Promise there'll be new stuff going up here in the near future, but for now, I think my partner in eleemosynary crime deserves a little hat-tip for yesterday's entry in The Meat Grinder, over at Track ala Shark.com -- it's staggeringly good and you can read it here.
LIVE BLOG BEER BASH -- Olympic Men's Marathon
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Welcome to the Meat Grinder
Apparently there is this thing called NCAA Cross Country going on. Funny how it -- and anything else that happened post-Olympics -- seemed to have slipped under our radar. Especially given that it. Is. Awesome. I defy you to find a more thrilling race than NCAAs, with individual and team honors to be won and 200+ people on one starting line to duke it out. It's like Braveheart meets Any Given Sunday meets Rocky meets Rambo meets Must Love Dogs. (Only a dash of the last one, though.)Which, all in all, really makes it inexcusable that there's been nothing written here on that, the greatest of all sports. Literally, there are no excuses. Except for the fact that Ben actually HAS been writing about this cross season religiously -- just, as an interloper.
Yes, ladies and germs, Trackshark has been exploiting ben's word-smithry like a lonely high school kid and his slightly heavy (read as: grateful) but still respectable (read as: cute face) female friend. Which is to say, everybody's pretty much OK with the situation -- at least until a better offer comes along for either. Check out previous editions of his column -- called The Meat Grinder -- for an Introduction, Season Preview, Team Rankings - 1st Ed., Individual Rankings - 1st Ed., 1st Week Preview (Iona) and Recap, 2nd Week Preview (Griak) and Recap, and most recently, 3rd Week Preview (Notre Dame).
So once you've caught up, bookmark it here:
http://trackshark.com/features/ben/
It's tres bien. And I'm not just saying that because he bought me ice cream. That treat was just because he's a good friend. And heck -- while we're at it, I've tried to be not completely worthless to running fans the past few weeks, hitting up the 5th Ave Mile with Chris Lukezic and Chris Solinsky.
Ok, now that I look at those, yeah I was pretty worthless.
Yes, ladies and germs, Trackshark has been exploiting ben's word-smithry like a lonely high school kid and his slightly heavy (read as: grateful) but still respectable (read as: cute face) female friend. Which is to say, everybody's pretty much OK with the situation -- at least until a better offer comes along for either. Check out previous editions of his column -- called The Meat Grinder -- for an Introduction, Season Preview, Team Rankings - 1st Ed., Individual Rankings - 1st Ed., 1st Week Preview (Iona) and Recap, 2nd Week Preview (Griak) and Recap, and most recently, 3rd Week Preview (Notre Dame).
So once you've caught up, bookmark it here:
http://trackshark.com/features/ben/
It's tres bien. And I'm not just saying that because he bought me ice cream. That treat was just because he's a good friend. And heck -- while we're at it, I've tried to be not completely worthless to running fans the past few weeks, hitting up the 5th Ave Mile with Chris Lukezic and Chris Solinsky.
Ok, now that I look at those, yeah I was pretty worthless.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Kara Goucher's Comin' to Town
News released today that one half of LTOB's favorite(-to-write-about) running couple will be gracing the city of New York with her lovably bubbly footfalls. Kara Goucher is running the NYC marathon.
No word yet as to where Kara will be staying in the days leading up to the race, but my new apartment in Brooklyn has a very spacious 7 square feet available, perfect size for an air mattress (air mattress not provided).
Kara moving up in distance for this fall's NYC marathon makes perfect sense since: One, she's mentioned it numerous times before. Two, she ran a fast half marathon last year. And, three, Mary Wittenberg Gets. What. She. Wants. Period. And she wanted Goucher.
Goucher is by far the most marketable American distance runner right now. She is like the 1986 Michael Jackson of distance running. And Wittenberg got her!
It's only a matter of time before Wittenberg gets her hands on running's Golden Boy, Usain Bolt, too. That would be like the 80's Don King and Mike Tyson of the 2008 running world. If you got all three of them together, that would be one crazy trio wouldn't it...
No word yet as to where Kara will be staying in the days leading up to the race, but my new apartment in Brooklyn has a very spacious 7 square feet available, perfect size for an air mattress (air mattress not provided).
