Uncommon Sportsman

Uncommon Snips - Not IPL or Paralympics Edition

2010-03-18T01:59:16Z

"hang hoof, amigo" via reuters.com

I'm having trouble keeping up with the IPL T20 tournament. How are my Chargers doing? Someone come by and school me.

The Paralympics are still going on in Vancouver, but I've ~~turned a blind eye~~ decided I'm not the guy to be covering that, but I will tell you that the U.S. Paralympic curling team is doing well, only they got beat by the Swedes today.

In this edition: How blind people ski, an old article about the Jamaican musher from this year's Iditarod, a Greatest Moments slideshow from slate.com where most of the sports are uncommon, and a Peruvian man taught an Alpaca to surf.

How blind people ski - Boing Boing
Downhill skiing is a team sport in the Paralympics. Visually impaired skiers hurtle down the mountain at highway speeds, guided by another skier, who goes a few seconds ahead and calls back changes in direction and terrain via radio headset.
Jamaican having hoot on the Iditarod Trail
Jamaican Hootin' Newton Marshall has turned out to be the funnest, funniest musher on the Iditarod Trail.
Today's Pictures: Great Moments in Sports
Most of these are Uncommon.
Peruvian Surfer Trains Alpaca To Catch A Wave : NPR
Domingo Pianezzi of Peru has surfed with dogs, parrots, hamsters and cats. On Tuesday, Pianezzi caught some waves with an alpaca. He thought "it would be interesting to surf with the animal that represents Peru."

Japan's skiing officials have been read the riot act after one of their snowboarders wore his...

2010-03-17T04:47:21Z

Japan's skiing officials have been read the riot act after one of their snowboarders wore his Vancouver Olympic uniform in "hip hop" style last month.

Japan's ski officials told to tighten "morals"

The US women's 4x400m relay team will be stripped of their gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics...

2010-03-17T04:36:04Z

The US women's 4x400m relay team will be stripped of their gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics after the suspension of Crystal Cox for doping, world athletics governing body IAAF confirmed.

US women to lose 2004 Olympic relay gold

Lance Mackey Wins 2010 Iditarod

2010-03-17T04:10:54Z

via reuters

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Lance Mackey, the world's fastest dog-sledding ~~pot smoker~~ throat cancer survivor, won his 4th consecutive Iditarod with a total time of 8 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 9 seconds; just a shade under 9 whole days. Just a dude and his dogs for nine whole days. Gosh, when I say it like that, Snow Dogs doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

The next closest guy, Hans Gatt, finished roughly an hour after Mackey, and the third place finisher, Jeff King, finished more than an hour after that. After Mackey finished, I would've gone inside to get warm.

Listen to Iditablog's Live 2010 Finish podcast to hear it as it happened. Find it here.

Amazing Race: Teams lethargically race through World War I Battlefield

2010-03-16T05:01:24Z

via wwwimage.cbs.com

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CBS Amazing Race Recap

So the episode starts with the Loud Mouth Asian bragging about how he may have an injured knee but he can still beat the rest of the teams. The camera zooms out and all the other teams are sitting beside him on a bus. Most teams roll their eyes, but the Detectives seem to take this boasting as an insult.

“These teams around here, they’re not going to hinder me at all. I’ve been running with one leg. Imagine when this improves.”

The teams get off the bus somewhere in France and get a clue to find a bakery and order a fresh baguette. They all make their way to a small town bakery in a fancy European luxury car. The teams mosey into the bakery, taking their sweet ass time.

The clue is inside the baguette, Just about half the teams don't realize that they have to break the baguette in half to find it. These teams really aren't bright, when compared with Amazing Race teams of yesteryear.

The detectives reach their challenge first. They have to dress in U.S. Dough Boy uniforms and reenact a World War I scenario. They have to choose to either crawl beneath 100 meters of barbed wire or decipher Morse Code.

This is one of the coolest challenges in Amazing Race history. In period uniforms they crawl between the German and French lines underneath the barbed wire as biplanes dive bomb and strafe them. The sounds, the mud and equipment is authentic, if only the bullets were real, then maybe these teams would find a sense of urgency.

