I had no idea that this was a thing. Here's a video clip of the 2023 Championships.
Is it a real sport? Let a participant tell us about it.
As I said, I'm completely unfamiliar with this "sport". However, a friend points out that after Texas cowhands are thrown by a longhorn bull in the arena, their hobbled gait as they stagger to their feet and try to get away from the bull sometimes resembles that of the hobby horse riders . . . with added sound effects, of course!
Peter
Today's award goes to Basketball Ireland and its appeal committees for a decision so daft, it could only be Irish.
Limerick Sport Eagles beat Portlaoise Panthers 80-78 on 23 March.
But the second-tier game finished in controversial fashion, with the Eagles' winning points coming from free throws awarded on the final buzzer.
Portlaoise appealed on the grounds the free throws should not have been allowed as the clock had expired at the same time the foul was called.
They were initially told by the National League Committee (NLC) that the result would stand as a referee's decision cannot be retrospectively overturned.
However, they were given the option to appeal to the National Appeals Committee (NAC).
The NAC ruled the match should be replayed in its entirety, but Basketball Ireland has since said the option to appeal was "granted in error".
The NLC then ruled the fixture would not be replayed in full, but that the remaining 0.3 seconds should be played.
There's more at the link.
Replay less than a third of a second of the match??? Has Basketball Ireland gone quite insane? Did they, collectively or individually, kiss the Blarney Stone and get a completely incomprehensible gift of the gab out of it? Their decision strongly suggests something like that. Or did they imbibe rather too much of the uisce beatha, to the point that their decision was not so much about the spirit of the game as it was the spirits influencing the judges?
Imagine the man with the ball sneezes as the buzzer sounds. By the time his sneeze is over, so too will be the game!
How do you say "Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat" in Gaelic?
Peter
My recent review of Primary Arms' 3-9x44 scope generated some correspondence with readers. Among other things, it seems that too few people have heard about the use of a fishing reel attachment tool known as a "Coaster" to make an improvised scope magnification adjustment device. I wrote about it three years ago. Here's an excerpt from that earlier post.
I'm sure many readers interested in the shooting sports are familiar with the "throw lever" sometimes integrated into the power ring (i.e. the adjustment ring to vary the magnification) of telescopic sights. They look something like this example, sticking up from the power ring of a Swampfox Optics Arrowhead tactical scope. (Click any image for a larger view.)
Regular hunting- and target-style scopes don't usually have throw levers, but they've become very popular on tactical scopes. They allow one to adjust the power very quickly with one hand, rather than fiddle with a power ring that doesn't offer easy purchase or a visual or tactile reference when the scope is being held to one's eye. There are third-party, aftermarket throw levers available, but they can be expensive, and they only fit a limited range of sizes.
I recently came across a fishing accessory, originally designed to attach reels to rods. It's called a "Coaster" ... They're made by Breakaway Tackle in England, and look like this.
The loop is placed around the fishing rod, over the mounting lugs of the reel: then the arms are pulled tight through the vice block before the ring is screwed down on the block, its threads engaging the notches on the arms to tighten them further. It's a bit like a double-ended cable tie.
Some bright spark figured out that the same tool could be used as a throw lever on rifle telescopic sights that lacked such a feature. Intrigued, I tried it, and found it works like a charm. Here's how the vendor illustrates it.
I modified that slightly, in that I cut off the arms a notch or so above the ring using cutting pliers, as low as I could manage, as illustrated above. I then unscrewed the ring and took it off, cut the arms a notch or two shorter while holding the loop and vice block in place, and then reattached the ring and screwed it down moderately tightly (don't over-tighten it, as that will strip the threads). That put the ends of the arms just beneath the surface of the ring, rather than above it, so they no longer scratched my fingers as I felt for the ring. I found that a lot more comfortable, and it looked better, too.
There's more at the link, and in a follow-up post where a reader described having a problem fitting the "Coaster" to a very low-mounted scope.
Here's a video demonstrating how to install the Coaster on a scope.
This is a super-useful accessory to put on any scope with a variable power or focus ring. The Coaster is also much lower cost than some of the made-for-purpose throw rings you'll find if you shop around (it's anywhere from a half to a tenth of their price), and it'll fit just about any scope, unlike some of the others that are restricted to scopes of a particular brand or size. I've put them on my most-used scopes, and I'm in the process of installing them on the rest as well, for a uniform fit across all my long guns. You'll find them on Amazon.
Highly recommended.
