by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

Trump talking about his favorite Bible verse is absolutely the best comedy on the planet. You could spend your life trying to find a funnier bit and you’d die a failure. https://t.co/C2XBltunkD

— find tyler huckabee on bluesky (@TylerHuckabee) August 22, 2019

Wow. Not only does he not know what the Old Testament and the New Testament are, but the only way he can relate to the Bible is to compare it to his own book. Rule No. 3 of Trump: Everything reverts to Trump.

Starting Five

The Arsonists

The world has never been perfect. Allow me to amend that: the people who inhabit the world have never been perfect. The world, in the absence of people, is pretty perfect (parenthetical: I ruefully laughed at last week’s Twitter meme, “Name 5 Things You Love More Than People;” stop me when I get to 5 million).

The people who inhabit the world have never been perfect, but at least it used to feel as if there was moral courage at the top. No more. The Amazon rainforest is burning for the same reason that kids are being held in cages at the U.S.-Mexico border, which is the same reason that China is on the brink of violently suppressing peaceful demonstrations in Hong Kong, which is the same reason that Russia has yet another radioactive nuclear accident and claims, yet again, “Move along. Nothing to see here,” which is the same reason that Mike Pompeo plays footsie with the Saudis after they assassinated a journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, in a Turkish embassy.

An absence of morality, spurred on by insatiable greed and totalitarianism.

The planet is in a tailspin, and the willful burning of the planet’s most precious source of life, of both oxygen and biodiversity, in the name of more cattle ranching, well, there’s your symbol of everything that’s wrong with the world.

As we watch the Amazon burn, remember: @jairbolsonaro's presidency is itself a crime scene. He is only in power because of a series of illegal coups – first against Dilma, then Lula, who would have easily defeated Bolsonaro at the polls. Before Brazil burned, it was stolen. https://t.co/TyRjC3qero

— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) August 23, 2019

Not all of our leaders are so depraved. Justin Trudeau is not. Nor is Emmanuel Macron of France. Or Angela Merkel of Germany. Nor Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. There are probably others.

However, the leaders of the most powerful nations in North America (Donald Trump), Asia (Xi), Europe (Putin) and South America (Bolsonaro) are all fascists, all crooks, all bullies, all men without empathy for living creatures, man or beast. They are beholden only to wealth and power. The world is burning, figuratively and literally, and they are the ones holding the matches.

Actions become habits, habits become character and character becomes legacy. And we have all seen time and time again that all habits have consequences. Call it karma if you like, but I believe it’s more tangible than that. The actions currently being undertaken by the most powerful “leaders” on the planet are going to have a devastating impact on thousands of species, including man, for decades to come. If not centuries.

If you have the chance and/or the inclination, you may want to read A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr. The book, published 60 years ago, tells the story of a post-nuclear world where monks preserve just enough scientific knowledge so that civilization can once again rebuild. And , of course, after thousands of years, what happens? Man makes the same mistakes all over again. It’s both a hilarious (“The Archbishop of Texarkana”) and depressing read and I’ve always been amused that Fr. Becker, S.J., assigned it to us to read, since its basic message is that it is inherent in man’s nature to destroy everything, including himself.

I honestly don’t know if there is a capital-g God (yes, I graduated from Notre Dame). But it all makes you wonder how His supposed top-of-the-line model could be so inherently flawed, and that’s before you wonder why He built a universe that is hopelessly enormous, in terms of our ability to comprehend its size, and then stuffed all the creatures He adores on one tiny rock in one miniscule galaxy.

And that’s all I have to say about that. Now you may return to bickering about Popeye’s chicken sandwiches.

Michael Tauchmann Overdrive

A couple of thoughts after the Yankees were swept in Oakland in a three-game series in which they never led, not one inning:

—Gleyber Torres, 22, hit his 30th and 31st home runs last night and went 4-for-4. The only Yankee in franchise history to hit 30 home runs in a season who was younger than Torres? Joe DiMaggio. So, yeah, that was a smart trade the Bombers made for him three seasons ago (and the player they traded away, Aroldis Chapman, is already back in the Bronx).

