All Stars

July 15 is the six month anniversary of my diagnosis.That makes me a six-month cancer survivor.


Tonight is the Major League Baseball All-Star game.


So consider this is an All-Star edition of Lympho Bob.


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First off: a running (racing) update.


Last night, I ran in the Bastille Day 4 Miler in Washington, DC, accompanied by Isabel's brother Lee and his wife Mary. Very cool race. The course was beautiful -- along the C & O canal in DC.


We didn't kill ourselves. Mary and I finished in just over 40 minutes; Lee was a few minutes faster. Pretty good, considering the heat (abou 80 degrees), the time of day (I never, ever run in the evening) and the fact that I've run 4 miles about three times in the last year. (I was up to about 8 miles in spring 2007, before the bronchitis, pneumonia, NHL, etc. -- you've heard that story.)


I'll try to get pictures up sometime when we get back. But we were definitely all-stars.


(When we planned our trip a few months ago, I looked up road races in MD/VA/DC, and found the Bastille Day race. Knowing Lee and Mary are runners, and knowing Lee spent time in France, speaks fluent French, and loves french fries, how could I resist? Plus, it gives me the excuse to add a link to this clip from Mel Brooks' History of the World, where the French Revolution is planned at Madame DeFarge's.


It's good to be the All Star.....)


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A few baseball-related links, in honor of the All-Star game:


A story from the New York Times about someone putting about a Green Monster wall, just like at Fenway, for Wiffle Ball play. Neighbors objected. Things got out of hand. There were lawyers involved....


It happened in Greenwhich, CT. New York Yankee territory. If it was in Hartford County, where they love the Sox, no one would have cared.....


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You might have seen this: last week, a minor league baseball manager wanted to let the umpire know that his calls stink. His argument was, you could say, a multimedia presentation.


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Finally, I forgot to write about this a couple of weeks ago when it happened. We went to see a minor league baseball game -- the Bridgeport Bluefish -- and had a good time. We highly recommend minor league baseball. Players aren't as good, but they're hungrier. Plus, it's cheaper, and provides more entertainment.

Typical entertainment involves between-inning promotions, games, stunts, whatever. We saw the Bluefish on a Wednesday, and I was chosen to participate in Wild Money Wednesday. Every Wednesday home game, they have a different kind of contest between innings, and the winner gets $500. One week, for example, it was a poker tournament.

The contest I was asked to be in was a 32 person Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament. Best two-out-of-three for each round; winer moves on.

If you think Rock-Paper-Scissors is not a big deal, then I suggest you visit the web site for the World RPS Society, the governing body for international Rock-Paper-Scissors tournaments. Is it a joke? Maybe. But they sponsor a $50,000 tournament, so you decide.

Some of the people chosen for the Bluefish tournament were, if not World RPS Society members, at least really into Rock-Paper-Scissors. The kids helped me with my strategy -- they said to go with Rock first, because at school, everyone puts down scissors first.

My first opponent didn't show up, so I got a bye into round 2. The second round, my opponent was very serious. He didn't look me in the eye when we shook hands. He beat me 2-0, with one tie. So much for the kids' strategic assistance. My RPS career was over before it really had a chance to blossom.

But I'm still an All-Star.