My November 2012 Running Report

In November, my running mileage increased dramatically.  I easily topped my 100-mile goal with 136.84 total miles for the month.  My longest run was 6.27 miles, and I ran on every day, bringing my personal record running streak to 214 straight days of running.  During November, I participated in one race: Gainesville's Thanksgiving morning Turkey Trot, a 10K run held at Tacachale. 

I credit the cooler temperatures, along with easier access to a 24-hour gym, with enabling me to increase my running.   I look ahead to December, though, and see all kinds of obstacles laid before me that could inhibit my running.  But we'll see where the upcoming month takes me, one run at a time...

The Movie Lincoln: My Reaction

Thanksgiving evening I saw the movie Lincoln.  Here's my reaction...

I thought that, generally speaking, the movie successfully conveyed both the personality of Abraham Lincoln and his surroundings:  the tension involved in being a wartime president, a war inside his own country (as opposed to the trend the past several decades), and dealing with problematic elements within his own family life.  I thought that Daniel Day-Lewis, whose other movies I missed seeing, was wonderful and compelling in his portrayal of the sixteenth president.  On the other hand, Sally Field just looked like Sally Field pretending to be Mary Todd Lincoln.  Similarly, Tommy Lee Jones played firebrand Radical Republican congressman Thaddeus Stevens with (unintentionally) humorous results.  The African-American characters in the movie were one-dimensional holy paragons of civil rights virtue, making pronouncements and speeches left and right.  I get it: the focus in Lincoln was the waning weeks of his first term when he was pushing Congress to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a provision that would abolish slavery nationwide. 

The politics of the time, combined with the winding down of the Civil War and various sometimes colorful and obstinate personalities, are woven into the movie around the central character: Abraham Lincoln, of course.  I enjoyed the experience and feel I learned some history as well.  The only problem with presentations like this, though, is in determining which parts were history and which parts were fictional embellishments...

Planning on Longer Training Runs

I feel like increasing my daily running distance, and consequently my monthly goals.  Part of the reason for this may be the cooler, more hospitable weather.  Part may be the better access I have to a gym with a treadmill (this current one open 168 hours/week).  And part just may be that, dang it, I simply like to run longer distances!  In November, I am already running longer.

I'm not talking about a major change to much longer runs...just a mile more per day, more or less.  But sure, every now and then I'd like to do a long run...maybe a ten miler down some of the old course that I had devised a couple of years ago when I trained for the marathon.  I doubt that I'll ever return to marathon running or training, but something more modest like half-marathons is still a strong dream to look forward to...

Gators Go 11-1, Expect Sugar Bowl Berth

The final weekend of the regular season in college football has come and gone, and with mixed (but still overall favorable) results for the University of Florida.  The Gators, although ranked ahead of their opponent, cross-state rival Florida State, were listed as seven point underdogs to the Seminoles.  Florida, however, overcame the odds and beat FSU Saturday afternoon 37-26, virtually guaranteeing them a major BCS bowl game (probably the Sugar Bowl) and keeping them at least temporarily in the hunt for a spot in the national championship game.  But alas, Notre Dame, which had to lose to USC in the evening game to keep this hope going, played a good game and won 22-13.  This set up a title contest between them and whoever wins the SEC championship game this coming Saturday between Alabama and Georgia. 

My congratulations go out to Florida head coach Will Muschamp and the entire Gator team for this fine 11-1 season.  They certainly exceeded my expectations for them. 

Mathematics: The Art of Being Careful

Lately I have been reviewing some of the old mathematics that I learned (and subsequently forgot) in decades gone by.  I'm going chapter-by-chapter in the Schaums series, right now appropriately at a "beginner's" level for me: pre-calculus.  I have been making a daily routine of doing problem(s) from the book and am now on the fourth chapter.  The problems in the Schaums series are explained and solved, so should I have difficulty in one of them, I can read the solution and return to it, (re)learning in the process.  But besides becoming reacquainted with math, I have also found that I derive the same degree of pleasure from successfully solving a problem that I get from doing sudoku, kakuro, cryptograms, Jumbles, or other puzzles.  And in all of these, there is one overriding principle: in order to solve any of them, I have to be very careful in the steps I take!

