The big stink in Fort Myers aimed at a race that raises a ton of dough for sick kids by a selfish mom, is nothing compared to the shitfest delivered in Albuquerque by USATF. I am mildly amused at the crazy crap that happened Saturday night during the women's 3000 meter.
Cancer survivor Gabe Grunewald steamrolled her way to victory, literally. As I watched the race unfold live from the comfort of my couch, Grunewald first attempted to run up Jordan Hasay's backside on the final lap, and then nearly ran over Shannon Rowbury on the backstretch before finally sprinting to an easy victory. I remember looking over to the Czarina and saying, she could be disqualified for all that nonsense. She was, eventually, after a lot of monkey business, a lot of it by the 800 pound gorilla at the meet, NIKE.
The fact is an official did flag Grunewald for a foul. The fact is the meet judge discussed it with the official and they agreed the bump didn't rise to the level of disqualification. The fact is, a protest was filed, again and apparently again and the a jury decided to leave Grunewald as champion. Then sometime in the murky minutes following the end of Saturday's session somebody, whether it was Alberto Salazar, or a big name at NIKE, someone obviously yanked the right chain at USATF and Grunewald was disqualified.
That meant Salazar's athletes, Shannon Rowbury who finished 2nd and Jordan Hasay who ended up in 4th, would go to the world championships. The 3rd place finisher, Sara Vaughn, didn't have the necessary qualifying time for the trip to Poland. Hasay remained remarkably mute about all that was unfolding through the weekend. Rowbury didn't mention the controversy at the post race news conference.
By Saturday night social media was on fire and USATF was pulling up its drawbridge around the its shit-filled mote. It got even more interesting during Sunday's final sessions. After the women's 1500, a group of non-NIKE affiliated women joined hands and walked down the homestretch in a show of solidarity for Grunewald. Then after the men's 1500, race runner-up Will Leer threw USATF back into the shit-filled mote and champion Lopez Lomong wholeheartedly agreed with Will's takedown right on national television.
I give credit to Jordan Hasay. She did the classy thing on Monday and withdrew her (Salazar's) protest. All the while USATF hasn't explained the debacle of Saturday night. Salazar has laid low, while the catcalls continue over his outrageous behavior at the meet. I won't go into all of the BS but the women's 3000 disaster was only part of the outrage on parade.
I think Salazar is a great coach. But I think he's ego is out of control. NIKE is out of control. USATF needs to find financing that doesn't leave it so reliant on NIKE support to stay afloat. You can smell the shit in the air, the athletes are ready to revolt.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sitting Atop BS Mountain
No matter how much good you can do in a community. No matter how much money you raise for those in "need", there are always people who want to take a big shit all over it when they can't get their way. It's happening right now in Fort Myers, where a mom is having a hissy fit about where she gets to start in a road race with her disabled daughter that she pushes along in the stroller.
Charyse Smith is a very fast runner. She has a 7-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy. Recently she's started pushing her little girl Kayla at area road races. Charyse asked a few months back if she could push Kayla at the biggest half marathon in Fort Myers which goes off in a week. She was told yes, but it sounds like there was mis-communication. Charyse wants to start up front. The race organizers told her she has to start in the back, as a safety precaution.
I've run a ton of races. As most runners know, the wheelchair athletes usually get a head start, to avoid any dangerous situations. That usually includes anyone pushing a competitive stroller. I've caught up to wheelchairs and people pushing strollers that are normally start with the wheelchairs. It can get pretty damn tricky. I've seen wipe outs. I've nearly been hit. It's a huge liability issue.
One runner decided to go to the web and post some half truths about the situation on one of the local running clubs Facebook page. The post started a slew of moronic responses from idiots who never take the time to think there are two sides to every story. I love hobby joggers who don't have a clue about what it takes to put on a first class road race like Hooters to Hooters.
Regardless, the damage is done. The Fort Myers Track Club has had its reputation damaged and I think it's largely because of folks like John Biffar and Rachel Lee in particular, don't like the stranglehold FMTC has on the top local running events. You see Lee owns a running store and along with Biffar, they have worked with The Speedsters and a group called 3D Running to make inroads into the Fort Myers racing scene.
It's great to have a variety of road races to choose from over the course of a racing season but I've been racing for 40 plus years and the trouble is their races simply aren't at the level of the FMTC events. They may get there and I say good for them. But it's painfully obvious for anyone with a tiny bit knowledge, to know that this isn't so much about get Charyse Smith a fair shake, it's about throwing as much shit on FMTC as possible.
