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Boydo’s Sports Bazaar / Yard Sale August 9, 2007

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I recently made a trip to my father’s house during which he asked me to go through some bins that he had kept which were full of relics from my childhood. He’s planning on selling his house, so he wanted me to salvage anything that I wanted to hold on to. Some of the items weren’t of much interest to me. Some others I wanted to keep, and a few I grabbed just to save from getting thrown into the trash. When I got back home to Pittsburgh I had one of those ‘I have too much stuff’ revelations and so I’ve decided to make a list of all of my sports memorabilia items that I want to put up for sale. I have owned some of these things since I was a kid, some I’ve picked up along the way thinking someone would appreciate them.
I’ve been thinking for a while that it would be fun to open a sporting goods store. Here’s the closest thing that I could come up with for now.
Send me an email or leave a comment if you’re interested in anything. Here goes:

MLB Starting Lineup action figures $1 each-
Kirk Gibson (Dodgers) sliding into base
Vince Coleman (Cardinals) sliding into base
Daryl Strawberry (Mets) at bat
Dwight Gooden (Mets) pitching
Carlton Fisk (White Sox, old uniforms) at bat

MLB Starting Lineup action figures $2 each-
Jose Canseco sliding into base while Alan Trammel tries to tag him out

MLB Bobbleheads $5 each-
Adam LaRoche - (Pirates- Red Alternate Jersey) finishing swing w/bat.
Jack Wilson - (Pirates Grey Away Jersey) at bat
[I believe I still have the boxes for these as well]

NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins late 80s black and gold jersey with nice embroidered Pens patch on the front. Size L $10

NFL
Joseph Addai (Colts) Home. Men’s small, sewn stripes on sleeves, silk - screened numbers. Brand new/Never worn -$30

Hines Ward (Steelers) Home. Youth XL (nearly Men’s small) sewn name and numbers, silk screen stripes on sleeves. Barely worn -$20

Nike Air Force - all black, size 10. I wore them 3 times, maybe. They just didn’t fit me right. -$15 pic pic

Misc-
U of Michigan Sweatshirt, Men’s Large. Grey Russell hoodie with “Michigan” in blue. $4

For the Love of the Game August 8, 2007

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 1 comment so far

How much abuse would you endure for $500,000?
As New York Mets apparel-clad Matt Murphy arose from a pile of scampering ‘fans’ to be the sole possessor of Barry Bond’s home run record-breaking ball, I wonder if he’s getting less than he bargained for.
A recent article posted on MSN’s Money Central claims that this much anticipated home run ball is most likely worth a lot less than expected. In fact, it would have paid off much more to be ball hunting back in the early days of the recent home-run era, as Mark McGwire’s 70th fetched a much nicer $3 million in its day.
$500,000 is a lot of money for a chance encounter with a flying object. Though, perhaps the New York Mets organization, in an attempt to get some ad time, planted Murphy at the ballpark after consulting a statistician to figure out the probability of the home-run ball landing in each of the outfield stands. They also might have had to train him in hand-to-hand combat to defend his prize from any others scrambling for it.
So, at $500,000 and after his ticket price (lets say $50), his hospital bills, auction fees, a beer and a hot dog, Murphy will be lucky to walk away with maybe $100,000, though my math has never been that good.
While the sum is pretty hefty, I know the feeling of being let down after attaining what is rumored to be a collectors item, only to face the reality of low demand; I have a Mark McGwire Olympic Rookie Card from 1985. Since I wasn’t anywhere near his 70th homerun ball, I remember toting this card to some local memorabilia merchants to see what I could get for it. By the looks on most of their faces you would have thought it was a #1 issue of Mcfarlane’s Spider-Man comic (which my hopes were also let down over).

I’m no Bonds fan, but I have turned the television on a few times hoping to see the record-breaker being hit. It was hard not to notice how many fans booed when he got up to bat. Though I have forgotten what its like to be surrounded by people genuinely excited about baseball (because I live in Pittsburgh) I find it hard to believe that a good amount of these people really cared whether he doped, or broke the home-run record or not. I’m not saying that these people don’t have ideals, but I do believe that a majority of the time, a majority of sporting-event goers are just looking for an excuse to get out on the town and have some fun with their friends. Booing is part of the game, and I wouldn’t doubt that a good amount of these booers are just booing to be a part of something, much like doing ‘the wave’ when it comes their way. “Hey, Bonds is up to bat. Let’s do “the Boo”, that kind of thing.
Despite the boos that are shouted Barry Bonds’ way, I’m sure the majority of those hecklers would gladly get trampled for half a million dollars.
And Bonds gets paid $20,000,000 to go through that abuse. Maybe if these fans are looking to bank on baseballs, should think about getting in touch with Balco and picking up a baseball bat. At least that way, they won’t have to get their teeth knocked out and their clothes torn.

