The 2012 London Summer Olympics are almost upon us. And the big news in female Olympians today? That hurdler Lolo Jones plans to remain a virgin until she marries.
Why, why, why, why, why????? Who cares? If you've read any of my other blog posts in this and my television blog, you know that I'm very frustrated by the "news" today...why are news agencies reporting on things that aren't news? Do I admire that someone who is in the mainstream and is a bit of a celebrity has the conviction to stick to what she believes? Sure. But I would rather have read an article about her prowess as a hurdler, how she's hoping to come back as the favorite to win the gold in Beijing and actually take it this time. You get to read so little about women athletes in "big name" news and this is what I have to deal with when we finally get an article about us??? I'm not even going to link to the article because I'm too annoyed. It's on the Huffington Post if you're interested. Me, I'll be waiting for real news about female athletes.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Climbers’ traffic jam blamed for Mount Everest deaths
Climbers’ traffic jam blamed for Mount Everest deaths
Every few years you read a story like this. It happened in 1996. It happened a few years ago when two men were left for dead and one ended up surviving. This is not news, people. This happens ALL THE TIME. This is a large reason for the 1996 tragedy on Everest. Too many people, too many unqualified people, too many people who have no business being anywhere on the slopes of Everest beyond base camp but have the money to pay for other people to put their own lives in danger to guide them up and down, are up there. And too many of these people don't realize that getting up the mountain is only half the battle - in order for it to be considered a successful climb, in order for your loved ones to be happy back home, you have to get back down safely.
I love reading about Everest. I love reading about the men and women who, for whatever reason, feel the need to push themselves completely to the limit, who need to climb to the top of the world and almost die in order to feel alive - I consider it a sporting activity, which is why I am writing about it here. But the fact that this is a mountain that is the literally the top of the world and there are TRAFFIC JAMS there??? There's something wrong with that. Traffic jams at the top of the world put EVERYONE'S lives at risk. Between that and the garbage and waste accumulating on the mountain...things on the Nepal/Tibetan China border have to change. Seriously. Or we'll keep reading non-news stories like this every Himalayan climbing season.
Every few years you read a story like this. It happened in 1996. It happened a few years ago when two men were left for dead and one ended up surviving. This is not news, people. This happens ALL THE TIME. This is a large reason for the 1996 tragedy on Everest. Too many people, too many unqualified people, too many people who have no business being anywhere on the slopes of Everest beyond base camp but have the money to pay for other people to put their own lives in danger to guide them up and down, are up there. And too many of these people don't realize that getting up the mountain is only half the battle - in order for it to be considered a successful climb, in order for your loved ones to be happy back home, you have to get back down safely.
I love reading about Everest. I love reading about the men and women who, for whatever reason, feel the need to push themselves completely to the limit, who need to climb to the top of the world and almost die in order to feel alive - I consider it a sporting activity, which is why I am writing about it here. But the fact that this is a mountain that is the literally the top of the world and there are TRAFFIC JAMS there??? There's something wrong with that. Traffic jams at the top of the world put EVERYONE'S lives at risk. Between that and the garbage and waste accumulating on the mountain...things on the Nepal/Tibetan China border have to change. Seriously. Or we'll keep reading non-news stories like this every Himalayan climbing season.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Movin' on up: Oklahoma City Thunder advance to next round
Last night the Thunder ousted the L.A. Lakers from the NBA playoffs. I can't say I'm disappointed. I CAN say I'm pretty happy about that. I dislike Kobe Bryant so much as a human being that I find it impossible to root for him. Yes, I'm a girl. I have a hard time separating a player's personal behavior with his athlete's persona. Don't even get me started on Metta World Peace. I guess now he'll have the time to actually ruminate on world peace. But aside from the fact that a team I refuse to root for is no longer in the game, when I don't have a dog in the fight, I like to root for the underdog. I know zilch about the Thunder. But I know they're (relatively) new under their new name, I know they're in a region that isn't inundated with professional sports teams, I know that when I was watching the game last night the fans inside AND outside the stadium looked to be having so much fun, and I know they're not one of the powerhouses in the playoffs. So good for them for playing well and surprising a lot of people out there. Now, if we could just get rid of LeBron and the Heat, this fan girl would be a super happy camper!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
In honor of the New York Rangers moving on to the Eastern finals...
...I'd just like to give a special shout-out to my favorite aspect of the game - remember, I'm still in the learning stages, so I'm just trying to keep things simple - but seriously, this is what I'm most looking forward to in the next round of the play-offs, besides the Rangers hopefully showing it to New Jersey:
That's right - Henrik Lundqvist's helmet. This thing is just beyond awesome and I'm mesmerized by it in every game. So glad I get to see more of it this season.
Rock on, my friend. Rock on.
The Rangers meet the Devils this Monday at 8 EST. Be there!
That's right - Henrik Lundqvist's helmet. This thing is just beyond awesome and I'm mesmerized by it in every game. So glad I get to see more of it this season.
Rock on, my friend. Rock on.
The Rangers meet the Devils this Monday at 8 EST. Be there!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
A chance for the next generation to shine
Last night, David Robertson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save as temporary closer for the New York Yankees. As the boyfriend pointed out to me the other day, if there's any silver lining to Mariano Rivera's ACL injury knocking him out of the game for who knows how long, it's that this provides an opportunity for some of the younger pitchers to step up and show their stuff. In a complete role reversal, I took on his normally jaded Yankee fan persona and told him that ideally, that's what should happen, but this being the Yankees, they would probably throw a ton of money at some bloated, aging, fading former super star as a quick fix to a very serious problem, not having a closer.
