Random Facts!

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

Top 10 unusual winter sports

There is more to winter travel than skiing and snowboarding. Nontraditional winter sports and activities have sprouted up all over the world, catering to adventurers who crave new ways to get their adrenaline pumping.
Here are our ten favourite out-of-the-ordinary outdoor sports for your next winter vacation.

1. Polar bear swimming in Korea

Each January in Busan, thrill-seeking locals jump into the freezing cold water of the Korea Strait in nothing but their bikinis and swim trunks. The Polar Bear Swim competition has taken place at Haeundae Beach every year since 1988. It is the Korean way of welcoming good health in the new year. Get ready to run 10 meters across the sand, leap into the icy water, and then swim 80 meters toward the finish line. Even though it is technically a race, the Korean Tourism Organization (www.visitkorea.or.kr) points out that the Polar Bear Swim is less about competition and more about spreading good cheer.

2. Ski biking in Colorado

If bicycling in the snow sounds like trouble, try riding a bike outfitted with skis instead of wheels down snowy slopes in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Durango Mountain Resort (www.durangomountainresort.com) has long offered ski biking as one of its winter activities. The ski resort holds an international ski bike festival once a year for participants and spectators alike. Be sure to take a lesson or two before going out on the slopes for the first time; it is not as easy as the YouTube videos make it look.

3. Ice karting in Finland

What could be more fun than go-kart racing on ice? In Kuusamo, Finland, give reckless driving a try on a frozen lake. Race against a few friends or strangers at Ruka Adventures (www.rukaadventures.fi/en) with the chance to win a medal. After the adrenaline rush, relax with some complimentary coffee, tea, sweets and sausages.

4. Dog sledding in Alaska

Dog sledding, or mushing, is Alaska's official sport. Enjoy the ride while a team of adorable huskies pulls you along for either a short sprint or a long journey. Dog sled rides can last anywhere from minutes to days, depending on your interests. Alaska Best Wilderness (www.alaskabestwilderness.com), based in Tanana, has 11-day backpacking expeditions that combine mushing, trekking and rafting. If you just want an afternoon with the beautiful sled dogs, Sun Dog Express (www.mosquitonet.com/~sleddog) in Fairbanks offers guided tours starting from just half a mile long.

5. Skijoring in Minnesota

For a snowy adventure with your own dogs, try skijoring in Minnesota. Skijoring is a combination of cross country skiing and dog sledding in which a person on skis is pulled along by his or her pups. The Midwest Skijorers Club (www.skijor.org) holds skijoring events around the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

6. Snow tubing in Canada

Snow lovers who do not ski or snowboard will love snow tubing. Basically sledding in a tube, snowtubing is easy, cheap and incredibly fun. Rock Ridge Recreation Park (www.rockridgetubing.com) in Ontario is especially dedicated to the sport and features six tubing runs. Attach a few tubes together to go down the slopes with your friends or family. Rock Ridge's season this year begins the day after Christmas.

7. Ice climbing in Chile

True exhilaration can be found just outside of Santiago, Chile in Cajón del Maipo. There, the awe-inspiring El Morado Glacier sets the scene for a simultaneously magnificent, terrifying and thrilling ice climbing trip. Trek out to the southwest side of Cerro El Morado where the most adventurous of adventurers climb the hanging glacier. The sights are spectacular, so remember to bring a camera.

8. Ice sailing in Poland

Feel the blustery wind rush over you as you sail across Poland's Great Masurian Lakes when they freeze over in the winter. With no waves to slow you down, the sport brings new meaning to the term "smooth sailing". Iceboats can reach very high speeds, so racing should only be attempted after you get the hang of basic sailing.

9. Snowkiting in Utah

While many snowkite enthusiasts use a board or skis, all you really need to go snowkiting is a power kite and an appetite for excitement. Glide down the slopes in snowy Utah and let the wind pull you up into the air. Lessons can be found at the Utah Kite Addiction (www.utahkiteaddiction.com) snowkiting school in the Ogden Valley. Beginners should take a class to learn the basics about snowkiting safety.

