sports

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Extreme Yo-Yo-ing

Our friends over at Treehugger.com are into Yo-Yos (and no, I don't mean of the cello-playing variety). Check out the interesting variety they've got going on with stories on yo-yos made from sustainable wood, another that powers an ice-cream maker, and my personal favorite (hint, hint, as the holiday's approach): a wireless yo-yo powered MP3 player, which they say takes only a dozen or so tosses to charge the thing up for continuous music play! Yes, yo-yos have come a long way.... READ ON

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Other Great Moments in Baseball History

During game two of the World Series, FOX cameras noticed a suspicious substance on Detroit pitcher Kenny Rogers' left hand. Rogers cleaned up between innings. And the umpires decided not to invoke Rule 8.02, which says a pitcher shall not "have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game." What was the mystery substance? Pine tar? Resin? Dirt? If it's cheating, cheating in the World Series... READ ON

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Teacher Appreciation Week: NFL Edition

"Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, Aristotle taught Alexander the Great"¦" That's how Mary kicked off mental_floss Teacher Appreciation Week. A logical follow-up post would be one that extended this chain. A less logical one would jump ahead about 2300 years and trace the lineage of famous NFL teachers. Since I just read an excellent piece by Stephen Edelson on the latter, let's turn down that road. You can trace many of today's successful teachers back to Cleveland Browns legend... READ ON

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"Iron" Mike ready to fight women?

Despite years of perfecting my Nintendo jabs and uppercuts on Mike Tyson's Punchout!, I never made it to the level where you get to box a woman. The real Mike Tyson however, who seems to be operating on a different level than all of us, has. Following in the footsteps of comedy legend Andy Kauffman, "Iron" Mike has begun challenging women to join him in the ring. He's even been dropping names, touting bouts with women like professional boxer Ann Wolfe (21-1, with 15 knockouts). And while Mike claims, "I'm... READ ON

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Baseball and the first unique prime number: 3

As the baseball postseason swings ever closer to the World Series (fyi: the Fall Classic begins this coming Saturday), I thought I'd get us all in the mood by looking at some curious connections between the sport and, of all things, the number 3, which, besides being the first unique prime number, turns out really is a magic number, as well. (You should be singing the SchoolHouse Rock song now...) I haven't read this elsewhere, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's... READ ON

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The Early Favorites in '07

I can't tell you who's going to win this year's World Series. But next season, Texas Rangers fans should feel good about their chances, despite this year's pedestrian 80-82 record. You see, the Rangers just fired manager Buck Showalter. And when Buck leaves, he's often replaced by wild success. +Buck was succeeded by Joe Torre as manager of the Yankees in 1996. Unimpressed with the choice, the New York Post ran the headline "Clueless Joe." To spite the Post, Torre and the Yanks went on to win the... READ ON

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Who's on first?

In honor of the MLB playoffs, which started yesterday, I thought I'd "throw out" a few quirky factoids that make the game our true "American Pastime." Of the four major sports in this country, baseball is the only one that isn't played against a clock. The longest game in MLB history was on May 1, 1920 between The Boston Braves and The Brooklyn Robins. The game lasted 8 hours and 22 minutes, went 26 innings, and was finally called a tie with a score of 1-1 In theory,... READ ON

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Superdome Lives

The Louisiana Superdome reopens tonight, a year after the stadium, the city and its people were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons (2-0) will take on Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints (2-0). But before Monday Night Football kicks off, let's go marching down memory lane and pick up some Superdome trivia souvenirs. +While the stadium opened in 1975, the idea of The Superdome dates back to 1967. Louisiana Governor John J. McKeithen attended a baseball game at the... READ ON

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1 of 2 Japanese things to look forward to

I read two exciting things in this month's terrific Esquire, and surprisingly enough they were both penned by mental_floss contributor Doug Cantor. (Nice job, Doug!) Anyway, I figured they were too interesting not to post about, so here goes"¦ #1) Apparently, there's a new type of Baseball Pitch? Dubbed the Gyroball, the throw is the first entirely new baseball pitch to enter the sport since the split-fingered fastball?! Developed by two Japanese scientists who are... READ ON

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Advantage: Queens

One of the things I miss about living in NYC is the ability to take the 7 train out to sporting events in Queens. No car, no traffic, no parking woes getting in and out. You could go watch your favorite team hit a grand slam homerun over at Shea Stadium (or chez stadium, as the pun goes), or, this time of year, catch part of a different type of grand slam, The U.S. Open. To make up for the inability to take the 7 train out to Flushing, I've been watching a lot of baseball and tennis lately,... READ ON