My "40 things to do before turning 40" list

-- by @Josh_Suchon

Yes, this is another list of 40 things to do before turning 40 years old. I have exactly 365 days to accomplish these 40 items. I plan on writing a separate blog entry each time I cross an item off this list. If you have any advice on one of these items, or want to join me when I check it off the list, let me know.

1. Rent a fancy sports car and drive along the coast for the day/weekend. If I haven’t bought a fancy sports car by age 40, it’s probably not going to happen. Might as well just rent one for the weekend.

2. Swim with dolphins. This will probably require a trip outside our borders, which is the whole point.

2-5-13 Update -- I've booked a week in Honolulu when I turn 40. This will be done that final week. 

3. Go visit a psychic. Really curious what the hell they might say. A friend of mine did this with his wife recently, and it was a trip what she said about our deceased friend Jeff Coulthart.

4. Watch a movie in the Hollywood cemetery. DONE. My recap can be found here.

5. Sleep under the stars. This was intentionally written very generically, so I can do it anywhere in the world.

6. Do a 5K Mud run. This looks like a blast.

7. Serve the homeless at a soup kitchen. Pretty said I haven’t done this already. I’m thinking around the holidays is the best time.

8. Donate blood. See above. Except not during the holidays. I don’t even know what blood type I have. Pathetic.

12-18-12 Update -- I did this. I just need to write a little recap.

9. Camp in the Grand Canyon and/or go white water rafting down the Grand Canyon. In other words, go to the Grand Canyon. I went there when I was verrrry young with my family, but don’t remember a thing.

10. Eat the worm in a tequila bottle. I don’t have to drink the entire bottle. Just the worm. Pray for me.

2-5-13 Update -- Note to self: buy the bottle with the worm and start making progress to reach the worm. 

11. Pick a hockey team and learn every player on the team. I’m actually really looking forward to the decision making process in selecting a team. 

1-9-13 Update -- I made a list of five finalists and wrote to each team. Here's the beginning of the process. 

2-5-13 Update -- The season is two weeks old. I haven't watched a game. I've felt no desire to watch a game. Maybe hockey just isn't for me.

12. Paint something. This original idea was to paint my entire apartment. But then I’d have to paint it back over when I move out. Forget that. I want something more basic.

13. Go skinny dipping in the ocean. Preferably with a fun beautiful adventurous woman in water that is warm. Very warm.

2-5-13 Update -- I've booked a week in Honolulu when I turn 40. This will be done that final week. 

14. Learn how to edit video on Final Cut Pro. You know, just in case I decide to make my own documentary.

1-10-13 Update -- I almost got a job that required me to know Final Cut Pro. I was honest about my editing skills. I considered taking a weekend-long immersion class. I still might in the future. I took a quick 90-minute crash course on Final Cut, just in case I got the job.

1-23-13 Update -- I didn't get the job. I still might take the weekend immersion class.

15. Headstand in the middle of the room and stay for a minute. I’ve done this for a few seconds. I want an entire minute. I will do this. Repeat. I will do this.

16. Adopt something. This could be an animal. This will probably not live with me.

2-5-13 Update -- This was done. I need to write the recap because it's really cool. 

17. See your mom’s house in Nevada. She's lived there for two years. You'd think I'd have seen it by now. Nope. I even have a key. I might as well use it. 

12-27-13 Update -- DONE. Not much to recap, but the photos can be viewed here. 

18. Hot air balloon ride or zipline or bungee jump. In other words, something else from the lifelong bucket list of adrenaline junkie stuff.

19. Sit in “The Show” (the San Diego State student section) for an Aztecs men's basketball game. This is the most important item on the list. 

11-26-12 Update -- DONE. It was everything I hoped and more. My recap can be found here.

20. Ride a helicopter somewhere special. I’m thinking this will be part of the vacation that involves sleeping under the stars and skinny dipping.

2-5-13 Update -- I've booked a week in Honolulu when I turn 40. This will be done that final week. 

