Rink's Ramblings

One Man One Vote

2012-01-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

"Hardly anyone who served with Newt in Congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself. He was a one-man-band who rarely took advice. It was his way or the highway." - Former Kansas Senator Bob Dole

I'm a registered Republican. I don't hide that fact. If you were born in Kansas the odds are that you are a Republican. I was a Goldwater Republican. I liked the Kansas brand of Republicanism represented by Senators like Bob Dole, Jim Pearson, Nancy Landon Kassebaum and Congressmen and women like Jim Winn and Jan Meyers. But sadly Republicans like Bob Dole couldn't get elected to be a dog catcher in Kansas anymore. The mixing of religion and politics and the belief that government is the enemy has changed the political landscape there.

I live in Florida one of the spawning grounds of the Tea Party. Moderate Republicans like Charlie Crist get shown the door by the likes of Marco Rubio and now a Congressional carpetbagger like Connie Mack will try to unseat Florida's leading Democrat, Bill Nelson, from his U.S. Senate seat.

But I digress. I went and voted early in Florida's Presidential primary. The ballot was full of drop outs like Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann and one of the few GOP I respect Jon Huntsman. I couldn't vote for Newt. The man is a walking disaster. So I cast my ballot for Mitt "Hide the Money" Romney. Actually if he wasn't bat shit crazy I'd vote for Ron Paul. That's who I voted for in the 2008 primary. But I can't abide by his wish to dismantle all of our social safety net programs and getting rid of the Federal Reserve.

After George W. Bush I swore I would never vote for another Republican for President but I'm leaving the door open. President Obama has made some major mistakes. The stimulus package was a disaster. He allowed Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to load it up with pork instead of infrastructure project that would have actually helped the country. It's a long time until November. It's going to be an interesting 10 months of campaigning.

1000 Miles What?!?

2012-01-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

I just read part of a blog by a journalist with the Kansas City Star about running. She chronicled her goal to run 1000 miles in the course of 1 year. It held my attention enough so that I read about half of it. My initial thought was, what's the big deal? I've run at least 1000 miles every year for the last 40 plus years and really for a runner that's not saying much.

It got me to wondering if she asked her co-worker Yael Abouhalkah for any training advice. Yael was a very good high school distance runner at Shawnee Mission West long before becoming one of the leading political columnists for the Star. Yael started running again in earnest a few years back and even snagged a qualifier for this year's Boston Marathon . He'd kick my ass in a 5K right now.

Despite my initial skepticism about making a big deal over her 1000 miles I realized that it really was a very good thing. Good for her. She was 30 years old and wanted to do something that would help keep her healthy and to shoot for a goal which included running the marathon. While she didn't reveal the time she ran in last fall's Kansas City Marathon I did some detective work and found that she ran 4:45. That's not bad, but consider this, she ran 30 minutes slower than the Czarina did in her first marathon at age 48 on a similarly difficult course. But hey, any marathon under 5 hours is a good thing.

In the end the fearless blogger made her 1000 mile mark on New Years Eve. I applaud her effort. I think for the average person the thought of running almost 3 miles every day is a little daunting. But I think about all my running buddies who would go mental if they ran anything less than 2000 miles in a year. That's a threshold I rarely crossed since I started running. But that's a whole different blog.

Gone but Not Forgotten

2012-01-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

I left Sacramento more than seven months ago. But as you can see my friends at News10 haven't forgotten me. Big Red, the satellite truck that I tried to help kill, made the trip to Candlestick Park on Sunday for the NFC championship game between New York and San Francisco. Word has it that this could be Red's last trip.

Big Red was a beast of a truck and in its day state of the art. If you go back and poke around you'll see a blog about the massive truck from 2010 and how I tried to ruin it and the man seated with the smug look on his face, the ever lovable Tom Wagner. Big Red and Tom are almost inseparable in my mind. The gentleman standing is John Larimore, photojournalist extraordinaire. Between these two hunks is a reporter that I didn't have the privilege of working with because Kristen Drew joined the station after I left.

I'm guessing the media pass bearing my name is a left over from the California Tour of Amgen. I applied for the credentials so I'm guessing the PR genius who handed them out put them all in my name. I miss the folks at News10. I could start naming a lot of names but let's just say it's a newsroom filled with great people. It's too bad the sports warriors, Bryan May, Ryan Yamamoto, and Sean Cunningham won't be going to the Super Bowl this year.

Move Over Bruce

2012-01-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

Word arose a week ago or so that Bruce Springsteen was releasing a new album with the E Street Band and planning a tour. The news came as something as a surprise given the passing of sax player Clarence Clemons last year.

The new disc is called "Wrecking Ball" and carries with it a theme of the lousy economic conditions that far too many Americans are dealing with on a daily basis. You can listen to one of the new tracks "We Take Care of Our Own." The new album will come out in March.

The Boss will face a little competition from a new disc from Wayne Riker called "Guitar Decathlon." Wayne is an extraordinary guitar teacher and has written a ton of instructional books. Wayne and I have met just once but I used to hang with his brother Walt in the late 70's and early 80's before Walt went on to bigger and better things as Bob Dole's press secretary.

Walt is a pretty fair drummer and helped out on a few tracks and that's how I became aware of this new musical project. I pointed out to Wayne that he was going head to head against The Boss come March and it didn't take him long to fire back with this amazing picture.

Wayne's band Crazy Elephant enjoyed top billing at the Satellite Club in Cookstown, New Jersey. And in case you're wondering if Wayne can play and boy can he, enjoy these licks from "T Bone Shuffle."

Jeff Withey's Hair

2012-01-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

Kansas played one of the last unbeaten teams in Allen Field House Monday night, Baylor. The first thing I noticed was Jeff Withey's hair. The Kansas big man had sheared his long locks and the Jayhawks clipped the #3 ranked Bears by 18 points.

I can say two things after watching this game. Baylor is a very good team that ran into the environment that is Allen Field House. Kansas is a great team when Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson play good basketball. I blogged at the beginning of the season that this K.U. team will go only as far as Taylor and Robinson can take them. But halfway through this season some of the other pieces are coming together that I hadn't expected in November.

Jeff Withey is turning into a talented big man. The guy can block shots, has amazingly good hands and someday will learn to take the ball to the rack with force. The other surprise is Travis Reliford. The man can flat out play defense and now he's beginning to show some confidence in his offense. He's a bigger, stronger, version of Pierre Russell.

In fact a lot of these guys remind me of the players from that 70-71 Kansas squad. Built like Mark Mathews, Conner Teahan shots it like Mark Williams. I've remarked that Robinson reminds me of Dave Robisch before so I guess that would make Withey, Roger Brown. This team doesn't have a Bud Stallworth but Taylor can fill it up like Bud and Elijah Johnson is powerful player just like Aubrey Nash save for one thing. Johnson can shoot free throws.

Kansas is going to hit some rough spots as it slogs through the conference. But as I've blogged before, if Taylor and Johnson play their best, Kansas will be a team to contend with come tournament time.

Marathon Madness

2012-01-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

The best men and women marathoners the United States has to offer lined up this morning for a crack at making the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. For reasons beyond all rational reasoning NBC decided that this great event wasn't worthy of a webcast. So fans who wanted to enjoy the full drama would have to avoid the Internet until 3 p.m. eastern for a two hour replay of the two races. The telecast came nearly five full hours after the first man crossed the finish line.

The Czarina didn't want to wait and I didn't blame her so we followed the progress by way of Runner World's live blog. Apparently the media was allowed to monitor a live feed of the race. Guess the network didn't see the dollars that a lot of folks would have gladly paid to watch it live.

Going into the men's race it appeared three men could claim clear choices as favorites to make the team. America's fastest marathoner Ryan Hall, the resurgence Meb Kefelizghi, and the oft injured Dathan Ritzenhein. Hall hit the accelerator from the gun and by ten miles only five men were in the lead pack. By 16 it was down to four with the lone surprise being another Olympic veteran Abdi Abdiraham. Ritzenhein, who finished 9th in the 2008 Olympic Marathon, fell off the pace at 18 miles. Ritz courageously tried to chase down Abdiraham who bonked with three miles to go but fell a heartbreaking 8 seconds short. So Hall, Meb, and Abdi will represent the USA in London.

The women's race went out at a more leisurely pace. But it didn't take long for Desiree Davila to inject some pace and the field began to thin out quickly. By eight miles the lead pack was down to eight women and by 15 it was down to six. Mixing it up with the leaders was a contender from Leavenworth, Kansas; Arizona State grad Amy Hastings. Hastings made a bold bid to take the race after 16 miles but her effort failed and by 18 miles she fell off the pace.

The pace had already claimed Olympic medalist Deena Kastor leaving the three favorites, Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher and Davila to decide the podium positions. Hastings battled to finish a respectable 4th joining the three other runners in breaking the Olympic Trials record. Fortunately Hastings (in the yellow top) she still has a chance to make the U.S. Track and Field team at 10000 meters.

Paul Hefferon, a product straight out of Johnson County and the University of Kansas finished the men's race in a respectable 2:16:46. Apparently he's been training with the Hansen group out of Michigan. At age 25 he has another shot in 2016 just as Hastings does, she's only 27.

A lot of media outlets have been crowing that the U.S. marathon team is the best ever. On the women's side that could well be true but it's not even close on the men's side. The 1972 Olympic team which featured gold medalist Frank Shorter, acclaimed writer Kenny Moore and walk-jogger proponent Jeff Galloway is still the standard. Even the 76 team of Shorter, Bill Rodgers and Don Kardong would have to rate better unless Hall, Meb and Abdi all finish in the top 10 that would be a tall order.

Mishmash

2012-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

This has been an intolerably long week. The job search is dragging on to a point where a feeling of hopelessness is beginning to set in. I'm going to try some new things to shake up the routine and inject some energy into my day.

Making matters worse is a nagging problem with my left hamstring. It started bothering me just after Christmas and while it is not a full blown muscle pull it's very sore. I took five days off with light walking, biking and eliptical training before returning to some short runs. The time off didn't help and the bulk of our racing season is just around the corner. I'm going to run a couple of more days and if the soreness persists then I'll give it another week.

On the better news front we'll be getting a visit from Chris and Rachel Ronan in a couple of weeks. A new Bruce Springsteen album is coming out later this year. Better still, the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are tomorrow in Houston. Remarkably the event is not being live streamed but will be shown on a tape delay by NBC. You would think in this world of Internet coverage everywhere NBC would take advantage of it to make a little extra money. I know I'd pay 10 dollars to watch the races live.

Finally I've been listening to one of my favorite overlooked albums. I somehow overlooked George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" when I was a teenager. As an adult I never get tired of listening to it. It's been more than 10 years since Harrison died from brain cancer.

I recently watched Martin Scorcese's documentary on Harrison which left a lot to be desired. It paled in comparison his film on Bob Dylan. I think he tried to fit too many ideas into too long of a documentary. The program was in desperate need of editing. But then George probably would have liked it that way.

Belated Ho Ho Ho

2012-01-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

All things considered, we had a pretty Merry Christmas around here. News flash, Christmas was two weeks ago but the Russians really don't give up the ghost until this Sunday so I'm still within the statute of limitations. Presents were jammed beneath the Christmas tree and were it not for the boy the pickings would have been pretty slim. He went overboard.

Given our track record on gift giving the boy wised up this year and bought a bunch of stuff for himself labeling the gifts as being from Santa. I like his way of thinking. I believe even these earphones the Czarina bought for him had to be returned. I didn't do any better. The nice wristwatch I gave him ended up going back to Macy's.

The Czarina doesn't want Masha, our granddaughter, to leave me in the dust when it comes to my Russian. She gave me an exact copy of the reading primer that Masha is using to learn how to read Russian. Honestly I made out pretty well this year with some nice K.U. goodies and a cool cover for my Kindle. The trio of my running hats the Czarina bought me left a little to be desired so this week she purchased three more, one even has lights on it for night running!

I'd say the Czarina made out the best of all. The boy got her a lot of cool stuff including a trip to the spa and I got her a new Garmin which will hopefully last longer than the last one. The boy must be worried that we will starve to death.

I couldn't eat the popcorn balls that he got for us because of my digestive problems but I will enjoy the myriad of food he had delivered from Omaha steaks. And just to be sure that we survive Armageddon he purchased two weeks worth of dried foods that are supposed to last 30 years. I think living in California is finally getting to him. But then again he's showing us that he's no longer a boy but a man coming into his own. And a pretty good man at that!

Least I forget, the best present of all came by way of Riga from Vlad, Natasha, Masha and Dasha. We received a new Acer PC to replace our seven year old desktop. It was wheezing, grinding and generally in its death throes when the new one arrived. Talk about a great stocking stuffer! Happy Holidays!!!

2012

2012-01-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

2011 wasn't the best of years. My job situation certainly tops the list of things that kind of sucked the air out of the situation but when all is said and done things could be a hell of a lot worse. The best part of the year was the way it ended and that was due in large part to the efforts of the Czarina.

The start of a new year means a lot to Russians. So with that in mind the Czarina was determined to do something special. A 10 day visit from the boy demanded something in the way of a holiday romp so after much debate we decided on a two night stay on Miami Beach to bring in the New Year. We stayed at the Miami Beach Resort which wasn't bad, but had probably seen better days. It was comfortable enough.

We arrived Friday night and the Czarina decided we should start the last day of 2011 watching the sunrise over the Atlantic. It was worth getting up extra early. It was actually breath-taking when the sun broke through the horizon. It made for a great way to start the day and after a little breakfast the boy and I headed back to the room to catch some extra ZZZ's. It didn't take long for the Czarina to decide that she needed companionship at the waterside. She started non-stop calling our cellphones. She was like a kid on Christmas morning.

The weather was incredible and the ocean was perfect for swimming. But by early afternoon it was time to start exploring South Beach so we headed out. Much to our delight we found there was a street festival along Ocean Drive and we could see the massive preparations at the beach and even at the hotel for the night's activities.

In front of nearly one of these art deco delights stood a restaurant. Each one was doing its best to convince the big crowds which included a surprising number of Russians to stop for some grub. The promise of a 50 percent off deal by this woman to the boy got us to stop for a late lunch. Then after a lot of picture taking which will end up on Facebook we headed back to the hotel for a quick run and to ready ourselves for a long night.

We went back to South Beach and ate dinner at a burger joint called 5 Napkins. It didn't stand up to 5 Guys. I'm not sure what was going on in this picture but we often argue about the tips. We found that the restaurants on Miami Beach build in the gratuity. My guess is that the Europeans don't tip because the Russians I know don't like to.

We had to blow about three hours before the big event so the boy talked us into going to a hookah bar. I refused to partake in any of the smoking. It reminded me too much of some old bad habits.

But it didn't stop the Czarina from indulging. In fact I could tell that she had experience with the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. I can only imagine the Czarina back 30 years ago having fun at the dacha. It was a wonderful way to pass the time and in the blink of an eye we were headed to the beach for the big fireworks show.

It was an amazing time at the stroke of midnight. Besides the massive fireworks display not more than a quarter of a mile from us we could see three other big shows going on up and down the beach and behind us across the bay. The huge crowds were incredibly well behaved. Even the journey home was pretty effortless even though the driver had to deal with some crazy traffic.

The brilliant end of 2011 will hopefully bring about a better 2012. I can't help but believe it will. It was a great way for some quality family time. All that was missing was Dasha, Masha, Natasha and Vlad. Maybe next year, who knows?

Music for the Ages?

2011-12-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

The Czarina and I have been discussing popular music lately. The concert featuring the Beatles tribute band a couple of weeks ago sparked this ongoing disagreement. I believe that the songs created by The Beatles will be played in the decades and centuries to come. Songs like "Yesterday, "Something," "Help," and even "She Loves You" have a polished quality and even joy that are difficult to shake. The Czarina disagrees.

She maintains that The Beatles will never stay with us the way music created by Beethoven, Bach and Mozart has. The Czarina believes that modern pop music is simply too simple to have the staying power that these giants of classical music created. I understand where she's coming from. A three minute pop song pales when you listen to the works of a master composer. But I think she's missing the mark.

I think great popular music, whether it came from the 20's (Irving Berlin), the 30's (Benny Goodman or Glen Miller), the 50's (Hank Williams) and on through the years will always have a place in the musical lexicon that has yet to come. The discussion gained added energy when because of one of my Christmas presents. I received the box set of U2's "Achtung Baby", the Irish bands mind blowing album that opened the 1990's.

I hadn't cared much for U2 at all until I went to see them live on their Zoo TV tour in 1991 at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. It was one of the great concert moments of my live. Not only was it an overwhelming experience for the eyes and ears but something about the band captured my heart. In that massive stadium they managed to reach into my soul and connect in a way that I hadn't experienced musically except on very rare occasions.

As much as I love Bob Dylan and I've seen him more than a dozen times he's never come close to doing what they did that night. Neil Young's done it only once in the more than half dozen times I've seen him live. I can only name four or five times where I've been completely blown away at a concert.

U2 is one of those bands like The Beatles that I think will survive the passage of time. The Czarina disagrees. Modern music, whether it's Dylan or Springsteen, Neil Young, or ABBA, lacks the complexity in her mind to reach across the years. I don't know about you but I can't see going out on a run while listening to Beethoven's 9th. But an hour or so on the roads with U2 is a completely different matter.

The Black Hole That Is Thomas Robinson

2011-12-22T21:24:00.000-08:00

Thomas Robinson is a great basketball player. However, if he continues to play the way he is playing Kansas will lose a half dozen games or more before we even hit March Madness. When he gets frustrated he saunters back on defense. It's happened more times than I care to count this season. On offense when the ball goes into the low post to him it disappears. Time and again he misses the opportunity to hit the wing man for the three. He's an incredibly selfish player.

It made me think back to another player who was the centerpiece of a Kansas team that lacked depth and complimentary players who could score. I had to go back 40 years. What I'm seeing this season reminds me a lot of another Kansas junior with All-American credentials.

The 1969-70 Jayhawks featured a slick shooting left hander from Illinois who could rebound all night long. Dave Robisch reminds me a lot of Thomas Robinson. Robisch was a better outside shooter but Robinson is a much more dominating interior player. Robisch had ungodly stats his junior year. He averaged more than 25 points a game and double digits in rebounds. But that Kansas team was mediocre. Part of it I think was because Robisch was selfish player. Part of it was the lack of maturity on that team, a lot like this year's version of the Jayhawks.

Ironically in his senior year Robisch shot less and got a lot more support from his teammates. Other than the addition of couple of pretty decent sophomores, big man Randy Canfield and long range bomber Mark Williams, Robisch had the same supporting cast. But Bud Stallworth became a dynamic shooting small forward and center Roger Brown made major strides offensively. That team went to the Final 4 losing only one game during until they ran into UCLA in the semi-finals. Robisch went on to enjoy a long NBA career.

The best part of tonight's USC game was when Bill Self sat Robinson for about four minutes after he jogged down court letting his man slip free for an easy layup at the other end. I'd rather watch Kevin Young flail around and hustle than watch T-Rob pout. Granted, Robinson's endured more than any college junior should have to suffer with the loss of his mother and grandmother in the last year, but it's time for him to grow up on the court.

A Night Out

2011-12-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

With my birthday approaching it seemed that some fun was in order. I pondered running in a Sunday marathon in Cape Coral but the thought of spending two or three days in complete misery wasn't all that appealing. Then an email landed in my in box mid-week reminding me that Rain was playing at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Saturday.

I figured it would be fun for the Czarina so I decided to surprise her with a night of Beatles music. We had seen Strawberry Fields, another Beatles tribute band, in New York City three years ago. She enjoyed that show but then again the Czarina loves live music of almost any kind.

The show brought back a flood of memories. I can remember the Fab Four's first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was glued to the TV for each and everyone of their appearances. I also remember their performance of "Hey Jude" on the Smothers Brothers Show.

That song in particular brings back a flood of memories. I can remember driving with my cousin Mike Hendon in the late summer of 1968. We were in his Mustang heading out to another cousin's farm. Mike was babbling along about the newest Beatles single "Hey Jude" when just outside of the tiny town of Enterprise it appeared as if by magic on the radio. You have to understand hearing Beatles music over the radio in North Central Kansas was a rarity to begin with because the airwaves were dominated by country. This stunning seven minute plus song was mind blowing.

Sitting in the concert hall hearing that song along with more than 90 minutes of magic caused my mind to drift to my family and the role this music had played in my life. For the Czarina some of what we heard wasn't familiar to her. Growing up in the Soviet Union she didn't hear much Beatles music until the band had already broken up. It was the forbidden fruit that she would come across on the radio as she searched out foreign radio stations which could blast through the Soviet efforts to block the signals.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday night. Plus it was a hell of a lot less painful than running a marathon. The show was almost as good as Beatlemania which I saw almost 30 years ago in Kansas City's Uptown Theater. But then again it's hard to go wrong with a night of Beatles music.

Child Abuse

2011-12-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

The Czarina didn't watch much television at all during the first six years or so of our marriage. Then she started watching American Idol and that sort of threw the barn door open. Now she watches The Biggest Loser, The Amazing Race and the new FOX show XFactor. I don't care that she watches these shows except for the fact that the Czarina expects me to watch them with her.

I must admit I like The Biggest Loser and The Amazing Race. But I don't have much use for either of the FOX shows. I don't like the idea of finding stars by letting TV audiences vote for singers, many with dubious talent.

Tonight only confirmed my worst feelings for these singing crap fests. What happened to Rachel Crow tonight was akin to child abuse. A 13 year old girl shouldn't be put up before a national television audience in that manner and made to suffer. Watching Drew get voted off last week was painful enough but this week's spectacle topped that slice of television agony.

American Idol has an age limit and now I think so for good reason. I'm not sure anyone under 16 is equipped to go through what Rachel Crow just experienced. Adolescents shouldn't be exploited in this way. But I have to admit, the end of XFactor made for some great television.

Trashed

2011-12-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

Getting older is not without consequences. My legs on Sunday felt the way they used to after the first session of intervals on the track in spikes during high school cross country. My calves were sore and my legs were just beat in general.

My dearly departed coach Tom Dowling used to equate training to making a deposit in the bank. Racing always required withdrawing some of those deposits. The difference is then I used to incorporate some speed work, whether it was repeat miles on the roads or 400's on the track during the course of that training along with some fast tempo runs. After Saturday's race I've come to realize that I need change some things up if I want to keep racing because I'm still paying the price.