10. Shark ice fishing in Greenland

The Greenland Shark Challenge (www.greenland-guide.gl/sharkchallenge) is anything but your average fishing trip. Battle icy waters to catch Greenland's largest fish, the Greenland shark. These sharks can get reach 21 feet and 2,200 pounds, so reeling one in is a feat worthy of bragging rights. The Challenge takes place in the beautiful town of Uummannaq which boasts stunning views of glaciers and mountains. Book a fixed week-long fishing tour or arrange for an individual angling trip with a local fisherman.

Source: World Tour Guide 

World Cup Winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spain won the World Cup for the first time in its history .Congratulation !!!!!!!!!

How do you punish a football team?

French football star Thierry Henry has been meeting President Nicolas Sarkozy to explain the national team's disgraceful performance at the World Cup.

The French Football Federation (FFF) has already exacted some punishment for the rows, strikes and lost matches by flying the team home in Economy Class. But there could be more on the way, after a forthcoming meeting of the FFF council.

"Everyone will go before the council, the president, the players, the coach, to see who is responsible. There will probably be sanctions," said FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.

But how do you punish a football team? Here are some of the sanctions that have been imposed on teams in other countries.

IRAQ - World Cup qualifying 1994/1998

Saddam Hussain's son, Uday, head of the Iraqi football federation, employed a unique brand of intimidation when he took charge of the national team's attempts to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the US and the 1998 World Cup in France.
Iraq's Samir challenging Joo Sung Kim of South Korea for the ball in 1993

He had his own prison and torture chambers in the basement of the building of the Iraqi Olympic committee, which he chaired. Reports - rife at the time - that he beat and tortured players were confirmed in 2000 after the defection of Iraq's star footballer Sharar Haydar.

Uday threatened to cut off players' legs and throw them to ravenous dogs, according to the Guardian newspaper. A player who missed a practice session, even to attend a sick child or funeral, would be imprisoned. A loss or a draw led to flogging with electric cable - or a bath in raw sewage.

IVORY COAST - African Cup of Nations 2000

The Ivorian national team were held for three days in a military camp after being eliminated in the first round of the African Cup of Nations. They beat Ghana by a respectable 2-0, but only managed a draw against the much smaller state of Togo and were then thrashed 3-0 by Cameroon.
Brahami Kone of Ivory Coast and Komlan Assignon of Togo, in 2000

The players, many on lucrative contracts with European clubs, were shown on state-controlled television being forced to conduct military marches and receiving lectures on discipline.

They were then taken to the capital, Abidjan, for a dressing down from military dictator General Robert Guei.

"I asked that you be taken there so you could reflect a while. You behaved unworthily. You should have avoided us such shame," General Guei was quoted as saying by the Fraternite Matin newspaper.

"Next time you will stay there for military service. You will be sent to the barracks until a sense of civic pride gets into your heads."

ITALY - World Cup 1966

Middlesbrough, 1966: Li Chan Myung clears the ball from Fogli and Perani

The Italians won their first game of the 1966 World Cup against Chile 2-0 but then lost to the USSR 1-0. So they had to win their third and final group game against the "lowly, mysterious men of North Korea", recalls Rupert Colley, creator of the iPhone app The World Cup in An Hour.

"But, in the 42nd minute, a goal from Pak Doo-Ik rocked the Italian team. Unable to break the Koreans down during a rugged second half, the Koreans held on, the Italians lost, and the world of football reeled in shock. The mighty Italy had been eliminated by a team of unknowns."

On their arrival home the team were roundly pelted with rotten fruit as they disembarked from their plane. Will their defeat by Slovakia in South Africa expose them to the same revenge from Italian fans?

SOVIET UNION - 1952 Olympics

The Soviet national side were drawn against Yugoslavia in the last 16 of the 1952 Olympics. It was a politically charged moment, as Tito's Yugoslavia had broken ties with USSR four years earlier, and was making overtures to the West. Yugoslavia was described in the Soviet media as the worst possible kind of traitor.

