Horse racing is just part of the fun at Del Mar. By Andrew checn (Achen33) – Own work, via Wikimedia Commons.

Stephan Teodosescu is a graduate student at Cal Poly and is currently living in San Diego to complete a nine-month long internship for his degree.

SAN DIEGO — The  smell of corn dogs, horse manure and the sights of big hats — really big hats — greeted me at my first-ever trip to the races.

I’d heard that taking in an afternoon of horse racing at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was a must for anyone new to the San Diego area, and I wasn’t disappointed when I did this past Saturday.

While I didn’t make it to the spectacle that is opening day on Thursday, Saturday’s races featured photo finishes and plenty of excitement on the turf. But I learned Del Mar is about much more than racing, it’s about the scene too.

The sport is one of the oldest and its patrons at other tracks nationwide often equally as aged, but those attending Saturday seemed to be just the opposite. It was apparent most people were there to have a good time with family and friends, and used it as an excuse to get dressed and liquored up.

Upon entering the parking lot, I passed one car with an older family in it wearing their finest Saturday garb and newspapers filled with betting lines in hand. The car behind them featured college students blasting Katy Perry and slamming Four Lokos and PBR.  That’s what makes Del Mar unique — its charm attracts crowds of all ages and from all different economic backgrounds.

I figured a ticket to watch horse racing would be quite expensive, considering all the elegancy you see associated with it on television. But, my ticket cost only $6. Six bucks! I paid triple that to watch the Padres non-existent offense against the Reds two weeks ago.

But don’t worry, I lost plenty of cash betting on the horses.

Del Mar does a good job of trying to initiate first-time attendees like myself to thoroughbred racing and the betting process. They offer Newcomers’ Seminars to help you “learn valuable horse racing information including understanding the odds, easy handicapping methods, money management and insider racing tips.”

Naturally, I skipped this and threw down my first bet with confidence, a $2 wager on Bollywood to win it in the fifth race.

Bollywood finished near the back.

I wagered a few more times, didn’t win a penny and learned a few things about placing bets in the process —  the main lesson being that rooting interests are proportional to the amount of money you put in. I was screaming at horses to “dig” and “find another gear” just so they could win me a couple bucks.

The true allure to Del Mar lays in the culture, though. The track has done an excellent job of selling itself as a staple of San Diego. The 36-day meet is really a summer-long party that offers fans a chance to break out headgear that surely wouldn’t be acceptable in any other venue except maybe aboard the Titanic.

Just like Bing Crosby’s 1941 song, Del Mar is truly “Where the Turf Meets the Surf.” It’s safe to say, I’ll be back next weekend.

Matt Dale is a friend of Fansmanship and has been a podcast guest in the past. Today, he had a semi-unique perspective on the Donald Sterling fiasco:

Donald Sterling (center) probably won’t be the owner of the Clippers for much longer. By Cliffwildes (NBA event), via Wikimedia Commons

By: Matt Dale

Donald Sterling is a disgusting and vile racist. No question there — however Adam Silver and the NBA’s decision to remove him is a misguided attempt to cure an error of thoughts and beliefs.

A brief disclaimer – I am an avowed liberal and proud Democrat and I believe that Silver and the NBA owners are wrong.

To remove an owner, basically what’s happening, for private thoughts and speech is a clear violation of our American liberal capitalist beliefs and system. Sterling’s feelings on these issues are not news to anyone around the league.

At this point the league is deciding what thoughts are okay and which are not. To this point – Mark Jackson is an outspoken critic of gay marriage. Does he get to keep his job? And who gets to decide: Adam Silver, the individual players or the fans?

Moving beyond the issue of racism, and to continue with the Jackson situation, has the league now begun legislating thoughts? Has Mark Cuban ever used a homosexual slur? What about the other league owners?

My suggestion: let the markets decide. If players, sponsors and fans want to be aligned with a racist – let it be known through their continued association. Should any of these groups disagree – simply refuse to be associated with this team and man. He will feel the pain both competitively and economically very soon.

Sterling’s bottom line, and more importantly, his social status will suffer and rightly so. In a league that is at its heart a business, this should be enough to right any wrongs.

Brian De Los Santos was the Editor in Chief of the Mustang Daily last school year. He is currently in graduate school at Northwestern University in Chicago.

When Cal Poly made the NCAA Tournament, he got on a bus to Ohio and was in Dayton in time for the Mustangs’ First Four matchup against Dayton. Using his (and current Mustang News JJ Jenkins’) personal “YOLO” clause, De Los Santos was also in attendance at Cal Poly’s loss to Wichita State on Friday night, after which he wrote this for Mustang News.

I asked him to write something to describe his feelings as a recent Cal Poly alumnus who traveled to see Cal Poly’s historic run. What follows is his submission. I enjoyed it. I hope you do, too.

______________________________________________

“Where the hell is Dayton, anyway?”

That’s what I asked myself when I found that Cal Poly’s basketball team — one I had covered for five years — was making history by heading to a small town in southwest Ohio for the team’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

Chris Eversley and the Mustangs showed Dayton fans at UD arena what they were capable of and, in the process, made Brian and other Cal Poly fans even more proud of the Green and Gold. By Owen Main

A week prior, while in my winter quarter of graduate school at Northwestern University, a friend had asked me if I wanted to head home with him to Cleveland for Spring Break since I had no way of getting back to sunny California. It wasn’t the Bahamas, but I thought it sounded more fun than sitting in a broom closet-sized studio in frozen Chicago for two weeks.

So I told him I would, but after learning the proximity of where I would be staying in respect to the first venue of Cal Poly’s historic berth — just a three hour drive — I tried to see if I could make a whirlwind trip to the NCAA Tournament work.