Monday's run wasn't much better than Sunday's with the calves still barking throughout the course of my five mile slog. Today the leg's were no longer sore but certainly felt heavy. During the seven plus miles I put in I pondered the necessity of time trials and tempo runs. I have ruled out in interval training because this a guaranteed injury. Besides my neighbor who started running about six months ago stopped by the house this evening to complain about a groin strain. He was out running 100 meter sprints with his son. This guy is just about six years younger than me. I pointed out to him all out sprints at our age is a recipe for disaster.

But I must point out that six months the neighbor's gone from a 29 minute 5K to mid-22's. That's not bad for a novice master runner. It looks like I've got a little competition just around the corner!

River Run

2011-12-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

I can’t remember the last time I went an entire year without running at least one race. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that I’ve run at least one race every year since 1971 when I started running track at South Junior High. I’ve had a couple of years where I ran only one or two races but I’ve always managed to sneak one in regardless of my conditioning.

The last time I laced up my racing shoes was a year ago. I ran a leg for a relay team at the California International Marathon. I wasn’t in the best of shape then having been beaten up from the St. George Marathon which dampened my enthusiasm for training. Despite my poor condition and 8 miles of rolling hills I managed to help my team to a victory.

With only four weeks of racing left I figured it was time to give it a go and a popular 10K this weekend seemed as good a time as any. I had no idea where my fitness level stood. Since moving back from California I had enjoyed five months of decent training. Problem is out of those 800 or so miles of training less than a dozen of those miles clocked in under 8 minute per mile pace. I had serious doubts as to whether I could even break 50 minutes for a 10K.

The Czarina who had shown an absolute lack of interest in racing helped seal the deal by deciding to join me in getting up at the crack of dawn to give it a go. 90 percent of the races around here are pancake flat. This race traverses two of the bridges that span the Caloosahatchee River which meant we’d actually have to run up a couple of major hills. Given my sketchy hip I had no idea how it or my right hamstring would react to the hills.

The gun went off at 8 a.m. and I decided to keep an eye on one particular runner in my age group who I always beat but is never very far behind me. The year before he had run around 48 minutes so I figured it would be best to start out behind him and pace myself off of his effort. He opened up about 30 yards on me in the first quarter mile but by 1 mile I was just 10 feet behind him rolling along at an easy feeling 7:30 pace.

Before we headed up the first bridge I scooted on by him and decided to concentrate on reeling in runners while making sure I stayed within my comfort zone. Over the next 5 miles I caught 30 or so runners. Two caught and passed me but one I reeled in over the last quarter mile.

More importantly I ran an even pace throughout the entire race and even caught one of the top women masters competitors who I had never beaten before. When all was said and done I hit the finish line in 46:45, a good minute or so faster than I thought I could run. I feel one spot short of an age group award but I was a good 90 seconds behind him.

The Czarina came rolling in more than 10 minutes later looking no worse for wear. Surprisingly she didn’t earn an age group award. One of her rivals beat her to the finish line by a mere 30 yards but the Czarina was in good spirits just the same. It was her first race since St. George, more than 14 months ago. So we’ve got one under the belt and a whole winter and spring of racing ahead.

Jim Hershberger

2011-11-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

If you ever met Jim Hershberger, you'd never forget it. Though small in stature, he was larger than life with an ability to take over a room through his sheer force of personality. James Wayne Hershberger passed away a few days ago, ironically, not far from where I live now. He was 80 years old.

I first met Jim Hershberger in 1971. Everyone in Kansas knew who Jim Hershberger was. He was an oil millionaire who loved track and field. Hershberger loved to compete and was a great age group runner before the term was even invented.

I was at my first 10 mile road race with my friend Greg Morgenson. It was in the tiny western Kansas town of LaCrosse. It was a simple out and back affair with maybe 50 to 75 runners present. There were no t-shirts, there were no age group awards and if you weren't in the top 10 you were out of the medals. I remember seeing someone wearing track spikes clacking along the asphalt road, insanity I thought. Most of the race was on a gravel road so the idiot in spikes probably didn't suffer too much but I remember the heat and struggling back the last four miles.

I finished somewhere near the top 10 in about 65 minutes but out of the medals. Not long after I crossed the finish line I was approached by one Jim Hershberger who offered me a bit of sound advice. He told me to stop running on my toes. I had spent the previous winter learning to run on my toes at the insistence of my junior high coach. Despite the words of wisdom from Hershberger I continued the practice until the following spring. Of course as soon as I switched my times dropped dramatically.

Hershberger was a fixture at the Kansas Relays. It amazed me that a man in his 40's could hammer 880 yards at close to 2 minutes flat. He ponied up the money to build the synthetic track at Kansas and spent lavishly in other ways to support the Kansas track and field program.

But he was polarizing. His love of the limelight could be off putting to some people. He made it to the pages of Sports Illustrated in 1981 when he created his own athletic challenge involving multiple sports at age 50. The competition was something of a precursor to the sports crazes that athletes now compete in like cross fit.

It ended in the late 1980's for Hershberger in a fraud scandal. I'm ambivalent about what happened. Part of me wants to believe that Jim was a fall guy, done in by a subordinate looking to save his own hide. Nevertheless, Jim Hershberger went to federal prison for his supposed crimes. His family says prison changed him. My friends who knew him say that he never showed that in public.

I last saw Jim about three years ago at a gathering of Kansas alums in Fort Myers. I didn't know it but he was already suffering from Alzheimer's. He was the same Jim Hershberger, smiling and ready to tell a story. I write about it because Jim was a trailblazer for age group competitors. He kept competing in his 40's and 50's until his body wouldn't let him anymore. He certainly had the broken bones and surgeries to prove it. In a sense I still run and compete because of what I saw from Jim Hershberger 40 years ago. Thanks for the advice Jim and for daring to compete at the highest levels.

Tyshawn = Turnover

2011-11-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to write about Kansas basketball. After watching four of the Jayhawk's first five games I've come to one conclusion. This team will only go as far as Tyshawn Taylor can take them.

Kansas should have beaten Duke last night. Taylor's 11 turnovers insured the Jayhawks wouldn't. It was pretty much the same story in the loss to Kentucky. Taylor and his back court cohort Elijah Johnson were very sloppy with the basketball.

This is going to be a very long and trying season for Kansas fans. Oh, this team will get to 20 wins barring a major injury and it will make another visit to the NCAA tournament, but it won't be pretty. This team will have to play scrappy, hard-nosed basketball, to win games. Everyone knows that this team has no bench. The starting five will have to carry the load.

The most pleasant surprise has been the arrival of Jeff Withey. He's gone from being a poor man's Eric Chenowith to a reasonably good post player. He's got the best hands I've seen on a Kansas big man in a long time and can rebound and block shots. He can't finish worth a poot around the basket but I've got a feeling that by next year he'll be a double digit contributor in the paint on a regular basis. Withey and sure to be All-American Thomas Robinson almost make the loss of the Morris twins bearable.

But back to Taylor. He's as entertaining as he is frustrating. Tyshawn is trying to grow into his role as the team leader. If he does the Jayhawks will be a very, very tough team to deal with by the end of the year. But if he continues to slip into his lackadaisical street ball style that gets him in trouble on the court not to mention his off the court antics, then Jayhawk land had better be prepared to deal with the bitter and the sweet.

Sail Away

2011-11-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

Inspiration seems to have sailed away. I've neglected my blogging while I've intensified my job search. I caught a wisp of inspiration over the weekend when Randy Newman put in an appearance on Austin City Limits. It took me back to the first time that I heard any of his music.

I was still a student at the University of Kansas and the gang of Ballpark baseball enthusiasts had gathered at Colin Gage's home which was then located just off K-10 between Lawrence and Eudora. Colin was playing various music as we played the game and drank beer. But he made a special point of having us listen to Newman's greatest album, "Sail Away." On it is one of my all time favorite songs. It is a beautiful composition, one that I can listen to over and over again. "Louisiana 1927" is a jewel among an album full of great songs from the title track through such rollicking tunes "Rednecks" and "Kingfish."

Other than the music it's been a week of watching Kansas get manhandled by Kentucky. It's going to be a long year for Jayhawk nation. I've had fun watching my friend Max Ustler play baseball with his cadre of 60 plus buddies. And I'm making progress in my efforts to learn Russian. I always made my first run of 10 miles for the year. It went surprisingly well. The result may inspire to actually run a race sometime soon. Maybe.

1000 miles continued

2011-11-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Anyway my Lauren Fleshman prediction didn't go too far afield. I'll give her credit. She must have suffered over the last few miles but she finished in just a shade under 2:38. For a first time effort I'm pretty impressed. The marathon overall was amazing. The women's race featured a massive flame out with an relatively unknown Ethiopian Firehiwot Dado catching front running Kenyan Mary Keitany in the final 2 kilometers. On the men's side Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai showed his earth shattering Boston win was no fluke smashing the field with 10 kilometers to go and blowing up the course record in the process.

More importantly on this Sunday the stench of big money that permeates college football found its way to Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou decided to skate to the SEC. Their departure from the Big 12 will bring an end to the oldest football rivalry west of the Mississippi. Missouri fielded competitive teams in the Big 12 in both football and basketball. They won't be able to compete in the SEC. Their hoops team will continue to make it into the NCAA tournament but football will be a whole different story. They'll be lapdogs like Kentucky and Vanderbilt. I say good riddance.

Finally 1000 miles means a lot. I have run at least 1000 miles every year since I was 15 years old. That's 40 years of at least 1000 miles. I don't know how many lifetime miles I have. I was never very good about keeping accurate logs until I hit 30. But my lifetime total is probably in the neighborhood of 60,000 miles. I'm no Craig Davidson that's for sure!

1000 miles

2011-11-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Running hasn't been as much fun this year as it was last. Training for the St. George Marathon was front and center. I actually had to run more than 30 miles a week and do runs that lasted more than an hour. I went to the track to do hard workouts. For some reason that hasn't happened in the last 12 months.

I went through a four month case of the blahs after St. George. The cold, rainy, winter in Sacramento didn't help. Working in a difficult environment didn't help. I didn't have any goals and I couldn't get excited about running save for the fact that I didn't want to weigh 200 pounds.

So as the weather warmed I got back into the swing of things. Moving back home got me to be more consistent about training. The Czarina is always raring and ready to go so that helps on days when lacing up the shoes doesn't seem very important.

But I need to start racing to at least break out of the lethargy that just doing training runs brings on. The racing season is just about to go full tilt in Southwest Florida and I need to just do it.

And that leads me to tomorrow and the New York City marathon. One of my favorite runners Lauren Fleshman will attempt her first marathon. I'm really worried for her. She's doing it coming off her track season with only two and a half months of proper marathon preparation. From my perspective even if you're in shape, which Lauren undoubtedly is, you need a good six months to run a quality marathon.

She's not holding any illusions that she's going to go out and run some ridiculously fast time. I think that will help her. But honestly I won't be shocked if she drops out by 20 miles. The NYC course is a bear and Lauren is a competitor. Those competitive juices could get her into trouble if she tries to stay with the lead pack. I hope I'm wrong.

Weekend Rambling

2011-10-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

This has been a weekend of recovery. The super fast trip to Russia left my mind and body feeling like it got lost in the Twilight Zone. All the while the job search has now been ratcheted up to a new level.

By Monday my tooth with a temporary crown was back in pain mode. It flared up about two weeks before the trip but the removal of the old crown seemed to do the trick. Thank goodness it didn't start hurting while I was overseas. Anyway the dentist recommended a root canal before putting in the permanent cap so that meant fun in the chair on Thursday. The root canal wasn't nearly as painful as I expected, but tonight the temporary crown fell out. Thank goodness I'm going back to the dentist on Monday.

A glimmer of light came earlier in the day via an email from Riga. Some much anticipated pictures came from Masha's birthday party. The celebration actually occurred back in September. Masha, on the right, turned 5. The shindig included a clown and plenty of face paint. I think if I had gotten a clown on my 5th birthday I would have suffered nightmares for weeks.

I mean seriously, wouldn't you run the other way if you were a young child and saw this guy in the room? But these little girls seemed to enjoy it. The pictures brought a smile to the Czarina's face and that's what really matters after all.

By the way, did I mention that I can't wait to see Harold and Kumar's 3D Christmas? Is that wrong?

What I've Learned in the Last Week

2011-10-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

I've learned that flying to Russia and back in less than a week isn't an easy thing to do. Technically I left the house at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and returned on Friday night at 10:15 p.m. That's about 13,000 miles of air travel or 44 hours of fun time in less than a week.

I've learned that I don't want to make another trip to Russia without the Czarina. As we looked through the pictures and the videos that I took during my whirlwind adventure I could sense her sadness at not getting to visit a city she desperately wants to see again. The Czarina was last in Leningrad more than two decades ago.

I've learned that despite the fact that I'm not some sterling academic with a PhD or some world renowned journalist I can deliver a clear analysis of what works and what's important when it comes to practicing the profession. The last two trips put me before students, TV journalists from small cities in Russia and one of the up and coming local TV operations in St. Petersburg. This time was different.

This time I had to deliver to a room full of academics, top journalists from St. Petersburg and even a couple of journalists who had flown all the way from Kazakhstan just to hear what I had to say about the state of local TV news in America, the impact of social media on it, and the growing use of multimedia journalists. I won't lie. I was intimidated and nervous. Thank God I had a practice run on Monday before a group of students before I went before the pros on Tuesday. Each day I had to stand and deliver for six hours. The journalists were happy, the academics were happy, and the people who sponsored the event were happy. I even got a gift from the Kazaks, two nice fellows who didn't speak a word of English.

I've learned how lucky I am to meet people like Antonia, the lovely young woman who you see at the beginning of this video. Her mother Vera works for the consulate and is responsible for bringing me to St. Petersburg. Antonia has worked as my interpreter for the first and third trip. I was showing the group how my flip camera worked as part of my demonstration. As you can see I am not the steadiest of shooters but nevertheless, the gathering enjoyed my efforts at playing photographer.

I've learned that students are becoming more precocious. I had three students at the two different colleges approach me about getting internships in the United States. Too bad I can't get a commission for obtaining American internships for Russian journalists.

I've learned that I've barely touched on the beautiful spots that one needs to visit in St. Petersburg. I still haven't made it to Peterhof with its amazing fountains and gardens. This list of museums, churches and palaces worth visiting could fill a week. I need to make the trip when the work load isn't quite so daunting.

I've learned that Russians have the same dreams and aspirations as Americans. They want a government that's responsive to their needs. They want to be able to practice their profession unfettered by censorship or threats. They want to make a fair wage for doing a good day's work. I go list the things that make us different, but Russians are a lot more like Americans than I would have ever dared dream.

French Fried

2011-10-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

I think it was the four hours I spent lounging around the airport in Paris that put did me in I got all of about four hours sleep before I left St. Petersburg for Florida. I tried to get a full eight but I woke up at about 2:30 a.m. and rested fitfully until 4:15 a.m. when I got up and showered. I then enjoyed my first Skype session with the Czarina since the previous Sunday and headed downstairs and to my awaiting taxi.

The streets of St. Petersburg where deserted at that hour. I arrived at the airport at 5:30 a.m. and faced the prospect of a two hour wait in an airport with all the charm of a gulag. A group of Americans fresh off two weeks of cruising through Russia were there waiting for the Air France flight that would take us to Paris. They were all in the 70 plus crowd and were thrilled with what they had experienced.

7:30 came and we flew out of St. Petersburg and began our trip to France when "it" happened. "It" was the single worse piece of turbulence I have ever experienced. I really thought it was over. About 20 minutes into our flight the plane took a sudden jolt. I opened my eyes and felt the Airbus beginning to sharply rise and then suddenly the jet shuddered again and began a quick roll to the right and a sudden descent. I was seated in an exit row and glance out the window. The wing was pointed straight down to the ground and it felt as the the aircraft was going to do a complete flip.

I sensed at that point the pilots finally wrested control of the jet and gently stopped the roll and slowly brought the plane level as we still veered down toward the earth. The woman who was sitting in my row on the aisle seat looked at me in horror. I started saying my prayers and then realized the plane had stopped descending. I've experienced plenty of roller coaster rides through big storms but never have experienced anything like this. The pilots never said a word. The crew only asked us to make sure our seat belts were fastened after the incident ended. It lasted all of about 15 to 20 seconds.

My seat mate who has probably flown more miles than I can imagine said she had never experienced anything like it. We were both pretty shaken as were the other passengers, mostly Russians. When we landed two and a half hours later in Paris there was scattered applause among the passengers.

Paris was a nightmare. The line through security was monstrous. It took forever to get through but then I had four hours plus to wait for my flight. Had it gone quicker I might have been able to catch an earlier flight back through Atlanta but alas it wasn't in the cards. I went up to the waiting area for our flight and finally fell to sleep for about half an hour until a baby started wailing. That's when I realized they had changed our gate. I went there looking forward to 90 more minutes of wait and asked the Delta employee if I could get my seat moved up closer to the front of the plane. I was seated near the rear and much to my delight she moved me out of the middle row to a window seat closer to the front.

I then discovered at the front of the terminal an area where reclining couches were situated in the sun and cursed myself for not checking this spot sooner. I went and laid down and waited for my 1:35 departure. Much to my displeasure I couldn't fall back to sleep.

The rest of the journey home was much less exciting. The plane was packed. A young couple was flying with a howling newborn and they were seated near the rear of the plane right where my earlier seat assignment had been. Where I was sitting I could barely hear the constant crying. I don't know why people insist on taking babies on flights like this. I could only imagine the torture for those sitting back there.

I managed to watch 3 movies during the 9 hour excursion. My seatmate was a young woman just getting out of the Navy. She was traveling to Georgia and we enjoyed some good conversation but neither one of us got much if any sleep. Once on the ground in Atlanta I hustled through customs and arrived at my gate where a massive crowd was hoping to get aboard my flight. Delta even switched to a larger aircraft because they had overbooked. I landed in Fort Myers at 9:35 p.m. which technically would be 5:35 a.m. St. Petersburg time. I was thus on the back end of 25 hours with less than two hours of sleep.

I'm fried, but the bags are unpacked and we've gone through all of the goodies, photos and videos I shot. I don't know when or if I will ever return to St. Petersburg but if I ever do I know it won't be without the Czarina. And I know I'm not doing it on such a compressed schedule. It's going to take another 12 hours of sleep to get somewhere back to normal.

Time to Pack

2011-10-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've got about 12 hours left in St. Petersburg. The time has flown by. I spent the morning speaking with a Russian journalist about American traffic laws. The Russians are pretty serious about minor traffic violations and wondered why Americans don't get into more trouble for pulling illegal U turns. I gave it my best try and the reporter seemed happy.

I then returned to the college in the heart of the city where I made my first visit more than three years ago. I sat in front of about three dozen fresh faced Russian students. It was wonderful to see more boys among the group of mostly female journalists in training. After I gave them a ten minute sermon about why they are in the midst of a wonderful revolution in which a new form of journalism is being born. I told them the Internet is taking over and that they needed the skills of a print and television reporter along with a lot of technical ability to survive.

The students then delivered more than 90 minutes of non-stop questions. They wanted to know all about American journalism. I was particularly impressed with one young man who asked me what I thought about the journalism practiced by Hunter Thompson. After the session he proudly came up to me and exclaimed that he wanted to be a Gonzo Journalist. I couldn't have been more pleased.

The real fun started after the class. Vera, my Russian friend who works for the U.S. Consulate, and her lovely daughter Toni, who acts as my interpreter, were driving me back to the center part of the city so I could do a little sightseeing. Traffic is beyond chaotic in old part of St. Petersburg. Poor Toni got caught between traffic signals right in front of a police officer. The officer calmly waived her over and began to ask her for every piece of paperwork imaginable. I felt horrible. Vera looked at me smiled and said, "this will take some time, you might as well get out and walk." So I took this farewell snapshot, Toni in her red Ford Fusion with the police officer patiently waiting for her to find the right papers. The cop didn't give me a second thought.

Directly across the street from where we were stopped sits the Hermitage. It was about 3 p.m. in the afternoon and I had a tough choice to make. Do I tour the Hermitage again or do I check out another site that I wanted to see plus pick up some souvenirs.

I opted for the Church of the Spilled Blood. It was an inexpensive option and it was a moving experience. The church is built on the spot where Czar Alexander II was assassinated. It's domes are one of the most famous sites in the city. Inside it's just as spectacular. While the church is not as massive as St. Isaac's Cathedral, the beauty inside is something else. The marble and the Icons are very impressive.

Spot where Czar was murdered

Once I had spent a half hour or so inside I headed outside to the tourist market which sits just across the street. I spent another half hour there finding the right items. There was a painting I wanted to buy. It was a unique collage of the city skyline but it was priced just beyond what I wanted to pay. My guess is that it would have been worth it and it is probably a work that will only grow in value.

I then made the two mile hike back to my hotel and stopped for a quick meal along the way. The weather while overcast and cool wasn't as biting as the previous day. I watched tourists along the Neva take delight in a trained bear. I'll post many of my pictures on Facebook. But I've got to pack now and get some sleep. 5 a.m. will come way too soon.

Hello Russian Winter

2011-10-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's sunshine was swept away by an arctic blast on Wednesday as snow flurries accompanied my walk to the seminar which I took part in along the Neva River. The snow really got going once I was inside and I was too busy to grab my camera to take a snapshot. One thing Russians believe in is decent heating so despite my Florida blood the cold temperatures really weren't a bother.

I somehow managed to survive the second day of my lectures in one piece. I was worried today because I discussed a topic that I really wasn't qualified to discuss. They wanted to know why Americans are so loathe to follow world news. I delivered my gut instincts about the lack of international news on American television. First, we are an isolated country, protected by two oceans and with two neighboring countries with stable governments. Second, Americans are self-absorbed. They care about their neighbors and their community but our interests don't go much farther than that. Most Americans are worried about making their house and car payments and making sure they can feed their families.

Later in the day I was joined by some other Russian journalists who discussed the current state of affairs in their country. The government has become more and more heavy handed in its censorship of the media. And much to my relief, Andrei Radin, the gentleman on the right, backed up my assertions about Americans lack of interest in world affairs. I've met Andrei in my two previous trips to St. Petersburg. He is one of the nation's top broadcast journalists, certainly on a level as Ted Koppel or maybe a younger version of Bob Schieffer. Andrei's love of journalism led him to a difficult decision to leave this job running the newsroom of one of St. Petersburg's fast rising local news channels.

