As hard as it is for me to believe, there are people out in the world who DON’T religiously and obsessively follow Argentine soccer. I feel sorry for those people, they missed this piece of awesome. You see Gaston Aguirre plays for San Lorenzo, and while in the middle of what was eventually a 2-1 game against Tigre he went to take a shot on goal. The only problem was that at the exact moment he struck the ball, a group of pigeons were on the field and in a freak accident, he hit a pigeon, exploding feathers everywhere. The rest of the birds flew away, but the hit bird remained. Several players tried to scoop it up as it tried valiantly to fly away, it soon collapsed to the ground, dead. The referee picked it up and took it off the field so that play could continue. “I kicked the ball and, poor pigeon,” the Gaston Aguirre said. “Now I will be remembered as the pigeon killer.”
You bet he will! Because it is totally and completely awesome. I think we all remember Randy Johnson completely destroying a pigeon with a pitch and how cool that was. I think Aguirre is looking at this the wrong way, he’s a hero! Well, to those who hate pigeons. I know someone who is TERRIFIED of pigeons, and she’d probably celebrate Aguirre, so at least you’ll have ONE fan.
And after the jump for memory sake is that awesome Randy Johnson pitch.
Ok, so not really a sports video, but it involves punching in the face, and that’s sometimes a sporting activity. Anyways, it makes me laugh, and my best friend is in it, so, you know, eat it. And by eat it, I mean watch the video.
While doing an event with WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan to help fund raise for Curt Schilling’s ALS charities, Schill took some questions from the audience and had some interesting words to say about his time with Manny Ramirez as a teammate. Most interesting, Schilling revealed that during his years as a teammate he and Manny had 4 different physical run-ins with each other. Curt also claimed that his teammates stopped him from going after Manny the first time Schilling noticed him taking a play off, early on in Schilling’s tenure as a Red Sox. None of this is particularly “news” but it’s interesting nonetheless, I have a feeling that years from now when a bunch more books are written about these Red Sox teams that we’re going to learn a lot more about who Manny Ramirez was behind the scenes and how his teammates reacted to him. In the meantime, we have the chief blowhard Schilling out there letting us know.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
As everyone gears up for the end of the year and goes on autopilot, we see an constant stream of end-of-the-year wrap ups and such, most of which are useless and repetitive. Sports Illustrated posted a pretty nice gallery of some of the greatest photos from the year though, which I’m sure we’ll see 500 times elsewhere, but I saw this one first, so everyone else is following off that one, to me.
Anyhoo, there are some pretty sweet photos in the gallery, which is located here, and I recommend you check it out when you get a chance. To save some time, I’m posting my favorite ones here. Smooches!
No, I’m not talking about season 3 of NBC’s Friday Night Lights, which is AWESOME and returns to the high-quality standard of the perfect 1st season (don’t get me started on season 2), but the actual field of the Permian Panthers, on whom the Dillon Panthers are based. Based on testing done by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ratliff Stadium’s artificial turf field has levels of lead that are approximately 14 times the EPA standards. Another nearby school, in the Birdville district of Fort Worth also tested for high levels of lead, nearly 10 times the standard. Both stadiums feature the same kind of turf, known as AstroPlay, and the high lead levels were found in a secondary layer of nylon fiber known as the “root zone. Neither field had lead levels at the top level of the fields where players make contact, but the Birdville stadium had lead in the water running off the field, which is a sign that the lead is being released into the larger environment.
“Our opinion is that AstroPlay turf could pose a human health risk,” wrote Michael T. Abel, project manager at the Lubbock lab that conducted the test.
School officials in Birdville are monitoring the situation carefully, but also admitted that they don’t have the $300-400,000 needed to replace the 5-year old turf. Other stadiums in Texas have been shut down for lower levels of lead, as has a playground at a Beverly Hills, California which also featured AstroPlay.
The manufacturers of artificial turf dismiss charges that the fields are dangerous, contending that the lead is contained in fibers below the surface. The other side argues that as use and sunlight degrade the quality of the field the risks and dangers drastically increase.
Despite nearly a dozen other districts that feature AstroPlay turf fields, only Odessa and Birdville tested their fields, believing it not to be a major concern. “We’re not burying our head in the sand,” said Joe Loerwald, athletic director for the Round Rock school district outside Austin, which has an AstroPlay field. “But, at the same time, we don’t see it as a prevalent problem.”
Experts in the field, like Winifred Hamilton the director of environmental health at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston disagree. “It seems to me that we’ve jumped into something without properly understanding it,” she said.
Based on this Christmas card from Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell (top left) he seems to have a decent sense of humor, or a really really bad sense of style. Supposedly this is a photo with some of his fraternity friends, but that isn’t for certain, nor am I 100% that it is Harrell, but c’mon, those sweaters are KILLER!
Even though I hate college sports, I do love me a horrible sweater, and damned if there ain’t THREE awesomely terrible ones in this photo. It nearly brings a tear to my eye.
