A Welsh View

Video: Crazy Basketball Shot

Video: Luckiest Basketball Shot Ever?

Video: Really Bad Football Injury

Definitely not for the squeamish!

Video: Huge Rugby Fight

Two Romanian rugby teams - Dinamo Bucaresti (red) and Farul Constata (white) - battle it out after a foul is committed.

Nearly every player was involved and the fight lasted 6 minutes. 9 players were sent to hospital.

[via]

Video: Ref Slaps Football Player, Gets Chased Around The Pitch

Video: Pleasure and Pain for Goalkeeper

Tough Guy Challenge 2009

Billed as "the safest most dangerous taste of physical and mental endurance pain in the world", the Tough Guy Challenge takes place in Wolverhampton, England and thousands of competitors tackle 21 obstacles - through mud, freezing water, across ropes and burning terrain.

Each year, hundreds drop out along the way due to exhaustion or injury - broken bones, dislocations, and over 600 cases of hypothermia.

Great photos as usual from Boston.com Big Picture.

Parrot Banned From Football Ground

A bright green parrot has been banned from a football ground because he kept distracting players by imitating the referree's whistle.

The bird had turned heads before kick-off in Hertfordshire when a woman brought it to the match in a cage.

It behaved itself for the first-half of the quarter-final cup tie between the two non-league teams, watching play swing from end to end.

But 10 minutes into the second-half it began mimicking the referee's whistle, causing confusion on and off the pitch.

The match was halted and the woman and her parrot were told to leave the pitch-side.

[via]

Video: Football Player Gets Red Card For Tripping Pitch Invader

Surfer Takes On 41ft Wave

Surfer Kerby Brown has won a prestigious Oakley Surfing Life Big Wave Award, which rewards the riders of the biggest waves in Australasian waters, for riding this huge 41ft wave.

'Usually the wave never steps out or goes evil like that one, but it just went dry - the hardest wave I've ever had to surf.

'I went straight over the lip and did about 10 backflips and then pulled a muscle in my shoulder.

'It felt like I ripped my arm out of its socket, my leggie snapped and then I felt like I was the deepest I'd ever been.'

Link

World's Worst Boxer Quits After 256 Defeats

The world’s worst boxer has finally thrown in the towel after 256 defeats.

Peter Buckley, 39, has lost more fights than any other boxer and says that his next, number 300, will be his last.

‘I’ve had my eye on the 300 mark for a while, and it’s a little milestone I want to achieve, but I don’t want to fight on,' he said. Link

Historical Football Kits

Historical Football Kits is "the definitive graphic archive of English and Scottish football kits". Every team that has ever competed in the English and Scottish Football Leagues is listed and you can even buy replicas of some of the old kits. The site is a great way of looking at the evolution of a kit for your favourite team. [via]

Video: Insane Mountain Biking

Insane mountain biking (literally) from Red Bull Rampage 2008. [via]

Hockey Game Delayed By Dildos

According to The Local, supporters of the Stockholm-based AIK ice hockey team disrupted the game against Leksand on Tuesday by throwing dildos onto the ice and displaying profane banners and a giant inflatable penis.

The taunts were directed at Jan Huokko, a defender with Leksand and a former player with AIK who was involved in a sex scandal. A video of him and his girlfriend circulated on the internet after his mobile phone was stolen.

According the The Local, Huokko is known for putting the biscuit in the basket (is this a Swedish phrase?). Link

Video: Football Fan Saves Goal

[via]

How Fast Could Usain Bolt Have Run The 100m?

How fast could Usain Bolt have run the 100m if he hadn't celebrated? Some say 9.55, some say no faster than 9.61. Whilst it would have been great to see him run as fast as he could, I think what made it was seeing him win it with such ease. [via]

Beijing Panoramas

Bird's Nest Stadium

Water Cube

[via & via]

Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For

Mashable has posted a list of nations competing in the 2008 Olympics that have only one or two athletes. Will be interesting to see how well they do.

The Weirdest Olympic Events Throughout History

Asylum

10 weird Olympic events including the Running Deer Single Shot that was played between 1906 and 1936.

The Evolution of the Olympic Torch

The NYTimes has a really well made interactive guide showing the evolution of the Olympic torch from 1936 to the present day.

