All Sports All The Time

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[RogueEllis]

I was truly embarrassed for my Hoosiers yesterday. Then I saw the Notre Dame game (14-66) and felt a bit better.

https://i.postimg.cc/s2zV7Qt6/iu.png

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[TomKat]

I remember back in the late 80s when "Spirit Rebel" Kyle Griffith said that sports were the latest way, since the decline of religion, for the dead to syphon energy from the living, and that it would just get bigger and bigger. It has gotten bigger and bigger, so maybe he was right.

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[Bill Ryan]

I doubt any American football player could compare to this man, the most astonishingly powerful rugby player the game has ever produced. :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FkJ1Wp9iko

[Bill Ryan]

And this time for baseball fans: :P

Here's the legendary West Indian Sir Garry Sobers, one of the greatest cricketers the game has known, hitting 6 sixes in succession back in 1968. The feat has been repeated a tiny handful of times in the 50 years since, but this was the first time it'd ever been done.

An explanation of what a 'six' is: it's when the ball is hit to clear the whole outfield without bouncing. So what you see here is pretty much the equivalent of a batter hitting six home runs in consecutive pitches.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iydq3JyUOrU

[RogueEllis]

Colts won!!! 19-17 over the Titans. Adam V. couldn't kick an extra point to save his life, but they were still able to hold on with a risky gamble of a fourth down play. What-a-game!

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[Forest Denizen]

Ayrton Senna

NeFqsWWG1qE

"That day I realized, I was no longer driving consciously, and I was in a different dimension. The circuit for me was like a tunnel, which I was just going, going, and I realized I was way beyond my consciousness and understanding ..."

Utterly “in the zone,” which was then so rudely disrupted by a call over his headset..

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[Strat]

I doubt any American football player could compare to this man, the most astonishingly powerful rugby player the game has ever produced. :sun:


Ok NOW I'm starting to doubt your judgement! :ROFL:

So I follow the Jacksonville Jaguars. We suck, which sucks. We can't get a break. At the very start of this season our quarterback got injured and now he's out for the rest of the season.

What sports did you folks play? I wasn't a hardcore sports guy but for 1 year each I played soccer (mid), then football (strong safety) and then wrestled. I'm glad I did it when I did, it was a great experience.

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[Ivanhoe]

LOL
If the Browns only had a line.
:facepalm:
I've been in anguish for DECADES!
Jeesh!!!

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[Ivanhoe]

Vroom, vroom....
GT40, what a car!
Fl3HRvv1qWo

[Ivanhoe]

I'm not too much on round-d-rounds, but I love me some road racing.
bdTw6BhFxYE

[Bill Ryan]

I think this belongs here. Sport doesn't have to be competitive. :)

Alex Honnold's extraordinary solo (meaning: no ropes or safety equipment of any kind) ascent of the 3,600 foot vertical granite wall El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park.

He did it in a touch under 4 hours. The very first time it was ever climbed, back in 1958, it took a roped team of the best climbers in their generation 45 days over a period of 18 months.

The camera team, multiply suspended from ropes not far from him as he climbed, were genuinely concerned they might be filming his death. In the film, one professional climbing cameraman, with his feet safe on the ground in the meadow below, can be seen turning his head away, quite unable to watch.

It's been hailed as the most extraordinary and exceptional athletic feat by any human, in all time.

Perfection or die.

World-class climbers were almost speechless in their reaction. "Unrelatable." "Mind-bending." "So far out in front of conventional reality." "Terrifying." "Incomprehensible."

The documentary, which won a well-deserved Oscar, is kind of hard to sit through: even when you know he was successful.

The film is here:


http://avalonlibrary.net/Free_Solo_(2018)_HD.mp4 (4.1 Gb)
http://avalonlibrary.net/Free_Solo_(2018).mp4 (944 Mb)

And this is the two-and-a-half minute trailer... watch if you dare!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRVZ4SW7WU

Just one of the images, a terrifying sight for mere mortals: :)

https://i.redd.it/u4nhb4fjiei31.jpg

[Strat]

I think this belongs here. Sport doesn't have to be competitive. :)

Agreed, and in the same light:
LuH4sK25AwE

Man with no arms or legs climbs Mount Kilimanjaro.

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[Ivanhoe]

Strat asked the question, what kind of sports did we play.
Here's mine.
Baseball, all star catcher with bad knees and a sucker for a good curve ball. lol
Had scouts looking at me in an all star game and embarrassed myself and ended any chance at a career on three straight terrific sidearm curves.
Football, second string defensive tackle (waaayy too light for the position, got my butt pounded!)
Even though I was 6' 2" in high school I never played basketball. I could stand under the net and reach up and grab it, but I couldn't stuff the ball. I had a 6" vertical leap thanks to the knee problems. Hahahaha.
So I decided on drinking and throwing darts. :bigsmile::thumb::tea:

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[Mark (Star Mariner)]

http://primalcashew.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/browns-aliens.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/f2gn2EDhXsA/hqdefault.jpg

I watched that game the other night, and I have to say that the Jets this year are the worst they've ever been. Made the Browns look like the Pats, and they won't have an easier game all year! Their offensive line is shockingly bad, and now it looks like they're stuck with their third string QB! at least for several weeks. I don't understand why they hired Gase as head coach, from what I saw he failed miserably at Miami and they were glad to get rid. The Jets are truly screwed. :(

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[Strat]

So I decided on drinking and throwing darts. :bigsmile::thumb::tea:

Ditto, but I shoot pool. CCR/SRV on the jukebox, a pabst, 9' Diamond table and I'm in heaven.

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[RogueEllis]

To: A.B.

HAHA! SUCK IT!

A Hater,
RE

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[skogvokter]

gn
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mn
rfh
gh

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[Ivanhoe]

Alison Fisher
'nuff said
EimcvLCo6p8

[Strat]

^That was a sexy masse' shot. Was like a 60 yard pass in double coverage. For folks who don't know that's an illegal shot (along w/ jumping) in most pool halls unless you have a high ranking in an official league.

Legendary match. Not the most technically proficient but clash of the titans:
Gtnmfb9Dnkg

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[Ivanhoe]

I don't know if you can call this "sport", but it sure was a lotta fun.
A couple of friends and myself had a '58 Buick that we entered in a derby in the summer after high school, damn thing died 5 minutes into it. DRAT!!
Lots of beer and lots of fun though!
UOz92lEZTbw

[Orph]

I raced here in my younger days. Just as an amateur. And I was only in the beginner class.


https://www.vitalmx.com/img/aHR0cDovL2kyMjMucGhvdG9idWNrZXQuY29tL2FsYnVtcy9kZDgyL1dhbmRlbGxBc2JlbGwvU1hjb21NYXJ0eU1vYXRlcy9tbTku anBn/mm9.jpg

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[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I grew up playing baseball and loved everything about it. The lazy tempo of the game, long periods of time where nothing really happens and then oh! everything happens at once, and the pace of the game, which objectively never changes, becomes frenzied. The chess match, the pitcher and batter, the manager and manager, the outfield and situation. No time limit. The green grass and manicured infield, all beautiful and waiting to be tore up.


You could replace the word Baseball here with Cricket, and nearly all this would apply to us on this side of the pond (as well as various other nations). It's strange how the two sports feel pretty much the same, and mean the same thing to those who love them.. but they bear little resemblance.

We should have something about Cricket in this thread in my opinion! so for our American friends who have no clue what Cricket is:

5oPLhskOH4o

[Orph]

A youngster gets his first lesson in "man-pain".

https://baseballmomstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/boy-hit-in-nuts.jpg

Three balls, one strike

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[Orph]

Usain Bolt also had a certain charisma that brought excitement to the sport.

https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2019/04/Bolt_2880x1620_Lede-2880x1620.jpg

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[Bill Ryan]

Eliud Kipchoge, aged 33, breaks the 2 hour marathon record — at last. It's unofficial (because he had pacemakers), but it's still a staggering performance from a staggering athlete. There were some who said this would never be done.

And at the end (see the fun video!) he just keeps on running. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKuOY-rLRh0

[Strat]

Yall remember when I brought up dangerous pass routes in (American) football? Case in point, this just happened Sunday:
TJSTm6AziXY

Also, maybe not a sport so much as a game, but I'll be playing in a 9 ball tournament this Sunday. Wish me luck, hopefully I'll win some cash.

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[sunwings]

“It’s a sprint, not a marathon”

-Kipchoge 2019

This Video with nearly 4 million views goes into detail about his accomplishment. Running 100m in around 17 seconds at a speed of 13.1 mph for the duration of the 26 miles is unbelievable!

A73HQwEct-o

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[Patient]

Canada 2 USA 0

Canadian men's Soccer team beats the US for the first time in over 30 years!

And I am very pleased to say that I was there to witness a great game for Canadian soccer!

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[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Garret/Rudolph, Steelers @ Browns... Just wow. That truly was one of the most shocking things I've seen in sport, in any sport.

https://i.iheart.com/v3/re/new_assets/5dcee2413e18e19da5335c65?ops=max(650,0),quality(80)

[Strat]

gYXDx2YPqDg
Haha, yes it's legal. I was on the receiving end of this in high school a few times. Even in practice, knocked my mouth guard out. Back then you were expected to walk it off and it was referred to as 'getting your bell rung.' Nowadays you have to be checked for concussion (thankfully).

I also remember back then we weren't allowed to drink water when we wanted. We could only have water when the coach said so.

[Bluegreen]

Goooooooooooooooal!

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/28f74a7a4829e9dc87e6f08fe1561f05649f82fd3bddc8c7d6e7b59be795b61c.gif?fbclid=IwAR1NJkicFuWeUvd_yNOEhN a5HD7UQS-BVAbStYPbS4PbBA4aV01uSoP19Hc

[Bill Ryan]

Ashima Shiraishi - World’s Best Female Rock Climber?

At aged 13 (when this video was published, featuring little Ashima at just 9 years old), yes, pretty much. In 2019, now at age 17, she most certainly is.

When she was even younger, her father was her coach and inspiration; he was a celebrated Japanese Butoh dancer. (Rock climbing is mainly about poise, balance and timing: much less about brute strength.)

A VERY good article about her and her father here, titled The Wall Dancer.


https://newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/11/the-wall-dancer


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKiqVsFAFjc

[Anka]

I hope Wheelie it's counting as a sport...

Wheelie on giant Funicular in Resita,
"I wheelie'd my *Fixie Bicycle* on top of the half kilometer long funicular that goes across the center of Resita city.
The funicular is divided into 7 sections of about 70 meters each, which had to be ridden one by one"
Svu7UVmKxFc

and if so,when gravity becomes a metaphor,

People Are Awesome 2019 - Fear Is Just A State Of Mind
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[Bill Ryan]

Watch this and be amazed. Dan Osman, hugely loved by the rock climbing community, eventually died a few years after this was made, doing just this when his rope broke due to a technical set-up error.

Metallica's The Unforgiven II kicks in at 1:02. http://projectavalon.net/forum4/images/smilies/0804%20Music.gif :muscle: That's where the fun starts. Don't watch this if you have a fear of falling. :)

(You have to see this on YouTube. But it's absolutely worth the slight extra trouble.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSfPXi99Oco

[Bill Ryan]

Crazy Beautiful Thing: the title is perfect. Steph Davis, 40+ year old superstar rock climber and base jumper. Super-stable, super-smart, and a super-super-nice person. Her dog Cajun goes with her everywhere.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZWbgV_jIM

[Siphonemis]

Rest In Peace, Black Mamba.

Kobe Bryant, 41, killed in helicopter crash

Cassandra Negley (https://sports.yahoo.com/reports-kobe-bryant-killed-in-helicopter-crash-in-calabasas-194537553.html), Yahoo! Sports
January 26, 2020, 2:45 PM EST


Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Sunday morning, Yahoo Sports confirmed. His daughter, Gianna, was also on board as was another player and parent en route to a travel basketball game, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.

Bryant played his entire 20-year career for the Los Angeles Lakers and won five NBA championships prior to retiring in 2016. He was named Finals MVP twice and league MVP in 2008. Bryant was 41.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of a helicopter that crashed into a hillside and caught fire, NBC Los Angeles reported. The crash was called in at 9:47 a.m. local time, per the report, and flames that spread a quarter acre were put out by 10:30. The fire department reported no survivors.

The helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76, crashed under unknown circumstances with five people on board, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. An investigation is ongoing. CNN’s transportation expert said the flight data shows the helicopter tightly circling downtown Los Angeles before heading out to Calabasas. Eric Leonard of NBC Los Angeles shared the radar track on Twitter.

Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, have four daughters: Gianna, Natalia, Bianca and Capri, who was born in June 2019.

TMZ first reported the news.

Kobe’s daughter, Gianna, reportedly on board

Gianna Bryant, Kobe’s 13-year-old daughter, was one of the four passengers killed in the crash, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.

Gianna is also a basketball player and coached by her dad. He credited her with getting him back into watching the game and they’ve been seen courtside and NBA and WNBA games over the past few months.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Something to watch and be amazed, 7 minutes of pleasure and fear.

The Fastest and Most Dangerous Road-race in the World, the TT Races of the Isle of Man, UK

iRWp9rhfS_0

[Anka]

Fear is just a state of mind ...
We have the power to guide us through the dark...
We have courage to follow our own heart :heart:
MWuS_i_PFHo

No one can take the freedom of our spirit!! :thumbsup:
uVU37ZY3noU

[Bill Ryan]

Another rock climbing video. This is the world's best technical climber right now, a young Czech guy called Adam Ondra.

In this video, he's climbing something called 'Silence' — after 4 years of preparation, practice and training worthy of any olympic gymnast. (Rock climbs, like mountains and rivers, are always given names.)

Several notes!


This climb is graded 9c (or in American, 5.15d). This is like a feet/meters thing... grades of difficulty are different in different countries, but can be 'converted'.



Ondra gives the lie to the idea that strong climbers have to be built like gorillas. He's tall and thin, without a single gram of fat. He has a very long reach with his arms, and a very high strength-to-weight ratio.



Oxymoronically, while the climb is called 'Silence', Ondra makes a huge amount of noise. (He's famous for that. :) )



I described him as the world's best technical climber. That means that he can manage to make moves of ridiculously extreme difficulty without falling (see the video!!) — after enough practice.

But while he can do moves that Alex Honnold could not (he's the guy who climbed El Capitan without a rope: see this thread (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time)), Honnold has an ice cool temperament, and 100% total control. On El Capitan, if he'd fallen, he'd have died. Ondra, while a "better climber", could never do that, and wouldn't even try. (What Honnold did, which stunned the world of climbing, may not be repeated for a couple of generations, if ever.)



The climb itself is kinda crazy. A lot of the time, he's literally upside down (including when "resting"). It follows the roof of a cave in Norway, and really goes 'along', not 'up' He doesn't even get to the 'top' of anything... just to the end of the sequence of close-to-impossible moves.

The video shows his preparation. He climbs the thing at the very end, starting at 10:56. (I wonder if the ETs do this kind of thing? :) )



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRTNHDd0gL8

[Ivanhoe]

I love it! Take the ride!
LOL
EM6nyGWcXks

[Anka]

"The human body is much more perfect and powerful than a scientist can believe!"
10 Extreme sports for Thrill Seekers(11:59)
fLJNjHtGLBs

[Bill Ryan]

A very nice thing just happened in the arcane world of cricket. :sun:

The trophy reserved for the winners of every England—West Indies series always used to be called the Wisden Trophy. It's just been renamed the Botham-Richards Trophy. (Or is it Richards-Botham? :) )

It's a wonderful gesture in these racially-fractured times. Ian Botham is one of the finest cricketers England have ever produced, with Viv Richards arguably the greatest attacking batsman the world has known. And the two have the closest personal friends for decades. They're both loved, admired and respected the world over.

More here:


https://skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/12034865/england-west-indies-to-honour-sir-ian-botham-and-sir-viv-richards-and-play-for-richards-botham-trophy

https://e2.365dm.com/20/07/768x432/skysports-sir-ian-botham-vivian-richards_5047686.jpg?20200723164430

https://www.sportsmax.tv/media/k2/items/cache/viv-richards-ultimate-xi_XL.jpg

https://e1.365dm.com/20/03/768x432/skysports-sir-ian-botham-ashes_4953204.jpg?20200322143623

[jc71]

Lord Botham now...

JC

[Richter]

I grew up in a dutch cricket environment and had to play on Sundays, while my friends
were playing the best weekend neighborhood soccer matches, I was convicted to ball
& bat. Mind you, I was mega talented so if the stars were lucky I was batting like I
couldn't - and wouldn't go out.

The older I get, the more I appreciate 5-day test matches, preferably with India as one
of the opponents.

They play by far the best cricket in the world - technically & tactically, a bit like our
glorified Dutch national soccer squad. :sun:

acso1eIyBF4

How's that?!
The best 'headline' was by the Times: IDIOTS! , covering the whole of page 1

Right,
uCNoKQABZEs

...

z13N6pGfRMs

Both BRILLIANT documentaries

Enjoy!

[Bill Ryan]

Viv Richards, arguably the greatest attacking batsman the world has known.

https://www.sportsmax.tv/media/k2/items/cache/viv-richards-ultimate-xi_XL.jpg


A lovely little anecdote here. :) Playing for Somerset against Glamorgan, bowler Greg Thomas attempted to insult and intimidate Richards after he had played and missed at several balls in a row. He sarcastically told Richards:
"It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering."
Richards then blasted the next delivery straight out of the stadium and into a nearby river. (For Americans: rather more than a home run! :) ) Turning back to Thomas, he said:
"You know what it looks like! Now go find it."

