Category: General Sports (Page 18 of 112)

      Team Terrorism Aces Team England

      August 9, 2009 /

      http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Olympics+Day+6+Badminton+4Ytn0yTcVEnl.jpg

      Before we delve into this, let me just say: granted badminton is not exactly popular in America, nor is it even considered much of a sport by many. However, while the sport itself may not be too important here, the implications and precedent delivered by the event occurring within it very well could be. Anyway the story: The Team England has pulled out of the World Badminton Championships in Hyderabad, India after receiving terrorist threats. I found this story off the BBC News page:

      Performance director Ian Moss said: “It is a disappointing outcome, especially after we had enjoyed a very good preparation at our holding camp in Doha, Qatar, last week.

      “Our athletes were extremely well prepared for these championships but, at the end of the day, personal safety must take priority over performance.

      “This was a unanimous squad decision and is not reflective of the efforts made by the organising committee to create the safest environment possible for all athletes.”

      Is not reflective of the organizing committee? Well, it seems to me that if a team containing last year’s Olympic silver medalist (Nathan Robertson, he’s in the picture) cancels their trip to your tournament because of terrorist threats, it might mean you need to get your security a bit more in order.

      That aside, it’s not often, if I may use a cliche here, that “The terrorists truly win.” I mean, Team England bowed out and down on this one (BTW Team Scotland and Team Wales plan to represent at the tournament). They have most definitely given into terrorist demands here. Hell, they even got someone in a market with basically no interest in the sport to write a story about it. I certainly am not helping their cause either, though you’ll need to go to the link above to find out who the group was.

      But let’s not be too harsh here, would you feel like hitting a shuttlecock if you thought you might be bombed out of your hotel room that night? Wait a second, have I made a new double entendre? Anyway, one’s personal safety should be their biggest concern.

      Getting the gold is one thing, but returning home to your family is another. I’m not bashing them for their decision, but I’m still not happy with the situation. In the end, of course the terrorists are to blame, but the organizers of the event need to be able to supply the competitors with a safe arena of play.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, General Sports, News, Rumors & Gossip

      The 30th annual National Sports Collectors Convention

      August 6, 2009 /

      vintage

      Paul Lukas of ESPN recently spent some time at this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland.

      So I’m speaking from experience when I say the key to a happy collecting life is the moment when you accept that you can never collect everything in a given category, because there will always be at least one thing out there that you can’t afford, can’t find or don’t know about. The feeling of completism will always be out of reach. Once you admit that to yourself, the world becomes a fun museum and you can cherry-pick some nice items that push your buttons without the pressure of having to acquire all of them.

      But most of the collectors at the National didn’t appear to have experienced that epiphany. This was especially true of the baseball card collectors (by far the largest contingent of attendees), a disturbing percentage of whom seemed to fit all the worst collector stereotypes: nerdy, overweight, socially awkward. As I watched these guys — and believe me, all of them were guys — feverishly flipping through bins and albums of cards, trying to cross out items on their want lists, it occurred to me that they seemed to take very little pleasure in the act of collecting. They were more like addicts trying to cop a fix, and I found their frantic, joyless movements from dealer to dealer rather depressing.

      Lukas has also put together a nice set of photos from the event. The piece is worth reading, if only to get a sense of the kind of ephemera that are sold at these things. For example, the 1999 Yankees championship trophy was on display along with a bunch of championship rings. Pretty cool.

      I used to collect cards for many years when I was younger. It’s easy to stop as you get older and need to conserve your money. These days, I’m more into seeking out rare LPs than sports memorabilia. Simply put, it’s just expensive to get into this stuff. I’d still love to go to a convention, but it won’t be a while until I’m buying Robin Ventura’s gold glove off some nerd.

      General Sports

      Die-hard sports fans are unhealthy

      August 3, 2009 /

      sports fan

      This breaking story comes from the Kansas City Star. I’m sure this will come as a surprise to all, but apparently dyed-in-the-wool sports fans have terrible eating and exercise habits.

      Daniel Sweeney and Donna Quimby, professors at Arkansas Little Rock, conducted the study in which 515 people on campus responded to an e-mail survey.

      The survey found that 26 percent of sports fans ate vegetables only one to three times a month, compared with 19.2 percent of non-sports fans, while 11.9 percent of sports fans have four or more drinks when they consume alcohol compared with 3.2 percent of non-sports fans. Additionally, 21 percent of fans almost always ate high-fat food compared with 13 percent of non-sports fans.

      Sports fans had an average body-mass index of 27.4, while non sports fans were at 25.09. A BMI between 25-29.9 is considered overweight, while 30 or higher is considered obese.

      “Knowing something is there is good, but it’s not enough to affect change. The next step is why is this happening? What is going on there?”

      Why is this happening? I’ll tell you why. My opinion is that most “die-hard” sports fans typically run from their mid-twenties onward. This is because they’ve had a considerable amount of years to gain a proper knowledge about sports and have grown to truly love their favorite team. I find that, as these fans get older, they either get married or care so little about getting married that the idea of looking good can become insignificant. Let’s face it, if you can find a mate that is also a crazy sports fan, or can at least tolerate your addiction, snatch them up right away.

