Well, it was a perfect day to run the Sporting Life 10K along with 10,000 others. About 14° Celsius at the finish and clear skies. And I began well. More than well, in fact. Hoping to break 55:00 (a 5:30/km pace), I set off quite quickly and was running close to 5:05 pace for the first 4 kilometres. But I knew I didn’t really have 10K in my legs this morning. I hadn’t run at all since my last race four weeks ago, and although my breathing was good, my legs felt a bit heavy. I figured I could slow down my pace and still make my goal time. Then something weird started to happen.

I have a very fancy GPS watch (Garmin 405) and around the time I began to feel tired, it kept notifying me of my split times several metres BEFORE the course markers. As the race went on, this happened earlier and earlier, until by the end, my watch was reporting that the course was almost 400 metres longer than 10K. As a result, according to my highly calibrated (well, accurate to within 5m, according to it) watch, my 10K time was actually 53:32. When I stopped it at the official finish line, it read 55:12. Odd.

Anyway, even though I didn’t quite reach my goal of breaking 55:00 officially, I felt pretty good for the first half of the race. If only this had been a 5K!

I did struggle in the last half, and felt really dehydrated. Stopping to walk and drink water almost every kilometre near the end wasn’t pretty, but I’ve learned a lesson for our upcoming 10K race in Atlanta on July 4. The Peachtree Road Race will have more than 50,000 participants and the weather will likely be MUCH hotter, so I’m going to make sure I drink plenty of water, Gatorade, whatever it takes.

Gun Time: 56:58.8
Chip Time: 55:23.5
Overall Place: 4901/10762
Gender Place: 3159/4857
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 390/597

2008 Chip Time: 54:32.1
2007 Chip Time: 51:22.7
2006 Chip Time: (didn’t run)
2005 Chip Time: (didn’t run)
2004 Chip Time: 52:30.9

Full results from 2009

from Consolation Champs

Sporting Life 10K 2009

As always, the Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K is the first race of the season for me, and I’ve done next to no running over the winter months. I did go out and run 8k last weekend in preparation, but I was still woefully underprepared for this challenging race, which ends with a steep 300m hill. Yesterday, it poured rain all day and all night, and there was rain forecast for this morning, but luckily it held off. But it was COLD, about 3° Celsius, and with very high gusting winds that made it feel more like -4°. Unfortunately for me, that meant I had to run in long pants with a rain jacket. I absolutely HATE running with all that gear on; I always feel completely weighed down and sluggish, and that was the case today. I ran at roughly a 5:40 pace for the first 5 or 6 kilometres, which wasn’t horrible (except I wanted to be running at least a 5:30 pace), but around 6k, I developed a nasty stitch in my right side that didn’t go away and caused me to stop and try to walk it off several times.

So, I was pretty disappointed overall with my run. Brooke also had a sub-par year, finishing about a minute after me. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I actually improved on last year’s time. Not that 2008 was such a great race for me, either, but I suppose I can take some small comfort from the slight improvement.

Next month, we’ll be running the Sporting Life 10K again, and I hope to do much better. My goal is to run sub-54:00. That’s not very fast, but it will be a (hopefully) reasonable challenge for me.

Gun Time: 48:20.3
Chip Time: 47:29.3
Overall Place: 1060/2016
Gender Place: 703/1043
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 100/140

2008 Chip Time: 47:43.6
2007 Chip Time: 45:23.7
2006 Chip Time: 44:16.8
2005 Chip Time: 42:38.3
2004 Chip Time: 43:26.5

Full results from 2009

from Consolation Champs

Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K 2009

Another week, another race. Today it was the Bread and Honey 5K and 15K Race in Streetsville, which is a neighbourhood in Mississauga, just west of Toronto. Again, we were up early (5:30am!) but with the added annoyance of very muggy weather that made it hard to sleep. To make it worse, some partying girls in the apartment next to us were chattering drunkenly on their balcony (right next to our bedroom window) until at least 4am. So, I didn’t sleep much at all.

By the time the race started at 8:00am, the temperature was 25°C and the humidity was stifling. Brooke was running the 15K race, which started at the same time, but by the time she finished the temperature was over 30°C. Needless to say, her time wasn’t as good as the last time she ran this race, in 2004. On the other hand, even running without a watch, I managed to pace myself well even though I had no idea what my finishing time would be. I thought it would be between 27:00 and 28:00, so was very pleasantly surprised.

The race itself was really well supported, with lots of families and several groups of schoolchildren running in teams. I even got to see long-serving Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, still going strong into her 80s. Though she wasn’t running, she did have her running shoes on!

That’s all the racing for me for a while. It figures that my Garmin Forerunner 405 shipped last Thursday and will arrive this Tuesday. Though it would have been nice to have it today, at least it will motivate me to go outside as we enter the hottest part of the year. At least, I hope it does.

Gun Time: 26:16.3
Chip Time: 25:43.2
Overall Place: 161/665
Gender Place: 122/286
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 15/41

Full results from 2008 (5K race)

from Consolation Champs

Bread and Honey 5K 2008

Alfie Shrubb was a world champion runner in the early years of the 20th century. For the past six years, there has been a race in his honour in the town of Bowmanville, east of Toronto. Brooke signed us up for this one for the first time this year, and though I was annoyed I had to get up at 5:30am to get out to Bowmanville in time, it was a nice race. After driving almost an hour east of home, we arrived in plenty of time to pick up our race kits and prepare for the race. The weather was a cool 13° and it looked ready to rain at any minute, but thankfully it held off. The course was a turnaround, on a relatively straight stretch of country road with a few gentle hills thrown in.

Since I’m still without a watch, I ran with Brooke for the first 3.5km or so. I wanted us to stick to a 5:30/km pace, and we actually were slightly ahead of that pace when I took off. While I was satisfied with my time, I’m still pretty far from my best performances. Brooke, however, set a personal best at the distance (44:45) so we went home happy.

