Does hair removal really make a difference at a non-elite level?
4: I know that they do it at the high school level.
Does hair removal really make a difference at a non-elite level?
Not really, but some people shave, and the rest are basically hairless honky types, and 1) I'm not so keen on playing Chewbacca At The Pool and 2) I'm actually pretty curious about how it would feel to swim shaved, and this is a chance to find out.
6: Bpl said something, didn't she?
5: Some high school swimmers are actually elites or aspiring elites.
Some people have an elite level of body hair.
You have to hand it to them, that Nike ad is pretty amazing.
I think (a) this Nike ad is OK, but not great, and (b) in general, Nike ads have been pretty average for the last five to ten years (with some notable exceptions). They used to have a more whimsical sensibility that leavened the "Just Do It"-ness.
Some high school swimmers are actually elites
No kidding. The Coach has a few swimmers who qualified for Olympic trials, and my lessons overlap with some of their workouts. Holy shit.
On my hs swim team, all the boys would shave together -- dry -- on the bus on the way to States. A sort of team-building homosocial activity.
I think I still have a tshirt with drawing of a bloody razor on it.
There was a girl at my high school who was Allison Wagner. I think I've never mentioned that secret before.
I thought the Nike ad seemed kind of video-gamelike. So maybe the subliminal message is you need to wear these shoes while you play with your Wii. Nikes are for everyone!
Well, I played football against Joe Schmiesing, who went on to a seven-year pro career. So there.
Or is that so obvious that only a luddite like me would have thought it required a mention? It is, isn't it?
this Nike ad is OK, but not great
It made soccer look like an exciting sport. That takes a pretty great ad.
The video reminded us that soccer is in fact exciting for the people actually playing the game.
Also, it stopped about 75 seconds in and went directly to the end.
How will I know what it was an ad for? Who is this "Nike"? Conservapedia is no help.
The ad is more like a lame music video, albeit with pantsing.
You know who makes great ads? Gatorade.
There is not enough stored blood in the Western United States to transfuse ogged should he decide to wax.
Whatever happened to my proposal that Ogged be pantsed? IIRC he resorted to idle threats of violence, but how did the Unfoggetariat rule?
Since the word "depantsed" exists, can't we use that instead?
I mean, a foreign observer woudl presume that "pantsed" is the default state.
Ogged, though an alien, understands the American idiom.
Careful, Emerson. Man sounds like the kind of publication that might be NSFW.
Man is a very Oggedesque publication.
Gosh it's good to see Unf around these parts.
Use clippers first Ogged. At the last meet that I went to, a swarthy Armenian guy was shaving down the the first time. He didnt listen to me. He went throw a pack of razors and cut himself to hell.
Also, please remember that the guys going :33 are WAY better than you and they know it.
You humilate them if you even finish close to them.
Well, he shouldn't have thrown them at himself.
the guys going :33 are WAY better than you and they know it
Yeah, the guy who went :33 in the last meet swam at Texas. I do feel like I've got a lot of room for improvement. I don't think I can go :35 in this meet, but maybe in a few months.
You humilate them if you even finish close to them.
No moral victories!
there is nothing moral about it.
I've been swimming more lately. Last week, I swam three times. By friday, we did a broken 1650 and it nearly killed me. (4x400 on 5 mins and then a 50 fast)
SCY? I want times, Will. Not that I can even swim one 400 without my heart starting to skip beats. (bpl, on the other hand, is a threat to win both of her races: 400 free, 200 IM.)
The Coach has a few swimmers who qualified for Olympic trials, and my lessons overlap with some of their workouts. Holy shit.
No doubt. One of my best friends growing up captained the HS water polo team. His sister made the trials. Full scholarship to USC. I found some of her times under "1995-96 Women of Troy Best Performances".
50 Free 23.26
100 Free 50.75
200 Free 1:54.39
200 IM 2:11.72
100 Fly 56.05
scy. I went 446, 455, 458, 450, :33.
It nearly killed me. Prior to that week, I had swam once or twice a week for four weeks.
What will bpl likely go in the 400 free and 200im?
I'm swimming with a guy who is the masters world record holder (45 yrs old) and he just kicks my ass up and down the pool. But, it is making me work hard.
Those aren't bad times for an old guy. But some of those masters swimmers just don't seem to age.
What will bpl likely go in the 400 free and 200im?
This is long course, and she's going about 5:25ish in the 400 right now, and about 3:00 flat in the 200IM.
OK, I'll shut up. I've been bored to death. Don't mourn, organize.
