tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83442647201013412702024-03-06T00:23:58.440-07:00Assim é a VidaNatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-32770885954692102212010-03-14T14:54:00.006-06:002010-03-14T22:46:49.251-06:00Money Talks, even in Amateurism<p class="MsoBodyText"><b>Injustice and Bias in the NCAA</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">During my college career I’ve been uncharacteristically vocal about all the things around me that I felt weren’t how they “should be.”<span> </span>I’m sure at one time or another it bugged you and I apologize.<span> </span>Now, I could list various instances in which the track or xc program has drawn the short end of the stick throughout the years.<span> </span>It seems to happen too often and in various ways which I can’t really figure out.<span> </span>Oh, and don’t get me started on the inexplicable fact that how well a team performs is in no way correlated to the support that it receives.<span> </span>That would just cause pages of ranting. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well…even more pages of ranting.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In fact, prepare yourself for a few of those right now.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">(don’t act like you didn’t see this coming)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As the title suggests, the scope of this post will not be restricted to SUU but rather to the entire NCAA and across various disciplines.<span> </span>I’m not really sure about how this issue was brought to my attention but over a few years I realized that something wasn’t how it should be.<span> </span><span> </span>Now before somebody screams the classic “LIFE isn’t fair, Nate!” line at the screen at some point while reading this, take a minute to read it all and just see what I’m talking about then you tell me I don’t have cause for complaint.<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>The NCAA is a system that is built on the idea that it provides a home for student-athletes to compete during their schooling in amateur sports.<span> </span></span><span>In this environment of proposed amateurism, profit should not have any place in the minds of the administrators if their purpose truly is for the benefit of the student-athletes. In fact many have claimed that the NCAA uses athletes like unto slave labor, producing money for the institutions without rightly compensating the athletes.<span> </span>With this small intro I proceed to my question: why does football get more support than track and/or xc at the NCAA level?<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Now on what basis am I making the assumption that they truly get more support?<span> </span>I’m getting to it.<span> </span>Not even going into the fact that football receives unequal<span> </span>support nationwide with their pep rallies, massive tailgate parties, huge advertising campaigns and extravagant half-time shows, I’m only going to touch on simple figures that are easily compared.<span> </span>I’m talking scholarship numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>I don’t personally have a lot of room to complain as I’ve been extremely blessed to have received support throughout my years of study with an athletic scholarship. <span> </span>But I’m a team player and I’ve got my many teammates’ backs that are doing it for free when others of different sports are given much more not because of their athletic proficiency but for simply choosing the more “popular” sport.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>One may argue that since there is more participation in high school football there should be more scholarships available to the disproportionate number of participants and I entirely agree with this position.<span> </span>In fact, I have the most recent participation figures right here (pulls out his briefcase).<span> </span>Yes, football is the most popular men’s sport by participation with track and field following in second.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:normal"></p><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Football – 1,112,303</span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Track and Field (Outdoor) - 558,007 (total 789,459 w/xc)</span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Basketball -545,145</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Baseball - 473,184</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Soccer - 383,824</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Wrestling - 267,378</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cross Country - 231,452</span></b></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Tennis - 157,165</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Golf - 157,062</span></span></p></b></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: normal; display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Swimming and Diving - 130,182 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></p></b></span></li></ol><p></p> </b><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span>Now logic dictates that in an unbiased system (as the NCAA has tried to create with rules like the famous Title IX requiring even scholarships and participation between men’s and women’s sports) if there are 1.4 high school football players for every runner/thrower/jumper then there should be 1.4 scholarships available for football for every track scholarship.<span> </span>Once again, all of this is on the premise that the NCAA actually cares about its student-athletes equally, regardless of sport.<span> </span>You’re probably wondering, “well, how many scholarships <i>are</i> available?”<span> </span>Here’s the NCAA-mandated limits on scholarship by sport (men):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"></p><ul><li>Baseball Scholarships: 11.7</li><li>Basketball Scholarships: 13</li><li><b><span>Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track and Field Scholarships: 12.6</span></b></li><li><b><span>Football Scholarships: 85</span></b></li><li>Golf Scholarships: 4.5</li><li>Gymnastics Scholarships: 6.3</li><li>Ice Hockey Scholarships: 18</li><li>Lacrosse Scholarships: 12.6</li><li>Soccer Scholarships: 9.9</li><li>Swimming and Diving Scholarships: 9.9</li><li>Tennis Scholarships: 4.5</li><li>Water Polo Scholarships: 4.5</li><li>Wrestling Scholarships: 9.9</li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span>Ok, let me clarify.<span> </span>These are full scholarships we’re talking about, including housing, books, food, and tuition.<span> </span>There are a maximum 12.6 scholarships available for the 3 sports of cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track <u>combined</u> (now girls, you have it better, you get 18 scholarships for some reason, don’t ask me why).<span> </span>There are <b><u>85</u></b> available for football.<span> </span>85!!!<span> </span>I’m hoping you’re seeing my point here.<span> </span>That’s a 6.7:1 ratio on scholarships from football to track/xc despite a 1.4:1 ratio on participation.<span> </span>It’s a complete joke and indisputably biased.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">In fact, even our beloved Senator Hatch got in on the discussion when he said:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"></p><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;">“</span><i>I – and many others – are concerned that all this college football money is turning college sports into nothing more than a minor league for pro football rather than a legitimate educational activity for student athletes.</i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;">”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">- Senator Orrin G. Hatch, speaking at the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing</span></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Now the critical reader might recognize that sports like basketball must also be getting the same treatment as track since their high school participation and scholarship limit are similar to those of track/xc, right?