New Olympic Sports That I Would Like To See

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I know you’re all heartbroken. I haven’t had frequent access to a computer for a while (my laptop fried it’s motherboard), but here’s a short post to make up for it for a little while:

let’s face it, the olympics are awesome, but who really wants to see eleven trillion synchronized diving events? i say we get rid of a few of those and add at least a couple from the following list of things that i thought of while at work instead of being productive.

– ultimate frisbee — because then i could tell everyone i’m training for the olympics during pick up games

– ashbourne royal shrovetide football — look it up. its one of the best sports you’ve never heard of.

– the backwards 100m dash — it would be EPIC. let’s see usain bolt prance around after looking like an idiot for 100 meters.

– backwards 100m hurdles — hilarity would most definitely ensue.

– beer pong — it’s the best of the beerfest events, so the real olympics should just adopt it

– tethercat — it’s just like tetherball, but with an angry, wounded cat tied to a string. trained athletes punching a cat? sign me up!

– tug of war — not really all that crazy, but come on, you know you’d watch.

– equestrian diving — also comes in synchronized and i’d actually watch it.

– chainsaw juggling — last one standing wins! makes it to the semifinals!

– that one sport the aztecs used to play waaay back in the day — complete with human sacrifice! don’t end up in the loser’s bracket!

– duck duck goose — needs no explanation

– competitive stripping — because you need to draw in the male demographic.

– summer olympic hockey — let’s see syd the kid skate on WATER!

– competitive WOW — because even the geeks need hope to get into the olympics.

– calvinball — i would win

– competitive lying to small children — another sport i would dominate

– staring contests — i dont know why, but i would find this horrendously compelling

– iron chef-off — it’s already an amazing tv show, imagine if the stakes were a gold medal!

got any other suggestions? add in the comments.

My fast is better than your fast, their eleven is better than our ten

Well this morning was a tough day for the American Men’s Soccer team.  I’m still not over it.  I’m sure the players are bummed too.  I felt I needed to write my thoughts out before I was gonna get over this one.

I am not at all in any way disappointed by America’s PERFORMANCE.  I am disappointed with America’s RESULT.  They played hard.  They played with heart.  They gave it their all.  They left nothing on the field.  Yet it just wasn’t meant to be.  Were there mistakes?  Yes.  Did we have a hard time because we had a TOTAL of 4 defenders on the roster and played Maurice Edu at centerback?  Yes.  Did Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley make what were dumb plays and hurt the teams chances?  Yes.  Did Orozco make a stupid decision this morning and hurt the USA bad?  Yes.  Did the coaching staff use a poor lineup in my opinion?  Yes.  All that said, these are very young guys out there.. my age.  They make mistakes.  I don’t care about that so much… I just want to see you work hard and give it your all. I saw that.

It just bums you when you see them work hard and know they were OH SO CLOSE to making it.  Stuart Holden’s inability to make the game 3-1 either via a shot or pass against Netherlands.  Then the foul and the free kick that tied it.  Orozco’s foul.  Even being down a man the USA gave Nigeria ALL they could handle.  They were gassed.  It was never more evident than on Nigeria’s second goal. Yet they didn’t give up.  They pushed on.  They got a PK and Kljestan converted.  Then a late free kick gave the USA a great chance and they headed it off the crossbar.  Just not meant to be.  Sometimes things just don’t go your way.  This tournament was one of those times.

It was good experience though.  These guys are the future of USA Soccer, and the future is bright.  These are talented players, many of whom have alreay begun playing at a high level in Europe.  If they continue their progress some of these guys will become key members of the 2010 World Cup Team, and a lot of them will be big players in the 2014 Team.  This was a big opportunity for them, and they didn’t take advantage… but I think it will help build this team and prepare them for what will be a much bigger stage someday.

I do feel very bad for Adu and Bradley.  Tough to miss the final game due to cards.  I wonder if maybe we could see them play in the 2012 Olympics in London?  Being in Europe, maybe FIFA will find a way to make it easier for international overage players to play in this tournament…. I would like to see them get another chance to do what they couldn’t this time.

Rob Stone likes Omaha’s Bowling Fans

From an interview with Unprofessional Foul, ESPN jack of all trades man, Rob Stone said this…

“Where’s your favorite bowling lane? Tulsa, Oklahoma?