As a matter of fact, I might just argue that mathematics in itself is the art of being careful. Back when I was in mathematics classes at school, careless mistakes in my assignments counted against me, but the teacher also usually gave "partial credit" if it appeared that I had grasped the general principles of the concepts involved.  Looking back on it, I think that was a mistake.  One cannot truly develop a skill in anything, especially mathematics, without making accuracy and mistake avoidance an absolute priority.  Carefulness must become an ingrained habit.  On the other hand, whizzing through problems and dismissing sections of instruction because they seem intuitively obvious are not only counterproductive: they are in themselves examples of carelessness!

Big Day in Football Tomorrow for Gators, Noles, Irish

Tomorrow afternoon Florida will play Florida State (football) in Tallahassee to essentially see which team gets to go to one of the major BCS bowls around New Year's.  Should the Gators prevail, they would most likely get an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.  I don't know where the Seminoles would go...it could also be the Sugar Bowl, against some SEC team like LSU, the Alabama/Georgia loser, or Texas A&M.  But maybe the winner won't go to one of these bowls, because...

Later Saturday night, undefeated and #1 ranked Notre Dame plays USC to finish out their regular season.  Should the Fighting Irish win, they will almost certainly play the Alabama/Georgia winner in the national championship game.  But should the Trojans pull off the upset, the other team playing for the title would be the highest ranked team left in the BCS polls.  And the consensus is that Florida, with a win against FSU, would be that team.  Florida State fans also entertain some hope that by beating UF, they would leapfrog in the polls over other SEC teams and Oregon to be in that exalted contest. 

Regardless of the outcomes tomorrow, both Florida and Florida State have had excellent seasons.  Will Muschamp and Jimbo Fisher are good coaches who know how to build competitive teams from the inside out, emphasizing control of the line of scrimmage.  The fans should support them both and be patient through the inevitably tough seasons that will crop up from time to time in the future...

Ran 10K Turkey Trot in Gainesville

This morning I ran the 10K Turkey Trot running race at Tacachale here in Gainesville.  Tacachale, formerly known as Sunland Training Center, is a spacious residential center for the disabled.  It is also gated, meaning that although the course I ran there today is wonderful, it is off-limits to me for training runs.  Still, I enjoyed this race, which I ran at my usual pace, finishing at 53:10.  The starting temperature was about 45 degrees with 80% humidity.  

Well, enjoying it may not have exactly been the appropriate word.  I actually felt pretty tired and out of sorts before the race, wondering to myself at the time why I was putting myself through such torture.  But the race itself came off pretty well...

I may not be in such a big hurry to enter any more races anytime soon.  I think it's a personality thing.  I by nature am a solitary runner and relish it that way.  I also don't feel that I have to prove anything to anyone.  I couldn't care less whether anyone thinks that I am a fast runner or not.  Plus, I don't care to spend $25-35 each race in entry fees, basically in order to do something that I could just as easily accomplish by stepping out of my front door and running down my neighborhood streets...

Companies Getting Too Political Against "Obamacare"

I have expressed my views before about the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature piece of legislative accomplishment during his first term in office.  Although I felt that health insurance reform was necessary and that everyone needed access to affordable health care in order to have preventive screenings and regular physician visits while not being denied service due to pre-existing conditions, I was disappointed with the final, signed bill for being too burdensome on businesses.  Other countries have a marked competitive advantage over us because they have lifted the burden of providing health insurance off the backs of business and put it in the proper place of a government-run operation, funded by (the taboo word) taxes.  But since we're not allowed to utter that awful word anymore in the good ol' U.S.A., except immediately following the word "lower",  the lawmakers had to mandate that the business community expand its obligations in this area.  So I sympathize a bit with the business owners and management.  But what has been going on recently in the media, this close following the 2012 presidential election results, is another matter entirely...

I am a little taken aback at the very highly politicized and publicized outcry against Obama by different businesses that depend on positive advertising and the general public's goodwill for their survival.  Companies like Papa John's, Dairy Queen, Applebee's, and Denny's, either through their centralized command structure or franchisees in various locations, are strongly coming out against "Obamacare", and in a very hurtful manner.  These companies apparently were gaining a competitive advantage over others for years by exploiting their own work force with poor benefits.  Now they have to own up and don't want to.  The Denny's franchisee in Palm Beach County, Florida has declared that his restaurants will add an "Obamacare surcharge" to be printed on every bill.  H-m-m...wasn't it Denny's who has suffered public scandal in different places for not serving blacks who came into their places for a meal?  I have an idea: let's just make it easy on Denny's and the other aggrieved companies:

FLAT-OUT BOYCOTT THEM!

