 Friday, June 29, 2007
Remembering and Running for Doug Stern, R.I.P.
I lost a great coach and friend, Doug Stern, to kidney cancer on Monday morning, June 25, 2007.
After I pulled my right hamstring at Mile 20 of the Berlin Marathon on September 25, 2004, I was referred to Doug by another friend and physical therapist Dr. Dan Hamner.
Like other injured runners, I went to Doug, the father of Deep Water Running, to heal my various injuries on Monday nights at John Jay College. But I found much more, especially priceless lifelong friendships with Nina, John, Bruce, Hank, Sharon, Kathleen, Stu, and many others.
Some of you may know that I almost drowned twice when I was 10 and 18. Therefore, swimming in anything deeper than Jacuzzis and kiddie pools was a challenge that brought back the ultimate fear of being helpless while drowning that I pray none of you ever experience. As Doug said about his fear of heights, "don't let your fear own you. You own your fear."
Since I was "focused" on my goal of Seven (Marathon) Continents, I had to overcome my fear of swimming in deep water. I put my floatation device around my waist and gingerly walked from the shallow to the deeper part of the pool. I thankfully started to kind of float though my head bobbed up and down in the water.
Almost immediately after getting in the deeper water, I heard this sarcastic voice yell "this is your elbow and this is your *ss. Learn the difference!." I thought of yelling back "hey, bro, I am literally trying to keep my head above water. And, yes, I do know my body parts," but I was too busy trying to keep my head above water. Doug was in his element breaking in a new student, yours truly. He didn't discriminate yelling at all students of all ages and races. Before long, I became accustomed to other "Sternism" like "arms drive legs", "f*ck you, keep going!"
Anyway, I worked hard and thankfully became faster than many of my lighter land only based runners. Thanks to Doug and Dr. Dan I finished eight marathons on seven continents in 21 months. I met many great friends like Steve, Linda, Jeff, Kal, and others all over the world.
It is often said that a pebble dropped in a pond makes a ripple affect all over the world. Since hundreds (if not thousands) of other runners and myself will be able to run injury free for the rest our lives, we are his legacy of good health and happiness. Doug is a boulder in the pool of life that will have a ripple effect long after we all have passed from this world.
Weeks before he died, I received permission from Doug to raise money for kidney cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a member of Fred's Team. To donate, please go to my Fred's Team webpage and click "Donate". If this link does not appear, please copy and paste the one of these links into your browser:
All proceeds benefit kidney cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Thank you very much in advance for sponsoring me in running in Doug's memory.
Though Doug wasn't the most religious person, I think Saint Peter is learning all about "arms drive legs", "keep your legs pointed straight down", etc. Doug, hope to see you in Heaven's deep water pool.
Posted by a sad but grateful Tank in NY.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Another wasted $1,000,000
Roger Clemens pitched again and lost again, further proving the experiment in bringing him back should be ended. The Rocket pitched 6 innings and gave up 7 hits and 4 earned runs, sending his ERA up to 5.32. He also did not strike out a batter and it was the first time in 200 starts that the Rocket did not strike out a batter. I am sure that the Rocket will rebound. But it most likely won't be until after the All Star break that he is in top form and throwing smoke. It will be too little too late and way too expensive. The Yankees are better off making him a pitching coach and trading for some young prospect. In other news Tom Glavine earned victory #297 last night in 6 innings of solid pitching in the rain, allowing only 1 hit. The game was called in the bottom of the 6th inning. Posted by Steve in New York
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Problems Continue
The Mets and Yankees both lost games last night that last year they would have won. I have gotten some email over the last two days disagreeing with my analysis on the Mets and the Yankees. Tuesday night is a microcosm of the both problems. The Mets only managed 6 hits last night over 11 innings and their bullpen held out as long as possible. The Yankees managed 8 hits but also managed to walk in the winning run. Unless both teams address their problems, expect it to be a long summer. Posted by Steve in New York.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Problem with the Mets
Good pitching shuts down good hitting. The Mets have good hitting and average pitching, so it is no wonder why they are in first place in the NL East. The problem is that they are prone to slumps as well as vulnerable in a 7 game series against good pitching. We have seen good pitching shut down the Mets over the last month as their offense has struggled. Now that the Mets have returned to their winning ways (but not ended their offensive slump) let's review the problem. Most Mets fans are in denial and think everything is ok and just a few injuries caused the June meltdown. I argue that the problem was much more fundamental, remember they only had 3 hits in the 11 inning victory last night. Yes some key injuries are hurting the Mets right now, most noticeably Mosis Alou. Alou was hitting .318 and with his plate discipline he provided great pop at the bottom of the order. It seemed that early in the season Alou was always on base. As much as Jose Reyes was the spark plug, Alou was the fuel injector. Losing Chavez was no help either. (On the bright side, at least Gomez