Posts Tagged ‘Sports’
I know there are mountains in Chile, but I was not aware that they build their cities on them. I mean, on the whole mountain. The video after the jump is a helmet cam shot of some crazy idiot riding all the way down a frigging street. I mean – down the sidewalk, down steps, over jumps, whipping past the very confident crowd, this guy is ridiculous. And you will get why I call the crowd confident when you see how close the guy gets to them.
There is nothing like this in the U.S. I don’t even know if there is any town built like this in the US. I guess it would be like riding your bike down Mt. Rushmore, then going down all the steps of the Washington Monument, then down that street in San Francisco. Oh, and a dog would be there. See the dog? DON’T YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DOG? Find out after the jump!
Isn’t that sweet. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby making nice for the camera during the ceremonial puck drop for The Winter Classic. I guess the young stars, the poster children for the NHL, have grown up a bit. They did not even try to crush each others hand in a pathetic show of adolescent machismo.
Oh I know, the Washington Capitals and The Pittsburgh Penguins really don’t like each other, at all. As a hockey fan, I can appreciate the rivalry and who doesn’t enjoy a great rivalry? Personally, when I saw the gloves come off, I was cheering for them to break in to fisticuffs. I don’t like either team and think both players are over-hyped and a bit over rated. In spite of that, I was set for a good game of hockey and I never miss an outdoor game, even if I was cheering for both teams to pound each other into the ice.
So on to the game. How many hockey games get postponed from a 1pm start to an 8pm start due to rain? By the third period, the rain did come down in a rather annoying drizzle, making the soft ice even more soupy. Who knew that the weather on New Years Day would be warm and sunny with a high of 46 and a chance of rain in Pittsburgh? Ah well, they played in the crappy weather with bouncing pucks and puddle jumping antics.
Highlights included a good fight, what is hockey without a fight? Crosby was a non issue and even took a pretty nasty blindsided hit. I may not like the kid, but that was not cool. Ovechkin tripped over the blue line on a break away and was also a non issue. But it was a good game with two teams hitting hard and scrumming in the corners. In other words, a good hockey game between rivals.
The downside was the camera shots from the blimp. That might work for football, but with hockey it is pointless. As a matter of fact, all the long shots were pointless. As a fan, we want ice level in your face action, not nose bleed football views. Let us forget the announcers, enough has been said about them over the years to fill several books. Most times, I just mute the sound during the game and turn it back up for the commercials. Enough said.
I am a hockey fan and wouldn’t miss the game for nothing. If you missed it, then sit back in and catch the highlights after the jump.
Bob Probert and Tie Domi figure skating? You have got to be kidding me! Last fall the CBC premiered the program Battle of the Blades. I saw the buzz on it but I could not catch any episodes as well.. I am in the U.S. and of course, the best I could do was some YouTube videos.
Hey I don’t watch those kind of shows, no dancing or singing or any of that stuff, its just not my bag. I know a lot of people follow that kind of thing and set their schedule around such shows and are huge, I mean huge as in are you kidding me? huge. Me, not so much, but I love hockey and I had to catch some of this. Imagine my disappointment when I could not catch it live.
The shows premise is pretty simple. Take ex-NHLers and team them up with figure skaters and hold a competition. Yeah, the guys figure skate with the ladies, they have judges, and people get to vote for the best pair each night. Sounds familiar right? But how did they get tough guys like Probert and Domi to agree to such a thing? I mean come on, really?
This is the Bob Probert and Tie Domi we all know and love. Two tough guys riding shotgun for their teams, enforcing good, fair play. Take a run at one of the star players and these guys would make you pay, big time. Being a Wings fan, I always liked it when Mr. Probert would put Mr. Domi down on the ice. Of course, during the 80′s, about the only thing I could hope for was a goal by Yzerman and old Bob getting up close and personal with an opposing player. Its not like the Wings won all that many games back then.
Toronto fans probably felt the same way. The highlight of their night was Domi planting some schmuck, who got a little too big for his own drawers, into the ice. Good, old fashioned hockey when the skill guys scored some pretty goals and the tough guys took care of business. So how did these guys end up figure skating? More importantly, should I make fun of them for doing so?
What a lot of people don’t know, is that guys like Probert and Domi have big hearts. When they went to Domi and asked him, he was sure they were kidding, but then they talked about doing it all for charity and he was in. Of course, most people still thought they were crazy for doing a show like this, but then they started asking players and the puck started moving. Probert’s one condition was he had to beat Domi. Gotta love old time hockey players!
