ropeboy.net is up and running. come check it out. see my pictures and my new posts. i'll be checking here and updating a little here and there but you should check out this site for more up to date info about me. brian, i think you should come check this out and think about setting one up. it's cool and has many more capabilities than lj seems to.

i'm abandoning ship. pretty soon you'll be able to see my blog at www.ropeboy.net. for now it is at ropeboy.typepad.com

so long to Il Pirata.

Obituary


By Tim Maloney, European editor


Considered perhaps the greatest climber of his generation, Italian professional cyclist Marco Pantani was born in Cesena, Italy on January 13, 1970. As an amateur, he brilliantly won the 1992 Baby Giro d'Italia by his climbing prowess. Pantani had 36 pro wins, among which were his first, at the 1994 Giro d'Italia in Merano and his last pro win at the Tour De France in 2000 at Courchevel. Pantani was third in the 1995 World Road Championships in Duitama (Colombia).


Soon after his great ride in Colombia in 1995, Pantani crashed hard in Milano-Torino on the descent of Pino Torinese and suffered a serious compound fracture of his left leg. After a long and difficult rehabilitation, Pantani started the 1997 Giro d'Italia but crashed out again on the stage to Chiunzi and abandoned the race.


In 1998, Pantani came back to magnificently win the Giro-Tour double, the first time an Italian had realized the "bis" since Fausto Coppi did so (for the second time) in 1952. The miniscule climber inspired legions of Italian tifosi in the late 1990's with his dynamic, attacking style, who named the beloved Pantani "Il Pirata" (The Pirate), for his radical look with a personalized bandana, shaved head and earring. In total, Pantani won eight stages of the Giro and eight stages of the Tour. He wore the Maillot Jaune 6 times and the Maglia Rosa 14 times in his career.


Wearing the maglia rosa and two days away from winning the 1999 Giro d'Italia, Pantani was kicked out of the race for high haematocrit, thus beginning his downward spiral that tragically concluded today in Rimini. Pantani faced alleged sporting fraud charges in his career, but the climber from Cesenatico was never found guilty of any real charges. In 2000, Pantani did receive a three-month suspended prison sentence for high hematocrit levels, but his conviction was then overturned on appeal. In 2002, Pantani served a six month UCI ban after a syringe containing traces of insulin was found in his hotel room in the San Remo "blitz" during the 2000 Giro.


Coming back from his suspension, Pantani had poor results in 2002, but once again in 2003, Pantani made another comeback in the Giro d'Italia. He had some respectable performances, eventually finishing 14th but was then crushed by his non-selection for the Centenary Tour De France and plunged into the abyss of deep depression. In late June, Pantani checked into a psychiatric clinic near Padova to treat his depression.


Once out of the clinic late last year, Pantani told his local Rimini newspaper that "You can forget about Pantani the athlete. I still ride my bike, just to turn my legs," he said, "But cycling is the last thing on my mind. I haven't been to the gym for months. I've gained 15 kilos and I have the physique of a little bull."


Pantani was found dead in Rimini on February 14, 2004. He is survived by his parents.

espn update

As of 5:00 p.m. PST, March 13, 2004

Vehicle 22 - Red Team - At mile 7.4, on switchbacks in a mountainous section, vehiclewent off course, got caught on a berm and rubber on the front wheels caught fire, whichwas quickly extinguished. Vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 21- SciAutonicsII - At mile 6.7, two-thirds of the way up Daggett Ridge, vehiclewent into an embankment and became stuck. Vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 5 - Team Caltech - At mile 1.3, vehicle veered off course, went through a fence,tried to come back on the road, but couldn’t get through the fence again. Vehicle wascommand-disabled.

Vehicle 7 - Digital Auto Drive - At mile 6.0, vehicle was paused to allow a wrecker toget through, and, upon resuming motion, vehicle was hung up on a football-sized rock. Vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 25 - Virginia Tech - Vehicle brakes locked up in the start area. Vehicle wasremoved from the course.

Vehicle 23 - Axion Racing - Vehicle circled the wrong way in the start area. Vehiclewas removed from the course.

Vehicle 2 - Team CajunBot - Vehicle brushed a wall on its way out of the chute.Vehicle has been removed from the course.

Vehicle 13 - Team ENSCO – Vehicle moved out smartly, but, at mile 0.2, when makingits first 90-degree turn, the vehicle flipped. Vehicle was removed from the course.

Vehicle 4 - Team CIMAR - At mile 0.45, vehicle ran into some wire and got totallywrapped up in it. Vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 10 - Palos Verdes High School Road Warriors - Vehicle hit a wall in the startarea. Vehicle was removed from the course.

Vehicle 17 - SciAutonics I - At mile 0.75, vehicle went off the route. After sensors triedunsuccessfully for 90 minutes to reacquire the route, without any movement, vehicle wascommand-disabled.

Vehicle 20 – Team TerraMax – Several times, the vehicle sensed some bushes near theroad, backed up and corrected itself. At mile 1.2, it was not able to proceed further.Vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 15 – Team TerraHawk – Withdrew prior to start.

Vehicle 9 – The Golem Group – At mile 5.2, while going up a steep hill, vehicle stopped on the road, in gear and with engine running, but without enough throttle to climb the hill.After trying for 50 minutes, the vehicle was command-disabled.

Vehicle 16 – The Blue Team – Withdrew prior to start.

@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@

It's great to know they could only get a robot 7.4 miles into the two hundred mile course, and to think that that robot only cost 3 million dollars. I wonder if they'll do it again next year. I hope so. I bet some of these teams do much much better.

what was he thinking? Rumsfeld video. The Bush administration is trying real hard to defend their actions in Iraq. Check out The Center for American Progress for more information. Also I heard on NPR yesterday that the only country in the world that thinks we were right in going in to Iraq is, guess who, the US of course. No other country, including England thinks that the war was a good idea.

A Year After Iraq War
Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists, A Pew Research Center Report

What's wrong with us? Are we blind? Are we misguided? Do we really have such a skewed world view? The media is probably to blame for this but then again, so are our leaders for doing this in the first place.

So Hans Blix has come out and said that the US and England screwed up. As if this wasn't obvious but it is really good to have someone of his stature and credibility making these statements. Hopefully someone will be listening.
the following comes from a SFGate article

Blix offered some tough assessments of American accomplishments in Iraq and suggested that the United States was motivated to go to war because of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was a reaction to 9/11 that we have to strike some theoretical, hypothetical links between Saddam Hussein and the terrorists. That was wrong. There wasn't anything," he said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.

And he disagreed that the war had made the world a safer place.

"Sorry to say it doesn't look that way. If the message was to terrorists that we are willing to take you on, then that has not succeeded. In Iraq, it has bred a lot of terrorism and a lot of hatred to the Western world," he told an audience of 1,200 at NYU.

"Disarmament by war and democracy by occupation are difficult prospects."

He was especially critical of the United States and Britain for claiming the war was meant to uphold U.N. resolutions when the rest of the Security Council refused to back the conflict and he said Bush and Blair "oversold" what they knew.

"The moral of this story was clearly a loss of credibility for the leaders of this war and that they didn't think the council mattered, that was a mistake," Blix said.

15 are in. i think it's rather cheap that they let 8 teams in that didn't finish the qualifying, but then i don't really think anyone is going to win as it is. sfgate article for more.