I don't care whether the whiners are local franchise owners or not: they are benefiting from the parent company's name and product.  So the parent company needs to step up and assert themselves.

No more Applebee's, Papa John's, Dairy Queen, or Denny's for me.  Not that I've ever cared that much for Papa John's or Dairy Queen, but I have been a pretty good customer for the other two (especially Applebee's). No longer. Any other businesses want to join the list?  I'm ready to sign them up and spread the word against them...

Sixty-two million Americans just reaffirmed the presidency of Barack Obama, the first term of whom was marked by his Affordable Care Act, and these business people can't handle it.  I don't have a problem with price hikes; new laws often dictate such a necessary course of action.  But I will not play along with the political manipulation here.  I've had to put up with enough during the past election campaign!  So these people lost their precious election and didn't get their boy Romney in there to coddle them and suck up to their interests.  Ironically, had the business community wised up and supported the government-run single payer system being proposed a few years ago, they could have been relieved of health insurance burdens for their employees.  I say give all these babies pacifiers and put them on extended quiet time!

Florida Gators Still in National Title Hunt

Continuing along with the theme of my last article, the national title hopes of the Florida Gators football team are still alive.  I can't say that about many other teams, either.  The new BCS poll came out today and Florida is now ranked #4, behind Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia in that order.  If Florida should manage to beat cross-state rival Florida State next Saturday, then they will automatically move up at least one spot since (1) they would have beaten another top ten-ranked team, giving them a stronger strength of schedule and (2) Alabama and Georgia will play for the conference title, insuring that one of them would lose and fall behind the Gators in the rankings.  That would leave only undefeated Notre Dame, who would have to lose to Southern Cal on the road next Saturday in order for the scenario to give Florida a national championship game opportunity come true.  And should it happen, in all improbability, that they made it that far, UF would be facing another Southeastern Conference school, either Alabama or Georgia in that national championship game.

But they have to beat FSU next week to have any chance at all...

Gator Pigskin Title Hopes Still Alive

Today my University of Florida football team once again showed its inclination to plod on through unimpressively against opponents that it should have no trouble with whatsoever.  This time it was against small college Jacksonville State, whom the Gators defeated 23-0.  But although the victory was clear, the way Florida did it wasn't very awe-inspiring.  In fact, when you consider that they could only score one offensive touchdown the entire game, it gets a bit scary...

Still, amazingly, after four straight games in which they showed little beyond a second-division level of mediocrity, Florida stands at 10-1, is #6 in the BCS rankings, and has a chance to play in a major bowl should they beat #10 Florida State (on the road) in their final regular season game (good luck with that).  What is extremely amazing, though, is that after today's other major college games, they actually (believe it or not) still have a shot at playing for the national championship!

Before today, I said to others that for the Gators to get a shot at the national title, five things had to happen:

1: Kansas State had to lose
2: Oregon had to lose
3: Notre Dame had to lose
4: Alabama had to win out and beat Georgia in the SEC title game
5: Florida had to beat FSU

Well, numbers one and two incredibly came true as the top two ranked teams went down to upset defeats tonight.  That leaves Notre Dame as the only undefeated team (not on probation, sorry Ohio State) in the major college football pool.  They could, though, lose their final game to USC next week (in Los Angeles, hooray)...well, maybe, USC isn't all that good.  Alabama probably WILL keep winning, a good thing for Florida.  And can Florida beat Florida State on the road?  Who knows, we'll just have to see...

Covered 10K Distance in Training Run

I'm still planning on running the 10K (6.2 miles) Turkey Trot race here in Gainesville this coming Thanksgiving morning.  On my training run this morning, I started out with the intention of just doing 3.34 miles.  But the conditions were very pleasant (56 degrees, 74% humidity) and I felt energetic.  So I decided to try to cover my upcoming race distance.  I ended up running 6.27 miles with a time of 53:37 (at my usual pace).  Although I've run much longer distances regularly in the past, this run represents the longest I've covered since July.  So I now feel very confident and enthusiastic about Thanksgiving's race on November 22.

