screenshot via YouTube/Dondoggelito

Even if the calendar doesn’t agree, winter is officially here. The leaves are off the trees and several feet of snow have been dumped on various regions of the country, meaning that it’s time to embrace the cold and start figuring out ways to stay active and have fun instead of succumbing to the yearly urge to burrow into your bed and never leave. If traditional activities like sledding and ice skating don’t really do it for you, check out these 12 ways to get your blood pumping and inject a little sunshine and adrenaline into those gloomy winter days.

1. Shovel Racing

What’s that? You’ve never slid downhill on a shovel? You should probably start, especially since all it takes is a snowy hill and a shovel. If you’re serious about competition, New Mexico’s Angel Fire Resort hosts the Shovel Racing World Championships every winter.

2. Curling

Not to be confused with the Scottish sport of hurling, which takes place on grass, curling takes place on ice and involves brooms, brushes, curling stones and slippery shoes; the FW describes it as a mixture of “billiards combined with bowling and sweeping.”

3. Snowkiting

Fans of kitesurfing and windsurfing will find that their water skills might translate well to the slopes with snowkiting: a method of skiing or snowboarding in which the snowkiter is attached to a harness and a kite and then dragged up or down hills at great speeds. It requires some equipment and some practice, but what winter sport doesn’t?

4. Junkboarding

According to Best Health Magazine, junkboarding is done by taking an old snowboard and cutting it down the middle, then flipping the halves so the inside edges are now the outside edges. The shorter, wider “skis” allow junkboarders to swoop over surfaces (including grass and gravel) with only a dusting of snow, making the ski season last even when the snow doesn’t.

5. Kitewinging

Similar to snowkiting, kitewinging uses a hang-glider-type device to increase the speeds of skiers and snowboarders — only with a kitewing, there are no lines. You hold the sail in your hands, and, according to Kitewing.com, you can learn how to use the sail in about half an hour. Kitewingers can reach speeds of up to 62 mph, and stopping is as easy as dropping the kite, since you’re not tethered to it.

6. Airboarding

Men’s Health writes that airboarding is like boogie boarding in the snow. Using an inflatable raft with grooves on the underside that help control speed, thrill-seekers head down mountains headfirst at speeds of 60 to 80 mph, according to Airboarders.com; it’s similar to a snow tube, but more steerable. You still have to drag your feet on the ground to stop, though.

7. Snow Kayaking

Don’t let your kayak sit in the basement and gather cobwebs over the winter; bring it out to a slope for some snow kayaking! It’s exactly like kayaking on a river, except you’re sliding downhill on a snow-covered mountain (ideally with a helmet in case you crash into a tree).

8. Fat Biking

Fat biking began in the 1990s in Alaska as an alternative method of traversing the Iditarod Trail, according to Men’s Health; like many of the sports on this list, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Using two fat tires (about 3.7 inches wide) with lots of gripping power, mountain bikes are able to more easily handle snow and ice, allowing riders to continue hitting the trails even when they’re covered in snow.

9. Ice Boating

Yet another water sport adapted for freezing temperatures, ice boating requires a boat with runners instead of a keel, resulting in the ability to “sail” across an icy surface at high speeds. According to USA Today, ice boaters have reached speeds of over 100 mph, although 55 mph is the more common average. It’s a pricy sport, but it provides plenty of thrills for nautical enthusiasts.

10. Ice Blocking

Some winter sports require expensive equipment and extensive training — not ice blocking. Budget-conscious adventurers need only a block of ice and a hill; it doesn’t even have to be a snowy hill. (In fact, the FW says that a grassy hill is best for sliding.) Sit on the block of ice and let it slide! You can even ice block in the summer, if that’s what you’re into.

11. Wok Racing

It seems there is an endless supply of activities that involve sitting on things and riding them down snowy slopes. Wok racing is one of these. The Wall Street Journal writes that racers “sit in the middle of kitchen-quality Chinese woks” and slide down icy chutes used for bobsledding and luging. Although wok racing originally began as a joke, there is now an official championship race. As the WSJ notes, woks “weren’t designed for easy handling on ice,” so sliding on one can be quite tricky. If you don’t have a bobsledding track handy, however, you can try out your wok-handling skills on any snowy hill.

12. Ski Ballet

Ah, the magic of the snowy slopes… the grace of someone doing what looks like figure skating, but with skis… the shiny gold shirts… what’s not to love? Ski ballet was, according to Slate, a legit competitive freestyle skiing event for years; ballet skiers had 90 seconds to perform a choreographed routine to music and, like other freestyle skiers, were judged on their “style and flair.” So bust out your favorite shiny outfit and decide whether you want a jazzy pop tune or a power ballad, because you’ve got some ski ballet to learn this winter.

The post 12 Winter Sports You Should Try This Year appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Bo-taoshi (pole bring-down) is an extremely rugged sport played by cadets at Japan’s National Defense Academy. The game consists of two teams of 150 players whose objective is gaining and keeping control of a single large pole. Teams are split into two groups: 75 attackers and 75 defenders. If the attacking team is able to lower the pole to a 30-degree angle from the ground, it is victorious.