You've never seen a bunch of teams move more slowly. The Fat Detective can't catch his breath and need to rest while crawling. They keep making references to World War II, even though it has been thoroughly explained to them that this is a World War I reenactment. Not the brightest guys:

“You see the planes. You see the bombs exploding, just the noise. It’s a lot like what we do as detectives.”

Um? Do they really believe that detectives fought in trenches while being bombed by planes?

The Lesbian's want no part of this challenge. "I didn't sign up for this!" What exactly did they think they signed up for? Wine tasting? The angry Lesbian, (no the other angry Lesbian) continues saying she wished they had done the Morse Code challenge because crawling is for dumb people. I'd agree since everybody chose to crawl and these teams certainly are dumb.

The Models approached in their car they saw the plane and he didn't know what it was. I'll have to rewatch the scene but he said something like look at the "flying thing".

In any case, the Detectives finish the crawling challenge and get a choice to U-Turn one of the teams. Of course they make the dumbest decision. They choose to U-Turn the Loud Mouth Asian, the guy they could easily beat because he has an injured knee. Not so smart.

As I imagined deciphering the Morse Code seemed pretty difficult. It'd be nice if they had the Morse Code online and let viewers try that challenge themselves instead of revealing the answer.

The rest of the teams walked to a farm house where they changed in turn of the century bicycling gear and rode a Tour de France reenactment . The Cowboys ran past the Gay Brothers and they discussed whether they should let teams pass them or not. Seriously these are the laziest racers of all time.

The remaining teams slowly ride the four miles to the pit stop. The Asian couple is left behind in the trenches where they eventually give up trying to decipher the Morse Code and are past by the dumbest of all teams.

Two more May MLE events added

2010-03-16T03:15:56Z

Two more May MLE events added

Major League Eating has added two more contests to it's active month of May in the disciplines of Gyros and Curly Fries.

I tried to get Rupert over, too. I was like, 'Are you going to see the light here?' I almost felt...

2010-03-15T16:36:52Z

I tried to get Rupert over, too. I was like, 'Are you going to see the light here?' I almost felt bad for him and called him out on it. I said, 'Do you know the way you're going to be portrayed, or do you not get it? Do you not realize that you're spending the game just being led around by Amanda? Is that okay for your legacy?' He was just adamant about sticking with that group in spite of [James's] injury.

Survivor - Interview - Tom ('Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains') - Digital Spy

Let’s call this one THE DUMBEST DECISION YET

2010-03-12T21:45:22Z

Let’s call this one THE DUMBEST DECISION YET

Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains': Episode 5

Uncommon Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Week 5

2010-03-12T14:00:48Z

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Last time on ... UNCOMMON SURVIVOR; Coach cried because nobody liked him, Sears sponsored my favorite challenge to date, and Immunity Idol clues were discovered. One tempted Russell into danger with the Villains, while the other led to a discovery by Tom, who played it to help blindside Cirie. I like how blindside has become an official term, like, "grand slam," and, "hat trick."

Back in Herotown, fresh off the vote, J.T. is in PR-spin mode, telling everyone he did what he had to, for everyone else, the Merge is coming and she's not loyal after that. Rupert mad. Rupert very mad. The next morning, J.T. tries to regain Amanda's trust, but she's paranoid. She thinks he's made twenty alliances. That's not even possible, silly Amanda.

The Villains greet the morning with some patent-pending Dragon Slayer Chi. Everyone starts to snicker when he begins to chant, as if that's the most ridiculous thing going on at the moment.

While everyone stands around Coach in a circle, feeding him the attention he needs to survive, Russell is off looking for the Idol. He appears perplexed as he stands in a hole that he apparently dug. Sitting on the root of the tree, that's in the middle of this big hole he's dug, was the Idol. Russell picks it up, and here we go again.