Great Lakes July 31, 2007

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Well, the month started with me tossing my skepticism for the Tour de France aside in exchange for the thrill of its beauty and for my love of the sport. I don’t so much love the sport so much for the teams and the pros, as I do for the actual participatory elements of it from my personal cycling ventures. Furthermore, in continuation of my last article, I’m just glad that I didn’t commit more of my time to watching the events unfold on the television.
This was the first time in the last few years that I didn’t make a point of watching the last couple stages of the race. In lieu of all most of the top cyclists marching seemingly willingly into disqualification, I chose to take a long over due trip back up to my summer stomping-grounds of Northern Michigan. I use the phrase ’stomping grounds’ lightly as my stomps themselves were considerably lighter 15-20 years ago when I last visited the region. This part of the country is truly under-appreciated, but proved to be a valuable alternative to watching the 2007 Tour. I’m not one who is quick to write off an entire sport as “Dead”, but it seems that some of the world’s media is. If the sport actually is dead and/or some the athletes serving suspensions from their profession are looking for ways to spend their time, perhaps they should make a trip up to mitten’s fingers.
They’ll find lots of things to do that fit their interests. For instance, if professional cyclists are looking for a cliff to collectively walk off of, they could make their way to Pierce Stocking’s Scenic Overlook of Lake Michigan (at Sleeping Bear Dunes) where they’ll find a 450 foot drop from the top of a sand-dune to the crystal blue Lake Michigan.
If the athletes would like to really desert their fan base, they could try the Dune Climb. Once they scale the 150 ft face of the first dune, they’ll find nearly a mile and a half of barren land between the parking lot and the desolate shoreline on the other side.
If suspension from their sport is not enough of a wake up call, they could try a early morning dip in the crisp clear waters (water temps normally in the 50s) of Lake Huron. There are a few state parks that border the shore’s of the northern lakes and offer beach-side campgrounds.
There are even biohazard disposal bins in the campsite’s restrooms for quick, clean, and safe disposal of syringes, whether you’re a diabetic, or a blood doper.
A short ferry ride from the Upper Peninsula will take you Mackinac Island, a car free island where the only forms of transportation are foot, carriage and bicycle. If they’d really like to eliminate the sport from their lives, they can rent a bike and ride with some regular people who actually just like to get out and leisurely take in some of the sights and smells of the piney island for the an hour or two. I found its pretty hard to go that fast on a tandem bike, much harder than the racers in the tour make riding look, but then again, its not like they have any monkeys on their backs weighing them down or anything.
The region is a little out of the way. Its a bit of a drive to get there and I don’t really know any short cuts, so I’ll leave that bit up to the pro cyclists as I’m sure they can find an easier way to get there.
Closer alternatives to the Great Lakes from my home in Pittsburgh include McConnell’s Mills or Ohiopyle, which are nice, but I’ve gotten leeches there while swimming in the past. The Atlantic Ocean is closer as well, but jellyfish can sting and the salty water can blur your eyes if you open them while submerged.
I could have gone to the the ocean, or the nearby rivers, or stayed at home and watch the race, but there’s a chance that it would have sucked and that the self-annihilation of the cyclists would have shaken my focus on the beauty of the Tour and of France.
The only draw back to my weekend was the time constraints, but in some regards it helped me plan the trip more efficiently. I had to cram a lot into the couple of days, but luckily the plans unfolded and left me with enough time to take in the sites and environment at each stop.
It had been too long between visits to the Great Lakes for me. This country really does have a lot of great geography that is often taken for granted. I would recommend a trip up there to anyone else who maybe concerned that they’re taking their own lives and opportunities for granted.
Even if you’re not a fan of swimming or fishing, taking a dip in the cool water is always a good way to get yourself clean.

