Mark Lewis-Francis anchored Britain’s gold medal-winning 4X100 relay team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and as part of the buildup to the London Games, he raced a BMW 320d EfficientDynamics auto on the Mall in London on Sunday.
The particular BMW model Lewis-Francis raced is one of two main autos that will serve as the fleet of vehicles utilized during the Olympics, so the tie-in was a sensible one.
But the question is, how did the sprinter fare against the supremely-built German automobile in a race? Via The Sun:
On a sunny Sunday in front of Buckingham Palace, Lewis-Francis agreed to run man versus machine over 40m — and after the first race the results were close, but it was 1-0 to the man on two legs.
Crunching the stats for the second run, the sprinter hit halfway in 3.13secs – 0.17secs up on the BMW.
But by the finish the car went had zoomed through in 4secs flat, with Lewis-Francis just 0.12sec back.
Although he lost, Lewis-Francis certainly held his own in the short run, and even he was surprised by his performance against the BMW:
“People regularly ask me to explain how I can run so fast and what the crucial elements of our technique really are. “Today has shown just how important those small efficiencies are and how they equally relate to engineering in cars. I did not expect to be able to outrun the BMW for so long!”
Indeed. You know, Lewis-Francis’ impressive performance has inspired me to attempt an equally formidable feat, at least equally formidable in light of my limitations in both relative health and training: I will race a 1978 Ford Pinto. As soon as I can find one that still runs. Hopefully, I will not. Running sure sounds like a lot of work.
Just when you thought bringing a glove to a major league ballpark was about the least masculine thing a man could do, along comes this guy, who throws down the gauntlet, challenging every adult male baseball fan to come up with a more unmanly thing to tote along to baseball game.
That’s right, folks, this Texas Rangers fan brings a homemade Ron Washington puppet to Rangers home games at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. He states in the brief interview that it took him two weeks to create Creepy Ron Washington Puppet and while I question his motives for taking it to games, I’ll give him some credit for his handiwork. It is a reasonable “puppetized” version of the Rangers skipper. Mister Gippetto himself probably would praise this guy for his mastery of puppetry construction. Or whatever you would call it.
The puppetmaster then demonstrates his interpretation of Washington’s mannerisms, but if you ask me, those frenetic movements look less like how the real Ron Washington acts and much more like some kind of mating ritual dance that would prove effective if Creepy Ron Washington Puppet ever decided he wanted to seduce Madame of Solid Gold fame.
And just to be clear, the artistry of the finished product aside, there is no way in hell I would ever allow that thing to be in the same room where I sleep. Sure, admitting that might make me appear to be less of a man, but it would ultimately make me a much more rested one.
[H/T Big League Stew]
Kobe Bryant was uncharacteristically verbose during his interactions with the media after the Los Angeles Lakers practiced on Tuesday as the team continued its preparations for Game 2 against the seemingly unstoppable (or is it unguardable?) Oklahoma City Thunder. Kobe discussed his aversion to taking charges, saying he “learned from my predecessors” about the pain and long-lasting misery it can impose upon the body of the person taking the charge, but Bryant let it all hang out when the conversation segued into a discussion about the NBA’s flopping epidemic (via ESPN):
“There’s a difference [between taking a charge and flopping]. We all know what flopping is when we see it,” Bryant said. “The stuff that you see is where guys aren’t really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That’s kind of like, where are your balls at?”
Oh, snap. Floppers of the NBA, you just got put on notice by the Black Mamba. Better check yourself before you wreck yourself. Further, it’s hard to argue with Bryant’s challenge of his colleagues who are prone to the crappie flop. It’s a game, not an acting exhibition.
Ha freaking ha. And the best part of ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter’s semi-profane gaffe when he said “god damn” on ESPN’s airwaves? It was during a broadcast of Mike & Mike. Gold.
Schefter was appearing on Mike & Mike to discuss the massive amount of weight New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan has lost since undergoing lap band surgery about a year ago, about 90 pounds to put a number on it.
While explaining how a man like Rex Ryan could drop that much weight in such a short amount of time — the lap band surgery notwithstanding — Schefter dropped this bomb on Golic and Greenie: “That’s skipping a lot of goddamn snacks, if you know what I’m talking about.”
Surprisingly, Schefter’s working blue was missed by the person in charge of monitoring the Mike & Mike radio broadcasts just in case a guest were to drop a cuss word and I can only imagine the horror of the hosts, particularly Mike Goldberg, who you just know nearly crapped his pants when he heard such savage vulgarity. That guy is wound pretty tight, man, and he comes across as kind of a sissy — a self-admitted one at that — who makes no bones about it.
