Notes: Definitely more humble this week. My ankle remained swollen into mid-week, so I waited until Friday to run. That was the first day nothing hurt while just sitting around. The run was fine, and I did it without a problem, just sloppy. I should have gotten out more this week. I’m looking to hit two to three runs this coming week.
In total it was 14-days between my last run. That is plenty of time to slide back and get comfortable on the couch instead of going for a run, and I did some of that.
My food was bad this week; I tried the new Buffalo Wild Wings location; hit Taco John’s for Taco Tuesday; Buddy’s Pizza; and Friday was a Captain D’s night. A lot of that was convenience. It got late and those were fast, cheap meals. I need better preparation this week to have meals that are home-cooked and more balanced.
Hurricane Isaac is pounding the metro area. Thankfully the multi-billion dollar enhanced levee system installed after Hurricane Katrina appears to be holding.
Still hundreds of thousands of residents are without power, widespread structural damage is being reported, and Plaquemines Parish is seeing 10 to 12 feet of flooding from storm surge.
This is all too familiar for me – coffins floating out of graves again and such.
Six years and 364 days ago I was evacuating New Orleans with all I could fit into a rental car, including my wife and cat.
I secured one of the last vehicles available from the Hertz location at Armstrong International Airport before police stepped in to cut the line in the middle of the night.
No more cars.
That was the difference between getting out before Katrina arrived and being stuck to ride out the storm somewhere in New Orleans.
Others banded together to negotiate pricey cab rides to Atlanta, Memphis and Houston.
It took Hertz all night to process everyone’s paperwork. I drove off the lot around 4:30 a.m. and headed back to our condo. We loaded everything we could and hit the road.
The cab driver who took me out to the airport the night before had recommended we go west before attempting to go east, as gridlock had begun to take hold. This worked like a charm as we avoided the bridges and went north into Mississippi before cutting back east.
It was like a NASCAR race coming out of New Orleans, as the contraflow evacuation plan had every lane leading away from town like a jailbreak.
We got out some 20-hours before Katrina made landfall the next morning.
Initially it looked like New Orleans had caught a break by Katrina coming ashore to the east of town. I stayed up till 2:00 a.m. watching coverage and went to bed thinking we had dodged a bullet.
Then the levees popped.
I knew something was wrong. I could hear my parents in the hallway discussing how they were going to tell us.
That was ugly, but we returned to the Big Easy. She wasn’t so “easy” for a while, but it steadily improved.
Seven years later the money and rebuilding assistance has continued to flow and the city has never looked better. There was BP’s oil spill two years ago, but tourism has returned, and there are more restaurants now, over 1,300, than pre-Katrina.
There also was the Final Four this year and the Super Bowl returns in 2013.
The Crescent City was on a hot-streak when Isaac came calling.
Now police and the National Guard once again roam the streets enforcing mandatory curfews.
Southeast of New Orleans, in low-lying Plaquemines Parish, emergency officials reported the over-topping of an 8-foot high levee.
Considerable work has been done to fortify this area, but parish president Billy Nungesser reported they needed a few more years without a storm like Isaac before the work could be completed.
Time ran out.
I’ve since re-located to Kentucky, and like everyone else, I’m watching this storm on CNN. It creates an odd sensation in me because I can feel the pain and anxiety of residents down there.
While it has been seven years since Katrina, no one in New Orleans has actually dealt with the catastrophe. People got on with life, repaired their homes and went back to work because they had to, but why this man-made disaster occurred and why George W. Bush and our government criminally mishandled the aftermath has never been adequately explained.
Hurricane Isaac isn’t going to cause the loss of life or property damage associated with Katrina, but hearing the winds and seeing the water rise is enough to trigger the Post Traumatic Stress most residents of New Orleans have in the backs of their minds.
I worry for my ex-wife who still lives in New Orleans, and for all the residents there.
Despite trend lines that show coal production and mining jobs in decline, backlash from industry executives and their pocket politicians led a Republican-controlled federal appeals court last week to strike down an environmental rule that would have required coal-fired power plants in Kentucky and 27 other states to cut pollution that drifts downwind and contributes to air-quality problems.
The cross-state air pollution rule was overturned by an appeals panel in Washington, DC, on a 2-1 decision. Utility companies stayed with their tried and true argument that costs to comply would drive up electricity rates.
I’m not saying this is not a factual statement. But these are private companies. If they need to pay to install modern technology that will result in a cleaner burning fuel and safer emissions, then that is THEIR cost of doing business.
The EPA has never regulated the coal industry as harshly as it should because much of that role is left to the individual states, and they drop the ball in the interest of short-term gains, jobs and cheap power.
