Sports

Shooting Challenge: The 2014 World Cup

The World Cup is upon us, and this weekend, it comes to an end with one last match between Germany and Argentina. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, we want to see your photos of this year’s World Cup (even if it’s just a viewing party from your couch!). The Challenge Take a photo of World…

How To Make Soccer Popular in America: Play It With Giant Slingshots

Leave it to Joerg Sprave, the internet’s favorite slingshot-building madman, to finally come up with a guaranteed way to make all Americans love soccer. Instead of the players being limited to only using their feet, they should all be allowed to carry this soccer-ball-firing slingshot that can easily propel a ball the length of the…

Brazil’s Soccer Team Has Smart Gatorade Bottles That Track Hydration

Everyone knows you should drink plenty of fluids when playing sports, but hydration actually becomes an exact science when the pride of your nation is at stake during something like the World Cup. That’s why at this year’s tournament, Brazil’s soccer team is using specially-designed Gatorade bottles that track how much the players are drinking.…

Uruguay Claims the Luis Suárez Soccer Bite Is a Photoshop Hoax

Earlier this week, Luis Suarez—Uruguay’s talented but controversial soccer player—appeared to bite Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup match. Now, though, Uruguay’s Football Association claims that he’s on the receiving end of a cruel Photoshop hoax. https://deadspin.com/the-gross-things-caused-by-human-bite-wounds-and-luis-1595921937 Speaking with the Guardian, Suárez’s lawyer, Alejandro Balbi, claimed that he was going “to use all the arguments…

Wimbledon Hired A Hawk To Scare The Pigeons Away

The Wimbledon tennis championships started today, and if you pay close attention, you might notice an unexpected employee keeping the riff-raff of the courts: a hawk named Rufus. Every morning, from 5-9am, Rufus patrols the skies above Wimbledon and scares away any pigeons. And he’s been at it for fourteen years. Lucky for the pigeons,…

Watch These Japanese Cats Pick The Winners In The World Cup

While we still mourn the passing of Paul the Octopus, we can take comfort in knowing that his role as a soccer oracle has been passed on to two other animals: a duo of Munchkin cats named Kikunosuke and Rikimaru. As reported in the Japanese publication IT Media and RocketNews24, the cats’ owner—or roommate, since…

Color-Changing Suit Shows Injuries That Paralyzed Athletes Can’t Feel

Paraplegic athletes push their bodies to the absolute limit—and sometimes beyond. When an athlete injures a body part he or she can’t feel, that can lead to some very dangerous situations. Now, a design team at Imperial College London has an ingenious solution: an athletic suit that uses off-the-shelf pressure sensing film to show where…

Relive June 17th, 1994: The Craziest Day in Modern Sports History

Twenty years ago today you were glued to your TV watching OJ Simpson lead the LAPD on a low-speed chase in that now-infamous white Bronco. But that wasn’t the only thing happening. 30 for 30: June 17, 1994 is the story of that and several unrelated sports developments that serendipitously happened on the same day.…

This App Can Tell If a Soccer Ball Needs Air By Listening To It Bounce

Nothing tops talent when it comes to how well a soccer player performs on the field, but believe it or not, how inflated (or under-inflated) a soccer ball is can affect how the ball moves when kicked. You can throw your antiquated pressure gauge away, though, because there’s now an app called BallTune that can…

Watch Astronauts Play Soccer In Zero Gravity

As fans around the world tune in watch the World Cup in Brazil, a few fans out of this world will be watching, too. German astronaut Alexander Gerst and U.S. astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman sent this video greeting to players and fans on Earth—and then engaged in a match of zero-g soccer. Just…

How Soccer Security Is Creating the Surveillance State

International mega-events like the FIFA World Cup require increasingly expensive, high-tech security. It’s not just the financial burden that’s become worrisome. When the games are over, the host country will still possess the tech—which may have lasting repercussions for the privacy of its citizens. As the Weekly Wonk blog observes: So far, Brazil has reportedly…

Why Would Any Country Want to Host International Sporting Events?

There should be a sense of pride and revelry overtaking the nation of Brazil, where the World Cup starts today. Yet residents in cities across the country are protesting with transit strikes and tent occupations, hoping to draw attention to the extreme costs and unfinished facilities stunting the sluggish economy. Blinded by their love for…

Playing soccer in space looks more fun than playing in the World Cup

To get ready for the World Cup, astronauts on the ISS decided to play a little friendly soccer match on the ISS to show countries on Earth how the beautiful game is played in space. It looks like a helluva lot of fun mostly because seeing a bicycle kick in zero gravity is what dreams…

The Barkley Marathons Is The Kobayashi Maru Of Sporting Events

Participants in the annual Barkley Marathons are allotted just 60 hours to claw through more than 100-miles of unmerciful wilderness, enduring extreme temperatures and changes in elevation that equate to climbing up and down Mount Everest. Twice. Since 1986, only fourteen out of over 1,000 participants have finished the event. In “Barkley 100,” filmmaker Brendan…

You Can Vote for Man of the Match via Twitter at the World Cup

Think you can spot the best player in a game of soccer? Well, take to Twitter during the World Cup, and you’ll be able to vote to name the Man of the Match during each and every game. Often named by commentators or pundits, the Man of the Match is a game-by-game recognition of the…

People play soccer barefoot with a ball that’s on fire

Getting excited for the World Cup? The whole world is! So much so that they’re doing ridiculous things like playing soccer with flaming coconuts that basically shoot out flames whenever they kick it around. Oh and they’re doing all that kicking barefoot. It’s not just for the World Cup, Indonesians apparently love playing this fireball…

Nike’s Latest Bag Is Hot Off the 3D Printer

Nothing can escape the gaze of the 3D printer’s nozzle these days—including the humble duffle bag. Nike’s latest luggage uses a combination of fine traditional leather and intricate 3D printing to carry its owner’s kit. Designed and manufactured especially for Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Rebento Duffel is Nike Football’s first 3D-printed sports bag.…

The National Football League has announced that its new digital network, NFL Now—which launches August— will be available on Amazon Fire devices and Roku as well as iOS, Android and Windows.

Stephen Hawking’s Formula For England’s World Cup Success

Physicist Stephen Hawking has temporarily set aside his work on black holes and existential threats in favor of something far more elusive: Trying to figure out the conditions under which the English soccer squad could actually win a World Cup — something they haven’t done since 1966. https://gizmodo.com/stephen-hawking-says-there-are-no-black-holes-1508408816 https://gizmodo.com/stephen-hawking-says-a-i-could-be-our-worst-mistake-in-1570963874 In an exclusive report for Paddy…

The Perfect Desk Could Also Be a Regulation Ping-Pong Table

Desks are the focal point of our work and creativity, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun, too. Like the You And Me Table, which offers both a fully-functioning table tennis surface and somewhere to work, too. Designed by Barcelona’s Antoni Pallejá Office, the You And Me Table is a large dining table/conference table/desk—only…