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Wild and Woolly: A Display of the Best Sports Facial Hair

By Molly McCall
Thu, September 11, 2008, 2:59 pm PDT

Let the models sashay down the catwalks at New York Fashion Week. We prefer this parade of exuberant male facial hair from sports site InGameNow.

See Oakland A's relief pitcher Rollie Fingers show off his daring curly-cue of a 'stache. Glimpse White Sox closer Bobby Jenks and his shock of bright pink chin hair. Gaze in wonder at hockey legend Lanny McDonald and his display of shaggy whiskers.

These guys may specialize in wielding hockey sticks or baseball bats, but they certainly know their way with a razor, too. And many of their efforts have not been forgotten. Besides the popularity of the InGameNow posts, we continue to log queries each week for "oakland a's mustache gang." Now, that's fan respect.

The show continues tomorrow when the "Full Beard Division" takes to the field. The ZZ Toppers will be followed by the beguiling "I Have No Idea How to Classify That Division." Go, teams! And boys, let that facial hair grow!

Filed under: Sports, Hair

A Very Buzzy Schedule: Planning Out the Rest of 2008

By Vera H-C Chan
Thu, September 04, 2008, 3:36 pm PDT

Amateur athletes and professional politicians have taken up a chunk of summer, but as fall draws nigh, people are figuring out how to maximize leisure, work, and holiday time for the rest of 2008. Many have been consulting different "schedules" on the Web. Not surprisingly, college and professional sports dominated searches in the past 7 days, as the following top 20 (non-convention-related) list reveals:

1. NFL Schedule   11. University of Florida (Gators) Schedule
2. Football Schedule   12. University of Georgia (Bulldogs) Schedule
3. Dallas Cowboys Schedule   13. LIRR Schedule
4. Oklahoma State (Cowboys) University Schedule   14. US Open Schedule
5. Notre Dame (Fighting Irish) Schedule   15. University of Oklahoma (Sooners) Schedule
6. Penn State (Nittany Lions) Football Schedule  16. Chicago Cubs Schedule
7. NASCAR Schedule   17. University of Southern California (Trojans) Schedule
8. College Football Schedule   18. Alabama (Crimson Tide) Football Schedule
9. Fall 2008 TV Schedule   19. University of Michigan (Wolverines) Football Schedule
10. University of Texas (Longhorns) Schedule   20. Chicago Bears Schedule

Fall TV and transportation timetables also cracked the national priority list. The Great Writer's Strike of 2008 has made for some mighty skimpy programming, and viewers have also been seeking out cable fare on HBO (+43%), while the CW and CBS make up the most freebie broadcast queries. As for transportation, the new school year may likely be driving these lookups, as students return to college and parents reschedule their day around their children's activities.

The holiday time crunch doesn't loom that far off, and indeed an obsessed many began gathering ideas for halloween costumes since early August. True advance planners scheme even now for Yuletide joys, such as "christmas ornament crafts" (+209%), "christmas songs" (+89%), and "christmas trees" (+21%).

More current, of course, are the holiday queries for Ramadan, including the "ramadan fasting schedule 2008." The Islamic holy month started Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, depending on how celebrants calculate the beginning of the lunar month.

Expect a busy fall: The professional politicans aren't going away anytime soon (at least, not until November 5), and another round of amateur competition comes after the Beijing Paralympics holds its opening ceremony on Sept. 6. This may be no time to miss out on historical moments, but history definitely has a way of pre-empting regularly scheduled lives.

Filed under: Sports, TV, Football, Holidays, Time

What's in the Water (Cube)?

By Vera H-C Chan
Mon, August 18, 2008, 7:00 am PDT

Forget the fountain of youth. People want to know what's with Beijing National Aquatics Centre, better known (and searched on) as "water cube beijing" (+962%). In other words, what kind of alchemy is happening at the Cube to produce world record-breaking gold medalists?

The controversial influence of the Speedo LZR Racer suit has long been known, although the New York Times has looked over that outfit again as an explanation for faster swim times. Slate waded into the theory that the pool's responsible, and does find that the design—from its depth, width, gutters, and lane dividers—all helps to reduce resistance.

Radar Online dismisses those points as horse droppings. The magazine interviewed pool designer John Bilmon, who thinks the wins are due to the contagious nature of competition... that and the fact that the site's just darned purty.

He may have a point. Xinhua News Agency, the official Chinese government media, reports rave reviews about "awesome" pool temperature, a bright atmosphere, and water as "smooth as honey." Before the records started falling like dominos, American swimmer Garrett Weber-Gale called the Cube the "coolest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Better aesthetics leading to better performance is an ancient idea. After all, the environmental design psychology known as feng shui originated in China, and literally means "wind water." Now if only the designers could do kiddy-pool versions for the rest of us.

Filed under: Sports, Architecture, China, Swimming, Design, Olympics

Olympic Buzz Bursts: Ordinary Citizens

By Vera H-C Chan
Thu, August 07, 2008, 11:32 am PDT

The Middle Kingdom is about to throw open its gates to the outside world, but many still have questions about the nation's policies. What do ordinary citizens think? The BBC radio program, "World Have Your Say," features a few Chinese countrymen (and countrywomen, for that matter) who take on questions from around the globe. In this engagng format, they give their input about the one-child policy, put into relative terms how much money Tibet gets versus the average Chinese citizen, and give some history lessons on Taiwan. Listen to the exchange by checking the broadcast or podcast.

Filed under: Sports, China, Olympics, People

Olympic Training for Couch Potatoes

By Vera H-C Chan
Tue, July 22, 2008, 3:37 pm PDT

Can you handle more than 3,600 hours of Games of the XXIX Olympiad? You don't even have to cut caffeine and get pedicures, as some Olympiad hopefuls have done. Instead, oil up the remote control and the mouse, and try these sit-down techniques instead.

Learn your numbers. Not just the stats: XXIX means 29, but 8/8/8 means luck tripled in Chinese (the number 8 is a homonyn for the word "prosperity").

Practice staring. Don't miss the action. The difference between gold and silver can be measured by a 1,000th of a second, which How Stuff Works says says is 40 times faster than an eye blink.

Visualize the surroundings. Understanding an event's setting may give you an advantage. Try scanning the BBC Sport map.

Tune in. Pump yourself up by listening to the Olympic songs... all of them.

Memorize all 596 American athletes. From the track-and-field competitors to the team members of soccer, volleyball, and B-ball.

Focus on lesser sports. Everyone else will be watching to see if swimmer Natalie Coughlin gets her fifth gold medal, or if gymnast Morgan Hamm will keep clean. Instead, look for underdogs in events like kayaking, table tennis, or fencing.

Learn to talk big. If you can't memorize the athletes, talk about grand visions, like the boxing's great reform, America's immigrant athletes, Olympic artistry, environmental algae monsters, and if a Chinese tactical force can possibly look intimidating riding Segways.

Dress the part. What's the point of being a capitalist if you can't buy Olympic spirit? Pay $2,000 for an official torch, or $38.20 for a Speedo Team USA brief. If you get the swim trunks, don't forget to make that Brazilian wax appointment.

Filed under: Sports, Summer, China, Olympics, 2008

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