I phoned my friend, Connor, and told him the plan.

“Dude, I’ll pay for your ticket if you drive us to Dayton,” I said.

“Well I’ll have my car, so we should be able to make it no problem,” he responded.

For a split second, I paused. You have to understand, I am a graduate student at a private university headed into a field not known for its large paychecks. So anytime I am about to toss a handful of federally loaned Benjamins at anything, I contemplate whether or not I can — and should — make it happen. I considered the odds: What are the chances
Cal Poly makes the tournament again? What are the chances they play close to where I live? What are the chances I can afford tickets? I can’t imagine all these stars would line up again anytime soon.

“Let’s make this happen.”

So two days later I packed myself into a car and headed to a city I’d never heard of with a friend that was very gladly and willingly ready to jump on the Mustangs bandwagon. We got there checked into our hotel — which turned out to be the team’s hotel as well — and then headed to the stadium shortly after. And when we got there, it immediately felt like I became a hired spokesperson for Cal Poly.

“Where is that school located?” spectators would ask me, looking at my green Cal Poly sweatshirt.

The questions didn’t stop there.

“Is it nice?”

“What did you study?”

“It’s in Pomona, right?”

The last one, of course, made me cringe, but it felt great to be able to tell Midwesterners of the school I’d spent the past five years falling in love with. And during the game, it felt like most of the fans were falling in love with it too. By the time the smoke cleared and Cal Poly very impressively defeated Texas Southern — believe me, I still can’t believe it either — any fan wearing Mustangs gear became the popular kids in the stands. I felt like the cool kid who would walk into an 8th grade party that would cause all the girls to swoon. You know, the kid you always wanted to be, but never could. Well maybe
that’s just me, but people started staring at the name of the school on my chest, asking even more questions.

I’m still trying to come down to earth after that win, even if CalPoly did end up falling to Wichita State in a landslide 64-37 loss in the next round. As the famous “CP” logo was shown all over SportsCenter and CBS all week, no one really understood how big a trip this was for Cal Poly. The first year I was on campus, the football team won more games than the basketball team. And five years after getting a new coach, the team’s now dancing. It’s mind boggling to me and most, I’m sure, in the city of San Luis Obispo.

A 16 vs. 16 game meant something to the wide range of Cal Poly students and alumni, even if no one could comprehend the magnitude.

Perhaps — at least — the people of Dayton, Ohio do now.

Like Fansmanship’s founders, Sabrina Haggie is from Cayucos, CA. She got the invitation of a lifetime last week and this is her account of what she did. Her interests include health and fitness and she’ll soon write a regular column on that subject that will appear on this site.

By Sabrina Haggie

It was like any other Friday afternoon until my best friend, Colin, (who lives in southern California) sent me a text message saying, “Wish you lived closer, I have tickets to the Lakers game tonight.” I get off work early on Fridays though, and I texted back. I was going to make it to this one. After scrambling to throw things together, I began the three-plus hour drive down to Los Angeles. I was so excited to be going to my first NBA game that even the LA traffic on a Friday at 5:00 couldn’t dampen my mood.

When your friend asks you to to go to a Lakers game, this isn’t exactly what you expect. By Sabrina Haggie

Screeching to a halt in my friend’s driveway at 6:45, there was only enough time to grab my purse and jump from my car into my friend’s and we were off. Colin saved the best news for the car ride, telling me that we were not only going to a Laker game but that we would be sitting courtside!

Court-side doesn’t mean just a few rows back from the court. In this case, it meant literally sitting with our feet on the court, at the edge of the Lakers bench! When we arrived at the Staples Center, we were escorted to a back entrance where we used our parking pass for VIP only. We had the car valeted and it was parked among the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys. Waiting in line to get into the Staples Center was the first time I held the ticket that said Court Seat, listing the cost at $2,750.  In pure shock and excitement, I just looked around and absorbed everything. Once inside, we walked downstairs instead of following the crowd upstairs.  Weaving through a maze of corridors, riddled with security guards to check our ticket at every turn, we made our way to the court.

When Kobe told center Robert Sacre what to do, apparently Sacre listened. By Sabrina Haggie

The second I walked into the powerful lights of the Staples Center, I was awestruck.  The thrill of walking in front of everyone and sitting at the end of the Laker bench was indescribable. Once I sat down, I was looking everywhere, at the players on the court within touching distance, at the various celebrities strewn in with the crowd and finally looked down the Laker bench only to see Kobe Bryant sitting three seats away from me.  I literally hit Colin on the arm and said “Holy —(curse word), Kobe Bryant!”  Feeling a little embarrassed for my brassiness, I sat back in my extremely padded chair and started taking pictures. A lot of pictures. And video. I probably spent more time capturing the moment then taking a moment to enjoy it.

The game was wonderful — watching Kobe give advice from the bench is something you don’t see on TV. I witnessed him giving some sort of signal to center Robert Sacre. The next thing I know, Sacre scores at the other end of the court. Later, Kobe was giving Wesley Johnson tips which he then used to beat the defensive coverage and have an incredible game. The game ended when Jodie Meeks passed to Kendall Marshall for a final layup at the buzzer. The Lakers won 110-99, beating the Utah Jazz. The best part of the entire thing was Kobe Bryant coming up to us, shaking our hands and saying, “thanks for coming guys,” then I high fived the entire Laker team, including the coaches. True story.

Best. Night. Ever.

A lifelong Chargers fan, Jeff Blackwell is a fan of all sports. Look for his takes on Fansmanship.com in the future.

