Thor Movie Teaser!

Yay!

Death Race 2010

I was recently sent a link to an awesome article in Outside Magazine about Peak Racing's Death Race.

No, not that Death Race, silly!


This one. The real deal.





...and here is the link to another good article from '09 in the New York Times. I love the whole concept. I wrote about it last year when one of the founders, former Missouri State distance record holder Andy Weimberg tried to get me to sign up. Andy is the kind of guy who considers the triple Ironman to be a warm-up.

Go ahead. Read about it. It's the closest you'll ever get to finishing it.

The Captain America Movie!

Hey, I know all y'all are as excited as I am about the fact that the Captain America movie is going to be released on my birthday next summer. I am really just posting this here so that I have an excuse to brag. Rather than post pictures of the authentic Captain America shield hanging at my house, or my four Captain America t-shirts, or the boxer shorts, or even the tattoo on my back...


I am just gonna post a few pics I pulled from the web, and an awesome preview of the video game that is gonna accompany the release of the movie. I once had a man come up to me and start a conversation about my Captain America t-shirt at a local Relay for Life event. He told me that when he was in WWII he loved the comics and he even mentioned the cover above where Cap is punching Hitler in the face. I wanted to hug the guy.

More Captain America: Super Soldier Videos

I get pretty worried every time a comic movie is released. They have screwed up so many over the years... but this time, I think that Marvel taking control of the movies based on their characters has at least given the best brains in the industry a chance to give their input. I am pumped for this, especially since we all know it is going to lead up to tie-ins galore and the formation of the original Avengers for the big screen. Most people don't realize that the modern day Cap is actually the same guy from the comics in the 40's, so this movie being set in World War II is going to help the non-comic geeks to understand him from an important perspective. He was a hero from our greatest generation trying to get along in modern America. It provides a great contrast to showcase just how different our world is from the world of our grandparents.

This is a fanboy's dream come true.

Worldwide Tribute to Fran Crippen

I think we might put flowers in the water just before we play the national anthem at the meet our club is hosting this weekend. The meet starts at 9:30am, which fits the timeline for the event perfectly. The picture is a link to the facebook event page where you can get more details.

The Viking might be taking this alumni meet a little too seriously...

We were playing around in morning practice the other day and came up with this vid. I am pretty proud of it. I am not even a hundred percent sure I will be able to make it to the alumni meet, but I am totally jazzed to race with the handicap if I do. We are racing a 50 of each stroke and I get to subtract .3 from my 50 times for every year since my college career ended. That means that I get to subtract 4.5 seconds from every 50 and 18 seconds total! Heck yeah! I hope some more guys from my generation show up.

Please leave me a comment to confirm that this is the best swimming youtube video of all time.

Also, please note the subtle plug for Tyr products at the end. Come on Tyr, with me on your marketing team you can't lose! I made this during morning practice on a $0 budget! Hire me already! I could be the Don Draper of Viking related swim merchandise and I would make a hell of a mascot to break you into the "chubby guys who want to swim faster in the triathlon and have the confidence to still wear a brief" market! Come on, you know you want me on board!

The Destruction of Professional Basketball!

According to Yahoo! Sports, the NBA has determined that this shoe, developed by Athletics Propulsion Labs, gives an "unfair advantage" with it's "Load N' Launch" technology. It increases vertical leap significantly.

Uh-oh.

I was just about to light the "Craig Lord Signal" over the city to stamp out this menace before it could destroy professional basketball, until I read that the NBA just decided to ban it.

It's simple really. They just said "no."

You mean, that's it? Wow.

...and the best part is, the article opens by saying that nobody in the NBA really wanted to wear them anyway. Oh well. Disaster averted, I guess.

How much you wanna bet that getting on the NBA banned list actually increases sales of this shoe? Maybe Lochte oughtta add the Load N' Launch tech to his shoes just for fun.

TYR's new ad!

I am a little disappointed that TYR hasn't sponsored me yet. I have been campaigning for a couple of years now. They are gonna wish they had after I tear up the alumni meet at Missouri State next weekend. With my 4.2 second handicap on each 50 on account of my old age, I am gonna be eating all the young bucks alive.

Oh, well. I still have to give TYR props for a great ad and for acknowledging the origin of the brand name. Tyr has a great story. He sacrificed his hand to the wolf Fenrir as part of a plot to trick him and keep him bound with a magic rope after he broke free from every chain the Gods could make. Now that's a team player!

Hats off to Jarrett Perry

At a meet once in Oklahoma City, summer Sectionals I think, a few of my senior club boys were laughing about being startled by "the guy with one leg." Apparently Jarrett Perry was talking to one of them behind the blocks at warm-up and my swimmer hadn't noticed yet that he had a prosthetic leg until he "popped it off" and jumped in to warm up. It was pretty hilarious, really. One of the kids who had been around a while was trying to describe to them how Jarrett jumps up onto the block and takes his marks for his races. There was no disrespect. They were marveling over how athletic he is and what a great guy he seemed to be.