Secession and Racism

If there ever was any doubt that racism is a factor in the hostility against Barack Obama for having the nerve to become president, and then doubly so for getting himself reelected, there shouldn't be any more after citizens from forty states petitioned for secession from the United States.  In case you're not up on your history, the other time anything like this happened was during James Buchanan's lame duck period as president in the weeks following Abraham Lincoln's election.  You know, the Abraham Lincoln who was opposed to slavery and regarded blacks as human beings (see Spielberg's movie if this is confusing you).  Those opposed to seeing blacks as human beings with legitimate human rights weren't taking any chances with a Lincoln presidency and most of the slaveholding states seceded before he had even entered office. 

So let me try to put myself in the position of today's secessionists: let's see...Jimmy Carter gets elected and we don't like his typically liberal Democratic Party policies.  O.K., we'll oppose him next election but we'll respect the recent election results because he's wh___. Bill Clinton gets elected and we don't like his typically liberal Democratic Party policies. O.K., we'll oppose him next election but we'll accept the recent election results because he's wh___.  Barack Obama gets elected and pursues typically liberal Democratic Party policies.  But wait a minute, he's not wh___ and we can't say that "other" word about "his kind" anymore so we'll say he's a muslimsocialistforeigner.  And we're leaving the country!

How else could anyone read our modern-time secessionists' motives?

Loose Dog Alley

I like dogs.  They are cute and usually emotionally bonded to people.  I've owned at least one since 1987 and grew up with another. But I know that dogs are sometimes violent and attack people.  Around my neighborhood, some residents keep their very scary, nasty sounding (and looking) ferocious animals behind fences.  When I am on one of my runs, they usually remind me of their presence with some threatening growls and barks.  But they are restrained...and I feel safe.  There is one block in my neighborhood, however, that, practically every time I run down it, has a dog running around loose.  This stretch of residential road apparently has some incredibly indifferent dog-owners who have personal issues about inflicting their beasts on anyone happening to pass by their house.  First, there's Jake, a large grey mixed breed dog with a scary appearance but a friendly disposition.  Still, when he sees me and he is out loose, Jake tries to jump on me, follows me home, and even tries to come into my house.  Not fun.  There is another house where I saw a man walking by on the public street  having a scare from a large white dog loose in the front yard, who looked as if he were going to attack him.  Then I ran by and the angry dog turned its attention to me.  Fortunately, both of us managed to slip on by without somehow enraging this already disturbed animal into action.  Thanks a lot, inconsiderate owner!  And then there is another dog, if it really is a dog.  This guy I've seen a couple of times.  It looks like an overweight chihuahua mutant, has a very angry bark, and when it notices that whoever it is barking at isn't impressed and is still walking or running by, it suddenly sprints away full-speed down the very long block (and around the corner).  I think that's pretty smart on its part, for a dog like that has no business confronting anyone in public. 

We have a law in our area requiring dog owners to restrain their pets, but unfortunately some of my neighbors either don't care or deliberately want to set their dog out on people passing by their house.  But it's not THEIR street; it's everyone's, and they damned better keep their precious little monsters restrained if they don't want animal control knocking on their doors in the future...

Aggressively Loud People I Encounter

There is a certain individual in my life, someone whose presence I could probably do well without.  The good thing is that there is usually only a very brief period in my day that I encounter him.  The bad thing is that this individual is completely out of control with his speech, going off on loud, obnoxious and insulting rants about politics.  That I am diametrically opposed to his political "philosophy", which he seems to have assembled from FoxRepublicanNews talking points, makes this necessary exposure to his drivel that much more unpleasant.  And he's loud, one of those people who think that EVERYONE in the room needs to hear what he's saying, to the point where no one can even hear their own thoughts.  Yes, this is one obnoxious, unpleasant dude.  Yet...

Today I was sitting in a local fast food eatery having lunch and trying to read a little before having to go to work (and probably have to listen to the aforementioned jerk).  I didn't expect quiet conditions, but still it was very unpleasant because another person in the back of the dining area was loudly shooting off his opinions to someone standing right next to him.  There was no need to bellow out his words; he was obviously imposing his opinions on everyone present whether they wanted to hear them or not.  As it turned out with this guy, I happened to agree with almost everything he said.  But I was still offended at his attitude and verbal aggression.

"Avoid loud and aggressive people: they are vexatious to the spirit."  That is a line from Max Erhmann's celebrated Desiderata and is advice well worth taking.  I could have taken my food outside today, but I cannot completely avoid this other character...