Despite the huge teams, there are only five positions in the game. “Pole support” holds the pole upright.“Interference” are the front line attackers who break the barrier. “Scrum disablers” are the guys defending the pole who have to stop people from literally running on top of them like “World War Z.”

Oh, and the guy you see at the top of the pole who’s throwing down Lu Kang bicycle kicks onto everyone’s head? Yeah, his position is called “ninja.” Awesome, right?

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Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki gets an A+ for effort in his English communication skills. No matter how many times he gets lost in translation, Kawasaki is never one to shy away from the cameras or reporters for a little chat.

In the most recent interview that left us saying, “huh?!” Kawasaki joined SportsNet Canada’s Barry Davis to talk about the leg cramps that have been affecting his performance as of late.

When asked what he does to prevent cramping, Kawasaki tells Davis he eats bananas; usually two. That day three because, well, a “monkey never craps, er … cramps.”

Call him crazy for that logic, but we’ve never heard of a monkey cramping either.

The post Dodgers Shortstop Makes Sure To Eat Bananas… Because Monkeys Never Crap?! (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via dean bertoncelj/Shutterstock

Dust has been kicked up once again over the Washington Redskins choice of team name. The franchise owner, Daniel Snyder claims the term “redskin” has fallen out of the popular vernacular as a slur since the 1960s. The team even tried referencing a survey taken 10 years ago showing that a majority of Native Americans supported the name.

No dice.

In a recent 2-1 vote, the USPTO cancelled the Redskin’s federal trademark protection on the grounds that the team’s name and logo is disparaging to Native Americans given its historical use as a slur. Some believe the organization stands to lose millions as a result of this decision since people can now counterfeit merchandise without suffering recourse over federal patent law.

But don’t go printing out your own hats and jerseys just yet…

Monica Riva Talley, an attorney who is not directly involved with the case told ABC, “This decision does not mean that the Redskins trademark is no longer enforceable or that third parties will now be able to sell Redskins merchandise.”

Talley claims the team can still enforce “common law” trademark rights given its many decades of use since the organization started back in the ‘30s.

Hmm…

Didn’t the owner claim the term “redskins” wasn’t used as a slur since the 1960’s?

Either way, the team has already overcome the same USPTO ruling back in 1999 via the appeals process, and it seems confident it can be done again. Only it’s not 1999 anymore. The political climate has changed a great deal since then, and instances of bigotry and racism have been getting furious media attention which didn’t exactly exist back then. Plus, thanks to social media, these racially-charged instances now spread across the globe at light speed, demanding quick attention from the powers in charge.

Look at Donald Sterling. He was instantly fired after being caught saying some racially unsavory things to his biracial girlfriend. Granted, these are two totally different cases. One guy’s own racism is one thing, but the Redskins issue is more complicated. Sterling’s sharp words were his words, and they were confined to a tape. The onus fell on him alone. Rather than being a direct assault by one person that we can point at and ostracize, the Redskins issue is more subtle and shared by many. It’s more of an indicator of systemic racial insensitivity than anything else. And before you go ripping me down off of my high horse I’ll be the first to admit that I really didn’t see anything wrong with it for the longest time, nor do I believe that people who wear Redskins apparel or the organization are racist.

The problem here isn’t racism. It’s more of a massive failure of us putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Consider this: What if the team was the Washington Blackskins, or Yellowskins? It wouldn’t even be a thought. The name would be changed with the snap of a finger and we’d all be back to tweeting about ‘Game of Thrones’ and Justin Bieber. So why do we insist that the term “Redskins” isn’t offensive? Like I mentioned above, the owners of the team claim that the team name hasn’t been used as a slur since the 1960’s but the Redskin’s organization began in the 1930’s. If for nothing else the name should be changed considering those 30 years that Native Americans had to watch people walk around with a popular slur on their shirts.

The only thing I could possibly think of that would help me relate would be to imagine being a minority in an alternate universe where decedents of people who raped and killed my ancestors less than a hundred years before were walking around with Minnesota “Small-Dicked White Boy’s” jerseys. I don’t think I’d like that at all. Though I am a bit curious as to what the logo would look like. Perhaps Corey Matthews from ‘Boy Meets World’ holding a carton of almond milk and a Northface fleece…

Point being, the possibilities for NFL team names are endless. Why have a team name that offends a group of people to the point where they are out protesting in the streets about it? Just change it already!

The post Should The Washington Redskins Really Have To Change Their Name? appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

screen shot via ABC

In a story that exemplifies the power of the Internet to make someone an overnight celebrity, one Texas teen saw his dreams come true after receiving a personal invite to the NFL draft from Mr. “Primetime” Deion Sanders on “Good Morning America” earlier this month.

Gary Haynes, a 17-year-old high school junior from Manvel, Texas, became an Internet celebrity when he posted a Vine last month of himself catching his own 40-yard ‘Hail Mary’ pass, a video that has now been shared more than 400,000 times.

“I didn’t think it was gonna blow up to be this big to be honest,” Haynes told Houston’s KHOU.

I just kept hearing my phone going off and looked at it and it was twitter from ESPN, Sports Nation.”

Less than a month later, Haynes was invited to New York to talk about his now-famous football skills on “Good Morning America,” where he stunned the hosts, telling them it only took him “three to four” tries to get the pass right. Haynes also said he’s now being looked at by football programs at universities like University of Houston and Texas Tech.

Before being prompted to show off another one of his “tricks” (just the usual throwing-a-football-while-backflipping-and-catching-it move), the teen got the surprise of his life when his idol, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboys player Deion Sanders, walked onstage to surprise Haynes—or young “Geion,” as his mom calls him.

Sanders whipped out a pair of tickets inviting Haynes to the NFL Draft, sending him into a complete state of shock and awe.

The power of the Internet, indeed. Watch the heartwarming video below.

The post Texas Teen Catches His Own 40-Yard ‘Hail Mary’ Pass, Gets Invited To NFL Draft appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Flickr/ Arnold Gatilao

When you think of basketball legend Michael Jordan, racial discrimination isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. But in an excerpt from a new biography, Michael Jordan: The Life, by Ronald Lazenby, Jordan openly admits to a period in his life when he felt he was a racist. He remembers a time when he was suspended from school for aggressively reacting to a student calling him the N-word.

“So I threw a soda at her,” Jordan is quoted saying in the biography.

I was really rebelling. I considered myself a racist at the time. Basically, I was against all white people.”

Lazenby takes a deeper look into Jordan’s family history and the tumultuous cultural history of where he grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina — a place where the Ku Klux Klan and White Supremacy were well known and well accepted. The author told Sports Illustrated that what Jordan accomplished as an international icon and businessman was more than just extraordinary when you consider the suppression under which generations of his family lived.

“As I started looking at newspapers back in this era when I was putting together Dawson Jordan’s [Michael’s great-grandfather] life, the Klan was like a chamber of commerce,” Lazenby says.

It bought the uniforms for ball teams, it put Bibles in all the schools. It may well have ended up being a chamber of commerce if not for all the violence it was perpetrating, too. When Jordan comes into the NBA, very soon there are expectations of him to be this citizen, this spokesperson who can stand up and could’ve supported [former North Carolina Senate candidate] Harvey Gantt and done those things, but that wasn’t the cultural story of blacks on the Coastal Plain. They had no political power. None of Jordan’s people were ever registered to vote. Every gain that African-Americans made was economically based. This system of sharecropping was so rigged. I thought it was fascinating that Jordan’s mother’s father [Edward Peoples], out of all those people who were destroyed financially with sharecropping, here’s this guy who succeeded and came to own his own land. He was just driven economically.”

The post Michael Jordan’s Shocking Confession On Being Racist: ‘I Was Against All White People’ appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki has been working on his English, to the delight of this reporter. The Japanese baseball favorite spoke of the cold, his desire for his son to speak English, and his foray into also learning Spanish?

Though slightly difficult to interpret, Kawasaki’s English has definitely improved now that’s he back and ready for this season with the Blue Jays. This 32 year-old former Olympian and Seattle Mariner has plenty of athletic accomplishments under his belt, so from here on out, English should be breeze.

The post Toronto Blue Jays’ Japanese Shortstop Is Still Learning English… Makes For Hilarious Interview (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

An old, local news interview of Michael Phelps has surfaced after the sports producer shared the excerpt on Reddit. The interview happened in June 2001, after Phelps attended, and failed to medal at, the 2000 Summer Olympics. Phelps talked about his hopes of earning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

As we already know, he bested that goal, winning eight medals—six of them gold—at the 2004 games.

The post 15-Year-Old Michael Phelps Talks About His Olympic Dreams (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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In college sports, bands usually don’t get the recognition they deserve. However, a Stanford Cardinals’ band member became an Internet sensation Sunday when his cowbell playing went over the top. It is not clear if his dedication to playing contributed to his team’s 60-57 win over Kansas, but it definitely didn’t hurt.

The post This Standford Band Member Is The Most Enthusiastic Cowbell Player You’ll Ever See (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

If you were at the recent Cleveland Cavaliers game honoring longtime center Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, you experienced a pregame show unlike any other.

Quince Imaging did the pregame projection extravaganza. They worked in partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Q-TV team and Think Media Studios. The projected full court video was in anticipation of the halftime ceremony honoring Ilgauskas.

This is how it all went down according to Quince Imaging’s website:

“On Saturday, March 8, 2014, Quince Imaging teamed up with the Cleveland Cavaliers to produce a one-of-a-kind projection display event.

Using a combination of 3D mapping techniques and video content produced by the Cavs own QTV team and Think Media, Quince transformed the court surface and surrounding screens into an immersive video environment.

Utilizing the latest revision of Pandoras Box version 5.5 and the newly released version of Warper, video content was aligned to the graphic design elements on the Cavs basketball court.

The system was comprised of 16 HD projectors, creating a pixel space of 3600×1878.

Fans reacted directly to the display by live tweeting their thoughts on two 16’X28′ projection screens hanging high atop the arena.”

Be sure to check out the amazing video.

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