By Jeff Blackwell

After defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 27-10 in the opening round of the playoffs, the sixth seeded San Diego Chargers have momentum headed into Mile High Stadium this Sunday. The Chargers have, in fact, have been facing elimination games for a month — winning five of their last games to clinch the final AFC playoff spot — and are peaking just at the right time. It not inconceivable that San Diego could be this year’s version of the 2006 Giants or 2010’s Packers; both low seeded teams that rode their momentum all the way to a Super Bowl victory. Next Sunday the Chargers will have to beat the top-seeded Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium to get to the AFC Championship game. Despite the ten-point spread favoring Denver, there are several reasons that Chargers can beat the Broncos.

Before last Sunday, the Chargers’ last playoff win was against none other than Peyton Manning. By Jeffrey Beall (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Though the two teams split the season series, the Bolts’ head coach has game-planned to keep Manning off of the field; something which the Chargers have done better than anybody in the NFL. The Bolts effectively used a ball-control offense in both contests with the Broncos, holding-on to the ball for 38 minutes compared to Denver’s 22. In fact, the Chargers lead the NFL in time of possession at an average of 33 minutes a game. Unless Denver makes major adjustments, this does not bode well for the Broncos’ ability to control the game.

2)  The Chargers’ offensive line has gotten healthy and solidified into an effective unit

In the wild card round, San Diego’s offensive line consistently moved the highly-touted Bengals defensive front seven and gave Rivers plenty of time in the pocket; something which he needs to be successful. The strong O-Line play has also stimulated the running game, which has averaged 144 yards in the past five games, including a season best 198 yards versus the Bengals. The Broncos will see plenty of the Chargers three-headed running attack of Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead, and Ronnie Brown, whose play will be a major factor in controlling the ball.

3) San Diego’s defense has also stepped up its play

Under Defensive Coordinator John Pagano the Chargers defense has played well in the playoff run. The Chargers defense was responsible for two of the three games in which Denver was held under 30 points this season. The 20 points that the Broncos scored in their loss to San Diego was their lowest total all year. The return of outside linebackers Melvin Ingram and Jarret Johnson also adds a new element that Manning has not yet seen, and their speed off the edge could bother him. The Chargers’ porous defensive backfield has gotten better, too.  In particular,  Shareece Wright has become a quality player in man-to-man. Often matched up alone against Pro-Bowler A.J. Green last Sunday, Wright held him to a mere 34 yards. If Manning is pressured enough to make some poor throws, there will be opportunities for Wright and Safety Eric Weddle to pick the football off.

4) The Chargers have Manning’s number

It’s just one of those inexplicable things that one team has over another. The Chargers are, in fact, 2-0 against Manning in recent playoff series. In the AFC Divisional Playoff game in 2008 Manning’s Colts lost to the Chargers 28-24, and in the 2009 wild card game Indy lost in overtime 23-17. In Peyton’s defense, he is 3-1 against the Chargers as a Bronco; but since 2005 Manning is only 4-7 against San Diego, including the two playoff losses. Few thought the lowly Chargers would even get into the playoffs, let alone into the second round. But if the Chargers can play their game and keep Denver’s quarterback on the bench, Manning will have another playoff loss to add to that tally.

Recently, a Friend of Fansmanship (FOF) participated in the Southern California Ragnar Relay, a 200-mile team race from Huntington Beach, CA to Coronado in San Diego. Christopher Manuele chronicles his team’s 31-hour journey/nightmare/unforgettable experience below.

The Ragnar Relay Spans More than 200 Miles

Ragnar Relay – SoCal 2011 

What do you get when you take 12 runners, 2 drivers with minivans, fill them full of Gatorade and junk food, and don’t let them sleep while making them run 200 miles in 31 hours? You get the 2011 Ragnar Relay. It was an awesome experience filled with lots of sweat and a little lunacy.

My friend, Jack Pham, turned 30 this year. He wanted to celebrate in style. Nothing simple like wine tasting or even Vegas. He needed something epic. It just so happened that this year’s SoCal Ragnar Relay fell exactly on his birthday. It was the perfect event for him. The rest of us were just along for the ride.

Ragnar is an extreme long distance running event conquered by teams of twelve, unless you’re Ultra crazy and use a team of six, but that’s another story. The race starts in Huntington Beach, heads inland through Anaheim and over to Corona, then turns South through Elsinore and Temecula, before heading West to head back to the coast.  The route heads South again toward the border, and then back up to finish on Coronado Island. Each runner has three legs, varying in length from two-and-a-half miles up to nine miles. We divided our team up into two vans that swapped duties between driving and resting.

We kicked the festivities off with a pre-race pasta party at Jack and Ayelet’s place. There was lots of good food and revelry to fuel us up for the next day’s task. Our team name is “Hit the Road Jacks” in honor of the birthday boy. To identify ourselves, Ayelet made us all sweet shirts that each featured a different “Jack.” We had Black Jack, Jack Knives, Jack Rabbits and more. Once we finished eating, passing out shirts and going over last minute race info, we loaded up the vans and Van one headed up to my house in Oceanside.

Once we got there, everyone sacked out on various pieces of furniture scattered around the house. I was so excited that I hardly slept. It felt like I was checking the clock every 30 minutes. According to my fellow runners, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t sleep. It is always great to not sleep before starting a round-the-clock endurance race. Soon enough, it was time to actually get out of bed and get on the road. We hopped in the van and headed up to Huntington Beach.

This one must have been taken before the race started...

We arrived at the race expo about an hour before our start time, which gave us plenty of time to check in, get the safety briefing and for me to warm-up. I was the first runner on our team so the butterflies were definitely out and fluttering. I was mostly nervous because I had crashed my mountain bike the weekend before and my knee and chest were still sore. No backing out now though! It was go time!