Gun Time: 43:38
Chip Time: 43:25
Overall Place: 122/272
Gender Place: 92/137
Age Group (M40-49) Place: 33/50

Full results from 2008

from Consolation Champs

Alfie Shrubb 8K 2008

This past Sunday, Brooke and I ran our second race of the year and I felt considerably better than I did about the Spring Run-Off 8K I ran last month, even though I only fit in one training run of 8K in between that race and this one. The Sporting Life 10K is a fun race because most of the route is south on Yonge Street, and Brooke and I live within ten minutes walk of the starting line. As well, it’s mostly flat or downhill. But the best part is that this race might very well be the largest in the city, attracting nearly 10,000 runners each year. The weather is usually better by this time than it is in early April, too.

That being said, it was pretty cold when we headed out at 7:00am for an 8:00am start. The temperature was around 6° Celsius, though it did get up to about 10° later. Since I’m still without a functioning watch, I had decided to stick with Brooke for as long as possible, but she started to slow down around the 7K mark, so I took off. I wasn’t feeling particularly speedy, but my regular pace is faster than hers. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I struggled a bit for the last few kilometres. I’m definitely not in as good shape as I’ve been in past years. I need to get out and run more between races. But I was still quite happy with my time. I’d hoped to run sub-55:00 and I accomplished that. The discrepancy between gun and chip times is because we were quite far back from the starting line. Unfortunately, gun time is still how races rank you for placing.

Brooke has already signed us up for two more races in June, with a strong possibility that we’ll do a third. The Alfie Shrubb 8K is a small race held in Bowmanville, Ontario on June 1st. And the following weekend, I’m doing the Bread and Honey 5K in Streetsville, while Brooke runs the 15K. The third is the Pride and Remembrance Run, a personal favourite that we’ve run every year since 2003. There is a possibility that we might be in New York City that weekend, so we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully I can secure my Garmin Forerunner 405 before my next race! And run faster! (P.S. Brooke ran 55:10.4)

Gun Time: 56:17.7
Chip Time: 54:32.1
Overall Place: 3072/8590
Gender Place: 2106/3895
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 318/543

2007 Chip Time: 51:22.7 (wow, forgotten how well I did last year!)
2006 Chip Time: (didn’t run)
2005 Chip Time: (didn’t run)
2004 Chip Time: 52:30.9

Full results from 2008

from Consolation Champs

Sporting Life 10K 2008

I’ve been a very bad runner of late. Brooke and I started running to keep fit back in 2003, and for the first few years, I was motivated. One of the tools that helped me was a great heart-rate monitor watch I bought from Sports Instruments. That watch is now on its last legs, and it’s time for some new gadgetry to help get me back on track, so to speak.

I’d always loved the Garmin Forerunner series of GPS-enabled watches, but they were enormous and ugly, and often didn’t work in the city, where tall buildings interfered with their ability to pick up a signal. I kept telling myself that when they got smaller and more capable, I’d pick one up. I believe that day is now at hand. Behold the Forerunner 405:

This thing will do everything: track distance, time, map routes, even heart-rate (on one model). Best of all, it can upload its data to the web, where you can analyze it or compare yourself with others on Garmin’s new Connect community.

This is exactly the sort of tech geekery that gets me excited and motivated to exercise more. There are only two notes of caution here. One is that there won’t be any Mac support for the 405 until November 2008. The other is that Apple has long been rumoured to be working on a much fuller implementation of the Nike + iPod kit. While it’s doubtful that Apple could build something as sophisticated as the Forerunner (though it would play music!), I might still try to wait a while. Although I’m sure I could use Windows under Parallels for a few months to sync my data with my iMac, there could be some potential hiccups.

Don’t be surprised if I go out and buy one this weekend, though!

from Consolation Champs

Technolust: Garmin Forerunner 405

Brooke and I have run the Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K each year since 2004, but this year, I’d done next to no training. To make things worse, my watch battery died a few weeks ago and I hadn’t replaced it. And then Brooke and I were placed in different “corrals” at the beginning since she’d registered us and estimated my time being much faster than hers. So even though I’d planned to run with her to keep track of my pace and use her watch, we were separated throughout the entire race. Without a watch, it was hard for me to know what pace I was running, and to make matters even worse, there weren’t enough kilometre markers on the course. I only saw them for 1K, 4K and 6K. The end result was my worst time ever. I felt lost out on the course and my own body felt like a bit of a stranger to me. Brooke has registered us for the Sporting Life 10K in four weeks and I know I need to train now. Funny enough, even though she finished after me, Brooke’s chip time (47:29.9) was better than mine, and so she can deservedly say that she beat me. This is even more significant since she ran the 30K Around the Bay race just last weekend. She’s amazing. Next month, I’m hoping to go faster!

Gun Time: 48:30.3
Chip Time: 47:43.6
Overall Place: 1064/1950
Gender Place: 737/1045
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 117/166

2007 Chip Time: 45:23.7
2006 Chip Time: 44:16.8
2005 Chip Time: 42:38.3
2004 Chip Time: 43:26.5

Full results from 2008

from Consolation Champs

Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K 2008

Ok, I’ve been back from SXSW since yesterday afternoon, but I’m not quite ready to do the full writeup just yet. In fact, I’m extremely distracted right now. At Jane McGonigal’s amazing keynote last Tuesday, she pointed to a new ARG (alternate reality game) that she’d been working on for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. I’m a HUGE Olympics junkie and the trailer she showed just knocked my socks off. So now, I’m immersed in the mystery of The Lost Ring. This isn’t the sort of thing one person can figure out on their own, so if you decide to try to figure it out, jump into the comments here and let’s join forces.

