The Oiler’s aren’t doing great right now but their games are exciting. Case in point, this play from Connor McDavid is one you have to see to believe:
And then they had a stunning comeback at the end of the third:
Team Canada’s New Jerseys
Team Canada revealed the new team jerseys today:
Which forces me to ask, are we the baddies?
One commenter on the post nailed it when they pointed out just how close the designers came to getting it right. He even photoshopped in how it should have looked:
Home Run Balls
These photos are of John Bains, a Toronto Blue Jays fan, and his son Matthew, who caught back-to-back home runs during Game 7 of the World Series.
The father and son were attending Game 7 when they each caught separate home run balls hit by Los Angeles Dodgers Miguel Rojas and Will Smith.
The first home run, caught by the father, John, was a 387-foot blast from Rojas that tied the game.
The second, a home run hit by Smith, was caught by his son, Matthew.
While watching the game, I thought Bains threw Rojas’ ball back because that’s what it looked like on screen, but apparently he threw a decoy which was waiting in his pocket. The real one never left his hand.
From a report by Darren Rovell:
“I had a feeling I might have had to do it,” Bains said.
Bains said he had a regular major-league ball in his right pocket, and that’s the one he threw back.
“It wasn’t even a World Series ball,” he said, laughing.
He said Matthew also did the same thing, and the two Blue Jays fans are now in possession of the two pieces of history. MLB will not authenticate baseballs that leave the field of play, unless they are specially marked.
He says he’s leaning toward keeping the balls as a keepsake but when asked what price might change his mind he was quick to say:
“I’d take $1 million for the Rojas ball and $1.5 million for the Smith ball,” he said. “They were both game-changing baseballs.”
They will certainly be life-changing balls when he sells them and it sounds like the price he’s asking isn’t totally out to lunch:
Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam ball from the 2024 World Series sold last year at SCP Auctions for $1.56 million. It’s the third-highest price paid for a baseball behind Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from the 2024 season ($4.39 million at Goldin Auctions) and Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball ($3.05 million at Guernsey’s in 1999).
(via cllct)
Whale Swallows Kayaker and Spits Him Out
The moment this father watched as a humpback whale swallowed his son whole must have been terrifying. Luckily whales don’t like the taste of kayakers and spit him out just a few seconds later.
From The Guardian:
Last Saturday, Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his father, Dell, in Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan when a humpback whale surfaced, engulfing Adrián and his yellow kayak for a few seconds before letting him go.
Dell, just metres away, captured the moment on video.
“Stay calm, stay calm,” he can be heard saying after his son was released from the whale’s mouth.
“I thought I was dead,” Adrián told the Associated Press. “I thought it had eaten me, that it had swallowed me.”
(Via Neatorama)
Swimming
I tried signing up for a membership at the Lethbridge YMCA at the very last day of August to have my membership start in September. As I was about to sign up I learned that if I waited until September 1 I would get seven days free and not have to pay fees to reinstate my account. I also learned that the pool would be closed for the majority of the month making my membership that month basically worthless 2.
A month has passed, so after I skipped the bedtime routine with my kids I popped over to the Y today to sign up. The lady at the counter looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wanted the seven days free trial. I explained that I just called someone on the phone right before and they said I could get a prorated rate for October after the seven days are up. She responded that they don’t have a free trial for people that have already ever had a membership — they did have that exact promotion last month 3 but there wasn’t anything she could do for me. I was so irritated by the whole ordeal that I just thought I’ll do my swimming at the University, thank you very much, and I walked out of there.
When I arrived at the university I found their pool empty and undergoing maintenance that had no end date in sight 4. It’s looking more and more like a dryland training month for this swimmer. I wanted to exercise my body, instead all I got was an exercise in futility. At least I made it home in time to put the kids to bed.
Lucy Wardle Streeter – High Diving Record Holder
I came across this post about a men’s world record setting high dive and it reminded me about my mom’s first-cousin, Lucy Wardle Streeter, who in 1985 set the women’s record for high diving and still holds the Guinness record today.
From Stacey A. Morse’s biographical article in Easy Reader News (March 2022):
In 1985, Rancho Palos Verdes resident Lucy Wardle Streeter climbed the ladder of a swaying, 120-foot steel tower, built to her specifications at the edge of a pool in Ocean Park, a marine mammal amusement park in Hong Kong.
At the top of the tower, she stepped onto a platform barely as wide as her stance, and stood with arms outstretched, for 10 seconds. Then she lept, and executed a beautifully arched, backward flip. Three seconds later she entered the water at 71 miles an hour, knocking the wind out of herself.
According to the 2022 Guinness Book of World Records, the 120-foot, 9-inch [36.8m] dive remains the highest dive ever performed by a woman.
I met Lucy once while on a family vacation to Los Angeles. I remember seeing her world record certificate and a photo of her on the platform. Just today I discovered a video of the record breaking dive on YouTube:
Wardle’s dive of 120 feet 9 inches bettered the record of 109-4 set by another American, Debi Boccia, in Rome in 1982.
Canada West at the U of L 2022
I popped over to the university this evening to watch the 2022 Canada West Swim Meet. I’ve been looking forward to this meet since I learned about it months ago. The University is hosting an alumni weekend for all former Pronghorns.
I’ll be the first to admit that watching a swim meet when you don’t know the swimmers can be a bit boring but today I was not disappointed. Within the first few races I watched, Lethbridge local Apollo Hess broke a Canadian record in the short-course 50 Breast with a time of 26.63.
The rest of the alumni weekend is looking good too with tickets to the men’s and women’s basketball games as well an alumni party at the Zoo1. They’re having a draw for a couple of different prizes including a $500 WestJet voucher for one lucky Pronghorn. Wish me luck.
- The university pub[↩]
Swimming Again
Over the summer I’ve gotten back into swimming. What’s been motivating me most is that I’m actually getting pretty fast again1.
I’m not as fast as when I was swimming for the Pronghorns but I’m feeling good about my progress. My best time this year is a kilometre in 16 minutes and 30 seconds (average speed of 24.75s per length). I’ve been using my Apple Watch to keep track of lengths and while I love that it tracks splits and distance, it seems to need a flip turn in order to register each complete 25m length.
I’m already below my goal of each 50m in 50 seconds but my ultimate goal is a kilometre in 16 minutes flat.
Update: I’ve got my time down to 16:20
- Or at least what I consider pretty fast for a 43 year old who was never particularly good at distance swimming.[↩]
Iginla Likes the Cold
Apparently nobody recognized the former NHL superstar during this “every man” weather report from Fox 25 asking what folks thought of the crazy amount of snow that had fallen.
“I like the snow, I like the winter, but not necessarily this,” said Jarome Iginla. “May be a little too much.”
“Pretty tough, we’re from Canada, so it’s not too crazy,” Iginla said. “I mean we got some winter tires. Used to this growing up so, it’s not great, I’ll tell you, you get some tough stretches, but if you don’t go too fast it’s doable.”
Yep, it was that Jerome Iginla. If you don’t recognize him, Iginla is a well-known superstar hockey player. He played many years for the Calgary Flames and even played a season for the Boston Bruins. He was recently elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
(via One Foot Tsunami)
Zamboni Driver Wins Hockey Game
This is like something out of a Disney movie. The main goalie gets injured. The back-up goalie gets injured. Who’s going to go in net? Hey, 42 year old Zamboni driver, get over here we need you to play in the NHL.
Ok, so he is their back-up, back-up emergency goalie but still worth checking out the video:
(via Miss Celenia)