Charyse could have taken the high road and stopped it. I would ask her, if it's so freaking safe for her to start at the front of the Hooter's race next weekend, why she didn't do it last week at the Edison 5K? Charyse knows damn well why she didn't run in front of the tremendous crowds that line the Edison course, it wasn't safe. What makes her think Hooter's would be any safer? Yep, not as many runners, but you've got a course with a curb jump about a mile and a half in and then there's the up and down on the bridge.
If she runs her normal pace of between 7 minute to 7:30 pace for the race she'll be surrounded by dozens of runners having to dodge her and her stroller. Trust me, coming down that bridge it will be a nightmare. I know because I've nearly been clipped by one before.
Look at me, look at me, I'm getting screwed. Who cares that Hooters to Hooters raises money to help save ICU children, like the one you want to push through the streets of Fort Myers? Life's not fair, and the damage you've done can't be undone. You've set a fine example for your daughter.
Charyse Smith is a very fast runner. She has a 7-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy. Recently she's started pushing her little girl Kayla at area road races. Charyse asked a few months back if she could push Kayla at the biggest half marathon in Fort Myers which goes off in a week. She was told yes, but it sounds like there was mis-communication. Charyse wants to start up front. The race organizers told her she has to start in the back, as a safety precaution.
I've run a ton of races. As most runners know, the wheelchair athletes usually get a head start, to avoid any dangerous situations. That usually includes anyone pushing a competitive stroller. I've caught up to wheelchairs and people pushing strollers that are normally start with the wheelchairs. It can get pretty damn tricky. I've seen wipe outs. I've nearly been hit. It's a huge liability issue.
One runner decided to go to the web and post some half truths about the situation on one of the local running clubs Facebook page. The post started a slew of moronic responses from idiots who never take the time to think there are two sides to every story. I love hobby joggers who don't have a clue about what it takes to put on a first class road race like Hooters to Hooters.
Regardless, the damage is done. The Fort Myers Track Club has had its reputation damaged and I think it's largely because of folks like John Biffar and Rachel Lee in particular, don't like the stranglehold FMTC has on the top local running events. You see Lee owns a running store and along with Biffar, they have worked with The Speedsters and a group called 3D Running to make inroads into the Fort Myers racing scene.
It's great to have a variety of road races to choose from over the course of a racing season but I've been racing for 40 plus years and the trouble is their races simply aren't at the level of the FMTC events. They may get there and I say good for them. But it's painfully obvious for anyone with a tiny bit knowledge, to know that this isn't so much about get Charyse Smith a fair shake, it's about throwing as much shit on FMTC as possible.
Charyse could have taken the high road and stopped it. I would ask her, if it's so freaking safe for her to start at the front of the Hooter's race next weekend, why she didn't do it last week at the Edison 5K? Charyse knows damn well why she didn't run in front of the tremendous crowds that line the Edison course, it wasn't safe. What makes her think Hooter's would be any safer? Yep, not as many runners, but you've got a course with a curb jump about a mile and a half in and then there's the up and down on the bridge.
If she runs her normal pace of between 7 minute to 7:30 pace for the race she'll be surrounded by dozens of runners having to dodge her and her stroller. Trust me, coming down that bridge it will be a nightmare. I know because I've nearly been clipped by one before.
Look at me, look at me, I'm getting screwed. Who cares that Hooters to Hooters raises money to help save ICU children, like the one you want to push through the streets of Fort Myers? Life's not fair, and the damage you've done can't be undone. You've set a fine example for your daughter.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Bruce Live
One of my major gripes for the last 15 years is the reluctance of artists to provide live copies of their concerts to their fans. The Internet removed any impediment from providing soundboard quality recordings of any band. And given the spiraling costs of concerts in this day and age, a free soundboard download really should come with the show, but I digress.
I just wanted to praise Bruce Springsteen for finally dialing up the 21st century by offering downloads of his concerts at a reasonable price. He started the practice a couple of weeks ago when the Boss launched his first ever tour of South Africa. For $9.99 you can get a download of the concert through the soundboard that's been sweeten to the extent that it can be over the course of a day or so.
I've already downloaded a couple of shows, one from South Africa and one from his current swing through Australia and I must say, the results are satisfying. You get the whole concert, complete with mistakes. In the South Africa show Bruce's microphone cuts out after the first verse of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and for a minute or so the band just vamps until the mic gets replaced. Bruce's vocals could be mixed better, but I think a lot of the sound issues has to do the venue as much as the efforts to "fix" the soundboard recordings.