Expect a sincere apology from Schefter for such callous use of foul language imminently. That’s how they roll at tWWL.
[H/T Game On!]
To help the New Orleans Saints properly mourn and at the same time pay tribute and remember the cruel fate currently being suffered by their head coach at the hands of the NFL after the league suspended him for one year, the team will leave an unoccupied chair during all team meetings and on all team flights and bus rides throughout Sean Payton’s exile from the team. So while Payton is looking longingly at the Superdome from his new office in the nearby Benson Tower or is jamming away on the bongos at a Jimmy Buffett concert, the Saints team and staff will have a constant reminder of the void left behind due to the absence of their visored, fearless leader.
Mountain biking is rarely covered here at the Sportess and while it’s not because I don’t admire the athleticism, endurance and skill of those who engage in the activity. It’s just that there are rarely compelling enough reasons to do so. But when a video like this one comes along, you’re darn tootin’ I’ll throw it up on the site for viewing.
In it, pro freeride mountain biking extraordinaire Paul Basagoitia tries and tries (and tries again) to land a double back flip on his bike. And he’s not attempting to accomplish this impressive feat on some sanitized, indoor track, or even on even pavement, for that matter. Instead, Basagoitia is taking his cracks (and a lot of lumps) on some seriously gnarly mountainous terrain.
Watch as he eats dirt while making repeated efforts to nail the double back flip. Spoiler alert: he ultimately lands one, and it’s pretty sweet.
[via digg]
Most people’s sense of humor probably has evolved since the 6th grade, but many still have managed to remember the basic concepts related to what the average precocious preteen boy find amusing. With that in mind, I would be hard-pressed to argue that most folks have or would let out a chuckle or two upon hearing or seeing Seattle Mariners pitcher Charlie Furbush’s last name. It’s Furbush, for crying out loud. The jokes write themselves.
This is what makes the letter spacing on Furbush’s jersey so hilariously unfortunate. The wider distance between the “R” and the “B” in Furbush really accentuates the enormous amount of implied humor of this poor guy’s name. Might I suggest to the individual on the Seattle Mariners staff that sews on the letters to the players’ jerseys this: tighten up the spacing in the letters so they are more evenly distributed, at least on Furbush’s jersey. Because I don’t have to tell any of you out there that when there’s too much space between the fur and the bush the results can be quite off-putting. Just saying.
[image via SportsGrid]
Washington Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg had an uncharacteristically rough outing on Tuesday in his start against the San Diego Padres, lasting only four innings while getting knocked around for four runs. Following the game, Nats manager Davey Johnson made some veiled allusions to the possibility that some Hot Stuff, an analgesic ointment pitchers often use to loosen up before games, might have inadvertently made its way into a region of the body where a burning sensation might not be competitively advantageous nor particularly enjoyed.
There you go. Ultimately, the Iron Sheik’s tweet about everybody’s favorite Twitter madman, Jose Canseco, satisfies all the criteria of a typical online commentary – be it on Twitter or in bizarre rants in videos uploaded to YouTube — from the former pro wrestler:
a) some level of profanity (however in this case, it’s minor)
b) patently blunt; and
c) contains some varying degree of racism, be it subtle or overt
Well executed, Iron Sheik. You really put Jose Canseco in his place with that scathing piece of commentary. Yet, I am ashamed to admit that it did elicit a chuckle from me when I first read it. Does that make me a horrible person? Yeah, it probably does. But certainly no worse than the Iron Sheik’s former tag-team partner, Nikolai Volkoff, I’ll tell you that much. What a pinko commie that guy was.
[via]
Earlier this month, Rachel Bird’s world got turned upside-down due to the notoriety she received when the story of how she jokingly had a cardboard cutout of New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow serve as her escort to her prom went all berserker on the internet.
The coverage of the unorthodox and humorous response she had when she never heard back from Tebow after asking him to be her prom date on Twitter generated a lot of attention for the Iowa high schooler, and said coverage happened to be noticed by FRS, a sports drink company that just so happens to have Tim Tebow as an endorser of one of its products.
Via the Des Moines Register (by way of Off the Bench):
Also watching the Twitter feed was FRS, an energy drink company Tebow endorses. The company sent an email to the Register earlier this month, saying if it got a Twitter message from Bird, it would send her a signed jersey. The Register forwarded the email to Bird. She tweeted FRS. On Friday, a signed Tebow jersey — along with a package of FRS goodies — arrived for Rachel.
Photo of Miss Bird showing off her autographed jersey follows.
