Sympathy for The Cleve? Yes, actually.

Before both of my followers immediately send me hate mail for my constant berating of Cleveland, maybe they should read this first. I actually feel sorry for the city. LeBron James, born and raised in Akron, chose to leave the Q to be a member of the superstar studded (and ribbed) Miami Heat. Let's start from the beginning of the whole mess:
First up ESPN: LeBron chose to have Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh give their announcements a day before his so that he could have the spotlight. ESPN more than obliged to televise this spectacle. I've always had the opinion that ESPN should be a little more sports reporting and sporting events and a little less opinion (sorry Tony of PTI, not Wilbon, though, and we'll get to that later). Their decision to televise "The Decision" was in poor taste and Jim Gray's decision to accept payment from one of LeBron's employees was unethical. He did not ask any particularly challenging questions and danced the around the actual question for more than 20 minutes when we were promised the announcement would happen in the first 10 or 15 minutes. However, as most of you know I do not have many flattering things to say about ESPN, so I'll just say that they are unethical and blur the line between news and opinion.
Next up Cleveland: The Fumble, The Drive, The Shot, Jose Mesa, and now "The Decision". As an avid anti-Cleveland sports fan, the first four of those misfortunes kind of made me grin at the misfortune of three of my least favorite teams. However, this one did not. I did revel in the fact that LeBron would not be back and we would have to "Witness" something else for awhile in Cleveland like Candy Armed Kerry Wood, Cougar Hunter Delonte West or Super Hero Colt McCoy. What LeBron, and his army of handlers and advisers (all of which are younger than pretty much anyone reading this blog) failed to realize is that maybe, just maybe, if they waited until the absolute last minute to announce his Decision on free agency then Cleveland would not have an opportunity to pick up any other free agents. At roughly 9:10pm, someone, not LeBron, called Dan Gilbert and said that LeBron would not be back next year. At roughly 9:30pm, LeBron told everyone else the same thing. Not only did he leave his home team, he also totally screwed them. Dan Gilbert (who now probably regrets all his decisions), allowed one of LeBron's friends to be an assistant coach to make him feel comfortable, moved the practice facility 20 minutes closer to LBJ's home, allowed LBJ's friends to ride on the team jet, hired his personal masseuse, and, probably his biggest mistake, allowed LeBron to make personnel decisions. Say what you want about Michael Jordan, but the Bulls never allowed him to make personnel decisions. He was livid when they traded Charles Oakley and the next season they won the NBA Championship with Horace Grant at power forward. Unfortunately, and I mean that word, it does not look like Cleveland will dig itself out of the championship hole anytime soon. Side note: I do not want to see one Indians fan jump on the Reds bandwagon. I need a playoff appearance bad and your bad luck will only drag the Reds down.
Finally LeBron James: As I mentioned earlier, his role of assistant GM was probably one reason for their losses. Probably the biggest blow he dealt to Cleveland prior to July 8th, 2010 was his performance in Game 5 of the Conference Semi-Finals. It was almost like he was sending a message saying, "If I'm having an off night, we have no chance. I need better players". Kobe Bryant used to do this before they got Pau Gasol, but Kobe (who may or may not be a rapist) would do this during the 45th game of the season when it really didn't matter, not in the middle of the playoffs. LeBron is a kid, plain and simple. Anyone who watched "The Decision" realizes this now. He started off cocky then you could tell he started saying to himself, "Why exactly did I do this?" However, he was too far gone and threw in a couple of "I deserve respect" and "I gave them seven great years" as if the fans should be grateful to him for basically doing nothing for them. Well, he did get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals in 2007, that was awesome. Many of those close to The NEO already knew of his immaturity. His license plate reads: "KING OF AK" - AK meaning Akron. He is littered with tattoos saying "The Chosen One" and "The King". The entrance to his home in Bath, OH (close to Akron) has images of him etched on the outer walls and two busts of him at the entrance. He fired his agents a couple of years ago and hired his high school friends. There is nothing like having your millions managed by someone with a high school education. It's like "Entourage", except with Turtle taking Ari's place. No one has ever told him "no" or "bad idea". Sorry, Dan Gilbert, you were too late. Also, let's get something else straight. Jesse Jackson has done so much for the African American community, and that can never be overlooked. However, it is absolutely ridiculous to compare a multi million dollar basketball player to a slave. LBJ was paid for his services and in the end his boss was upset that he left and expressed it in, what I thought was a very clever letter to the fans. He got the Cleveland fans on his side before anyone could blame him for not doing enough. Back to point. LBJ has made more money playing 10 basketball games than me and all of family members will make in our lifetimes, combined. Slavery was a terrible part of this nation's past and playing a game should never, ever be compared with that. And the fact that the media did not say this same thing just disappoints me to no end.
Well, that's it for me now. Miami is now the New York of basketball. LBJ will always have to explain away the championships he will win because he couldn't do what Jordan did. Win them on his own. MJ was a winner, and he made people around him winners. They hated him for 48 minutes every night, but loved him at the end of the season. LBJ could not do that and apparently never will. Like I said, he's a kid. And what kid wouldn't want to go to Florida on a permanent vacation, eat yummy meals all the time, and play in the ocean. Welcome To Miami.