Kara moving up in distance for this fall's NYC marathon makes perfect sense since: One, she's mentioned it numerous times before. Two, she ran a fast half marathon last year. And, three, Mary Wittenberg Gets. What. She. Wants. Period. And she wanted Goucher.
Goucher is by far the most marketable American distance runner right now. She is like the 1986 Michael Jackson of distance running. And Wittenberg got her!
It's only a matter of time before Wittenberg gets her hands on running's Golden Boy, Usain Bolt, too. That would be like the 80's Don King and Mike Tyson of the 2008 running world. If you got all three of them together, that would be one crazy trio wouldn't it...
I finally got to use this picture! Cha-CHING!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Appointment Viewing If There Ever Was Some
Belgium: most overrated of all European nations? Until recently, I would have voted a strong Yes. Tulips? Chocolate? You can get those items at your local supermarket. (Availability of the girl pictured to the left depends on the job market where you live.)If we're rating international flavor, let's talk exotic hand-woven rugs made entirely of harvested moth fur (Sri Lanka) or delicious potato jelly (Ireland) or prostitutes who do this thing where they dislocate their hips (also Ireland) and, in some locales, proceed to smear delicious potato jelly all over their bodies (that last detail is unique to Rhodesia, believe it or not).
But now, Belgium totally redeems itself by serving up a steamy, swiltering scoop of sprinting. Friday. Bolt. Powell. Gay.
That shit's on ESPN Classic (delayed 11pm) and ESPN2 (totally delayed, Sunday at 3:30pm), which is pretty significant for a post-Olympics Golden League Meet, and, I think, goes to show what a splash the Lightning Bolt made in Beijing. For diehards, though (meaning, virtually anyone reading this) you can watch the meet live here.
(NB: Gay is already making hamstring-related excuses so don't be shocked if Gay pulls out. But that'd still leave 9.69 and 9.72 going head to head -- not to mention TravPadge and Churandy Martina.)
That shit's on ESPN Classic (delayed 11pm) and ESPN2 (totally delayed, Sunday at 3:30pm), which is pretty significant for a post-Olympics Golden League Meet, and, I think, goes to show what a splash the Lightning Bolt made in Beijing. For diehards, though (meaning, virtually anyone reading this) you can watch the meet live here.
(NB: Gay is already making hamstring-related excuses so don't be shocked if Gay pulls out. But that'd still leave 9.69 and 9.72 going head to head -- not to mention TravPadge and Churandy Martina.)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Live Blog Beer Bash: Olympic Marathon
****This is a spoiler free live blog. We are (grudgingly) waiting for the NBC broadcast of already completed events such as the men's 5000 and women's 1500. So if you know what happens, DON'T TELL ANYONE. DUMB JERK!
Enjoy the shenanigans below and don't be afraid to chime in if you have an insightful comment or a fart joke. Starts promptly at 7ish pm EST****
Enjoy the shenanigans below and don't be afraid to chime in if you have an insightful comment or a fart joke. Starts promptly at 7ish pm EST****
On the Disappearance of the NBC Sidebar
We have standards here. They are low. But they are there.
The real-time results were not much fun for those tape-delay watchers among us. The red trim totally clashed with the rest of our layout. But those were the less egregious of the trespasses. Lookie here:
OK, look closer.
Are you serious? There are some places even we won't go.
But: to see how low we will go, tune in to our live blog tonight.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Hungry? Have a Live Blog
Yeah, I know we're pimping this LIVE BLOG BEER BASH pretty hard. But, that's just how we do things around here: All out. Win or go home. Balls to the wall. Another sports buzz phrase. 110%.
In addition to the marathon, it looks like NBC will be cramming a number of other tape-delayed, spliced up, poorly commentated track finals into the broadcast, including the women's 1500 and the men's 5000. Two events that, as I'm sure you know, have HUGE potential for American flag waving (Jeremy says he's not going to look at results, I won't be able to help myself. I never can.).
We'll be here discussing the races, sharing libations, playing truth or dare, and otherwise doing things my Grandma should never ever ever know about. Join us!
So let this be your last reminder. Tomorrow night is going to be totally rad and I'm super excited. How excited? This excited:
That's right Zack! I "really are taking drugs." Caffeinated drugs. Since Wednesday. You should be too.
