't pass it up (more than half-off!). And the links? I got a good deal on some french cuff shirts. How are you going to hold them together without links?

Here's another difference between the two. With cuff links you can kind of pull it off. If you look good, who really knows the difference? But with the aero helmet if people are blowing by you like you're going backwards they're going to go, "yeah, right!"