Blah…Blah…Shut this guy up!

I went to University of Illinois when the Chief controvery started.  I was naive back then and had an unreasonable stand to blindly support the Chief.  Working at the Daily Illini, and being pro-Chief, put you in the minority back then, and now I am sure.  In fact, there was a time when they wanted to change the name of the newspaper to be more PC.

As I moved away from college, I felt that I grew.  I felt that I matured in a way where I didn’t live and die with an Illinois loss.  I always thought I would be fine when the Chief finally left the university as I knew it was just a matter of time.  I should have gotten a hint that I had not come as far as I thought when Luther Head back-rimmed the open three pointer that most likely would have been enough to win the national championship and I was depressed.  I was happily surprised though that I felt good about a season that didn’t end in a win.  So, I must have grown some.

With growing up and being more mature, other things happen and the most significant of those was having children.  Your entire paradigm of life changes at that moment.  You realize the idealistic fights give way to the pragmatism of providing and protecting the little eyes that trust you for everything.

Somewhere in there, my oldest son, who is only 2 years 8 months at the time I am writing this, has been telling me for about 8 months that he wants to go to Illinois.  He wants to see the Alma Mater.  He can sing the Alma Mater and he wants to see the Chief.  If you ask him if he wants to go to Harvard, he will tell you, “No! I am going to Illinois.”  This “brainwashing” wasn’t purposeful on my part, in fact I would rather have him, and my younger son, aspire to Harvard.  The problem has always been that I would like for both to go to Illinois.  I wanted them to walk on the quad.  I wanted them to sit in Follinger and listen to a boring lecture that has way to many people and not enough learning. 

Even before that though, with his excitement for the University of Illinois, we intended on going down to show both the campus, the Alma Mater, and most of all show them the greatest halftime show in sports.  That included the Chief and the singing of the Alma Mater.

I cannot help the fact that in some way I feel that has been ripped away from me by the Politcal Correctness Police and the power-abusing NCAA.  I want the people that were so anti-Chief, saying it was offensive, to produce one member of the Illini Tribe that finds the Chief and his halftime dance offensive.  Oh, they cannot.  Why?  The Illini were slaughtered and forced off their land, not by the white man, but by other Native-American Tribes.  This didn’t happen only once, but many times until the Illini were eventually disbanned and the remaining forced out to Arizona where they absorbed into another tribe.  So, although there may be a bloodline link somewhere to the Illini Tribe, nobody will ever be able to establish it.  Why?  The Illini were slaughtered by the same people that now claim the Chief is offensive.  I guess a guy dancing around in a head dress, bringing thousands of people together in unity is offensive, but genicide is not.

 I hope I can convince my sons in the next 16 years to be Badger fans or hopefully a Crimson fans. 

In the movie, Demolition Man, Dennis Leary goes off on a rant about how he is not participating in the new world order because he might want to clog his arteries with a cheeseburger with a side of greasy bacon.  It was funny at the time, because it seemed so far-fetched that you wouldn’t be able to eat what you want at a restaurant.  Not any more. New York City passed an ordinance banning restaurants and bakeries from using trans fats under the guise that they create health problems.  Hmmm… anybody else worried about this.  It isn’t bad enough we have seatbelt laws for adults, some states have helmet laws for motorcyclists, now you cannot even order cake in a restaurant because a group of yahoos deemed you couldn’t decide for yourself what is healthy and unhealthy. 

I hate to say this, but the smokers were right.  At least I can understand the argument for banning smoking.  I mean second-hand smoke at least affects the people around.  Now the government wants to tell you that they need to protect you from trans fats.  It isn’t as if when you eat them you expel them into the people around you. Of course I will hear from those that obesity has societal cost in the terms of health care…. blah… blah.  So does not exercising, driving a car, watching television, ect.  There are always societal costs to not being the healthiest you can be. 

I wonder if NYC is so concerned about health that it is banning alcohol?  Hmmm… I bet not.  Kind of hypocritical don’t you think?  After all, there are only health problems associated with alcohol and it has a high societal cost.  Liver  damage, drunk drivers, alcoholism, ect.  Of course not.  Why would they ban that?  It is so much easier to hear a buzzword like trans fats and think that the public is too stupid to make decisions for themselves.   I am not saying trans fats aren’t bad.  In fact, I do think most of society is oblivious to the problems they cause and even what foods contain them.  Education and information might be more helpful.  Maybe restaurants and bakeries should have to print the amount of trans fat in each item on any menu or display.  This way you can make an informed decision. After all, aren’t we all about freedom of choice in this Country? 

This morning I was driving into work and while stopped at a stoplight looked to my left.  It was a standard minivan.  Two kids in the back and the mom driving in the front.  On the dash were a couple of religious statues.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.  Then I saw a minature, Phillipene flag hanging from the rearview mirror.  Why is the hanging of flags from other countries so popular?  I mean isn’t it enough that this country has afforded this woman the opportunity to be driving her two kids around in a $30,000 car?  She still has so much allegiance to another country that she is hanging a foreign flag in her car?  I just don’t get it.  If people are so proud of these other countries, why aren’t they living there?  If these other countries are so great that they hang that flag instead of Ol’ Glory, why do they choose to stay here?

