It Starts

Babbitt writes to remind me that "Mondays with Marty" really doesn't have quite the same punch if I'm not filing until Tuesday. Alas, he's right. I'm going to start writing my missives on Sunday night so that they post early Monday morning. From the feedback I've been getting, it seems that a number of you have begun to check in on a regular basis, and I owe you the courtesy of being prompt. So hang with me, I'm getting into a nice rhythm with all this.

I'm back east right now, dropping my son off at college. The melancholy mood I've had over the last four weeks, however, has been replaced by the awareness that: a) he's gonna be alright; and, b) the summer of competition has begun. What do I mean by that? I mean the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials kicked things off in fine fashion with a ripping women's 10,000 meter finals last week. Then Michael Phelps broke that world record in the 400 I.M. the other night, followed by Katie Hoff's own record performance, and then on to the Landis verdict, with much more to come all week long, followed by the Tour de France start on Saturday.

Just an aside, but did you see that look of wonder on Hoff's face when she looked up at the scoreboard and saw what she'd accomplished? It's moments like that, those sweet uncontrived moments of bliss, that makes the Olympic season so human. It inspires me like nobody's business, and is such a wondrous departure from the politics and business that so often comprises everyday sports.  

So here's the cool thing. Normally an endurance sports junkie gets a little juju from the Tour and then has to quit the up-at-dawn-for-mega-hours-of-cycling cold turkey once Le Tour ends. Not this year. This year we take a week off to catch our breath and then head right into the Olympics. Man, I'm telling you, the next two months are going to be bliss. And for me, it doesn't end there, because we go straight into cross-country season, which goes all the way through Thanksgiving, and the Christmas season kind of takes care of the end of the year. It's all good.

Back to Landis. Some accused me of throwing him under the bus when I wrote quite bluntly a while back that I thought he was guilty (particuiarly the reporters at VeloNews, whom I thought should have shown a little more journalistic impartiality). I can see what people meant by that, if only because Floyd and I had become friendly. But at the end of the day, I had to write it as I saw it, as much as it pained me. I don't think the arbitration finding against him validates my conclusion in any way. Rather, I think it finally puts paid to two years of strife and hardship for Landis. Time to move on. I would hope that he gets hired by a solid team, trains his way back into shape, and starts earning a living once again. My comments weren't personal, as I told Floyd, just an opinion. 

Back to the Track and Field trials. Now that I've waited until Tuesday to post, I can write of Bernard Lagat's explosive victory in the men's 5,000. His 13:27 was a solid effort, showing that he's still planning to peak for Beijing. Of a little sadness was Adam Goucher's dropping back in a race where needed an "A" effort. I was hoping that he could join his wife, Kara, who qualified with a second place finish in the 10,000. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that he can qualify in the men's 10, as well.

Onward. USA Today reports that Tyson Gay's name was changed by some sort of internet search replace service to allude that he was, in fact, gay. "Homosexual Runs Wind-Aided 9.86 seconds to make Olympics," read the headline on one conservative Christian website. This, apparently, is the same search/replace function that has changed any references to "black" to "African-American," so that a baseball pitcher hitting the black corner of the plate was recently said to have hit the "African-American" portion. 

You gotta love that. OK. Let the games begin. We've got a summer of endurance sports fun coming down the pipeline. I can feel the inspiration coming at me already.

Keep pushing... always.