McGregor vs Mayweather Is About…Race?!?

I was watching Whitlock, Broussard, Kenny Florian, and another analyst discuss the McGregor-Mayweather fight and they landed on the major selling point of the fight being race. I’ve known about the fight for however many months now and that thought never even entered my mind. The idea that I would root for McGregor because he’s white, and I’m white, has no implication on who I would want to win. He’s not even American, he’s Irish. I’m not sure what difference that makes but I don’t have some unbridled passion for McGregor to come out victorious because my next life path is joining the KKK.

Now as it is, I would like to see McGregor knock Floyd the fuck out. Racist! His trash talk game is next level. Telling Floyd he has a little head is a first class insult. I’m sure he’s insinuating that Floyd can’t even read while also trashing the fact he has a small head. Does the problem occur to me that McGregor might not know how to box? That Floyd will be so evasive that McGregor has no chance of hitting him? That with padded gloves that are 6 oz heavier he won’t be able to do any damage to Floyd? All of these are concerns and my feeling is that he will lose this fight (as is Vegas with his +550 odds).

The reason I’m pro-McGregor and anti-Floyd is strictly how they hold themselves. Conor is a showman who at least knows he’s a showman. He’s very self aware. If you saw Floyd yesterday he reached into a backpack and showed his 100 million dollar check. Who does that? You can tell McGregor gets under his skin and that’s entertaining to watch lose.

Dance For Me Boy!

By |2017-07-12T16:34:13-04:00July 12th, 2017|Sports|0 Comments

Embiid’s Tweet About Lonzo Ball

I couldn’t have said it any better than Jeff did:
Embiid, get on the court.

The Best Time Of The Year – Summer

Here we have Joel Embiid making waves with Lonzo Ball insults. What does this accomplish? It allows the media to have a field day with story lines that draw attention away from the actual basketball that hasn’t been played.

What I love about what is happening is the hype train. You fully see that hype sells just as well as success. How does a team that is 75-253 in the past 4 years sell out its stadium before the season even starts? It’s the mystery behind the potential of the unknown that people can’t get enough of. They want to say “I told you so” before the “so” has even touched the court.

It’s miraculous when you think about it.

  • The Sixers best player, Embiid, has played 31 games in 3 years.
  • Ben Simmons has never played a game in the NBA.
  • Their newest draft pick has 1 year of college experience on a team with a 9-23 record.
  • Dario averaged 17.5 in the last 24 games of the season in which he started which shows he can score at the NBA level.
  • I’ll use Covington at the 5th starter who hasn’t shot higher than 40% from the field in the past 3 years and was 33% from deep last year.
  • The bench consists of Okafor (Sixers fans would value him near 0), Holmes (ready to break out), and McConnell (who has convinced fans he is a serviceable PG).

This is your starting point 4 years after the fact when Hinkie started the process. Now don’t get me wrong, this is an entertaining starting point. You don’t really know how much talent you have, but you know it’s oozing. Whether these guys can turn this to success on the court is unknown.

Process Trusters will say, “dude, you’re a hater”. What am I hating? How am I being realistic vs living in fantasy Sixers land? Take a look at the odds to win the 2018 championship:

That’s progress. They have the 13th best odds to win the ship this year. 16 teams make the playoffs so you even see Vegas predicting they are going to. I tend to think this is more because Sixers fans are unpredictable and may hammer this 66-1, so why make it 100-1? It’s the power of the unknown.

To bring it all full circle, the 17′-18′ season is going to be incredibly fun to watch as a Sixers fan. The energy created around the team is electric. It’s hard to not get caught up in what the team has been able to do after 4 years of losing. What have they actually done is more off the court than on the court, but that’s what makes it so enticing. You have one side saying it’ll never work and another saying that it can’t fail. At this point in time, neither is wrong which makes for the most talk.

I’ll finish this post the same way I started this post. The Sixers future lies in their health. Get (and stay) on the court! 

By |2017-06-23T10:03:47-04:00June 23rd, 2017|Sports|4 Comments

Tex Mex 5k 2017

What did you think about the race?
It was good. The 2nd mile sucked. – Dave Gildea

I’m going to start this post writing that I know I plan on posting this to the Facebook page of the Tex Mex 5k with the hopes that random people read this experience.

Tex Mex 5k

8th place, 17:08

First things first, I don’t do a lot of races and I know what I like about the ones I do. This is my 3rd or 4th year running the Tex Mex and I’m always pleased with the preparation and organization that goes into this one. It’s not easy getting 1,300 runners all in one place and making it run (nice pun) smoothly.

