One Race - Every Medalist Ever

~by Kevin Quealy and Graham Roberts of the New York Times.


Screen-grab from source video

This is a great comparison of Usain Bolt's recent domination of the men's 100m sprint with past Olympic champions. The examination also includes notable winners, as well as similar comparisons in the long jump, and 100m freestyle swimming.

Click HERE or on the image above to go check it out... It's well worth it, I promise!

Via / Source: The New York Times

Additional sources:   Amanda Cox; Rose Eveleth; "The Complete Book of the Olympics" by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky, International Olympic Committee; Amateur Athletic Assocation; Photographs: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times, Getty Images, International Olympic Committee

The Great White Fire At The Station Night Club

I was watching a re-run of VH1's 100 Most Shocking Music Moments the other night. Having first realized that it's been updated since I last saw it, I was also drawn in again because they condensed it down to a lot quicker show - perhaps eliminating some of the time spent covering the events near the bottom of the list.

Anyway Michael Jackson's death was included this time, and I know it's been several years since I saw it for the first time.


Image Source

Included in the top-10, oddly enough behind the murders of both Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG, was the tragic fire at The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, RI on February 20, 2003, in which 100 people were killed. The fatalities included headlining band Great White's lead guitarist Ty Longley.

I remember hearing about it, but don't think I ever really researched it even at all. I have ran across a video which is totally worth sharing. It's actually a very amazing video - granted it's a little tough to watch, as you can hear people screaming for their lives, and see people running out of the building on fire - but again it's truly incredible footage:

This video footage of the fire depicts its initial growth and the exit blockage which hindered evacuation. Considered to be the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people, four of whom died after being admitted to local hospitals. The fire was caused when pyrotechnic sparks ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings around the stage, creating a flash fire that engulfed the club in 5½ minutes. Some 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured.



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The 100 Greatest Golf Shots Of All Time

Not a bad list compiled by the fine folks over at Zipgolfer Dot Com. As with any list I disagree with the ranking of a few of them, but I wouldn't envy the task of putting it together in the first place.

Here are a few of my favorites:

85. Woody Austin - From Water


I wish the results of the shot would've been shown, because if my memory is correct, the shot was a success. Nevertheless, as any golfer knows, it's hard enough to hit good shots when the ball is on the ground - let alone submerged under water.

81. Shaun Micheel hitting what is still one of the best high-pressure golf shots of all time - and on the 72nd hole of a major, to win: the 2003 PGA Championship.

78. Fred Couples wins the 1996 Players' Championship.


Freddie's one of my idols. The memory of this tournament's finish is one of my favorite memories.

71. A miraculous par save from nasty trouble at 2008's Colonial by Phil Mickelson.

69. Costantino Rocca's miracle - 1995 British Open at St. Andrews.

66. Corey Pavin's 4-Wood 2nd shot at the 72nd hole of the 1995 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

59. Ben Crenshaw's 60-foot putt at #10 during the 1984 Masters. When listing the best putters ever to grace the game of golf, no one's top-5 is without gentle Ben.

51. Paul Azinger's sand shot at Muirfield Village #18 to win the 1993 Memorial.


35. Jack Nicklaus' 16th tee shot at the 1986 Masters, which he won at the age of 46.

32. Payne Stewart's US Open-winning putt in 1999 was huge! So sad Payne died in a plane crash later that year. His legacy lives on!

25. Jack Nicklaus' putt on #17 in the 1986 Masters. Surely you've seen the highlight by now.


5. Tiger's incredible chip at #16 in the 2005 Masters should be #2.


To see the entire article, please click here.

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The Greatest Golf Courses Ever

Pebble Beach #18 - Via

America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses For 2010

1 - Augusta National G.C.

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2 - Pine Valley G.C.

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3 - Shinnecock Hills G.C.

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4 - Cypress Point Club

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5 - Oakmont C.C

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See the rest of this list.. (Pebble Beach is ranked #6 this time.)




America's 100 Best Courses You Can Play

Golf Digest's List - Click on the "100 Greatest Public" tab.
1. Pebble Beach Golf Links
2. Pacific Dunes
3. Whistling Straits (Straits Course)
4. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island
5. Bethpage State Park (Black)
...the rest

Golf.com's List - Find this interactive map.


1. Pacific Dunes
2. Pebble Beach Golf Links
3. Whistling Straits (Straits Course)
4. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island
5. Pinehurst #2
...the rest

And both of those have state-by-state lists, but the best state-by-state list is:

Golfweek's list.

Golfweek doesn't provide an overall list like the other two, but the cream of the crop, top-10 type courses are pretty much the same anyway (they specifically state that Oregon's Pacific Dunes is their #1).

Here are a few highlights of Golfweek's state-by-state list:

Arizona #3: Troon North (Monument), Scottsdale
My Dad and I stood on the back deck of the clubhouse here for about 15 minutes trying to decide if we really wanted to pay the exorbitant green fee (this was 1996, and that price was about $125). Regretably, we ended up playing elsewhere for just more than half the money, and an ordinary-type course we could play here for $30. Remember that was 1996.

Louisiana #3: The Bluffs C.C. and Resort, St. Francisville
One of the most unique courses I've ever played, and also the highest green fee I've still ever paid (1999 or 2000 - $102). The beauty is so "far away" from the awesomeness of that hole pictured. Incredible design using a prime piece of real estate, and a superior CHARACTER grade.


Must enlarge!

I would LOVE to go play the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Last but not least, Hawaii's #8: Ko'olau:
This is the course at the top of my own personal list of "courses I must play in my lifetime". (That'll be a later post!)

Obviously you must enlarge..

Throughout my entire course-design career for Jack Nicklaus GBC, nothing impressed me more than the design of this hole on this course. Supposedly one of the toughest golf courses in the world, too. And is it not gorgeous?

By the way, I've played 4 of the 20 listed Texas courses (7, 13, 15, and 20), and no less than 4 more that most definitely should be on there.

They are:
Cedar Creek in SA
The Bandit in McQueeney
Walden at Lake Conroe
The Falls, New Ulm

100 Years of Failure: 10 Technologies We Were Promised But Never Got

In Your Flying Car Awaits, author Paul Milo discusses "robot butlers, lunar vacations and other dead-wrong predictions of the 20th Century." Here are 10 calamitous tech failures. Even the ones that did make it aren't anything like their original visions.

The Flying Car

For futurists, this one's an oldie but a goodie. By 1909, forecasters believed that soon, someone would combine, like peanut butter and jelly, the newfangled airplane to the equally cutting-edge automobile. For a century the flying car has been one of those perennially just-around-the-corner innovations, and while work continues on a viable prototype, don't expect to see your Honda become airborne anytime soon. Although NASA has done some work on creating a "sky highway," an electronic corridor in the sky to be used by pilots of small craft, the effort is still at a very preliminary stage.

Cities Under Domes

The architect and all-around visionary R. Buckminster Fuller believed that one day, cities in cold-weather regions cold be encased under temperature-controlled geodesic domes. Although it might sound loopy, Fuller argued back in the '60s that such a dome over New York City would pay for itself in 10 years, as there would be no more need for snow removal. In addition to temperature control, the domes were also supposed to contain germ filters that would have prevented us from getting sick too.

Continue reading..

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