Category Archives: Sport

UPDATED: Armstrong’s ‘Very Strong’ Post-Office Culture

Drug War, Ethics, Law, libertarianism, Sport

A friend of Lance Armstrong assured fans of the disgraced cyclist, who has been accused of doping, that Armstrong “is doing O.K. for a guy that has had his livelihood and his life torn from him, but he’s very strong.”

Armstrong may be strong but he’s also very weird.

Disgustingly weird.

Armstrong is the Michael Jackson of sport. The late Michael Jackson had hired a doctor to feed narcotics directly into his bloodstream. Taking his “milk” is how the disturbed, body dysmorphic, drug-addicted Mr. Jackson referred to this necrophilic practice.

Armstrong is alleged to have resorted to “saline and plasma transfusions,” as well as blood transfusions, where “an athlete re-injects stored backup units of blood for a red blood cell boost.”

Via The NYT:

Lance Armstrong and two of his teammates on the United States Postal Service cycling squad flew on a private jet to Valencia, Spain, in June 2000, to have blood extracted. In a hotel room there, two doctors and the team’s manager stood by to see their plan unfold, watching the blood of their best riders drip into plastic bags.
The next month, during the Tour de France, the cyclists lay on beds with those blood bags affixed to the wall. They shivered as the cool blood re-entered their bodies. The reinfused blood would boost the riders’ oxygen-carrying capacity and improve stamina during the second of Armstrong’s seven Tour wins

The guy from the loopy webzine Slate concludes that “Lance Armstrong Is Like Lehman Bros,” and that there are “striking similarities between the culture of cycling and the culture of Wall Street.”

Come again?

Armstrong was riding for the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team.

He and his teammates had a strong Uncle-Sam culture.

Of course, there should be no United States Anti-Doping Agency. There should be no ban on doped-up games and competitions. These events should be held openly and be funded privately. Some spectators will want to watch souped-up sportsmen compete; others will prefer unenhanced athletes. Organizers can cater variously to these preferences. Athletes will have a choice: compete for the title of Tour de Frances au naturel, or on drugs.

UPDATE: Oh yes “blood doping” is weird and wacky. As I understand it, “blood doping” is not merely about removing a vial of blood. It’s about draining a whole lot of it, re-engineering it and then transfusing it back into the body. It’s easily more repulsive than mainlining. As I said, Armstrong is an athletic Michael Jackson. Imagine the track marks Armstrong sported on his arms.

UPDATE II: How Hard Is It To Stay HOT? (The Market Will Help, Not The Military)

Addiction, Aesthetics, Democrats, Feminism, Free Markets, Military, Sport

How hard is it for a “mature” lady to look beautiful?

Ask Ann Romney.

Granted, Mrs. Romney is a natural beauty. Still, she is not a healthy woman. At her age, she would have to work hard at looking like this:

We ladies know that as we age, it’s harder to look fine and stay fit. It takes an effort. We all face the same aging process, although some, like Ann Romney, have genetics on their side.

Given America’s veneration of the victim, I expect that what I am about to say next will draw ire.

Understand: No one here disputes that Holly Petraeus has a hideous husband. It should be stressed too that Mrs. Petraeus is not to be faulted for her husband’s whoring.

Nevertheless, Holly herself, who can’t be much older than Ann Romney, looks like Mrs. Romney’s grandmother.

Why is it that so many American women—so often Democratic—conflate the greying, fat and unfit look with a statement of individual authenticity? It’s as though the less feminine and more unkempt a woman appears, the more she is said to be comfortable in her own skin.

Why does Mrs. Petraeus wear those Mao suits? Why not dye the salt-and-pepper hair and get it styled? What about a lick of lipstick?

And yes, the idea that a woman should make an effort to look nice contradicts all feminist strictures, but then I’ve never professed feminism.

UPDATE I (Nov. 17): This Facebook thread is fun. Some good and funny points. My point: you are not responsible for your genes. But you can honor yourself above all by taking care of yourself. Mrs. Mao is not old. She was pretty as a younger woman. It’s my non-feminist opinion that to let your body go, above all, is to dishonor yourself. However, you honor yourself and you show respect to those around you by dressing and making up nicely. That’s all. (I’d be grey without hair color too. ..)