21. Hike to the top of Mt. Baldy. I’m not quite sure why Mt. Baldy except because it’s there and fairly close.

22. Go to a jazz concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Not a regular concert. I’ve been to plenty of those. Well, three. I mean the jazz concerts that are mellow, and you’re allowed to bring your own wine.

23. Build my Twitter following to 1,000. I’m at 456 right now. The more people who follow me, the more might buy my book.

2-5-13 Update -- I'm at 576 real followers and 2,000 extra fake followers. (I'll explain the fake followers later.) Gaining 121 followers in five months isn't very impressive.

24. Go zorbing. It’s that big huge ball that rolls down a hill.

25. Milk a cow. Kinda random, I know, but what the hell.

26. Write my will. Because it won’t take very long and I need something else that won’t cost that much money.

27. Visit Hearst castle. I’m thinking this will be part of the weekend when I rent a fancy sports car. I guess I’m driving north, instead of south.

28. Solve a Rubik’s cube. Because I don’t waste my time doing enough already. There’s 10 year old kids who solve these things in like 30 seconds. I might need 360 days to do it. I guess the first step is buying one.

11-1-12 Update -- I bought the Cube and went to work. I tried it without consulting anything. I didn't come close. I watched YouTube videos that show you how to solve it. I read the guide that comes with it. I got one side pretty easily. Then I completely fall apart. I'm taking a break from this one.

29. Open a Swiss bank account. I won’t put much money it. Maybe about 20 bucks. I just want to use the phrase, “I don’t want to dip into my Swiss savings account.” 

10-2-12 Update: Turns out, you can't just put a couple hundred bucks into a Swish account. You need a lot more. That idea was scratched.

29.1  Be an extra on a TV show or movie for a day. Admittedly, this is cheating. I actually did this, and then added it to the list later. I just need to write-up my experience with it.

30. Write a blog post that gets 5,000 hits. If you’re reading this and forward it to all your friends, maybe this will be that post.

2-5-13 Update -- Well, this post is at 2,609 hits. My list of the Top 10 most famous people from my high school is at 1,671 hits. My recap of my unique relationship with Orel Hershiser is at 1,628 hits. My analysis of why Al Davis hated Marcus Allen is at 1,405 hits. I need better traffic if I'm going to hit my goal. 

31. Walk the red carpet and attend a movie premiere. I live in LA and very close to Hollywood. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

12-18-12 Update -- Does watching an advanced screening, before the premiere count? I didn't walk a red carpet, so I'm guessing the answer is no. Still, I was pretty excited to see an advanced screening of Gangster Squad, since my college friend Will Beall wrote it.

32. Attend a Cirque de Soleil show. Any of them in Vegas will suffice. Any excuse to go to Vegas, right?

33. Hand out a $100 bill to a homeless person in need. Can’t decide if I want to see the person’s reaction, or hand it over and quickly walk away.

34. Ride a Segway. Another pretty easy one. I should be able to do this in Santa Monica or Venice.

35. Attend a murder mystery dinner. I’ve heard these are lame. I’ve also heard they are awesome. I guess I will find out.

36. Say the phrase “quick, follow that car” for a justifiable reason. Seriously. I totally want to say this.

37. Floss every day for 365 days straight. My dentist will be so proud. I should be doing this anyway. I do floss. I just skip too many days.

2-5-13 Update: I went two weeks straight flossing after I turned 39. By the end of the two weeks, my gums were no longer bleeding. This was probably more flossing than I had done in the last two years combined. Since then, I've slacked off. I'm averaging 3-4 days a week now, which is a big improvement. I'll probably end up flossing around 200 days this year, which should make my dentist proud.

38. No red meat for 365 days. This isn’t for ethical reasons. This isn’t for health reasons. I’m sure those will be added benefits. I just like testing my self-control.

2-5-13 Update: Does salami count as red meat? I debated that with some friends one day. I mean, it's literally red. But I consider it pork. My definition of red meat is steak or a burger. Nonetheless, I haven't eaten a steak, or burger, or anything else red besides the salami sandwich one day. And no more salami the rest of the way. I'm eating more fish, which was the whole idea. But I'm also eating more pork, which wasn't the idea.