:muscle:

[Anka]

The most self expressive, in full performance and passion dedication, roller skater who finished in first place in the junior category of the Czech Freestyle World Cup, Sofia Bogdanova (Moscow, Russia), she's been rollerskating since before she was 7.

Amazing Freestyle Skating - Sofia Bogdanova (2:01)

1L2v3dxiKd4

[Bluegreen]

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[Patient]

I love it! Take the ride!
LOL

I would like to reincarnated as a professional soccer (European football) player and retire from that into race car driving. :)

A couple of the best in sports that this world has to offer.

If I could pick more, my list would be substantially larger.) ;)

[Anka]

I love it! Take the ride!
LOL

I would like to reincarnated as a professional soccer (European football) player and retire from that into race car driving. :)

A couple of the best in sports that this world has to offer.

If I could pick more, my list would be substantially larger.) ;)


May you all have golden shoes, the power to conquer history, with the force and speed in your desire!:heart:

People are wonderful and powerful!:flower:

The Best of the Olympic Games(3:17)
WF4uPnvthZw

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[Orph]

(13:07) Marble Rally 2019 Showdown
fvrGNgY9_i4Word in the pits is that Big Pearl is cheating by polishing up with car wax before the race. Other complaints are that the design of the courses is racist.

Will these allegations be proven true, or are they just some unfounded conspiracy theory being posted by some internet troll who lost his marbles due to the covid-19 shutdown.

[Bluegreen]

. .

[Franny]

Marble races, too funny. It's not a major 'sport' but very dear to the hearts of fans. Made my evening :)

Why Marble racing? (https://www.si.com/more-sports/2020/03/22/marble-racing-jelle-coronavirus-sports-greg-woods-commentator)

JESSICA SMETANA
MAR 22, 2020

Greg Woods first stumbled across Jelle’s Marble Runs on Reddit, naturally. He clicked on a video link and watched a dozen or so marbles bounce off dirt walls and each other as they rolled down a sandy racecourse.

“This is just natural sound,” Woods thought to himself. “This would be kind of fun if I called it like it was a Formula One race or something, just for the heck of it.” That was the moment that Greg Woods, Marble Race Commentator was born.

Since 2015, millions of people have listened to Woods’ calm, compelling voice commentate events for Jelle’s Marble Runs, a popular YouTube channel dedicated to the sport (yes, sport) of marble racing. That number has grown exponentially in the past week, as the coronavirus pandemic forced sports leagues around the world to suspend their seasons and events for the foreseeable future, leaving fans yearning for competitive action.

Since March 16, Jelle’s Marble Runs subscribers have increased more than 999% and video views are up a remarkable 339% according to Front Office Sports. As the kids say: marble racing is having a moment. The sudden onslaught of marble racing enthusiasts seems to stem from a March 15th tweet, where a video from one of Jelle’s early YouTube races was ripped and posted with the caption: “Day 4 without sports: Marble1 racing is intense!” As of March 22, the tweet has more than 34 million views and 240k retweets.


A gorgeous set to get you started. Actually, hard to resist, they're so pretty. Might have to...

Starter set (https://www.amazon.com/My-Toy-House-Shooter-Assorted/dp/B016U2HXJ2/ref=sxin_7_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-c2hvb3RlciBtYXJibGVzIDEgaW5jaA%3D%3D-ac_d_rm&crid=BE34C2FYB2OM&cv_ct_cx=marbles+assorted+sizes&dchild=1&keywords=marbles+assorted+sizes&pd_rd_i=B016U2HXJ2&pd_rd_r=0d5befec-2206-4ee2-84f2-7654574e2631&pd_rd_w=aBHiB&pd_rd_wg=AmtjH&pf_rd_p=e3dc9e0c-9eab-4c3e-b43a-ba36f8522e14&pf_rd_r=A5EYVH8T4Y6VCE080JC6&psc=1&qid=1596176313&sprefix=marbles%2Caps%2C277&sr=1-2-12d4272d-8adb-4121-8624-135149aa9081)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81wv712VnZL._AC_SX679_.jpg

[EFO]

Do you care to FLY?
Wingsuit [best moments] HD
(4:36 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRqnTODwvEA

and Ronnie O'Sullivan
Unbelievable Shots!!! Ronnie O'Sullivan Genius Moments
(14:17 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fniUwJ4F7dg

Ronnie O'Sullivan Fastest 147 in History 5 minutes 8 seconds 1997 World Championship
(6:19 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D2rFMPN9js

[Bill Ryan]

Jesse, demonstrating his astonishing one-handed pool-table skills, is the son of an Avalon member.

No flukes here... he does this all the time. :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxp3MdtmIBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5zknRuSiKg

[EFO]

Jesse, demonstrating his astonishing one-handed pool-table skills, is the son of an Avalon member.

No flukes here... he does this all the time. :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxp3MdtmIBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5zknRuSiKg

The Magic Wand!He is truly gifted!

https://media2.giphy.com/media/3jhdw8T9BFTG6qfXtp/giphy.gif

[Anka]

This small lake outside Stockholm, Sweden, emits otherworldly sounds as Mårten Ajne skates over its precariously thin, black ice. “Wild ice skating,” or “Nordic skating,” is both an art and a science. A skater seeks out the thinnest, most pristine black ice possible—both for its smoothness, and for its high-pitched, laser-like sounds.

Hear the Otherworldly Sounds of Skating on Thin Ice | National Geographic(3:07)

v3O9vNi-dkA

It's not a sport, but it certainly looks fun:)

oLjP6AhIt9g

[EFO]

Curling.
No,it's not about this :) :
https://media.tenor.com/images/e5fe47fc3ebfda7d430fb1ec668121df/tenor.gif

it's about this:
Top 5 Most Insane Shots From Boost National Grand Slam of Curling
(3:00 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY1TQ9pb2J4

Most Bizarre Curling Play Of The Year Results In Tie End
(6:45 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm0dmpFd3l8

and for those who don't know about curling
COLD HARD SCIENCE. The Controversial Physics of Curling - Smarter Every Day 111
(10:38 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CUojMQgDpM

Domino is a sport or a form of entertaining art of patiently arranging the stones?
[NL] Domino Day 2009 - Part 1 --4.8 MILLION--
(13:57 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJeo2a21z_k?t=266

[Richter]

England v Ireland - Highlights 3rd ODI 2020 (15:00)
Thriller!!!
kG16gxrQSJw

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

This has to be the king of all go-cart races. The speed at times is unbelievable, the number of spectators jaw-dropping.

Forget Formula 1 and NASCAR.

MXQqJQWe7g8

[Bill Ryan]

This has to be the king of all go-cart races. The speed at times is unbelievable, the number of spectators jaw-dropping.

Forget Formula 1 and NASCAR.

MXQqJQWe7g8Wow! I never knew they did that. The go-karts have no engines... it's all gravity-driven. Basically, a long, long downhill race. And this is all in Ecuador, about 200 miles from where I am.
:happy dog:

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

This has to be the king of all go-cart races. The speed at times is unbelievable, the number of spectators jaw-dropping.

Forget Formula 1 and NASCAR.

MXQqJQWe7g8Wow! I never knew they did that. The go-karts have no engines... it's all gravity-driven. Basically, a long, long downhill race. And this is all in Ecuador, about 200 miles from where I am.
:happy dog:

:clapping:

Here's another, especially for you Bill as you love mountains. I'm not sure what's more terrifying though, climbing one or cycling down one at break-neck speed. This is amazing.

1p0ck5We5sU

[Bill Ryan]

Here's another, especially for you Bill as you love mountains. I'm not sure what's more terrifying though, climbing one or cycling down one at break-neck speed. This is amazing.

1p0ck5We5sUJeez!!! :facepalm: I had to go look that up. It's held at Les Deux Alpes, in France. Here's their website. (Alas, the event was canceled in 2020)


https://les2alpes.com/en/great-times/the-mountain-of-hell.html

[Bill Ryan]

Star Mariner (a cricket follower) will appreciate this. :Party: But it may be interesting for baseball fans.

In cricket, fielders don't wear gloves. So they have to catch the very hard ball with their bare hands.

Another difference is that they can't crash into the boundary fence as in baseball, to catch a potential "home run". In cricket, a fielder can't cross the boundary rope (lying on the ground) with the ball in their hand, even if they've already caught it. That sometimes leads to some impressive acrobatics.

For my money, the best cricket catch I've ever seen is #6. All that was missing was the Superman cape. The young guy (playing in an under-19 match) couldn't believe he'd actually caught it... just watch his face. :)

The commentary is in Hindi, but that absolutely doesn't matter. You can clearly see what's happening!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrGLCu6GtHE

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

In cricket, fielders don't wear gloves. So they have to catch the very hard ball with their bare hands.

Yep, and I played cricket for years so I know very well the sting of leather at 90mph+ on skin. And of course in the US I had to give baseball a try. Wearing that giant leather glove felt like cheating, it was so much easier. A baseball is a shade lighter than a cricket ball too. :p

Here's some more awesome catches from the ECB channel. I was delighted to find at #4 (12.27) the best catch I ever saw live - meaning I was in the crowd (almost dropped my beer). Paul Collingwood, England vs Australia at Bristol in 2005. It's best seen at full speed to truly appreciate the skill and reflexes involved.

WX9fRb9M_bY

[Richter]

The worlds best 20/20 cricket competition, the IPL

Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians- 2015 IPL Finale (16:52)
N4I-W86Sl0o

[Bill Ryan]

Here's what happened to the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988.

They were underdogs — to say the very least, and were frequently made fun of: they were coming from a tiny tropical island, where snow and ice are unknown, outrageously trying to compete in an elite winter sport.

The laughter turned to respect in their fourth and final run, when they crashed out at 80 mph with their helmets scraping the ice for a full 2000 feet before they stopped. After that, they gathered themselves together to walk across the line to finish.

Their story became the subject of a Hollywood movie, Cool Runnings (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1046227_cool_runnings): "a charming tale of determined underdogs, with plenty of laughs, moments of real tension, and five engaging performances."

Kudos to all sports men and women... for daring to compete. :highfive:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm4DjRcmoPY

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I remember that happening, it was awful to watch. Wonderful film though. Hollywood is obsessed with churning out 'woke' movies that do nothing but preach, belittle and shame. As pieces of entertainment they are nearly all of them awful. Cool Runnings is what they should be like: warm, funny, inspiring, noble, and feel-good.

The Calgary games are also remembered for another legend, another unlikely hero, and he had a movie of his own. Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards.

EXy4vTsWZn0

S_qayUW_dZI

[Bill Ryan]

I bet baseball doesn't do this. :P

Cricket on ice at Saint Moritz:

https://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/307800/307846.jpg

Cricket on the summit of Kilimanjaro:

https://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/307800/307842.jpg

Maasai cricketers in Kenya:

https://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/307800/307848.jpg

Cricket on the high seas:

https://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/307800/307850.jpg

And cricket underground. :)

https://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/307800/307849.jpg

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Amazing. The beauty of sport - almost any sport - is you can play almost anywhere. Football especially so. A little more tricky with cricket, as you need a certain amount of space, a certain layout, and certain equipment. But even so, as long as there's a will there's a way...

I saw this very recently on a Sky Sports report. Seems appropriate.

1AhJRw99h1A

[Bill Ryan]

Okay, here's a break from cricket. Last week, on this thread we saw the amazing mountain bike race (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?108602-All-Sports-All-The-Time&p=1373200&viewfull=1#post1373200) down the Mountain of Hell at Les Deux Alpes.

But this, below, takes extreme mountain biking to a whole new level. Watch if you dare. :)

First, an intro. This is the Cuillin Ridge, on the Isle of Skye. It's 8 miles long, and looks like this:

https://www.needlesports.com/imagecache/34cde358-8552-48bd-9168-aaca00f5ff63_999x366.jpg

When you're up there, actually on the thing, it's like this...

https://www.panintelligence.com/media/1546/cuillin_ridge-mike-cripps.jpg

... or this.

https://www.stevenfallon.co.uk/photos/cuillinsouth/pano1.jpg

I've been up there myself several times. I finally did the entire thing, taking two days, with an experienced climbing partner and a rope. That was my fourth try over a 17 year period.

You're not supposed to do it on a mountain bike. :)

This is rather like Alex Honnold climbing El Capitan (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) solo. If this guy had slipped in one of many places where he so easily could have, he'd be dead.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_IQS3VKjA

[Satori]

The incredible nature of his feat is surpassed, perhaps, only by the awe-inspiring beauty of the location. Amazing.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Yeh that was a very impressive feat, so was the beautiful photography. There can be a fine line between bravery and recklessness, but he never seemed to be anything but 100% in control.

And 72.6million views!

[Richter]

The Ashes 2005 (Complete) (8:31:16)
gqz8idTA8ZU

[Richter]

Eng vs Aus - 1st T20 Highlights - Sep. 4, 2020 (11:36)
jZnTUVGUKNA

[Richter]

England v Australia - Highlights - 2nd Vitality IT20 2020 (13:59)
2yC7MumNH-w

[Anka]

It's not a sport :blushing:, maybe, but I find it interesting. :heart:

Just because I find it easier to go down the mountain, and I have to see the landscapes faster:Party:

OVcwcvwzRPs

[Richter]

England - Australia - Highlights 1st Royal London ODI 2020 (15:55)
September 11, 2020
yAn8mAywTvU

[Bill Ryan]

I think this definitely belongs here. :sun:

For those who may never have seen this, it's pretty awesome: really something else. Watch right to the end, as it all mounts and mounts and mounts. This is what humans can do.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Til6Pv3NgCI

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Thought I'd put this here.


44296

[Richter]

Not sure if there's any interest in basketball here, but the NBA is heading towards the West- & Eastern finals

LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets Full GAME 5 Highlights (9:42)
aQq-xVC6-e8

Highlights of all the games can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XWpctw55Q6b_AHo8rkJgw/videos

[Anka]

Gymnastics looks great and I really like it.For a serious career, it has to start at the age of 5. My parents withdrew me from training, before the age of 6, just because I had bruises on my legs, but even if I didn't manage to start it, I miss it. I love performance more than the competition anyway.

But if I call perseverance, talent and passion in this, among many, I have only two examples.

Simone Biles – Floor Exercise – 2019(1:51)

-mkU_xD6qGw

Nadia Comăneci is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976 at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games.

Nadia Comaneci - First Perfect 10 | Montreal 1976 Olympics(3:11)

Yi_5xbd5xdE

[Richter]

The NFL 2020 started on Sunday. YES!

American Football is one of the few sports that's almost exclusively played in one single country. (USA)
They've tried to start an American football league in several European countries, but their was such little
public interest in this sport that this attempt failed completely.

A Dutch guy I used to play soccer with moved to America with his parents and became a professional
Football player. He was a 'kicker', meaning three or four times during the game he gets on the field, kicks
the 'ball' inbetween the two posts of the 'goal', and goes back to the bench.
$ 5.000.000 a year he made.

Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers (13:44)
tUhRR_Q8_JY

Highlights of all the games can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/NFL/videos

[Richter]

Kings Xi Punjab - Mumbai Indians (Match 13) – October 1, 2020 (17:07)
The IPL has started! 20/20 cricket at its best, by the world's most talented players
zDTncj3JT4E

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Bill Ryan]

More cricket — an astonishing piece of athletic catching, which some unbelieving commentators in this recording and elsewhere said was the best they'd ever seen. (It's the best I've ever seen, too.) This happened just a few days ago, in India.

The guy at the end of the clip standing applauding is legendary retired South African Jonty Rhodes, famed as the best fielder the game has ever known, and now a coach. He was impressed. :)

This might interest baseball fans... but the catching rules are different. In this incident, the batter hits what would have been a home run (in cricket, called a 'six', because it counts as 6 runs) — the criterion being that the ball has to clear the boundary markers clean, with no bounces.

What happened was that fielder Nicholas Pooran, a West Indian, flew horizontally across the boundary like Superman to catch the ball, and then, just before he landed, threw it back into the field of play so that the ball never actually hit the ground outside the boundary (and nor did Pooran while he was touching the ball).

So the 'six' (the 'home run') was denied. (And it wasn't a catch to dismiss the batter, either, because if he'd held on to it he'd have landed outside the rope.) I've never seen anything quite like that.

Watch this all in slow motion. :Party:

The original in HD is on this page (https://www.iplt20.com/video/209387/that-u-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e-pooran-save?tagNames=ipl-magic,indian-premier-league,ipl-magic), but here's the extracted short video:

http://projectavalon.net//That_U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E_Pooran_save.mp4

http://projectavalon.net//That_U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E_Pooran_save.mp4

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

KK0KPyU92D0

Colts 19 - 11 Bears

[Le Chat]

This is a video of a Polish lunatic known as BNT (or the Silesian Spiderman) climbing the second tallest skyscraper in Paris: the 689 ft (210 m) Tour Montparnasse. The video is a lot of first person GoPro footage mixed with drone footage and all of it got my hands appropriately sweaty. It's 35 minutes long and I watched it from beginning to end, occasionally pausing to make sure I was mentally prepared to watch somebody die (spoiler: he doesn't).