Andrei is leading the first effort in St. Petersburg to create an Internet television news operation. I believe this is the website. www.piter.ru What I love about him is his brutal honesty. He's disgusting by the dumbing down of Russian media. Andrei and his friend sitting in the middle are both heart-broken by the crassness that permeates much of Russian television. He wants to create a place where intelligent and critical reporting can thrive. Andrei's the first to admit that he has no idea where this bold experiment will go and whether or not it will survive. But I agree with Andrei on this one thing, Internet will kill the television business much as it is doing newspapers. It only makes economic sense. Why pay for an expensive transmitter and tower when you go accomplish the same thing on the web. Once the technical issues are overcome in the next decade or so Internet television will rule all media.

It was an honor to be sitting at the same table as three important figures in St. Petersburg. I sometimes feel inadequate when it comes to the intellectual prowess that these men and women bring to our profession but I make up for it with my passion and for my ability to draw from my gut instincts about basic human wants and desires when it comes to journalism.

Tomorrow I wrap up my visit to a local television and film college, my favorite stop in this wonderful city. My host has promised me that I will have a chance to do a little sight seeing in the afternoon. Today confirmed something in my heart in light of all of my professional trials and travails of the last six months. I am good at what I do. I understand what I do. Unfortunately I don't have the ruthless nature that most TV news operations mandate of their managers in this day and age.

I say this because today I learned that one of my all-time favorite co-workers was essentially forced out of her job at KVLY TV. Robin Huebner was quite simply one of the best broadcast journalists I ever worked with. She was North Dakota television news. Smart, compassionate, insightful, a leader, and just a wonderful person to work with. KVLY sent her packing, the latest in a dozen or so high profile departures in the last year or so from KVLY. It's another instance of a media company with absolutely no ties to the community it is licensed to serve completely ignoring its customers. Hoak Media represents the egregious corporate mentality that is destroying broadcasting. They're not alone. Even once great corporate companies that once espoused the very best that journalism had to offer, Gannett to name one, has fallen victim to this and is charting its own path to irrelevancy.

Good luck Robin, you deserve the very best, I am so thankful that I had a chance to work with you, Charley, Tom, Daron, Dave, Julie, Mick, Jerimiah, Pam, Petey, Sean, Lynn, Doug, Dave Erickson, Dan, Andrea, Tracy, Carol, Heather, Sarah and Roxana in one of the best teams I've ever had the privilege to work with. Fargo deserves better.

The Big Show

2011-10-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely they filed in. Russian journalists and academics who had come from across the country to listen to what I had to say about American television news. I didn't paint a pretty picture. Let's face it, the economy has really hurt the business. No, television isn't dying like newspapers but anyone working in TV knows to get by these days you have to learn to do more with less.

The message rang true with my Russian colleagues. I could tell that the American way of doing things is beginning to infiltrate their lives. They see that the practices being introduced in American news, MMJ's and the like will one day come to their country. These professionals want to know how to adapt and survive.

It was a long day. I spent about six hours talking and answering questions. It's a draining experience. It makes me appreciate the hard work American teachers put in every day dealing with a bunch of crazy kids. I don't know how they find the energy to do it.

I finally got away after the lecture to enjoy a decent meal at a decent restaurant. This is the view a mere two blocks from my hotel room and about two blocks from the restaurant. This city is one picture postcard after another. The setting sun glistened across the city. I took more pictures, a few which I will post to Facebook later. St. Petersburg never ceases to amaze.

I ended my day holding forth with a Russian Facebook friend of mine, Anastasia Tulchinskaya and two of her work colleagues from Channel 5. It was a more intimate version of the seminar that I had conducted earlier in the day. I can't help but admire the honest desire on the part of Russian journalists to learn all they can about the news business.

Silence of the Lambs

2011-10-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

It took 12 hours of sleeping but I left the jet lag behind ready for business in St. Petersburg. Anyone that knows me at all knows that I am a picky eater. The free breakfast at my hotel offered some culinary challenges. I'm not much on carrot juice or eggs or the weird hash that was waiting me. But I did manage something resembling scrambled eggs, some toast and believe or not cucumbers. It was the first real food I had enjoyed in 24 hours.

Then it was off to St. Petersburg State which is a very prestigious institution of higher education in Russian. This lecture had not been included on my original list so the State Department was getting a freebee out of me. I was told the class understood English so no translator would be needed. That left me a little worried that I would be short on material because having to translate everything helps fill the time.

I stumbled my way through 45 minutes talking about why Americans aren't big consumers of international news and the students stared back blankly. I tried getting them to ask questions and I was met mostly by silence until finally a couple of students, both Germans started asking very good and pointed questions. I made it through the first 90 minutes wondering what in the heck I would do for the last 90.

I went with the tried and true and showed them videos of some very good television stories. That finally got the questions coming. I think they were mostly stunned by the quick, tight shots and the frequent use of natural sound. Most Russian television news is completely lacking in pace and energy. The storytelling is lethargic.

My host Vera Savko later explained to me that Russian students are usually reluctant to ask questions in class. These two were Germans who want to come to tomorrow's lectures. I guess they are gluttons for punishment. Russian students apparently like to wait until after class and ask any questions in private, which did happen. It was three hours of what I thought felt like sheer boredom but Vera and the school's dean liked it in fact the dean asked that I come back on Thursday. Fortunately I am going to another school that I have been before and where the professor there always makes me feel like a superstar.

I declined a drive from Vera and her driver back to the hotel and took the one mile or so walk back to my hotel. Vera's directions really didn't help a lot but as soon as I got across the river I began to recognize landmarks and found my way back to the hotel with nary a problem. After I refreshed myself I went on another long walk, about two miles, to The Hermitage. It was too late in the afternoon to bother paying to tour the place but it felt good to see this beautiful city again.

Right now I'm watching some weird Russian MTV show that is a combination of the Dating Game and stripping. I'm not sure what to think. Tomorrow I'm going to make it over to one of the tourists markets and go through one of the historic churches. I'm just glad I don't feel completely crapped out from the lack of sleep. Besides, I just have three more days to enjoy this wonderful adventure.

The Major Road Trip that is Flying from Fort Myers

2011-10-16T14:33:00.001-07:00

The major road trip that is flying from Fort Myers, Florida to St. Petersburg Russia, got off to a spectacular on Saturday. Our 12:45 p.m. flight carried me and a couple of hundred other souls to the city of Cincinnati where the airport bars close at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Our scheduled departure for 5:50 seemed in doubt when none of the pilots were on hand for general boarding at 5:05. I spent an hour so with a young man headed to Vegas and working over his iPAD like a dog with a bone. Man this those things must be fun.

The Pilots stated strolling in about 15 minutes late and boarding began. It all made me a little nervous because I had 90 minutes to run the gauntlet this customs and made it on to my next flight.

The trip from Cincinnati to Paris was uneventful. The six foot three inch Frenchman jammed in our middle for a better spot where he could stretch out. That left an FAA inspector and me with plenty of room for the seven hour plus the food was decent. This plane didn't have the individual monitors where you get to pick and choose what you want, but I degree. The highlight of the entertainment evening was X-Men First Class and it went pretty much downhill from there. The problems involved a epic fat guy snorer and an old Chinese man who spoke in a very loud voice at very early hour.

Coming off the flight that arrived on time I was worried about my checked bag. I was reassured twice over my bag would make. The Paris Charles DeGaulle Airports had some interesting smells which I won't dwell but I do want to say that the customs, security folks, and gate agents were all super nice and super helpful an made this American feel good about his trip.

Loading the plane for St. Petersburg was something of an adventure. It was first come first serve so it triggered a mild case of pandemonium which actually led a rather quick loading of the aircraft. The Air France crew had to keep tabs on the rather rowdy Russian passengers who don't like following rules. They served an interesting breakfast, cold chicken, which down right decent. The gentleman next to me drank red wine with his, the flight attendants seemed shock at my lack of interest in alcohol.

The attendents fill out our visa paperwork on the plane which saved a major hazzle for customs. I flew through there in record time and my bag rolled out on the carousel not five minutes later and my driver Sergey and I renewed our acquaintance for began in 2008. Gone was the Amercan Ford beater that he had been driving for a much nicer Sonota. I was toast so the sites of the city whiz but one can't stop to help think about the massive parks between the airport and downtown that hold the mass graves of the siege of the city of Leningrad in World War II.

They've highjacked my day off, Monday, and I was talk to a group of University students. I'm going to try to be entertaining as possible. You know me, I can spin yarns about newsroom activities all day. Time for some more sleep so I'm human in the morning.

Monsoon City

2011-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

The beautiful thing about Florida weather is that it rarely rains all day. You can almost always count on an appearance from the sun. But as fate would have it the rains came and never dissipated this weekend in Orlando. We made the trip to catch up with Mike and Katherine Bloemker. Mike brought his cross country teams from Johnson County Community College hoping his squads could catch some good weather and run some fast times.

Mother nature did not cooperate. First I want to take a well-deserved shot at Disney. They charged $14.50 to get into the venue to watch the meet. I could see charging 5 dollars to get into the meet but this kind of price gouging is embarrassing. When we arrived at 7 a.m. it was overcast with a hint of rain. By the time the gun sounded at 7:45 a.m. for the men's race a steady downpour was underway. At times it rained buckets. The course quickly turned to slop.

Mike's men did a remarkable job considering the conditions and finished 3rd in the team race. Poor Mike had to scramble around in the nasty conditions while the Czarina and I hid out in some nearby stands. By the time the women's race got going the rain started to ease up as the course got muddier and muddier. JCCC's women executed some nice pack running and beat their main junior college competitors.

The drier conditions allowed us to get a good look at the finish. The wet conditions slowed down the men's and women's winner by a good minute at least. But the main purpose was to catch up with Mike, Katherine, and their bruising son Griffin. The precocious 30-month-old was in his element, rain and all. He enjoyed running like a wild child around the Disney complex. It's a wonder Mike and Katherine can keep up with him.

Within 30 minutes of the women's race ending the skies opened up again and it poured non-stop. That put a crimp in our plans to check out Sea World and it shortened our shopping expedition to Downtown Disney and a nearby outlet mall. We were relieved to return to Fort Myers on Sunday where the sun was putting in an appearance.

Where Has the Year Gone

2011-10-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

The blog has been ignored with a mountain of writing and preparation. I've always done okay with Power Point but the whole video thing has been a pain in the backside. The workload kept me from writing about the year that has passed since the 2010 St. George Marathon. Last year the Czarina and I ventured to Utah to join my friend Craig Davidson as he ran his 200th marathon.

St. George was my 20th marathon and I'm guessing my last. I detailed the race last year in my blog. Breaking four hours isn't my idea of running a good marathon but one never knows.

I've only run one race since then participating in a team marathon relay last December running an 8 mile leg in Sacramento's California International Marathon. Without race goals to motivate me my training really went slack after St. George. I really didn't get back into the swing of running more than 20 miles a week until April of this year.

Returning to Fort Myers certainly helped in terms of running almost everyday. But I haven't done anything fast and not a single run of more than 8 miles. With the soreness in my right hip speed and mileage just don't seem very inviting right now. Regardless, I'm looking forward to doing some fall racing even if it means barely running under 8 minute mile pace.

The joy of running remains with me. The weather finally turned in the last week and the humidity suddenly vanished making it even more inviting to lace up the shoes. I'm sure Craig would have liked to have had some of our weather last weekend when he ran St. George completing his 207th marathon. It was another hot year at St. George which is unusual. Craig made it to the finish line in 4:27 and change. That's more than a half hour slower than last year's run. Needless to say, there are things about getting older that stink!

Quick Trip to the Land of Czars

2011-09-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

The job search went on hold about three weeks ago. I received an invitation to visit St. Petersburg, Russia in October. I'm going to visit with Russian journalists to speak about the changing landscape of local American television news.

This will mark my third visit since 2008 to St. Petersburg. The picture on the left was taken during my first visit during Russia's Christmas season. It was an incredible experience. It was my first trip overseas and a first class experience all the way around.

The second trip came about 15 months after the first. I made even more friends and became even more familiar with everyday life in Russia living in an neighborhood apartment, learning to navigate my way around the city without getting too lost. Unfortunately I didn't do the kind of sightseeing I did on the first trip.

This time around I plan to make better use of my free time. I want to make it to Peterhof which is just outside the city. I also want to take another walk through The Hermitage. There's so much to see in this one-time palace that it's overwhelming.

I've even started taking Russian classes. It's ridiculous that it's taken me this long to make a real effort at learning the language. It is a ridiculously difficult language to learn. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode. But I'm enjoying the challenge. It's like puzzle solving taken to the nth degree.

Sadly my Russian will be sorely lacking when I step off the plane in three weeks. But I'm hoping that with a lot of studying in the next few months I might be able to actually hold a short conversation with The Czarina. Now that would be something!

A Concert I May Never See

2011-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've seen every band or singer live that I've wanted to except for a handful. Obviously when it comes to bands The Beatles would be on that list along with The Band. I'll never get to see either thanks to the passing of some great performers. Also on that list is REM, which shocked fans by announcing it's the end today.

REM helped ignite the genre of college or alternative music in the early 1980's. I didn't pay much attention just like I pretty much ignored U2 for most of the 80's. But along came a music video on MTV that grabbed me probably more than any video I ever saw, period. "Losing My Religion" made REM a hugely popular band starting a ride of three very successful albums, "Out of Time," "Automatic for the People," and "Monster."

By the late 90's the band was running out of steam. "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" was just okay and the albums that followed had moments but lacked the power of the aforementioned trio. Actually REM's early albums like "Murmur," "Life's Rich Pageant," and "Green" are outstanding in their own right.

When I first saw today's news of REM's retirement on Facebook my guts told me this was about selling records or their inability to do so in today's crazy world where music is stolen left and right. An article on the band in "Rolling Stone" party confirmed my suspicions.

REM's only choice to make money was to tour. I'm not sure Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck wanted to grind it out for dollars that way. They've made a ton of dough already and the lure of touring probably doesn't appeal to the group, especially Stipe, the band's lead singer. My hope is that a few years down the road someone will pile up enough cash in front of REM to lure them back out for one more go. In the meantime I'll have to be satisfied with videos like this of my favorite REM song.

Mockingbird Time

2011-09-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

Next Tuesday a musical resurrection comes to fruition when one of my favorite bands releases their first new music in eight years. "Mockingbird Time" marks the reunion of the song writing duo of Mark Olson and Gary Louris making their first album as The Jayhawks in more than a decade.

Olson left the group in 1995, partly out of frustration I suspect. The band had produced two critically acclaimed albums yet failed to catch on with the main stream. Louris soldiered on for another six years putting out three more albums including the fabulous "Rainy Day Music" before calling it quits.

The Internet killed bands like The Jayhawks, who had survived on the edge before the rampant theft of music destroyed music sales. That left touring as the only way to make money and although they had a loyal following I suspect the band didn't see a future for itself.

But that loyal following kept buzz about the band alive, mostly on the Internet. And then the occasional reunions only added fuel to the fire. Finally Louris and Olson put out a duet album setting them on a path for a full blown reunion.

I had the pleasure of watching them perform live on a web stream this week from their home base in Minneapolis. They played a large batch of their new songs and some old favorites for one of the NPR stations in the Twin Cities. One of those selections is a gem from one of their earlier albums. It's a song I overlooked until recently and it's certainly one of their best. Enjoy "Red's Song."

The Czarina Takes Vegas

2011-09-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Czarina likes to travel. She enjoys getting up and going just about anywhere. So it didn't take much persuading when I suggested she go see the boy since she hadn't seen her son since Christmas. Then this crafty Russian saw an opportunity to make something more out her trip to Riverside, California by mixing pleasure with business.

After booking her mid-September trip she realized that a major convention for SAP was taking place in Las Vegas. SAP is a business software and the Czarina something of a wiz at it. The Czarina talked her bosses into paying for her trip home with a one week stop in Vegas and the convention. Given my lack of unemployment I quickly ruled out making the trip out west. The recipe for financial disaster seemed ripe between my ability at the black jack table and the Czarina's luck at the slots.

So the Czarina is enjoying Las Vegas on her own, staying at Harrah's (which she loathes) and attending her convention next door at the Venetian. She's been stunned by all of the free food and other goodies available at the convention. The Czarina is a strong believer in free and finds it difficult to control herself whenever that particular word finds its way into the equation. Her phone calls from Vegas have been like listening to a 5-year-old on Christmas morning.

The Czarina has a couple of more days to go and she's fully enjoying the classes. Then she has to take a red-eye back home Friday night. I can't wait for her to come home and hear more about this great adventure.

Unbroken

2011-09-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

On September 11th, on this 10th anniversary of one this country's darkest moment, it seems appropriate to write about a book I finished reading this week. The book is about a man who is emblematic of the American spirit. He's a man who rose from meager circumstances to know success, survived the unimaginable at the hands of unbelievable cruelty, then found a way to heal himself and his damaged psyche after he returned home a hero.

"Unbroken" is the story of Louie Zamperini. I pride myself on my knowledge of history regarding the sport of track and field. Zamperini's name had somehow eluded me, but that's largely due to the fact that he was denied a chance at Olympic glory because of World War II. Zamperini held the high school record for the mile run for nearly two decades. He was an Olympian in 1936 at 19.

The war did much more than take away Zamperini's hopes of Olympic gold, but I will leave that story for you to read in Laura Hillenbrand's fabulous book about the pride of Torrence, California. It's a great read given to me from my wonderful workmates in Sacramento. Most importantly, the book gives in graphic detail the incredibly high cost of freedom.

10 Years Ago Today

2011-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

I know exactly what I was doing ten years ago today at this very moment. On the evening of September 10th 2001 I was driving through central Illinois trying to make it to Champaign. I would spend a good 12 hours behind the wheel that day trying to make a big dent on a trip to Nashville for the Radio, Television, News Directors Association annual convention.

I was thinking about the stop I would make in Paducah, Kentucky where I would get a chance to touch base with old friends. I was thinking about the stop I would make in Clarksville, Tennessee where I would see my sister and brother-in-law. Mostly I was thinking about the seminars I would attend where I might learn something to help my newsroom climb the ratings ladder.

It was a Monday and the weather was beautiful. I got into Champaign very late and didn't get to bed until just before Midnight. I slept like a rock, rousing myself just early enough knowing that I needed to hit Paducah around noon. I literally stumbled out of bed hitting the TV remote and NBC expecting to catch the end of "The Today Show." I blinked a couple of times. It was a shot of a smouldering World Trade Center. What the fuck I thought, how did it catch fire? Then just as I was comprehending the picture it went crashing down. It was the South Tower going down. Then I began to listen. What I heard left me stunned and scrambling for my cell phone.

I called my newsroom and they were already hitting the streets sending crews to key locations such as the federal building in Fargo and the air force base in Grand Forks. I gave a couple of quick suggestions which were hardly needed and told them I would get back as quickly as possible. I was so lucky that I had decided against flying to Nashville.

I headed into the shower where I broke down and cried. I realized that our lives, the lives of my country, the lives of my family, the lives of my friends, were changed forever. I cried for my sister Karen and her husband Keith in Clarksville. Keith was serving in the Army and I feared that this coming war could put him in harms way. I composed myself and got my things together and hit the road to retrace my 12 hour journey of the previous day.

I was stuck listening to radio reports from Chicago for the first three hours of my trip. It was frustrating not being able to see what was happening. I pushed the speed limit driving between 80 to 85 miles an hour knowing that state troopers had other, more pressing matters to consider than a speeder. The interstates were strangely devoid of traffic.

As I drove I soaked in what I could from the radio and called every couple of hours to talk with my newsroom. The team at KVLY had everything in hand. The operations was in the more than capable hands of General Manager Charley Johnson who had served as news director long before my arrival.

I remember coming into Minneapolis as evening fell and seeing American flags draped over bridges. I made my final pit stop there just as cars began to pile into fill up on gasoline fearing there would be major shortages. By the time I did make it to Fargo and my newsroom just before 10 p.m. there were long lines at the service station next to our building. I completed my trip home in 10 hours, 2 hours quicker than the previous day. The sense of quiet shock permeated the newsroom and my presence was an afterthought. But I was there and it felt good to see everyone working together telling such a big story that touched Fargo/Moorhead deeply just as it did communities across our great nation.

By a stroke of luck we actually had a reporter in Washington, D.C. that day. Roxana Saberi was at NPR taking part in some sort of seminar. She quickly switched gears and rounded up key members of our Congressional delegation for interviews and live reports. A handful of people with direct ties to our community had lost their lives on September 11th and we did our best to tell their stories. It was a heartbreaking day that stretched out for weeks.

I got home shortly after 11 p.m. and watched television with the Czarina. Exhausted, I watched the horrific imagines with the one fear that these acts would bring a loss of freedom that Americans had so savored. My worst fears were eventually realized with the formation of the Department of Homeland Security along with laws that helped our government circumvent our rights in the name of protecting lives. I understand it but that doesn't mean I have to approve of it.

Worst of all we are locked in a war that will never really end. President Bush failed so miserably using the attacks as a pretext to invade Iraq, a war that should have never been fought. Instead of a laser focus on Afghanistan we created a morass that will only help foster more Jihadists there and in other countries filled with Islamic zealots like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

The last 10 years have felt more like 20. The attacks of September 11th helped wreck our economy. But I believe it will inevitably make this country stronger and greater. I think the new One World Trade Center and the 9/11 memorial that sits in its shadow is testimony to that. God Bless America.

Obama and the GOP Crazy Train

2011-09-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

I don't blogging about politics. I think writing about politics is a lot like writing about religion. You usually end up pissing somebody off. I think that's why the founders of our country did their best to keep religion out of government. But I digress.

Barack Obama has been a huge disappointment as President. His style, which is to build consensus among disparate groups, simply doesn't work in the face of the Tea Party antics of the Republican Party. Thus he's been backed into a corner to come up with a real plan with real goals toward kick starting the economy.

The stimulus of 2009 didn't work because of Senator Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was a bill that was Washington politics as usual filled with pork which didn't deliver the kind of infrastructure jobs that would have gone a long way to building a better future. I loathe Reid and Pelosi, just as I loathe Representative Eric Cantor and his ilk. But again, I digress.

Tonight Barack Obama sounded like the President of the United States. He threw down the gauntlet with a jobs plan that makes sense. President Obama backed Republicans into a corner when he pleaded for keeping the payroll tax cut, "I know some of you have sworn oaths to never raise any taxes on anyone for as long as you live. Now is not the time to carve out an exception and raise middle-class taxes, which is why you should pass this bill right away." Of course none of what he suggested, fixing the corporate tax code, raising taxes on the richest Americans, is ever going to happen. The President won't fight as mean and dirty as his opponents will to win this battle.

