In honor of the last day of spring passing by, I’m going to do a little belated spring cleaning and clear out a few column ideas that are interesting to me, but don’t have enough “meat on the bone,” as it were, to fill out a full 1,000-word column by themselves. Here goes…
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This is my least favorite time of the year. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, the pinnacle of light here in the Happy Valley, but it means that we are now in the long slow slide into darkness. The days are getting shorter. I must note that my wife, however, welcomes all seasons and appreciates the summer solstice as much as the winter solstice.
Now, anyone who remembers their trigonometry and understands how sine waves work knows that for the next month or so the difference in the amount of light every day will be very small. But the process has begun, and by September that difference will be noticeable every day.
According to AccuWeather, as I write this there will be 15 hours and six minutes of sunlight today. Sunrise is at 5:40 a.m. and sunset at 8:46 p.m. Of course, that’s at the horizon, and locals know it takes a few more minutes for the sun to peak up over Mt. Nittany or Tussey Mountain, but those times turn into lots of darkness by mid-December. So, enjoy the light while we have it!
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A little over a week ago the fourth Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley race took place here and around State College. For those uninitiated in these races, the Ironman 70.3 consists of a 1.2-mile swim followed by a 56-mile bike ride and finishes with a half-marathon run.
These 70.3 Ironman’s are the more popular version of the original Ironman races – whose distances are a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, finishing with a marathon. Which is significantly more difficult to do than it is to comprehend!
When I lived in Orlando back in the 1990’s, a local group organized what became the longest running independent full-distance triathlon in the world. They put it on in the town of Clermont, just west of Orlando. Being young and foolish, a few friends and I gave some thought to doing one, however, being an absolutely horrible swimmer, it was a no-go for me. Plus, I didn’t want to encounter any gators in the lake.
But the organizers knew there was a demand for this new racing concept, so they came up with their own “sprint” triathlons to reach a wider audience. A short quarter-mile swim along the beach in the lake, followed by an 8.2-mile bike around the lake, and finishing up with a 5K through town.
Even a horrible swimmer like me could doggie-paddle 440 yards along the lakefront, so my friends and I entered a couple of them. Luckily, they had a “Clydesdale” category for those people weighing over 200 pounds, or my placings would have looked even worse!
Last Sunday morning while my wife and I were in Trader Joe’s doing our weekly shopping trip, we had a conversation with one of the wonderful folks there regarding how we were glad we weren’t doing the triathlon. Which caused the gentleman to suggest that the powers-that-be hold a triathlon version even we older folks could engage in.
His suggestion was to have a swim portion that involved a few laps in the lazy river at Welch pool, followed by a ride on e-bikes up to the Creamery on campus, where you would get an ice cream cone that you must eat on your walk down to the finish at Beaver Stadium.
Now, that’s the kind of triathlon I can get behind. The Adventure Bureau needs to get on this!
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From 2008–2012 the Travel Channel broadcasted a show called “Man v. Food.” Adam Richman hosted 88 episodes during that time, and then the show was revived with Casey Webb as host for 64 episodes from 2017–2020. The concept of the show was that the host would travel around the country and take on local eating challenges – such as eating a certain amount of food in a specific time limit. And in the war of Man v. Food, sometimes Man won.
Now, one of the ways I stay in a small bit of shape – hopefully for that ice cream triathlon above – is by walking and occasionally jogging around town. And as I do this, I encounter my own version of a “Man v.” scenario – that of Man v. Car. The problem is, in the war of Man v. Car, Car always wins.
What I mean is that as I walk and jog around town, I need to cross a few streets. According to Title 75, Part III, Chapter 35, Subchapter C, Section 3542 of The Consolidated Statutes of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania’s Vehicle Code), as a “General rule” I, the pedestrian, has the right-of-way. To wit: “When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.”
Something that is driven home, so-to-speak, by a number of yellow signs placed in the middle of streets around town.
Except, immediately following that section is this: “Exercise of care by pedestrian–No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute a hazard.”
In other words, if there is a car approaching and I would reasonably expect to get hit, I can’t walk into the street.
A concept that the PA Department of Transportation covers on their website when they acknowledge that, “drivers are not required to yield until you begin to step into the crosswalk,” and then goes on to say that, “Pedestrians should not walk or run unexpectedly into the path of a moving vehicle. Pedestrians should not assume drivers will see or yield. Look left, right, and left again before stepping out.”
So, drivers don’t have to yield until I enter the street, but I can’t enter the street if there’s a moving car. The point being, as I said, in the war of Man V. Car, Car always wins. So, if you are driving around town and see me approaching a street corner or crosswalk, don’t bother stopping because I won’t cross the street until it’s all clear. I prefer not to engage in the war of Man v. Car, thank you very much.
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Arguably the most popular sporting event in the entire world that isn’t called the Olympics is taking place in our country – and Canada and Mexico – right now. The World Cup soccer tournament is on for the next few weeks and the U.S. Men’s National Team has been getting fans excited because they’ve already won two games.
Granted, not many are giving the U.S. team a chance of winning the tournament, and since the United States’ best men’s finish ever was a semifinal loss in the very first World Cup in 1930, as much as we want to believe the U.S. team has a chance, the odds are very much against it.
So, who are the favorites to win this World Cup? According to the betting odds on FOX Sports, the top five teams are France, Spain, England, Argentina and Portugal.
France has a population of 66.7 million people. Spain has 47.8 million. England has 58.6 million. Argentina has 46 million. And Portugal has 10.4 million people.
While the United States has 349 million people. Well over 100 million more people than those five countries put together. So, what’s the deal?! Shouldn’t we at least be able to win one of these things every once in a while? Rather than likely finishing in 11th place, according to the oddsmakers?
Well, now that the NCAA has removed scholarship limits from all college sports and just instituted roster limits, I think we might start seeing more kids sticking with soccer, because colleges that want to excel at the sport can now give every student-athlete a full scholarship – as opposed to being limited to 11 like they used to be.
For years, as kids got into high school sports, many of the young male athletes would migrate to football because that’s where the most scholarships were. But if scholarship opportunities increase in soccer, these kids might continue in that sport and improve the overall level of play in this country. A rising tide lifts all ships, and although it might take a few years, a good showing by the U.S. in this World Cup could signal a sea change that ultimately ends up with a World Cup victory in another decade or two. Believe!
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That concludes my belated spring cleaning – now go get some ice cream to prepare for our own version of the triathlon and enjoy your summer in Happy Valley!