—David Cone, in the booth with Michael Kay, is excellent. He really is. Insightful and articulate, sure, but the only man calling games who also pitched a perfect game isn’t afraid to voice an opinion that runs contrary to Yankee brass. After Torres clouted his first home run last night, in the 7th inning, Cone noted again that he doesn’t quite understand, just in terms of number of bats per game, why a hitter as talented as Torres bats 7th. When the A’s made an error in the 8th, the first thing Cone noted was that it meant Torres would at least get another at-bat in the 9th. And then with two outs and nobody on in the 9th, Torres hit his second home run of the night.

–At least the Yankees scored, meaning they’ve scored at least one run in 211 consecutive games. That’s the third-longest streak in MLB history. The second-longest streak belongs to the 1978-1979 Milwaukee Brewers, 212 games. In order to tie that streak this evening, the Yanks must overcome Dodger ace Hyun-jin Ryu, who has by far baseball’s lowest ERA at 1.64.

–Outfielder Michael Tauchmann, who was at the end of the list of afterthought Yankee replacements back in April (remember Clint Frazier? Tyler Wade?), has the second-best batting average in all of baseball since the All-Star break. Tauchmann, batting .299 overall with 12 home runs and 45 RBI. Tauchmann, whom the Yanks acquired from the Rockies last spring in exchange for a pear-and-arugula salad, has the same number of at-bats (221) and homers this season as starting centerfielder Aaron Hicks. Tauchmann has nine more RBI and one less home run than starting right fielder Aaron Judge, and that in 44 fewer at-bats. He has the same number of at-bats as Edwin Encarnacion (143), Giancarlo Stanton (31) and Miguel Andujar (47) combined. What are the Yankees going to do with this guy when everyone gets healthy?

–By the way, the player with the best batting average in the big leagues since the All-Star Break? Teammate Gio Urshela, who like Tauchmann was a complete afterthought on this highly compensated roster when the season began.

The Exchange Rate Field*

*The judges thank Cecil Hurt for the inspiration

The Packers and Raiders played a preseason game in Winnipeg because why not? And then they played it on an 80-yard field goal, which just gave Frank Calendo 4 more minutes of Gruden-related material. You may wonder, as I did, how two teams playing on a field that is ordinarily 150 yards in length (end zones included) would play on a shorter field, but apparently it had to do with the conditions of the end zones, which is funny because the Raiders annually play on the most inhospitable football surface in the NFL. So quit asking questions, okay?

This is not what everyone is referring to when they suggest that the NFL needs to shorten its preseason.

–Apropos of nothing, the Baltimore Ravens won their 16th consecutive NFL preseason game last night.

–Also, look around and you’ll see that the fourth-highest rated passer in the league this August (after established starters Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins) is New York Giant rookie Daniel Jones, who was selected out of Duke with the sixth pick overall. Who’s laughing now?

–Finally, Trace McSorley looks as if he’ll make the Ravens and Gardner Minshew the Jags and they’ll both be vying for the Kellen Moore Trophy this season.

Going Down

Here in Gotham City, a 30 year-old male was crushed to death by a malfunctioning elevator. In a 23-story luxury building that only four months ago was fiend $1,300 by the city for having unsafe elevators. Sam Weisbren was killed as he exited the elevator first and the elevator came crashing down on him as he stepped across the threshold; three eyewitnesses who were still inside the elevator saw the tragedy happen right in front of him.

One wonders if Weisbren was exiting first so as not to alarm any female passengers who may have thought he was stalking them (sorry, I had to).

A-Mays-ing Met

Another borough, another century, another franchise, another player, but last night at Citi Field in Queens Mets left fielder J.D. Davis made the most Willie Mays-robbing-Vic Wertz catch in the 1954 World Series you’re likely to ever see.

J.D. Davis or Willie Mays? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zxszSryF5l

— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2019

A reminder that Wertz, like last night’s batter, Greg Allen, played for the Cleveland Indians. And that Mays, 89, finished his playing career with the Mets.

by John Walters

This will be typed with some trepidation. I am typing this for the same reason that I asked the question that led to the argument that ultimately led to this blog post: because I’m looking for an honest answer to my question. And I’m hoping you can help by offering some advice, solicited, as to whether I was completely off-base to even pose the question. All I’m asking for are your candid replies. Thanks.