But juxtaposed against what I watched last night when the gang of 8 running as Republicans for President, Barack Obama sounded and looked presidential. Only two of the GOP I heard from last night came remotely close. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman made the most sense. I loved Huntsman for calling out the wack-a-do's Perry, Bachmann and Santorum. Anyone conservative with a lick of common sense has to see that Romney is the only hope the party has to unseat Obama.

By the way, if Rick Perry does become President, get ready for George Bush on steroids. That might be enough to get the Czarina and I packing for Riga. I better start brushing up on my Russian!

Rolling Stone on The Beatles

2011-09-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

I went out on Labor Day and hunted down a copy of a special edition "Rolling Stone" which covers The Beatles album by album. "Morning Joe," simply the best morning news program out chatted up the magazine for a good five minutes on Friday.

For all of the great rock and roll bands over the last 50 years The Beatles are still the gold standard. The Rolling Stones had their day, Led Zeppelin, The Who, U2, Queen, Aerosmith, the list is endless. Yet everyone of the aforementioned bands and the dozens of great ones I didn't list were in some way, shape or form influenced by The Beatles.

I can still remember that night in February 1964 when the Fab Four first appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show." It stood out in part due to the reaction by my two older sisters who were in their early teens at the time plus it didn't hurt that they offered up catchy melodies and outrageous hair cuts. It was such an event that it prompted a quick post telecast gathering outside in the winter chill with the Wehling girls who lived next door where I felt the first rumbles of what was to be Beatlemania.

I haven't opened the magazine yet to start devouring the stories because I'm trying to finish up a great book I am currently reading. I'll blog about that book soon. As I was trolling through the web I came across a wonderful cover of what arguably is the greatest song The Beatles ever produced. It came from a performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Stick around to the end or you'll miss out on some guitar playing fireworks. Oh, and though I don't own any of his music, Prince is a genius, his Super Bowl performance a few years back is one of the best live shows I've ever witnessed.
http://youtu.be/ifp_SVrlurY

Death of the Big 12

2011-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

The Big 12 Conference is as good as dead. The defections of Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to the PAC 12 left the conference on life support. Texas A&M has thrown itself at the SEC and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are reportedly taking a good hard look at the PAC 12. Texas holds the keys to the kingdom and only the good Lord knows what the Longhorns will do.

The sad part of all this is that the old Big 8 saved A&M and Texas when it agreed to expand the conference with the disgraced remnants of the old Southwest Conference. I remember when the Big 12 was created we were told nothing would change. As quick as a hick-up the conference headquarters was moved from Kansas City and as soon as they could they pried another Kansas City staple, the post-season basketball tournament, away from the city. Bitter, you bet I'm bitter.

The mess leaves Kansas in a quandary. Jayhawk fans don't want to lose their traditional rivalry with Missouri. As much as it pains me to write this, Kansas needs Mizzou, much more than it needs cross state rival Kansas State. Missouri would seem a natural fit for the Big 10 but something in my guts tells me that it wouldn't make room for the Jayhawks.

The rumors have Kansas going to the PAC 12 or even the Big East. With schools like Louisville and Cincinnati in the Big East, this move geographically would make a lot more sense than endless trips to the west coast. I'd vote for the Big East if that meant Mizzou going too.

I blame the state of Texas for this mess. Specifically, I blame the Texas Longhorns. Colorado and Nebraska flew the coop because it's impossible to compete financially with Texas. The Longhorns can outspend any three school in the Big 12 combined. It's a losing proposition and will remain so because the NCAA does not have the will or the ability to stop this escalation in athletics spending that in the end, will cause its demise. Yes, the NCAA is facing its own extinction. It's lost complete control of college football. Super conferences here we come.

Jenny, Jenny

2011-09-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Two days remain of World Championship Track and Field and unless something mind-boggling happens, Jenny is the story of the meet for the good old USA. That's Jenny Simpson to the uninitiated.

Simpson had shown a great deal of promise more than 3 years ago establishing herself as a world class steeplechaser and a damn fine 1500 meter runner. Last year with her epic college career at Colorado over, she changed coaches, got married and disappeared. Injuries ended her season causing a lot of people to write her off.

A slow start to this season kicked off by a bout with flu created even more doubters. Many wondered why she had abandoned the steeple, the event she set an American Record in back in 2008. Thursday silenced her critics taking America's first 1500 meter gold in 28 years. The only bummer from that race came when another favorite, Morgan Uceny of the United States, took a tumble 550 meters from the finish in a bit of racing bad luck not of her making. Otherwise I think we would have seen two Americans on the podium.

The excitement of Simpson's epic win roused me from bed early this morning so I could watch the women's 5000 live this morning. I was hoping against hope that Lauren Fleshman could steal a medal or at the very least take a top 5 finish. Plus there was Amy Hastings, the Leavenworth High grad who was making her World Championship debut.

The race went about as I expected with a pack of Kenyans and Ethopians ratcheting up the pace with 600 meters to go. Hastings had disappeared from the pack early on but Fleshman was hanging on for dear life. Within 150 meters the pack pulled away from Lauren who fought bravely all the way to the finish to grab a respectable 7th place.

For those of you who don't realize that track and field is a contact sport check out Fleshman's leg following her qualifying heat. The pushing and shoving in both the men and women's races this year have been brutal. Uceny's fall is one of a half dozen I've seen in just one week of racing.

The IAAF needs to look at thinning out the fields. 15 plus runners are way too many to stick out on a track. The grabbing, pushing, shoving and spiking makes for pathetic racing.

Editor's note: I strongly urge you to read Lauren's blog she posted about her experience leading up and running in the finals. It's a fabulous read.

A Day of Rest

2011-08-31T07:31:00.000-07:00

The World Track and Field Championships has reached its halfway point with Wednesday marking a day without any major competition. The meet thus far has produced a mixed bag of results for the United States. Gold medals by Trey Hardee in the Decathlon, Carmelita Jeter in the 100, and Brittney Reese in the Long Jump were hardly unexpected. The surprises came from Jason Richardson's gold in the 110 Hurdles thanks to a miscue by Dayron Robles and the failure of LaShawn Merritt in the 400, the defending champion taken down by a precocious 18-year-old from Grenada.

My love primarily is for the distance races. I can hardly wait for Friday's final in the women's 5000. Leavenworth High grad Amy Hastings continued her outstanding season of running making it into the finals as did another American favorite Lauren Fleshmann, who has resurrected her injury plagued career. If the Kenyans and Ethiopians fail to push the pace in Daegu, Fleshmann could find herself in a position to put herself on the podium. Regardless a top 5 finish would be a real coup.

Despite a lot of criticism I thought Galen Rupp acquitted himself well in the men's 10K. His 7th place finish showed progress whereas 800 veteran Nick Symmonds ran like a rookie in last night's final. He hesitated at a critical moment 200 meters from the finish letting a Polish runner rattle him in a fight for position and sprinted to a disappointing 5th place. Symmonds should have been on the podium and the head slap that he gave himself as he crossed the finish line confirmed the costly mistake. Hopefully it's a lesson he can take with him to London next year.

Also remaining to be decided are the men's and women's 1500 meters. Leo Manzano and Matthew Centrowitz have outside shots to make the finals. On the women's side Jenny Simpson and Morgan Uceny have both shown themselves capable of getting a medal when they line up for Thursday's final.

Finally the ageless Bernard Lagat will begin his quest for another medal on Thursday in the men's 5000. Galen Rupp will join Lagat as both men along with another American Andrew Bumbalough will try to race their way into Sunday's final. An American distance running medal should come from either Lagat, Uceny. or Simpson barring some bad luck.

Hopefully Universal Sports can talk the ignoramuses producing the televised feed for the IAAF into showing the complete races. The televised coverage has been nonsensical when compared to what the Czarina and I enjoyed two years ago on the Internet from Berlin. Here's to four more days of outstanding track and field.

Bolt a Dolt

2011-08-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sprinting's mega-super star Usain Bolt shit the bed Sunday at the World Track and Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea. The world record holder false started in the finals of the 100 meter. A lot of so-called fans are bellyaching about it because of a new rule instituted this year by the sport's governning body, the IAAF.

For years the first false start of any race counted against the field. It took a second false start to get you kicked out of the race. But this led to a lot of game playing and false starts on purpose which wrecked meet schedules and more importantly made the sport almost unwatchable on television. This year the IAAF woke up and finally instituted a no-false start rule, one that's been around in the United States at the high school and collegiate level for decades.

The outrage over Bolt's dismissal is palpable. I could care a less. I've gone to dozens of high school and college track meets in this country and watched with dismay when athletes got the boot for jumping the gun. I hate it that the sport's biggest star blew it. But I think the rule is a good rule. For the last dozen years I hated watching the false start games being played at the world class level, especially by the hurdlers.

Television is the fuel that runs the engine that powers professional track and field. The sport has been in its death throws for years because it had become almost unwatchable. The false start rule will help alleviate the decline.

Now if the IAAF could only get a producer and director that understands how to cover the world championships. So far the production of the 2011 Championships sucks compared to what we watched online from Berlin in 2009. But that's another matter. We've got seven days of world class track and field to go!

Editor's note: Bolt had a big assist in his false start. New video of the start shows that his fellow countryman Yohan Blake flinched before the gun and likely caused Bolt to jump. The officials dropped the ball on that. They have more than a dozen set of officials watching those athletes. The IAAF is too blame for this calamity every bit as much as the great Usain Bolt.

Hello Irene

2011-08-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

The first squall just blew through our neighborhood from Hurricane Irene. Consider that Fort Myers is more than 300 miles away from the eye of this storm and it should give you an idea of the massive size of Irene. In fact last night the local meteorologists suggested the rain wouldn't reach us at all but we would feel more wind.

Any kind of a breeze is a rare thing during the summer. That was the first thing I noticed this morning. The palm trees were rustling from the nice breeze produced because of Irene's approach. I can only imagine what it's like along Florida's east coast and the battering that this big hurricane is delivering to the Bahamas.

It's been seven years since my colleagues at WINK TV and I endured a summer filled with hurricanes. It started with the worst of it when Charley came ashore about 20 miles from my home on August 13th. Then came Frances about two weeks later which clipped the northern edge of WINK's viewing area. Ivan followed but skirted our coast before slamming into Florida's panhandle. It's a good thing too because it came along the same week as a personal trip to Tampa to watch the Czarina take the oath to become a U.S. citizen.

Jeanne hit a couple of weeks after that on September 25th following roughly the same path as Hurricane Frances. Jeanne came as something of a surprise. The storm was expected to take a turn to the north. The staff was pretty much used up by that point. Something in my guts made me stop by the newsroom that Saturday afternoon. Within an hour of intense study of the weather data and talking to our meteorologists it became painfully clear that Jeanne wasn't going to cooperate.

I spent the next couple of hours calling in weary anchors, reporters, photographers and producers. If Jeanne cut across Florida it would have rolled right through Fort Myers. Again like Frances, it staggered to the north a bit and dealt a glancing blow to the northern part of our viewing area.

The worst part of that night was calling a worn out Jim McLaughlin at 2:30 in the morning to beg him to come in and help out on the anchor desk. A sleep-deprived Jim crashed his vehicle about two blocks away from the station. I felt terrible. I don't doubt that it played a role in his decision to retire from WINK the following year. It certainly played a role in my decision to take a news director's job in Kansas 11 months later.

18 hours after I arrived in the newsroom on a whim I was allowed to go home. Our news team which was running on empty had done a remarkable job on its third hurricane in six weeks. Those six weeks will stay with me forever.

Coach

2011-08-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Other than our parents, coaches and teachers create the biggest imprints on our lives. I've had four coaches as a runner. First there was Steve Sublett in high school, who kept running as fun as possible. During my short stint as a runner at Kansas, Bob Timmons while a legend, didn't do me any favors. Tom Dowling came along when I turned 30 and broke down training barriers I never thought possible, plus he made each and every one of his athletes feel special. I also ran for a short time for Fred Moore in Phoenix and he taught me how to train and race by teaching me not to try so hard.

But the coach I may have learned the most from never coached me. I met Ben Meseke in the summer of 1991 just before the start of the cross country season. I went to Hayden High School hoping to volunteer as a coach. It was a match made in heaven.

Meseke was better known as one of the best high school basketball coaches in the state of Kansas. His best known player, Mark Turgeon, started at Kansas and now coaches at Maryland. Ben just happened to also be one of the best cross country coaches in Kansas too. I knew Hayden had enjoyed success in cross country but never realized that their great hoops coach had built both programs.

Ben was pleasantly surprised when I showed up in his math classroom. He needed my help, confiding to me that he had just been diagnosed with a heart ailment that would prevent him from hitting the road with his runners. I was the perfect substitute. He was also a disciple of the legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard which was a major plus in my book.

I got to spend the next two falls watching Coach Meseke in action. He had an uncanny talent for taking a small group of boys and turn them into world beaters. He endlessly recruited kids to the program hoping to get 20 or so out for the team, knowing he needed some depth because of the mileage he would pour onto these young men right from the start would undoubtedly leave a few hobbled. Mileage and pace work made up the first two-thirds of the season with speed getting added into the mix over the last third.

He kept a treasure trove of statistics, something that was a holdover from his time as a basketball coach, which allowed him to carefully measure each boy's progress, or the team's, against previous meets or seasons. This love of numbers allowed Coach Meseke to immediately grasp the strengths and weaknesses of his teams. He was a big believer of having his squads run off the pace and pouring it on over the last mile. Meseke even had a designated pacer who worked to keep the Hayden pack together.

After 30 years at Hayden which included six state championships in basketball and six more in cross country, Meseke went looking for a bigger challenge signing on as head basketball coach at Shawnee Mission Northwest. Cross country was out of the question as Northwest is led by the most successful coach in Kansas history, Van Rose. Northwest's basketball fortunes improved considerably under Meseke's guidance although he never claimed a title for the Cougars.

A year ago his heart conditioned forced a transplant and a year away from hoops. Coach Meseke made it back for the 2010-2011 campaign but that would be it for Ben. He announced this summer his retirement from coaching.

Ben Meseke filled in the missing pieces about running that I hadn't learned from Tom Dowling and Fred Moore. He showed me that you didn't need a pack of kids running all summer to be a successful coach. Most of all he showed me how much fun you can have in training, whether it was his crow flight runs or the bike runs, workouts with Coach Meseke always offered something different, something to keep this old runner interested in what's coming next.

Stop Making Sense

2011-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Rarely does USATF, this country's governing body for track and field, make decisions that make sense. So when USATF released its roster for the upcoming World Championships in Daegu I just about fell over. One of my personal favorites Lauren Fleshman ran her way onto the team.

USATF, much to my surprise, decided that Fleshman deserved the spot over Desiree Davila who had beaten her at nationals. Davila's had a great season but lacks Lauren's credentials when it comes to championship racing.

A rough spring left Fleshman short on conditioning when she ran nationals in July. She finished only 8th. But Fleshman headed to Europe for six weeks of stellar training and it paid off with her best race on Saturday in London where she won the 5000 where she handily beat Davila.

Last year Fleshman surprised just about everybody when she won nationals at 5000 meters. She was coming off a two year injury grind that nearly forced her out of the sport. Her memorable post-race interview was unvarnished and refreshing when she proudly proclaimed her bold move at the end to take the race was just balls.

Even more shocking was Fleshman's announcement today that she will run this fall's New York City Marathon. She's hoping preparing for New York will make her even stronger as a 5000 runner going into the 2012 Olympic Trials. Given her fragility over the last three years it's a big gamble but if she can survive NYC she could put herself in a position to make it to the Olympic finals in London.

So when August 30th rolls around Lauren and another personal favorite Amy Hastings who trained in high school under the watchful eye of one of my best buddies Mike Bloemker will toe the line in Daegu for the 5000 meter heats. It all goes to show that good things do happen to good people who put in the work and persevere. Lauren and Amy are both shining examples of that.

A Tale of Two Runners

2011-08-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend offered a two day fest of track and field with the Diamond League meet in London, the last major competition before the World Championships which start at the end of August in Daegu, South Korea. Of special interest to me was a mini-drama playing out in the women's 5000 meter race.

I was watching two American runners, both with a lot hanging in the balance, one hoping against hope to make it to the World Championships. First, there's Lauren Fleshman, a young woman I had the privilege of meeting five years ago at the wedding of one of my best friends. Lauren was good friends with the bride, also a friend of mine.

Lauren was the quintessential hippie girl, talking about yoga, good nutrition and a beautiful smile that would light up the whole room. You'll notice that Lauren's blog is one that I follow on my blog wall and it's a no holds barred look at what it takes to be a world class runner.

Lauren's had an amazing run of bad luck. She got injured just before the Olympic Trials in 2008 and then staged a shocking comeback win in 2010 at US Nationals. The injury bug left her short of conditioning at nationals this year leaving her a distant 8th and in a near impossible position to make it to Daegu.

Then there's Leavenworth High School grad Amy Hastings, a protege of the same best friend at whose wedding I met Lauren. Hastings had a great collegiate career at Arizona State but stunned everyone in her marathon debut in Los Angeles this March running 2:27:03 making her a candidate for the U.S. Olympic Team in the marathon. Amy then ran a brilliant 5000 meters at nationals placing second winning a spot to represent the United States at the World Championships.

Going into Saturday's London race Amy was hoping to run 15:14 and meet the "A" standard for Daegu as was Lauren who had run a horrible race the week before in Oslo. Two other Americans also figured into the "A" standard chase, Desiree Davila and Jen Rhines. The pecking order was Davila, Rhines, and Fleshman. Lauren would need her all three fellow Americans to fail and she would need to run 14 seconds faster than she had the week before to make the team, a pretty tall order.

Confused, you should be! Angela Bizzari finished 3rd at nationals and also failed to run the "A" standard. If Hastings ran the "A" standard than Bizzari would make the team regardless of what anything Davila, Fleshman or Rhines did in London. In the end I hoped that Hastings would get her qualifier and make the team and that Lauren would run a fast race.

Unfortunately only half of what I wanted came to fruition. Amy was in the mix until about a mile to go. It looked like the pressure of the race simply got to her. Meanwhile, Lauren had stayed at the back of the pack and worked her way to the front with three laps to go. 500 meters from the finish Fleshman hit the accelerator and gapped the field ending any doubt and grabbing one of her biggest victories to date. She ran 15:00.57 smashing through the "A" standard. Hastings struggled home in a respectable 15:17 leaving her off the team. Unfortunately for Lauren, both Davila and Rhines also ran under 15:14, both women had finished ahead of her at nationals.

USATF in the end will decide which of those three will go to Daegu. Lauren's clearly faster than Desiree but in the political craziness of USATF there's no telling who will go. Rhines is already running the 10000 so I doubt she would want to double. Here's hoping for a miracle and some redemption for Lauren Fleshman in the form of a trip to Daegu.

Large and in Charge

2011-08-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Is there any doubt about who rules the roost when it comes to the Riga branch of the family? In case you haven't seen her lately this is Masha. She's granddaughter #1. The baby carriage in her grasp contains Maryanne, tucked away in the other carriage is Dasha, granddaughter #2. I don't know the name of her friend at the end of the leash.

Masha and Dasha are enjoying a few weeks of R and R at a coastal retreat along the Baltic. Fashionable Riga residents like Masha always escape the summer heat of the big city for a little quality time at the beach. The vacation getaway is the town of Saulkrasti, which sits about 25 miles east of Riga. The family settled down in a cozy dacha. The dacha came with the four-legged friend but this sobachka (that's Russian for dog) won't be making the trip back to Riga.

Grandpa and grandma know that Masha's birthday is just a month away. A sobachka might make the perfect present. But it better be a stuffed one, otherwise we would be disowned by mom and dad!

In Search of Rush Limbaugh

2011-07-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Czarina and I took a drive across the state on Saturday for a little adventure. The idea was to visit the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach but the Czarina wanted to find the home of conservative mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh. He's got a massive compound in Palm Beach that sits astride the Atlantic Ocean.

The expedition was a little disappointing. The Limbaugh compound is surrounded by lush vegetation. It was damn near impossible to see much of anything. As we drove by the amazingly opulent beachfront homes it was pretty clear that folks like us are largely unwanted on this exclusive enclave. They make parking a real crap shoot if you want to access the beach and enjoy a dip in the ocean, which the Czarina and I did.

But that's off the topic. The Czarina was more than a little disappointed that she didn't get to see more and spent much of the night scouring the Internet looking at pictures of what we couldn't see from the street.

Rush must feel pretty proud of himself. He's helped create the anti-tax, anti-government frenzy that calls itself the Tea Party. And now the country sits on the brink of a needless economic calamity because of his spawn.

We live in a world where government needs to be smaller and entitlement programs need to be reeled in but we also live in a world where the rich, like those with their Palm Beach hideaways, need to pay more in taxes.

Boehner Boned

2011-07-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It doesn't matter where you stand on the debt ceiling ruckus going on in Washington, D.C. What's amazing is that John Boehner, Speaker of the House, can't get his own party in line for a vote. Besides witnessing a economic meltdown, we are surely watching the end of Boehner's short reign as Speaker.

I almost feel sorry for the Ohio Republican. I think he would have gone for historic proposal to cut spending and raise taxes as part of the debt ceiling deal discussed more than three weeks ago with President Obama. But Boehner couldn't control the Tea Party segment of the Republican Party. I also suspect the intentions of Majority Leader Eric Cantor. It strikes me that Boehner's right hand man in the House covets the Speaker's job more than anything. If John Boehner is Speaker by the fall I would be shocked.

As for the debt limit fight, there's plenty of blame to go around. Republicans want to blame President Obama for the economic mess while conveniently forgetting how George Bush's policies landed us in this mess in the first place. Two wars unpaid for, a drug plan unpaid for, and a nice tax cut for wealthy Americans.

The President contributed to this mess. The stimulus spending plan he produced in the first few months of his presidency was nothing but pork. Instead of spending money on infrastructure projects that would have created thousands of jobs he was steamrolled by his own party and much of the money went for pet projects pushed by Democratic members of Congress.

The healthcare reform bill missed the mark as well. The country needs to get its healthcare house in order. But once again President Obama's approach missed the mark. Competition is the key along with tort reform.

One final thought as the clock ticks down to August 2nd. The Tea Party is on a path to help destroy what's left of the the Republican Party. Their unending push for a balance budget amendment is a red herring. Think about it. Even if the House and Senate would vote for the amendment it will take a minimum of two years just to get the amendment through all of the state legislatures in the United States. That means it would be 2013 or 2014 at the earlier that it becomes the law of the land and more likely 2015 or 2016.

