All Sports All The Time

[Bluegreen]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Dear Friends, I'm guessing that like me you may know little or nothing about Kickboxing, and have never heard of Mona Kimura. But trust me, you gotta watch this.

She's adorably cute, and doesn't look very strong: she's 5 foot 5 and weighs just 115 lbs.

But she started karate before she could tie her shoes, and her parents coached her to stand absolutely still on one leg for minutes on end. The result is that she kicks like Achilles throwing a spear, with her opponents barely able to get near her. Her lightning-fast speed, accuracy and balance might have made Muhammad Ali jealous. It's quite something to see.

First, take a look at this, just 30 seconds.

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Mona_Kimura.mp4



If you're inspired to see more, this 9 minute video is all about her career, starting when she was a tiny little girl.

They Laughed at Mona Kimura… Until the Brutal KOs Started

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DqA1q4oXGzc

20 Times Mona Kimura DESTROYED Cocky Fighters For Disrespect



And a marketing genius wearing pigtails, purple and pink in the ring.

(15:52)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=8HinyZ4eSMk

[Richter]

Match of the season!
Golden Knights vs. Hurricanes | NHL Playoff Highlights | Game 3 (13:09)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wYBsNDGOMhg

[Inversion]

Joe Rogan speaks with world champ in armwrestling Devon Larratt. He was in the Canadian special forces and has been arm wrestling for decades. He goes through the history of the sport and injuries they deal with. While talking about genetics with powerlifters I thought there's experiments going on them and people are mind controlled into entering sports. A segment of this video was posted four days ago. While with the military he saw an eight-foot-tall male overseas and in Canada he saw a man over eight feet.

Devon's comments about giants.

Noteable arm wrestlers he mentioned:

John Brzenk- Devon said he's the greatest of all time (GOAT) and dominated the sport for decades. The 1987 movie Over the Top followed a tournament John won.

Levan Saginashvili- No one has beaten him in ten years.

Jeff Dabe- He was born with extremely large hands and forearms. video

Andrey Smaev- Known as the Russian Hulk that they're trying to bring into the sport. video

06/05/26 (2:42:49)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZmejzHXudq0

[Bill Ryan]

Here's more Mona Kimura, for anyone who needs a little light relief.

This isn't a fight — it's just some dojo sparring between her and Yuto Fukuchi, a karate world champion way bigger and heavier than Mona. But Fukuchi is a big admirer of Mona (and vice versa) — and the two have a great deal of fun.

Both fighters show their skills (it takes a lot of skill NOT to hit an opponent when sparring), and they're admirably humble, respectful, and it's all very funny. They're role-playing as Ryu (Fukuchi) vs Chun-Li (Mona), two of the characters from the Street Fighter video game.

Fukuchi is clearly an extremely good guy. He jokes to the camera all the time, though in a real fight Mona would surely have no chance against him. But watch to the very end, where there's a wonderful brief outtake when Mona lands a kick to Fukuchi's head (which may have been unintentional!) — and floors him completely.

(And more than one YouTube comment points out what a great couple they'd be... )

MONA VS FUKUCHI 〜 REAL LIFE STREET FIGHTER

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0BtP27a-Ufw

[Bill Ryan]

Dear Friends, trust me: this short video is ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING.

Despite the [poor!] video title, this isn't about Lionel Messi at all (the soccer player in the thumbnail). It's about how all elite sportsmen and -women employ holistic pattern recognition in ways that mere mortals just don't and cannot.

Besides soccer, discussed are baseball, American football, boxing, and even chess. It's all about how when one is highly skilled and very well-trained one can react effectively to and take full advantage of sudden situations before they even happen.

Why The Best Player Alive Barely Runs

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=d_OIvLt3SO4

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Besides soccer,

S-s-s-s-whhat?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Besides soccer,

S-s-s-s-whhat?

Way way off-topic here.