“So if you were the president, what would you do about the border?”

That was the question I asked an old friend last week and in the time it would take to repeat the query, I went from old friend to Typical Middle-Aged Racist White Guy. I could see the look in my friend’s eyes. I could see the change happen that quickly.

Is it a fair question? As I was thinking of composing this, I thought of how in the past it was common to begin an argument with “If there’s one thing that we can all agree on…” To begin with common ground on both sides of an argument.

But in the Age of Trump, sadly, I have learned the hard way that there are far fewer things that we can all agree on than I used to believe. So while I was about to write, “If there’s one thing we can all agree on, separating children from their parents and keeping them in conditions that are worse than what the common felon endures at Riker’s Island is flat-out wrong,” I’m not sure we can even all agree on that, unequivocally. But I do know that I believe that it is flat-out wrong. Unequivocally. Racism is wrong. Unequivocally. And that takes precedence over how well one’s stock portfolio is doing. At least it does to me.

The horrors of the border internment camps. ICE raids on chicken processing plants. Trump’s latest plan to suspend any type of habeas corpus in the aforementioned camps (making them in effect a Guantanamo base for illegal alien children). Any of two dozen or more disturbingly cruel and outright racist practices under the Trump administration (take a bow, Stephen Miller), which itself was launched with incredibly racist propaganda about the types of people Mexico was sending us. All of this is cruel and evil and downright un-American. No doubt.

However, the Founders of this country, men inspired by the Age of the Enlightenment and who had only lived in a world ruled by despots and kings, understood well, and sought gamely, to create a nation in which individuals were treated equally regardless of race, religion or economic standing. And for this to happen, they believed, the nation’s foundation had to be laws and our adherence to them.

Now, of course, as you and I and Colin Kaepernick know, all laws are not enforced equally. But the point is, they’re supposed to be. And one of the reasons the phrase “a more perfect union” exists in the preamble of the Constitution is because it embraces the idea that, as a nation, we can always improve. Blacks were not free when the Constitution was ratified. Women did not have the right to vote. America has never been perfect, and it is certainly far from perfect lately, but the ideas behind the Constitution seem to be: 1) we can always get better and wiser (hence the allowance of Amendments) and 2) laws are the cornerstone of a society where people are as free as possible while also adhering to what Rousseau described as “the Social Contract.”

In other words, you cannot be for freedom of speech right up until someone says something that you do not like. The law, all laws, need to be based on general values that a society espouses. Not on particular circumstances. Not on emotions. And if enough of us no longer believe that a law properly represents our values, it can be repealed. Or a new law passed.

Which brings me back to the border. And sure, if you want to include the U.S.A.-Canada border, by all means, go right ahead. Let’s begin with this: If you or I travel to any country outside the United States, we know enough to bring our passports. All developed nations have rules about foreigners entering their country, even if it’s just a matter of an agent glancing at your passport for a matter of seconds before passing you through.

So I guess what I’d like to ask is if those Americans who cannot stand Trump (raises hand) have an actual policy, a guideline, for border crossings that are not undertaken legally. Should it be like the 55 m.p.h. speed limit where, hey, we have it so that we can enforce it if we want but 99 times out of 100 we drivers know they never will? Should there be no law at all and, Hey, c’mon over, everyone? Should it be strict?

I’d argue that one of the main reasons, if not THE main reason, that Trump got elected was because he tapped into the latent racism of far too many Americans, and he used illegal border crossings as his gateway drug. And because, at least to me, no one on the Democrat side had (or has) a better counter-proposal than to tap into the emotional aspects of the situation (the Emma Lazarus Syndrome of “Gimme your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”).

So that what you had on one side was a return to Nazi Germany and on the other side was Morris Albert singing “Feelings” and in between there was just this giant vacuum where common sense should exist. Where we, the people, just ignored the fact that you can’t even begin to address the issue if there’s not a proper law in place. There are decent people who bleed red and blue, I believe, who are frustrated by only hearing the extremes from either side.

You can talk about why ICE isn’t raiding the people who employ illegal aliens as opposed to the illegal aliens themselves (I know I have in this very blog). You can talk about how Mexicans and immigrants from other Central American countries who did not arrive legally are some of the hardest workers and friendliest people you’ll ever meet (this is something I know first-hand, I’d say better than 95% of you reading this). But as you talk about all of that, you are deflecting away from the question. Because it’s not about whether someone coming to the United States illegally is the best cook in your kitchen or an MS-13 member (or both).

