Thirty-One Unbelievable High School Mascots
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on Oct 6, 2009 - 184 comments

Cleveland Rocks! While the IOC is still preparing to elect the host city for for 2016 Olympics, the (unaffiliated) Federation of Gay Games has just announced that the 2014 Gay Games will be held on Lake Erie, with Cleveland's bid beating those of Washington, DC and Boston. [more inside]
posted by kittyprecious on Sep 29, 2009 - 38 comments

US Pole Dance Championships 2009 (no nudity, but possibly NSFW) It’s significant to understand that pole dancing is not stripping. This misconception prevents pole dancing from becoming something every woman should be able to enjoy. Pole dancing is a sensual athletic dance form that demands coordination, flexibility and physical strength. Like the Jane Fonda workout combined with Cirque du Soleil.
posted by ColdChef on Apr 20, 2009 - 52 comments

Peak Performance is a website featuring dozens of articles on just about every aspect of sports science, including large sections devoted to cycling, swimming and sports psychology. Some of my own favorites deal with the beneficial effects of Omega-3 fatty acids, the Chinese government’s plan to dominate the Olympics, Veronique Billat’s 30-30 running workouts and how to increase growth hormone levels naturally.
posted by jason's_planet on Apr 30, 2007 - 13 comments

Baseball's White Elephants: When the Philadelphia Athletics joined the American League, Muggsy McGraw derided the team as White Elephants ^. Though the team has moved on, the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society still follows the Elephant Trail.
posted by ?! on Oct 8, 2006 - 6 comments

Justin Gatlin is now the fastest man alive (in fact, he's faster than anyone not alive, as well).
posted by Elpoca on May 12, 2006 - 31 comments

My eensy-beensy alma mater in eastern Wisconsin currently has the only undefeated men's basketball team in the nation. This is not just in the NCAA, but in the NAIA as well. It's a Division III team, and its only loss this season didn't count--it was to Division I UW-Madison in an exhibition game. Like most Division III schools, Lawrence offers no athletic scholarships whatsoever. Its immediate past president, Richard Warch, in a 1987 speech at the NCAA national convention, controversially called for abolishment of all athletic scholarships.
posted by gillyflower on Feb 24, 2006 - 15 comments

Asafa Powell has set a new 100 meters world record.
posted by Elpoca on Jun 14, 2005 - 15 comments

Anyone up for a quick game of Murderball?
posted by lemonfridge on Jan 24, 2005 - 14 comments

The Naked Olympics
Sex, nude sports, violence, boozing; a scholar's view of ancient Olympic practices.
posted by moonbird on Aug 12, 2004 - 4 comments

On sunday, Rush Limbaugh commented that Donovan McNabb, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, was overrated and was only seen favourably by the media because they want to see a black quarterback do well. McNabb responded, and earlier tonight Limbaugh resigned from his post on ESPN's pre-game show. N.D. Kalu, one of the Eagle's defensive ends, offered this choice quote: "He speaks well, he's well-read, but he's an idiot."
posted by The God Complex on Oct 2, 2003 - 100 comments

New 100m world record
"Once again, the 100m record holder is truly the fastest man on earth"
posted by daveg on Sep 15, 2002 - 19 comments

Great feat, but not a great athlete. Let the Cyclist bashing continue.
As a follow up to the pointless Bicycles and cars don't mix column, Ron Borges over at MSNBC wonders if Lance Armstrong is even an athlete.
He says Athletes must do more with their bodies than pump their legs up and down. For his money, being the greatest athlete in the world involves strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, mental toughness and the ability to make your body do things that defy description. Anyone who has ever been in a bike race (Road or MTN) knows it does indeed take all that and more. Anyone who writes about sports, rather than participating, would of course have no clue it takes more than moving your feet up and down.
posted by Blake on Jul 26, 2002 - 48 comments

Run faster, jump higher. What happens when you cross stilts and pogo sticks? The next 'extreme sport' on the verge of the big time, or a new and fun way to really injure yourself?
posted by KnitWit on Mar 29, 2002 - 12 comments

ESPN hosting show on the world's sexiest athletes. 32 men and 32 women vie for the big crown(s), to be announced Jan. 27. The website has profiles on all 64 and will have a place for you to vote for your favorites. Don't all chime in with who you're going to vote for (that's what espn.com is for, not MeFi), but who'd they leave out? I say race-car driver Dario Franchitti and track star Suzy Favor Hamilton.
posted by msacheson on Jan 7, 2002 - 43 comments

PETA is at it again, but this time they know not with whom they trifle. PETA's Kristie Phelps sent a letter to Dr. John Palms, president of the University of South Carolina, requesting that USC "bench" their athletic teams' moniker "The Fighting Gamecocks," because, well, it's funnier to read the press release and letter for yourself. The letter elicited this response and this news story in The State, our local paper. (Note the further link from there to the readers' forum, which is pretty damn hilarious in its own right.)
posted by alumshubby on Oct 18, 2001 - 74 comments

Gymnast vaults into gender-equity flap. "For more than two decades in Massachusetts, boys have been allowed to compete on girls' teams (and vice versa) if their school doesn't have a team for their gender. But everywhere else in the region, they're still banned."
posted by idiolect on Mar 16, 2001 - 1 comment