Most races I run start everyone at once, sending thousands of people across the start line together. For Ragnar, they stagger all the starts over the course of the morning so when I started I only started with about twenty people.  Its a shotgun-start that resembles a golf tournament.

There was cheering at the start, but twenty yards down the way it was almost dead silent except for the sounds of our footsteps. It almost felt like I was on a training run by myself.

The first few miles of my initial leg were right along the ocean. The weather was totally beautiful and it made me want to veer off course and hop into the ocean. Instead I followed the course inland along the Santa Ana river, leaving behind the cool ocean for the inland heat.

The run itself wasn’t bad, mostly flat and very straight after the turn. At one point I thought I saw the exchange up ahead and kicked toward the hand off. Of course when I got there it was just one of the other teams cheering for their runner, standing next to a sign that said “one mile left”. Great! That made the last mile interesting.

I had to maintain focus on my pace to keep it up after kicking too early. Keeping my eyes on the runners up ahead of me helped. I even managed to pass two or three people on the last stretch. Before long I was at the hand off point and gave Linda the baton-bracelet for her leg. The Ragnar was on now!

Is That a Slap Bracelet?

Over the next several hours I alternated between navigating the van and waiting at the exchanges for our runners to come in. After my initial run Linda ran 5 miles, Tina ran 5.3 miles, Elijah ran 4.3 miles, Charlette ran 2.5 miles.  Ryan rounded out Van One with 2.7 miles. He ended his run in East Anaheim where he handed off to Christina and the rest of Van Two.

Off He Goes!

Once Van Two took over, Van One got a few hours of rest before going back on shift. It was time for Jamba Juice!

Tina had a clutch “buy one get one free” coupon that helped refresh the whole team. Just the right medicine after running in the heat. With drinks in-hand we loaded back up and headed to Lake Elsinore to rest at my Aunt’s house.

My Aunt Linda very graciously opened her home to us while we were off shift. People crashed around the house while my aunt prepared us a glorious spaghetti and meat sauce dinner. Ryan and Elijah even took showers. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that there’s no showering in Ragnar! Dinner was fantastic and everyone was extremely thankful for my Aunt’s cooking and hospitality.

Thanks for the great food, Linda!

During the break, we were in contact with Van Two. They were having a rough time out on the course, bearing the brunt of the day’s sun and heat. Being the first runner in Van One I started to get antsy around 5:30pm. The other van was still on the road so I just needed to relax. Soon enough, the call came from Van Two to come meet us at Exchange 12.

Up to this point the race was just a standard run for all of us, a day-time race of medium distance. It was no big deal for anyone on the team. The start of my second leg changed that. Instead of starting a run fully rested and prepared, I was already tired and sore from the first run. And it was dark. That changed things significantly.

I took the hand-off from Jack at 7:45pm just as the sun was setting. The race requires safety gear so, decked out in a bright reflective vest, head lamp, and a tail lamp, I started down the road. The first mile felt good. Nothing like an adrenaline burst to get the body moving. That wore off pretty quickly as I all the aches and pains from the previous week’s mountain bike crash and the morning’s run came back. Right about when full dark came on.

The darkness took the race to a new level

Running in the dark was a lot harder than I expected. The street itself was barely lit and was still quite dark, even with my head lamp. Running against traffic, I would periodically become blinded by headlights. That, coupled with a shifting, uneven shoulder and encroaching dirt and plant life made for a treacherous run. At least the day’s heat had dissipated, leaving a cool and very dry evening.

My run was 5.5 miles. It seemed longer. I was really feeling the fatigue from the earlier run by the end of this one. At the point that I thought the leg should have been over, I hit the “one-mile to go” sign. Better than a poke in the eye, I suppose. I mustered up a little kick to get me to the end where Linda waited to start her leg. She took the hand-off and was off on her leg while I stumbled back to the van.

With the ebb of adrenaline in my chest, my knee started tightening up. After changing into dry clothes and watching the girls goof off with the flags, I ceded navigator duties for Elijah and climbed in the back of Van One to rest. Linda had a long leg, so we stopped midway to offer her water. She was a trooper, running one of the longest legs through the dark while sick. She even threw in an extra mile or so for the fun of exploring dead end streets in the middle of the night. I think she inspired the rest of us to give a little bit more.

Yay Linda!

We made our way through the night, runner-by-runner. Tina ran through Murrieta, followed by Elijah and Charlette down I-15 through Temecula, ending with Ryan at Fallbrook.

Exchange 18, where Van Two took over from us, was a mess. Both vans from every team were meeting there and by that point people had been racing for well over 12 hours.  There was some crankiness around that ended up manifesting in road rage while trying to cut lines.  It ended up in overall unpleasantness.

To try to avoid this, as soon as our van made it into the parking lot, Charlette and I jumped out to find the other van while Ayelet turned the van around and headed to the exit. Once again we had hoped to hang out with the other van for a bit but instead had to immediately leave. As they were heading out we managed to find Van two. They were refreshed after some pizza and rest. Christina had already headed to the start line so we gave Jack a birthday hug and set off to find her.

As soon as we found Christina at the hand-off, Ryan arrived in a blaze of speed and sweat. They made the hand-off and she was off. It happened so fast I didn’t even get my camera out. With Ryan in-tow, we started walking towards the exit looking for our van. It was good that we had headlights because even with all the vans around it was completely dark!

We located our van and, with Elijah at the wheel and some creative maneuvering, we made it out to the highway. It was about 1:30am and everyone was exhausted. The next major exchange was in Carlsbad at approximately 5am so we headed back to my house in Oceanside. People passed out as soon as we got through door. I crashed into my bed and fell in the deepest, darkest sleep I can remember.

