There are a lot of things to dislike about professional sports in the 21st century…

• A-Rod earning $32 million dollars per year to play baseball for a team with a yearly payroll of a quarter-billion dollars (and that’s frustration coming from a Yankee fan)
• Players worrying as much about their “brand” as their performance (see Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James and any player with their own personal logo)
• The constant trading of players, leaving fans with a challenge to find a team identity (see Knicks mid-season trade of 6 players including 3 starters to the Denver Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups.  After cheering for the upstart Knicks before that move, I actually found myself feeling torn between watching the new Knick team and my old team now on the Nuggets)
• The cheating through performance enhancing drugs (Tainting the past and planting doubt on the present.  Which sport is next?  Basketball?  Hockey?  Soccer?)
• And then there was the Miami Heat and Lebron James debacle of 2011.  I wasn’t even much of a basketball fan the past 10 years.  My last close connection was during the John Starks/Patrick Ewing era of the Knicks…and that ended pretty bad with the Reggie Miller game and Ewing’s missed layup.  (See Reggie Time, great 30 for 30 documentary for painful details).  Anyway, Lebron’s “Decision” to leave his city high and dry on national television, coupled with the infamous welcoming party represented everything wrong with sports.  And it created the perfect target for the frustration casual fans feel all around the country.  It also created a much larger fan base for basketball and turned me into an unlikely follower of all things related to the Miami Heat.

Don’t let anyone tell you that the U.S. doesn’t care about soccer. Was that goal the “miracle on ice” moment for U.S. soccer that we just witnessed?   Yes, I think it was.  Unbelievable.

Check out the many reactions in the video below. Best of all, the facial contortions of the blond guy, lower right…

I'm 6 feet tall. Eli is 25 inches. Jeff Foote is big.

They couldn’t pull off the miracle upset, but they did more than anyone could have expected.  Thanks for the awesome ride.  Today they were greeted by faculty and locals on campus since the students are away on spring break.   A few videos from today’s welcome back…

The escort onto campus and Cornell Marching Band:

The singing of the alma mater to the team:

Whether they can play David and take down the Kentucky Goliath on Thursday or not, they’ve already given us an awesome gift.  It has been an unforgettable few days seeing Cornell basketball mentioned in nearly every major newspaper and television program in the country.  The Cornell and Ithaca community is buzzing like I’ve never experienced…and I can’t imagine we’ll experience again.  So we’re enjoying every day of this ride.  Enjoying our team.  Enjoying it more than any fan at Michigan, Kentucky, Duke or Kansas could ever understand. Read a great column from Bill Reynolds, an ex-Ivy Basketball player here.  I think he captures this feeling pretty well.  Go Big Red!

At 5pm today, I saw something that I will likely never see again in my lifetime.  And just before midnight I saw another.  The first was the Cornell Men’s Basketball team destroying the 4th seed Wisconsin Badgers to move on to the sweet 16.  After nearly beating Kansas (the#1 team in the country) earlier this year and then being ranked as a top 25 team in the country we knew this was a strong team.  But really?  We’re going to the sweet 16?  I honestly couldn’t fathom Cornell making the tournament for the past 20 years.  And now we’re the Cinderella team being covered by ESPN, Sports Illustrated and nearly every major news organization.  When I decided to attend Cornell as an undergrad, it was with some disappointment that I wouldn’t have a sports team to follow.  Well, today I wore my Big Red t-shirt with pride.  Go Big Red!

The second historic moment was a vote to pass major healthcare legislation.  Whatever your political persuasion,  we have gone 50 years without a much needed change to our healthcare system.  And if nothing else, this day marks a step towards increased coverage and care for those with pre-existing conditions.  This isn’t the ideal solution, but it’s a step in a political environment where steps seem nearly impossible.  And despite all the anger from the past year, it will be interesting to see how this day is portrayed and discussed in my son’s high school history book.   My guess is it will be a very positive portrayal and a defining moment in the Obama presidency.    And I’ll look forward to trying to explain the confusing paragraph in his book about the “Tea Party.”