22: Yeah. I suppose puking on the sidewalk was meant to be a hommage.
Not that I can even swim one 400 without my heart starting to skip beats
A 400 is a length of the race, right? And you are not doing that in this meet. I mean to say, if you were to be doing so, the staff would be informed that you have a funky heart, I assume.
45: or to this. I think Nike used photos of him throwing up in an ad, but google is unable to find me any. Nor is there video. I remember seeing it live.
My race is 50 meters. Crazy people who like to simulate feelings of death in the water do races that are 400, 800, even 1500 meters long.
I wouldn't tell them about my heart, since it's unlikely that I'd pass out and there's nothing they could do for me there anyway, and it's generally not life-threatening.
I remember seeing it live.
You're now the definitive source on that story, as far as I'm concerned.
I remember that comment. I was hoping with the advance of the internet - does anyone else sometimes look at an old thread where something is referenced but not linked and realize 1) it's on youtube now and 2) there is a youtube now? - I could better illustrate the story.
Although now I wonder if it was a taped broadcast where I was living.
It would be greater still to have a shot at winning, but yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.
"Generally not life threatening" is not really reassuring.
I agree with Cala. You should be commended for competing.
53: How long from now until you race?
If three different people have put this up on YouTube, that Kempainen performance has to go up someday.
How long from now until you race?
Just under six weeks. I have to say, I really enjoy getting ready for a competition and I've missed it a lot. It's nice to have a sense of purpose, and have it be something you really enjoy anyway.
a goal really makes it a lot easier to train.
Tapering is the best!
I've been joking about a three week taper.
I'm surprised to find this picture on a celebrity site.
67, are we supposed to recognize which one he is?
The one falling flat on his face, I presume.
Doing your best, even if you don't win, is good. This isn't some namby let-the-terrorists win thing, because we all wish to crush our rivals under our boots swimming trunks meaty thighs....just that the master's category probably has a lot of people that have been swimming ten times as long as you.
Also, don't die, because St. Peter laughs at dead weekend warriors more than he laughs at people who die while texting cock jokes to blogs.
I have to say, I really enjoy getting ready for a competition and I've missed it a lot.
If you really want to compete on a regular basis, there's always this.
67: Where are the Kenyans? Is this an affirmative-action race?
If you really want to compete on a regular basis, there's always this.
probably too late to qualify for this year, though.
The one falling flat on his face, I presume.
I think so. The caption isn't really what's memorable about the picture.
sorry to post again, but the hobbies of the participants in 73 are great.
72: There was only one in that semi-final. In the final Kenyans were 1 and 2. Results. Championships back then only allowed 3 participants per country per event.
And, of course, training is much, much easier when your girlfriend is training for the same meet and trains much harder than you do. We drove back from the French Laundry, dropped off my mom, and went swimming.
Also, don't die
I'm not going to die; I didn't mean to worry anyone.
Tapering?
Ogged's not going to die. I think he swims this length regularly, I imagine.
"Saad Shaddad Al-Asmari" from Saudi Arabia was probably a Kenyan too. Or had they not started doing that back then?
Tapering The archives!
Ok, I have a hot date with my elliptical machine.
79: Could be, but at that point I had the impression that most citizenship changes were more legitimate (like Kipketer and Denmark).
I haven't kept up, but at one time about ten of the twenty best steeplechasers were Kenyan, with a couple from neighboring areas.
Along with the 4oom hurdles the steeplechase strikes me as the most demanding running race.
All-time steeplechase list (by performance, not performer, so there's a bunch of repeats by the same runners. About Shaheen; only other non-Kenyan for a long way down is Boulami (who was banned at one point for doping).
Wilson Kipketer is not to be confused with Wilson Boit Kipketer.
I shaved my legs for the ironman. Doesn't really impact over the length of the race, but psychologically impactful and yeah, it felt good.
Good commercial. Holy moly do I want to play again.
Croghan at 382 seems to be the top honky. Krzysztof Wesolowski is next.
Wrong. Francesco Panetta and Mark Rowland were the best honky steeplechasers. The Kenyans seem to have taken over about 1988-1989.
You know who makes great ads? Gatorade.
I can't believe Bronislaw Malinowski's gold medal performance is only #2,692 on that list. It was the world record 35 years ago!
I don't remember Vroemen setting the European record or Daniel Lincoln breaking the American record. I guess I really haven't been paying much attention to track since the late 90s.
Oh, I see Professor Malinowski makes many appearances higher up on the list. Clearly there was some sort of paradigm shift during the 1970s and steeplechase records were constantly being shattered.