Now the challenge has been thrown down. Bob Dylan has been touring non-stop since the late 1980's. He's released a few nuggets from his live shows during that period, but never an entire concert. You can find an endless supply of bootlegs and I have some pretty good ones, but nothing beats a soundboard recording. Are you listening Bob? And are you listening Neil Young?
You can still see Bob and Neil for a reasonable amount of cash, we're talking less than $100. But they need to give their fans more. Bands like U2 and The Rolling Stones that charge major bucks for their shows, need to give their fans more. You would think their managers would push artists to do what Springsteen has done and what Pearl Jam has done for years.
The Grateful Dead realized it years ago. They started allowing tapers into their concerts in the 70's and it took off in the 80's. You can download great shows from these tapers for free at archive.org. You can even listen to soundboard recordings of the Dead, but you can't download them. That decision to give it away, was in large part a brilliant marketing idea, because when the taping started, the legion of Dead fans mushroomed. By the mid-80's every show was sold out.
I'm not holding my breath. Yet with cash from the sale of recordings dwindling, even rich as God artists like Dylan and Young can't be so stupid as to turn away from a cash cow like concert downloads. You can bet they're watching Springsteen's efforts with great interest.
I just wanted to praise Bruce Springsteen for finally dialing up the 21st century by offering downloads of his concerts at a reasonable price. He started the practice a couple of weeks ago when the Boss launched his first ever tour of South Africa. For $9.99 you can get a download of the concert through the soundboard that's been sweeten to the extent that it can be over the course of a day or so.
Now the challenge has been thrown down. Bob Dylan has been touring non-stop since the late 1980's. He's released a few nuggets from his live shows during that period, but never an entire concert. You can find an endless supply of bootlegs and I have some pretty good ones, but nothing beats a soundboard recording. Are you listening Bob? And are you listening Neil Young?
You can still see Bob and Neil for a reasonable amount of cash, we're talking less than $100. But they need to give their fans more. Bands like U2 and The Rolling Stones that charge major bucks for their shows, need to give their fans more. You would think their managers would push artists to do what Springsteen has done and what Pearl Jam has done for years.
The Grateful Dead realized it years ago. They started allowing tapers into their concerts in the 70's and it took off in the 80's. You can download great shows from these tapers for free at archive.org. You can even listen to soundboard recordings of the Dead, but you can't download them. That decision to give it away, was in large part a brilliant marketing idea, because when the taping started, the legion of Dead fans mushroomed. By the mid-80's every show was sold out.
I'm not holding my breath. Yet with cash from the sale of recordings dwindling, even rich as God artists like Dylan and Young can't be so stupid as to turn away from a cash cow like concert downloads. You can bet they're watching Springsteen's efforts with great interest.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Meet the Beatles
It's hard to imagine how The Ed Sullivan Show was must watch television for the vast majority of American families through most of the 1960's. You were exposed to everything, from great pop music, to opera, to really bad magic acts and jugglers. It's the great comedians that I remember the most, but on this particular winter night, the vibe in our family living room was completely different.
My older sisters were glued to the television. My 8-year-old self sensed something big was about to happen because they never seemed to care much, one way or another, about any given performer on Sullivan. The energy was astounding. It pulsated through our old black and white television. The Beatles hit the stage and it was incredible. There was no lip-synching, there was only straight forward rock and roll.
You have to understand, American rock and roll was in a moribund place. The Elvis period had died down. I had been a big Elvis fan, at an early age. But American rock had faded away. Popular music seemed to be defined by Bobby Darin or Peter, Paul and Mary. In fact, folk seemed to be the rising tide among young listeners with The New Christie Minstrels and The Kingston Trio.
The arrival of the Beatles was a course correction. Whatever Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly had ignited back in the 50's, the Beatles re-lit the flames. There was no turning back.
After the show I remember my sisters going outside and holding a cold, dark, confab with the girl's who lived next door. My sisters Dianne and Karen, poured over every moment that the Fab Four had spent on Sullivan's stage with Tammy and Candy Wehling. It left quite an impression.
We lived in a small town in north-central Kansas. Hearing a Beatles song on the radio was a rarity. It was like forbidden fruit. When we would visit family in Lawrence you could listen to the Kansas City radio stations, which played The Beatles non-stop.
