Well, it's September 11th. Watch the ESPN documentary "First Pitch" (Not First Take) about what happened in the aftermath and how sports was able to help out, maybe just a little bit. It's a great little bit about how a small thing like sports can contribute somewhat to the healing of a city after a great tragedy.
On to other news, Stage 20 of the Vuelta is tomorrow. Doom leads Fabio Aru by 6 seconds. Remember, Doom is not a climber. He specializes in the Time Trial. So it's incredibly surprising that he's leading the race with two (really, just one) stage to go. Tomorrow, the profile is like this:
So can he do it? Probably. He's surprised all of us so far by staying with all of the climbers throughout the high mountain stages. And because this isn't a summit finish, he still would have 17 km to work back to Aru in the small chance that he gets distanced. Aru will do something, but we'll see how Doom responds. Also, remember that there are other people in the top 10 who also want to move up or defend their positions, so there may even be attacks on the penultimate climb. I'll be Valverde is going up the road at some point. We'll see what happens. I hope that Doom defends his lead, and that we're even racing on the last day in Madrid, where traditionally nothing much happens until the last 5 km. Also, understand that Giant-Alpecin (Yes, the caffeine shampoo company) doesn't have many climbers, so Doom will probably be isolated very early on in the race. We'll see how Lawson Craddock recovers. But today Doom put in an attack in the last 2 km that was worthy of the race winner. I really hope he wins. Who was the last time-trailist to win a grand tour? You guessed it right. It was Sir Wiggins.
Here's a picture of Doom in the leader's jersey:
Here's a picture of Doom compared to the other GC guys. Look at how much bigger he is than anyone else. That is not a fat-angle, it's the real thing:
And remember this guy?
It's been a bunch of years since Fränk has been relevant. Luckily for him and the rest of his team, he can still climb. In fact, Trek Factory Racing hadn't had much good happen to them this year until the Vuelta. When Spartacus gets injured, the whole season is not so good anymore. Let's hope for a full recovery for him. It's a shame because the Worlds course this year in Richmond definitely suited him. And remember Andy? Well, he's opening up a bike shop next year. Let's hope that goes well.
After a rest day, we finally get some true GC excitement as well as a handover of the polka-dot jersey. Great job for Teklahaimanot, but it's time for the big boys to come out and play.
Stage 10: Tarbres to La Pierre-Saint-Martin - 167 km
Stage Finish: 1) Froome
2) Van Garderen
3) Quintana
Maillots after the stage: Jaune) Froome Vert) Greipel Pois Rouges) Froome Blanc) Quintana Laterne Rouge) Matthews
Sorry guys, I forgot to do a prediction yesterday for stage 8. It was a complicated stage and there was no way anyone was going to predict the winner. Today will be exciting. Look for Orica-GreenEdge to be last place, because they've lost a third of their team unfortunately.
Stage 9 (TTT): Vannes to Plumelec - 28 km
Stage Finish: 1) BMC
2) Astana
3) Sky Maillots after the stage: Jaune) Van Garderen Vert) Sagan Pois Rouges) Teklahaimanot Blanc) Sagan Laterne Rouge) Matthews
The carnage never came. Onwards to less exciting stages. Until 8 and 9 at least. I have to say that I got the top 3 correct, minus flipping GVA and Sagan, and of course Tony Martin spoiling everyone's party.
Stage 5: Arras to Amiens - 189.5 km
Stage Finish: 1) Cavendish 2) Sagan 3) Bouhanni
Maillots after the stage: Jaune) Martin Vert) Sagan Pois Rouges) Rodriguez Blanc) Sagan Laterne Rouge) Matthews
That's all she wrote. And I've lost all reason to be excited about anything anymore.
This guy rode 50 km through some hills after fracturing two vertebra. Ouch. I bet you can't do that. I'm happy to cause some injury if you want to take me up on this bet.
And while he was in yellow as well. Such a shame.
And here are more pictures of the crash:
Of note is the last picture, of the rider writhing in agony on the ground. Laurens ten Dam dislocated his shoulder, popped it back in, and finished the stage. Again, I bet you can't do that, though I'm happy to help if you'd like to try.
And here's some video, with very entertaining Dutch commentary:
Massive crash today on the run in to Huy. Unfortunately, many abandoned, including Dumoulin and Gerrans. Such a shame. Cancellara was also badly hurt, and we'll see if he continues on or not. In any case, Stage 4 is not for Spartacus to try anything anymore. Good to see Arredondo and Mollema up front, though. Tomorrow's stage will be massive carnage. Stay tuned.
