Run, Ricky, Run

Ricky Viola is many things. A stellar Account Executive. A movie buff who handles the camera with Scorsese-esque flair. An accomplished stand-up comic. He's a Brooklyn connoisseur...and more than just a little bit creepy and inappropriate at times. One thing he has never been confused with, however, is a world-class athlete. (True story -- while catching in a baseball game against senior citizens last fall, the umpire told him "do us both a favor, son, and don't come back out here next inning. You're just gonna get hurt.")

So, when some of our staff was discussing 24 hours of baseball this afternoon, Ricky got a little upset when he was told he couldn't pitch. It quickly became a heated debate that involved defending and destroying reputations (mostly Ricky's).

And that's how we wound up on KeySpan Park's back field for a footrace that was dubbed "The Battle of the Sexes."

You see, Ricky got even more upset when Liz and Rebecca starting taking shots at him, and went into his "well, I'm a man, so I'm better than you" shtick. Well, we decided to put his mouth to the test, and Rebecca stepped up to the plate (despite having no shoes on).

A long-distance runner by nature who was a bit out of her element, she agreed to run a different race than she signed up for (and we still all had our money on her, anyway. I mean, she was racing against Ricky.

So who won? Check out the video below. Let's just say I don't think this is the last of this rivalry. With desks right next to each other, and cubicle walls not nearly high enough to separate them, it could be a long year.