Lake Erie Monsters play at the Q.

@the-gipper said:

4. Of the current active team in the NHL playoffs who do you WANT to win it all?

In order of preference: Washington, Nashville, St. Louis, San Jose.

.....and who do you think WILL win it all? Stupid fucking Pittsburgh will probably win it.

That would be just the shit of things.....Cavs make the NBA finals and lose, Pisstown wins another tile.

To paraphrase Dean Martin: How lucky can one town get?

Teams: Tampa Bay/New York Islanders/Pittsburgh/Washington/San Jose/St. Louis/Dallas/Nashville

Uh-oh...Pens up 2-0!

How cool would that be if both Cleve and Pit had back to back downtown parades!

I don't think two cities this geographically close to each other ever had back to back champions.

Don't think the Cavs cant' win this. Do two things...protect the damn ball, and continue to dominate the boards.

The Cavs are the top rebounding team in the NBA.

There is classless and then there is Ghoulie...

Just a feeling that Nassib breaks out...

Drango... PS is his upside.

2. Are you in favor of the now Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas?

While I empathize with OAK fans, I really don't care.

3. Of the current active teams in the NBA playoffs, who do you WANT to ultimately win it all?
....and who do you think WILL win it all?
Teams: Cleveland/Atlanta/Toronto/Miami/Golden State/San Antonio/OKC/Portland

Hope? Duh...

Think? GS...

4. Of the current active team in the NHL playoffs who do you WANT to win it all?
.....and who do you think WILL win it all?
Teams: Tampa Bay/New York Islanders/Pittsburgh/Washington/San Jose/St. Louis/Dallas/Nashville

StL... used to love watching the Plager Brothers play. All were masters of the Hip-check... but Barclay was King.

6. This extra question comes from a travel board I patronize:
A. What do you think is the most beautiful college campus you have been to? (feel free to give several)

St. Andrews... nice golf course, too.

Stateside... Miami of Ohio... helped a HS friend move there his freshman year.

B. What famous tall towers or buildings have you been to the top of?

Terminal... I was a locked door away from accessing the flag pole.

Empire State... back when it was the tallest.

Would have added Sears Tower, but 911...

VesnaKociper said:

One Post From the Truth said:

Carry me brother

Except I am 6'3" 265 lbs

Still pissed the Stars didn't even show up in game 7 last night.

@hoorta said:

LOL, in my 50s I had delusions of grandeur. Pico de Orizaba in sunny Mexico 18,500'. Or Aconcagua, 22,000' (highest point in the Western Hemisphere) just outside of Santiago, Chile. Probably not now though.

Here's the current age record for Everest: Yuichiro Miura (Japan) reached the summit on 23 May 2013 at the age of 80 years 223 days. (That old fart is in incredible shape)

But researching- for me to have a legit shot at the world's highpoint, based on my climbing Middle Teton, I would have had to make that trip in 1\2 the time carrying a 60 pound pack. Not happening.

One Post From the Truth said:

LOL, in my 50s I had delusions of grandeur. Pico de Orizaba in sunny Mexico 18,500'. Or Aconcagua, 22,000' (highest point in the Western Hemisphere) just outside of Santiago, Chile. Probably not now though.

Here's the current age record for Everest: Yuichiro Miura (Japan) reached the summit on 23 May 2013 at the age of 80 years 223 days. (That old fart is in incredible shape)

But researching- for me to have a legit shot at the world's highpoint, based on my climbing Middle Teton, I would have had to make that trip in 1\2 the time carrying a 60 pound pack. Not happening. Not only that- it takes a pile of loot, probably at least $50,000 on a budget tour- to take a trip up the Yellow Brick Road. Last time I looked, the Nepalese government was charging $10k + for the opportunity to get yourself killed.

@the-gipper said:

Um- probably not, unless I lost a lot of weight. Climbing Middle Teton with my nephew (Sherpa Joe) four years ago might well have been my last hurrah. 12,000' @ 60 feels like 14,000' @ 28. As you might have read, I did climb Mount Elbert back in 1978. (Whitney is only 62' higher) The difference being- you can drive up almost to the base of the mountain, and it's only 7 miles and change round trip with 4,000' of elevation gain. Even at that altitude, your mind starts playing tricks on you. Thought I ran out of film, so I dumped the contents of my daypack on the ground, looking for the spare roll of film I knew I had packed. Couldn't find it. When I got back to the car, sure enough, it was there- I was staring right at it, and didn't see it.

