Archive for the 'Extreme Sports' Category

People Like Kayaking Off Waterfalls

As a rule, anytime somebody goes over a 107 foot waterfall in a kayak they will get mentioned here. Today’s lucky someone is 21 year-old Tyler Bradt, a Montana native who set a new world record earlier this month when he plunged over the edge of Alexandria Falls. Bradt’s fall settled what had been heated dispute over who had been the real world record holder. (That’s right, waterfall kayak jumping has fights too.)

Apparently the last man who went over Alexandria falls fell out of his kayak when he hit the water at the bottom. As a result Guinness did not recognize his record fall. Bradt’s latest drop leaves no doubt as to holds the record.

Now here’s the real reason why I’m mentioning this story. Bradt had a friend who also attempted the record breaking fall that day. (He didn’t successfully pull it off.) In order to decide who would go over the edge first the two men agreed to play rock, paper, scissors. In the deciding match Bradt threw scissors and his friend threw paper. Hours later Bradt was the first one over the waterfall. It’s all just more proof that important things in life should be decided with rock, paper, scissors.

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Utah’s Governer is Totally Extreme

Watch out John McCain. You’re not the only politician who likes to break up monotony of government spending debates by talking about sports. Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. loves the Dew Action Sports Tour.

Never has a politician had as much of a connection with the action sports athletes as Huntsman, especially when it comes to freestyle motocross.

“I’ve heard of a lot of governors and anyone in the legislature being against motocross,” rider Mike Mason said. “But I’ve never heard of someone being into it. I would support that guy ’til the end. Anything he wanted from us, I’d do, because it’s awesome. It’s not like he just appreciates what we do. He’s like a full-on, die-hard fan of moto.”

At this weekend’s event in Salt Lake City Huntsman helped decide who won the award for best trick and he joined the NBC broadcast team in the booth. Who knew the Dew Tour even had any die-hard fans over the age of 25, let alone one who’s a governor.

Further demonstrating his “coolness”, Huntsman had one suggestion for the event.

“The only thing missing, basically, is Foo Fighters,” Huntsman said. “If we get Foo Fighters here to perform as background, we’d have it all.”

All the guy wants is some motorcross and some Foo Fighters for the loyal Utah residents who elected him. It’s the only proven way to keep kids away from the dangers of monogamy.

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Alaskan’s Know How to Dodge a Wrench

Just in case you missed the action on ESPN 8, “The Ocho”, the Alaskan “Team AK” won this year’s National Dodgeball Championships. The team was led by 27 year-old Joe Bell, a former college pitcher who played in the Alaskan Baseball League (other notable alumni include Randy Johnson and Barry Bonds). Bell was so good that he injured numerous players with his atomic throws and basically single-handedly led his team to victory.

Team AK succeeded in large part by identifying its opponent’s best player and then getting a stinger into Bell’s hands early in the game, with the hope Bell could take him down with a well-aimed ball. The plan worked more often than not. Others helped by staying in front of Bell and warding off stingers aimed at him…Though not the most artful dodger on the team, Doug Olson proved invaluable because he willingly served as a human shield when opponents targeted Bell, which was often.

I think it’s fair to say that along with punt team gunners and mop-up bullpen guys, “human shield” is one of the least glamorous roles in all of sports.

On another note, Team AK’s win brings up an interesting question. If Bell and a bunch of nobodys can win a championship, why can’t Kobe Bryant?

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Talk About Being Stoked

This may come as news to some people, but skateboarding is now a high school team sport and the inaugural season just came to a close. Last week Santa Monica High School used a victory in the final competition and to clinch the first ever California High School Skateboard Club overall title. Congratulations to Santa Monica—I’m still in shock the kids from the L.A. math and science magnet high school didn’t win the title.

The CHSSC, which includes seven schools, is the first league of it’s kind, but if it’s successful more high school skateboarding leagues could pop up around the country. I just hope skateboarders know what they’re getting themselves into. Being part of a sanctioned team means you must deal with academic eligibility, set practice times, and possibly drug tests. Nothing says “extreme” quite like biology tutors and urinating in a cup.

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