We're Getting the Blog Back Together

It's been awhile since I've done a post on here. Partially because I'd rather run and eat frosted animal cracker (cookies) in the evenings, but mainly because my wife has fabricated a sling that allows here to keep the computer in front of her for hours at a time no matter where she goes. Since my last post, a very fractured and disappointing musing on Tiger Woods' apology, probably because my 15 minutes of computer time had lapsed and I was getting pressured to stop trying to be Mark Titus, quite a bit has happened.

I went to my parents house for a weekend and slept on an air mattress with Jen and our dog (Harrison). Not as adorable as one may think.

I've ready 350 pages of "The Stand". Which is awesome so far, but I know that eventually it will suck like most Stephen King books. Don't read "Cell" by the way. It's retahded (in a New England accent).

I've watched 2 hours of the biggest circle jerk outside of ESPN's College Basketball Gameday television show (5 guys, really?) - The Oscars. We pay $9 a pop to watch these people act like someone else, then we have to watch them prance around like royalty in free clothes before telling them how awesome they are by giving them golden statues for being the best liars. Unless you're James Cameron, everyone indirectly called him a douche. By the way, Helen Mirren, you're not even Camilla Parker Bowles, much less Queen Elizabeth. Speaking of Ms. Bowles, how in the world did Prince Charles think she was hotter than Diana. British royalty kind of freaks me out. So do twins.

I ran 10 miles in 7 minutes/mile, and felt kind of old afterwards, which was not cool. I was planning on doing 12 -14 miles today (Saturday), but it's chilly and rainy. But, all of the frosted animal crackers (cookies) are gone, so we'll see how it plays out.

I started a Facebook page for my class reunion (being Class President seemed like a good idea at the time). I'm sure no one from South Point High School's class of 2000 has ever read this blog, but in case they do... Will someone please give me some feedback on a fall reunion?

Evan Turner hit a miraculous shot to beat M*ch*g*n at the buzzer yesterday (Friday). I, of course, was at work, but I had the espn.com GameCast open and refreshed it repeatedly until the final score came up and I simply stated, "What the hell?" outloud, to myself. My boss came over and was wondering if I had any questions about something (the guy has ultrasonic hearing). I just said minimized my screen quickly and said, "Nope, I'm good." Smooth.

We are going to a wedding today. A fellow Buckeye ChemE and former coworker is gettin' hitched in Dayton. Congrats Bobby. Life ain't all about phthalate catalysis and centrifugation of polymer exiting the bottom 180 of R202.

So there's an update. I know both people that read this will be thrilled.

Tiger Woods' Apology

This is about a week late, but I've been busy: In laws' last weekend, running in the evening, one late night at work, and most of all the Vancouver Olympics (i.e. Lindsey Vonn’s butt). But now it's time to weigh in on Tiger Woods' public apology. First of all let me start off by saying, he absolutely did not owe anyone other than his family an apology. And these talking heads on ESPN say how outrageous his acts were, yet cover up any controversy that surrounds any of their famous personalities. When former Mets GM and ESPN analyst Steve Phillips was ousted as having a multi year affair with a co-worker, he was quietly let go and no one on the network was allowed to discuss. Yet it's a mortal sin if Tiger doesn't apologize to some mildly overweight scratch golfer with a 15 handicap in Missouri?
I felt his apology was sincere and I believe he is truly sorry. That still doesn't make what he did right and if his wife leaves him and he is only allowed to see his kids on the weekends, then it serves him right. The way his apology was analyzed was also comical. I probably heard six “experts” give their opinions how sincere he was. Three said it was great and three said it was totally fake. Kobe Bryant may or may not have raped a woman, and he definitely cheated on his wife, but everyone in the sports media (ESPN) quickly forgot about that and fell back in love with him. America loves to pile on those in lofty positions and then loves to give them a second chance. So when Tiger shows up again and starts to light the courses on fire again we’ll all kind of forget about the Sex Rehab in Hattiesburg and love a resurrected champion.

