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63 Year Old Jockstrap? How bad was the Cubs’ Meltdown?

Chris Sweda, Chicago Sun Times

Bad toss or did he just hear McPalin saying “Joe Six Pack” again?

In the Chicago Sun-Times’  Tragedy of Errors Rick Telander throws more gems than Zambrano had all night.

• If Carlos Zambrano were any more up and down, he’d be a push-up.
• From Lou Pinella: “‘Probably been the two worst games we’ve played all year,” Piniella said. ”It wasn’t fun to watch, I’ll tell you that.”
• I mean, this franchise hasn’t even sniffed a World Series jockstrap in 63 years. And that was a losing jockstrap, by the way.

I is well worth checking out. I know I’m not alone in thinking that the psychological hole they’re in is just too great to climb out of. But what story that would be.

Sadly I could not tell what was worse to watch McPalin NOT-debating Biden or the Cubbies meltdown…? Both were sadly sickening like watching a train wreck, only this one was pretty easy to walk away from.

McPalin’s camp of advisors have done both McCain and Palin a huge disservice by schooling them, drilling them in answering rote sound bytes while avoiding substance and content. You could see them falling off the cliff every time either one answered — rote answer sound byte (…..phew…..down the cliff…..) to improvised nonsequitur embellishment.

But I think I feel more badly for the Cubs. They can’t even look out their door at Russia, they freakin get what, Detroit?

Seasoned Fish – I’ll Have What She’s Having

This story about Dara Torres makes me well up all over again.

“Don’t put an age-limit on your dreams” had to be one of the best sound bytes of the Summer Olympics. Inspiration for any of us, especially those of us at a certain age.

On a day when things were less than inspiring, coming across this story was a great reminder once again about life lessons and stick-to-it-iveness…usually, one of my best qualities.

Thanks Dara!

Myachi, a really neat sport

Myachi, a really neat sport so says none other than Martha Stewart. I kid you not.

Bean bag meets hackey sack…I like the little dude in these clips.

I remember the little rice filled sacks Mom used to make for us. Tried to teach us to juggle. I gave up way too quickly. Or, my decision-making was just very efficient. I could tell juggling wasn’t going to be my undiscovered talent. In fact, forty some-odd years later, I’m still waiting for that talent to reveal itself. Pretty safe to say it won’t be in the sports arena!

There’s another clip here on the Myachi site.

I think this would be a great thing to get seniors moving. It looks more fun than aerobics.

Hip to be Fit

Well, it’s good try. Remember the old saying, “the faster I go, the behinder I get?”

It’s kinda like that with fitness. At least if feels that way sometimes. Of course, we have things like age and evolution working against us…our bodies are perfectly evolved to help us store fat, ensuring the species’ continuation in times of famine.

If you’re a woman, you’re programmed to add a pound a year every year after 35. How do you like those odds?

Suckage if you ask me. What do I care about survival odds after I’m gone? But hey, no one consulted me.

What’s a girl to do?

Keep up the good fight! Get your heartrate up, get moving, even just a little. Take a walk after dinner. Little things like this will add up. And they help manage all the stress life doles out on a daily basis.

Eating well doesn’t have to add weight if you eat wisely. But that’s the subject of another blog…

Here’s a tiny deposit in the get fit bank: the FitBit. Drop this cool little gadget in your pocket and monitor your activity level for the day. Like a better looking pedometer, it measures motion and for you and downloads the data wirelessly. From there, you can input calories consumed that day and calculate your fitness.

Or, you could just DO more and EAT less. That costs nothing.

Monday Night by the Numbers

dUNH dunh dunh dunh…God I want that ringtone. Can’t get it anywhere! You know the Monday Night Football theme…but first, some news from Fenway!

456

The number of consecutive sellout crowds in the MLB – set tonight at Fenway Park (and we did it with more seats to fill!) The streak goes back to May ’03. GO SOX!

111 x 12

Number of consecutive starts by a QB in the NFL. Set by Tom Brady (#12 or Uno Dos as I like to call him) before going down with season-ending ACL tear…yesterday..in their season opening game, in the first quarter.

41 – 14

Denver over Raiders, in the Oakland Coliseum. Ouch. Jemarcus Russell played okay for the most part. And at least they got on the board before the game ended.

At just about every down they were simply outplayed. It’s not like they’ve got no talent but when the coaching staff are in disarray and not on happy terms with Mr. Davis, what can you expect?

