The Castle

[ClayDeath]

just made it to baton rouge.

I've never been there. What's it like? New Orleans is the only place I've ever been to in Louisiana.

I am still in baton rouge. I will head back to the coast shortly. my place is 113 miles away.

this is a big college town. LSU probably has around 30,000-35,000 students.


and of course all the chemical plants are here along the mighty Mississippi river.


I hear after hurricane Katrina as many as 300,000 people moved here. some have left and many stayed.

 

[ClayDeath]

long day today. I just got back from baton rouge not too long ago.

I spent some time with my parents and then I went to have dinner with my brother, my nephew, and my niece.

my niece told me that she managed to go see "the man of steel" with Russell Crowe. it is directed by the same fellow that directed "300". I am going to have to catch this movie.


I call that a day very well spent.








who knows the name of this famous castle?

---

 

[britbox]

Hope to hell Froome rode clean

 

[britbox]

OK Castle nobles.... Let's have a bit of a Get to know ya session...and start with sporting allegiances:

Here are mine:

Football: Liverpool FC, Flamengo, Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon), Glasgow Rangers
Rugby Union: Wales National Team, Cardiff Blues, Queensland Reds
Rugby League: Widnes, Gold Coast Titans
NFL: Oakland Raiders
Tennis: Federer, Haas
NBA: Lakers

 

[ClayDeath]

interesting stuff baron britbox.

NFL: i am a new orleans saints fan. i grew up in new orleans. now also cheering for the new England patriots.


college football wise, i like LSU, Ohio State, and Florida.


soccer: fc Barcelona

Cycling: wiggins, froome, contador in terms of current riders.

retired riders: big mig (Miguel indurain), lance Armstrong


tennis: clay warrior, the great dunblane warrior, and the great swiss assassin, jerzy the destroyer, nico almagro, igor sijsling, del potro

NBA: boston Celtics

 

[britbox]

Ah forgot to add College football... Kind of a USC fan (big fan of Marcus Allen when he was at the Raiders, and USC was his alma mater) but big soft spot for Florida.. still got an Emmit Smith Florida top from the late 80s when we were in Florida on vacation. So look out for both the Trojans and Gators in college ball... Not that I get to see much these days.

 

[britbox]

Cycling... was a huge fan of Lemond and later Jan Ullrich. Too drug infested for me to love in recent years. Thought Armstrong doped all along and remember saying it to you on tennis.com about 6 or 7 years ago. He was a classics rider really... would never have won a grand tour without preperation.

 

[ClayDeath]

lance himself now says that he would have never won without doping but he also adds that he was still the best.


he was an elite athlete who never gave up. he felt forced to dope because the whole field was doping.


i believed him a few years ago but then as of late, way too many people started coming forward about him. even his wife.


even after heavy chemo sessions, he would go for 50-60 mile bike rides. he would never miss a single day of training. not even one day.

he probably rode on his wedding day.

---

folks it is going to be slow for about a year. this is exactly how it was at mtf in the initial infancy stage. these things simply take time.


also some folks really cant tear away from some of the toxic forums but we know that change is not easy. we know some growth will come our way if we are patient and we take the time to meet and greet the new folks when they do come.

the difference is that we really do have ultra clean waters here. here you can take the plunge and you know you will be safe and sound.


and we are brand new so why not grow along with us and be a part of the finest tennis community on the planet. i mean it is so much fun building something and relishing the challenge of it all.

 

[britbox]

Don't get me wrong mate,Armstrong was an elite athlete, but he was a classics rider (1 day specialist) and a damn good one. He won the world champs when he was 21. He would never have been a grand tour rider without doping. The vast majority of the top tour riders doped in the 90s and 00s (incuding Big Mig)... will come out within the next 12 months, rest assured.

Doping doesn't level the playing field... some athletes respond to it significantly better than others. For instance, in the late 90s, the UCI had no test for EPO, so they said a haemocrit level of 50 was acceptable.... so evdry rider was doping up to get a 50 level haemocrit reading. If one guys natural level was 40 and another riders natural level was 47, the guy with the lower level got a far bigger boost by doping... he was taking away the natural advantage of the other guy.

Armstrong... doper
Indurain... doper
Contador... doper

Although, I suspect Contador rode the last two tours clean.

 

[ClayDeath]

interesting. i never knew big mig doped.

 

[britbox]

No cyclist will blow the whistle on Big Mig directly because he was a classy guy. He'd give away stage wins if the guy helped him on a climb for instance... because he was chasing the general classification. He didn't bully people unlike Armstrong and was liked within the peleton.

But it's all coming out about systematic doping in the Banesto team and Big Mig won't survive the fallout.

If you're looking at a clean winner of the Tour de France, then Lemond is your best bet a d you've got to go back to 1990.
Having said that, the last 3 years results might be clean.

 

[britbox]

interesting. i never knew big mig doped.

I'm not wrong often. I thought I was once, but I was mistaken.

 

[ClayDeath]

affirmative baron.



on another note, i am continuing to invite new folks here. emma should have joined by now. she said she was coming.


i try to invite 2-3 people daily.


i will invite at least 3 from tennis warehouse later on today. that is the only reason why i joined that place.

---

big mig was one hell of an athlete. he was about 6 foot 2 or slightly taller. he had a resting pulse rate of about 28.


and you are spot on baron: he was classy guy indeed in so many ways.



i cant see doping ever really leaving cycling. soon they will have drugs that simply cannot be detected.

 

[britbox]

We've also had about 12 join from ESPN this week. Don't measure it on Castle traffic. That will follow.. The main boards are ramping up quickly.. We've often got 15-20 members online and another 150+ guests. In time some of that will translate to Castle traffic. It's only been here a week old sport... patience!

 

[ClayDeath]

affirmative baron.



and the castle is all over the internet anyway so people will come. it is a resounding success at mtf where it has 64-65 volumes. at the very height of its popularity, it would have as many as 800-1000 posts a day there.


granted that we will never get that again there or anywhere, we can still do well anyway. so there is hope based on something of a decent foundation.

 

[britbox]

We don't want to be MTF either mate. MTF is just a board and nothing beyond that. We write content here, engage in social media, get interviews with people in the sport... We're building a Quality tennis portal. Forum traffic will follow, but the forum in itself will never be bigger than MTF... but it will end up a lot bigger than tennis.com or t4u. It's beginning to overtake them already and we've only been up 3 months.

 

[ClayDeath]

affirmative. i know exactly where you are coming from baron.


some very smart thinking and strategic planning on your part.

---

lady galadriel sends word: she will be joining us soon from Germany.

she will be welcome here with open arms. the castle has a special place for her and for her family here.

 

[britbox]

Who's lady galadriel?

 

[ClayDeath]

i must commend you baron on the job well done so far.


and i know we are only just starting our new adventure here. and what an adventure it is going to be.

everybody is welcome to come along for the ride.


i like to call it a fantastic voyage of entertainment and inspiration.

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Who's lady galadriel?

she is a very special friend of mine baron. she hails from Germany.


so princess emma and lady gladriel are on their way.



i will alert the 300 castle guards at the castle gates. they are to welcome them as soon as they arrive.

---

i need to run to the store and grab a few things.


also a massive seafood dinner tonight at a local casino with some friends. i am looking forward to that.

 

[britbox]

The more the merrier CD. I look forward to welcoming them upon arrival.