I am LOVING the NFL’s recent practice of putting a mic on star players for their games and then releasing it a day or two later. One of the latest to strap it on is the never-shy Minnesota Viking Jared Allen who has been nothing short of DOMINANT all season long. This clip gives a real nice impression of what he’s like on the field. That man does not want to be blocked, he just seems to manhandle whoever is in front of him. That’s quite a load.
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Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is one of the fastest players in the NBA, able to go coast-to-coast in practically no time. Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans has quickly become one of the best running backs in football, running a 4.24 40 time and just blowing past defenders. Never one to avoid a challenge, Rondo let it be known he wants to race Johnson.
According to Johnson’s Twitter feed
America needs to see this race! I hope this happens, we could soon see a whole new era of sports competition with super-athletes matching their physical prowesses against one another.
01
Dec
09
Jamaica We Have a Dogsled Team
It’s a story as old as time, a Jamaican businessman, on vacation in Canada, comes across a dogsled with wheels, enabling it to run across land without snow and imports it to his home. He adds it to the options his adventure touring company offers, along with zip-lines and tubing trips and then decides he wants to participate in the Iditarod. Of course, as usual, Jimmy Buffett is a sponsor, because as we all know, Jimmy’s fans are all known as Husky-heads (ed. Yeah, that’s not true at all…Well, the sponsorship part is.)
Today, Newton Marshall, 26, is up in Alaska, training with Lance Mackey, winner of the last three Iditarods in a 3-month boot camp. After training last year with Yukon Quest champion Hans Gatt, Newton finished 13th out of 29 mushers in the 1,000 mile race.
“He’s going to be doing everything that we do,” said Mackey, who is also a four-time Yukon Quest champion. “From cleaning dog crap to cutting meat. Prepping for the races. Obviously the training part of it. Everything that it takes to make this household run, he’s going to be involved in.”
When Marshall began the Yukon Quest, he was labeled a joke by one judge; that same judge later awarded Marshall the special Challenge of the North award given to the musher who “exemplifies the spirit of the Yukon Quest.”
Leasing dogs from Mackey, including the lead dog in his championship runs should help Marshall in his Quixotic quest. A documentary following his trip through the Yukon Quest is being released in Canada next year, and Marshall is, obviously, trying to drum up interest in a feature film on his quest to go with the book he intends to write as well.
The nascent Jamaican Dogsled Team is paying for Marshall’s training with Mackey and hope that a good finish in the Iditarod could inspire many more Jamaicans to get interested in the sport, just like the famed (failed) Jamaican Bobsled team.
Peter Gammons spoke with Dustin Pedroia recently and his most recent comments only endear him to me more. After mentioning that the Red Sox had approached Pedroia regarding whether he thinks he could play shortstop he had nothing but confidence.
“When the idea of moving back to shortstop was floated to me, I welcomed it,” Pedroia says. “I’m excited. Tell Derek [Jeter] to enjoy the gold glove and silver slugger awards while he can. Obviously, I’m not serious about the fun I have with Derek, but I’m never stopping believing in the goal. I believe I can play shortstop and help get the Red Sox back where they belong.”
Goddamn I love that cocky son-of-a-bitch.
[ESPN]
The Florida Panthers were in Atlanta to play the Thrashers and midway through the first period, already tied 1-1, Ilya Kovalchuk came flying in on a breakaway. Despite the efforts of goalie Tomas Vokoun who stymied the first attempt but was unable to stop the rebound shot from going into the net. Frustrated with his team’s lack of defensive skill, Keith Ballard took out his aggression on his stick. Unluckily, when Ballard slammed his stick against the post, breaking it, the end of the stick struck his goaltender, lacerating his ear. Oops!
Vokoun left the ice and was taken to a local hospital, but should ultimately be fine.
01
Dec
09
Bad News For Fisting Fans
Chip “My father and grandfather were legends and the only reason I have a job in baseball is because of them” Caray and his long-time employer, TBS have “mutually” agreed to part ways after a post-season marred by miscalls, inaccuracies and a whole slew of balls fisted all over the field.
“Since the end of the 2009 MLB Playoffs, we’ve had several discussions with Chip Caray regarding 2010 and beyond. Both sides agree that now is the right time to move ahead on different paths,” the network said in a statement.
