Day 103

I stopped off at KFC and Taco Bell and found nothing this morning. I am starting to think that due to my efforts they are picking up the coins in their drive-thru areas. I was able to find a penny at Wendy’s and a dime at Arby’s.
After meeting up with Chris for dinner at KFC, I found one penny in the parking lot walking back to my truck. While at JR's Car Wash I saw something I have not seen before, a stretch limo using a coin operated vacuum cleaner. I also found a dime and tw pennies. I found a dime and two pennies at Hartz, and while getting gas I found 3 pennies around the Shell station.

This morning I was listening to Mike and Mike on ESPN radio (An excellent syndicated sports show), and they were interviewing Jeremy Schaap. I must admit now, that I’ve never been much of a Jeremy Schaap fan, although I did like his father, Dick Schaap. The topic of the day was athletes that are playing past their prime, and if they should retire before their skills erode. On the issue, I personally believe that so long as a team is willing to pay for your services, you should play. If you LOVE to play football (Like Jerry Rice, the main topic of this morning), and teams are willing to pay you to play, then you should play until no one is willing to hire you. If it is what you love to do, then do it for as long as you can. Why should Jerry Rice forsake 3-5 years of his happiness so other people can remember him fondly? It is his life and his skills, he can do what he wants. Plus it gives the fans some great jerseys to collect. Who doesn’t want a Karl Malone Lakers jersey, a Patrick Ewing Sonics jersey, a Pete Rose Expos jersey, an Eddie Murray Dodgers jersey (He played 9 games for them in 1997), a Babe Ruth Boston Braves jersey, a Michael Jordan Washington Wizards jersey, or a Joe Montana Kansas City Chiefs jersey. The list could go on and on! (I had fun thinking up this list and searching for pictures, and I'm sure that once I post, I'll of 5-6 other great examples.)








But this is not the issue that I had. Jeremy Schaap was talking about Lance Armstrong and said, “You look at someone like Lance Armstrong, who is riding in his last Tour De France, and we obviously know that he wants to be remembered at the top of his game.”
I take serious issue with the use of the word OBVIOUSLY. First off, I have NO IDEA why Lance is retiring. I have opinions and thoughts, but since I’ve never sat down and chatted with Lance or know what kind of person he is, I have no idea of his thought process. Maybe he is just tired of cycling? Maybe Sheryl Crow is pregnant? Maybe he is starting his own reality TV show? Maybe his passport is expiring this winter and he doesn’t want to wait in line at the Post Office to get a new one?
There are thousands of reasons why he would want to retire from cycling. Only Lance and his close circle of friends and family know why. To think that the media and public knows his thought process is wrong. And to say that his thought process is obvious to anyone with a brain, is absurd.
I’m not just railing on Jeremy Schaap here, because I feel like that word is thrown away WAY to much, especially in sports. I feel like I’ve heard it a few hundred times in the past few months, but this was the last specific incident, the straw that broke the camel’s back if you will.

I think it’s obvious what happens next. Chris is obviously thinking of a joke to post on my blog. That is pretty obvious to anyone who has been reading. Obviously!

Total for the Day - $0.39
Total for the Race - $25.13