      I also think the problem lies in both the number of sports and their scheduling. It’s rare these days to find a fan who only follows one sport. At any time of year, there are at least two college or professional leagues running. As fans become attached to their favorite teams, they may have more than one game to watch a day. This makes setting aside an hour or two for the gym after work nearly impossible. Obviously, it can be done. It’s all about discipline and setting a schedule for yourself that balances both an exercise and sports intake.

      I suppose a step towards better living would be to eat a healthy meal while you’re watching sports. Still, I’ve never seen a buddy have a salad and a Diet Coke while a game is on. If you’re really serious about it, you could eat when you’re not in a sports setting, so as to avoid the temptation of unhealthy foods. But being a sports fan is all about the experience, which has proven to be more enjoyable than a regular job. So, what will a be? A nice beer, some chicken wings, and fries after the daily grind? Or a low-carb alternative and some lemon water?

      General Sports

      Everyone is swimming faster! Michael Phelps still wins.

      August 2, 2009 /

      http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2009/07/20/phelps-m-get-090709-584.jpg

      The Swimming World Championships in Rome have just finished up and Michael Phelps closed it out with a gold medal performance on the American relay team. That left him with a total of five golds and a silver for the competition, not too shabby. But perhaps even more than the continued domination of Phelps, the real story from Rome seems to be the 43 world records set there. Brian Cazeneuve from Sports Illustrated puts in his two cents:

      It’s gotta be the suits. What else could explain the absurd number of world records set in Rome? In 2008, a year when the rise of records left people calling for drug inquiries, pool measurements and the return of 1920s swimsuits, there were 102 records set throughout the year. That’s almost one every three days. In Rome, swimmers set new standards 43 times in eight days. FINA, the sport’s international governing body, has said it will adopt new regulations to prohibit some of the materials in the suits of the last two or three years. They will also restrict the length of some of the suits for both men and women. Still, those regulations won’t go into effect until Jan. 1 and even those will be against the objections of many suit manufacturers who want to liquidate their stock of the suits that will soon be illegal. Once that happens, some of these records could stand for some time.

      So all these new-fangled swimsuits are going to be made illegal? When I heard the story the first thing that popped into my mind was the sound of those speed skates in Nagano in 1998 and every Olympics since. Called “clap skates” these things broke every record there was to break in speed skating. But they are still legal today.

      With the skates in mind as a precedent then, it seems a bit odd to me that the swimsuits should be banned. Further strangeness in this story comes from the fact that all of the records in swimming HAVE ALREADY BEEN BROKEN by them. If the reason for making the suits illegal is to make the times of the swimmers closer to something a normal human should be able to do, than don’t we have to re-swim every event since Beijing? FINA, the governing body of international swimming, needs to get their heads out of the suits and let technology through on this one.

      OK, but then what about aluminum bats in Major League baseball? If we should let in the swimsuits, then why shouldn’t we let in the bats? OK, here’s why: The swimsuits have already been used, the records are already broken. With baseball, if they choose to not let those bats in, then fine, that’s up to them. But FINA shouldn’t have gone back on their previous approval. I don’t care too much about what choices a governing body makes in terms of technological advances, so long as they stay consistent. Baseball has, speed skating has, swimming seems to have had a false start.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, General Sports, News, Rumors & Gossip, Swimming, The Olympics

      Erin Andrews’ 911 call surfaces

      July 30, 2009 /

      Erin Andrews is having one hell of a month. First she was videoed naked via a peephole in the privacy of her hotel room, now she’s got perv paparazzi hanging out on the outside of her house just waiting to snap a picture of her.

      Audio of a 911 call Andrews made after spotting two members of the paparazzi outside her home has surfaced online and during the call, Erin vents her frustration over what has happened the past couple months.

      “I have been in the news recently about being in the hotel naked and I have paparazzi outside and I was told by law enforcement that if I did, to call 911,” Andrews told a 911 operator, before offering a description of the men. She then added “I did nothing wrong and I’m being treated like fucking Britney Spears and it sucks.”

      Erin must feel like she’s in a real life movie of “Enemy of the State,” where she’s being video taped through peepholes and having (what should be) private conversations being put online for everyone to hear.

      I feel bad for her. Yes, she has cashed in on her sexuality. But nobody deserves to have their privacy invaded like this. The peephole prank crossed the line and while the 911 call was nowhere near as bad as being shown over the internet in your birthday suit while in your hotel room, it still must be infuriating to Andrews.

      She’d probably have to quit ESPN, but if I were her I’d give the double-fingered salute to everyone and pose in Playboy. What the hell – everyone has already seen me naked anyway? Might as well get paid (very well) for it. That might be the wrong attitude to have and I’m sure she would never go that route, but I’d want to be compensated for all the bullshit that I had to endure over the past couple weeks.

      General Sports, News

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