Big doings up in the Yukon yesterday, as Austrian dog-sledding superstar Hans Gatt captured his fourth Yukon Quest title. If you’ve ever been curious about the strategies employed by professional mushers during their competitive odysseys, we highly recommend the invaluable “Check Point” blog, which is sort of the ESPN.com of dog sledding. We especially enjoyed [...]
Entries Tagged as 'sports'
Lord of the Snow
February 16th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags:Alaska·Canada·dog sledding·Hans Gatt·sports·Yukon·Yukon Quest
The Agony of Victory
February 11th, 2010 · 6 Comments
Despite our longtime enthusiasm for ski jumping, we just can’t seem to drum up much interest in this edition of the Winter Olympics. Perhaps that’s because we currently find ourselves smitten with an entirely different set of cold-weather games—those which comprise the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, held annually in Fairbanks, Alaska. Most are simple tests of [...]
Tags:Alaska·Drop the Bomb·Native Americans·sports·Winter Olympics·World Eskimo-Indian Olympics
Chasers Versus Runners
February 9th, 2010 · No Comments
Our affection for the Indian sport of kabaddi is well-known around these parts. But our taste in the athletics of the subcontinent doesn’t always run toward the brutal, as proven by the soft spot we’ve recently developed for kho-kho, which can perhaps be best described as a formalized version of freeze tag. We won’t pretend [...]
The Soul-Warping Nature of Fandom
February 8th, 2010 · 10 Comments
Last night, a certain sporting event didn’t go the way we had hoped, leaving us questioning why we invest so much of ourselves in supporting certain teams. Even under the best of circumstances, such fandom leads to nothing but heartache most years, as seasons inevitably end on sour notes. Is it time, perhaps, to give [...]
Tags:ancient history·Byzantine Empire·football·Indianapolis Colts·Nika riots·sports
The Man Who Wasn’t There
February 5th, 2010 · 1 Comment
We fully acknowledge that this wasn’t a red-letter week at Microkhan, at least in terms of posting frequency. Paying gigs got in the way, as did Microkhan Jr.—the parenting equation has changed dramatically now that he’s figured out how to open the front door. Worry not, though, we’ll be back to full strength next week—though [...]
Supply, Demand, and Pugilistic Marsupials
February 4th, 2010 · 2 Comments
Apologies for being late with this year’s obligatory Australia Day post. Though we’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the island continent ourselves, we’ve long enjoyed the company of Aussie compatriots—especially those we’ve encountered while roaming the far corners of the globe, since the Aussies always seem to know where the bar is. More importantly, [...]
Tags:animal cruelty·animals·Australia·boxing·kangaroos·marsupials·Primo Carnera·sports·Woody Allen
The King’s Gambit
January 28th, 2010 · No Comments
With the possible exception of Texas A&M’s poultry judging squad, no college team is as dominant right now as University of Maryland-Baltimore County’s chess club. The school recently earned yet another national title, its ninth in the past 14 years. It has done so by recruiting a United Nations’ worth of grandmasters, including such notables [...]
“Like When We Used to Climb the Rope in Gym Class…”
January 27th, 2010 · 3 Comments
If you’ve heard of the traditional Indian sport of mallakhamb, it’s likely in relation to its supposed role in the creation of modern pole dancing. But there’s an offshoot of the sport that involves rope tricks rather than pole stands, and it’s quite a sight to behold (see above). While mallakhamb may be little know [...]
Tags:Germany·India·mallakhamb·sports
Dolph on a Mission
January 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments
We here at Microkhan headquarters have been been shy about expressing our love for modern pentathlon, by far the most underrated sport in the Summer Olympics. And so we were recently overjoyed to discover that none other than Dolph Lundgren, one of the finest actors of the past half century, shares our affinity for the [...]
Tags:Bad Movie Friday·Dolph Lundgren·Hard Ticket to Hawaii·Invasion U.S.A.·modern pentathlon·movies·Olympics·Pentathlon·sports
The Mongoose as Showman
December 29th, 2009 · No Comments
We’ll be posting later today about the best books we read in 2009, but we thought we’d start the day by shouting out a book sure to be atop our to-read list for the coming months: Snake vs. Mongoose: How a Rivalry Changed Drag Racing Forever.
