Weather
First off the weather... a couple days ago you might of read my post about how weather.com is slowly teasing me into a frenzy with their empty promises of future days above freezing... Well, just in case you thought I was exaggerating.
(click on the picture if it's too small to see... or I can save you the trouble and explain its contents for you)
Here's the run down... Friday afternoon I went to weather.com to check the weather 10 days out and it tells me that in 10 days (Feb 21st) the weather is finally going to get above freezing (32 degrees, technically still freezing but I'll take what I can get...).
Then Monday morning I check again... Now that Feb 21st is only 7 days away it's not predicted to be 32 anymore, instead they're saying its going to be 29 degrees... However, 10 days out (Feb 24th) is now conveniently predicted to be 34 degrees (the warmest day of the 10, and the only day above freezing, may I point out...)
Basically this tells me one of two things... either weather.com has no better handle of what the weather is going to be in 10 days except that they know that its inevitably going to warm up eventually OR weather.com is run by a bunch of DICKS!!!
Football Fields
Moving on…
Being an engineer and a runner I feel like I have a pretty decent grasp on measurement systems especially distances… now I admit, I’m still an American, and I like most Americans grew up using the “standard” system (which is probably could be more accurately referred to as the “American customary system”, since metric is the scientific standard and is used pretty much everywhere else in the world) but I feel that I at least have a basic understanding what a kilometer is.
Well, watching the winter Olympics this weekend I discovered that America sports journalist use neither the metric or standard system of measurements. They use a third system called “football fields”…
For example explaining how they shortened the luge course by “two football fields”… or during the Nordic Combined event the lead skier was ahead by “a football field”…I’m assuming using the “football fields” unit of measure gives the general American viewing public a better point of reference of what the distances really mean.
So from now on when you’re talking to your non-running friends don’t tell them you ran a 5k last weekend, tell them you ran 54.68 football fields (actually 54 football fields before being stopped short at the 32 yard line in the midst of your 55th football field). And a marathon… 461.5 football fields!!! Yep, that should make your accomplishment so much clearer to the “average Joe” who probably asked about your weekend just to be nice, and not because they really gave two shits…
Fickle Sports
Finally in the world of Fickle sports… the winter Olympics. [disclaimer: no offense meant to any winter Olympians who happen to be following this blog]
So how do you win a medal in the winter Olympics anyway…
1. You need to grow up somewhere where there’s snow and mountains…
2. You need to be from a wealthy enough upbringing that you can afford the expensive specialized equipment required to succeed in a winter Olympic sport
3. you have to work really hard at becoming one of the top competitors in whatever sport you choose
4. …you flip a coin and pray
Seems like there’s a lot of random occurrence that determines who ultimately medals in the winter Olympics for example:
-Biathlon: Pray that you have good weather during your heat, but it snows during the other guy’s heat subsequently slowing down his skiing while making his shooting more difficult.
-Ski jump: Pray for just the right gust of wind as you plummet down the slope.
-Short-track ski skating: Stay close in contention and hope that the guys in front of you crash just before the finish line…
Not to mention that most of the events are based on judges scores which in turn are based on a bunch of purely subjective criteria…
Honestly though… who’s to say that I don’t contain the innate natural abilities to be the best luger in the world and just never got the chance…
Also, I wonder how some of those East African endurance athletes would do if you slapped a pair of Cross-country skis on their feet?
Anyway, not to take away from any of the winter Olympic athletes. I realize that they’ve worked hard their whole lives, committing themselves to pretty much thankless sports, in order to get where they are now… still…
_______________________________________
So I guess I better wrap it up... if you're still reading by now than congratulations, you've managed to waste almost as much time reading this blog as I did writing this blog. I guess we need a hobby, and as luck would have it I heard the 2014 curling team is in need of a player... See ya on the shuffleboard court!
don't hate on the olympics. i don't like the subjective scoring in most of the events... i think they should give it all a point system. you do x trick, you get x points. you don't fall, you get x points. kind of like how you got points for writing your name on standardized testing.
ReplyDeletelol about the football field measurements. you are so right, unfortunately.
I dont follow any of that, but interesting read. As far as the weather, it just all around sucks. Take care.
ReplyDelete