Reward Challenge Time! It's The Octagon! Fight for coconuts in the bottom, pass to your shooters, two shots win. No kicking the crap out of dudes like Ben did the first time they did this challenge. Winners get a chocolate feast. Jeff has some samples for everyone, and Colby and the Heroes turn their noses up at it.

Jeff asks why this is, and Colby snaps back that he's ready to start the challenge. Jeff tells him that the Challenge starts when he's ready. Rupert says it's because they're focused, they don't care about the reward, only winning, but Russell replies that the Villains are always focused, that's why they win, which earns him a stare from Rupert.

The Villains sit Parvati, Sandra, and Courtney, while the Heroes sit Colby. So much for focus and impatience to start the challenge. Next time, Colby, shut up and eat your candy. The match begins and the Heroes end up with all the coconuts. They make a few misses before James stumbles on a rebound and is slow to get up.

When he does rise, he limps a couple steps and drops back down. Jeff calls for the medic. They look at James' leg, then he gets up to try to walk. He starts to walk normally, says he's fine, before you see pain shoot through him. Even Jeff winces. The medic lady pulls James from the challenge, and Jeff doesn't allow them to sub in Colby. The match begins again, and quickly Tom grabs two coconuts and tosses them back, while Russell gets the other. Each team misses one before Amanda sinks a point. They switch places next round, shooters in the pit, pitters in the shoot. Say that five times fast. The round starts and J.T. takes out jbox's fave (Boston Rob) with a leg tackle. The Heroes get two coconuts, but both miss. Tyson shoots and misses and the rebound falls to the ground where J.T. gets to it first, and is then carried over to the Villains' side by jbox's fave, who slams him into the wall. Russell reaches down to try and help, but the coconut is slipped out to Rupert, and Russell falls off the platform, who climbs back up.

Both sides miss a few shots. J.T. starts assaulting Coach, picking him up and dropping him on his head.

Tyson sinks a shot just as the camera catches Rupert swinging Jerri's face into a post, then yells at her that he didn't mean to do that.

You should have eaten the chocolate, Rupert. Now it's haunting you. Jerri gets up and shakes it off with a, "whatever dude," and gets ready for the next round. She's like three times the man Coach is! The final round starts, Russell grabs two coconuts for the Villains, both shots miss. After several more misses, J.T. switches to defense, using his coconut to block jbox's fave's shot. Jbox's fave answers right back with a blocked shot. J.T. takes another shot that bounces in and out, but Jerri, her focus renewed by the earlier blow to the face, fires a perfect spiral that drops right in, sealing victory for the Villains. The Villains leave right away, and the Heroes sulk home, except for James, who has to stay and get checked; the plan being to put him in a splint and see if he can walk.

The Villains enjoy their chocolate feast and swim in a special cove. Everyone but Russell and Parvati talk loudly under an echoing rock formation about their assumption that Russell has the hidden Idol. Meanwhile, Russell's telling Parvati about the idol, and telling her he needs someone to help him work it. His plan is to turn Coach against jbox's fave. Russell takes Coach aside and floors him with knowledge of the idol. Coach is all about trust, and, "it's almost impossible for [him] to betray that trust." Then he kneels before him and Russell grants him knighthood. LARPing confirmed.

Over at Herotown, Amanda is sobbing because they lost the challenge, the reward was chocolate, and, oh yeah, James' knee. Applause to the editing crew who put J.T.'s, "I don't think James is comin' back," right after Amanda's, "I really hope I see him walk down the beach." Tom tells us he has his differences with James, and he doesn't want to root against him, but he'll do it silently anyway. It's Tom who spots James coming back first. Amanda runs out to him and hugs him.

Everyone else greets him after. He says they don't know what's wrong with it, but that's because he needs an MRI, and to get one, he'd have to leave. So now he's going to lay around camp a couple days and let everyone take care of him.

