Admittedly, when I first saw the words “Speedo LZR,” I thought it was an abbreviation for “speedo loser.” As it turns out, in the world of competitive swimming, this space-aged suit is the polar opposite. (And yes, I just used the term “space age” without a hint of irony. Boner).

According to the Science of Sport blog, on its first professional outing, the swimmer with the Speedo LZR broke the world record…by two entire body lengths. Then the Women’s Dutch 4 x 200m relay team, equipped with the Speedo LZR, beat the world record (set 6 years back by China) by 8 seconds. I don’t know jack about professional competitive swimming, but even I know that’s kind of a big deal.

This brings to mind the whole juicing in sports argument: these people train every day for their profession; to be the best athlete, using all the technology available to get every ounce of power…so why not use drugs to further this concept? The problem is that unless everyone is doing the same drugs and has access to the same equipment and training, the competition would be unfair. Plus, you can’t make athletes who are ethically opposed to juicing use the stuff. We’re not living in a Brave new World just yet.

So in the case of the Speedo LZR, it might give the athlete an unfair technological advantage….unless every athlete was using them.

But on the other side of the coin, maybe to make it REALLY fair, they all should just swim naked, original Roman-Greko Olympics style. That would sure make the Women’s backstroke more interesting for me.

Satellite Radio might finally stop sucking 98 dicks now that the Justice Dept has approved Sirius Satellite Radio’s $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio:

The Justice Department, in a lengthy news release explaining its decision, said the two companies compete not just with each other but also with other forms of radio and entertainment.”The likely evolution of technology in the future, including the expected introduction in the next several years of mobile broadband Internet devices, made it even more unlikely that the transaction would harm consumers in the longer term,” the Justice Department said. “Accordingly, the division has closed its investigation of the proposed merger.”

The downside is, of course, that once Satellite Radio overcomes terrestrial radio as the new standard it will make music just like TV and water:one of those things that used to be free but now you have to pay for. Its cool though, I don’t really like music anyway.

Hurley, in an effort to support today’s youth as well as promote its Fall 2007 lines, presented (Walk The Walkâ€? a fashion show competition on June 6th. The competition itself has been held in the past in Orange County and in Orlando. This time around, a panel of fourteen judges awarded San Clemente High School with a plaque and $10,000 donation to the school’s art and music program. Hurley’s corporate parent, Nike Inc., matched that donation, bringing the total prize to $20,000.

Click here to check out the pictures from the show.