A Welsh View

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]

Video: Awful Bowling

I wonder how many tiles he has knocked out?

Video: Worst Hockey Play Ever

A hockey player makes a complete fool of himself by missing an open goal. [Thanks Adam]

Extreme Mountain Biking

More pics here, here and here. [via]

Video: 7-10 Split

A video of Mark Roth, a Professional Bowler making the first ever 7-10 split on TV. [via]

Video: 55,000 Jumping Football Fans

This is what 55,000 football fans all jumping at the same time looks like.

Video:Most Incredible Comeback in Football History

41-17 with under 3 minutes to go and the losing team comes back to win the game. (American) Football must be the only sport in which 3 minutes of play take an hour!

36 Balls

An FA Cup tie between Macclesfield and Walsall was interrupted when people outside the stadium threw 36 footballs onto the pitch. Ex-England ace Paul Ince, boss of League Two strugglers Macclesfield, joked: “They will come in handy. We’ve only got about eight for practice sessions.” [via]

Video: Player Hurdling

In football, if someone gets in your way, instead of running around them why not just jump over them? It worked for this guy.

World Cup Final Football Fetches $2.4m

A gold-and-white ball, signed by every member of the winning Italian team, was bought by a football-mad 21-year-old for $2.4m and is believed to be connected to the royal family of Qatar. The buyer of the ball, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I was at the World Cup final myself so it has sentimental value for me. I have supported Italy since I was young.'

The World's Largest Skateboard Ramp

The largest skateboard ramp in the world can be found on a 12-acre farm north of San Diego among the green foothills of the San Marcos Mountains. The wooden structure is longer than a football field, as tall as an eight-story building, with a creek bed running through a 70-foot breach. The New York Times has a graphic of the ramp as well as a video.

Brit Breaks Balloon Poodle Bending World Record

A British builder has proved the UK can still produce world-beating sportspersons by smashing the world record for making a balloon poodle with his hands behind his back.

Geoff Pescud, 50, secured the title at a charity fundraiser on the Isle of Wight by knocking up a balloon poodle in just 6.75 seconds, shaving a tad less than a second off the previous record. [via]

Video: Korean Splits Arrow In Two

A Korean 'Robin Hood' fires an arrow inside another from a distance of 30m. As a bonus, the arrow is in the bullseye. [via]

Video: Unlucky Pool Shot

Shots don't come any unluckier than this. The 8-ball is potted but then bounces back out onto the table!

The Most Amazing Finish In College Football?

I'm not a big fan of [American] football, but I agree with the presenter of this video that it is probably one of the best plays ever. I just love how the 'winning' team's band are on the pitch to celebrate winning and then lose.

Javelin Judge Hit By Javelin

Brazilian javelin judge Lia Mara Lourenco is helped by colleagues and medics after a javelin, launched during warm-ups by a competitor, pierced her foot before the start of the competition in a national athletics championship called Trofeu Brasil (Trophy Brazil) in Sao Paulo. Ouch! [via]

Paying Top Dollar for Punishment, 26 Miles’ Worth

Some people are so keen to do the New York marathon that they will counterfeit the bibs that they were or even buy them from sites like Craigslist. [via]

Referee Allowed Ball Boy's Goal

A Brazilian referee faces suspension after she awarded a goal that was scored by a ball boy. The 89th minute goal allowed Santacruzense to snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Sorocaba.

The 'goal' was scored after the ball boy brought the ball back on to the pitch after a shot went wide and tapped it into the net.

The ref said that she based her decision on the linesman rather than what she saw.

Related: Here's a video of the goal

Video: Swamp In The Corner

Whilst playing on a waterlogged pitch, a fotballer decides to try and take his corner away from the corner of the pitch. The linesman is having none of it and makes him 'sweep' away the water with the ball. It was a waste of time because when he kicked the ball it went nowhere. [via]

Travis Pastrana Double Backflip

How does Travis Pastrana perform such crazy stunts as double backflips on a motorbike? By practising with crazy leg-breaking stunts. Ouch.

Hog Wrestling

Images from the hog wrestling event at the Gibson County Fair that took place on July 7th. I don't think that the pig is enjoying it as much as the participants are.

Related: A video of a hog wrestling event in Texas featuring the best mullet ever!