Jack FM Moment of the Week

Leave it to local radio station 100.3 Jack FM to pull out one of my all time favorite songs from my childhood: Born to be Alive by Patrick Hernandez.



I have to say that while I loved this song growing up, I may have sung a different tune if I had seen the video. If MTV Video Awards were handed out back then, this one would have won "Most Awkward and Uncomfortable Performance by an Artist."

I mean, did Hernandez borrow the Flock of Seagulls video set and just remove the foil or was it the other way around. He can't even seem to figure out which camera to look at. That, or he's unaware of the others.

"YOO HOO! Patrick! The camera is to your left. No, your other left!"

You just have to watch it to believe. Ah the good old days when making music videos was simple.

Cool Triathlon iGoogle Artist Theme

I found this really cool triathlon theme by triathlete Vanessa Fernandes for my iGoogle home page.

A top triathlete, Vanessa Fernandes continues to impress fans in her home country of Portugal and around the world with her discipline and spirit of sacrifice. She is considered one of the youngest promising stars of the decade.

And there are plenty of other cool designs. Check them out.

Did I Really Say That?

Did I really predict the Mavs over the Hornets in seven? Dang. My bad.

At least the Stars are doing their best to drag Dallas out of professional sport's Loserville.

Old College Tri Race Recap

The results are in for my Old College Tri triathlon and I couldn't be more pleased. I met or beat my goals for the race and had a wonderful experience. Here's what I wrote for my race report over at Beginner Triathlete. You can see the results broken down by age group here.

Run 3.11 miles Bike 12 miles Swim 300 meters

Total Time = 1h 14m 8s
Overall Rank = 140/400
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 13/28

Pre-race routine:
Breakfast of whole grain waffles with peanut butter and jelly.

Event warmup:
Dynamic warmups along with a few laps in the pool. Nothing much. Could probably benefit from more lower back and hip movements to warm them up.

Swim
Comments:
This was a solid but not spectacular swim. My goals were to swim 5:30 and focus on my breathing and form. The last race, I gulped and gasped during the swim and performed poorly. This time, my form was consistent, as was my speed. I didn't start out too quickly and maintained a steady pace. I passed five people, which surprised me, and wasn't passed. While not spectacular, I'm very pleased with this solid swim.

What would you do differently?:
For this race, not a thing. I would like a faster swim time, but this race was about technique, not speed.

T1
Comments:
Transition was fine. I'm sure I'll get more efficient in the future, but my time was basically the same as the last, so I'm happy. I took a shot of gel before getting on the bike this time for some extra fuel.

What would you do differently?:
Nothing.

Bike
Comments:
This was the area where I thought I could improve the most, and I was right. The additional time spent on the bike with the Carrollton Cycling Club increased my confidence and pace. The shifting could use some more work, but I have no complaints. I've been riding this bike for just over three months now. I took an additional gel shot a couple miles before transition and finished my water bottle as I planned. My back did hurt but not as much as the last race. However, because I was pushing hard, my power levels declined as the race leg progressed. I must continue to work on this area because the bike rides will get longer as the season progresses. If I want to maintain top speeds, my back has to be strong. Overall, I'm very pleased with this ride.

What would you do differently?:
Maybe more back specific warm ups prior to the race, but there's not much I can do while I'm on the bike.

T2
Comments:
Very smooth transition. No issues. Found that running on the my toes and not my heels made the run easier.

What would you do differently?:
Nothing.

Run
Comments:
The course was made for turning a fast time, but my legs were shot from the bike ride. However, that was expected because I have not been running much due to the achilles issues. I had not run the week leading up to the race and had not practiced any bricks since my last race in March. That said, the achilles behaved and I had no calf issues, although both felt a little tight. I began the race deliberately slow, waiting for my running legs to come. They never came, but my pace was steady. No kick, but my pace was steady. I usually only take one drink during a 5K, this time I took two. I had a brief sloshy episode but it quickly passed. Overall, I'm happy with the time.

What would you do differently?:
Nothing other than only taking one drink during the race leg.

Post race
Warm down:
No warm-down. Drank fluid, ate pancakes, visited with friends, and cheered on my girlfriend.

What limited your ability to perform faster:
My sore back may have slightly limited my bike performance. I felt my power leave me over the last couple of miles of the bike leg. For the run, the issue with my achilles is clearly slowing me down. I've running decent times for the races but I know that I can go faster.

