Rox Talk

A 0-6 road trip against the Royals and Tigers. Regardless what the pundits say, I think this is the end of the season. To be swept in two separate road trips this year is deplorable. Why is Hurdle still managing this team? Fire him, won't it be embarrassing enough for him to show up at the All-Star break with the worst record in baseball rather than dealing with the alternative? Which by the way is what? Can an interim manager manage the All Star game? The Roxs currently stand at 32-50. Nine games back from division leading D-backs in fourth place. Currently 20-19 at home and 12-31 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 341-417 (expected wins is 34 versus historical wins at 38). On pace for 63 wins with 674 runs scored and 824 runs against.

Weekly WPA leaders (overall as well):

This Week in Comics

New Avengers #42 and Mighty Avengers #15
Have to hand it to Bendis but I like the backstory fill ins that he has been posting in both the New and Mighty Avengers books. Granted supposedly hints have been laid throughout but to actually see how it transpired is well worth it. Realistically this is a very tight cross over event. It doesn't feel has random and thrown together has House of M or Civil War. Little less shock and better story telling which is always good (and welcomed)!






Daredevil #108
Who cares about the story its got Matt and Dakota fighting side by side! Come on now, you know Dakota has been as misunderstood as Dazzler. She is a great character (ok a little tongue in cheek). Thank goodness she has been updated...oh yeah when does the Lady Bullseye come into play?

Uncanny X-men #499
Can't we get to Issue #500 already? Actually this latest storyline did establish a new start for the team. Moving to San Fran (no more East Coast Bias!) and it does portend what I believe to be inroads to the return of Hellfire Club. You know with Emma that this has got to be a storyline.

Ultimate Spider-Man #123
Ultimate Spidey has been kind of boring lately. Ever since the clone saga storyline (gee almost 2 years ago?), the stories have been kind of one shot with no real compelling understory. I love the 3 - 5 issue set stories but I also like hints of a bigger underlying story and it is just not there and thus it has been boring. Guess Bendis has been paying more attention to his invasion, let's up he gets back to Spidey sometime.

Captain America #39
Too many Captains are running around! We've got Bucky, we've got Skull's Captain, we have a Captain showing up at the end of Secret Invasion #4, we've got the Skrulls Captain from the '70s, and whoever else. We need a cleansing or maybe just promote one to Major! Anyway I am sure that Brubaker is getting tired of trying to mesh his story to the rest of the marvel universe. Guess next issue is the big showdown.

Haiku Wednesday

Sparks

A shower of light
Much like seeking fireflies
Surroundings ignite

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Tennyson is by far my favorite poet.  His sweeping works are magical.  Born in 1809, he became England's poet laureate in 1850.  My favorite work is Ulysses and the final lines  of this poem which read

     One equal temper of heroic hearts,

     Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

     To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Other good works is his Arthur and the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Rox Talk

Another 4-3 week against the Atlanta (1 Game!), Indians, and Mets. The Roxs currently stand at 32-44. Seven games back from division leading D-backs in third place. Currently 20-19 at home and 12-25 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 322-380 (expected wins is 32 versus historical wins at 36). On pace for 68 wins with 686 runs scored and 810 runs against. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey).

Weekly WPA leaders (overall as well):

Well at least we still have a bullpen. No real movement by the offense or starting pitching. Hard to believe we were 4-3 last week. Interesting to note is that last year at this time we had the Fuentes meltdown. Maybe we can still get there?

Running Records

Okay after looking at Pre's records I decided to look at the mile progression The above graph shows the mile and 800 meter progression over about 86 year period. The first line is the mythical 4 minute barrier and the second line is the two minute period (not so mythical). Anyway it would appear that an average of 0.36 seconds was taken off per year in the mile and about 0.13 seconds in the half mile. Both graphs are relatively linear and both records have now stood for 9 and 11 years respectively. This is the longest the mile record has stood and quite sometime for the 800. I wonder if no one runs the mile anymore? Has the metric mile taken over? In the interest of comparison the chart below shows the mile for swimming. I have no knowledge of swimming but the curve is very different (almost logarithmic) from running races?

Geoff Hollister - Out of Nowhere

I am a huge Nike fan. Have always worn Nike gear and I guess you could call it an obsession. Read about this book somewhere and ordered it immediately because I wanted the inside scoop. Unfortunately this book really isn't about Nike (which is probably good) and actually more about America's distance running form the early 70s through the 80s (which makes this book good). Fascinating tale of America distance running. I grew up with these names and it was interesting to read about them.