To my delight, it appears that I was wrong.
The fact of the matter is, even if this injury doesn't end Mo's career, he's nearing the end of his career age-wise anyway, and the Yankees are going to need to find somebody to take his spot. I don't know if that guy is Robertson...at one point, I thought it might be Joba Chamberlain, but both the Yankees and Joba screwed up that opportunity...but the team's best bet is to hand the ball to their younger pitchers and have them show what they're made of. They need their young pitchers to step up, and I guarantee, at least some of those pitchers want this opportunity, have dreamed of this opportunity, are itching for the chance to prove that they are the next generation of legendary Yankee players. Jeter and Rivera weren't always here, and they won't be here forever. Let's see what players our kids are going to be idolizing, whose jerseys they're going to be buying.
So I'm excited by Robertson's save. I've always liked him. I hope this wasn't a fluke. I'm looking forward to seeing what else this kid will show us.
To my delight, it appears that I was wrong.
The fact of the matter is, even if this injury doesn't end Mo's career, he's nearing the end of his career age-wise anyway, and the Yankees are going to need to find somebody to take his spot. I don't know if that guy is Robertson...at one point, I thought it might be Joba Chamberlain, but both the Yankees and Joba screwed up that opportunity...but the team's best bet is to hand the ball to their younger pitchers and have them show what they're made of. They need their young pitchers to step up, and I guarantee, at least some of those pitchers want this opportunity, have dreamed of this opportunity, are itching for the chance to prove that they are the next generation of legendary Yankee players. Jeter and Rivera weren't always here, and they won't be here forever. Let's see what players our kids are going to be idolizing, whose jerseys they're going to be buying.
So I'm excited by Robertson's save. I've always liked him. I hope this wasn't a fluke. I'm looking forward to seeing what else this kid will show us.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
New York Rangers causing this non-hockey fan some puck-related excitement
I do not watch hockey. I don't understand it, I don't know any of the players, and I can never tell who has the puck. But I am a fan of New York teams, so I've been watching some of the Stanley Cup playoffs, since the Rangers are in it. Last night the boyfriend and I had the Rangers-Caps game on in the background while we were on our laptops working, but surprisingly, we were actually doing some watching, too.
And what a game to watch.
The Knicks, despite their last-chance win against the Heat the other night, and the first-round Rangers, who for some reason struggled mightily against an eighth-seed teem despite being a number one seed, have made me skeptical of things going well in the playoffs this time of year, so I wasn't surprised when the Rangers were down 2-1 with seconds to go in the game. The boyfriend and I had two shows about to start recording at 10 p.m. so our tv channel was going to change anyway, which was good, because I didn't really want to see the Rangers lose. And then, just a mere few seconds before my television automatically changed over, the Rangers tied it up.
Pretty exciting stuff.
So of course I had to stop one of my recordings and go back to NBC Sports to see the rest of the game, and what do I find? The Predators-Coyotes game is on! WTF? I had to scramble around to see if they were showing OT on another station (they weren't - the other game was just on during the intermission), and found it just as, less than two minutes into OT, the Rangers got a goal and won it.
It really is all about timing, isn't it?
So while the Knicks are crashing and burning in spectacular fashion, at least now the Rangers are up 3 games to 2 in this series. Let's keep the momentum going, boys! You may make a hockey fan out of this girl yet!
And what a game to watch.
The Knicks, despite their last-chance win against the Heat the other night, and the first-round Rangers, who for some reason struggled mightily against an eighth-seed teem despite being a number one seed, have made me skeptical of things going well in the playoffs this time of year, so I wasn't surprised when the Rangers were down 2-1 with seconds to go in the game. The boyfriend and I had two shows about to start recording at 10 p.m. so our tv channel was going to change anyway, which was good, because I didn't really want to see the Rangers lose. And then, just a mere few seconds before my television automatically changed over, the Rangers tied it up.
Pretty exciting stuff.
So of course I had to stop one of my recordings and go back to NBC Sports to see the rest of the game, and what do I find? The Predators-Coyotes game is on! WTF? I had to scramble around to see if they were showing OT on another station (they weren't - the other game was just on during the intermission), and found it just as, less than two minutes into OT, the Rangers got a goal and won it.
It really is all about timing, isn't it?
So while the Knicks are crashing and burning in spectacular fashion, at least now the Rangers are up 3 games to 2 in this series. Let's keep the momentum going, boys! You may make a hockey fan out of this girl yet!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Title IX...
It's actually not until next month, but I read a really great article on SI.com by Ann Killion about Title IX: "Title IX helped level playing field, gave women chance to succeed." I'll admit, it even got me a little teary-eyed when she talked about her son not batting an eyelash to cheer on the girls' soccer team at his high school. As someone born after Title IX, it isn't something I ever even think about - it never even crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to play sports in high school for any reason except being too klutzy. But I remember my mom telling me stories about how she would liked to have played sports in high school, but there weren't any teams. And while professional sports for women lag way behind sports for men in variety and popularity and probably never will catch up, the fact that there were no teams for normal, every day girls is just beyond mind-boggling. Anyway, if you're interested in reading more, you can find the story here.
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