Kindly avert your gaze from your fantasy football email chain to reflect on the accomplishments of one Wakana Ueda, 11 years old, from Japan. Wakana completed the Honolulu Marathon. She is blind. She finished last. It doesn’t matter.
It is a pleasant distraction for most of us to ponder whether the New York Giants can win the NFC East. That’s one aspect of sport, a commonly enjoyed one, and by all accounts, relatively healthy when enjoyed in moderation.
It is another thing entirely to appreciate the magnitude of the sacred confluence of sport and the human condition as presented by Ms. Ueda in the video above. Share this one with your friends and loved ones. Feel more human today, even as you curse your fellow man in line at the Best Buy and the Target as you scavenge for holiday gifts.
The most compelling thing about sports, remember, is that they are played by people.
One time I had to broadcast a three-game series between UCLA and Oral Roberts in baseball. I made it through three full games, over 9 hours of extemporaneous conversation, without giggling.
Oral. Roberts.
Also: Buzzer beaters totally rule. I will not argue about this.
Shaquille O’Neal was – to most knowledgeable eyes – the most dominating basketball player since the Wilt Chamberlain/Bill Russell era. Nevertheless, he won only one MVP award. And, despite his four championship rings and his hall-of-fame career, Shaq never could shake the perception that he might have been an even greater player, had he approached the game with a ninja-killer-zeal like Michael Jordon.
Fortunately for the rest of us, the haters can now suck on this:
No, they did not both surrender once the brawl began. Get your cheap shots out of here.
More importantly, is there anything more amusing than a morally disappointed French sportscaster?
Le outrage! Le scandal! All uproarious things should be in French. Let’s get to work on it. We’d solve the energy crisis, global warming, and terrorism if we could only switch to French when discussing and/or arguing these subjects.
Here’s a touchdown highlight with the call from ESPN Deportes. For all you gringos, ‘deportes’ is the Spanish word for ‘sports’.
Even though the Giants looked exceedingly JV last night, I still think they can beat the 49ers in the playoffs. And certainly New Orleans will boat race San Francisco in a playoff matchup. Alex Smith cannot and will not put 40 or more points up in a playoff game, which is what it will take to beat New Orleans.
The former police chief whose department did not investigate child sex abuse claims against a former Syracuse coach played basketball himself at Syracuse.
Former police chief Dennis Duval played basketball at Syracuse in the early 1970s, when current head coach Jim Boeheim was an assistant. Duval did not play for Bernie Fine, who was fired earlier this week after a third man claimed Fine molested him.
Syracuse police were notified in 2002 of allegations against Fine but did not move forward with an investigation.
Attention, everyone: If you live in a small town, leave. Creepy creepy creepy stuff gets swept under the rug in small towns. LA has traffic and New York is crowded but at least they prosecute the child rapists.
