Starting Five

1. The thon must go on. As of this moment the New York City Marathon is still scheduled to take place on Sunday morning in New York City. Those of you who read our tweets know that we oppose this stance and feel that, for once, New York Road Runners CEO Mary Wittenberg is displaying an imperviousness to sound judgment. More thoughts in “Reserves.”

2. Tony Parker, assassin: The Spurs’ guard hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining and then drained a 21-foot buzzer-beater over the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka to give San Antonio an 86-84 win against Oklahoma City in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.

3. Blake Shelton named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Awards, but our favorite moment was yet another terrific opening dialogue from hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who’ve gotten the hang of it after doing this together a few years (“Thanks, BP!” “You’re welcome, Carrie!” Oh, we get it!). If this were the 1970s they’d already have their own variety show. Watch the first clip and don’t miss the 1:50 mark where they trash the worst Taylor Swift song yet written.

4. Jon Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show manage to both skewer presidential politics in Ohio (“Swing State Hell“) while satirizing Superstorm Sandy relief-effort reports without ever mentioning the storm (“People huddled in wifi dead spots…”). The opening segment of this show is the most incisive eight minutes of television every night, Monday to Thursday.

5. The roller coaster that once graced the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J…

Reserves

Aerosmith appears on the Today Show, and during the tease before their first song, Steven Tyler stares into the camera and says, “Good morning, America.” The sexegenarian rock star also pulled a Tom Hanks and dropped an F-bomb. Dude is seriously toys in the attic, you know?

According to our man in LA, Guestlist Markazi, here’s Lane Kiffin on the disappointment of being 6-2 at USC: “It’s unfortunate we’ve screwed these two games up because the storyline should be Matt (Barkley) being a front runner for the Heisman.” On the other hand, Barkley is 34th nationally in total offense, has already thrown more interceptions (8) this season than he did all of last (7), has at least one worthier Heisman teammate (WR Marqise Lee), and has yet to lead the Trojans to a win against a team that currently has a winning record. We don’t know what Layla sees in him sometimes.

Another photo, from my home county, Monmouth, this from Union Beach, N.J.

The Song of the Year at the CMAs was “Pontoon”, a song about drifting on a barge in a lake getting sunburnt and hammered (also known as, “Summer in Georgia”). The better song, from our limited sampling, however, is “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by the Eli Young Band. Here’s a scaled-down version from the Texas-based C&W band.

Ethiopian children with no knowledge of the written word teach themselves to hack into computer within months. No better way to illustrate what separates man from all other beasts, i.e., the ability to bypass passwords. Thanks to John Infante for the find.

Moving forward, is it really wise to be constructing a 104-story skyscraper on the southern tip of Manhattan, an area that will be continuously vulnerable to flooding situations such as this week’s in the even that all this climate change talk isn’t just in Al Gore’s head?

Pittsburgh’s leading rusher, Ray Graham, and wide receiver, Devin Street, along with starting defensive back Lafayette Pitts charged with simple assault against one alleged victim. The trio deny that they were involved and coach Paul Chryst announces they will play tomorrow against Notre Dame. On a side note, there’s a “Pitt’s Pitts?” Why didn’t we already know this?

Wait… Sage Steele has three kids??? Wow.

Our co-host here at the site, the brilliant Bill Hubbell, notes that the two most conspicuously current famous Mormons in America may both finish second (or, then again, first), in important upcoming balloting.

 The Marathon
Strange how Bruce Springsteen song titles have owned the narrative of the superstorm, from the eponymous “Sandy” to “My City of Ruins” to “Born to Run.” The New York City Marathon is still scheduled to take place on Sunday, although we happen to think that’s a bad idea. Some random thoughts for you to consider:

— Why is the marathon really going on? Is it to demonstrate the resilience of New York City and its citizens, or is it due to the financial headaches that might be involved for the New York Road Runners, which overseas the event, the marathon’s numerous sponsors, and the many runners who fly here from almost every continent to participate (most of whom are arriving today)? Just this afternoon New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who otherwise has been heroically Gulianiesque this week, justified the running of the marathon by reminding all that the 2001 NYC Marathon was staged after 9/11. Of course, he neglected to note that the two events occurred nearly eight weeks apart.