Event comments:
Another great race by the Dallas Sports University. And the weather was stunning and perfect. As with the St. Patrick's Day tri, I was beaten by the 11-year old girl from The Woodlands. Although, I'm closing the gap.

This Isn't Helping

I struggle with "why am I doing this thoughts" when it comes to triathlon training. One of the parts about this sport I'm not particularly looking forward to is open water swimming. Tragic stories like this one aren't helping.

Second Try at a Tri

I guess it's time to commit some race goals to writing, especially since my next triathlon is this weekend.

Old College Tri Goals
April 26, 2008
www.oldcollegetri.com

* Goal: Finish in 1:19:57 (yes, that is only one second faster than my last race)
* Swim Goal: 300m in 5:30 (my official seeding time is 5:10)
* Ride Goal: 12 miles in 40 minutes (that's an average of 18 mph)
* Run Goal: Run 5K in 28 minutes
* Total Transition Time: Less than 4:30

So, doing the math, that totals 1:18:00. But my overall goal is to simply be faster than the last race.

I see the bike ride being my area of biggest improvement. When I rode the St. Patrick's Triathlon, you could count the number of times I had ridden my bike on two hands. Since then, I've ridden with and joined the Carrollton Cycling club and have spent more time on the bike. My confidence has grown and I've learned how to tolerate and mange any back pain.

My biggest worry is the run considering the achilles problems I have had. Plus, I haven't trained on the run at all this week, focusing on bike and swim. Training not to break I call it. If the pain is tolerable, I believe I can run faster than 28 minutes. Shoot, I managed to beat that time at St. Patrick's while limping through several hundred meters when my calf exploded.

I'm excited for the race though. The weather is looking good. Rain is forecast for Friday night but Saturday morning will be in the upper 50s. The race starts at 7:00 a.m. so by the time I hit the bike and run the temperature will be warm but not super hot.

The theme of the race is the old college tri so most people will be wearing college-themed gear. I'll be sporting a sweet IU swim cap that one of my ad reps scored for me. Kara will be wearing one as well as a show of support. I'll probably wear a red shirt for the bike and run and maybe an IU cap for the run. No IU t-shirts as the one shirt that I have will be uncomfortable to race in. I may do some body marking, too. We shall see. Until then, I'll leave you with this:

Indiana, Our Indiana
Indiana, we're all for you
We will fight for
the Cream & Crimson,
For the glory of Old IU
Never daunted, we cannot falter
In the battle, we're tried and true
Indiana, Our Indiana
Indiana, we're all for you!
I-U

HA HA. You Suck, Isiah

Finally, justice have been served against The Great Destroyer:

From ESPN.com: Former New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has been banned from having any contact with members of the team as part of his reassignment agreement with team president Donnie Walsh, the New York Daily News reported, citing a team source.

What a fun month for Ol' Zeke. First, he gets canned as GM. Then the new GM cans him as coach and reassigns him to do...something:

Thomas does not have an official title. He reports directly to Walsh, who said no player brought up Thomas' name during last week's exit meetings Thursday.

"I don't want there to be some kind of double-voice here, so he's answering to me and nobody's reporting to him," Walsh said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York on Tuesday. "... He's not going to be here on a full-time basis anymore. I'll be calling the shots, I'm in charge of the franchise. It's my responsibility where it was his."

So let's recap Isiah's post-player career: Screws the Toronto Raptors, bankrupts the CBA, leads the New York Knicks into the basement of the NBA as coach and GM, and further embarrasses the once proud franchise by sexually harassing an employee.

I used to love this guy. He was awesome for the Indiana Hoosiers and the only reason why I rooted for the Detroit Pistons during their Bad Boys days and championship runs. He was my hero as a kid. Now? I'll be a happy man if I never hear his name again.

Except here.

Mavs in Seven

Call it karmic payback for last year's historic choke job, but I like the Maverick's chances in the first round of this year's NBA playoffs against the Hornets. Yet:

But the truth is that this Mavericks team is impossible to read. The moment they begin to flex their muscles, the moment they give you a hint that there is playoff hope after victories over Golden State, Phoenix and Utah, they lose to Portland and Seattle.

This team is good, but it's easily the most inconsistent group Avery Johnson has coached. Nothing this team has done during the regular season leads you to believe they are capable of a deep playoff run. But then, last year's team gave every indication it was braced for a long playoff run and went out in the first round.

The Mavericks won't win the title this season. But they are capable of making some noise in the playoffs. They are also capable of leaving the scene with not much more than a whimper.