is given some big league playing time which will help him transition to an everyday player in 2009.) There is something else missing. That something is Carlos Delgado. In my opinion, Delgado was the reason the Mets were as good as they were in 2006, and why I was so upset in 2005 when the deal did not work out to get him here. Delgado's effect on Carlos Beltran both personally and with bat protection sent Beltran's numbers through the roof last year. Delgado was a big bat, if you got past Beltran you then had to face Delgado, then Wright, then Green. Now the Mets are missing that big threat. The good news is that this is most likely just a slump, but without Delgado producing a few key injuries or other slumps leads to disaster. Right now there is a lot of pressure on Delgado, so hopefully when Alou and Chavez return by the all star break some of that pressure will be lifted. When the monster comes out of his cage, the NL better watch out. Hopefully he comes out soon. Posted by Steve in New York
Monday, June 25, 2007
Clemens in Relief
The million dollars per start the Yankees are paying Clemens to win them a World Series just got a little cheaper yesterday since he came in during the 7th inning for an inning of relief. He threw 18 pitches, walking Barry Bonds, striking out one, and giving up an earned run (and one hit). His ERA is now at 5.09. Roger Clemens was so magnanimous in his offer to pitch in relief. The news media has anointed him a savoir saying "but he doesn't have to even travel with the team, so his offer to pitch is proof of his dedication to win." Dosen't have to travel with the team? Are we forgetting that everyone, even injured players, travel with the team? Even the PR guys and low level IT guys travel with the team. But the highest paid player in the game gets a pass. So since he decided to come to San Francisco somehow he is so gracious. It is like the guy on Capital Hill who says "I am lowering government spending" but in reality is just lowering the increase in spending. Double talk. What Yankee fans are not realizing is that the Yankees season is almost over. The Tank is in denial. Most other fans are too. (Except Mike in my office.) The starting pitching is acceptable now that Clemens has arrived, but not good enough. Middle relief is not there and frankly, Mo has seen better days. The lineup is ridiculous, like the All Star team, but as I said for many years (and the Mets have this problem too), good pitching shuts down the all star lineups. Pitching wins pedants. And the Yankees have sub-par pitching. The Yankees are 11.5 behind the Red Sox and 6.5 behind Cleveland for the Wild Card. Sure anything can happen but unless there is a major trade at the deadline for a young pitcher like Zambrano or Willis, the Yankees are in trouble. The Mets have the similar problems but at least they did not break the bank bringing back Dwight Gooden. I'll focus on their problems tomorrow. Posted by Steve in New York.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Mets finally win a series in June
When David Wright hit a walk-off double last night in the bottom of the 9th for a 1-0 win last night at Shea, the Mets won the first two games against the Oakland As-ensuring their first series win since the SF Giants were in town in late May. While this is cause to celebrate, there is still cause for alarm. The Mets pitching has been ok of late, epically allowing only 1 earned run in the last two games against a good Oakland team, but the starting pitching and bullpen has been shaky all month. Combine that with a season long drought from Carlos Delgado as well as Alou on the DL, the Mets still have significant issues. Bottom line, the Mets need Delgado to start hitting and Alou to be healthy. Alou is not expected to come off the DL for another week or two at the earliest and Delgado is in a massive funk, a funk that may be due to an unknown injury or his off season wrist surgery. So we are looking at the all-star break before some relief arrives. Luckily, the Mets are in a weak division, they still have a 3 game lead over Atlanta and 3.5 over Philly. They should have a 10 game lead by now, but the month long slump has made that only 3 games. As we approach the all-star break, if the Mets can build a 7 or 8 game lead, then there is not a major cause of concern. We'll see. Posted by Steve in New York.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
296 Finally!
Tom Glavine was stuck on 295 for over a month. He went 0-4 with an 11+ ERA since #295. These things happen. Looking forward to #300 at Shea. Posted by Steve in New York.
Friday, June 22, 2007
4.1 Innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, $1,000,000
So far the Yankees have paid Roger Clemens $1,000,000 for an easy victory over AAA Pittsburgh, $1,000,000 for a solid start but a loss to the Mets and another $1,000,000 for a dismal performance yesterday in Denver. The Rocket said he was effected by the altitude (6,000', Gary would call him a wimp) and threw 90 pitches in 4.1 innings. He still had some movement on his breaking ball and his high heat fooled Holliday twice for Ks and we can excuse the two solo home runs. The problem with the Rocket is his body. He can't field a bunt, nor can he hold the runners on. After the Mets' ran at will on Clemens and bunted for infield hits, advanced scouts have gotten wind of this and are doing the same. Expect to see more infield hits and steals off Clemens, putting runners into scoring position. Steve believes that it is time for the Yankees to end the Rocket experiment. Drop him and use the payroll to get some young blood. Roger is not going to take the Yankees to the World Series. Any Yankee fan who believes this now needs to have their head examined. Posted by Steve in Karachi, Pakistan.
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