Well, just the one sport really. I know how fascinated you all (all! ha!) are with my rowing, but if Bérubé can do it with hockey, why not me? I rowed in the Head of the Des Moines on Saturday, a three mile race up the Des Moines river in, erm, Des Moines (third-largest insurance city in the world, if you were wondering). Despite only four hours of kip I managed to race in a men’s open quad where we came second, though unfortunately the field was small enough that we also came last. But we got a medal. Then the masters eight, where we got silver again, and this time we actually beat another team. Just one though.

The highlight of the day was when I coxed (go ahead, snigger) the mixed master’s eight, where equipment failure meant for half the race it was a mixed master’s seven. Despite that we got gold by a huge 1 second margin (over a 22+ minute race). It was really heartening to see the crew drive themselves so hard when all seemed lost, and I was very gratified when one of the more experienced members thanked me for something I said during the race that helped him carry on.

Coxing (pause) the Head of the Mississippi this weekend, then the season is done. I hope to do more regattas next year though, so prepare for more tedious talk of lactic acid and strange hotels.

Gotta love it. The President claimed yesterday that he is one of 19 presidents to serve in the National Guard. The spirit of that statement is kind of true, but 16 of the 19 actually served in state’s militias, which broadly speaking are the precursors to the National Guard. Not a big deal, certainly compared to the injustice of comparing their service to his. But don’t you think this is just the sort of triviality that Kerry would get hammered on?

{via TPM}

Jessica Simpson to play Daisy Duke

And across the country a million pubescent boy’s wrists move into overdrive. Father’s too.

Did I mention I’m on vacation in New York at the moment? No? Oh, well, I’ll be back next week. Amuse yourselves with one of the many splendid sites to your right, or by ordering me a new iMac.

The GB Men’s coxless four (yes, more rowing talk) has taken gold in the Olympics, by the startling margin of 0.08 seconds. Here’s an inspiring quote from Matthew Pinsent, who has now won gold in the last four Olympics, on how the difficulties they’ve had in the run-up to the games affected his aims:

“I have rowed so badly as not to have deserved a medal, I have rowed myself and the crew into a tired and dejected position where winning was impossible, but gone out to try to win a silver?

“No. Never.”