P.S. One of my favourite things about the game so far is the extensive use of Esperanto, the “world language” that hardly anyone speaks. It’s tied into the hopeless optimism of the Olympic movement, and that gets me all choked up, but it’s also supremely geeky.

from Consolation Champs

Find the Lost Ring

I’m a little disappointed that I missed what sounds like the most exciting Super Bowl game in ages. I was delighted to hear about the Giants upset of the Patriots, but I’m sorry to say I missed every single minute of the game. We’d arranged to pick up Brooke’s mum at the airport around 4:30 yesterday. She was coming back from a two-week cruise in Hawaii, and we’d heard she’d been a bit sick with a cold for the past week. But when she got off the plane, it was clear this was more serious than a cold. She told us she hadn’t slept or eaten much in two days and that she’d been coughing up stuff earlier in the week. So we took her directly to Emergency and by the time we got home at 10:30, the game was over.

The doctor told us she’s got pneumonia, but she’s doing better already. A good night’s sleep was the first thing she needed. But instead of her staying with us for just one night and then driving home to Collingwood, it looks like we’re hosting a sick houseguest for the next few days.

There’ll be another Super Bowl next year, I hear, but it still would have been great to see such a competitive game. How was the halftime show? Did I miss any wardrobe malfunctions?

from Consolation Champs

Super Bah!

Brooke was running the Nissan Toronto Ten-Miler this morning in the Distillery District, so I entered the 5K because I don’t enjoy anything longer than 10K. It was a perfect day, cool and sunny, and the race started very early at 8:00am. Getting up at 5:45am was not fun, but it was a decent race for me. Not my best time this year, but I didn’t go in with any expectations.

Kilometre 1: 5:06.9
Kilometre 2: 5:11.6
Kilometre 3: 5:11.7
Kilometre 4: 5:08.0
Kilometre 5: 5:03.4

Chip Time: 25:35.8
Gun Time: 26:06.8
Overall Place: 111/425
Gender Place: 75/174
Age Group (M40-44) Place: 7/16

P.S. Brooke took three minutes off her previous time at this distance, so I’m very proud of her!

Official Results from the 2007 Nissan Toronto 5k

from Consolation Champs

Nissan Toronto 5K 2007

I always seem to have trouble with this race. It might be because it’s just two weeks after the Toronto Challenge, or because the weather is generally warmer, or because it’s generally a very fast field. But I think it’s because the course involves running two loops of Queen’s Park, and I find that particularly demoralizing, for whatever reason. But despite all that, I had a good run this year, though not my fastest on this course.

Official Time (Gun): 24:50.4
Official Time (Chip): 24:28.5
Overall Place: 189/658
Gender Place: 161/368
Age Group (M26-49) Place: 134/298

My 2006 Time: 25:08
My 2005 Time: 26:06
My 2004 Time: 24:10
My 2003 Time: 28:45

So far, 2007 seems to be shaping up to be a good year, which is odd because I’m generally running less. Just one longer run a week on Sundays with Brooke. It seems to be working so far.

Official Results from the 2007 Pride and Remembrance 5K

from Consolation Champs

Pride and Remembrance 5K 2007

Brooke and I ran this 5km race for the fifth year in a row this morning. This was the first race we ever did, and even though it’s crowded, it’s one that we’ll continue to enter. It doesn’t hurt that in my opinion it’s a little short of 5km, so I always post a good time. In fact, this year, I set a new PB (personal best).

Watch Time: 23:34.0

Kilometre 1: 4:18.3
Kilometre 2: 4:56.3
Kilometre 3: 4:18.1
Kilometre 4: 5:08.8
Kilometre 5: 4:52.5

Official Time: 23:34
Overall Place: 88/388
Gender Place: 73/194
Age Group (M40-49) Place: 14/37

My 2006 Time: 24:45
My 2005 Time: 25:12
My 2004 Time: 24:16
My 2003 Time: 29:03

As you can see, I went out really fast, and knew that I wouldn’t be able to maintain that pace. The temperature climbed above 20° Celsius pretty quickly, even though the race started at 9:30am. The fourth kilometre was slower because of a slight hill over a bridge, although I’m sure the markers weren’t quite evenly spaced, either.

In any case, I’m happy with my time, and looking forward to our next race in two weeks, the Pride and Remembrance Run, which takes place during Gay Pride Week.

Official Results from the 2007 Toronto Challenge

from Consolation Champs

Toronto Challenge 2007

Offside (Iran, director Jafar Panahi): Filmed during an actual qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup, Offside works brilliantly as both a comedy and a tragedy. The film follows the fortunes of a group of young women who are caught trying to sneak into a football match at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The country’s Islamic religious leaders have decreed that women may not sit with men at sporting events, lest they be exposed to cursing and other morally questionable behaviour. This hasn’t stopped the country’s young female fans, who continue to sneak in using various tricks. But Panahi focuses on a small group who have been caught and are being detained agonizingly close to the action. They beg the bored soldiers guarding them to let them go or at least to let them watch the match. The soldiers tell them they shouldn’t have tried to get in, that they could have watched the game at home on TV. They banter back and forth in almost real-time as the game continues, just off-camera.

There is one very funny sequence where a young soldier accompanies one of the girls to the restroom. Since there are no female restrooms at stadiums, he has to clear the room of any men before he can allow her to go in. Plus, he makes her cover her face so no one can see she’s a woman. This is accomplished using a poster of Iranian soccer star Ali Karimi as a mask, with eye holes punched out.

You get a real sense that even the soldiers are baffled by the prohibition, and are only carrying out their orders so as to hasten the end of their compulsory military service. One soldier complains that he was supposed to be on leave so he could take care of his family’s cattle in the countryside. Little by little, the girls and the soldiers talk to each other, and there are numerous small acts of kindness on both sides to show that these are basically good people living in terrible circumstances. However, the soldiers’ constant reminder that “the chief” is on his way lends a sense of menace, since we don’t know what sort of punishment the women will face.