Pre?

Below is Pre's PRs. For two years he was at the top of the world. Pre's legend has been ingrained into any runner's psyche. He was a free spirit who ran with a passion that few in the US can comprehend. Many have tried to grab hold of that spirit and some with varying degrees of success (Bob Kennedy) made a run at it. It is interesting to me how parts of the world seem to be granted running success. In the 70s it was the US, 80s probably Britain, and the 90s the Kenyans. Throw in New Zealanders too. Below the table is the current world records and American records. Pre could have stayed up with them until the 5 and 10K were run...wow those races have really had a tremendous surge in record times....

World Record American Record

3:26.00 3:29.30

4:44.79 4:52.44

7:20.67 7:30.84

12:37.35 12:58.21

26:17.53 27:13.98

3:43.13 3:46.91

7:58.61 8:07.07

Haiku Wednesday

Splash

Diving board antics
Jackknives, belly flops make waves
Do not get mom wet!

Clyfford Still

Clifford Still was a leading figure in the development of Abstract Expressionism. The art world claims this to be the most important movement in the last 75 years and thought to be the US's greatest contribution to the art world! That is mighty impressive sounding so why haven't I ever heard of this guy (he is grouped in with Pollack and Rothko). During Still's life he got fed up with the art world and politics and began withholding his works. When he passed in 1980, roughly 94% of his work had been in his estate awaiting a city to present and preserve the pieces. Well Denver stepped up and in 2010 a new museum will open showing these works. A few pieces are currently being displayed at the D.A.M and it is pretty impressive.

I am anxious to see his work and a new building is going to go with it.

Rox Talk

Another 4-2 week against the Giants and White Sox. Hey its interleague...the Roxs are a closet AL team. The Roxs currently stand at 28-41. Eight and half games back from division leading D-backs in the cellar Currently 16-16 at home and 12-25 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 291-355 (expected wins is 29 versus historical wins at 32). On pace for 66 wins with 683 runs scored and 833 runs against. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey). Weekly WPA leaders (overall as well):

Playing well but have they dug themselves too big of a hole to climb back into this thing?

Natural Selection in a Lab?

Fascinating science in this article. A Michigan State biologist has been growing E. Coli in the lab since 1989 following over 40,000 generations studying natural selection. In a parallel read in the most recent New Yorker an article about cave paintings suggested that "since recorded history began, around 3200 BC with the invention of writing in the Middle East, there have been some two hundred human generations (if one reckons a new one every twenty five years.) Future discoveries may alter the math, but, as it now stands, forty-five hundred generations separate the earliest Homo Sapiens form the earliest cave artists, and between the artists and us another fifteen hundred generations have descended the birth canal, learned to walk upright, mastered speech and the use of tools, reached puberty, reproduced, and died" Just a reference, in the lab in about 20 years we have 40,000 generations and in 5,200 years we have 200 human generations...just an interesting time scale in the world of natural selection...

Haiku Wednesday

Solstice

Sun shines the longest
Marks the first day of summer
Downhill to winter

Downfall of Hillary

Okay so again I don't like to pontificate on politics because it really isn't my place but as a purviewer of life I figure I should throw out my thoughts on this political season. Bottom line was that Hillary had her flaws (doesn't everyone) but I really thought she got an unfair shake. Granted Obama was a runaway train (much like Hillary's husband) and I don't think there was anything she could have done to make a difference. I guess from my perspective is the fact that we had a black man and a white woman going at it for the nominee. In over 200 years of presidential politics we finally reached a point where the white male is finally moving on. What a great time in America of course you can look at the flip side and ask why did it take so long? In the future Hillary will be looked upon has a great step forward but presently I am amazed by the hostility of it all. Granted I believe we are all sick of anyone named Bush or Clinton and the last thing we needed was Clinton part II but why such the disparity in opinions on a woman candidate? I mean you talk to woman and they can't stand Hillary, you talk to Republicans and they lick their chops at having such a polarizing candidate, you talk to men and they just raise their eyebrows? What is it with Hillary? Would any other woman have gone through this? Is it because she is slimy like her husband? Why did the media and most of her friends back stab her? Why did she fight a losing battle? Is it simply ego? I guess I am just amazed at how the media simply took things that really didn't matter in a candidate's leadership ability and made it an issue. I guess in the end the power's at be would rather still have a man, even a black man, then a woman in the White House. Wow amazing such inequality still exists in the good old boy network. Are us men really that insecure? Makes you think but hey there is an entire religion out there that makes woman second class citizens so is our putting the woman down all that different?