The match ended in a draw 5-5 and had to be replayed. When the replay ended in a 3-1 defeat for the USSR, Stalin showed his displeasure.

The coach and several players from the leading Soviet club of the day, CDCA, were dropped from the squad. The CDCA club itself was disbanded (it was later reborn as today's CSK). No mention of the game was made in Soviet reports of the Olympics and all images and footage of the match collected by Soviet photographers and cameramen were destroyed.

Can a runner win a race against a horse?

BBC magazine

 Is it possible for runners to outpace horses?

Originally staged to settle a bar-room debate as to which is faster over a long distance, the Man v Horse Marathon in Llanwrtyd Wells is now in its 30th year.

On Saturday, up to 50 horses and their riders and hundreds of runners are expected on the starting line, all hoping to win the 1,000 guinea (£1,050) first prize.
Although the first couple of races saw easy victories for the horse, the course was eventually altered make it a more even match - and the humans caught up.

Runner's World magazine editor Andy Dixon says the switch in terrain is crucial. "If the ground is rough going, you'd expect a human to cover it at a more or less consistent pace. But the horse has to slow down on a steep hill. It's a bit like the tortoise and hare analogy - the human, being slow but steady, is still able to win the race."

The event - at 22 miles long, technically not a marathon - starts in the town centre and is run over hilly farm tracks, footpaths, forestry roads and open moorland on the edge of the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

The margins by which horses outpace their human rivals have dropped from about 30 minutes to a matter of seconds, and in 2004 Huw Lobb - who ran marathons for Team GB at the time - became the first of only two men to win the race.

His winning time of 2:05:19 beat his closest equine rival by 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

"As an experienced fell-runner I was clambering up steep banks, jumping off ledges and throwing myself down steep hills in a way no horse could ever hope to do," says Mr Lobb. "So while a horse is definitely faster over the flat, I'd say only about 20% of the course I ran was on flat ground."

Mr Dixon points out another human advantage - man's evolutionary legacy.

"Because our ancestors were hunter gatherers, we are genetically primed to cover long distances and outlast our prey. Over millions of years we have developed a naturally efficient running form, so while there may be faster animals, nothing else touches us for endurance."
Another factor tipping the balance toward the human competitor is that horses overheat more quickly.

This is why race officials insist on a 10-15 minute "vet break", says organiser Lindsay Ketteringham, to make sure horses' body temperatures stay within safe levels.

"Weather plays a very important role - both times humans have won the race it has been a hot and sunny day."

Horse expert Dr David Marlin explains the science behind equine overheating. Whereas an 80kg human has two square metres of surface area to shed internal body heat, a 500kg horse has five square metres - so each square metre of a horse's surface area needs to lose about two and a half times more heat.
While horses sweat more than humans, their internal body chemistry means each kg of muscle produces three times as much heat as the equivalent of human muscle.

Not only is the horse carrying extra weight in the form of a rider, adds Dr Marlin, who advises the UK Olympic equestrian team, the animal may not have like-for-like fitness with its human rivals.

"Have these horses been trained to climb hills and traverse rough terrain? If not, it's likely you are matching a bunch of supremely fit, specialist long-distance runners against ordinary horses. The result is bound to be closer than you would at first think."

Fish World Cup in Japan

 Check the Video for Fish WORLD CUP!!!

Blue tangs, symbolising Japan's national soccer team who are popularly known as "Blue Samurai", and flame angelfish, symbolising Denmark's national soccer team, swim near a small transparent "soccer" ball containing fish food inside a tank made to look like a soccer stadium at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, May 20, 2010. The special installation started on Thursday ahead of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup in which Japan will face Denmark in Group E.

Google is Crazy About the World Cup, Too

Stan Schroeder, mashable.com

The World Cup starts in three days, and soccer (or football, depending on where you live) fans all over the world get into a collective craze that’s hard to compare to any other sporting event.

We’ve seen Google change its logo for big events before, but this time it chose to do something different.

If you search for “World Cup” in Google, you’ll get a list of the upcoming World Cup games, but if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see that the other Google logo, stationed above the result page numbers, has changed to Goooooooal!