Running the Sites and Writing

Welcome to hodgepodge Thursday. It's not an official thing but um kinda burned out from Tispewing a fair amount of venom, humor, and common sense during the State of the Union address the other night.
Add to that a very long day yesterday capped off by my first meeting with the DC Ragnar Relay Ambassadors. Kent and Adam arranged for the 20 or so of us to meet up over a run around the mall. I would have preferred to do it at 6am instead of 7pm but I'll deal. It's an interesting group of Ragnar veterans and we're tasked with talking up the Race and getting others to sign up. For these promotional efforts we get some gear and a free (personal) race entry. SUCKERS! I do all that anyway and without any compensation. But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I'm on board. The late night train ride home though gave me time to think about the name of the program. "Ambassadors" is OK and very DC but one of the coolest things about Ragnar is the creativity in team names (like Captain Awesome and his Big Bag of Monkeys). Even the 35 or so volunteers who organized the races are called the SWAT Team (Sweaty Wet And Tired). So I think that we could come up with more "Ragnar-ing" moniker such as, "The Running Billboards" or "Ask Us About Your Running Problem". Then than maybe "Ambassador" is a little easier in the tongue. Either way it looks like this is gonna be a trip.
On to the next non-sequitur: tree graffiti...
Duke? Really? I was thinking that Maryland's athletic department could have found a different opponent for the game when they debut the new floor dedicated to former coach Gary Williams (complete with 4ft high signature) . You know, a team they have a cancellation to actually beat. Duke has a strong team this year and Maryland clearly doesn't. The ADs office knows this going in to the season, so why not choose a different home date to unavailable the tribute? Me thinks money played into this decision. The Comcast Center was packed for the game, but I contend that it would have been filled just because Duke was the opponent. They are always a solid draw at College Park. So why not beef up attendance at a game against Miami or Boston College? You'd have a packed house to honor the great coach and a most likely a win to show for it.