Cipollini Makes it Three!

Nobody can even get up next to him for the last two. An awe inspiring show of power by him and Acqua e Sapone. The Lion King will leave the Vuelta on Sunday to rest and get ready for The World Championships.

6:02:58 PM    comment []

A great story in L. A. Times on Warren Zevon.

He is facing death bravely and planning on leaving a few suprises. The doctors are talking weeks or months. Hopefully the new James Bond movie will be released shortly. It still sucks that he is leaving us.

4:59:17 PM    comment []

I was thinking more that Blair is Bush's bitch. I can hear W now, "Hey Tony, can you run down to Dick's office and get my red pen back from him? I want to draw a flag." Tony says, "Sure, George!"

12:30:29 PM    comment []

This summer Hunter Scott was banned from using a special swim fin during competition in a local summer swim league. As is the standard in these litigious times, a lawsuit was threatened. Fearing personal financial costs, the swim league board resigned en mass.

The Georgia High School Association, which is in charge of high school athletics for the state, has said Hunter may use the prosthetic fin while competing for Woodward Academy, a private school. They feel he gets no benefit from the special fin

As a former swim coach, and a triathlete, I was tracking this story during the summer. Any fin will benefit the user. The human leg, as it is shaped, is not efficient at getting propulsion from kicking. Most propulsion in freestyle comes from the arms. A fin is shaped to be flat and thin, because it is very efficient. In my opinion, any prosthetic not shaped like a human leg, will give an unfair advantage. The GHSA failed to consult me on this, however.

I do applaud Hunter's desire to swim and compete, and wish him the best of luck. I do think a prosthetic could be designed that would not give him an unfair advantage.

On a side note, I have competed in a triathlon with an athlete in the Carolinas who had only one leg. His leg was missing at the hip, so his cycling and running was not comparable to non-handicapped triathletes. He was a very good swimmer, without any type of prosthetic. He swam in the main pack easily. My training partner ended up drafting off him, and complained that the guy was accidentally kicking him. I told my buddy that if he had moved and swam on the other side of him, he would not have been kicked.

Will She Just not go Away?

McKinney is now blaming the Democratic Party for her and her father's losses in the primaries. The party's response was basically, "If the people voted for your opponent, and not you, that is not our fault."

Speculation is the McKinney will leave the Democratic Party. We are just hopping she will leave.

9:29:33 AM    comment []