Limp Picks and 80% Polling

“If you can do it drunk or in somebody’s basement then it ain’t a sport” says Dave M.  Thus tiddly winks, ping pong and Twister are not Olympic sports.  Neither is that stuff women do with swirly ribbons on a stick. Or the synchronized ball juggling they do in tutus.  But for some strange reason, the international sport of baseball is not an Olympic Sport.  Probably because Samaranch and his caudre of European aristocrats who choose Olympic sports dislikes baseball but likes to watch the girls in tutus. 

Where did they come up with all the synchronized junk?  Next thing it will be synchronized hammer throw.  Mandatory deduction if you hit your buddy with the ball like Laurel and Hardy.  Speaking of hitting balls, I sure hope Carmello Anthony recovers.  I guess it is the Scandinavian in me that thinks every team needs a berserker just to keep the other side from going overboard.  You know, some guy who has been to Afghanistan and has PTS trouble controlling his violence when threatened.  Just sit him down on the end of the bench and don’t let him in the game, but when Carmello bellows, and the benches clear, he starts breaking arms.  They actually have these guys in the NHL.  It is a given that they will get kicked out of a game, but it sure keeps the threshold for a fight high. If you want to keep all your teeth. 

Don’t you just love the press?  They gave Lolo Jones a hard time for getting fourth after she hit two hurdles.  Of course, this criticism comes from some bloke who couldn’t run a dash alongside the woman as she does hurdles.  And then everyone was flipped out that Gabby Douglas didn’t win beyond her All-around and her Team Championship golds.  This isn’t hard  to understand.  This isn’t rocket science.  She has good days and bad days.  Just like Babe Ruth who once hit 4 homers in a game and once struck out 4 times in a game.  Same guy.  That’s why they call it a ‘game’.

As I was saying, I’m a racist.  That women’s 4X100m relay was fantastic.  I don’t know if most people realize how fast they were. 40+ years ago when I was in high school, I trained with Becky Davis of Winfield who was trying to qualify for the Olympic 400m.  She was 22 and all business.  We were both mid-53 sec. runners.  What you usually saw in women’s world competition were times that were about what the state track meet for HS boys ran.   But the Olympic women this year set a new world’s record of 40.8 sec., almost a second faster than the old record.  (Men run mid 37’s) That is 10.2 sec./100m for each or low 9.2 for 100 yards.  That’s faster than high school boys. Or another way of looking at it is that if, in my prime, I had raced my 400m against this crew I would have finished about 125 m behind them.  Meep, meep!!   

In a few days it will be back to politics.  It has already happened to Steve and I.  We were out at the 101 Rodeo last two nights passing out 300 bottles of cold water each evening.  Favorite events as follows.  The lady in the McCord area, who we tried to help with a letter, who was scared her house would be flooded in a rainstorm runoff from a new commercial project, was visited by that company's representative, and we hope they can come to an agreement. She came up to Steve and gave him the hug of the year.  The Kiwanis volunteers who were directing traffic and tickets were supplied from our stock of water and were most appreciative, many of them sending greetings.  And when Steve had to go address the Tea Party and take a time-out, daughter Amber came to help.  She was terrific telling the little kids to vote for her dad in a few years.  All the parents laughed and beamed.  Steve of course never runs out of people to greet and listen to.  Some lady asked if the water was cold.  Steve playfully grabbed her arm with his ice cold hand first.  Big yelp of surprise. 10 people came in a bunch and we managed to hand out 8 bottles of water.  Only two guys acted way pissy--Democrats.  Steve noted this poll shows we are going to win 80% of the vote.  One more night and a parade.