2004 and 2012 Elections Show Similar Reactions By Losers

There is shock, shock I say, spread throughout the conservatives in this country who voted for Mitt Romney and were convinced that their "guy" was going to be swept into office in a landslide over Barack Obama.  After all, their media sources predicted it, didn't they?  Yes, that's an example of what can happen if you get yourself into a feedback loop and keep getting the same information from "supportive" sources without any independent verification (or refutation).  But I'm not looking down on my fellow conservatives, some of whom seem to be quite distraught.  After all, I got myself caught up in a similar experience in 2004.

Toward election day in 2004, the Democratic Party challenger to incumbent George W. Bush, John Kerry, was mounting a heroic, tough final campaign surge.  And the polls seem to bear out (at least some of them) that he may have caught up with his Republican rival.  On election day, especially in the decisive swing state of Ohio, positive voter exit polls further gave the impression that Kerry indeed was on his way to victory.  But, as was the case with Romney, a funny thing happened on the way to Kerry's election: it didn't happen, and the incumbent edged him out.  Yes, I was very discouraged over this turn of events.  But I accepted the results and wanted for Mr. Bush to do better in his second term (I was later disappointed).

All I can say is that you win some and you lose some.  I believe that both candidates in both elections loved America and sincerely thought that they had the best program for the nation.  I also believe that this should be recognized by ALL, even those who voted against them.  Instead, I sadly see an increasing polarization among the people: when their party is out of power (regardless which party that happens to be), somehow, for too many, they act as if their country has been taken over by the enemy.  And that, my dear friends, is a very unpatriotic and antidemocratic attitude to foster!

Champagne Time for '72 Dolphins Old-Timers

In the National Football League, the Atlanta Falcons lost to the New Orleans Saints today, 31-27.  So what does that have to do with the Miami Dolphins, my "favorite" team?  Everything, especially seeing that the 2012 edition of the Dolphins just got their butts kicked, at home, by a supposedly inferior Tennessee Titans team, 37-3.  So the Falcons loss just increases in importance as I desperately try to cling to something positive about my team.

In 1972, the Dolphins went undefeated both in the regular season and the playoffs.  No team has since accomplished this, although the New England Patriots came too damned close in 2007.  This year, the last undefeated team left was Atlanta...that is, until New Orleans took care of them a few hours ago.  So, the '72 old-timers on the Dolphins are probably somewhere celebrating with their champagne, like they've been doing on an annual basis whenever the last undefeated team goes down to defeat for the first time. 

This year wasn't too bad, with no undefeated season scares.  I like the Falcons and dislike the Saints, so it was a bit uncomfortable to go against my inclinations just to preserve the Dolphins' record.  Whew, now I can go back to rooting straight-out for the teams I like! Go Falcons and their great QB Matt Ryan!

Signed Up for 10K Race, Running Mileage Increasing

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I was considering entering an upcoming middle-distance running race, the 10K Turkey Trot to take place Thanksgiving morning here in Gainesville.  Today I went down to Lloyd Clarke Sports on NW 13th Street (US 441) and registered for it.  So I'll be doing only my third race of 2012 (although I believe I could have done more).  Of course, what I really want to do is start running half-marathons again.  But even if don't run in any official 13.1-mile races, I can still train on my own with longer-distance runs.  After all, the weather has become very runner-friendly of late.  Today I stepped out of my front door at one in the afternoon and ran 3.83 miles, immensely enjoying the 70 degree temperature and sub-40 % humidity.  Also, lately I have increased the use of my local 24-hour gym, often running on the treadmill there around the midnight hour after getting off from work. And later today I may go there for my second training run of the day, something else I am doing more of these days.

Without having initially intending it, I have greatly increased my running mileage so far in November, still running every day while averaging about 4.5 miles per day.  I don't know whether this rate will increase or not, but since I'm just taking things one day at a time, I'll let the future take care of itself...

Gone Are the Comments

I recently decided to disable comments on this blog.  There are some good (to me) reasons for this.  One, I am sick to death of getting saccharine, meaninglessly terse comments that are almost always linked to a business website.  Two, the few people who actually read this blog and have historically made pertinent comments either have my e-mail address or personally know me and can simply tell me person-to-person what their reaction is to any particular article.

Once, in a more naive and innocent time of my blogging adventure, I held the notion that readers who were even personal strangers to me, spread across the country or even the world, would read articles that interested them and would then express their own points in comments, to which I could then respond and thus establish a pretty cool open dialogue.  But after five-plus years with this blog, I have sadly concluded that there are NO such people in this sorry world of mine. 

