Blame Game

Another long week nears the end. I've been battling a cold. At the beginning of the week, it was primarily head congestion but now it's moved into my chest. I feel the worst in the morning, after everything has settled all night long. I ended up skipping hockey last night so I would get a little more rest. Figured the last thing I need is to be worn down right now. Plus I'm running the Half at the Hamptons up in NH on Sunday and want to be healthy for it; last year, I was signed up but had to skip it because I was too sick to run.

I've been quiet in this space but busy writing in others this week. In addition to my latest running column on the endless battle between runners and drivers, I've also been posting daily at my work blog and a new Salem News blog for local runners who are training for the Boston Marathon.

Speaking of training, I got a good 20-miler in last Sunday, although I don't think it helped me in my battle to stave off this cold. We've had a warmer than usual week, but I ran on the treadmill at lunch today because my stomach was a little hinky. So I get a good sweaty 5 miles done only to discover that the water at the gym was shut off because of construction work they were doing in the women's locker room. As a result, I had to take a deodorant shower. Thankfully, I didn't have to go to any meetings this afternoon.

Here is a list of bulleted items:

• It's been a crazy week in the baseball world. First, A-Rod admits to using steroids while playing for Texas in 2001-03. Now MLB Commish and all-around nitwit Bud Selig is trying to figure out whether he should suspend A-Roid. And Astros ace Roy Oswalt thinks A-Fraud's statistics should be disqualified from the record books. Man, this thing ain't even close to being over.
• Even crazier is a lawsuit filed against retired ballplayer and sure-thing Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar by an ex-girlfriend, claiming he has full-blown AIDS and insisted on having unprotected sex with her. He has denied the allegations, which do sound kind of kooky. The suit claims Alomar was foaming at the mouth and had purple skin, but others who have seen him make public appearances in the last year say he looks fine. I hope it's not true; the guy was the greatest second baseman I'd ever seen when he played for the Jays in the '90s.
• Man, this peanut butter salmonella outbreak story gets worse by the day. It's like the company was run by one of those crazy cat ladies who has 150 cats and 35 years' worth of newspapers stacked up in her apartment. It's times like these I'm glad I'm allergic to nuts.
• Looks like Joaquin Phoenix is trying his best to turn into Andy Kaufman. Lately, he's claimed that he quit acting to become a rapper, has grown a crazy mountain man beard, and he had a particularly wiggity wack appearance on Letterman the other night. Like Kaufman, I think it's all just a wacky stunt, but kudos to Phoenix for keeping things interesting.