Stage 4: Seriang to Cambria (via 7 secteurs of cobbles) - 224 km
Stage Finish: 1) Degenkolb 2) GVA 3) Sagan
Maillots after the stage: Jaune) GVA Vert) Greipel Pois Rouges) Rodriguez Blanc) Sagan Laterne Rouge) Irizar
Spartacus in the Maillot Jaune again. For the 29th time. It's great. Maybe his last tour? But sending it off in style. Maybe we can see some more ridiculousness in the maillot jaune in the next couple days. Stage 3 and 4 will be ridiculous. Watch for some fireworks here in the last 5 km. Maybe up to 15 different riders could win today's stage.
Stage 3: Anvers to (Mur de) Huy - 159.5 km
Stage Finish: 1) Valverde 2) Dan Martin 3) Albasini
Maillots after the stage: Jaune) Dumoulin Vert) Greipel Pois Rouges) Valverde Blanc) Dumoulin Laterne Rouge) Didier
Looks like my first day Laterne Rouge prediction was correct. Mikael Cherel came in 3:36 in arrears of Rohan Dennis. Somehow, he wasn't kicked out, even though he finished more than 20% past the winner's time, which was a record.
Stage 2: Utrecht to Zeeland - 166 km
Stage Finish: 1) Cav 2) Greipel 3) Sagan
Maillots after the stage: Jaune) Dennis Vert) Cav Pois Rouges) Alberto Blanc) Dennis Laterne Rouge) Quemeneur
Going to be a TdF prediction blog for the next three weeks. Stay tuned every day for predictions. If I miss one please let me know. If you disagree, please let me know. This is all just my opinion.
In economics, there is a term called utility. For example, it basically means how much pleasure (or what your payout is) depending on a certain outcome. Let's say that I give you two choices. Choice A gives you a payout of 1, and your opponent a payout of 2. Choice B gives you a payout of 0, and your opponent a payout of -1. In table form, it would look like this:
Choices
A
A
1,2
B
0,-1
So basically, you can say that if you choose A, then you both would make a lot of money. If you choose B, then you make zero, but your opponent loses money. Normal, rational people would choose A, and you can make money at no expense to others. However, if you're like some people, and like to see other people suffer more than you like to see yourself succeed, then you can choose B and essentially pay your 1 unit of potential winnings to see your opponent lose 2 units of potential earnings and also have to pay 1 unit back. It's up to you.
By the way, what I presented was called the ultimatum game. There are other forms of these types of games, if you're unaware, with various names. For example, the following is called the prisoner's dilemma, in which both parties have a choice.
Choices
A
B
A
-5,-5
0,-10
B
-10,0
-1,-1
In this case, you see that for the column player, choice A is always better than choice B. For the row player, the same is also true. So the Nash Equilibrium would be both people choosing A. Because in this case, there's no way to guarantee that your opponent makes less than you, so there's no way to have fun at the expense of someone else. I don't like games like this, unfortunately. They are no fun.
There's another thing that happened called the murder of Kitty Genovese. It's also something that you can solve mathematically. Look that up by yourself and tell me what you think. Basically, Kitty Genovese got murdered and no one called 911, because there were too many people. If there are more people, then there's less of a chance that someone calls 911. And that's because you think that the more people there are, the more likely it is that someone other than you will call 911. But in reality, everyone is a misanthrope and thinks this way, so no one calls 911, and a nice girl like Kitty Genovese gets murdered. But don't believe me. Just look it up.
If you're interested in learning more about this stuff, don't ask me, you should ask someone who is better at these games. I always play games irrationally, just to screw with my opponent. So beware.
Not much, because let's assume that a pack of 6 goes for $6. If you go to the Aldi, a pack of 6 Kodiak bars is like $3, if you like knock-off brands. So basically a Klondike bar is worth $1 (plus tax if you come from a state that charges tax for food purchases). Then, you have to go to the store to buy them. Let's assume that you have to drive 8 mile total to the store and back, so that's like $1 worth of gas. So now it's up to $2.
Anyways, let's get back to something meaningful. Now let's value your time as well. If you're 0-9 years old, your time is worth ($100)/hr. If you're 10-18 years old, your time is worth ($50)/hr. If you're 19-22 years old, your time is worth $0/hr. If you're 23-29 years old, your time is worth $50/hr. If you're 30-39 years old, your time is worth $100/hr. If you're 40-49 years old, your time is worth $50/hr. If you're 50-59 years old, your time is worth $0/hr. If you're 60-69 years old, your time is worth ($50)/hr. If you're 70-79 years old, your time is worth ($100)/hr. If you're 80-89 years old, your time is worth ($150)/hr. If you're 90-99 years old, your time is worth ($200)/hr. If you're 100-109 years old, your time is worth $1,000/hr. If you're 110-119 years old, your time is worth $10,000/hr. If you're 120-129 years old, your time is worth $100,000/hr. If you're 130-139 years old, your time is worth $1,000,000/hr. Note that ($X) means negative $X, for those of you unfamiliar with the notation that I stole from someone else.
