oddsnark » Official Player Websites

ONE QUESTION FOR SEAN SALISBURY

oddJoe — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:21:19 +0000

WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR YOU TO SHOUT ALL THE TIME? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU GOD DAMNED TWIT? THE MICROPHONES IN THE STUDIO WORK JUST FINE WHEN YOU USE YOUR INDOOR VOICE. IT MAKES YOU SOUND LIKE A BIGGER DOUCHEBAG THAN YOU ALREADY ARE, IF THAT IS EVEN POSSIBLE. AND I HATE YOUR OFFICIAL WEB SITE, YOU TOTAL ASS MUNCHER.

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

Pain In The Ass: The Tour De France Is Underway

oddJoe — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:04:23 +0000

Now that the World Cup is finally, thankfully over, we can all move on to another Euro-centric sporting event with almost no American storyline, ensuring it will be ignored here in the States: The Tour de France. You remember the Tour, right? Lance Armstrong and yellow jerseys and all that? Well, there’s no Lance this year and as you can imagine that means lower TV ratings. In fact, the USA’s best hope this year is Floyd Landis, a rider who suffers from a chronic hip injury. Cancer, arthritic hip, there’s always got to be a tragic story behind our athletes. If you want to find out more about Landis you can check out his personal Web site, and if you want to follow all the Tour action, we highly recommend the very detailed coverage being provided by Tour de France 2006.

Grandma Luge Keeps on Luging

oddSeth — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 16:50:48 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the sport of luge is pretty limited. Basically you get on a sled with no brakes that can travel upwards of 90 mph, lie on your back, and try to make it to the end of the track. While a tiny part of me thinks that sounds fun, the vast majority of me squeals in abject terror at the thought of actually doing that.

Anne Abernathy (better known as “Grandma Luge”), though, has been doing exactly that for many decades, and doing it pretty dang well. The 52 year-old is competing in her 6th Winter Olympics in 2006, and is the oldest woman to ever compete in the Winter Olympics.

Her official website has lots of more information, including some pretty burly shots of her 2001 crash that nearly ended her career. She’s also keeping a blog of this year’s Olympic experience here.

Meet The Mushers: Tore Albrigtsen

oddJoe — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:09:50 +0000

Tore is listed as a rookie but he is actually quite an accomplished musher. Hailing from Troms�, Norway, he has been active in the sport since 1979 and has completed the Finnmarksløpet eight times. He operates an outdoor activity center with his wife, Tove Sørensen, that offers dog sled tours in the winter and kayaking in the summer. This will be his very first Iditarod Trail Race, so God reise to you.

Meet The Mushers: Fabrizio Lovati

oddJoe — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:02:07 +0000

Ciao, Fabrizio! Lovati is pure Italian from Italy and everything. He started mushing as a teenager and has raced in some of Europe’s major races, including the Alpinrod and Pireng. Fabrizio raced in his first Iditarod Trail Race in 2004, placing 28th. He is also an avid rally racer and biker, as well as a building contractor. Checking out his Web site, it also seems as though Fabrizio has a bit of mystery on hands. It turns out he bought four dogs back in 2003 but four of them were stolen before they arrived in Italy. If you know anything, please call. (Fabrizio, I mean, not us.)

Meet The Mushers: Ryan Redington

oddJoe — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:52:19 +0000

I worry a bit about Ryan. You see, he comes from a long line of champion mushers, like his dad, Raymie Redington, and his grandfather, Joe Redington, Sr., who was a co-founder of The Last Great Race. How can you live up to that? Family connections aside, Ryan is an accomplished musher in his own right, having won the Jr. Iditarod two years straight in 1999 and 2000, and he finished 44th in the 2004 Iditarod. You can see plenty of dog photos on the Web site of his family’s kennel. Good luck, young Redington.

Meet The Mushers: Paul Ellering

oddJoe — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:18:35 +0000

If you’re into professional wrestling, you might know Paul as Precious Paul Ellering, who went on to manage the Legion of Doom featuring Hawk and the Animal. I’m not, so I don’t, but I also don’t believe someone would make that shit up, so I’ll take him at his word. I wonder if before the Iditarod Trail Race, Paul likes to get up in people’s grill and shout, “Me and my dogs gonna take you and your dogs down, sucka!” and hold up a belt and all that other good crap. Anyway, he is a veteran musher who ran his first Iditarod Trail Race in 2000, finishing in 54th place. Since then he’s had to withdraw beforehand or has scratched during the race, so we’re hoping for a finish this year. (I also hope Hulk Hogan doesn’t jump out from behind a tree and blindside him with a metal rod.) To learn more about Paul and his wrestling and his weightlifting and his dogs, check out his Web site. And if you’re ever in Grey Eagle, Minnesota, be sure and stop in at Pauls’ Rock Tavern and tell ‘em oddsnark sent you.

Meet The Mushers: Tom Knolmayer

oddJoe — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 16:08:59 +0000

Ground control to Major Tom/Commencing countdown/The dogs are on/Check you bindings and may God’s love be with you. Tom is a graduate of the Air Force Academy, a surgeon, and running in his second Iditarod Trail Race. A native of Ohio, he was transferred to Alaska in 2001 and became interested in mushing, running his first races in 2004. Last year he placed 58th in The Last Great Race. He has lots of photos and bios for his dogs on his Web site; my personal favorite is Cisco, who has gone from house pet to lead dog on the team. You have to love those walk-ons.

Meet The Mushers: Randy Cummins

oddJoe — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 15:36:32 +0000

Dr. Randy is getting ready for his first Iditarod Trail Race. He took up the sport after watching the start of the annual race in Anchorage in 2001. He quit his Washington medical practice in 2003 and moved his family to Alaska so that he could pursue his dream. Randy has a very understanding family. He has his own kennel called Huskytown, a name inspired by Detroit’s nickname of Hockeytown. Randy is originally from Dallas but he says he has always been a fan of such Detroit teams as the Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions. In so far as root for the Tigers and Lions, Randy proves himself to be a real masochist.

Meet The Mushers: Cindy Gallea

oddJoe — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 12:36:19 +0000

Cindy probably holds that a family that mushes together, stays together. At least they would be cold together, I would imagine. Or maybe if they all huddle up they could stay warm together. However they stay together, her whole family is into the mushing. Her husband, Bill, ran the Iditarod Trail Race in 1986, inspiring Cindy to take up the sport. Her first run in The Last Great Race was in 1998, and she finished in 48th place. She’s finished three times since then, coming in 33rd in 2003. Her oldest son, Jim, is also a veteran of the trail race, making the Gallea clan the first mother, father, and son to race the Iditarod. Cindy was born in Minnesota and now lives in Montana where she works as a nurse practitioner. She loves the outdoors, as you can imagine, and, of course, she loves her dogs. If you’re interested in reading more to Cindy’s story, check out her Web site.