At about noon yesterday during the Vikings-Steelers game on Fox, the local Phoenix affiliate, Fox 10, ran a promo for their sports show, featuring Jude LaCava.
LaCava: "Coming up on Sports Wrap Up Tonight (or whatever the exact title of the show), it's the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. We'll preview the matchup, and blah blah blah..."
Nice and accurate, except for one problem...this was a good five hours before the first pitch of Angels-Yanks ALCS Game 6 was scheduled to be thrown.
So either someone at Fox 10 has a sports almanac telling him the participants of the next 50 World Series that he traveled back in time to give himself, or Jude LaCava didn't want to come in on a Sunday so he recorded recaps of several different versions of things that could happen.
I'm reminded of the old SNL skit where Dana Carvey plays Tom Brokaw, and Brokaw wants to go away for the summer and has to record all kinds of news stories with crazy scenarios, just in case. "Former President Gerald Ford dead today...mauled by a circus lion in a convenience store."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Pro athletes to the rest of us: "Don't try this at home."
Something I don't recommend is timing yourself in either the 100 meters, or 40 yard dash. You'll only be disappointed to find that you're a lot slower than you think you are. It happened to me this fall, as I began getting ready for what I vaguely call "Sports Season" - the time in Arizona spanning approximately mid-October to late-March, when people can actually perform physical activity outdoors, including sports if they care to organize them.
I felt pretty good going out to my local Community College track and field facility to time myself. I even felt fast as I tore up the track. I looked at my cell phone (it has a stop watch function - fancy!), expecting a 100 meter time in the high 11s or low 12s. (Not in the 10s though - I'm not that delusional.) Then I saw it: 14.2 seconds. What a wake up call. In fairness, it was my first sprint in many months, and I have since gotten my 100 time all the way down to 13.5. But man, that pales in comparison to people who run fast for a living. I'm not even going to publicize my 40 time, but rest assured, it's slower than any NFL lineman.
My immediate reaction was to be embarrassed and disappointed, but then I realized a few things that made me feel better. One, NFL players are among the best athletes in the world. Two, even the 300-pound linemen are fast; they only appear slow compared to the breathtaking speed of the running backs, receivers, defensive backs, and most linebackers. Three, these men's whole existence revolves around being fast. It's their career. Of course they are genetically gifted, but they also devote their livelihood to sports. If any of us were put in a scenario where we could quit our jobs and just focus on running the 40 for a while, I'm sure we would all get a little faster.
So, this Sunday when I settle in to watch football, I'll be reminded of just how wide the gap is between professional athletes and the average guy. And I'll just be satisfied to be as fast as the friends with whom I play sports.
I felt pretty good going out to my local Community College track and field facility to time myself. I even felt fast as I tore up the track. I looked at my cell phone (it has a stop watch function - fancy!), expecting a 100 meter time in the high 11s or low 12s. (Not in the 10s though - I'm not that delusional.) Then I saw it: 14.2 seconds. What a wake up call. In fairness, it was my first sprint in many months, and I have since gotten my 100 time all the way down to 13.5. But man, that pales in comparison to people who run fast for a living. I'm not even going to publicize my 40 time, but rest assured, it's slower than any NFL lineman.
My immediate reaction was to be embarrassed and disappointed, but then I realized a few things that made me feel better. One, NFL players are among the best athletes in the world. Two, even the 300-pound linemen are fast; they only appear slow compared to the breathtaking speed of the running backs, receivers, defensive backs, and most linebackers. Three, these men's whole existence revolves around being fast. It's their career. Of course they are genetically gifted, but they also devote their livelihood to sports. If any of us were put in a scenario where we could quit our jobs and just focus on running the 40 for a while, I'm sure we would all get a little faster.
So, this Sunday when I settle in to watch football, I'll be reminded of just how wide the gap is between professional athletes and the average guy. And I'll just be satisfied to be as fast as the friends with whom I play sports.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Whew!
What a relief, as the Yankees escaped last night with a 2-0 series lead over the Twins. I think Joe Girardi made a couple of questionable managerial decisions in the game (waiting too long to bring in Rivera, and letting Damaso Marte anywhere near the mound in the playoffs), but those were masked by the dramatic, clutch homers by Rodriguez in the 9th and Teixeira in the 11th.
A sweep sure would be nice. It would remind me of the kind of confidence I had in this team in the late 90s when they'd match up with Texas in the first round and I'd say, "Yeah, they'll take care of these chumps, no problem." In first rounds since, they've either had to sweat it out (Oakland 2001, Minnesota 2004), or were outright upset by a lesser team (Anaheim 2002, Anaheim 2005, Detroit 2006, Cleveland 2007).
Of course, the Angels concern me bigtime, as the Yanks can't seem to beat them even when they are the better team, and the Angels are leading Boston 2-0.
So maybe this newfound Yankee playoff confidence will be short-lived. But, that's what makes playoff baseball so exciting - as Czabe says, it's more random than a game of plinko.
A sweep sure would be nice. It would remind me of the kind of confidence I had in this team in the late 90s when they'd match up with Texas in the first round and I'd say, "Yeah, they'll take care of these chumps, no problem." In first rounds since, they've either had to sweat it out (Oakland 2001, Minnesota 2004), or were outright upset by a lesser team (Anaheim 2002, Anaheim 2005, Detroit 2006, Cleveland 2007).
Of course, the Angels concern me bigtime, as the Yanks can't seem to beat them even when they are the better team, and the Angels are leading Boston 2-0.
So maybe this newfound Yankee playoff confidence will be short-lived. But, that's what makes playoff baseball so exciting - as Czabe says, it's more random than a game of plinko.
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