The Tea Party can stand by its principals, wreck John Boehner's political career, and destroy the life savings of the Americans who can least afford the economic fallout a debt default will help bring about. In doing so they will breathe new life into the unions and sway more independents back to the left. The Tea Party doesn't care, they just want to get that black man out of the White House and they see this as the best way to do it.

Humility in the Humidity

2011-07-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Great Heat Index Massacre of 2011 brought with it a surprising amount of relief this past week. The afternoon rains have returned making the evening runs a lot more tolerable. The 100 plus degree heat index has fallen to somewhere between 80 and 90. While it's tolerable, the running really isn't a lot easier.

Training is a grind and will continue to be so for the next six weeks or so. The hardest part is that the thought of doing a run of more than 90 minutes is impossible to imagine. Strolling down memory lane through the old training logs I know I've survived summer long runs in Southwest Florida. It's a matter at this point of risk/reward.

I can tolerate 40 to 50 minutes of hot weather running, sometimes even an hour. But I don't see much to be gained by hammering out more miles and feeling absolutely miserable. Most evenings when I return from a training run I'm drenched in sweat. Only my shorts are relatively dry and as soon as I stop they get soaked as well.

It's even tougher for the Czarina. Her shorts are usually soaked within the first 15 minutes of any summer run. Her Northern European blood just doesn't like the heat and humidity.

We've been discussing the realities of hot weather training. I'm trying to convince her that she doesn't need to do the same amount of mileage I attempt on any given day. All too often now she's having to stop and walk in the middle of one of her runs. The Czarina is so tough-minded that she doesn't want to concede anything. But her seven months of layoff because of plantar fasciitis is showing itself.

The biggest problem is we're both getting older. I think our age is really beginning to show itself in our ability to tolerate the heat. What once was a breeze at 50 isn't nearly so easy at 55.

Heat Index 134

2011-07-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

All the news about the big heat wave makes me laugh. I've survived many summers living in Arizona and Southwest Florida. I know what hot is, at least I thought I did until today.

The Czarina got home as usual just before 6 p.m. and I noticed that some clouds had rolled in making a longer than unusual run appear inviting. We headed out the door about 6:15 and I was ready to go 6 miles. The Czarina wasn't so sure.

A massive cloud hid the sun for the first mile or so and I noticed at about a mile and a half it had rained in that section. The trail immediately went into sauna mode as the sun started peaking out, steaming the left over moisture off of the asphalt. The wet part of the trail gave way to dry pavement at 2.5 miles and I thought it's not so bad. I turned around at 3 miles still feeling full of run and noticed the Czarina was nowhere in sight.

I was clipping along pretty good until just before 4 miles and the breeze out of the south felt more like a blast furnace. Usually any breeze on a run around here in the summer brings welcome relief but not this time. Shortly after 4 miles I began thinking how nice it would be to walk home, but then I realized the Czarina didn't have a house key and if she was facing a bathroom emergency upon her arrival home all hell would break loose.

I soldiered on wondering if it was possible that my brains could be melting inside my head. I checked my split at 5 miles and saw that I had actually managed to run a 9:15 mile. As I looked ahead I spied a solitary figure in the distance walking. I realized that the Czarina had succumbed to the heat and was walking it in. She was a half mile in front of me but I figured I would catch her before I reached home.

Now I was motivated to keep moving forward and I kept putting one foot in front of another. Two blocks from home I caught the Czarina who was strolling down the sidewalk. Once I hit the 6 mile mark I turned around and walked home with her. She told me the heat forced her to stop her run at 3 miles. I couldn't blame her. It was brutal.

I hit the front door and headed for the computer, curious to see what the temperature was at 7:15 p.m. It was 95.9 degrees, in small print just below it read Heat Index 134. I couldn't believe my eyes. But then I looked at the dew point, which stood at an unbelievable 87 degrees. No wonder I wanted to walk home after 4 miles.

The World According to Rupert

2011-07-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate Rupert Murdoch. Despite his horrific performance before a British Parliament committee, as long as Rupert has a pulse, he's a force to be reckon with. I say this having once been an employee of Rupert Murdoch.

My years working for a FOX owned and operated television station were probably the best I'd ever experienced. The benefits were good, there was no agenda from corporate telling us how to cover the news, working for FOX wasn't bad at all. In the end despite all the hoopla over the actions of Murdoch's British tabloid "News of the World," I think Murdoch has already paid whatever price he's going to pay.

As much as some folks would like to see this spill over to FOX News and hurt that brand I rather doubt it. FOX News doesn't engage in anything remotely looking like investigative journalism. It presents a decidedly right-leaning approach to its news coverage. The only program that's watchable is Shepard Smith's one hour newscast. Otherwise the vast majority of FOX's talking heads drink the kool-aid concocted by Roger Ailes.

Still again, Murdoch looked like a befuddled old man. He refused to take responsibility for the actions of his lieutenants. Personally, I doubt that he knew the hacking was going on. His son James on the other hand, I think the jury's still out on his culpability. In the end, as long as nothing else scandalous or underhanded comes out, the Murdoch empire will survive

The Hyatt Tragedy

2011-07-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

30 years ago I covered the biggest local story of my career in television news. At about 7 p.m. on Friday July 17, 1981 two skywalks spanning the lobby of the Crown Center Hyatt Hotel collapsed. One pancaked on top of the other slamming onto the crowded lobby floor. The loss of life was astounding. 114 people died and more than 200 more suffered all sorts of injuries, some devastating.

The day was like any other day for me at WDAF TV where I worked as the 10 p.m. producer. I had one reporter working that night, Bob Thill along with two photographers, Mike Maier and J.W. Edwards. I can't even begin to remember what story we had assigned Bob to cover but we had decided to skip one in particular. They were holding a "tea dance" in the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel. It was one of many such dances which attracted large crowds but in my mind didn't seem to be very newsworthy.

Whatever was going on that night I know I must have been behind on my work because instead of going out and picking up food I had asked Mike Maier to pick me up a hamburger just before 7 p.m. A few minutes later reporter Zan Anderson called into the newsroom and I answered. Zan told me that a fire captain had just called him with a tip that there had been an accident at the Hyatt. At that exact instance the scanners in the newsroom exploded. The volume of emergency calls was mind blowing and I knew immediately that something very bad was going on at the Hyatt.

I immediately called Maier and told him to forget the food and head to the Hyatt. Now I faced my biggest challenge, I had J.W. and I had Bob but I didn't have a live shot engineer on duty to run the microwave truck. At the time under union rules the truck had to be operated by a union member. I spent a frantic 15 minutes trying to get an engineer to agree to take the truck out. J.W. knew how to set the truck up and we ended up getting the late great technical director Harry Thomas, to agree to accompany J.W. down to the Hyatt to set up a shot.

If my memory serves me correctly we got on shortly before 8 p.m. The night is a complete blur. I remember an angry Bob Thill coming back to the newsroom with tape, knowing he had been duped by Del Walters, who wanted to front coverage from the scene. I remember Mike Maier coming back with the last video shot inside the hotel, water running onto the lobby floor, sheets covering bodies, and desperate first responders doing what they could to save those trapped. I remember Mike Lewis and Jenny Hoffman coming in and helping coordinate the long night of coverage as more and more of our reporters and photographers came in to help out.

We knew early on that KMBC had gotten the scoop of the night. Mike Mahoney, a relative newcomer as a reporter to the market, was covering the tea dance with photographer Dave Forestate. They barely missed the actual collapse because they were changing tapes. But the stunning aftermath they captured spoke volumes. That night made Mahoney a reporting legend. He has since backed it up with 30 years of top flight reporting with a special knack for politics. The other thing I love about Mike is that he is a probably the biggest Bob Dylan fan that I know and that's saying a lot.

The entire night was like a slow motion nightmare. Every 15 minutes it seemed the death toll went up. First a dozen, then 30 plus, and then more than 50. I think by the time we went on the air with the 10 p.m. news the death toll was closing in on triple digits. Much of what went on is a blur. I know I was in the newsroom until 3 a.m. as we continued doing cut-in's covering the rescue effort. It was a monumental undertaking complete with cranes needed to lift the steel and concrete off the many victims.

I was back at work at about 10 a.m. to work on a one hour special report that aired that Saturday at 6 p.m. Our hour of coverage was top flight. I wish I had a copy of that special. It was one of my best producing efforts. We later won an award for our coverage that I produced the night the results of the federal investigation into the tragedy came out. We were live in Washington, D.C., our coverage fronted by one of my all time favorite anchors Phil Witt and the incredible Danice Kern.

Two things have bothered about the tragedy. One was the secretive nature that surrounded the handling of the debris and the public relations efforts by Crown Center. I'm sure it was a nightmare for those involved but they didn't do much to endear themselves to the media.

The other thing that bothers me is that we didn't go wall to wall with our coverage once the tragedy happened. Remarkably, I don't think any of the stations did until 10 p.m. Everyone was doing a lot of cut-in's but I don't remember seeing anyone going wall to wall. I may be wrong, it was such a crazy night. I can only imagine if something like this happened now we would have gone non-stop for at least 24 hours.

But 1981 was a different time and place. How different? I remember getting a call from CNN begging me to allow them to set up shop somewhere in the station. No one knew anything about the upstart news network and wanted nothing to do with them. I knew about them because I had been offered a job with CNN when it was starting up.

Anyway, our coverage of the Hyatt tragedy was an important step for WDAF. The tragedy came at the beginning of our ascendancy to the top spot in the Kansas City news ratings. I think our coverage that night and the days and weeks to follow of that horrific event showed that we were a serious player in the local news arena.

The Politics of Hate

2011-07-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I wrote about the Tea Party and my fear that they hate President Barack Obama more for his race, than his politics. Now it seems these right wing goofballs are willing to play a high stakes game of economic chicken and risk the nation's economy. Politics is the art of compromise. But Eric Cantor and his ilk, Michelle Bachmann, et al; turned up their nose at a historic plan to cut the deficit because it included taxes.

What's happened to the Grand Old Party of Reagan and Dole? It's being held hostage by the Tea Party. They don't want President Obama to score any political points by attacking the deficit problem. They fear it will only serve to help re-elect him in 2012. They'd rather go down with the ship than let the captain survive. A debt crisis won't hurt the very rich which finances the Tea Party, but it will destroy what's left of America's crumbling middle class.

It's a shame neither the President nor the Congress took the Bowles-Simpson Plan seriously. The tax code needs to be reformed, social spending needs to be reeled in, and we need to get out of Afghanistan now.

Running in a Humidor

2011-07-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Running in Southwest Florida from May until October comes with a lot of humidity. You get used to it, sort of, and you plan your hard, longer runs carefully. But the older I get, the tougher it is to just deal with the dew points that rarely dip below 70.

Take today for an example. Thunderstorms rumbled through our neighborhood around 3 p.m. the sun went away and the rain swept away some of the humidity. I was itching to get out the door to take advantage of the cloudy conditions at 4:30 but decided to wait for the Czarina's arrival from work.

We headed out by 6 p.m. with clouds still lingering in the area but the sun was doing its best to break through the overcast skies. It was about 85 degrees with a dew point in the mid 70's. Leaving the house and heading out to the trail it felt great and I felt great.

Three miles into the run I was running full of energy clipping along at 8:30 pace, the Czarina was even running faster than usual about a minute behind me. But a half mile later I could really begin to feel the humidity and by mile four I was beginning to feel the air closing in on me. I had really wanted to run strong for that last mile on the trail before heading into our neighborhood but I decided to take my foot off the accelerator about three-quarters of a mile from home backing off the pace.

I arrived home a sopping wet mess. I sat on the chair in my bedroom in a pool of sweat trying to recover from what should have been a relatively easy run. I got out of my soaked clothes, showered, and realized the Czarina hadn't made it home yet so I went off, water in hand, to look for her in my SUV. She was walking it in when I found her at the end of the block, more than happy to take the water from my hand. She had taken a bathroom break at the Preserves, a park that sits at the two mile mark on the trail. The Czarina was happy that she had made it the five miles but we both wonder as we get older how much of the hot weather running we can take.

A five mile run at 7 p.m. in Fort Myers is nothing like a 7 p.m. run in Sacramento at this time of the year. The air temperature will certainly be hotter in Sacramento but with the low humidity the runs are much easier. The only difference is I would find myself desperate for a drink after a run in Sacramento whereas in Fort Myers I don't feel as dry. The Czarina and I can't wait for November!

Internet Heaven

2011-07-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about the Internet is you can now watch just about any sporting event you want live. That was something unheard of just a decade ago. For the Czarina and me it's watching the top track and field meets whether they're in the United States or Europe. Universal Sports offers a smorgasbord of track and field throughout the summer for a very reasonable price.

Our home viewing really took off during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. If you search back through the blog you will find my words of praise for the British broadcast team that we enjoyed so much and the straight forward presentation. NBC's efforts paled in comparison. Their coverage focused on the personalities and the hype of the individuals instead of the straight forward drama and excitement of the events that the meet offered. But I digress.

Our viewing pleasure has been enhanced thanks to my laptop that I purchased last year and the wide screen TV Andrei bought us for Christmas 18 months ago. Now I run an HDMI cable from my laptop into the wide screen and now we can watch the meets as big as life. The Brits still do the announcing and today's meet from Birmingham, England offered non-stop action with no commercial breaks. The best part of the two hour meet is that Universal doesn't run any commercial breaks and least you think that there's a lot of dead air between running events, think again. That's when you get caught up with what's going on in the field events.

I think this afternoon's excitement got the better of the Czarina and me. Looking out the window at 3 p.m. we could see it was overcast and thought it was a great time to go for a run. Not more than a couple of miles out the door of what was supposed to be an easy eight mile run the sun had returned with a vengeance. The Czarina showed excellent judgment turning around and heading for home. I made it just over 5 miles before I finally had to walk. The heat whipped my ass. It's the first time in years that I've walked during a run when I wasn't injured.

I walked and jogged most of the way home before the Czarina pulled up in her brown Honda offering me a ride home. She knew that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Besides, I've picked her up a couple of times under the same circumstances. What a day, from Internet heaven to running hell.

The Lunacy of Nancy Grace

2011-07-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Czarina was addicted to the murder trial of Casey Anthony. In fact as I write, she's sitting and watching this afternoon's coverage which led up to the verdict which occurred more than six hours ago. She watches it on HLN which features the heavy handed theatrics of Nancy Grace.

Since coming back to Fort Myers I've had to endure the non-stop Casey Anthony coverage every night. But I will give the Czarina credit, she can't stand Nancy Grace either. She'll skip through Grace's nightly snake oil show disgusted by the repetitive use of video sound clips and the holier than though tone that this disgrace of a television talker takes regarding the status of the case.

I watched enough of the trial to know full well that anybody in their right mind could not convict Casey on the first degree murder charge. Prosecutors overshot the mark and I think in doing so hurt their chances on even getting the jury to go along on the lesser charges. Reasonable doubt reigned supreme in that case.

The not guilty verdict was nearly worth it because the wicked witch that goes by the name of Nancy Grace went into full meltdown mode. Grace and her compadres of pompous pontificates all sat there stunned with their brains melting out of their collective brains. I thought for a second Grace's eyes were spinning in her head. The entertainment value was priceless.

Grace and her ilk are garbage in, garbage out. When you put yourself in the position as the moral arbiter of truth and justice the fall is a mighty long one. Defense attorney Cheney Mason hit it out of the park with his spot on critique of the talking heads, the only mistake he made was not mentioning the victim first, little Caylee Anthony.

And as for Casey Anthony, does anyone remember Amy Fisher? Tot Mom, meet the Long Island Lolita!

The Power of Family

2011-07-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

The Czarina and I took a short trip to Sarasota for a visit. My cousins who I shared many an adventure with out on the farm of our grandparents Frank and May Walter, a little boy, where on a vacation trip for some quality beach time. Two years ago Mike and Nancy actually came to Fort Myers but as fate would have it we were in Latvia visiting the Russian part of our spread out family.

Mike brought his family with him his children whom I hadn't seen in 16 years and Nancy brought her husband Bob, who's just about the best guy you could want to call friend, or cousin for that matter. Given the turmoil that has been our life as of late I think the Czarina and I were ambivalent at best about making the drive.

But as soon as I saw Mike and Nancy walking out to greet us from their beach side condo everything that had been troubling my mind the last three to four months disappeared. I think the Czarina noticed immediately. The four hours or so we spent with Mike, his new wife Christine, Bob and Nancy and another old friend Sheila Ryan and her boyfriend Paul, lifted some spirits that really needed lifting. It made me realize how much we had all been through and all the memories we shared, especially with Bob and Nancy.

For nearly a decade Bob and Nancy were a near weekly part of my life. Whether it was playing cards, drinking beer, family dinners, or going to a restaurant together, we had a lot of fun together. The Czarina was enraptured with Nancy's ability to tell story after story about her children, about me, about the fun we've all shared through the years.

On the drive home the Czarina compared notes about the differences between her Russian family and the one she's inherited in America. The vastness of Russia, the turmoil, and especially World War II, did a lot to tear her family apart. The Czarina is amazed at how close I am to my sisters and even the incredible closeness that we share with our cousins. Not just Mike and Nancy but our cousins Keith, Rita, and Kenny. It was a special evening and it made me realize that I can never take the bond that I have with my family for granted.

Back in the Fort

2011-06-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

More than 3,000 miles, across 12 states, visiting a half dozen friends, with heartwarming stops in Lawrence and Kansas City at WDAF, I finally arrived on Friday to the waiting Czarina. The one year adventure that was Sacramento is at an end. But it certainly didn't go quietly. More on that in a moment.

The drive went amazingly well. The amount of snow still in the high country was astounding. From California to Wyoming there was still a lot of snow. By this time of year the parts of Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming are usually burned brown. It was amazingly green. Clouds hovered over Nebraska as I drove across the state but as if on cue the sun arrived as I crossed into Kansas.

I spent almost three days visiting family and friends in Lawrence. I got the best sleep that I've had in more than six months. Something about sleeping at my sister Dianne's house is soothing for me. But the highlight of that part of my journey was a visit to WDAF. News Director Bryan McGruder was unbelievably kind and the welcome from old friends on Signal Hill was overwhelming. Seeing friendly faces like Al Wallace, J.W. Edwards, John Holt, and Mike Lewis reminded me of how much we have all been through together.

I made a lunch stop in Paducah on Thursday where I got to see Hula Girl Andrea Underwood and Lew Jetton. I had the privilege of working with both during my all too short stint in Western Kentucky at WPSD. In the middle of our meal I got a text that my general manager in Sacramento resigned after just seven months on the job. Talk about things that make you go hmm!

I arrived at home Friday afternoon and the Czarina was sweeping the driveway waiting for me. She was like a kid on Christmas morning, she braved the sultry heat to welcome her man home. It was clear that I was needed more in Fort Myers than in Sacramento. My arrival sparked a flurry of work on the Czarina's part. I've got a lot of chores facing me over the coming day, little things neglected in my absence.

Capping my first weekend home was a surprisingly cool Sunday evening run of six miles. The Czarina is only rounding back into shape after a long battle with plantar fasciitis. I ran better than I had in months while a bathroom emergency disrupted the poor Czarina's final mile. Thank goodness for some ongoing road construction next to the trail which gave her a private place to do her business at dusk. She won't like me writing about that, but my goodness, it's great to be home, chasing the Czarina along the 6 Mile Cypress trail.

A Long Strange Trip

2011-06-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

A year and a day ago I arrived in Sacramento, scared and excited about returning to television news. In my year at News10 I've helped cover riots, a massive deadly pipeline explosion, a grisly end to a child abduction, a judicious end to the Jaycee Dugard saga, and the on and off exodus of the Sacramento Kings. It's been an incredible 12 months.

But a little over a month ago my beautiful wife, the Czarina called me and said seven simple words, it's time for you to come home. We tried really hard to make the separation work. Our training for St. George, our time at Christmas with Andrei and the excitement of Natasha's pregnancy culminating with the birth of Dasha helped get us through 11 difficult months.

But by May both of us were worn out. I was tired of a life that consisted of work, work, a run and more work. The Czarina was swallowed up by the solitude of our home and the lack of companionship. So I made the difficult decision to return home. I begin my return journey to Fort Myers on Saturday. Yes Hula, I'm coming through Paducah so alert the natives.

My baseball friends will appreciate this because I feel like Bob "Suitcase" Seeds. He was a major league outfielder who played for five teams in nine seasons. He even played for the same team twice which even I managed to beat scoring the hat trick with WDAF. My career in television started in 1974. I've worked at more stations than I care to recite here. Hopefully one more opportunity to step up to the plate in this gut-wrenching business will be afforded me.

I'm sad because I've never worked with a better group of journalists than the folks at News10. We simply had no weak links in our newsroom. The producers were incredible, our photographers talented, our reporters great, the editors top-notch, a sensational group of assignment editors and our anchor team simply the best I've ever had the privilege to know. There were no egos. It was simply about the newscast at hand and putting the best on our air.

It wasn't until the last few days that I realized that even during my short tenure that my contributions hadn't gone unnoticed. I've heard praise from people that I rarely interacted with to the folks who became my second family at nights about the void my departure will bring. All I can say is I'm lucky. I got to experience the power of working with really smart and really dedicated journalists. Here's to hoping that lightning can strike twice.

The Critic

2011-06-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

You can't please everybody. How many times have I heard that? How many times have I been accused of being a people pleaser? Guilty as charged. But there are some things that I won't budge on. Take the last blog about my favorite son-in-law, Vlad Dorofeev.

I love and respect Vlad. He's a good man with a good heart who has a 4-year-old that's full of thunder and a newborn that leaves him little time for himself. Vlad laces up his running shoes as often as he can for some me time.

The Czarina sent me the picture last Friday of the worn out papa sleeping on the couch instead of getting in some miles. She even suggested it would be good material for a blog. The Czarina saw humor in the situation and so did I.

Last night after a long night of producing I sat down and pounded out a few words about Vlad's training efforts or lack thereof. It was short and to the point. I informed the Czarina this morning of my latest blog entry which she promised to read.

It didn't take long for the phone to ring. The Czarina pronounced that my writing efforts had fallen short. The blog simply wasn't funny enough. She suggested it needed some punching up. I declined.

Then later in the day I received another phone call. Now she was calling me out on accuracy. You have to understand English is the Czarina's third language, not even second, falling behind Russian and Latvian. She believed I hadn't made it clear that Andrei now runs. I disagreed with her argument. She again insisted on a re-write. It's not going to happen.

