Straight outta Japan comes this video of a guy in some batting cages taking a few swings. Only instead of using a standard you know, baseball bat, he opts for using his nunchuks. Makes sense to me. I gotta say it’s pretty damn impressive to be spraying line drives all over with such a small stick.
Archive for the 'Random' Category
18
Nov
08
Citi Field Remains
I joked about it yesterday but the douchiness of Citibank is pretty hard to ignore. Via the Biz of Baseball comes the report that despite laying of 53,000 workers, about twenty percent of their workforce, there is no intention of Citi reneging on their record $20 million per season naming rights deal. Well that just makes perfect fucking sense to me. Wouldn’t you love to be one of the 53,000 newly unemployed people, be told that there simply isn’t any money to pay you, but of course, there is still $20M available to throw the company’s name up on the facade of a billion dollar building. I know that I would be PSYCHED! Sure, I can’t pay my rent and my kids are going hungry, but I’m glad that the brand name is still getting publicity. Besides, what’s $400M these days, chump change right! I’m sure that money simply couldn’t be used more effectively, maybe by helping the employees, naaaaah, what am I thinking, that must be my socialist nature coming out.
See what I want to do is take the wealth from the corporations that are stupidly wasting it on useless shit like stadium naming rights and instead give it to the employees so they don’t need to lose their jobs. CuRAZY! I’m a fucking socialist!
I’m sure that there has been lots of research on naming rights, but I follow sports religiously, many of my friends (OK, well, the random people who I have begged to be my “friend” on Friendster…) also watch lots of sports, and I don’t know anyone who has ever EVER bought anything or opted for a service because the company had their name on a stadium. OOOH Quicken Loans Arena, I must run out and buy Quicken because I love the Cavs! Reliant Energy Stadium, whenever I need energy, they are who I will use. Minute Maid Park, mmmm juice!
I simply don’t understand these corporations shelling out millions upon millions of dollars simply to have their name on a building. I get that every time the stadium is mentioned the brand name is too, but 99 times out of 100 the name sounds fucking STUPID. Seriously, Quicken Loans Arena? WTF!?! I want more War Memorial Stadiums, less ATT WIRELESS BLACKBERRY STORM FIELDs.
Meanwhile, decent people are losing their jobs because these corporations are foolishly spending these ridiculous sums on a useless thing. It’s despicable.
18
Nov
08
What a Dam Ride
England being so dull and boring, some adventurous kayakers went by a 300 foot high dam in Wales and decided that, yup, they needed to go down it. So, courtesy of the BBC here are some strangely really small images of them doing it. Looks simultaneously awesome and terrifying.
[BBC]
Maverick Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been charged with insider trading by the Security and Exchanges Commission for allegedly selling shares in the website company “mamma.com” after learning it was raising private money. The move ended up saving approximately $750k for the man worth about $2.8 billion. From the Wall Street Journal who broke this story:
The SEC alleges in a civil action that Mr. Cuban sold his entire 6% ownership stake on June 28, 2004, after learning that Mamma.com was raising money through a private investment in a public entity, or PIPE. The next day, on June 29, the company announced the PIPE financing and shares of the company dropped by more than 10%. By selling his stake, the SEC alleges, Mr. Cuban avoided more than $750,000 in losses.
In a PIPE transaction new shares are issued at a discount to the current trading price. An announcement of a PIPE transaction is often followed by a drop in the stock price as shareholders anticipate their stake will be diluted.
Cuban, who was already a super long shot to become the next owner of the Chicago Cubs can likely expect that this will completely take him out of the running. Which is a shame because he’s probably the only likely buyer who could get Chicago a championship before the end of the world.
Unfortunately, Cuban was unable to use his insider trading acumen to avoid getting hosed on that Jason Kidd trade last season…
UPDATE:
Mark Cuban, on his personal blog released this statement through his attorney:
“I wish I could say more, but I will have to leave it to this, and let the judicial process do its job…I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so.”
14
Nov
08
The Perfect Gift
Worry no more about still very far off holiday gift-giving; ESPN has created the PERFECT gift for old and young. Whether you aspire to become Karl Ravech or merely one of those random ESPNEWS guys, this is the one and only gift you should be desiring. For ONLY 14.95 you can get the ESPN Sportscaster Mic, which will as ESPN describes, ” Fulfill your dream of being an ESPN announcer.” At last! Sure, most of my ESPN fantasies involve Erin Andrews and me in a mascot costume, but really who doesn’t also want to hold the vaunted ESPN labeled mic and be a part of sports. And with the Sportscaster Mic now you can! “With its built-in speaker, you can announce the game or make the calls from anywhere you want. Three modes of sounds, football, baseball and basketball make you feel like you’re right on the field or court for the big game.” I’ve been waiting for YEARS for there to be finally a speaker that can add in loud, unclear random fan noise so that I can truly be in the game. Plus, think of all the new friends you’ll make when everyone sees that you have the authentic ESPN mic. I know that for me, when I go down to the park and watch kids’ soccer games I won’t have to worry about the police being called anymore, now I can whip something ELSE out and everyone will be impressed and actually WANT to talk to me. So thanks ESPN! Oh, and if my interviewing techniques or game calling skills aren’t up to snuff, the mic also includes advice from real Sportscenter anchor Steve Levy. It’ll be EXACTLY like he’s there next to you, being your friend, in fact, he is contractually obligated to come hang out with you and be your friend on facebook, so, you got that at least.