 Another question on this whole car thing that I don’t understand is when did cars become rolling memorials?  Why the heck would you want to put a person’s name and lifespan on the back window of a car?  Is that really honoring someone who died?  I do understand that sometimes there are reasons, like the creation of a foundation or charity in a persons name.  Generally, though, why would a person want to put the name and dates of birth and death on their car?  Is this generational?  Is it cultural?  Please explain it to me.

Sorry about the un-PC title, but it is the theme of this blog. Saturday I went out for a ride. I was meeting up with Dave W and Mike C on MB. Since I road from Antioch, and they came from thhe Center Club, we met up about 40 minutes into my ride. Dave and Mike are both IM finishers. Dave did IM Lake Placid in 2004 while Mike C did Moo in 2005. Dave is the only one of us signed up for an IM this year. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Dave has been busy producing TV shows this Spring and hasn’t started training yet. This was his first ride out in a while. 

I latched onto the ride and said hi. With that, we seemed to be moving to slow. I picked it up. I knew Mike could come with me, but Dave was a question mark. Mike, being nicer than me, stayed with Dave. We were going with the wind as far as I could tell so I wanted to keep moving. Dave was obviously struggling, so Mike and I would double back to get him. We got to Route 50, Dave mentioned how he was toasted and was going back. He also stated, “This is sad. This is where I usually consider the warm-up to end and now I am toasted.” Mike said he would turn around with him. At that point Dave remarked, “I feel like the special kid.” 

So, off I went to finish riding. Throughout the ride I couldn’t get Dave’s comment out of my head. At some point no matter when we bike, each of us is the special kid. Sometimes we bonk, have had a particularly hard training week, or just ride with people that are faster, we will all be the “special kid” eventually. So, next time you are out on a friendly ride and someone cannot keep up, remember someday you might be the special kid on your ride. Thus take care to be nice and not leave the poor guy or gal behind.

Over the weekend, I read two great article in Velo News presenting both sides of the Tyler Hamilton suspension for blood doping. It made me want to dig deeper so, I read the 28-page decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). I then went to Tyler Hamilton’s website (www.tylerhamilton.com), to read his side of the story. I also read some more interviews with Tyler at www.dailypeleton.com. 

After reading the CAS decision, I pretty much came to the opinion that Tyler is guilty as charged. It wasn’t as if the Vuelta test that led to his suspension was the first time he had tested positive. In fact, the only reason he was able to retain his gold medal was due to the technical rule that threw out his positive test since his B sample could not be tested. One of the agencies, either WADA or UCI, had been warning Tyler for a period of six months that they knew what he was up to and he needed to quit. 

My first inclination even buried Tyler even more. After all, he attacked the process more than going out to try to prove his innocence. At no point did he dispute the results of the test or try to offer another explaination, instead he attacked the process of testing the blood and the test itself. This was a stark contrast to triathlete Rutger Beke who tested positive at Kona and spent the next 9 months in independent labs that collected data proving he just happened to produce a higher concentration of EPO (or maybe just the proteins, I cannot remember). Beke never attacked the process he attacked the results and proved why his results were higher. 

Working in a prosecutors office, Tyler’s arguments were similar to those that are guilty of crimes. They cannot argue the facts are on their side. They cannot argue the law is on their side. Thus, they attack everyone else. In this case, Tyler’s lawyer attacked everyone in the process. The lab, the creators of the test, the study that validated the test, and WADA itself. 

Then I thought back to Lance and his recent bout with alleged drug use in the 1999 Tour. He also was attacking the process while maintaining his innocence. I have to admit, despite not wanting to believe it, Lance’s argument seemed weak also. 

I started to think about it. You really cannot prove a negative. You cannot prove God doesn’t exist. I cannot prove that I have not drank alcohol since my wedding day. Thus, for a person in cycling or endurance sports, who tests positive for PES, the only way to prove the negative is to attack the process. No other avenue exists. After all, they cannot prove a negative. 

Then I thought a little further about the situation. Actually, Tyler could have at least tried to prove his innocence. After testing the the Vuelta he could have had blood drawn and had it tested by an independent lab. After Athens, when he tested positive, he could have taken steps to prove he was drug-free instead of relying on a technicality to keep his gold. Most disturbing of all, is that for six months either WADA or the UCI thought he was doing something wrong. At no point did Tyler set out to prove that their lab results were leading them to the wrong conclusion. In essence over seven month, Tyler was given every indication that he was thought to be doping, but at no point did he take it seriously and try to figure out why others would think that and prove them wrong. Instead, he took a guilty man’s argument and attacked the process.