It’s 2012 and the Summer Olympics are finally here!  Here is a special MMM that displays the beautiful men and women that represent Team USA!  Well, ladies and gents, here they are!

Swimming

Natalie Coughlin

Ryan Lochte

» Continue reading “Monday Morning Motivation: Team USA”

It’s been a busy week with all the Penn State drama, the baseball trade deadline looming and Logan Morrison inciting a vicious breastfeeding-in-public debate on Twitter.  So it was a little difficult to decide where to shift my focus for this week’s FAIL.  Then I remembered that the Olympics officially kick off today, so obviously we’re going to focus on that.

And boy was it easy to find some material.  Two things I learned this week:

1.  Unless you want to royally piss off an entire country, try not to use the wrong flag when introducing their players…even more so if that team is North Korea and you’re using a South Korea flag.

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED AT THE OLYMPICS. (Image via @JamesCrossan)

Needless to say, the North Korea women’s soccer team refused to take the field for over an hour after this.

2.  If someone is a FOUR-TIME Olympic swimmer, there is no possible way that person can be considered “fat”.  Guess that bit of information wasn’t relayed to the Australian newspaper Melbourne’s Herald Sun who posted a picture of Leisel Jones (who is representing Australia in the summer games) with the caption: ”The Olympic veteran’s figure is in stark contrast to that of 2008.”

Oh, but it didn’t stop there.  THEY HAD A POLL.  Yes, a poll asking whether their readers thought Jones was fat or not.  Guys, if people are thinking that Olympic swimmers are fat, there is absolutely no hope for the rest of us.  We may as well embrace our Wall-E futures, stock up on some potato chips and invest in a Rascal.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the IOC has pretty strict rules on what Olympic athletes can and can’t say on Twitter.  They’re pretty strict about everything Olympics-related (for good reason), so obviously that would include social media.  This Olympics is being referred to as “The Social Media Olympics” afterall.

Under the IOC’s social media policy, athletes are basically encouraged to be themselves…you know, except if being yourself involves being offensive, racist, or simply pimping out products.  To quote the IOC, athletes can tweet or blog “provided that it is not for commercial and/or advertising purposes”.  Frankly, isn’t that what a lot of us want when following athletes on Twitter?  (Seriously, I’m not following you for product promotions. I don’t care how great your hair looks, Joe Mauer.)

» Continue reading “Twitter Thursday: How Not To Tweet At The Olympics”

You may recall a few weeks ago that the Big Ten Conference mascots made a video. Sadly they left our Purdue Pete and Northwestern’s Willie. Those two got together and came up with this little gem to Lady Gaga’s “Telephone.”

What are your thoughts on this video? Clearly Pete and Willie are far too busy to bother with any “Call Me Maybe” parodies. Also, why does Pete have a cell phone while Willie uses a pay phone?

Well, it’s time for another summer Olympics, which is my favorite because of gymnastics.  This year, our men’s gymnastics teams looks likely to medal with chances for individuals to place as well.

Jake Dalton: Age 20, 1st Olympics

Dalton attends the University of Oklahoma where he has won two NCAA titles in 2011 (floor and vault).

2011 World team bronze medalist

» Continue reading “Monday Morning Motivation: USA Men’s Gymnastics”

After putting up with the crazy for way longer than any of us would have, it looks like Kris Benson has finally seen the light and filed for divorce from his. . .  notorious  . .  wife, Anna.

Anna’s solution, of course, is to trash Kris in the media (by detailing his affair with another woman)  where her school-age children can read all about it!

In her Fox News interview, Anna Benson alleged that she uncovered her husband’s affair by going through his Facebook account.

“It started with sexy text messages and that kind of stuff,” said Benson, who was a featured player on the VH1 reality show “Baseball Wives.”

“[My friend and I] were very close. Her mother was my nanny during ‘Baseball Wives’ — that’s how close we were,” Benson said. “She and Kris are both denying the affair, saying it was just inappropriate talk, but there were all of these sexy messages between them. And you just don’t talk with somebody like that that you’re not having sex with.”

Happy Summer Reading, Benson children!

» Continue reading “Friday Fail: Ana Benson”

I believe this tweet sums it up.

It’s no secret that the biggest movie to be released this summer will be out Friday. I’d make a joke mentioning some other movie, but let’s face it, “The Dark Knight Rises” (TDKR) is the ONLY new movie being released nationwide.

Now some of you likely will go see the movie this weekend or at some point within the next few weeks. Heck, maybe you’re one of the few to go to the midnight showing.

But with all the hype about its impending release, there have been several concerns as the movie prepares to be released.

» Continue reading “Twitter Thursday: The Dark Knight Rises”

Kobe Bryant is headed to London on the US Olympic basketball team but his only goal isn’t to win another gold medal. Bryant is a huge Harry Potter fan and has expressed interest in meeting the book’s writer, JK Rowling.

This is not the first time Kobe has expressed he is a fan of the Harry Potter series. In 2010, he did an interview for GQ and said that his experience in 2008 at the Olympics was ’like Harry Potter going to Hogwarts’.

Let’s hope someone can make Kobe’s wish come true.

What was supposed to be a 45 minute drive from Heathrow to the Olympic Village turned into a four hour drive for athletes, journalists and reporters that flew into London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

One bus driver was overheard saying that it was his first day on the job and he was “lost.” That’s not something any Olympic-hopeful wants to hear when their nerves are already in a bunch. Kerron Clement, who is scheduled to run the 400 meter hurdles tweeted, “Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please?”

Many had worried that the traffic for today’s athlete arrivals would slow down things on the M4 (the main highway) out of Heathrow, but instead it was business as usual. Still, after a transatlantic flight no one wants to hear their driver say they are lost especially when th ebiggest competition of their lives is about to happen.

It’s also worth noting that the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, thought the mishap was not a huge issue when he told the BBC, “I understand that some of our visitors took the scenic route. They saw more of our fantastic city than they would otherwise have done. And that’s not a bad thing.”

Some have expressed worry as most of the private security detail that had been contracted still had yet to show. The firm G4S promised some 13,000 officers, but they are short 3,500 that are still needed and the Olympic Venues are open to receive athletes for training. Local officials have started to draft more security and troops to show the public that the Games will be the most secure in recent times.

Everyone loves an otter. They are cute and cuddly. They also tend to bite.

A woman inMinnesota training for a triathlon suffered 25 bites, some two inches deep through her wet suit, from an angry otter (yes, I know, it’s impossible to think that something so cute could be so dangerous). Otter attacks are rar,e but do happen when the animal is protecting its young or in some cases rabid.

The victim, Leah Prudhomme has participated in triathlons before and had swam the lake many times before the attack. Prudhomme said, “I’m scared, but it’s one of those things you don’t want to let it get the best of you. It’s not like I’ll be bitten by another otter.” Officials have said that the lakes in the area do have otters and most times they tend to stay out of the way. Attacks like this are rare though so the idea of a band of angry otters is not a real threat.

In any case, Otter: 1; Ms. Prudhomme: 0.