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A friend sent me this link to pictures of the Tough Guy Challenge in Wolverhampton, England.  I had never heard of the race, but as a runner and junkie for unique experiences, I’m intrigued.  I am planning to run the midnight sun marathon in Alaska next year, but I’m inspired by the spirit of the Tough Guy Challenge.  All participants are required to sign a waiver that states, “It’s my own bloody fault for being here.”   If you have a few minutes, take a look at the pictures from the race.  The photographer Mike King has some incredible shots.   He also photographed the Antarctic Ice Marathon.  I’ll pass on that one, though.

Having lived in Ithaca for over 15 years & following Cornell basketball since I was 10, this news is almost impossible to believe.   The last time I attended a Cornell basketball game was in 1990 when Cornell hosted North Carolina in Ithaca.  They lost 108-64.  And I think North Carolina pulled their starters at halftime.   Cornell hasn’t had a competitive basketball program in decades.  They haven’t been able to compete in the Ivy League, let alone the national stage.

But over the last 3 years they’ve built a team around Louis Dale, Jeff Foote, and Ryan Wittman (picture above).  After making it to the NCAA tournament the last 2 years, they are now putting together a miracle season.  Miracle as far as an Ivy League team with no scholarships goes.  This year they held a lead against the Kansas Jayhawks, the #1 team in the country, until the last minute of play.  And after beating Harvard by 36 points this weekend, today they were voted one of the top 25 teams in the country by the ESPN/USA today coaches poll.

Cornell basketball has been a joke and afterthought for so many years that I can barely comprehend this.  I had to document this moment on the blog because I want to remember 20 years from now that this really happened.   I can’t imagine I’ll see it again in my lifetime.  So when my son is 10, and we’re attending a game at Newman Arena, I’ll probably need this blog in order to prove it.  To prove that in the year 2010, our Cornell basketball team was one of the best in the country.  Go Big Red!

The Art of Mangold Hurling

This is not a Dr. Seuss book, but a match made in the world of international root tossing.  I’ve written twice now about my passion for the International Rutabaga Curling Championship at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market.   Well, this week, the commissioner of the Rutabaga Curl was contacted by the Acting Chairman of the Ancient Order of Sherston Mangold Hurlers.  Nope, I’m not making this up.  Apparently we’re not alone in our love for the sport of root vegetable throwing.   However, unlike the 14 year history of Rutabaga Curling, Mangold Hurling dates way back to the 18th century.  Sadly, despite this rich history, Sherston represents the only remaining  functioning Order in the UK with an annual hurl.

Well not only did the Sherston Mangold Hurlers reach out, but they invited a delegation of Ithaca Rutabaga Curlers to visit Sherston for their competition in October, in exchange for a return delegation for our December event.  And it sounds like the wheels are already in motion for the trip.  How great is that?  Thanks for the outreach Sherston.  It’s nice to know that we have a brotherhood across the pond.  We look forward to hosting you later this year.

A video of the 2009 Sherston Hurl:

The Real Mandela & Pienaar

Rachel and I went to our first movie at a theater since parenthood.  We were planning on seeing An Education, but the theater was closed.  So in a late change, we went with a recommendation from my mother and saw Invictus at another Cinema.  And while our initial Netflix rating would have been a three star out of five, the movie has been nagging at me ever since.  It’s a similar feeling I had after watching two of Eastwood’s other films (Mystic River and Gran Torino).  They were dramatic, they were well shot, they had emotional music, and they had a feel of grandeur.  But something was missing.   When I told my mom this, she said I was too critical.  I actually conceded that she was probably right.  I mean, like I said, this was our first visit to a theater since the baby.  I’m a little edgy, with the lack of sleep.  And the person in the seat behind me was chewing the ice in her fountain soda.  So maybe the film really was great, and I was just in a bad place while watching it.  But then my favorite sports columnist weighed in on the exact subject and I’m pretty sure he nailed my frustration with the film.

Read Bill Simmons’ review of Invictus HERE (as well as his selection for top sports movies of the decade)

And all this time, I thought I was killing the life expectancy of my joints.  This article from NY Times Magazine sites a 10 year study of marathon runners and the impact on their joints over that time.  According to this study, running can actually help maintain the health of your knee.  Pretty interesting…I guess it’s time to sign up for another marathon.  Read here.