Every so often something happens that reignites a smoldering desire in me to hike the Appalachian Trail. Hiking was forced upon me at a very early age by my parents. Our vacation EVERY YEAR was to go to the wilds of the Maine Woods and spend a few days hiking in Baxter State Park. One of my earliest memories as a child is being carried in a backpack on my father's back as the family hiked the trails around South Branch Pond. I was too small to hike at this point, or I would have simply slowed the rest of the family down too much, so I got a free ride. To keep me entertained as they hiked they fed me Smarties candy, one at a time. The trick was I had to guess the color. My dad would ask me "what color is the sun" and I would shout out "yellow" and he would hand me a yellow Smartie. That kept me entertained for hours at age 3.
Fast forward to 1995 and a friend of mine from college decided to hike the AT upon college graduation. He was a big guy, probably 240 pounds when he hit the trail head at Springer Mountain, Georgia in June that year. Four months later some friends and I met him at the top of Maine's Mount Katahdin, we even lugged beer to the top of the mountain, and he was a svelte 180 pounds. At that point I thought to myself - if he can do it, I could do it.
A few years after that Bill Bryson pens his book "A Walk In The Woods" about his attempt to hike the AT and fans the embers. The book details his adventures on the trail. Bryson hikes 870 miles of the trail, less than half of the 2100+ miles it takes to complete the journey. I have read the book several times, even reading just a chapter of two makes the flames burn hotter.
Today I open up the Travel section of the Washington Post and I am sucked back in again. "Hit The Trail" is the name of the article and it is complete with a map of the route, food, gear and packing tips and more. The most important aspect of attempting an adventure like this is emotional competence. You have to believe that you can do it and you have to have the inner will to overcome the loneliness and obstacles you will encounter on the trail.
At this point the idea of actually hiking the whole AT is just a fantasy. Something I would consider if I become obscenely rich and had lots of free time on my hand. I do have a strong desire to do the Hundred Mile Wilderness but I would need to convince someone (Kevin???) to accompany me. The Hundred Mile Wilderness is the last 100 miles of the trail through the deepest woods of Maine. The intensity of the hiking and the days of solitude are said to be the biggest challenge of the entire 2,100 miles. I would like to hike it just to say that I have done it. Not too many others can make that claim.
Mood: Contemplative
Movie Quote of the Day:
"You're killing me Smalls!" - The Sandlot
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
World Baseball Classic
I enjoyed watching the 2009 edition of the World Baseball Classic. I don't remember watching any of the inaugural event in 2006. This time around I watched every game the US played and parts of several games involving some of the other 15 teams competing. Watching David Wright get a walk off hit in the 9th inning to beat Puerto Rico and send the US team into the semifinals was up there with any baseball moment I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, as a fan rooting for the US team it became very apparent, very early that they would not win the tourney. In fact, given there horrible starting pitching and terrible game management it was a miracle they got as far as they did. It appears that the US treated this tournament as more of an All Star Game while the two teams in the final - Korea and Japan - treated it more like the World Series. The attitude and results go hand in hand.
In an All Star Game the job of the manager is to get every player into the game somehow. That explains why US manager Davey Johnson pinch hit for Curtis Granderson with Evan Longoria in the 8th inning with his team down by two runs and a man on 3rd base in the 8th inning against Japan. There is no other logical explanation for the switch. He took out a left handed power hitter, who could hit with the wind, and put in a right handed power hitter, who had to hit into the wind. That move made no baseball sense, Johnson must have simply been trying to get Longoria an at bat in the series.
The US starting pitching was atrocious and clearly overmatched in nearly every game. Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Ted Lily and Jeremy Guthrie combined to give up 25 runs in 26.3 innings of work. That is an ERA of a whopping 8.54 for our starting pitching. You aren't going to win too many games with those numbers. If the US ever wants to win this thing it has to get it's starting pitchers going a few weeks earlier so they aren't still in stretch out mode during the tourney. That would make a huge difference in their results.
Still, I enjoyed watching players from different clubs all on the same team with the red, white and blue USA logo on their chests. It was clear the players involved enjoyed their experience and gave all they had for their country. I rooted passionately for everyone on the US team during the games with one exception. I just couldn't bring myself to root for Derek Jeter. The Red Sox fan in me is stronger than the baseball fan in me.
Mood: Patriotic
Song of the Day:
"She wants her nails painted black, she wants the toy in the cracker jack, she wants to ride the bull at the rodeo."
-Feel That Fire
Dierks Bentley
Unfortunately, as a fan rooting for the US team it became very apparent, very early that they would not win the tourney. In fact, given there horrible starting pitching and terrible game management it was a miracle they got as far as they did. It appears that the US treated this tournament as more of an All Star Game while the two teams in the final - Korea and Japan - treated it more like the World Series. The attitude and results go hand in hand.
In an All Star Game the job of the manager is to get every player into the game somehow. That explains why US manager Davey Johnson pinch hit for Curtis Granderson with Evan Longoria in the 8th inning with his team down by two runs and a man on 3rd base in the 8th inning against Japan. There is no other logical explanation for the switch. He took out a left handed power hitter, who could hit with the wind, and put in a right handed power hitter, who had to hit into the wind. That move made no baseball sense, Johnson must have simply been trying to get Longoria an at bat in the series.
The US starting pitching was atrocious and clearly overmatched in nearly every game. Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Ted Lily and Jeremy Guthrie combined to give up 25 runs in 26.3 innings of work. That is an ERA of a whopping 8.54 for our starting pitching. You aren't going to win too many games with those numbers. If the US ever wants to win this thing it has to get it's starting pitchers going a few weeks earlier so they aren't still in stretch out mode during the tourney. That would make a huge difference in their results.
Still, I enjoyed watching players from different clubs all on the same team with the red, white and blue USA logo on their chests. It was clear the players involved enjoyed their experience and gave all they had for their country. I rooted passionately for everyone on the US team during the games with one exception. I just couldn't bring myself to root for Derek Jeter. The Red Sox fan in me is stronger than the baseball fan in me.
Mood: Patriotic
Song of the Day:
"She wants her nails painted black, she wants the toy in the cracker jack, she wants to ride the bull at the rodeo."
-Feel That Fire
Dierks Bentley
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