He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

We arrived in Austin the day before the big event. Made our way down to the convention center for the formalities. My baby sister and I would be running the marathon together, side by side. Brief introductions to our pacesetter, Meredith, then we cruised through the horde looking for free stuff. With our pens in hand we headed out to our hotel room, made our dinner reservations at P.F. Chang's where we crammed our bellies full of carbs. By the time we got back to the hotel I was ready for bed. I needed my rest, this would be a big day, not overwhelming or anything. I could do this. So I skipped several scheduled runs. I was doing really well on the ones I did make. I just need my rest. I can do this. I was strong on that one, I remember, not even sore. Just a little shut eye, now. Now.

I woke-up as scheduled at 4:45 am. Bouncing off the walls, annoying everyone. How could you not be excited. From October to today, running five days a week (mostly), fees, registrations, reservations, invitations. The whole thing is just an ever intensifying combination of pain and panic, and pride. After all this is my baby sister running with me, I'm a man, aren't I. Arrival at the start finish line was early, probably too early. It was cold and all we could do was stand around and wait. I didn't miss too many runs, right?

Finally Governor Perry announces some announcements over the public address. Some guy breathes the national anthem into the microphone, a cannon fires, fireworks ignite as we lurch forward. The herd slowly opened up over the first three miles and we were making amazing progress. Our pace-team was slowly falling behind. I was on top of the world, and carrying my sister with me. This isn't hard. I can do this all day. The jokes were rolling off my tongue to my fellow runners, spectators. I own this race. Everything was going great... for about 16 miles.

If you've never run in a marathon or been a spectator, one of the most shocking things is the parade of humanity that makes up a marathon. People of all sizes, shapes, cultures, usually a few costumes. It is very humbling. Especially when you see all of these people passing you by. Why didn't I stick to my schedule. Knots of human tissue extend down to the ground where my legs once were. My wonderful, generous, compassionate sister holds-up for me. Pushing me to go a little longer. Waiting for me to recover. Helping stretch my legs out. We spent longer on the last third of the race than on the first two thirds combined.

The last turn downtown I pulled everything I had left into something resembling a run. Everyone on the sidewalk is cheering. As the line draws nearer I reach out for my sister's hand, lift them skyward and finish. By this time I am crying, hugging my sis. Incredible.

The hardest thing that I have ever done, I could never have totally prepared for it. Yes, it was worth it, a singular experience. Singular, I will never do it again. Four hours forty-one minutes and fourteen seconds of torture. Oprah was faster.

Yeah, I'll do it again.

bcIII


Weekend Predictions:

Blue Devils 3, Komets 1

Stickmen 0, Spiders 1

Patriots 3, Puckers 1

Iceholes 2, Army of the Twelve Monkeys 1

Grave Diggers 4, Snipers 0

Warriors 2, Brewzers 3

Hockey Video of the Week

Not to sidetrack from BCIII's magnanimous documentation and eloquent transcribing, but we found this video today and had to share it.




nice try no goalov! YES!

peace
bac

Controversy Abounds in Week Four

A couple of teams elect to play some very lopsided games. One reveals the mortality of Patrick Donaghue. Blubaugh continues an impressive streak. And one game never happened (according to pointstreak). I was out of town, I saw nothing, please bear that in mind.

Players of the week:
1. Jeff Thomas 2 goals
2. Nicholle Palomar 2 goals
3. Butch Hutchinson 3 assists

Goalie of the week:
David Blubaugh shut-out (again) 26 shots


Patriots 7, Snipers 0

A cratering Sniper platoon turns in 2 shots on goal in this game (last week only 8) and for some reason the Pats just kept scoring, Possibly the only saving grace for this offensive output is the fact that 2 of the 7 scores are the first career goals for Steve Benefield and Troy Ramsey. The Army of the Twelve Monkeys defended their performance against the Snipers with the same argument, and I do think it is a valid one. Now Rahul Sharma and Brian Brookman did score in this contest and that is suspicious, but it was early. I only wish I could have witnessed this one to make a truer decision on the play of the game. Unfortunately, the Sniper's tailspin is a difficult one to right. Shots are down, Goaltending is losing confidence (Murphee has shown flashes of brilliance in past sessions), and any positive forward movement is needed sooner rather than later. The Grave Diggers loom next week, then the Puckers, then the Iceholes. Any one of these games could be the first win for the Snipe but if they don't get at least one, it could mean the end of a veteran team. Congrats to the venerable Doug Taylor for stopping both of those shots (woopty-doo, I hope you didn't break a sweat).

