The classic baseball film The Natural starring Robert Redford was based in part on real-life Chicago Cubs star Eddie Waitkus who was "shot in the chest by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed fan, on June 14, 1949, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago." After being hit, he asked, "Baby, what did you do that for?" Man, people talked so cool in the olden days!
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Sports
Interesting sports history from Smithsonian Magazine: In 1957 in front of 10,000 cheering spectators in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a group of mostly poor kids from Monterrey, Mexico become the first foriegn team to win the Little League World Series. Not expecting to progress far in the tournament, the team often only had enough money for two meals a day and even dealt with expired visas. They eventually defeated the team from La Mesa, California in a win which remains the only perfect game in a Little League World Series championship game-a feat that stands to this day. Their victory lap included a stop at the White House where they met then-President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrrx5CgdZaA] And oldie but goodie: a "clueless" John Mayer does play-by-play at a baseball game where things happen.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9RodAn0pVw] I don't know how long this video will be good before suits get it pulled from YouTube, but here's Neil Diamond finally singing in person Sweet Caroline at Fenway Park in the Red Sox season opener against the New York Yankees. One of the coolest traditions in modern sports IMHO.
I'm kind of mad over these upside down logo'd hats in a collaboration between Hall of Fame and Mitchell & Ness.
Yet another reason for why I need to leave for Japan right now: A professional soccer team takes the field (or pitch?) against 100 relatively skilled kids for an EPIC and thrilling soccer match for some Japanese variety show. The takeaway here is the importance of crosses. Up next obviously: 5 year olds in a fight.
Part 1 (Featuring pre-match analysis and game starts around 5:50)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WSpjRXYDE]
Part 2
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DYclLqgtCM]
Part 3
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_NCT6S9rMw]
Obligatory 
Cool photo of a winning and quite dapper curling team is from the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection at The Commons on Flickr.
New York Times: An animated graphic analysis of snowboarder Shaun White's gold medal winning runs in last night's halfpipe competition at the Olympics.
BuzzFeed lists 11 winter activities that should be a part of the Winter Olympics. #3. Snow Angels
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUkcYOEeTqU]
Bill Simmons re-examines his Diane Lane All Stars (his team of hot 40-years-old or older actresses in Hollywood). His batting order for 2010:
1. Jennifer Aniston (40) -- I like having a single leadoff hitter with rumbling ovaries. Aggressive and unquestionably desperate. You'd fear her on the basepaths.2. Sandra Bullock (46) -- Cheery veteran, good for the clubhouse, willing to give up at-bats and move runners along to help the team.
3. Heather Graham (40) -- Power, OPS, speed, the whole package. It's almost unfair to the others that she's eligible. It's like when Jack Nicklaus joined the PGA Senior Tour.
4. Halle Berry (43) -- Perennial MVP candidate, someone you have to see in person to fully appreciate her greatness. Our highest-paid player.
5. Selma Hayek (43) -- Fiery Latina, prodigious natural gifts, famous for people gawking at her tape measure … home runs.
6. Catherine Zeta-Jones (40) -- She's our David Ortiz, an aging foreign slugger who's four or five years older than listed.
7. Kelly Preston (47) -- Don't worry about the creepy Travolta stink on her. She's still putting up big stats, and the statistical community loves her.
8. Demi Moore (47) -- Knows all the chemical shortcuts and can help anyone else who needs advice on surgery or botox.
9. Cheryl Hines (44) -- Keeps the team loose, keeps everyone laughing, doesn't go for her own stats, gives us a hot-selling jersey for our Jewish fans. Can play four positions.
Starting pitcher: Diane Lane (45) -- Crafty veteran, namesake of the team, knows every trick in the book. She's like Jack Morris circa 1991. You want her out there in big games.
Set-up reliever: Maria Bello (42) -- Can throw one inning or three, has the highest "nude scene per movie" ratio of any decent actress.
Closer: Cindy Crawford (43) -- Still routinely hits 103 on the radar gun.
Coaching staff: Jacqueline Bisset, Julie Christie, Helen Mirren (all in their 60s). Why is it that women with accents retain a level of hotness that American women can't match?
I really can't argue with this list.
Update: In light of Sandra Bullock's drama involving her cheating Nazi-ing husband, I wonder if Simmons needs to reconsider Bullock's position in the line-up.
A recent Wall Street Journal article concluded that there isn't that much actual action taking place during a NFL game:
The average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes...barely enough time to prepare a hard-boiled egg.
[Via]
From Chanel's 2010 sports collection: A football for no self-respecting fan of the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-r02-oZAW4&feature=player_embedded] Step aside Christopher Walken, there's a new cow bell star, although by the look on her expression she doesn't seem to be too happy about it. Watch as this band girl sourly performs at this year's Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Texas Christian University (TCU). It's hilarious. I think she prefers less cowbells.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQlKj21Al2o] Hoopsencyclopedia unearthed this gem of Michael Jordan's first ever televised appearance as an 18-year-old freshman at UNC in a game against Rutgers where he scored 15 points (7-11). G.O.A.T!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpcYa1IeSAw] This guy can do everything that a 12 year old boy wishes he can do: run along walls, do back flips off walls, skateboard, juggle, and other various ninja warrior stuff. I thought I was talented because I could juggle, but after watching this video I feel like my whole life is a lie just like spoiler alert: Shuttered Island.
[Via]
I'm addicted to this simple yet compelling physics-based online multiplayer basketball game. Don't let the basic wire graphics fool you. Also, because it's a massively multiplayer experience, it's like playing a game of HORSE against over 900 players from around the world. Go on, take that half court shot.
[Via]
In part 3 of his latest thought provoking and entertaining conversation with the Sports Guy Bill Simmons, author Malcolm Gladwell summarizes his thoughts on why (American) football has "been ruined for [him]" and "increasingly of the opinion that it is screwed up -- on a moral level -- in a way that no other professional sport is."
Think about it. The league has a salary cap (which limits players' pay), minimal health insurance for retirees and no guaranteed contracts. In other words, the owners reserve the right to limit the pool of money available to players, to walk away from contracts whenever they please and then hold no long-term responsibility for the health of the players whose contracts they have limited and declined to honor. Coal miners aren't treated this badly. And now we strongly suspect a fourth fact: that some significant percentage of ex-players, as a direct result of playing professional football, will suffer from dementia in their 40s and 50s, in addition to all the known and significant other health risks of the game (severe arthritis, substantially elevated risk of heart disease, etc.).
If I had to say one thing positive about this Chanel branded snowboard I'd compliment the faux-wood natural finish.