In return our air is poisoned and fresh water contaminated. We as a society then have the cost of cleaning that up turned back upon us, not realizing often that this is the result of coal not taking care of its business on the front end.
Coal executives want to claim there is a war on coal, that environmentalists and Democrats are out to sabotage this perfectly reliable and clean running fuel source.
What the coal industry and its supporters fail to recognize is there is a cost associated with the pollution that comes from burning coal.
The EPA estimated that by implementing the cross-state air pollution rule, that cleaner air would have prevented 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths annually; 15,000 non-fatal heart attacks; hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks; and 1.8 million lost school and work days.
We pay already. And these savings on the health care side would easily offset what it would cost the industry to comply. But coal producers live in the short-term, and passing along the real costs of producing this fossil fuel would cut into their profit margins, and in return decrease their campaign contributions.
Not surprisingly the two Republican appointees on the appeals panel found the rule exceeded the EPA’s authority, while the Democratic appointee felt they erred.
Why do we continue to give coal this privileged ride?
The increased availability of natural gas has rendered coal an undesirable if not obsolete fuel. Global warming is here, and the science behind it has reached the point where it is undeniable.
Coal had its day. The time has come we take a serious look at this industry and start addressing the end game for those who rely so heavily on it for employment.
Arch Coal fired 750 miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia earlier this year. That is around 1500 Kentucky miners this year alone that have lost their jobs.
This may not sound like a lot, but these are the kind of jobs that can pay upwards of $70,000 a year. They are irreplaceable in the Appalachian region.
Kentucky is the third leading coal producer, behind Wyoming and West Virginia, but coal consumption is at a 20-year low. That is the rub.
Arch Coal, based in St. Louis, wanted to blame the utility companies who are switching from coal to natural gas to generate electricity, and that market pressures and a challenging regulatory environment are conspiring against them.
As the old mob proverb goes, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”
Other industries are already turning a cold shoulder to coal. It is the execs that are in denial.
The jury is still out on whether natural gas is a long-term solution, but it’s cheaper, and it produces fewer emissions that contribute to climate change. With depleted supplies coming from the Appalachian mines, coal prices keep going up; and facility costs at coal-fired power plants will only rise as they face expensive retrofits to comply with clean air rules.
This is further evidence of the difficult economic straits the coal industry faces going forward. Ignoring the evidence does nothing but delay the inevitable and leave Kentucky unprepared.
Coal is important in the Bluegrass, but signs point to a lower coal future.
Looking forward is hard. It’s the more difficult path because it is unknown, and business people only see lost profits and the expenses assumed with transitioning. But there is no easy road.
Coal is in the same position as health care, Medicare, and social security. These are massive programs, with many who advocate keeping the status quo for simplicity of understanding, but it’s not an option. Change must come or the bottom falls out. Coal needs to see the evidence and start reacting.
At the moment there are no jobs to replace the ones lost in mining. These towns were built-up around the coal industry. The schools, the stores, the churches – those all came along to support the mining community.
Take away the miners and there is a good chance the towns fold too.
In Kentucky there is all this coal-friendly pandering going on, especially from the two Republican senators.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to become Senate “Majority” Leader, so he gives Big Coal a wide berth.
McConnell supported a resolution to decrease EPA limits on mercury and other toxins emitted by coal-burning power plants. After it failed, he complained about how Obama’s EPA is killing jobs and families in Kentucky.
Tea Party heart-throb Sen. Rand Paul echoed Sen. McConnell in requesting the EPA get off coal’s back.
These two politicians are deep in the pocket of the coal industry, and see environmental protection as part of the war on coal.
The only national politician from Kentucky to introduce any kind of standards upon coal is Rep. John Yarmuth (D-3rd), who sought a moratorium on new or expanded mountaintop-removal mining. The Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act would require a study to determine the health risks presented by this form of mineral extraction.
The coal industry has clearly demonstrated it has no interest in policing itself. For a change to come it first requires our political leaders acknowledge there is a problem. That will take the public finally realizing it is tired of the lies about how coal is a clean resource and ultimately will result in us having fresher air and water.
There is no magic answer. I think it is key to involve the locals in these coal mining areas, to empower them to find a future. These are insular communities, and trying to bring outsiders in to save the day could have the opposite effect.
Investments in infrastructure, entrepreneurship, local business interests and education are building blocks. Use clean energy. These are elements that could allow a community to thrive.
The sad part is aside from some jobs along the way, Kentucky never profited the way it should have from the coal industry. It didn’t build modern schools and cities along the way. Instead profits were maximized and expenses minimized and the only thing left in the wake of Big Coal is broken lives, collapsed towns and environmental clean-up sites.