Say it ain’t so Vino July 25, 2007

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Wow. It has turned out to be a very dramatic July.
I remember last year when the Steelers were doing poorly, the Pittsburgh City Paper ran an editorial that explained why it was a good thing for them to have been losing. The idea of the article was, well since they Steelers season was turning out to produce more turnovers and disappointing losses than anything, we should use our Sundays to actually do something productive, like call our mothers, or read a book.
Lately its seems that the days are flying by quite quickly. Working a full time job, dating, blogging, playing video games- they all take a considerable chunk out of the week. I found myself telling my father on the phone the other day, that I was frustrated with time. I explained that I wasn’t upset with my life, I just wish that I had more of it.
The weird thing about being stationary, living in once place, seeing the same people, working the same job etc… is that the routine often makes it seem like life is standing still. Its almost like you’re walking in circles. It can be kind of hypnotizing. The truth is, routine actually forces us to to fill the free blocks of time in our day since they’re so defined, and since those blocks are filled, I usually find myself looking at the clock surprised when midnight rolls around. Its as if being busy with a full day is like running at the speed of light. When you reach that speed, the beams of light that are traveling in the same direction as you would seem motionless, whereas if you had no schedule your life would be more like an electron with an entire cloud to move about in, infinite places to be and infinite ways to get there.
Admittedly, I have been spending more time following sports lately than in previous years. I check in with a few of the major sports websites, and have my tv locked to either Versus or the NFL Network.
I spend a lot of my mornings and evenings trying to squeeze in a short 1hr bike ride or a pickup game of some sort with whoever is playing.
My cable went out the other day and it was actually kind of nice. I had already made plans to spend the day with a friend when it started, so it wasn’t that frustrating. I was hoping to watch the Tour recap when I got home Monday evening, but had no luck.
Instead, I cooked on Monday. I baked a loaf of bread, made a batch of cookies, a pot of chili, and some salsa.
I also started work on my Madden’s Matrix Manual. This is going to be a fantasy football league that also extends into a season of head to head Madden 08 games between me and 5 of my friends, I’m sure I’ll discuss more of this as the season unfolds…

Despite my lack of interaction with the pro-sports via my cable, the world of sports was not about to wait for me to tune back in. There are currently 4 major scandals threatening 4 major sports leagues.
The Vick dog-fighting allegations, the Donaghy NBA game fixing scandal, the Barry Bonds homerun record, and the seemingly endless thickheadedness of professional cyclists.
All of these are pretty damaging to the public image of the respective leagues that they’re threatening.
Professional sports are supposed to be a showcase for the potential of the human body. Every league attempts to stock its rosters with the best of the best and we get to sit back and watch how they match up against one another. The compelling element of professional sports from a spectator stand point is the human element of the games. Corruption is a very possible character flaw when the human element is at play. It just comes with the territory, but even though Darth Vadar is cool because he’s such a bad dude, he is part robot and you hope that Luke can beat him and the Emperor without giving into the Dark Side.
Now, Alexander Vinokourov just tested positive for blood doping. He was the guy that I was rooting for. I’ve watched him do some pretty great things on a bike over the last few years. He never won the Tour de France, but he looked so strong on a number of occasions, I was convinced that he would at some point. As soon as his test results were announced, he split from the Tour and his entire team followed him. Its unfortunate to watch him go in such a way. Followers of the tour were drawn in by his struggle. He wasn’t allowed to race last year because several of his team mates were suspected, then cleared (after the Tour 06 started) of doping. Then, this year, early in the race he wrecked and had to continue with roughly 60 stitches in his knees and elbows. I can only imagine how much it hurt to ride a bike up the Alps with stitches in your jointed limbs. It made Vino even more of an underdog with much to overcome and made me root for him even more. For the last week, his distance from the 1st overall position slipped a bit. His target, Michael Rasmussen seemed to further secure his lead, dueling with the Spanish Contador in the mountains, yet managing to finish first on several stages and further his lead. Just when everyone was getting used to seeing him in Yellow, facts surface that “the Chicken” neglected to follow anti-doping test guidelines by failng to notifiy the testing bodies of his whereabouts for a good part of the training season. Rightfully so, he’s been ousted from the Tour.
Now I don’t feel so bad about getting severed from the live feed of the Tour through my TV in the mornings. At least I was spending my time cooking and mini-golfing with friends instead of getting attached to hollow heroes.
It really boggles my mind as to how these athletes can keep making the same mistakes over and over. After their chances are nearly ruined by a race-wide scandal the year before, they go and repeat the same exact offenses the next time around.
Its not like cyclist haven’t been getting kicked out left and right over the last couple of years.
This behavior is making a horrible name for the sport and is disrepecting any riders who don’t dope, the fans who follow the sport, and the advertisers who choose to sponser the teams. Not very professional indeed.
Unless, that is, the sponsers know exacty what they’re getting into. Perhaps the NBA didn’t know about Donaghy’s betting, but it wouldn’t hurt them to pull some strings and make the great players look even greater. I recently read a fact that Michael Jordan’s career brought about $10,000,000,000 into the US economy. Surely, even if the French were frustrated that an American was winning the Tour, Armstrong’s career roped millions of Americans into following the sport. I’m sure more than a couple rich middle-aged men made their way to France to spend money and follow Lance’s tiremarks.
Who knows, perhaps Michael Vick was only breeding pitbulls so that he could finally beat a prize-fighting-dog breeded at Goodell-Blank’s “Commisioner Kennells” and make some of his money back. I heard a rumour that Art Rooney bought the Steelers back in the 1930s with some money he made at the track, so its kind of like the NFL was built on the very idea of betting on sport animals. Vick was just showing some respect for his roots and for the NFL’s heritage.
Still as I wonder if I should turn the television on while I eat my breakfast to catch up on the day’s TDF results, I wonder if its even harder for the riders to get on their bikes and suffer for a trophey that is becoming more and more tainted as each day passes.