This was until 3:30am, when my phone went off. It felt like I had been slapped. Hard! Jack was calling to let us know that Sam was on the road and that Susan would be starting her leg soon. I went around rousing the troops to get ready to head back on shift. Everyone fell asleep clothed, so at least no one had to change clothes. We grabbed a quick bite of tortillas with Nutella and peanut butter and piled back into the van.

Wakey Wakey

There is a saying that the night is always darkest just before the dawn. I’m going to go with true on that one.

It was dark and cold at 5am. As per his style, Jack flew in to the exchange, so fast that the volunteers couldn’t announce his number, catching us literally half-asleep. When he frantically started calling for me, I jumped over into the start area, grabbed the baton, slapped him on the back and was off on my third and final leg of the relay.

Did I mention it was cold? I couldn’t just see my breath, it was pluming. I entertained myself for a while pretending I was an old school locomotive chugging along. Give me a break. It was 5:30 in the morning and I was slightly delirious!

The run wasn’t bad. It was mostly on the sidewalk so was better lit than my run through Elsinore. Too bad they didn’t let us run though Legoland because that would have been neat in the dark.

The sun came up when I had about one mile left to go. This became a mental battle.

I had to focus my mind and force my body to keep moving. This was working pretty well until I started hitting stop lights. Up to the last mile of my last leg I had not hit any stop lights, but then I managed to hit three of them. I passed the same two people three times at each of the lights. I swear the last one took five minutes, just trying to taunt me.

When you’re that far into a race and the finish line is within sight, the hardest thing to do is to not move. Every fiber of my being wanted to go, go, go and finish! Finally the light turned green and we dashed across the street — only to stop again and wait for the light so we could cross to the left hand side. Painful! The second the light turned green I let out a war cry and put on a mad sprint to the end.

And there it was, my final hand-off. I relinquished the baton to Linda and I was finished. My part was done but the race was far from finished. There were still hours of racing to go. Duty called and I resumed my role as van navigator as we headed to the next exchange.

Go Tina, Go! Nice socks...

The next couple hours are pretty much a blur to me. We stopped a few times to give Gatorade and support for Linda and Elijah on the ridiculous hills they had to run up. Tina had a great run through Solana Beach, where we almost missed her because we were on the wrong side of the station. Charlette crushed another hill. Ryan finished off our van by absolutely owning the Torrey Pines hill. Everyone did a fantastic job and stayed strong despite the exhaustion we all felt.

Hit the road... Elijah!

At the last major exchange at Torrey Pines Glider Port we were able to hang out with Van Two for a little while before they started their shift. As Ryan was coming in we snapped another group picture before Christina headed out. Everyone loaded up and we headed back to Ayelet and Jack’s place. It was in Van two’s hands to bring us to the finish line now.

Two Vans in one place

There’s really only one thing to do after a race like that. Eat a burrito. So after cleaning up a bit, dropping Linda off, unloading the van and an aborted attempt to eat at a diner, that is just what we did.

A burrito has never tasted so good! Pure heaven. Once we finished our meal we dropped the van off and parted ways with Ayelet so she could go to a wedding. Tina, Charlette, Elijah, Ryan and I loaded up in Tina’s Mazda and headed down to Coronado to see the finish of the race.

Van Two was still midway through their legs when we got to Coronado so there was some time to kill. We relaxed a bit and got some free noodles. I dipped my feet in the ocean and Tina fell asleep on the concrete. While we were waiting for the rest of the team, we watched several other teams come through the finish chute. There was a big orange arch set up on the sand and whole teams waited just around the corner for their final runner to come in.

The second half of our team showed up just in time. Jack was blazing down the chute and we could barely get him to slow down so we can join up. He paused for half a second to remove his shoes, because, well, I’m not sure. Maybe his feet were on fire from his speed.

We chased after him through the sand and under the orange arch. We were done. Done. Done! DONE! Thirty-one hours and 200 miles from my start in Huntington Beach, Jack completed the 2011 SoCal Ragnar Relay, finishing our team’s journey.

Shoeless Jack Pham. If you build it, he will come...

The whole team got medals so we held a mini-ceremony where Jack presented them to each of us. Everyone was in elation to be done. Tina presented Jack with a special birthday cupcake we had made to celebrate, and he ‘nommmm’ed’ it down on it at the finish line. A delicious end to the day.

Completing this relay was quite an experience. I am glad that I took part in it and got to share it with all my team members. Through the course of the race, everyone in our van bonded together. We all wished to have been able to spend more time with the other van but unfortunately it just didn’t happen.

31 Hours. 200 Miles of Smiles

Jack picked quite a celebration for his birthday. Already people are talking about doing it again. We are all crazy for doing it the first time, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself stretching the boundaries of both myself as well as the California Coastline once more next year.

HIT THE ROAD JACKS:

Van One Driver: Ayelet Ruppin
1    Chris Manuele
2    Linda Lobbestael
3    Tina Yuan
4    Elijah Nicolas
5    Charlette Buchan
6    Ryan Borchard
Van Two Driver: Liz Kee
7    Christina Hennigan
8    Matt Hennigan
9    Andrew Wood
10    Susan Friedman
11    Sam Thomas
12    Jack Pham

The rules are pure and simple, score will be based on total number of correct picks, no seeding multipliers, no bonuses, just picks.  Below you will find the brackets filled out by the boys (Andy, Luke and Owen), we will update the scores as reach round is completed, so keep coming back to see how things shape up.