<span> </span>To further my point (and to not make football the only bad guy) let’s see what the participation numbers are in the NCAA and see if the number of scholarships line up a little better.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Here are the NCAA team-size averages by sport:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"></p><ul><li>Football -<span> </span>108.7</li><li>Track/XC - <span> </span>53.6</li><li>Basketball<span> </span>15.6</li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>If this is the average size of each team in the NCAA, what is the ratio of scholarships per athlete already on the team?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"></p><ul><li>Football<span> </span>.78 per athlete</li><li>Track/XC<span> </span>.24 per athlete</li><li>Basketball<span> </span>.83 per athlete</li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>According to the data provided by the NCAA basketball is even more favored than football!<span> </span>Similar figures can be found in other sports like ice hockey with 18 scholarships.<span> </span>How many players can even fit on the bench in hockey??<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>By way of conclusion, I want to make a point of something that really bothers me amidst all of this.<span> </span>Using NFL figures, there maximum number of active players on an NFL roster is 53.<span> </span>I hope I don’t have to point this out, but <u>there are upwards of 30 football players on a football team that don’t even touch the field in a game</u>.<span> </span>I’ve had lots of friends that give everything they have on the track, killing themselves with no recompense because they love the sport and want to chase a dream. <span> </span>I see them trying to work a job, going full-time to stay eligible all while meeting the travelling and practice demands of their sport.<span> </span>It depresses me to know that football players are riding the bench game after game and getting it all paid for while the majority of scoring athletes on my team are paying for everything.<span> </span>Is the education of a football (or basketball) player more valuable than that of a runner?<span> </span>In the land of Title IX and Affirmative Action, where is the equality!? <span> </span>It’s not about equality or amateurism in the NCAA, it’s about money.<span> </span>End of story.<span> </span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Just to add a little fuel to the fire, read this story I found on ESPN.com: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2163654">http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2163654</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span>They want even more.<span> </span>You see why I’m not a fan?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-16994476434802673702010-01-18T22:45:00.002-07:002010-01-18T23:03:13.719-07:00EarthquakesSo, I decided that for every trip we go on for track this year, I’m going to write a blog post about something that’s been on my mind. I think that the majority of the time it will turn out like this one, with no specific direction or purpose other than a fulfillment of a goal. I don’t even know what I want to write about right now…<div><br />Generally speaking, I sit down and write about something that is occupying my mind and want to get off my chest. So, I thinking about it for a minute I realized that something that has been on my mind a bit lately: earthquakes. Yep. I’ve talked to a few people about this but I figured I’d reiterate my point to everyone (all the millions of people who read this thing). </div><div><br /></div><div>Ever since my first earthquake happened a week or so ago, I have been more aware of their occurrences. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like there’s been a lot of them lately, like more than normal. I’m going to go into a little “apocalyptic” moment here, so don’t judge me.</div><div><br /><div>Like I said, we had a little 4.1 earthquake here in Cedar City about a week ago while I was in the ELC just wasting some time before my next class. The building is pretty old and there’s been construction going in there the past year or so and so when the building started shaking and that noise happened, at first I attributed it to the more probable option of it being construction. Then, of course, I posted on Facebook, “Was that an earthquake?” Within a minute or so I got a link to the UofU’s seismograph site where it had measured our earthquake at a 4.1. I thought I was pretty freakin cool because I was now officially an earthquake survivor. Of course, the curiosity didn’t stop there. As soon as I saw all the other little earthquakes on the map, I began looking for more maps and data.</div><div><div><br />Fast forward a few days later. </div><div>I was online again and there was a thread on the ‘stat about the sea lions in San Francisco and how they had just randomly left overnight. As I read the article and the quotes from the biologists, it felt like I was in a movie for a second reading how “they just disappeared!” It was kinda eerie, not gonna lie. They were confused as to what had caused them to leave so suddenly like that but nobody really had a solid explanation. A few people, mostly seen as extremists, were citing the ’89 San Francisco quake and how they had done the same thing right before it struck. A few days later after the sea lions disappeared this time, a 6.9 quake hit just off the shore of northern California.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2009/12/pier-39.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 660px; height: 307px;" border="0" alt="" />Fast forward a few more days. </div><div><br />Front page of Yahoo has the headline of “7.x Earthquake rocks Haiti.” I was like, wtf?? How many earthquakes are gonna happen? As I was driving back from practice that day, it dawned on me that I was super bummed out for some reason. I couldn’t really figure it out but then I realized that this Haiti thing was really bothering me. They had a headline a little later about there being possibly 100,000 people dead. That is what I think really was bothering me.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I went to bed, I started thinking of it all again, and the Bible verse from Matthew popped into my head from “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Matt 24:7) I then began thinking, “I wonder if the earthquake frequency really has been increasing or is it just an increase in my own awareness...” I jumped right back out of bed and true to the super nerd that I am, jumped on my computer for some research. A few google searches later looking for info, I stumbled on the USGS site with historical earthquake data since the 80’s. They mostly just had bar graphs of each year but I noticed that there was a significant increase in large earthquakes over the past three decades. All that info did was stoke the fire and I became all the more curious. So, I kept on searching and found a site that had gathered info from 1860 to the present. As I read the article and looked over the graphs, the info I was searching for became very easy to see. The increase in earthquake frequency since the mid-19th century was surprisingly large. I thought it would have been a little more subtle than that, especially for a geological trend which I would assume would subscribe to a scale of millions of years, not tens of years.</div><div><br /></div><img src="http://www.earth.webecs.co.uk/images/graph.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 570px; height: 400px;" border="0" alt="" /><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, my suspicions were confirmed and my curiosity satisfied and I went to bed. I’ve been pondering on the subject for a few days now and the spiritual ramifications of these findings are substantial (not saying I was the first one to see this, it’s just been more applicable as of late). It feels as though the majority of those that are passively or actively looking for the “signs” are looking for things to be very black and white. In this case, unlike many others, the signs are very distinct and unmistakable. Once again, I’m not trying to be apocalyptic or anything, I’m just pointing it out so do with it as you will.