Notes: Man that sure is a depressing score card. The injury that began last Friday was significant enough that I ended up taking 10-days off to give my knee a chance to recuperate. I was hobbling pretty bad early in the week. To compensate for my knee I started landing funny on my foot, which caused my right ankle to swell and become painful.
With ice and Advil daily things were much better by Friday. I could have run Sunday, but why mess with a good thing. I’m going to keep to my schedule, take Monday as a rest day and crank everything back up Tuesday. How many days I run and how far will be determined one run at a time. It may take a week or two in order to regain my previous levels.
I took the week off from being as conscious about what I ate too – and only gained one pound back. There were chicken wings Friday night, a party Saturday where I drank my calories, and Skyline chili Sunday to help with my hangover. It gets serious again come Monday.
Reports coming out of New York City are an armed man with a pistol opened fire on innocent bystanders at the Empire State Building at 9:03 a.m. Friday.
This was rush hour around one of the busiest tourist attractions in NYC.
Jeffrey Johnson, 58, was a disgruntled former employee of Hazan Imports. He had been fired from his position a year ago, but was in an ongoing legal battle with his former employer, and returned to his workplace and confronted Steve Ercolino, a 41-year-old co-worker.
Johnson, dressed in a business suit and carrying a briefcase, shot this man five times at close range with a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, killing him.
A construction worker followed Johnson and alerted police on guard at the near by Empire State Building who then confronted Johnson.
Johnson pulled his pistol from a bag he was carrying and fired on police.
NYPD officers returned fire killing Johnson.
As a result of this free-fire zone erupting on a busy NYC street, nine people were shot in addition to the victim and shooter. It’s likely some people were shot by police, but no injuries are reported to be life threatening.
What the hell is going on in America? We can’t seem to settle anything without gun violence. Whether that be war or workplace disagreements. This is the same kind of violent shift we have seen in our streets for decades now.
What used to be fist fights over girlfriends or shoes, today leaves young black kids dead on the ground. These days you downsize, lay a person off, or fire them for cause, managers might want to invest in a kevlar vest.
Regardless of whether some bystanders were shot inadvertently by police, major congrats go out to those officers for bringing Johnson down. This could have been much worse.
Imagine if you were a cop at 9:00 a.m. standing a post, drinking your coffee and easing into a Friday, then suddenly you’re taking gun fire at a tourist site.
That one momentary high-pitched scream crystallized Dean’s intangibles and framed him as wacky. That was it. Dean’s presidential campaign was toast.
Did Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin just deliver a Howard Dean-moment to the Romney/Ryan ticket?
When asked Sunday if he opposed abortion in cases of rape, Rep. Todd Akin said a woman’s body is able to prevent pregnancy in what he called a “legitimate rape.”
This gives rise to the idea that some women want to be sexually assaulted.
In addition to this being a blatantly ignorant sentiment and misogynist, it boggles the mind why Akin would make such a radical belief public.
Akin isn’t some fringe candidate. He is a sitting member of Congress and serves on the Science Committee in the House.
The entire Republican establishment, including Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney all have requested he step down.
Akin has refused thus far these requests and instead entrenched himself as an anti-establishment candidate. It will now take a court order to have him removed from the ballot.
This has quickly become a seismic earthquake for Republicans, because like the
“Dean Scream,” Akin’s abortion stance has crystallized the entire Republican ticket as being out-of-touch with mainstream America.
Here is how this spells trouble for the GOP in November.
First, this Akin controversy could not have come at a worse time. The Republican convention kicks off next week in Tampa where leaders hope to re-introduce Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
Instead of talking about its party’s candidates Republicans are stuck defending their stance on abortion. Akin’s comments serve to magnify the fact that the GOP’s official pro-life platform calls for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion without specific exceptions for rape or incest.
This conservative view is out of line with the vast majority of Americans, including Mitt Romney.
Secondly, Republicans were counting on Akin beating incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. They need Missouri or the math required to bump Harry Reid to minority leader gets theoretical.
But wait it gets worse.
The Republican leadership recognized they had a problem with Romney appearing too moderate, so they chose Paul Ryan to shore up the presidential nominee’s conservative credentials.
Ryan is mainly known as a conservative budget hawk. This speaks favorably to those in the party seeking smaller government, but his ideas for severely cutting Medicare and privatizing it with a voucher system are controversial. Funding for education and programs for the poor also would suffer deep cuts.
These stances Romney was prepared to absorb and defend. Then the Akin controversy erupted.