It’s about, Should we bother to enforce laws? Are our laws obsolete? And, if law-abiding citizens see that their government is not enforcing laws, how long until those citizens stop respecting laws themselves?

I don’t think (“I think we can all agree…” except that we cannot) you can call yourself a true American if you don’t root for anyone who wants to come here and make a better life for himself, herself, or their family. After all, you’re almost certainly here because someone on an older branch of your family tree did just that. I’m 100% on those people’s sides and I care not one whit about their color, their race, their sexual orientation. If nothing else, 30 years of living in New York City, where we have every conceivable type of person living in extremely cramped conditions and yet people get along just fine, has taught me that.

But, as someone who desperately wants to see Trump out of office, and who sincerely wants every child in a cage reunited with his or her parents tonight, I don’t at all think it’s racist or un-American to ask of a Democratic candidate, So IS there a plan for the border? As it stands now, the MAGA base would put up a wall, which is the enduring symbol of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign (a successful one, I might add, no matter what the popular vote was).

But it feels to me that the opposition (count me in) has to this point come up with nothing better than sharing heart-wrenching stories of either families who have been torn apart or individuals working three jobs to raise their kids. Emotions aren’t laws. Human-interest stories that Lester Holt can narrate on NBC Nightly News are not a response to the sinister xenophobia of Trump’s policy.

Be it on a sports team, on a restaurant staff, or as a United States citizen, I find the operation works best when we have a clear set of guidelines and we hold each other accountable. Isn’t it possible to empathize with every single person who is attempting to come to America while also asking, Do we even have a guideline for who enters and, if so, is it something we are willing to enforce? Or is that something no Democrat would ever do because he or she would never want to alienate their voter base? Which, come to think of it, is something right out of Donald J’s border policy playbook.

Thank you for reading. I’m sure this will all just go down as White Mansplaining, but that’s the world we live in now.

by John Walters

Starting Five

Amazon Crime

What the hell? People are intentionally burning down the Amazon rainforest? Why don’t we all just poop in our water supply, too? Of all the catastrophic events taking place during this new age of fashionable totalitarianism, burning down the Amazon rainforest may be the catastrophicest.

If you want to read a lede about the Amazon rainforest, this is it. https://t.co/DsXatHS48a pic.twitter.com/RLasQYqDD3

— Zoë Schlanger (@zoeschlanger) August 22, 2019

And we’re obsessing over whether or not Trump is going to buy Greenland?!? I’m at the ‘I-don’t-even-know-what-to-say’ level at this point. You?

The Constant Gardner

Remember Gardner Minshew? Graduate student who was gonna be content to ride the pine at Alabama as a backup QB in order to kickstart his coaching career, then made an exodus to Washington State after the incumbent starter at QB in Pullman committed suicide? Became a cult hero as he led the nation in passing yards per game (367.6) and was second in passing completion % (70.7%) as the Cougs finished 11-2?

Minshew, about 6’0″, was not drafted until the 6th round, by the Jaguars. Jacksonville gave him $195,000, guaranteed. By comparison, Jared Goff, another former Pac-12 QB who never posted numbers as exemplary nor led his school to 11 wins, received $18.5 million guaranteed as a rookie three years ago. Not claiming Minshew is going to be as good a pro as Goff, but it does look as if he is going to make the Jags roster as the No. 2 quarterback behind Nick Foles (another Pac-12 alum who wound up surprising a few people as an NFL QB).

UM-believable

This is from Michigan’s Matt Dudek via the Forbes review is the book. Gag me. https://t.co/FqfmG5ZrBw pic.twitter.com/1Y3vsYvaJB

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) August 22, 2019

He’s kidding, right, this Dudek fellow? Ooh! Oooh! Pick me, Mr. Kotter!

Journey Of A Lifetime

By now you’ve probably seen or read about Brad Ryan and his grandma, Joy, who have set out on an epic adventure, a quest really, to visit all of our national parks. Thus far, after four years the duo have visited nearly half of the 61 national parks, having covered 38 states (Phyllis, what say you?).

