Some Thoughts

Yes, I realize it’s been more than a week since I posted. I have no excuse other than I kept forgetting to post while at work (which is the best time for me to post since I’m here all the freakinig time and my laptop sucks and takes forever). I hope to get better, though, I really do.

On a sports note, Annie and I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. We actually met some of her friends at a local bar, where I ate Buffalo wings, drank cheap beer and watched the first half while she and her friends gossiped. The bar even had a complimentary buffet, but I didn’t know that until we were leaving! Unbelievable. However, we watched the end of the game at home and I have just a few quick observations.

1. This was probably the worst game the Patriots played all season. They’ve played games where their first half has been bad but they always rallied and finished strong. This did not happen on Sunday.

2. While the Giants played better overall and in fact seemed to want it more (according to Annie), they were not the cause of the Pats’ defeat. They beat themselves for the most part.

3. I don’t care that they made it to the Super Bowl, the Giants were not that good of a team the entire yea. And no, I don’t care that they won 6 in a row. The Patriots won 18 in a row. The Giants’ season was within a half of being over against my Redskins. The only reason they won was because the Skins find new ways to lose from time to time and like to try them out.

4. Eli Manning is now going to be officially the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. Not even Brady Quinn's hype from this season will approach Eli’s levels come this summer. He’s better than he has been in the past, but I remain skeptical.

5. Suddenly Tom Coughlin’s a genius? Four months ago every player on that team was either openly or secretly calling for his firing mid-season and now it’s a lovefest? I don’t think Coughlin’s a bad coach, necessarily, but we’ll see reality set in if the Giants start out 0-2 or worse.

6. I don’t blame Belichek (I know it’s misspelled but whatever) for walking off the field when they insisted on resetting the clock. The game was obviously over so he went out to shake Coughlin’s hand like the decent sport he is. Then they try to get everyone back to the sidelines so they can tick one lousy second off the clock when the Giants have the ball anyway? Idiocy always seems to find its way into each Super Bowl (Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, Paul McCartney half-time show, the Steelers winning) and this year was no different. I would have walked off the field too. You’ve already lost a game you should have won and now we have to do a re-do for the final play of the game? Screw that.

That’s about it. Overall, an underwhelming Super Bowl. Not only did a team that had no business being there win, but sports history was not made. Some joker columnist on Yahoo! tried to insist that the Giants’ win WAS history, but that’s a lie designed to bring more significance to this game than it deserves. I’m no Patriots fan, of course, but would prefer to witness sports history than watch a underdog get lucky when the favorite plays like crap. As Forrest Gump said, “And that’s all I have to say about that.”

On the running front, I’ve made some real progress! I hit 8 miles last Sunday and 9 miles this past Sunday. The 8 miler got really tough towards the end, but I think that was because I ran too fast at the beginning and was only drinking water, and didn’t refuel. This week I took two bottle with me, one Gatorade and one water. I left the water bottle under a bench in front of my office and fueled with the Gatorade. I also took a Gel Shot along with me. I got to about 6.5 miles and then used the Gel Shot, which almost made me barf, but I got it down. It was a vast improvement! I wasn’t as tired coming into the 9th mile and actually had some negative splits, which is encouraging.

After my run, I also ate plenty and started rehydrating myself. The combination of the leftover carbs in my system from the Gel Shot and the fact that I drank 5 glasses of water when I was eating my Buffalo wings (they were hot!), made a dramatic improvement in my recovery time. My body felt fine yesterday morning. However, I had a mild blister on the inside of my left foot, which necessitated taking both Monday and today off. Tomorrow should be fine though, as it doesn’t hurt and I’m only taking another day to allow some more healing.

Overall though, I’m feeling good about the National Half and am confident that I’ll be ready for it.