The Missouri congressman wants to make it sound like he misspoke, but the concept behind what Akin said is precisely what he believes. It also happens to be what Ryan believes.
Ryan co-sponsored H.R. 3 with Rep. Akin. This was the House Republican’s “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which attempted to redefine rape.
Over 150 Republicans signed onto this national piece of legislation agreeing with its intent and passed it 251-175. Now it had no prayer in the Senate, but the fact they moved a piece of legislation like this forward makes it central to the Republican Party.
With Paul Ryan as its sponsor, these beliefs are now on the national ticket.
Romney may be at the top of the ballot, but the vice president is a heartbeat away. Voters will take into count Ryan’s beliefs – and they are extreme.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows adding Ryan to the ticket has basically been a wash. Obama leads Romney 48 percent to 44; and Ryan’s approval with registered voters is 33 percent favorable versus 32 percent unfavorable.
The problem for Romney is, since he refuses to provide any specific details on anything, people are taking Ryan’s beliefs and making them Romney’s.
As an added bonus to this disaster, Akin received his distorted view on how women could magically avoid becoming pregnant during rapes from Dr. John Willke, who is hailed as the father of the pro-life movement.
Willke is a Romney surrogate, who supported the presidential nominee’s pro-life and pro-family agenda in the 2008 presidential primary.
Willke was quoted in Tuesday’s New York Times as saying, “that because rape makes women “uptight” it decreases the likelihood they will get pregnant during a violent encounter.”
Personally I think Romney is more moderate than he is letting on, but coming into the 2012 election he decided to run hard to the right. When you get in bed with these freaks, it might get you a date to the dance but eventually that crazy is going to come out.
There is a sizeable percentage of Republicans who believe in “personhood,” and want to force women to carry babies to term even in the event of rape or incest.
This is making people step back and say, “Wow, that’s what you really think?!?”
Imagine the psychological damage it would cause any woman to carry around a rapist’s baby for nine months.
That is insane.
It’s once again old white men trying to legislate a woman’s body and getting it horribly wrong.
What this Akin moment does is characterizes the Republican Party as a bunch of out of touch “knuckle draggers” who believe in junk science.
Romney has been trying desperately to talk about issues but keeps getting caught up in off-shore tax shelters, when he truly left Bain Capital, why he refuses to turn over further income tax returns, and now re-defining rape.
Romney can’t get any traction, and partly that is because he is being deceptive and refuses to deal in specifics.
This plays right into the Obama campaign’s strategy to win. They intend to establish reasonable doubt about Romney over the summer so he is dead on arrival in the fall.
It’s just surprising how easily Romney has fallen into this trap.
Ultimately what this Akin controversy shows is Republicans feel social issues, like abortion, are of a higher priority than the economy, even during this time of great financial hardship.
That is because the Republican leadership is quite wealthy. They want to win the White House in order to get the tax breaks, loopholes and favorable business rulings that will make them wealthier.
To do that they will throw red meat issues, like no abortion in cases of rape or incest, to the fanatic right-wing and the Tea Party in exchange for their votes.
The problem is this entirely undercuts the credibility of the Republican message.
You can’t scream about wanting smaller government then turn to the most personal of issues, pregnancy/abortion, and suddenly advocate installing big government into everyone’s bedrooms.
While Akin has apologized for his remarks, his beliefs behind those statements remain, and they are at the heart of the Republican Party.
Romney is stuck. He can’t backtrack from his far-right pandering, and he already has high negatives with young people, African-Americans, Hispanics and women.
If Akin continues to refuse to step down from Missouri’s Senate race, it will dog the GOP presidential ticket all the way to November.
It also calls into question the fragile perception that Romney is a viable alternative to President Obama.
The Natural Resources Defense Council found Kentucky is the worst state in the nation when it comes to toxic air pollution emanating from coal-fired power plants.
Several neighbors ranked high on the council’s “Toxic 20,” including Ohio (2nd), Indiana (4th), West Virginia (5th) and Tennessee (11th).
While many states had reductions in power plant pollution between 2009 and 2010, and the nation as a whole saw a 19 percent decrease, Kentucky’s emissions grew by 11 percent.
The council noted that Kentucky’s power plants are poorly controlled, and that the state has failed to adopt any kind of laws or regulations that require substantial reductions in mercury or toxic pollution from the electrical production industry.
The Commonwealth moved from third to first between 2009 and 2010 on the council’s “Toxic 20” states list for power plant pollution as found in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory.
Conventional wisdom would lead sensible people to think Kentucky’s political leaders might be up in arms over such a ranking. All that health and welfare crap for our valued citizens and such who reside in the Bluegrass.