I love this story and dollars-to-doughnuts someone will turn this into a feature film. That is unless we discover the two are not actually related and it’s some bizarre Harold and Maude-type relationship.

Comstock Load

This is the funniest thing I’ve seen on Twitter this week and I wanted to learn more. This is the story of Keith Comstock, former journeyman MLB and minor-league pitcher, who as a 32 year-old demoted back to AAA, was able (via teammates united against having their baseball card pics taken unless he was allowed to do this) to create the funniest Topps baseball card ever.

Somewhere Ron Shelton, the writer of Bull Durham, is kicking himself for not having thought of this for the screenplay.

by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1163613700458258433?s=20

Starting Five

Another Day Of Trump

Calls Jews “stupid” if they vote Democrat and cancels trip to Denmark after its Prime Minister called his interest in purchasing Greenland “absurd.” And that was Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/TwitterMoments/status/1163911399069888514?s=20

Just so we’re clear here: titular head of the Republican Party, who defends neo-Nazis as “very fine people,” calls out Jews who would dare to not support him.

The King AnDi-vorce*

*The judges will also accept “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”

Radio megastar and Weekend At Bernie‘s aspirational figure Larry King, 85, has filed for divorce from his wife of 22 years, Shawn King. Who is not that mixed race dude who always gets in on-line battles with Clay Travis. And is definitely not the former Tulane quarterback.

Shawn is 59. This was Larry’s seventh marriage and the depressing part is knowing he’ll get married again before we will wed.

There’s TWO Of Them?

Dear 23AndMe: I’ve got a project for you.

Wow. Yesterday on the campaign trail in Minnesota Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren met her doppelgänger (that’s the U.S. Senator on the right…for once). This gives us hope that there may just be a Charlize Theron lookalike hiding out somewhere.

Edina resident Stephanie Oyen has been told so often by family members that she resembles Warren that she decided to don her blue blazer and glasses (her standard Halloween costume the past two years) and attend an event in St. Paul where Warren was speaking. When she entered the back of the hall, people began to turn around and point out, “It’s her!”

Oyen is 50. Warren is 70. Here’s to great genes.

The Great Buster

TCM aired a documentary on silent film star Buster Keaton Monday night and because I barely knew more about him than the name, I decided to give it a chance. In the intro they explain that Keaton’s short films, or shorts, were essentially the inspiration for most Bugs Bunny cartoons. And, Bugs being an all-time favorite of mine, they had me hooked.

Two things to know about Keaton: 1) he was born, in 1895, to a pair of parents who had their own vaudeville act and then became a part of it before he could even walk 2) in that act and when he became a movie star in the early 20s, he did his own stunts.

Watch this, and notice what he does at :46. Also, at 1:26. Those are two of his most famous stunts. Don’t try that at home (or with your home):

There, Al McCoy

The Phoenix Suns announced that Al McCoy, who has been calling games for the NBA franchise since 1972 (and has missed only ONE game due to personal illness in all that time), will return for a 48th season this autumn. McCoy, 86, is nearly as much of an institution in the Valley of the Sun as Camelback Mountain. A few years back I profiled him in Newsweek.

Music 101

No Time

Last night at the Cookoutateria an upper-middle-aged rock band, The Rockbrokers, covered this Guess Who classic with aplomb. The song was released in September of 1969, which means that it turns 50 next month, and in the aftermath of the Manson Family murders and Woodstock, it feels as if it’s a breakup song with the Sixties in a way. With the gorgeous four-part harmonies and unique guitar riff, it makes us think that this is one song the Beatles wish they had written. The Canadian rockers, who also wrote “American Woman” and “These Eyes,” are somehow NOT in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. WUT?

Remote Patrol

Sullivan’s Travels

TCM 8 p.m.

This 1941 Preston Sturges comedy is considered a classic. John Sullivan (Joel McRea) is a popular young Hollywood director of frivolous comedies (sounds like a few people we could name) who longs to make a meaningful picture. So he dresses as a hobo in Depression-era America to find out what the real people are really like. Somehow Veronica Lake factors into the plot.

by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

WATCH> 14 pensioners balance on a giant seesaw, with entirely predictable resultshttps://t.co/ZuVtpd0hbo pic.twitter.com/s3O8r6UdhR

— The Poke (@ThePoke) January 25, 2016

Cue “Yakety Sax.”