Also, if climbing without any safety equipment wasn't bad enough, at 21:00 an emergency worker abseils down to try and attach a safety harness to BNT which he patiently and politely refuses. The "rescuer" basically shadows BNT for the rest of the climb, which I can only imagine made things way worse. It's nightmarish enough trying to climb a skyscraper without a rope let alone having some dude right next to you constantly bugging you to stop being so insane. It felt like a nightmare scenario for BNT, and I wished the guy on the rope would've realized how much more dangerous he was making the situation and just backed off. It'd be like trying to race a rally car while your co-driver keeps asking if you have your seatbelt on.

Worth putting on the subtitles for his comments and thoughts

HPQSabM7LVs

[Bill Ryan]

I think this has to be on this thread. :)

(This is the famous, ultra-tight, 4th set tie-break. The 4 hour video of the whole match is here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBu0w1-y7mQ).)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnwYdF8a5ws

[Bill Ryan]

And one for soccer fans. This is Roberto Carlos' ridiculous, impossible free kick for Brazil vs. France in 1997, claimed by many to be the best of all time — an act of pure sorcery that appeared to break the laws of physics. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKmZynlk7N0

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Worth putting on the subtitles for his comments and thoughts

HPQSabM7LVs

Several times while watching this I found myself saying Christ, that's absolutely unfathomable. Christ, that's absolutely unfathomable.

I think I need to lie down in a dark room.

[Bill Ryan]

Several times while watching this I found myself saying Christ, that's absolutely unfathomable. Christ, that's absolutely unfathomable.

I think I need to lie down in a dark room.I just bumped this thread:


Joe Rogan with Alex Honnold: the greatest athletic achievement of all time (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time)

That's Alex Honnold solo climbing 3,000 foot high, plumb-vertical El Capitan in Yosemite National Park with no ropes or protection, a feat which even his elite climbing peers said was "Unrelatable", "mind-bending", "so far out in front of conventional reality", "terrifying", and "incomprehensible."

The documentary, in the library here (http://avalonlibrary.net/Free_Solo_(2018)_HD.mp4), presents the climb itself in the last half hour. It's hard to watch, even when you know he succeeds just fine. There's one point, at the very hardest section, when the long-lens cameraman in the meadow below, himself a professional climber, just turns his head away. It was quite something, and might never be repeated in our lifetime.

:focus:

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I think that is the best word for it: 'unrelatable'.

I expect you slightly better relate to it Bill, being a climber yourself, but for non-climbers, for those enterrored (a word I just invented because a new word was needed) by simply the idea let alone the feat of scaling ridiculous heights especially without safety gear, it is utterly unrelatable.

If I think about it a bit more deeply, it's not heights that we as humans fear (or most of us). It's gravity. If we were placed for example on a low gravity planet where falling from perhaps just 10 or 20 feet isn't potentially fatal, I'd imagine that fear would evaporate.


And one for soccer fans. This is Roberto Carlos' ridiculous, impossible free kick for Brazil vs. France in 1997, claimed by many to be the best of all time — an act of pure sorcery that appeared to break the laws of physics. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKmZynlk7N0

A truly special goal, but I put his hit against Tenerife above that. This is still for me the most awesome, beautiful strike in open play, from distance, and from such an absurd angle, I have ever seen. It has since been called 'the Impossible Goal'. Some interesting analysis in the second vid.

-Pplnc5le7w

a2dB2r3aYxw

[Richter]

The MLB baseball league (extended) highlights of the semi finals and final can be found here
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCabdqEgI7WBKuScIwSLKYow/videos

-luT4bjWq90

[Richter]

Epic! - Oct. 23, 2020- (26:56)
SCG5sZtTpCc

[Bill Ryan]

With no apologies at all for any political incorrectness, this might be one for the ladies. :) But I doubt if any Avalon members have heard of this man, a legendary iconic hero in the world of rock climbing.

Wolfgang Güllich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_G%C3%BCllich) lived a generation before the explosion of social media, and was a generation ahead of the next-best rock climbers of his day. Like athletes such as Roger Bannister and Usain Bolt, he established new standards, again and again, that no-one thought could be achieved.

https://alchetron.com/cdn/wolfgang-gllich-14f88b28-4e76-4936-b6fd-0bef71966eb-resize-750.jpeg

He was Sylvester Stallone's stunt double in the movie Cliffhanger. Here he is in Yosemite, climbing with no rope, in what might easily be a scene from the film.

https://www.planetmountain.com/img/1/44309.jpg

He was a humble man who everyone loved, respected and admired. After his death, he became a legend. He fell asleep at the wheel of his car in 1992 and veered off the autobahn. Aged just 31, he never regained consciousness; and climbing lost one of its very finest.

:flower:

https://www.climbandmore.com/upload/Image/climbers/WolfgangGullich.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

My post above was about Wolfgang Güllich, a pioneering, greatly loved and universally respected climber, now elevated to iconic, legendary status after his tragic early death in a car crash at the age of 31.

In contrast is the story of Slovenian mountaineer Tomo Česen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomo_%C4%8Cesen).

https://www.gore-ljudje.si/objave/savenc/2017/05/vertical02.jpg

In mountaineering, especially when climbing alone with no companions or witnesses, it's sometimes hard or impossible to prove what one claims one has done. The world of climbing is traditionally one of mutual respect, honor, and trust — in every way — so it's de rigeur that if someone announces they've climbed something, they're believed and duly congratulated.

In 1990, Česen staggered the mountaineering world by claiming a solo, 46 hour ascent of the extremely difficult and dangerous South Face of Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world and right next door to Everest.

The face, shown in the photo above and a full two miles high, had never before been climbed. Most regarded it as almost impossible to do without a heavily equipped team, maybe something for a future generation.

He was already known to be a fine mountaineer, so after this new climb he was immediately lofted to superstar status. He gained sponsorship, money, media deals, and a great deal of fame, especially in his own country.

But then his story began to fall apart. He published photos of his climb in a magazine — that another climber was amazed to see were not Česen's, but in fact his own which he'd lent Česen for a few days some time earlier.

And one of the things Česen had claimed was that at the summit, he could see a great view of a feature of Everest called the "Western Cwm", but that he had neglected to take a photo.

Soon after, a highly organized and able Russian team of 17 climbers managed to battle their own way to the top of the same face of Lhotse, where two of them reached the top. It took them many weeks, and there were several casualties from the extreme conditions. They reported that the Western Cwm couldn't be seen from the summit at all.

Česen fell into disrepute. Leading climbers, angry and dismayed, denounced him as a narcissistic cheat and a liar. And the official narrative now (very politely!) states that his ascent is "doubted" and "controversial".

No-one now with any knowledge of what happened believes he told the truth. He still sticks to his story.... but then, as many point out is the case with all fraudsters, he just has to.

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Bill Ryan]

In contrast is the story of Slovenian mountaineer Tomo Česen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomo_%C4%8Cesen).

Wow. If he lied – why would a person do that? Money? It doesn't seem worth it. I mean, I get it, we all want to be well thought of ... its hard to imagine a person of intelligence and accomplishment making the decision to make such an announcement. He was evidently already respected within the community. As any cop can tell you, if they did it once they'll do it again. Is there anything in his past to indicate character one way or another?Yes: money, media attention, celebrity, awards, admiration, fame. We've seen this before! It goes with the human condition — sometimes.

And yes, you ask a very good question. He'd made unprovable claims earlier about solo climbs, but they weren't so extreme and near-impossible that anyone looked carefully to check it all out.

Here, what he claimed was so extraordinary that it inevitably attracted everyone's attention. That's what undid him in the end.

He brought it all on himself. It was bound to come undone. There was too much scrutiny.

At first he was believed and widely congratulated, because that's the default of trust and honor within the community. But after his photos were shown to be someone else's, and his claims about what he could see were discredited by impeccable witnesses (the heavyweight Russian team who he'd never have imagined would repeat his route just a few months later), he was slam-dunk exposed.

It was like he claimed he'd run a 3 minute 30 second mile all on his own with no witnesses, but timed it himself on his Casio watch. That's just a little too much of a stretch. :)

[Bill Ryan]

Maybe this kind of thing (cheating in various sports) might deserve its own thread. It's pretty interesting, and sometimes tragic.

A parallel to solo mountaineering is solo ocean sailing. Many years ago, in 1968-69, there was a British yachtsman called Donald Crowhurst, taking part in a widely publicized solo round-the-world race.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst

He seemed to be doing remarkably well, and from his daily radio reports of his position and progress (this was long before GPS), he was clearly well in the lead. The British press prepared to toast a returning hero.

But then, his boat was found abandoned. He'd committed suicide. He'd realized that his faked reports would inevitably be discovered when the experts, some of whom were already skeptical, scrutinized his logs.

It was a very sad situation, and the logs were later to clearly reveal his steadily deteriorating mental condition. He had absolutely nowhere to go.

:flower:

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Richter]

Maybe this kind of thing (cheating in various sports) might deserve its own thread. It's pretty interesting, and sometimes tragic.



Cricket’s Match Fixers: The Munawar Files (58:10)
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit reveals more explosive evidence of corruption in cricket after Cricket’s Match-Fixers rocked the sport in May 2018. The Munawar Files reveal that the match-fixer featured in the earlier documentary is part of a powerful criminal syndicate and has been fixing international matches since 2010. Al Jazeera’s investigators have obtained telephone recordings that show Aneel Munawar ringing in details of fixes in 15 international matches to a notorious Indian bookmaker. The fixed sessions involve some of the world’s best-known players. The teams include England, Australia and Pakistan. Many of the matches include multiple fixes and two involve both teams, making a total of 25 fixes in 15 matches at the highest levels of international cricket. The investigation also discovers that the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, knew about Munawar as long ago as 2010.
z13N6pGfRMs

NB: Excellent documentary!

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Richter]

Australia vs India - 3rd Test - Day 5 (8:29)
I saw most of this 5 day test 'live' and I must say it was one of the most fascinating matches I've seen in a long time.
At the start of day 5 it looked like an Australian victory was inevitable, and bowling India all out was just a formality, but the Indian batsmen had other plans and showed why they are among the best (test) cricketers in the world.

If you wanna watch, be quick, cos' I don't think this upload will be up long.

India are 98/2 and need a total of 407 to win

Enjoy!
yU5UZhKklMY

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Richter]

BTW...

The NBA is on its way again for a little while now ...
KB8XjUESiHU
Highlights of all games here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-XWpctw55Q6b_AHo8rkJgw/videos

:ninja:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :ninja: :::::::::::::::::::::::: :ninja:::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :ninja:

... and indeed Bluegreen, Tom Brady is the player the country most loves to hate, regardless of what team he is playing for.
Since he left the New England Patriots, that team is at best a vague shadow of the Patriots with Brady.

Brady is the Le Bron James (Tom Cruise) of American Football, he always delivers.

And the Buccaneers?
They flourish!
Every now and than, that is.
WrXfJJEu-Oc

Highlights of all games here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/NFL/featured

[Richter]

Skiing by Dummies (8:15)
Cb2GyIgnSNM

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Strat]

Bluegreen I hope you pay attention to my Jags next season. 1st round draft pic (hello Trevor Lawrence), Urban Meyer as new head coach, new staff, high salary cap... We might actually win a game. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it's nice to see change.

[Bill Ryan]

Just as just over half :) of the American voting population was mourning an inexplicable loss, on the other side of the world three-quarters of the Indian population, over a billion people, were dancing in the streets over an inexplicable win.

I'm gonna try to make this as interesting as possible, because this is about cricket. And because cricket is so complicated, incredible things really can happen in that world. This was one of them.

Tens of thousands of words have already been written about this. And there'll be several books, and surely a film.

Myself, I'm going to title this little essay, Heroism of the Fifth Kind. Wait and see why.

An international cricket match is called a Test Match, or often, just a 'Test'. (Why this is so, is lost in the mists of cricket history about 150 years ago.)

What just concluded was a four-Test series between India and Australia, all held in Australia. And it's VERY hard for anyone to win in Australia against the Australians.

The First Test: 0-1

India lost, ignominiously. They scored, between all eleven batsmen, just 36. (The world record test score is 952, and the highest test score by just one batsman alone is 400.) 36 is almost unheard of, the 5th lowest ever team total in 2,400 matches since 1877. It's like a soccer team being beaten 25-0, or Alex Honnold (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) falling off a ladder. :)

The pundits tut-tutted sagely and predicted a 4-0 'whitewash' (in cricket, still politically correct). Like Ali vs Foreman, India were on the ropes, looking beaten.

The Second Test: 1-1

No real heroics emerged here. But somehow, India played extremely well and won. Everyone lauded them for their surprising fightback, even though the iconic Indian captain and one of the best batsmen in the world, Kohli, had returned home to attend the birth of his child. The captaincy was inherited by Rahane, a very different personality: a quiet man, universally liked and respected, who led his team in a most inspired way.

The Third Test: 1-1

The tally didn't change, because it was a draw. But it was a draw for the ages.

By now the Indian team had already suffered a bizarre sequence of serious injuries, one after another. With everyone away from their families already for months and covid-locked down in hard Australian style, Shami, one of the young team members, learned of the sudden death of his father back home from a heart attack. He stayed with the team in Australia because he was needed: Heroism of the First Kind.

On the final day (each Test lasts for 5 days), Australia needed to bowl out every one of the Indian team to win. But two of the Indians stood firm and would NOT be moved.

One, Vihari, had a torn hamstring. He had to have painkilling injections while playing. At times he could hardly feel his leg. He couldn't even walk, let alone run. So he just stood there and defended whatever the Australians threw at him. He did that, in great pain nonetheless, for almost half a day.

And at the other end (because two batsmen are always in at the same time), Ashwin had hurt his back so badly his wife (who was on the tour with him) reported that he was reduced to crawling round on their hotel room floor because he couldn't stand up.

In almost as much pain as Vihari, he also withstood the Australian onslaught for half a day. The next man due in, Jadeja, already had a broken thumb. But in the end he never had to bat.

And the two don't even speak the same Indian language, though they barely had to talk to each other. Heroism of the Second Kind. The draw felt like a supreme victory, because they hadn't actually lost.

The Australian captain, Tim Paine, normally quite a good bloke, lost his cool with frustration. While out on the pitch, he said to Ashwin, broadcast to the entire cricketing world on live audio: "At least my teammates like me, dickhead." (An unfair insult. Ashwin is well-liked indeed.) Paine continued, "Can't wait to get you to the Gabba."*

The Fourth Test, 2-1

* The Gabba is the cricket ground in Brisbane, Australian's mythical fortress. No visiting team had won there since 1988, before most of the current players were born. With typical dark Australian humor, they call it The Gabbatoir. Because that's where visiting teams get slaughtered.

The heroes of the Third Test were so badly hurt they couldn't play, so by now India were almost playing with a second (reserve) eleven. The Australian bowlers had between them got over 1,000 batsmen out in tests. The inexperienced Indian bowlers had a tally of just 13. That's a David-and-Goliath statistic. But no-one had told them winning was impossible.

On the final (fifth) day, India needed 328 to win. That's a HUGE task, achieved very rarely on any final day of any test match, and unheard of at the Gabba. But another hero emerged, Pujara.

Pujara is like a rock. THE rock. Unmoved, and immovable. He scores runs at a snail's pace, but is extremely hard to get out. And so Pujara set in like winter, remaining there for hours and hours while the Australian bowlers hit him bodily with hard 90 mph balls 11 (eleven) times.

(Cricket balls can break arms, fingers, jawbones, and occasionally kill. A highly skilled batsman died when hit on the head a few years ago, and an umpire was killed when a cricket ball was accidentally hit directly at him.)

Pujara probably sustained broken ribs and a broken hand, but stayed right there. He didn't smile, flinched just once, and never said a word. He stood his ground like Gandalf against the Balrog. He didn't score much, but like Ali on the ropes he exhausted the opposition. Heroics of the Third Kind.

While this was all happening, a young gun aged just 21, Shubman Gill, was batting at the other end like he was in his own backyard having fun. Too young to know what caution meant, and with too much talent to care, he opened up and hit the tired Australian bowlers all round the ground.

It was an athletic display of elegance, skill, timing, and exhilaration that set the cricketing world dizzy about the next coming superstar. And when Pujara was finally, eventually out, Rishabh Pant, two years older at 23, continued to hit the ball out of the ground again and again and again.

Pant hit the winning runs himself with 15 minutes to go on the fifth day of the final Test. No-one could believe what had happened, and Pant couldn't either. His voice wavering when interviewed on the podium, he declared it was the finest day of his life. For Gill and Pant together, Heroics of the Fourth Kind.

And then the quiet, beloved, deputizing captain, Rahane, when awarded the coveted trophy, immediately handed it to one of the youngest members of the team, whose name I can't even remember. Rahane asked the senior players to stand at the back of the team photo, with the heroic youngsters at the front. The kid is probably tightly holding the trophy still. :)

At the very end, Rahane gave a gift of a specially embroidered sweater to one of the Australian team members, himself a rather sour-faced loser, who had reached a statistical milestone during the match. No-one was expecting that, and certainly not Lyon, the downcast Australian. It was all captured on television; but for the quiet, kind Rahane, the gesture was sincere.

Heroics of the Fifth Kind. And that's why maybe a billion Indians were dancing in the streets.

https://opt.toiimg.com/recuperator/img/toi/m-69257184/69257184.jpg

Mohammed Shami, whose father died.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4j4dp-Pj0oThe last day of the Third Test, the draw that was The Great Escape.

