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October 28, 2009 —
Terrain parks and NASCAR have more in common than I originally thought.
Part of the reason is because I originally thought they had absolutely nothing in common, and I was mostly right: NASCAR happens at high speeds on hot asphalt at places like “The Brickyard,” involves a lot of motorized and mechanized machinery, large support teams, and costs millions to participate. Riding the terrain park happens at low speed on cold snow at places like “High Divide,” involves one human being, one board, a bit of snow, and it’s cheap enough so pretty much anyone can participate.
But they’re both fun to watch: you never know when there’s going to be a wreck.
This Nobel-prize-worthy deep thought occurred to me at the A-Basin terrain park while watching huckmeister after huckmeister hurl his/her soft flesh and brittle bones across the cold, hard bars of reality. The arrival of each nubile young boarder/skier atop the railyard reeked with the promise of devastation. I could almost smell a YouTube moment on its way. Carnage combos scrolled through my mind like a Taco Bell menu: snow to face, face to bar, bar to face, knee to nose, nose to bar … and my own personal favorite, bar to groin. I watched and waited for a dose of shock in rubber-necked horrification.
Yet it never came. Somehow, even this early in the season, each set of baggy pants that braved the railyard came away unscathed. Every teenage fashion nightmare that set forth into the web of metal bars miraculously (and sometimes barely) escaped the sting of injury. No carnage, no YouTube, no problem.
Disappointed, I did what I had come to do: ski down the precious few runs available at this time of year, where I found myself surprisingly non-disappointed. October skiing is good for the brain, helps remind that life above 8,000 feet, as gray as it may be this time of year, always delivers a sunny disposition. I soon overcame my sense of loss at not having witnessed a viral video firsthand.
True, a few runs down the base of A-Basin will hardly have a effect in January, but in comparison to my other annual early-season trips to A-Basin, or Loveland, Copper or Keystone, I have to say this one ranks among the best. The snow conditions were very good … weirdly good, and even in my banged-up, rusty-bladed tele skis I was able to find an edge. The air was clean, the wind blew in the face, and two runs later my legs ached with the age-old reminder that Miller Time is never really too far away. So it wasn’t long before we called it quits and hit the bar (after all, we wouldn’t want to strain a muscle, would we?), and left the mountain with a sense of accomplishment.
Now, to leave you with a similar feeling of accomplishment (for having read this blog all the way to the end), I’ll show you a true YouTube worthy moment:
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Hey men, are you tough enough to vote?
October 23, 2009 —
Some see voting as edifying, others see it as an exercise in futility, but when the Vail elections come around again this November, it may make some voters feel more manly.
A new study released in PloS ONE October 21 reveals that testosterone levels are affected in voting men, raising levels in some and lowering them in others. The researchers involved in the study hypothesize that many of the races are about dominance of one social group over another … or one person over another. The act of voting and the results both affected the levels of testosterone in men who were asked to chew sugar free gum and spit into a cup. Their saliva was then analyzed for testosterone levels before and after voting.
Read more about the study at www.sciam.com, and perhaps it will shed a little light on exactly what’s behind the political posturing so prevalent before and after elections.
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Indian Summer
October 19, 2009 —
Snow melt made Shrine Pass road look like a black cherry snowcone, white intermixed with red sandstone mud, and when we returned from a hike I traded out my wet, snowy boots for a pair of dry summer sandals.
There are always a few days a year like that, the Indian summer afternoons that trick your mind, melt the snow, make you think it’s spring.
We’ll get a few more of these, and by mid November everyone will be wondering if the snow will ever going to come. Happens every year. We worry, then it comes, regardless of how much we worry.
Each season in the mountains has its benefits – in October and early November it's the blue-sky days. Snow seems unnecessary. The leaves have mostly disappeared, but so have the leaf peepers, leaving the town empty of all visitors except elk and deer hunters, who stay high in the mountains, mainly. So we have the place to ourselves. Working seems superfluous to most, and free time is at a maximum. Biking and hiking aren’t out of the question, but neither is taking a few early season turns at high elevation. It’s cool enough for cooking up that first pot of chili, but warm enough to eat it on the back porch in the afternoon. Sitting there, after a short mid-October bird hunt, I watched the very last Aspen leaves drop away, one by one, from the last waking trees as they drifted into winter sleep.