Immunity Challenge Time! Blind-folded Pairs Puzzle Retrieval and Assembly! Jerri calls the shots for the Villains and James calls for the Heroes. The challenge begins and all the Heroes walk into obstacles. Coach gets to a piece. Jbox's fave helps J.T. with a piece before Jerri calls him off it. Both tribes get three pieces back and return. There's a lot of stumbling and collisions. Jbox's fave runs right into a pair of Heroes carrying a piece. J.T. and Amanda lose each other, and the Villains get a piece ahead. James yells for everybody to shut up and stop. The Villains stay a piece ahead until the Heroes catch up to them at eight, then nine. With just a piece left for each, Rupert and Candice stumble over the piece and bring it in, crashing into Tom. They remove their blindfolds and start assembling. The Villains are still getting their last piece in, and don't get back until it looks like the Heroes are half done with theirs. But like magic, the Heroes immediately stop making any progress and the Villains make up all the time, finally completing their puzzle, winning yet another Tribal Immunity.

The Heroes pout back at camp. Tom and Colby think the consensus is to vote for James, but Rupert tells J.T. they're getting rid of Tom. Candice thinks this is stupid. James hobbles over. Amanda meets with Rupert, who tells her that Candice was pushing for James to be gone, and she's probably the weakest. J.T. and Candice think the logical choice is to get rid of James. Then he swears to Rupert that he's voting for Tom, that they're together. Maybe he just means there, on the beach together, not voting together, because he's playing both sides against each other.

Tribal Council Time! The big topic of discussion, of course, is James' knee. After James tries to blame Tom and Candice for talking too much during challenges and making them lose, Tom says it like it is, that anyone who wants James around is only doing it for his vote, not because he can compete. James seems to believe he can still outperform anyone, and tells everyone to vote for him if they don't think he can do it. With that, the voting starts.

Tom votes for James, adding, "All mass, no class," before dropping in his ballot. James, in turn, votes for Tom. Jeff eads two votes for Tom, then two for James. The next is Tom, and one more reads his name, sealing his fate. That was the dumbest vote ever. These are the worst Heroes ever.

Next time, it will be two weeks from now because March Madness has to come in and ruin everything. But when Survivor does return, Russell and jbox's fave threaten each other in the dark! See you then!

Uncommon Snips - Too Kalamazoo Edition

2010-03-11T12:00:27Z

nom nom nom

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Man, the Olympics were fun, weren't they? But they're gone now, there goes our time in the spotlight. Did you know that they showed all those British Columbia tourism commercials to British Columbians, too? I never like the California tourism commercials. It's always the Governator and his celebrity friends, mocking the unemployed.

The Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament starts in like a day, so get ready to start seeing that. Remember you can watch it on YouTube for free. I've chosen the rags-to-riches Deccan Chargers as my team, almost at random.

On with news! In this edition: Tony Hawk says he thinks it's time for skateboarding to be granted Olympic status, the next episode of the Iditablog podcast is ready, and is worth an hour of your time to say the very least, tie-breakers are in order at the Curling Nationals in Kalamazoo, and TooJay's is hosting the Corned Beef Eating Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida next Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day.

Reminder: Survivor is tonight!

Skateboarding in the Olympics - Universal Sports
The International Olympic Committee says it's trying to connect with young people. Young people like snowboarding and skateboarding. Snowboarding adds cool to the Winter Games. Isn't it time for skateboarding to make it into the Summer Games?
United States Curling Association - Playoff field still murky
Last undefeated team falls, tiebreakers on the horizon at 2010 Nationals
Iditablog Podcast 2010 – Ep 3 | Iditablog.com – Iditarod 2010 News and Coverage
Take a listen to ~~today’s~~ [yesterday's] podcast as we break down the current standings, give analysis on layovers, talk about scratched mushers, answer emails, take your calls, and chat about the weather….. sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Major League Eating & International Federation of Competitive Eating
This St. Patrick's Day Major League Eating will team up with TooJay's Gourmet Deli and National Deli to present The TooJay's World Class Corned Beef Eating Championship from Palm Beach Gardens, FL. A prize pool of $10,000 is on the line in the 10-minute contest featuring National Deli corned beef on rye sandwiches prepared by TooJay's!
[Note by Axion, 03/11/10 9:09 AM PST ] - added link
Halfway to Nome | Iditablog.com – Iditarod 2010 News and Coverage
If you needed proof that anything is possible in the Iditrod, take this morning’s early win by Dallas Seavey into the halfway checkpoint of Cripple.