Peter
Greg Ellifritz, whom we've met in these pages on several previous occasions, has had bad news: his prostate cancer has returned, albeit in what appears to be a very small area and not immediately threatening. He and his doctors will be watching the thing to see what further treatments may be necessary and/or appropriate.
However, he made an interesting discovery during the investigative process, one that surprised me. I thought that gym rats among my readers might find it interesting.
Interestingly enough, the first MRI I had on Tuesday showed some suspicious lesions on my hip bones. The doc initially thought the cancer had spread.
I did a second followup MRI (it was a long day) an hour after the first one. The doc now thinks that the marks on my hips are bone bruises caused by heavy squats and deadlifts. I don’t have any hip pain, but there is some temporary minor damage to my pelvis that shows up on MRI from my weight lifting. Something for you gym bros to remember if you ever get an MRI (or two).
There's more at the link.
I no longer lift weights except in a small way at home (my spine has deteriorated to the point that using a barbell is seriously painful; I limit myself to dumbbells now). However, my wife lifts the heavy stuff, and I have several friends who are active at Mark Rippetoe's gymnasium not too far from our home. I'll be passing this information along to them. If you lift weights, you might want to make a note of it, in case you ever find similar MRI results that require explanation.
Peter
(American football, that is.)
I came across this video while searching for something else. It's 40 minutes of some of the most astonishing moments in National Football League history; no replays, no slow-motion, just the events as they happened. Some of them really are amazing. If the video doesn't display (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't), click the link provided to view it on YouTube.
I'd have loved to see slow-motion replays of more of those incidents. Even so, they're highly entertaining, to say the least.
Peter
We've mentioned Tiny, the emotional support longhorn, in these pages before - but even he is overshadowed by this beast.
A Pennsylvania man was unable to attend the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates when stadium security turned away his emotional support animal: an alligator.
Joie Henney, a former hunting and fishing TV host who appeared on networks including ESPN Outdoors, has had Wally the gator for about seven years, and he had the unusually gentle reptile licensed as an emotional support animal while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
Henney said Wally's visits to schools, hospitals and assisted living facilities caught the attention of the Phillies, who invited him to bring his pet to meet members of the team and their partners before Wednesday's game.
Henney said he and Wally arrived at the stadium too late for the meet-up, as the players were already warming up on the field.
"So we bought tickets and Wally has been into other baseball games, so we assumed that it was OK," Henney told CNN. "We never asked or checked with it, but they only allow service animals, such as dogs and horses, into the stadium, not ESA animals."
There's more at the link.
An "unusually gentle" emotional support alligator at a baseball game. What could possibly go wrong?
Verily, the mind doth boggle . . .
Peter
That would be the Dragon's Back Race down the length of Wales in the United Kingdom. This year's event kicked off at Conwy Castle in north Wales on Monday, and ends at Cardiff Castle on Saturday. The event covers 236 miles, and participants who complete the course will climb a total of 57,087 feet - almost twice the height of Mount Everest - and descend it again, over six days. It's enough to make your legs cramp just thinking about it!
As a book about fell running describes it:
You need to imagine yourself there, standing in the rain at Conwy Castle on the north coast and contemplating the coming ordeal. Somewhere to the south of you should be Conwy Mountain and the Carneddau, but all you can see are wet foothills and low cloud. You are cold already, but you know that this is as nothing to the chill you will feel on the high ground. You are about to spend the best part of a week on that high ground, immersed in cloud, with most of the waking hours devoted to climbing and descending as fast as your body will allow, while knowing all the time that if you stop concentrating on your map and compass for a moment you will be lost. Does your heart sink? If not, think about it again until it does.
Here's a short clip about the 2019 race to set the scene.
There's more information, and more videos, at the race Web site. You can watch a BBC news report about the start of this year's race at this link. I also recommend this longer video about the inaugural race in 1992. You'll find much more material on YouTube if you look for it.
Just looking at the video clips makes me feel tired all over. I was never that fit or that motivated, and at my present stage (age?) of decrepitude, I reckon I'd keel over with my third heart attack less than an hour into the course!
Peter
I had to laugh when I came across the video clip below. It's taken from a camera car, and shows two participants in the annual Cape Town Cycle Tour trying to get away from an ostrich that appears to be irritated at them. (Ostriches are notoriously short-tempered, particularly if one gets too close to their nest; and they're very well equipped to administer a beating, particularly kicking with their iron-hard claws, which can disembowel their victim and break bones. They're also very territorial, so if you get too close, they're likely to object. Strongly.)
Ostriches can run at up to 30 mph for extended periods, and up to 45 mph in short bursts; and a fully grown adult can weigh as much as or more than the average human being. The cyclists in this video clip were definitely in danger. I'm sure their race time improved measurably as they fled!