So, gone are the comments!  Either you already know me or you don't: The way is shut (what movie is that from)...

Upcoming 10K Race in Gainesville on Thanksgiving

I am considering entering my first running race since July 4's three-mile Melon Run.  The Turkey Trot, appropriately being held on Thanksgiving morning, November 22, is a 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) event, well within my capabilities.  The location will be on the Tacachale campus in the northeastern part of Gainesville.  It should be fun.  Unless Michael Bloomberg decides to cancel it, that is.

The weather has finally turned to lower temperatures and humidity, with my running much more pleasant.  I still don't plan to run in half-marathons, but I should have plenty of opportunities in the next few months to participate in other events, up to 15K distances...

My "Swing" State Becoming Irrelevant to Election

I live in Florida, one of the crucial "swing" states in the presidential election, along with Ohio, Virginia, and Colorado.  As it happened this year, the election was decided by those other states with Florida's final result, which as of this writing has yet to be determined, only representing an interesting historical footnote.  But that's how it is with swing states.  Either you're the nation's focus in a close race, like Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, or nobody cares about which way you end up going after all the votes are tallied (this year).  On the other hand, the question of who ends up winning Florida will probably count in the future as people look back and try to discern voting trends.

I Voted: It is Done

At about nine this morning, I cast my ballot for president and the other assorted races and issues.  So as far as I'm concerned, it's done.  I only had to wait about an hour in line; had I come in a little later--say eleven--the wait would probably have been a lot shorter.  Still, no complaints here as I'm sure others either having to vote late in the afternoon/early evening or who live in less voter-friendly precincts will have experienced some tedious, especially long waits before the day is done. 

Like I said, as far as I'm concerned, it's done.  I am not going to get emotionally involved over the returns tonight, along with the accompanying mind-numbing analysis.  I've even entertained the notion of trying to see how long I can remain ignorant of the results!  Maybe my candidate will win, maybe not.  But I do know one thing: even though the election results will no doubt effect my life down the road, for better or for worse, how I personally choose to live each day will have a much greater impact on my future and that of my family than whether "Goofus" or "Gallant" gets in there...

My Election Recommendation

On this day before the big presidential election, it's time for me to give my recommendation: vote for ________ (YOU fill in the blank).  I myself have made up my mind a long time ago as to how I'll be voting.  My choice, in all honesty, is primarily based on my own, personal interests: the "other guy", if elected will in all likelihood work to destroy my job and retirement.  I can submerge this feeling and pretend to be voting based on some philosophical pretext or on a more general level of the "national interest", but I won't.  Maybe that's selfish of me, but then again, maybe that's how you should be voting, too. 

I'm hearing too much of this overgeneralized, ideological blather on the campaign trail.  Voters should ignore it and instead research how each candidate's election would directly affect THEM.  Not their neighbors, not the country in general, and not some abstracted, easily manipulated idea of "history". 

The biggest danger I see in this election is for people to ignore their own best interests and vote for a candidate and party based on either emotional factors, phony ideological constructs, or a misplaced sense of national patriotism that has been contrived to ultimately serve the ends of special interests.  Instead, vote for your own interests, which to you should be truly special!

Finally Over Nick Saban's Desertion of the Dolphins

Although I have no intention of becoming a University of Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, I have finally gotten over my sense of betrayal at their current head coach, Nick Saban.  He abandoned his job of coaching the Miami Dolphins in mid-contract to take on the Alabama post when the latter offered him a shamelessly exorbitant offer.  I still have a problem with coaches who hop from job to job, never staying in one place long enough to establish any sense of tradition there.  With Saban, the effect was compounded by the way he framed himself as a man of character, even writing a book on the subject.  But he has at least stuck with his present position at Alabama (this is his sixth year there) and harping on him doesn't do anything to change the past.  Besides, he and his team may have unknowingly done my Florida Gators a favor last night...

In order for Florida to get to go to a major bowl game (like the Sugar Bowl), they would have to be the second-highest ranked team in the Southeastern Conference.  Had Alabama not made their dramatic last-minute comeback to defeat LSU last night, the Gators would probably have ended up behind both Alabama and the probable LSU/Georgia conference title game winner.  As it now stands, though, Alabama will most likely win the rest of their games, including the one against Georgia in that title game (Georgia has only to beat an unusually bad Auburn team to win their division).  Should this happen, Florida will in all likelihood be that #2 team, assuming they manage to beat cross-state rival Florida State in a few weeks.  Sounds complicated, right?

