Tuesday « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

Tuesday

Tim Howard saved this blog

In honor of America, and the U.S. Men’s National Team:

Here’s the team’s hype video:

And, this, easily, is one of the most amazing pre-game packages you’ve ever seen:

If you find a better one, let me know.

The game was revealing and frustrating and pretty much what we expected. Tim Howard was nothing short of impeccable, Belgium was fulfilling their destiny. The U.S. never really played to their potential. The defense still has holes. We lost another starter to another hamstring. And despite all of that it fell to an agonizingly close piece of physics, the bend of an ankle, the arc of one ball and a great, great spirit. The U.S. played hard, even when they weren’t playing well. If the young members of this team improves, and the work that’s going into the larger program nationwide pans out, there are big things ahead. And they’ll play like it.

Tim Howard, briefly, was the Secretary of Defense. He was a lot of things today, becoming the newest and best meme of the day — since that’s the way we talk to one another now, this is worth noting. He was surely impressive, and he deserved a better defense in front of him.

Things to read … because you deserve to have great things to read.

Just the links, because the links should be good enough today.

BBC makes its training resources free to the public in 11 languages

The headline isn’t even the most damning thing about this story. I-Team: Acton Vet Finally Gets VA Doctor’s Appointment – 2 Years After He Died

I’ll have mine to go … 3D Printed Organs Coming Soon

history / I do not know what is happening. / links / photo / running / swimming / things to read / Tuesday / World Cup — Comments Off
24
Jun 14

The picture of the World Cup

If you’ve ever really wondered about the agony of defeat, here’s Boubacar “Copa” Barry to show you what it looks like. The guy had played a fine game, only to watch one of his defenders give away a foul in the penalty box in extra time today. And that means a penalty kick, which is decidedly to the striker’s advantage. All Barry can do is guess and hope. He guessed, but his hopes were not met. So, in the final moments of stoppage time, the Ivory Coast gave up a goal that meant Greece would advance and the guys in green would go home.

This was a great “What just happened here?” shot they got of Barry through the back of his net.

Much better than Luis Suarez’s biting of Giorgio Chiellini.

So I’ve got my SEO taken care of for today, right there. Excellent.

Today I swam 2,500 yards, which is almost a mile-and-a-half. I did it in sets of 500s, because let’s not think I’m so ambitious here. This let me set a baseline time, which is good because I have something to think about in the water now, as I narrowly chip away at that with each set.

I won’t tell you what the time is, because it is excruciatingly slow.

Let’s just say this, on the wall there are large signs for pool and NCAA records. I walked over to look at the 500-yard freestyle record. It turns out that the guy that holds the pool record in the 500 also holds the pool record in the 1,000. If he was swimming his 1,000 at his record pace, he would be finishing up about the time I was starting my last 100 yards in a 500-yard swim.

So, you, see, excruciatingly slow.

A guy jumped into the lane next to mine near the end of my swim. I didn’t speak with him, but everything about him just screamed swimmer. He was backstroking down the lane faster than I can freestyle it. And he could backstroke about three times and be at his turn. It was a beautiful thing, watching the guy swim was like watching a ballerina do her warmups. They are just easy because they’ve spent countless hours making it look effortless.

Whereas I would like to take about 15 percent off of my 500 time, putting me in line with the pool record in the 1,000.

I counted the championship banners hanging from the rafters tonight. I’ve previously counted the names of Olympians stenciled into the wall. Serious, serious athletes have been in that lane. The rest of us are just in their way.

Later in the evening my buddy, Murphy, and I ran a 5K. You never know what you’ll get when you invite someone to go for a jog. I thought about that after the fact. That guy is fit, and he played flanker in high school football. And now I’m going to run with him? We had a nice jog and a nice chat and I was able to keep up.

Take that, anonymous swimmer in the next lane.

Things to read … all headline links edition … because I’m a slow reader, too.

