Sports

101 posts

The Solitude and Pain of an Early Morning Run for a Non-Runner

800px-Harlem_MeerMy alarm goes off at 5 AM, but lately I’m already awake to dismiss it. I’m not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but I love solitude and on the streets of New York, if you want to run mostly alone, you have rise before the sun.

I sleep in two stubby, curly pigtails so I can just slip on a headband, my uniform of cropped microfiber pants, one of my beloved and now-discontinued Duck sports bras, t-shirt, fleece, and ugly but sublime-feeling New Balances. I keep a mug of cold coffee by my bed that I down like medicine, before grabbing my phone, Metrocard and head out the door. Continue reading →

NCAA Tournament – Round of 64/32 Wrap-Up

The first week of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in the books, and the Sweet Sixteen is set. For those of you that missed the action, here’s a recap of this weekend’s memorable moments, a preview of next weekend’s action, and an update on the Crasstalk Bracket Funderdome Challenge.

Before we begin, let us all recognize the efforts of the NIT 16-seed Robert Morris Colonials in bouncing the NIT 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats last Tuesday. Godspeed, Colonials. Continue reading →

Picking Your Crass NCAA Bracket for Fun and Profit

Important note: The Grand Inquisitor does not follow college ball, so she is relying on the wisdom of Crassers Past (St. Patrick’s Year) to get you started. You can sign up for Crasstalk Funderdome brackets here. The team password is “indianasucks” (without the quotes).

Today is Christmas wrapped in the Super Bowl surrounded by endless waves of Kentucky Derby roses for gambling professionals, casinos, Hoboken wise guys, and offshore sports books. This is the day when the non-gamblers gamble, the day when grandmas, toddlers, the comatose and Nepalese Sherpas all gather round the television and fill out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket without knowing the difference between Duke and Duquesne or a chance in hell of actually winning the office, school or neighborhood pool.

And the pros –also that skeezy guy from Tech Support who runs this thing every year–are lining up to take your bracket and your money. The only time you’ll hear from them again is through a weekly email between now and Easter showing you and your colleagues just  badly your bracket is progressing. Continue reading →

ESPN Host Says Robert “RG3” Griffin III Not Really Black

First Take, a generally awful ESPN program hosted by Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, was discussing Redskins rookie QB Robert Griffin III aka RG3. RG3 is a black quarterback, so that is automatically a story for the sports media. So much so that RG3 keeps getting asked about his blackness during press conferences. Here’s how he handled the question of being a black QB in DC during his last presser: Continue reading →

The Rundown – NFL Week 13

TrophyFor the last quarter of the season The Rundown will be switching to Sunday mornings in a blatant attempt to spur conversation. I’ll be doing a preview of some of the most important match ups of the week instead of doing a review of the previous week’s action. See what I did there? I added a “p”. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are still making picks and while Thursday’s wasn’t posted you will have to take my word for it we both picked the Broncos. Anyway, on to The Rundown. Continue reading →

The Only Weight Training Supplements You Need

Have you ever been to a GNC or The Vitamin Store?  It is bewildering the volume and variety of weight training nutritional supplements available.  Ditto if you’ve ever read a fitness or weight training magazine.  Everyone has this product or that product they insist will give you amazing gains, deep cuts, and noticeable results in just (insert unrealistic time frame).

I’m here to tell you that, after 20 years of weight training, I’ve come to a conclusion:  there’s not very much out there that’s worth spending your hard earned money on. The majority of it is just bunk.  Some of it might work, but the effect is so minor as to not be worth it for the amateur weight trainer or fitness enthusiast.  If you were an Olympic athlete competing in events where fractions of a second can mean the difference between a Wheaties contract or four more years of anonymous high altitude training in Denver, then sure, go spend the money on anything that will give you even the slightest edge.  I’m pretty sure Michael Phelps doesn’t have an Intense Debate account, so I’m not going there.

For the rest of us who just want to be a little stronger, a little bigger, maybe a little more lean, here’s the supplements I recommend, because they’ve produced tangible, noticeable results for me. Continue reading →