(more…)

Dirty Bird July 18, 2007

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 3 comments

Bad Newz Kennels is the name of the dog breeding operation that Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons has been linked to on charges that stem from a dog-fighting circuit run out of one of his homes. Indeed, this is Bad Newz for Vick fans as an indictment by a federal jury cannot bode well for his 2007 NFL season.
Fortunately, I am not a Michael Vick fan. I think the NFL would be fine, if not better without him.
Vick is regarded a superior athlete, earning him a $130-million contract in 2004 and has dazzled spectators with his ability to scramble from the quarterback position unlike any other. Vick racked up 1039 rushing yards and 2 TDs in 2006. He’s also only managed to rack up 2 winning seasons in the 4 seasons that he played the majority of the games.

YEAR W L T PF PA
2006 7 9 0 292 328
2005 8 8 0 351 341
2004 11 5 0 340 337
2002 9 6 1 402 314
stats taken from espn.com

I wouldn’t mind not having to listen to commentators argue over his worth as a QB. It seems like most either ooze praise of his gifts or question his arm.
Vicks longest completed pass in 2006 was 55 yards. If Vick had such a great arm, its seems that he’s been able to pull off more long distance pass plays as a lot of teams have to play contain defenses to guard against his run.
He did throw for 20 TDs and 2474 yards last year, but nearly half of these TDs (8) and 1/3rd of the yards (780) were to one receiver, Alge Crumpler TE. Don’t let his name deceive you, Alge is not the kind of algae that might grow one the inside of your fish tank. This Alge is quite the opposite at 6′2″, 262lbs. In other words, he’s a pretty huge target and must be kind of hard to miss. Much harder to miss than I’m sure I will find images of Vick flipping off his fans and the Falcon’s would probably miss the hit to their salary cap that he inflicts each year. Granted, they might have to settle for a less exciting quarterback, even though part of Vick’s excitement value might have something to do with periods of the game where he’ll lull his fans to sleep with unfulfilled expectations and then break a 51yard run.
I admit, I’m a little biased. I had to watch the Steelers suffer an embarrassing OT loss to the Falcons last year. I also just don’t like a certain look that I catch in Vick’s eyes, which admittedly is pretty judgmental of me. He just seems like the kind of guy that is in if for himself. He also seems like the kind of person that would, I don’t know, not tell a sexual partner of his that he has herpes, refer to himself in 3rd person, not know what the word ‘exonerated’ means, and squander an opportunity at a respectable career with more money than most people could ever dream of in order to watch some pit bulls fight to the death . But, I don’t know the guy personally and I don’t know if he’s actually guilty. Apparently a federal jury believes that he’s guilty enough to indict. As someone who has become a fan of the game and the league, I’d rather watch a hot shot from a rival team who can back up his talk, stay out of silly trouble, and not hold the commissioner or the league and its fans in comtempt.

