Steve and Barry and Starbury

I don’t remember how I heard about Stephon Marbury. Tracey must have told me about him. I definitely don’t watch a lot of basketball.

Anyways, I read online that he was selling 15 dollar shoes (that is not a typo) through a retail chain called Steve and Barry. This is interesting because I think it is a concerted effort to bring higher fashion and quality clothing at a deep discount to consumers. It is one part fast fashion and one part frugal fashion.

My first impression of Steve and Barry’s was that it was very similar to Old Navy in look and feel. The store I went to was much larger than most discount retail stores. It was the size of a full mall anchor store. They had a really good selection of T-shirts and sports apparel, which reflects their roots. My impression is that their prices are much better than what you would pay for lesser quality goods at Old Navy. There is a great article about Steve and Barry’s in Business Week.

I bought a few pairs of shorts and a few polo shirts there. I also picked up a pair of Starbury Cyclones in Grey. I will review them after I have worn them for a few weeks. But so far, I think they are excellent quality and they are very comfortable. They also look extremely sharp. My only complaint is that some of the models that are on the Starbury website weren’t available in the store. I will check back to see if they have them in before Christmas.

Le Tour and Teamwork

The doping scandals in the tour this year have really made it painful to watch. Michael Rasmussen had a phenomenal climb up the Col d’ Aubisque in Stage 16. However, as strong as it was, it was completely eclipsed when his team withdrew him from the race for missing mandatory drug tests.

The Discovery Channel team has done really well. They have three riders in the top 10 of the General Classification (GC). Alberto Contador (Rookie Phenom), Levi Leipheimer (Experienced Winner) and Yaroslav Popovych (also Experienced Winner).

I was watching the 17 stage today, which is a relatively flat stage. Naturally, Team Disco was trying to protect Contador and his position on top of the GC. What astonished me was that Levi Leipheimer (#3 in GC) and Popovych (#8 in GC) were taking turns going to the back of the peloton and bringing up water from the support cars. This is normally a task reserved for the domestiques! I think it is safe to say that Team Discovery Channel might be the only ones worth of having “Team” in front of their sponsor name.

Pinemeadow Golf Review

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased a new driver and a new putter. It was delivered to me last week.

The driver is called the “Bloc“, which I believe is an appropriate name. It is square in shape to give it a higher Moment of Inertia (MOI).

After using it at the driving range and for two rounds, I believe I have figured out where and how high to tee up the ball. I am getting a little bit more distance out of the ball but I am still a very short hitter. As one of the guys in my foursome said the other day, the only stat category I was leading in was the number of fairways hit.

The putter I purchased is identical in shape to a generic putter that one of my other friends has. The only difference is that my putter has a flat face while his has grooves. The putter is much less forgiving than the Odyssey mallet I was using before, but I do like the feel It is not bad for 10 dollars.

I would buy both of these clubs again. The only thing is that I would pay extra to have both gripped with different grips. The stock grips are good, but I definitely prefer the Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips I have on my irons.

New Golf Clubs

I did some research and decided to buy a few new golf clubs. I am a terrible golfer and probably shoot in the 110 to 120 range.

I currently have a set of Ping ISI-Ks, which are great irons. I have a Taylormade Firesole driver that is about 8 years old. I found it in a garbage can in Back Bay. I have a Odyssey Rossie putter that I bought for 30 bucks when I lost the beautiful Ping putter I had. And lastly I have two generic fairway woods that were given to me second hand by my brother.

I want new technology, but I also want to get a good value for the clubs. I figured that you can buy drivers at Target that are better than drivers from 8 years ago due to advances in technology and size. Rather than spending 200 – 400 dollars for a high MOI driver, I decided to buy a generic club. I will only use it casually for 2 or 3 years, so why not spend a little bit less?

I also decided to replace my putter with one that I like better. I love the style of the older Ping Ansers, but I don’t want to fork out 100 bucks. After all, I am not a pro.

I found a deal for a generic square driver through Pinemeadow Golf. It has a modern design and should last a few years. It was on sale for 69 dollars. I also purchased a “Ping-style” putter for 10 dollars.

I will write a report once I get my hands on those clubs! If it turns out to be a good experience, I may try purchasing a new sand wedge. I like the SW that came with my Ping set but it is more like a gap wedge because it doesn’t have a lot of bounce.

No Superbowl For You!

Once again, I will miss the Superbowl this year. I don’t watch football anyways, but it would have been cool to be able to sit at home on Sunday night and have a beer. I am going to head off to the airport at 5 PM, and make it to the hotel after 10 PM in Virginia. Losing an hour always screws up my sleep schedule.

I can’t have beer anyways. About two weeks ago I strained my back traveling to a client site. To help it heal, I started taking Ibuprofen. Unfortunately, the NSAIDs gave me a mild stomach irritation (Gastritis). I know that because I’ve had it once before. So now I can’t drink alcohol or coffee and I am taking Zantac (Ranitidine).

I took 8 or 9 quick photographs with the Holga and dropped them off at Target. I just want to see that the camera is working and make sure there are no leaks. I know that they will mangle the film at Target so I will have to find a better developing shop here in Minneapolis once I get back.