This is my blog so you have to read about my experience. I understand if you pass on. I ate a bagel and coffee for breakfast and ate a Jewish hoagie for lunch. I came home and drank a coco-water and ate some pineapple before the race. I sat in over an hour of traffic from Philly to get to the race which I was prepared for. I parked in the Merck lot and jogged over to take a whiz and get my bib. I did so no problem and warmed up a bit before the race.

Coming into this race I was encouraged after a nice 40 minute workout on Friday but had taken it easy since then. I wasn’t sure what to expect time wise. Last year I finished in 10th place with a 17:15. This year, my ankle was bothering me and I’ve been training every other day so I wouldn’t sideline myself permanently. My expectations were tempered but I was hopeful.

The Race

2017 Tex Mex 5k Start

 

I started near the front and got out relatively quickly. I was packed up at about the 10 spot early on and was moderately surprised that they didn’t pull away faster. I hit the first mile in 5:13 and saw that Sam, my brother, was only a few seconds ahead. I wasn’t breathing heavy and felt good on the uphill following the 1st mile. No one was passing me so I was feeling pretty confident crossing the 2 mile mark. After finishing the next uphill, I knew I had only the downhill left. Unfortunately I was gassed and didn’t have much kick coming in. A guy who I’d been running with for the race put about 10 meters on me and I was pleased no one out kicked me towards the end. I finished with a 17:08 and in 8th place.

Click for full results

Further congrats go to Sam for finishing in 5th with a 16:17. Dave Gildea was in the low 21’s which I believe was satisfactory towards his goal of lower times. CK4 set a PR with a 23:23 time that I’m sure he’ll remember for quite some time. Nikkii was in the 27’s and the rest of the Softerware team finished strong. I guess Sam will indeed be shaving his head. Click here for full results.

Afterthoughts

  • C’Mon!

    I like the promptness of the race starting on time

  • The after-party is well done. Free beer and food is enjoyed by all. I wasn’t a huge fan of what was actually being served, but it seemed healthy and well placed for runners.
  • Cash bar is fine but charging $8 for the Blood Money pint is overkill. We just ran a 5k and instead of $6, it’s $8.00. People notice.
  • Results came in quick and timely. Prizes distributed quickly
  • The t-shirt is not one I’d ever wear. I don’t wear shirts that have maps on them. Think style in terms of getting your name out there. I don’t mind wearing a logo, but I have to pass on an entire map.
  • The band is a cool feature.

I only do about 3 or 4 races a year and I’m happy to make this one of them.

Do not read further.

 

If you’ve read further. This is the blood blister I got on my foot after the race and the aftermath.

 

 

By |2017-06-22T07:50:14-04:00June 21st, 2017|Running|4 Comments

Being Raped On The Lanes

Dave Gildea is laughing all the way to the bank as Sam replicated his last performance against Strike You in our bowling finals. I’m kidding…not. Was it Sam’s fault we lost? No. It was Evan’s. Am I throwing blame around unnecessarily. Yes. The bottom line is we win as a team and lose as a team.

I’ll elaborate further on the game last night before you get sucked into the minutiae in a post I wrote prior to the finals below. We showed up bringing about 20 spectators and the other team had 0. The final game was being played for the difference of $100 dollars which was news to me. Essentially the regular season standings is where all the money lied. So what I conjured up as a big game, was essentially for who wins the league. Either way, we still wanted to win.

We started off lackluster, but held them off until about the 8th frame. In crunch time they rolled strikes, we rolled opens and spares. I rolled a 255 leaving the 5th frame open with a shot I should have hit, and then didn’t double in the 10th but all else were strikes. Evan was leaving splits and missing pins and Sam’s ball didn’t have the power through the pins. My opinion is that the ball was spent. It was a combination of the ball being rolled to death, being chipped, and Sam knowing this. We needed Sam to show up big in this game and the timing of the deteriorating ball threw off his stride. Weens didn’t have a drink during the games and rolled sharper than he’s been rolling. I still think he has more room for improvement in the mental game, but he took it seriously when it counted and rolled well.

The 2nd game was over by the 5th frame. Weens and I started with turkeys and then I missed a fucking 3,6,10 which I’ve been missing lately. Once Weens and I extinguished our strike run, the other team kept firing. They didn’t have an open from the 2nd frame to about the 7th, and we were toast. 2nd place are the first losers.

