Shoup Airlines

Those Marathon Blues

It’s been nearly a month now since running the marathon and I still can’t seem to finish a good five mile run without hitting the wall somewhere in the middle. Of course, it doesn’t help when I decide to go for a run in the middle of the Santa Ana’s and the battery dies on my mp3 player half way through. Fun stuff!

I’d ask advice from everyone’s favorite Scientologist, but I fear another innocent couch would get molested in the process.

On the other hand, it was quite interesting running through the neighborhood tonight. Everyone seemed to be cooking or having dinner at about the same time. I distinctly smelled an eclectic spread of hamburgers, pizza, garlic bread, chicken, spaghetti, tamales, refried beans, and something unidentifiable but who’s scent made my mouth water. Now that you’re hungry and stuck in your office with nothing to eat, I laugh in your general direction.

Even the lovely aroma of burned popcorn made an appearance, or should I say wafting? That stench brought me right back to the dorm and living right across the hallway from the kitchen!

Those Wild And Wacky Spectators

Some of the funnier signage throughout the marathon:

“Today, You Are All Kenyans!”

“Short Cut: This Way”

“Need Knee Replacements? Call Dr. Nick Riviera!”

“You Can Dooo Eeet!”

“Why?”

“Run, Forrest, Run!”

“Just Think Of All The Calories You’re Burning”

And the best line, yet most obscure:

“Is It Safe?”

A beer on me, if you know the reference. Dad, you don’t count, you already know it.

A Curse Upon You!

Since the Red Sox have finally broken their 86 year curse, there isn’t much fun in watching them struggle to win the pennant anymore. Yes, the Cubbies do have somewhat of a curse, but no one outside the greater Chicago area really cares about some stupid goat. So I think it is high time another curse was sworn upon a team. You know, I just happen to have the perfect team right here, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim!!

I cannot think of another baseball team that has had a bigger identity crisis. They make Sybil look like a well rounded, girl next door type. Lesse, they started as the Los Angeles Angels. Makes sense, they played in L.A., sharing the Chavez Ravine Stadium with an already established L.A. team, the Dodgers. then became the California Angels upon moving into the Anaheim Stadium. They stuck with this name until the mid 90s when it became popular to whore out naming rights to the highest bidder. Can you spell Disney? A couple of stadium name, uniform, and owner changes and they finally had the rightfully named Anaheim Angels. Everything was once again at peace in the world of MLB.

Then the world shuddered. At the beginning of the 2005 season, the new owner, Arte Moreno thought it would be a good (read: lucrative) idea to rename the team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Problem: the Angels do not play in the city of L.A., they don’t even play in the county of L.A.! Thus, a curse is born.

As witnessed by their piss poor performance in the ALCS, I believe there is now a curse on the Angels until they remove Los Angeles from the name. Granted, the White Sox had amazing performances from their bullpen, but they should not have stopped the first place AL West team so coldly. How else does one explain Vlad going 1 for 16? Or Francisco Rodriguez pitching so wildly last night (oh wait, he never handles pressure well)? I won’t even get into all the strange plays and umpire calls. I ask you, readers, do you need more proof? Just change the name ALREADY!

Now if only I could figure out how to get the Dodgers to actually win, I’d be a happy man!

Side Note: My body has since revolted and is now on strike until negotiations can commence between it and my brain, which I think may be striking too. I’m so screwed!