Starting Five

QB Carousel At The Top

For the first time ever, Clemson is atop the preseason AP poll. No surprise for the defending champions. Here’s to us, what is funny: from a cursory glance, every school in the AP’s preseason Top 5 has been part of a quarterback soap opera in the past two seasons:

-No. 1 Clemson: Trevor Lawrence supplants starter Kelly Bryant after one month in 2018 and Bryant flips to Mizzou (and doesn’t get a ring!).

No. 2 Alabama: Jalen Hurts loses his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa early in 2018 after leading the Tide to a pair of national championship games. He’s now the starter at No. 4 Oklahoma.

No. 3 Georgia: Jacob Fromm takes the starter’s job away from Jacob Eason, now at No. 13 Washington, early in 2017 and holds onto it, which prompts Justin Fields to transfer also. Fields is now the starter at No. 5 Ohio State.

It keeps going. Jarrett Patterson left Ole Miss and is now the starter at No. 7 Michigan. Ian Book took the job away from Brandon Wimbush at No. 9 Notre Dame last September; Wimbush is now at No. 17 UCF.

Elite QBs are not students so much as they are hired guns. And you can’t blame them. Frankly, all positions in college football are not equal and QBs should only have to sit out until the end of the season in which they transfer, if they transfer mid-season. If they transfer post-season, they should not have to sit out at all.

Mr. Ed

If you remember the 1960s sitcom Mr. Ed, the premise was a talking horse of the title who not only speaks to his owner but dispenses wisdom on a regular basis. Flash forward 50-plus years to Mindhunter, where convicted serial killer Ed Kemper (who decapitated 6 of his 10 victims) has become the show’s undisputed charmer and sage.

Kemper, who in real life stood 6’9″, has only one scene in Season 2 but his words have remained with me for a few days. Our G-men, agents Ford and Tench, have traveled from Quantico to Vacaville to interview Charles Manson, but he’s housed in the same facility as Kemper, whose interview kick-started the entire profiling practice. So they stop in and visit him.

Kemper on word of their interview with Manson having already spread through the prison: “Everyone knows when Charlie takes a shit, and if you haven’t heard, he’ll tell you all about it. Even if someone else took the shit for him.”

Later, Kemper demonstrates how insightful he is, recognizing that they’re on the trail of someone that has yet to make the papers (the Atlanta child murderer). When Ford somewhat smugly states that eventually every serial killer tips his hand and is caught, Kemper, who turned himself in because he realized the cops would never catch him, says, “It occurs to me that everything you know about serial killers comes from talking with the ones who were caught.”

Finally Fired

It took five years, but the NYPD finally fired Officer Dan Pantaleo for choking Eric Garner to death in July of 2014. Panatela remains a free man, but we can all sleep better knowing that the scourge of second-hand street cigarettes are no longer destroying the purity of Staten Island. In other news, “Juul Labs Says Raised About $325.0 Million In Equity And Debt Financing.”

Hmm.

X Marks The Spot

Yesterday U.S. Steel (ticker symbol “X,” which is way cool) announced that it will lay off hundreds of workers at one of its plants in Michigan. So much winning. The formidable company’s stock price was at $30.93 a year ago today; this morning it’ll open under $13. Stop buying wooden homes, people. Buy steel homes.

Forty Somethings

You know us by now: time is pressing, we have to get ready for work, and we still don’t have a No. 5. So we head over to Letsrun.com and hope there’s something and—spoiler alert—there usually is.

The annual Leadville 100, one of the most iconic foot races in the USA (100 miles of trail running across ridges and backwoods in the Colorado Rockies) was staged this past weekend and both the men’s and women’s winners were runners in their forties. Ryan Smith, 40, of Boulder, won the men’s race in a time of 16 hours, 33 minutes and 25 seconds. Magdalena Boulet, 46, who was an Olympic marathoner 11 years ago and lives in Oakland, won the women’s race in 20 hours, 18 minutes and seven seconds. She finished 11th overall and this was her very first Leadville run.