</div></div></div>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-72638644886625777352009-12-08T20:56:00.003-07:002009-12-08T21:45:42.164-07:00Photo BookSo I'm kinda pumped that I finished a book that I've been working on for a while based on my fairly recently acquired photography hobby. I called it <span style="font-style:italic;">Record </span>because of the quote I used on the introduction page. The pictures themselves don't have a whole lot of cohesiveness but the purpose of the book is to give the readers a view into the mind of the photographer himself. Books with just photography generally are open to interpretation but with no answers. I was hoping that with my book people were able to draw their own conclusions but then also see the original point of view as well. I'm going to start working on some other books soon with more of a focus on a geographic location. Feel free to browse the pages (there's only 20 pages) and if so inclined, the website allows you to buy one as well! <br /><br /><div id="badge" style="position:relative; width:240px; height:120px; margin:0px; padding:10px; background-color:white; border:1px solid #a0a0a0;"> <div style="position:absolute; top:10px; left:10px; padding:0px; margin:0px; width:118px; height:100px; line-height:116px; text-align:center;"> <a href="http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1058872/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=280x160" target="_blank" style="margin:0px; border:0px; padding:0px;"> <img src="http://www.blurb.com//images/uploads/catalog/19/1186019/1058872-d9a4466e4faf1477c59c909b5b75f37c.jpg" alt="Record" style="padding:0px; margin:0px; border:1px solid #a7a7a7; width:116px; vertical-align:middle;"/> </a> </div> <div style="position:absolute; top:58px; left:138px; overflow:hidden; margin:0px; padding:0px; border:0px; width:120px; text-align:left;"> <div style="width:105px; overflow:hidden; line-height:18px; margin:0px; padding:0px; border:0px;"> <a href="http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1058872?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=280x160" style="font:bold 12px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #fd7820; text-decoration:none;">Record</a> </div> <div style="font:bold 10px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#545454; line-height:15px; margin:0px; padding:0px; border:0px;"> Photography </div> <div style="font:10px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#545454; line-height:15px; margin:0px; padding:0px; border:0px;"> By Nate Houle </div> </div> <div style="position:absolute; bottom:8px; left:138px; font:normal 10px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#fd7820; line-height:15px; margin:0px; padding:0px; border:0px;"> <a href="http://www.blurb.com/books/1058872" force="true" only_path="false" style="color:#fd7820; text-decoration:none;" title="Book Preview">Book Preview</a> </div> <div style="position:absolute; top:10px; right:10px; padding:0px; margin:0px;"> <a title="Photo book" href="http://www.blurb.com/?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=280x160" target="_blank" style="border:0; padding:0px; margin:0px; text-decoration:none;"> <img src="http://www.blurb.com/images/badge/photo-book.png" style="border:0; padding:0px; margin:0px;" alt="Photo book"/> </a> </div> <div style="clear: both; border: 0px solid black;"></div></div>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-24360338850386896852009-12-05T19:06:00.002-07:002009-12-05T19:25:26.697-07:00My thoughts on Web 2.0 (Just ignore this- CSIS assignment)Web 2.0 is an interesting and almost tangible change that has occurred in the way that the internet is utilized. The concept of being a user-defined content platform not only creates a more interactive population but on the other hand, can produce infinitesimal amounts of "junk" information that could easily be inaccurate (see professors disallowing Wikipedia as a credible source). In the case of non-credible sources, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons and therefore the Web 2.0 movement is a step in the positive direction. The only true concern I see is not <span style="font-style:italic;">The Matrix</span> prophecy of machines becoming like men but instead men becoming the machines with no living breathing society to speak of.<br /><br /><br />Link to a video explaining <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g">here</a>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-47327842133457247752009-06-24T23:56:00.007-06:002009-06-25T12:27:46.958-06:00BYU Athletics<span style="font-weight:bold;">Question:</span> If BYU athletics creates hate for the school in those not affiliated with the school, is it bad for the church, either directly or indirectly? <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Reason:</span> I have to watch what I say about the school and athletic programs because I fear tarnishing my own faith indirectly. I know many people that aren't LDS and because of rivalries and other reasons do not like BYU in the slightest and, coincidentally or not, have a similar opinion of the church itself.<br /><br /><br />This was going to be a lengthy article with quotes, examples, and reasoning but it came across as if I was superimposing my opinion over that of a sustained leader and so I withheld any proposal or recommendation.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-72833428917562611502009-05-06T11:06:00.007-06:002009-05-06T11:17:29.686-06:00What does this mean to you?I've read this scripture, and ones like it, on numerous occasions, but it seems to be bypassed quite often. I came across it again in church a week or so ago and it once again caught my attention. I don't want to write any opinion on the subject, I just want to hear what most think it means.<br /><br />From Doctrine & Covenants 59:<br /><br />"15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >not with much laughter, for this is a sin</span>, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance-"<br /><br />Please discussNatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-36001850876935355112009-03-16T00:16:00.009-06:002009-03-16T01:23:37.520-06:00Research ProjectOne of the great aspects of this life is that each and every person has their own take on it. Perspective is an interesting thing because you never know exactly how another views different things. For example, who hasn't wondered when looking at a red object and thought, "everyone calls the color of this 'red' but does everyone actually see the same thing?" With this interlude, I am brought to a story.<br /><br />The other day, Cam, Nigel and I were driving home from Wal-Mart and we were debating on the degree of hotness of some famous person. I don't remember who. But, for the story's sake, you need to know that Nigel is notorius for being the one with having the most, how can I say it, "liberal" view of beauty. I'm known as the one is extremely strict on the same and Cam is just somewhere in the middle. Finally, at this moment in the car, we decided that something needed to be done to quantify these levels to more accurately compare ourselves. We needed some kind of empirical evidence.<br /><br />A plan was formulated and a study was created. We decided that we needed to somehow obtain a mean value for a designated, similar population. We figured the best way for this was to all sit at the same location with a piece of paper, and on the left side of it, the numbers 10 through 1 in descending order. Haha, ok, don't judge me, this is purely scientific I swear. We needed a high-traffic area as to obtain a large sample size to maintain a high statistical power. We went and sat on a bench above the ELC and observed the passing females verifying that all three of us observed the same people. Subjects ranged anywhere from an estimated 70 to 18 years old. After a period of 45 minutes, I had to go to a class, so the study was concluded. Sample size was about 75. Results were as follows:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1QRxBwgHpmKDR-iNaqCjIk6n58l2yCV1CMzPO3x-np_nQbK7Ao2OBut2xuk3idH40avdOM1VIWgih8borWrWRGYlp6-LWB-eGJpcX4rwkUZhxpalRjHn_e5zd_1JEFD9bC7fsI5g928/s1600-h/Hotness+study+graph.