On The Margins

Monday October 05, 2009

[ Personal ] At the Mount Whitney Summit

A friend and I hiked to the Mount Whitney summit on September 28, 2009. Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and is located near Death Valley, California. It took 9 hours to hike up and 8.5 hours to hike down. We rested for an evening at a campsite below the tree-line. The whole adventure took 27 hours. Driving back and forth, from the Bay Area, took about 6.5 hours each way.

2009-10-05 07:43:28.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
california climbing hiking mountaineering sports united-states

Wednesday June 24, 2009

[ Economics ] Salaries and Soccer

In The Wall Street Journal sports section, David Biderman writes:

The U.S. upset of Spain in the Confederations Cup on Wednesday isn’t the only soccer shocker. Money paid for Euro-league players can also elicit gasps. Spanish forwards David Villa and Daniel Güiza and midfielder Xabi Alonso cost a combined $60.2 million in transfer fees alone since 2004. By contrast, the 356 players in Major League Soccer, America’s top league, will make a combined $49.7 million in the 2009 season, according to the league’s Web site.

2009-06-24 21:37:05.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
prices salaries soccer sports

Friday August 03, 2007

[ Sports ] Asian Soccer -- Iraq beats Saudi Arabia

You may not be aware that Iraq won the 14^th Asian Football Confederation's championship by beating Saudi Arabia in a final played on July 29, 2007.

The video of the winning goal can be found here. A complete set of video clips of the goals from the championship is available here.

Most people who actually come from Asia, when they talk or think of Asia, think of the land that stretches from Beirut to Beijing and a bit beyond, from West Volga lands to East Timur and a bit beyond.

2007-08-03 16:41:37.0 -- Comments [2] ; Permalink ; Trackback.
asia football soccer sports

Saturday July 21, 2007

[ Sports ] Where I hope to be skiing this winter

My wife just handed me the August 2007 edition of the Outside magazine which a good family friend had given her while she was visiting her hometown, Santa Barbara, last week.

The magazine features a full report by Josh Dean on skiing and snowboarding the slopes around Tehran. (The photo gallery, by Alex Tehrani, can be found here. Other photos, including some from the runs and lifts at one of the resorts, can only be viewed by subscription. They were included in the magazine report but not free online.)

This is good news. Last month, I bought tickets for the whole family to visit Tehran this coming December. We are hoping to do some skiing. While the report makes me somewhat more hopeful, I'm still not sure whether there will be enough snow that early in the season but what can I do? That's when I have my vacation. In the meantime, I'll keep my hopes alive. The best thing is that we can live with rental skis and don't have to lug our own from California.

2007-07-21 00:02:31.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
skiing sports tehran travel

Wednesday May 16, 2007

[ Culture ] Zoorkhaneh--The Traditional Persian Gymnasium

Amir Hossein Mahmoudi has shared some very interesting photographs from a zoorkhaneh---a traditional Persian gymnasium that mixes culture, music and poetry with ancient sportsmanship.

2007-05-16 22:02:55.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
culture sports

Wednesday May 09, 2007

[ Java ] Soccer {Football} after JavaOne

If you're at JavaOne this week and do not leave San Francisco before Friday night, consider joining me and a few others (from Brazil, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France, etc.) to play some soccer {football} near the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a great way to have everything you've seen and learned at JavaOne sink in!

I've posted the logistics information on my java.net blog. 

(The above picture originally appeared here.) 

2007-05-09 09:47:29.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
java javaone sports

Sunday April 22, 2007

[ Sports ] One Argentine Walks in the Footsteps of Another

Such is how one Argentine walks in the footsteps of another.  Pure physical skill and awareness of others meet at their apex in group sports — from soccer {football} to face-to-face meetings, the lowest-impact group-sport around. 

2007-04-22 12:25:10.0 -- Comments [1] ; Permalink ; Trackback.
argentina sports

Friday November 24, 2006

[ Sports ] Writing about Soccer

Rob Hughes must be one of the most engaging soccer writers, at least as far as the English speaking world is concerned. Here are four paragraphs from a recent story he wrote for International Herald Tribune ("Tale tales and high finance in Champions League"):

Get through to the next round, get back some of the wounded, rediscover the appetite eroded through a World Cup year, and Barça could yet be the team to beat in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, the only other fresh qualifier Wednesday was Inter Milan, which drew the largest audience of the night, 69,001, and saw off Sporting Lisbon with a solitary goal from Hernán Crespo.

This Argentine, seldom happy when he was in London with Chelsea, which still owns his registration, lives on the edge of the offside trap.

On Wednesday, he had an early goal strike overruled by a linesman's flag, but when the ball was played through at 36 minutes, Crespo sped beyond the defense and venomously struck the ball low past the advancing goalkeeper.

A stunning finishing, a goal that stood, and if there was again the question of whether he was marginally offside, he deserved to be the match winner.
 

2006-11-24 05:51:05.0 -- Comments [2] ; Permalink ; Trackback.
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