I have a neighbor who was an elite-unit army man. I have never seen this man (in his 60s) walk his dog looking less than spiffy. The carriage, the fitness level, the care he takes with himself—these all show a respect for self and others. When I walk around the shops, some of the girls are dressed like whores (white, dimpled flesh oozing out of short pant, crotch and cleavage for all to see). This to me shows disrespect for what nature (or G-d) gave you and for humanity. For such a vision assaults the eye and offends the sensibilities.

Mrs. Mao doesn’t work; she fiddles with charity on base. She is part of “Rome’s marching camp.” She has time to get fitter, color her hair, and dress less like a commie official.

UPDATE II (Nov. 18): The market, not the military, will help you look hot into middle-age, and beyond. Reply on Facebook thread:

Looking good is tiring? Rubbish: Stay out of the sun (Tampa tarts will look like crocodiles in a couple of years). Use a good skin cream. Get your hair cut and colored. Buy a couple of nice items online. You can find great items (made in the USA), dirt cheap. Get glorious service to your door step, b/c of the MARKET, MRS. Mao, NOT THE MILITARY.

UPDATED: Bump-N’-Grind Britannia

Aesthetics, Art, Britain, Music, Pop-Culture, Sport

Those of us who’re familiar with Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” in the original, were galled, if not surprised, by the distortions a warbler called Ed Sheeran introduced to the number, during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. (The Idiocracy was charmed, naturally.)

How do you suck the essence out of a piece of music?

Easily, if to judge by the vulgar performances that followed, most of them punctuated by the primal screams of one Jessie J, who also destroyed “We Will Rock You” (admittedly one of Queen’s worst numbers), and drowned out Brian May. Thankfully, Jessie J did not tamper with “We Are the Champions.”

A complex chord progression is the hallmark of many a Queen’s song. Today’s T & A lineup (Brit and Yankee alike) can belt out loud guttural screams. But you need a finely tuned instrument and musicality to sing well.

(An example of such an instrument is Carly Simon’s voice in this live performance of “That’s The Way I Always Heard It Should Be – 1972.” Hers is an evocative and nuanced voice. As to lyrics; you have to be a literate and complex individual to write as evocatively.)

Jessie J, aka The Crotch, does a poor man’s version of the Beyonce God-awful bump and grind.

There was a choir of kids (they get to them young) who mimed and gesticulated to the hackneyed sounds of “Imagine.” Their affectatious performance was reminiscent of the performance “art” of the 1960s and 1970s. So passe.

There was nothing “Winston Churchill” about the bloke that recited Shakespeare. It shows you how far removed Brits are from their own history. For a better Churchill I recommend the … historians of … Iron Maiden.

Yes, where were Iron Maiden, or real virtuosos like Ian Anderson (also a bit of a history buff, in as much as he knew a thing or two about … Jethro Tull).

The above Brit superstars were overwhelmingly … male. A man who can wield an axe would intimidate a chorus-line of prancing nuns and “men” stomping about with garbage cans.

The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics would have been far improved had the hip organizers left Freddie Mercury up on the screen and played “Queen.” Come to think of it, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” replayed over and over again would have been preferable to the camp celebration of kitsch that unfolded.

UPDATE (Aug. 14): In reply to a Facebook reader: You said what I did not. The Chinese did do a better job of the Olympic ceremonies. Theirs were artful, if rigid, displays of skill, and, while the Chinese ceremonies had a cultural flavor—they were without political overtones.

Sally Pearson’s Gold

Aesthetics, Human Accomplishment, Media, Sport

One of the memorable races of the 2012 Olympics was run by Sally Pearson of Australia. Yet I challenge you to find a live YouTube clip of the Pearson race. Sally Pearson won Olympic gold for the 100m hurdles race.

Pearson was “No. 1 in an Olympic-record 12.35 seconds, narrowly in front of three Americans: 2008 gold medalist Harper; Kellie Wells, who had beaten the Australian in the last race coming into London; and Lolo Jones, who missed out on an Olympic medal again.

Jones had been getting the full attention of the American media despite not having won a medal. Her beauty would explain that attention (she is certainly better looking than Jessica Ennis, who is a greater champion than she is a beauty).

More tomorrow—do I have to?—about the closing ceremony. It was pretty repulsive.