Quote of the Day

Essentially, we distinguish ourselves from

the rest. If you want to win something,

run the one hundred meters. If you want

to experience something, run a marathon.



Emil Zátopek, a.k.a. "The Czech Locomotive"

Quote of the Day

The individual activity of one man

with backbone will do more than a

thousand men with a mere wishbone.



Reverend William John Henry "J.H." Boetcker

Quote of the Day

Don't expect to build up the weak
by pulling down the strong.



John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.

ESA at TAGS

Joseph's ESA teammates were thinking of him at TAGS last weekend. They weren't alone, were they?

There have already been well over a quarter of a million visits to his Caring Bridge site!

Catch up on Joseph's progress here.

Thanks to Eagle coach John D. for sending this pic!

Quote of the Day

They envy the distinction I have won; let
them therefore, envy my toils, my honesty,
and the methods by which I gained it.



Gaius Sallustius Crispus, a.k.a. Sallust

Quote of the Day

A competent and self-confident person is
incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy
is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.



Robert Anson Heinlein

Weakly Demotivator

Quote of the Day

When we get piled upon one another
in large cities, as in Europe, we shall
become as corrupt as Europe.



Thomas Jefferson

Quote of the Day

I have been honored to have coached some of the

finest athletes in the world, and we've competed

at the very highest levels intercollegiately and

internationally. But, many of my memories

simply revolve around the experience of

working with student-athletes on a daily basis.

That has been as big of a thrill as anything.



Richard Walter Quick

Quote of the Day

Youngsters in Little League can survive under-
coaching a lot better than over-coaching.



William Howard "Willie" Mays, Jr.

Quote of the Day

Live in such a way that you would not be
ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.



William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

Quote of the Day

As you walk down the fairway of
life you must smell the roses, for
you only get to play one round.



William Ben Hogan

Quote of the Day (thanks MS)

I may be a living legend, but that sure don't
help when I've got to change a flat tire.



Roy Kelton Orbison

Quote of the Day

The key to his success? He's just faster
than the guys who are chasing him.



Barry Switzer

Swim at Your Own Risk

Triathletes and open water swimmers probably won't like this choice for Swim Site of the Week.

Swim at Your Own Risk is a site that highlights animal attacks on swimmers.

Get info on shark bites, ray stings, gator chompings, etc. here.

Weakly Demotivator

Quote of the Day

Work while you have the light.
You are responsible for the talent
that has been entrusted to you.



Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Quote of the Day

If you're not practicing, somebody else is,
somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job.



Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr.

Quote of the Day

The game of life is the game of boomerangs.
Our thoughts, deeds, and words return to
us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.



Florence Scovel Shinn

Quote of the Day

Assuming either the Left Wing or the
Right Wing gained control of the country,
it would probably fly around in circles.



Patrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen

Quote of the Day

A joke is not a thing but a process, a trick
you play on the listener's mind. You start
him off toward a plausible goal, and then
by a sudden twist you land him nowhere
at all or just where he didn't expect to go.



Max Forrester Eastman

More Good News

Terri Stanton reports that Joseph is now off the ventilator. Visit his CaringBridge site here.

The friends and family of Joseph Stanton...

Quote of the Day

Dictators, wherever they may be, are afraid
of the truth - they're afraid of the media.



Michael Alan Weiner, a.k.a. Michael Savage

Somebody's Paying Attention

The Cal athletic department may have to get by on less support from the university than in past years. $5 million less. Read more here.

Now a group of eight faculty and alumni recommends that the institution cut its financial support of athletics by more than half, to $5-million annually, with further reductions in years to come. And while acknowledging that Berkeley's athletics program brings in much-needed cohesiveness and philanthropic support, the group is calling on the athletic director, Sandy Barbour, to make "immediate and meaningful changes" in managing the costs of Cal athletics.

The full report is here.

The report faulted the athletics department for three "structural factors" that have, along with fallout from the recession, contributed to the gap: a lack of budgetary controls, participation in a "competitive spending race" that drives up salaries and investment in amenities, and a failure to fully capitalize on philanthropic support.

