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Interesting sports you follow but not enough interest for their own thread


evilwaldo

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Starting a thread for little known sports that we follow that would not gather enough interest for a thread of their own.

 

A couple of years ago I got into sumo by accident and fell in love with it.

 

At first I thought it was just fat guys bumping into each other but there is a lot of wrestling techniques used.

 

Right now there is a lot of talk that the top three Yokozuna's are all Mongolian and the Ozeki's are Japanese.  It has more to do with a cultural bias in that sumo is considered a national sport in Japan and they worry about its future if there are no Japanese Yokozuna's.  Interesting debate to be sure but there are some young guns rising up the ladder.

 

Right now the top Yokozuna is Hakuho, whose father was a Mongolian wrestler and discouraged his son from following in his footsteps.  He is set to break the all-time yusho or tournament championship record in the next year.  Hakuho is not the biggest sumo wrestler but his technique is outstanding. He may have just a few years left but is approaching the end with the same fire and desire that he brought when he started.

 

Going to list the wiki and the Youtube channel of a fine gentleman who patches together the matches from each day of every basho for our viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/Kintamayama

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Roller derby! Helps that the GF is a big fan as well.  

 

The road to Nashville gets underway next month- top seeds are B.A.D. Girls (San Francisco), Rose City Rollers (Portland), London Rollergirls (UK) and Gotham Girls Roller Derby (NYC), the merciless derby machine looking for their fourth straight Hydra Trophy.

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Guest The Magnificent 7

Darts.

 

I'm not a huge follower or anything, but when it's on I watch it.  Lots of personalities, and it's enteraining as hell.  The World Darts Championship was on this month on Fox Sports 1 and the two finalists were this Dutch guy, Michael van Gerwen against Scotsman Peter Wright.  Wright has a, well, unique look to him.  Van Gerwen's mannerisms after throwing well are awesome.  He's got more swagger than any top NFL wide receiver.  I don't know what he's saying half the time, but it has to be some variation of "That's what I'm fucking talking about, I'm the fucking man" as he collects his darts from the board.  Great stuff.  Here's the final...

 

http://youtu.be/cjhXCwTd3xI

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Premier League Darts is the shit. I watch it on Sportsnet, like, constantly since it's a regular afternoon program whenever they have space. The crowd atmosphere and the announcers really do a lot to put it over the top and save it from the tedium of, say, televised poker (and I do play poker but TV people are fucking clueless about what to do with it, there hasn't been a decent poker show since Poker After Dark died). There's not really a lot of "action" to darts but it can be really something to see at a high level.

 

Van Gerwen is such a dickhead, I really get a vibe that a lot of the other players don't like him, but he is entertaining. It also helps that he's clearly the best player in the world.

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Starting a thread for little known sports that we follow that would not gather enough interest for a thread of their own.

 

A couple of years ago I got into sumo by accident and fell in love with it.

 

At first I thought it was just fat guys bumping into each other but there is a lot of wrestling techniques used.

 

Right now there is a lot of talk that the top three Yokozuna's are all Mongolian and the Ozeki's are Japanese.  It has more to do with a cultural bias in that sumo is considered a national sport in Japan and they worry about its future if there are no Japanese Yokozuna's.  Interesting debate to be sure but there are some young guns rising up the ladder.

 

Right now the top Yokozuna is Hakuho, whose father was a Mongolian wrestler and discouraged his son from following in his footsteps.  He is set to break the all-time yusho or tournament championship record in the next year.  Hakuho is not the biggest sumo wrestler but his technique is outstanding. He may have just a few years left but is approaching the end with the same fire and desire that he brought when he started.

 

Going to list the wiki and the Youtube channel of a fine gentleman who patches together the matches from each day of every basho for our viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/Kintamayama

 

Thanks for the link. I feel in love with Sumo when I was younger, back in the days of Akebona, Takanohana, Wakanohana and Musashimaru. Not watched anything for many years, but always enjoyed the action and relative athleticism of the guys involved. That link could be a window into checking out some of the newer stuff.

 

I used to work in a betting shop, so I've developed an interest in most sports.

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  • 1 month later...

i was drunk the other night after the UFC fights and watched some Cricket and thought it was awesome. i tried to look and see if there was a Cricket video game, but apparently they're all region-locked so i lost interest.

 

edit: i just saw that there's a cricket thread. haha.

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It seems to be Mosconi Cup (USA vs. Europe 9-ball pool) season again on TSN.

 

I don't follow pool at all otherwise, but this is the third or fourth year I'll be following that.

 

Earl Strickland is wearing a random giant arm brace that is screaming for a wrestling angle, which seems about right for him.

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Roller derby! Helps that the GF is a big fan as well.  

