Tag: sports

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New Zealand All Blacks Perform World Cup Winning Haka

I’ve previously written about the tradition of New Zealanders performing a “Haka” before athletic events.

A Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge of the Māori people of New Zealand which the New Zealand national rugby union team, the All Blacks, and a number of other New Zealand national teams perform before their international matches.

Done well, a Haka is dramatic and powerful. And really kinda sexy. No one does this better than the New Zealand All Blacks.

Before the World Cup Finals yesterday, which saw the All Blacks triumphant over the Wallabies of Australia, the All Blacks chose to set the tone with a ‘Kapa O Panga’ Haka.

After the match, and securing the first back-to-back World Cups, the men of the All Blacks came back a traditional ‘Ka Mate’ Haka dedicated to their fans and to six departing team mates, facing their newly won trophy.

For more of my coverage of this sexy war cry, click here and here.

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Compilation: Best Sports Crotch Grabs Of All Time

Earlier this week, I posted a clip of Newcastle Knights player Korbin Sims doing a playful crotch grab of Sea Eagles front rower Willie Mason’s crotch during a rugby match.

Lots of hits here on The Randy Report on that one. I see how you all are 🙂

So, here is a supercut of some of the best (and most playful) sports crotch grabs of all time.

(via The Gaily Grind)

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19 year old Jason Brown’s exciting “free skate” at 2014 US National Championships

Jason Brown at the 2014 US National Skating Championships

Check out 19 year-old Jason Brown’s performance at the 2014 US National Skating Championships.

Very talented, connects to the audience.  And they clearly connect back.

BUT – he doesn’t have a quadruple jump. Can a male skater win the ‘free skate’ without a quad?

What a performance. The audience is standing before he even finishes.

And then, there’s the score…

Watch below. Really exciting.

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Russian gold medalists kiss at medal ceremony in protest of “homosexual propaganda” laws

This picture makes me “happy dance.”

Last night, Kseniya Ryzhova and Tatyana Firova, two members of Russia’s women’s 4×400 relay team, defied their nation’s ban on “homosexual propaganda” when they kissed on the podium during the presentation ceremony for their gold medals at the World Track & Field Championships in Moscow.

Pay attention International Olympic Committee and US Olympic Team – even Russian athletes know how to show moral leadership and courage.

 

Also last night at the World Track & Field Championships, Finnish Minister of Culture & Sports Paavo Arhinmäki waved a rainbow flag during the competition.

Russia, you may make your silly, bigoted laws, but strong, authentic, people are going to be who they are. They will stand for what they believe.  Period.

Forward.

(via JMG)

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Cristiano Ronaldo handles game crasher with class

Watching Cristiano handle this over-excited fan with so much patience and aplomb is pretty amazing. It could have been dangerous, but the fan clearly just wanted to meet his idol.

From Yahoo Sports:

A pitch invader wearing a Ronaldo shirt managed to get rather intimate with his hero. Ronaldo obliged as the fan hugged him for a rather incredible length of time without interference from Sun Life Stadium’s dozy security.

The fan appeared to whisper his entire life story to Ronaldo, who calmly went with it until a cop finally strolled by to escort the pitch invader away.

You can say a lot of things about Ronaldo, but you can’t say he isn’t a good listener.

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Guess the highest paid public employee state by state?

Deadspin provides this map of the USA noting, state by state, the highest paid public employee in each locale.  In 42 states, the highest paid public employee is a sports coach.

However, should you look to merely base salaries, you might be confused.

Apparently, should you wish to peruse public databases, the numbers would not add up as most coaches “compensation” includes more than just base salary:

Far exceeding these base salaries is the “additional compensation” that almost all of these coaches receive, which is tied to media appearances, apparel contracts, and fundraising. While this compensation does not come directly from the state fund it is guaranteed in the coaches’ contracts; if revenue falls short, the school—and thus the state—is on the hook to cover the difference. Plus, even it doesn’t come directly from taxpayers, this compensation is still problematic for all the reasons listed above.
Beyond salary and additional compensation, coaches earn money from bonus incentives tied primarily to the team’s performance. This analysis ignored those bonuses and focused on guaranteed money, as it’s impossible to guess at whether a coach will hit his benchmarks. And we’re not even touching the ridiculous amounts of money coaches can get if they’re fired before their contract ends.

Read more at Deadspin.

(h/t JMG)

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UCLA: “You Can Play”

University of California, Los Angeles, football coach Jim Mora has made a strong statement that he would welcome openly gay players to his team.

In a video for You Can Play, a campaign aimed at improving the environment for LGBT athletes, Mora says, “At UCLA, we play with integrity and we honor diversity. We respect all athletes and coaches. If you can play, you can play. And if you can coach, you can coach.”

The video is the first in the campaign to feature a head football coach prominently, reports Yahoo! Sports.

(source)