Unlike most Iranian films, which are known for their strong visuals, Offside is filmed in a realist style with no artifice. In fact, the film was made during the actual qualifying match against Bahrain that took place on June 5, 2005. The “plot” in many ways was determined by the result on the pitch. If Iran won the match, they would qualify. If they lost, they would not. Since the World Cup has come and gone, I don’t think it is a spoiler to say that Iran won the match. The scenes of celebration at the end of the film were real and spontaneous, which gave the film a real authenticity. Seeing how much this meant to the people of Iran was deeply touching.

As well, one of the young women makes reference at the end of the film to seven fans who died during the Iran-Japan match on March 25, just a few weeks before. They were trampled to death after police began to spray the crowd with water to move them in a certain direction. Knowing that this was a real-life tragedy added another level of poignancy to the celebrations.

I don’t want to go off on a long political tangent, but this film gave me real hope that there are those in Iran who are hoping for change and working at it. Iran is a nation of young people, and it is only a matter of time before they take the place of their elders in the political sphere. Films like this one show the proud spirit of the Iranian people in spite of their present difficulties, and it’s my sincere hope that there is a brighter future for them.

Interview with director Jafar Panahi

Good review from Sight and Sound magazine

(9/10)

from Consolation Champs

Offside

The FIBA World Basketball Championship is going on right now in Japan. At a time when the NBA hasn’t started their season, you’d think this would be all over the sports networks. Not in Canada. Does anyone have any idea if any of the remaining games will be broadcast here? The otherwise comprehensive web site for the tournament doesn’t have broadcast schedules. (Go Slovenia!!)

from Consolation Champs

World Basketball Championship 2006

I clicked on a strange Google Ad today. Nice to see that Campus Crusade for Christ is using the World Cup as an evangelistic opportunity. Jesus And The World Cup is basically an evangelistic tract laid out in the green and gold of Brazil’s team colours. Is this a hint as to whom God favours?

My favourite quote from the page: “If soccer is your source of happiness, then your life can go up and down.”

from Consolation Champs

Who Has God On Their Side?

I’ve been aflutter with excitement for the past several months and now that the FIFA World Cup is almost here, I’ve been immersing myself in research materials in order to win several pools. In the spirit of the current World Cup’s slogan “A Time to Make Friends,” I’m issuing an invitation to join one or all of the following free competitions.

1. ESPN World Cup Pick’em — In this one, you just pick the winners of each game, and see how your picks match up with mine.
2. Fantasy Premier League International — In this one, you pick a team of players who play in the English Premier League who are also playing for their countries. Points are awarded for goals, wins, and other things. You can make transfers as well. This one requires a bit more knowledge, but if you do join up, you can join my private league, by searching on the League page for “James Will Win Again” and entering this code: 118660-22710.
3. McDonald’s/FIFA World Cup Fantasy — Because I’m not obsessed enough to be in two of these things, here’s the official one. Similar to the EPL one, you pick a team of players and can change your roster daily depending on which teams are playing. My group is called “Another Way To Beat James” (Group #22863) and the password is “liverpool”

For entertainment purposes only, I assure you.

If you need to brush up on your footie knowledge, I can recommend two great books. The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup has chapters on each of the 32 qualified countries, and though it won’t really help you pick the winner, it will give you some background on each of the countries and their football cultures. Contributors include Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers. The Match of the Day Guide to the 2006 World Cup is filled with stats and colour photos and even makes some predictions. Expert commentary from Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol should help, too.

For instant gratification, check out the World Cup Blog. And keep your eye on Runner-Up for some interesting tidbits during the tournament.

P.S. If you want to know just how obsessed I’ve become, I’ve even been eyeing the Panini World Cup sticker album. Only 596 stickers to collect!

from Consolation Champs

World Cup Mad

The Institute of Multicultural Development, a Dutch multicultural group is arranging a soccer match between Muslims and homosexuals. In an effort to combat fears and misconceptions, the two sides will meet on the pitch, and hopefully in the process, come to see each other as human beings.

While I applaud this effort, it does seem a bit strange to bring people together over a competitive sporting activity. For years, I’ve had the idea of bringing some of my fundamentalist Christian friends together with some gay friends (my smart-ass title for the events: Fags and Fundies), but at least over a meal, people have time to talk and there are no winners or losers.

Still, I suppose anything that can bring two groups of misunderstood and misunderstanding people together is a good thing.

P.S. The funniest thing in the Beliefnet story was the organizer’s assurance that gay Muslims can choose either team!

from Consolation Champs

Gays Versus Muslims

Ok, everyone by now knows that Malcolm Gladwell is blogging. But who knew he was such an avid sports fan? Suddenly this opens up the possibility that he might enjoy reading Runner Up. Heck, someone needs to! O Blogosphere, I’m calling on you to help me get Malcolm Gladwell to visit my struggling labour of love!

from Consolation Champs

Gladwell on Sports

The Wedding Present – George Best (1987)

“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.” — George Best

Football’s first megastar is laid to rest in Belfast today. I didn’t follow football when George was playing, but I was always intrigued that one of my favourite bands, The Wedding Present, named their first album after him. Alcoholism ruined his life off the pitch, but there was no denying his talent.

P.S. Perhaps I’ll write about this album soon, in my Great Albums series.

from Consolation Champs

Farewell George Best

(image copyright IAAF)

One of several observations I’ve made so far: Heptathletes are HOT! That’s Canadian Jessica Zelinka in the top left corner. She finished 12th in her first international competition.

from Consolation Champs

World Track and Field Championships 2005

This is it, folks. My first football-related fan post. Liverpool striker Milan Baroš is in talks with German club Schalke, despite his desire to stay with Liverpool. I’ve grown to like the happy-looking Czech, especially after two impressive goals in Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Olympiacos in Liechtenstein last weekend (a game I saw only through the magic of BitTorrent). But Liverpool now has four strikers, with the recent acquisition of storky Peter Crouch, and that’s probably one too many.

