Baseball, Scripture Mastery, and Rowing

Today I learned that Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play major league baseball. I vaguely knew that he was a baseball player but I didn't realize that he was the first. His number, 42, was also the only number retired from all of baseball. Once a year, everyone wears 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. His wife, Rachel, runs a foundation that provides scholarships. I learned all this from the movie 42.

I also learned that the LDS church changed their scripture mastery selections. For the most part, I think this is a good thing, but it's frustrating since I was almost done with all of the new testament scripture masteries and now will have a bunch of new ones to learn. I suppose I should be glad that one of the ones they replaced was the one I didn't have memorized yet. I hope they update the scripture mastery app soon since that's what I've been using to learn them. Maybe I'll switch to the articles of faith in the meantime.

I also finished reading The Boys in the Boat. Despite their stroke seat being ill to the point of having lost almost 20 pounds and nearly passing out while rowing, and despite the fact that the US team had the best qualifying time (breaking an Olympic record and a course record), they were given the worst lane assignment, which put them in a position that was estimated to be the equivalent of starting about two boat lengths behind, and despite the fact that the race was started so abruptly that the US and British teams did not even hear the start so they were behind by about a stroke and a half at the start of the race, they pulled off an astounding come from behind victory. It was so close that none of the spectators knew who had won and most of them were still shouting for the Germans (who came in third, Italy came in second) until the announcer broadcasted the results. The Germans won every other rowing event in that Olympics. I'd kind of like to watch the movie that Leni Riefenstahl (sp?) made about the Olympics that year. I think it was called Olympia.

Purse Clasp, 1936 Rowing

Today I learned how to attach a magnetic purse clasp and also figured out how to line a crochet purse I made.

I also learned that the 1936 Men's rowing team learned after they won the Olympic bid, that they would have to finance their own passage. They were given a week to raise 5000 dollars. The people of Washington came through with the money in just two days, despite the fact that they had recently raised money to send the team to Poughkeepsie and Princeton for the national championships and the Olympic trials, respectively.

Rowing

Today I learned that in the 1930s freshman crew raced two miles, JV raced three miles, and varsity raced four miles. The official Olympic rowing distance was 2k (less than 2 miles). When I was in college the race distances were 5k (3.1miles) and 2k.

Rowing

I just started reading "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown.  It's about the University of Washington crew that wins the Olympic gold in Berlin in 1936.  Mostly so far it's just making me really wish I hadn't quit crew in college but here's an interesting tidbit. "A well-conditioned oarsman... must be able to take in and consume as much as eight liters of oxygen per minute; an average male is capable of taking in roughly four or five liters at most. Pound for pound, Olympic oarsmen may take in and process as much oxygen as a thoroughbred racehorse."

I just rowed at a not very vigorous pace for an hour and burned, according to my rowing machine, 612 calories. That's more than a seventh of a pound. Just think about how much college rowers would need to eat!

Rowing

Today I learned that Lake Ewauna can go from beautifully calm to ridiculously windy with rolling waves and whitecaps very quickly. Not so good when I'm out in a double wherry with a beginner rower.

Rowing

Today I learned that rowing is very frustrating with beginners in a four (a four is four people with sweep oars, one oar per person, usually with a coxswain).

Rowing

I've started rowing again since moving to klamath falls... ere's a nice little rowing club on lake ewauna, less than two miles from my house so I bike down and row for an hourish then bike back home. I recently have had a lapse of about a month in my rowing because of a variety of factors (vacations, sickness, horribly smokey air from local forest fires) and had finally stopped really caring if I went at all. Today Adam called me from work to see if I was planning in rowing. I wasn't, but changed my plans and decided to go. I went and had a great time, despite getting quite soaked from large waves since the water was a little rough. Today I learned how easy it is to convince myself that I don't care to do an activity that I really like to do, and also how much I will enjoy formerly pleasurable activities if I can get myself off my lazy bum and moving again.