39. Obtain a copy of “The Sleepy Floyd Game” and it has to be the one with Greg Papa doing the play-by-play. This is from the 1987 Western Conference semifinal between the Warriors and Lakers. Sleepy Floyd went crazy in the fourth quarter, scoring 29 of his 51 points. The Coliseum Arena was rocking like never before. All it did was delay the Lakers defeating the Warriors in that series by a day, but it’s my favorite NBA basketball game ever.

2-5-13 Update: I don't like my chances of accomplishing this. I'm going to post something on Craigslist and see what kind of responses I get.

40. Pick something else to add to this list in the next 364 days. Because I couldn’t think of a 40^th and I like the idea of thinking of new things throughout the year. 

2-5-13 Update: Instead of picking one thing, I'm just going to make a list of all the other things I do for the first time in my life in my final year before turning 40. 

Olympic sports and athletes aren't going away

-- by Josh Suchon

The end of the Olympics, traditionally, was the end of seeing those Olympic athletes in our lives. Some would re-appear four years later at the next games. Some would appear on a Wheaties box. Most were never heard from again.

That could be changing for a couple reasons:

* The staggering increase in sports networks requires programmers to find more content, and not just from the traditional Big Three of team sports (football, baseball, basketball).

* The explosion of social media allows athletes to connect directly with their fans, and allows them to direct those fans to their games in person or on television.

Despite annoying fans everywhere with tape-delayed coverage, NBC Universal set records with massive ratings in the 2012 London Games. It didn’t seem to matter that the audience knew the results. They watched, watched in groups, sat through commercials, and sat through sports they previously neglected.

It proved a strong market exists for these so-called niche sports. What the next three years and 49 weeks will prove is whether that market exists year-around, or just once every four years.

There should be plenty of opportunities for fans of Olympic sports to keep watching their new favorite athletes, or learn more about these less popular sports.

NBC Universal put far more resources into airing Olympic sports in the months leading up to London. They wanted to introduce the athletes and teams early, hoping that covering preliminary events would lead to more viewers. Whether by coincidence or not, it did.

It’s likely many networks, not just the Olympic-central NBC, will look to capitalize on these athletes’ notoriety in the upcoming months.

We’ve already heard that Michael Phelps will appear on the Golf Channel’s “The Haney Project” to try lowering his handicap. Hank Haney, who was Tiger Woods’ swing coach for six years, has previously worked with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine and former NBA star Charles Barkley on their swings.

NBC Sports Network announced it will televise a couple exhibition matches of beach volleyball teams from China and the United States that will take place on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

ESPN has jumped deep into the sport of soccer, televising matches live from all corners of the globe. The World Cup was a huge success for ESPN, and the interest has spread to the UEFA European Championships, English Premiere matches, and MLS games domestically.

ESPNU continues to add more live coverage of college sports beyond football and basketball, and the ESPN family of networks routinely shows the semi-finals and finals of just about every collegiate national championship.  

The Pac-12 network launches tomorrow, promising 850 live events in its first year. The network will have 35 football games and 143 men’s basketball games. That leaves 672 live events of women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, baseball, water polo, and other sports usually neglected except during the Olympics. And these will be regular season games, not just the title matches.

The Big 12 televises some of these sports, but not with the frequency the Pac-12 is promising, and it wouldn’t be surprising if that conference was guilted into more Olympic sport programing. Surely, the upcoming SEC Network is taking note of the Pac-12’s plans.

Even beyond college conference’s own networks, NBC Sports Network is expanding. They don’t have any of the Big Three professionally. It’s likely they will end up with rights to the Big East Conference. But there are a lot of available programming hours in the spring and summer to be filled.

Here in Los Angeles, Time Warner Cable is launching a new channel centered around the LA Lakers. Beyond those 81 regular season games, what else will TWC televise? So far, it’s obtained the rights for the MLS’ LA Galaxy, the WNBA’s LA Sparks, and the high school championships. Some college football and basketball is likely, and more Olympic sports are possible too.