So maybe UF can avoid playing Saban's Crimson Tide and end up with a great final ranking.  I didn't like Saban, a great coach, leaving Miami like that in late 2006.  But I wish he had at least gone on to a school that wasn't in the same conference as Florida (Urban Meyer "correctly" went on to coach the Big Ten's Ohio State while Steve Spurrier "incorrectly" landed at UF's divisional rival South Carolina).   Still, I have made my peace about the matter and have forgiven the dude, who never really ever did anything against me, anyway...

NYC Marathon Just Cancelled

Last night, while I was at work, New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg finally came to his senses and cancelled the New York City Marathon that was going to take place this Sunday. It would have been a strange sight, with many locals cut off with no transportation and needing food and water...while thousands of runners pour in to the town, accompanied by volunteers helping them (not the people living around in dire need).  I guess they couldn't just postpone the event to another day, but to cancel or postpone it was obviously the way to go.  Why it took this long for the mayor to "get it" is beyond me.

They are still holding pro basketball and football games in the area.  I question this as well, but that doesn't make the marathon a good idea at this time...

NYC Marathon a Go in the Middle of Storm Recovery Efforts

I am a running enthusiast, a fact you should know if you've gotten anything from this blog.  And the New York City Marathon is an event that I would like to participate in some day, although the special circumstances of my health prohibit this in the immediate future.  Still, I share in the excitement others feel about preparing and running in this race, which goes through several of the boroughs in NYC for 26.2 miles. This year's marathon is scheduled for this coming Sunday, and I don't have to tell you that currently the effects of Hurricane Sandy are being felt in the Big Apple in a devastating way, with power still out in much of the city, widespread flooding, an inoperative subway system, a backlog of cancelled flights, and worst of all, thousands of residents stuck where they are without access to food and water.  Not a pretty picture.  Yet I understand that come hell or high water, the New York City Marathon WILL be held anyway in two days, dammit.

If this had been a terrorist attack on the order of 9/11 instead of a natural disaster, do you think anyone would think twice about postponing this race? Yet a hurricane of record monstrosity that directly and physically affected the entire northeastern section of the country is apparently nothing more than an inconvenience, as far as those organizing and promoting the marathon are concerned.  I have a two-part concern here.  One, how can a race participant run down streets in a city past buildings where people are suffering the effects of this storm?  And two, if I were a resident, even one who has had basic services restored and hadn't suffered personal loss, how could I look upon these runners as they pass by with anything less than scorn?

I don't understand New York's Mayor Bloomberg, who didn't even want the President to visit there "post-Sandy" because his presence might well interfere with recovery operations, if only unwittingly.  Yet he gives the go-ahead to this event, which will tie up already scarce resources and distract from efforts to help residents return to more normal, sustaining lives.

I just don't get it.

Bicycling and Running to Work

I have been riding my bicycle the eight miles to work for most of the last few Thursdays, and today was no exception.  So far, the weather has held up with no rainstorms around to drench me (although there have been a couple of close calls).  Today was more pleasant as the temperature was hovering around the 70 degree mark (noontime), a sign of autumn finally asserting its presence.  My renewing of bicycle riding, though, is due more to transportation glitches within my family that necessitate me lending my car out than to any resurgence of my enthusiasm in the activity.  Still, it is kind of fun to do this, although I have a lower back ache today that took away some of my enjoyment.

I always stop off, at around the six-mile mark on my route, at the Panera restaurant located at Archer Road near SW 34th Street.  There I order the same thing each time: coffee (I drink their hazelnut flavored brew), french onion soup, Caesar salad, and a cheese danish.  While I slowly consume my way through all this, I study foreign languages, read, plan things out...and even write an occasional blog article. 

I have entertained, at least in my mind, that is, the idea of running to work instead of bicycling.  I can always take a change of clothes to my workplace locker the night before so that I can freshen up after the run, just before starting work.  It's feasible, but with one potential snag: I haven't run for eight miles at a time in several months, although I feel that I am fully capable of it.  Anyway, there would be rest times built into the run since I'd have to stop and wait for green lights at various busy intersections from time to time...