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1QRxBwgHpmKDR-iNaqCjIk6n58l2yCV1CMzPO3x-np_nQbK7Ao2OBut2xuk3idH40avdOM1VIWgih8borWrWRGYlp6-LWB-eGJpcX4rwkUZhxpalRjHn_e5zd_1JEFD9bC7fsI5g928/s400/Hotness+study+graph.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313680748694201794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nate's average:</span> 4.36<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cam's average:</span> 4.67<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nigel's average:</span> 5.09<br /><br /><br />CONLUSION<br /><br />So, after results were compiled, turns out that we were right in that Nigel had the most liberal view and I had the strictest. Note, however, that when we reached the lower range of the scale, seems that I was more cautious to issue a rating of 2 or below when Nigel was the opposite.<br /><br />Who said you never apply what you learn in school? ;)Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-58690590004454195522009-01-05T00:23:00.003-07:002009-01-05T02:20:39.474-07:00Teh GheysOver this last summer, I was working at 26.2 Running Co. and there was this song that would always come on the radio that I totally hated and it drove me nuts. "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. You may have seen that coming. Now, beside the message being what it is, there is a certain tone or mood that caught my attention more than just the lyrics themselves. I also noticed it in other songs, like, "So What" by Pink. Especially if you watch the music video, it's even more noticeable. Upon this thought process spawned my [theory/hypothesis/opinion/view/decision] on the subject of "teh gheys" ("the gays" for the 1337 declined). I found it interesting that this exact topic was so prevalent this fall because of the Prop 8 vote in California though I didn't engage much in the conversation. You may find this offensive and/or erroneous and I apologize in advance for any negative feelings produced as a result of my words, but not for the words themselves, it's what I feel to be the truth, at least in part, so do with them what you will.<br /><br />The question of "what makes gays gay" comes up quite often in this modern society. People find the question either very easy or very hard to answer depending on their personal view of the subject. Some cite biological reasons, some psychological reasons and others just pure individual decision. I've personally pondered on the subject a few times and even though my mind was long ago set on the right vs wrong aspect of the argument, I had never really came up with a real <span style="font-style: italic;">reason</span> behind the practice. I feel like I have unraveled a part of the mystery which I claim to be categorized as a psycho-social reason. I'm not saying I'm an expert on the subject or that this the entirety of the reasoning. Just a piece. <br /><br />The "tone or mood" that I was referring to in the previously mentioned songs was a feeling of masculinity. It may be hard to see in the Katy Perry song, but it's there. I've noticed recently that there is a prevalence of masculinity among women that is increasing, although it could just be my increased awareness of its existence. Watch the Pink music video, it shows her driving down the road on a riding mower, chopping down trees, smashing guitars, etc. I'm not just picking on the media either, even though that is where it is extremely evident, it happens very often in the micro-society of Cedar City and elsewhere even more often. Look around sometime, take note of it. For some reason, many women have drifted to a more masculine attitude/personality and men have drifted more toward a feminine attitude/personality. I ran into an study backing up my opinion:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Increasingly, men are running into a double standard of attractiveness </span><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">--what women like about men's bodies and what men think is manly... The male body has arrived. Not only is it being offered up for scrutiny, it seems to be both hypermasculine and <span style="font-weight: bold;">strangely feminine</span>, a new mix that accurately reflects tremendous and ambivalent changes in our culture." </span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Eating_Disorders/men_3.asp">-HealthyPlace.com </a><br /><br />I personally am more attracted to a girl that likes to have fun and stuff, but also one that is dainty and, well, feminine. Weird, eh? I was talked into going over to this "apartment of girls" by my friend Tyrell and I was like, ok. Little did I know it was the softball girls' house. Don't get me wrong, I like girls that play sports, but this group of girls was very intimidating in a "I'm gonna beat you up" kind of way. Yeah, ha ha, I know, I'm skinny. But hey, regardless of my size, they weren't exactly, how can I put it nicely..."womanly."<br /><br />Now what does this have to do with homosexuality? Haha, not a whole lot actually. I just wanted to walk you through my thought process a little without boring you excessively. On to the topic at hand:<br /><br />I'm kinda laughing to myself right now just thinking of the verbal abuse I may incurr as a result of this. Maybe I'll get hundreds of letters hand delivered to me by some social group leader or something. Sorry, back to the current issue:<br /><br />Look at a generic homosexual guy(I'm sterotyping, I know. Like I said, this also isn't all-encompassing). What do you normally see? A guy that dresses very nice, takes really good care of himself, talks a little higher than normal, and acts a little more <span style="font-weight: bold;">feminine</span> than normal, right? What about a homosexual girl? The word granola could come to mind. Short hair sometimes. Kinda <span style="font-weight: bold;">masculine</span>? <br /><br />What I'm driving at here is that many times gays have the attributes of the <span style="font-style: italic;">opposite </span>gender which attracts the <span style="font-style: italic;">same</span> gender. You starting to see this?? Gay guys seems to be attracted to guys with feminine attributes. Gay women seem to be attracted to women with masculine attributes. I mean seriously, look at it. It's extremely visible to me. I don't know how to explain this any more than I have. Could it be purely psychological for some?? That's my question. Sure there's gay guys that are way masculine and gay women who are super feminie, but I've seen these type of people way too much in my own personal experience to say it doesn't exist in a vast quantity. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span>: Some gays believe they're gay when really they're not, being attracted to an individual displaying the attributes of the opposite gender, like a straight person is, but erroneously to an individual of the same gender.<br /><br />Ok, whoa, whoa, stop yelling at your screen, I can't hear you anyways. I know this wasn't very PC or whatever, but that's not what I'm concerned about. This is merely a documentation of my thought process and if you disagree, I don't care. If you think I just finished generalizing all gays into one giant stereotype, go back and read it again. Pay attention to the parts in parenthesis. <br /><br />Oh, and comment on it please.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-51084534625600949402009-01-04T03:53:00.001-07:002009-01-04T03:54:45.389-07:00Hold on...One's on its way... Prepare yourselves, it's slightly controversial. To some.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-5467703605423062692008-11-23T23:04:00.005-07:002008-11-24T00:46:27.907-07:002008 NCAA XC PreviewThis is my preview of the 2008 NCAA XC National Championship meet that takes place tomorrow. I’m sure some of those that will read this will know what I’m talking about when I say this is going to be one of the very best championships in decades, and that’s why I’m giving you this sweet preview.