Flashes of Panic

Some of the work I was doing last weekend when I wasn’t writing here is online now. This is good, because I doubt I’m going to have much time for feature writing once the events start tomorrow. I’ll be working some long days all weekend!

Anyway, on Saturday and Sunday I was writing about sprinters and putters. It turns out that the verb you never use when describing the shot put is “throw”—you can’t throw the shot. It may be tossed, flung, heaved, or of course put, but not thrown. Of course, the challenge now is to find new and creative ways to sneak this verb by our editor. (Also, the reason IAAF prize money is still in dollars turns out to be much more prosaic than my theories.)

Update: And my Friday preview. I wanted to put “pole vault” in the headline, but it’s not a final yet. I’m doing the site’s competition previews and wrap-up summaries every day; hopefully it will be easier to preview finals when I’ve actually seen the preliminary rounds.

Now Playing: Political Scientist from Love Is Hell by Ryan Adams

Technorati Tags: athletics, iaaf, shot put, track and field