My cousins who lived in KC even got to see The Beatles play Municipal Stadium. Then they moved to Washington, DC and saw them again and again. We were stuck in tiny Abilene. And as the television appearances became rarer, we hoped for any concert movie to catch a glimpse of The Beatles. It was cruel indeed to be so cut off from such great music.
I remember four years later as Beatlemania had ebbed, riding with my lucky cousin Mike who had seen the Fab Four in concert. We were in his new Ford Mustang tooling along near tiny Enterprise, Kansas. Mike excitedly described the latest great Beatles tune he had heard called, "Hey Jude." Then as if by magic it suddenly crackled out of nowhere on the radio and I listened, rapt, shocked by the fact that such a long song, an incredibly poignant song, could get radio airplay.
It's hard to describe how important their music was, how they changed the landscape. How they changed the way we felt about music. The Beatles changed everything.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
The Milk Carton Kids
I find it difficult to let new music into my life. I'm very stubborn that way. A few bands and artist creep into my musical vocabulary but it only happens every five years or so. I know that it leaves me limited and stunted in my tastes, but so be it. It's self-protective because I tend to buy everything in sight when I discover something new. It saves me financially.
That brings me to The Milk Carton Kids. They appeared magically in a documentary airing on Showtime called "Another Time/Another Day." T Bone Burnett created it as a homage to the Coen Brothers movie, "Inside Llewyn Davis." The Milk Carton Kids give a breathe taking performance of a song called "New York." They sound like a 21st century version of Simon and Garfunkel but with a dash of Smothers Brothers.
You can catch a full flavor of their banter and repertoire on this week's Austin City Limits. Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan form this duo out of California. It's a folk based act with soaring harmonies and some tenacious picking by Pattengale. Ryan is a jokster and it causes one to flash back to what a young Bob Dylan must have served up in the way of story telling back at The Gaslight.
They are fan friendly. If you check out their website you can download their music for free. Check out their performance on Austin City Limits which features a short chuckle filled interview with the duo. I promise, they won't disappoint.
You can catch a full flavor of their banter and repertoire on this week's Austin City Limits. Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan form this duo out of California. It's a folk based act with soaring harmonies and some tenacious picking by Pattengale. Ryan is a jokster and it causes one to flash back to what a young Bob Dylan must have served up in the way of story telling back at The Gaslight.
They are fan friendly. If you check out their website you can download their music for free. Check out their performance on Austin City Limits which features a short chuckle filled interview with the duo. I promise, they won't disappoint.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The Czarina Steps In
I put this off for as long as I could. I had trained long and hard for the Naples Daily News Half Marathon. But somewhere in the early weeks of January my left calf started bothering me again. I listened to it and shut it down for 10 days and tried to run a couple of days before the race to see how it felt. It wasn't bad but I knew it wouldn't hold up for 13.1 miles.
Still, I asked the Czarina to pick up my race packet so I could get my t-shirt. She came home with it and announced that she would take my bib and run the race. I chuckled. The Czarina had injured her calf back in November in a soccer scrum with the grand kids. Her running was shelved for more than two months. She refused to take any of my advice to use the roller and ice it.
That meant the Czarina was constantly re-injuring her calf every time she attempted to run. As fate would have it about the time I shut it down in mid-January she ran 3 miles without any pain. Just to make sure she put in a 6 mile run to see how she felt. So, the Czarina was running the half marathon with about 20 miles under her built over the course of the last 75 days.
I feared she would injure herself again but telling the Czarina not to do something is like telling the bull to stay out of the china shop. She was determined to wreck havoc on her body. She even took my bib which had my first name on it and covered it with her name. Nothing was going to stop her.
I got up and went out with her that Sunday morning. The weather was about as perfect as you could want for a long race. It was just a touch about 40 degrees at 7 a.m. with no wind and no humidity. I went for breakfast while she ran through the ritziest neighborhoods that Naples has to offer. I went back to the course about 10 minutes after the first Kenyan had crossed the finish line. I walked down the course with a camera in hand to see if I could catch her coming in, hoping against hope it wasn't going to end in a 3 hour walk.
The Czarina came chugging along not long after the 2 hour mark. She was moving very fast but she wasn't limping and was pretty pleased with herself. She ran 2:15 which is a good 25 minutes slower than her best effort. And yes, she could barely walk for the next two days and has continuously complained that I should give her my race shirt. Fat chance!