<br /><br />Why this race is so extraordinary? Not only up front is there an amazing duel but there are really 3 different races within the same event, each one is seriously a super high-quality clash. It’s going to make for some intense drama. Let me show you what is on deck.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Individual Title</span><br /><br />The individual title at the beginning of the season seemed to be a completed contest before it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2008/prencaawhitem/thumbnails/tnIMG_1093.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2008/prencaawhitem/thumbnails/tnIMG_1093.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> even commenced. This about it: Galen Rupp, an Senior for the University of Oregon, and long-time child prodigy, qualified for the Beijing Olympics and not only competed in the Olympics but ended up getting 13th in the 10,000m and was the first white guy to finish. He’s 22. Fast-forward a few months to the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, IN. A lot of people were talking about a guy from Liberty named Sam Chelanga, a kid from Kenya who just played table-tennis until it was time to go to college. That didn’t get him anywhere so he picked up running and turns out, he’s amazing. I had heard about his race at Paul Short where he set a course record, but most didn’t think he had any chance at Rupp. Now, let's go to pre-nats. There are 2 separate races at Pre-nats so it doesn’t spoil the surprise of the real championship. We raced in the first race and did well. Each race had 40 of the top 80 teams in the country. We started running around to cool down and to watch the other race cuz I wanted to see Sam Chelanga try and live up to his name. I’m standing about 3k into the 8k race and my jaw drops. I couldn’t believe it. He was already alone and well off the front of a super-elite field. The order went like this: [pace car]-[Chelanga]-[pace car]-[pace car]-[rest of the race]. It was already over. When I saw him come into the finish, I couldn’t see anyone else. Come to find out, he went through 1k in 2:30 (that’s 2:00 800m or 4:00 mile pace) and through the mile at 4:16. He broke the course record by 4 seconds, on a slow day. He won by 44 sec. He is world-class. Half the country jumped on the Chelanga band-wagon including the famous Let’s Run.com guys saying that they guarantee that Sam Chelanga will win NCAAs.<br /><br />Right at the peak of the Chelanga-parade, word of Galen Rupp’s training broke out of Let’s Run’s message board. The famous 30-40 workout. Oregon has been doing this since the 60’s, in fact the legendary Steve Prefontaine (the only distance guy non-runners have ever heard of) did this workout back in his prime. The workout is basically a workout of attrition. The whole team starts it and they run a 40 sec 200m (5:20/mile pace) then you do a 30 sec 200m (4:00/mile pace). You keep alternating like that and when you fall off pace, you get pulled. Pre had held the record at Oregon for decades at 20 laps. Rupp went 24. Destroyed a 40 year record. After that news broke, nobody knew what to think. On one hand you have Chelanga who broke last year’s NCAA champ Josh McDougal’s CR at Pre-nats and beat everyone by 40 sec, but then you have Rupp, an Olympian who broke Pre’s 30-40 record. Let’s Run got scared about their guarantee but maintained their position. Later on, Rupp finally raced at Pac-10’s and won the toughest conference in the country by 37 seconds and the West Regional (toughest region in the country) by 51 seconds.<br />Honestly, my money is on Rupp, the kid is hitting form now instead of in September when Pre-nats was ran. However, obviously Rupp pushed it and Chelanga just cruised his regional meet. So who's fresh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Team Battle</span><br /><br />Ok, I’ve been saying this all year, Oklahoma State will win NCAAs. I’m going out on a limb on this one but I really think it’s gonna happen. Nike U (aka Oregon) is basically like the Yankees of the NCAA XC world. Tons of the top kids go there and get next to nothing in scholarships. Their team is so deep, their second team would be able to compete well with national powers. Last year Oregon won NCAAs fairly easily, they didn’t lose a single person from their top 7 and this year picked up Luke Puskedra from Utah that was one of the top 3 recruits in the country (I’ll talk about him later). You’d think they’d be unbeatable, right? How can the national champs lose when they have everyone back? Well, Oklahoma State finished 3rd last year but they picked up some big talent this year. I would like to throw out a bunch of 5k PRs and XC times for their guys but essentially they got the new 2 mile high school national record holder and the 5th best recruit along with a huge transfer in John Kosgei from LSU. I honestly think the nail in the coffin was the effort each team gave at regionals. Oklahoma St. cruised their top 4 guys and their 5th didn’t even run whereas Oregon basically raced everyone and their guys ran their guts out. I’m a big fan of the underdog, watch for Ok St, they’re gonna run well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Freshmen</span><br /><br />The last main battle this year is among the n00bs. This year’s incoming class has to be one of the best to ever come to the NCAA if not the best. It’s insane. I could go into their respective history to r<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.talk.dyestat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16847&stc=1&d=1227155109"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 416px;" src="http://www.talk.dyestat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16847&stc=1&d=1227155109" alt="" border="0" /></a>eally show what we’re dealing with, but there’s not enough time. I have a test tomorrow. The top 3 ranked teams in the country got at least one of the top 5 freshmen. Oregon got Luke Puskedra (8:40 2 mile, sub 4:10 indoor mile), Oklahoma State got German Fernandez (2 mile NR holder, 4:00 mile) and Colby Lowe (sub 4:10 miler), and Stanford got Chris Derrick (13:55 5k). These three have been battling all season, especially Derrick and Puskedra. In the Pac-10, Puskedra beat Derrick by just a few seconds, but when they moved to 10k at regionals, Derrick won by less than a second. German Fernandez has been flying all season, in fact he beat 2-time NCAA 10k champ, Shadrack Songok at Big XII’s. Many say that he could pull a 3rd place finish. Nats is going to be interesting cuz it’s the first time that all of them will face each other.<br /><br />That’s about it. It’s gonna be amazing, if you have CSTV, watch it tomorrow starting at 10 am. If not, go to NCAA.com and watch it there.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-76045309018231575532008-10-19T14:57:00.003-06:002008-10-19T15:07:10.139-06:00Contrast<meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJEKYLL%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJEKYLL%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJEKYLL%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> 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name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]-->I’m gonna throw a disclaimer on this right away, not sure if it’ll apply, but just so you know this might get religious eventually, but who knows.<span style=""> </span>I guess we’ll all stay tuned.<span style=""> </span>Anyways, as you can tell from the lack of a blog entry on my part for like a month, there hasn’t been anything to write about for a while.<span style=""> </span>Well, actually there has been a ton on my mind lately but it has all been the same thing.<span style=""> </span>In fact I wrote most of one when I was flying home from Notre Dame while sitting on my own row, by myself, alone, with nobody else by me on it, but it got too sentimental (and can I say romantic?) to be posted.<span style=""> </span>It was becoming my epic emotional confession piece.<span style=""> </span>So I just saved it and decided there’d be no blog post that time around.
