Memorial Day Weekend

I will occasionally give a review of my weekend, but a preview is atypical. I'm looking forward to this weekend. Mostly, because the office is deserted and it makes me anxious for the upcoming freedom of walking out the front door. I am anticipating: a kids' birthday party, 400-miles of driving, BBQ, kung-fu, chasing a white ball around, UFC 130, ice skating, chocolate stout & go kart racing. It sounds busy, but the point is being able to relax with family. I do enjoy the weekends of staying home and doing nothing. But I feel that this weekend is the right time to get out of town. It's all attitude. When I feel ready for sitting in the car, it becomes more of an adventure than a chore. I have high expectations for low expectations. That probably doesn't make any sense. But I tend to have the most enjoyable weekends when I let things happen versus making things happen. That's not to say I won't be involved, there's plenty of stuff planned. I'm just not very worried about the specifics. Let's do this already.

Canucks move on

Vancouver gets to play for the Stanley Cup. The Sharks were just a bit too inconsistent through the playoffs and it caught up to them. They had up and down moments in all of their series: Kings, Red Wings, and Canucks. Except, Vancouver never let them off the hook, and won the OT games.

The 2OT game winner was unique, yet typical. The puck took a weird bounce off the glass a skipped to Bieksa and he slapped it into the bottom corner of the net; while a unaware Niemi was looking for the puck on the hard around. It is usually a weird play that makes the difference in OT or at least it's the odd-ball turnover or miscue that I end up remembering.

I'm still pulling for the Lightning out of the East. They are down 3-2. Timmmay Thomas stole a few games. Guy Boucher made a bit of a coaching error in swapping goalies (in my mind). But the Bolts are still in it. I would love to see Simon Gagne and Dwayne Roloson win a Cup before they retire. Mostly I want to see GM Steve Yzerman have success in Tampa Bay.

Then again, should Boston win, I'm still pulling for them over the Canucks...

Governator & Livestrong

Living in California it has been impossible to escape the news coverage of Schwarzeneggar's separation and baby momma. I have been a fan of Arnold for a long time. As a bodybuilder and movie star, he was great. He's in my favorite movies: Terminator, Predator, Conan the Barbarian. You have to respect his ability to live the "American Dream" and attain fame and fortune as an Austrian immigrant. He embodied the Man's man which you rarely see today. As a big fan, I'm able to separate what I loved about him, from the realities of his political career and personal life.

Yet another of Lance Armstrong's former teammates has come out to say he used performance enhancing drugs. I think it's a matter of time before someone finds the "dirty needle" that brings him down. But, I do respect the inspiration he has been to anyone battling cancer. The Tour de France performances he gave were amazing.

Obviously, you could add Tiger Woods to this list.

I guess what I'm saying is that nobody's perfect. I've long since come to realize that people are people. You can't place anyone on too high of a pedistal. I think it's the hubris I bestow on these figures that takes such a hit when a personal scandal affects them. Maybe the media is desperate for a hero figure. They love to build people up and love even more to see them fall.

I still enjoy the inspiration famous figures have given me, regardless of their faults. The best part of any scandal is that it helps to reinforce the everyday heros in my life. My family and friends are filled with people that inspire me and have not let me down. Famous actors & athletes may get all the press, but I have a group of unheard of personal "celebrities" that truly get my respect. I guess that's why I don't get too worked up about celebrities. They are great to watch perform and can be quite inspriing. But at the end of the day, I have no attachment to them. I save my respect and attachment to friends and family; so if one of them lets me down, that's a scandal and crisis...

 

Game 7

A big Game 7 tonight between the Red Wings and Sharks. I am still pulling for the Red Wings. There are those that follow the theory of following the opponent that beat your team. In my case it would be the Sharks, since they beat my Kings. But I don't subscribe to that. I have always been a Red Wings watcher. My college roommate is a big Yzerman fan, so I've always know how the Wings are playing and who's on the roster. I have to admit that their puck possession style of play is a thing of beauty. Datsyuk is a magician with the puck. Lidstrom is one of the best defenders to ever play the game. You have hard hitting guys like Kronwall. Speedy guys like Draper and Helm. Hard nosed guys like Holmstrom. And when it works it is awesome, which for the last two decades has been working pretty often. The organization itself is first class, finding draft gems out of the higher rounds more consistently than anyone. It's just a shame that Yzerman couldn't take over the GM reigns as he was being groomed for, but clearly the Lightning are better for it. I know I'm rambling here, but I hope Stevie Y eventually finds his way back to the Wings and carries on a tradition of winning.

All of that to say I am bitter about the Kings losing a 4-goal lead to the Sharks. But I think the Sharks losing a 3-0 series lead will make me feel much better.

Gladiator Rock 'n Run - Review

It was a muddy weekend. The Gladiator Rock 'n Run lived up to the hype as a fun event. There were many people in costume, my team included. I was glad that it did not seem like an overly serious event, lots of people were simply content to finish the course. Nitro himself was there to start of each of the waves.

The course itself was very spectator friendly. My kids were able to see me in the muddiest section of the course, as a sort of grassy infield bordered this part of the course. Most of the mud was flying on the Slip & Slide, mud crawl, & mud hills which were in the last half of the course.

