Outside Archives - Page 161 of 203 - The Source

Call it Socceretball: Europeans are trying to turn basketball into soccer and they might be onto something

If there’s no NBA season this year, expect to hear a lot about Europe’s basketball-soccer hybrid.

Mike BookeySeptember 21, 2011January 3, 2025

While we wait around to see if the NBA actually has a season this fall, something is happening in the world of basketball and it's that this is truly becoming a “world of basketball.” This is cool and we should be proud to see other cultures continuing to embrace what was once a uniquely American sport. This is a good thing and not being a xenophobe, I'm fine with it.
But after taking in a few games of Eurobasket (the surprisingly efficient name for the European basketball championships), I've realized something. Those Europeans are slowly, but convincingly, turning basketball into soccer, or something very much like soccer. I'm also convinced that they're trying to bring this to the NBA or maybe if there is no NBA for a year or more, completely take over the sport. Let me lay out some evidence.

Outside

Down the Chimney They Go: Vaux's Swifts are as swift as other swifts

Vaux’s Swifts are those birds flying down the chimney.

Jim AndersonSeptember 21, 2011July 1, 2024

You have to be swift to catch sight of a swift zooming by in pursuit of a moth, mosquito, beetle, gnat or other small flying insect. And, if it happens to be a Vaux’s Swift (pronounced vox, or vawx, your choice), you have to be even swifter. They’re smaller than the other swifts we have zipping about Central Oregon.
If you go on a birding excursion to Fort Rock between May and July you’ll see hundreds of white-throated swifts swooping around the steep walls of the old mud volcano, pursuing flying insects, many of which are mosquitoes. If you’re keeping a life list of birds, a visit to the coast may have a sighting of the black swift, a rare visitor to Oregon. Like all the swifts, they too look like a flying cigar with crescent-shaped wings. While most swifts, such as the black and white-throated, have a well-defined tail, Vaux’s Swift’s body looks exactly like a cigar.
The neat part of all this swift business is that the residents of Bend don’t have to travel anywhere to see Vaux's Swifts, throughout most of September they put on an air show everyone can enjoy right in town. Just before dark (about 7 p.m.), what looks like a wisp of smoke appears in the darkening sky heading for the little craft shop, Christmas Presence, on Harriman between Hill and Franklin. As the “smoke” gets closer, individual dots can be made out, zooming about each other, and in a few seconds you will be able to make them out, 30 to 100 Vaux's Swifts. Then, with astonishing accuracy, they all go spiraling down into the tall, brick chimney on the roof of the craft shop.

Outside

Biking Far, Running Farther: Reflections and a look ahead at the Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships

The Source StaffSeptember 21, 2011June 12, 2023

Marathon Methodology
Surprise! Local riders crushed at the 52-mile Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships last Saturday in Bend. Not exactly a shocker, really.
We have plenty of talent here in Central Oregon, both professional and amateur and it showed. Again. Adam Craig added another national championship jersey to his growing collection after holding off good buddy, longtime teammate and Bend native Carl Decker by a measly 12 seconds on a course that contained more than 4,000 feet of climbing and sent riders up past Wanoga Sno Park before bringing them back to the finish in the Old Mill.
Craig and Decker rode away from the rest of the elite men's field early and used their intimate knowledge of our local trails to stay well in front of the hard-charging pack.

Outside

Kicking Off: Don't worry, the most dangerous play in football is still quite entertaining

There are a few more touchbacks, but still tons of brain smashing kickoff returns!

Mike BookeySeptember 14, 2011January 18, 2023

“OK, so here's what we're gonna do, gang. After we kick the ball, all of you… well everyone except for our skinny little kicker, is going to run fast, pretty much as fast as you can, down the field. There will be 11 guys ahead of you and I don't want you to run in any direction but straight ahead and if someone gets in your way, run into him. Oh yeah, and you should still be at a full sprint when you do this. Try to tackle the guy with the ball. He'll be going at full speed, too. And, just a quick FYI… one of you is likely to break something. Probably your collarbone. Maybe a femur. I'm not sure, we'll have to wait and see. All right, go get 'em!”
No high school, college or professional football coach would actually says this to his players because no one likes getting his femur snapped, but this is nevertheless the most direct, efficient and truthful instructions as to how to conduct a football kickoff, far and away the most violent, and potentially most entertaining play you'll see in a football game. While it's no secret that football, despite all its glory, allows players to perform physical acts that would otherwise be considered felonious, the kickoff is where it all comes to a head. And it's also why NFL players, each year beefier and faster than the prior, are no longer too keen on kick returns and why the league pushed the kickoff spot up five yards in the hopes of creating more touchbacks and less smashed brain matter.
There were a lot of sports-talk chatterboxes chattering on about how this rule was going to all but terminate the kickoff return and, in turn, football as we know it. We'd see every kicker punch it through the back of the end zone kick after kick, rendering useless the sinewy speed of NFL kick returners, these guys were saying. They were wrong.

Outside

Superstar, Supermodel: Tom Brady's clothing advertisements are too sexy for the NFL

Tom Brady had surprised even the most well dress of men because he is now the new model for UGG boots.

Mike BookeySeptember 7, 2011November 30, 2023

I don't only read sports magazines. I'm an indiscriminate fan of several publications, many of which are left on my coffee table and toilet tank with the intention of letting my houseguests and/or bathroom users know of my varied and erudite interests.
So now you know why I was reading Esquire the other day. As I flipped through a few pages about how to appropriately dress for the upcoming fall season in clothing affordable only to the male versions of Sex and the City characters, I damn near dropped the magazine. Why? Well, because looking back at me with an uncomfortable degree of sexiness was Tom Brady. And this wasn't an article about the NFL's fading stars, but rather an advertisement for Ugg boots.