 

The road to Nashville gets underway next month- top seeds are B.A.D. Girls (San Francisco), Rose City Rollers (Portland), London Rollergirls (UK) and Gotham Girls Roller Derby (NYC) the merciless derby machine looking for their fourth straight Hydra Trophy.

If the bracket holds this weekend the London-Texas bout Sunday night should be a classic. Both have transfers that can make a big difference, Texas picked up Team USA member Trauma from KC and London picked up Kid Block from Tiger Bay. I saw Kid Block play at ECDX for Tiger Bay and she was really impressive, totally dominated every bout she was in that weekend, she's also going to represent England at the World Cup.

 

In other derby news, I'm going to be one of the coaches of Team Greece for the World Cup!

http://www.gofundme.com/teamgreece14

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Field hockey.

 

Luton town ladies - ably managed by Red and baby C - started off their new season in style with a convincing 3-0 win over St Albans. Featuring a new look team, new wing back plus three up front formation, and the debut of Mrs Red between the sticks meant a very happy start to the season for all concerned.

 

Onwards an upwards.

 

=-

 

Three games in and ladies 1's are undefeated.

 

A win and two draws. not bad for a rookie goalkeeper. Second draw was tough though. 2-0 at halftime. drew 4 all.

 

=-

 

decent win last week, marred by an idiotic away umpire, making one of the weirdest proclomations I have ever had the misfortune to experience. 

 

In hockey, the umps (traditionally one from each team) dictate what happens "inside the wire" i.e. in the enclosed (pool) area...

 

Some of the home team were warming up for the next match on pitch. With 10 minutes to go, as is their wont. stretching and hitting a ball back and forth. The away ump stopped the match, introduced himself as John smith, winner of UMPIRE OF THE YEAR award for 2010. I am responsible for what happens within the confines of the playing area, and I have asked you to stop playing a second game while the first is going on. Anyone not DIRECTLY INVOLVED with the match must leave the premises of the field, NOW, or I WILL BE FORCED TO CANCEL THE GAME AND AWARD THE POINTS TO THE AWAY TEAM VIA FORFEIT (caps to emphasise, spittle, shouting and general douchebaggery)

 

So the home team left. Trouble was, the away team for the next match were there as well. Our ump, a 6'5" bruiser of a defender, known as pez, intimated both sets of teams should leave the field. UOTY agreed and asked Pez to tell them. Pez politely declined by laughing and walking off, then making a shovelling motion. Realising the mistake he's made, UotY goes over, timid as a mouse and meekly asks 13 hockey lads, some with tattoos on their knuckles detailing their LUV for their MUVVA to leave the pitch.

 

We scored from the subsequent return to play and won the match 2-1.

 

TL;DR, whos the knob jockey in the black!

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  • 1 month later...

It was shockingly close, but Gotham Girls squeaks by Rose City 147-144 in Nashville to claim their fourth straight Hydra Trophy. Bay Area Derby Girls beat London for third place.

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I'm a distance running dork. Pretty much anything from the 800 meters up to ultramarathons. It's strange, because certainly the longer events can take some time. An elite marathon, for instance, usually finishes up around two hours and five minutes, give or take, depending the course and weather. For that duration.... it's basically just people running. Well, that's exactly what it is. And I love it. Not just the race itself - which I do find very aesthetically satisfying - but everything that goes into it. I have several exercise science textbooks - and of course the usual pop references - and seek out the most recent scholarly articles about mitochondrial biogenesis, lactate threshold, AMPK, etc. Like most for whom this is all true, I'm a bit of a hobbyist myself, but not at all what anyone would consider good. This, I think, adds to the appeal, for me. I can run one mile in around the pace of the marathon world record (4:41.5).

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Damn. I totally missed the posts regarding darts. Until I retired from competition four years ago, I was frequently nationally ranked and without a doubt the top money winner in Washington State for a solid decade, (yes, Brian Smith is better than I am, but not by much and I played and finished in the money in a LOT more tournaments.) I used to play the North American Open (now the Desert Classic) every year, best showings were both in doubles games, in Cricket (partnered with Brian Smith) we made it into the money, in Mixed Doubles Cricket Angie Boesch and I took Paul Lim and Stacey Bromberg to the limit in the quarter finals. Considering that Paul was like #7 or #8 in the world and Stacey was the top-ranked woman in the world that's not too shabby for a couple of bar-room shooters from Seattle.

 

I still follow the game and still entertain thoughts about one last ride. My arm has had five cortisone shots now and I'm sure that the last one has worn off by now, but maybe, just maybe... One more time... We shall see... (I was just thinking about it last night, ya know, glory days and all that shit...) Part of the reason I called it quits as it was just getting way too painful, I throw 34gm Harrow Assassins and have for close on twenty years playing at least a couple of hours every day which my doctor said is about the same amount of wear and terror on the arm as pitching a major league game once a week. I had switched to the heavy darts as they force a perfect follow-thru or they wind up on the floor. Prior to that I used the Paul Lim design 24gm darts. As I still have multiple sets of each, I suppose I could start training again with the light ones and then see what I really have left.

