Pending mechanic prepurchase inspection

The new to me minivan might be the best thing for tailgating since the Woody!

Inferno Red Crystal Pearlcoat is the color name. The drop down seats can be arranged to form a bench facing out the back!

And it's got the tricked out doors and lift gate.

Tobacco Road Recap

Ran the half marathon of Tobacco Road. I originally signed up for the full, but training fell apart mid january and this was the only run since. I'm fairly cocky about running into the double digits on little training or notice and this was no exception.

The problem I found was that I couldn't roll back the pace. I wasn't trying to catch or pass people or anything of the sort. I just couldn't run over 9 with only mile markers to guide me. This is a complaint, not a backhanded pat on the back.

A contributing factor is the main purpose of the post: The course for the Tobacco Road Marathon/1/2 M is mostly on old railway line with almost zero grade. It makes Umstead look like the Himalaya (and I've been there to know!)

I know the RA ran the Lejune one, but it seems that it was later in the year (hotter) and further away than Cary (25 Min drive to NetApp parking lot from my house.)

This is a much better deal than Kiawah and it's not a double loop. (My personal thought is double loops are bad on the soul, there are certainly some benefits to them though).

I did NOT see any bare/minimal foot runners in the marathoners or halfers. I did see one chick that didn't look the part of a runner since she could have easily been a cheerleader for a pro team. And she passed me during mile 7, never to be seen again.

So as you guys look ahead to some longer term longer run plans. Keep this late March date in mind for next year 900 Full, 2400 Half.

My only complaint was that as a solo person, I couldn't get parking at the USA baseball complex and had to park at the Net App lot about 4 miles away and use the bus. The 6am bus was easy and great, theyused full sized charters. The after race return was awful, they converted to Cary transit buses that seat 12 and stand another 7-10. There wasn't a clear site for boarding and some buses picked up people running up to them before the impromptu boarding site was reached. I ran a half in 2 hours and then spent an hour waiting to get back to my car.

A local brewery whose name suddenly eludes me set up a beer garden in one of the USA pavillion entry zones. I had the porter, it wasn't blockbuster.

that is all.

NCAA Pool

Okay, so I signed up for a group...invite anyone you want. We can do a pool but I'll have to wait to collect money. This is also my only post on in so there won't be many entrants. Here's the info:

Sportsline!
Group Name: Chrysler Cordoba
Password: lee f

Oh Yeah

I remember why I didn't follow through on an NCAA Pool last year...it's because there's an annual conference that spans Selection Sunday to first round tip off. Sorry guys.

Most awesome team photo ever?

'77 Marquette National Champs

can someone update the RA

regarding the unfortunate series of events OR MMA lite during the Tech/State game. . .

The Power of JG

Coincidence?

1997 Point Guard: Justin Gainey
2010 Point Guard: Javier Gonzalez

This is my favorite mistake

God I hate Sidney Lowe and I know NC State live to crush dreams, but...this team feels very much like the 1997 team. Horrible year, hot streak at end of year, go on an ACC Tourney tear. I say this while we're up by 8 early in the second half, but I expect us to take Duke into the second half. (And then implode).

HAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!

NCAA Pool

So, seriously this year, I'll host an unconventional NCAA pool. My questions are 1) Who is interested and 2) What's an appropriate buy in amount? I would imagine it's open to anyone you invite so spouses and friends I've never met are a.o.k.

The unconventional twist is as follows: You pick your bracket, like normal, but the number of points you get for a correct pick is the number of people who got that pick incorrect. Let's say ten of us enter...all 10 pick the #1 seed to beat the #16 seed in round 1 and since we're all correct, no one gets any points for the pick. But if six correctly pick the outcome of the #7-#9 game, then those six people get 4 points each as 4 people were incorrect. The sidekick should love the game theory aspects.

Kind of a silly blog

it's devoted to how pro wrestlers hold their championships, but it's pretty neat to see all of those old pics of guys (there's a crazy one of Ricky Steamboat where he's just...DAMN!):

Strap Fashion

SANDSTORM!!!!!!!!

Yet Another Fake Twitter Account

Lucas Van Praag, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Tweets far less than Lee Fowler because success takes up more time than failure. Best tweet:

@thattwerptaibbi. Stop hounding me! Yes, it's true. $GS funded Kate Gosselin's makeover AND bought CDS against her performance on DWTS.

In layman terms. Yes, we gave Kate Gosselin a high-interest loan to gussie up for her Dancing With the Stars appearance. And no, I don't feel bad that we used information on her loan application to then bet on her poor performance on the show. That's how we roll at Goldman Sachs.

This is exactly how Goldman made a crap load of cash with Greece, Mortgage Backed Securities, and Bears Sterns stock.

So the Rear Needs to Draft, After All

Thomas Jones cut by the Jets.