Outside

Get Your Cowbell Ready: Fall means a full calendar of cyclocross events in Central Oregon

Michelle MercerSeptember 5, 2011October 28, 2023

Perhaps nothing illustrates the fervor for cyclocross like a good look at its spectators. Forget the racers. What draws throngs of people out to watch this crazy, hybrid form of bike racing, usually in less than perfect weather?

“There’s certainly an entertainment value,” says Dave Adams, a Bend photographer who enjoys shooting cycling events. “Spectators are thinking, 'Well, I might be silly for standing out in the rain and watching this, but at least I’m not trying to ride a bicycle uphill through the mud!' And who hasn’t laughed at the sight of someone else falling down in a mud puddle?”

Outside

Dogs in the Fast Lane: Don't put your pooch in the back of your pickup truck

Too many dog owners let their dog run loose on the beds of trucks but most never think of the danger they are putting their pet in.

Jim AndersonSeptember 1, 2011June 23, 2025

There’s nothing, dear readers, that scares me half to death more than a pickup truck passing me at 70 mph with a dog sliding around in the back. Dogs being dogs, the poor animal thinks he’s having a great time, ears flapping in the wind, nose quivering at all the spectacular scents wafting by and all kinds of exciting things to look at – life couldn’t be more fun!
Then comes the sharp bend in the road or the passing lane, and things quickly go from fun and games to sheer terror. The poor animal starts sliding from one side of the pickup bed to the other as the driver swings out and around, and then back in front of me. I fear for the life of the animal, and feel sorry for the driver who either doesn’t understand the danger the dog is in, or worse yet, doesn’t care. Maybe he or she even thinks the dog is “having fun.”

Outside

The Football Disease: You mean there's no football on Tuesday?

Football season is quickly approaching and for those of you with The Football Disease, it’s okay to spend your Sunday and perhaps your Monday as well sitting in front of the big screen.

Mike BookeySeptember 1, 2011November 25, 2023

If you're an American human male between the ages of eight and 108, it's quite probable that you have, at the very least, a passing interest in American-style football. If you're a female in the same age bracket, you're also likely to enjoy the occasional pigskin matchup, too. Football addiction doesn't discriminate along gender lines. If you don't watch football, that's fine. Totally understandable. Worthy of applause, in fact. Someone out there has to cure cancer and read Proust, I suppose.
But for much of our football-consumed population, this weekend's college football kickoff is a time of transition from summer to something much, much lazier. We trade our sunscreen for sweatshirts, mojitos for canned beer, family time for bar time, chase lounges for couches, the glow of campfires for the flicker of your rich uncle's 97-inch high-definition plasma screen. We become first-down obsessed versions of our former selves and if you're in a fantasy league, you're probably just barely able to function in any sort of industrious capacity.

Outside

Big Wheels: While not for everyone, 29ers are earning their place on local trails

Bob WoodwardAugust 30, 2011March 7, 2025

It wasn't that many years ago when mountain bike makers started rolling out models with big (29-inch versus the standard 26-inch) wheels. This, we were told at the time, was the dawning of a new era in mountain biking with bikes that were the answer to every rider's need. And while the new bikes promised much, they generally fell short of expectations. The problem lay in the fact that practically all the 29er makers had simply put the larger wheels on frames made specifically to handle 26-inch wheels.
Yes, the first generation of 29ers could roll fast down old logging roads but were not much fun in technical terrain. The problem lay in floppy front wheels and the need to get any 29er bike up to pretty high speed to roll over, let alone trying to steer around, any and all obstacles.
Times have changed. The most recent crop of crop of 29er mountain bikes are designed around frames geometrically configured to match their big wheels. This has led to some pleasant surprises.
Surprises, like the fact that 29ers are superior on technical singletrack climbs. Big front wheels track better because there's little or no wheel flop.
O.k., how about technical downhills? Because of a 29-inch wheel's ability to roll faster, you have to adjust your thinking and anticipate your moves going into tight corners. But unlike a typical 26-inch wheeled bike, a 29er is easy to lay over, so it carves making nicely arced turns.
Next thing to consider are those diving board, vertical drops over big rock outcrops or group of rocks. Having three-plus inches of wheel and tire beneath you makes the drop shallower. Those scary I-could-do-a-huge-ender drops become almost too easy.

Outside

A Senior Moment: Masters Road Nationals blows into Bend with MTBs in tow

A preview of the upcoming Masters Nationals Road Cycling event in Bend.

Michelle MercerAugust 24, 2011June 26, 2023

Don't let the elegant title of “masters” fool you. These sinewy-legged racers of a certain age are here to play. With more than 650 people already registered for the road race alone, the upcoming Masters Nationals Road Cycling Championships, which also include criteriums and time trials, will be luring hundreds of racers of a certain age to Bend from around the country. And many are wolves in sheep's clothing, albeit made of Lycra.
“We have a lot of talented riders who may have at one time been a pro, and who now race masters,” says Bart Bowen, the owner of Rebound Sports Performance Lab – Powered by Bowen. “They are quality riders, some who have some cycling history. They're strong. There are no easy pickings anymore to get a national title in most of the age groups.”
Bowen should know. As a former pro and elite level national champion, he has competed all over the world at the highest echelon of competitive cycling, and now finds himself – a business owner and father of two – competing in Masters Nationals for the first time.

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