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https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/sites/default/files/styles/zm_700x400/public/2021/01/21/911816-rishabh-pant-1.jpg

Rishabh Pant, hitting the ball out of the ground.

https://cdn.wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GettyImages-1000632890-1-e1548787008190.jpg

Shubman Gill, all graceful class and timing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4qczJwdU8[/url]Cheteshwar Pujara, getting hit again and again. And again. AND again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCXpx4WnIkAjinkya Rahane gives Nathan Lyon a special Indian sweater. Some Aussies thought he had to be taking the piss. But the Indians knew their captain better.

:sun:

[holcaul]

Just as just over half :) of the American voting population was mourning an inexplicable loss, on the other side of the world three-quarters of the Indian population, over a billion people, were dancing in the streets over an inexplicable win.

I'm gonna try to make this as interesting as possible, because this is about cricket. And because cricket is so complicated, incredible things really can happen in that world. This was one of them.

Tens of thousands of words have already been written about this. And there'll be several books, and surely a film.

Myself, I'm going to title this little essay, Heroism of the Fifth Kind. Wait and see why.

An international cricket match is called a Test Match, or often, just a 'Test'. (Why this is so, is lost in the mists of cricket history about 150 years ago.)

What just concluded was a four-Test series between India and Australia, all held in India. And it's VERY hard for anyone to win in Australia against the Australians.

The First Test: 0-1

India lost, ignominiously. They scored, between all eleven batsmen, just 36. (The world record test score is 952, and the highest test score by just one batsman alone is 400.) 36 is almost unheard of, the 5th lowest ever team total in 2,400 matches since 1877. It's like a soccer team being beaten 25-0, or Alex Honnold (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) falling off a ladder. :)

The pundits tut-tutted sagely and predicted a 4-0 'whitewash' (in cricket, still politically correct). Like Ali vs Foreman, India were on the ropes, looking beaten.

The Second Test: 1-1

No real heroics emerged here. But somehow, India played extremely well and won. Everyone lauded them for their surprising fightback, even though the iconic Indian captain and one of the best batsmen in the world, Kohli, had returned home to attend the birth of his child. The captaincy was inherited by Rahane, a very different personality: a quiet man, universally liked and respected, who led his team in a most inspired way.

The Third Test: 1-1

The tally didn't change, because it was a draw. But it was a draw for the ages.

By now the Indian team had already suffered a bizarre sequence of serious injuries, one after another. With everyone away from their families already for months and covid-locked down in hard Australian style, Shami, one of the young team members, learned of the sudden death of his father back home from a heart attack. He stayed with the team in Australia because he was needed: Heroism of the First Kind.

On the final day (each Test lasts for 5 days), Australia needed to bowl out every one of the Indian team to win. But two of the Indians stood firm and would NOT be moved.

One, Vihari, had a torn hamstring. He had to have painkilling injections while playing. At times he could hardly feel his leg. He couldn't even walk, let alone run. So he just stood there and defended whatever the Australians threw at him. He did that, in great pain nonetheless, for almost half a day.

And at the other end (because two batsmen are always in at the same time), Ashwin had hurt his back so badly his wife (who was on the tour with him) reported that he was reduced to crawling round on their hotel room floor because he couldn't stand up.

In almost as much pain as Vihari, he also withstood the Australian onslaught for half a day. The next man due in, Jadeja, already had a broken thumb. But in the end he never had to bat.

And the two don't even speak the same Indian language, though they barely had to talk to each other. Heroism of the Second Kind. The draw felt like a supreme victory, because they hadn't actually lost.

The Australian captain, Tim Paine, normally quite a good bloke, lost his cool with frustration. While out on the pitch, he said to Ashwin, broadcast to the entire cricketing world on live audio: "At least my teammates like me, dickhead." (An unfair insult. Ashwin is well-liked indeed.) Paine continued, "Can't wait to get you to the Gabba."*

The Fourth Test, 2-1

* The Gabba is the cricket ground in Brisbane, Australian's mythical fortress. No visiting team had won there since 1988, before most of the current players were born. With typical dark Australian humor, they call it The Gabbatoir. Because that's where visiting teams get slaughtered.

The heroes of the Third Test were so badly hurt they couldn't play, so by now India were almost playing with a second (reserve) eleven. The Australian bowlers had between them got over 1,000 batsmen out in tests. The inexperienced Indian bowlers had a tally of just 13. That's a David-and-Goliath statistic. But no-one had told them winning was impossible.

On the final (fifth) day, India needed 328 to win. That's a HUGE task, achieved very rarely on any final day of any test match, and unheard of at the Gabba. But another hero emerged, Pujara.

Pujara is like a rock. THE rock. Unmoved, and immovable. He scores runs at a snail's pace, but is extremely hard to get out. And so Pujara set in like winter, remaining there for hours and hours while the Australian bowlers hit him bodily with hard 90 mph balls 11 (eleven) times.

(Cricket balls can break arms, fingers, jawbones, and occasionally kill. A highly skilled batsman died when hit on the head a few years ago, and an umpire was killed when a cricket ball was accidentally hit directly at him.)

Pujara probably sustained broken ribs and a broken hand, but stayed right there. He didn't smile, flinched just once, and never said a word. He stood his ground like Gandalf against the Balrog. He didn't score much, but like Ali on the ropes he exhausted the opposition. Heroics of the Third Kind.

While this was all happening, a young gun aged just 21, Shubman Gill, was batting at the other end like he was in his own backyard having fun. Too young to know what caution meant, and with too much talent to care, he opened up and hit the tired Australian bowlers all round the ground.

It was an athletic display of elegance, skill, timing, and exhilaration that set the cricketing world dizzy about the next coming superstar. And when Pujara was finally, eventually out, Rishabh Pant, two years older at 23, continued to hit the ball out of the ground again and again and again.

Pant hit the winning runs himself with 15 minutes to go on the fifth day of the final Test. No-one could believe what had happened, and Pant couldn't either. His voice wavering when interviewed on the podium, he declared it was the finest day of his life. For Gill and Pant together, Heroics of the Fourth Kind.

And then the quiet, beloved, deputizing captain, Rahane, when awarded the coveted trophy, immediately handed it to one of the youngest members of the team, whose name I can't even remember. Rahane asked the senior players to stand at the back of the team photo, with the heroic youngsters at the front. The kid is probably tightly holding the trophy still. :)

At the very end, Rahane gave a gift of a specially embroidered sweater to one of the Australian team members, himself a rather sour-faced loser, who had reached a statistical milestone during the match. No-one was expecting that, and certainly not Lyon, the downcast Australian. It was all captured on television; but for the quiet, kind Rahane, the gesture was sincere.

Heroics of the Fifth Kind. And that's why maybe a billion Indians were dancing in the streets.

https://opt.toiimg.com/recuperator/img/toi/m-69257184/69257184.jpg

Mohammed Shami, whose father died.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4j4dp-Pj0oThe last day of the Third Test, the draw that was The Great Escape.

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https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/sites/default/files/styles/zm_700x400/public/2021/01/21/911816-rishabh-pant-1.jpg

Rishabh Pant, hitting the ball out of the ground.

https://cdn.wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GettyImages-1000632890-1-e1548787008190.jpg

Shubman Gill, all graceful class and timing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4qczJwdU8[/url]Cheteshwar Pujara, getting hit again and again. And again. AND again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCXpx4WnIkAjinkya Rahane gives Nathan Lyon a special Indian sweater. Some Aussies thought he had to be taking the piss. But the Indians knew their captain better.

:sun:

THANK YOU BILL!!

I really needed this!

I was never interested in cricket and know very little about it. But genuinely enjoyed this tale of the triumph of the warrior spirit and true chivalry.

Not all hope lost.

[safara]

Just as just over half :) of the American voting population was mourning an inexplicable loss, on the other side of the world three-quarters of the Indian population, over a billion people, were dancing in the streets over an inexplicable win.

I'm gonna try to make this as interesting as possible, because this is about cricket. And because cricket is so complicated, incredible things really can happen in that world. This was one of them.

Tens of thousands of words have already been written about this. And there'll be several books, and surely a film.

Myself, I'm going to title this little essay, Heroism of the Fifth Kind. Wait and see why.

An international cricket match is called a Test Match, or often, just a 'Test'. (Why this is so, is lost in the mists of cricket history about 150 years ago.)

What just concluded was a four-Test series between India and Australia, all held in Australia. And it's VERY hard for anyone to win in Australia against the Australians.

The First Test: 0-1

India lost, ignominiously. They scored, between all eleven batsmen, just 36. (The world record test score is 952, and the highest test score by just one batsman alone is 400.) 36 is almost unheard of, the 5th lowest ever team total in 2,400 matches since 1877. It's like a soccer team being beaten 25-0, or Alex Honnold (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) falling off a ladder. :)

The pundits tut-tutted sagely and predicted a 4-0 'whitewash' (in cricket, still politically correct). Like Ali vs Foreman, India were on the ropes, looking beaten.

The Second Test: 1-1

No real heroics emerged here. But somehow, India played extremely well and won. Everyone lauded them for their surprising fightback, even though the iconic Indian captain and one of the best batsmen in the world, Kohli, had returned home to attend the birth of his child. The captaincy was inherited by Rahane, a very different personality: a quiet man, universally liked and respected, who led his team in a most inspired way.

The Third Test: 1-1

The tally didn't change, because it was a draw. But it was a draw for the ages.

By now the Indian team had already suffered a bizarre sequence of serious injuries, one after another. With everyone away from their families already for months and covid-locked down in hard Australian style, Shami, one of the young team members, learned of the sudden death of his father back home from a heart attack. He stayed with the team in Australia because he was needed: Heroism of the First Kind.

On the final day (each Test lasts for 5 days), Australia needed to bowl out every one of the Indian team to win. But two of the Indians stood firm and would NOT be moved.

One, Vihari, had a torn hamstring. He had to have painkilling injections while playing. At times he could hardly feel his leg. He couldn't even walk, let alone run. So he just stood there and defended whatever the Australians threw at him. He did that, in great pain nonetheless, for almost half a day.

And at the other end (because two batsmen are always in at the same time), Ashwin had hurt his back so badly his wife (who was on the tour with him) reported that he was reduced to crawling round on their hotel room floor because he couldn't stand up.

In almost as much pain as Vihari, he also withstood the Australian onslaught for half a day. The next man due in, Jadeja, already had a broken thumb. But in the end he never had to bat.

And the two don't even speak the same Indian language, though they barely had to talk to each other. Heroism of the Second Kind. The draw felt like a supreme victory, because they hadn't actually lost.

The Australian captain, Tim Paine, normally quite a good bloke, lost his cool with frustration. While out on the pitch, he said to Ashwin, broadcast to the entire cricketing world on live audio: "At least my teammates like me, dickhead." (An unfair insult. Ashwin is well-liked indeed.) Paine continued, "Can't wait to get you to the Gabba."*

The Fourth Test, 2-1

* The Gabba is the cricket ground in Brisbane, Australian's mythical fortress. No visiting team had won there since 1988, before most of the current players were born. With typical dark Australian humor, they call it The Gabbatoir. Because that's where visiting teams get slaughtered.

The heroes of the Third Test were so badly hurt they couldn't play, so by now India were almost playing with a second (reserve) eleven. The Australian bowlers had between them got over 1,000 batsmen out in tests. The inexperienced Indian bowlers had a tally of just 13. That's a David-and-Goliath statistic. But no-one had told them winning was impossible.

On the final (fifth) day, India needed 328 to win. That's a HUGE task, achieved very rarely on any final day of any test match, and unheard of at the Gabba. But another hero emerged, Pujara.

Pujara is like a rock. THE rock. Unmoved, and immovable. He scores runs at a snail's pace, but is extremely hard to get out. And so Pujara set in like winter, remaining there for hours and hours while the Australian bowlers hit him bodily with hard 90 mph balls 11 (eleven) times.

(Cricket balls can break arms, fingers, jawbones, and occasionally kill. A highly skilled batsman died when hit on the head a few years ago, and an umpire was killed when a cricket ball was accidentally hit directly at him.)

Pujara probably sustained broken ribs and a broken hand, but stayed right there. He didn't smile, flinched just once, and never said a word. He stood his ground like Gandalf against the Balrog. He didn't score much, but like Ali on the ropes he exhausted the opposition. Heroics of the Third Kind.

While this was all happening, a young gun aged just 21, Shubman Gill, was batting at the other end like he was in his own backyard having fun. Too young to know what caution meant, and with too much talent to care, he opened up and hit the tired Australian bowlers all round the ground.

It was an athletic display of elegance, skill, timing, and exhilaration that set the cricketing world dizzy about the next coming superstar. And when Pujara was finally, eventually out, Rishabh Pant, two years older at 23, continued to hit the ball out of the ground again and again and again.

Pant hit the winning runs himself with 15 minutes to go on the fifth day of the final Test. No-one could believe what had happened, and Pant couldn't either. His voice wavering when interviewed on the podium, he declared it was the finest day of his life. For Gill and Pant together, Heroics of the Fourth Kind.

And then the quiet, beloved, deputizing captain, Rahane, when awarded the coveted trophy, immediately handed it to one of the youngest members of the team, whose name I can't even remember. Rahane asked the senior players to stand at the back of the team photo, with the heroic youngsters at the front. The kid is probably tightly holding the trophy still. :)

At the very end, Rahane gave a gift of a specially embroidered sweater to one of the Australian team members, himself a rather sour-faced loser, who had reached a statistical milestone during the match. No-one was expecting that, and certainly not Lyon, the downcast Australian. It was all captured on television; but for the quiet, kind Rahane, the gesture was sincere.

Heroics of the Fifth Kind. And that's why maybe a billion Indians were dancing in the streets.

https://opt.toiimg.com/recuperator/img/toi/m-69257184/69257184.jpg

Mohammed Shami, whose father died.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4j4dp-Pj0oThe last day of the Third Test, the draw that was The Great Escape.

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https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/sites/default/files/styles/zm_700x400/public/2021/01/21/911816-rishabh-pant-1.jpg

Rishabh Pant, hitting the ball out of the ground.

https://cdn.wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GettyImages-1000632890-1-e1548787008190.jpg

Shubman Gill, all graceful class and timing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4qczJwdU8[/url]Cheteshwar Pujara, getting hit again and again. And again. AND again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCXpx4WnIkAjinkya Rahane gives Nathan Lyon a special Indian sweater. Some Aussies thought he had to be taking the piss. But the Indians knew their captain better.

:sun:

Series like this tour are what make the game of Cricket so incredible. It is a sport where the build up to rapture takes days, weeks or months to arrive at one crucial moment.....

.....and the bowler runs in.....

[safara]

From last November, but I have just found this thread :)

The incredible strenght of modern open topped racing cars that can punch THROUGH a barrier and the driver walks away. The tradegy of the death of Bianchi in 2015 paved the way for saving Grosjean in this crash.

And sitting in the flames for 28 seconds before he figured a way out!

ToxQAn5iM7Q

QDT-tMtdfSo

U_je9S6z1fI

[Bluegreen]

. . . . .

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Take it you're not a fan of Tom, Bluegreen? :wink:

When I worked in the US back in the 90s I was based in Tampa. So the Buccaneers pretty much became my adopted team. Sorry Blue, but for the big game against the Packers tonight, all I can say is Go Bucs!!

Go get that seventh ring Tom!! :Party:

https://athlonsports.com/sites/athlonsports.com/files/styles/article_top_img/public/TomBrady_photoshoot_2020_buccaneers_0.jpg?itok=5LKi6LbJ

[Richter]

Just as just over half :) of the American voting population was mourning an inexplicable loss, on the other side of the world three-quarters of the Indian population, over a billion people, were dancing in the streets over an inexplicable win.

I'm gonna try to make this as interesting as possible, because this is about cricket. And because cricket is so complicated, incredible things really can happen in that world. This was one of them.

Tens of thousands of words have already been written about this. And there'll be several books, and surely a film.

Myself, I'm going to title this little essay, Heroism of the Fifth Kind. Wait and see why.

An international cricket match is called a Test Match, or often, just a 'Test'. (Why this is so, is lost in the mists of cricket history about 150 years ago.)

What just concluded was a four-Test series between India and Australia, all held in Australia. And it's VERY hard for anyone to win in Australia against the Australians.

The First Test: 0-1

India lost, ignominiously. They scored, between all eleven batsmen, just 36. (The world record test score is 952, and the highest test score by just one batsman alone is 400.) 36 is almost unheard of, the 5th lowest ever team total in 2,400 matches since 1877. It's like a soccer team being beaten 25-0, or Alex Honnold (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) falling off a ladder. :)

The pundits tut-tutted sagely and predicted a 4-0 'whitewash' (in cricket, still politically correct). Like Ali vs Foreman, India were on the ropes, looking beaten.

The Second Test: 1-1

No real heroics emerged here. But somehow, India played extremely well and won. Everyone lauded them for their surprising fightback, even though the iconic Indian captain and one of the best batsmen in the world, Kohli, had returned home to attend the birth of his child. The captaincy was inherited by Rahane, a very different personality: a quiet man, universally liked and respected, who led his team in a most inspired way.

The Third Test: 1-1

The tally didn't change, because it was a draw. But it was a draw for the ages.

By now the Indian team had already suffered a bizarre sequence of serious injuries, one after another. With everyone away from their families already for months and covid-locked down in hard Australian style, Shami, one of the young team members, learned of the sudden death of his father back home from a heart attack. He stayed with the team in Australia because he was needed: Heroism of the First Kind.