It was a good season and this league will keep getting more competitive. We made some headway in our games. I can safely say that I’ll be over a 200 average with my new ball for a full season. I almost nailed my first 700 series in competitive play with a 698 in the playoffs. I’d bet I’ve been practicing more than anyone in the entire league and I’m not exactly sure when I’ll move on to a new activity, but for now I still have about 10 to 15 more pins of improvement. Sam will benefit from a new ball the same way I did. I’m sure you’re reading this so get a 15 lb ball and make sure it’s an upgrade in the hook department from what your using. I moved a clear 5 boards left with my new ball and it’s all in the hook. The spares will take about 2 months to get comfortable, but the change has to be made. If you go to Pavlinko’s tonight, give me a call and I’ll go with you. Evan and I agreed that his ceiling is capped with a shot that isn’t hooking. Considering a two finger shot or another adjustment should be looked at. Jordan is easily the toughest bowler to break down as the more I say, the worse he does. My thought would be to make sure every ball stays to the right. Jersey strikes are failures. If you want to get more consistent, you make sure every ball stays right.

Onto a post that I wanted to release at the start of the playoffs but figured it would do more damage than good.

What I Learned From Being Captain

Our bowling team is entering the playoffs after an absurdly long 31 week regular season. In mismanaged taste, the commissioner’s decided to merge two seasons of bowling to, in my opinion, keep more teams paying money for longer. Here is how our league finalized right before playoffs. We are Snaking Back Monday.

This is our 3rd season in the league. Our first league game started on 1/18/2016 and our team average was 658 at the end of the season. Our 2nd season raised our average to 731. This season our last 10 games have seen us roll a 751 team average (Getting the total would take to long as it averages Jeff in there for the 12 games he played). Here are our averages after each season to date:

Bowler Season 1 Season 2 Season 3
Evan 161 175 174
Sam 181 181 187
Jordan 175 182 182
TC 184 193 194

Being the highest average and anchor, I’ve elected myself captain of the team. As much as our team is a democracy, at some point there has to be someone to make decisions. Making these decisions doesn’t always lead to happy campers but I’ve learned a lot from spending so much time with the same group in a team environment. Here are some of the situations that I took away some knowledge.

The Spirit – Easily the hardest part of a functioning bowling team. Bowling is a team game at heart, but the core is the individual performance. We all want to bowl a 300 but when you throw a pocket 7-10 in the first frame, it’s not simple to pick yourself up and come back strong. Each person on our team reacts differently to the ups and downs. Jordan is the best example of saying “blind me out” in one game and then coming back to roll a 276 the next. Once you’ve been doing it a while, and this is why we are better than we were, you move past the downs and keep doing what you’ve done thousands of times before.

The Pre Bowl 300 – This was easily the most cumbersome decision of the season. Both Cohen’s are Jewish and missed the same week for a Seder. In our league bowlers are allowed to pre bowl. We have a sub on our team so that we can avoid pre-bowling. I’m very anti-prebowling for various reasons that you can ask me later if you really care, but it’s not a fair substitute. Anyway, I would say that the Cohen’s would be incapable of making a decision that allowed one of them to pre-bowl and the other to sit out for the week. I couldn’t make this decision without one of them holding it against me. In order to keep the balance of the team, I said it was fine to pre bowl even though I knew having one of them pre-bowl and Jeff to sub was more appropriate. In my worst nightmare, Jordan rolled a 300 and a series high that is still the entire league high after 31 weeks of data. The great part about this happening is that it could never get worse. As I look back it wasn’t as big of a deal as it felt at the time, but still an odd ball everything.

The “Anchor” –  After Jordan’s big week, he started bowling better. After 26 straight weeks of being between 175 and 177, Jordan rolled that huge week and followed it up with 1 one more week of a 636 series. The following week he rolled a 201, 201, and was clean into the 5th and he made the comment “so, if I keep rolling this well, when do I get to be anchor?” Knowing that Jordan is a little green with regards to competition, I didn’t take to keenly to this thought and replied with, “that’s such a little boy comment.” Well what happened next was fairly funny as Jordan went open the next 5 frames and finished with a 148. Looking back at that spot, this wasn’t a captain’s comment. I should be doing what’s best for the team at that time and rather than brush it off, I crushed his spirit and Evan and I both knew it immediately after I said it.