Please neglect all of these values if you're reading this blog. For all readers of this blog, your time is worth ($1,000)/hr, since you could have accomplished something meaningful in the time that it takes you to read this blog every day.
Here's Jeralean Talley, of Inkster Michigan, who is the oldest person in the world, at the young age of 115. She just celebrated her 116th birthday. I value her time at $10,000/hr.
Let's say that on average your time is worth $100, and it'll take 30 minutes to go shopping and back, so that's $50. So in total, a Klondike bar is worth $52, since someone has bothered to bring it to you so you don't have to go to the store.
What can I buy with $52? Many things.
-A flight to Baltimore
-A roundtrip bus ticket to New York
-204 McNuggets
-One Red Sox ticket
-2 tubes of Glycogen
-A full tank of gas
-Tuition at Wollongong University (Dubai)
-A Klondike Bar
None of the major favorites have lost the race yet, except Uran, who is fighting bronchitis and is over 2 minutes down on Porte, Aru, and Contador. We'll see what he can do on the TT. Of serious note is the loss of Domenico Pozzovivo from the race. He crashed badly on Stage 3 and was taken to the hospital. Obviously, he had to abandon.
Other ways to lose the race include not being able to start the race, like Davide Rebellin, because the race organizers hate you for doping in the past. Or having a poor TTT, like Lampre.
Worst of all, you could lose because some idiot sticks out their camera into the field during the bunch sprint at the end of a stage, like in Stage 6. Daniele Colli gets the worst of it, and Alberto Contador also comes down and dislocates his shoulder. Twice.
And this is what resulted. Note that his forearm has been censored in this picture because it is bent the wrong way. You don't want to see what I saw.
Gout is a disease that affects 3 million Americans annually. Also termed gouty arthritis, it causes acute inflammatory arthritis in certain joints, most commonly at the metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe. Gout is usually caused by higher than normal concentrations of uric acid in the bloodstream. The uric acid will crystallize at certain joints, which also results in auto-immune inflammatory action. This is what causes the horrible inflammation and pain. This is sometimes caused by diet, genetics, medication, and other underlying medical conditions.
There are many ways to prevent gout, but no universal treatment. Basically, everyone's gout is different. Usually, NSAIDs are prescribed to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. At times, steroids are also used to control pain. If you've had gout once, there's a larger chance that you'll have it again. If you have gout, you are at an increased risk of hypertention, diabetus, metabolic syndrome, and renal and cardiovascular disease. The instances of gout have increased significantly in the last 20 years.
Traditionally, gout has been termed the "disease of the rich", as eating lots of rich foods was often believed to cause gout. There's some truth to that, as eating lots of purine-rich foods seem to cause gout. So what should you not eat because of purine levels? Here's a list of stuff you should avoid if you want to avoid gout:
Alcohol, especially beer (some wine is ok; spirits are iffy, beer is definitely a no-go).
Organ meats, like liver, gizzard, tripe, kidney, heart, tongue, etc.
Poultry, especially goose and duck.
Sweetbreads.
Bacon.
Red meats, including pork, beef, and lamb.
Game meats, including venison.
Shellfish.
Chicken and chicken stocks.
Some fish, including tuna, trout, sardines, herring, anchovies, cod, bluefish, carp, halibut, perch, etc.
Just avoid these things, exercise a lot, and you'll be good to go. Don't be like Bobby.
Well, it's over everyone. It's been a good ride. And with that, this blog will come to a close. At least temporarily. Until I become undepressed. Don't expect too much, I'll need about a week to recover fully. In the meantime, you should check out all of my favorite blogs. Look out for my race losing analysis of the first week of Il Giro.
Sorry everyone, we tried, but it just didn't work out. Maybe next year. But almost certainly not.
Everyone get out your Blackhawks gear, because they are, and have been, quite clearly Chicago's best team for the past 5 years.
Also, I hate all Australians. They are dirty players. Like Dellavadiva. What a horrible person. I think I hate him more than LeBron. He's a horrible person. Just like every other Australian basketball player out there. Like Joe Ingles. Except Luc Longley, he's ok.