Don’t get your hopes up.
Remember this is home to Sen. Mitch McConnell, the poster child for Republican activism, who is of the opinion that the EPA is some voodoo agency that only hinders business and should be abolished.
Earlier this year McConnell tried to disallow new EPA rules aimed at limiting mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plant smokestacks.
In response to Kentucky’s top ranking in the “Toxic 20,” McConnell attacked the Obama administration, complaining about how rules threatened thousands of coal mining and aluminum industry jobs, and that we must rein in the Obama EPA and their continued assault on Kentucky jobs and families.
I hear ya Mitch. Everybody likes having a job, and that’s great in the short-term, but contracting some horrible disease and leaving families fatherless is not exactly an employment solution.
Kentucky is behind the curve or willfully disregards instituting safety and environmental standards because it slows work production and is costly to mining companies.
Continuing to pursue lax rules in coal mining is like ignoring evidence of the toxicity of smoking cigarettes. We don’t tell pregnant women to keep on smoking. It’s an unhealthy practice and we strive to increase awareness and prevent it from occurring.
Translation: McConnell doesn’t care if Kentucky’s husbands and sons die from toxic pollution. How many bodies does McConnell have on him from enforcing lack luster coal health standards, and frightening regulators with his insider-Washington power plays?
McConnell can try cloaking his true intentions under guises of jobs and families, but in reality it’s about money and power. It’s about keeping big coal flush on the backs of inconsequential miners who lack a voice and are considered expendable.
It’s shameful and the recipe for a long-term disaster. Kentuckians need to stop voting McConnell back into office.
Then there is Tea Party pretty-boy Rand Paul.
In responding to news stories about alarming increases in black lung disease among Appalachian coal miners, this wing nut blindly insisted that such an occupational safety hazard had all but been eradicated.
Although numerous independent scientific and public health studies all point towards an increasing problem, Paul disputed the need for regulations proposed to reduce the level of respirable coal mine dust.
He dismisses the evidence like the whack-a-doodle creationists who choose to disregard science and evolution because it’s inconvenient to their cause.
Sen. Paul’s cause is money, power and zealotry.
This isn’t just a Republican issue in Kentucky. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear is a solid coal advocate as well.
Last week Beshear saw a plan two years in the making come to fruition as Kentucky and West Virginia signed an agreement with India to export 9-million tons of coal a year for the next 25-years in return for $7 billion.
Everybody wants to do this deal, but no one is saying how it will play out in terms of safety for miners, or if we should be attempting such levels of extraction.
Approximately 40 percent of American power comes from coal. However, 93 percent of Kentucky’s electricity is coal-generated.
Coal has been kind to this state, but everyone knows the coal seams have decreased in size and depth.
This natural resource is running dry.
What remains is harder to reach and produces less, which jacks up the cost.
It also makes extracting it more dangerous.
Budget cuts have left state officials without the ability to enforce the Clean Water Act.
No doubt Kentucky, which is the third largest coal-producing state, faces a huge dilemma when coal is no longer viable. These mining towns are full of people not trained to do much else, certainly not compete in a global marketplace individually.
Whole towns will fade.
Where will these people go for jobs?
State officials are keenly aware of this situation, but have chosen to plunge their collective heads into the sand to avoid upsetting “Big Coal.”
Their version of a solution is to ignore predictions, maximize profits in the short-term and don’t be in office when the bottom falls out.
This is a strategy right out of the Bush/Cheney playbook.
I don’t blame the folks who take these jobs. It’s all they know. It’s all their families have ever known.
Coal provides a survivable income in a place that is otherwise barren.
The problem is miners do get sick and die. Accidents do occur.
Coal mining is dangerous work.
Allow me to explain a very basic scenario we see in Kentucky all the time.
There aren’t a lot of employment options in eastern Kentucky, so you see young people who think they are invincible turn to mining. It offers them money and independence. Then that little girlfriend or wife gets pregnant and suddenly mining isn’t just a temporary fix it’s a necessity. Doesn’t matter the health hazards associated with it – a man must provide.
Then the hours and years pile up; this leads to extensive wear-and-tear on the body, and eventually injury. In order to not miss shifts miners start abusing oxycodone-based drugs and other powerful prescription medications, along with methadone because they can still pass a drug test with these legal pain killers in their systems.
This leads to addiction.
No telling where this tragic tale leads next, but nowhere good and it happens a lot.
Going down in those mines day after day, enduring what these men must to provide power to America – I can’t imagine. They do what they have to do to get by.
The coal industry makes its profits on these miners’ broken backs. Coal companies have no interest in regulating themselves and consider wiping out entire families or towns a form of collateral damage.