So, Liverpool is one of my Premiership favourites, mostly due to their perennial underachievment (notwithstanding their fantastic come from behind victory over AC Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul a few months ago). My other favourites for this season will be Manchester City (shadow-dwellers) and recently promoted Sunderland (giant-killers?).

from Consolation Champs

Milan, We Hardly Knew Ye

Well, that is partially true. But I’ve been feeling incredibly run-down most of this month, and not too excited about updating here. We’ve had the hottest summer in memory and I’ve just been sapped of energy. I also might be sick. Think I’ll see the doctor next week if nothing improves.

As for the footie obsession, I found an amazing free online game called HatTrick, where thousands of teams compete against each other every week. It’s a tech geek’s paradise, too, because there are all sorts of plugins and statistics to help you get the jump on the other guy. I also picked up a copy of Football Manager 2005 on eBay. It’s almost impossible to find here (where it’s called World Soccer Manager 2005) but is hugely popular in the UK, where it outsells most other PC games by a wide margin. It also has a robust online community who contribute patches, skins, and roster updates to keep the game as realistic as possible. Both of these games have been instrumental in my ongoing education about the “beautiful game”, as has the excellent series History of Football: The Beautiful Game, narrated by the supercool Terence Stamp.

from Consolation Champs

Lost In My Football Obsession

Last weekend, on a whim, I picked up a book with the rather interesting title How Soccer Explains The World. After finishing the book in one day, I’m starting to grow in my appreciation for the Beautiful Game. I’ve always liked football (soccer to North Americans), but found a lot of the competitions and leagues and teams confusing. I’ve preferred to follow the World Cup every four years. But I must admit I find the fact that the game is played in almost every corner of the earth completely fascinating. And the book, by journalist Franklin Foer, uses all the controversies of the game (racism, fascism, corruption) as well as its transcendent joy to talk about wider issues of globalization and nationalism.

So, since the weekend, I’ve picked up the latest issue of World Soccer magazine, added a dozen or so websites to my bookmarks, and ordered a heap of books to help explain this World Cup world to me. I’m also about halfway through Nick Hornby’s love letter to Arsenal, Fever Pitch, which I’ve owned for several years but not yet read.

I’m actually not that fond of the English Premiership teams, so my newfound enthusiasm will have only limited value when conversing with my Manchester-mad father-in-law, but it’s a beginning. After reading Foer’s book, and remembering my own time in the city, I think my new love is FC Barcelona.

Can’t wait for the World Cup next year. Check out their comprehensive web site.

P.S. One of the more interesting sites I’ve come across is for the Mondiali Antirazzisti (the Antiracist World Cup), which is a tournament of 192 amateur teams (men, women, and mixed) from all over the world that is played in Montecchio, Italy. It began yesterday. What an amazing event.

from Consolation Champs

Futbol!

Brooke and I have been glued to our television for the past two weeks for the Olympic Games. Tomorrow it comes to an end with one of our favourite events, the men’s marathon. In checking the start list tonight, I discovered to my delight that Mustapha Bennacer is running for Algeria. Mustapha is a Canadian resident (he trains in Montreal) who runs all (and wins most) of the Canada Running Series events. We actually ran with him this year at the Spring Run-Off (he won in a time of 23:44.9), and watched him in his marathon debut in Ottawa (he came in 2nd in 2:12:03.1). It’s pretty exciting to think that he’s preparing right now for the biggest race of his life. It’s only his second marathon, but he’ll be among the best in the world. Maybe by the time the next Olympics comes around, he’ll have decided to become a Canadian citizen!

from Consolation Champs

Go Mustapha!

Fellow Canadian Jonathan Crowe has a project running for the duration of the Olympics called DFL. Though “Dead F***ing Last” sounds cheeky and disrespectful, he reminds us that he’s “celebrating last-place finishes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Because they’re there, and you’re not.”

I guess the irony is that his blog, which he started precisley ten days ago, has been picked up by MetaFilter, The Register, and even Reuters. My similarly-themed-but-not-quite-as-focussed project, Runner-Up, started in April, is…well…a runner-up. Maybe as a result of his blog, Runner-Up will get some much-needed attention. Then it could be, you know, like the consolation champ or something…

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Runner Up to DFL

Canada’s women’s softball team lost their game today 3-0 to Greece. Except that only one player of 15 on the team was actually born in Greece. And she’s a bench player. You see, the rules were massaged so that anyone with a grandparent born in Greece could compete for Greece. That’s why all these Californians with names like Farnworth, James, Gail, Kloezeman, and Czarnecki can call themselves Greeks. Pshaw. Am I the only one with a problem with this?

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Canada Loses Softball Game To “Greece”

Well, the Opening Ceremonies begin in an hour or so. I’d like to take this chance to ask you to consider submitting a story (or even an idea for a story) for Runner-Up. There will be lots of medals handed out, but many many more people compete and don’t get the glory. Sure, the networks will have a token story about some struggling athlete with no shoes or something, but I need your help to discover the many more interesting stories taking place in Athens over the next few weeks. Please consider contributing!