LOL, a world traveler friend of mine- who's in his 70s recently asked my opinion if I wanted to go take on Kilimanjaro with him. (He has almost no climbing experience.) Told him- you had better try a Colorado 14er on for size, before you take on that Mother. The thought did occur to me standing on top of Elbert- Kilimanjaro or Denali are "only" around another mile of thinner air higher up. Even at Elbert's level- you can clearly see there's a lot of atmosphere beneath you. Since you're a trivia buff Gip- didya know standing @ 18,500' half the earth's air is underneath your feet?

@hoorta said:

Now that you are in your 60s would you want to tackle it? Not I.

@the-gipper said:

Thanks for the map Gip. I looked it up, and from the end of the road, if you're doing it in one day, it's a round trip of 22 miles, with 6,000' of elevation gain- a lot of it at over 10,000' elevation. By my standards- that's an ass-kicking hike. (The equivalent for us flat landers, @ 14,000' walking up two flights of stairs, and you'd have to rest for a few seconds.) I've only done more than 20 miles in a day once, way back in the 70s when I took a wrong trail junction in the Bridger Wilderness and had to backtrack. I was so beat- I just tossed my sleeping bag next to the car and crashed out.

@hoorta said:

I went to the top of the south rim of the Grand Canyon this summer. Had to be at least 200 ft. over from the parking lot.

@the-gipper said:

Didn't realize there's a road going most of the way up. I have this debate if you drive to the top, you really haven't "climbed" it, like Pike's Peak.

Regarding Whitney- you're not taking a car up the West side. Rock jock territory.

@the-gipper said:

LOL Gip- you're right. You'd have to have them let you climb the ladder to the top of the water tower to be at the "true" highpoint- but in this case, I don't think man made structures count. There's a career center there- as well as the remnants of a WW II radar station.

From the top- it really doesn't look like you're that high up- until you get on your bike, and motor down Ohio 540 into Bellefontaine at 30 mph.

And Florida has just a sign there:

There may be a marker on the ground somewhere behind this sign.

@the-gipper said:

Yeah Gipper- you can drive right up to the Ebright Azimuth in Delaware, and Mount Elbert is prominently visible from near anywhere in Leadville Colorado. Speaking of Mount Elbert- it's the only time I've ever seen a porcupine in the wild- running around my campsite.

Campbell Hill- which is just outside of Bellfontaine Ohio, you can easily ride a bike to the top. At least it resembles a hill

Unlike Hoosier Hill, which isn't really much of a hill. (Just on the other side of the Ohio state line.) I rode my bike over there, and I could have sworn there was a spot on the road that looked a couple of feet higher- it's part of a guy's farm. You can almost drive a car to the top of Clingman's Dome, and from there it's just a short walk.

The others are slightly more challenging. The amazing thing about Harney Peak in the Black Hills is during the depression- they had a work crew build this three story rock fire lookout on top of a 7,000' mountain.

Gannet Peak in Wyoming is usually considered #2 in degree of difficulty after Denali in Alaska. (Though I might disagree after perusing the climbing route on Granite Peak in Montana.) A lot of people mistakenly think the Grand Teton is Wyoming's highpoint- but it's not. The Grand- been there, done that- is way more technically difficult, you had better know how to use a rope, and how to rappel. The first roped pitch, you're on an exposed boulder slab with 2,000' of air underneath you. The pine trees look like dots. Regarding Gannett- lotsa fun hiking 25 miles to Titcomb Basin with a 70 pound mountaineering pack, then going 1,000' up (and down) over Bonney Pass, and you still have to climb the booger. FWIW, I have a near identical framed picture in my bedroom I took from the the exact same spot at the top of Bonney Pass.

PS Gip, regarding your picture of the Twin Towers. When Bin Laden took them down- he also ruined a couple million bucks worth of high end wine that was stashed at Windows on the World restaurant that was at the top of one of them.