Drag racing owes much of its current success to that [...]
Tags:business·cars·Don Prudhomme·drag racing·funny cars·Hot Wheels·Snake vs. Mongoose·sports·Tom McEwen
Farewell, Dynamite
December 21st, 2009 · No Comments
Sad news out of Moscow, as word comes that Vladimir “Dynamite” Turchinsky has passed on. For those unfamiliar with the realm of Russian bodybuilding and/or action films, Turchinsky could legitimately lay claim to the title of “The Schwarzenegger of the East,” having transitioned from a successful athletic career to cinematic stardom. He also had an [...]
Tags:bodybuilding·medical science·movies·plasmapheresis·Russia·sports·Vladimir Turchinsky
The Beard of Destiny
December 14th, 2009 · 3 Comments
As is made clear in our mission statement, management reserves the right to occasionally drop the fascination with esoterica in favor of talking pro football (the American kind). Let us now invoke that right in order to discuss our beloved Indianapolis Colts, who yesterday clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
This accomplishment brings us [...]
Tags:books·facial hair·football·Indian·Indianapolis Colts·Moby-Dick·sports
The Immortals of Flesh
December 4th, 2009 · 3 Comments
We’ve heard surprisingly little debate about the Meat Industry Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. The same folks who spent years droning on about the pass-catching virtues of Art Monk have uttered nary a peep about whether Paul Engler deserved enshrinement in his own version of Canton. And why no wailing and gnashing of teeth over [...]
Tags:food·Frank-a-Matic·handball·meat·Meat Industry Hall of Fame·Ray Townsend·sports
You Can’t Stop the Horse
November 16th, 2009 · 7 Comments
Late start today, due to the fact we stayed up late last night watching our beloved Colts mount a miraculous comeback against their archenemies. For the record, we think Belichick’s gamble was a good one—the Pats had been unstoppable in short-yardage situations all night, and the Colts’ D has been decimated by injuries. That said, [...]
“Under My Heart, Three Clouds of Pain”
October 27th, 2009 · No Comments
Seriously, basketball gods? We finally have an inkling of hope that our beloved Los Angeles Clippers won’t totally self-immolate this season, and then you see fit to break Blake Griffin’s kneecap? Ah, cruel deities—can you do nothing to reward our years of steadfast devotion? Or are you so incensed with owner Donald Sterling’s botched facelift [...]
Tags:basketball·Blake Griffin·Donald Sterling·hip-hop·Los Angeles Clippers·music·Nice & Smooth·sports
Farewell, Sonny Jim
October 27th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Sad news out of New Mexico this morning: Sonny Jim, a true legend of the Indian rodeo scene, was gunned down during a property dispute. A man of Modoc descent who’d long lived in Navajo country, Sonny Jim was the nation’s top Indian cowboy during the early 1970s, renowned for his long, luxuriant hippie [...]
Tags:Arizona·cowboys·crime·New Mexico·rodeo·Sonny Jim·sports
Wrestling in Rumbek
October 21st, 2009 · No Comments
Some hopeful news out of southern Sudan: stability has returned to the town of Rumbek, and with it one of the region’s favorite sports:
Rumbek youth have resumed their favorable game of wrestling for the first time since four years after bloody confrontations in cattle raids and inter-tribal fighting.
The wrestling begun between two rival groups of [...]
The Herminator Bids Auf Wiedersehen
October 13th, 2009 · 6 Comments
Our first-ever overseas assignment was covering the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. We thus have incredibly vivid memories of Hermann Maier, the celebrated Austrian skiier who just decided to call it a career. We were at the downhill slopes the day of the crash shown above, and remember instantly thinking “He must be dead” [...]
Official Sport of the Health Care Debacle
October 9th, 2009 · 2 Comments
When folks ask us about out take on the health care mess, we always bring up the tale of our pal “Lancer.” (Names have been Robotech-ed to protect the potentially moritified.) A few years back, poor Lancer was playing a little pickup basketball when his ACL decided that it no longer enjoyed being a complete [...]