On the day of Stage 3 of Il Giro, let's remember Wouter Weylandt. Four years ago, during Stage 3 of the 2011 Giro d'Italia (a more entertaining version of the Tour de France), the cycling community lost a great man.
Wouter was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1984 and joined the professional peloton as a 20 year-old with the Quick-Step team, where he remained until the inception of Leopard-Trek in 2011. He had been a stage winner in the Vuelta a España, as well as a podium finisher in Gent-Wevelgem. Other victories included a stage in the Eneco Tour, Nokere Koerse, Le Samyn, and two stages of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, including a 2nd in GC in 2007 all due to his strong sprinting skills. In fact, the 2010 edition of Il Giro had Wouter win Stage 3. All in all, Wouter was a good guy and a hard worker and was well liked by the entire peloton.
On May 9th, 2011, during Stage 3 of Il Giro, Wouter was descending the Passo del Bocco, a mountain pass in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. Riders were going possibly 80 km/hr on the descent, and when Wouter looked over his shoulder on a turn, he lost control and crashed badly. The medical car was right behind him, but it appeared that he had died on impact, sadly. They tried for 45 minutes to resuscitate him, but to no avail. There was a memorial set up at the spot where Wouter crashed, by locals and family, and other cyclists.
The stage continued, as the leaders did not hear of the news until after the finish. Many were shocked, and David Millar, the new race leader, discussed with Wouter's teammates at Leopard-Trek about what to do about the next stage. As such, the next stage was neutralized. There was a moment of silence at the beginning of the stage, and the peloton proceeded to ride slowly through the stage as each of the 23 teams led the peloton for about 15 minutes. At the end, the Leopard-Trek team was given the opportunity to cross the line in front of the peloton to pay tribute to Wouter. In another great human act, the team welcomed up American cyclist Tyler Farrar, who was the best friend and training partner of Wouter. After the stage, the jersey wearers appeared on-stage with Leopard-Trek to lead in another moment of silence. All of the prizes of the day were donated to a fund in Wouter's name.
Immediately after stage 4, Tyler Farrar, along with the entire Leopard-Trek team, abandoned the race. In addition, race organizers declined to issue the 108 bib number ever again in Wouter's memory. Wouter is survived by his girlfriend, An-Sophie, and a daughter, Alizée, who was born after his death. He is also in the memories of his close friends, teammates, and even those in the peloton who did not know him too well. Pieter Weening, the race leader after stage 5, gave his pink jersey to Wouter's family. And the stage 11 winner, John Gadret, dedicated his win the Wouter, even though they were not well-acquainted. On May 9th, 2013, Mark Cavendish, the winner of Stage 6 of that year's Giro, held Wouter's 108 bib number on the podium for remembrance. Wouter's teammate, Daniele Bennati, won Stage 18 of the 2012 Vuelta a España, and immediately dedicated his win to Wouter. And finally, Tyler Farrar was able to win Stage 3 of the 2011 Tour de France. As he crossed the line, he held up his two hands to make a "W" for Wouter. He will always be remembered. #WW108.
UPDATE: Today, Domenico Pozzovivo also was involved in a serious crash on a highspeed descent. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he is in serious, but stable condition. He is conscious and moving. Obviously, he has abandoned the race, and the team's GC hopes now lie within the erratic Carlos Betancur. Stay tuned.
Poor offense in the fourth quarter contributed to the loss. In fact, the game was well in hand: 11-point lead with 43 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. How can you lose? Because you're cold. And don't make any shots in the fourth quarter. It's amazing that the Bulls were able to force the Cavs into a last second shot. They were down 5 points with 28 seconds left. Somehow they were able to win by making a 3, and then forcing LeBron into a turnover.
Unfortunately, a rule loophole was exposed in the last sequence. While the officials were viewing the replay to determine how much time would be left on the clock, the Cavs were granted an unofficial time out, where they were able to huddle-up and draw up a play. That's unacceptable, to allow a team without any timeouts to gain a timeout for free because of a rule loophole involving free timeouts during a review. That needs to change.
Let's be real here. Game 3 was an exciting buzzer-beating win for the Bulls. They won 99-96 on a Derrick Rose 3-pointer with no time remaining. Derrick Rose, intending to get the ball in the corner, was covered, so he ad libbed and went back up top. Dunleavy inbounded it to him (at around 4.5 seconds out of 5 for the inbounds clock) at the top of the arc. He circled right over a high Gibson screen that removed Shumpert from the play. But then Tristan Thompson switched on the screen, which is a great move when there are less than 2 seconds left. So Rose stopped and pulled up from about 27 feet away. Noting that the longer, taller Thompson was on him now, he had to change the trajectory of his shot to get it over him. And it went in off glass. The bank was open, but Derrick probably didn't know it was. Here's the play:
Here it is in Slowmo:
This shot comes 26 years and one day (!!!) after another one of the most famous buzzer-beating shots of the NBA playoffs. It just so happened that that one was taken by a Michael Jordan against the Cavs as well. Here's a nice mashup of the two plays.