Video: Montgomery Town FC 75 yard Wondergoal

A keeper for Welsh team Montgomery Town FC scores a goal from a goal-kick.

Midget Football Team

The Sun has photos of what might be the world's only midget/dwarf/little people football team. The photos feature the 'The Giants Of The North' from Brazil playing against an under-13 team.

Grand National 2008

Today is the day of the Grand National - a horse race in which every man and his dog places a bet. This year it is estimated that us Brits will bet £300m on the National. The race is the biggest betting race in the United Kingdom and will be watched by 600m people worldwide. It is also one of the more controversial sporting events in the UK due to the injuries and fatalities suffered by the horses.

Take A Tour Of Aintree

Even though I never seem to have any luck, I've backed a few horses. I've gone for Comply Or Die, D'Argent and an outsider Kelami.

Related: 50 Grand National Facts, Grand National Jockey Cam

Update: I won!

Videos: SK Slavia Prague and AC Sparta Prague Derby

Football derby's are always eventful and the Praha derby in the Czech Republic was no exception. The SK Slavia Prague and AC Sparta Prague derby took place at the Strahov Stadium, in the heart of Prague on March 31st and is likely to be the last played at that stadium. Because of this reason the the two teams fans' had a joint plan to demolish the stadium but were thwarted by the 'strom-trooper' style police (I got to witness them at a Wales game a few years back).

The game was still eventful with both sets of fans disrupting the game with numerous 'flash bangers'.

Here's a video from AWV reader Del Zan:-

Plus another from different angles.

And here's a video from the 2006 derby (it gets really crazy at 2:55)

Sign Me!

[via]

World’s First Ever Game Of Tennis On Water

The World’s first ever game of tennis on water involving two of the World’s highest profile tennis players, Rafael Nadal of Spain and Serena Williams of USA took place in Miami, Florida on March 24th, 2008 during a Sony Ericsson Open tennis preview event.

How Not To Defend

Video: The Nut Cracker

Video: Extreme Mexican Street Football

Bloody showoffs! [via]

Thai Referee Gets A Beating By Entire Football Team

A Thai football referee has been beaten up by an entire team after sending off three players during a crucial play-off match.

Referee Prakong Sukguamala needed 50 stitches and also broke a finger after being attacked by the Kuiburi FC squad, furious at being shown three red cards during a 4-1 loss to Kasem Bundit on Thursday.

The angry players charged into Prakong's dressing room at the stadium in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, and started to kick and punch him. They dispersed after police fired gunshots into the air.

The players then chased Prakong into the stadium's office, where the hapless official ran into a mirror, leaving him with cuts all over his body.

Prakong, covered in bruises, insisted he had refereed the game fairly and had been told by Thailand's soccer federation to press charges against the Kuiburi team.

Link

Shrovetide Football - Ash Wednesday Match

The author of the first Shrovetide Football video that I posted yesterday has just uploaded some more crazy footage from the Ash Wednesday game.

The Bizarre Game Of Shrovetide Football

The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is a bizarre game of football that is played on what is possibly the world's largest 'football pitch' - 3 miles from end-to-end! (Here's a map of the pitch). It has been played since at least the 12th century and involves 300 people on two teams battling to get the ball to the other end of the pitch by kicking, carrying and throwing the ball.

From Wikipedia:

The game is played over two days on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, starting each day at 2.00 pm and lasting until 10.00 pm. If the goal is scored (in local parlance, the ball is goaled) before 5.00 pm a new ball is released and play restarts from the town centre, otherwise play ends for the day.

There are no limits to the number of players and no limits on the play area. It is for this reason that shops in the town are boarded up during the game, and people are encouraged to park their cars away from the main streets.

Also, with there being no limits on the play area, if the ball ends up in the river, everyone has to jump in and carry on playing. In fact, one of the goals is in the water!

As the above image shows, there is very little that stops the game and there are very few rules in existence. The main rules are:-

# Committing murder or manslaughter is prohibited. Unnecessary violence is frowned upon.
# The ball may not be carried in a motorised vehicle.
# The ball may not be hidden in a bag, coat or rucksack etc.
# Cemeteries, churchyards and the town memorial gardens are strictly out of bounds.
# Playing after 10 pm is forbidden.