I call it a ROYAL smack down..Broncos’ Rookie WR Eddie Royal had a nice debut in the NFL and Shanahan let it be known that he still uses his grudge against Mr. Davis as motivation.

3 – 0

Red Sox over Tampa Bay, which was only made sweeter by the Yanks’ defeat 12-1 at the hands of the Angels. 1 ugly game and ugly scuffle.

Chris Simms? You Can’t be Serious! Isn’t Culpepper Available?

Didn’t he, um have a little playing time with a certain wide receiver we like to call Ocho Uno?

I’m hanging on to the teensiest bit of hope that we’ll wake up tomorrow and this will have been a bad dream.

I keep seeing the image and thinking of when Joe Theisman was injured and they kept running that clip over and over.

Could be that it’s not Brady’s ACL that tore today. Maybe it was something else that caused him to scream in pain and roll on the grass clutching his knee.

It’s possible. Right now, Patriot’s Nation is in mourning. We only just let ourselves start to get swept into that optimistic place we’ve been before. The difference is that this time, when we look to the field it may well be the likes of Chris Simms looking back.

The fact that Cassel’s last start was in high school or possibly college (depending on whose news you listen to) does not inspire confidence.

Oh well. I guess there’s always baseball….let’s see if we can keep the Sox healthy enough to make a run for it this year.

The Phelps Training Diet

Another reason to be a Phelps Phan:

Check what this dude eats!

Breakfast

Phelps kick starts his day and his metabolism with three fried-egg sandwiches, but with a few customised additions: cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and, of course, mayonnaise.

Amuse-bouche out of the way, he throws back two cups of coffee and sits down to an omelette – containing five eggs – and a bowl of grits, a porridge of coarsely ground corn. He’s not finished yet. Bring on the three slices of French toast, with powdered sugar on top to make sure there’s no skimping on the calories. And to finish: three chocolate chip pancakes.

That’s just breakfast y’all…click the link above to see what the rest of the day entails. And also the comments on the blog are pretty hilarious. Want to know what elite athletes eat? How about how they strain the U bend in their toilets but count the “CBFD” Calories burned from defacating…Oy.

Olympic Scores to Watch: One Black Eye for Spain; Another for China

Shall We Begin a Competition for Reprehensible Behavior?

It’s not enough that the Chinese government has shut down villages, tossed people off property for “progress”, installed surveillance machinery and deputized thousands of citizens to monitor each other. We hear the trickles of news about memos literally blacklisting Mongolian and African/Blacks from restaurant service. We wonder how the stadiums and venues were built while schools in Sichuan had no proper engineering or materials to protect its children in case of earthquakes.

Then we get to see the spectacle of the heroic 9 y.o. hall monitor paraded out with Yao Ming at the astounding opening ceremonies. So what if the cute girl had to lip synch and the fireworks had to be pre-recorded because of smog obscuring the views? The show was what counted in the eyes of Chinese ceremony choreographers. It was about the awesome show of Chinese unity, Chinese pride, sacrifice of one for the good of many. Welcoming the world, or most of it, anyway.

Let the Judging Begin

We’re appropriately outraged at the Spanish team’s racist PR debacles, mocking “slanted eyes” for advertisements. Look closely, that’s Pau Gasol there in the picture. To what standard do we hold him?

Wonder how the conversation will go between Gasol and Chinese players like Yao Ming or Sun Yue? Both are Chinese NBA players now representing the Chinese team. Don’t hold your breath waiting for them to make public statements.

The real question is to what standard do we hold the IOC for allowing China the Olympics to begin with. It’s well documented that China’s human rights violations continue despite International protests. To what standard do we hold our leaders. W’s attendance at the Olympics marked the most consecutive days of International presence he’s had in his entire time in office. Frankly, the world’s probably better off for that.

To what extent do we hold ourselves accountable? We must, as uncomfortable as it is, hold both truths constant.

• The Olympics are an amazing event that swells national pride, showcases the best our countries and our athletes have to offer their sport.
• The Olympics can also fan the flames of ugly nationalism and racism.

The Games hold a magnifying lens to the host country, and to the behaviors of all the participants. It is our duty to look through that lens clearly, and to accept all that we see.

What we do with these images is up to us. I for one do not want to be left off the medal stands when the final judging is in.

Welcome to the Bay State, Jason!

First Run Scored: Jason Bay.

Winning Run Scored: Jason Bay.

Jed Lowrie drove in both runs scored by the Sox tonight.

Go Sox!!