They are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure coal and the profits keep flowing, because fossil fuel executives see no other horse to ride that will deliver this kind of income, and the politicians are along for the ride.
Notes: Injured. This is my first real setback. It feels like a tendon is strained in my right knee. It’s noticeably painful to close and extend my right leg. Going into this third week I was definitely feeling the pounding from the two prior weeks of workouts. Even with days off and rest my body still felt fatigued.
Tuesday I went on a 5-mile run with Matt. This was the farthest I’ve run in nine months, so it was challenging, especially the hill on Wilkinson Blvd. at 3.2-miles.
Friday I procrastinated until 7:30 to do my run. Almost too late, but finally trudged out there. On the positive, even though I was going slow I could tell I had some reserve power in my legs. I didn’t tap into it since I already was sore and had two more days of exercise coming.
In retrospect that Friday run may have been more damaging than I thought. It was after that when my right knee got pissed. I got up at 5:00 a.m. Saturday to ice it and took some Advil.
I elected to take Saturday off in hopes of salvaging my Sunday run. Instead I went to the Salato Wildlife Center and walked around for 90 minutes pushing a baby stroller to see how my knee responded. By the end it wasn’t hurting, but it tightened back up that night.
Sunday the knee hurt the same; didn’t want to chance running on it. I took the boys out to Elkhorn Creek, where I waded gingerly on the creek’s rocky bottom without significant pain. I’m going to try resting my knee till Tuesday and see.
Water intake was good. Ate two Hostess products this week – that finished off my stash. The Chinese food Friday and Saturday wasn’t exactly healthy, but there were vegetables involved. I did manage to eat slightly earlier this week.
Bravo London, bravo! The games of the 30th Olympiad came off smashingly.
That by itself is reason enough to celebrate these days. There were concerns going in to the Games that London organizers had insufficient security personnel, but Sunday the 2012 Summer Olympics concluded in a grand European celebration without any major security mishaps.
London appeared gorgeous on my television screen in Kentucky. I’ve been to Europe but not Great Britain, and the coverage only made me want to visit more. I suppose that was the idea.
The organizers did some smart work of utilizing historic venues and keeping the Games close to numerous iconic edifices such as the Palace at Westminster, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Wimbledon and Wembley.
This made for wonderful visuals back home.
Thankfully NBC had the good sense to showcase London in all its brilliance.
I’m not going to overtly bash NBC too hard on its coverage. Televising the Games is a beast. Taking all these different events, with story lines from around the globe and attempting to weave them into a coherent program without it feeling piecemeal is a vicious task.
I found NBC did manage to succeed.
Bob Costas deserves kudos for his hosting abilities. He might want to ease up on the hair dye. Many found him to appear ill. Bob has been at this a long time and he should have some grey hair. To his credit he didn’t go under the knife to chase youth, but at this stage having pristine dark hair makes his face appear drawn and pale.
The three main complaints I have with NBC are Ryan Seacrest, why it didn’t show events in real-time, and why it botched the closing ceremony.
By only showing the Games on tape delay in our Internet-driven society, it took away the sizzle.
The closing ceremony was just one over-the-top expensive advertisement for London as a tourist destination. My understanding is the Olympics were nowhere near the cash bonanza Great Britain had hoped for in terms of tourist dollars.
To recoup revenue and costs British officials hyped London in hopes attendees will spread the good word of Great Britain and it will see a bump in tourism down the road.
The Olympic rings forged from the fires of Britain’s Industrial Revolution in the Opening Ceremony.
The opening ceremony was pretty cool. The re-enactment of Britain’s rise to power and demonstration of the industrial revolution were fascinating to watch.
The closing ceremony was more of an elaborate concert. But NBC seemed to choose the wrong acts to show. You need to show Muse performing. They are current and happened to pen the Olympic theme song. You want to show the Kinks. And you especially don’t want to interrupt coverage at its climax to gratuitously hype some lame new sit-com.
This was the last moment of the 2012 games – and NBC made sure viewers walked away with a bad taste in their mouths.
Fat Boy Slim spinning tunes from atop a plastic octopus at the Closing Ceremony.
Notably absent from the closing ceremonies were Radiohead, Coldplay and Eric Clapton.
The John Lennon tribute rocked; Fat Boy Slim spinning turntables in a ginormous inflatable octopus was a sight; Brian May’s expert guitar work was a pleasure; and the Eric Idle skit with him singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” brought down the house.
Now again, why did NBC suddenly become so prudish that it felt the need to censor the word “shit” from Idle’s song. If you give a microphone to Ryan Seacrest who are you to censor anyone?
