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.