The SmokingGun.com is notorious for -- among many things -- finding bizarre legal documents and mugshots of famous people. They are darn good at what they do and everyone loves them for it. But they scored one of their biggest coups yesterday when they stumbled upon pictures of a skier hanging from a chairlift by his pants in Vail, Colo.
Yes, it is the gentleman you see above in the left corner, and no, he is not comfortable. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, I'm terrified of heights. So I can't imagine having to hang from a ski lift without knowing whether I would plummet to certain limb breakage or not. Add being, ahem, 100 percent fully exposed to the harsh chills of winter and the certain embarrassment of other skiers' eyes, and I'm fairly certain that I'd rather not even be brought down.
Pictures of said skier being rescued after the jump (They are SFW, but, yes, there is some male buttocks.)
That was an athlete who had already finished the 1,500-meter swim and 40-kilometer bike ride portions of the New York City Triathlon and was just steps away from finishing the 10-kilometer run when a leg cramp caused him so much pain that he just couldn't go anymore.
But when the medics arrived, he refused treatment and started crawling toward the finish line. Not quite as impressive as Claire Markwardt, but still: Very well done, sir.
It's the Fourth of July, which for many Americans, is a wonderful excuse to get drunk and stuff your face, all under the guise of celebrating freedom.
And if you're a competitive eater, you can actually make a few bucks in the process. It's not exactly glamorous, but, hey, everybody's good at something, and for Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, it's all about chugging hot dogs (video proof here).
Ah, yes, the ol' "cannonball technique." (Actually, what I know about competitive eating consists of the few seconds each year I tune into the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, before puking and changing the channel. Maybe the cannonball technique is banned in many states.)
By the way, I love how ESPN has an on-scene reporter quizzing the contestants after the Chestnut pulls out the overtime victory (this seems like an event tailor-made for Heidi Watney; I'm guessing Jerry Remyagrees), and even better, Kobayashi has his own interpreter.
In case you're wondering, Kobayashi says he wasn't quick enough in the five-dog overtime eat-off, but he plans on being back in '09. Oh, and with the victory, Chestnut is still the No. 1 ranked eater. Don King would be proud.
Olympic athletes often don't get paid to do anything other than look good. In that vein, Attractive Olympians handicaps which athletes may rake in endorsement deals after the Olympics.
Adam van Koeverden won two canoeing medals -- gold in the 500-meter and bronze in the 1000m -- at the Athens Olympics in '04, surprising many sports fans who didn't even realize medals were awarded for canoeing (commonly known by the less woodsy-sounding term "flatwater racing"). As the Beijing Games near, he represents one of Canada's brightest medal hopes.
Van Koeverden was named Canada's Athlete of the Year in 2004, was the most dominant athlete in his sport in 2007, and -- just for good measure -- finished at the top of his class at McMaster University.
And oh yeah, he's considered attractive, if you're into that whole "ruggedly handsome college valedictorian world-class athlete" cliche. But how attractive? After the jump, weigh more evidence of his rippling biceps -- again, IF you like that kind of thing -- and have your voice heard in FanHouse's Attractive Olympian poll.
The world abounds these days with versatile, young athletes. Some of them play multiple (nine) positions in one sport, and others just win state high school track championships. By themselves.
That's right. Bonnie Richardson, of Rochelle High School in Texas, won the state 1-A track and field championship all by her lonesome. She was the only athlete from her high school that qualified to appear, and she straight up rolled the competition. In fact, her feat was so amazing, she shocked herself.
'This totally blows me away,' the freckle-faced Richardson said while holding the trophy with a gold medal draped on her neck. 'This is amazing. I had no idea it was even possible.'
Richardson's title march began with field events on Friday when she won the high jump (5 feet, 5 inches), placed second in the long jump (18-7) and was third in the discus (121-0).
On Saturday, she won the 200 meters in 25.03 seconds and nearly pulled off a huge upset in the 100 before finishing second (12.19) to defending champion Kendra Coleman of Santa Anna. Richardson, a junior, earned a total of 42 team points to edge team runner-up Chilton (36).
The only thing that might top her story is the manner in which she trained; Rochelle apparently does not even have a track on campus, requiring her to either "watch for potholes" or to travel 10 miles. And, according to the AP, she also plays tennis and basketball. And football, if her parents would let her. In other words, Richardson laughs at Dan and Dave.
In all, more than three dozen current and former students will take part in the lawsuit that was filed today in Federal court in North Carolina. Pictured above is Steve Henkelman, father of former Duke lacrosse player Erik Henkelman, speaking his piece about the suit today at the National Press Club.
Previously, the three former students who were falsely accused of the crime, Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, filed suit separately against former Durham prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city and the University. They reached a settlement with Duke in June while the other cases are still pending.
Awful, awful story. Shannon Bloomfield, a 12-year-old with aspirations to compete in the 2012 Olympics, died in a horse-riding accident in the UK yesterday.
Shannon Bloomfield, 12, was taking part in an indoor jumping event when her mount fell on top of her.
She had almost completed the course when her horse, Poppy, failed to negotiate the penultimate fence.
It fell awkwardly, trapping the young rider, as horrified spectators looked on. Shannon was pronounced dead at hospital.
Bloomfield was described as "sports-mad" by her parents. The youngster competed in tetrathlons, an event which combines running, shooting, horse-riding and swimming.
This horrific accident will undoubtedly stir up arguments over children and their role in competitive, high-risk sports. Feel free to sound off with your take, below. Sorry, No Photos
Cornhole: The Movie is ready for it's jump into the big time. The movie, made last year in the Cincinnati area, has pieced together a trailer. (Click here to watch the trailer).
The one great thing is that the producers do use the double-entendre for laughs. In the movie, the television coverage of the cornhole tournament is on the Alternative Sports Station ... or A.S.S.
And, yes, it really is a game and they really made a movie about it.
[The Beijing News] said the city's vehicle fleet was expected to reach 3.3 million by August, meaning that roughly 1.65 million cars and trucks would be pulled off roads every day. The city will dedicate special lanes to Olympic traffic and increase public transportation with new shuttle buses to accommodate visitors and local residents, the article said.
Beijing officials have not yet publicly announced Olympic contingency measures, but the newspaper said the traffic plan had been completed.
One might think a little smog couldn't be all that harmful but some Olympic teams are taking extra precautions in order to keep their athletes as safe and healthy as possible. While some teams are planning to show up to the games as close to their events as possible, other teams are planning on training outside of the city where the air is less harsh.
Ski jumping is a sport that never really took off in the United States (I think the only ski jumper I can name is Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards), but it does on occasion produce some fantastic, agony-of-defeat-style wipe outs.
Norway's Bjoern Einar Romoeren crashed at the World Cup of ski jumping over the weekend. The event took place in rainy conditions in Val di Fiemme, Italy, and Romoeren's crash was precipitated by one of his skis getting caught in slush. After the crash, the rest of the event was canceled. Romoeren was not seriously hurt.
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The world abounds these days with versatile, young athletes. Some of them 
As noted previously on Fanhouse, the 