A Football-less World

We have reached the dead time in sports from early February to early September where no meaning football games, college or NFL, will be played. So what's going on in the meantime? Let's take a look:

Daytona 500: Supposedly NASCAR is going to let the drivers "mix it up" more this year. "Rubbin' is Racin'" unless someone does it to Dale Jr., then they're "Cheatin". No other sporting event has its Super Bowl at the beginning of the season.
Rating: Pop in the DVD of the '03 Fiesta Bowl instead - 7 years later and it's still a penalty!

March Madness - Probably the most worthwhile sporting distraction. Mainly because Americans gamble away billions of dollars illegally in the hope that maybe, just maybe, Northern Iowa and Cornell will make it to the Elite Eight. P.S. Take a flyer on Ohio State, seriously.
Rating: Watch some basketball and DVR the "Lost" Finale. You won't get it anyway.

The Masters - This could be huge in 2010 if Tiger Woods makes his return from infidelity exile (John Edwards, anyone?). I totally think he's going to blow everyone out of Ray's Creek.
Rating: Give it whirl to see how many time Jim Nantz says, "Sex Addiction".

MLB Opening Day - As a Reds fan, April and May are always great, because there's a hope. Then June rolls around.
Rating: Skip it and watch the season finale of American Idol - There are 162 opportunities to watch the Reds and the Indians fall flat on their faces. Ellen Degeneres is a musical genius afterall.

NBA Playoffs - What's the only thing longer than the MLB season? The NBA Playoffs.
Rating: You can run a half marathon in the amount of time it takes to complete the last 2 minutes of a close game. So, yeah, watch "Whale Wars" or something.

The Winter Olympics - It only comes around once every four years. The Biathlon (a combination of target shooting and cross country skiing), curling (ice bowling?), and ice dancing aren't something you see on ESPN much. Let's be honest, if it doesn't involve Boston, The NFL, Chicago, or Mike Greenberg, ESPN doesn't show it.
Rating: Give it a whirl. Maybe Lindsay Vonn will wear a bikini on top of a 8,000ft mountain again.

Cleveland Here I Come

Well, I will be doing the Cleveland Marathon instead of Pittsburgh this year. The 18+ inches of snow Old Man Winter dropped on Columbus the past 5 days hasn't helped. Neither has the -8F (without wind chill) temperatures. It's tough to run 12 miles with spikes. So instead of taking in the wonderful sights of the City of Bridges or Still City or whatever, I will be running through Cleveland (two weeks after the Pittsburgh Marathon). Hopefully we'll run through East Cleveland in daylight so that my Asics won't get jacked. I just can't wait to see all the amazing landmarks in Cleveland: The Quicken Loans Arena (The Q), the four lane highway that is Rt 2, Cleveland State University Campus, and The Flats. So here's to Cleveland, I'll see you May 16th.
P.S. Please try not to have a fire burning on the Cuyahoga River, I'll have to run over it.

Green Day and the Grammys

So, 60 minutes into the Grammys and I have a few thoughts. Elton John singing a Lady Gaga song, classic. I watched the cast of "21 Guns - The Musical" perform with Green Day. When I was younger, Green Day was a punk band that played three chords and sang 2.5 minute songs, like "Basket Case", "SHE", "Geek Stink Breath", and "Minority". Then earlier this decade they released "American Idiot" and became political. Which is totally their right to do. I mean the main purpose of celebrity is to push beliefs out to us unfortunate middle-Americans. It is totally my right to take "Dookie" off my playlist, as well. I just wonder if they were up there singing the cast of "21 Guns - The Musical" and thinking, "Dude, we just totally sold out." Also, what's up Beyonce singing "You Oughtta Know" without Alanis Morissette? The Black Eyed Pea's performance made me miss the movie "Tron". Lucky for all of us, it will be re-made this year. Fergie's hot, but she's no Denise from Taco Bell.