This is known as the Oxford "-er". It even has its own Wiki page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_%22-er%22

So English football, known as Association Football, became shortened to 'soccer' (though occasionally it was called 'footer'). And Rugby football was shortened to 'rugger'. Taking a break to breathe some fresh air was known as a 'breather'. A rotten (bad) person was known as a 'rotter', a top hat as a 'topper', and breakfast as 'brekkers'. Someone who was stark naked was 'starkers'. Five and ten pound notes were known as 'fivers' and 'tenners'. And so on.

All that is pretty archaic now, but 'soccer' has persisted in the US to distinguish it from American Football — which isn't 'football' at all.

[Bruce G Charlton]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Mark (Star Mariner) (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Besides soccer,

S-s-s-s-whhat?

Way way off-topic here.

This is known as the Oxford "-er". It even has its own Wiki page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_%22-er%22

So English football, known as Association Football, became shortened to 'soccer' (though occasionally it was called 'footer'). And Rugby football was shortened to 'rugger'. Taking a break to breathe some fresh air was known as a 'breather'. A rotten (bad) person was known as a 'rotter', a top hat as a 'topper', and breakfast as 'brekkers'. Someone who was stark naked was 'starkers'. Five and ten pound notes were known as 'fivers' and 'tenners'. And so on.

All that is pretty archaic now, but 'soccer' has persisted in the US to distinguish it from American Football — which isn't 'football' at all.

It's very interesting, and I didn't realize that "soccer" was university slang. Another source reminded me that the same process led to the alternative term "footer" which I recall Bertie Wooster used:

“The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. You hear them shouting "Heil, Spode!" and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. That is where you make your bloomer. What the Voice of the People is saying is: "Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?” From PG Wodehouse: The Code of the Woosters.

This also may explain why my family - who come from the "soccer" crazy area of Northumberland around Ashington (e.g. Bobby and Jackie Charlton) never called the game soccer, but always and only "football". "Football" just was "soccer".

There was no confusion - partly because rugby was not much played outside of private schools and the city of Newcastle, and partly because nobody would have called rugby "football"!

I get the impression that the word soccer in England was not very commonly used (outside the upper classes, who typically weren't much interested in the sport - although it was played at some of the highest status public schools such as Charterhouse) until the past few decades of increasing (top-down) cultural Americanization.

[rgray222]

Here are a few random (most are very short) videos from the 2026 World Cup. Fans and locals are enjoying themselves immensely, and many people are getting a more honest view of America than their media back home portrayed. Many people from around the world have expressed affection for American hospitality, amazing infrastructure, and the nation's open and friendly attitude towards visitors. While politics divides us, sport acts as a great unifier because it serves as a universal language and helps break down barriers: no presidents, no prime ministers, and no supreme leaders, just fans and players giving their best for something they love.

There is still a long way to go. The final game will be played at New York New Jersey Stadium, which is located approximately 5 miles west of New York City, on July 19, 2026, kicking off at 3:30 ET.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=q4g5v0XnEpA

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=S_xSry_o7aA

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4ZzA-pjiA40

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=23em_aR6D40

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aHev73gTP0k

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ogfgoIVgppo

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wrWwsY_qL-8

[Bill Ryan]

With the Football World Cup in the US well under way, here's a chance to remember this iconic moment. (I actually saw this live on TV at the time, and I've never forgotten it to this day.)

(Or if you've never seen or heard of this before, watch and enjoy. The video is only a minute long.)

This happened in 1997. The amazed commentator at the end of the clip says: "I'm not so sure we'll see one better than that for many, many a year."

And indeed, almost all football fans agree there never has been "one better than that". In all the countdown #20—#1 video compendiums online of exceptional best-ever free kicks, this is #1 every time, always supported by all the comments.

It was called "The Impossible Goal". Physicists even studied it to fully understand the aerodynamics. (They really did.)

Roberto Carlos' LEGENDARY Free Kick: Brazil vs France, 1997

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zhY9bpLTZGg

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zhY9bpLTZGg

It was called "The Impossible Goal". Physicists even studied it to fully understand the aerodynamics. (They really did.)

A little more.
The Shot That Scientists Couldn’t Explain for 13 Years

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uWDuctxrmag