The staged start times really helped avoid bunching-up at the obstacles. It still happened, but it was manageable. The cargo net climb over a cargo container simply took too long and a huge back-up happened there. Granted, I was not going for time, so the slow nature of some of the obstacles didn't really phase me. Probably the most difficult part was the Fool's Spools. You had to jump over/through large wooden spools. It required a decent vertical jump and some coordination. Some of the shorter participants skipped this obstacle.

The negatives? There was a water station but the weather was nice and cool, and the short nature of the course didn't really warrant a water station. Also, the Buddha's Burden was supposed to be a 40-yard, sand bag carry. It turned out to be more like 15-feet. The wrecking ball area wasn't very challenging and the tire sections were fairly short.

I would more than recommend this run to any first timer, interested in trying a mud run. It had a very fun atmosphere. The obstacles are not too challenging. The distance is perfect to anyone that doesn't "like to run". I think there is another Gladiator Run in Los Angeles for August. My wife was intrigued by watching the event and will probably join me for this next one. So, get off your couch and get dirty.

Round 2: WTH NHL?

So, after some great/long series in Round 1 you would expect more of the same in Round 2 right? As of today, the Bolts already swept the Capitals, the Sharks and Bruins lead 3-0 and Nashville is down 3-1. That's a potential for 3 sweeps in Round 2 and Nashville being the most competitive series!? Don't get me wrong, I like the Predators and am pulling for them. Also, they have been in 3 tight, low scoring OT games. That series is close. But I did kinda think that of them all, it had the only potential for a sweep.

That said, there have been a lot of OT games. I read something about so many days-in-a-row with an OT game. Some really exciting games. It's just that one team is getting the better of another.

Most of all I'm shocked that the Red Wings are down 0-3. The Sharks were beatable against the Kings. The Wings had their dominating playoff game going in Round 1. Most of all I hate to admit that San Jose looks like the team that is finding a way to get it done. Not quite a team of destiny, but they have come back to win and find a way to pull out OT games. It will kill me if another California team wins the Stanley Cup and it ain't the Kings.

Pre-race Gitters?

So the Gladiator Rock 'n Run is finally here. I'm feeling a little apprehensive about it. First of all, two of the guys on my team have dropped out. Well, one is a confirmed no-show, but the other is MIA. Personally, I'm gonna participate at pretty much all costs. The actual costs are $70. Which makes it an event I'm not going to back out of without a strong excuse. I don't want to miss the event as much as I don't want to waste $70.

This is where I list my excuses. I haven't actually run in a month. I did plan on doing some sort of training for this event. But as of today, I'm actually in worse shape than normal. Why? I bruised and cut open my leg while practicing skating three weeks ago. That took me out of any running for a week. I did some stationary bike, but nothing serious. The week after that I slipped on some rocks by the ocean while on vacation, bruising the sole of my foot pretty bad. My big toe and forefoot were purple the next day. This took me out of action even more than the skating incident, as it was painful to just walk around. I've been sick the last 10 days. I got some sort of virus which got me to the doctor. That in itself is a testament to my commitment to this event, I hate going to the doctor. I got some antibiotics. Fortunately, I take the last one on race day. I still feel marginal, my foot is swollen each morning, and cardio wise I'm probably not up to the task.

All the more reason to make the event a little more challenging. I had mentioned at the start of this thing that going "business casual" would be a funny costume. Well, apparently the other guy and I are racing in costume. We are going with a Hangover inspired look. We got some tribal temporary tattoos at the local Spencers. We are going with face tattoos, dress pants and dress shirts. This may not be such a great idea once the pants are wet and muddy. Nothing like hauling around heavy clothes for 3 miles! But I look at it this way. I'm not taking it seriously, obviously. We will have fun just getting through the course in these get-ups. It will be a little more of a challenge, I like a challenge.

Hockey Vacation

I was on Spring Break last week, which meant a nice vaction from work and the usual social media outlets. The hard part was not watching every possible Playoff Game. That was made easier, once the Kings were bounced by the Sharks.

 

In not-so-ironic fashion, it was a generous 5-minute major penalty at the end of Game 6 which prevented the LAKings from forcing a Game 7. The lack of powerplay "power" kept the Kings from sealing the deal, and the Sharks came away with yet another OT winner. Looking back at the series, it was the Kings losing to the series more than the Sharks beating them. The two decisive victories were LA wins. Otherwise it was OT or a close decision. There was that horrible blown 4-goal lead...

 

On a positive note, I enjoyed camping with my family without a scratchy playoff beard.

 

Looking back at the first round, I called the Caps, Bruins, Bolts, Canucks, and Predators. I missed the Sabres and Coyotes. Where did I go wrong? Bryzgalov had a horrible series. And the Red Wings didn't miss Zetterberg at all. Miller wasn't bad, but Philly found their game and got Pronger back.

 

The second round is already under way. I had the Red Wings topping the Sharks, especially after the respective first round play of each team. But San Jose is up 2-0, go figure? I also figured the Caps would top the Lightning. But that series is also 2-0 Bolts. Damn. I like Boston over Philly mostly due to goaltending and dislike for Pronger. Similarly, I like Nashville over Vancouver since I'm pulling for Mike Fisher.