By Paul Casey Gotham
It is that time again. Let’s hear from you, readers. We had another week of stellar performances. Pick the ONE (1), UNE, UNO from April 18-24th that stands out to you, and tell us a story.
Geoffrey Mutai grabbed my POTW by winning the 115th running of the Boston Marathon in 2:03:02.
Accuse me of not paying enough attention to distance running. Maybe I am a little slow on the uptake, but 26 miles in a little more than two hours? Running?
Using a little rudimentary math – one hour is sixty minutes. Right? Two hours is 120 minutes. Yeah? Add three minutes and the total is 123 (don’t forget about the two seconds). Twenty-six goes into 123…less than five times.
5?
Mutai ran 26 miles at a pace somewhere between 4-5 minutes for each mile.
Controversy about the slope of the course might keep Mutai from qualifying for the world record. But he gets my POTW.
Who gets your POTW?
One week ago, the Chicago Blackhawks were down 3-0 to the #1 seed Canucks and essentially dead in the water. (I know, I wrote ’em off too). But this past week, they displayed the heart and grit of champions to come back and tie the series at 3 all after last night’s stirring OT win. Game 7 in Vancouver Tues night. It appears they have gotten into Roberto Luongo’s head. Go Hawks! Finish the job … you can do it!
Casey … great call on Mutai … what a GREAT performance. I’m pretty sure I can’t run even a 1/2 mile in two and a half minutes … okay … maybe after training for a month, but still …. 🙂
That’s 46,145 yards in 7202 seconds, so that’s like a 15.6 second 100-yard dash, 461.45 times in a row.
Chas – can you convert that to MPH?
Are you joking?
He ran 26.2 miles in just over two hours, so (drum roll, please) …roughly 13 miles an hour. OK, actually it’s 12.777 miles per hour. You’re an English teacher, right? 😉
OMG … I can’t believe Casey asked that question. That’s got to be our nomination for the “Pickin Splinters Anti-Insight of the Month” … maybe the year … maybe since inception.
Gotta love these liberal arts guys …. 🙂
Be nice, Wally.
Now it’s time for a baseball POTW. Don’t laugh, but I’ve got to give the ball to Daisuke Matsuzaka: 15 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 12 K over two outings. Actually, the entire Red Sox rotation had a great week. Maybe they are the best team in baseball. Maybe they are better than the ’27 Yankees and a lock to win the World Series.
OK, is that enough jinxing. 🙂
Speaking of jinx, junks, Jenks…Bobby Jenks has been one of the few dim spots for the Red Sox of late. That’s the one area of their offseason moves that I thought was over-rated…the bullpen additions. Dan Wheeler? Give me a break.
Sounds like he’s starting to turn back into “Booby Jinx”. I warned ya …
That was a GREAT week for Dice K … or any other starter, Chas. Did Francona leave him in long enough … or did he go to the pen a bit early?
Btw, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers didn’t have a “great” week, but he’s still hitting .402 with a real nice OPS.
That’s 12.777 mph, which is a pretty good clip. Well, for a Kenyan, it’s more like a trip to the mailbox. For the average American, that’s Back to the Future DeLorean speed.
My POTW goes to the NY Mets, for ending a horrid losing skid, and winning 4 games in a row. They may not see this type of streak again this year, which makes it even more special. After the Rangers tanked in the SC playoffs (expected), it was a good uplifting moment for me, anyway.
This is not related to POTW (sorry), but I had to toss this out there: Jim Tressel of Ohio State is coming under severe scrutiny for his “cover-up”. I’m licking my chops … the could get very interesting.
Question for Bill … Can you REALLY get POTW if you actually dropped two games to the Houston DisAstros? Just sayin’ …. 🙂
Chas, Chas… Now I have to nominate Russell Martin for his performance this week ( 8 for 16, 3 home runs and 7 RBIs). Clearly he is the greatest catcher in Yankee history and is part of the greatest Yankee lineup since the 1927 Yankees.
Okay reverse jinx over. 🙂
In all seriousness, I am nominating Brandt Snedeker who shot a 64 (-7) on Sunday to come from behind and beat potential #1 Luke Donald in a 3 hole playoff at the Heritage Open.
So if Derrick Rose’s gimpy ankle can’t hold up and he can’t go – are we going to find out just how valuable he is to the Bulls? How will the Bulls match up against the Pacers without him?
Wally, considering they started out like janitors on the Titanic, I’ll say 4 in a row is a POTW. It may be biased (well of course it is), but given how they’ve been playing, 4 wins was like a Kenyan winning a marathon.
And yes, I saw the games against Houston. That alone caused Labatt stock to go up a few points.
Smitty … DRose will play. Personally, I don’t want to find out how the Bulls might do in a playoff game without him. It wouldn’t be pretty.
Two weeks ago when Bill stimulated us into NHL playoff picks, I picked the Blackhawks to beat Vancouver. Even when down 3-0 I did not waver. It will be interesting tonight, but I stick with my original pick. Interestingly, I only felt they had one good series in them so I believe they will drop in the next round if they do advance.
Hope you’re right, Pete! On the first point that is … that the BHawks win tonight. But I hope you’re wrong on the second point. Anyway, let’s take it one game at a time.
Hope I end up being wrong … I predicted the Hawks would lose in 6 games if memory serves correct. Well … I guess I’m already wrong … they’re playing game 7 tonight. GO HAWKS!
I just noticed that the Blackhawks game is on Versus tonight; one of the few cable stations I get. Now if only I can stay awake that late!
What the heck is Smitty’s new profile pic?
Great question, Chas … very hard to tell … is it a photo of his parents?? Wait … there’s someone with long hair in there on the right … is that Tim Lincecum of the Giants??
Pete … I went to bed heartbroken last night after the Blackhawks lost in OT. They certainly had their chances to win the game, but to be honest, Vancouver really outplayed them last night. The only reason that game wasn’t a 4-1 or 5-1 win in regulation for the Canucks is because Hawks goalie Corey Crawford had an AMAZING game.
Oh well … they showed great heart and grit to get it to game 7 OT … sometimes the puck doesn’t bounce your way.
Wonder how much this extreme first round stress will cost the Canucks down the road in the next rounds?