Chargdres’s profile

Everytime I saw a Garmin-Chipotle rider I had to chuckle. Maybe the Chipotle riders didn't dope, but if their sponsor also provided their food, they likely were afforded extra propulsion.

posted at 09:56 AM on July 28

Responsibility 1 doesnt sit well with me. Yeah, I really wish I could support my local team, but fact of the matter is, the MLS, while improving, is still dull and about the quality of the English League 1 (ie. third tier). Yes, in Europe, even those lower tier clubs have devoted fan bases, but there are also essentially no other sports options in Europe. I'm not going to waste my time on bad American soccer as long as there are good baseball, football and basketball games going on in my city. I still much prefer going to a bar at 10 in the morning on a Saturday to watch the Premier League or Serie A, then paying $30 to go see an MLS game.

posted at 04:03 PM on July 24

Yeah, gotta say that real first class is pretty air tight.

posted at 11:15 AM on June 30

Well, even if the umps gloriously F-ed this up, it was still a lot of fun to watch.

posted at 01:51 PM on June 20

I'm back.

posted at 01:40 PM on June 04

Edgar Martinez? Did he ever do anything but hit?

posted at 04:22 PM on June 03

Mumbai Indians?! I am appalled! How dare a sports franchise trivialize such a great people. I sense a protest. Wait, what were we talking about again?

posted at 01:57 PM on June 03

Ancelotti makes no sense for Chelsea, so I'd be surprised if that turns out to be anything other than an unsubstantiated rumor. If Rijkaard wasn't now officially damaged goods, I'd say that's who Chelsea would go after. I think Grant got a raw deal though. As far as Jose taking any of those three, I think that the only one he might get is Drogba. I think Lampard will eventually sign and there is no way that Chelsea lets Essien go as Makalele's career is all but over. Carvalho, as you mentioned trox, may also be a target, but again, he may be too valuable to Chelsea to just let go. Maybe Paulo Ferreira, who also followed Mourinho from Porto to Chelsea will go to Inter.

posted at 01:46 PM on June 03

I have never understood the NHL expansion and relocation policy. Why are there teams in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Southern California, Tennessee, Georgia, or North Carolina? I know that even in these places some fans can be found, but why move a team out of Hockey crazy Canada or Northern USA, to put them in some place where it snows once every decade? I was hoping the lockout would convince the NHL to contract the league and reposition the remaining teams to more traditional cold weather hockey markets, with the exceptions being warm weather cities that have been proven to be strong supporters of hockey. Apparently they either couldn't or didn't want to, but it should be no surprise that the evidence shows that Canadians like hockey more than Americans do.

posted at 01:00 PM on May 30

Thanks for that, etagloh. Interesting read (although when did the word "cheater" get invented? What was wrong with "cheat"?). Well, I suppose its been around at least as long as the age old taunt, "cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater."

posted at 09:06 AM on May 29

"...to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women..." lbb, I am still missing the the part of that quote which binds the IOC to include women's ski jump as an event. Its charter calls for promotion and support. Both of those objectives, which are intentionally vague, can and are met without the having an Olympic event. I don't believe any man is entitled to comete in the Olympics either. However, if no international body has created a women's world ski jumping championship, they are fully entitled to create one for themselves if they are so willing. If the FIS refuses to host it, then they are essentially ceding the responsibility to whoever else comes along to take up the banner. The FIS does not have a copyright on the term "champion" or "championship". And again, when I refered to "these women" I was not referring to women in general, as you appear intent on twisting my words into meaning. You see, I used the term "these", an adjective implying exclusivity, in order to refer only the the women petitioning the Canadian Human Rights body for redress. But thanks again for making me out to be a sexist, thats real cool of you.

posted at 01:42 PM on May 23

Why do these women think they have some entitlement to be in the Olympics? Ick, that sounds terrible. I don't even know what to say with this kind of statement. Thanks for taking my comment entirely out of context. It would have said these "men" these "kids" these "people" if those terms were applicable. As it turns out, these are women, which is why I phrased it "these women". The IOC charter states that the IOC's role includes "...to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women..." Sounds like it is on them, after all. Sorry, lbb, where in that does it say that the IOC must include every sport that women have ever considered playing? Encouragement does not neccessarily mean the inclusion of an event at the Olympic level. It can, and does also mean material and non-material support to the development of women's sport. As I understand the IOC's position, women's ski-jumping is not developed enough yet to warrant an olympic event. That does not mean they don't support women's sport. On that same line, should the IOC include women's american football, just because there is a small league in the US, and to not have an event would somehow imply that the IOC does not "promote" that particular women's sport? Sure, the Vancouver Olympics are in large part taxpayer funded, but that money was not given with the singular condition that the Olympics will in fact be held in Vancouver. Of course, they will have to obey local law, that goes with out saying, but there is no law in Canada that obligates the Olympics to hold any event that is demanded by an organized group of women, men, or whatever. I will say it again: if these women want a championship in their event, they are fully entitled to create one for themselves, and fully entitled to lobby the IOC to include it as an event in the Sochi games in 2014. They are not, however, entitled to force the IOC to include the event in 2010 by calling its absence a "human rights violation".

posted at 08:49 AM on May 23

What do they mean women are "barred" from competing in ski jump? Women aren't barred from baseball, there just aren't many women who play it so the Olympics does not include an event for it. Men aren't barred from synchronized swimming or rhythmic dancing, there are just so few men who compete in it as to make having an event for it worthless. I don't know much about the popularity of women's ski jumping, but since when did courts get to decide what events a private organization must include (and by the way, human rights?!)? The IOC should be free to include or exclude whatever events it pleases, as it is a private enterprise. It will see the light of the exclusion of an event when it realizes the money to be gained from it, similarly it will exclude any event which is a big time money loser and is not a traditional event such as steeple chase or greco-roman wrestling. What the Olympics can't do is violate discrimination laws which prohibit banning or holding to a different standard people for inappropriate reasons in the events that they actually do decide to hold. Why do these women think they have some entitlement to be in the Olympics? If they want to crown a champion, they can, all they have to do is run a championship for themselves. If they gain enough popularity that way, there is no doubt that Rogge or whoever will include them.

posted at 01:45 PM on May 22

I suppose he'll be wearing a Mets cap on his HoF plaque, which seems about right. It's the Mets with whom I tend to associate him, although that probably has as much to do with Roger Clemens as with anything else. Why do you say he would go in as a Met? I certainly associate him more with the Dodgers, as the Mets were the second half or so of his career. He came up with the Dodgers and became a stud there, by the time he got to NY, he was already a veteran. I suppose he did spend roughly an equal amount of time in either organization's MLB team, but seeing as Lasorda essentially drafted the guy in the bazillionth round as a favor to Piazza's dad, I think he kinda owes his career to the Dodgers. And yeah, even though the guy could not throw the ball from home plate to second base except on one hop, the guy was clearly a HOF hitter for his position. When as a catcher you stats are better than Berra, Fisk and Bench, its a done deal.

posted at 08:42 AM on May 21

Soccer never did much for my basketball game. When I played youth basketball, coaches would always yell at me for not pivoting correctly. I could never figure out exactly what I did wrong, but I think it stems from the fact that you really can't pivot in cleats, so I learned to turn differently seeing as my first sport was soccer. Now to be fair, being short was probably the main factor in my being a terrible, but soccer didn't do much to make up for it.

posted at 10:47 AM on May 20