(However, ostrich breast makes very good eating, particularly accompanied by scrambled ostrich egg. If a hungry, armed local had been around, and the cameras not, that bird might have ended up on someone's dinner plate.)
Peter
I'd never heard of an ultra-marathon race known as The Speed Project until I read an article about it at the BBC a couple of days ago.
The Speed Project (TSP) [is] an unsanctioned, unsupported 350-mile race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas via Death Valley.
It has no website, no "register here" button, no rules, no official route, no spectators and, until a week before, no official start date.
It's a "Fight Club" of the running world created in the mould of its founder. Before he found marathon running after moving to Los Angeles in the mid-2000s, Arend organised a rave night in a borrowed brothel in Hamburg's red-light district.
Despite the race's underground status, the start line is filled with some of the world's fastest athletes, and the biggest brands.
How do they get there? Well, that's a long story, shrouded in secrecy.
There's much more at the link.
Intrigued, I looked for more information, and found this video on YouTube. It's twelve minutes of very interesting viewing, if human extreme performance interests you.
I've never even remotely felt the need to challenge Mother Nature and/or myself in that way, and I guess by now I'm too old and decrepit to even think about it: but for some people, it's a way of life. Kudos to them for their determination and drive.
Peter
There's a long, intimate, and very readable article over at ESPN titled "Joe Montana Was Here". It's a lengthy look at his life, career, and all he's done after leaving the sporting arena.
I'm not a big fan of American football; after all, I wasn't exposed to it until my mid-30's, when I moved here, so I still don't understand all the rules. I'm used to English Rugby Union football. (Why, in American football, does it often look as if the players have a license to fold, spindle and mutilate everyone except the man with the ball?) Nevertheless, even in a premier Rugby Union country like South Africa, where we never saw a televised American football game, we'd heard of Joe Montana. His personal legend was that powerful; the "comeback kid" who never gave up.
Here's just one brief vignette from a long and entertaining article.
They were in Italy. Joe and Jennifer, their girls. His parents. Her parents. They got to Sicily, to the town where his mother's family lived. They wandered into a little restaurant on a side street. The owner of the place played a trumpet whenever the mood struck. The grown-ups drank three bottles of wine.
The waiter came up to Alexandra. She was 18 months old.
"Vino, prego," she said. The adults roared approval.
"I can't give you wine," the waiter said kindly.
"OK," she replied. "Beer then."
The room erupted. The staff loved this big American family. The Montanas ate and laughed. The owner played his horn. Later, the Montanas moved outside and found a nearby park where a man played accordion and local couples danced in the dust. The Montana girls joined in. Joe watched, smiling, holding on to the picture of it in his mind.
There's much more at the link.
The article's not just for sports fans, but for everyone who likes a good, heart-warming human interest story. If you're among them, click over there and read it. You'll enjoy it.
Peter
I'm obliged to reader R. D. for sending me the link to this video clip of Austrian freestyle skier Markus Eder letting it all hang out (literally and figuratively) in the mountains above Zermatt, Switzerland.
I've never skied in my life, and I probably never will, so I can't appreciate that from an insider's perspective: but it's breathtaking to watch. I'm not surprised to learn that it took almost three months to film it all. I'm surprised Mr. Eder wasn't injured or killed in the process!
Peter
I was amused to learn that a furniture dealer in Houston has not only won the biggest payout ever in sports betting, but he's sharing it with his customers.
Mattress Mack is laughing all the way to the bank.
The Astros superfan, whose real name is Jim McIngvale, raked in $75 million in winning bets after Houston won the 2022 World Series on Saturday, defeating the Phillies in Game 6. According to multiple reports, the $75 million is believed to be the largest payout in sports betting history after he placed $10 million in bets across several sportsbooks.
. . .
“What can we say? We just wrote the biggest check in sports betting history to Mattress Mack for $30,000,000,” Caesars Digital COO Ken Fuchs said Saturday night, according to ESPN.
A chunk of Mattress Mack’s winnings will go toward paying customers on a promotion he ran at his furniture store, which gives customers refunds of double what they paid if they spent at least $3,000.
There's more at the link.
Whether one approves of gambling or not, that's a heck of a play - and I bet Mack's customers are laughing all the way to the bank. Well done, that man!
Peter
On October 3, 2021, political history was made after a Nascar race.
Seldom has a sports reporter put her foot in her mouth quite so comprehensively . . . or so memorably!