We're about to find out which route they take.

At least one of my teams has to do well this year: Cowboys? Chokeboys. Colts? Dolts. Hoosiers? Don't get me started.

Mavericks? Somethings gotta give, right? Mavs in seven.

My Tax Dollars at Work?

In the name of chicken sandwiches, I hope my tax dollars are not being used for this:

WASHINGTON - President Bush has quite a birthday present for Pope Benedict XVI: at least 9,000 excited guests gathered on the White House's South Lawn for a 21-gun salute, a famed soprano's rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" and an emotional presidential welcome.

The pontiff turns 81 on Wednesday, the first full day of his first trip to the United States as leader of the world's Roman Catholics. He'll spend most of the day at the White House, only the second pope to do so and the first in 29 years.

The amount of media coverage for the pope's visit is astonishing and nauseating. This guy is no different than any other religious leader, but I wager that no imam or hindu swami would be given this kind of treatment. I'm hopeful that in my lifetime the influence this worthless position has on the world will diminish. Must be the hats because the only things the pope spouts are stupidity, hatred, bigotry, and nonsense.

Nauseating Update:

Bush showed off America to its important visitor, ticking off what he said are its best virtues: a nation of prayer and compassion, a nation that believes in religious liberty and welcomes the role of faith in the public square, and one that is the most "innovative, creative and dynamic country on Earth" but also among the most religious.

"Most of all, Holy Father, you will find in America people whose hearts are open to your message of hope," Bush said.

But while acting the proud father, Bush also seemed to suggest that America could use a little tough talking-to by the pontiff.

"In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary," the president said, drawing sustained applause from the lawn.

That this is front page news is vomitous. That I'm actually reading it is worse.

Temporal Perspective

An animated short about the evolution of man through the perspective of two rocks on a hillside. The movie is in German with English subtitles.



Hat tip: Pharyngula

What's Your Game?

I love this commercial.

My game? Triathlons.

Eternal Life

Eternal life eligibility, according my daughter:

The only people who can live for ever are Santa and Jesus...and Mrs. Clause.

I laughed.

What? Santa can live forever. Who else brings all those presents?

We are reading about ancient Egypt civilization and their belief that they could live forever. Makes me wonder what will happen when she finally comes to the realization that Santa doesn't exist. Will she make the logical jump about Jesus? I can only hope.

Devil's Cape Book Signing

Rob Rogers, Devil's Cape author, signing my copy of the book.

Here are some of his thoughts about the event.

Of Course It Works!

Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas, candy, and snack with wise food choices, juice, and good nutrition education. The result? Sit down, because you're going to be shocked:

After two years, besides fewer new overweight children, the overall number of overweight students at the five schools dropped about 10 percent to 15 percent. At the no-change schools, the number of overweight children rose a quarter to 20 percent.

I hope this evidence carries over to a more nation-wide effort for educating children on nutrition. Seems pretty simple, really:

“We found when you give children healthy choices, they pick them,” said Grace McGinley, school nurse at Francis Hopkinson School, one of the test schools.

Let's hope the next administration is way smarter than a fifth grader and get serious about childhood obesity.

New Gear for the New Coach

Tom Crean was hired last night. He had a press conference today at 11:00 A.M. Eastern. He was handed this shirt early this morning. It's not just some enterprising student, it's already on sale.

The 'Crean and Crimson' Era of IU Basketball

Seeing "The Crean and Crimson era of IU basketball" as the title of blog post by Terry Hutchens finally got me excited about the hiring of Tom Crean as IU's next basketball coach. And more I read about Crean, the more I think this is a really solid hire for IU:

I like the hire on several levels. I was not looking forward to a coach who was too old because I felt they needed a younger coach to build a program around. At the same time I wasn't crazy about coaches who had only led a program for a couple of years because I've never thought of Indiana as a place that should be a proving ground for anyone. And so while I thought Tony Bennett would have been a good fit on many levels, his inexperience as a head coach was a less than favorable point with me. With Crean, you have a 42-year-old coach with nine years of head coaching experience at a good school. He's a Midwestern guy, has coached in the Big Ten, he's a proven recruiter and he runs a clean program.

Here's a nice look at his profile. Inside the Hall has a link dump about the hire.

I found out about the hire last night before going to bed. I was in a bit of shock to really know how I felt about the hire. It's now a new day--both for me and the Hoosiers. I'm excited.

