sports

Security For The 2012 London Olympics Is Nuts

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I’m a lover of sport. I also really enjoy the Olympics on several levels. But reading this “Welcome To Lockdown London” article in the Guardian makes me hope that the Olympics are never held in a place I live. Security has simply reached a point where it’s no longer comforting and, frankly, has become scary.

In addition to the concentration of sporting talent and global media, the London Olympics will host the biggest mobilisation of military and security forces seen in the UK since the second world war. More troops – around 13,500 – will be deployed than are currently at war in Afghanistan. The growing security force is being estimated at anything between 24,000 and 49,000 in total. Such is the secrecy that no one seems to know for sure.

During the Games an aircraft carrier will dock on the Thames. Surface-to-air missile systems will scan the skies. Unmanned drones, thankfully without lethal missiles, will loiter above the gleaming stadiums and opening and closing ceremonies. RAF Typhoon Eurofighters will fly from RAF Northolt. A thousand armed US diplomatic and FBI agents and 55 dog teams will patrol an Olympic zone partitioned off from the wider city by an 11-mile, £80m, 5,000-volt electric fence.

It makes me proud that Denver was the first and only city to ever reject hosting an Olympiad after being selected. The movement against hosting the 1976 winter games was based largely on environmental and financial issues. I can only hope that Colorado’s vote in 1972 will prevent it from ever being the U.S. nominee as the host site. However, there are now talks of Denver exploring a potential bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

via Boing Boing (which is doing a great job of covering the craziness that has become the Games of the Summer XXX Olympiad).

Surf Is Waaaaaaay Up

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Garrett McNamara recently broke the world record for largest wave ever surfed. McNamara was towed into a 90-foot wall of watery death at Praia do Norte, Nazare, on the southern shores of Portugal. The previous record of 77 feet was set by Mike Parsons in 2008.

Gnarly!

And in case you were wondering, the biggest wave ever recorded by scientists measured 1,720 feet in height and killed two fishermen as it slammed down into Lituya Bay, a fjord located on the coast of Alaska on July 9 1958.

Grantland (And ESPN Page2) RSS Feed

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Grantland is now up and running. Grantland is Bill Simmons’ new sports/pop culture thing with ESPN. Grantland will feature long-form articles and has an impressive roster of contributors including Malcolm Gladwell, Dave Eggers and Chuck Klosterman, Katie Baker, Molly Lambert, and others. The New York Times Magazine did a great profile of the new site last weekend. The site takes its name from the legendary early 20th century sportswriter Grantland Rice.

In some respects, Grantland is meant as an antidote to the revolution Simmons helped start. The site will more closely resemble a traditional print publication than a Web site. Its name is a homage to the legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice; its designer is a former art director for New York magazine and Esquire. Unlike news aggregators like The Huffington Post, Grantland will feature only exclusive content. Stories will run long and often include original reporting.

A lot of people have been disappointed that Grantland doesn’t have an RSS Feed. It’s a little hard to find, but it does. Here is the official RSS feed for Grantland. Try this if you’re looking for the full-article feed for Grantland.

UPDATE: Upon frequent request, here is the RSS feed to ESPN’s Page2.

World’s First BMX Triple Back Flip

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A few days ago, on May 28th, Jed Mildon attempted and successfully landed the first BMX Triple Backflip in history. The trick was done in Taupo, New Zealand on a 20 meter (66 foot) roll-in ramp. The height of the ramp in the first part of the video is enough to make me squirm a bit.

There is also more video about Jed’s preparation for the jump to be seen.

31 Things You’re Not Allowed To Do During An Ultimate Fighting Championship Bout

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Although Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) used the tagline “There are no rules!” in the early 1990s, the UFC did in fact operate with limited rules.

  1. Butting with the head.
  2. Eye gouging of any kind.
  3. Biting.
  4. Hair pulling.
  5. Fish hooking.
  6. Groin attacks of any kind.
  7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
  8. Small joint manipulation.
  9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
  10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
  11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
  12. Clawing, pinching or twisting of the flesh.
  13. Grabbing the clavicle.
  14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
  15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
  16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
  17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
  18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
  19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
  20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent
  21. Spitting at an opponent.
  22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes injury to an opponent.
  23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
  24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
  25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
  26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
  27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
  28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
  29. Timidity, including, but without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
  30. Interference by the corner.
  31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

Skiing The Big Waves Of Hawaii

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Professional Waterman Chuck Patterson, skis down the face of Jaws. Peʻahi, also known as Jaws, is one of the largest surf breaks in Maui. Chuck takes it on like nobody else in history ever has. Be sure to watch this HD video in full screen.

Chuck Patterson wasn’t the first to ski on waves. Mike Douglas and Cody Townsend skied on waves in Hawaii a year before Chuck but the waves Mike and Cody experimented on weren’t nearly the size of those produced at Jaws. Needless to say, I would NOT like to be underwater with ski boots and poles on – waves or not.

Buried Alive

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Over the next two days some areas of Colorado Rockies are expecting up to eight feet of snow. Avalanche danger is already high and expected to get much worse. Be careful out there folks.

Being caught in an avalanche is like being buried in cement. You can’t dig yourself out of an avalanche. When buried, you can’t even move. Even if you could move, which you can’t, you wouldn’t know which way is up. And although it may be cold being buried in the snow it is actually suffocation that kills you. Your only chance of survival is if your friends (you are with friends right?) dig you out.

The first person video below gives you an idea of what it might be like to be caught in an avalanche, and being rescued.

The scratching/ruffling back-and-forth sound you hear is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. You can actually hear his breathing become stressed and accelerate, even in the short amount of time he was buried. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. I cannot stress these next sentences enough; that in and of itself to be unburied in ONLY 4:28 is miraculous if you have any understanding of being caught in an avalanche and what it takes to be found. It could literally be some kind of “world record” just on how good the guide and supporting cast of other skiers was in getting to him.

Have some fun out there but respect nature.

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Jerry’s Dead

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Today marks the 15th year since the indelible Jerry Garcia passed away to that big drum circle in the sky. And the only Grateful Dead I ever knew went right along with him.

Below is a pretty stirring rendition of the National Anthem at a 1993 San Francisco Giants game at Candlestick Park performed by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Vince Welnick.

[flashvideo file=/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/deadanthem.flv height=390 width=500 /]

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