Cala, I couldn't either on unfogged, but it played fine on youtube's own site.
In college ten years ago, my brother and his track-team friends used to have Nike posters up on their dorm room walls, for motivational purposes -- they just cut them out of magazines (the team was sponsored by Reebok). Nike ad people know their market.
A Christian Brothers school run by Irish priests in the rift valley was where a lot of great Kenyan athletes got their start.
45: The ad pales in comparison, obviously.
Oh, hey, it works on youtube. Thanks ben! And it is, contra B, a good ad.
It's the only Nike ad I've ever seen that made me see how it could motivate me to buy the product, instead of just thinking "wow, that's a clever ad."
The Nike ad sucks.
Why do you hate high-desert hesher rock, B?
You can watch a bigger, higher-quality version here.
I just watched it again; still great. The in-game action is fantastic--soccer is exciting! Who knew? And they do a fun job of delivering the narrative economically. But I know the world is full of haters. Haters who can't take it to the next level.
I'm a soccer fan, but very much not a fan of first-person camera work.
Ah, it can be nausea-inducing, fer sher. But since it's the only thing that can make soccer seem exciting, you're just going to have to suck it up.
That doesn't really make sense, does it? Whatevs!
It's nauseating, yes--I hate that "you are the camera!" point of view--and sexist and fratboyish. And I *like* soccer. And it shows you basically nothing of the game. It's all about ooh, the exciting Sports Star Lifestyle! Snore.
And it shows you basically nothing of the game
Not sure what you're watching, but this is false. It's the first thing I've ever seen that gives a sense of being in a soccer game. As for the sexism and fratboyism, hey, guess who plays soccer?
As for the sexism and fratboyism, hey, guess who plays soccer?
6-year-old kids?
Yes, but you can't expect them to learn sexism and fratboyism on their own.
I finally watched it -- the YouTube version just wasn't loading for me -- and I also found it unengaging. Maybe my connection is being so slow that the Nike site version also wasn't working right. Are the visuals actually just a series of stills in quickish procession?
Are the visuals actually just a series of stills in quickish procession?
No. Sounds like a bad connection.
Okay, I'll try again another time.
Also, after watching the ad on Vimeo, all of those people who are saying it sucks and doesn't give any sense of the game are wrong. The causal arrow for the frat-boy-ish-ness is also reversed; this is what frat boys are trying to emulate.
114: no. your connection may be slow. perhaps if you let it buffer all the way before playing?
As for the sexism and fratboyism, hey, guess who plays soccer?
Heebie.
I wanted the camera to get headbutted.
It's all about ooh, the exciting Sports Star Lifestyle! Snore.
'Cause working out so hard you puke is what people think of when they think of the exciting Sports Star Lifestyle.
I wanted the camera to get headbutted.
Masochist.
It's all about ooh, the exciting Sports Star Lifestyle!
There's what, 7 seconds of "sport star lifestyle" in a 120-second video?
Actually, I think what I liked most about the ad (other than the music) was the POV character getting juked and giving up goals. That's not what you usually see.
It's two o'clock in the morning and we're going into the 4th overtime period!
And the score is 1-1.
max
['It's a great game tho!']
Break after the 3rd OT (or one whole extra game) as the San Jose Sharks try to stave off elimination in game 6 and another chapter in their history of playoff infamy (they've been hanging by a thread going down 3-0 in the series, and being down 2-0 in the 3rd in game 5). I assume many NoCal "Sporting Life" folks are lending your support and it's not just me (and max on preview) staying up half the night here in EDT to cheer for the only actual Bay Area professional sports playoff team.
I'm watching as a Bay Arean, but up late in DC.
Well, shit, Dallas wins on the power play. Game kept its pace to the very end, bummer for Nabokov who had a great game.
Nabokov can go to hell. Publishing his father's unfinished and disorganized novel against Vladimir's expressed desires...why? why?
Game kept its pace to the very end, bummer for Nabokov who had a great game.
He had an excellent game (as did Jeremy Roenik), but Marty had a better one, and we got the hits.
max
['I admit that, having gone this far, I wanted to go for longest hockey game ever, but fuck it, gimme the win.']
128: ...why? why?
Ah, I had not seen where the decision had actually been made. Had you seen this latest from Ron Rosenbaum on recent developments?
Dmitri Nabokov, son of the Russian novelist Vladimir, has kept the literary world on tenterhooks for years over whether he'd obey his father's dying wish by burning the incomplete manuscript of his final novel, The Original of Laura, or appease scholars and fans alike by publishing it.