I've written plenty of flat out lousy copy during my years of producing television news. But I'm not going to take writing criticism from someone who would spend at least an hour to type what I've so far put down in this blog in five minutes. I've not going to take criticism from someone who makes a running fashion statement with this before a marathon. Nope, not going to do it!

The Training Run

2011-06-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

One of the influences I've had on my family for better or worse, is running. The Czarina wasn't a runner when I met her, Andrei never ran. His sister Natasha and her husband Vlad never ran either. But that's all changed. They all run and as chronicled in earlier blogs they even like to race from time to time.

Vlad has the most potential as a runner. He's a lot like his mother-in-law, the Czarina. He's tough as nails and wants to be competitive. That's not to say that Natasha doesn't have her tough side, especially in light of last year's half marathon effort. But the arrival of a second child hasn't helped Vlad's training. He ran 47:13 for 10K last month in Riga. Now I'd be happy to run that fast right now, but Vlad's capable of running under 40 minutes, if he took his training seriously.

But as you can see he doesn't take his training too seriously. He was supposed to be out on a 15 kilometer run, that's 9 miles for you metrically impaired. Vlad decided to bypass the run in favor of his wife's birthday cake and this is the result, logging plenty of Z's but not enough K's.

Gunsmoke

2011-06-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of baby boomers I grew up glued to the television every Monday night watching the exploits of Marshall Matt Dillon. James Arness played the larger than life western hero and was the small screen counterpart to John Wayne. Gunsmoke is the best television western ever made, period. And it is certainly one of the best television dramas to boot and that's saying a lot.

Ken Curtis and James Arness

Arness was blessed with a great supporting cast starting the first few years with a limping deputy named Chester played by the talented Dennis Weaver. Ken Curtis ably slid into the role of Dillon's sidekick as Festus and Dodge City was never better. It wasn't Shakespeare but some of the episodes were damn close to it. Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty and Milburn Stone as Doc were tremendous actors in their own right.

Over 20 years and 635 episodes James Arness created a television legacy that I believe is only matched by Alan Alda's role as Hawkeye Pierce on MASH. But I digress. What helped make Gunsmoke such a great television series was the amazing number of up and coming actors soon to become stars that cut their teeth on the show. Look at the names and some impressive ones pop up... Burt Reynolds, Warren Oates, Buddy Ebsen, Ellen Burstyn, Jon Voight, Jodie Foster, need I go on?

What makes me chuckle is I was born and grew up in Kansas. Yet I never have set foot in Dodge City. I've been to every major city in the state of Kansas save for two, Great Bend and Dodge City. It's kind of embarrassing as much as I worshiped the show. I even grew up grew up in a small town, Abilene, that was a rough and tumble cattle town much as Dodge City was in the 1860's and 70's.

You can still see Gunsmoke on TVLand. I catch it once and a while I feel the nostalgia for my youth. RIP James Arness, you were a true star, unlike the reality show buffoons that now provide so much of the fare that passes for television these days.

31

2011-05-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie. The last six months have been something of a grind. Ever since the St. George Marathon my zest for running has waned. Part of it was due to the weather, nasty weather in Sacramento. Part of it was from the mind-numbing pressure that came from work.

I've run one race since St. George. I took part in a marathon relay in December. It was eight hilly miles run at 8 minute pace. The very thought of running fast or even attempting to race held no interest. I just tried to run even to make sure I didn't get completely out of shape. It's been a lot of 18 and 22 mile weeks. That is until this last week.

I managed to get in 31 miles. It's not a lot but it's a start. It's the end of May and I'm barely over 400 miles for the year. That's about 200 less than where I was at a year ago. The weather this week was almost perfect. Every run felt light and easy. The biggest impediment now to any serious training is my right hip. It hurts, not a lot, but it hurts. I don't walk with a limp. I don't run with a limp. But I can tell near the end of any run of more than an hour that it's a problem.

It's a dull ache about half the time. A lot of the pain depends on where I sit and how I sit. Sometimes it keeps me awake at night. It's sad to think that at some point I may need a hip replacement. But I feel better about my running now and the thought has crept into my mind that a little fast running wouldn't hurt, maybe even a race.

The Jayhawks

2011-05-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

We're talking music, not hoops. I was stumbling around the Internet last night and found some good clips of one of my favorite bands. A sparkling alternative country, rocking, group straight out of Minnesota. The Jayhawks were originally powered by two singer/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson. Hollywood Town Hall put them on the map in the early 90's but the group could never get any traction.

They were a favorite of David Letterman and created a lot of good music. But Louris and Olson went their separate ways. Louris kept The Jayhawks alive until 2003 with what I think was their best album, Rainy Day Music. But that was all she wrote.

But the fans remained loyal and from time to time they would perform. Then Olson decided to set aside whatever differences that caused the initial departure and work started on another album. The Jayhawks are set to tour this summer. It's about the only way bands can make mony anymore. The Internet has destroyed the primary income stream of struggling bands, especially ones like The Jayhawks.

I can't wait to hear what comes of the reunion. If you go to the band website you can download a live concert from last year which gives you a flavor of just how good this band is. Give them a listen. It's great pop music, even covers like this one.

Bob at 70

2011-05-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in 50 years. From the time Bob Dylan arrived in New York City in the winter of 1961 he's carved out an astounding nitch in American music that is as vital today on the occassion of his 70th birthday as it was when he penned iconic songs like "Blowin in the Wind" and "Masters of War" in his early 20's. Less than a half dozen American artists can make such a claim. And fewer singer-song writer's are in that esteemed group.

I was a late bloomer as a Dylan fan. It wasn't until the night of my graduation from high school that I experienced a mind-blowing night with my favorite high school teacher Tony Gauthier, listening to early Dylan. I was vaguely aware of Dylan's music but hearing songs like "Talkin' World War Three Blues" and other gems from those early albums opened my eyes and ears. How could one not be captured by a song like "Love Minus Zero, No Limit."

Later that same summer I was at a party following an epic three hour Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young concert when Steve Woods put "Blonde on Blonde" on the turntable and I was captured by the wild, thin, mercury, sound. I began buying Dylan albums and the rest as we say is history.

I will admit Bob lost me when he went through his Christian phase in the early 80's. It wasn't until the early 90's when I stumbled upon "Empire Burlseque" and teared up at hearing "Emotionally Yours" that I realized that Dylan could still make relevant music. While much of his music was hit and miss during that period Bob Dylan somehow pulled his talents together to make four unbelievable albums over the last 15 years.

Yes, his voice is worn and frazzled, but listen to the message, not the messenger. He speaks the truth about life, love, and the inevitable decline that comes with age. Bob Dylan can still deliver the goods even at 70.

Split

2011-05-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Paul Splittorff is a class act. He's in the fight of his life right now against cancer. Split graced the mound for the Kansas City Royals for 15 seasons. I watched him pitch the very first game in Royals Stadium when it opened in 1973. It was a 12 to 1 win over the Texas Rangers.

He played in an era when teams didn't have revolving lineups because of free agency. Splittorff pitched only for the Royals, became the then expansion team's first 20 game winner and missed out by one year being on the only Kansas City team to win a World Series. That still makes me sad.

Splittorff was a very good major league pitcher. He became an even better broadcaster after he hung up his glove. Split was equally adapt at doing color for baseball as he was handling a college basketball game.

It's been a tough week for baseball. Cancer also took one of its greatest sluggers this week, Harmon Killebrew. Killer had a short stint with the Royals at the end of his career. He was a beast. A stocky, right handed hitter, he crushed massive home runs for the Senators and then the Twins.

One of my favorite trivia questions involves Killebrew. How did he first enter a baseball game? Amazingly, this great home run hitter came in as a pinch runner.

Everytime You Go Away

2011-05-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Let's admit it. The 1980's was bereft of really great music. A few bands managed to break the mold and do some amazing things like U2 and REM and Bruce Springsteen carried the banner for rock and roll through much of the decade. But synthesizers and hair bands nearly killed the 80's.

But I must admit to a weakness for one particular piece of 80's shlock. I can remember the first time I heard this song. I was driving on a Saturday morning from Kansas City to Lawrence on K-10 when this tune came on KY102. I like this particular performance because you can see a young Mark Knopler, Eric Clapton, and Elton John playing.

I love this song for some weird reason. I was in a relationship at the time but I don't think my attachment to this particular song was connected to what was going on in my life at the time. I just thought it was a great love song. Anyway, enjoy Paul and George, they look pretty young too.

A Special Sunday Night

2011-05-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is the time of the year I love best. It is the time of the Boston Marathon, the Kansas, Drake and Penn Relays. It is when my favorite sport, track and field, begins to get serious. I couldn't resist the temptation of taking in one of this country's great track meets last weekend, the Payton Jordan Invitational.

Palo Alto with good traffic is only two hours or so away. So Sunday afternoon I drove through the Bay Area taking in the splendor of San Francisco before rolling into Cobb Stadium at Stanford University. I hadn't attended a truly world class track meet in five years. The last one was the 2006 edition of the Kansas Relays, the meet where Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin got caught for doping.

I went to Stanford hoping to see some world class distance running. The cool spring evenings in Palo Alto had produced some stunning results over the last decade or so. Last year's edition saw Chris Solinsky run an American record for 10,000 meters in 26:59.6, making him the first white man to break the 27 minute mark.

The rumblings prior to this meet where of a possible American record effort in the 10,000 on the women's side by Shalane Flanagan and a major effort in the men's race by a dozen or so athletes bent on getting the Olympic qualifying standard.

Most of all I wanted to see Matt Tegenkamp run his first competitive 10K on the track. I had seen him run as a high school star when he starred at Lee's Summit in the Kansas City area. Tegenkamp was world class at 5,000 and for the last four or five years running fans had clamored for him to try the longer race.

I had arrived early for the meet, almost too early, sitting through five hours of exciting 800's, 1,500's, and 5,000 meter races including some steeplechases. I saw Jordan Hasay, Lopez Lomong, and a contingent of distance runners from the University of Kansas. My backside was sore after sitting through the evening on the hard aluminum bleacers, waiting for the big 10K's. But as the sun set, the breezes died, and the conditions became ideal.

The women's lacked a quality pace maker so it was left to Shalane Flanagan and to Sally Kipeygo to make the race. You could tell early on there would be no record. The question would be if Kipeygo who was making her 10K debut on the track could withstand the strength of Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan. Kipeygo had the kick and got the win as a group of Stanford athletes drummed out a rhythm in the cool night air.

The men's race saw Solinsky pace a group of a dozen other runners through a perfect first 5K in 13:44. The field filed along in a long string for the next six laps when an unknown Kenyan Bedan Karoki squirted away from the field. A four second gap became eight in the space of a lap. Finally Tegenkamp gave chase with only Bobby Curtis following him. By the penultimate lap Karoki was winning in a romp while a half dozen or so runners had reeled in Tegenkamp and Curtis for a stirring stretch run.

When it was over Karoki had run the fastest 10K I had ever witnessed, 27:13.67. Tegenkamp showed a disappointing kick but ran a very respectable 27:28.22 to finish 6th, part of a pack of 14 runners to meet the Olympic "A" standard. It was an exciting night of racing. It was as good as anything you could see at the super meets in Europe. The only thing better would be to put a field of this quality in these kind of conditions in front of a crowd at Hayward Field. Nothing against these laid Californians, but Eugene does it better.

What's In a Name?

2011-05-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

Not since the Cold War has a secret been so tightly guarded between Russians and Americans. At least not since the birth of Masha Dorofeeva in 2006. The Czarina's daughter and her husband wouldn't tell anyone about their plans to name their first born. They went with Masha or Maria if you will and she's been the center of their universe ever since.

That is until the arrival of a second family member about ten days ago. Again the Riga clan kept mum on their name choices for this baby. But persistent questioning over Skype by the Czarina found a crack in the wall of silence that had descended on Eastern Europe. But it may have been a KGB diversion because in the end it all got mixed up.

Vlad and Natasha welcomed a second little girl into this world on Good Friday, April 22. For three days the outside world waited word on a name for the little bundle of joy and finally the announcement came from on high, Sophia. The inner works of the Dorofeev clan was explained to me by Dad shortly after the big event and it seems Sophia was a compromise pushed by the precocious Masha. But by weeks end the name coalition had come to an end and a stunning reversal was engineered, more impressive than any politicking seen behind the walls of the Kremlin.

Meet Dasha Dorofeeva. Mom wanted some symmetry to the names of the women in the family. So now we have Nastasha, Masha and Dasha. Or you can call her Daria, but I don't want to hear any Beavis and Butthead jokes, okay?

Be Careful What You Wish For

2011-05-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Sacramento is keeping the Kings, at least for one more season. Mayor Kevin Johnson did what one month ago any right thinking human would have called impossible. He convinced the NBA and to some extent the Maloofs that the money is here for the team to be successful and most importantly, he can get a new arena built.

Johnson had a big assist from Southern California. You can bet that Lakers owner Jerry Buss was pulling every string imaginable to keep the Kings from moving to Anaheim. Why should he share any part of his lucrative TV contract. NBA commissioner David Stern knows he needs to keep Buss happy should the league move toward more revenue sharing.

The Maloofs have to be wondering what was going on in their front office if Johnson could suck an extra $10 million out of area businesses. What were their sales people doing anyway? A major overhaul needs to happen in the front office and it appears the NBA is sending help this week to see that it happens.

But none of this matters without a new arena. It's clear there's no appetite in the community for any taxes to build a new arena. Sacramento needs to convince the county and the region as a whole that having the NBA here is important to the area. The key may lie with the state legislature and the creation of some authority that can raise funding to build the arena.

They've got ten months to do it and the irony of it all is if it doesn't happen, don't count on the Kings going to Anaheim. The irony is that the Kings could end up back in Kansas City. The Sprint Center beckons and the whispers are that the NBA will opt for a return to the Midwest should Sacramento fail to deliver.

Longing for Larry, Thinking about Family

2011-04-30T21:27:00.001-07:00

Larry is short for Lawrence. Lawrence is my hometown. While I tell most people that I'm from Kansas City (don't ask) I am proud to have been born in Lawrence. It is a beautiful city of about 80,000 people in the Kaw River Valley in eastern Kansas. The University of Kansas sits prominently atop Mount Oread in the middle of this bustling community. It is simply the best place to be if you're going to be in Kansas.

I haven't been back to my hometown for nearly a year and a half. By my reckoning this is the longest stretch in my life that I haven't touched foot in Lawrence. It's an itch that really needs to be scratched and for a variety of reasons. But I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.

I wanted to go home for my sister Karen. My oldest sister Dianne held a surprise birthday party for her this evening. I won't say which one it is out of respect for her but let's just say it's a big one, one worth celebrating. It breaks my heart that I'm not there.

As you get older, you realize more and more how important family is. My world has always been dominated by women. Besides my mother Frances, my three sisters, Dianne, Karen and Mary have all had an impact on my lives in ways so positive that I shudder to think where I would be without them. And then there's the Czarina, my rock. Her trip home to Riga this month has only reinforced the importance of family. But that's fodder for another post tomorrow.

But back to Karen. She's smart, caring, compassionate, and wildly fun. My best memories are when she was in graduate school and I was finishing up high school. I can remember hoisting a beer or two with her and then going with a bunch of friends to the Friday midnight soft core porno films they used to show at the Hillcrest Theatres in Lawrence. I think cousin Nancy would take part in these escapades. The audience would be in a general uproar during these movies with the crowd drunk or stoned and Karen would shout at the screen, things that I don't think I will repeat here. Let's just say it would ruin her image that she so carefully crafted of the prim and proper school teacher.

But the best time was just three years ago or so when Karen and her wonderful husband Keith spent the week with the Czarina and me in Fort Myers. I was so nervous about disappointing her and much to my joy it turned into a wonderful time that was all about family. I long for the next reunion with my sisters. Happy Birthday Karen!

High Stakes in Sac Town

2011-04-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I wrote about the impending departure of the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim. A startling turn of events in the last week makes it look like the NBA is ready to say, not so fast. Mayor Kevin Johnson pulled together an impressive financial package along with an a promise to build a new arena and that got the league's attention.

The NBA even sent a "fact-finding team" to Sacramento for a two day survey of what the city and the region as a hold is offering to keep the Maloof family from moving the Kings to Southern California. But none of this matters until and unless work begins on a new arena, period.

Even if the Maloofs file for relocation by May 2nd I'm not so sure the NBA says no. All signs point to the Kings staying in Sacramento for at least one more year while the league sorts this mess out. The mess is two-fold, Sacramento's stumbling efforts at building an arena and the financial straits that face the Maloofs.

Mayor Johnson is playing a high stakes game. If he fails to break ground on a new arena in the next 12 months, the NBA won't hesitate to move the team. And as Sports Illustrated's Sam Amick pointed out in his latest column, Anaheim may not be the Kings new home. Laker's owner Jerry Buss and Clipper's owner Donald Stirling don't want the company. Anyway you slice it a third NBA team in the Los Angeles area will hurt their bottom line.

Amick points out that Kansas City could stand to benefit. Could it be even remotely possible that the Kings could return to Kansas City? It makes sense. The Maloofs are in a financial squeeze. I'm convinced even if they could move to Anaheim where more money awaits they'll be forced to sell the team inside of three years anyway. Then there's the Burkle factor. I don't think Ron Burkle cares if the team stays in Sacramento, I think he just wants a piece of the action and if that means owning a piece of the Kansas City Kings then he could live with that.

Nothing else makes sense to me because I don't see anyone in Kansas City stepping up to buy a team and bring it to the Sprint Center. If this was going to happen the Hornets would already be on their way to KC. And let's face it, financially the NBA is in a mess. The league has to get its financial house in order. Contraction awaits unless the U.S. economy comes back with a roar and unless the league's owners and players reign in their greed.

Owsley Died, Where was I?

2011-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

If you have to ask who is Owsley, than you missed the 60's. Stanley "Bear" Owsley personified the 60's. Owsley made the best LSD you could find when it was legal in California. Besides being a badass when it came to acid he was also closely associated with one of my favorite bands, The Grateful Dead.

I just saw an email from the Dead that Owsley died in a crash crash on March 13th in Australia. He was 76. I never met the man nor did I ever try his product. But he is part of the myth that made up the Haight-Asbury experience that was San Francisco in 1966 and 67.

I first heard of Owsley through the Mothers of Invention, his name mentioned in one of the songs on their classic album "We're In It Only for the Money." But I had no idea what the hell the Mothers were singing about in 1967 when they talked of crashing at Owsley's. It would take a few years for the drug culture to catch up to me.

He was partly immortalized in Thomas Wolfe's classic, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." If you haven't read it do so at once. The book best explains the hippie experience and lends texture to "On the Road" legend Neal Cassady and writing great Ken Kesey. The antics of Kesey and his Merry Pranksters are the stuff of legend.

Owsley was much more than a legendary producer of acid. He also created one of the first modern PA's systems for the Grateful Dead which help make stadium rock concerts possible. His passing is sad and it certainly brings back some memories about others I've known who used his product. But that's for another time.

4 Dollar Gas

2011-04-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

More than 55 years of living and 40 years of driving and for the first time in my life I paid more than $4 a gallon for gasoline. It was $4.03 to be exact. I guess I shouldn't be surprised living in California. Fortunately I only had to pump half a tank at a tad over $30. The higher price at the pump has me thinking twice about any trips for fun.

I don't go out of my way to find cheaper gasoline but I have stumbled upon a station not far from my home which is generally 10 to 15 cents a gallon cheaper than what you can usually find in Sacramento. It's mildly disturbing because the increase in prices has nothing to do with demand and everything to do with speculation.

I can recall a time in my youth seeing the price for a gallon of gasoline at under 20 cents a gallon. Heck, when we first moved to Florida you could find gas under $2 a gallon still. But I think the days are approaching when $4 dollar gas will be the norm.

Now the government find itself with a growing dilemma as people drive less and search for vehicles that run on alternative fuels like electricity and natural gas. It's costing Uncle Sam and the state's precious tax dollars. Gasoline taxes go to maintain our highways. The government has to figure out a way to make people pay for simply driving or our fabulous system of interstate highways will become a complete mess. Anyone who's driven between Sacramento and Reno can tell you just how awful an interstate can be when it's not properly maintained.

My guess is that at some point our vehicles will come with transponders that account for our mileage or freeways will simply become toll roads. It's an awful dilemma. $5 here we come.

Another Treat from Neil

2011-04-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

Neil Young spent much of the 1980's whip-sawing through musical styles. Much of what he created wasn't very good. He went from country to hard rock to computer rock to rock-a-billy back to country then more rock and rock backed with horns before he finding traction at the end of the decade with the epic "Freedom."

I saw Neil a couple of times during the 80's. I saw his computer driven efforts backed by the Shocking Pinks in the early 80's and again in the mid-80's when he was playing country with the International Harvesters. Neither shows were that memorable though they had their moments. But when you cull through his work with the International Harvesters there were more bright spots than clunkers.

Neil has decided to release a CD of his live work with this band in the late spring. I looked anxiously at the track listing but was disappointed to see that he didn't include the haunting "Interstate" on the disc. Nevertheless there are several gems I'm looking forward to hearing come June. Nor will you hear this classic "Comes A Time" that originally appeared on the album with the same name. Enjoy Neil with the International Harvesters appearing on Austin City Limits in 1984.

My First Sports Hero

2011-04-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

Given the title my bet is that most of the people that know me would guess Jim Ryun. That guess would be wrong. My passion for sports came late as a boy. I could be wrong but I think most little boys develop an awareness of sports and the men that play them by age four or five, certainly no later than six.

I can clearly remember when that part of my being awakened. It was in the spring of 1965. I was nine years old but fairly obliviously to college and professional sports. The first sports event I actually watched from beginning to end on television was a basketball game. Kansas hosted Nebraska at Allen Field House and the Jayhawks hit triple digits against the Huskers that night. That team may have been the best one Ted Owens coached during his tenure at K.U.

The squad was talented with All American Walt Wesley and Jo Jo White. That same team lost to eventual NCAA champions Texas Western in double overtime 81 to 80. I remember sitting in front of the TV set crying. I was hooked on sports.

But it took another six months for an individual athlete to completely capture my imagination. It was because he was left handed like me. But it was what he did for his team during the 1965 World Series that made him my hero.

Sandy Koufax led his team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to victory in the 1965 World Series over the Minnesota Twins. He did it with an overpowering fastball and a nasty curveball and in this day and age of pitch counts, he did it on two days rest. There's more to this part of his legacy but I'll let you look it up for yourself.