But it won't be easy.

So welcome to Bloomington, Tom. Just business as (un)usual around these parts. Fix a broken program. And do it within a year. Maybe two. (Full column by Bob Kravitz)

Let the Crean and Crimson era begin!

Hoosiers Hire Tom Crean as Next Coach

Well, that was fast.

Indiana is turning to Tom Crean to bring respectability back to Hoosiers.

A couple dozen wins each year would help, too.

After a tumultuous season and turbulent coaching search, the Hoosiers finally hired Crean on Tuesday as what they hope will be a long-term replacement for Kelvin Sampson. Sampson resigned in February amid a phone-call scandal that included five major allegations from the NCAA.

Crean is not the sexy hire I was hoping for, nor was he really on my radar...this year. He was on my radar two years ago before Sampson was hired. Overall, I'm happy with this choice. I'm not jumping up and down, but I'm not indifferent. I'll reserve full judgment and wait for the press conference.

Here's a nice take on this over at The Dagger:

Now Crean has landed there. The next step is to find out if he can coach. If his Marquette returns are any indication, he could be an inscrutably solid, if not dazzling, solution to IU's considerable woes. Indiana got bailed out with this one. Now it's up to Crean to right the ship.

I hope he can.

Timely April Fool's Joke

Bravo to the Card Chronicle. Nice little joke. Ha, ha.

Good Lord.

Apparently there's some truth to the message board chatter that Louisville fans have been brushing off for the last couple of weeks, as ESPN's Pat Forde is reporting that Rick Pitino met with Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan in Bloomington on Monday afternoon, and cites a source close to Pitino as saying that he is "leaning towards" taking the job.

[snip]

Forde didn't say whether or not a timeline had been set for Pitino to make a decision, but he did say that today is April Fool's Day, and that Mike Rutherford of CardChronicle.com had made every word of this post up.

What the Hell is Going on at IU?

I wake up this morning to a fine how-do-you-do:

From the Indianapolis Star: Basset, Ellis Kicked Off Team
The Indiana University basketball team could enter the 2008-09 season with a new coach and no returning starters.

The latter is the result of confirmation Monday that IU starters Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis were dismissed from the team by interim coach Dan Dakich, according to three people close to the program.

According to The Hoosier Scoop, the two players were hoping that whoever the new coach is would change their punishment:

But [Bassett and Ellis] are telling teammates that they hope the dismissal will turn into more of a suspension. They plan on maintaining their eligibility in hopes that a new coach will allow them back on the team, according to a source close to the situation.

These two have been previously suspended during the year for a violation of team rules. Bassett missed games against Kentucky, Western Carolina and Coppin State, and Ellis missed the regular-season finale against Penn State. It was never revealed what they did to earn their suspensions, but suffice to say, these guys were already walking on thin ice when they decided to play the "you're not my real coach" card.

Those people say Bassett and Ellis missed a pre-arranged appointment late last week, and Dakich told them that they were required to run at 6 a.m. the next day as punishment. He also told them at the time that if they didn't show up, they would be off the team.

The next morning neither was there and Dakich informed them later of his decision.

All this happened last night, while I was blissfully unaware. This morning, IU confirmed that the dismissals are a done deal:

Indiana athletics media relations director J.D. Campbell confirmed this morning that IU has dismissed Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis from its basketball team.

Campbell gave no explanation about the reasons for or timing of the dismissals.

Terry Hutchins of the Hoosier Insider has a nice post that about sums up the whole mess that is IU basketball:

A friend just told me that IU was worried at one point about what the NCAA might do to them and what it would do to the program. But this team appears to be imploding all by itself. Can you believe the timing of this one? If this program didn't have bad timing, it would have no timing at all.

I have no idea why an interim coach would toss these two off the team, but clearly there's more to all this than what's on the surface. One thing is for sure, it's going to get worse before things get better. What coach wants to inherit this mess?

Devil's Cape Has Arrived

I received a surprise in my mailbox last night: my copy of Devil's Cape arrived several days earlier than expected. I'm anxious to return to Pirate Town:

If New Orleans has earned its "Sin City" nickname for its debauchery, then its nearby sister Devil's Cape has earned its "Pirate Town" moniker for the violence and blatant corruption that have marred the city since its founding. A city where corruption and heroism walk hand-in-hand, and justice and mercy are bought and paid-for in blood, Devil's Cape is a city like no other.

Buy the book today.

Visit the author's blog.