I am saddened to hear about Mark McGwire admitting to using steroids though it is altogether not that surprising. Part of me held out hope that maybe just maybe he broke the home run record legitimately but now this is the nail in the coffin. The reason it hurts so much is because I remember the chase for the record and though I am not a Cardinals fan I made sure that I was near a television every time he was up to bat. When it finally it happened, when the ball finally sailed over that fence the room just exploded as my friends and I celebrated history which is funny because in retrospective I was the only real baseball fan in the room at the time (but my friends would humor me and watch what I watched, same thing happened when we made sure to watch the world cup in South Korea cheering on our boys over there, kicking the ball around at four in the morning.) When the record was broken we spilled out onto the street with signs in hand we had made announcing this great sporting triumph to anonymous cars as they drove by. That was then and now in the reality of adulthood steroid users are a dime a dozen and baseball reels from the damning evidence that continues to be revealed by the investigations into the integrity of America's pastime, little by little my childhood gets eaten away by the coldness fact.
Talked to a crazy guy about employment law today as we took the break from my four hour class. I was just sitting eating some bento (which was tofu, mushrooms, and rice which I do not recommend as tofu doesn't add a bit of flavor, just stands in there and is. Bring on the beef to this flavor party or at least some chicken) and this guy sits next to me (mind you that the cafeteria is maybe 5% full) and starts a conversation with me about being laid off. Now he look a bit disheveled and lost so I thought maybe he had just lost his job and perhaps I could comfort him but I in no way knew what was on his mind as he went off into space talking about where we draw the line between freedom of speech and the work place and his buddy who got fired in 1983. Moral of the story, always stare down at your rice.
Added to my bucket list is the desire to run a marathon. This dates back to my mission when I was serving in Edmond and often we would pass Edmond North and their track. After seeing a few meets on a warm hot days the running bug bit me and not long after my companion (Elder Green) and I were doing our daily runs during exercise time (a big departure from my infamous ankle rolls) in my new asics that my dad had bought for me. This lasted for maybe two weeks before the complacency shark bit and thoughts of enduring a 26.2 mile run were shelved for the comfort of being under a blanket for a half hour and some ankle rolls. The reason this all comes back to me is because my friend Joel Warnock is planning to run the Portland Marathon this year and I have to say i'm very interested but also quite apprehensive. A marathon is not only pushing yourself to the limit but also far past it and requires a singular dedication to train and finally go through with it. So thinking about it but if there is any time to do it it would be now while i'm young.
(you know the one... where a million dollars fall into your laps and suddenly you're free from all the drudgery that spurs the desire for that particular dream) and we the topic fell on the Timbers and where I would be sitting and there is no question, given the choice to be there all season I would be in the north end with the Timbers Army. So when news came that the city council has approved that sees PGE Park being renovated to a soccer specific stadium and home to the newest team to join the MLS I am happy to see that it is my team will become a permanent fixture upon the sporting skyline here in Stumptown. And who knows maybe one day I will run into Hank Scorpio and i'll wake up one morning to find that I have a team left out in my front yard and I would take anything... well anything but the Shittle Flounders....