I found the following to be very interesting:

Scott Biddy, vice chancellor for university relations, was quoted in the report as estimating that a "significantly degraded" athletics program could trigger losses in donations to academics of up to 10 percent, or nearly $25-million in annual giving.

Y'all know swimming alumni tend to give generously. They do, that is, until programs are cut. Ask universities that dropped swimming how much financial support they've received since from former swimmers. I'll bet it's dropped to nearly nothing.

Finally, there's the "if we cut programs, how do we decide who gets the ax?" issue:

If the Chancellor does opt to reduce teams, we suggest that IA employ the following criteria, taken directly from the mission statement of athletics, for deciding which teams should be retained:

o record of athletic success,
o the success and integrity of the academic programs of team members
o the extent to which the team is or can readily become self funded
o compliance with the provisions of Title IX

Quote of the Day

It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always;
this occupation ought to last as long as life.



Christina Alexandra, Queen of Sweden

Quote of the Day

If you would convince a man that he does wrong,
do right. Men will believe what they see.



Henry David Thoreau

Quote of the Day

The hatred you're carrying is a live coal in your
heart - far more damaging to yourself than to them.



Lawana Blackwell

Quote of the Day

Every journalist has a novel in him,
which is an excellent place for it.



Russell Lynes

Quote of the Day

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has
seen and thinking what nobody has thought.



Albert Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt

Quote of the Day

Freedom is never voluntarily

given by the oppressor, it must

be demanded by the oppressed.



Martin Luther King, Jr.

The End of Men?

Don't count on it, Hanna Rosin!

I know you've heard it before, but check out William Tucker's take on Rosin's recent Atlantic Monthly article. If you've got a few minutes to spare, read it here.

When boys arrive at elite colleges they are likely to be subjected to "orientation programs" in which they learn they have spent all their lives oppressing women and that all their natural impulses are now illegal. They will soon find the swim team, the wrestling squad or some other favorite sport no longer exists because, under Title IX, not enough girls would go out for equivalent sports.

The latest development has been the elimination of walk-ons -- non-scholarship athletes who have not been recruited in high school but try out anyway hoping to make the team. The evil prototype here is Rudy, the 1993 movie about Rudy Ruettiger, a Notre Dame football walk-on who sat on the bench for four years before being allowed in for one play -- and sacked the quarterback. Almost all walk-ons are men. This upsets the one-to-one gender balance required by Title IX. In response, team rosters have been trimmed, junior varsity eliminated altogether and thousands and thousands of young men told they can't try out for sports because an equal number of girls won't do the same.

"What they are doing with walk-ons is deplorable," said John McDonnell, holder of 36 national titles as a track and field coach at the University of Arkansas, in a 2002 The New York Times article. "A student should never be told, 'You can't try.' We are supposed to build leaders and instead we're saying, 'Don't reach for something.' We have an obesity problem and we're telling college kids to go back to the dorm, sit on the couch and watch sports on television."

But Marilyn McNeil, chairwoman of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's committee on women's athletics, holds the prevailing opinion "I hate the movie Rudy," she told the Times. "It's time to tell these students: 'You've got other talents. Go write about sports at the school newspaper, join the debate team, or maybe you've got a nice voice and belong on the stage."

Is it any wonder young men don't find college a very friendly environment anymore?

Comments? Holy guacamole, there are plenty of comments!! Afraid some aren't very clean, though. Read at your own risk. Hate mail to The American Spectator.

Quote of the Day

No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.



General George Smith Patton III

Quote of the Day

I find television very educating. Every
time somebody turns on the set, I go
into the other room and read a book.



Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx

IOC Swimming

The official site of the Olympics has a swimming page. Visit it here.

Looking for international meet results? You'll find them under "news".

Weakly Demotivator

Back by popular demand in spite of reader apathy:

Quote of the Day

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces
smart people into thinking they can't lose.



William Henry "Bill" Gates III

Quote of the Day

I never went to college...
I was too busy learnin' stuff.



Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent

Quote of the Day

After silence, that which comes nearest
to expressing the inexpressible is music.



Aldous Leonard Huxley

Quote of the Day

Work and struggle and never accept
an evil that you can change.



André Paul Guillaume Gide