One of my new fish was really curious about it and wanted to see him swim. Well, of course, in the 100 back that day, they ended up swimming next to each other in the prelim. My guy got schooled. Mind you, this kid was a 53-mid scy backstroker. He was hailed as a hero in our high school swimming conference, and he just got beat by the guy with one leg. I can't put my finger on why, but as a coach, there was something really satisfying about the whole scene.

Jarrett Perry is retiring. This guy has had a heck of a career at WSC and at Colorado Springs, and has been a tremendous inspiration throughout his career. Most people don't know this bit of trivia, but in 2004, his coach at WSC, Eric Nelson, was the first coach ever to put a swimmer on both the USA Olympic and Paralympic teams in the same cycle when Jarrett and Caroline Bruce both earned spots while still in high school. Here is the post from the Missouri Valley LSC website:

Jarrett, an accomplished swimmer and two-time USA Paralympian, has hung up his suit and retired from the sport of swimming. During Jarrett’s years of swimming he has compiled a long list of accomplishments, including: Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist, World Record Holder (100 and 200 Backstroke), 100 Backstroke World Champion, American Record Holder, and two-time US team captain. If you are not familiar with Jarrett’s story, he was diagnosed at birth with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and at two days old had one of his legs amputated. Jarrett joined the Wichita Swim Club at age four and competed in his first national-level meet at age ten. From there, Jarrett’s swimming success really took off. Jarrett has been part of the Missouri Valley family since 1991, and has impacted swimmers, parents, coaches and officials with his warm heart and fierce competitive spirit. Missouri Valley is proud of all Jarrett has accomplished and the positive way he has represented the sport of swimming, the Wichita Swim Club, and Missouri Valley!

Congrats on a great career, Jarrett.

Please vote for our PINK pic!

Jones Soda is having a contest to see if anyone can submit a picture that they like enough to turn into a soda label for their regular distribution. One of my team mom's took this picture last October on our first annual pink speedo night and submitted it to the Jones Soda website. Please visit the site and give our pic a 10 point vote. It would be pretty cool if this little thing we did to support our beloved diving coach through her chemotherapy and surgery could be celebrated by winning this contest.

After we made such an impression on our school last year, our student council organized pink events for every fall sport and has already raised a couple grand to support local breast cancer awareness through t-shirt sales and raffles. Our second annual pink night will be October 26th and this year a good friend and local breast cancer survivor donated pink caps to go with our suits. I am anticipating our best dual meet crowd ever.

To vote, go to www.jonessoda.com, click "photos and labels," then "photo gallery" and type "pink speedo" in the search bar. You can't miss our picture. Please pass it on!

The start of every high school invitational I have ever hosted...

Uhh... now what do I do?

“Welcome to the Red Bird Invitational. We are set for a 1:00 start. This is the time when we need volunteers to come down behind the blocks to run stopwatches. If you are a volunteer timer, please check in with the referee near the starters booth at this time…”

Six minutes pass…

“We are hoping for a 1:00 start, but we are going to need twelve volunteer timers to run stopwatches behind the blocks. We can’t start the meet until we have twelve people back there helping us out. Anyone can do it and we need all the help we can get. Please come on down. Thank you.”

Four more minutes pass…

“It’s just about one o'clock right now and we still need eight more volunteer timers. There is no pressure here folks. We have a timing system. The times are only needed for back-up in case the system were to malfunction. Even if you have never timed at a meet before, it is no big deal. Our referee will show you everything you need to know. It really is an easy job and you get the best seat in the house; except when they take their marks, but then you just have to look away for a couple of seconds. It’s not as traumatic as you might imagine. Please help us get started. Thank you.”

Three more minutes pass…

“Okay guys. We are already getting a late start. I apologize but we still need four more volunteers to run stopwatches. All you need is a thumb. Stop. Start. Reset. That’s it. You don’t even need both thumbs. Just one will get the job done...”

“All of you in the bleachers-- if you have thumbs, don’t raise your hand.”

“I thought so. That means you are qualified! Please come grab a stopwatch and a clipboard. Let‘s get this party started!”

One more minute passes…

“Cows can’t volunteer to time. They don’t have thumbs. My dog tried to volunteer, but he doesn’t have thumbs either. I used to have a pet monkey. I didn’t let him try to time because he was always drunk, but now that I think about it, even a drunk monkey could probably time. No, really. He had a thumb. Just like you. Please, let’s get some volunteers to get the meet moving.”

“Don‘t make my swimmers do it. Please. That‘s just plain wrong.”

45 more seconds…

“Come on people… We could be using our thumbs to time races but instead we are all standing around with them up our... Oh, wait. We got enough?! Okay!”

“We are ready to start the meet. Yeeeeee-hah! All timers are in place. I am pumped! You other three people in the bleachers who aren’t timing oughtta get a wave going or something! It‘s time for some fast swimming!”

“Go Red Birds!”