Have to go see it … Coca-Cola mural in Opelika could be over 100 years old

‘No-fly list’ process unconstitutional, US district judge decides

A tedious SEO headline, to be sure. I wish this story was in the American media … Also, the story buries that President Bush costs more. Taxpayers will spend $944,000 to support Bill Clinton’s lifestyle in 2014 as he claims he and Hillary are not ‘out of touch’ because they ‘talk to people in our town’

Go back to high school and blame your civics teacher. A third of Americans can’t name any First Amendment rights

Someone at Slate thought “Ya know, we have to remind people we’re Slate!” Looney Tunes Cartoons Were More Brutal Than You May Remember

I wonder how often this happens. Veteran believes he sees his image in Berman D-Day exhibit

Score one for city hall. Kansas Boy Forced to Remove Little Free Library From His Yard

For my reaction, see Boubacar Barry, above.

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17
Jun 14

Back home, probably normal by next week

We spent the day returning the house to order. When you close up shop for a time it only makes sense that you have things to do to return it to a living domicile. I dismissed the seven ninjas who secured the premises and returned to the joys of the simple things of daily life. Little things like laundry.

We spent most of the day, though, wondering what we’d just done. That is a long, long drive.

Allie handles it like a champ:

We don’t let her into the driver’s seat, of course, but she is great otherwise. She has three places in the back seat to recline and pace. She sits on the passenger, she sits in the passenger floorboard. She spends time under the passenger’s seat. You wouldn’t think there would be enough room, or desirable, but she hangs out there some. And she does laps. She travels better than I do, I think.

Since we had nothing in the kitchen we went out for lunch, for veggies. Our order was wrong. Ahh, to be home. This is one of those places where you order and they give you a ticket with a number and then a girl who is trying really hard brings out your food. This was my ticket:

Thirty-four. To be home again.

When I went to the post office to collect the mail, I saw this:

Ahh, it is great to be home.

iPhone / journalism / links / photo / running / things to read / Tuesday — Comments Off
3
Jun 14

Not sure of my time zone

What day is it? What planet am I on?

Transnational travel in a day is a surrealistic thing. On the other hand, we traversed almost 7,000 miles in a day.

I ran one mile today, having not put on those shoes in a week, and my body feeling pretty terrible both because of that and the travel and the sleepiness and it all just hurt. So I sprinted, which still felt like a slog on my wife’s high school track.

Saw this truck while we were ordering sandwiches. I feel like they got the tint of the paint job just about perfect:

These were our collective fortunes at dinner tonight. One of them makes no sense and, thus, all of the sense in the world:

Things to read: because reading always makes sense.

What passes as sports journalism at home today: Alabama All-Americans on the same bench as AJ McCarron meets Forrest Gump. I’ll leave it to you to decide if I mean the subject matter or just writing things from social media accounts you follow.

Something more important, Exclusive: Sharyl Attkisson on Journalism’s Very Dangerous Trend:

Sharyl Attkisson, an award-winning investigative reporter who resigned from CBS News earlier this year, says the news media are heading down a dangerous path with attempts to “censor or block stories” that don’t align with their preferred agenda.

“There’s a tendency in the news media, on the part of some managers, to censor or block stories that don’t fall in line with the message they want sent to the viewers,” Attkisson said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal. “I think that’s really a very dangerous perspective to have.”

This makes sense, and you’ll see a lot more stories like it. Online, mobile consumption soars among sports fans means you should go where your audience is.

Internet Use Over Time is an excellent resource from Pew.

FAA Weighs Letting Film, TV Industry Use Drones reminds me: I still need a drone.

And, possibly, a good night’s sleep.

adventures / Alaska / iPhone / Tuesday — Comments Off
27
May 14

Extra Alaska

After four days traveling up and down the Kenai peninsula we had a rest day in Anchorage. To hold you over until the next big adventure here are just a few of the things I haven’t published yet. This is an interactive shot from the hike to Exit Glacier near Seward. Put your mouse in there and move it around. It isn’t perfect, being from a free phone app, but it’ll give you some atmosphere:

Like that? Here’s one from yesterday at Glacier Lake near Homer:

Here’s a panorama from Seward. Click to embiggen:

Here’s a panorama from the beginning of the hike over the Saddle Trail to Glacier Lake. Click to embiggen:

I mentioned the tiny strip of land at the end of the peninsula we stayed on in Homer. Remember, I wrote how the water can, sometimes, come right up to the hotel? Our room faced that water, and here’s the view. Click to embiggen:

Tomorrow: the search for wildlife continues!