I read everything I could find about Koufax. It lead to my purchase of a 1964 baseball All Star baseball book that opened my eyes to other greats like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Mickey Mantle. It was an incredible awakening.

Much to my anguish, I got to follow my hero for only one more season. His left elbow couldn't take the punishment of 300 innings a year anymore and so following the 1966 season the great Koufax retired at age 32. But Koufax had opened my eyes to the world of sports. And a Christmas gift in 1966 in the form of a subscription to Sports Illustrated only widened my view.

Sandy Koufax is still a hero of mine. There are several biographies about him but read Jane Leavy's book written in 2003 called, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. He's what a sports hero should be, a good man, a man with principles. And he's certainly one of the greatest pitchers to ever toe the mound.

Things I Miss

2011-04-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

Running up Daisy Hill with the Sand Rats
Riding on a combine during the wheat harvest
Sitting in my grandmother's lap
Hearing my aunt and mother laughing together
Going to movies with my sister Dianne
Drinking beer with my sister Karen
Making hysterically nasty tape recordings with my sister Mary
Playing cards with my cousins Nancy and Bob
Listening to my cousin Mike sing and play guitar
Playing guitar and singing for my wife while she works at the computer
Listening to the incredibly loud arguments my wife has with Andrei in Russian
Playing ping pong with my granddaughter Masha
Playing ping pong with Mark Booth in his basement
Sitting in Phil Wedge's frigid dining room in the winter playing a college football board game
Summer training runs with Kent McDonald and Doug Schreve
Barney McCoy tearing through the gears of his Datsun
Sitting at mid court at Allen Field House watching Tom Kivisto hit a jumper from the top of the key
Watching Jim Ryun race
Watching Don Rickles on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson"
The constant zip of the AP wire printers in the newsroom
Feature reporting at local TV stations
Working with Bob Thill and Doug Sudoff
Tom Dowling
Living in Kansas City and the friends that live there
Kissing my wife goodnight

Kingdom Crumbles

2011-04-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

The very first NBA game I attended was in 1978. I was an intern at KMBC and armed with a Scoopic (that's a silent 16mm film camera) I went to shoot highlights of the Kansas City Kings playing the Philadelphia 76er's. I was excited because because Philadelphia featured the incredible Darrell Dawkins, Chocolate Thunder. He was one of the first high school players to go straight to the pros.

I don't remember much about the game. I remember seeing Dawkins and being awestruck. What a physical specimen. Anyway, I wasn't much of an NBA fan to begin with, so I rarely ventured to the Kemper to check out the hometown team.

Pretty soon it became apparent that many Kansas Citians shared my apathy for the Kings. They were a fair to middlin' team. I remember Sam Lacey, Scott Wedman, and Otis Birdsong, but the team was rarely in the playoffs and suddenly along came an indoor soccer team that somehow created a lot more buzz.

Meanwhile by 1984 the Kings had new owners who through their teeth about keeping the Kings in Kansas City. The general response I recall from the community was apathy. Sure, there was anger that we had been hoodwinked in a sense, but Kansas City had the Royals who were still winning back then, the Chiefs, who weren't, and an exciting indoor soccer team. My God how the Leikewe Brother's knew how to market a product.

Amazingly the Kansas City Comets consistently outdrew the Kings and by 1985 NBA basketball abandoned Kemper Arena. I've tried hard to remember the coverage we gave the saga while I worked at WDAF. I remember sports director Frank Boal doing a standup from Sacramento from a vast plain explaining that a warehouse planned for the area could be quickly converted to an arena. But it was a story that didn't generate a ton of buzz.

Now 26 years later and I'm here in Sacramento watching a similar drama play out. The owners fought long and hard for a new arena. I have not been to Arco, sorry, the Power Balance Pavillion, but I've heard it's a dump. I have no plan to catch one of the three remaining Kings games before their presumptive move to Anaheim. I chuckle because the team will likely take the nickname Royals if they move there. Hello?!?

It's a different story in Sacramento. The newspaper, TV and radio stations are knocking themselves out covering the Kings departure. It's the city's only major league team. We have a mayor who was an NBA all-star. How could this happen?

Sacramento has only itself to blame for the predicament. I don't blame the taxpayers for cutting their nose off despite their face. They didn't want to pony up for a new arena. I blame city leaders who a half dozen years ago failed to articulate what really was at stake.

In two weeks the NBA will make its decision about whether the team will move. It seems like a sure bet they'll be in Anaheim next season. But two weeks ago who would have guessed that UConn would beat Butler to win the NCAA hoops title?

The Weather Wimp

2011-03-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

I stepped out of my apartment this morning to head into work walking out into the warm sunshine and thinking to myself, winter in Fort Myers. Then I began to wonder, how did I turn into such a weather wimp? I lived through three Fargo winters and two more in Minneapolis. I know what cold, miserable weather is.

But this winter in Northern California has been tough. Since the end of November until the end of last week we rarely saw the sun. I felt like I was living in a cold, slimy basement. It never got super cold this winter. Temperatures hung around the 50's most every day. But it's been so discouraging that I haven't even summoned up the courage to make the 90 minute drive up Highway 50 to see the snow in the Sierra. I just don't want to deal with it.

Did I spend too many years in Fort Myers? Winter there is spectacular, just like the weather was here today. It was 80 degrees, beautiful sunshine, without a hint of humidity. By April in Fort Myers the humidity begins to return and by May it can be downright oppressive. But then I realize, heat and humidity I can take, cold and humidity I can't. That's the problem with Sacramento.

You see a cold, snowy winter in Fargo or Minneapolis is a dry, bitter, cold. But the cold here is different. It sinks into your bones. Half the time by the middle of my work days my socks were drenched. The moisture would just seep into my shoes. I felt like I was walking around in two damp washrags. A couple of times I came home for dinner just so I could change my socks.

Thank goodness spring has sprung. I don't need anymore dank, dark 50 degree days.

Uncle Bob

2011-03-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

Robert Lincoln Walters was the youngest child born to Frank and May Walters. His arrival on January 22, 1938 probably raised more than a few eyebrows considering he was 17 years younger than his next sibling, my mother Frances. He had an even older sister Virginia. I suspect he was pretty spoiled, much like his nephew John.

Four years ago this week Uncle Bob passed away at age 69, robbed of what should have been his golden years by a brain tumor, that shattered his life in 1999. He left behind his wonderful wife Anne and his three sons, Drew, Chris and Mike. He also left behind a nephew who had grown to admire him as a role model and stabilizing influence on his life.

If I could have a man crush it would have been on Bob Walters. My goodness he was handsome. It was pretty clear to me even as a very young child that he enjoyed life and everything it had to offer. But he was a man driven by goals, one of which I suspect was living up to the Walters name. His father Frank and his Uncle Ray had been successful farmers in the Lawrence area. Unfortunately Frank Walters never lived long enough to see the success that his son would become.

For years he ran the Space Technology building at the University of Kansas, now called Nichols Hall. During that time he found time to purchase and build a moving business that reached across Kansas. As Bob grew older he tried his hand at politics, eventually serving a term as the mayor of Lawrence. He loved his community but he hated politics. It's a shame he didn't have the stomach for it because I believe his political future could have gone to bigger and better things.

Just days prior to my own mother's diagnosis of lung cancer in June 1998, my Uncle Bob had part a lung removed and some repairs done to his heart. The years of smoking had caught up to him. He rebounded while first my mother in November and then my Aunt Virginia in December, would both die because of cancer. Bob lost his two sisters and then almost immediately had to face another surgery to remove cancer, this time in his brain. He was never the same.

I held a deep admiration for him and all the things that he accomplished that go well beyond the brief things I outlined here. I loved him because despite my many human failings, I never felt that he was judging me. I think he understood them better than anyone in my family and Uncle Bob would offer his best counsel and wisdom when dealing with life's pitfalls. I can't begin to explain how important it was to me. Just like my mom, I miss him.

Sweet 16

2011-03-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Let's get this straight, this isn't a great Kansas team. It's not even one of the ten best in the last 40 years. But this ball club has a lot of things going for it as it slides into the Sweet 16. The obvious are the Morris twins. If you look back at my first blog on the prospects for the Jayhawks I wrote this team will only go as far the twins can take them.

The wild card in this years tournament run is Tyshawn Taylor. Anyone with half a brain knows that it takes great guard play to win the NCAA tournament. It took everything Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Sherron Collins and Russell Robinson had to lift K.U. to the 2008 title.
Taylor has no such supporting cast.

The much hyped freshman Josh Selby has been a shadow of himself since his foot injury. Tyrell Reed and Brady Morningstar are role players at best, much like Robinson in 2008.

Taylor has played remarkably well since his short suspension, reportedly for an unauthorized romantic rendezvous with a member of the women's team at Allen Field House. The short time out handed down by Coach Bill Self apparently turned on some sort of switch with the New Jersey junior. His decision making and shooting seems to be improving game by game.

Now add in some bracket busting magic and the Jayhawks appear to be in the drivers seat on its quest to make it to the Final 4. I can't imagine that Richmond will be any tougher than Illinois for K.U. The team that can play a physical style to could give Kansas problems is Florida State. If K.U. gets to the Elite 8 and should they face the Seminoles, I think K.U. has too much depth and offense for Leonard Hamilton's team to overcome. But that's the magic of this tournament, we won't know for sure until the games are played. And as long as Tyshawn comes to play, Kansas will be a force to reckon with.

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

2011-03-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

What should have been a brief respite from California and work turned into something quite unexpected. I think the combination of a six week grind at work with only two days off and a red-eye flight Friday to Fort Myers was more than my poor body could handle. The idea was to spend four days in Florida with my wife and recharge the batteries and catch up on the yard work that goes undone in my extended absences.

The first two days went pretty well but Sunday night/Monday morning the throat became sore and I woke up in a pool of sweat at four a.m. knowing it was going to be a tough 24 hours. I stayed in bed almost the entire day hoping the infection would be fleeting. But night two was more of the same, full of sweat and fitful sleep. At that point I should have waived the white flag, re-booked the return flight and made an appointment to see the doctor. Instead I headed to the airport at 5 a.m. to fly back to Sacramento.

The return trip was going okay until about halfway through the hop between Houston and Sacramento. My sinuses were going crazy and I was going through tissues like crazy. Then as the slow descent began an annoying pain began to grow in my right ear. It didn't take long for it to feel like someone was shoving a needle through my eardrum and this went on for a good 30 minutes. It left me whimpering in my seat curled up in a ball. Landing was a relief but I realized my hearing was shot in my right ear and I was sicker than ever.

I headed straight to bed and stayed there for the next 15 hours waking at 8 a.m. to make a doctor's appointment. One was available in 35 minutes and I didn't waste anytime. The doctor prescribed a Z-pack and told me that both ears were pretty inflamed and that my hearing should return in a few days, maybe a week. I hadn't had a sick day in two years and I burned three to finish the week.

It wasn't a good week for me to be away either. Getting onto the early morning flight last Friday I realized that chaos was at hand in Japan and that the California coast was facing a tsunami warning. I had learned the hard way in the past that canceling travel plans for an employer never goes unpunished. I ate a thousand dollar plan ticket once that way and wasn't about to eat another one to join the troops for what was sure to be an interesting day at work.

The only positive is that I've gotten to watch a lot of basketball stretched out on my couch the last two days. Although I spent a lot my viewing actually sleeping on Thursday, the illness finally loosened its grip on Friday just in time for me to enjoy the Kansas game. Still I have no hearing in my right ear. It's disconcerting to say the least. Hopefully a weekend of rest will leave me ready for what lies ahead at work

Louisiana Street

2011-03-03T00:21:00.000-08:00

Technology is a grand thing. This is a street level view of the house in the 800 block of Louisiana Street in Lawrence, Kansas that my grandparents Frank and May Walters called home after their move from the farm. Unfortunately, for my grandfather, the stay would be a short one. He became more than grandma could handle and would live out his days in a nursing home until his death in 1967.

By the time they had moved into town my mother, a widow, had remarried and my family had moved to Abilene. Still, I had plenty of chances to visit my grandmother in this quaint three bedroom house. I can remember taking bus and train trips to see her, not to mention the numerous family travels to Lawrence.

The house had its quirks which I liked. It started with the large screened in porch at the front entry. You entered from there into a living room which directly connected to a dining area. To the left was a bedroom which connected with a walk between closet to another bedroom which was my grandma's. The living room featured a fire place and an awful green hide-a-bed couch. I hated sleeping on that thing but when the entire family was on hand that's where I usually ended up. From the dining room was a narrow kitchen was connected to a breakfast room. Next to it was a back bedroom which was my favorite sleeping quarters.

I loved spending time with my grandma. We'd watch TV together, she loved crazy Joe Pine. She'd even let me listen to rock and roll records on her nice stereo. I even enjoyed doing yard work pushing an old grass cutter or pulling bag worms from the evergreens. She'd give me money to walk up 9th street to go bowling at a nearby alley. Of course, there were still Uncle Bob's Playboys to sneak off with, she always seemed to know, despite her blindness, what I was up to.

Grandma loved sports too, especially K.U. basketball. She would ask me to describe the players, their attributes. And remarkably, just across the street from her house lived the icon of all icons of K.U. hoops, one Dr. Forrest C. Allen. I would venture across the street and sit on the front porch with Phog and listen intently to his stories about basketball. I know he went to his grave bitter about the fact that he was forced to retire before he could coach Wilt Chamberlain as a varsity player.

I related to my oldest sister that of all the things that I dreamed about in my sleep, I've had more dreams about the house on Louisiana Street than any place I've ever been. I never dream about the farm or our home in Abilene, but I dream of my wonderful grandmother and our cozy home in Lawrence. That's where I remember grandma best, in her rocking chair, sitting in her lap, asking me to pluck hairs from her face with tweezers, full of life, and full of love.

This an addition to the original post. My sister Dianne wanted me to know that 824 Louisiana had recently undergone a major renovation. This is how it looks now. The screened in porch is gone and there is a huge addition to the back of the house. But my sister really wanted me to know that this quaint home in Old West Lawrence that my grandparent's purchased for about $12,000 is now valued at $500,000. All I can saw is wow!

The Farm

2011-02-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sitting less than a half mile south of I-70 as you descend westbound into the Kaw River Valley about three miles from the east Lawrence exit sits a farm, the long-time home of Frank and May Walters. From the highway you can see a large, weathered, vine covered barn and tucked away behind overgrown brush and large trees is their former home. It is where many of my earliest childhood memories were formed.

The house was a special place. It bustled with large family gatherings with various cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles and of course our amazing grandparents. The house held so many wonderful memories that my sister Karen decided she wanted to move into it when her husband Keith retired from the military. Unfortunately the proximity of the Union Pacific's main line about a quarter mile away and the blasts from the train horns in the middle of the night were more than she could bear.

The house stands two stories. We always entered through the rear which faced east into a fairly spacious kitchen complete with linoleum floors and a simple table for casual dining. The house had a front door and at one time a nice front porch. But sitting 50 yards from that door sat a spur line of the Union Pacific that ran all the way to Leavenworth. The train line has long since been abandoned. There was a siding where tanker cars would sit along with crew cars, actual living quarters for the men who worked on the tracks. I remember at least a couple of trains a day would slowly pass going to and from Leavenworth.

A turn to the left and beyond the kitchen was a more formal dining area which also served as formal living room. Grandpa's old radio which fascinated us kids with its buttons and dials stood out in the room along with a fancy dining table that could be expanded to handle the massive family gatherings that occurred at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The radio resides in my Fort Myers home.

Adjacent to that room opposite the kitchen wall was a small sitting room. An entry led from there into the family room which featured an RCA cabinet television set. I remember the agony of being forced to watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" every Saturday night. Wonderful, wonderful, my ass, Myron Floren's accordion was about the only palatable part of the show although even as a very young boy the Lennon Sisters were certainly easy on the eyes. The cabinet minus the television ended up at the home of my cousin Nancy.

A hallway ran from the formal dining room to the front door separating the sitting room and family room from the staircase which led to the second floor. A beautiful stain glass window graced the landing of the staircase. The family had it removed when we began renting the home out. It was fortunate because a small fire in that section of the home would have certainly damaged it.

The second floor offered a large sun room, four bedrooms and the lone bathroom in the house. My uncle's bedroom was barely a bedroom at all. Much to my ongoing dismay up to age five I was forced to sleep in a crib in my grandparent's room whenever I stayed over. The only relief from the crib was when my sisters or cousins were also spending the night and then I could sleep with one of them.

We all enjoyed a screened in porch which wrapped its way the southeast corner of the house. It was a pleasant place to rest on an early summer day and look out across the green lawn, with three or four mole traps standing guard. Grandma would often sit out there cleaning snap peas.

Back then there stood two barns, a chicken coop and a garage. Only the large barn remains. That
had a concrete floor and was used to store equipment. A huge hayloft was the main feature of the second floor. The other, older barn, eventually had to be destroyed in the early 1970's. It was literally falling apart when I was a child and had served as a dairy barn in earlier times. Back then you could usually find grain in the barn which we were forbidden to play in but would usually prove irresistible. Grandpa would usually catch me rolling around in the wheat.

My grandfather Frank, was a strong handsome man. Unfortunately by the time I was coming into this world he was in a slow steady decline in terms of his health and his mental faculties. He loved his farm and he loved the land. Frank Walters loved to travel and was a successful farmer.

Part of the routine when I was on the farm as a little boy, age 3 or 4, was to accompany Grandpa on his daily walk to the train bridge that sat to the north next to U.S. 40. Not far from the bridge along the two lane blacktop stood a gas station and restaurant called Miller's Barbecue. It's now a private home. The walk down and back was a little over a mile. I wish I could remember our conversations but I largely remember that very little would be said during these walks.

My grandmother was a large woman of German ancestry with a lap big enough to hold two or three of her grandchildren. She loved to cook and even when her diabetes had taken her vision she could still pull together large meals for the family. She possessed something of a ribald sense of humor and next to her grandchildren loved her garden more than anything. It was filled with all manner of vegetables, strawberries and even grapes. She canned and preserved everything imaginable.

Grandma and Grandpa loved taking drives around the county in their Chevy Belair. Grandma was always at the wheel, always looking and trying to remember who farmed this property or who lived down that country lane. As a small boy I enjoyed these rural tours because you could see Frank and May reliving their past friendships and memories during these drives.
I loved staying on the farm for the weekend. I'm sure it provided some relief for my widowed mother to unload her rambunctious son. It became an event when the cousins, Mike and Nancy Hendon would come. With my sisters Dianne and Karen it was non-stop mischief, whether we were sneaking into Uncle Bob's Playboys or Mike terrorizing us as Frankenstein. It was tough keeping up being a good three years younger than my older siblings and cousins.

Life on the farm came to an end in 1962. The failing health of my grandparents forced them to move into town. By then my mother had remarried and we were living in Abilene. Going to the auction and watching Frank and May's world disappear broke this 6 year old's heart.

The Best Job I Ever Had

2011-02-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

The summer of 1993 I made the move to Western Kentucky to become the news director at WPSD. The station was and still is owned by the Paxton family, which also owns the Paducah Sun and a several other newspapers scattered around the southern parts of the United States.

The station was located in a small city but covered a massive geographic region. Our signal reached into three other states besides Kentucky. We covered Northwest Tennessee, Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The station had always promoted from within. My arrival represented a shift in the approach the Paxton's had to doing business.

Coming into the job I inherited a Vice President of News who wanted nothing to do with the running of the newsroom. Tom Butler was WPSD at the time. He wanted to anchor the noon news and 5 p.m. and make sure that certain standards of journalism were followed. He was a great mentor and a valuable resource in learning how to navigate the politics at the station.

I was lucky to have a veteran staff around me that had a passion for good story telling. I worked at getting them better resources (which included the first ever newsroom computers) and making them feel that they had ownership in the product we were producing. We made tremendous strides and were headed in a positive direction despite impediments put on us by the owners in terms of coverage.

WPSD by all rights should be the number 1 station in this split market which includes a CBS station in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Marion, Illinois. But the Paxton's lacked the will to put the resources into winning over the viewers in Southern Illinois. Parochialism ruled the day in our coverage efforts. They didn't want to hear it from their friends at the country club that WPSD was covering too much news across the river.

I loved what I was doing. I loved the people I was meeting and the friends that I made in my short time in Paducah. The highlight came in the winter of 1994 when a massive ice storm followed by a big snow fell on January 16 and 17 in 1994. It paralyzed the region and left poor Tom Butler stranded at home as his Cadillac was ill-equipped for the conditions. I ended up running into work and took to the airwaves at 6 a.m. in my running clothes. Fortunately my weatherman Lew Jetton made the walk into work and we proceeded to make it up as long as we could. For the next month I couldn't go anywhere in Paducah without being recognized.

The other high point was working with the kids at St. Mary's High School. I helped John Durbin coach the cross country and track team. The school was filled with motivated runners and I'd like to think thanks to my input John was able to lead his teams to the first ever state championships for the school. John and those kids, Brent, Will, Jason and Laura, will always have a very special place in my heart.

I served an all too short eight months at WPSD. It was a deeply personal decision to leave, but I needed to steer my life in a different direction. What happened to me during my time there was life changing. The people I met there and had the privilege to work with I cherish to this day. Doug Harnice, Andrea Underwood, Mike Spissinger, Ron Beaton, Cathy Crecelius, are just a few of the folks at the station who made me feel at home. But most importantly there was Lew Jetton, who along with Cathy, let me into their circle, inviting me to go along to a Steely Dan concert in Nashville when I had just arrived. I never felt more welcome by a community and most importantly a station.

WPSD sets itself apart with an annual locally produced telethon it produces every year. My lone "Telethon of the Stars" I volunteered to run Chyron in the production truck, which I think confounded the other management team which used the telethon to party like crazy. It endeared me to the production staff and the other regular folk that worked at the station. And it gave me a chance to see my weekend weatherman play guitar. Lew's gotten a lot better over the years. I think you'll agree.

The Power of Revolution

2011-02-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

Mubarack is out and the great unknown not only faces Egypt but the Arab world as well. Some experts want to look at the Iranian revolution as a guidepost to what's happened in Egypt. Conservative commentators are blaming President Obama for not doing more to save Mubarack. They see this as the opening gambit in some great Muslim revolution that will sweep across the Middle East and eventually the rest of the world.

