More Speed

Tuscaloosa is named after the Choctaw chieftain Tuskaloosa (which means Black Warrior in that language), who battled and was defeated by Hernando de Soto in 1540 in the Battle of Mauvila, per our discussion yesterday and from Wikipedia. Tomorrow's swim, by way of historical footnote, is in the Black Warrior river. Which currently is under threatening skies filled with thunder and threatening moisture.

Spent most of the day tracking down the plethora of individuals necessary to pull off the shoot. As most of you know this is a different organization than the one we usually deal with (WTC) so I almost had to start from scratch. Luckily I have some history with Tim Yount, the multi-talented media director and USAT VP. He pretty much got me set up, but I still had to do the leg work. And I still have a few calls to make before getting some shut eye.

The UoA campus is spectacular, a combination of history, tradition and alumni gratitude. Grandiose, sprawling and splashed in red. Had a chance to visit the Bear Bryant museum and it was wall to wall with over 100 years of Crimson Tide lore. It was very painful to watch (again) the thrashing the Huskies took at the hands of the Tide in the 1986 Sun Bowl. That team was led by one man wrecking crew Cornelius Bennett and very emphatically changed the course of UW football as after that single humiliaating game the Dawgfather himself, declared, "we need to recruit more speed". They did and four years later won a National Championship. Remember when I once said that the only real winning is losing? Case in point.

Couple of pix from todays whirlwind:

I take back everything I have said about Texas. Kinda.
The Super Bowl is here (and tomorrow).
You do NOT want to be making major last minute adjustments to your bike the night before a big race. Trust me on this one.