Is Football Our Species’ Savior?
September 16th, 2009 · No Comments
In the course of conducting some morning research on chimpanzee cannibalism, we found ourselves absorbed in a 2006 paper that compared the aggressive tendencies of chimps and humans. (A PDF can be downloaded by clicking here.) As it turns out, humans and chimps are equally adept that cold-blooded murder, but our primate brethren are far [...]
Tags:Australia·biology·chimpanzees·football·Jane Goodall·primates·sports
Kids Do Love Lasers
September 15th, 2009 · 8 Comments
Modern pentathlon is by far our favorite Summer Olympics sport, topping even our beloved hammer throw. There’s just something inestimably cool about an event that’s modeled after a 19th-century military mission. Plus you have to dig the fact that the fifth place finisher at the 1912 games was a 28-year-old U.S. Army lieutenant named George [...]
Tags:George S. Patton·lasers·military·modern pentathlon·Olympics·sports
“Kobayashi Steady Twitchin’…”
September 2nd, 2009 · No Comments
It gives us immense pleasure to announce Microkhan’s favorite rapping competitive eater, Eric “Badlands” Booker, is back with his fifth album, Extended Play. As always, Booker’s lyrical content focuses on his gustatory dedication, as well as the perks of being a minor celebrity. The cut above does an excellent job of conveying both the [...]
Tags:Badlands Booker·competitive eating·hip-hop·music·sports·Yosemite Sam
An Advantage in the Air?
August 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment
In response to our post on athletic gender testing earlier this week, one of our most treasured commenters posed this stumper:
Are there no sports where being a woman might be a competitive advantage over being a man? Equestrian events maybe, or long distance swimming?
Tough one! We’ve long been familiar with some research vouching for the [...]
Tags:gender·Olympics·ski jumping·sports
Another Kabaddi Legend
August 20th, 2009 · 5 Comments
The rest of our day is all about the Now the Hell Will Start screenplay, so we’ll outro with yet another clip of kabaddi mastery. Today’s legend is the late, great Harjit Brar Bajakhana, perhaps the best Indian raider to every play the game. Keep in mind that he performed at such a high level [...]
Tags:Harjit Brar Bajakhana·India·kabaddi·Olympics·racewalking·sports
Carbonated Vicodin in a Can
August 20th, 2009 · No Comments
We generally shy away from Red Bull, due to a bad experience we had after consuming four cans of the stuff one night. (Suffice to say our earthly vessel did not appreciate the deluge of taurine.) But perhaps we should reconsider our aversion in light of this Winona State study. Because Red Bull may have [...]
Tags:football·medical science·Napoleon McCallum·NFL·Red Bull·sports
“The Requirements to Compete as a Woman”
August 19th, 2009 · 3 Comments
In reading this quickie AP bit about a female runner whose gender is in question, we were left wondering about the shades of sexual grey that the International Association of Athletic Federations must contend with in the age of hormones. A quick peek in the pants, alas, is no longer sufficient to determine whether a [...]
Tags:Caster Semenya·gender·Olympics·sports·Stanisława Walasiewicz
A Raider for the Ages
August 17th, 2009 · 3 Comments
When the conversation turns to the all-time greats of kabaddi, the name Ameen Jatt must invariably be mentioned. The thick-bodied Pakistani raider was a dominant force in the 1990s, and still much-admired among the sport’s rabid fanbase:
An awesome player, simply put out of this world! In 1995 World Cup he led Pakistan into the final [...]
Tags:Ameen Jatt·kabaddi·Pakistan·sports
The Lakers of Poultry Judging
August 17th, 2009 · 1 Comment
We’re in the midst of working on a Wired piece about agricultural science, so you can expect Microkhan to dish up a plethora of farm-related factoids in the coming weeks. We’ll start today by highlighting a world us big city types know embarrassingly little about: the collegiate poultry judging circuit.
Our journey began as we scanned [...]