Rox Talk

A 4-2 week against the Dodgers and Brewers. Some life at least with the pitching and maybe some offensive. The Roxs currently stand at 24-39. Ten games back from division leading D-backs in the cellar (thought the D-backs would come back to Earth or perhaps they aren't playing their chumps). Currently 14-15 at home and 10-24 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 262-332 (expected wins is 25 versus historical wins at 29). On pace for 62 wins with 674 runs scored and 854 runs against. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey).

Weekly WPA leaders (overall as well):

Ho hum the inconsistencies of this season are simply maddening. Win some, lose some. When Tulo, Barmes, and Holliday all return will the offense kick into gear? Ughhhh

This Week in Comics

Buffy Season 8 #15
Thankfully this mini story is over. To me this was just so un-Buffy. The whole lesbian business, Xander and his being the man-servant, Willow's stupid questions and all of it. Let's move on!

Iron Man #2
Good second issue. Usually a let down but I thought Fraction carried it off well.

Secret Invasion #3

Kind of a let down issue, nothing really exciting. Tony Stark was certainly the focal point...his he a skrull or not? I don't think so but I think he will be tortured and I bet him and Fury get some redemption.

Celtics Lakers Redo

A return to the old days for the NBA. I am certainly not an NBA fan. I find the basketball they play to be distasteful and a knock on all the great players of the past. But regardless I do remember the good ol days before MJ took over the league and Stern created the current monstrosity. Probably the last great NBA finals when Magic and Bird faced off. Great teams great history and great personalities. Certainly a different brand of b-ball. Although this series certainly won't remind me of the good days perhaps the reshowing of past greats will rekindle some interest when the NBA actually played basketball. But let's hope they don't return to short shorts!

Haiku Wednesday

Flags

Patriotic sight
The fabric of our country
More than just symbols

By the way this marks the one year anniversary of the "summer" haiku contest that the Denver Post has put together. I survived and put together 52 of them...whoopeee

Piers Anthony - Spell for Chamaleon

High school redux for me at least. The Xanth novels were big fantasy novels back in the mid 80s. As a geek I read my fair share of fantasy stuff (Lord of the Rings, Belgariad, and Shannara) and well was always looking for that next big series. Xanth books could fall into this stuff but for some reason I never could get into the first book. I tried but maybe when you looked at the map (come on, all good fantasy books have a very detailed awe inspiring map that makes you feel like you are venturing there...heck I even tried to trace Frodo's journey!)and you simply see a picture of Florida then perhaps it doesn't really stimulate the imagination like you think it should. So anyway 20 years later was in the used book store and thought what the heck why not try to get through one just to see. Well I survived. The book was generally good although I don't know if I will go on to read the next 26 books or so or more? (Yikes!). The dry goofy humor got a bit old. The characters were good. I have always enjoyed Piers "Diary of a Space Tyrant" but they were more hardcore sci-fi. His wittiness on the Xanth book was kind of silly. Anyway perhaps I will read Book 2...we shall see

Rox Talk

A 0-7 (!) week against the Phillies and Cubs (two divisional leaders). Two teams that really are playing well...or really playing well against a team that is not very good! The Roxs currently stand at 20-37. Twelve games back from division leading D-backs in the cellar. Currently 12-14 at home and 8-23 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 240-314 (expected wins is 22 versus historical wins at 26). On pace for 58 wins with 682 runs scored and 892 runs against. Roxs graphical wins (home in Purple, away in grey). The road record is abysmal with the Roxs on pace to win only 21 games on the road, the worst since 2003 when they only won 25.

Weekly WPA leaders (overall as well):
Nothing...you lose 7 straight games and there is nothing good to report. Helton seems to be awakening but with all his toddlers on the DL it would seem that he is the only one still around! Also this marks the first week (I believe) that all the WPAs numbers are in the negative. The bullpen was holding onto a slight positive but after last week's blown leads in Chicago they dipped below.