Larry Brown Sports » Everything Else

Video of the World’s Fastest Man: Usain Bolt Runs a 9.58 100m

Larry Brown — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:54:07 +0000

Silly me — I thought this video would only last 10 seconds. I was wrong. Bonus points if you can count how many steps the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, takes in this race.

Dude, Bolt and Tyson Gay were moving so fast you couldn’t even see their legs — they were blurs on the screen. Best part was watching the photographers book it to try and catch up with him for photo ops. That was great. Can you imagine being in attendance at the World Championship at Berlin for this event? You freaking sneeze and you miss the whole damn thing!

Video: Michael Phelps Wins First Two Races at Charlotte UltraSwim

Larry Brown — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:49:02 +0000

So after a three month suspension and several weeks of partying, smoking weed, and threesomes with strippers, Michael Phelps hit the pool for a meet Friday, his first competition since the Olympics in Beijing. If you thought aquaman would have some rusty pipes your concerns were fair but turned out to be wrong. First, Phelps won the 200m freestyle and then the 100m butterfly setting record times for both events at the Charlotte UltraSwim. Apparently he did it all pretty casually too, sporting a new goatee, not shaving down like typical swimmers do, and with an antiquated swimsuit from ‘04. So in case you need your fix that you haven’t had since Beijing, here are clips from his two races (full versions can be seen on YouTube):

Here’s the full-length version of his first race, the 200m free, and the second race, the 100m butterfly.

Bowen Wallace of Tilden Wins $278K on Kentucky Derby Superfecta Ticket

Larry Brown — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:06:10 +0000

When you see that a horse with odds of 50:1 wins the Kentucky Derby, your (or at least my) reaction was to wonder who’s holding that winning ticket. While a $10 investment would have netted you a comfortable $500 profit, nothing compares to what Bowen Wallace of Tilden, Texas got from picking the ponies properly on Saturday.

The 41-year-old Tilden resident won $278,503.20 on a $1 superfecta ticket for the 135th Derby, which was simulcast live at Retama Park.

He won by correctly picking the top four finishers. The winner was Mine That Bird, a 50-1 long shot. Wallace’s winning ticket was a five-horse superfecta box, which cost him $120. He says he took home $209,000, after taxes were taken out at the track.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, there were 23 outstanding winning $1 superfecta tickets. Dizzamn. That’s some serious cash. Remember though, when an underdog (underhorse?) wins like that, all that money coming in on the favorites gets flushed down the drain. Wallace says jockey Calvin Borel was a major factor influencing where he bet his money. On Saturday we sure found out why.

(via Ben Maller)

Calvin Borel’s Ride on Mine That Bird Just Like His Kentucky Derby Victory on Street Sense

Larry Brown — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:21:50 +0000

As much criticism as horse racing takes for supposedly being cruelty to animals, it’s hard to have seen the Kentucky Derby and not thought you were watching a sporting/athletic event. This was a race in its simplest form, one where animals were competing. Sure, you mix in jockeys whipping the horses, trainers injecting steroids, deaths on the track, and things begin to get kind of fuzzy, but the race itself on Saturday was pretty exhilarating. Specifically, jockey Calvin Borel’s ride on Mine That Bird to win the Derby was extremely impressive. Check out the race in its entirety below, and then skip ahead to the 8:20 mark to see Borel’s run on Mine That Bird as it compares to his ride to win the ‘07 Derby aboard Street Sense. It’s pretty incredible:

If you heard the call on NBC, Tom Durkin was so stunned by the upset he didn’t even know Mine That Bird’s name until the race had already been won! Furthermore, to underscore the comeback ride by Borel, Durkin didn’t even mention Mine That Bird until the horse was out in front. Impressive ride by Borel. And a few quick cool facts about the gelding — he was purchased for only $9,500, and he got his name from the mare, Birdstone (’04 Belmont Stakes winner), and the dame, Mining My Own. Quite a nice pedigree if you ask me.

Video: Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility Collapses Because of Tornado Winds

Larry Brown — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:51:01 +0000

Let me ask one fundamental question: is it more important for cameramen to try and execute their job by filming and documenting an event such as this one, or to shed the camera and try to help out other people in need? The reason I ask this is because it was strange watching a cameraman film a Cowboys player trying to help someone who was trapped. That just seemed odd to me. Here’s the chilling video of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapsing because of thunderstorms (which I guess I’m glad we have so we can see what it looked like):

The aftermath of the collapse was pretty significant. 12 of the reported 70 people in the facility were injured. The Cowboys special teams coach, Joe DeCamillis, has a broken back. One of their scouting assistants, Rich Behm, wound up paralyzed from the waist down. Recent draft pick David Buehler seems to have sustained the worst injuries of all the players. My initial reaction, aside from feeling horribly for the people who’s lives have been harmed by this incident, is to wonder why the Cowboys were practicing amidst such threatening weather conditions. If the facility is designed to protect from thunderstorms and tornadoes, then who screwed up building it? I’m just hoping that some teams learned the importance of keeping employees safe in the face of natural disasters. Mother nature always wins. Squeezing in a few extra hours or days of practice isn’t worth jeopardizing lives.