Mushers scratch at Rainy Pass

2010-03-10T07:33:34Z

Mushers scratch at Rainy Pass

Are the puppies gonna be ok?

MANCUSO TALKS LINGERIE AND JOSE CUERVO

2010-03-10T07:27:38Z

MANCUSO TALKS LINGERIE AND JOSE CUERVO

What is all the yelling about? Julia Mancuso and the CuervoGames, that's what.

I rode the WaveHouse Flowrider

2010-03-08T19:18:01Z

I went to the WaveHouse this weekend and rode the Flowrider for the first time. I usually catch on pretty quickly to stuff like this, but I had a hell of time getting beyond the simplest tasks. Even just standing up and balancing is hard for more than 30 seconds or so. I could move back and forth but never quite felt in control and couldn't do the deep cuts that I expected would come naturally.

The guys that work there and have had a lot of practice were doing insane tricks. Front flips, releasing the board in mid air and grabbing it again for a landing. Their tricks probably had names, but I'm not good enough to even know them.

The first time I fell it hurt. I hit in such a way that my whole body felt like a tuning fork. The kind of fall where it radiates through you and you kind of feel nauseous for a few seconds afterward. Fortunately that was my worst fall and the rest weren't so bad, except that in 2 hours I probably ate it 100 times. The quantity of falls add up and it's not a soft landing by any means you really get put through the wash on the way out of the wave.

I was exhausted at the end and still 2 days later, I'm probably the most sore I've ever been. Everything is sore. Yes... everything. I did the stand up boards about 95% of the time but I tried the body boarding too. The body boarding is not to friendly to your manhood. Your hips hang off the back of the board and the water pressure coming at your boys at 30mph... well it's like a boxer is working a speed bag.

Would I do it again? Yes, but I need to heal first.

Amazing Race: Is the race finally starting?

2010-03-08T18:57:53Z

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CBS Recap

This season is finally starting to get better. I think really they just needed to get out of South America. Those South American episodes were so slow and dull. I don't blame the continent though, I blame the teams and CBS.

Is it just me or do none of these teams seem to be in any particular hurry? This season has been on par with watching a fun walk/run. You know the "races" where they don't actually get your time and it's all out of shape people doing it for the t-shirt? That's this season of Amazing Race.

My favorite team by far is the Cowboys, but even they seem to be just strolling along. Don't get me wrong, it seems like they are having a ton of fun, but how did they fall so far behind the Undercover Detectives? They both went on the bungee cord at the same time and suddenly some large out of shape detectives are able to put that kind of distance between them? Cowboys are slacking.

I have to give props to the Cowboy who refused to take off his cowboy hat when bungee cord, that's awesome that it stayed on, but why risk it falling off? He must have glued it on or something, because if you're really racing why would you risk losing your hat?

Speaking of the Bungee Cord challenge, the beauty contestant gave it a glowing review. "That was the most fun I've had in my whole life!" while her boyfriend is sitting next to her with a completely dead face. For some reason that made me laugh.

I liked the idea of the new Intersection challenges where you have to work with someone from another team. I thought it would work out so that one team would have to wait a long time for a slower team and causing more friction between them, but it didn't seem to.

Note to future Amazing Race teams, if you are given the choice between eating a small helping of Kraut or trying to kick soccer balls, know that eating Kraut is faster. I don't care that you don't like Kraut. I don't like Kraut either but I also know that kicking soccer balls takes a lot more time. Are you racing or are you on vacation? Don't tell me that you can't kick soccer balls at home, you're not missing out on anything. EAT THE KRAUT! I believe this is the reason that the Detectives were so successful in this episode.

I was really excited about the beer challenge because I thought that the teams would have to navigate another challenge being drunk, but it didn't happen. I probably would have just chugged the beer, then gone outside and thrown it all up. How many beers was that 6? 8?

