Mark Turner Dot Net

I attended the groundbreaking ceremony at the Marsh Creek Skate Park this morning. It was my first ceremony as a Parks Board member. Board chair Eugene Weeks was the only other member present.

The park itself will be a jewel for the skateboarding kids of Raleigh. We’re not talking a few plywood half-pipes nailed together but an X-Games-worthy arena. What I didn’t see in the amazing renderings of the park is where the bleachers will be. I may be too old (and, uh, clumsy) to be catching air on a skateboard but I’d love to sit and watch!

To serve most of the kids who will use it, the park will need the CAT 15C bus route adjusted. Its just too far of the bus route as it stands. I attempted to ride the bus to the park this morning until GoTriangle.Org told me it would take an hour to get there. No thanks: I can walk faster. In fact, a half-mile walk was part of the route GoTriangle provided. Total buzz kill, dude.

Anyway, if gravity’s really holding you back then Marsh Creek will soon be your place.

I was visiting my dentist yesterday when he and his assistant began discussing the allegedly-underage Chinese gymnasts. The assistant had noticed a new tooth in one of the gymnast’s mouths.

“If they’re sixteen, they’ve got all of em,” my dentist remarked as he went on with his work.

“Aha!” I thought as I remembered the crucial role dental records play in police investigations. Teeth don’t lie. They’re often used in investigations to determine the age of a victim.

Earlier this week a “hacker” fluent in Chinese discovered official spreadsheets showing that gymnasts He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan are actually 14. The New York Times has also found similar evidence. Yet, the IOC today says “no proof exists” and stands by the Chinese. Unbelievable.

I’d like to believe in the pureness of Olympic sport but there’s far too much money involved for it to be pure. I wouldn’t put it past China to pull a fast one, nor for the IOC to look the other way. Both aren’t exactly known to be trustworthy.

I cleared out the settings on my bike computer for the first time in a year or more. Started the counters at Hallie’s school as I left for work.

I ride almost exactly two miles to work and do so in under 12 minutes (and this was sloppy timekeeping, too). Thus I average roughly 10 MPH, though I do tend to ride at 14-17 MPH between stop signs and traffic lights, and of those there are many.

It will be interesting to see what speeds I reach on the way home, which is mostly downhill.

I know the Carolina fan who reads the blog won’t be happy, but its gotta be said. While once I thought they were getting better, Carolina fans are still very much the “wine and cheese” crowd that Sam Cassell labeled them. Witness the response when the men’s basketball team returns to Chapel Hill Sunday afternoon following their Final Four loss to Kansas. News reports said “dozens” of UNC fans were there to greet the team as it returned home.

Dozens? UNC is the second-largest university in the state and was one game away from playing for the national championship and mere “dozens” of UNC fans were there to thank their team?

Only on the bandwagon when the team is winning. Pathetic. The river of Carolina fandom is miles wide and an inch deep.

Coach Valvano would have celebrated his 62nd birthday today. Thanks to the V Foundation he’s still inspiring people.

With amazingly warm weather Saturday, and after Kelly came back from her run going on about how awesome it was, I opted to get out myself. It was already 4:15 PM and close to sunset. The air was beginning to chill, but I didn’t care. I put on some shorts and hopped on my bike for a quick circuit down the greenway path and back. It took a mere fifteen minutes, but that ride did wonders for my health. I left feeling achy but returned absolutely energized!

I’ve got to make regular exercise a daily thing, especially since I’m working from home now. Plus, I’ve got to take advantage of these 70-degree December days.

Congrats to Coach Tom O’Brien and the N.C. State Wolfpack for holding off a gutsy Tar Heels team for a 31-27 win at Carter-Finley Stadium today. It was a nail-biter right to the end. Definitely a classic.

That’s four in a row, better than I expected O’Brien to do in his first season. Go Pack!

Lance Armstrong ran this year’s New York City Marathon, finishing in 2:46:23 and becoming the 698th runner to cross the finish line.

Imagine what it must have been like finishing in 697th place, just ahead of Lance. I’d have been tempted to turn around and taunt him: “In your face, Armstrong!”

It would be about the only chance you’d get to do that.

Jason Ray is still touching lives. The UNC student who performed as the UNC mascot Rameses (and of whom I wrote about before) may have died in March but parts of him live on. Ray’s organs have been distributed to over 80 people, according to the Charlotte Observer this morning.

Tonight ESPN will air the story of Jason Ray, called “Ray of Hope.” I hope his story inspires more people to become organ donors.

I’m an organ donor. Are you?

We got back last evening from our Herndon High School reunion weekend in Virginia. Lots of fun was had. Herndon’s football team won the homecoming game against the Yorktown Patriots 35-31, too.

More on all that when I get a chance. For now I gotta get back to work.