Super Tight Stuff » Sports

POTD: Golfball Warping as it Hits Steel

snarfer — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:41:28 +0000

This is an animated image and may take a while to load on some computers. According to the video this animation originated from, the golf ball is traveling at 150 mph, is striking a steel plate, and is being recorded at 70,000 fps. Skeptics may point out it does appear that there is an unnatural amount of warping, but golf balls do regularly deform upon impact as shown in the video below, so it is not absurd that the above would be the result of one striking a steel plate.

Source: Before Its News

Huge Hockey Hit Breaks Glass

drizzit12 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:03:25 +0000

A ridiculously hard hit that shatters the glass above the boards. That looks very painful.

Psychic Octopus Picks Spain to Win

drizzit12 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:57:51 +0000

Paul, a psychic octopus in Germany, has picked Spain to beat Germany in today’s World Cup match. Paul has correctly predicted every German result of this World Cup, even calling the 1-0 Serbia upset over Germany in the group stage. The only incorrect result Paul has ever picked was in the 2008 Euro final, when Spain beat Germany. The German’s can only hope Paul has picked incorrectly once again.

Above is a video of Paul’s most recent pick, and below is a photo of Paul picking Serbia over Germany.

Baseball Superman Leap

drizzit12 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:58:33 +0000

A sweet play by the base runner to avoid the tag at home.

Scooter Jump

drizzit12 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:33:43 +0000

Probably one of my favorite videos ever, these kids completely botch jumping onto a chair and riding it to the floor as it falls. Watch it, and make sure you have sound, because it really adds to the comedy.

Czech Rugby Ad

drizzit12 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:58:51 +0000

With all the dramatic acting in the World Cup, this rugby ad is the perfect parody of the absurd flops seen on TV.

POTD: Tallest NBA Player Ever

snarfer — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:20:59 +0000

Manute Bol was born in Sudan in 1962, and picked up basketball in 1978. At 7′ 7″ he had a natural advantage, and he was drafted into the NBA to play for the Washington Bullets in 1985. Throughout his career he also played for the Golden State Warriors, the 76ers, and Miami Heat. He excelled in shot blocking because of his height, and is tied for the NBA record for the most blocked shots in one half (eleven) and in one quarter (eight, twice). He also holds the all time NBA record for most blocked shots per minute in a game (.176). In addition to playing basketball he was a strong activist for improving the conditions in his home country of Sudan, and donated most of his NBA earnings to various foundations. He died on June 19th, 2010 of acute kidney failure and complications from Stevens-Johnson syndrome, an unfortunate loss of such a passionate activist and basketball player.

Source: Manute Bol

POTD: Robert Green Fails

drizzit12 — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:06:20 +0000

With the start of the World Cup, and the miraculous tie between the US and England yesterday, we felt the need to put up a picture of one of our new favorite British people. Who else could single handedly give the US the tie that could keep them in the World Cup?

Thank you, Robert Green!

Arctic Surfing

snarfer — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 06:24:49 +0000

This photo was taken near the tiny fishing village of Kremmervika during an expedition to surf the arctic circle. The team was led by film maker Yassine Ouhilal who was accompanied by world class surfers Matt Whitehead, Cyrus Sutton, Christian Wach, and Pat Millin. They started in the 700-person town of Ballstad on the island of Vestvågøy in Norway in the spring of 2008 and traveled north through the Lofoten islands, surfing along the way. Eventually they made it all the way to the coast of Russia, but soon found out that most of the country’s northwestern Arctic coast is off-limits to anyone not in the military so they were unable to get in the water. While planning the trip, charts showed that waves would be better in the winter, but it was deemed suicide to try surfing during the coldest and darkest part of the year. Even the spring temperatures hovered between 20 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit; not exactly the most ideal surfing weather. As they traveled around they often found beautiful, calm beaches that taunted them with signs of large waves that came just days before. When asked what prompted surfers from California and Australia to travel to the arctic to surf, Millin replied “I guess it’s the isolation. That’s why I wanted to come here. How many people are surfing in Hawaii right now? How many thousands?” The following is an excerpt from an Outside article about their expedition that helps explain even further.

We’ve been driving for 14 hours straight. Just as we’re about to give up on surfing for the day, Whitehead spots the fluorescent lines of whitewater squiggling into a bay. Ouhilal stops the car on the roadside.

“Yeah, that’s surfable,” he says. Whitehead jumps into the backseat and rustles through the nest of wetsuits. Minutes later, he vanishes into a thicket of thorny bushes and bounds down the snow-and-moss-covered rocks that lead to the beach.

By the time Ouhilal and I make it to the clearing, ten minutes later, Whitehead is paddling for his first wave, a neck-high point break that lazily arches its back along an exposed black-rock reef and then catapults him down a wall of glassy water. I watch as he rides a few feet in front of me, the wave’s face reflecting the crescent moon before it shoots him into inky blackness.

For this session there are no cameras, no poses, nothing to prove. We’re just three people floating in the Arctic Ocean, surfing a wave that’s been breaking alone for tens of thousands of years. We’re the first to feel its shape, trace its movements, be a part of this big, marvelous, living thing. An hour later, as we pull ourselves from the water and retrace our steps back to the van, everyone is smiling. Whitehead names the break Broken Hearts, after a local Ballstad girl who shirked his advances last week. “To me, that makes it all worth it,” says Ouhilal. “To do this—it’s a very special thing.”

Below are some pictures taken by Yassine Ouhilal as well as a movie he produced about the expedition. Well worth it to watch.

Sources: News.com and Outside Online

Flipping over Charging Bulls

snarfer — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:49:11 +0000

Bull-leaping is thought to have been a key ritual in the religion of the Minoan civilization on Bronze Age Crete. As in the case of other Mediterranean civilizations, the bull was the subject of veneration and worship. Representation of the Bull at the palace of Knossos is a widespread symbol in the art and decoration of this archaeological site. A tradition of non-violent bull-leaping is practiced in some parts of Spain. Known as the Recortes, athletes, known as Recortadores, compete at dodging and leaping over bulls without the use of the cape or sword. Some Recortadores use a long pole to literally pole-vault over the charging animal, which is both larger than the type used in the French sport, and unrestrained by any guiding rope or similar safety device.

Another example of related sport is Jallikattu, a Pongal celebration related sporting event in Tamil Nadu, India. In this sport, the participants are trying to leap onto a bull, specifically reaching for the money packets tied to the bull’s horns as a prize. This ancient event has been depicted in rock art dated at least to 3rd C BC.

Source: Bull-Leaping