On the final day (each Test lasts for 5 days), Australia needed to bowl out every one of the Indian team to win. But two of the Indians stood firm and would NOT be moved.

One, Vihari, had a torn hamstring. He had to have painkilling injections while playing. At times he could hardly feel his leg. He couldn't even walk, let alone run. So he just stood there and defended whatever the Australians threw at him. He did that, in great pain nonetheless, for almost half a day.

And at the other end (because two batsmen are always in at the same time), Ashwin had hurt his back so badly his wife (who was on the tour with him) reported that he was reduced to crawling round on their hotel room floor because he couldn't stand up.

In almost as much pain as Vihari, he also withstood the Australian onslaught for half a day. The next man due in, Jadeja, already had a broken thumb. But in the end he never had to bat.

And the two don't even speak the same Indian language, though they barely had to talk to each other. Heroism of the Second Kind. The draw felt like a supreme victory, because they hadn't actually lost.

The Australian captain, Tim Paine, normally quite a good bloke, lost his cool with frustration. While out on the pitch, he said to Ashwin, broadcast to the entire cricketing world on live audio: "At least my teammates like me, dickhead." (An unfair insult. Ashwin is well-liked indeed.) Paine continued, "Can't wait to get you to the Gabba."*

The Fourth Test, 2-1

* The Gabba is the cricket ground in Brisbane, Australian's mythical fortress. No visiting team had won there since 1988, before most of the current players were born. With typical dark Australian humor, they call it The Gabbatoir. Because that's where visiting teams get slaughtered.

The heroes of the Third Test were so badly hurt they couldn't play, so by now India were almost playing with a second (reserve) eleven. The Australian bowlers had between them got over 1,000 batsmen out in tests. The inexperienced Indian bowlers had a tally of just 13. That's a David-and-Goliath statistic. But no-one had told them winning was impossible.

On the final (fifth) day, India needed 328 to win. That's a HUGE task, achieved very rarely on any final day of any test match, and unheard of at the Gabba. But another hero emerged, Pujara.

Pujara is like a rock. THE rock. Unmoved, and immovable. He scores runs at a snail's pace, but is extremely hard to get out. And so Pujara set in like winter, remaining there for hours and hours while the Australian bowlers hit him bodily with hard 90 mph balls 11 (eleven) times.

(Cricket balls can break arms, fingers, jawbones, and occasionally kill. A highly skilled batsman died when hit on the head a few years ago, and an umpire was killed when a cricket ball was accidentally hit directly at him.)

Pujara probably sustained broken ribs and a broken hand, but stayed right there. He didn't smile, flinched just once, and never said a word. He stood his ground like Gandalf against the Balrog. He didn't score much, but like Ali on the ropes he exhausted the opposition. Heroics of the Third Kind.

While this was all happening, a young gun aged just 21, Shubman Gill, was batting at the other end like he was in his own backyard having fun. Too young to know what caution meant, and with too much talent to care, he opened up and hit the tired Australian bowlers all round the ground.

It was an athletic display of elegance, skill, timing, and exhilaration that set the cricketing world dizzy about the next coming superstar. And when Pujara was finally, eventually out, Rishabh Pant, two years older at 23, continued to hit the ball out of the ground again and again and again.

Pant hit the winning runs himself with 15 minutes to go on the fifth day of the final Test. No-one could believe what had happened, and Pant couldn't either. His voice wavering when interviewed on the podium, he declared it was the finest day of his life. For Gill and Pant together, Heroics of the Fourth Kind.

And then the quiet, beloved, deputizing captain, Rahane, when awarded the coveted trophy, immediately handed it to one of the youngest members of the team, whose name I can't even remember. Rahane asked the senior players to stand at the back of the team photo, with the heroic youngsters at the front. The kid is probably tightly holding the trophy still. :)

At the very end, Rahane gave a gift of a specially embroidered sweater to one of the Australian team members, himself a rather sour-faced loser, who had reached a statistical milestone during the match. No-one was expecting that, and certainly not Lyon, the downcast Australian. It was all captured on television; but for the quiet, kind Rahane, the gesture was sincere.

Heroics of the Fifth Kind. And that's why maybe a billion Indians were dancing in the streets.


Shubman Gill, all graceful class and timing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4qczJwdU8[/url]Cheteshwar Pujara, getting hit again and again. And again. AND again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaCXpx4WnIkAjinkya Rahane gives Nathan Lyon a special Indian sweater. Some Aussies thought he had to be taking the piss. But the Indians knew their captain better.

:sun:

Well written Bill, and the fourth test was indeed a true 'Where were you when' game.

One of the best test matches I've ever seen.

Specially because of the chauvinist Australian commentators. Shane Waugh was really unbelievable. At the start of day 5 of the third test he said something like: "We'll be home by lunch, I suppose", and he had the same attitude towards India during day 5 of the 4th test, getting quieter and quieter towards the end.

[Strat]

Go get that seventh ring Tom!! :Party:


When I get back from throwing up I'm flagging your post.

[Bill Ryan]

And then the quiet, beloved, deputizing captain, Rahane, when awarded the coveted trophy, immediately handed it to one of the youngest members of the team, whose name I can't even remember. Rahane asked the senior players to stand at the back of the team photo, with the heroic youngsters at the front. The kid is probably tightly holding the trophy still. :)A little more on this, all about the Indian cricket team's superlative victory over the arrogant Australians, apparently against all odds.

