Me and Bike the Drive 2010

Chicago's annual Bike the Drive event is where busy Lake Shore Drive is closed to car traffic then turned over to bicycle traffic. Bike the Drive is also my ultimate machismo statement, I ride a bicycle faster than you. Yes, that means you too towing your four year old daughter behind your cruiser bike. Actually, I was more sociable this year. I spoke to riders along the route other than the usual, "I'm on your left" and made conversation during rest stops. This is the video I made at this year's event.

I am riding a mountain bike, the same mountain bike I use for commuting. I cannot keep up with hard charging riders on road bikes. The people passing me like I was standing still were riding road bikes or recumbent bikes. I am buying a good road bike in the upcoming months and my fangs will be out even further for next year's event.

The following is the video I made from Bike the Drive 2009. The video is over 36 minutes long and I sometimes watch it while I am on my stationary bike to simulate real conditions.


Ken Biking The Drive, 2009

MySpace Video

Floyd Landis: Is there any proof...anything?

If only one person on Earth needs to put up or shut up, then disgraced (and stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win) Floyd Landis is that person. His allegations about Lance Armstrong are obviously false and unfounded. How do I know his allegations are false and unfounded? I know because of the French. If the French could not find anything to discredit Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins, then Lance is clean. The French tried hard and are still trying overtime because Lance Armstrong is not done with the Tour de France yet. The French caught several big name cyclists doping during the Armstrong years, but none with the last name Armstrong. Are we to believe Lance Armstrong is too smart to be caught? Smarter than the French? Smarter than every athlete caught taking performance enhancing drugs (and there are a lot of cheaters being caught these days)? Or are we to believe Lance Armstrong used the same strength and determination when overcoming cancer to also overcome seven Tour de Frances? I prefer the latter.

Shouldn't the League Commissioner Present the Championship Trophy?

I have witnessed four Northern League championships settled at US Steel Yard in Gary and one CBA championship settled in Gary. All five times the league commissioner strolled out to the middle of the playing surface to present the championship trophy to the winning team. I have watched an AHL championship final on tv where the AHL commissioner presented the cup to the winning team. This YouTube video shows then IHL commissioner, Paul Pickard presenting the 2009 Turner Cup to the Fort Wayne Komets.

The league commissioner has also presented the winning team its championship trophy every time I have watched a major league championship final game.

The commissioner presents the winning team the championship trophy. That is universal protocol. However, the director of operations (third in the chain of command) presented the 2010 Premier Basketball League champions their trophy. Maybe the PBL commissioner was too busy that day. Maybe it does not matter who presents the trophy in the PBL. It does send a message to the rest of the organized sports world though. The message is we aren't organized and we don't care.

Owner of the Strangest Minor League Interviewed

Finally the owner of the strangest minor league (at least, the strangest minor league I ever saw), the Premier Basketball League (PBL), was interviewed with real questions. Dr. Severko Hrywnak, owner and C.E.O. of the PBL re-affirmed why I think the PBL is such a strange league, but he answered the questions rather honestly. I found his candor refreshing. Apparently Dr. Hrywnak is not a spin doctor.

Excerpts from the article:

...
Q: When do you think (the league can run without your money)?

Hrywnak: I wish I had that crystal ball. To run the league, it costs on the average about $1 million a year.

Q: What’s the goal, getting to the point where you aren’t the bank for the league and every owner has a stable operation?

Hrywnak: I’d like the team owners to be profitable, and I’d like, as an ownership group, that we’d all have a piece of the league and everyone can benefit.
...

Next blog: Shouldn't the League Commissioner Present the Championship Trophy?

China Stripped of Bronze Medal

Let this be a reminder to all, especially minor league sports that think they will save their leagues because mainland China is "flush with cash". No need looking to the far east for the next franchise opportunity. Mainland China is not a fair partner. In other words, the Chinese government cheats whether it is sports, business, or humanity in general.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100428/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_gym_underage_gymnast

Apparently, Dong (on the right) willingly admits her correct age. It is the Chinese system that plays fast and loose with the rules, not necessarily the Chinese people.

The Strangest Minor League in the World

What makes the Premier Basketball League (PBL) so strange? It is not because the league is disorganized. Lots of minor leagues are disorganized. It is not because member teams have come and gone (sometimes during the season). Lots of minor leagues have teams come and go. It is not because this league has a tendency of issuing rambling sour grapes type press releases. http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3982349 Lots of minor leagues have trouble grasping the concept of the proper press release. The PBL is strange because it is disorganized, teams come and go, they issue WTF type press releases, AND the owner (yes, this league has an owner) apparently has tons of money to correct those problems. Yet this league plods along on its current course.

I Fought My Credit Card Company and Finally Won!

I was late paying my credit card bill in October 2009 by one day. I have not been late paying for a few years running. A $39 late fee appeared on my next statement. I did not like it and I thought it was nitpicking because of one lousy day, but I was late after all. January 2010 statement and my interest rate was hiked an additional 14%. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

What's going on? Why did my APR go through the roof all of a sudden? My questions were directed toward the customer service representative. She told me it was because I was late in October. I was frustrated and she was frustrated as well. Apparently, her training was limited to offering cash rewards to customers.

My credit card company was obviously trying to beat the February 22, 2010 deadline where banks could no longer raise interest rates unexpectedly on late payments less than 60 days. I made sure to remind them of this as often as I could.

The bank finally caved-in in April and returned my APR to original pre-January 2010 levels. I am a cardholder in good standings and I bugged them every chance I got. This large multi-national bank realized they were being excessive. Well, the customer service manager blamed it on the software. It's all automated. It wasn't our decision Yeah right. It was their decision to program the software though.