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<br />This one has been on my mind for quite a while now, but I’ve never been in the mood to really write it down for the great preoccupation of my mind on previously mentioned topics.<span style=""> </span>It all really started with my return to the world of Cross-Country.<span style=""> </span>I came into this season once again recovering from a lingering injury and so I was pretty much way out of shape.<span style=""> </span>Running at the D1 level doesn’t exactly allow one to just jump in and be even remotely competitive.<span style=""> </span>So, needless to say, I was behind in a big way and it was rough, mostly physically but also a little mentally.<span style=""> </span>Every one of my workouts felt like a race, not one time did it feel good or even enjoyable.<span style=""> </span>I dreaded every day of it.<span style=""> </span>Close your eyes and do this for me: Imagine needing to go to work every day and it required you to drive yourself into complete exhaustion and extreme hypoxia a<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles32618.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 355px;" src="http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles32618.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>nd vomiting.<span style=""> </span>Eventually it would get old.<span style=""> </span>Such was my running.<span style=""> </span>But after the passing of a few weeks, I started to hit my stride (yes, pun intended) and close the gap between me and the rest of the team.<span style=""> </span>We do a workout called the “Canyon Run” that is essentially a 3 mile time-trial up the canyon road, and then the run back.<span style=""> </span>It’s brutal and we do it on alternating weeks.<span style=""> </span>By the third time I was doing ok again, not good, just ok (I never have done good in XC fyi, so relatively I was doing good) When we finished the TT, we stop at the top, regain consciousness and run back to the school.<span style=""> </span>Slowly, mind you.<span style=""> </span>But this particular time it was really hot and I had just moved up to 50 miles per week so I wasn’t looking forward to the extra distance I had to cover.<span style=""> </span>Connor and I decided that we need to cool off cuz we were dying.<span style=""> </span>We left the road and went down to the waterfall along the river in the canyon and he stuck his head in there. <span style=""> </span>I just walked into it and stood there.<span style=""> </span>It was pretty cold water but it was amazing.<span style=""> </span>I just stood there, facing downstream holding my arms straight out to the side letting the water pour all over me.<span style=""> </span>I couldn’t get myself to leave.<span style=""> </span>I ran all the way home soaked and with squishing shoes but I hadn’t felt that good in literally years and I don’t mean physically, emotionally, it was elating.<span style=""> </span>I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. This brings me to the point of this blog post. <span style=""> </span>Contrast.
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<br />Life can suck at times. <span style=""> </span>It seems that we only recognize our condition in life when things aren’t going very well but I’ve lived long enough to figure out that life always rebounds no matter the circumstance.<span style=""> </span>It’s just difficult to see very far when you’re in a hole.<span style=""> </span>I read part of a talk from this last General Conference by L. Tom Perry that basically said this same thing.<span style=""> </span>He started off saying that “Those of us who have been around a while—and Elder Wirthlin and I have been around for a long time—have recognized certain patterns in life’s test. There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic.”
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<br />I’ve decided that it’s the contrast in life that makes life even worth living.<span style=""> </span>I think I’ve vocalized this to some before, but it’s true.<span style=""> </span>I knew Ashley would enjoy her summer being in Hawai’i but I also knew she’d want to get back home toward the end.<span style=""> </span>I lived in resort towns on the Mediterranean Sea and on an island in the middle of the Atlantic and despite the exotic locations, it eventually became normal and I got bored.<span style=""> </span>I needed a change.<span style=""> </span>What makes things exciting in life is the fact that they’re different than what is currently happening.<span style=""> </span>I believe that’s exactly why I suck at XC, I get sick of the constant agony that seems to last forever over 8k.<span style=""> </span>On the other hand, I love the mid-distances of track because the pain is excruciatingly intense, but it doesn’t last very long.<span style=""> </span>It changes.<span style=""> </span>There’s variation.<span style=""> </span>I wish it were possible to perfectly recall this when life gets tough, because honestly sometimes it almost makes trials enjoyable just for the sake of switching things up.<span style=""> </span>Not always, but sometimes.<span style=""> </span>In fact I think one of the most important things in the world is “perspective.”<span style=""> </span>Our lives and our attitudes toward our circumstances totally and absolutely depend on our perspective.<span style=""> </span>I mean, on my mission it was the most evident because people would curse God because they couldn’t believe that He would allow people to commit crimes and hurt other people, when really they lacked the understanding that right now, in this sphere, it seemed like a blatant injustice.<span style=""> </span>How?<span style=""> </span>They asked.<span style=""> </span>If they had a larger perspective and comprehended that we don’t just exist here in this life, that wrongs will be righted, it would make sense to them.<span style=""> </span>I need to work on this myself, but gratitude is lacking when it comes to the variation that God gives us here on Earth.<span style=""> </span>He allows the good times to exist by giving us the rough ones.
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<br />If I were to jump into that same waterfall while I was cold, there’d be no enjoyment, I guarantee you, simply because of the lack of contrast. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>P.S. If you were wondering what the last one was about, this song was going to be part of it (mostly the last line):
<br /><b style="">
<br />Boxcar Racer – There Is</b> - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmraPwCPEk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmraPwCPEk</a>
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<br />Heidi, that’s why you need to keep the referrals coming… Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-20544205178043685562008-09-13T01:54:00.007-06:002008-09-13T02:38:50.534-06:00Excess Douchebaggage (not a bad word imo)<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sorry guys, not exactly sports related this time. More of an observatory rant. It all started when Graham and I were discussing a few things one night and we began identifying all the different “genres” of dudes down here at SUU. On occasion one of us would come home with the discovery of a new species of douches and end up laughing for like 30 min about it. Sooooo funny! Now, some claim that I'm a hater and very opinionated (Ashley, mostly because I'm talking about the dudes always at her house), but let me explain real quick. I'm more of an observer instead of being constantly lost in the confusion of life, running around with my head cut off. Because of this, I tend to formulate opinions and theories concerning my surroundings. Other times, people think I float through life without an opinion at all and that I'm completely indifferent about anything and everything (my parents). In actuality, I'm very much a combo of the two, not a hater though, I just happen to see things people don't a lot of times. They'll figure it out someday. Ok, so, to the topic at hand. Today's douchebag genre of the week. (there's more of these to come)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<b>Tacoma w/ Dir</b><b>tbike Always in the Back Guy.”</b><span style=""> </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Space_Saver_Truck_Tool_Box/ford_with_bike.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 285px;" src="http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Space_Saver_Truck_Tool_Box/ford_with_bike.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I find that I am able to look beyond people's actions frequently and see their motives behind their actions. For this reason the Tacoma w/ Dirtbike Always in the Back Guy is so freakin' funny/ridiculous because I know why he keeps it in there, and it's not to ride. