Maybe I'll look like this guy by the end of the 100 pushup challenge...doubtful.

I’ve always despised pushups. Always. Since grade school. With a passion.

But, I’ve decided to get better at push-ups, thanks to a friend in the 10 in ’10 group. I’ve started a 100 pushups challenge, based on a program that can be found here. From today, I have 6 weeks to reach 100 pushups…that gives me to about April 6.

I did my initial pushup fitness test and did a big old 13 push-ups.  I was actually nicely surprised with that amount! Wish me luck, and by the end maybe I’ll look like the guy above!

If only he could compete head-to-head with Johnny Weir...sigh.

I have had this argument with friends for many years now and I still hold to my original position that Figure Skating isn’t a sport.  Before you spew hate like Maggie Gallagher at Pride, let me at least detail my position.

1. Figure Skating Judging Involves a Large Subjective Component; Sports are largely Objective.

To quote from the Wikipedia article on ISU Judging, ” The factors are set so that the total score from the artistic marks will be about equal to the total score from technical marks.”  Any athletic competition where artistic and technical ability are equal to determine a winner, then that is NOT a sport.

I don’t care how pretty it is when my Badgers get the football into the endzone–I just care that they do. I similarly don’t care if Badger Hockey shoots a one-hitter to get a goal or if it someone accidentally falls between the goalies legs. It’s STILL a goal. If my players have to worry about how they look playing and then THAT determines part of their individual or overall score, then that competition is not a sport.

2. Figure Skaters Are Playing to Judges

These judges are highly trained, highly skilled individuals but they are still human. They have their personal preferences or beliefs. And those can, as stated above, determine up to half the points that a skater receives. When someone else is determining up to half the score you receive, than that is not a sport.

Sure, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer….do have referees. But they REFEREE. They don’t award JUDGE and award points based on skill. Points are determined solely by the athletes.

3. Figure Skating Is Not Directly Adversarial

Sports are directly adversarial. You are competing against an opponent directly, not via a judge. You don’t have to look your opponent in the eye as your skate…though I imagine this part is largely due to safety reasons.

Finally, I do not say these things to diminish figure skating, gymnastics, snowboarding, etc. Merely that they are not what I consider sports….they are athletic competitions. The people who compete are athletes who train incredibly hard and do things that are incredibly difficult. But, because the competitions are at least half based on style, not substance; judges are human; and that sports require an adversarial component, all of these athletic events are simply not sports.

The Grand Nagus's iPad

So Apple’s tablet computer is here and it looks great! I mean a giant iPhone is cool…groundshattering in a way…but still a giant iPhone.

More important…iPad. Really? No, really??? Whoever focused group that apparently did an awful job or the results were just thrown away. I (and many others) immediately thought of feminine hygiene products. While the name may seem silly now and I’m sure it’ll enter the common vernacular soon, it’s still silly and awful.

The PADD from Star Trek: The Next Generation

That said, anybody remember what the computer tablets that had access to the computer, were books, etc. in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” were called? Yeah…PADDS.

Per Star Trek Wiki Memory Alpha,

“PADD” is an acronym for Personal Access Display Device, a hand-held computer interface, used as early as the 22nd century24th century. and well into the

PADDs were used by such space-faring organizations as Earth Starfleet and the later Federation Starfleet, as well as by the Andorian Imperial Guard, Bajoran Militia, Cardassian Union, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Vulcan High Command. They were common to cultures even as distant as the Delta Quadrant.

So was the name iPad just “synergy” or some other creative buzzword? Or are Roddenberry’s ashes rolling over in outer space as not just a concept but the name of something from his universe is co-opted by the Grand Nagus….I mean Steve Jobs. (h/t to @bradbaumn on the Grand Nagus bit)

BadgeringDC–What to expect?

I plan on discussing the things I am passionate about in my life–politics, food, my friends, and more. I’ll try to make it more accessible to my friends and strangers and if it isn’t, just complain.

What is a Badger? And what is up with the name?

A. A Badger is a mammal that lives underground, is pretty cute, will rip your face off given the chance, and is mostly solitary.

Yes...this badger will rip your face off given the chance

B. A lead miner who lived in Wisconsin back in the day. Like their mammalian counterparts, they lived in dirt mounds and could rip your face off if they wanted to.

Badgers are also lead miners but may or may not rip your face off

C. The mascot for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and what many Madison Alumni and Wisconsin residents call themselves. They are usually social and live aboveground, are often very attractive, and if you talk trash about their state, school, or sports teams, will verbally rip your face off.

I am a Badger at heart despite living in Washington, D.C. If I had my druthers, I could buy fried cheese and New Glarus here, and there would be snow….LOTS of snow.

Best Mascot Ever in Sports or Best Mascot Ever in All Fields?