What do Luis Suarez' teeth, Nancy Kerrigan's knees, Cameron Bancroft's pockets, John Hopoate's fingers, an Olympic Games Intellectually Disabled basketball competition and the Barbados national soccer team (oh... and lots and lots of other soccer teams and players) have in common? They all take center stage in some of the world's nastiest and most hilarious sports cheating … [Read more...]
Life of adventure – John Morrell
Professional adventurer, John Morrell, talks to Socrates about how he came to the Japanese wonderland of Hokkaido for a flying visit... and never left! He explains how he and has family made a life leading hardy and adventurous souls on the experience of their lives in this land of snow, mountains, volcanos and bears! Hokkaido gets more than its fair share of snow. The … [Read more...]
Ten of the coolest and craziest communities that surf!
10 – The Swiss Who knew that the Swiss surf? They do! Swiss junior surf team. The Swiss take their surfing very seriously! Switzerland doesn’t even have a sea… let alone an ocean. Switzerland is completely landlocked. It’s not the kind of place one would expect to produce a fired-up surfing community! The Swiss, as a rule, locate their annual national surfing … [Read more...]
Sumo
I got off the train at Osaka and did not have the foggiest idea where to go. Or even in what direction to head. The jumble of busy streets and incomprehensible signs gave no indication. Boasting a Japanese vocabulary that might have stretched to half-a-dozen words on a good day, I was steeling myself for the ignominy of approaching a perfect stranger and asking plaintively, … [Read more...]
“The Magic Pudding” – a guide to what kids love and how risky play helps create young athetes
When controversial Australian painter and novelist Norman Lindsay was told by friends that he should write a children’s book he quickly took a liking to the idea. When his friends told him that the book should be about fairies, goblins and mythical creatures he laughed at the idea and said that kids aren’t into fantasy stuff… they just love fighting, sticking … [Read more...]