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crucial Fact</span>: Girls are suckers for guys with motorcycles. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The opinion of the majority of girls is that all guys are stupid. Now, this is the case for a few, but don't tag all of us as stupid, oft times we actually use that to our advantage to get out of the weird situations you and your posse of friends put us in. Also, the dudes with the dirtbikes aren't as stupid as many girls may assume (referring to their intelligence). They use this technique for many reasons: To show how hard-core they are cuz they ride dirt bikes. To start up conversation with chicks about the fact they have a dirt bike. To be like “hey, we should go on ride sometime...on my dirt bike.” "It's right there." "In the back of my truck." "See it?" In fact, I'm sure the majority of them are hunters/fishers (I'm not gonna use the term “outdoorsman”) and they definitely have learned to lure in whatever they're hunting pretty well. But the thing that bugs me about these dudes, is the fact that they do it. Another thing I don't like is falsity, these guys just walk around with a giant façade in the back of their trucks. What's great is that these dudes come with options too. Tacoma with dirt bike. F-150 with four-wheeler. Silverado with 2 dirt bikes. Switch em up if you'd like. But they NEVER TAKE THEM OUT OF THEIR TRUCKS! Unless of course it's on a “date.” They're always just strapped in there. I mean, can't you store it until you use it? </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="">It's so easy to see and girls don't see it and I don't know how. How the tables have turned. </span><i><span style="">We're</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style=""> the stupid ones? Seriously? It's like when I'm out fishing, I'm like “how the freak don't the fish see the huge hook jetting out of that worm??” Now, I'm in this situation, and I'm thinking “how the freak don't these chicks see this dude just waiting for girls to come ask him about his bike, that is always sitting there, in the back of his Tacoma?” Seriously kids. </span></span><span style=""> </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-57355525048276805502008-08-29T22:31:00.004-06:002008-09-13T02:00:38.109-06:00Bolt vs. Phelps<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that the Olympics are over and the dust has settled, it's time for me to look back and give my own synopsis of the proceedings. One of the biggest stars of the Beijing Games was, as you probably guessed, Michael Phelps (and his mom, but <i>do not</i> get me started on that one). He did some great stuff, I mean, 8 gold medals is absolutely amazing and obviously setting 7 world records in one competition is nothing to be forgotten soon. However, there's a line, and when NBC started to advertise their new DVD touting Michael Phelps as the “Greatest Olympian of All Time,” they crossed it. (P.S. Don't get me started on NBC and how they single-handedly destroyed the Olympics for this whole country either). I mean, I don't even consider Phelps' performance as the greatest performance of <i>this </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Olympics. Whoa, put down the pitchfork for a sec, I'll explain. I know it might be hard to fathom at first. “How can that be possible, he was on TV so much??” you say. We all know that NBC did so well at covering everything this</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Olympics but surprisingly there were a couple [billion] things they missed, so let me fill you in. Let us turn to the marquee sport of the Olympics, Track and Field. Surprised? Should</span><span style="font-style: normal;">n't be, it's where the greatest performances of the </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42752000/jpg/_42752449_phelps416.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 193px;" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42752000/jpg/_42752449_phelps416.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: normal;">Beijing Games occurred. Lemme introduce a kid named Usain Bolt. After the waves calmed at the Water Cube and most the nation was worshiping Phelps for his “inhuman” speed and endu</span><span style="font-style: normal;">rance, other sports commenced and most forgot to pay attention. A kid from Jamaica named Usain Bolt won 3 gold </span><span style="font-style: normal;">medals and set 3 world records. But how on Earth can I claim that Bolt > Phelps?? How is is 3 bigger than 8? [looks confused while holding hands mimicking a scale] Most of the comparisons across the sports are done by using raw numbers, like, 8 golds vs. 3, which turns out, is completely flawed. Sports </span><span style="font-style: normal;">also differ in the facility that one can earn gold medals. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"> Let me illustrate the difference between swimming and track. Phelps was able to win 8 golds; 5 individual events and 3 relays. The distances covered in each event were very similar which allow for massive hauls in the medal count. For this exact reason the old medal count record holder was also a swimmer: Mark Spitz. For a runner, it's seriously next to impossible to approach those kind of numbers. Let's figure what range Bolt would have to have to compete just on sheer numbers. He'd have to win the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 4x100 m, 4x400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, and 3000m Steeple. It's difficult for the layman to understand the massive difference there is between a steeplechase runner and a 100m runner, but it's basically never been done even at a high school level. Now, take that to a world-class level, it's impossible.<br /></p><br />Here's a quote to help everyone understand that I'm not alone on this one: <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;">"Swimming events take place in a 50-metre pool. All events are multiples of 50. Swimmers traverse the distances in different styles: going forward in freestyle, in breaststrokes, like a butterfly, or going backwards in a backstroke, and a combination (medley) of all the four. There are several relays for each of these styles and medleys, over varying distances. The track and field equivalents of the swimming events are: running forward, running backwards, running sideways and a combination thereof within a 50-metre track. You get the picture! The point is, swimming and track and field are in different leagues."</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; text-align: center;">-The Daily Star<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080816/oly-ath-track-and-field/images/1338fcd8-710b-4fc0-965f-a41eabca37c0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 175px;" src="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080816/oly-ath-track-and-field/images/1338fcd8-710b-4fc0-965f-a41eabca37c0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Hardly getting into the biomechanics and physiolgy of swimming vs. running, suffice it to say that setting an Olympic record, then coming back 40 min later and setting a WR is I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E in track, the pounding the body takes in running is many many times more intense. That's why swimmers (and cyclists) can practice for 6 hours a day and runners only 1-2.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> Ok, world records. Sounds pretty important, right? What if there were more world-record breaking performances than gold medals? Kinda looses it's significance. That's swimming for ya. Did you watch the 4x100m relay when Lezak pwnd the big-mouthed French team for gold? Great race right? But did you see there were like 5 or 6 teams also under the world-record? A new WR is essentially expected in every race. Track completely differs from swimming in this regard. The 200m WR was set 12 years ago by the legendary Micheal Johnson. Nobody had approached that record since, in fact nobody had got within three-tenths of a second which is huge in a 20 second race. That's huge. The record was deemed to be virtually unbreakable. I wish I had the figures, but the 100m WR progression has crept along over the last few decades where breaking it by .02 is considered a “shattered” record. The margins of victory of .01 of a second are commonplace (sorry Phelps, I'm kinda referring to your magnificent .01 sec butterfly victory). Bolt annihilated the 100m WR, but </span><i>he jogged in</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span><i> </i><span style="font-style: normal;">He jogged it in. It was the most destructive 100m victory this world has ever seen. Nearly everybody agrees that he could have been under 9.6. I can't even begin to help you understand how extraterrestrial that would have been. I could go on, but suffice it to say that track WRs are much more difficult and rare than swimming records, several times over. My buddy from The Daily Star agrees, and so do these stats: </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;">Over the last 30 years, the 50m Freestyle world record has dropped over 2.5 seconds. Over the same period, the 100m WR has dropped only about .3 seconds.