The video below is from this year's match which took place yesterday. There are lots more photos and videos on the BBC Derbyshire website.

Update: Here's footage of the Ash Wednesday match. Final Score Up'ards 2 - Down'ards 0.

All 42 Superbowl Logos

The Superbowl doesn't do anything for me. What I find interesting is seeing a how the design of the logo has progressed over the years.

Video: Balloons On Football Pitch Cause Team To Concede Goal

Happened during yesterday's FA Cup match between Man City and Sheff Utd. Man City conceded the goal and subsequently lost the match. Here's a photo of goalkeeper Joe Hart taking out his anger on the balloons.

7 Feet 7 and 360 Pounds, With Bigger Feet Than Shaq’s

At 7' 7" tall (7' 9" with shoes on), Kenny George is the tallest basketball player in the USA. He is capable of dunking the ball without laving his feet - his size 26 feet!

“I don’t hate it, but there are times I wish that I weren’t so tall,” George said in an interview with the New York Times.

Video: Football Time-Lapse

A time-lapse video of a football game from start to finish.

Video: Hockey Fight

Does anyone actually ever play hockey in the NHL or is it just an excuse to beat the crap out of each other? Evidently it's the latter.

Video: Runner vs. Hurdle

That's gotta hurt.

Hottest Female Athletes (And The Hottest Fan)

The hottest female athletes from sports such as football, skiing, basketball and golf. Also includes the hottest fan that was spotted at a game and has since featured in Playboy and Maxim magazines.

Scrum Shock In Rugby's French Kiss

A Rugby World Cup advertisement that depicts opposing forward packs getting even more up close and personal than usual is raising eyebrows around the rugby world.

The advertisement, commissioned by the Regional Tourism Committee of Paris, shows French and English forwards in what should be a scrum. The ad is being displayed in London.

The front rows are locked together at the lips, and a closer inspection reveals the French No. 8 with his hand on the derriere of his flanker.

The ad's tagline – "Enjoy rugby in the capital of love" – plays on the reputation of Paris as the most romantic city in the world. Link

Accelerade 24-Hour Endurance Run

Dean Karnazes is trying to break the world record for a 24-hour distance run on a treadmill (currently set at 153.76 miles) as well as to raise awareness for Athletes for a Cure, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for prostate cancer.

Dean stands a good chance of breaking the record. He's already run 50 marathons in 50 days and taken part in a 200 mile relay.

He is well into the run (8 hours left as I post this) and you can watch his progress on three different webcams.

Update: He didn't quite make it. He ran 5 marathons in one day but needed to run another to beat the record. He still managed to raise $21,000 for Athletes for a Cure.

Eagle Owl Interrupts Finland-Belgium Euro Qualifier

An avian resident of the Helsinki Olympic stadium interrupted the Finland-Belgium Euro 2008 qualifier football match on Wednesday (video).

The eagle owl casually glided before the grand stand and landed on the edge of Belgium's half of the pitch. Michael Riley, the English referee, suspended play 19 minutes into the match.

The large bird then took off again and flew up and down the pitch, at one stage sitting on top of Finland's goal. Play eventually resumed after a seven-minute interruption. Link [via]

Sexy Pole Vaulter

I think I need to start following pole vaulting. [via]

The World's Smallest Basketball Team

A one-of-kind charity basketball event in Central Florida featured what is believed to be the world's smallest basketball team. The Tiny Trotters basketball team features players who are all under 4 feet 6 inches. Local6 has a video.

Extreme Cycling

I wouldn't walk along that path let along do wheelies along it! [via]

Video: Pool Tricks

This guy is good!

As Long As We Beat The English

How Baseball Teams Got Their Name

How some baseball teams got their names.

3 Men Spend 111 Days Running Across Sahara

Three ultra-endurance athletes have just done something most would consider insane: They ran the equivalent of two marathons a day for 111 days to become the first modern runners to cross the Sahara Desert’s grueling 4,000 miles.

In less than four months, they have run across the world’s largest desert, through six countries — Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and finally Egypt. Link [via]

50 Legendary Goals

A compilation of 50 legendary football goals. No.4 is very impressive. [via]