The young guy who Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane had handed the trophy to was Thangarasu Natarajan. There's a wonderful article about this here (https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/india-tour-of-australia-aus-vs-ind-2020-21-t-natarajan-i-teared-up-when-virat-kohli-handed-me-the-t20i-trophy-1249067). I'll abbreviate it... but it's lovely stuff.

~~~

"I'm so happy right now. There's no limit to it and I just can't explain that feeling."

This was Natarajan's reaction to his rousing reception at his hometown Chinnappampatti, near Salem in Tamil Nadu, after returning from Australia, where he made his debut in all three formats and played his part in the historic Gabba Test win.

Natarajan, who had driven down from Bengaluru to Chinnappampatti on Thursday, was greeted by hoardings, drumrolls and firecrackers. After being welcomed back by his mother Shantha, his father Thangarasu and other family members, Natarajan was carried home on a horse-drawn chariot, with everyone in Chinnappampatti wanting a piece of him.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1352276624650153985

1352276624650153985
:sun:

[Bill Ryan]

And some more astonishing heroics from the Indian Subcontinent. This happened on 17 January, but I was so engrossed in the US election (and the cricket!) I never realized this had happened till a couple days ago.

Many reading this may know that K2, the world's second highest mountain, just a little lower than Everest, is by far the most difficult, dangerous and deadly of all the Himalayan high mountains. Compared to K2, Everest is an easy piece of cake.

All the highest mountains in the Himalayas had been climbed in winter, which of course makes everything fiercely more challenging for every reason it's easy to imagine — except for K2.

For decades now, the world's finest mountaineers — Messner, Habeler, Kammerlander, Kukuczka, Viesturs, many many others — all failed.

But last week, it was climbed, in winter, by a team of Nepalese Sherpas. All on their own.

No western climbers were in their team, which was totally self-organized and self-funded. One of them didn't even use extra oxygen. It was an extraordinary feat.

For generations, Sherpas have been the heavy lifters, and the cooks and bottlewashers in the camps. They have always done all the most dangerous work.

And any western mountaineer with any integrity knows that 95% of the time, the Sherpas are the ones that make expeditions successful. But they've often been treated as inferiors, get little pay, are sometimes treated pretty badly, and occasionally the dark shadow of racism is present.

So now, they have their own victory. Not over an opposing team, but over a viciously dangerous mountain.... which mountaineers call THE mountain. And IN WINTER. Go figure.

Here's Nirmal Purja, who organized the entire thing, at the summit looking like he's just been taking his dog for a walk in the snow. :) And no oxygen mask..... he didn't even need one.

https://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2021/01/20/16111433929535.jpg

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

This is a well deserved accolade for them!

If I recall correctly, scientists identified a special gene unique to sherpas that allow them to perform very well in low oxygen environments.

[Bill Ryan]

This is a well deserved accolade for them!

If I recall correctly, scientists identified a special gene unique to sherpas that allow them to perform very well in low oxygen environments.Yes, and they have larger-than-normal lungs. It helps!

And they're immensely strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining. When I was in the Himalayas several decades ago, we had Sherpas as our porters. They'd carry 60 lbs for $5/day — a very generous wage for them at the time. A few of them needed extra money, so they carried double the weight (120 lbs) for double pay. And some of them didn't even have shoes.

(Yours truly with one of the Sherpas :) )

https://projectavalon.net/Bill_Ryan_Sherpa_Nepal_Makalu_expedition_Dec_1981_vsm.jpg



:focus:
On K2, this Nepalese team were like a bunch of happy kids up there. They waited for each other just below the very very top; then all ten of them reached the summit at the same time, all singing their National Anthem. They arrived late in the afternoon, and then made the even more difficult and dangerous descent at night. Go figure.

The strongest of them, Nirmal Purja, was planning to paraglide off the summit. (Jeez!!) But in hurricane force winds, one of their camps was totally destroyed and a whole heap of their equipment was blown right off the mountain, never to be seen again. Temperatures had dropped to -65ºC, -85ºF. (That's even colder than Kazakhstan (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?113777-Kazakhstan-Anomaly-flash-freezing-animals).)

Their tents were shredded, and they lost their sleeping bags, some high-altitude clothing, and also Nirmal's paragliding equipment. They had to retreat to base camp for spare supplies of everything that was critical, and then started their climb again.

Here they are, all reaching the summit together, singing: :grouphug:

(The original video has been dubbed, as the anthem was apparently a little muffled. :bigsmile: I'm going to try to find it.)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkszaawGCi0

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Thank you Bluegreen for your preview. Immensely pleased the Bucs won through, especially as they're playing in their own stadium now - the first team to ever do so in a superbowl. That was a very tough game, couldn't relax for a second. The turnovers did for the Packers in my opinion, and that ridiculous piece of Brady magic with 6 seconds on the clock at the end of the second quarter. Wow. I don't know if they're going to be good enough to beat the Chiefs though, they have too many powerful weapons on their offence. Brady versus Mahomes - the wizard versus the wiz-kid - should certainly provide a spectacle though.

http://www.pngkit.com/png/full/195-1951850_tampa-bay-buccaneers-inaugural-uniform-tampa-bay-buccaneers.png

The Bucs should unretire their old gear for the big game :)

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

And they're immensely strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining. When I was in the Himalayas several decades ago, we had Sherpas as our porters. They'd carry 60 lbs for $5/day — a very generous wage for them at the time. A few of them needed extra money, so they carried double the weight (120 lbs) for double pay. [I][B]And some of them didn't even have shoes.

Sounds like the Sherpas, beyond all other peoples on Earth, truly have the 'right stuff'. So the question is, why aren't Nasa training these guys to be the first to go to Mars? I'm being quite serious. It'll be the toughest mental and physical challenge imaginable. And they seem made for it.

[Bill Ryan]

And they're immensely strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining. When I was in the Himalayas several decades ago, we had Sherpas as our porters. They'd carry 60 lbs for $5/day — a very generous wage for them at the time. A few of them needed extra money, so they carried double the weight (120 lbs) for double pay. [I][B]And some of them didn't even have shoes.

Sounds like the Sherpas, beyond all other peoples on Earth, truly have the 'right stuff'. So the question is, why aren't Nasa training these guys to be the first to go to Mars? I'm being quite serious. It'll be the toughest mental and physical challenge imaginable. And they seem made for it.Well — incredibly! — here's more. :sun:

Another Sherpa, Pasang Norbu, is currently on K2 on his own, trying to break the record for the fastest ever ascent from base camp — which stands at 23 hours, established by a French climber back in 1986.

Some ropes are already in place for him to use, but it's winter with temperatures as low as -55ºC. (Jeez!) And he's climbing solo non-stop through the night.

He's a highly experienced climber in his own right, with 3 Everest summits, 5 Manaslu summits, 2 Makalu summits, plus Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, and Annapurna. (Practically all the highest mountains in the world except for K2.)

He just might do it, and we'll know quite soon... I wonder if he'll record himself singing the Nepali national anthem up there all on his own. :)

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Wow, in addition to "strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining", is it possible these people are slightly nuts too? Good luck to him though. I really hope he makes it safely!

[Bill Ryan]

Wow, in addition to "strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining", is it possible these people are slightly nuts too? Good luck to him though. I really hope he makes it safely!
I promise I won't turn this into a mountaineering thread! But this really is a sport, in every possible sense, although 'competing' teams from different countries often regroup to collaborate in mutual support if lives are in danger.

On K2 (the world's most dangerous and second highest mountain) — in winter — Sherpa Pasang Norbu failed in his solo record attempt (dang!), only due to some malfunctioning equipment. However, he's in good shape and good spirits — the one thing that was always certain. Meanwhile, in deteriorating, desperately cold conditions 12 other climbers, trying but failing to rest, were packed like sardines into 2 battered, tiny tents high on the mountain where they could barely melt snow for a drink.

One climber fell to his death, and another retreated with third degree frostbite to his toes. Three other climbers, headed to the summit, have all disappeared. They were on their own, in the middle of the night, very near the top, in extreme cold that can only be imagined. Their headlights can no longer be seen, their fate is unknown, and their companions at base camp are now fearing the worst.

[Strat]

I'm kicking myself because I can't find a particular documentary I found a while ago. Basically it covered a race like a marathon or maybe shorter in Tibet. As you'd expect, the locals won the race. I think it was a short video, around 20 minutes in length. I'm not sure it was Tibet, but near there. If I find it I'll post it here.

It seemed treacherous, not only exhausting but since the race was up and down the mountainside the athletes were one step away from twisting an ankle or worse. I love running but I can't compete with that! I'm used to bugs and swampland at worse or warm, sandy, pristine beach at best.

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Bill Ryan]

This is the world's heaviest-ever international cricketer: Rakheem Cornwall, from the West Indies. He stands 6' 5" and 140 kg (310 lbs, or 22 stone in English english).

He might seem like a laughing stock, but he was the hero of the just-finished test match against Bangladesh having taken 9 of the 20 Bangladeshi wickets (i.e. batsmen out) all by himself. When his team mates jump on top of him to celebrate it's not much of a problem. :)

https://img1.hscicdn.com/image/upload/f_auto/lsci/db/PICTURES/CMS/316800/316878.4.jpg

He can't bowl fast — in fact, he can barely run at all! — so he just bowls very slowly, but spins the ball with a LOT of skill and guile.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ_rBD8apgo
Beware of appearances! There are some guys you just don't mess with. :bigsmile:

[Anka]

It may not be exactly a sport(*which it is), but performance and collecting inner and outer skills through exercise and determination, something that I personally appreciate in any kind of sport, is something we can all learn in everyday life. I just like it.

The Shaolin Temple Kung Fu Academy is the largest school of its kind in China. Get a glimpse of the hard work required to master the Chinese martial art.

36,000 Kids You Don’t Want to Mess With | Short Film Showcase (3:25)

3FDL4ZYEfcw

[Bill Ryan]

Wow, in addition to "strong, cheerful, supportive and uncomplaining", is it possible these people are slightly nuts too? Good luck to him though. I really hope he makes it safely!
I promise I won't turn this into a mountaineering thread! But this really is a sport, in every possible sense, although 'competing' teams from different countries often regroup to collaborate in mutual support if lives are in danger.

On K2 (the world's most dangerous and second highest mountain) — in winter — Sherpa Pasang Norbu failed in his solo record attempt (dang!), only due to some malfunctioning equipment. However, he's in good shape and good spirits — the one thing that was always certain. Meanwhile, in deteriorating, desperately cold conditions 12 other climbers, trying but failing to rest, were packed like sardines into 2 battered, tiny tents high on the mountain where they could barely melt snow for a drink.

One climber fell to his death, and another retreated with third degree frostbite to his toes. Three other climbers, headed to the summit, have all disappeared. They were on their own, in the middle of the night, very near the top, in extreme cold that can only be imagined. Their headlights can no longer be seen, their fate is unknown, and their companions at base camp are now fearing the worst.
I wrote above, "I promise I won't turn this into a mountaineering thread." And I remain true to that promise! But such a drama transpired on K2, which I summarized above, I'd like to post a little more about it.

I've been following this closely over the last few weeks, on the various mountaineering and climbing websites. To my astonishment, the best article I found was in the Financial Times. Go figure. It's accurate, and beautifully and intelligently written.


https://ft.com/content/b6340707-25c4-4b01-9747-ad44f0bef50b

Triumph and tragedy on K2

As the climbing world celebrated a historic first winter ascent, the ‘Savage Mountain’ began to live up to its name.

https://e00-marca.uecdn.es/assets/multimedia/imagenes/2021/01/18/16110075560769.jpg
Nirmal ("Nims") Purja, the special forces Sherpa who led his team of Nepali climbers to the summit of K2, himself without using oxygen and in temperatures of -55º, the first ever ascent in winter.

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1dtmLB.img?h=315&w=600&m=6&q=60&o=t&l=f&f=jpg&x=535&y=103
Pakistani Ali Sadpara (L) and Icelander John Snorri (R), who both died. What became of them is unknown.

In an era of dwindling “firsts” of merit, it is rare that mountaineers climb on to the front pages. There came an exception on January 17 when dozens of newspapers around the world carried images of a Nepalese former Gurkha.

Nirmal “Nims” Purja, who lives in Hampshire, had defied the odds and the sceptics the day before by completing the first winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest and perhaps most fearsome mountain.

Until then, the 8,611m peak had stood alone among the world’s 14 summits that rise above 8,000m, the only one never to have been climbed in winter, when winds and temperatures are even more vicious.

Moreover, Purja’s feat was a triumph shared. Ten Nepalis, who had arrived on the mountain as members of three separate teams but united during the ascent, held hands and sung their national anthem as they stepped on to the summit together.

After risking their lives in service to western expeditions for a century, often without much reward or credit, Nepalese climbers had bagged what some billed as the last great prize in high-altitude mountaineering.

“History made for mankind, History made for Nepal!” Purja’s Instagram feed announced as the men descended, before returning to Kathmandu and a heroes’ welcome. It was, Purja would say, “bigger than the World Cup”.

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2Fdc0bf93e-3750-4a81-8774-7be994a0c3f5.jpg?fit=scale-down&source=next&width=700
Crowds welcome the successful Nepali climbers at Kathmandu airport on January 26

Yet less than an hour after their triumph, K2 began to show why it is known as the “Savage Mountain”, confirming fears in the climbing community about the unprecedented mass assault on such a forbidding peak in the coldest months.

Whereas previous winter attempts had been undertaken by a handful of climbers in a single team, this year saw more than 50 hopeful summiteers converge on the peak, a mix of professionals and those who had paid to join a commercial expedition.

Tragedy soon engulfed the mountain, this time away from the front pages, reviving debates about risk, ego and the commercial pressures of adventure in the modern age.

As Purja and his colleagues were starting to descend the upper slopes, Sergi Mingote, a vastly experienced Spanish mountaineer, fell to his death. We may never know what caused the accident, somewhere between Camp 1 and advanced base camp. He would not be the last of K2’s victims.

Storms largely confined the remaining climbers to base camp for the next two weeks. History had already been made, but any disappointment at missing out on the “first” mingled with a thrilling realisation.

“We were like: ‘Woah, this can be done . . . Now we can do it, too,’” recalls Colin O’Brady, an American adventurer. They played Jenga, tried to keep fit, and forged fragile friendships.

Time was running out when a tantalising window appeared in weather forecasts. Climbers mobilised on February 3. There were two groups — a crack unit of professionals who had missed out on the earlier summit window, and a big commercial team.

I had to draw the line between summit fever and wanting to come home
— Noel Hanna, British climber
The pro team was led by John Snorri, 47, a father of six and Iceland’s best known mountaineer. He was joined by Ali Sadpara, 45, a Pakistani climber who had risen from poverty and service as a porter to become a national hero and mountaineering great — among his numerous accomplishments was the first winter ascent of the 8,126m Nanga Parbat, in 2016.

With them was Ali’s 22-year-old son Sajid, who, like his father, had already climbed K2 in the summer.

O’Brady was part of the bigger team of about 40 climbers, half of them Sherpas, who had come with Seven Summit Treks. The Nepalese company had defended itself against criticism for taking paying clients of relatively mixed ability on such an expedition.

“There are always certain and uncertain risks, especially in K2 in the winter,” Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the expedition manager at Seven Summit Treks, told the FT in December. “I just can say we will try our best.”

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2Fa09c523c-67bd-45b9-badc-b150222da889.jpg?fit=scale-down&source=next&width=700
Sajid Sadpara, in Skardu on February 8. His father never returned from the mountain.

The climbers progressed in smaller groups. Some leapfrogged Camp 1, one of the four main possible resting spots on the ascent. They all planned to skip Camp 4, which would make Camp 3 (7,350m) a vital launch pad for the 12 to 15-hour summit push, where climbers could rest for a few hours, melt snow for water, eat and change their socks.

O’Brady woke up at Camp 2 on February 4 to worrying new weather reports. Winds on the summit looked like they were going to get stronger earlier the following day. A narrow weather window was shrinking. He hurried to pack for the ascent to Camp 3. “I set off at about 9.30am on a really beautiful, sunny day with no wind,” he says two weeks later from his home in Wyoming.

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F7e951fd0-75fd-11eb-b4fd-53311f1d5724-standard.png?dpr=1&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&source=next&width=700

O’Brady made short work of the Black Pyramid, a dangerously exposed section of steep rock and ice. But the going was hard, and then the fixed ropes ended just below Camp 3. They may have become buried by windblown snow. Climbers had to navigate crevasses without ropes, further delaying their arrival at Camp 3.

What followed remains somewhat cloudy, but it was immediately clear that everyone was running late, and that there was a severe shortage of tents. About 20 people attempted to huddle into three or four tiny tents in temperatures of -35ºC, making it impossible to properly rest ahead of a summit bid. Other tents that had been cached weeks earlier had blown away.

A body flew directly over my head out of nowhere. There was no warning. There were no cries. There was no sound
— Elia Saikaly, film-maker
“Climbers were forced to pile into tents like sardines in a can,” recalled Elia Saikaly, a Canadian film-maker who was working with Snorri’s team, in a blog published 10 days later.

He turned back from Camp 3 when he could not find the oxygen bottles that were supposed to have been stashed for him. His chance to film the summit attempt over, he retreated to a lower camp and listened to radio chatter up at crowded Camp 3.

“Why the f*ck aren’t there more tents up here?” Saikaly says one climber shouted to another over the radio. Someone else said: “I can’t feel my toes up here, I haven’t changed my clothes and I’m freezing.”

The film-maker also recalled hearing a climber saying of another who was determined to keep going up: “That guy is going to kill himself.”

By about midnight, seven climbers had gone for the summit. The others, including O’Brady and Noel Hanna, the only UK climber on the peak, decided to descend at dawn. “I had to draw the line between summit fever and wanting to come home,” says Hanna, who is from Northern Ireland.

Three of those who had ventured out returned about two hours later with frostbite and reports of a large crevasse, requiring a long detour.

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2Fe09e7580-7604-11eb-96af-77098b1005dd-standard.png?dpr=1&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&source=next&width=700

This left four climbers above Camp 3: Ali and Sajid Sadpara, Snorri and Juan Pablo “JP” Mohr, 33, a Chilean father of three and experienced climber on the Seven Summits team. Sajid later turned back.

He had made it with the others to the notorious Bottleneck couloir, about 400m from the summit, when he tried to turn on his supplementary oxygen system only to find it was not working. Extreme cold also knocked out Snorri’s and Mohr’s GPS trackers, as well as radio and satellite phone batteries. The men were alone.

Hanna and O’Brady began their descent in the morning with the three climbers who had swiftly aborted their summit push. The danger was far from over. New ropes are often installed alongside old ones, which can weaken and fray over time or disappear under deep snow.

Old anchors can become loose. Choosing the right rope on which to clip oneself can be a life-or-death decision. “Sometimes you’ll clip into old and new ropes, because there’s nothing to say even the new rope will hold you,” Hanna says. “A new anchor could pull out.”

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F2b682f30-7771-11eb-ad9a-bd47f8ef3e83-standard.png?fit=scale-down&source=next&width=300

Hanna was descending the steep Black Pyramid when, below him, Atanas Skatov, an accomplished Bulgarian climber, disappeared. Saikaly, who had joined the descent, was just below Skatov. “A body flew directly over my head out of nowhere,” he later wrote. “There was no warning. There were no cries. There was no sound.”

The climbers think Skatov might have made a fatal error while clipping from one rope to another. He fell for more than 1,000m. When the rest of the group got back down, they had to break the news to Sheny, the Bulgarian’s girlfriend, who had been staying with him at base camp.

Hanna arrived at base camp in the middle of the night. When he got up for breakfast to learn that nobody had heard from Snorri, Sadpara or Mohr, his fears multiplied. “They had been out walking for 32 hours and, even with the oxygen they had, that time in minus 50ºC or 60ºC? It’s a no-no,” he says. “It was hard because I’d got to know them really well.”

Sajid Sadpara stayed in Camp 3 long after everyone else had descended, desperately scanning the mountain above for the flash of his father’s head torch, or a glimmer of his brightly coloured down suit. It is hard to imagine the emotions surging through his mind when eventually he descended alone.

It wasn’t until February 18 that Snorri, Sadpara and Mohr were officially declared dead at a press conference in Pakistan, days after military aircraft searches had been called off. “My family and I have lost a kind-hearted person and the Pakistani nation has lost a brave and great adventurous individual who was passionate about the Pakistani flag to the point of insanity,” Sajid Sadpara said. He felt confident the three men had reached the summit, and that something had gone wrong on their way down.

As families in five countries mourn the loss of men who had more than a dozen children between them, an expedition post mortem goes on. The mood of this month’s press conference could not have been in starker contrast to the celebrations that greeted Purja and his countrymen in Kathmandu. Were the deaths an unavoidable consequence of testing human limits on the roof of the world? Or did they push too far?

“I’m the last person who will ever second-guess their decision-making,” says Alan Arnette, a mountaineer and chronicler of the sport who has himself climbed K2. “They made the best decision with the information available to them.”

Nevertheless, the American, who followed every metre of the expedition, describes the combination of worsening weather and the conditions at Camp 3, which made rest and rehydration difficult, as “a recipe for disaster”.

As we wait for more detail to emerge, Arnette is relieved there were not more fatalities. He had been most concerned for the fate of relative novices, all of whom favoured caution. The fallen five were among the most experienced climbers on the mountain, with more than 35 8,000m summits between them.

“And they’re the ones who ended up losing their lives,” he says. “That’s a testament to K2 and climbing 8,000m peaks in winter — it doesn't matter who you are, your life can be taken at the snap of a finger.”

[Bill Ryan]

Another climbing story — and maybe an inspiration for us all.

Alfredo Webber has just climbed the hardest free solo climb yet... technically harder than Alex Honnold's now-famous Free Solo climb of Yosemite's El Capitan. (See this thread: Joe Rogan with Alex Honnold: the greatest athletic achievement of all time (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time).)