I'm not so sure about that. I think this is more akin to what happened when the Berlin Wall fell. What happened on the streets of Cairo could spread across the Middle East just like the events in Berlin spread across Eastern Europe. If I were the King of Jordan or Saudi Arabia or even Syria's President Assad, I'd be plenty worried. But I think the fallout will be more like what we saw when the Soviet Empire fell apart than what we happened when the Ayatollah's took control of Iran.

Doubtless Islamic radicals will try to take advantage of this regime change. It doesn't bode well for Israel when its only Arab "friend" is dealing with a revolution. But I don't think the Arab world wants war. I think they want democracy or something as close as they can get to it. Unfortunately I don't think Egypt is going to see great reform or anything close to freedom as we know it in the United States. I suspect some form of strong man rule will eventually take hold there. Regardless, revolution is in the air and the next two to three weeks could prove very profound.

Anticipation

2011-02-11T00:13:00.000-08:00

Readers of this blog know that my musical tastes are pretty well defined. The Beatles, Dylan, Bruce, Neil and the Dead have been my constant companions for the better part of my life. Since young adulthood I reluctantly let very few "new" artists infiltrate my musical sphere. My reason is largely based on the economics of an ever-expanding collection of CD's. Once I like an artist I buy everything they put out and even the stuff they don't put out.

Eight years ago I went to a Neil Young concert in West Palm Beach, Florida where he kicked off his American tour of the epic "Greendale." Neil's opening act was a woman singer/songwriter who I had heard of but had never given a listen to. In 45 minutes Lucinda Williams knocked me out.

This was just one of the great tunes she performed that night from the album which bares the same name, "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". She is truly one of the great songwriters that gets very little credit, much like John Hiatt. Give it a listen or better still listen to one of her other fabulous discs called "Essence." She's an amazing talent. Her new album "Blessed" comes out next month and since I rarely write about female artists I thought I should give her a plug.

RITFW

2011-02-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I needed some new ammunition for my Zen so I brought with me from Fort Myers an old CD to add to my music collection. Because of a recent guitar session with one of photographers Damien Espinoza, I grabbed Neil Young's "Freedom" from the storage cabinet and stuck it in my bag.

Today I finally ripped the tunes from the disc and decided to take some time to listen to the album. I probably hadn't really given it a good listen in a decade or so. It brought back a flood of memories. Given the context of the times when this album came out, it truly is a masterpiece.

Neil had been putting out a lot of pedestrian material through much of the 1980's. He zig-zagged his way through the decade bouncing from computer music, to country, to rockabilly, and even a big band. Each album had moments, but none of them delivered, that is until 1989's "Freedom."

The first time I listened to it was on a disc player on headsets while sitting in the back of a minivan driving to St. George, Utah. The music tore right through my head and my heart, from the epic "Rock in the Free World," to the gritty "No More," to his offbeat cover of "Broadway" and the now classic "Wrecking Ball." It's a monster album. It was so good I went out and bought the guitar book for it even though at the time I didn't play the guitar. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it would come in handy and it took a few years but it did.

"Freedom" heralded a trio of epic studio albums over the next three years. The unvarnished "Ragged Glory" followed in 1990. A stunning live album "Arc/Weld" followed in 91 and for many fans the crown jewel came with 92's "Harvest Moon." From 1980 to 1988 Young's music was uneven at best so it's impossible to fully explain how he could suddenly find his form and create such four incredible albums. It mirrors to some extent Bob Dylan's lost decade which started in 1986 with the forgettable "Knocked Out Loaded" and ended in 1997 with the his re-emergence thanks to Daniel Lanois and his masterpiece "Time Out of Mind."

Neil's had some epic television performances, especially his Saturday Night Live appearance in 89 when he played "RITFW" and a mind blowing version of "No More." But I remember having the hairs on my arms stand up when I watched him live on MTV in 1992 when he delivered this gem with Pearl Jam.

By the way, give "Mirror Ball" a listen. Neil and Pearl Jam together were nothing less than amazing.

The Other Shoe Drops

2011-02-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

I don't always like it when I'm right. I was right in June 2005 when I told Patrick Knorr and the Simons family that it would take five to seven years for them to make KTKA a break even operation. They laughed and shook their heads. Patrick planned to have the station turning a profit. I was dumb enough to believe that he could do it.

I wasn't too dumb to stick around to witness the inevitable. Today KTKA was sold to the company that also owns KSNT in Topeka. It was a combination of things that led to the station's demise. What hurt the most was the economic downturn which none of us could have predicted and the demise of newspapers.

KTKA could have worked if the Simons had been prepared to bleed money for five years. I could see after five months they had no idea of what it would take to win or at least make money, and I started planning my exit. They were too worried about tower cams rather than whether we had a working live truck or access to feeds from CNN and ABC News One. The cuts started coming about six months after I left and never stopped.

I feel bad for the handful of holdovers that I brought to KTKA. They're good, hardworking, television professionals. I hope KSNT holds onto a few of them, but in this cut throat business, one never knows. I also feel bad for the Simons. They care about northeast Kansas and had a wonderful vision for building a great multi-media empire. Unfortunately they couldn't see past the elephant in the room; the printing press and all that ink.

Before the Flood

2011-01-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

June 1991 I took my first news director's job at KSNT TV in Topeka, Kansas. I had reached a career goal by becoming a news director before age 34. Those close to me know how tumultuous my personal life was during this period but when I started particular job I was in a very good place indeed.

My first weekend in the position and historic Hoch Auditorium burned to the ground at K.U. What a way to start the job. Six weeks into the job I fired my first employee. A young man who decided that a cut away of kids waving and smiling was appropriate footage at the scene of a car wreck. Several years later I saw him on ABC in a story about high living in Las Vegas. He was working as a butler, go figure.

Perry Chester was my first general manager and he did his best to teach me what it takes to run a television station. I only had 18 months to learn from him because he took off for a better job in the Quad Cities. We were on a belt tightening rampage and he forced me to lay off beloved anchor Ron Harbaugh. I wanted to quit. Harbaugh was a good anchor who was a real leader in the newsroom. I decided that if Harbaugh was being jettison than the co-anchor should go too. I don't think poor Chris Gallagher understood what was happening. I also shuffled the weather department around until we hired Bill Spencer who was one of the great meteorologists I've ever worked with.

The anchor changes were tough and my first pairing of Art Navarro with Helen Neill never jelled. Topeka wasn't ready for an Hispanic anchor. Fortunately when Gary Sotir came aboard as GM the first thing he suggested was bringing back Harbaugh. He took the words right out of my mouth.

Gary was a very strange man who I never understood until the end of my tenure. But he had scared me to the point that by the spring of 1993 I was frantically looking for another job. Gary liked to come and sit on a stool in the newsroom and just watch what was going on. I would be sitting in my office and wondering what in the hell is he doing? It wasn't until the very end that he wasn't spying on us, Gary was just bored. But by the time I had gotten used to his style I had a job offer from the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Kentucky.

It had come just after the most trying period in terms of work I probably ever experienced. The summer of 1993 brought the greatest flooding in the modern history of the Midwest. It was a Saturday morning in mid July and I had come in early to prepare a half hour special on the flooding threatening Manhattan. Around noon my Chief Met Bill Spencer came in and said we were in for a major night of severe weather. When the weekend weatherman came in at 2 p.m. and saw Bill in the weather office he came to me to complain about getting big footed. I fired him on the spot.

It only got crazier. The storms began rolling in around 7 p.m., horrendous thunderstorms with tornadoes and torrential rains. I called in a couple of extra bodies and we covered the heck out of this monster storm. I remember making a beer run for the crew as a reward for a great 10 p.m. effort and reporter Rick Blum called from the Shawnee County Office of Emergency Management. It wasn't good. The sheriff was worried that a levee about five miles from the station was weakening and could collapse flooding a massive part of the valley.

Little did we know that already upstream between St. Mary and Wamego the Kansas River would flood massive sections of farm land. Sheriff Dave Meneley came out to the station to show me the situation with maps in hand. I called the chief engineer into work at 1 a.m. Gary was in El Paso and out of reach. We had to decided whether to sandbag the station in anticipation of a levee breach.

At about 2 a.m. I decided to go forward with sandbagging operations. I had to threaten the state emergency management officials within an inch of their lives for the much needed sand and sand bags. My retort to their initial refusal was, who do I tell at the Associated Press made the decision to let our station flood during this time of great emergency.

We called in all of our employees and our sports department called the local high school football coaches. By 5 a.m. we had sand and sand bags along with plenty of football players and we were working like crazy to build a three foot high wall around the station and our transmitter building. The work was finished by about two in the afternoon on a sweltering out July Sunday afternoon. I had been awake for 36 hours and of course the levee never broke. But our coverage through the rest of the month of the flooding that did hit much of the area was outstanding.

I hated leaving Topeka when I did, but some much needed lessons in life awaited me in Paducah.

Just About Worn Out

2011-01-28T00:41:00.000-08:00

I've been MIA because of a quick trip back to sunny Southwest Florida. I took the red eye back to Fort Myers last Friday which is always a waste because I can never sleep on the jump to Atlanta. I could have slept most of Saturday away.

The Czarina was desperate for me to visit Fort Myers because she had some Christmas gift cards to restaurants she was dying to use. One was for a swanky joint on 5th Avenue in Naples. If you ever make it to Naples you'll understand. We managed to blow through that 100 dollars with only one cocktail for the Czarina.

I had forgotten how much I could sweat. Running in Florida is a completely different experience from Sacramento. My running hat is still drying out from my daily runs. The Czarina noted that I've packed on a few pounds since St. George and that's when I remarked that she looked like a penguin waddling down the trail. That didn't go over very well. I don't understand why women are so sensitive when it comes to issues of weight and age.

The trip wasn't nearly long enough, but I did manage to mow the yard and trim the hedges. There's no telling how much longer we'll have to endure this enforced separation. We're both hanging in there and with grand baby number two on the way in April, the Czarina has a trip to her homeland to keep her occupied.

My trip back to Sacramento was a seven hour grind that took me back through Minneapolis. The single digit temperatures served as a quick reminder as to why we left Fargo. Then the flight itself was an adventure with mechanical problems delaying our departure and then a passenger having some sort of seizure which I thought would force us to make a emergency landing somewhere in the frozen Midwest. Fortunately a doctor on board quickly addressed the issue.

At least I didn't have to sit next to the weirdo who was carrying a dog in a satchel. What is it now with idiots carrying pocket dogs onto planes without having them in cages. Why in the hell do airlines allow this? Can't wait for someone to get bit!

Don't even get me started on the 12 hour day I put in at work on my first day back. It's amazing that we can be back to an almost full staff yet we're still short of bodies. At least one of the other manager's took pity on me and I won't be producing next week, unless of course someone calls in sick!

Standing on the Rim

2011-01-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

Kansas has rolled halfway through its season undefeated and I still don't know what to make of this team. I thought Monday night at Baylor would be a sure wake up test and possibly the Jayhawks first loss of the season. I couldn't have been more wrong. K.U. came out and played the best half of basketball I've seen this team or any Kansas team has played since the first half against North Carolina at the 2008 Final Four.

Saturday's game against Nebraska showed a lot of holes in the Jayhawk attack. What worried me most is that super frosh Josh Selby played only about a dozen minutes and scored just 3 points. Coach Bill Self left the Selby on the bench in the second half relying on more seasoned players in the second half of this squeaker on K.U.'s home court.

But Selby doesn't have a conscience. He came out against Baylor firing up shots from every conceivable angle. And then there are the Morris twins. A couple of double doubles waiting to happen every night. If these two opt for the NBA after this season we're screwed. If either gets into major foul trouble this season we're screwed.

Jeff Withey isn't a player. You would think after a couple of seasons of banging with Cole Aldrich and the brothers Morris he would have become a decent post player. He makes Eric Chenowith look like Wilt Chamberlain.

And then there's the puzzling case of Tyshawn Taylor. He's a turnover waiting to happen. He plays like Jacques Vaughn one moment and like Jacques Cousteau the next.

But Kansas has one thing that people tend to overlook. This team is tough as nails and it's not the menacing Morris twins or Thomas Robinson man muscle's that give the Jayhawks that edge, it's unheralded shooting guard Tyrell Reed. He is the leader of this team. He picked Kansas on his shoulders when Cal tried to manhandle Kansas last month in Berkley. Tyrell did it again last Saturday when Nebraska pushed us around.

I get the sense that this is much more of a team effort game in and game out, much more so than the title squad in 2008. That team could have an off night and Rush, Collins, or Chalmers could will them to victory. It's going to take a lot more than Tyrell to put this team in the Final Four, the twins, Josh and Tyshawn have 15 or so more games to prove it.

An Open Letter to My Running Friends in the Midwest

2011-01-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

What a rough start to the New Year. I actually had to break out some winter running gear that I haven't used since I lived in Topeka. One day I actually had on a jacket, sweat pants, gloves, and a headband to keep my ears warm. My goodness it was 38... 39 degrees. It's been rainy, drizzly, foggy, I hate to bore you with my weather woes but I thought I had moved to sunny California after all.

But fear not, I haven't missed a day of running since the calendar turned to 2011. Even though one day it was so cold, mid-30's, that I used a treadmill. I know, I know, I should have toughed it out, but I really didn't bring all of my cold weather running gear from Florida. I really didn't think I would need it.

As for my friends out there still training in the great outdoors that is Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, North Dakota, etc; I feel your pain. Or the chill that is. Bundle up and try to stay warm on those brisk winter runs. Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention., there are actually hills in California. Man I miss those flat, sunny, winter runs in Southwest Florida.

The Blame Game

2011-01-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

Jared Loughner is a nut job. Trying to pin him with a political ideology is like trying to break one of those cheap pinatas you can buy for a kid's birthday party. It's damn near impossible to do. I don't care if he's a radical or a reactionary.

The problem starts with guns. I have nothing against gun ownership. But it's the kind of guns that you can purchase that bothers me. Who needs a clip that holds 30 rounds, I mean seriously? Someday, somewhere, the right combination violence will shake the United States and put the NRA in its place. I seriously doubt that this incident in Tucson will do much to regulate the problem.

And then there are the remarkable and and incisive observations by the Sheriff of Pima County. The vitriol of political hate speech in this country is nothing new. The verbal sparing by our founding fathers would put Rush Limbaugh and Keith Olbermann to shame. But there's a huge difference as we ride the political wave of talk in the 21st century. It's everywhere. You can't escape it. The 24/7 media crushes any ability to absorb and reflect with any serious deliberation.

I used to love listening to Rush Limbaugh. His blistering attacks of Bill Clinton, feminists, and environmentalists used to amuse me. But after 9/11 I could no longer stomach what I was hearing. Democrats aren't Communists anymore than Republicans are intolerant dimwits.

We are all accountable for what happened in Tucson. It pains me that those engaged in the abusive political discourse can't own up to their own thoughtless rhetoric. How can any one of us can these talking heads seriously as they try to shout down the words of someone like Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.

2011-My First Penny

2011-01-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

Six days in the New Year and I've managed to run every day. It hasn't been easy because my work schedule has been like a yo-yo, meaning I've had to catch a couple of miles here and there at odd hours. Tonight I hit the street at 10 p.m. replete with my orange safety vest just in case a motorist wanted to take aim. And there shining like a beacon on the dark asphalt about three-quarters of a mile into my run was my first penny of 2011.

I stopped and clinched the coin into my glove covered fingers (my first glove run of the year) and strode off into the night thinking all the while thinking of my good friend Craig Davidson. People who follow this blog know all about Craig. I like picking up coins when I spot them on a run because it reminds me of our friendship. On the oh, so rare occasions that I fail to stop for one, I am riddled with guilt.

You see Craig has an epic streak of finding money every day while out on his runs. He recently sent out his haul for the year, a mere $190.90. Craig lamented that it marked his lowest total since 1983. Craig has plucked $8,683.71 during the course of his streak. I've watched in amazement as Craig would somehow spot dark brown pennies on lamp black streets in the predawn hours of a run. But the money streak pales in comparison of Craig's daily running streak now at more than 32 years.

Craig is loathe to part with his cash. To say he is thrifty would be an understatement. But one year he did take some of his loot and spent it on a honeymoon to Hawaii to his ever patient bride Irene. You see the honeymoon came a good decade and a half or so after their marriage.

But nevertheless, I did find my first penny of 2011. I think in a given year I pick up between 50 cents and a dollar, a sorry comparison to Craig's prodigious efforts. But then again, he ran 4250 miles last year, almost 3000 more than I did!

2011 - Let it Roll

2011-01-02T00:54:00.000-08:00

One of the great under recognized jam bands is Little Feat. The band has been around for more than 40 years and undergone more line up changes than band could ever survive. I was late coming to my appreciation of the group.

I used to frequent a bar in South Kansas City in the mid-1980's where the owner had a love affair with Little Feat. After hearing "Dixie Chicken" and "Feats Don't Fail Me Now" one time too many I began to like what I was hearing and inquired about the band. It dawned on me that I had heard the band before when I had lived in Minneapolis. One radio station played cuts from "Down on the Farm", released shortly after the death of the band's main musical driving force, Lowell George.

Much of the band's music from the 70's is incredible and the live release "Sailing to Columbus" is one of the best live records ever, period. My favorite song is one of the few great post-George releases from the band from 1988's "Let it Roll." Aptly enough, it's the album's title song, enjoy!

2011 - God Bless The Chemo Kid

2011-01-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

I'm tired. It's a few minutes after midnight when I would still feel wide awake but tonight I'm tired. I've produced back to back doubles and face two more days of doubles over the weekend. By doubles I mean producing two newscasts in a single day. It's tough because in order to do it reasonably well you need to come in earlier than a normal night shift to do the 6 p.m. That means 10 hour plus days and hurried dinners.

I'm lucky because I work with a bunch of professionals who know how to spin bullshit into gold. And I must give credit to my E.P. colleague James Scullary for making sure I had plenty of content for the 6 to make my life easier. I've even managed to hold onto five, count em' five, good stories, that should make my producing a lot easier this weekend.

But I'm tired because it was a sad end to the old year. Shortly after 9:30 p.m. we heard police traffic coming from South Sacramento. A 15 year old boy was shot in the head and killed. Then just minutes before the newscast we got word that I had been dreading for the last few days. A 26 year old man named Giovanni Goodman had lost his battle with cancer.

What made this important to me is that we had run a story about Giovanni exactly three weeks ago. He called himself "The Chemo Kid" and became a rapper spinning lyrics about his battle against Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Giovanni fought the good fight for five years but shortly before Thanksgiving, doctor's gave him six months and he decided to forsake another round of chemo.

Will Frampton had profiled Goodman the year before and asked to do one more story on him when he learned of his decision to end his fight against cancer. It's the best story Will's done in my time at News10. It was a great story. You can find it on News10.net.

But this week my conscience began to gnaw at me. It dawned on me that Giovanni may not make it to the New Year. Sadly enough, my worries were confirmed when the family sent Will an email just before we went to air tonight. I hurriedly put some words together to tell the story of the end of this young man's life. But my words fell short, because three weeks ago I saw the most courageous man I'd seen in a long, long time, coming to terms with his own mortality. God bless Giovanni Goodman and his friends and family. Remember "The Chemo Kid" in your prayers.

espnW.com

2010-12-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

Gender equity in sports thanks to Title 9 has given women much deserved opportunities in athletics. But news that ESPN has decided to launch a website directed at women sports is something of an eyebrow raiser. But it does raise the chicken or egg argument. If the sports leader builds it, will they come?

I decided to write about this because I've been chuckling about all the grousing about the supposed lack of coverage of UConn's remarkable run of 89 consecutive wins by its female basketball team. Trust me folks, the Huskies' winning streak has received far more coverage than UCLA's 88 game run by its men back in the 1970's. I repeat, UConn has gotten much more exposure than UCLA.

Remember, ESPN didn't exist back in 1974 when Notre Dame ended the Bruins' streak. There was no FOX sports, no CNN, UCLA got most of its due from Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News, both print publications. UConn has gotten a ton more coverage than UCLA did simply by the fact that a lot that the media landscape has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 40 years.

But I'm not sure that the appetite for sports coverage of women has. Granted, more women than ever participate in sports. It's up almost 500 percent in the last 40 years according to a publication I read. But participation doesn't equate to consumption of the product in my view.

Women have come a long way in terms of their athletic ability. The college game is fundamentally sound at the top levels, but only among the very best teams. It's a game played below the rim. equate with consumption of women targeted sports coverage. UConn's women are at best like watching a very good high school boys basketball team. Sorry, but it's true. You really have to be a connoisseur to appreciate women's basketball.

Before you rag on me I enjoy watching women compete in track and field just as much as I enjoy watching men. Women running a sub 4:00 1500 meters is just as exciting to me as watching men run the same race under 3:30. Basketball is different than just running, jumping, or throwing a shot, discus or javelin. The athleticism exhibited by men on a basketball court is often jaw dropping. You rarely go oh my when watching the same game played by women.

I guess the point of all this is that a website targeting women athletics or even a magazine like the failed Sports Illustrated for Women seems like a tough nut to crack. The financial scale of the Internet leads me to believe that ESPN can make it work. But it would shock me if it became any kind of massive financial success. The WNBA is a ratings disaster for the world wide leader. But then again, who would have thought that a website like Dyestat, which targeted high school track and field, a truly small audience, could end up being attractive to an industry leader like ESPN. But then again, ESPN has messed that up too.

True Grit

2010-12-27T00:18:00.000-08:00

When I first heard that Hollywood was serving up a new version of "True Grit" I thought, why? When I heard the Coen Brothers were at the helm of this re-make I thought hmmm. I remember seeing the movie as a teenager in Abilene, Kansas and loved every minute of it. The epic gun battle where Wayne grips his reigns in his teeth and shoots it out at a full gallop really began my love affair with this larger than life movie star.

I remember Oscar night in 1969 hoping that Wayne would win the Oscar and how touching it was to see such a big screen hero turn soft with a statue he probably didn't deserve. But watch his movies that he made with John Ford and tell me he didn't deserve an Oscar for his epic anti-hero in "The Searchers" or for his role in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", but I digress

So this afternoon I went to see Joel and Ethan's effort to bring "True Grit" to the big screen. They made a movie that couldn't have been made in the late 1960's. Nevertheless the Coen's managed to make another great film. The acting is superb. Jeff Bridges is wonderful in the role made famous by Wayne and his supporting cast is so much better with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and Hailee Steinfeld, than the original cast, it's not even the same movie.

And true to their nature as film makers, the Coen's bring the grit to "True Grit." Are these guys the best filmmakers over the last 20 years or what?!? Go see it, I think even the Duke would agree if he were still around, it's a great flick.