Winter will come, and with it the inevitable snow. Vail Village will see the Christmas lights and hear sleigh bells, come alive with the opening of shops and restaurants, bars, and of course the ski hills. We will all be watching closely, counting the people, watching our money, trying to figure out how well we’re doing, how we’re weathering the economic storm, and whether we’ll be able to keep doing what we’re doing through the winter and into next year. It will be a more lively time, but more stressful. It can wait. For now it’s better to revel in the snowless days of Indian Summer.
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As the Broncos prepare for Patriots, a prelude to an apology
October 7, 2009 —
Yes Colorado, the Denver Broncos may be a viable NFL football team after all.
A quick Google search using the terms "Josh McDiapers" will display a blog called “Preparing for dismal Denver Broncos season.” And yes, I am the wordsmith who put together those stinging words of derision aimed, in particular, at Josh McDaniels and more indirectly at Pat Bowlen.
And now it’s time to eat a little crow – not just for me, but for all of us out there in the blogosphere who saw Denver’s offseason as a long series of torturous mistakes.
Now that Denver has come out of the gate 4-0, I want to issue a heartfelt apology to the Broncos’ true leader, the man who has lifted our team above the meanness and controversy, turned us around and straightened us out.
So here it is: I’m sorry, Mike Nolan.
Coach Nolan, I apologize for not seeing how important you were to our restructuring, nor how big of a difference your coaching and strategy would make.
I’m sorry for not seeing that your experience and steadiness would guide us through the turmoil caused by the firing of Mike Nolan, the dismissal of Jeremy Bates, the attempted drafting of Matt Cassel, the departure of Jay Cutler, a bizarre draft, the benching of our most talented offensive player, the overpaying of a long snapper, and more than one major locker room conflict.
As a long-time Mike Shanahan fan, I had forgotten that a strong defense can make up for offensive mistakes, that defense can win a game in the final minutes, that turnovers can give even the most impotent of offenses the chance to put touchdowns on the board.
I forgot that old saying: “defense wins championships.”
And I certainly had no idea our defense would even be in the running, let alone ranked atop the NFL in almost all categories after four weeks of NFL play. Denver’s defense is tops in points per game (6.5), total points (26), and second in total yards per game (238). The NFL sack leader is a man who once played lineman, who now plays linebacker in a completely new system: Elvis Dumervil.
Nolan and the defense deserve a world of credit. After all, McDaniels has said time and again in the press that the defense is not his concern, that he leaves it up to Nolan, and he doesn’t worry about it too much.
As for McDaniels, well...
In the past I have called for McDaniels metaphorical head, mangled the man’s name, and appointed myself “lead booer” for any and all mistakes the young man makes.
As my media-savvy friend Kristen Rust pointed out to me … I was probably just jealous. McDaniels is almost exactly my same age, knows his football very well, is slightly better looking (only slightly!!), and has one hell of a dream job. I, on the other hand, am an obscure blogger for a small mountain website, a washed up journalist working in the washed up media industry, with an audience only slightly more numerous than the Broncos’ south stands.
While that assessment is almost certainly accurate, it’s also the case that I’m not ready to let McDaniels off the hook quite yet.
Four wins looks a lot less impressive when you consider who we’ve played so far. Only one of the offenses we’ve played are ranked in the top 25 … and Dallas hardly has a powerhouse passing game. It’s true that Denver’s performance has been stellar, defensively, no matter who you’re up against, but even McDaniels has acknowledged that the team must play better, work harder, and most importantly, must be coached better.
I’ll say this about the young gun leading our team right now – he is learning fast. At first I took him to be a blow hard, a hardliner, a mall cop stuck in a wanna-be Belichick uniform. However he’s proven to be much more than that – a man who can learn on his feet, admit his mistakes, and chalk up one hell of an offensive play from time to time.
It’s a long season yet to come, and I’m not ready to jump on the McDaniels bandwagon quite yet. He’s got a tough schedule ahead, and a lot left to accomplish.
More importantly, he's a long way to go before we can say that dumping Cutler was a good idea ... or at the very least, that it didn't matter.
But, at 4-0, I think I can safely stop calling him McDiapers.
Good luck, Josh.
1 Comment on "As the Broncos prepare for Patriots, a prelude to an apology"
raggamuffin — October 7, 2009
ARE YOU A OYSTER HARBORS BOYD ?
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