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Olympic Stories

With just two days to go until the Opening Ceremonies, I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve. Despite all the drug scandals and terrorist threats, these Olympics are still quickening my pulse. Here are some stories I’m watching:

1. Canada’s Perdita Felicien (PDF) looks like a good bet for a medal, hopefully gold. I just heard today that her main competition in the hurdles, American Gail Devers, will be taking the place of Torri Edwards in the 100m. This bodes well since Devers will be competing in two high-pressure events, while Perdita can just focus on the hurdles.
2. American 1500m runner Carrie Tollefson has had an interesting journey to the Olympics. Although she won the US trials in July, she hadn’t reached either of the Olympic standards (“A” or “B”) and was in jeopardy of losing her place on the team. She had until August 9 to make the standards, and along with other hopefuls Amy Rudolph and Jen Toomey, she’d been running a flurry of races in Europe over the past few weeks in an attempt to qualify. She made the “B” standard just a few days ago and due to some other permutations, she’ll be the sole US runner in her event. I’ve been following her career for a while now, probably because she’s tall and blonde and beautiful, but she’ll have her work cut out even trying to reach the final against the powerful Russian women. She’s only ranked 39th in the world. (Her selection to the team also dashed the hopes of Suzy Favor Hamilton, who suffered a panic attack while leading the race in the Sydney Olympics and crashed to the track. These would have been her last Olympics.)
3. Still on the 1500m, Canada’s own Carmen Douma-Hussar (PDF) has been getting precious little attention, even though she’s ranked a very respectable 12th and was the silver medallist at the 2004 World Indoor Championships. Along with Malindi Elmore (PDF) (16th), she’s showing the world that Canada’s women are very strong contenders at this distance.
4. Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj has dominated the 1500m distance for years, but has never won an Olympic gold medal (he won the silver in Sydney). In the runup to this year’s Olympic competition, he’s been beaten several times, finishing a remarkable 8th in one race. After getting treatment for allergies, he’s started returning to form, but will he be able to hold off Kenyan Bernard Lagat (bronze in Sydney)? And what about rising American star Alan Webb?
5. In the men’s 10,000m event, Ethiopia seems to have it all sewn up. But the interesting story is whether it will be veteran Haile Gebreselassie (perhaps the greatest distance runner in history) or young up-and-comer Kenenisa Bekele who prevails. This will probably be Gebreselassie’s last Olympics running this distance; he’s stated that he will probably begin running marathons very soon.

As you can tell, I tend to focus my attention on the track. Despite the fact that even more athletes will undoubtedly fail drug tests in Athens, I’m hoping for an exciting and competitive Games.

I’ll probably be posting more here during the Games. But also keep your eye on Runner-Up for stories that won’t make the front pages of the newspapers.

from Consolation Champs

Olympic Excitement!

What a strange and wonderful weekend in the world of sports. Smarty Jones loses the Belmont Stakes to Birdstone, Guillermo Coria lets the French Open slip away to Gaston Gaudio, and the Pistons upset the Lakers at home to open the NBA Finals. I love underdogs!

As for us, Brooke was running today in the Bread and Honey 15K in Mississauga. Sadly, there were no upsets there, but she ran under her goal time of 1:25:00 (she ran 1:23:36) and finished 15th in her age group (out of 41) and 74th of all 205 women! Full results are here. I was there as supportive husband only, which was a feat in itself, since we had to get up at 5:00 am. We’re running two more races in the next three weeks.

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A Weekend Of Upsets

My poor wife is obsessing about the Boston Marathon these days. And though it’s being broadcast live next Monday on ESPN2 from 11:30am-2:30pm, we don’t get that channel up here in the frozen north. So I’m appealing to you, my American friends.

The low-tech option: could somebody tape ESPN2′s coverage and mail us a videotape? I’ll be happy to pay whatever you think is fair.

The high-tech option: if you have TiVo and some way to get the video to your computer and a DVD-R drive, could you make us a spiffy DVD and mail it to us? Again, I’ll pay whatever you think is fair.

Please help me to keep my wife happy!

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TiVo to the Rescue?

I was out celebrating my birthday last night, and so missed the NBA All-Star game, but the statistics point out exactly what’s wrong with the game today. 44 dunks and 16 missed free throws (out of 32). The truth is that players are no longer shooting the ball all that accurately. Free throws are just the most glaring example. Sports Illustrated had an article this week about why most NBA games are so low-scoring. Sure, there’s some better defence being played. But on the whole, I think there are far too many shots clanging off the rim these days. If I were a coach, I’d have my players shooting hours of free throws.

UPDATE: 12-time All-Star Oscar Robertson just published a scathing piece in the Sunday New York Times slamming the NBA’s deterioration into a shoe-selling organization and decrying the lack of fundamental skills among many of today’s players. Choice quotes:

• “Many players can’t dribble or defend. It’s dunks and 3-pointers, with nothing in between.”
• “When people tell me that scores are lower because defenses are better, I have to laugh.”
• “The NBA has made a conscious decision to function as a marketing and entertainment organization, and seems much more concerned with selling sneakers, jerseys, hats and highlight videos than with the product it puts on the floor.”

(Link – free NYT registration required)

P.S. Paul, if you’re reading this, I promise one day to blog about “What’s Wrong With Our Political System” but, contrary to Mr. Chomsky’s views, I don’t see that as quite as simple. We could start by getting our politicians to shoot more free throws, though.

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What’s Wrong With The NBA…

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Olympics. The first Olympic games I remember were those in Munich in 1972. I was seven. I’ve always been drawn by the idealism and innocence of the Olympic Movement, and the Opening and Closing ceremonies more often than not find me in tears. I watched the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid on my tiny black and white TV, and I remember my shock at witnessing the US hockey team beat our Canadian boys. “Miracle on Ice” indeed! In 1984, I even developed an unhealthy and inexplicable crush on the dwarfish and overtoothed American gymnast Mary Lou Retton. My name is James, and I’m an Olympics junkie.

All this is fresh again this year as I eagerly anticipate the Summer Games in Athens. For my birthday, I asked for (and received!) the excellent Criterion DVD of Kon Ichikawa’s amazing document of the 1964 games, Tokyo Olympiad. I could watch the segment on Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila over and over. The film also features the surprising victory in the men’s 10,000 metre race of previously unknown American Billy Mills, whose life was featured in the film Running Brave.