Anyway, I hope somebody puts a fire underneath the collective asses of these teams.

Women wearing latex outfits compete in a sledge race in the eastern German town of Oberwiesenthal...

2010-03-07T00:51:16Z

Women wearing latex outfits compete in a sledge race in the eastern German town of Oberwiesenthal on March 6, 2010. The race, originally planned as a naked race, was not allowed by town officials so the organisers changed it to a latex and leather race. via jezebel / photo via getty

Mush! You're Late For The 2010 Iditarod!

2010-03-07T00:00:25Z

And so are we! The race doesn't start until tomorrow, but all the racers have left downtown Anchorage already. To follow the 2010 Iditarod live via official coverage, you have to subscribe and become an Iditarod Insider. For these instances, we have to imagine our own action or turn to enthusiast press. This year's dog sled race features five former champions, including three time winner Lance Mackey, as well as two Scots, and a Jamaican. If that's not a great setup for a bar joke or funny anecdote, I don't know what is.

I don't know much about the Iditarod, if anything. We acknowledged its existence two years ago, so this will be a learning experience for us all.

Last time we covered this, we met iditablog, who will again be providing the best coverage in all the best formats. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, podcasts on iTunes. In fact, I think SBNation should just pick them up.

The race takes at least 8 days to complete, the fastest time being 8 days and 22 hours. Advancements in dog bootie technology have helped the teams to faster times over the years.

This is the biggest day of the year for Alaska. They party all day before the race gets under way tomorrow. I don't think I've ever been in 25°F weather, much less partied in it.

I listened to iditablog's podcast for today. Loren Linden was there at the start and Skype'd in to Josh Rogers to give updates. She said dogs were howling all night. That sounds terrifying.

The weather out on the trail is always a big determining factor in who wins. How you've trained your dogs and what for will matter as well. For instance, paw-to-paw combat training will do you no good in the rain or snow.

If you misspell Iditarod enough times, you end up with Iditard, which sounds like someone who is a fanatic about the Iditarod.

I will try to provide uninformed observations and too late updates as the sled race goes on.

Probst on Boston Rob: If I had to put money on only one Survivor it would be Boston Rob. Overall, he has the qualities that I would most want to have if I played the game.

2010-03-05T15:48:27Z

Probst on Boston Rob: If I had to put money on only one Survivor it would be Boston Rob. Overall, he has the qualities that I would most want to have if I played the game.

This isn't going to make Jbox happy

Uncommon Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Week 4

2010-03-05T14:00:38Z

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Previously on... UNCOMMON SURVIVOR; The Heroes doled out a beating to the Villains to win their first Immunity Challenge. James completed his transformation into an angry beast with Rupert not far behind. Parvati became the girl everyone loves to hate and Randy was sent home before Pooh and friends could find his tail and nail it back on.

When the Villains return to camp following their dismissal of Randy, Sandra's comments about Coach have the Dragon Slayer fighting back tears. He shares his heart while Tyson holds him in his arms, nodding, telling him it's okay. Coach breaks down and Tyson stares into his eyes, and before long, embraces him again. He tells Coach that he can coach him on what to do. This interests the Dragon Slayer. Tyson dons his white suit of armor and explains that Coach should no longer tell his stories, that people don't believe him and they mock him. This depresses Coach further and he threatens to leave that night. "I'm done," he says.

The next morning, he explains to a concerned crowd of none that he will be taking a walk. Tyson tells everyone that Coach cried on his shoulder last night. When reached for comment, jbox's fave (Boston Rob) had this to say: "Coach hadda sob session wit' Tyson... I dunno, dat's nawt muchuva coach ify'ask me." He goes after Coach to give him a pep talk. Coach tells jbox's fave that now that they're in middle school, they never hang out as much anymore. Jbox's fave is too much of a Bro to be having too much of this, giving Coach a big Bro hug and a Bro fist, telling him it'll be okay, that he has to trust him, and to pick his head up and act like a man. Then we are treated to Coach's version of Daily Affirmations and shown scenes of him showing off his tribal armband tattoos he got when he spent time with the Barbed Wire tribe of Papua New Guinea. Tyson, do you see what you almost ruined?