— The course begins on Staten Island, one of the hardest hit areas of the storm, but is only there long enough for runners to clamber onto and then across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. However, it is also the staging area for the race and so marathoners will wait there for two or more hours, sitting without shelter in the early morning chill, with just Port-a-Potties as human comfort. Of course, that’s more civilization than many Staten Islanders will have had in six days. Add to that the fact that 19 people have already died on Staten Island as a direct result of the storm with a high probability of that number increasing. Look at it this way: if the marathon wound its way directly past the scenes of worst devastation, and if they could clear that route, would you still think it was a good idea to run?

The New York Post with a cover story on how three generators that could operate up to 400 homes in terms of power and electricity in New York will be used for the media tent at the NYC Marathon.

Mary Wittenberg, the CEO of the New York Road Runners and, thus of the NYC Marathon, is a bright and savvy lady. And a dedicated runner. She has never been tone-deaf before — her handling of the Ryan Shay tragedy during the 2008 Olympic Trials was beautiful — but this time she is simply wrong. Some, such as Scott Van Pelt of ESPN (with whom we had a wonderful Twitter convo this morning) have likened this to tonight’s Heat-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, or to Sunday’s Steelers-Giants game. But that is inaccurate.

The New York City Marathon is far more akin to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade than it is to a sporting event. The NYCM is a signature event for NYC and a showcase for what many of us consider to be the world’s greatest city. It is truly ecumenical, in that people of any race, religion, sex or country may participate, either as runners, volunteers or spectators. It is a celebration not only of New York City and of running but of universal brotherhood.

Except here’s the problem: a lot of our brothers in New York or currently experiencing the worst moments in their lives. So while no one may actually die of thirst, a lot of people could use water and it looks rather frivolous and insensitive to be setting up water stations along a 26.2-mile course for 35,000 or so marathoners. And, yes, they may have enough police and manpower to handle both the marathon and recovery efforts, but in this week of all weeks, maybe it’s better to remain focused.

You know those moments when someone dies participating in a sporting event, but the event is not canceled as the sponsors say, “He would’ve wanted us to continue?” Well, number one, nobody ever knows that. And, of course, number two, it is such a self-serving argument. A large number of people died in the tri-state area this week, and a far greater number face difficult and uncertain futures. Many, many people lost their homes. So, yes, it is quite an accomplishment to run 26.2 miles, especially if it is your first time. But maybe it is far more admirable to dedicate your time, and the vast resources that would be spent on staging this race, on helping people truly recover. And, please, Mary, do not try to sell us on the idea that after a week such as this that New Yorkers need a reason to come together, to smile, to be distracted.

That, I’m sorry, is b.s. New Yorkers need power, and heat, and potable water, and probably a far better home insurance policy than they currently have. Please do not exploit their troubles as a means of rescuing your race from the fiscal troubles it might encounter by canceling or postponing. New Yorkers, far too many of us, are very familiar with the economic headaches that this storm has caused.

Long after Sunday’s race takes place (or doesn’t) hundreds of thousands of dedicated runners will still reside in New York City. As will the New York Road Runners, a club that has a veritable monopoly on road races in the five boroughs. It will be interesting to see if the relationship between the NYRR and its hundreds of thousands of member runners changes after Sunday. Wittenberg may say that she is dedicated this to running this race for the benefit of both runners and New Yorkers in general, but that is false. And enough New Yorkers are starting to come forward today to call her out on that. Whether she is being disingenuous, whether she is rationalizing, or whether she is simply fooling herself, we will leave that to you. But the best thing to do for the people of NYC is not to be so insensitive, just five days after the worst storm to ever hit the city occurred, as to stage an event that annually maxes out the support efforts of this great city.