Moving – The biggest adjustment to maintaining a high average is moving with the lane. Early on I didn’t pay much attention to where I was starting or playing on the lane. What difference did it make? I never threw the same ball anyway. At this point of bowling, moving spots until you start to land is a huge factor and what separates the best from the rest. I’ve learned to make board adjustments. The common thought is “miss left, move left.” If you notice 1 ball missing, you don’t need to adjust. Once it happens twice, you need to move.

The Ball Change – After rolling a 270 and 279 in consecutive weeks, the highest of my career, I switched to a new ball a month after. Without a doubt, my scores took an initial hit but it was a long term move. Not being scared to experiment is a key to bowling. *I wrote this post prior to rolling a 290 which should add to the effectiveness of equipment.

So that’s my 1,500 word write up about bowling. I’m pretty sure only a few made it this far but I’m sure those that did appreciate my thoughts. Sadly, I don’t think any real reward will come from bowling as much as I do but I do find it fun. I like the competition. I like trying to improve. I like drinking and bowling. I like the people. I would even consider running a bowling alley because it’s something would actually like doing. Hi-Spots is being sold. Investors? Possibly you!

 

By |2017-06-06T10:06:28-04:00June 6th, 2017|Sports|3 Comments

My Friend Ck4

Man Hits Drive 2 Total Yards!

Yesterday I left work at 2:45 to meet up with CK4 for a round of golf at Lederach. I’m going to combine our enjoying round of golf with important facets of life that come with a lifelong friendship. Also, I don’t know if anyone else enjoys being mentioned in rnningfool.com more than Chad.

I’ll start by thanking Jeff for giving me the opportunity to play golf on days like these. We are lucky to be able to cover the office as long as one of us stays behind, and we do a decent job of switching this on and off.

The traffic was bad on 76 (what else is new). It seems like no matter what time you leave, you hit 76 traffic. It took me a bit over an hour to navigate to Harleysville. I paid the $40 and Chad and I were sent off the back 9. I started off hitting one off to the right but catching the fairway. Chad managed to top a drive that had so much top spin that it landed behind him, then rolled forward about 2 feet. He breakfasted 1 and then fired one up the chute in the miraculous ways of Ck4.

As much as I’d like to detail every shot, I’ll give a few of the finer examples of the round.

  • Lederach from the blues is a 6600+ course. Our 3rd hole was a 600+ par 5. Chad and I both crushed drives. I hit a 3 wood on the screws and then a flush 6 iron and was still 15 yards short.
  • Our 4th hole, the severe dogleg leg is the perfect example of a hole that can destroy an unknowing golfer (Ck4). I hit a nice 3 wood off the tee and Chad used his driver to hit one left in the woods. Now he had to drop on a sidehill lie and before he hit that shot I thought to myself, “please, please, take this shot seriously and make sure you punch out effectively to the fairway. Much to my dismay the sidehill lie ruined his shot and he plunked it back into the woods about 15 yards to blow up the hole.
  • On the 6th hole CK4 managed to hit his ball into this bizarro sand trap that engulfed his ball. Picture to follow.

The rest of the round was fun and CK4 recovered from a high scoring front 9 to beat me by 2 on the back.  I finished with a 94 and with 2 triples and a +5, it was easily the best round of my year.

When Chad and I were living in Manayunk, we’d go golfing all the time together. Since he got married and moved to the burbs we still get together but it’s no where near seeing the person every day. It’s why I make it a point to take time out of my life to stay connected to my friends. When I was leaving work I thought to myself, “I have a lot going on with work, but this is more important.” Chad and I have been friends since Elementary school and we have a lot of trust in our friendship. There isn’t much off the table when we get to talking and we both know that we stand by each other unmistakably. Our lives take different paths but it’s great to get together and catch up over a round of golf. I’m sure he enjoys it as much as I do.

 Learn More About White Stakes

If you’ve read this far about my golf round with CK4, I’ll throw in one more golf tidbit. Chad and I play golf by the rules. Golfers who don’t play often don’t know the rules about white stakes. White stakes are out of bounds. Generally when you are completely off the course, you’ll see white. People’s houses. Across streets. Other property that isn’t the golf course. Red stakes are usually when your still on the course, just OB. When you hit past the white stakes, you are automatically fucking yourself. It’s like adding 2 strokes to your score immediately and playing for double bogey. What people who don’t play a lot of golf don’t understand is that you do whatever it takes to stay away from white stakes. The penalty is too severe. I’m genuinely upset when people hit it out of bounds for 2 reasons: 1) I don’t want to be the one to deliver the bad news if they think they can take stroke and distance 2) It produces high scores and high scores usually lead to less fun. Just wanted to point this out to the general public.