You know what sports fans? The show works. A lot of money is raised for charity and we can see some of our favorite players try to ice dance. Kinda funny all around and for a good cause. According to reports, the show was a big hit in Canada and will now be aired in the U.S. as well, starting just before this regular season starts. I’ll be watching and laughing and having a good time at these guys expense, its pretty safe in my living room.
You know, I was going to poke fun at the show and talk about how stupid it is. But you know, it is pretty cool. I’ll leave you with Bob Probert’s performance. I have always been a big fan of Probie, and he will be missed. Bob Probert died this past July, still a tough guy, but a tough guy with a big heart. I hope he didn’t elbow St. Peter as he went through the gate. If the other team is smart, they’ll try not to piss him off.
When Paddy retired from high school sports, he hung up the mullet and invested in an armchair and remote. Now he’s the Gallery sports guy and still manages to run his own site, Paddy’s Wanderings.Editor’s Note – does he look like a murderer to you? I mean, not a serial killer, but maybe a rage killing or two? Is it just me? Don’t tell him I said that, btw.
That is Kelly Slater, 9 time ASP Surfing Champion shooting the curl. Nice pic and one of thousands of great shots of this guy surfing over the past 20 years. He is closing in on the tenth championship right now. The guy has ruled surfing for ever it seems. And yet.. I bet you’re asking yourself, who the hell is this guy?
Wait a tick.. You don’t catch surfing on any of the multitude of sports channels? Don’t tell me you are one of those people who think it is just a bunch of long hairs, driving the woodie to the beach, waxing surf boards and playing beach blanket bingo with hotties in bikinis? Right? Dudes and dudettes, put down the bongos and the flowers, man, this is a serious sport.
I have been to Cali and to FLA and I have tried surfing, it is hard. Wannabes like me need about two years of intense training and coaching before they would even let you on the beach at Waimea, let alone the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore. Yeah man, shooting the pipeline would be groovy but you gotta have the chops. It ain’t easy brother.
Slater is 38 now, shooting for another championship in a sport that favors the young, like the folks with the rock hard 20 something bods who haven’t rode the reef. I mean, 20 years on some killer surf, and I do mean killer. And yet.. the dude keeps dominating guys half his age in a sport that is about as physically demanding as there is.
Here is a fun stat for ya.. he has won over 80% of the tournaments he has entered. Even Tiger Woods has not dominated like that, no one has for that long of time. The sport has its perks, good prize money in the range of 100k for a win, which is a lot of beach time man. There is of course, the hotties too. Slater has dated some of the biggest names around LA his whole career. There was super model Giselle for one, and we can forget Pamela Anderson.. The dude hangs with rock bands and has some pretty good star status around the scene. But, you probably didn’t know that.
Catch the video of some highlights and if you’re feeling particularly froggy, there is a bazillion vids all over the net and you can rock the surf all day long. That’s what I have been doing today.
In my opinion extreme sports are tied to the fetish wiring in the human mind. Some people like leather, some lace and some want to be adult babies stuffed into latex nappies while their partner dresses up like a teddy bear dominatrix. These are the people in extreme sports who row across oceans. Months at sea alone in a little boat often alone, it’s a grueling endeavor. You’re fighting exhaustion, forty foot waves, the chance to be capsized and separated from your boat, a whole host of practical and psychological problems. I personally don’t get it. My particular fetish is watching people hang off mountains but that’s as boring as a down home country S&M club now so congratulations to the Artemis Investments Ocean Racing Team led by Leven Brown. The crew of four broke a 114 year old record for rowing across the Atlantic last week.
Spain doing Spain things. Is it a huge goalie mistake or a savvy shot by David Villa?
You are here for the same reason everyone else is here, and that is because the USA had a heartbreaking defeat against the Ghana Black Star Sex Machines. Some of you may also be here because England embarrassed themselves against Germany, and you want to see UK tabloid links. I have both for you.
First though I want to share a story that explains the US narrative because as of right now the USA Men’s National Soccer Team is the American team of the summer. Every sports show talks about them, they get ex presidents drinking with them, Graceland loves them, Landon Donovan stands to make millions and millions of dollars from either the MLS or any English Premier club (he’s now like the mini Lebron in soccer hype), and this new storyline has now pushed the narrative further into insanity.