Enough with NBC, now pardon me while I go on a Royal rant for a piece.
Is it me or do the monarchy folks come off as a bit creepy? They have some of that Utah-cult-polygamy weirdness to them. They are like this dysfunctional family that we all know shares some disturbing secret, and should creep away to live in the shadows, but are trotted out for public viewing because they are considered Royals.
It’s a bit embarrassing. In these days of constrained financial concerns it’s hard to make a case for their use or importance.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowels.
Prince Charles and Camilla are such caricatures of themselves, like they are playing a skit. I keep waiting for them to break character and burst into song and dance.
If it weren’t for the newbie, Duchess Kate Middleton, they would truly be a stodgy lot. Still, could Middleton possibly change outfits more often. All these Royals were desperately trying to retro-fit their image to appear more like regular people, yet here Kate goes changing designer outfits nine times a day, then popping back up perfectly coiffed like nothing happened.
And where was Pipa? She’s the hot, fun sister. Show them how to party girl!
Anyway, on to what really matters – medals.
The United States won the meet with 104 medals, 24 of which were gold. China came in a strong second with 87, and Russia finished third with 82.
Great Britain was the big surprise, posting a very respectable 65 medals.
China, evidently really got after developing its athletes going into the Beijing Olympics. Originally that was thought to be an isolated occurrence, but this is not the case. Experts are saying just wait till Rio after China has had 12-years to find and develop its extensive talent. They may be the country to beat going forward.
But in 2012 the United States still held most of the story lines.
Michael Phelps with his medal haul and girl, Megan Rossee.
Michael Phelps. What can you say? Twenty-two medals, 18 gold. This guy has more jewelry than most countries combined, and he’s dating one hot cocktail waitress.
I find it hard to believe Phelps will skip Rio. Give him a year or two. Let him party some, and then I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy gets bored. All his friends will be training for Rio. And it’s not like there is another level of swimming. Phelps has one more window where he could legitimately compete and then he’s forced into retirement.
Although it’s estimated that Phelps could already realize $100 million in revenue from his Olympic achievements.
One guy who can’t wait for Phelps to leave the pool is Ryan Lochte. This guy had a boom/bust Olympics. He started well then fizzled.
Lochte is a naughty boy it appears. At least his mom called it that way. Lochte has a hot hand. He’s talented and good-looking. With those eyes, physique and smile – Lochte could pull Mick Jagger-type ass.
The hottie of the meet was Missy Franklin. That girl has an infectious smile and personality.
Sorry to include this hideous song but the video does summarize the subplot of these Games. I love how Lochte shows up darkly at the 1:00 minute mark, looking all, “the hell with call me maybe, who wants to ride the Lochte-monster?”
Now what can we do about Friggin’ Justin Bieber? He was all over these Olympics. This guy puts a new low in suck. Amusingly, it’s the swimmers and gymnasts generally who are all giggling over this tool. You don’t see Biebs transitioning well to track and field.
From left: Maroney, Wieber, Douglas, Raisman and Ross.
Women’s gymnastics were outstanding. Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Kyla Ross brought home gold.
It’s a shame Wieber didn’t make the all-around final, but Douglas was incredible. Then you factor in she is an African-American training for gymnastics in Iowa – that’s fascinating by itself.
Wow, what a choke by McKayla Maroney on vault. Few have been built up so high to win a gold and literally fallen down. Very cool that Sandra Izbasa of Romania stepped up to seize victory.
As for Aly Raisman – I feel for the kid. She snatched Jordyn Wieber’s spot in the all-around. There’s nothing she can do about that, but then flopped. She still took home two golds and a bronze. Not too shabby for a teenager who originally was considered to be an afterthought.
Her parents are another matter. They are precisely why much of Europe and the world stereotype Americans as loud and obnoxious. Could you maybe dial down that Ralph Lauren wardrobe an octave or two, then shut up, sit down and stay still. They looked like two refugees from a flag cutting ceremony on Adderall wiggling about.
Usain Bolt wins gold.
Putting the swagger in the London Olympics was Usain Bolt. This guy is greased lightning, and his earning potential is off the charts. This 6-foot 5-inch African-American speedster from party-central Jamaica is a rock star. He and Lochte together would be an ass Armageddon.
Usain Bolt, like Justin Bieber, is printin’ money.
After setting an Olympic record of 9.63 seconds in the 100m, Bolt then won the 200m to become the first man to achieve a double sprint double. Then anchored the Jamaican 4x100m team that set a new world record of 36.84.
These are the same three gold medals Bolt won in Beijing.
