Call the Sponsors

My friend and client Jason Haggard texted me to say he had won his age group at the ADPi Triathlon at MTSU.  He was stoked, as was I.  Here are a few pictures of his race...

Photo: T1

Photo: T2

Photo: On the run, gesturing.

I noticed a pattern of gesturing that appeared to start sometime during the run, and lasted well into the post-race activities.  In fact, Jason continued to gesture even in the presence of his two young children who had come out to support him at the race. 

Photo: Still gesturing.

The gesture appears to consist of a "hang loose" gesture held up to his jawbone in the manner as speaking on a cell phone.  Perhaps this is the "call the sponsors reference.  In this picture he is holding his fingers to his stomach pointing at the Title Sponsor of our team, Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance.

The gesturing continued....

Photo: After the run, still gesturing.

Now here he is pointing one finger at his latex-clad gluteus, which I have on good authority says, "Stephen Taylor, Endurance Coaching Fitness Training, STtrainer.

Keep in mind, at this point in the race Jason held the belief that he won his age group.  He had feelings of champion-ness, and thus was identifying with Mark Cavendish, the originator of the "Call The Sponsors." Gesture.

Mark Cavendish, gesturing.

Mark Cavendish, gesturing (in context.)

Cavendish in fact was gesturing as he was crossing the finish line of a stage of the 2009 Tour de France.  It is a tradition in professional cycling that the winner of a bike race can gesture while crossing the finish line.  It is a way to put an exclamation point at the end of a great race.  It is quite impressive that, here, Mark Cavendish has outsprinted all the other extremely fast cyclists and even has time to sit up and gesture. 

 Jason, gesturing at an earlier date.

Jason achieved minor celebrity for another gesture, documented here.  I will leave it up to Bike Snob NYC to delineate the meaning of the "AYHSMB" gesture and the pertinent context.  

In '"presumably" winning his age-group a this race, Jason was awarded a $5 gift card to Olive Garden. Around the same time, accusations began to arise that Jason may not have been the one-who-gestures-justifiably.  With the results in question, Jason promptly reinterpreted the AYHSMB gesture to mean to mean "All You Haters, Share My Breadsticks.  That is, he offered to share his Olive Garden gift card. 

Upon examination of the calorie content of Olive Garden breadsticks, this might not be a bad idea.

Note the 140 calorie count per breadstick. 

Even more importantly, Olive Garden Breadsticks come in an all-you-can-eat format.  Jason, oftentimes a controversial figure due to his incessant gesturing, has been criticized for his body composition here. 

I for one say "Eat those Breadsticks!"  If they gave you the gift card, make haste to Olive Garden.  I myself would probably opt for a frosty mug of Sam Adams, but hey, you have to choose your carbs.  In any case, Jason is not alone in loudly exclaiming his love of Olive Garden. 

Kendra, from "that show."

Kendra a reality celebrity who is know for some fairly dubious choices in residence and cohorts, also loves Olive Garden.