In addition to the marathon, it looks like NBC will be cramming a number of other tape-delayed, spliced up, poorly commentated track finals into the broadcast, including the women's 1500 and the men's 5000. Two events that, as I'm sure you know, have HUGE potential for American flag waving (Jeremy says he's not going to look at results, I won't be able to help myself. I never can.).
We'll be here discussing the races, sharing libations, playing truth or dare, and otherwise doing things my Grandma should never ever ever know about. Join us!
So let this be your last reminder. Tomorrow night is going to be totally rad and I'm super excited. How excited? This excited:
That's right Zack! I "really are taking drugs." Caffeinated drugs. Since Wednesday. You should be too.
IT'S THE END OF DAYS
Maybe you missed the memo, but US track and field is scheduled to be disbanded sometime in the next day or two. After drops in the 4 x 100m, it's all doom and gloom, from all sides. But basically, what it comes down to is this: the big-name American favorites who were getting their balls fondled by the USATF, NBC and domestic media, didn't produce. If the shot-putters go 1-2-3 (or probably, even 1-2 or 1-3), and if Tyson Gay doesn't get hurt and gets two silvers behind WR times... are we wailing and gnashing our teeth? Bear in mind, that's a royal "we" because ben and I certainly are doing neither of the above. At least not for track-related reasons.Let's review:
But choking in the 4 x 1 hardly indicates that our athletes are no longer top notch, since that particular gold medal has never been a given, even in our best years. To wit: in 2004 we were talking about Athens being our most dominating showing in athletics, ever, despite getting beaten by Britain (men) and -- gasp! -- Jamaica (women) in the 400m relay. This time around, a couple key athletes falter individually -- while other unknowns step-up, mind you -- and we lose THE SAME RELAYS WE LOST IN GREECE and suddenly we're in the shitter. Right.
We've got women medaling in distance races. In the short stuff, we were beaten by world record holders in Bolt and Robles. If ANYTHING should be a cause for concern, its that we got totally housed in the Women's 100m, and had no one in the 800 or 1500 finals, on the men's side. But the latter is a product of a brutal Trials system which saw top talent in each event (Webb and Khadevis) get left at home. And the former, well, shit. Sometimes it just happens. Since 1992, US Women have won exactly FOUR of a possible 15 medals in the 100m, just two of them gold. Not like we've been laying waste to the rest of the world.
Why the sudden consternation? Because, after great showings at Worlds, Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix and Reese Hoffa and Jeremy Wariner have been getting pimped around for months now, and in Beijing they have 3 medals between them, none gold. (Felix & Wariner should each pick one up yet, in the 4 x 400s.) Statistically, this has been a pretty darn good showing, overall, for the American team, so don't blame the athletes. It just feels like a let-down. And for that, blame the marketing people at NBC, at the USATF, at Visa, at Nike, at adidas.
Guess what: surprises are what makes the Olympics the Olympics. One shot. Sometimes it doesn't work out.
-- sweep in the Men's 400HBut OH GOD! We lost to a freak of nature in the 100 & 200 with our best runner coming back from injury! We didn't win the 4 x 100s! Well, here's a little truth-bomb that I'm borrowing from ben's caché: the US men haven't won the 4 x 100m in consecutive Olympics since 1976, and the women haven't won it period since 1996. So it's not exactly like we've had a stranglehold on the event. Should we win the 4 x 100 most years? With our depth, Yes. Absolutely. Does losing it this year perhaps bespeak some laziness or a lack of preparation, especially when it feels like we always blow it in the Olympics? Sure.
-- sweep in the Men's 400
-- 2-3 in Men's 110H, behind the WR holder
-- gold in the Women's 110H (nearly 1-2)
-- surprise gold in the Women's Discus
-- bronze in Women's 10,000, behind the (essentially) #1 and #2 10k performances, all-time
-- 3-4-5 in the Men's 200 (essentially), behind the WR holder
-- silver in the Women's pole vault, behind the WR holder
But choking in the 4 x 1 hardly indicates that our athletes are no longer top notch, since that particular gold medal has never been a given, even in our best years. To wit: in 2004 we were talking about Athens being our most dominating showing in athletics, ever, despite getting beaten by Britain (men) and -- gasp! -- Jamaica (women) in the 400m relay. This time around, a couple key athletes falter individually -- while other unknowns step-up, mind you -- and we lose THE SAME RELAYS WE LOST IN GREECE and suddenly we're in the shitter. Right.