So this is all good and fun, until we see what happened during the game and how the Bulls won. Derrick Rose had a very passive first half, but had a great, and more importantly, aggressive,, second half. He scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter alone. Jimmy Butler also had a good second half. He started 1-8, but ended up with 20 points on 7-17 shooting. He also had an amazing bucket close-in near the end of the game, which included a brilliant stop-and-pivot move under the basket against Earl Smith, Jr. In fact, in the fourth quarter, all but two of the Bulls's points came from Butler or Rose. The game-winning shot was also Rose's first three made of the game.
LeBron had a good game, numbers-wise, but he looked pretty off of his game again this time. He shot only 8-25, but had a 27-8-14 statline. What was most important, was that he had 7 turnovers, and down the stretch had to take some badly contested jumpers. That's all we want: a chance. He also missed a point-blank layup in traffic with 24 seconds left, which is very uncharacteristic for him. He did find people for big assists, most notably Earl Smith for two game-tying threes in the fourth quarter. Both were over Hinrich, who normally plays very good defense. The first three was successful on James's driving action. Hinrich had no choice but to stay at home, anticipating a James drive. Instead, Smith created some separation and James found him for an open three. The second of came around 10 seconds left off of a pass-psuedo-screen. James gave it up to Smith at the top of the arc, and in the process was able to get in the way of a pursuing Hinrich for James's 14th assist of the night, on Smiths' 14th point, which came on the Cavs's 14th three-pointer.
Other stats of note: The Bulls outrebounded the Cavs 54-39, including an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass. They were able to neutralize Tristan Thompson to only four offensive rebounds. The Bulls dominated the paint, and had less turnovers and more fastbreak points. Kyrie Irving, in particular, didn't have a good game. He had the Cavs's worst +/- (that's a flawed stat if there ever was one) most likely due to a reaggravated foot injury. He just didn't look the same after tweaking that early in the game. If he's not healthy, man the Cavs are in for a tough time.
On the topic of injuries, Pau Gasol strained his hamstring and is questionable for Game 4, on Sunday. He reaggravated an injury he suffered during Game 2, so we'll see how he progresses. He only played 22 minutes. Luckily, the Bulls are extremely deep all over, so we were able to see Gibson and Mirotic come in and absorb those minutes. Mirotic was especially successful, as his supposed three-point shooting prowess was able to pull Cavs defenders out of the paint for Rose and Butler to attack. He had a good game, with 12 points (but only 1-6 on threes) and 8 rebounds. He was also a +19 (!!!) when he was on the floor. Noah looked more active, but again was very poor shooting from the field. He finally hit some free throws. He went 2-2 to bring his FT% up to 19%... Anyways, without Gasol, lowpost offense will be harder to come by, and Mozgov will be able to roam more freely. Let's hope he gets better soon.
So Derrick and Jimmy played well in the second half. Dunleavy and Mirotic made their mark, and Gibson was solid. And save for Noah's offensive rebounding, there was very little offensive contribution from the other players. Aaron Brooks was pretty cold, but hopefully he can turn that around as we know how hot he can get at times. Kirk Hinrich didn't take a shot of any type in 20 minutes of play. He also had two assists, probably having more hockey assists than normal. As for the Cavs, Tristan Thompson was normal again, but with less impact on the offensive glass. Shumpert and Irving had off games, and James did as well depending on how you grade him. Mozgov didn't play much for some reason, so he didn't make a huge impact. Interestingly, James Jones and Matthew Dellavadova, America's most-hated Australian, came in and made some big threes. They'll need to continue playing well if the Cavs want to win. And finally, Earl Smith made his presence felt, particularly with those big threes in the fourth quarter. Let's hope his continued presence does not haunt the Bulls too much. Anyways, here are the game highlights:
Game 4 is on Mother's Day. For those of you who are not learned in standard American holidays, it's Sunday, May 10th. It will be on at 3:30 PM ET (for those of you who still live in the Chicago area and for those who are not good at subtracting 1 from 3, it's 2:30 PM ET) on ABC. Tune in and see if the Bulls can go up 3-1, or if the Cavs will even up the series. At worst, the series will be returning to Chicago, so at least the hometown fans can see the team again.
