26 Miles

Roddick Stunned By First Round Upset at U.S. Open

// August 31st, 2005 // No Comments » // Life

2003 U.S. Open Champion and #4 seed Andy Roddick was stunned yesterday after his first round upset to Luxembourg native Gilles Muller, ranked No. 68.

Roddick lost three straight tiebreak sets at 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (1). After what he described as his “best practice week ever”, Roddick was ready to roll through the early rounds as he had in the past, but was left scratching his head and staring at the lines where Muller’s aces and ground strokes had left their marks.

Interestingly, the two competitors described their own frame of mind quite differently, which I think is telling in retrospect.

Roddick, understandably, had high expectations for himself: “I’ve never cared so much as I care now, which makes it tough. I’ve been working very hard. It’s tough for me to have much perspective right now.”

Muller, who is the first men’s player from his country to play in a Grand Slam, was thinking differently before the match: “For me, it was just unbelievable to come out here today,” Muller said. “I told myself to enjoy it and I did every minute.”

There’s little doubt in my mind that their expectations and mental preparation played heavily into the outcome of the match.

I’ve experiened both of these emotions in my competitive shooting, with similar results. In 2003 I was attending my first USA Shooting National Pistol Championships. I had no expectations, I just wanted to enjoy the experience and shoot as well as I could. I ended up placing 9th in Free Pistol, just three points out of finals. At the Fall US Team selection that same year, riding the solid performance from Nationals and the elevated expectations I had for myself at this match, I struggled and did poorly.

Clearly as a professional athlete Roddick has many more opportunities to work on his mental game than I did, but I think it’s a good lesson for all athletes to understand the supreme importance of the mental game in all athletic pursuits. There is a balance to be had. Prepare as well as you can, then on match day, let your expectations go, have fun, and let your solid preparation and strong mental game carry your performance.

Read more at Sports Illustrated.com.

Rangers Still Sliding

// August 24th, 2005 // 2 Comments » // Life

As misery loves company I thought it proper therapy to share mine with the world.

I spent some time the other day doing a little analysis of the Rangers season so far — but since I’ve lost all my notes, I’ll have to go from memory.

Simply put, after a good April and stellar May (18-7 record), the team has nosedived since June 1st. That nosedive has steepened since the Kenny Rogers / cameraman altercation on June 30th, and further so by the departure of #2 pitcher Chan Ho Park on July 29th.

There are several novel-worthy mysteries in all this mess: why let perennially solid and developable pitcher Ryan Drese go, why trade our #2 pitcher Chan Ho Park for a “power-hitter” that’s now hitting sub-200, why has Soriano not been leveraged in a trade to build our pitching staff, why is John Hart still the General Manager and not flipping burgers somewhere, why does there seem to be so little desire by the Rangers ownership and management to do what it takes to win? It seems almost conspiratorial, as if management wants to lose for some unknown reason.

The fans (and probably the players themselves) are stumped by all of these, and more.

On another note, I’ve not in recent memory seen a manager so closely aligned with a front office and seemingly so distant from the clubhouse. This only hurts matters. It seems everyone on Earth except the three decision-makers know how to fix this team.

In general, I’ll not use this forum to badger the Rangers front office, but now and then something must be said.

As of today, the Rangers sit with a record of 58-66 (.468) and the playoffs are out of the picture at this point. As of June 1 they were 30-20 (.600).

If you think it’s tough being a Cubs fan, try strapping on a Texas Rangers hat for the last 20 years. But we keep coming back, and probably always will, for these players especially, who in many cases and unlike the most other Dallas-based professional players, seem worthy of our support.

I’m Not Taking It Anymore! – Redux

// August 20th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // Life

Well….the Mazda didn’t work out. It started dying at red-lights when idling, so I took it back. Let me be the first to again commend Carmax on their 5-day return policy. They of course wanted to know why I wanted to return it and after discussing it they agreed it wasn’t the car for me. I never felt pressured in any way and they seemed intent on making me happy, almost with a sense of urgency. It took a day to bring my trade-in back from across town but the actual “undoing” of the sale was all very quick, less than 45 minutes. I had to sign a total of three pieces of paper to undo the transaction. A refund check will be cut to me for my down payment and mailed to me within 10 days. Again, hooray CarMax!

I had forgotten about a business contact I had whose mother was the Internet Sales Manager at the local Toyota dealership. So after getting my truck back, I drove around the corner to the Toyota dealership. I already own a 2003 Toyota Highlander so I’m already sold on Toyota quality, I just had to see what kind of deal I would get. With the discount I received from my “inside” connection, I ended up getting a 2005 Toyota Camry LE for $186 over invoice. On top of that they threw in $2500 in rebates so I ended up paying only ~$17k for the car. I’m incredibly pleased and a new Camry beats a 6-year-old car anytime.

I’ll still save ~$1200/yr based on the difference in payment and gas savings over my truck. Plus I get a new car out of the deal.

I’m Not Taking It Anymore!

// August 18th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // Life

Gas prices finally pushed me over the edge.

Yesterday I traded my 17 MPG 2001 Ford F-150 SuperCrew truck for a 26 MPG 1999 Mazda Protege ES. It had low miles for the age and was pretty clean. The Mazda Protege has been a Consumer Reports Recommended Buy for many years now and has a stellar reliability and consumer satisfaction rating.

Sure, I could have bought a 34 MPG Honda Civic, but I couldn’t find one in comprable condition with as few miles as this one for less than $5000 more than I paid for the Protege…and $5000 buys a lot of gas.

Gas prices near my house hit $2.63/gallon yesterday. At those prices, and given the lower payment by moving to a cheaper car with cheaper insurance, I stand to save over $1800/yr in total cost of ownership over my truck. For a vehicle that’s primarily used to get me between my 42-mile-roundtrip work commute four days a week (for family outings we use our 24 MPG 2003 Toyota Highlander), I can certainly live with that.

It’s the second car I’ve bought from CarMax and I continue to recommend them highly if you’re looking to sell your car or buy a used car. They make it all very straightforward and easy. There’s no haggling on either end. The price is marked, take it or leave it. Their prices are pretty competitive. They don’t sell lemons and provide free AutoCheck reports. They also have a 5-day no-questions-asked return policy and a 30-day limited warranty. You can also purchase an extended warranty should you choose. If you’re selling your car, they’ll appraise it and make you an offer that’s good for 7 days or 300 miles.

I’ve bought two new cars from traditional dealers and working with traditional car dealer finance people is akin to a short walk through hell. I always felt like I needed to rush home and shower after dealing with those slimebags.

With CarMax, my experience has been excellent both times.

Cisco and ISS Harass Security Researcher

// August 15th, 2005 // No Comments » // Security & Privacy

Bruce Schneier has an excellent writeup in his 8/15/05 newsletter with more information about how Cisco and ISS attempted to supress the disclosure of information surrounding the IOS vulnerability presented by Michael Lynn at the BlackHat Conference, then following the disclosure, acted as if it were no big deal (meanwhile suing Lynn, which was settled in one day).

To say that Cisco’s response is reprehensible is an understatement. You can (and should!) argue the merits of full-disclosure until you’re blue in the face but the bottom line is that Cisco not only damaged their own reputation and their customers security by inciting a publicity engine surrounding the attempted supression, but as Schneier mentions, they missed a golden opportunity to win the hearts and minds of their customers by being a responsible corporate citizen.

Read more at Bruce Schneier’s Blog.