October 25, 2010 - Sunken Dreams

us swimmer dies during race
Short Story: Running marathons = dangerous. Swimming marathons = more dangerous.
Long Story: I guess there is a lesson to be learned here, and it's probably to not swim in excessively long races in hot water, but for right now, it's mostly just a sad story. A young up-and-coming open water swimming star from the U.S. named Fran Crippen died over the weekend during something called the Marathon Swimming World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, which just sounds like an all-around dangerous idea to me. Apparently, Crippen died of over-exertion. Now, during a regular marathon, he could have just stopped and laid down. Unfortunately, in swimming that alternative is not quite as available.
Pedro Martinez
October 25, 2010: Pedro Martinez Day! - The most famous jheri curls since Michael Jackson.
WHY?: No one will ever accuse Pedro Martinez of being one of the juicers of the steroid era. That's probably because, at his peak, he was about 5'11" and 140 pounds. In his latter days, he put on a few pounds, but it was mostly in the midsection, and not in the head, a la Barry Bonds. He rocked the Coming to America Soul-Glo-style jheri curls for almost his entire Hall of Fame career. When he won the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, he celebrated in style, with his very own midget! Despite his three Cy Youngs and a World Series ring, many people will remember him mainly for his infamous takedown of old man Don Zimmer in the 2003 Playoffs, which, I guess at the end of the day, is a pretty awesome thing to be remembered for.

TOMORROW'S contenders:
Jon Heder - You may know him slightly better as Napoleon Dynamite.
Hillary Clinton - The most beautiful Secretary of State in all the land.
Dylan McDermott - I know this dude is a famous actor. I just have no idea of anything he's been in.

10/26 POTD Poll!

bizarre vending machines
In some ways, I kind of think all vending machines are a little weird.
football players stuck on elevator
Doesn't anyone pay attention to the capacity limits on elevators these days?
favre admits voicemails
He says those pictures weren't his though. Hopefully they don’t ask him to stand in a genitalia lineup.
hiccup girl charged with murder
Apparently hiccups can drive someone to murder.
what juan williams got fired for
"Listen, I'm not a bigot, I just don't trust an entire group of people based on how they dress."