Mob Music July 11, 2007

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Okay. So, I’m pretty much full fledged back into the Tour de France now. I bought the official ‘07 guide magazine, though the sales team from my full-time job at an internet media delivery company declared magazines to be dead. I must have door to the afterlife somewhere in between the office and my apt. If I wasn’t working all day long, I would probably watch most of the day’s stage. Instead, I’ve had to handle the abbreviated stage recaps, or the online updates. Much like my interaction with the Tour, my actual riding time has been truncated ( a popular term in internet media ) due to the limited amount of free time in the day.
The weekends are usually a little different. Last Sunday I went for ride that took me through one of Pittsburgh’s public parks, Highland Park. Most of the time when I ride there its in the morning hours, and so its relatively calm. This past Sunday that was not the case. The streets that wind through the park were packed with cars, the picnic gazeboes were packed with BBquers, and the pool was so crowded that you probably could have gotten away with mainlining heroin in it due to the confusion.
The entire scene looked like a mix between an Pyrenean stage in the Tour and the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” video. However, instead of Will Smith’s “little somethin’ to break the monotony” I heard Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” leaking out from one of the passing boomboxes.
Now, I’m a little late on the Gnarls Barkley bus. For better or for worse, I tend to avoid something I hear more hype about, before I actually hear it for myself. Over the last week I’ve been listening to Gnarls Barkley quite a bit. Aside from the acclaimed production and the catchy melodies, I admire the the adventurousness of the lyrical subject matter. The Allmusic guide had this album categorized in the “Rap” genre. Now, I consider myself a fan of Rap music. I had Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” when I was 10 and its been one my favorite albums ever since. I still tune into Wamo and went clubbin’ last year in Myrtle Beach.
I would argue that most popular rap music, like most other popular music, is not very introspective. When I tune into the modern Hip-Hop and R&B radio station most of what I hear the artists singing about is clubbing, partying, sex etc…
Most people who are tuning into the radio are probably doing so on their way to work, or while they’re at work (or in my case, while I’m cooking in the kitchen) and probably don’t want to take the time to really dig deep into themselves and analyze their lives while navigating construction zones on the expressway, or the Whole Foods parking lot for that matter.
I actually heard Gnarls Barkley a lot throughout the past year, but didn’t even realize it was them. In fact, I purposefully avoided even finding out what their music sounded like. The name Gnarls Barkley and the pictures of them posing in Napolean Dynamite gear were turn offs to me.
But their music is actually good. Cee-lo’s voice possesses a rare sound in modern Hip-Hop and R&B. Its a very sweet, yet powerful and spiritual sounding voice. Despite “Crazy”s steady beat, the mood of the song is predominantly melancholy. The tone switches from minor to major and back, much like someone who has the resiliance to make it to the end of the war, by keeping faith that life may be good again even though they’re buddies have been gunned down.
Cee-Lo comments on the peace achieved by losing his mind in the line there was something so special about that place/leaving your emotions at an echo/with so much space. The reason he loses his mind is that he ‘knew too much’. I presume that he is referring to the idea of thinking too much on life. He is one who is disappointed with complacency. He has hopes, but has been let down by others or himself.
Some of the other songs on Gnarls Barkley’s album “St. Elsewhere” address issues like self-doubt and identity. The song “Just a Thought” states “Why is this my life?”/ Is almost everybody’s question and is followed by the very honest but heavy hook And I’ve tried / Everything but suicide / But it’s crossed my mind. In title track from the album, Cee-Lo tells us that he packed a few of my belongings /
Left the life that I was living Because as long as I’m not there / Anywhere is St. Elsewhere. Once again he’s abandoning the life that was not fulfilling to him.
It is my hope that those who may have written people who attend public sporting events off as members a mindless mob will reconsider their judgement. Yes, occasionally sports fans succumb to hometown pride and bias when their team is attacked, and yes these may be the same fans that wyle out when the Rednex version of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” blares over the stadium PA. However true this may all be, I’m almost certain that these are the same fans who wyled out to “Crazy” over said PA at some of the Penguins and Steelers games that I attended last year. It could be true that these cotton-eyed-howdowners mistook “Crazy” for being an anthem to ‘go crazy’ and dance like a fool. It could also be that the stadium sound man was crying out for help. I like to think that these fans enjoyed hearing such a good song pour out over the enormous arena sound-system because they have passion and conviction. They have the same passion for their lives and their heroes (my heros had the heart to lose their lives out on the limbs / and all i can remember is i want to be like them ) as they do for a Georges Laraque fight or a Joey Porter homophobic slur. I think that these fans just like to celebrate this passion by downing $7 beers, heckling opposing team’s fans and calling for their players’ blood like any other introspective human being. But maybe I’m crazy …Possibly…