We've got women medaling in distance races. In the short stuff, we were beaten by world record holders in Bolt and Robles. If ANYTHING should be a cause for concern, its that we got totally housed in the Women's 100m, and had no one in the 800 or 1500 finals, on the men's side. But the latter is a product of a brutal Trials system which saw top talent in each event (Webb and Khadevis) get left at home. And the former, well, shit. Sometimes it just happens. Since 1992, US Women have won exactly FOUR of a possible 15 medals in the 100m, just two of them gold. Not like we've been laying waste to the rest of the world.
Why the sudden consternation? Because, after great showings at Worlds, Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix and Reese Hoffa and Jeremy Wariner have been getting pimped around for months now, and in Beijing they have 3 medals between them, none gold. (Felix & Wariner should each pick one up yet, in the 4 x 400s.) Statistically, this has been a pretty darn good showing, overall, for the American team, so don't blame the athletes. It just feels like a let-down. And for that, blame the marketing people at NBC, at the USATF, at Visa, at Nike, at adidas.
Guess what: surprises are what makes the Olympics the Olympics. One shot. Sometimes it doesn't work out.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Win Free Stuff
We dropped the ball by not having any sort of contest for the Olympics, so here -- we'll piggyback off of someone else's contest (again).If you do the Facebook -- and I know you do -- you can join the group set up for the chasingBOLT video project, and, once you're in (like buttah) you can send Usain some well-wishes via photo message. The best messages will win special, Limited Edition Gold Medal/WR T-shirts, which will be sweet. I have full confidence of this, because Ben suffered the ignominy of getting caught wearing the shirt Puma made after Bolt's 9.72, whole HOURS after it was rendered obsolete by that 9.69 clocking -- and that design was the balls.
And meantime, take a look at some of the other existing submissions. If you can't beat them, you ain't trying. In fact, whoever can come up with the best re-captioning/Photoshop-job of someone else's entry, we'll give you something for nothing. Something mysterious. Something cool. Something that's cool because it's mysterious.
Hey - looks like we officially have a contest, after all.
And meantime, take a look at some of the other existing submissions. If you can't beat them, you ain't trying. In fact, whoever can come up with the best re-captioning/Photoshop-job of someone else's entry, we'll give you something for nothing. Something mysterious. Something cool. Something that's cool because it's mysterious.
Hey - looks like we officially have a contest, after all.
We Got A Live Blog
Unlike NBC, LTOB is really excited to bring some LIVE action to our viewer(s) this weekend. This Saturday, we invite you to sit down with us and our LIVE BLOG BEER BASH and enjoy all that is the Olympic Men's Marathon.
We can be together for all the highs (Ryan Hall winning Gold) and the lows (NBC identifying Martin Lel as Rashid Ramzi), for all the cheers and the jeers, the laughter and the tears (so what, I cry every Saturday night when I'm drunk and texting my ex-girlfriend begging her to give me another chance, sue me!). It will be a time to get pumped for the marathon together and to look back on the Olympics as a whole. But most of all, it will be a time to make fun of as much crap as possible.
So join us, we'll be cracking open our first Budweiser tall boy at 7pm EST sharp on Saturday night and we promise we won't pass out or leave to "go get some chicks" at the bar like your other friends. At least not until I gather the courage.
We can be together for all the highs (Ryan Hall winning Gold) and the lows (NBC identifying Martin Lel as Rashid Ramzi), for all the cheers and the jeers, the laughter and the tears (so what, I cry every Saturday night when I'm drunk and texting my ex-girlfriend begging her to give me another chance, sue me!). It will be a time to get pumped for the marathon together and to look back on the Olympics as a whole. But most of all, it will be a time to make fun of as much crap as possible.
So join us, we'll be cracking open our first Budweiser tall boy at 7pm EST sharp on Saturday night and we promise we won't pass out or leave to "go get some chicks" at the bar like your other friends. At least not until I gather the courage.
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