Andy’s Bracket

Luke’s Bracket

Owen’s Bracket

“I am not a machine, OK. I am just Albert,” deadpans Pujols to ESPN anchors Steve Levy and John Anderson while making copies in the ESPN offices in Bristol, Connecticut. Although this was just another well conceived commercial, seeing Albert’s Terminator-like thought process and his ability to communicate with the copy machine really makes you wonder about the possibility that Albert Pujols really could be a machine.

The most obvious reason the machine hypothesis is plausible is due to his ten year consistent dominance of the game of baseball. He was the rookie of the year and recieved an all-star nod in that same 2001 season, and has been compiling awards and reaching or approaching milestones ever since. He is a three-time National League Most Valuable Player, while finishing in the top four in every year except one. He is a nine-time all-star, and he finished second in the Most Valuable Player voting the year he was not an all-star. While he has only two Gold Glove awards to his name, he is well known as a solid and reliable defensive player.

Most impressively in my opinion, is the fact that in his career he has played in 96 percent of games, which means in ten years he has missed an average of only six games per year. His batting average, if not super human, has certainly been extraordinary. He has batted .331 over the entire span of his career, which is the best career batting average among active players.  This beats out the man whose one name is synonymous with hits, Ichiro, by .004 of a point.

When you look at the St. Louis Cardinals organization, one that has been around since 1882, Pujols is on pace to be the leader in several categories including:  home runs, at bats, plate appearances, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, runs batted in and walks. Most of these categories are led by Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial. I guess it only makes sense that “The Man” will eventually be suprassed by “The Machine.”  In essence, Pujols has an opportunity to become not only the greatest Cardinal ever, but possibly even the greatest player in the history of the game. Of course this is dependent on him staying healthy, and from the Cardinal history side of it, that he stay a Cardinal for the rest of his career.

With only one year left on his contract before he becomes a free-agent, how long Pujols will be a Cardinal is a question undoubtedly on the mind of everyone who follows baseball. The speculation about what Pujols will do in the minds of fans and in the reporting of the media is rampant, especially given the failure of negotiations for a contract extension before this season. It is likely that the speculation will continue throughout the season, although Pujols has stated clearly that he will not discuss the issue at all during spring training as well as during the season itself.  This being said, don’t expect to get any more information out of The Machine.

The media has stated that the reason a contract was not signed was due to a disagreement between team management and representatives of Pujols over the overall value of the player.  Rumor has it that Pujols was asking for a ten year deal worth 300 million dollars. The moment Pujols arrived for spring training, he made it clear that the media was “way off” in their reporting of those supposed numbers. He also stated that it was his goal to be a Cardinal for his entire career, which I think is a big assurance for Cardinals fans.

The calculated planning and answers Pujols has shown and given are another reason for questioning his manhood. His off-field demeanor and reputation have always been equally infallible as his on-field performance. He is a player that it is almost impossible to dislike. His name is not mentioned when steroids or HGH are brought up, and he has never had a Milton Bradley “blow-up” moment. He goes about all aspects of the game in the most pure of ways.  This has earned him the respect of not only the fans in St. Louis, but the media, players and coaches as well.  Pujols already being the all-time Cardinal leader for intentional walks says as much.

Given his undeniable prowess on and off the field, there is no doubt Pujols deserves a lucrative long term deal. It can easily be argued that he should be the highest paid player in baseball. It is my belief that Pujols will in fact finish his career as a Cardinal, and in doing so, I think he will be rewarded with a contract that ranks near or even atop the all-time largest.

However, it is quite interesting that a deal was not done already. If Pujols really wanted to be a Cardinal for the rest of his career, it was entirely in his power to make that happen. It does make a person wonder if he may be using this year as a classic “free-agent year” in an attempt to try to get the most money from a large market team next season. A large part of my belief that Pujols will stay in St. Louis is simply the sports fan in me that believes he is a little more selfless than the average superstar. It’s the sports fan in me that wants to see an athlete take less money and not go to the Yankees just because of financial reasons.  It’s the sports fan in me that wants to see a franchise player stay loyal to a franchise, and more importantly, to a city of loyal fans. It is this opportunity for loyalty that I think can catapult Pujols to the top of all-time athletes, not only in the record books, but in the hearts and minds of sports fans.

I do not base my belief solely on my hope that Pujols is a good person and will stay loyal. There are a few other reasons that also have a seat at the table.

I already mentioned the numerous records he can attain with the organization.  The idea that he could end up being the greatest Cardinal of all time would be a great honor and accomplishment. Some might argue that this would be a selfish reason, but I argue that he is not actively trying to attain these records, but rather they come naturally as part of his constant production.

The Cardinals have been a perennial playoff team, and although they missed out in 2010, they are poised for a swift return in 2011. Strangely, a lot of players end up not re-signing with them because they claim they “want to win,” when the fact is the Cardinals have consistently won, reaching the playoffs in six of Pujols’ ten years, as well as winning the 2006 World Series. There are not very many teams that he could end up going to that would be improving his odds of winning a championship, with the exception of maybe the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phillies however would most likely have a hard time providing the kind of financial terms Pujols would require, due to the stack of huge contracts they will have to honor over the next five years.

While Pujols will be a big reason for the Cardinals’ return to the top of the NL in 2011, their success will largely depend on their “1-A” ace Chris Carpenter and their “1-B” ace Adam Wainwright. It can be argued that these two are the best 1-2 punch in baseball from the mound in back to back games. In recent years it has shown that two dominant pitchers of this caliber almost alone can lead a team through a playoff series. The Cardinals also have second year southpaw Jaime Garcia, who is coming off a great year where he finished third in the rookie of the year voting. He posted a respectable 13-8 record, but his record did not reflect his impressive 2.70 ERA, which was sixth in the Majors. Even though reports are coming out that Wainwright could be out for this entire upcoming season with a significant elbow injury, the starting pitching of the Cardinals is another reason Pujols should consider staying around.

