Happy New Years!
Sunday, December 31st, 2006Have a happy and safe one and thanks for reading this year!
Archive for December, 2006
Big Bowl follow up
Saturday, December 30th, 2006Note for future reference:
Spicy dumpling results in red baboon butt for baby.
You won’t find that on a fortune cookie.
(sent wireless via Treo 650)
Sayonara Saddam
Friday, December 29th, 2006NYT:
Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either.
Mission not accomplished? Screw it, we should just pull out and come home anyway.
Baby X
Friday, December 29th, 2006
Part two of Tuffy’s 20 Questions with my favorite person in the world is now up.
The breaking news included in the interview is the fact that Mrs. Smithers and I are expecting to provide a sibling to Baby Smithers on or around July 1 2007. This creature will be referred to as “Baby X” until birth at which point it will then be referred to as Baby Smithers. The current Baby Smithers will then take on the moniker Toddler Smithers. I hope this all makes as perfect sense to you as it does to me.
What with the holidays and all I have not had much time to think about the impact that Baby X will have on my life, but I am sure it won’t be that big a deal. I mean, I’m totally up to speed on diaper changes, I am pretty much tone deaf to crying, the house is all baby-proof. Plus we have a dog that is excellent at cleaning up after babies.
Yesterday Baby Smithers had a king size diaper blow out. I noticed it as he was running past me with crap escaping out his pant leg and onto the floor. I was able to grab him and get him cleaned up but when I went to clean the crap off the floor I noticed it had completely disappeared. The dog was walking around nearby licking his chops and looking for more tasty treats. Throughly disgusting but very convenient none-the-less.
VeloNews: all credibility lost
Friday, December 29th, 2006This was a strange year to select some of the winners of the VeloNews Awards, and no category produced a more debatable outcome than top North American man. We chose Floyd Landis, the embattled former Phonak rider who stands accused of cheating his way to victory at the Tour de France. Here’s why.
It’s not about whether we believe Landis is guilty or innocent.
Obviously.
Picking Landis as North American male cyclist of the year is an absurd choice. VeloNews attempts to justify their decision by stating that Landis won the Tour of California in February, Paris-Nice in March and the Tour of Georgia in April, all before he tested positive during the Tour de France.
What is known is that, for six months in 2006, Landis was the dominant North American in the pro peloton.
My response is: so what?
The fact that Landis tested positive in July calls into question everything he accomplished for the whole year. It is typical of VeloNews to ignore the doubt about Landis’ success and give him an award like this while the facts about his positive test have not yet been determined.
I have long noticed VeloNews penchant for rooting for American cyclists, and cyclists who happen to ride for American teams. The lack of coverage of the dust up in Europe over Ivan Basso’s recent signing by the Discovery team is a classic example. Maybe VeloNews should change their name to “The Journal of Competitive American Cycling.”
If VeloNews wanted to make a great pick for the top North American man they could have picked Levi Leipheimer since he won the Dauphiné Libéré in 2006. Or Hincapie, I guess. Neither one of those two guys is embroiled in a doping controversy.
20 Questions
Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Tuffy interviews a hero to all/most/some/no bike racers in the Twin Cities.
Operation Dinner Out
Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Operation Dinner Out
Originally uploaded by smithersmpls.
Baby Smithers made an ass of himself at the restaurant tonight. But what can you expect from a 13 month old?
Plus it was just Big Bowl, so who really cares?
(sent wireless via Treo 650)
Riding Giants
Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
Whenever a surf movie is on TV, Mrs. Smithers and I can’t help but watch it.
I have been fascinated with surfing ever since I went to Hawaii with my family in 1999. I attempted to do some body surfing while I was there and it was a terrifying experience. Growing up in Minnesota does not set one up to be able to handle six foot ocean swells. But I could sit for hours and watch those who knew what they were doing ride those waves just as easy and natural as I ride a bike.
I don’t think there is another sport where a person can interact with the power of nature in the same way as you can while surfing. The only thing that might come close is wind-surfing or sailing, but surfing seems to be in a totally different league. The wind can take you away from trouble, a wave may only get you deeper into trouble.
So we sat and watched Riding Giants last Monday evening. If you have the chance to see it I highly recommend it. The film deals specifically with big wave riders, who they are and what motivates them to do what they do. Two of the most interesting backgrounds detailed are Jeff Clark and Laird Hamilton.
Clark began surfing Half Moon Bay California in 1967. He discovered the waves of Maverick’s in 1975 and, due to the fact that he could convince no one else to try them, surfed Maverick’s alone for 15 years until it was “discovered” by the surf media in 1990.
Hamilton is a well known name in surfing but I had no knowledge of his past. Born in 1964 Hamilton moved to Hawaii with his mother when he was two years old. He was adopted by Billy Hamilton, a world class surfer and board builder, and spent his youth surrounded by the surfing legends of the North Shore of Oahu. It was only natural that Hamilton would turn out to be the greatest big wave surfer in the history of the sport.
Numerous times during the movie I could only sit and shake my head at what these guys attempt to do. Some might say they are just adrenaline junkies or they have some kind of sick death wish. But at the end of the film I was left with the realization that they do what they do because it’s just part of who they are. When they can’t ride they are despondent, angry and depressed. Surfing makes them a whole person, they simply have to do it.
I think a lot of us involved in sport, or what ever past time or activity drives us, can easily understand that reality.