JD Salinger

JD Salinger passed away yesterday at 91 years old. "Catcher in the Rye" shaped the way I viewed life as a teenager. Even though it was published in 1951, I could easily relate to the cynicism and alienation of Holden Caulfield. A couple of years ago, I went back and read it again, and it was just as good as I remembered, maybe more. Salinger was a private man, whose last book was published in the 1960s. He said he still wrote, but only for himself. He was a major recluse and loved his privacy. There are reports that dozens of stories were found in his residence. I hope those stories are never published.

Marathon Training

I've been considering a spring marathon this year. I've done one in the fall each of the last three years, but spring marathons are a bit of a different animal. They require the bulk of the base distance runs to be done in the extreme cold and with very little daylight. Right now I'm targeting the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 2nd, but we'll see. There is one two weeks later in Cleveland, but I mean, it's the Cleve'. Who really wants to run through scenic East Cleveland with a massive spring head wind? Plus the highlight of their race is running past the Cavaliers basketball arena (or what I like to call LBJ's Palace - another post for another time) and what the locals call "The Jake" (short for the Indians' ball park - Jacob's Field). "The Jake" is also a ridiculous nickname since Progressive Insurance bought the rights to the name. I do have to admit "The Prog" is not too great either. I think they should call it "The Flo" which is the lady's name in the commercials. Okay, back to running. I've been getting up at 5am to do my 5 - 6 mile runs, but the recent cold spurt and the subsequent ice on the sidewalks/road has caused me to turn to the treadmill. I've found that the easiest way to run on the treadmill is to vary the pace vastly and increase and decrease incline frequently. I have a 12 - 14 miler scheduled for this weekend and it looks like the weather will cooperate. If it goes well, then we'll see you in Pittsburgh in May.

Reggie Bush and West Coast Bias

I'm sitting here watching Fox (a wonderful sports network, kidding) canonize Reggie Bush for the New Orleans Saints. For those that don't know, Bush was a running back for USC from '03-'05 where he won a National Championship and a Heisman. In 2007 Yahoo! Sports broke a story that Bush's family lived in a multi-million dollar home in southern California rent-free that was supplied by an agent. It is 2010 and USC has yet to be punished. The NCAA is dragging their feet for some reason. I believe they are because USC is their flagship west coast program. If they take down USC in L.A., who is going to step up and be the class of the west coast? Oregon State? Stanford? or Boise State, a team that 10 years ago was making the jump to division 1-A football? It's obvious the NCAA doesn't want this to happen. One other interesting point about this surrounds Ohio State, of course. In 2002 Ohio State won the National Championship and Maurice Clarrett was the freshman stud running back. During the week leading up the NC game in Arizona, one of Clarrett's friends was killed. Clarrett asked Ohio State pay for his flight back to Ohio to attend the funeral. NCAA rules prohibited this. Immediately after the NC game, Clarrett left the locker room immediately and began a time in Ohio State football's history that most of us will not forget. Clarrett got into some legal issues, attempted to turn pro two years too early, and never played for OSU again. Clarrett did an interview with ESPN the Magazine (journalistic swill) and accused OSU of cheating. The NCAA launched a major investigation that led to no football penalties and a one year ban on men's basketball post-season play. ESPN had major egg on its face for publicizng an emotionally and mentally unstable Clarrett's opinions. Ever since that day OSU has received no love from Bristol, CT (home of ESPN). Then in 2007, Yahoo! Sports an admittedly minor player in sports journalism broke the Bush case, ESPN has yet to totally get on the bus for the accusations brought to light by Yahoo!. For 3 years now, nothing has come from this because of the NCAA's unwillingness to hurt it's only major football program on the west coast and ESPN's gun-shy attitude towards taking a shot at another major college football program.

Farewell Conan

A little imbalance?

So Tiger Woods, a golfer, made the front page of the New York Post for 13 straight days after cheating on his wife, surpassing the previous record of 12 for September 11th. John Edwards, a Senator and former presidential candidate, has a love child with the woman he had an affair with after he learned his wife had cancer and it's just below Jay Leno's return to the Tonight Show as far as newsworthy material.

It's Official

I have my own blog! Facebook, while pretty cool, was not completely awesome. The blog, however, is. The name is derived from a Bob Dylan song and album named "Highway 61 Revisited". I replaced 61 with 23 because that is the pipeline from southern Ohio to Columbus. What will we be seeing on here? Movie, Music, and Television musings. Ohio State and other sports opinions. Running insights will also appear. So enjoy, and invite other people to become followers.