 

As far as the mental game, I'm a human calculator in '01 and a fucking holy terror at Cricket, if the arm can hold up, I think I will give the tournament circuit (at least in New Mexico) one more shot... Funny thing is, while the total number of players in NM is about the same as WA (WA had the misfortune of being one of the first and most aggressively marketed soft-tip areas), the number of top caliber players in NM is astonishing by comparison. At a weekly bar shoot in Seattle, I can walk in and easily be the favorite, in Albuquerque at the weekly shoot there were always at least five or six players at my level and usually two, occasionally three that were more on the Brian Smith level. The difference is this, in the Northwest any time I enter a singles tournament, it's an investment and I will leave with more than my entry fee pretty much guaranteed. In NM it's a total gamble whether it be a blind draw doubles shoot or a singles event, there's just that many higher level players. In the NW in a blind draw shoot unless there were three other teams of top-notch players got drawn together, I could pretty well carry a sack of potatoes into the money. In NM, I need to draw someone at least competent to have a hope of winning.

 

Fuck it, I AM doing to do this... I'll let y'all know how it works out (if it does). You may commence chanting "One more match" at any time. ;-)

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Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie

It was shockingly close, but Gotham Girls squeaks by Rose City 147-144 in Nashville to claim their fourth straight Hydra Trophy. Bay Area Derby Girls beat London for third place.

The energy in the building was unbelievable for the Gotham/Rose game. One of the loudest derby crowds I've ever heard.

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It was shockingly close, but Gotham Girls squeaks by Rose City 147-144 in Nashville to claim their fourth straight Hydra Trophy. Bay Area Derby Girls beat London for third place.

The energy in the building was unbelievable for the Gotham/Rose game. One of the loudest derby crowds I've ever heard.

 

I was there this weekend and you're spot on with it being one of the loudest crowds in history, Rose got the ball rolling with their amazing intro and Gotham followed it up with a pretty bad ass one too, the whole arena doing the flying motion for Scald Eagle was also really cool. 

 

Last nights final was hands down the best bout in the short history of the sport but the whole weekend was filled with amazing bouts and moments, when WFTDA puts everything up on YouTube watch as much as you can. 

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I'm a distance running dork. Pretty much anything from the 800 meters up to ultramarathons. It's strange, because certainly the longer events can take some time. An elite marathon, for instance, usually finishes up around two hours and five minutes, give or take, depending the course and weather. For that duration.... it's basically just people running. Well, that's exactly what it is. And I love it. Not just the race itself - which I do find very aesthetically satisfying - but everything that goes into it. I have several exercise science textbooks - and of course the usual pop references - and seek out the most recent scholarly articles about mitochondrial biogenesis, lactate threshold, AMPK, etc. Like most for whom this is all true, I'm a bit of a hobbyist myself, but not at all what anyone would consider good. This, I think, adds to the appeal, for me. I can run one mile in around the pace of the marathon world record (4:41.5).

 

I used to love watching the 1500m races in the days of Hicham El Guerrouj. I don't think anyone ever made running that distance look easier.

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I love:

Tennis. I know tennis isn't weird, but I'm a big fan of World TeamTennis. It's a great league with an awesome format.

Team Handball. This is the most fun/best sport that's not popular in America. It's not the wall handball, but a cross between basketball, soccer and hockey. It's AWESOME and should be one of our national pastimes. I try and keep up with the big results/Champions League. I might go down that road today, actually.

Curling. I've gone to the US Champions outside Philly a whole bunch of times. It's SO awesome. My wife and I also took curling lessons last winter. It is INCREDIBLY hard. I mean, it's flat out impossible to even get the stone down the ice for a beginner. I have no idea how anyone can make precision shots like they do at the Olympic level. My wife and I also convinced a bar one to have a Curling Watch Party during the Winter Olympics. It's so great!

Roller Derby. I'm friends with a whole bunch of former Philly Roller Girls. My friends are all retired from RD because they're in their 30s and the physical demands are completely insane. I went to a whole bunch of the local games and a lot of the bigger events, too. The national championships were here one year and they were a blast. I haven't kept up as much since my friends retired, but it's an absolute blast to see live.

Cricket. The amount of cricket on ESPN3 is amazing. It's such a wonderful sport. Once you get the rules down, it's super easy to follow. I really like it a lot.

Field Hockey. ESPN3 has shown some NCAA field hockey lately. I knew a few field hockey players in college and couldn't really make too much sense out of some of it. But it is fun.

I used to LOVE lacrosse. It's fun to watch but so many lacrosse players are really lame.

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