By |2017-05-24T09:01:07-04:00May 24th, 2017|Sports|1 Comment

LeGarrett Blount Becomes An Eagle

LeGarrette Blount is best known for this:
The Ducks opened their 2009 season with a 19–8 loss to the Boise State Broncos. Blount ended the game with negative yardage (−5) on eight carries. Blount had been interviewed by a Sports Illustrated reporter earlier in the summer and was asked about the excessive late hits in the 2008 game in Eugene between Oregon and Boise State. He had been quoted that because of the way Boise State beat Oregon in Eugene they “owed them an ass-whoopin’.” In the 2008 game, Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was forced to leave the game after taking a helmet to the chin on a late hit by a Boise State defender. Oregon lost that game but the late hits were a topic of discussion as the teams prepared for the season opener against each other. Shortly after the game’s end, Boise State defensive player Byron Hout came up to Blount during the team’s handshakes and said, “How’s that for an ass-whoopin’?” Blount punched Hout, knocking him to the ground. Blount then hit teammate Garrett Embry, who was attempting to restrain him, in the helmet.

Other Blount Points

Do I think Legarrette will be good on the Eagles? Simply put – No.

He rushed for a career high last year, 1,161 yards, and 18 TD’s. This is with the Patriots. The Patriots make the playoffs every year and seemingly don’t care what personnel they have. DeMarco Murray, a much better RB than Blount, did nothing with the Eagles 2 years ago. I’m not even that impressed with his 18 TD’s last year. His rate of scoring from inside the 3 yard line was 12 of 17, 50%. David Johnson was 58%. Melvin “can never stay healthy” Gordon was 56%. Sure it’s better than Ryan Mathews schmohawk rate of 30% (4 of 13), but no one else was even close to 24 times inside the 3 like Blount (Johnson was the 2nd highest with 17).

The Birds have done a good job filling much needed offensive holes with Jeffrey and now Blount. As an Eagle fan, let’s subdue the enthusiasm from Blount. He’s a good signing, but he’s a role player, not an RB1.

By |2017-05-18T11:48:21-04:00May 18th, 2017|Sports|0 Comments

Being the Anchor

Last night was round 1 of our bowling playoffs after 32 weeks. We started back in September and have finally gotten to the nitty gritty. Sam had a race to run in Swarthmore at night that made it so he could only bowl 2 of the 3 games (which I’m thankful that he decided to roll). Since it was a best of 3, we were hoping to make short work. That didn’t exactly happen.

I’m going to detail this from my perspective so there are going to be a lot of I’s in the following paragraphs. This isn’t the best way to write to the reader but it’s my fucking blog so deal with it.

I came into this week feeling great. I drank a total of 10 beers over the past 3 days which is minimal despite how it appears. I drank 2 PBR’s pre game and hustled warm-ups because Sam was on short time. On the previous Saturday I had rolled a 276 so I had a lot of positive energy in my game.

Our team started off well…except for me. I rolled 2 opens to start the game but didn’t get down. I then rattled off 6 straight and the team was pumped  because we were all bowling well. The first game was a breeze as 3 of us were in the 200’s and we won by 40 pins as I recall.

We started the 2nd game off hot and through the first 5 frames had made up the handicap and were cruising. What happened next was a disaster frame as I missed a single pin, Evan split, and Sam and Jordan opened. The life got sucked out of us and the other team capitalized. We lost game 2.

During the short break before the 3rd game I saw Sam as he was leaving in the bathroom and said, “don’t worry Sam, I got this”.

I threw a 9 spare in the first frame and then the strikes started rolling. Every ball I threw was nicely targeted and hit the pocket with force. I was starting on the 26th board and getting it out right. The oil pattern had been carved exactly to my ball as luck would have it. I had thrown 8 in a row and the game was close. Weens was having some lack of experience issues and Evan and I were carrying him towards the finish line. It came down to the 10th and the opponent anchor had opened the 9th. All I needed was a strike and the game was pretty much clinched. I wasn’t nervous as much as I was in the zone. I rolled another perfect strike. The opponent rolled a strike and we were up 13. All I needed was 8 pins and we had advanced. I rolled another strike…and closed with another (jersey) strike for a 290. The final ball was the only one to miss the pocket.

