Quest! It's a quest! A quest is just "A search or pursuit in order to find something; the action of searching" (OED). What is the something here? If you run 100 miles instead of 10 miles, have you found anything?
"Quest" is also a grand word because in chivalric or Arthurian romance it is "an expedition or search undertaken by a knight or group of knights to obtain some thing or achieve some exploit."
▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 966 They supposed that he was one of the knyghtes of the Rounde Table that was in the queste of the Sankegreall.Is the logging of 100 miles a hundred times within a 100-day time frame anything like the Holy Grail?
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Without box scores the news content in the Times that is apt to be accurate goes to zero.
Yes. Sports coverage is pretty absurd right now. I thought at the time of the cancellations that Head if Programming at ESPN had just gone from one of the easiest jobs in America to one of the hardest.
I would have rather enjoyed reading about a man's quest across his state, wearing gloves and masks, looking for just 1 last bottle of disinfectant wipes...and finding some!
Now that would be a tale told through the ages. A man on his treadmill? Jeez. NYT should just close up shop for awhile, huh?
A woman could do it backwards and in high heels ... while giving birth!
"You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're banging 'em together."
Furiously resisting the urge to quote from Monty Python...
Sometimes when driving, BL (Before Lockdown), I would listen to a local sports radio station. Shortly after all the sport seasons were cancelled I tuned in to find them blabbing about the virus and so forth. Stopped listening. Checked in a week or so ago, while out to get cup of takeout coffee, and they were speculating about when the various sports will or might open - they even had firm, uninformed, opinions about the timing. Stopped listening again.
For some fans (short for fanatic) they are moving through the world disoriented by the lack of games. It's comical to see, and sad.
Is the logging of 100 miles a hundred times within a 100-day time frame anything like the Holy Grail?
I guess the successful completion would make one a modern centurion.
For some fans (short for fanatic) they are moving through the world disoriented by the lack of games. It's comical to see, and sad.
Meanwhile, the degens are playing poker and betting on the weather.
It is from the “The said it couldn’t be done” genre. Then a show off proves them wrong. Think Smokey and the Bandit’s plot.
But you have to set it up with a goal thought to be impossible. Reminds me of a young Mathew Modine movie ,pre-dating his Joker role in Full Metal Jacket.He plays a high school wrestler in Portland who determines to go down a weight class and wrestle an opponent thought unbeatable . It was called VisionQuest. My son came up with it at a U. Of Minnesota intensive wrestling camp where they teach doing impossible things using mental toughness.
Since we've only been in lockdown mode for something like 8 weeks and the guy is trying to complete his 100 weeks in a row of ultramarathons, he was probably well into the challenge and didn't want to have all the work go to waste.
I don't know if it is just runners, but I know some "streakers" (not what you think) who are up to 20-30 Boston Marathons in a row. If they miss one now, they can start over, but realistically, if you are 55 and 30 marathons in, you are highly unlikely to even tie your own record if you're starting over.
Maybe we should inform the NYT to catch a sports story at sunrise on any morning out at Picnic Point?
@traditionalguy:
Give my hometown some respect! Vision Quest was shot in and takes place in Spokane. The HS where a lot of it was shot was Rogers High, a district next to ours. Our HS wrestling coach played the ref in the final match. The bar that Madonna sings at was the (long-closed) Rocking Horse.
ESPN now has guys playing Madden. If it weren't for the Bulls documentary they'd be Twitch.
"What is the something here?"
Male purpose.
"If you run 100 miles instead of 10 miles, have you found anything?"
Yes. More.
It's a male thing. You wouldn't understand. (Kidding, sort of.)
I’m glad I don’t live in the apartment below that guy.
Speaking of sports, I have seen one report on one French athlete being hospitalized with WuFlu. Any others?
If not, is there a better indicator of the insanity epidemic than the shutting down of a type of activity that posed no danger to all but one of its participants, in the whole world?
"What is the something here?"
The correct definition of quest includes obtaining, not just finding, so some guy is obtaining a lot of fake (treadmill) running, just like the headline said.
Yet another Important and Subtle Headline Word Mystery - solved!
100 weeks is just short of TWO YEARS! Does he really think he's going to be in lockdown that long? (Considering who's in charge there, maybe so...)
African or European?
The closest I’ve ever gotten to sports news was asking, “Who’s in the Super Bowl this year?”
Male stupidity is more like it.
Reports are that the Bundesliga will restart this month. Unfortunately, none of these ESPN types give a rats ass about soccer. More treadmill stories, and maybe some NASCAR without fans in the stands.
My wife is more into sports than I am. Yesterday, I walked onto the room and she was watching a rerun of lawn mower racing on ESPN.
Trust me on this:
Ultra marathoners have no problem with social distancing.
There are now arenas built to handle the crowds at video gaming. (I apologize to my son for saying the hours logged on the machines would never prepare him for a career). It would seem a natural for ESPN to broadcast via split screen some of these contests. The participants could be hundreds of miles apart.
Hey, better than the spelling bee ESPN broadcast.
JML said...
My wife is more into sports than I am. Yesterday, I walked onto the room and she was watching a rerun of lawn mower racing on ESPN.
Over the weekend I flipped past ESPN and saw that they were airing the 2019 International Cherry Pit–Spitting Championship from Eau Claire, Michigan.
Disclaimer: I did not read the article as I do not give the NYT any clicks.
But as a treadmill user, I wonder how many treadmills he's going to go through anf how often they need to be serviced.
I've seen reruns of a "Spikeball" competition, which seems to be a suped-up version of four square that kids play.
"Quest" did become a "sports word" a while back. Somebody is always on a "quest" for Olympic gold, or Superbowl rings, or the Stanley Cup or World Series glory, or whatever it is that basketball players get (maybe things one can't mention on a family website).
Its getting absurd. I turned on the car radio yesterday and thought "Wow, is baseball back?" then realized the local radio station is replaying games from last year! Meanwhile the ESPN/ABC/CBS radio station was replaying the 1998 Utah vs. Bulls game.
Funny, they had to go all the way back to MJ to find a good NBA game.
Our local sports talk guys are doing their bit. Saying that its good thing that sports are shut down because the CV-19 crisis demands it. "We're saving lives". They probably believe it, they used to make snide anti-Trump noises, so they're all Liberals/leftists or pretend to be for job protection.
PGA golf has moved the majors to the fall, so its no big loss. The Open is cancelled, first time since 1945. Ditto Wimbledon. Tennis - US Open - is still on.
Running on a treadmill is like running in circles. Also, incredibly boring. I'd rather go out into the cold/heat/rain/snow.
Yeah, but you never have to worry about getting back to where you started.
My answer is NO.
It's not useless if it's generating electricity.
Korean baseball starts today. ESPN has it beginning late tonight, and then early in the mornings.
"Is the logging of 100 miles a hundred times within a 100-day time frame anything like the Holy Grail?"
No, but it's still more interesting than a NASCAR race.
In ancient times, sports is what warriors did between wars, to keep themselves sharp. It was sort of continuing military education for them.
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