Friday, February 24th, 2006
Back in the day, when I was a competitive cross country skier, all the Olympic events were individual start, fairly long distance events. Men’s 15, 30 and 50 kilometer, women’s 5, 10 and 20 kilometers races. Skiers would start at 30 second intervals, one after another, and attempt to post the best time for the course. Unless you were a real huge fan of the sport it could be kind of boring to watch. One after another they would ski by and, one after another, they would finish. You would not know who won the race until the last skier finished and all times were sorted out.
The only exception was the relay race. The relay was a mass start event and it would pit the skiers from each nation in head-to-head competition with the first skier across the line bringing victory to their team. The relay was always a closely fought race and it was the most exciting event to watch.
It appears that the sport, as well as a number of other traditionally “individual” Olympic sports, have learned the lesson that the relay race was teaching. The public wants to watch closely fought races and they want the first person across the finish line to win the race.
But I would have never guessed that they would come up with a cross country race like the
sprint. A mass start race that takes less than two and a half minutes from start to finish. It’s certainly not the mould of traditional cross country ski racing, but it’s a pretty exciting race format and that’s what you need to capture the TV audience.
Posted by smithersmpls at 10:46 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2006
Anti-Strib:
Most democrats and lefties don’t take terror seriously and most Americans know that…
From Rasmussen:
Who do you trust more on National Security?
President Bush – 41%
Democrats in Congress – 43%
But don’t let the facts stand in the way of a complete fabrication…
Posted by smithersmpls at 7:09 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2006
TruthDig:
Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was “clearly inebriated” at the time of the shooting.
Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited “visible signs” of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions.
According to those who have talked with the agents and others present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party time to sober up.
Keep in mind that, with the medications that the Vice President is taking for his heart and various other conditions, only one beer would probably be enough to put him over the line. Is it too much to ask that the person second in line for the most powerful office in the world refrain from engaging in a recreational activity where he could just as easily be accidentally shot as accidentally shooting someone else? In lieu of that, can he at least lay off the booze while doing so? How typically irresponsible…
It really is time for Cheney to go.
It would be bad for Democrats and their hopes for winning the Presidency in 2008 as whom ever replaces Cheney would be set up to run an “incumbent” campaign.
But it would be good for the country.
So I guess we don’t have to worry about it because, with the arrogance of this administration, doing what’s good for the country is always secondary to personal ambition and saving face.
Posted by smithersmpls at 6:47 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2006
VeloChimp discusses Floyd’s new TT position.
Posted by smithersmpls at 12:27 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 24th, 2006
Part of President Bush’s (questionable) strategy in the War on Terror has been the constant reminders to the American public that he will make no sacrifice or concession in his desire to keep Americans safe. He does not want any changes to the Patriot Act, he wants his extraordinary wire-tapping powers, he wants the ability to hold those that are even faintly suspected to be associated with al Qaeda to be incarcerated indefinitely. He attacked John Kerry during the 2004 campaign for Kerry’s supposed ‘nuanced’ position regarding fighting terror.
Today we get this gem from Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England:
“The terrorists want our nation to become distrustful. They want us to become paranoid and isolationist, and my view is we cannot allow this to happen. It needs to be just the opposite.”
This administration is simply amazing. What they are saying is that even daring to question their decision is tantamount to treason. It’s a “security risk” to openly discuss our nations security!
Where do they think this paranoia and distrust comes from?
Posted by smithersmpls at 2:54 am in Uncategorized | Permalink | No Comments »