Tour de Tap July 7, 2007

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 2 comments

Like so many hipsters in their 20s, I fell into bicycling a few years ago.
I suppose that like a lot of Americans I was roped into the hype of the Tour de France during the Lance Armstrong era as well.
My bike is my primary source of transportation, so it has a very practical and important role in my life. A couple of years ago I decided to sell my silver-plum mini-van and make the full commitment to the bike. It was during this time that I also was spending several months in the UK and Europe during the late Spring/ Early Summer on tour with my and. My girlfriend at the time was very involved with cycling tourism in France, so I was able to get excited over the sport/way of life with her. She had a crush on German cyclist Jan Ulrich. Ulrich was a larger cyclist who seem to power his way up the mountains, while other cyclists paced themselves. His lip was a barometer to his pain, the further it drooped, the more he seemed to be suffering.
My brother lives in Colorado and bikes a lot out in the front range of the Rockies, so we had something to bond over and compete against eachother with.
During my time in Europe in 2005, I decided to by a Tour De France Official Guide magazine. I read it cover to cover several times as my band was on tour and I was spending a lot of time cooped up in a van.
That summer I returned home to the States to catch the beginning of the Tour on tv and then made a trip back to Europe where I was able to watch a stage in a bar in Paris, and was able to see some of the preparatory set up for a stage in Toulouse.
Bottom line, I was very excited to watch the Tour that year. I was anxious to get home to my bike and to get some use out of my legs that had been cramped up sitting in a van for a few months.
I flew to Colorado to visit my brother. We watched the last stage of the tour, which was a time trial. Armstrong conquered his threatening rivals Ulrich and Basso, then retired. We then proceeded to start on our first annual Tour of the Front Range. He would take me out on some of his favorite rides, where we would often climb a few thousand feet over the course of a couple hours, descend and returned home.
The next year I again bought the TDF Official Guide Magazine and then paid my friend to extend his cable package so that I could watch the Tour at his apartment. Once again, I flew to Colorado where my brother and I expanded on our previous TOTFR (wow almost TFOTR) and watched the end of the Tour.
The 2006 season was a little different however. Not only was Armstrong no longer racing, but many of the staple racers had been kicked out of the contention before the race even started. Then, the winner, Floyd Landis, crushed his opposition in an insane superhuman performance, only to be accused of using banned substances to aid him in doing so. So I guess his performance was kind of beyond-human anyway.
Doping and the use of banned substances were not strange ideas to the Tour prior to the 2006 season. Armstrong himself was constantly under suspicion of doping. The 90’s had a few tours that were shadowed in doping controversy.
All of this kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. After all, what is the point of researching the teams and riders and picking your favorites, when the racers that you root for could have the carpet yanked out from beneath them if they test positive for doping?
A lot of the riders seem to put the blame on the Anti-Doping committees for giving the sport a bad name. The idea is that the frequency of the testing supposes that the riders are doping to begin with, and that suspicion discredits the athletes and the sport.
This idea is preposterous. Armstrong liked to argue that he was targeted because he was so dominant and most importantly American. However, the latest accusations have affect riders from all over the world. Unless France is trying to eliminate all international riders in an attempt to repopulate with their own countrymen and reclaim the sport. I would hope that the riders would support the idea of an attempt to keep the sport clean. Riders are testing positive. That is not the WADA’s fault that they’re cheating. The idea is to uphold standards put in place by the International Olympic Committee, and everyone is down with the Olympics, right? Perhaps they should be applauded for taking action. After all, look how much anger and frustration fans hold at MLB for not cracking down sooner on the “Steroid Era” of that game, with Barry Bonds an inch away from breaking the home run record.

