Foster Grant 70.3 World Championships - 11/13/2010

“23”

I don’t believe there has ever been a number that has generated more buzz than the number 23.  And since I know that this number will be the topic of many conversations during our “off season”, I have decided to research this otherwise arbitrary number to see just what it has meant throughout history.

• The Lord is my Shepherd is stated in Psalm 23.
• Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player in history, wore 23.
• Lebron James wore 23 in Cleveland and switched to 6 in Miami as it is the product of 2 and 3.
• Adam Sandler wears the number 23 in the movie Happy Gilmore.
• The hit song What’s My Age Again by Blink 182 claims that “Nobody likes you when you’re 23”.
• It was the 23^rd Amendment that gave the District of Columbia the same voting rights that were outlined for states in the 12^th Amendment.
• The 23^rd letter of the alphabet is W.  Coincidentally, A W is a W!
• The letter W is located between the 2 and 3 on your keyboard.
• Telegraphers use the number 23 as the code for ‘break the line’.
• The first two moon landings were on Apollo 11 and 12.  Do the math.
• Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616.
• Kurt Cobain was born in 1967 (1+9+6+7=23) and died in1994 (1+9+9+4=23).
• The band U2 is significant as well.  U is the 21st letter in the alphabet added to the number two will give you 23.
• The axis of the Earth’s rotation is tilted at roughly 23 degrees.
• It takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate through the human body.
• Caesar was stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated. 
• The Birthday Paradox states that a group of 23 randomly-selected people is the smallest number where there will be a probability higher than 50 per cent that two people will share the same birthday.
• Dr. Pepper has 23 flavors in every drink.
• Dan Arnett won the Tri The Parks Series with a combined score of 2.962.  Lauren Cortjens placed 2^nd in her age group with a total of 2.732.  The difference is .23.
• The average bike speed for Dan Arnett today at the 70.3 World Championships was 23.68 mph. 
• Brett Alison came in at 23.61 mph.
• Dan Arnett’s total time today?    4:31:23. 
• Brett Alison’s total time today?  4:31:00.
• I will let you do the math

Congratulations to Dan Arnett, Brett Alison, and Scott Gentles for a great race today and a better season.  I will meet you at Bat and Ball for the customary cold beer when y’all get back.  Until then, let the smack talk begin!