Prior to Game 1 of its ECHL Kelly Cup series against the Florida Everblades (a team previously involved in these two ultimate jersey fails), the Las Vegas Wranglers brought out the big guns to whip the crowd up into a frenzy. That’s right, Mike Tyson was on-hand to sound the traditional pregame siren, and believe you me, the video is chock-full of goodness. Although in reality, that’s hardly a surprising development, given Iron Mike was involved. It seems everything that guy does now is loaded with awesomeness.
I’m not sure which aspect of the video I enjoyed more: the way in which Tyson yells “WRANGLUHS RULE!!!”, the frenetic manner Tyson employs to sound the siren (in a way, it reminds me of what’s going on in this classic video, although Tyson’s is not as hilarious) or how he looks around in seemingly abject confusion after sounding it. Seriously, the look on his face and his mannerisms after the siren-sounding is certifiable gold. It appears like he has no idea what’s going on or what he’s supposed to do next. It’s almost as if Tyson just wishes he could have faded into Bolivian, as long as it took him away from this awkward moment.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Tyson’s presence apparently might have motivated the Wranglers, as they won Game 1, beating the Everblades 2-1. Well done, gents, although I find it hard to believe the Vegas-based team will be able to top their Game 1 siren sounder. Wayne Newton, perhaps?
[H/T Puck Daddy]
According to a report in the New York Times, the site TiqIQ.com has calculated that the average resale price for a ticket to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals series between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Monday night came in at a jaw-dropping $931.37.
Given the geographical proximity between the two teams and the likelihood that there are reasonably twice as many people gunning for the same seats, it’s hardly surprising that demand for tickets was at an all-time high, and while the price of a ticket to see the teams play at the Prudential Center in Newark is spendy as well, the average price is nowhere close to what it’ll cost fans to attend a game at the legendary Madison Square Garden:
The average resale price for tickets to games at Madison Square Garden is $931.37, according to TiqIQ.com, which scans ticket resellers. That’s 52 percent higher than the average price, $614.93, to see games between the teams at the Prudential Center in Newark.
It is also 60 percent more than the average resale price to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Capitals on Saturday, according to TiqIQ.com.
The cheapest ticket to Game 1 Monday night at Madison Square Garden is a more reasonable $170.
Only $170? In New York, that’s a steal. In light of that bargain basement price, I suppose the average Rangers fan is presented with the following conundrum:
a) pay up, snatch a ticket for $170 and watch a great hockey game; or
b) save the cash in order to have the funds for the prorated daily amount to rent a 100-square-foot studio apartment in the Big Apple
It’s kind of a toss-up, really.
Man, talk about the ultimate snub.
As you can see above, some guy — who apparently loves and is immensely devoted the ’9os era Chicago Bulls squads — felt that his massive tattoo homage to the Bulls dynasty inked into his back (that obviously stars Michael Jordan) should not feature MJ’s right-hand man/sidekick for all those championships, Scottie Pippen, but instead “The Worm” a/k/a Dennis Rodman. Interesting choice.
On the other hand, instead of it being a slight to Pippen, maybe the reason that perhaps best second fiddle in the history of the NBA was not included in the tattoo was for as simple of a reason as the guy just ran out of money and is planning on eventually getting Pippen inked on the left side of his back as soon as he rounds up some more cash. That tattoo couldn’t have come cheap. All I know is that if it were me and I was looking to round out my Chicago Bulls-themed back tattoo homage, I’d go with Bill Wennington, but that’s just me.
[H/T I Am A GM, Terez Owens]
"Did I do that???"
Point guard Russell Westbrook turned in a phenomenal performance in Game 1 of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Western Conference Semifinals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, recording 27 points while dishing out 9 assists and pulling down 7 rebounds as the Thunder throttled the Lakers 119-90. What makes his impressive stat line all the more remarkable is the fact that Westbrook accomplished all that in 27:25 after sitting out the entire 4th quarter (along with teammate Kevin Durant).
But as you can see above, a dominant game on the hardwood doesn’t necessarily translate to a stylish performance at the post-game press conference, as evidenced by the crazy getup Westbrook chose to wear for his meeting with the media. There’s a whole bunch of wrong going on with that outfit, from the bizarre polo shirt with fishing lures on it to the red — yet profoundly nerdy — glasses.
I know, I know, Russell probably chose to wear what he’s wearing with a nod to irony, something the hipster set likes to do to illustrate just how much cooler they are than everybody else. But nevertheless, that is one atrocious ensemble, although I give I will give him credit for having the self-confidence to wear it.
[H/T The Bill Walton Trip]
