Oliver Hansen

If you can watch this without laughing…. there’s something wrong.

This is just one of my all-time favorite skateboarders. Even if you don’t know much about the sport, you can appreciate this guy’s talent.

There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said about one of the greatest champions and persons in rally racing. An article with some nice quotes about Colin and his racing career has some nice thoughts.

I remember watching the rallys and even when he was doing poorly he generally had a positive outlook and at the least you knew he was not giving up. Many drivers have this tough spirit but Colin was rally racing to myself and many others when I first discovered the sport. As so many greats go before their time, so has Colin McRae. After a time, those of us who only knew him on television come to accept it and live with the memories we have. Those who had the pleasure of knowing him personally will no doubt have a more difficult time with this.

“He and [ his wife] Alison were good friends and I cannot imagine either without the other…”
-DAVID COULTHARD, Formula 1 driver

The quote above allows me to view this from another perspective and realize it’s not as personal for me. But it still seems like we have a connection to these people sometimes. I bought Colin McRae Rally 3 for my Playstation and then when I recently got an x-box, I bought a used copy of Colin McRae Rally 2005. He helped make these games what they are and that deepens the imagined connection as well. Seems silly but the bottom line is he is missed.

For the first time last Saturday I went paintballing with some friends. I had never gone before and in reality when I was younger I was scarred of getting hit. My friend Jemaal had planned it for the birthday party of his niece and we were supposed to have an entire field just for ourselves. Unfortunately, there was a death in her side of the family so the party was canceled. Jemaal was still available to go so he, my friend Brandon and myself were the small group of friends that showed up.

Jemaal has been going for a little while so he has his own gun (marker, in paintball speak) and gear. For Brandon and I, it was our first time so we used the rental gear. You get a mask with goggles and free refills on air all day. You have to buy the paint at the field so that people can’t bring unsafe paint in. Another safety feature is that every marker has to be chronoed-in which means they check the speed in FPS. I believe it has to be around 270 FPS to be safe. Once all that is done and they give the safety speech, we split into teams with the other people that day and then head on in to the field! (more…)

A friend sent me a link to an article about the new house being built for NBA star LeBron James. Of course the dimensions and content of the house are absurd but the thing that really got me was this quote:

The Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star and Akron native, whose stated goal is to be the world’s first billionaire athlete[...]

Wow, what a courageous goal! I don’t really follow mainstream sports much these days but of course I’ve heard of this guy and the vehicle he was driving in high school. I’ve also heard he’s quite the basketball player. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money. I want to make more money that I am right now but to publicly state that as one of your primary if not only goal? What about helping out some kids in your home town or the country? Maybe generically making the world a better place? I did do a search on LeBron James charity and found some mention of a bike charity so maybe he does do some worthwhile things. If so then maybe he can mention that as one of his goals and not just to be super rich and self centered.