<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> Participation in a sport significantly increases the talent pool in the sport and therefore creates more depth in talent and quality. Track and Field is one of the most popular sports in the world, with some of the highest participation rates. In the US, the basketball/football/baseball mecca of the world, more high school kids compete in track than </span><i>any</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> other sport. Like I said, that alone makes it so much more competitive. Swimming is big relative to obscure sports like badminton but still can't compare to the sheer number of track and field. Smaller participation allow for some prodigy like Phelps to come along and dominate because the field of athletes just isn't nearly as competitive. Many agree that swimming is like distance running was back in the 70's, if you were good, you could go around winning everything merely because there was no competition. In track, winning both the 100m and 200m in one Olympics has only happened a handful of times, but not one of those times did any of them include a WR. Bolt set 3. Correction: Bolt smashed 3. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;"> Now don't get me wrong, Michael Phelps is an amazing athlete, possibly one of the best to ever live, but Bolt has has him beat. But because of the ignorance of network television who can't figure that Olympic greatness must be measured beyond adding 1 + 1, (and almost comically because of this, the resultant ignorance of the general public) he hasn't been recognized for the substance of his accomplishments. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;">Oh, and Bolt is only 22, and he's not retiring. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal;">I won't even start with the man, Bekele. Let's leave that for another day.</p>Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-6810220771811897132008-08-08T02:02:00.002-06:002008-08-08T02:46:04.832-06:00"LET THE GAMES BEGIN"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.beijing2008.cn/20070821/Img214135094.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://images.beijing2008.cn/20070821/Img214135094.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When it comes to world-class sporting events, I dive in head first. However, those who know me well know that I don't like to support the well-known or trendy in much, and this attitude carries over into the sporting world. I'm not much of a fan of the NBA, I hate football and baseball is a pastime and should have been left in the past. I've grown to love soccer, which is funny because it's the world's most popular sport, and I love Track & Field more than any other sport out there because of it's purity and supreme objectivity. No politics, no bias and no guessing. The Olympics are starting and I seriously look forward to this the entire 4 years leading up to each one because of the emotion and passion involved in each competitor's life. It's really hard to understand the amount of work each and every athlete has put in to be at the Olympics and I'm super amped to watch as much as I possibly can.<br /><br />Like I said before, I don't like the mainstream things in life, I enjoy forming my own opinion about everything. The Olympics is formed of a large (too large if you ask me) contingent of sporting events, some that don't get any exposure until the Olympics themselves. I intend to watch as much of the following as possible:<br /><br /><ul><li>Archery</li><li>Basketball (redemption, if not, will concrete my reasons for not watching the NBA)<br /></li><li>Beach Volleyball<br /></li><li>Kayaking (not canoeing)<br /></li><li>Cycling (especially the velodrome stuff)</li><li>Fencing</li><li>Handball (can't decide if it's more basketball or soccer)<br /></li><li>Rowing</li><li>Shooting (don't know why this is an olympic sport but whatever)</li><li>Soccer<br /></li><li>Swimming (they hog all the coverage though, so I might boycott)</li><li>Table Tennis (don't know how humans can react that fast)<br /></li><li style="font-weight: bold;">TRACK AND FIELD*</li><li>Triathlon (some of these guys can run a sub-30 min 10k after everything!)<br /></li><li>Water Polo</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">T</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sportsczars.com/images/lagat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 208px;" src="http://www.sportsczars.com/images/lagat.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">rack and Field</span><br />Ok, this deserves its own special paragraph. Or list. Something.<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's 100m</span>- Of the 3 medal contenders, 2 are current/former world record holders and the other has the fastest time ever ran but was wind-aided. I picked Tyson Gay to win, but mostly cuz he's the American. American vs. Jamaica. Watch this one, short but sweet.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's 400m</span>- The fact that this is being run at the Olympics only makes it more exciting because it has a larger audience but the race could have been settled at the Oly Trials in July. The "Lone Star" 6'1" 155 lbs skinny white kid Jeremy Wariner vs. LeShawn Merrit, the darkhorse (no racial pun intended, he's just not the favorite, I swear). Wariner never lost for years, but this year Merrit surfaced as a legitamate threat and beat Wariner in the spring and at the U.S. Oly Trials. However, Wariner and Merrit have raced twice since the trials and Wariner ran 43.8 or .7 something insanely fast. My money is on Wariner, but you never know.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's 800m</span>- This was one of the greatest races I've ever seen in the Trials, but the Americans won't be quite as prominent on this level. However, pay attention to what the Oregon sophomore Andrew Wheating does, he always exceeds expectations, so I'm stoked to see what he does. The real race is the 18 yr old kid from Sudan who wins pole-to-pole and he does it in Nike Zoom Forevers. Those are XC shoes. Heavy ones. No clue how but he does it. The reason why this could be exciting is a Cuban and a Russian (Athens gold medal winner) Borzakovsky will be hunting.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's 1500m-</span> Ok, we never do well anything above this distance, but we have one of the most technichally sound racers ever to run the event: Bernard Lagat. He almost beat the WR holder last time in Athens, this is his race to bring the gold home for his adopted country, the USA. That is his whole goal, I hope he does it.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's 5k</span>- THIS is going to be one of the greatest events of the olympics (stay tuned for a later entry when I rant about T&F not getting one minute of live coverage the whole Olympics, and this is why). Bernard Lagat (previously mentioned) won both the 1500 and 5k at the World Championships last year. An amazing feat. The stick in the spokes this time around is the following: Kenenisa Bekele, the World Record holder in the 5 and 10k. People are betting on Lagat because of his flawless tactics and strategy combined with his lethal finishing speed. However, some forget that Bekele "The Great" ran a 52 his last lap of a 10k this year. Sadly, I think Bekele wins, but it'll cost him.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Men's Marathon</span>- This is crazy. We, the USA, have a legitimate shot at a medal in the Marathon. Ryan Hall, the kid who bonked at the Arcadia Mile trying to hang on to Alan Webb back in high school, has an outside shot at this one. The thing is, the WR might not stand either so he's gonna have to be on his game or he's through. Too many elite Africans there to make you pay for any mistake along the 26.2 miles.</li></ul><br />Sorry that was so long, but it's a special occasion.<br /><br />P.S. While you're in the sporting mood, check this out. A man from Sandy, UT is in the middle of a record attempt of the Appalachian Trail. Over 2000 miles in 47 days. Insane.<br /><br />Link: http://www.whereskarl.com/Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8344264720101341270.post-45995759274384363252008-08-04T23:55:00.003-06:002008-08-05T00:35:07.263-06:00And so it happened...That I got a blog, per request of one Nicholas Tanner Mills. Thank you and continue to check up on this b/c you'll prolly be the only one to ever do so. Obrigado, e boa noite.Natehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060422082725055517noreply@blogger.com4