Of course, Honnold's 3,000 ft climb was sustained, and (for most mortal humans!) downright terrifying. But Alfredo Webber's climb featured harder moves, though only 50 feet high. And of course, with no rope or protection of any kind, a fall from 49 feet will kill you just as easily as a fall from 2,999 ft.

Here he is, on the climb:

https://projectavalon.net/Alfredo_Webber.png

And here's what he climbed. Just as steep and blank as El Capitan, just a little smaller.

https://projectavalon.net/Alfredo_Webber_2.png

So, why is this inspiring? Alfredo is 52 (fifty-two) years old.

:sun:

[Eva2]

Not an extreme sport but perhaps an extreme walk! Actually does sound like a wonderful adventure:

https://scontent.fcxh3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/161901919_3918138781565139_2079284818542647494_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=eCvcEcxOIgIAX-nTyIC&_nc_ht=scontent.fcxh3-1.fna&oh=8f3441086f09f159b574b426a9b9c72c&oe=60780530

[Bill Ryan]

I don't know if chess is counted as a sport, but it's [usually!] highly competitive — and I gotta post this somewhere. This is hilarious. :bigsmile:


https://theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/18/bongcloud-meme-opening-carlsen-nakamura

Double bongcloud: why grandmasters are playing the worst move in chess

A move so bad you’d have to be stoned to think it was a good idea. But chess’ grandmasters are taking it to the mainstream


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVCst6vyV80
An otherwise meaningless game during Monday’s preliminary stage of the $200,000 Magnus Carlsen (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/magnus-carlsen) Invitational left a pair of grandmasters in stitches while thrusting one of chess’s most bizarre and least effective openings into the mainstream.

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States had already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition with one game left to play between them. Carlsen, the world’s top-ranked player and reigning world champion (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2018/nov/28/magnus-carlsen-v-fabiano-caruana-world-chess-championship-tie-breakers-live), started the dead rubber typically enough by moving his king’s pawn with the common 1 e4. Nakamura, the five-time US champion and current world No 18, mirrored it with 1 … e5. And then all hell broke loose.

Carlsen inched his king one space forward to the rank where his pawn had started. The self-destructive opening (2 Ke2) is known as the bongcloud for a simple reason: you’d have to be stoned to the gills to think it was a good idea.

The wink-wink move immediately sent Nakamura, who’s been a visible champion of the bongcloud in recent years, into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Naturally, the American played along with 2 … Ke7, which marked the first double bongcloud ever played (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2029671) in a major tournament and its official entry to chess theory (namely, the Bongcloud Counter-Gambit: Hotbox Variation).

“Don’t do this!” cried the Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko from the commentary booth, looking on in disbelief as the friendly rivals quickly settled for a draw by repetition after six moves. “Is this, uh, called bongcloud? Yeah? It was something like of a bongcloud business. This Ke2-Ke7 stuff. Please definitely don’t try it at home. Guys, just forget about it.”

Why is the bongcloud so bad? For one, it manages to break practically all of the principles you’re taught about chess openings from day one: it doesn’t fight for the center, it leaves the king exposed and it wastes time, all while eliminating the possibility of castling and managing to impede the development of the bishop and queen. Even the worst openings tend to have some redeeming quality. The bongcloud, not so much.

What makes it funny (well, not to everyone (https://youtu.be/HbO7PYDY0rU)) is the idea that two of the best players on the planet would use an opening so pure in its defiance of conventional wisdom.

This bongcloud has been a cult favorite in chess circles since the dawn of the internet, a popularity only fueled by Bobby Fischer’s rumored deployment of the opening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY) in his alleged series of games with Nigel Short (https://web.archive.org/web/20051128165909/http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/09/nchess09.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/09/09/ixhome.html) on the Internet Chess Club back in 2000. But its origins as a meme (https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChess/search?q=bongcloud&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on) can be traced to Andrew Fabbro’s underground book Winning with the Bongcloud (https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Bongcloud-Andrew-Fabbro-ebook/dp/B0849S1LJ3), a pitch-perfect parody of chess opening manuals and the purple, ponderous language that fills their pages.

That’s not to say, like, say, Michael Chang’s underhand serve against Ivan Lendl in the 1989 French Open, there’s no place for it at the elite level. Carlsen used it last October (http://theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/02/chess-carlsen-wins-with-1-f3-as-play-magnus-raises-42m-in-oslo-listing) in the first game of a speed chess final win over the American grandmaster Wesley So, who confessed to its psychological effects in the aftermath: “It’s hard to forget the game when someone plays f3 and Kf2 and just crushes you. That’s so humiliating.”

Then later: “If you lose a game against 1 f3 and 2 Kf2 it’s just very psychologically draining.”

Of course it’s Nakamura who has become the player most associated with the bongcloud. The 33-year-old most recently won a rapid game using it (http://chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2010678) against the American grandmaster Jeffery Xiong last year during the $250,000 St Louis 27-round Rapid and Blitz. He’s even streamed a speedrun series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7lJ84zf3E) where he attempted to reach a 3000 rating with a new account using only the bongcloud.

The combined visibility, culminating with Monday’s viral moment, have lifted an obscure meme opening out of the shadows. As of Wednesday, it’s been added to the opening databases at lichess and chess.com. Of course, not everyone will be a fan: no less than Short himself appeared (https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/status/1372173036150001668) to describe the bongcloud as an “insult to chess” this week.

Chess will return to Serious Business once again in the next few months. The eight-man candidates tournament to determine Carlsen’s challenger in this year’s world chess championship will resume in April (https://www.fide.com/news/952) in Yekaterinburg following last year’s abrupt suspension (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/26/chess-candidates-stopped-after-russia-suspends-air-traffic). Then in November, Carlsen will embark on the fourth defense of the title he’s held since 2013. The stratospheric stakes of those events all but preclude scenes like Monday’s, which as commentator Tania Sachdev put it amid the delirium, is too bad. After all, it’s only a game.

“It’s kind of nice,” Sachdev said, “to see these two players having a laugh like this.”

[Bill Ryan]

Here's another Hero's Journey story from Indian cricket.

(Who said heroes never cry? :flower: )

And you don't need to understand a thing about the game to let this move you just a little. :heart:

India has two cricketing brothers, Hardik and Krunal Pandya. They were coached to excellence by their father, who was their mentor and inspiration.

Their father had always wanted to see his two sons both play for India. Hardik, the younger of the two, had played for India many times, But Krunal had always been passed over.

Then in January, their father died. Krunal was devastated.

But he responded as heroes do. He straightaway scored far more runs in the Indian domestic league than anyone else. And this week, the national selectors responded by summoning him to play for India against England, the world champions in one-day cricket.

Before the game, Krunal was presented with his India team cap by his younger brother. He was overwhelmed.

https://projectavalon.net/Krunal_Pandya_gets_his_India_cap.jpg

Then he responded once again as heroes do. He scored the fastest 50 runs on debut in one-day international matches in cricket's entire history.

His dazzling, powerful innings played a large part in India's crushing victory over England. As he passed the 50 mark, he stopped to raise his bat, and pointed at the heavens.

In the post-match presentations, he was asked to say a word on Indian national TV. "I did it for my father", he said. Then he broke down, unable to say more.

Hardik, his younger brother, gave him a giant bear hug — also melting the hearts of several hundred million Indian cricket fans.

https://twitter.com/AlexHartley93/status/1374335881335672835

1374335881335672835

[Open Minded Dude]

I don't know if chess is counted as a sport, but it's [usually!] highly competitive — and I gotta post this somewhere. This is hilarious. :bigsmile:


https://theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/18/bongcloud-meme-opening-carlsen-nakamura

Double bongcloud: why grandmasters are playing the worst move in chess

A move so bad you’d have to be stoned to think it was a good idea. But chess’ grandmasters are taking it to the mainstream


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVCst6vyV80
An otherwise meaningless game during Monday’s preliminary stage of the $200,000 Magnus Carlsen (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/magnus-carlsen) Invitational left a pair of grandmasters in stitches while thrusting one of chess’s most bizarre and least effective openings into the mainstream.

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States had already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition with one game left to play between them. Carlsen, the world’s top-ranked player and reigning world champion (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2018/nov/28/magnus-carlsen-v-fabiano-caruana-world-chess-championship-tie-breakers-live), started the dead rubber typically enough by moving his king’s pawn with the common 1 e4. Nakamura, the five-time US champion and current world No 18, mirrored it with 1 … e5. And then all hell broke loose.

Carlsen inched his king one space forward to the rank where his pawn had started. The self-destructive opening (2 Ke2) is known as the bongcloud for a simple reason: you’d have to be stoned to the gills to think it was a good idea.

The wink-wink move immediately sent Nakamura, who’s been a visible champion of the bongcloud in recent years, into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Naturally, the American played along with 2 … Ke7, which marked the first double bongcloud ever played (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2029671) in a major tournament and its official entry to chess theory (namely, the Bongcloud Counter-Gambit: Hotbox Variation).

“Don’t do this!” cried the Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko from the commentary booth, looking on in disbelief as the friendly rivals quickly settled for a draw by repetition after six moves. “Is this, uh, called bongcloud? Yeah? It was something like of a bongcloud business. This Ke2-Ke7 stuff. Please definitely don’t try it at home. Guys, just forget about it.”

Why is the bongcloud so bad? For one, it manages to break practically all of the principles you’re taught about chess openings from day one: it doesn’t fight for the center, it leaves the king exposed and it wastes time, all while eliminating the possibility of castling and managing to impede the development of the bishop and queen. Even the worst openings tend to have some redeeming quality. The bongcloud, not so much.

What makes it funny (well, not to everyone (https://youtu.be/HbO7PYDY0rU)) is the idea that two of the best players on the planet would use an opening so pure in its defiance of conventional wisdom.

This bongcloud has been a cult favorite in chess circles since the dawn of the internet, a popularity only fueled by Bobby Fischer’s rumored deployment of the opening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9p2PrsKWY) in his alleged series of games with Nigel Short (https://web.archive.org/web/20051128165909/http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/09/nchess09.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/09/09/ixhome.html) on the Internet Chess Club back in 2000. But its origins as a meme (https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChess/search?q=bongcloud&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on) can be traced to Andrew Fabbro’s underground book Winning with the Bongcloud (https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Bongcloud-Andrew-Fabbro-ebook/dp/B0849S1LJ3), a pitch-perfect parody of chess opening manuals and the purple, ponderous language that fills their pages.

That’s not to say, like, say, Michael Chang’s underhand serve against Ivan Lendl in the 1989 French Open, there’s no place for it at the elite level. Carlsen used it last October (http://theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/02/chess-carlsen-wins-with-1-f3-as-play-magnus-raises-42m-in-oslo-listing) in the first game of a speed chess final win over the American grandmaster Wesley So, who confessed to its psychological effects in the aftermath: “It’s hard to forget the game when someone plays f3 and Kf2 and just crushes you. That’s so humiliating.”

Then later: “If you lose a game against 1 f3 and 2 Kf2 it’s just very psychologically draining.”

Of course it’s Nakamura who has become the player most associated with the bongcloud. The 33-year-old most recently won a rapid game using it (http://chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2010678) against the American grandmaster Jeffery Xiong last year during the $250,000 St Louis 27-round Rapid and Blitz. He’s even streamed a speedrun series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7lJ84zf3E) where he attempted to reach a 3000 rating with a new account using only the bongcloud.

The combined visibility, culminating with Monday’s viral moment, have lifted an obscure meme opening out of the shadows. As of Wednesday, it’s been added to the opening databases at lichess and chess.com. Of course, not everyone will be a fan: no less than Short himself appeared (https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess/status/1372173036150001668) to describe the bongcloud as an “insult to chess” this week.

Chess will return to Serious Business once again in the next few months. The eight-man candidates tournament to determine Carlsen’s challenger in this year’s world chess championship will resume in April (https://www.fide.com/news/952) in Yekaterinburg following last year’s abrupt suspension (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/26/chess-candidates-stopped-after-russia-suspends-air-traffic). Then in November, Carlsen will embark on the fourth defense of the title he’s held since 2013. The stratospheric stakes of those events all but preclude scenes like Monday’s, which as commentator Tania Sachdev put it amid the delirium, is too bad. After all, it’s only a game.

“It’s kind of nice,” Sachdev said, “to see these two players having a laugh like this.”[/URL]

Love it.

I was a chess nerd as a child, even buying and studying colorful textbooks. I had it all covered: One book for openings, one for midgame, one for the endgame.
:happythumbsup:

Had an old chess computer called "Mephisto". Found the pic here:

https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/images/thumb/8/8f/Mephi_II.jpg/390px-Mephi_II.jpg

Then, as it usually goes in life and especially in your youth, later as a teen I had other interests such as music occupying my time more (listening and then even playing music myself) and so the chess nerdism faded.

Still love to be reminded of it with all the nostalgia feelings and indeed I caught myself a few times on Youtube (the good part of it!) watching chess channels in recent years, even only a few months back due to a TV show (see below).

I especially liked watching videos from Aagadmator's channel here:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5YbN5WLFD8dLIegT5QAbA/videos (http://keepvid.com/?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7lJ84zf3E)

I guess it's 'Once a nerd, always a nerd'. Somewhat.

:chess:

Btw, has anyone seen the recent Netflix show 'The Queen's Gambit'?

It's actually worth a watch. I liked it. But maybe you have to be a former chess nerd to enjoy it.

(Just by the way, the trailer is a bit misleading, for me it was neither 'too feminist' nor was it Russia-bashing, in the latter case you'll actually be surprised as it was quite the opposite in the end, but I don't want to put out too many spoilers if s.o. decides to watch it).

CDrieqwSdgI

[Anka]

If we talk about real numbers, counting infinity is also a kind of endless sport.

If for example all the people in the world were paired to play chess every day, and each game would be unique in the placement of the pieces, to reach this number of 10 to 40 power, possible games, they would have to play billions and billions of years to play them all.

If we consider all the chess games played in history so far, by all people, compared to all possible chess games, they are only a tiny fraction.
It's fun anyway ...

How many chess games are possible?(12:10)

Km024eldY1A

What a fascinating game chess is! What infinity of human relationships and reactions can mediate the chessboard and the 32 pieces. Basically we have before us a game with a number of unique games that tends to infinity… and for that I take only the estimates made by the human mind, however...

[Mike]

Here we have McEnroe, Becker, Lendl, and Wilander having a spirited conversation about today's tennis and their old rivalries. These guys are as prickly and competitive as ever, but also very funny and cheeky with one another. It was great fun listening to. Underneath all the teasing is a clear sense of respect and admiration for each other. 35 mins long:

F877cmjJfeM

[Mike]

4vashrNoXTE

[Richter]

The MLB (Major Baseball League) has started a few weeks ago. I'm not the biggest baseball fan but I like the NY Yankees, LA Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. Until last year they used to give away the outcome of the game in the title underneath the video, and that spoiled most of the fun, but this season they don't, so watching these highlights became quite exciting.
So if you like baseball here's a link where you'll find all the daily highlights.
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoLrcjPV5PbUrUyXq5mjc_A/videos

CErrDLnxqbU

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Right. You may not be so aware of this if you're outside Europe, although this has made international headlines, but a huge controversy - some would say ABSOLUTE WAR - has erupted in the world of football.


European Super League: Uefa and Premier League condemn 12 major clubs signing up to breakaway plans

Uefa, the Premier League and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have condemned 12 major European clubs, including the 'big six' from England, signing up to a breakaway European Super League.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are part of the group. La Liga's Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid and Serie A's AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus are involved. Uefa said it will use "all measures" possible to stop the "cynical project".

Senior figures at European football's governing body are furious about the proposals. Johnson said the plans would be "very damaging for football" and that the UK government supports the sport's authorities "in taking action". He added: "The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps." The European Clubs' Association (ECA), which represents Europe's clubs, held an emergency meeting on Sunday in the wake of the reports.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56794673 [More]

The backlash against this has been massive, unprecedented, from every corner of the land. Which is very heartening. And now the government is threatening to get involved, which it should. This is nothing but greed, a hideous power grab - for more power and more money - by the richest clubs in Europe. This is like the elites of football coming together in a secret circle to eliminate all other competition, in effect to deify themselves.

If say, you're American and don't know what this is about, imagine the top 10 NFL franchises for example got together and plotted to breakaway from the NFL to set up their own private pay-per-view Super-NFL competition, owned by themselves, controlled by themselves, and they would play only each other, and no one else. It would mean the lesser franchises would no longer have the opportunity to compete for the Superbowl anymore.

It's worse than that in football (soccer), because there are so many more teams (in the UK alone, 92 professional clubs - and beneath that 100s more semi-professional). They all compete in what is called the 'football pyramid', spread across multiple Divisions hierarchically arranged. Theoretically, this model allows for even small, local backwater teams to advance through merit on the field, and if good enough, if successful enough, win promotion to higher levels and climb that pyramid, potentially to play against the biggest and best at the very top. In the UK that has happened many times. It's why the sport is so loved, it's why football is our national sport and the national sport of innumerable countries around the world. Because it's the stuff of dreams.

46604

Football is a Competition between ALL teams, small and large, rich and poor, thrown into the mix together to compete on equal terms. In football, anything can and does happen, which makes it unique, cherished, and an extremely powerful force in people's lives. It's been a national religion for 150 years. But now these rich bastards want to trash all that, stab the fans in the back, and create their own personal, private Super-League. It threatens to put so many other clubs out of business forever. In fact what surprises me most about this is the universal outrage it has caused, because let's face it, the cynic in me expected many to just roll over and accept it. The rich after all call the shots. People are afraid to question anymore. People are afraid to criticise. But no. Widespread condemnation has been very loud. The call for sanctions against these clubs have come from many big, big names in the game. Top pundit Gary Neville - who grates on me and whom I often disagree - actually nailed it superbly in this tirade at the weekend.

GP05EDm9EB8

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

https://twitter.com/AFCAjax/status/1384608703211524097


European Super League: Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says project cannot proceed

Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says the European Super League (ESL) project cannot proceed as Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid joined the six Premier League clubs in withdrawing.

Agnelli was one of the chief architects of the breakaway plans, which involved 12 clubs from England, Spain and Italy. But with eight of the 12 teams pulling out, he accepts it cannot now go ahead.

"To be frank and honest no, evidently that is not the case," said Agnelli, on whether the ESL could still happen. "I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value that it would have developed to the pyramid, of the creation of the best competition in the world, but evidently no. I don't think that project is now still up and running."

Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan announced their withdrawal on Wednesday morning. The Juventus chairman was described as a "snake and a liar" by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin on Monday after the announcement of the breakaway plans on Sunday evening.

Agnelli resigned his position as chairman of the European Clubs' Association on Sunday and refused to take calls from Ceferin.

And there you have it. :flower:

What a beautiful, magnificent thing that these mega-rich meddlers got destroyed, and their private JP Morgan bankrolled Super League abolished, by the Power of the people.

Following MASSIVE resistance, criticism, and fans flooding the streets to demonstrate, all 6 English clubs withdrew from the Super-League almost within one single hour late last night. Several high level resignations have now followed. And good riddance.

I'm very thankful this was done so quickly, and not dragged on and on with government enquiries and legal challenges, because what would inevitably have occurred would be violence on the streets. It got close to that last night, on day one after the announcement. Yes, football is so all-encompassing in this country and abroad, that jeez, nigh on a second civil war may have been on the cards here. I jest, but not entirely. The passion and the devotion to our national sport has been well and truly exemplified this last couple of days. These elites saw what they were up against: fan power, people power.

This is a huge victory for the people. Football has been saved, but more than that, the People found their voice, found their Power, and exercised it in no uncertain terms. They displayed the full scope of that Power to affect Change. When people get together they really can move mountains! So this should serve as a big wake up call to just about everyone, anyone that cares strongly about something. What occurred here was the unslayable leviathan that is football's superpowers being crushed by the collective power of the common people – and inside just 24 hours.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2021/4/20/bb39074a-4f20-4417-95ce-b335be0faf54.jpg

So no, Owners, you don't have the ultimate power you think you have. Your money can't buy you your dreams, only we the people can do that for you. We can also trash your dreams, so be warned.