What it truely all boils down to is that the “A-ROD-esque” contracts may not be an option for teams in today’s economic climate. It is a mystery what kind of figure Pujols will demand within a new contract, but 30 million dollars a year seems a bit “asinine,” as White Sox General Manager Ken Williams so eliquently put it. The real world unemployment issue does have an effect on the revenue teams bring in. During this recession, fewer families are going to be able to come to games, and they will spend less on concessions or merchandise at the few they do attend. Going to a ballgame is a great experience, but people are going to have to choose whether to spend that fifty dollars to bring their family of four to a game or to feed that family of four for the week.

Like Albert, this is the last I will think of his contract situation until the year is over. Until then I will enjoy watching The Machine work. It will be interesting to see what happens in the end. Will he still be The Machine, or will the allure of the almighty dollar prove that he is just a man at his core after all?

If I am in fact right, and he does stay in St. Louis for the remainder of his career, I am confident that even after retiring Albert Pujols won’t ever die.  Not because he is a machine, but because he will be a legend.

On Sunday, February 13, 2011, I completed the San Dieguito Half-Marathon. I had never run 13 miles straight. I don’t even really like running. People think I’m a runner because I run, but I’m not. Before starting training for the race my longest run was a 15K (9.3 mile) race over a year before that left me unable to run for months. So why was I running this one?

There are a couple of reasons, but I’m still asking myself if any of them were good. After finishing several Olympic-distance triathlons, I have several friends that have been pushing me to run a half or full marathon for quite a while. Peer pressure, right? Eventually I want to compete in an Ironman triathlon. My next step towards that goal is a Half-Ironman, which contains a half-marathon distance run as the last leg. Before I can consider doing that I needed to run that distance by itself. And of course, the entry fee was cheap – about one third the cost of most half-marathons.

So I signed up. I managed to convince my girlfriend and a few other people to do it with me. Beware of stupid people in large groups. In addition to Tina was Jack, my long time running buddy, Katie a multi-marathon veteran and Karun and coworker and aspiring Ironman. It helps to have people signed up to provide encouragement, support and sometimes necessary harassment!

Soon after signing up I told a couple of my other runner friends that I had signed up for San Dieguito as my first half-marathon. Every single one of them replied with some variation of “Really? You’re crazy! That’s one of the hardest courses!”

“Uh, really? No one told me that! It was cheap!”

Apparently the course, while beautiful, is non-stop rolling hills. Well shoot, time for some hill repeats…

Before we could run the race, we had to train for the race. As I mentioned before, the closest I’ve come to 13.1 miles was a 15K, 9.3 miles, race a year before.  Since that race I have been consistently running, including several 5K races, a 10K and 2 Olympic triathlons, but nothing longer than 6 miles. I needed to ramp it up severely.

With everyone talking about how hilly the course was the primary focus of the training was hills. Secondary was distance. Luckily (or not) San Diego is very hilly. During the middle of the week Jack and I would meet up at lunch a few times and did hill repeats. We also had our friend Nick take us on ridiculous hilly routes around the office. On the weekends Tina and I did some long runs. Two weeks before the race we met up with one of her friends and pulled off a 10 miler. That helped my confidence a lot, even though it was fairly flat and at a mostly leisurely pace. Right about then Karun told me that due to sickness he wasn’t able to keep with his training schedule and was dropping out.

The week before the race we drove the course we’d soon be running on.  I think more than the training this served to boost my confidence. Sure the course was hilly, but now I knew exactly what to expect when out there and when to expect it. After running up some long, steep hills in training, like Laurel, Lusk and Pacific Heights, most of the hills weren’t worrisome.

The San Dieguito Half-Marathon

Soon enough, the day of the race came. Being a triathlete, the 5:00 am wake-up call was actually pretty nice.  With the wake-up call was a text from Katie saying her legs were too tired from walking a lot the day before so was not going to show up. And then there were three.

We got everything ready and drove down to the Del Mar Fairgrounds in order to catch the shuttle to the race site. For some reason our shuttle bus had a stripper pole in it. Who knew? Once we got to the site and got our bibs and met up with Jack we had over an hour to kill. We ate some food, hydrated and double-checked our gear. And I went to the bathroom. Then went again. And I think a third time. Races do that to me. I had absolutely nothing riding on the race. It was all for fun. But that doesn’t stop the nerves or my body’s tendency to lose as much weight as possible for the run.

When 7:30 rolled around, the sun had come up and it was warm and pleasant up near registration. The perfect time to leave. Hiking a half mile down the hill to the start line we lost the sun and about 10 degrees of temperature, made doubly apparent when we dropped off our warmup gear and only had our race garb. We jogged a little, did some last minute stretching and Jack and Tina used the bathrooms. I thought I had enough already. Once all the pre-race rituals were completed we lined up.

And we were off. Thousands of crazy people with the goal of running 13.1 miles. As per any large race, the first mile was a fairly leisurely pace spent dodging people until things thinned out and you can hit your stride. Also, it is downhill, but more on that later. Tina stayed with us the first mile and then I wished her good luck and Jack and I picked it up some. Soon, both of us realized that a bathroom stop might be in order. You would think with all the stops before the race we would be all right, but I guess not. Jack stopped at a porta-pot but I kept going.

In no time it seemed I hit the 5K turnaround point, staffed by the Queen of England. Don’t ask me to explain, I got nothing. I remember thinking “Man, if I was running the 5K I’d be half way done!” I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be running a 5K more in my life. Only 11.6 miles to go! The Hash House Harriers also had a beer station giving me a small time boost over all the people that stopped.