Thunder Alley in Omaha, Nebraska. Seriously. Great fans and a new center. Yes, I can now name my favorite bowling centers around the country. Also enjoy Red Rocks in Vegas, Medford, Oregon, and Fountain Valley, just south of L.A.”

Rob is the play-by-play man of the PBA.  So I imagine he’s talking about the events hear.  Very cool.

The best moment of Rob’s career so far… well I don’t have the video of that… just the screenshot. 

Here’s the video of another great stone moment though.

Thoughts From a Trip to the Dentist

So I went to the dentist yesterday, and a few things struck me.

First of all, my dentist now has those LCD TV Screens over your chair. Now, instead of talking to a human, you can watch TV while your exam is going on! Not that talking to your dentist is the most practical (with their hands in your mouth and all), but at the very least an attempt at small talk makes me happy. Maybe I could bring a friend who knows me really well, and they can talk to the dentist about me? That’d be cool. But no, now the dentist is just like sitting on the couch. Except instead of stuffing cheetos and root beer into your mouth, it’s the dentist’s (I mean dental hygienist’s?) hands and tools.

Secondly, how hard must it be to pick up your dental hygienist? You come in with a dirty mouth (use Orbit to clean it up!) and she goes to work on it. Then you try and pick her up, after she’s seen that!?!?!? This seems nearly impossible to me. She’d have to be so disgusted with you after seeing your teeth, that she’d never want to again. Maybe if you have REALLY good teeth you could do it… maybe. My advice would be to go to another dentist first for a good cleaning. Then come to your dentist and make your move. Note: I wasn’t thinking of picking up my dental hygienist, this just crossed my mind while in the chair mindlessly bored because I passed on the TV and she wasn’t talking to me.

What’s the Point?

This post is more or less inspired by these two articles… and not at all like my normal posts.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_crisis_of_attention_and_intention

and

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1155

In summary, they talk about our attention, and how we diffuse it across so many things and don’t even pay attention to the things that matter.

There is a man who went back to see a professor he loved teach again, and was shocked at the students browsing the web during class. He sent the class this letter ,”I understand that your minds move quickly and we are all impacted by a fast paced culture, but do you realize the horror of shopping online while Dalton describes…mothers throwing their children into a well to avoid a barrage of bullets? What are you doing? There comes a day when we must become accountable for our own learning process…Take it on. This is your life. What is the point of neurotically skipping along the surface when all the beauty lies below? Please seize the moment and listen deeply to Dalton’s final lectures. Close the computers. Stop typing madly and soak in the themes he develops…Learning is an act of creativity, not mind-numbing, tv watching passive receptivity.”

I love what Mohler says, “This is good advice for us all, regardless of age. We are all living distracted lives that promise only to grow more complicated and distracted in years ahead. The discipline and stewardship of our attention is a matter of great and unquestionable urgency.

Join the revolution and refuse the seductions of the mind-numbing allure of all things digital — at least long enough to think a great thought, hear a great lecture, enjoy a quality conversation (with a real, live face-to-face human being), listen to a great sermon, visit a museum, read a good book, or take in a beautiful sunset.

People who cannot maintain mental attention cannot know the intimacy of prayer, and God does not maintain a Facebook page. Our ability to focus attention is not just about the mind, for it is also a reflection of the soul. Our Christian discipleship demands that we give attention to our attention.”

The first thing that this impacts me with is my tv viewing habits. I’m not gonna act like I watch a lot of TV. I didn’t watch a single series this spring. I watched some of American Idol, but not much. I find myself wanting to watch Lost though. Heard it’s a great show. I’m sure it is. Yet, what’s the point? Will it really make my life that much better if I’ve seen Lost? 81 episodes. At 40 minutes each, that’s 54 hours. more than 2 straight days. Think of what I could do with 54 hours. How many things can I do that have much more significance. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have fun or watch TV, but it’s good to think about what we watch and how much. 54 hours hanging out with friends would provide much better memories, and probably be much more profitable. I follow few shows heavily right now. 24 and Prison Break. The Office (though I didn’t see a single episode this season and surprisingly didn’t feel my life was missing something). I probably spend more of my time watching sports, which we all know is my great weakness and struggle. The same can be said of that though. Who really cares who wins between the US and England in the soccer game tomorrow? Is spending 2 hours watching that game really going to be better for me than hanging out with a friend having a great discussion, or helping someone out who needs a hand?

I hope this inspires you all to think about your media consumption and attention habits, and to think about what the point really is and if it’s worth the time you might spend on something that will impact your life so little.