An infinite number of monkeys approach to designing an offense in football.

Yes, per the rules of the game, only five players are eligible to catch a pass during a particular play and seven players have to set up on the line of scrimmage. But in the minds of Bryan and Humphries, you can develop an infinite number of plays with an infinite number of formations.

via Kottke

Finishing last in the Tour-de-France isn’t easy.

Mr. Vansevenant, who after Stage 18 sits in 150th place, some 3 hours and 45 minutes behind Mr. Sastre, is indeed the worst-placed rider in the Tour de France. But, in turn, he has outlasted those who abandoned the Tour through illness, injury or simple exhaustion; those who were eliminated for failing to finish within each day’s time limit and are forced to withdraw; and those who were banned or withdrew for doping-related causes. From year to year, about 20% of the riders drop out. In other words, you can’t simply coast to last place; you have to work for it.

Our command picnic was Wednesday, and our volleyball team whipped the young whippersnapper summer interns to win the crown (something like 15-5 and 15-5, with traditional scoring). We had three of four people from the research group and one of the guys from the instrument shop to replace our missing player, and picked up a free-agent (and it turned out she was a ringer).

We won the tournament three years ago, carried by one very good player making up for the rest of us, following the strategy of just getting the ball over the net and letting the other team make the mistakes, and at this level of play, that was a pretty good strategy. That time we were aided by a quirk of the schedule that gave us a bye and our finals opponents (seabees) had to play three matches in a row. (we kept muttering “water’s for wimps!” in the short interlude before the final match, and kept reminding them that we were just a bunch of geeks) (We didn’t enter a team the last two years — our good player was injured and then absent, so we opted out)

This time the aid was having several good potential opposing players on vacation or opting for disc golf, and our free-agent addition having a nasty overhand serve that’s just too much for some of the players at the picnic level of play. There was some mumbling from one or two of our opponents about being on sand affecting their play. Sadly, my game is not noticeably impacted by the surface; I think I contributed more to scoring than to losing points. We showed that youth and enthusiasm is no match for age and treachery. Ha!

And that performance enhancing drugs are involved.

NY Times editorial. If Big Brown Wins, Racing Loses

This might sound obvious, but it’s worth stating: horse racing is nothing without the horse. And yet right now the horse’s best interests don’t seem to be paramount in racing.
[. . .]
No one has seriously accused him [current trainer, Richard Dutrow] of doing anything untoward with Big Brown, but he’s been fined or suspended for doping in each of the last eight years, including two instances in January. The Association of Racing Commissioners International report on Dutrow reveals 72 offenses since 1979, 13 of them related to drugs.

When a guy like this wins racing’s most prestigious prize, what message does that send to everyone else involved in the sport? It tells owners that they can win by entrusting their horses to a trainer known for bending the rules.

The sport isn’t clean. People cheat, and exploit the ones actually performing.

Yawn.
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