False dichotomy! Tertium datur!
131: Oh wow, like good catch dude.
Working out so hard that you puke is part of the mass appeal.
Men and women in their thirties and forties love that stuff. Many of them were never really athletes when they were younger. Now, they realize that they can push their bodies to the limit and they like it.
133: All of that's true for me, in that I find my adult body is a lot more fond of exhaustion and punishment than my young body was, except I did quit running because I did it until I puked, every single fucking day. Sometimes twice. If I had more time to devote to planning proper meals and getting out, I'd start doing it again. When did I stop running every day? Oh, around the same time I started commenting here.
The other weird thing was that I never got significantly thinner. Probably had something to do with running, barfing, and then feeling I deserved a whole tray of General Tso's veggie chicken. Mmmm.
When I am working out, my body craves good food and rejects junk food.
I've never wanted honest-to-God junk food in my life, but, while in my normal day-to-day life I'd be happy with a bowl of brown rice and some veggies, my post-run brain wants falafel sandwiches, Chinese food, and/or beer.
Spring training for my softball team begins very soon, which means I have to start running some again. I usually do a quick mile to loosen up, warm up, play two or three games, and then retire to the bar (very sweaty and filthy) for extraordinary amounts of beer. I love softball, and it truly beats me up for the rest of the week. This summer, I'm adding some tennis games, too, which will be nice. Tennis is probably my favorite thing to do on this earth.
Only an Unfogged charter member would consider falafel sandwiches to be junk food. The painfully chichi American middle class wankery is strong in this one.
Meanwhile, I have an invite to join a rugby league team.
Egads, people. Puking is objectively non-awesome.
Also, post-workout heavy meaty food: objectively awesome.
The part of the video I liked the best was the first time he got juked, shoulder-swiped, then kissed off, because I'm fairly sure it was by Cristiano Ronaldo, pretty boy and flopper extraordinaire.
137: AWB actually lives in an are where felafel is not "middle-class wankery" but rather the generic street food of its inhabitants. Like a hot dog, but with -- omg! -- brown people.
Plus, I'm no charter member.
Humbly,
Class of '06
Falafel is wonderful, and I refuse to count it as junk food. Away with those nutrition facts!
140: oh it's always those nouveau bourgeois defining junk food upwards.
i'm afraid i will continue to not buy gatorade
Puking is objectively non-awesome.
A true Euro soccer ad would include a guy carried off with a broken ankle then miraculously reentering the game two minutes later.
I love softball, and it truly beats me up for the rest of the week
Isn't softball mostly standing around? Admittedly, it's been a good fifteen years since I've played.
Isn't softball mostly standing around?
Absolutely not. Sometimes you have to carry that keg really far. And, if the bathrooms are far away and there are no trees close, the women have to run really far to get back to the bathroom.
Not the way we play it. We're pretty rough, and usually understaffed. Playing the entire mid-infield for two or three games in a row, every single inning, will wear a body out.
148- For me in right field, the ball goes through my legs, I head into the woods after it, trip and fall onto branches, slip into the creek, etc.
138.1: All depends on what kind of puking, Po-Mo.
Only an Unfogged charter member would consider falafel sandwiches to be junk food. The painfully chichi American middle class wankery is strong in this one.
"middle class" in its British sense of "between the 90th and 99.9th percentile of wealth", surely? Not the American sense of "anyone who has to work for a living but doesn't live in a ghetto".
Also, what about you people, with your constant claims that "curry" is something cheap to eat late at night after leaving a pub? Curry costs about three times as much as a McDonald's hamburger, you effete whelp.
In its British sense. The correct style for the group you mention is "working class". Further, it would appear that falafels here are considered junk simply because those brown people eat them.
Curry is more expensive than McDonalds - well yes, we have this quaint notion of "value".
Actually I was thinking of the fancy McDonald's hamburger. The bare-bones McDonald's hamburger is about 1/6 the price of anything called "curry" you can buy around here. My point was that the identity of the food which becomes "fast food" is different in different places.
152: "If you see and smell shit coming out of your mouth, that is your body's way of telling you to get your ass to a hospital NOW."
re: 153
Also, what about you people, with your constant claims that "curry" is something cheap to eat late at night after leaving a pub?
Nobody eats curry after the pub, auslander. That role is properly filled by the kebab...
re: 156
Yeah, but oudemia's claim that 'felafel' are the dominant fast-food of choice of the working class population where AWB lives is, I suspect, unlikely.