If you’re interested in some of the amazing stories behind the Summer Olympics, a great book is David Wallechinsky’s The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, which he updates every four years.

There are also some very cool web sites if you’re interested in doing a little Olympic surfing:

• Official Site of the International Olympic Committee – there’s also a good section on the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, whose existence was previously unknown to me.
• Official Site of the Athens 2004 Summer Games
• Official Site of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games
• Olympicanadiana
• Canadian Olympic Commitee
• United States Olympic Committee

I also found some sites for cities that are bidding for the 2012 games. It might seem very early, but the decision will actually be made next July.

• New York 2012 Olympic Bid – this bid has been endorsed by the USOC, but San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Houston were also under consideration at one time.
• London 2012 Olympic Bid

See, the title of this entry is pretty accurate, huh?

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Olympic Obsession

Congratulations to new running fanatic Meg, who completed her race in a respectable time, while raising more than $1200 for charity. Now “ga ga for running,” she’s tackling a, gulp, 15K run in less than two weeks. (Actually that sounds like a good goal time: 15K in less than two weeks. I might be able to make that!).

Just as she’s going “ga ga,” though, I’m slacking (you can actually see how badly by checking out my always fascinating running blog). The combination of darkness, cold, and wet weather (or even the threat of wet weather) has me cowering indoors reverting to the doughy and slovenly mess I was until about 8 months ago. I’m determined to slow or halt the process by joining the University of Toronto’s Athletic Centre, which has a nifty 200m indoor track, as well as treadmills, weights, and stationary bikes. Now, I don’t see this as “joining a gym,” exactly. You see, I’ve always hated the idea of joining a gym. And I visited one literally right next to my office, thinking it would be impossible to shirk my responsibilities with exercise so close to work, but you know what? I hate the smell of profit, especially when it’s at the expense of other people’s insecurities. I find the majority of these places seedy in the extreme. The Athletic Centre is a bit different. They are primarily there for the students of the university, whose tuition fees include free membership. I like them because they offer memberships to the community at fair prices, and run lots of inexpensive athletic programmes for children. Plus, well, they have an actual track, which I prefer to running on a treadmill.

My plan is to sign up for three or four months, until it is warm, bright, and dry enough to run outside again. If I pick up a wicked weightlifting habit in the meantime, all the better.

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Rah Rah Grumble Grumble

Lots of folks running these days. Ever since Brooke and I started back in the spring, I’ve noticed a lot of people are either taking up running for the first time, or returning to it. This past week, the NYC Marathon boasted, in addition to many thousands of other runners, the fabulous P.Diddy/Puffy/Puff Daddy/Sean Combs running his first marathon. Hmm…the name of his site makes me wonder if one day he’s going to seek political office.

Now, I see that another world-famous New Yorker (of decidedly more recent residence, to be fair) is running for charity. I found her exhortation “don’t be scared off by the ‘God’ in the organization’s name” sort of funny, though. Why are people scared of God?

On a related note, I wish I could somehow incorporate my boring (but more frequently updated) running blog into this one without making Consolation Champs even less interesting.

UPDATE: I just saw that Jason Kottke was blogging the marathon in real time, tracking Diddy against blogger Maciej Ceglowski. Sadly, rapper beat blogger, proving again that nice guys finish last.

UPDATE 2: Maciej has posted a fabulously long and interesting account of his marathon experience!

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Diddy, Now Meg, Who’s Next?

Intrepid explorer and cousin of film stars Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, 59-year old Ranulph Fiennes is planning to run 7 marathons in 7 days, even though he’s recently suffered a heart attack.

This is almost crazier than that loon who went over Niagara Falls.

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7 Marathons In 7 Days

One of the side effects of Brooke and I getting into running has been an increased interest in watching the world’s elite runners do their thing. For the past nine days, the World Championships in Athletics have been taking place in Paris. It’s been fun watching some of the races. The marathons were a highlight, passing just about every Parisian landmark, and there were a few great Canadian moments, too. Perdita Felicien’s gold medal performance in the women’s 100m hurdles comes to mind, but also the two Canadian women Courtney Babcock (8th) and Émilie Mondor (12th) breaking the national record for the the 5,000m (5K). The French women’s victory over the Americans in the 4x100m relay was also pretty thrilling to watch.

The shadow of steroids unfortunately still hangs over the world of track and field. How do I know? Because after one particularly shocking come-from-behind victory, Brooke’s comment was “They better check her pee.”

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World Track and Field Championships

I’ve been keeping a running diary of sorts over at Endurance Online. I figured most people didn’t want to read about my progress, but if you do, here’s the thread. If you run, swim, or cycle, you really should join up over there. It’s going to be a great resource.

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Beginner Chronicles

Hurrah! Finally, someone has sent those smug, crappy-rapping, bad-movie-making, trash-talking primadonnas on forced vacation! San Antonio was all business tonight in knocking the Lakers out of the NBA playoffs….by a margin of 28 points!

Now, who to cheer FOR? The only team left that I’m really not fond of is Detroit, and that’s only because I don’t really know all their players. I guess this year is just an “Anybody But The Lakers” year!

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Spurs Sink Lakers

Here are some fun links I’ve found while developing my interest in running:

• Endurance Online – a fairly new bulletin board community for endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, swimmers) that’s attractive and easy-to-use, a bit of a rarity, I’m discovering.
• Run The USA – Two lunatics are running across the country with no support vehicle or any budget for accomodations. Can you give them a place to sleep?
• Runner’s World – website for the excellent magazine
• Hash House Harriers – a strange sort of running which involves chasing a “hare” (a runner who leaves a trail of flour or some other substance). Apparently, this sport has a long and storied history. These runners seem to enjoy the occasional drink

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Some Running Links…

The U.S. basketball team loses to Argentina, and Reggie Miller says something dumb:

“Reggie [Miller] brought us together,” Pierce said. “He said the world is against us. The world, the stands, the refs are all against us. The only thing we can do is go out and play hard the rest of the games and get the gold medal.”