The Tour kicked off today. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to tune in. I hadn’t paid much attention to who was racing, which teams even existed anymore and where the Tour would be visiting these year. I have a full time job now, so can’t really afford the vacation time to make my annual week long Colorado trip. I injured myself this winter and had to cut down on my cycling so that I could recover, so I hadn’t logged many hours training, and with no Tour of the Front Range to challenge my brother in this year, I had little motivation. I’m not dating the girl from France anymore and I haven’t been back to Europe since that summer of 2005.
I do, however, have cable at my new apartment and when I realized that the Tour had started, I decided to turn it on just to see how it made me feel.
Surprisingly, I was immediately caught up in the excitement. The first stage is usually a Prologue. Its a shorter time trial. Its a warm up of sorts.
This year’s stage : London. Perhaps that was the trick to hooking me back in. I spent most of my time in London in 2005 and was vividly reminded of some atypically sunny days that I was blessed with while there. During today’s Prologue, the streets were packed. I was switching back and forth with Live Earth, which was also taking place in London at Wembley. London is also anticipating the Olympics in a couple of years and the city seemed to radiate enthusiasm. Maybe that’s because Spinal Tap was reuniting, or maybe, on a more sobering note, it was out of celebration to be alive on the 2 year anniversary of the 7/7 bombings in the city.
And maybe this is the year to heal the Tour. I doubt it, but despite how difficult it is to have faith in the athletes themselves for being clean, this race still offers much beauty and suspense. First of all, it travels through England, Belgium, Spain, and of course France. Riders have to traverse the Alps, the Pyrenees and several thousand miles in between in the middle of the summer in the middle of 189 flesh and bone on metal traveling at speeds between 20 and 60 mph.
Most of what the accused doping does to benefit the riders is help them heal and fight exhaustion. Their bodies are put through a pretty hefty beating over the course of the 3 week/3547km race. While this may help them recover to race another day after climbing the Col du Galibier, it probably won’t help them keep a handle on their bike while descending down the same mountain at 60 miles an hour. It also wouldn’t help them much if they hit the guy’s wheel that he’s drafting off of. And most importantly, it won’t detract from the beautiful scenery of the French country side, or the intensity of the fans who congregate and swarm the riders on these sweltering climbs.
I’d like to think that the doping will fade, and that the complete potential of the race will be restored. But in the meantime I’ll hope that if all or most of the racers are doping, that the playing field is at least even. This kind of eliminates the whole point of cheating, if you think about it, so maybe its like nobody is doping. The only difference is that these riders risk living shorter lives as they make their hearts work in unnatural ways to pump their red blood cell rich gelatinous blood at 200 bpm. It also makes the thumb tacks and brandy tactics of the race’s early days seem so harmless and fun. Back then the riders rode fixed gear bikes and were only allowed to use replacement tubes and pumps that they carried on their person. Accepting help from others meant facing penalties.
So for now, I’ll keep tuned in. If it gets too disappointing, I’ll just have to flip back to my dvr-ed footage of the Tap’s “Big Bottom Girls” performance on stage with Metallica serving extra bass guitar duties, that shouldn’t fail me. Plus, I think the Pumpkins are on later.

NFL.GOV July 5, 2007

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 1 comment so far

It seems that these days, I’m often caught tucking myself into bed wondering what happened to the time.
I usually realize that the day was more or less productive and satisfying, but also that I spent a good amount of time playing Madden on Xbox, or watching the NFL Network in anticipation of the upcoming pro football season. Notice that I’m saying “the upcoming pro football season”. “The” in this case, being singular. However, aren’t there are other pro-football leagues? Yes there are and let’s count them:

AFL - Arena Football League (not to be confused with the American Football League that is now part of the NFL)
NFL Europe - just folded.