If there was one event, one race in both the summer and winter Olympics that typifies what all others strive to be it is the men’s 100m final. It’s the simplicity. It requires nothing but a pair of shorts really. The eight fastest guys in the world challenge each other to run from point A to point B to see who is King.
The drama is self-created not manufactured, and it’s sexy as hell.
University of Kentucky phenom Anthony Davis.
Then there is USA basketball player Anthony Davis. Yes he had a good Olympics, but this is just another piece to a meteoric 2012 this young man is enjoying. As a freshman at the University of Kentucky he won every major individual award, helped Kentucky win the NCAA title, was designated most outstanding player of the tournament, was selected first in the NBA draft, made the Olympic team, and won a gold medal.
What’s next?
Those are all amazing accomplishments, but for a guy who has yet to begin his professional career, what an amazing benefit to travel around and play with guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, not to mention having Mike Krzyzewski serve as his coach.
Watch out NBA.
Overall though, I would say the London Games belonged to the female athletes.
Michael Phelps concluded his career by earning the medals he needed to become the most decorated Olympian, but he wasn’t at his best. Male athletes hit some high notes, but the major plot lines were all driven by female accomplishments.
Misty May-Treanor, left, and Kerri Walsh Jennings win gold for a third straight Olympics.
These games were about Missy Franklin and her swimming teammates; Gabby Douglas and the women’s gymnastics team; USA women’s soccer and basketball winning gold; Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor in beach volleyball; Claressa Shields in boxing; Kayla Harrison won America’s first gold in judo; and Serena Williams was golden in tennis.
London also may be looked back upon as a transitional Olympics. One that signals the Games are truly becoming more competitive internationally for all.
Several small countries excelled and won medals for the first time. Also there were openly gay athletes competing without bias, two female athletes from Saudi Arabia competed in judo and track wearing hijabs, the traditional Muslim headscarf, archer Matt Stutzman competed for gold even though he was born without arms, and there was the incomparable Oscar Pistorius.
Double-amputee Oscar Pistorious from South Africa.
This South African athlete, known as the Blade Runner, became the first double-amputee runner in the Olympics. A Paralympics champion, he ran his way into the 400m semi-finals. As amazing as it was to watch him, it pales in comparison to the inspiration Pistorius gave to other amputees around the world.
Are there too many sports deemed “Olympic” in these Games, absolutely. It’s a stretch to think of Zeus and Hermes playing team handball. Synchronized swimming, canoe/kayak, mountain biking, sailing, and trampolining, for example, don’t seem particularly Olympic.
It matters not. In this most international of cities, London welcomed and supported all who came graciously, and the crowds were tremendous.
“We lit the flame and we lit up the world,” declared Lord Sebastian Coe, the head of the London Olympic Organizing Committee. “When our time came, Britain – we did it right.”
Wednesday: Sit-ups/push-ups/teaser/reverse crunch/3-rounds weighted shadow boxing; 3-rounds on bag; 4-mile run
Friday: Easy 3-mile run
Saturday: Biked 13.2-miles in 1:13:07
Sunday: Ran 4-miles in 37:47
Total Running Miles: 14
Weight: 205.2 (-5.2 lbs.)
Training Days Remaining: 141
Notes: This was a humbling week. Coming into my run Tuesday my body didn’t feel rested. I was sore, achy and stiff. Wednesday was a brutal run. My right ankle was pissed.
I maximized my days off, but ate too much. I’m still working through my stash of Hostess snacks. Only two left.
The bike was wicked good this time, but Saturday was the first day I felt like not exercising. I guilted myself onto my bike. It was a weekend day and I had all day to get a workout done. Not doing it was unacceptable.
My friend Matt ran with me Sunday which provided a boost. Both of us were beat up, but by running together we pushed through the distance faster than had we run separately.
One adjustment for me is going to be trimming the cardio-strength workouts. Those can go for an hour or more, and tacked on top of a run, makes the overall workout two-plus hours. That’s too long to sustain. I’ll do the full cardio-strength workouts on the weekends, and maybe one day during the week.
On the plus side my will was strong. The nagging concern I have is whether my body will cooperate with this workout plan. I’m waiting to see if I need to keep my distances stagnant for another week or two, so my body can acclimate to the stress before making any increases. I don’t want an injury. Look for 10-percent mileage increases if all goes well.
I did a good job of drinking my 8+ cups of water per day. I fell prey to eating pizza for dinner on Friday and breakfast Saturday, and there were pancakes Sunday. I need to work on not eating too late. A couple nights I didn’t have dinner until 10:00 p.m. Weekends are dangerous and I need to keep in mind what I’m trying to achieve.
Urban Llama 