In the last game we needed every single pin and I stepped up like I said I was going to. Yes this is a brag. It’s why I’m the anchor. It’s why we’ll never talk about who’s the anchor again. It’s stepping up in a spot where the team needs it and we bowl as a team. As Adam says, “team game”. This was my career game and highest series ever so I would lying if I didn’t say we are pumped for the 2nd round. I wouldn’t want to be playing us.

 

 

By |2017-05-16T09:54:38-04:00May 16th, 2017|Sports|5 Comments

EPL Non-Playoff System Is Disgusting

I’m going to flat out say it that the English Premier League non playoff structure is why Britain lost the Revolutionary war to America.

British Stereotypes 

  • Bad Teeth
  • Well mannered
  • Witty and intellectual (think the Wolf from Fargo)

It seems odd to say that the future determined the past but there is nothing more emblematic about the Brits than this pitiful idea that the season champs should be determined by a point structure. So you are aware of what I’m talking about, Chelsea has won the league by week 36 of 38 and these last 2 weeks are only played to see what 4 teams qualify for the Champions league and who gets relegated. They may have even clinched weeks ago, who the hell knows.

Don’t try to defend this is a good way to decide who the league champions are. I’m purposely not reading any reason why the league may do this because I don’t want to be convinced otherwise. This is a perfect example of the Brits being spineless. We here in America love the playoffs. Pressure. Do or die. The cream rises to the top. Underdogs have a chance to knock off favorites (Leicester City was a fluke). The playoff structure is so American that it defines us as a country and shows why we now have 320 million people and the British are stuck at 65 million.

As an American who is mildly entertained by the English Premier League, this concept is such a turn off that I will continue to be mildly entertained. Do you know why I know who Kelly Oubre Jr is? Because he got knocked the shit out of Kelly Olynyk in a game that was meaningful. Athletes make names for the themselves in big games. The EPL doesn’t even have a championship game!  This is horseshit. Soccer loving people please comment on why I’m wrong here.

 

 

By |2017-05-13T20:48:25-04:00May 13th, 2017|Sports|2 Comments

Russ for MVP!

My time spent analyzing the Thunder this season boils down to about 20 minutes of interspersed watching throughout the last 5 games, mostly the 4th quarter. During these minutes I found myself rooting particularly hard for Russel Westbrook to put his team on his back and pull out the W. It brought me back to 2001 when it was AI against the world. Being a super star on a team of role players has its perks, but also some major flaws which were apparent in this playoff series against the Rockets. Here’s what I witnessed:

  • Goddamnit. Why’d they have to intentionally foul me. This is humiliating.

    Russ gets paid 26 million a year and is worth every penny. He makes the best of a bad situation.

  • Oladipo averaged 15.9 PPG in the regular season and only 10.8 in the playoffs. This is noticeable when the opposing team knows your team is limited on offense and strategically makes the weaker offensively players beat them which doesn’t occur as pronounced in the regular season.
  • Enes Kanter averaged 9 minutes and 4.8PPG in the post-season vs 21 and 14 in the regular season. He is a huge defensive liability with his lead feet and was useless in the this key stretch of the season.
  • Andre Roberson who was a 42% FT shooter from the line this year went 3-21 in the post season. I felt bad for the man as he shouldn’t be on the floor in the 4th quarter. He’s another Hack a Shaq or DeAndre Jordan.
  • Russ averaged a triple double in the playoffs with a ridiculous line of 37.4/11.6/10.8/ 2.4 steals. This is other worldly.

I tend to put a decent amount of blame on Billy Donovon as he didn’t grasp that his team couldn’t play without Russ on the floor. Last nights game had Russ with a +12 when playing. They also finished the 3rd quarter up 5, let Russ rest, and when he came back in they were down 5 points in the 4th. No doubt Russ was tired in the 4th, and petered out like he’d done in past games, but if I was the coach I’d play the guy 48 minutes. His team stunk that bad without him.

No one thought that the Thunder were going to win this year and they got beat by a superior team. Harden is stealth-like in his ability to score buckets and shoots foul shots better than almost anyone in the league. Lou Williams added timely scoring. Beverly played strong D on Russ. Nene gave some added boost inside. The Rockets were simply a more balanced team and Harden’s numbers are superstar enough to carry this team past the Thunder. The Rockets don’t have enough experience to beat the Spurs or fire power to hold off the Warriors, but they no doubt will fight.