Am I missing any? Oh yeah…

AIFL - American Indoor Football League (not to be confused with the AFL)
and the
WPFL (Women’s Pro Football League)

Okay. So that’s 3 pro football leagues other than the NFL. I’m actually going to avoid the WPFL for the sake of my argument here. Its not my intention to discredit them, its just that they are “the ONLY women’s full contact football league promoted as a viable professional women’s football league”, so they kind of have cornered the female pro market and truly are in a league of their own. I guarantee I will talk about the WPFL in the months to come.
So, we’re back to 2 pro leagues.
Now, I’m sure that to Bon Jovi fans the AFL is pretty great, but aside from having horrible uniforms, the only compelling thing about these leagues is that they are indoor and that they probably won’t last that long. To be fair the AFL has been in the press a lot lately. There has been a lot of hype drummed up about it. They have their own video game, and ESPN has been covering some of the games. Pittsburgh has actually even been included in talks of cities that the Arena Football League has been eyeing to expand into.
That is a great idea, but only for people who make their living selling sports collectibles at flea markets and on Ebay.
Let us remember that Pittsburgh has had other football teams before. One of the teams in the 80’s was called the Maulers. Sure, they sold out their home opener, but they also lasted one season (1984). The Steelers did well that year, losing to Miami in the Conference playoffs, so the fans probably had some pent up football excitement that they needed to get out. From what I read, the Maulers were successful in helping Pittsburgh football fans exorcize these excess football stores from the Steelers season. The fans did this by throwing bottles at the team as they fled the field.
The Maulers were part of the USFL (1982-1986). The league had a tough time surviving (though since it was the 80’s their uniforms weren’t that bad) and actually won a law suit against the NFL claiming that the NFL had pressured network television into ignoring the young league. What did the USFL gain from winning this law suit? Well, they were awarded $1 in damages. That’s one dollar. Soon after, this amount was increased to $3. Then the league folded.
Seem unfair? Maybe. Maybe the NFL is just bad ass and you shouldn’t bother messing with them. I don’t know. The idea of challenging the Golioth is admirable.
Supposedly Mark Cuban has been thinking about starting up a rival league to the NFL as well. If I had his kind of money, I would probably do the same thing, except I would use that money to recruit some decent offensive linemen for my football team The Funkytown Flow so that we could compete weekly against our arch-rivals (our only rivals) The Sting. But that’s just me. And I would probably lose money as well.
Pittsburgh actually has an indoor football team, the River Rats. I was going to go see them play, but I forgot to once I couldn’t get any of my friends excited enough to go. They’re located in Belle Veron, PA, which is somewhere near Pittsburgh and they play in the Ice Garden.
The point of these indoor teams, is that they can play in a controlled climate, year round. So when the NFL season is over (which it never really is anymore) pure fans of the game will theoretically want to go see football. So, the AFL and NFL Europe (recently folded after 15 yrs remember) provide that in the spring and summer months.
If you want one fan’s opinion, I kind of like the offseason. Pittsburgh also has an awesome hockey team called the Penguins. Their season ran into April of last year and into the playoffs. They have one of the youngest most exciting teams in the NHL and Pittsburgh (a solid hockey town) even had trouble keeping them around.
When hockey season ends, baseball season starts. If you know Pittsburgh, you know we love to pay to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates lose in our pretty ballpark by the river. So, the next few months following the hockey post season are kind of booked up.
Then, when Pirates season ends (whenever the end of MLB regular season ends, if not slightly before) Steeler season starts.

If I’m lucky, I get to go to a couple Steelers games a year. My friends Phill, Gregg, and I try to go to Cleveland to see the yearly turnpike-rivalry game (Browns vs Steelers).
Sometimes my friends take me to a game at Heinz Field if their dad doesn’t feel like using the season tickets that he’s had since the 80’s.
When this happens, I get to go down to the stadium and watch a team who has awesome uniforms (which have barely changed in the last FORTY years) do what they do.
The Steelers bear a few intriguing elements that keep my attention. They are a good team. They’re not a great team, but they usually compete well. There are always some changes that come within the organization that breed some uncertainty. This uncertainty breeds suspense.
Its comes with familiarity of the team. If you know the team, you notice the change and you try to adjust to be in tune with it.
All of these things come from having history with the team. History; Its the one thing that the NFL monopolizes. I’m not sure if you could sue them for that. They have been around for decades. Some of these teams have been around for generations. The others, well, they most likely have bad uniforms as well, but they do bear the NFL logo and with that comes the affiliation with the other teams.
The Cleveland Browns aren’t even the real Cleveland Browns anymore, but I like to forget about that when I go get heckled in their town.
If the money is there, then go for it. Build and expand your rival pro football leagues. But remember that while each generation’s attention span gets shorter, their memories of the NFL run longer, and that will most likely keep your league living on a prayer.