Archive for the ‘SPORTS’ Category
Monday, August 18th, 2008
As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Michael Phelps (with the help of his teammates) broke Mark Spitz’s record of 7 gold medals at one Olympic games. Phelp’s 8 brought his overall gold total to 14 making him the winningest athlete in Olympic history (and he’s only 23). Also in the pool, 41 year-old Dara Torres won 2 silver medals setting American records in both events, and becoming the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal. She said she hopes her performance helps people realize that “our dreams have no age limits.”
Back on land it was all about Jamaica. Usain Bolt, who just recently started running the 100m, streaked away from the rest of the field easily winning gold and setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds. On the women’s side, it was a clean sweep with Shelly-Ann Frasier taking gold followed by Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart who tied for second. The two golds were the first ever in the 100m for the small island country.
Sports fan or not, you can’t help but be inspired by the joy that results when these people finally reach these dreams that they have been working so hard for. Its just another reminder of the great things we can accomplish when we are willing to sacrifice.
-JH
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Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Michael Phelps won his fourth and fifth gold medals of the Beijing Olympics in the 200-meter Butterfly and 4X200 Freestyle Relay last night. Those wins bring his overall gold total to 11, making him the winningest athlete in Olympic history.
What’s unbelievable is, not only is he winning, but he has set world records in each race as well. We at MajorityMag, we would like to congratulate Michael on this great achievement and wish him the best in his final three races later this week.
-JH
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Thursday, August 7th, 2008
1500 meter runner Lopez Lomong was selected by his teammates to carry the flag at the opening ceremonies tomorrow in Beijing. Lomong was born in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. At the age of 6 he was abducted by a militia group who tried to turn him and thousands of other young boys into child soldiers. He was eventually able to escape the militia compound, walking for 3 days straight until he reached a refugee camp in Kenya. After 10 years in the refugee camp, he was resettled in the U.S. along with 3,500 other “lost boys” who had been separated from their families as well.
As a high schooler, in the U.S., he excelled at Track & Field, earning a scholarship to Northern Arizona University where he is currently majoring in Hotel Management. In 2007 he became a U.S. citizen, and is thrilled for the opportunity to run for his new country. Lomong hopes that his success can help raise awareness about Darfur and inspire more nations to get involved in bringing peace there.
-JH
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Monday, August 4th, 2008
As I’m sure you’ve read before, we here at MajorityMag are big fans of Aaron Fotheringham, the world’s first HardCore Sitter. Last weekend Aaron was a part of a showcase at the X-Games for Adaptive Action Sports, an organization that provides opportunities for athletes with permanent disabilities to compete in action sports.
AAS was founded by Amy Purdy, a competitive snowboarder and wakeboarder who had both her legs amputated at the age of 19. In trying to get involved again, with the sports she loved, Amy realized that there was a lack of opportunity for athletes with disibilities and wanted to change that. Today, AAS sponsors dozens of action sports athletes and creates camps, showcases, and competitions for them to participate in; proving once again that there are no obstacles that can’t be overcome with a little heart.
-JH
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Monday, July 14th, 2008
In his younger years, Brian Bosworth was known for his cocky attitude, links to steroids and sometimes selfish behavior. As a result, received his fair share of criticism as a Seahawk linebacker and later as an actor. Over the years “The Boz” matured though, and now he is even being heralded as a hero. Last week while on a fishing trip with his son in Manitoba, Bosworth came across a car accident where an SUV had rolled down a large hill off the side of the road. Paramedics were already on the scene, but Bosworth stopped to see if they needed any help. As it turned out the car was pretty smashed up and they needed extra man power to tear an opening and get the passengers out. With Bosworth’s help they were able to get both passengers out and carry them back up the hill to the ambulance.
That makes two life saving stories by NFL players in the last week; for people who are often labled as selflish, those are look like some pretty selfless moves to me…good work guys!
-JH
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Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Despite being a 9-time Pro-Bowl selection and setting NFL records for receiving, the best move of Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Tony Gonzalez came last week when he saved a man’s life with the Heimlich Manuver.
Gonzalez was dining with his family when he heard a woman at the table next to him screaming “he can’t breathe!” With nobody else in the restaurant moving to help, Tony jumped up and performed the Heimlich; doslodging a piece of meat from the throat of the victim, 40 year-old Ken Hunter. It wasn’t until after Hunter returned from the bathroom to thank Gonzalez that he realized who he was. Hunter, a lifelong San Diego Chargers fan now says his allegiance lies with Gonzalez and the Chiefs; he says he thinks his friends will understand.
-JH
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Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
You knew from our KG article when the Finals started that we were pulling for the Celtics, so we had to say congratulations when they finally brought home the title! This victory caps off the greatest turnaround in NBA history coming off only 22 wins last year. Coach Doc Rivers used the African term ubuntu, which loosely means “I am because we are” as the motto all year to remind the team that each player was just as valuable as the next. It was that collective mentality that helped them win the teams first championship since 1986.
Now with the season over several players from around the league will use basketball as a platform to influence social change across the globe. This summer the Basketball Without Borders program will host be travelling to Turkey, India, and South Africa to teach life skills as well as hoops. In addition they will help build homes, parks, and learning centers in the communities they visit. We applaud these players who give up their vacation time to help make a difference in the lives of others.
-JH
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Monday, June 2nd, 2008
In his first season with the Celtics Kevin Garnett has lead his team to the NBA Finals. And while winning a championship may put him even higher up on the list of all-time greats on the court, he is already a legend for his work off of it.
Throughout his NBA career Garnett has made a commited effort to help others. In his early years in Minnesota he built state of the art technology centers in several local high schools. In 2005 he won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for his help with Hurricaine Katrina relief efforts, including a donation of over $1.2 million toward helping rebuild homes in devistated areas. Most recently Garnett was awarded the Community Assist Award for his Big Ticket Challenge where he helped improve the academic performance of thousands of Boston area students by rewarding them with personal letters of encouragement, tickets to Celts games, and one-on-one meet and greets.
In addition to these more well-known achievements, Garnett has privately helped put several kids through school, provided funds to several single-parents for mortgages, rent, or other finanical needs, and even bought suits, vacations and other gifts for his teammates and their families. The Big Ticket has consistently shown what it means to have a “big heart”, so now we are rooting for him to get a “big ring”…Good luck KG!
-JH
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Monday, May 19th, 2008
Last week we told you about double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius. On Friday, the 21 year-old South African was cleared for competition by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ruling gives Pistorius the opportunity to earn a spot in the Beijing Olympics this summer. He still has to meet the qualifying time (45.55 seconds) which is about a half-second faster than his personal best, but just having the opportunity is a huge victory. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on how this story progresses.
-JH
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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Real men wear pink. At least that was the case this past Sunday when players on several Major League teams sported pink bats and other pink gear in honor of Mother’s Day and to raise awareness for breast cancer research.
Several of the pink bats and other memorabilia are currently up for auction on the MLB site and all the money raised goes to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation. This was a great partnership that definitely caught people’s attention, and we hope to see more like it in the future.
-JH
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