[Fang’s Bites via The Big Lead]
13
Nov
08
Don’t Forget to Jump
When an object is in your way, you hurdle over it. When said hurdle knocks you down and you make an awesome thunk sound on the ground, I blog about it.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Andy Roddick raised much money for Elton John’s AIDS charities when he offered to conduct an hour tennis lesson in the nude, with the final result coming out to $15,000. Unfortunately, Roddick’s wet-blanket super hot fiancé, model Brooklyn Decker was none too pleased. Friends of hers told Radar that “She is in awe that Andy raised so much for this cause but there’s no way she’s going to let him go through with this.” What a joneser!
Andy Roddick showing how much he is totally whipped posted on his website soon after the auction, “Ok, first and foremost I am not gonna be playing naked tennis ha ha… it was kind of said in jest and the lady who bid on it was really cool afterward.”
Then again, if this were my fiancée I’d listen to whatever she said…
12
Nov
08
Lord of the Ring
As if living in Toledo Ohio wasn’t bad enough, now comes this sad tale from the Glass City Boxing gym. It seems that sometime on Sunday sneakers snuck into the gym and managed to steal the actual ring, posts and all. Now what someone is doing with an entire ring set-up is not clear to me, nor the motives behind such a maneuver, but I am able to applaud their panache. Tom Urbina, the gym’s trainer was less excited by the theft saying that upcoming boxing shows may have to be canceled. Meanwhile, some dude’s basement just became a whole lot cooler.
12
Nov
08
Mass Goes Gay For Gay Games
One of the first states to legalize gay marriage, Massachusetts has long been a gay-friendly locale and so some city businesses are organizing a bid for the 2014 Gay Games. The games, held every four years attract nearly 12,000 athletes and millions of dollars for hosting cities. Boston’s bid is not being done by the city itself but by private businesses who are responsible for securing the appropriate athletic facilities.
“It’s like a march on Washington with very little politics and much more fun,” Gay Games spokesman Kelly Stevens said of the event, which has been held globally every four years since 1982.
You don’t even have to be gay, he said, just 18 or older.
“It’s completely amateur,” Stevens said. “We allow any level of participant in.”
Finally! I can get that gold medal that I’ve always dreamed about! Finally my abilities as a professional Wiithlete can be recognized on the big stage. And think of all the fun new friends I could make!
However, the single best part of this article from the Boston Herald is the accompanying photograph. Someone at the conservative leaning Herald must have really enjoyed this photo and caption…
Of course the Shinnecock dominates at the Gay Games. I’d be disappointed if he WASN’T the big winner.
In a tradition that I can completely get behind, the senior cheerleaders at South Delta Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada every year at the final football game streak the field. With the Delta Sun Devils opposing the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers of Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School the senior girls streaked across the field, most wearing thongs and strategically placed duct tape and spraying silly string on their opponents. The Panthers were unable to regain their composure, ending up losing the game 20-14.
Ted Johnson, the school’s principal was less than enthused, having warned the girls not to do it beforehand, although that clearly didn’t work. As punishment for their disobedience, the principal has told the girls that if they do anything else bad they will be suspended, but otherwise are not in trouble. “Our position is one that we don’t celebrate this. We don’t find it funny,” he said. “We don’t take it lightly. This is a school. [In] schools, we hold higher ideals than we do in, say, the mall.” Let’s all take to the malls!
The students took obviously quite a different view of their prank. “It’s just kind of like a fun [graduation] prank for our year, and it’s been going on for a couple of years now,” said one of the girls, who wanted to be identified only as Rochelle. “It was pretty much out of fun.” I’ll say. Thanks Canadia!
Michael Irvin is a blowhard, his opinion is generally useless but I find myself sharing the same sentiments of the folk over at Awful Announcing that Irvin was strangely and surprisingly very eloquent in describing his reaction to last night’s election. Take it away Michael:
What a historical moment that was last night. … From an African-American standpoint, I watched my people — watched my people — celebrate the not guilty verdict of O.J. Simpson. They were so hungry for a victory of some kind that they celebrated — we celebrated — the verdict of O.J. And I was thinking to myself, ‘Two people are dead. Two people are dead’ Now, I’m not talking about my people, I’m explaining them here. They were just so hungry to say ‘We have a victory.’ And I cringe when I even think about that.
But last night I watched a celebration. A real celebration. A real celebration, and it was a celebration for everybody, and everybody celebrated, and they kept showing this shot, and I was watching, of this little black girl and this little white girl, just sitting there crying together, and I thought, wow. I thought about Martin Luther King and his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and I thought about him saying, black kids and white kids playing together. …
Last night we removed all differences and became just one, and I thought that was a beautiful thing. It was just a beautiful thing. I stood here with my kids, we watched it and we cried and we prayed.
Well said sir. For one day I’ll heed your opinions.
So you’re sitting in your RV surrounded by the Texas Motor Speedway and an estimated crowd of 170,000 people trying to enjoy the spectacle of some rednecks driving around you at high speeds when all of a sudden, BAM! gunshot to the arm. Sounds like a fun Sunday! For one lucky fan at the Dickies 500 on Sunday that was exactly her day. The 62 year old woman, whose name has not been released, apparently didn’t appreciate the gift that she received, “She immediately (screamed), ‘I’ve been shot. I’ve been shot.’ She took off running out the door,” her son-in-law Bobby Cook told Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT. What, you can’t take a long-distance rifle round in the arm and walk it off? I thought Texans were tough. The woman was taken to the hospital and was reported to be in stable condition, something I hope to one day also achieve.
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