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In an exercise that will be beneficial to both me (emptying out my Google Reader’s “starred” items) and to you (a whole lot of stuntastic things from around the Internets), I’m bringing back an old segment that will be familiar to my oldest readers, “News I Find Interesting!” Here, I will be posting a long list of links and such that I’ve encountered that I found interesting, amusing, idiotic, titillating, or hilarious, but didn’t get around to sharing with you.
You may have already seen few, some, or all of the links below, but in any case I hope you will find an item or two of note that YOU will find interesting.
1. The New York City’s Department of Transportation has installed nine unique bike racks designed by David Byrne, yes of the Talking Heads fame, but did you know he is also a bike enthusiast? It is only temporary but [...]

Each Monday during the 2008 college football season, the blog will take a look at each facet of the Ohio State game the preceding Saturday and break things down position by position. Here are our thoughts on the Buckeyes’ season-opening victory, a 43-0 shutout of Division I-AA opponent Youngstown State.

Quarterbacks – Ohio State would appear to have the luxury of three quarterbacks each of whom seems capable of running the offense. Starter Todd Boeckman had another of his workmanlike games, completing nearly 75 percent of his passes for modest yardage and a couple of touchdowns. Best of all for me was Boeckman throwing balls with more authority. That would include a 47-yard completion that hit Brian Hartline in mid-stride and the 31-yard touchdown dart to Brian Robiskie. I still would like to see Boeckman dump the ball and throw it away when there is nothing there, but [...]

Serbia’s Novak Njokovic just eliminated Croat Marin Cilic from the 2008 US Open in a four setter, 6-7,7-5,6-4,7-6 at Flushing Meadows, Queens. Njokovic is the number 3 player in the world and one of the favorites to win the tournament.

I had to smile when I saw this news. Sean Marks, the first kiwi to play in the NBA, has been signed by the New Orleans Hornets. While at best he has only been an average NBA player (most would say mediocre) he is arguably NZs greatest basketballer. That’s by virtue of making the NBA. There have been other standouts of course - Pero Cameron is my personal favourite and during the 2002 World Championships where we finished 4th (yes 4th!) he was voted one of the players of the tournament. Of the current NZ players Kirk Penney is probably the best and worthy of a roster slot in the NBA. But Marks stands above all the others.
He’s had the privilege of playing on some great teams, including winning a title in 2005 with the Spurs. The last couple of years he’s played for the Suns. And now he’s going [...]

Dustin Pedroia, Boston’s second baseman, has carried his team to where they currently stand, in the hunt for not only the Wild Card but the AL East. In two of his most recent starts, against the Chicago White Sox, he has compiled four hits in each, going 8-8 with 5 runs scored, increasing his batting average to a AL-leading .327. Because of his recent play (12 for his last 17) the Red Sox fans have chorused chants of “M-V-P” for Pedroia, which might not be that far from reality. He is on a good team, with many other accomplished players behind and in front of him, but the team’s offense has, during the majority of the season, has arguably been carried by Pedroia. Over this seasons five months, Pedroia has hit under .300 just once (.260 in May), proving to be very consistent throughout. He goes all out on every [...]

Yes, I know the Olympics are well behind us but for some, there still has to be some lingering controversy for us not to ignore. (No, not the underaged Chinese gymnasts.) And because I am a conspiracy buff, I took great delight in showing you the doubt this individual has when it came to the exciting finish for Michael Phelps’ 7th gold medal in Beijing, China for the 100m Butterfly.
We all know that it was one / one hundredth of a second between first and second place. A virtual fingertip that separated gold from silver. This individual (don’t know what his/her name is yet because there is nothing I can easily find on the website) hours after the race, purchased the domain 001ofasecond.com (which now forwards to 100thofasecond.com for clarity’s sake) and began to decend into the reasons why this was nothing but a fix so sponsor, Omega, can [...]

Un nuovo grande esempio di collaborazione tra Amministrazione e Cittadino ci viene dallo Sport.
Per far fronte alle urgenti modifiche di cui necessitano i nostri impianti sportivi il Comune ha stanziato un cifra neanche troppo alta: 20.000 euro.
Questa cifra verrà gestita dalle Società intervenendo con le migliorie che occorrono.
I lavori verranno svolti in regime di economia dalle Società stesse con i propri volontari.
I 20.000 euro servono per materiali.
Un risparmio non da poco, ottenuto grazie alla coscienza civica dei cittadini.
Il nostro Comune ha di che essere orgoglioso per simili cittadini.
Alla base c’è la reciproca stima per il lavoro svolto.

You
As a soccer referee for the past 5+ years, I have been involved in many discussions with coaches and players. I’ll tell you about some of the interesting ones.
I have a bad habit of talking back to the fans when they complain about me. It’s not a good practice, but it is very funny sometimes. An older gentleman, maybe in his 50’s was yelling about a call, and I replied, “If you don’t be quiet, you’re going to leave, and you will have to call your granddaughter to see how the game turned out.” It was a girls game, and I later found out that his daughter was playing, not his granddaughter.
During another contest, I was listening to constant complaining. I hadn’t checked to see who it was, but I told them how it was going to be anyway. I said, “close your mouth and watch the game.” I then [...]

Desperate Yancy
Continuing a recap of the two months lost in time, the memories shift to one of the last few days in Singapore. It was a Sunday afternoon, and best friend Augustine invited me and Guo Lu to run riot with his new Nintendo Wii. From experience, Wii always equals good-old fun and laughter. That was true two years ago (in Las Vegas) and it’s still true now.
It’s a pity we only had a little short of two hours to play, because such games could go on through the night. The classic Wii Sports was on from start to finish, and here the photos show us trying to knock each other silly. Boxing isn’t my favorite game though — that honor falls to either tennis or golf.
That was to be the last day I saw Augustine, with this ritual rehashed every year for the past three. He’d always be the [...]

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators (so far) during the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:
1. Weightlifting commentator: “This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria . I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.”
2. Dressage commentator: “This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.”
3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: “I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.”
4. Boxing Analyst: “Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.”
5. Softball announcer: “If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.”
6. Basketball analyst: “He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn’t like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.”
7. At the rowing medal ceremony: “Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife [...]