One is surprising, the other, not so much…

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Poor Little America

Two things:

1. I live in Toronto, a very cosmopolitan city
2. Toronto is located in the Eastern time zone

Therefore, this morning at 5:30, I was wakened by the sound of car horns. Again. You see, with the World Cup taking place halfway across the world, the results are always celebrated a little early here. And since we have so many different cultures here, it really doesn’t matter who wins. There will always be a flotilla of automobiles, blaring their horns and waving flags. In this case, I’m less annoyed than usual. Korea have proven to be a plucky team, and I’m definitely rooting for them the rest of the way.

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Korea’s For Real

Now that I’m caught up in World Cup fever, I’ve found a great website for updates (Flash plugin required).

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World Cup Fever

Just like every other Raptors fan this morning, I’m second-guessing Chris Childs’ decision to throw up a desperation shot with more than five seconds left in the game. But really, Childs was the only player who seemed like he really wanted the ball last night. It was a sloppy affair, and the fact that Toronto couldn’t capitalize on an invisible Jerry Stackhouse means they didn’t deserve to win. All in all, though, a respectable end to an almost disastrous season. Now I’m cheering for Dallas!

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Raptors Season Ends

As I write this, the symphony of car horns is almost deafening outside my window. Cars are cruising up and down every major street with Canadian flags fluttering in the breeze. This is about as patriotic as we get as a nation, celebrating a hockey victory. The game was exciting and much closer than the 5-2 final score would indicate. Tonight, it’s good to be a Canadian.

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Hockey Gold!

Now, I’m not much of a hockey fan. But I was proud of the way our women’s hockey team played tonight. Killing off 13 penalties called by the American referee (and forgive me here, but isn’t there supposed to be some semblance of impartiality in the appointment of referees, especially in the gold medal game?) and playing with incredible grit and determination, Canada took home gold. No offence to the US team, who were also amazing. I thought it was a really great game, and coming from me, that’s high praise. Now maybe it will light a fire under our flaccid men’s team…

The second half of my evening was spent finally sitting down to watch Ghost World, the DVD of which Brooke bought me more than a week ago. We hadn’t seen it in the theatre, but I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. As a fan of the comic book, I thought it was translated to the screen quite faithfully, and I thought Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi’s performances were wonderful. I’m crossing my fingers that it wins the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

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Women’s Hockey Gold/Ghost World

Bryan is working for the Olympics in Salt Lake City and keeping track of his experiences. Go and read. Very very funny stories… Also, Josh is working at the Olympics, too, as a journalist for the Dallas Morning News. He’s also writing about his experiences in his weblog.

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Olympic Blog

Super Bowl XXXVI: Four words, people: It’s a football game. I’m just about gagging with all the flag porn going on. It’s not America playing al Qaeda, as far as I know…

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Super Bowl XXXVI

In typical fashion, the Raptors ended the Knicks’ eight-game losing streak last night. The Toronto Raptors are a talented and likeable bunch of guys who simply do not possess the aggressiveness needed to be a really successful franchise. They simply cannot lose to a team like the Knicks, at home, when just a few short weeks ago, they beat the Lakers on the road. And you know what? ESPN’s Jeffrey Denberg agrees with me. (End sports rant)

Last night, I watched Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Apart from some (regrettably predictable) gibes at one character’s paper-thin Christian faith^*, I loved everything about it. Great music, funny, even romantic. I especially liked the use of animation in places. Though probably not for everyone, this is a completely unique film which grew out of an off-Broadway show which grew out of a karaoke routine. The writer, director and star is John Cameron Mitchell, who should be given licence now to do whatever he wants to do in Hollywood.

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Raptors/Hedwig

The first game of the NBA Finals is tonight. It’s been a long playoff, especially for the Philadelphia 76′ers. Journalists everywhere are falling over themselves to crown the Lakers champions, and the only team ever to sweep every team in the playoffs. I’m disappointed. Because obviously, I’m a 76′ers fan. I won’t say I was always a fan. In fact, I only became a fan the day after they eliminated my Toronto Raptors. Watching every game in that series, I gained a grudging respect for their team. Already a big Iverson fan, I saw that the rest of the team were also scrappy, sometimes downright unpleasant players. But they were basketball players. They’ve played back to back 7 game series, and are hobbled by injuries. But in that greatest of sports clichés, this is a team with heart. The Lakers are a team of shoe salesmen, rappers, models, and wannabe actors. And they represent their city well. So do the 76′ers. Let’s hope that, even in today’s NBA, substance can kick style’s ass.

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NBA FINALS

My friend Brad took me to the Raptors-Heat game last night for my birthday. It was a great game, but Brad is definitely a jinx. He’s never seen them win when he goes to a game. Oh well, thanks Brad!

Thanks, too, to everyone who sent birthday wishes yesterday, both comments here and privately. It’s little gestures like that which make my long slow march to the grave just a bit happier…

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Raptors Melt In Heat

Dave Bidini plays guitar for one of my favourite bands, Rheostatics. He’s also an excellent writer. This weekend, my friend Brad lent me his new book, Tropic of Hockey: My Search for the Game in Unlikely Places. I hate hockey. But I love this book. In it, the author travels to places like China, the United Arab Emirates, and Transylvania to see hockey being played in it purest form, by amateurs with no contracts, no fancy equipment, sometimes even no ice. So far, it’s hilarious and even a bit moving. If it results in my liking hockey, it will only be with the sense of regret that the North American game will never be that pure again.

Oh, and BlogVoices is back, so chatter away…

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Tropic of Hockey