Entries by Rob Mars

So it is, at least to a degree, for many of us; namely, those who deem sports to be something more than mere priapic ritual.

Now please excuse me while I work on my bracket.

The music of North America owes a tremendous debt to Irish (and Scottish) music: country and folk, obviously, but later the "hillbilly" in rockabilly, one of rock-n-roll's foundational music forms. You will see, hear, and feel this connection in a moment, thanks to an extraordinary musician, indeed one of the world's best: Máiréad Nesbitt.

Nesbitt has an athletic performance style that at moments leaves one wondering if she isn't a world-class athlete too. (Ah, you weren't quite sure how I would tie this in, were you?) Such is the case seen here in a performance of "Granuaile's Dance" (possibly a tribute to Gráinne Ní Mháille, another remarkable Irish woman).

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Zara Phythian probably doesn't rate this with her 13 world titles in martial arts, but the rest of us remain justifiably awestruck:

The inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 will mark several firsts, mainly of interest only to avid Indy-race fans, but one in particular grabbed my attention: this will be the first time that four women have started an IndyCar race.

Methinks IndyCar is entitled to a little self-praise:

"This is really fantastic for our sport," said Terry Angstadt, president of the series' commercial division. "Diversity is actually one of the attributes of the Izod IndyCar Series. Racing is the only sport where female athletes compete in absolutely the same field as the men, they race on exactly the same tracks, the same cars."

Now we must work so that this parity is true for all sports, for only then will female athletes no longer be undervalued.

You would be hard put to find a set of athletic skills more impressive than that wielded by acrobat and aerialist Lisa Whitmore, a formidable truth inescapably apprehended when viewing samples of her work:

Today, International Women's Day, we honor women—something we should in fact do every day, without prodding.

Still, it's nice to have a special day to celebrate women. I was pleased to find this beautiful tribute created for the occasion: Women of the World ~ Divine Goddesses:

Brittney Griner is an incredibly gifted athlete. A mountainous exemplar of corporeal strength, Griner represents the awesome, ever-swelling physicality of today's female athlete.

None of which makes her a saint, of course. But neither does a punch thrown in a moment of mental opacity in the heat of athletic competition count her as a shaitan. What she did was unquestionably wrong, and she should be punished in the way typical for her offense (and surely a punch has been thrown in an NCAA game before). And there it should rest.

Much has been said about this incident already, some of it trenchant, so I will add only two further observations. I hope never to find myself on the receiving end of a punch from Griner. And I hope Jordan Barncastle, who must have one heck of a chin, is okay.

Lenda Murray, eight-time Ms. Olympia, the greatest female bodybuilder ever, seems to have a talent for dance too, as seen here in video taken at the 2009 Lenda Murray Bodybuilding Championships. Perhaps a stint on DWTS (which, boo! doesn't have a female athlete this season) is next?

As a rule I don't pay much attention to the photoshopped creations of fanboys. More often than not they look horribly disarranged, as should be expected. This work by "LEEE777" is a striking exception, however. It has a naturalness to it (as long as you don't look too close, that is). Moreover, it captures the essence of Wonder Woman, she standing strong after what was no doubt a great ruckus.

But the credit, I suspect, goes mostly to the star of this digital embellishment. We talked before about Jodi Lyn O'Keefe; her name comes up often when the subject is a live-action Wonder Woman film. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos seem to have destined O'Keefe to play the mighty Amazon, so ideally suited is she for that role.

We are told that soon we can expect (fingers crossed!) to finally learn of definite plans for a Wonder Woman film. Rumors will fly once the casting frenzy starts, most awful to imagine being true. But Jodi Lyn O'Keefe should not be overlooked, for she is among a select few qualified to assume the mantle of Wonder Woman.

A remarkable performance by a sister-brother act, recorded live for The Good Old Days (circa 1981). Notice who is doing most of the heavy lifting:

Olympic speed skater Jennifer Rodriguez finds herself atop a strange list.

A reminder, just in case she (or we) needed one, that the Internet is like a shadowy lodestone attracting seemingly in greater measure the unreasonable and the unscrupulous. But disturbing as that is to ponder, it is better than another simile, one possibly more faithful: a finely polished mirror in which we find a clearer than we'd like to think reflection of our world and ourselves.

MMA pioneer Erin Toughill talks about sparring with guys, making weight, showing everyone that she is the best in the world before she retires, and the woman she'll have to defeat to do that—Cris "Cyborg" Santos:

I'm fascinated by female aerialists, and with good reason. Their strength is unsurpassed; their grace, undeniable. Erna Sommer, the star of today's post, is another aerial conjurer of that wondrous athleticism and mystical beauty which leaves mortals like yours truly spellbound. Enjoy!—

If you watched women's Olympic downhill skiing yesterday, you understand why Emily Brydon and her fellow competitors might think such a thing. We saw again the awesome difference strength can make in sports, seemingly almost any sport. The Vancouver Sun makes clear what sets Lindsey Vonn apart:

The fact is, Vonn, an analytical perfectionist whose size and strength — she’s [5-10 and 165 pounds] — allows her to race on more forgiving men’s skis, is just too powerful, too innately talented to be caught when she’s on her game, shin bruise or not.

Congratulations to Lindsey Vonn and to Julia Mancuso!

I was fortunate to catch martial arts champion (many times over) Mindy Kelly on National Geographic Channel's Fight Science the other night. Pretty cool stuff: