Lukas Eberle | Apr 29

DW - Cheating is becoming an increasing problem in sports events for athletes with disabilities. Rigorous inspections are supposed to root out those who are only faking a handicap, but some imposters get through -- like the supposedly blind athlete who cheered when she saw her result on the board.

I'm struck by the diversity of comments here with regards to an interview given by the new Miami Marlins manager, Ozzie Guillen.

Guillen committed the nearly unpardonable sin of having kind words to say about Fidel Castro and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

A little background. The Miami Marlins baseball team opened a new stadium this season, right smack in the heart of Little Havana, la communidad el Norte for Cuban refugees. This casts an intriguing light on what Guillen said, for it's the older Cuban-Americans who have a problem with it, while later generations are more "Who's Castro?"

March 23

BBC - Kazakhstan's shooting team has been left stunned after a comedy national anthem from the film Borat was played at a medal ceremony at championships in Kuwait instead of the real one.

The team asked for an apology and the medal ceremony was later rerun.

The team's coach told Kazakh media the organisers had downloaded the parody from the internet by mistake.

The song was produced by UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for the film, which shows Kazakhs as backward and bigoted.

I figure I have about five more of these I'll have to write to cover my sports heroes.

It's hard to believe he was only four years older than I was. In point of fact, it's hard to believe he was older than I am.

Gary Carter, baseball Hall of Famer, perennial All-Star, and former New York Met, died last evening at age 57.

The one thing I remember most about his play and his attitude was, it transported me back to a time when ballplayers had to dig ditches in the offseason, when the game was fun and not dominated by money, when it was still viewed as a child's game. He got a hit, he smiled. Even when he lost a game, it might take him a while, but he could be counted on for a level-headed interview and a smile. It was as if he had been blessed to remain a kid all his life, and he knew it and appreciated every second of it.

(photo courtesy)

So, I'm led to understand that last night, one group of talentless millionaires defeated another group of even less-talented millionaires, thus earning hundreds of millions of dollars for a cartel of socialist-billionaires. Even deeper irony is that the entire nation stopped for four hours (or more) to watch this spectacle, which included "entertainment" by yet another passel of millionaires on a broadcast that featured hundreds of millions of dollars spent not on improving the country, but on trying to segregate your pocket, green from white.

. . . cheats for Tebow.

One simple question: what if Tim Tebow were Muslim? Or how about this? It's a damn game so keep religion out of it. Whose side was God on in the Civil War? The two sides prayed to the same God so, was God rooting for Confederate or Union forces? Who was right? Who was wrong? Was God rooting for the Steelers Sunday or the Broncos? Or was he off in Africa giving babies AIDS? Really, just keep the religion to yourself.

Nov 14

BBC - Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has told MPs that ground-to-air missiles will be deployed to protect the 2012 Olympic Games in London if deemed operationally necessary.

He was asked to confirm this by the former defence secretary Liam Fox.

It was Mr Hammond's first appearance at Defence Questions since taking over from Mr Fox.

The comments follow reports of concern in the United States about security plans for the Games.

The Guardian claimed the US was furious about security plans and wanted to send up to 1,000 of its own people, including 500 FBI agents but the Home Office says it has "full confidence" in the plans.

Mr Hammond was asked by his predecessor to confirm whether there would be a "full range of multilayered defence and deterrents" in place for the 2012 Games including surface-to-air missiles.

He replied: "I can assure him that all necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the London Olympic Games will be taken including - if the advice of the military is that it is required - appropriate ground-to-air defences."

. . . in finding this a way over-the-top and obscene display of militarism run amok?

. . . is cool!

No, not Mariano Rivera beating a shitty little statistic that in the grand scheme of baseball is nearly meaningless-- teams with a one run lead going into the ninth inning average a 95% winning percentage, so Rivera bumps it up to 95.1%-- thus proving that corporations can manipulate the feeble minded into believing in superheroes AND taking over our leisure time in addition to making us all corporate drones.

No. This guy.

. . . to do here is for Miami to get the exact same death penalty that SMU got.

Lately, there would seem to be a whole lot more people who have a direct channel to the Big Guy Upstairs than one could have humanly thought possible.

It is oft-said that "God works in mysterious ways". But when Michele Bachmann hears voices telling her to run for president, am I the only who thinks the most likely explanation is a batch of bad clams or one-too-many nights role playing The Book of Eli with her equally demented husband Marcus?

Perhaps, these are the very same voices that have shared with her the important role "Founding Father John Quincy Adams" played in ending slavery as he battled the oncoming scourge of puberty? I don't know, just a stab in the dark.

I know, I know, I spend too much time obsessing over sports, I'm distracted. Anyway: congratulations to the US women's soccer team for beating Brazil today, 5-3!

Derek Jeter made his 3,000th hit this afternoon. Congratulations on joining a very elite club.

The video clip is just all kinds of awesomeness!

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin today, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Germany 2011 would be a "milestone in the development of women's soccer"

The sixth edition of the competition begins in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin where 1,500 fans representing the 16 participating nations will be using lights and mirrors in the lights and music show.

A capacity crowd of 70,000 will watch the opening game, Germany v Canada.

More than 2,000 journalists are accredited to cover the Women's World Cup. More

*Groups, statistics, best players
*Germany, US, Brazil Headline Women's World Cup
*Canada faces tough task in World Cup opener
*History of FIFA Women's World Cup

Image: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

. . . in the world: LeBron James still has no rings.

A really interesting dilemma is bubbling up on the New York sports scene right now, centered around one of the most controversial athletes to play here and creating a nexus between social issues confronting all of us and our desire for escape and entertainment.

Enter Sean Avery:

The idea that Sean Avery has an unusual personality for a professional athlete is nothing new. Famous for once spending a summer as an intern at Vogue, infamous for the crude comments about ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert that got him run out of Dallas and traded back to New York, the Rangers winger long has been known for being anything but the typical jock.

Kyle Hopkins | Anchorage | March 5

ADN - The 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began this morning on snow-packed Fourth Avenue in Downtown Anchorage with the sport's reigning rock star chasing another historic win.

"I'm not saying I can't be beat, but I think they're going to have their hands full," defending champion Lance Mackey said this week.

Super Bowl XLV Champions!

Hats off to the advertisers in this year's Super Bowl. There have been some very creative spots, but this one is my favorite thus far:

The Volkswagen ad and the Chrysler ad deserve Honorable Mentions.

More here.

Here's to the community-owned, totally socialist Green Bay Packers winning today's ur-capitalist Super Bowl extravaganza!

Steven Aftergood | Washington | January 13

Secrecy News - The technology for sequencing human DNA is advancing so rapidly and the cost is dropping so quickly that the number of individuals whose DNA has been mapped is expected to grow “from hundreds of people (current) to millions of people (probably within three years),” according to a new report to the Pentagon (pdf) from the JASON defense science advisory panel. The Defense Department should begin to take advantage of the advances in “personal genomics technology” by collecting genetic information on all military personnel, the panel advised.

The cost of sequencing complete human genomes has been falling by about a factor of 30 per year over the last six years, the JASONs said. As a result, “it is now possible to order your personal genome sequenced today for a retail cost of under ~$20,000″ compared to around $300 million a decade ago. “This cost will likely fall to less than $1,000 by 2012, and to $100 by 2013.”

Our national champion as of last night is TCU!