Morning 9 greets the Heroes of Herotown, and they've got tree mail, and oh-em-gee, ladies, it's a Sears catalog! The Reward Challenge is littered with enough Sears merchandise to bring Bob Vila to his knees. The challenge is head-to-head slippery basketball. Jeff calls the catalog, "circular," which I find strange, but I was never good in geometry. Jeff then shows off the array of products available, telling us that the Heroes picked fishing gear and cooking supplies, while the Villains selected a tool kit and tarp with rope. Parvati sits out, and did I mention that this challenge is sponsored by Sears, where you can spend your life well.

Coach and Tom face off in the first round. Is everyone oiled up? Both men slide out to grab the number 14 ball. Tom, whose chest is smoother than Coach's, slides directly to the ball, while Coach has to scramble to get there. They get to their baskets and both shoot twice, with Coach scoring the first point. Next, Russell and Cirie go. Well, Russell goes, sliding all the way to the ball and getting up to walk gingerly over to his basket while Cirie crawls on her hands and knees to her ball after sliding nowhere. Russell scores on his second attempt before Cirie even has a chance. Next, a coat rack versus a flag pole. No, wait, that's Courtney and Candice. They slide out to their ball, but Candice's speed gets her there first. She gets caught in the ropes like a sick dolphin, flinging the ropes around to escape. This confuses Courtney, who shrugs her shoulders while Candice scores the Heroes' first goal.

Next up is Amanda and Jerri; Amanda gets her ball and to her basket before Jerri, but the bitter old cougar remains calm and collected, scoring on her first shot, then erupting into an Elaine Benes victory dance. Up next is Sandra versus James. This round goes much like Russell vs. Cirie, with Sandra crawling feebly while James makes easy work of the course. Danielle and Rupert go next, and Danielle is definitely oiled up.

They both fumble the ball everywhere before Rupert scores, tying the game up for the final round. Last, it's Tyson vs. Colby. Colby gets his ball first and takes his first shot, bouncing it off the rim. Tyson, not far behind, bounces his shot off the rim as well.

Both exchange misses until Tyson finally sinks a shot, securing victory and valuable merchandise for the Villains.

The Villains return to camp with their bounty, while Coach informs us of his change of heart, now that his team's won a challenge. While discovering their new toys, Russell drops a clue in the form of a rolled up piece of parchment from a knife sheath he's holding. Jbox's fave picks it up and reads it to everyone. It has detailed directions on how to find the idol. They openly discuss stupid ideas about what to do with the idol while Russell salivates about his Precioussss in the background. Jbox's fave tells Coach they should start building a shelter and Russell can't just leave the idol sitting there. In a moment of conspicuous stupidness, Russell announces that he's going for a walk. This alerts everyone, and jbox's fave tells Sandra to go see what he's doing. She sneaks down after him, and he steps out to see if they are looking for him, which lets her see him. She runs back to report, and jbox's fave orders that he be gone. Coach seemed to have no idea what the implications of an Immunity Idol were.

Morning 10 in Herotown starts with a cup of coffee, and another clue hidden in their coffee beans. The clue also has detailed directions to a hidden idol on their camp. After J.T. reads it, everyone stands around stunned. Before too long, J.T. is off one way while James saunters off in the opposite direction. Maybe the directions weren't so detailed. Tom and Amanda start off after James, arriving at where Tom thinks is the right location. He starts to dig with Amanda next to him, and James comes over, digging on the other side. Quickly, Tom discovers the idol and slips it into his sock before anyone notices. Anyone, that is, except Amanda. She notices him acting strange and saw him slip it into his sock. She tells Candice, then J.T., who tells Cirie. Tom meets up with Colby to tell him the news. Colby thinks they are back in the game.