Peter
I hesitate to put this image on my blog. If you like shotguns, you might want to cover your eyes and skip to the text below the image. Ready?
If you're so inclined, click the image for a larger view.
That's the "Impala Plus GP28A00CU Plus Urban 12GA. 3" 28" CT-5 Color Synthetic Shotgun". I can only presume that Picasso dumped his palette of paints out of an upper window, and they fell on a passing hunter carrying his shotgun at the wrong place and time. Ye gods and little fishes! Would any self-respecting duck or grouse dare to fly - let alone try to land - within a good country mile of that neon-glowing thing?
Peter
Courtesy of Gerard Van der Leun, here's a brief video from Red Bull that's really lovely to watch. I suggest you do so in full screen mode.
You can read here about how skier Valentin Delluc did it. He seems to have an amazing talent for such things. Here's an earlier video, where he skis and soars through an Alpine resort.
I've never skied in my life, so I can't properly appreciate the knife-edge control that must be needed to pull off stunts like that. Amazing!
There are more videos of Mr. Delluc's ski stunts on YouTube.
Peter
Via Reddit, here's a video that'll make you smile, if not laugh out loud. From the blurb:
During a Taekwondo demo in Puerto Rico, Llaumigely a 3-year-old girl has to break a fine board with her foot. But the little girl does not understand what she has to do...
She has a unique way of getting it right in the end.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!
Peter
The BBC reports that the stones used in the sport of curling at the Winter Olympics come from a business founded in 1851, that's been supplying them since 1924. Click any image for a larger view.
Curling is back in the spotlight at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics - and all the stones used by the competitors originate from an uninhabited Scottish island.
They are hand-crafted at Kays Curling's workshop in Mauchline, Ayrshire, using granite from the island of Ailsa Craig.
The company's stones are the only ones used in competition by the World Curling Federation.
Kays Curling was founded in 1851, and has been providing curling stones for the Winter Olympics since the Chamonix Games in 1924.
The company's director is 72-year-old Jimmy Wyllie, who began working there at the age of 15.
He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The history books tell us that curling stones have been made from Ailsa Craig material for probably at least 200 years now.
"There are two sources on the island and in the good old days you could have a pair made from either."
Today, those two types of granite are combined to make one stone. Common Green granite is used for the main body, before Blue Hone granite is added.
Workers produce one stone per hour, a total of 38 stones a week. Each one is checked for shape and balance to ensure they meet Olympic requirements.
There's more at the link, including a fascinating series of photographs showing the stones being made by hand in the traditional way. Some modern tools are used, but all the old ones are still there, in serried ranks along the walls. It's a way of life I'd thought long gone, but it supports an Olympic sport to this day.
Peter
I'm not much of a football fan, at least not in America. I played English-style rugby, where the object is to play the ball. As far as I can tell, in American football the object is to fold, spindle and mutilate everyone on the field except the guy with the ball! Yeah, I know, that's not accurate - but it still looks that way to the rest of the world.
Be that as it may, I do enjoy some of the come-from-behind, underdog-beats-top-dog moments that one sees from time to time. The most recent was last weekend, in the college football match between Jacksonville State University and Florida State University. It was won after the clock had counted down to zero, by a "Hail Mary" pass from Jacksonville's quarterback. (For the benefit of overseas readers, in American football, the game isn't over when the clock reaches zero, but when the play in progress at that moment is complete and the ball goes "dead". Only then will the game end.)
(If the video below won't play, see its page on YouTube.)
That play reminded me of the famous "Miracle in Miami" in 2019, when the Miami Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots with a "Hail Mary" pass, also in the dying moments of the game. (Video link here if it doesn't play.)
Full marks to Jacksonville last weekend, and to the Dolphins in 2019. It's plays like those that make the game memorable. Sadly, the NFL has become so politicized that many (including myself) no longer watch its games; but college football is still focused on sport rather than politics, and is gaining many viewers as a result.
Peter
A couple of days ago I wrote about the use of a "Coaster", an item of fishing gear, to make an ad-hoc throw lever for a telescopic sight's power ring. A lot of readers seem to be looking into that, with much success.
However, Tom G. wrote to describe an issue with his extended-eye-relief scope, complete with pictures.
Hi Peter,
I was excited when I saw your blog post about using the Coasters as a scope dial ring handle. I had seen it before but hadn't kept the link. I ordered a set and tried to put them on my rifle. This is a cautionary tale that it won't work for everybody.
My rifle is a Ruger GSR "scout" with a forward-mounted Burris optic. It has very little clearance between the power ring and the rail.