Playboy Girls Love LBS!

Larry Brown — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:34:35 +0000

If and when I die, that snippet is going in my commemorative video. And on my tombstone. And in my epithet. Excellent job by Alana G at Yardbarker for putting that video together and making all this blogging feel worthwhile. Sorta. If only she could hook me up with a date …

Michael Phelps Kellogg’s Cereals Now Feeding the Hungry at Food Banks

Larry Brown — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:02:33 +0000

Much like the Patriots 19-0, Super Bowl champs t-shirts, you probably figured those Kellogg’s cereal boxes featuring Michael Phelps were headed to Central America as a result of Mikey’s cheech and chong display. So what happened to all those boxes of cereal with Phelps’ likeness plastered all over the front? They got cleared off the shelves and sent to food banks.

Kellogg’s isn’t actually saying that it dumped the cereal boxes on food banks – a spokesman for the cereal company did not return a call – but it is a logical conclusion.
…
The sudden appearance of about 3,800 pounds of flakes would indicate that someone was trying to dump some unwanted stock.

Apparently cereal is a high-scale item in demand at the food banks, so the product got cleaned out without a problem. Even making his best efforts to embarrass himself, Phelps still wound up doing a good deed and some charity. Who knew?

The Downsides to Live TV Reporting

Larry Brown — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:28:05 +0000

There is nothing more for me to say than … here, just watch:

I just busted up laughing out loud when I saw that video hit about the 15 second mark. As Jimmy at SI said, that poor reporter had no clue what was going on. Funny how the angle made things practically perfect. Crazy, crazy soccer hooligans.

North Carolina Senate Bill 377 Would End High School Athletics for Poor Academics

Larry Brown — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:20:20 +0000

I doubt this bill actually gets passed because it’s pretty outrageous. Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out what’s floating around out there. There’s a proposed bill in North Carolina that would end athletics in high schools that score below the 50th percentile for end of year tests two years in a row. I guess the idea is canceling sports would help the academic performance at the school:

Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, the sponsor of the bill, said the proposal isn’t intended to punish students who are doing well. He said he only wants to encourage students who aren’t performing well in the classroom to do better.

“We certainly want our kids to keep playing sports because we know how important that is, but we need to remember the first thing about a school is to be able to learn to read and write and do math,” Albertson said.

This is about the damn dumbest thing of which I’ve heard. How can you categorically blame poor academic performance on sports and athletic performance? Why wouldn’t you start with the kids or the parents for poor academics? What about the school teaching better? What about the parents making the kids do their homework? There’s a pretty darn high percentage of high school students that participate in athletics so stripping them of that right would be insane. I’m willing to guess that academic performance for high schoolers on sports teams is highly competitive with that of the regular student body. How could it possibly be worth ending the fun for all the other students doing well in school that enjoy their sports?

So the Patriots Had Cheerleader Tryouts

Larry Brown — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:25:12 +0000

I would’ve had no idea that the Patriots were auditioning new dancers if it weren’t for Deadspin, which also was able to sift through the crowd to locate the hottest chick of all 500 that went to try out, without a doubt. Given Belichick’s dry personality, you would figure he’d be outlawing cheerleaders so as to prevent player distractions. But even Belichick likes to get some strange, so it is reasonable to think that he has the final say over all new cheerleader selections. Anyway, here’s the best of what New England has to offer, courtesy of the highly reputable and journalistic Boston Globe:

Poor Cassel, guy got traded away before he even had a chance to enjoy himself. Sigh.

Larry Brown Sports » Everything Else

Video of the World’s Fastest Man: Usain Bolt Runs a 9.58 100m

Video: Michael Phelps Wins First Two Races at Charlotte UltraSwim

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Bowen Wallace of Tilden Wins $278K on Kentucky Derby Superfecta Ticket

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Calvin Borel’s Ride on Mine That Bird Just Like His Kentucky Derby Victory on Street Sense

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Video: Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility Collapses Because of Tornado Winds

Playboy Girls Love LBS!

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Michael Phelps Kellogg’s Cereals Now Feeding the Hungry at Food Banks

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The Downsides to Live TV Reporting

North Carolina Senate Bill 377 Would End High School Athletics for Poor Academics

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