You cannot stop Alexander Ovechkin. You cannot hope to contain Alexander Ovechkin. You can only watch and marvel at everything he can do, because seemingly there isn’t anything on the ice he CANNOT. For instance, here he is scoring a goal after tripping and sliding on his butt, because, you know, that’s easy…
That young man has some game.
After their plane crash landed in the Hudson River, the flight crew has been feted, celebrated and honored from the captain getting an invite to the inauguration to a special cocktail being made in his honor and now, even the co-pilot gets to get in on the fun. Jeff Skiles, the flight’s first officer and a Wisconsin native will throw the first pitch at the home opener for the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Jeff Skiles is a great representative of the state of Wisconsin,” said Rick Schlesinger, the team’s executive vice president for business operations. “We are honored to have Jeff throw out the first pitch on Opening Day.”
Seeing that the Brewers just resigned Eric Gagne, who did his absolute best to singlehandedly prevent the Brewers from reaching the playoffs, depending on how good Skiles’ pitch is maybe they should sign him for the bullpen too. Hell, I’m sure he throws faster than Trevor Hoffman…
Also, what other professions can you think of besides State Police officers, airline pilots and 70s porn stars can you think of that still rock the mustache as a group?
From a mascots H-O-R-S-E competition comes this totally awesome shot off the junk of the Milwaukee Buck, then the Buck falls, catches himself and then does a pretty slick move through the hoop. Impressive!
[Deadspin]
I know all my readers are jonesing desperately for some good grainy footage of Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin as a college wide receiver playing for William and Mary and I live to serve, so, here you go!
There, isn’t life better now!
[Fan IQ]
I like hating on the Washington Nationals because I think they are most poorly run franchise in Major League Baseball. Jim Bowden, the GM is absolutely awful and makes bad decision after bad decision. For example, why was Ronnie Belliard signed to an extension? Or Christan Guzman? Or Dmitri Young? Or how about the fact that Bowden is being investigated for impropriety regarding taking a cut of signing bonuses from international players? Or maybe that the team just wasted $20 million on Adam Dunn who will not help the team NOT finish in last in their division over the next two years and may hurt the development of some of the only young prospects that the Nationals have. Then there is that the Nationals are the only team that has gone to arbitration this year, and not only that, but they LOST the case.
So the latest news, that the tenth best prospect on the team, Esmailyn Gonzalez who the team believed was 19 years old is actually Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo a 23 year old. Oops!
The Nats signed Gonzalez/Lugo in July of 2006 to a $1.4 million bonus, the largest the team has given to an international player. At the time, team president Stan Kasten equated the signing to when the Braves had signed Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal in the mid-90s as showing the Nationals were going to be competitive in signing the best players.
Gonzalez put up excellent numbers last year in the Gulf Coast League, but looking at his numbers with this new information they are much less impressive, “Those are great numbers,” a scout told SI.com, “but you should be hitting that well if you’re that much older than your competition.”
And of course, the signing was engineered by Jose Rijo, special assistant to Bowden (and also subject of an investigation regarding impropriety with bonuses) and a man named Basilio Vizcaino, who helps prepare young players in hopes that they eventually sign big Major League deals and reward him with a percentage of a signing bonus.
Way to go Nats, but hey, you might only lose 90+ games this year instead of 100, so there’s that…
[MLB.com]
Since it has been FAR too long since I had a good hockey clip up here, I have one today to satiate all your inner puck desires. Here is Vancouver Canucks goaltender Miika Kiprusoff getting screened by a Flames player but then reacting quickly and making an incredible stick save. Bravo!
Cleveland Cavalier Ben Wallace is out for several days after suffering multiple lacerations in his arm from glass shards after playing with a football. Maybe I’m mistaken, I always thought footballs were made out of pigskin, not you know, glass, so I wonder what the true story is here. Sure, Wallace MIGHT have run into a glass door or something, but he really shouldn’t be diving and running crazy for a football, he’s a professional basketball player on one of the top teams in the league, he needs to be focused on whats happening no?
Nothing says high school basketball funtimes more than a crazy brawl starting with two players punching one another that then leads into a full-on melee with the crowd getting involved too. This video is pretty ridiculous, especially when you consider that most if not all of the people fighting are high schoolers, but they really go at it. Ah, sports.
[WSFA]
When greatness is thrust upon you, you either seize it or fall flat on your face. Jeremy Fry, Boston Celtics fan, seized greatness when he heard Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” come over the speakers; he knew his moment had come. Featuring intense, what I hope is improvised, choreography and lip syncing he excites the entire crowd after being put up on the jumbotron. At first, he’s content just to dance exuberantly at his seat, but soon, the pulsing sounds of Bon Jovi push him to new heights. The people in his section try initially to join in, but soon realize, it’s like putting a middle school recorder band to play with Yo-Yo Ma, sometimes you just need to let genius soar on its own. And soar he does.
Bored with the normal practice of downhill skiing? Looking for something a bit more exciting and different? Good news, Vermont has you covered!
It’s called snowkiting and it combines two favorite activities of people, skiing, and being pulled around by forces of nature. It’s pretty simple, you take your skis (or snowboard) and then head out onto a lake and wait for the wind to pick up. Strapped into a harness you’re connected to the kite and control yourself similar to the idea of riding a motorcycle.
“We’ve had people ride over 100 miles in a day. You can go up around the islands, cruise around, cruise back, down wind,” instructor Rachael Miller said.
With speeds up to 70 mph recorded, you can go for quite a ride, or get taken for one. “I’m going to land right on my face for sure,” student Dolan Patrick said. “It’s a lot of movements to coordinate.”
[WCAX]
Joe Gibbs Racing signed Darrell Wallace Jr. recently to its developmental driver program, which is unremarkable except that Wallace is only 15 years old. The Mobile, Alabama native isn’t legally allowed to have a license for another year, but that hasn’t stopped him from racing, or seeing him get named Rookie of the Year in the United Auto Racing Association. Wallace finished his season 6th overall in the points standings last year and was also the youngest driver to win a race at Franklin County Speedway.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to add someone like Darrell to your program it’s exciting,” said J.D. Gibbs, President of JGR.
No word as yet if Wallace’s parents are forced to drive in the car with him. But it is true that his mother constantly winces and tries desperately to brake whenever she’s in the car with him.
[AL.com]
Sarah Blewden is a 25 year old Briton who, after taking up boxing as an activity to keep her fit, discovered that she had a talent for the sweet science. Unfortunately for her, the Amateur Boxing Association of England won’t let her try her hands out in the ring because she has breast implants.
“International rules forbid anyone with breast implants continuing to box because of risk of damage to the breast tissue,” said Tony Attwood, chairman of the ABAE. “The natural breast tissue is pushed forward in front of the implant and it is this that is more at risk.”
Blewden of course, dismisses that as hogwash, also adding that she’d have no issue paying to repair any damage that might be caused to her delightful 32C speedbags. I hope this issue gets settled, although I also hope Blewden doesn’t take any blows to the face, it’d be a shame to see someone so pretty get marred. Besides, I’m sure the fans of boxing wouldn’t mind seeing an athlete whose enhancement isn’t performance enhancing…
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!
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