I painstakingly trimmed down a bunch of the ribs with nippers, then took the whole thing (just the coaster!) to the belt sander and reduced it some more ("trimmed). The picture "divots" shows that I could not reduce it enough, it still bound up. The picture "clearance" shows how little room there is. So now I'm back to square one. Either I bubba the rail or find another solution.
But the second one will work on another scope!
Keep up the writing!
Tom
(Feel free to use this on your blog if you want)
Thanks for writing, Tom, and for sharing your experience with us.
The obvious answer, of course, is to use a slightly higher set of scope rings, to allow greater clearance between the power ring and the rail. Of course, this may not work for everybody; it will mean adjusting one's sighting technique to allow for the changed height, which may be less comfortable than before. I guess there are trade-offs everywhere. Still, if you want a really low-mounted scope, then I guess that won't allow enough clearance for the Coaster to be usable as a throw lever. YMMV.
One possible solution, that would be less comfortable than a full-size Coaster but should still be usable, would be to use a regular cable tie instead. They're thinner than the Coaster. The "nub" where the ends come together would still offer at least some purchase to turn the power ring more easily.
Peter
I'm sure many readers interested in the shooting sports are familiar with the "throw lever" sometimes integrated into the power ring (i.e. the adjustment ring to vary the magnification) of telescopic sights. They look something like this example, sticking up from the power ring of a Swampfox Optics Arrowhead tactical scope. (Click any image for a larger view.)
Regular hunting- and target-style scopes don't usually have throw levers, but they've become very popular on tactical scopes. They allow one to adjust the power very quickly with one hand, rather than fiddle with a power ring that doesn't offer easy purchase or a visual or tactile reference when the scope is being held to one's eye. There are third-party, aftermarket throw levers available, but they can be expensive, and they only fit a limited range of sizes.
I recently came across a fishing accessory, originally designed to attach reels to rods. It's called a "Coaster", and is available in single and twin packs. They're made by Breakaway Tackle in England, and look like this.
The loop is placed around the fishing rod, over the mounting lugs of the reel: then the arms are pulled tight through the vice block before the ring is screwed down on the block, its threads engaging the notches on the arms to tighten them further. It's a bit like a double-ended cable tie.
Some bright spark figured out that the same tool could be used as a throw lever on rifle telescopic sights that lacked such a feature. Intrigued, I tried it, and found it works like a charm. Here's how the vendor illustrates it.
I modified that slightly, in that I cut off the arms a notch or so above the ring using cutting pliers, as low as I could manage, as illustrated above. I then unscrewed the ring and took it off, cut the arms a notch or two shorter while holding the loop and vice block in place, and then reattached the ring and screwed it down moderately tightly (don't over-tighten it, as that will strip the threads). That put the ends of the arms just beneath the surface of the ring, rather than above it, so they no longer scratched my fingers as I felt for the ring. I found that a lot more comfortable, and it looked better, too.
Customer reviews warn that the plastic may stretch over time, but that's easily dealt with by tightening the ring when necessary. I've considered using glue on the arms inside the ring, to stop anything coming loose, but so far I haven't needed it. I'll hold off on the glue unless it proves necessary further down the road.
When attaching the Coaster, turn your scope's power ring to its minimum setting, then move it to its maximum setting, taking careful note of how far it turns from one extremity to the other. Looking from the rear of the scope, it's usually from about 270 degrees, or west, moving clockwise through a half-circle to about 90 degrees, or east (with 0 degrees being straight up, or north). Return it to the minimum setting, then fasten the Coaster to the power ring so that it sticks out on the left (west) of the scope at about the 270 degree setting. When tightened down, it should make it much easier to grasp and move the power ring one-handed between finger and thumb while peering through the scope, moving the ring all the way over to the 90 degree point (east) on the right. (If your scope's power ring moves the other way, or has a shorter range of motion, simply adjust the initial position of the Coaster to suit.)
If you ever want to take off the Coaster, simply unscrew the ring; or, if you've glued the ring in place, just cut the plastic loop and the Coaster will fall off.
I'm delighted with how easy the Coaster makes it to move the power ring; and with the arms trimmed to below the surface of the locking ring, it looks good, too. I've bought enough of them to put one on all my variable-power scopes (buying the twin-pack means they cost less than $6.50 each). I highly recommend it.
There are competing products out there, but they all appear to be more expensive than the Coaster, so I haven't tried them. YMMV, of course.
Peter
(EDITED TO ADD: A reader e-mailed to describe a problem with a very low-mounted scope, where there wasn't enough clearance to allow the Coaster to fit. Details and a photograph here.)
