One of my favorite writers, historians, and activists passed away today.
There was a lot of Studs Terkel in my grandfather, Big John. His ability to listen and express gratitude and concern for individuals of all walks of life was amazing. Godspeed Studs.
I watched “3 Days Of The Condor” the other night. It is like an older version of The Bourne Supremacy. It is awesome because Robert Redford is the star and Faye Dunaway is the harlot in distress. All types of great mid-70s stuff is in this movie like a brief 40sec visit to the Guggenheim and some real “fancy technology.”
All in all it was a fun film to watch and the best character was Joubert, who was played by Max von Sydow. This dude is one of the coolest, yet creepiest characters I have seen in cinema. Dude was awesome. You all should put it on Netflix if you are into old movies.
…
New podcast up on the Throw. Check it out. The forgotten interview with Mrs. Smithers is on there.
I hope more people dress up all at the cyclocross race this weekend. It is one of the best races of the year and it is even better when people get, as Dickey Dunn would say, “the whole spirit of the thing.” In fact, it seems like only a few in recent years have gotten the whole point and they tend to be the more thrilling/happy people to be around at bike races: Skibby, Red Lantern, The Cullens, Maria, Margot, and Hareland.
I also want to see more of the A racers dress up. Especially the 1/2s.
Here are some images that come up when you google “cyclocross costume”:
Look, even the officials get it:
Taylor Olson should send someone his SpeedFix skinsuit, maybe to Little Guy?
The classic costume (only if completed with the face paint):
That Obama advertisement was pretty straight on.
I have now seen what he wants to get done and it is right on.
I get the feeling he is our very own Robert F. Kennedy:
To top it all off he has Joe The Vice President on the ticket.
Go get ‘em.
Hmmmm…
Besides for the whole National Champion thing, doesn’t Tim Johnson look a lot like our very own Rich Bergstrom?
Tim Johnson:
Rich Bergstrom:
(Skinnyski)
I report. You decide.
Heading out to Green Acres brought back some sweet memories. Perhaps the most exciting one was the time I kissed my first girl in 6th grade on top of the tubing hill after getting into a little fight with another kid over pancakes, but I will save that story for another edition of the infamous “Super Rookie’s Twin Cities Tours By Bicycle.” Although the course didn’t utilize the section of the facility that allowed me to stand on first base like a true champion, it did have a bunch of cool features.
If the weather was a bit nicer I would have had a ton more fun riding my bicycle and I wouldn’t have quit in such a glorious fashion, but I wasn’t feeling it and soon decided that watching the racing was a lot more fun. The cool thing about the course was that you could see a lot of the action from on top of the hill. It also meant that you could yell a lot of things at riders that are way better than you. It is a badge of courage to race in the A race, mostly because you are racing in it and lesser racers get to yell obnoxious things. Since my best friend, Dan Swanson, wasn’t there I had to cheer Dewey, Doug and everyone else on during the race. I made Doug laugh at the start line which almost made him blow the entire first 100m, but by the time he made it back down the hill he had a 30min lead on the rest of the field.
Dewey looked really strong and was a real “maverick” when he rode the entire hill on the “right” side of the road. It was like he was driving the “straight talk express.” My teammates also put on quite a show. In fact, they were man enough to all crash in exactly the same spot during the same lap of the race! It was quite the site as they got their uniforms dirty, but in the end they all finished and coupled with Linzilla made up for the day.
What a fun day.
…
The course was nice. Those that didn’t make it out sure did miss a nice race. The weather made it less fun for myself, but others seem to eat it up. The beer was cold and the hot dogs were ’skin-on weiners’ which was a little weird, but some people swing that way. The only thing that I didn’t like about the course was the use of wooden stakes that were about knee high on the switchback decents. Some others mentioned this to me and the common thought was, “if you are going to slip watch your head from being impaled by a stake.” I figured this was meant to be since it is Halloween and all and vampires are lurking around (Steven Rivers is quite pale).
The race also, once again, proved the need for a four race day. Races with big attendance that only have three races (Theo, Lake Rebecca, Ham Lake and PorkChop) need to try out this type of schedule. It doesn’t mean that much longer of a day and it allows for easier score keeping and better racing! I highly recommend that promoters of metro-area races go to this method if it is possible.
I didn’t notice the chip timing because I didn’t finish the race. I also noticed that (dis) didn’t wear his chip because he forgot to put it on. Therefore, he had to rely on the USAC officials to place him. It is probably a good thing that (dis’s) daddy was there to make up for his son’s stupidity.
My dad used to tell me stories about his old Math teacher at Johnston High School in Rhode Island. He would talk about how his old teacher used to be the coach of the mighty Providence Friars hockey team and then became the Athletic Director at that school before eventually becoming the General Manager for the New Jersey Devils. I kind of believed him, but just figured it was one of those stories that dads enjoy telling their kids. Kind of like the classic, “uphills both ways to school.”
Well. As it turns out, Lamoriello was a math teacher at Johnston High School. It is probably a good guess that he knew of my grandfather who was the principal of the school. So, yeah, I guess I should be a fan of the Devils. Afterall, Rhode Islanders tend to stick together.
Kind of a classy looking guy.
I have known Raymond Wroblewski for about 6 years.
He introduced himself to me on a bicycle ride and said, “Super Rookie? What kind of bitchy name is that? My name is Ray. They call me All The Way Ray.” I think I walked away at that point a little freaked out, but I knew the guy was special. Not ’special’ like “special,” but the ’special’ that makes you smile when you think of the laughs he brings. When Ray reads this he is going to be pissy because it sounds like an Obit. It isn’t. It is just a reminder that Ray changed his blog title back to the original name, and it is as ’special’ as always.
Plus, Ray was 3 the last time the Hawks won the cup and at the rate our team is going he might be 83 before they win it again. Ray is from Logan Square. There are no bitches in Logan Square. Ray assures me that Ma would kick their asses if there were.
Redirect your browsers to here.
I believe that I am a curse to all sporting teams that I consider “my favorite.” I came to this realization after ‘my’ New York Red Bulls got their butt’s worked 5-2 by the Chicago Fire and have apparently kissed their playoff dreams goodbye. Yet, this isn’t the first time one of ‘my’ teams has screwed the pooch.
Allow us to take a look:
Therefore, I have decided to pick two new favorites to my list:
Go get ‘em Frye and LSC!
I had my wedding on the day of Crit Nationals in Downers Grove.
This meant a good friend had to miss the race.
He was really mad at me and has officially paid me back…
How?
He is having his big day on the first day of Jingle Cross.
I guess we are even now.
…
Payback is awesome.