He used to fight as a heavyweight, but now I think Mike Tyson might be even out of that weight class after seeing this photo from the Video Game Awards this past weekend.
That face tattoo though is still looking good.
Say what you want about me, but I think time-lapse photography can be pretty neat. Take for example this video of the Air Canada Center transforming from hockey to basketball and then through the game itself, pretty neat right? Well, I think it is, so there.
The original American Gladiators show was revolutionary. I couldn’t wait until the next episode to see people push themselves to the limit in random sporting events that had nothing to do with real life. It was addictive. The highlight of the show of course, was the gladiators themselves. Much like their ancient Roman counterparts, the gladiators were heroes, celebrated by society. Everyone wanted to be a gladiator, even Lisa Turtle on Saved By the Bell opted to become one after the fake Zach Attack band broke up. To be a gladiator was a high status symbol, they had their own action figures, trading cards, candy bars and tons of other merchandise, including a truly terrible Nintendo game. That era is long over now though.
Raye Hollitt was one of the original gladiators, competing under the nom de guerre “Zap,” but times are harder and she is no longer taking the stage as a ferocious gladiator. Today, she plies her way as a massuese in Los Angeles.
At least that’s what her ad on Craigslist says. Check it out here. Or if that gets taken down, I’ve taken a screenshot of it, and that is here.
If you ever wanted to get a rubdown from a REAL American Gladiator, this is your chance! This also would make the perfect gift for that friend of yours who loves extremely buff women. I think we all know a couple people like that in LA…
The Shircel brothers bowl together on the Budweiser team in the Al & Al’s Brotherhood League of Sheboygan, Wisconsin and last night, for the first time, they rolled successive perfect games. Combined, the two have individually rolled 10 perfect games, but never at the same time.
Tom (right), the younger brother at 52 went first and started nailing pins down. Ed, 57, followed up in the anchor position and started taking aim as well. The younger brother deferred to his elder insisting that Ed is the better overall bowler, being a Sheboygan Bowling Association Hall of Famer. “We always talked about hitting good on the same nights,” Tom said. “We’ve had 700s together, but nothing like this.”
For Ed, whose bowling exploits have gotten him on television and earned him state championship trophies this perfect game (his 6th) was extra special. “This was something a little different, a different kind of good experience,” he said.
Sondra Fortunato has been a fan of the New York Giants for nearly 30 years, coming to the games “with her bodacious physique, rhinestone tiara and skimpy outfits that heat up the frigid stadium.” However, at last week’s Giants/Eagles game, she was escorted out of the stadium because her outfit was considered too risque.
“I love the Giants! I’m a flamboyant dresser and I’m well-endowed,” Sondra told the NY Post.
“Look, I’m a middle-aged woman, I really don’t like to give my age – say I’m middle-aged. But Madonna goes out and she’s got everything hanging out, and she’s middle-aged!”
Yes, it is true that Madonna does those things, on behalf of most men, I’d like to add that we’d like Madonna to stop too.
At last week’s game, Fortunato rolled up in a tiara, fishnets, a Santa outfit, a bathing-suit bottom and high-heeled boots. “Nothing was showing,” she insisted. “You couldn’t even see my underwear. I don’t flash!”
She was told that her bag and signs were not allowed in the stadium, which she knew: In 2006, Sondra was arrested after carrying a sign, but was quickly allowed back in the stadium. She says team brass routinely ignores its no-sign policy – for others.
Then, she was lectured about her clothes.
“They said, ‘Can’t you come to the stadium dressed like a regular person?’ ” she said. “They said there were a lot of kids there.”
She was advised to wear a sweater to games.
“I guess some ladies got jealous and complained,” groused Sondra, who lives in Toms River, NJ.
Yeah, definitely, some ladies were totally jealous and that’s why this happened. I’m just thankful that Andrea Peyser and the NY Post were there to give this abused and discriminated woman a chance to get her story out. I only hope that she is able to emotionally recover from this horrible ordeal. Or that everyone who had to see her in a bathing-suit bottom is able to recover. Also, anyone surprised that she’s from New Jersey? That was probably the most obvious part of the whole article. I hadn’t got past the first sentence when I figured that one out. BTW, when can we just eliminate Jersey from the union?
Oh and just in case that photo wasn’t enough for you, here’s a whole gallery of the terrifying Mrs. Fortunato! After the jump is my favorite one with her and a bemused Jeremy Shockey.
[NY Post]
The Slanch Report has started an online petition asking the MLB Network to air the Dock Ellis no-hitter he threw on June 12, 1970 against the San Diego Padres. The moment was a seminal piece of baseball history and is certainly worthy of being rerun.
Please join us in this cause and sign the petition below so we can all share in this special and fantastic moment of baseball history. THANKS!
SIGN THE PETITION HERE! AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PASS THIS ALONG!
The Slanch Report 
Recent Comments