Iceholes 3, Warriors 1

An intense game, and a clean one. The Iceholes started off the scoring with Mark Dunning in the first. Nicholle Palomar (hot off her game winning shoot-out goal last week) doubles the lead in the second. The Warriors have been plagued by a late developing offense in all of their games so far, but this time their talent does not overwhelm in the final frame, only one goal makes it in for the Warriors. Nicholle puts in one more to ice the game. Pointstreak doesn't note it as an empty netter but it would make sense for it to be, I'm not downplaying the skills of the great Nicholle Palomar. Unsure who actually tended goal for the first Warriors loss (it wasn't me), but I could certainly see this happening even to Bobby, the Warrior's net is some slow play, not a great place to stay on top of your game. I can't recall the Iceholes scoring this many goals in regulation in a long time, if they keep this up they will be a contender for the keg.

Army of the Twelve Monkeys 7, Puckers 0

Okay, okay I know it happened again. I really hate to say it but my biggest complaint about last week's ATM game was the Travis Lehr hat trick. This week Travis did score twice but it was early, then the puck, for the most part got distributed around to many low percentage scorers. Who can fault Scott Dolbee for taking a shot at the net, he never scores! It does suck to lose a game that is totally out of hand, and the trend for the Snipers and ATM are both going exactly the same as last week, which makes it harder to lay the blame solely at anyone's feet. Like Ginger told me, someone is going to have to dish it back out to these juggernauts. There are a number of ways to resolve the disparity in this league, dishing out a wallop to the Monkeys with the league the way it is would be ideal, but not likely. I have heard rumors of the long fantasized draft... Let's see just what kind of panacea Yockey has in store, and will it really work?

Komets 4, Brewzers 1

In much the same fashion as the Iceholes game the Komets score early, the Brewzers make it close, then the third sees the Komets put it away. It's great to see the Komets win another game, an underachieving bunch, they need to start demonstrating just how much talent they really have instead of coasting. This Brewzers team has an incredible issue with its self-esteem. They share a lot of members with the Snipers, they could possibly be infecting the locker room (or it could be the other way around). Goal tending is equally good on both the Snipers, and Brewzers, but the wins are just not coming. Much like the Snipers, shooting is at a premium for the Brewzers, only 6 shots on net this week. They say good things happen when you put the puck on the net, that could explain why good things ain't happenin'.

Stickmen 3, Blue Devils 0

Blubaugh is just unbelievable right now, his only competitor, Donaghue of the Puckers, finally has an average game. Jim DeBaro puts in a valiant effort but eventually succumbs to the constant BD onslaught. The first is scoreless, but Jeff Thomas puts it in for the Sticks shorthanded in the second and again (at even strength) in the third. Kevin Cook puts in the Val Kuntz assist (she's on a point streak now, maybe Blubaugh and Val are like the Clemens's? can we rule anything out?) The Sticks lead in penalties also, but Blubaugh doesn't play a part in any of them, SURPRISE!

Spiders 1, GraveDiggers 0

I have precious little on this game and Pointstreak has even less. Apparently Nina Bonifaz did not make the game, some "guy" plays instead... Boring! Shots favor the Spiders and the score ends up doing the same. I don't even know who scored for the Spiders. Man, I am terrible at my job.

Well, I will be back at the rink this coming weekend, and I can't wait to see all of you, I missed you so much. I would like to tell you guys about my marathon in Austin, leave me a comment on the board if you're interested in reading about it in my next post, or tell me to shove-it. I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your precious time.

bcIII