As for my running, the calf started feeling great this week. I've stopped biking and the elliptical and started with some short jogs. I even got a MRI because of the never ending hip pain. A couple of my lower discs in my back are bulging, but not much, at least not enough to do anything about it. So it's back to running and hopefully I can rebound for a decent March 5K before the heat sets in. At least the Czarina is running again and maybe, just maybe, will do a little more racing.
Still, I asked the Czarina to pick up my race packet so I could get my t-shirt. She came home with it and announced that she would take my bib and run the race. I chuckled. The Czarina had injured her calf back in November in a soccer scrum with the grand kids. Her running was shelved for more than two months. She refused to take any of my advice to use the roller and ice it.
That meant the Czarina was constantly re-injuring her calf every time she attempted to run. As fate would have it about the time I shut it down in mid-January she ran 3 miles without any pain. Just to make sure she put in a 6 mile run to see how she felt. So, the Czarina was running the half marathon with about 20 miles under her built over the course of the last 75 days.
I feared she would injure herself again but telling the Czarina not to do something is like telling the bull to stay out of the china shop. She was determined to wreck havoc on her body. She even took my bib which had my first name on it and covered it with her name. Nothing was going to stop her.
I got up and went out with her that Sunday morning. The weather was about as perfect as you could want for a long race. It was just a touch about 40 degrees at 7 a.m. with no wind and no humidity. I went for breakfast while she ran through the ritziest neighborhoods that Naples has to offer. I went back to the course about 10 minutes after the first Kenyan had crossed the finish line. I walked down the course with a camera in hand to see if I could catch her coming in, hoping against hope it wasn't going to end in a 3 hour walk. The Czarina came chugging along not long after the 2 hour mark. She was moving very fast but she wasn't limping and was pretty pleased with herself. She ran 2:15 which is a good 25 minutes slower than her best effort. And yes, she could barely walk for the next two days and has continuously complained that I should give her my race shirt. Fat chance!
As for my running, the calf started feeling great this week. I've stopped biking and the elliptical and started with some short jogs. I even got a MRI because of the never ending hip pain. A couple of my lower discs in my back are bulging, but not much, at least not enough to do anything about it. So it's back to running and hopefully I can rebound for a decent March 5K before the heat sets in. At least the Czarina is running again and maybe, just maybe, will do a little more racing.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Alan Raised a Cain
What a week plus for the sport of track and field in the United States. Mary Cain and Galen Rupp are off on a record setting tear. But I can't help but believe none of this would be happening were it not for a tremendous trio of runners that set the high school scene on fire at the start of the 21st century. Alan Webb, Dathan Ritzenheim and Ryan Hall made all of what we're seeing now on the American distance running scene possible.Now news surfaced this week that Alan Webb is stepping away from the track, leaving behind a career that saw incredible highs, but oh so many heartbreaking lows. Webb is going to become a triathlete, not a far-fetched idea given the fact that he was a top flight swimmer before he turned to track.
Webb broke Jim Ryun's legendary high school record in the mile in 2001, shattering a record that had stood for 36 years. He followed that with an American record for the mile in 2007. But for all the success, he never could harness his potential on the championship stage. His range was stunning. Webb ran a sub 1:44 800 and 27:34 for 10000 meters. Only Olympic gold medalist Said Aouita of Morocco ever showed that kind of range.
Least we forget Ritzenheim has made two Olympic teams as a marathoner and is one of only 4 Americans to break 13 minutes for 5000 meters. Hall became a sensational marathoner after college setting an American record for the half marathon along the way.
As good as these three runners were as professionals, all three could never reach the brass ring. Webb's career was a roller coaster. Ritzenheim could never avoid the injury bug, costing him some of his prime years as he fought time after time to come back. Hall was much like Webb. He couldn't decide on a coach and made the worst mistake any runner can make when he decided to coach himself.
And now we have a stable of great American distance runners from the 800 to the 10000. Galen Rupp is just one of a whole range of men from Matt Centrowitz to Nick Symmonds who can boast championship medals. Rupp took down the American 2 mile record Saturday night to go with the 5000 record he took the week before.
The same night Rupp broke the 5K mark Cain set a world junior mark for 1000 meters. Then Friday night she came with a tenth of a second of the world junior record for the mile running 4:24.11 Even with those stunning marks this high school sensation must play second fiddle to Jenny Simpson who can claim two championship medals.
Hold on tight, we're in for a wild indoor season.
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