Bad sports, good sports: A quick stop from the road

Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Alan Spoll

This week’s BSGS is going to be brief, as I am on the road, on my way to Disney with my family. To start with, driving from Philadelphia to Savannah in one day could be considered a sport in and of itself. My wife and I shared the driving, with her taking the first stretch from Philly to Emporia, Virginia, and then I took over from Emporia to Savannah. We’ll go the rest of the way to Orlando tomorrow. The sport aspect comes from trying to dodge drivers all along the way (especially once you get south of D.C.) who are driving in the left lane at 60 miles per hour, while you are trying to stick at a steady 80. There seems to be no attention paid to the fact that the left lane is not the place to be going below the speed limit.

We passed both Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Speedway along the way. Driving habits from inside those places did not seem to extend to the motorists passing by, as we dodged slow drivers the entire way. This is quite a dramatic change from my daily drive along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where 80 would be considered the minimum speed, rather than something well over the limit.

Another potential sport we experienced today was something that could be the newest Olympic sensation: rolling yourself back to the hotel after eating at The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Paula Deen‘s famous restaurant. Awesome.

Quick rundown of some bad sports from the week:

1) My favorite story of the week involves Melissa Giova, a former cycling champion who was arrested this week in possession of almost 400 pounds of marijuana. Impressive. I would think it would be hard to carry that much on a bike.

2) One of the expert witnesses called by NASCAR to testify against Jeremy Mayfield after his recent drug suspension apparently lied about his credentials. This story just gets uglier and uglier.

3) Wait, what? Sammy Sosa used steroids? The hell you say.

I’ll try to pass on some good sports next week.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02