Tag Archives: Sports

Amusing Monday: It was so cold in Minneapolis …

I can’t resist the temptation to revisit the frosty football game in which the Seattle Seahawks skated on thin ice — almost literally — right up to the end of the game.

The condensed breath of field judge Brad Freeman (88) and line judge Tom Symonette (100) begins to tell the story of the wild-card football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. AP photo by Jim Mone
The condensed breath of field judge Brad Freeman (88) and line judge Tom Symonette (100) begins to tell the story of the wild-card football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings. // AP photo by Jim Mone

You know it was cold Sunday, when the temperature in Minneapolis never got up to zero degrees Fahrenheit for the entire day. So how cold was it?

It was so cold that Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s contact lenses started freezing on his eyeballs.

It was so cold that quarterback Russell Wilson’s voice was unable to call out the snap count as loud as he usually does.

Quarterback Russell Wilson said his voice was affected by the cold. AP photo by Nam Y. Huh
Quarterback Russell Wilson said his voice was affected by the cold.
AP photo by Nam Y. Huh

It was so cold that defensive end Michael Bennett felt like he was playing the game in Antarctica.

All true, according to John Boyle of Seahawks.com.

“The hardest part was commutating, because it was so cold your mouth kept freezing,” Wilson was quoted as saying. “But it’s no excuse; you’ve got to find a way to win, and that’s what we were able to do.”

Since this is a blog about water issues, I searched for photos that showed how the moist breath of fans, players, coaches and officials condensed in the cold air. Reuters had the same idea, and you can read about the conditions in Detroit Newsline.

I was amused by the man drinking a beer that had turned into a slushy. It looks like he is on the verge of shaking out the icy brew. (Check out the first video at right.)

If you didn’t drink fast, your drink would be frozen, as many people learned to their dismay. After all, this was the third-coldest game in NFL history. It was interesting to see that some tailgaters at the game were warming their cans of beer by the fire in order to take a drink. (Check out the second video below.)

It was so cold at game time that the Vikings’ gjallarhorn, the giant curved horn blown during pregame activities, was broken just two hours before the game. In Norse tradition, the gjallerhorn was once sounded to announce the arrival of the gods. In Minnesota, the team selected a special person to sound the horn at the beginning of each game. Some people took the breakage as an oman about the game to come. But the team did have a backup — the previous horn used up until 2009 — and it was blown by Minnesota’s injured tight end Rhett Ellison, who was sitting out the game. Perhaps the old horn was not the proper replacement after all.

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Amusing Monday: A lighter side of Winter Olympics

I’m not sure yet, but I think I became addicted to the Winter Olympics this year, after recording every Olympics program broadcast on television the past 17 days and staying up many nights to watch them.

Thanks to my digital video recorder, I was able to skip through some individual races and performances — but I didn’t do that a lot. I especially liked the inspiring stories about Olympic athletes and others involved in sports.

A few days ago, I realized what all winter sports have in common. It’s obvious now that I think about it, but I challenge you to find a common denominator among summer games. I’m talking about the presence of water, whether it be in the form of snow or ice or the dreaded slush.

Without water, we would have to watch a bunch of people stumbling around on bare ground with wooden slats or blades attached to their boots. The only thing that would work right would be the rifles carried by those participating in the biathlon, and those people would be looking for something to shoot.

So in honor of the Winter Olympics, I’ve pulled together some jokes and videos. In addition to the videos on this page, check out the parody of David Attenborough on a venture into the sport of curling.

One of the oddest things about this year’s broadcast was Bob Costas and his ordeal with bright red infected eyes. After filling in for Costas, Matt Lauer brings him on “Today” and makes him the butt of a joke.

Here are a few comedy lines from late-night television, with many more on the College Humor website.

“So the winter Olympics are right around the corner, and this is cool – the U.S. Olympic team just announced that its new uniforms are all made in America, after last year’s uniforms were criticized for being made in China. Which got awkward when they realized the ‘Made in America’ tags were actually made in China.” — Jimmy Fallon

“The games haven’t even started yet and already there are people complaining about the horrible accommodations at the Sochi Olympic village. Toilets don’t flush. The faucets spew discolored water. They say it’s like being on a Royal Caribbean cruise.” — Jay Leno

“They rushed to get the Olympics together there. The hotels are open, but they keep finding forgotten little things like handles on the doors, showers with no curtains, floors that are missing. They say if you do fall through a missing floor, here’s what you do: Relax your body, remain calm and, above all, try to stick the landing.” — Bill Maher

“In their hotel at the Sochi Olympics, the Canadian hockey team has to squeeze three players to a room. Even the bobsledders are like, ‘Isn’t it a little cramped?’ — Jimmy Kimmel

“On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said gay people at the Olympics should not fear for their safety despite the country’s anti-gay laws. He said they should fear for their safety because they’re in Russia.” — Jimmy Fallon

“The hotels are lousy. The Olympic village is a mess. The food is horrible. And, well, that’s what happens when you tick off gay people.” — David Letterman

“There are rumors that the Russian government placed cameras in the hotel bathrooms in Sochi. Russia said, ‘Don’t worry, our cameras don’t work either.'” — Conan O’Brien

The last video, a mashup “rap” featuring news anchor Brian Williams, is not actually about the Olympics, but it was played during an Olympic time slot by Lester Holt, who also appears on the video. It is a take-off of “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang and was produced by staff of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”

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Amusing Monday: Surf dogs catch last summer wave

This past summer, I discovered the world of surfing dogs while looking for humorous videos of humans riding waves on their surf boards.

It turns out that this is a serious sport for the dog owners, but I’m still not sure that all the dogs have their hearts in this relatively new competition. Some look less than enthralled while riding the waves and appear to be looking for a good spot to jump off.

As an end-of-summer event in Southern California, the annual Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon was held a week ago at Dog Beach (yes, that’s correct) in Del Mar, Calif.

A Jack Russell terrier named Buddy won the event for the fifth time in the six-year-old competition and became the first dog inducted into the Surf Dog Hall of Fame. See his photo in a Los Angeles Times blog by Tony Perry.

Buddy is also featured in the two videos below showing highlights from the event. The first, by Bryan Rogers, is action-oriented. The second, by B.C. Productions, is a spiffy slide show, mixing some nice stills with video clips.

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