This team may have done some damage.

All of that being said, my vote for MVP has to be Russell Westbrook. MVP stands for Most Valuable Player. If you put any other playing in the NBA on the Thunder to replace Westbrook would that team have won 47 games? My answer is no. Kawhi Leonard is too fundamental to be a ball hog. Steph can’t do it all and is more of a pure shooter. Harden would be the closest pick but his lack of defense has been noted (I have no clue if Russ plays D). If you make the argument that the MVP should help his team win the title, which is valid towards winning the championship being paramount, Kawhi Leonard would be my pick. But if you are looking for a player that if removed would be worse than the Sixers, it would be Russell Westbrook.

By |2017-04-26T09:45:33-04:00April 26th, 2017|Sports|3 Comments

Let’s Applaud Jordan Hasay?

Sam would write a better post than me on this topic but since I’m pure like the Garden of Eden, and not tainted the Nike Oregon Project, I should be able to give a clean perspective.

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon and 2 members of the Nike Oregon Project put on dominating performances for Americans. Jordan Hasay finished her first marathon ever in 2:23 which was good for 3rd place. It was the fastest debut by an American female ever. The fastest time ever by a woman in a marathon is Paula Radcliffe with a 2:15.25. The fastest time by an American is 2:19.36 by Deena Kastor. The 2.23 flat time posted by Hasay is good for the 180th fastest marathon by a woman ever (I heard that Boston isn’t a legal course for whatever that is worth).

As I was watching the coverage yesterday, I was really impressed with Hasay. I remember watching her a bit in college for Oregon and she was top talent, but not finishing 3rd in Boston so whatever she’s been up to is either intense work or PED’s. Considering Rupp got 2nd and is partaking in the same training, they are up to shenanigans.

Why shenanigans? Once again, I’m not an expert on this subject but here’s what I’ve read. Nike’s Oregon Project is a group created by Nike to promote American Long Distance Running. They are using elite coaching, revolutionary training and the use of air thinning technology. The group of athletes on the squad is no joke. Centrowitz, Farah, and Rupp, are all Olympic medalists. Suguru Osako just got 3rd in Boston yesterday. It’s pretty clear that whatever these athletes are doing is working.

Now here is where the questions start building around head coach Alberto Salazar. “In June 2015, Salazar was named in a joint BBC Panorama and ProPublica investigation into doping allegations. This involved testimonies from various athletes and people associated with Salazar about alleged microdosing of testosterone and prednisone at the Nike Oregon Project. Salazar declined to be interviewed for the programme, but denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that the “allegations your sources are making are based upon false assumptions and half-truths in an attempt to further their personal agendas”

So when you see an American hottie like Jordan Hasay competing with women from countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, who are renowned for their past efforts, there is a bit of suspicion. It’s sad that we have to draw these conclusions when people of our country perform feats of this nature, but out of the ordinary circumstances cause out of the ordinary questions like, “how did this happen?”

I visited the Let’s Run Forums and found some great comments regarding her race:

On the course

How is Boston a major marathon? How many of the world’s best marathoners were in that race? Boston is a hobby jogger’s race with some overpaid Americans thrown in so the hobby jogger set don’t complain too much about all the Africans winning everything.

On the probability of doping

Probably about 7% (Rupp), and 2% (Hasay). Seems like NOP bends the rules all day long, but maybe doesn’t break them severely. Also, Nike has the money to dope and not get caught (e.g., Lance Armstrong)

On why people like Hasay and not Rupp

She is relatively outgoing and articulate and seems comfortable expressing her relationship to the outside world. Rupp is probably a bit introverted, maybe a bit on the autistic spectrum. He seems mostly comfortable expressing support for those closest to him, his family and Salazar. He doesn’t seem collegial with fellow competitors. One could just call that arrogant I suppose, but it could also just be an introverted personality. He isn’t easy to root for compared with Hasay, and certainly Meb or Abdi or Ritzenhein.

So there you have it. Jordan Hasay is probably legit and will hopefully represent USA without any implications. All that being said, why are the hot ones always the most talented? I think it’s great for the sport to have a role model like Hasay compete in these world class settings. Maybe she’s not the cream of the crop yet, but I enjoyed watching the race and was happy to support her. It’s hard not to like her style and running. Sam, anything to add?

By |2017-04-18T10:27:37-04:00April 18th, 2017|Running|1 Comment

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