Make no mistake, this was NOT a mutual move, he got shit-canned. I can’t think of a single time Chip Caray has made a baseball game better. If his name was Chip Fister, he’d be managing a Home Depot right now.
That’s the way love goes.
[ESPN]
After the University of Texas’ defeat of rival Texas A&M on Thursday, star QB Colt McCoy stopped with Erin Andrews after the game for a quick chat. America’s sideline princess is all class calling out attention to the herpes explosion on his lip that he of course insisted was from “biting his lip.”
Sure thing, Danny.
As weird as it is to believe, over the last decade the second-best city for championships has been Pittsburgh. Sure, the Pirates are miserable, but 2 Steelers championships, a Penguins Cup and multiple late-round playoff trips for both teams shows that the Pittsburgh is a force to be reckoned with. On the heels of success comes entrepreneurs eager to exploit it for their own gain and the Steel City is no exception.
If you’re a big-time Penguins or Steelers fan forget replica jerseys, t-shirts or beer cozies, there’s only one true way to show everyone how much you care; “tobacco pipes.”
Now, I’d never get one of these, not my style (or teams) but if I had to choose, you gotta go with the Penguins one right? I mean, the color scheme is just so much better, and let’s face it, style matters.
On Saturday 22 brave competitors showed up to a Ottawa track for the annual end to the racing season, the Beer Mile.
At the start of the race the participants all chug a beer then do a quarter-mile lap around the track, upon returning to the starting line they must chug another beer before running another lap. The pattern continues until 4 beers and 4 laps have been completed.
That is provided of course that you don’t puke along the way, that results in an extra penalty lap.
The rest of the rules are pretty reasonable, the most important is that there are no chugging aids allowed, whether it’s wide-mouth cans, straws or shot-gunning allowed.
There are also requirements on the type of beverage allowed, no wussy stuff allowed, before the race began on Saturday the judges made an announcement. “We already have our first disqualification. Bud Light Lime is not allowed.”
First-time participant Jamie Stephenson took home the title, besting the defending champion Ryan Grant.
“I’m not a big beer drinker,” Stephenson said, “so I went to the Beer Store and asked them what they would recommend. There was actually quite a debate in the store. And finally they recommended Steam Whistle.”
“I’ve got a cast-iron stomach,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I eat or drink, I can still run. The only time I felt anything was coming around the last corner. I had a bit of an oh-oh moment. So I just put my head down and ran.”
Race organizer David Markin (left) was not as skilled as the winners, he was still drinking when they were done and mingling with the crowd.
“I’m not a very good drinker,” Markin replied, between gulps. “I drink four beers in one night only once a year.”
Women’s winner Heather Ireland overcame the early discovery that chugging was going to be even harder than she expected.
“The running is the easy part,” said Heather Ireland, the winner of the ladies division. “On the first beer, I thought, ‘No way.’ I don’t normally chug beer and I was thinking I can’t even get one down. But by the third, it got a little easier.”
Ireland paused and then added, “It’s not a very classy race.”
For Saturday’s Penguins game, the fans at the Igloo were given free Penguins hats. Sidney Crosby knew the burden that put on his team financially and so he decided to make sure the Penguins could recoup that loss, midway through the 3rd period he deposited his third goal of the night into the back of the net. And then the hats, oh how they rained down upon the ice, (check out the 2:14 mark when it is just a torrent of hats flying down to the ice.)
Denver Nugget power forward/center Chris “Birdman” Andersen is one of the more interesting players in the NBA, not much of a wallflower, Andersen loves attracting attention. Whether it is for his many tattoos, often bizarre hairstyles or for suspensions for drug abuse, Andersen likes the spotlight. I think it’s fair to say that his new ride is sure to attract attention around Denver; after all, it’s hard to be inconspicuous when you’re rolling around in a giant, highly modified SportChassis P4XL with 22.5″ rims, custom Italian leather interior, suede headliner and a giant chrome grille.
[Celebrity Carz via Jalopnik]
I’m not a professional tennis player and so I have no idea of the clothes I’ll be wearing in January; Ana Ivanovic IS a professional tennis player and so she (or more accurately adidas tennis) announced what she’ll be wearing at the upcoming Australian Open. This smart yellow dress took 18 months of development and design to come to light, and she wears it with panache. Then again, when you’re as attractive as the 22-year-old tennis star is, pretty much EVERYTHING you wear is going to look good.
[adidas]
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