Jack caught up with me in another mile or so. At that point I was really thanking the training. Most of the uphills weren’t bad at all. Some of the downhills were though. There were a few steep downs where the pounding got to me. And of course, big downs mean big ups, in particular mile 5 and 6. This is about when Jack headed off on his own and left me to slog on by myself. The mile 6 uphill was HUGE. I was expecting it from the drive but turning the corner and seeing it was almost as painful as running up. I put my head down and focused on pushing off a little more and sooner than I’d thought the worst was behind me.

Right about then I was thinking, “Man, a 10K is a great distance! I would be done now!” Only 7 miles left! On top of the hill was the turnaround point. Halfway done! It was mostly downhill from there. Mostly. There was a point where I was glad for the uphill because it used different muscles than my totally burned out downhill muscles.

Mile 10 came around and I was definitely tired but otherwise felt ok. Each step I took from that point was the longest I had ever run. That was kind of a neat feeling. It was a much better feeling than the burning in my glutes and calves! I had one of the energy goo packets in my belt and considered using it around then but decided to keep it in case of emergency. I ended up not using it at all and am kind of proud of that.

So, remember around mile one when I realized that I had to pee but didn’t stop? Well, an hour and a half later around mile 11 I remembered too. At that point it was too late. I couldn’t stop. If I did then it would be game over. Besides, only two miles left! No problem!

Unfortunately, the last mile is one long uphill. It wasn’t particularly steep, but after 12 miles without stopping it was very nearly the straw that broke my back. One straight shot to the finish line. I could see it in the distance through the glare of the sun shining in your eyes. All I needed to do was to keep moving. The act of simply continuing to move was quite possibly one of the toughest physical feats I’ve done, followed closely behind by not peeing myself on that mile. Man I had to go! I’ve wondered if I would have finished faster if I had made a quick stop to go and instead of diverting the energy to not peeing used it to run. I just kept moving me my feet, chanting to myself that “I can do it, I WILL do it, I AM DOING IT!”

But then I was done. 2 hours and 8 minutes after starting I managed to cross the finish line with a semi-decent burst of speed. I donned my finisher’s medal, grabbed some water and stumbled to the bathroom. Victory! Or perhaps just peace. Either way the fight was over and I was still alive.

Jack found me and we made our way back to the finish stretch to watch for Tina where I promptly collapsed to the ground. To stretch! Yes, that is why I wasn’t standing any more. Tina finished shortly after, looking great. She finished with a very respectable 2 hours and 35 minutes. We all met up and relaxed in the grass for a little while before trudging up the hill for a bowl of victory chili.

It was both my and Tina’s first half-marathon race. I felt half-dead afterwards so can only imagine how a full marathon would leave me. I’m not sure I want to find out. I was glad that we had done it and even more glad that it was over.

Click Here for the GPS Track of the Route

– Christopher Manuele

Since winning the National Championship last year, all I’ve heard from people is how much they hate Duke, how much Duke is over-rated, how people are sick of hearing about Duke, how much people hate Coach K, blah blah blah.  But in reality, is there anything to hate about Duke?

Let’s take a look at some facts:

Coaching

– Mike Krzyzewski has been coaching Duke Basketball for 30 years. (For current active coaches, he is only second to Jim Boeheim of Syracuse).

– Coach K is 4th on the list of all time winning coaches, 1st in the last 10 years. 888 wins 281 loses.

– Loyalty:  In all 30 years, Coach K has been offered numerous jobs in the NBA for high profile teams and top dollar. In all cases, Coach K has declined NBA jobs to stay loyal to Duke.

– Tapped to restore United States pride for USA Olympic basketball after a dismal and embarrassing performance with a bunch of “know it all individuals” from the NBA. (Coaching and earning a Gold medal in 2008 with the Redeem Team).

– Pure Class:  When is the last time Coach K has made the news about NCAA violations, scandal or any other bad press?

– Coach K Has led Duke Basketball to 26 tournament appearances. Probably would have been 27 and 27 in a row if he didn’t have back surgery in 1995 and had to leave the team.

Team

– 26 total NCAA tournament appearances

– 14 final four appearances

– 4 National Titles

– 9 players of the year, 11 if you count all the years (Jason Williams and J.J. Redick have won this honor twice)

– 11 ACC player of the year, 13 if you count all the years (Danny Ferry and J.J. Redick have won this honor twice)

– 18 ACC Championships

– 71 players drafted into the NBA

– 89 percent graduation rate (players leaving early for NBA counts towards this ratio, school has a 97% graduation rate)

– 55 All Americans

– 14 Academic All Americans

So let me get this straight, people hate Duke Basketball because they win, have a loyal coach, have a strong history of class and discipline in academics and athletics, as well as develop phenomenal/well-rounded individuals when they leave college (when is the last time a Duke basketball player in the NBA has gotten arrested)?  This makes absolute sense…. *cue sarcasm*

I understand that there is an “elitist” mentality when it comes to Duke, but can you blame them?  Duke only expects the best from their athletes, coaches and students; is that so wrong?  (I blame Christian Laetnner for this reputation, but everyone deserves a gimme, great winning shot though).  Also, let’s be real, North Carolina is Tar Heel country; there are obviously more Tar Heel fans than Duke fans and they loathe each other.  Weird coincidence, but do you ever hear any hatred towards Roy Williams?

So go ahead, hate Duke, encourage the scandal, the shady coaching/recruiting, the academic mediocrity; discourage excellence, loyalty and class– That’s America for you, Land of Frauds, Home of the Bullshit.

— Matt Nguyen (aka Nuge)

Disagree?  Email me at matt@fansmanship.com