Immunity Challenge Time! Blind-folded Survivor-ball with a maze at the end! This is the one that killed Dread Russell last season. Jeff informs us that it's the only challenge never to be completed. His trivia sounds better. The Villains sit out Courtney and Sandra, the Heroes sit out Cirie. Jbox's fave and Tom are the ball riders. Coach and Tyson guide the ball to the end efficiently and get jbox's fave to work on calling the shots for the maze. James and Rupert spend a lot of time in the rough before they get Tom to where he needs to be. Both men guide their maze-persons like something I can't believe.

Some impressive calls and daring moves get them both close to the end, each ball rolling on the edge of the cup before the Villains can sink it for the win. The Heroes wear sad faces once more.

This is one of my favorite parts of the game, where the dangerous players are identified, and then left in the game to wreak havoc. Cirie and Candice want to get rid of the Tom/Colby thing. They plan to split the vote, three-three, so Tom plays the idol and one of them goes home, at least. Amanda asks J.T. what he thinks, and he says Tom isn't going to hurt them. J.T. wants to get rid of Candice, she can't be trusted. Tom meets before Princess Amanda's court, resting his case on trust, and she finds favor in him when he boldly offers her the idol.

Amanda goes to tell Queen Cirie, who is immediately caught up in hysterics over this change in decision. She has a tantrum that draws over James and Rupert. J.T. also overhears this, and goes to tell Colby and Tom. They plan to assassinate the Queen with the help of J.T.'s vote.

Voting Time! Everyone takes a seat before Jeff begins his interrogation. Early alliances will send great players home early. Rupert would rather stick to his word than win challenges, and when he says it sucks, Jeff rubs his face in it. Jeff asks everyone how concerned they are about going home tonight. Colby articulates his worry the best, probably because his is the only authentic feeling of any of them. J.T. is honest about not being worried, though, he says he trusts his alliance, it's what got him there. His ambiguous phrasing makes Colby wince. Rupert kicks off the voting.

Candice votes for Tom, but thinks he's a great guy. Tom votes Cirie and compliments her dainty fingers. J.T. is shown writing a C because the producers are a bunch of teases. Before Jeff begins to read the votes, Tom plays his Immunity Idol. No votes count for Tom now. Candice's vote is read first, and it's invalidated. The second and third votes are also for Tom, still invalid. The fourth vote is for Colby, the first vote that counts! The next vote reads, "Coby," and somehow that counts against Colby. The next vote is for Cirie, then another. It's tied, 2-2! The final vote reads Cirie, and the Queen is beheaded! A stunning upset! Rupert can only shake his head. James is confused by the whole thing.

via wwwimage.cbs.com

Next time, jbox's fave hunts Russell, Candice wants to seek shelter with Colby and Tom now, and it appears that the challenge that got Ben eliminated due to a violent kick make a return with a medical emergency.

The 40 Most Sexual Photos From The Olympics | Best Week Ever

2010-03-03T05:16:35Z

The 40 Most Sexual Photos From The Olympics | Best Week Ever

I hope there aren't any brother sister acts in this gallery.

Alpha Kappa Alpha should just give themselves the platinum medal

2010-03-02T19:04:34Z

In the interest of fairness, here's a video of the co-winning step performance from Alpha Kappa Alpha:

Make no mistake! These ladies did their fair share of lighting it the f__k up, but the real question is, did they light it as much the f__k up as Zeta Tau Alpha lit their f__k lights up? And did they do it in an original manner? Part of ZTA's controversy is that they just imitated a bunch of step routines that previous black sororities had performed and hired a choreographer to teach them their moves. While this is not against the rules of the competition, the 2000 film Bring It On taught us two lessons:

1. If you're a white dance crew, biting dance routines from a black dance crew is the quickest way to success, but also leaves you open for getting clowned.

2. Hiring a choreographer only leads to jazz hands.

So after seeing both, is AKA's routine better than ZTA's?

I contend, maybe so. Because nothing says "LIGHT IT THE F__K UP" like Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation.

You know what I would do though if I was AKA? I'd take the high road and just Plushenko myself the platinum medal. Then everybody's happy.