All that live TV will increase the profile of Olympic sports. While it’s doubtful they will ever overtake the U.S.’s Big Three, the Olympic sports should continue to grow.

There’s been chatter about beach volleyball and women’s soccer re-launching professional leagues. The key to any professional league surviving is a TV contract. The increase in regional and national cable channels showcasing sports provides more opportunities for those much-needed TV contracts.

Savvy athletes would be wise to continue marketing themselves to advertisers and fans.

It would appear the interest is stronger than ever to see the world championships in track and field, swimming, diving, and gymnastics in prime time every summer – not just every four years.

Then again, a couple weeks from now, we might be completely over the Olympics until 2016. Just like in the past.

Chapter XII – The worst multi-scribble cards

-- by Josh Suchon

  

The previous chapter of the Sharpie Scribbles, which compared the Alomars to the Ripkens, got me thinking about the multi-autograph baseball card. Some of the best in my childhood collection are the cards, photos and SI covers from the Alomars and Ripkens.

Now it’s time to list the worst multi-autograph baseball cards from my collection. In honor of the Olympics, we’ll use the Bronze, Silver and Gold to rank the worst.

The Bronze

Game Closers -- John Franco and Steve Bedrosian

These two person cards were almost always photos taken during the all-star game. They were a fun break in the middle of sets. Fleer did a good job of pairing together natural fits. The 1988 Fleer “Super Star Specials” were extra cool to me because they were taken during the 1987 all-star game in Oakland, which I attended.

The problem with this dual signature card is the different colored Sharpies that were used. I remember getting Steve Bedrosian’s autograph first. Blue is always the preferred color. The Bedrosion autograph is solid. He doesn’t take up too much space, stays on his body, and doesn’t write on his face.

Then came the John Franco signature. As a kid, you never want to complain about a professional ballplayer who stopped to sign for you. But it was one of those situations when Franco was trying to be efficient, and just used the first pen that was put into his hands for everybody’s autograph. Unfortunately, that was a black pen. It was also a black pen that was running out of ink. Oh well. It could be worse.

The Silver

Classic Relief -- Dave Righetti and Dan Plesac

This is an example where using the same color can be a problem. You don’t know where one of these autographs starts and where the other ends.

Off the top of my head, I wasn’t positive who scribbled first, and who wrote over the other person’s signature. A month or so ago, I was actually talking to Righetti about autographs and getting his autograph. Without even seeing the card in question, Rags said he’s pretty sure that he screwed it up. That says as much about Rags’ self-deprecating humor than anything.

Truth be told, I’m pretty sure he’s right. And after spending way too much time studying it, it seems that Righetti is scribbling on top of Plesac’s scribble. Lefties. So hard getting a good signature from them. But again, it could be worse. Much worse.

The Gold

Kirk Manwaring’s Double Double

I’ll never forget getting this signature. It was during spring training. I’d asked Manwaring to sign and he stopped. I had two of his cards on a clipboard. One was a card of himself. The other was this 1987 Fleer Major League Prospects card he shared with John Burkett. The two cards were well spaced apart. You did this, so the player’s hand could rest on the clipboard, without rubbing again the item, especially important when they’re sweating after a workout.

Manwaring wasn’t paying attention. He signed Burkett’s side of the card, instead of his side. Soon as he finished, he realized the mistake. It actually would have been awesome if he’d left his side alone, and then I could get Burkett on Manwaring’s side, and it would be a unique backward autograph.

Instead, Manwaring signed his side of the card too. That’s how I ended up with two Kirt Manwaring autographs on the same baseball card. Oh yeah, and he didn’t sign the other card. He left that one blank.

Note to readers: "Sharpie Scribbles" is a regular feature that looks back on my childhood autograph collection. It was originally inspired by the positive feedback on the “You Were Lucky, Hershiser” story. I’m blatantly stealing this idea from “Cardboard Gods” author Josh Wilker, who used his baseball card collection to tell the story of his childhood in the 1970s. Wilker gave me his blessing, so I’m using my autograph collection to tell the story of my childhood in the 1980s.