Odds and Ends

It's been more than a month since my last entry — real-life issues popped up — but I've found some time for a new one while sitting at a farm in North Dakota with my grandparents on their 50th wedding anniversary. I'm nothing if not dedicated, right?

Anyway, let's dive into some items of interest...

• Dave Asp called me yesterday from Hawaii. He's been out there since Monday with his wife. His son arrived Tuesday and his daughter flew in yesterday to complete the clan. His company might now be familiar, but the surroundings couldn't be more foreign.

The Red Wing native, who competes Saturday in the 30th Annual Ironman World Championships, went biking the other day to stretch his legs and was soon "sweating like a pig." The weather is up near 90 degrees with a high humidity, though the local he talked to said that's a rather cool day. His training regiment in Minnesota saw him regularly biking in temperatures under 40 degrees.

The race will be aired on a tape-delayed broadcast Saturday, Dec. 13 on NBC, but immediate information is available throughout the race at www.ironman.com. Asp has until midnight to complete the course. An article about the experience is planned for Tuesday's print edition.

• The webcast experiment has enjoyed its ups-and-downs so far this season. It's been a good learning process for us, while also providing a unique product for those who frequent our web site. We're hoping to get all the kinks worked out by the time the winter season rolls around.

• Andrew Bergeson will be leading the surprising Augsburg football team into an important clash with an equally surprising Carleton Knights squad on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are undefeated at 4-0 and tied for the lead in the MIAC, along with Concordia. Augsburg, who is now ranked No. 21 in all of Division III, was picked to finish dead last in the preseason coaches' poll, while Carleton was slotted seventh.

Bergeson is fourth on the team in tackles with 22, while also posting a sack. He returned a fumble 64 yards for a touchdown early in the year against St. Olaf.

Streaming video of the game will be available on the Carleton web site.

• My grandma just woke up from her nap (and you wonder where I get it) and I've got to go be sociable again, but I'm excited to finish The Scarlatti Inheritance tonight when she hits the sack early. I'm hoping the end isn't as disappointing as most of Ludlum's work, though it can't be worse than the Bourne movie adaptations...

Posted by: BrettBoese on 10/10/2008 at 1:55 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Asp Update #1

Dave Asp and his 10 teammates spent Thursday night carbo loading for the MyoMed Ragnar Relay this weekend. His team -- which includes local runners Dave Roseen, Josh Cichy, Milt Hovelson and Kevin Wentworth -- will run from La Crosse, Wis., and finish in Boom Island Park near downtown Minneapolis. The race starts at 9 a.m.

The 198-mile run, which is split into 36 legs, will be completed by all 170 teams in roughly 24 hours. Much of that time will be spent running along side Hwy. 35 -- which will NOT be closed to traffic -- in near darkness.

"At night we've got flashlights," explained Asp. "And we're running on the left side of the road, looking at the traffic."

The race comes through the Red Wing area Friday evening. Asp expects to handle the second leg, which begins in Maiden Rock and ends near Bay City around 10 p.m. He ran 23 miles in this event last year, but hopes to push that closer to 30 this time around.

Those not running will be following in vans, awaiting their turn to pound the pavement.

This event is one of Asp's final summer competitions before the Ironman World Championship Oct. 11. It also wraps up a busy week of training. He swam two miles in the pool on Monday, ran 12.5 miles -- including five speed intervals of one mile apiece -- on Tuesday and completed two loops around Lake Pepin on Wednesday as part of his 145 mile cycling trip.

"It's pretty intense for the next couple weeks," Asp said.

Posted by: BrettBoese on 8/21/2008 at 6:51 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

The Confidence Builders

All the legendary duos have good nicknames. The Bash Brothers, The Hart Foundation, The Bushwhackers and The Legion of Doom are each prime examples.

As Jimbo and I headed into Tuesday's doubles match against Winger seniors Lindsey Wilson and Amy Decker, we had our dreams firmly set on adding our names to that illustrious list. Instead, The Confidence Builders were used as fodder by what may be the best doubles combo in the state, according to Red Wing coach Tom Gillman.

Really, we should have seen this coming. Lord knows Red Wing Booster Club member Dan Lewis did, as he heckled us with taunts of Dumb and Dumber while driving by our quick Monday evening practice session. We certainly fit the bill after a 6-1, 6-1 demolition.

If you're willing to ignore the fact that the girls had to explain the intricacies of the game before we started -- which I am, obviously -- The Confidence Builders actually started out fairly strong. After the Wingers won the "flip" and held serve, Jimbo and I knotted things up 1-1.

We promptly lost the next five games on about 103 unforced errors. I'm quite willing to lay blame on Jimbo's utter disregard of conditioning (Jimbo's idea of a workout) and the complete absence of my tennis background (Brett's idea of a good tennis practice).

With a few helpful pointers from Gillman, The Confidence Builders were able to build some momentum by sweeping four straight points in the second set behind my Brad Radke-like serve to take a 1-0 lead. Jimbo then cranked up his own serve to rocket a pair of aces past Decker. Unfortunately, the Wingers twice rallied from double-break point to crush our spirit.

As you might have guessed, we lost the match the most embarrassing way possible -- on a double fault by Jimbo.

Learning on the fly
1. I serve like a third-grade girl and would have trouble cracking the JV lineup for the Winger girls. Talk about humbling. I might make a good water boy, though.
2. Jimbo serves like a maniac and never gets his first one in. He's also terrible at the net.
3. Amy Decker seemed to struggle a little bit with her strokes. I'd like to think it was due to the intimidation factor, but it might have simply been fatigue. They agreed to play the match right after finishing a grueling three hour practice (that ended with an intense game of touch football).
4. Lindsey Wilson was the best player on the court, and wasn't afraid to rub it in our face. She wasn't quite this cocky or lethal, but it was darn close. Did I mention she dominated us despite playing through a pulled butt (her words)?

Rematch looms?
Megan Fleming stuck around to watch the match with Katie Gillman. I couldn't tell whether it was because they were waiting on a ride or if they were intrigued to see how lopsided the final score was going to be. But they were both eager to talk Wii tennis afterwards.

Whenever we can make the schedules work, a rematch will definitely have to take place. Video games should help put The Confidence Builders back in our element.

Making the grade
I asked Wilson, Decker and coach Gillman to fill out a report card of sorts to critique our performance. The trio combined for some brutally honest assessments.

Brett's Report Card
Serving: C+ (Inconsistent)
Net Play: B (Killer overhead)
Ground Strokes: D+ (Weird slice)
Teamwork: D- (Non-matching uniforms)
Comments: Rethink sport choice.

Jimbo's Report Card
Serving: C (Inconsistent)
Net Play: B (Nice hands)
Ground Strokes: D+ (Ouch!)
Teamwork: D- (No communication)
Comments: Need to work on tactical things




Nice grip?



Pregame sportsmanship.



Getting schooled.

Posted by: BrettBoese on 8/14/2008 at 2:33 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink