Tag: Sports

Miracle on Ice: Where are They Now?

Three days ago the Men’s U.S. Olympic Hockey team got an unexpected win over heavily favored Canada, the first time the Americans have beaten the Canadians in an Olympics since 1960. MSNBC got 8.22 million viewers for the Sunday afternoon broadcast—the second highest total in the network’s history. (Only election night 2008 got more.) Congratulations to the U.S. team, and good luck for the rest of the tournament to both the U.S. and Canada.

The game came just a day short of the 30th anniversary of what is arguably the biggest moment in U.S. sports history, the “Miracle on Ice” that saw the Americans beat the Russians, winner of the gold in the four previous Olympics, on their own way to winning gold at the 1980 games in Lake Placid, New York. In Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into Minnesota (2006), we covered the “Miracle on Ice” story—and looked into where some of the players and coaches are today. Here’s an excerpt (with updates!)

The Blind Zimbabwean Cricket Commentator

File this story under “amazing”:

When the ball hits the bat, the radio announcer exclaims that it’s sailing far. Dean Du Plessis’ acute sense of hearing and his eavesdropping on other commentators helps him overcome the fact that he is blind, producing a delivery so polished that most listeners are unaware that he can’t see.

Mr Du Plessis hears the power and direction of the hit. He listens to the speed and spin of the ball, along with the players’ exertions and their cries of elation or frustration. He senses the excitement – or otherwise – of the play on the cricket field and collates the scores with a computer-like memory.

Congratulations, Ryder Cup Teams

The Americans made a heck of a comeback today, and it came down to the final holes of the finals singles match—but the European team held on for the win – 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. Congrats, Europe, and well played, Americans. What a tournament.

If you’re wondering who Ryder is and why everyone seems to want his cup—we did the history in Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Tee’s Off on Golf (page 223).

Here’s an excerpt:

Brits and Yanks
The Ryder Cup is the biennial competition between the best professional American and European golfers. They play for no prize money, but simply for the chance to win the cup, which they then get to keep for two years. Its popularity has gone up and down through the decades, but reached a new high in the 1990s, thanks to some excellent play—and a growing rivalry between the two teams.

The Great Hockey FLUSH OFF

Looks like Uncle John’s going to have to get himself a ticket to Pittsburgh, PA:

The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for 250 students to help with an important task and there’s only one major requirement: You must know how to flush a toilet.

Uncle John totally knows that!

Construction is near completion on the NHL team’s new arena, the Consol Energy Center. But like with any new arena or stadium, officials need to simultaneously flush all the toilets and urinals to make sure everything is working. The Penguins are calling the June 10 event the “Student Flush,” a spinoff of their popular ticketing program known as “Student Rush.”

And they can each take a copy of Uncle John’s Shoots and Scores Bathroom Reader with them when they…go! Woo hoo! Pittsburgh here we come!

May 3 in NASCAR History: The Allison Crash

Today is the anniversary of the crash that changed NASCAR. It was 1987, and Bobby Allison was just twenty-two laps into a race at the great Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, when he blew a tire, went airborne at roughly 200 mph, and nearly went through the fence protecting the fans from the track. Several spectators were hurt, and the crash resulted in NASCAR beginning the era of the restrictor plate, slowing the racecars down on the big tracks like Talladega.

The video is guaranteed to give you chills:

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a shortstop!

Holy cow, don’t know how we missed this YouTube clip. Here’s to Fordham University’s Brian Kownacki, and the “Safe!” heard ’round the (YouTube) world. (1,193,475 views…in two days.) Here’s a quote from Kownacki to set the clip up:

“I got about halfway between third and home and I knew I was in trouble, but there was no turning back,” he tells the Daily News. ” When I was about five feet away, I saw the catcher kneel down in a crouch.”

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