Run to Win

Earlier this week I wrote about Lance Armstrong being accused of cheating by using the banned substance EPO during his 1999 Tour de France win. Le Ann Welty commented on EPO by describing what it was:

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The field for the 2nd annual Nike Women’s Marathon has been filled.

[Yesterday,] Nike announced the 2nd annual Nike Women’s Marathon is sold out! 15,000 women across the globe have registered for this highly anticipated event which will take place on October 23, 2005 in San Francisco. This year marks the second year for the event — which is quickly becoming the premier women’s running event on the calendar.

Last year’s field of 9,000 runners sold out 2 weeks before the race. This year, the field of 15,000 runners was filled 9 weeks before the race. That is not too shabby for only its second year. The race was started as a tribute to Joan Benoit Samuelson’s 1984 Olympic marathon on its twentieth anniversary.

It amazes me that a race can grow that fast; that seems to happen with anything that Joan touches though. Her Beach to Beacon race has quickly become internationally known and is the largest race in Maine despite still being in its infancy.

The African Basketball Championship title was won by Angola when they defeated Senegal 70-61. Nigeria beat Algeria for third place immiediately preceding the championship game, meaning that they will get to play in the world championships in Japan next year.

Unfortunately, Nigeria and Algeria spent the forty minutes trying to keep the police from interupting their brawling and delaying the championship game as they fought in the stands at the end of their game. Algeria’s captain, Ali Bouziane, broke his rib and was carted off to the hospital. Four of Nigeria’s players are going to be charged with assault once they leave the safety of their embassy.

I am not really sure what touched off the fight, but outside of boxing, hockey and other sports where fighting is written into the rules, it does not really belong. I know from a running standpoint (in college, at least), there was almost always somebody who was bloody somewhere at the end of a race. A spike in the shin here, a shove off the trail there, things like that. I still have a fairly ugly scar on my arm from something of that sort. It just does not really belong. My 8 cents.

Russian terrier Ringo Tsar is learning how to box from his owner, Russ Williams.

“I decided to teach him to jump up on command and kick with his two front legs. I have been training him for weeks now and he will jump and kick on command to either punch bags or someone holding a kick pad. He hasn’t got great power at the moment but is improving day by day.”

I find this humorous for some reason. A boxing dog. Pretty soon there’ll be a dozen of them, fighting at venues all across Europe and the Americas, bringing in tons of money for their promoters…okay, I am getting ahead of myself. I still find the concept funny.

Bob Huggins has decided to quit his job rather than be fired, today. His lawyer was given a letter yesterday demanding that he resign or be fired. If he is fired, he would get the rest of his contract that he is due, and if he resigns he makes out slightly better.

President Nancy Zimpher wants the program to recruit players with better grades and an aversion to trouble. She also wants her coaches to be better role models…During Huggins’ 16-year stay at Cincinnati, the Bearcats made the Final Four and were ranked No. 1 nationally for the first time in 34 years. They also developed a history of player arrests and violations that resulted in an NCAA probation in 1998 and a hoodlum image nationally. In the 1990s, the Bearcats had one of the lowest graduation rates in the nation.

I think that if the school is looking to improve their image, this is an appropriate time to do it as they head into a new conference. However, if they expect that any other coach is going to get that team as fired up as Huggins could, they are deluding themselves. They are going to be diminished for the next 4 or 5 years while they find his permanent replacement and then recruit an entirely new class. A few of the guys that are currently on the team will probably do pretty well, but I expect that the majority are going to fade into the background along with the team.

Lance Armstrong has been accused, yet again, of having used performance enhancing drugs.

“Yet again, a European newspaper has reported that I have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Tomorrow?s L?Equipe, a French sports daily, is reporting that my 1999 samples were positive. Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow?s article is nothing short of tabloid journalism…I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs.”

I can not say that I am very surprised that these claims are being made, having touched on the subject when Armstrong retired. Bernard Moon was a bit more pessimistic than myself about the possibility of Armstrong actually being a cheater, but I still maintain that I believe that he is clean. After passing 178 drug tests despite the best efforts of various folks to prove he cheated, I think the guy is entitled to at least the benifit of the doubt.

Andre Davis has been traded to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft choice. Davis has been on the trading block for the past few months, after Cleveland drafted Braylon Edwards. He was drafted 47th 4 years ago and has a lot of potential that has not really been seen since his days at Virginia Tech. I think that he will be a nice fit with New England, who already has a great receiving core.

Eric Rudolph, who was finally captured in 2003, is due to be sentenced for the Olympic Games Bombing and the bombings of 2 abortion clinics and a gay nightclub. He will not be getting the chair.

Rudolph accepted a plea bargain from prosecutors who agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for the bomber leading police to a cache of dynamite he had stowed in North Carolina’s woodlands.

I can not particularly see why he would equate bombing an international competition as a protest against what he views as a corrupt government, but I am sure that a lot of people will feel safer now that he is no longer at large.