ESPN Presents "First Pitch" - Vuelta Stage 20 Preview - Can Doom Do It?

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.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13617860

Here's a video:

And here's a picture, not a belly-itcher.

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.

Jasper and Danny Just Saved Our Season

Go Team!

Here's Jasper dominating the field on a reduced bunch sprint on Stage 8 of La Vuelta:

And here's Danny beating the likes of Degenkolb on Stage 12:

And as an added bonus, the TTT victory in Alberta:

And Fabian, I'll see you in person in Vlaanderen next year.

Vuelta Stage 1 Neutralized

Because of poor planning. Of course, it's the Vuelta a España. It was because of this:

Why don't you try to ride across a boardwalk followed by sand on your one-inch tyre. Good luck.

Against American Airlines

I'm back.

To celebrate my return, here's a post about all of the things I like about American Airlines:

1)

Stage 10 Predictions

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

Stage 9 Predictions

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

Stage 7 Predictions

Stage 7: Livarot to Fougères - 191.5 km

Stage Finish:
1) Cavendish
2) Sagan
3) Greipel

Maillots after the stage:
Jaune) Froome
Vert) Sagan
Pois Rouges) Teklahaimanot
Blanc) Sagan
Laterne Rouge) Matthews

Stage 6 Predictions

Stage 6: Abbeville to Le Havre - 191.5 km

Stage Finish:
1) Sagan
2) Van Avermaet
3) Degenkolb

Maillots after the stage:
Jaune) Martin
Vert) Greipel
Pois Rouges) Rodriguez
Blanc) Sagan
Laterne Rouge) Matthews

Stage 5 Predictions

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

Cancellara Abandons and Other Carnage

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:

Stage 4 Predictions

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

Stage 3 Predictions

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

Stage 2 Predictions

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

Stage 1 Predictions

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.

Stage 1 ITT: Utrecht - 13.8 km

Stage Finish:
1) Panzerwagen
2) Spartacus
3) Dumoulin

Maillots after the stage:
Jaune) Panzerwagen
Vert) Spartacus
Pois Rouges) Alberto
Blanc) Dumoulin
Laterne Rouge) Cherel

A Day in the Life of the Most Boring Person in the World

I Don't Always Have Fun, but When I Do, I Prefer to Have it at the Expense of Someone Else

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.

What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?

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

So, what would you do for a Klondike bar?

This is what I'd do to a Klondike bar.

How the Race was Lost - Giro Week 1

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.

Let's see who else loses in week 2.

About Gout

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.

Game 7 Never

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.