The empty apologies they're now offering carry no weight either. They admit to having made a terrible mistake. No you didn't. You knew exactly what you were doing. You've been planning this in secret for months, maybe years. You quite expected initial resistance, but hell, not this much! If you ever, ever, for one second, had the best interests of football at heart, and the best interests of the fans, you would never have gone ahead. You've shown your colours, you've shown your principles. Your only true regret here is that your plans were quickly and so brutally dashed.

Glorious.

What comes next, everyone is saying, has to be consequences. These offending clubs must be hit hard with sanctions. Some are even calling for ejection from the Football League. I cannot imagine that will happen. The loss of revenue for the league minus the involvement of the 'big 6' will be untenable to them. But nothing short of severe penalties will do, because this MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

I saw this post on a message board today, and it's doing the rounds. It pretty much sums it up.


“Never, ever, ever **** with football fans. “

It's why we don't have football franchises like the NFL, where a team can up sticks from one city and move to another. Go ahead Owners and try that in the UK, see what happens… :)

https://media0.giphy.com/media/3o72F9fEHKtEo1kqnm/giphy.gif

[Hermoor]

I was so happy to see the people power in effect to destroy that superleague monstrosity. Well done indeed to all.

The irony is their neighbourhoods, communities and businesses are all going to the wall with the covidiot charade and it took a game of football to get them really pissed off.

However.

One good victory will invariably lead to many others.

And so it begins. Jolly good.

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Gracy]

I thought this was pretty funny, what a dumbass this guy is going in challenging a boxing instructor. 3 minutes 52 seconds:
oOKI7hknAJ4

[Hermoor]

I thought this was pretty funny, what a dumbass this guy is going in challenging a boxing instructor. 3 minutes 52 seconds

Ha! Yes indeed. It takes a special kind of idiot to mess with a pro boxer.

I had the time of my life over the years working at sea for very gifted people in the boxing business.

Never, ever underestimate the reach of these people. Or that of their many friends. A can of whup ass doesn't even come close to describing their wrath... :ROFL:

[Hermoor]

The 'little guys' (and girls) can be a lot of fun too.

From personal experience I say this with a dear school and wrestling friend in mind.

We were born two days apart. He started winning British amateur wrestling championship titles at the age of 9-10. As a grown man he is about 5'5" and 145 lbs.

Glad he's a friend of mine. If forced to defend himself he'd destroy an average 200+ lbs guy in next to no time. Mongoose quick; absurdly, freakishly strong and knows every move and trick in the book.

Wrestling is such a beautiful art and craft. I'm like an enchanted kid in a candy store when the pro wrestling is on the tv. Absolutely love it.

[Gracy]

This one is a classic IMO. When I was a skydiving student back in the day, the top 3 things drilled into my head, even above emergency procedures, were the following:

1- Altitude Awareness

2- Altitude Awareness

3- Altitude Awareness

Check the ground and the altimeter often!

In this brief video, is shown precisely why. These two guys got so into their jump, that their utter and complete loss of altitude awareness rendered any emergency preparedness training useless. When you're passing through 1,000' in freefall, you're about 5 seconds from splatting. The recommended opening altitude for experienced jumpers is 2,500', and students 4,000'.

Well anyway, there is this incredible invention called an AAD, Automatic Activation Device, and they're set to fire off the reserve chute at 700'. The reason it's not higher is that the reserve may interfere with a low opening main, so 700' is last chance corral.

You ain't gonna successfully deploy a main parachute beyone that point, too late...

Watch how increasingly fast the ground comes up as they approach 700' where the AAD's fire. They hadn't a clue how many thousands of feet of altitude the had lost track of, and they were of course shocked by a sudden crisp reserve opening out of seeming nowhere, and then safely landing soft before they hardly even knew what had happened.

Talk about a true s##t your pants moment upon realizing what just happened!
wCrvQ_xy_LA

It's mandatory nationwide (US) for all student jump rigs to be equipped with AAD's, but once off of student status they are optional. I only ever jumped one time without one, borrowed a friend's rig to try out and they didn't choose to jump with one. It really was a different feeling climbing to 13,500' that one time knowing it was all on me to pull that lil thingie, no second chances if something weird happens like these two smartly bought for themselves.

[Satori]

That’s cutting it way too close.

I never did any free fall sky diving, but I made many jumps while in the 82nd from C130s, C141s and Heweys. They were all static line jumps. Many of the jumps I made were tactical jumps. Just enough time after you exit the aircraft for your chute to open and to look for a spot to do your PLF (parachute landing fall). Administrative jumps are from a higher altitude. There’s a little time to enjoy the quiet serenity as you float down. Not much, but some. (Carrying 75lbs of gear and an M60 detracted from the serenity and enjoyment, however.)

I enjoyed jumping, but not enough I guess to pursue it after I got out of the Army.

[Hermoor]

Yes! Beautiful!!

UFC 261 in Jacksonville a few days ago.

No face nappies. No idiotic, inhumane anti-social distancing.

Our fighters and fight fans clearly making a bold statement of intent.

15 000 plus of them. Wonderful news, truly wonderful.

http://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/2021/04/ufc-261-fans-getty.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1

(Mods. Sorry if the image is too wide for the forum page? If so, please would somebody get the spanners out and kindly resize it?)

If you really love your MMA, there's some more news and reading about the Jacksonville event here:

http://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-261-twitter-reacts-fans-being-back-in-arena

[Bill Ryan]

A little historical post: a tribute to women climbers, and to Lynn Hill — the woman climber.

https://scontent.fgye1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/9788_882299545169555_390245210021256515_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=mR0Cb-Hs4DwAX9tBe8e&_nc_ht=scontent.fgye1-1.fna&oh=5d34170b3bc39e105130d6d80785c758&oe=60B80D2D

https://mendifilmfestival.com/MFF/images/2017/MendiPanelTalk/Lynn-Hill_MT.jpg

Lynn is 5' 2" high (157 cm), and weighs 50 kg (110 lbs). Her arms are hardly those of a bodybuilder.

https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/www.miningjournal.net/images/2019/03/22082858/Great-Roof-587x840.jpg

Yet in 1994, she staggered the climbing world in the same way that Alex Honnold (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104825-Joe-Rogan-with-Alex-Honnold-the-greatest-athletic-achievement-of-all-time) did when he climbed El Capitan, solo, in a few hours, without a rope at all.

At the time, despite her diminutive stature, Lynn was better than any man. Famously, she wrote:
"It goes, boys."
Here's what she meant, and when and why she said it.

In 2017, the route that Alex Honnold climbed was up one of the blank side walls of El Capitan. But the very obvious, in-your-face feature is what's called "The Nose".

Here it is: the exact line of shadow going up the middle of the thing for 3,000 ft.

https://www.planetmountain.com/img/1/48531.jpg

It had first been climbed back in 1958, in 47 days of climbing spread out over 16 months. (Months!) The climb used aid: meaning, pitons were hammered into tiny cracks in the rock, where there seemed to be no possible holds, for the climbers to pull themselves up on.

No-one thought the climb could ever be done without pitons for help: just hands and feet, the way Honnold did it when he climbed his route in 2017.

Then in 1993, Lynn Hill climbed the Nose "free". Meaning, free of any artificial aids. Just her hands and feet.

When she announced — tongue-in-cheek to all her male colleagues — "It goes, boys", she meant:
Look, it goes free, with no pitons for holds or help. I've just done it.
The next year, 1994, she stunned the climbing world again by repeating the free climb in a single day.

It was 12 years before any men were able to replicate her feat.

Here's the iconic climbing poster that was published by Boreal, her sponsor. The photo was taken by John Bachar, himself a legend — who was unable to do what she had done.

The poster hangs in climbing gyms everywhere to this day, inspiring young girls to ask who Lynn Hill was, and to then set them on their way to follow her.

:sun:

https://projectavalon.net/It_goes_boys_Lynn_Hill_poster.jpg

[Patient]

I thought this was pretty funny, what a dumbass this guy is going in challenging a boxing instructor. 3 minutes 52 seconds:
oOKI7hknAJ4

Ok, that was funny. What was that guy thinking? He obviously has never had proper training. Maybe a few Karate lessons when he was a kid (based on his stance). But maybe not. Lol!

I am actually a bit surprised that the boxing coach even gave him the opportunity. (there must have been a long lead up to that) I would bet that that guy would have fallen down on his own if the coach hadn't had hip surgery and was able to move around the ring.

[araucaria]

Playstation x.n
In this last year, I have not been watching much sport, because, apart from other reasons, it’s often boring… and sometimes a little too exciting. Many top sportsmen are adept at the Playstation version of their game. I am sure Nadal and Federer have played Federer v Nadal from both sides of the net, and the sport has probably benefited in the process. But I am thinking that when sport is only viewable on the telly/computer, just how much is it going to resemble a Playstation session? The following remarks are inspired by watching some of the football/soccer game between Manchester City and Chelsea (https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/may/08/manchester-city-v-chelsea-premier-league-live), two English clubs that have just qualified to meet in the European Champions Cup final.

If you are scripting a game, you will have noted that many goals occur just before half-time (45 mins) and just before full-time (90 mins), or some time after, if stoppage time has been added. An equaliser at around 60 mins is often necessary for extra suspense, i.e. for the team losing say at half-time to win the match. This match completely fulfilled that scenario, with the extra treat of a missed penalty that would cost dearly – and not only missed, but missed through hubris.

What I am thinking here – just contemplating as an abstract thought, with no reference to any actual reality – is that, having removed sixty thousand eye witnesses owing to you know what, there is all the necessary footage, already used to devise the Playstation software, to simply… broadcast a Playstation session between… whoever, it doesn’t really matter. All the usual suspects do their usual thing, the coaches react to a goal for or against the way they have done a thousand times before, Mourinho gets sacked again etc. And only one point of view is shown at any time: that of the camera on air. The other actors can be doing anything: they literally don’t exist.

So the question is: given that there is an alternative explanation, are these matches really taking place at all? I know someone living in close proximity to a stadium where a France-England encounter recently took place. They heard, and wondered at, a God Save the Queen out of nowhere. But of course, there was no evidence for a match having taken place. I leave the question open: I have no answer; but back in the olden days, circa AD 2019 and earlier, there was no open question; if you lived near a stadium, without being an eye-witness, you knew exactly at what time it started and finished, and what was the result. And if, as a small boy, you had been carried along by the crowd without moving your feet, then you knew all about the real experience.

You would think that a football crowd, a small mob getting fanatical about something totally meaningless, would be the last place to look for enlightened behaviour. And yet last weekend, within 24 hours, they scuppered the elite’s plans (https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/apr/27/david-squires-on-fan-resistance-and-the-fall-of-the-european-super-league) for a risk-free money-grabbing (Playstation-type) European Super League.
These are the same people who have been voting conservative, against their own interests, in an election. Why? Because grossly unsuccessful Labour party activists in Hartlepool this week were telling voters who had changed sides, ‘You need to check your values (https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keir-starmer-labour-hartlepool-analysis_uk_60959a24e4b0ae3c687e5904)’.
When there is no effective opposition… get out your Playstation. Sigh.

[Bill Ryan]

Andrzej Bargiel, who was the first to have skied down K2 (others had died trying), has now skied down Laila Peak with his companion Jędrek Baranowsk.

That's this thing. (Go figure!)

http://snowbrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/82-465x620.jpg

Here's the new video... be amazed at what humans can do. :sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU3ugu3R_yY

[Richter]

Yankees vs. Rangers Highlights (5/19/21) (8:20)
Kluber pitches the first NYY no-hitter (that is when a pitcher does not allow the batters from the other team to get a base hit) since 1999
E6Z25xubZpE

[Eva2]

https://aeon.co/videos/dances-with-whales-the-ethereal-underwater-vistas-of-an-elite-freediving-team
Dances with whales: the ethereal underwater vistas of an elite freediving team

One Breath Around the World is the latest aquatic spectacle from the French freediving champion Guillaume Néry, and his partner, the French freediver, underwater filmmaker and dancer Julie Gautier. Without the aid of supplied air, Néry plunges into the ocean’s hidden depths, revealing remarkable views of marine geology and wildlife around the globe. Seamlessly transitioning between a range of underwater realms, the video gives the impression that Néry’s journey is taken in a single breath. With stunning camerawork by Gautier, who also held her breath while filming, the duo prove themselves expert explorers of not only water, but space and perspective as well, making these grand underwater landscapes appear almost alien. For more phenomenal freediving, watch Gautier’s extraordinary underwater dance Ama.

[Bluegreen]

Balap Kelereng Babak Final Piala Presiden 2021 - Marble Run Indonesia

:cheer2:

(12:18)
cstWkEnfHYc
Related:

[Richter]

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. LA Dodgers (Highlights) (7/10/21) (08:07)
History is written in CAP LOCKS!
2bVh2EPDf_g

[Le Chat]

From Devil's Tower to the Grampians
Simon Carter’s rock climbing photography – in pictures

Not something I've ever been tempted by, preferring to be an 'armchair climber'.
But blimey, I don't half have respect for these people....

https://theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/jul/10/from-devils-tower-to-the-grampians-simon-carters-rock-climbing-photography-in-pictures (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/jul/10/from-devils-tower-to-the-grampians-simon-carters-rock-climbing-photography-in-pictures)

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/6016.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/5135.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/4204.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/3415.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/6019.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/5952.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/5389.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/4256.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/4239.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/4017.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/3459.jpg

https://projectavalon.net/climbing_photos/2832.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

Here are two of the best catches ever taken in women's cricket.

The first, 5 years ago, was an almost unbelievable display of reflexes, described by many as a "wonder catch". (Sarah Taylor, the wicketkeeper, was widely regarded as the best in the world in either the men's or the women's game.)

The second, by Indian fielder Harleen Deol, was just a couple of days ago. To understand what happened here, in cricket when a catch is taken near the boundary rope, the fielder cannot be touching the ground outside the boundary, and the ball, at the same time.

With Harleen's catch, which also had the commentators gasping, it wasn't a matter of superhuman reflexes — it was her exceptional agility and presence of mind under a LOT of pressure.

:sun:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ydy0o9lso

https://projectavalon.net/Harleen_Deol_boundary_catch.mp4
https://projectavalon.net/Harleen_Deol_boundary_catch.mp4

[Bluegreen]

. . . .

[Bill Ryan]

Here's a real-time mountaineering story that is very moving. (Many are. :flower: )

There's a 7,000m (23,000 ft) mountain in northern Kyrgyzstan called Khan Tengri. It's difficult and dangerous, far from anywhere, and it's very very cold.

https://themountainschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Khan_Tengri-600x450.jpg

Details are emerging of a bad situation that occurred a few days ago when a two-person husband-and-wife mountaineering team succeeded in reaching the summit together, but on the descent hit a serious emergency in which the husband was incapacitated. His wife refused to leave him.

On a Facebook post is a Russian transcript of the radio conversation with colleagues at base camp. The team at base camp tried to persuade her to save herself while she could, reminding her that they had a child. But the wife repeatedly says "I will not leave him", and "I understand everything".

Google auto-translate doesn't do this justice, but maybe Mashika might help. It seems very poignant, and the injured man's wife has to be some kind of hero.

No-one can ever do more than their absolute best. One's personal response in a terrible situation is what one has to live with alone for many years after.

I believe, but do not know for sure, that eventually help was organized in which the wife was rescued but her husband could not be assisted or carried down the mountain. My understanding is that nothing could be done and he had to be left there where he died. Sometimes that has to happen, as in war.

I don't even know their names. :flower:

https://facebook.com/100001868314593/posts/6158355440903339
8 августа, в День альпинизма, под вершиной Хан-Тенгри разворачивалась драма. Ниже изложенное похоже на сценарий фильма, но это было не кино.
.... – Где именно вы находитесь?
– Под куполом, выше 6800.
– Какое его состояние сейчас?
– Не может сидеть, валится на бок, речь путанная.
...
– Наташа, ответь Южному.
– На приёме.
– К вам идут ребята, но им ещё далеко, будут уже утром. Наташа, вам нужно спускаться самой, вы не можете ничем ему помочь, как меня понял? Приём.
– Я не оставлю мужа.
...
– Наташа, это Доктор, как меня слышишь?
– Да, слышу.
– Наташа, у вас есть дети?
– Да, у нас ребёнок.
– Вам нужно подумать о ребёнке. Если вы останетесь там на ночь, он может остаться без обоих родителей. Вы это понимаете?
– Я все понимаю, я не оставлю его одного.
...
– Наташа, ответь Южному.
– На приёме.
– Вам нужно спускаться, Наташа, погода портится, скоро ночь.
– Я не оставлю мужа. Он совсем беспомощный, я даю ему питьё.
– Значит, ваше решение ночевать рядом с ним?
– Да.
– Выройте яму, попробуйте его туда спрятать. Только не отстегивайтесь от перил. И не спите. Не спите. Шевелитесь постоянно. Как понял?
– Я все поняла.
...
– Наташа, Южному.
– На связи.
– Удалось вырыть яму?
– Нет, ничего не вышло, тут снега мало.
– Наташа, держитесь. Ребята идут, идут как могут, не машины же, люди обычные.
...
– База, База, ответь.
– На приёме.
– Мужу плохо совсем. Мёрзнет т.к. не двигается, бредит.
– Держись, Наташа, сама двигайся, шевелись, не спи, двигайся, приседай.
– Хорошо.
...
6 утра 9 августа
– Северный, обнаружены пострадавшие. Живые. Оба. Наташа может идти, мужик нет.
...
10 августа
Спасработы продолжаются...

[Mashika]

Here's a real-time mountaineering story that is very moving. (Many are. :flower: )

There's a 7,000m (23,000 ft) mountain in northern Kyrgyzstan called Khan Tengri. It's difficult and dangerous, far from anywhere, and it's very very cold.

https://themountainschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Khan_Tengri-600x450.jpg

Details are emerging of a bad situation that occurred a few days ago when a two-person husband-and-wife mountaineering team succeeded in reaching the summit together, but on the descent hit a serious emergency in which the husband was incapacitated. His wife refused to leave him.

On a Facebook post is a Russian transcript of the radio conversation with colleagues at base camp. The team at base camp tried to persuade her to save herself while she could, reminding her that they had a child. But the wife repeatedly says "I will not leave him", and "I understand everything".

Google auto-translate doesn't do this justice, but maybe Mashika might help. It seems very poignant, and the injured man's wife has to be some kind of hero.

No-one can ever do more than their absolute best. One's personal response in a terrible situation is what one has to live with alone for many years after.

I believe, but do not know for sure, that eventually help was organized in which the wife was rescued but her husband could not be assisted or carried down the mountain. My understanding is that nothing could be done and he had to be left there where he died. Sometimes that has to happen, as in war.

I don't even know their names. :flower:

https://facebook.com/100001868314593/posts/6158355440903339

Hi!

Found an original article, their names were Sergei and Natasha, their last names were not made public
https://svodka.akipress.org/news:1723148 (https://svodka.akipress.org/news:1723148/?f=cp)

Happened on August 8, I rewrote a bit to make it more like English, so a bit may not be exactly how it was said, but it doesn't make sense when translated directly otherwise

Base: What is your current location?
Natasha: Just below the summit. We are above 6800m.
Base: How is he at this time?
Natasha: He can't stand, he's lying on his side, he's very confused and he can't speak clearly.
...
Base: Natasha, please reply.
Natasha: I can hear you.
Base: Help is coming your way, but they're nowhere near you yet. They're not going to be there until the morning. Natasha, you need to come down, there is nothing you can do to help him. Will you do that? Over.
Natasha: I will not leave him.
...
Base: Natasha, this is the doctor calling you, can you hear me?
Natasha: Yes, I hear you.
Base: Natasha, do you have children?
Natasha: Yes, we have a baby.
Base: You have to think about your baby. If you stay there through the night, he may be left without either of you. Can you understand me?
Natasha: I understand everything. But I will not leave him.
...
Base: Natasha, are you there?
Natasha: I'm listening.
Base: You need to go down, the weather is turning bad and soon it will be night.
Natasha: I will not leave my husband. He can't take care of himself. I'm giving him water.
Base: Will you stay there with him during the night?
Natasha: Yes.
Base: You need to dig a snow hole and shelter inside. Do not unclip from the rope. Don't fall asleep. Don't go to sleep. Keep moving all the time. Can you understand me?
Natasha: Yes, I understand everything.
...
(next morning)
Base: Natasha, it's us.
Natasha: I'm here.
Base: Could you build the snow hole and shelter?
Natasha: No, I could not, there is very little snow.
Base: Natasha, keep hanging in there. Help is on the way, but they're going slowly. Please keep waiting.
...
Base: This is base, please answer.
Natasha: I can hear you. My husband is very bad. He is starting to freeze because he can't move, and he is delirious now.
Base: Keep holding on, Natasha. Keep moving. Do not fall sleep. Keep on moving your legs.
Natasha: Yes.
...

6 a.m. August 9
Base record: The two were found on the North face. Both were alive. Natasha could descend, but her husband was not able to, and he could not be moved.

---------

In the original article, it is mentioned that she was helped down to base camp, but he died on August 11.

The article also mentions 3 other deaths (on a nearby mountain, Pobeda Peak). The weather in the region has been very bad.

On August 4: Mehri Jafari from Iran
On August 7: Reza Adineh, from Iran
On August 8: Valentin Mikhailov, from Russia

[Richter]

Red Sox vs. Astros (10/16/21) (8:52)
MLB 'semi-finals' (ALCS) Game 2 - Highlights
CkGNL7y3CZQ

[Richter]

Also, the NFL is well underway.
Highlights of nearly all games: https://www.youtube.com/c/NFL/videos

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Scorigami alert!

If you like sports stats, and you're a nerd like me, you may enjoy Scorigami (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorigami#cite_note-chart-1). On its wikipage, Scorigami is described as "a scoring combination that has never happened before in a sport or league's history."

In American football, there have been 1,067 unique scores to date. New unique scores are relatively rare, but one occurred today, when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the New York Giants 38-11, a score that had never before occurred in NFL history. You can have quite a lot of fun playing with the official NFL Scorigami chart over at https://nflscorigami.com/

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/attachment.php?attachmentid=47644&d=1634505281

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

A couple of football funnies from last night.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1450585477602549768

https://twitter.com/i/status/1450734423306027009