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Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Philly and Turkeys
This past weekend was the Philadelphia Marathon, and I participated in a relay with people I met thru the Cool Running website. Our group of "30somethings" fielded 4 relay teams, and a few others ran either the Half or Full marathon.
I really had a blast, and I'm happy to have met so many great people. As for my race, I ran about 10 miles in about
1:23. Neither time nor distance is exact, because there was no timing mat at the exchange point, and the exchange point
wasn't exactly at the 10 mile mark. So I estimate that I ran 9.7 or 9.8 miles, and I judge the time based only
on my watch. Hrmph.
Actually, after I handed off to my next teammate, I ran the next leg in addition, simply to get more miles in before
Vegas. Overall, I felt great, and I am feeling confident for the marathon in less than three weeks. (And this
scares me a little).
Next up is a 5k "Turkey Trot" in Schenectady NY on Thanksgiving morning. Maggie and I will be up there at my aunt & uncle's house for Thanksgiving
dinner, as is the norm. Now I see the weather forecast calling for 32 degrees and freezing rain. This should be
fun.
Hey, it's a long weekend coming up. That's a very good thing...
Friday, November 17, 2006
Various things
Lots going on, so we might as well get to it...
Ohio State-Michigan
1 vs 2. Game of the year, blah blah blah. Sure,
it's a big deal. The winner gets a spot in the championship game, and the loser in all likelihood does not. Now,
both teams are terrific and seem to be heads and shoulders above anyone else this year. But Ohio St just seems like
a more complete team to me. Michigan has struggled at various points during the season, whereas Ohio State has pretty
much blown everyone out. Yes, the Illinois game wasn't pretty... But I just think Ohio State is better.
And the game is in Columbus. I'll pick Ohio St 23, Michigan 17. But I've been wrong before...
Florida Gators
Well, the season hasn't been pretty all the time. But UF is still in a position
to possibly play for the championship. They've slipped a bit in some people's minds in recent weeks because of some
close calls -- Georiga, Vandy, South Carolina... Right now, it appears that UF might end up getting stuck behind Southern
Cal if both teams win out. But there's a lot of football left to be played, so it's a little early to worry about that.
This week is a game vs Western Carolina, which is basically an off-week. WCU is Division I-AA, and not even a good I-AA
team. This is the seedy underbelly of the NCAA's new 12th game rule. Teams like UF want to make that extra game
a home game (for the added revenue), and there aren't all that many I-A teams willing to play one road game without requiring
a home game in return, especially this late in the season. So the Gators -- one of the best teams in the country --
gets stuck with a crummy I-AA team. Gee, this is fun. Well, the game might not be much. But hopefully some
guys can rest up and get healthy for Florida State next week.
The Boston Red Sox
It's been an interesting week. $51.1 Million just for the rights to talk
to Scott Boras about Daisuke Matsuzaka? Wow! Sure, this guy looked good in the World Baseball Classic last spring...
But that seems like an outrageous amount of money, when you factor in that his salary will be another $9M or $10M on top of
that (at least). Is he really that good? Or will his signing add that much interest in the team in Japan, making
the deal financially worthwhile even if he's not that good? Or was the high posting offered just to prevent the Yankees
from signing him this year? It all remains to be seen.
The Red Sox have also been rumored to be interested in JD
Drew. Now THAT seems like a mistake to me. The Sox' biggest problem last year was that they couldn't stay healthy.
And now they are interested in a guy who has never been able to stay on the field throughout his whole career. AND pay
him more money than they were willing to give Johnny Damon last year. Over the last year, the Sox had some moments of
financial restraint (such as the Damon no-deal and the Abreu no-trade). But that clearly seems to be out the window
this off-season...
Running
This weekend is the Philly Marathon Relay, which I have described before. I am certainly looking forward to it,
and am looking forward to meeting all the Cool Runners that I am running with. In addition to that race, I have signed
up for a Turkey Trot -- a 5k race on Thanksgiving morning. This one is in Schenectady NY, which is where Maggie
and I will be having Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt & uncle's house (same as every year). Maybe if I run the 5k
race that morning I won't feel guilty about being a glutton that afternoon.
Vegas
And of course the Vegas Marathon is about three weeks away. I completed my 20 mile run last weekend. (I ran
20.25 miles, actually, just to make it the farthest I have ever run outside of a race). I feel confident that I can
cover the distance without killing myself, but I am afraid that my time goal of 4 hours might not happen. I am thinking
that 4:10 is more realistic. We shall see. Also, we have bought tickets to see the Cirque Du Soleil show ' Ka'. I've never seen Cirque Du Soleil, so this should be interesting. I really don't know what to expect, but it's
something new.
And that's enough for now.
Thursday, November 2, 2006
No freakin' vember
Yup, the year is flying along. Jeez, Christmas is practically right around the corner.
And I'm never a fan of the change back to Standard Time. It gets dark way too early. Oh well. I'm not
ready to move to the southern hemisphere for half the year, so I guess I gotta live with it.
I completed the month of October having run 166.6 miles. That is by far a record for me for one
month. My previous high was probably around 120. I could look it up if I felt like it, by checking my running
log (link at left). But I don't really feel like it...
Tomorrow I take off for Nashville TN for the weekend. Should be fun. In addition to the football game, I'm
looking forward to seeing Music Row. I hope the brief spent there will be worth all the driving.
Heh. I had seen this before in forwarded emails, but this is always fun to see again. Check out The History Of The World, as told by students in essays, complete with typos...
And that's all for now.
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Welcome to Bob Mann's web page. I was looking around the internet recently and I thought to
myself, "Gee, there aren't enough blogs out there. What the world really needs is one more idiot throwing his every
moronic thought into cyberspace." And thus this page was born.
Of course, this site is a work in progress, and probably will remain so for quite a while.
Please feel free to poke around as much as you'd like. And please send me any comments you may have. Idiots like
me who make these sites couldn't possibly make them better without input from idiots like you!
-RBM 05/30/06
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