Cave News

5 snowboarders die in a Colorado back country avalanche

Five snowboarders were killed Saturday afternoon after apparently triggering a backcountry avalanche on Colorado's Loveland Pass.

Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger said a sixth snowboarder caught in the avalanche was able to dig himself out and call for help.

Search and rescue crews recovered the bodies several hours after the slide, which was 600 yards wide and eight feet deep.

The victims all had avalanche beacons.

Much of the snow in Colorado’s high country is unstable with recent damp heavy snows falling on top of light powdery snow.

Link

Red Sox pay tribute with “Boston” uniforms

Five days after two explosions shook the foundation of Boston's most cherished sporting tradition, a Sox game before noon and the simultaneous running of the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox made a triumphant return to Fenway Park.

They beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 while wearing uniforms emblazoned with Boston in place of the usual Red Sox.

Neil Diamond showed up in a Red Sox cap to sing his signature "Sweet Caroline" and Daniel Nava lifted an entire city with one swing.

Above Daniel Nava reacts after hitting the game winning home run.

The tribute uniforms were autographed after the game and will be auctioned off with proceeds going to victims of the bombings.

Mets and Rockies played a doubleheader in freezing cold amid snowbanks at Coors Field

It was a doubleheader played in Denver with the temperature in the high 20’s for the second game. Not the way baseball was intended to be played.

Years ago baseball players were called the boys of summer. It was anything but summer at Coors Field yesterday.

Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzales dressed for the cold

Snow removal at Coors Field

Trying to stay warm in the stands

A snowman with a Rockies cap 'watching' the game

Rare empty seats at Coors Field

The Rockies won both games - the first game 8-4 and the second game 9-8.
.

Preferential treatment for Tiger Woods at Augusta

Tiger Woods dodged a bullet at the Masters as he was allowed to continue to play for his fifth green jacket after incurring a two-shot penalty for an illegal ball drop.

Almost any other player surely would have been disqualified and out of the tournament.

The 14-time major champion clearly received preferential treatment as he was allowed to continue to play after receiving just a two stroke penalty.

Woods' shot on the 15th hole of the second round hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. He took his penalty drop two yards behind where he hit the original shot, which was a violation of the rules.

___________________________________

This is the result of a poll shown on another website.

___________________________________

Officials said he was allowed to stay in the tournament under a new rule that keeps players from being disqualified based on television evidence.

No stranger to illegal ball drops, Woods did it in January, in his first worldwide event of the 2013 season at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship where he incurred a two-stroke penalty for taking an illegal drop.

Link

Star Dodger pitcher breaks collarbone in brawl with Padres

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke breaks collarbone in bench-clearing brawl with the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

___________________________________

Padres slugger Carlos Quentin (in center of photo above) felt that getting hit by pitches by Zack Greinke during the 2008 and 2009 seasons was justification enough for rushing the mound and slamming into the pitcher — hard enough to break his left collarbone.

Greinke's Los Angeles Dodgers teammates were so angered that Matt Kemp, among four players ejected after a brawl Thursday night, confronted Quentin as they left Petco Park.

Carlos Quentin, hit by pitches 116 times in his big league career, is known for not getting out of the way of an errant pitch.

Greinke, the Dodgers' $147 million man, had his left arm in a sling and a dazed look on his face as he told his side of the story.

Full story here.

Female NFL kicker trial ends after 2 kicks

Kicker Lauren Silberman, the first female to participate in an NFL-sponsored tryout, had her session at the NFL's New York/New Jersey Regional Scouting Combine ended by a leg injury -after only two kickoffs Sunday.

Silberman said she aggravated a quad injury she first suffered while training last week.

Link

NASCAR blocked film of horrific Daytona crash - but YouTube video here

A NASCAR race at the Daytona International Speedway was disrupted by a harrowing crash that sent debris flying into the stands and left some fans injured.

As CNN reports, shredded debris flew into the racetrack barrier, with some reaching 20 feet up to the second level of the track's stands.

At least one fan who witnessed the event caught it on camera and promptly uploaded it to YouTube — but the video was blocked by NASCAR on copyright grounds just minutes after it went live. (Update: YouTube has restored the original video, which you can watch below.)

According to Reuters, at least 29 people including one driver were injured in the multi-car crash; 14 people were sent to nearby hospitals, with another 14 being treated at the race track.

___________________________________

NASCAR claims all rights to film and broadcast of anything that happens at its events.

But taking down a video of a dangerous crash that injured spectators has sparked a backlash from observers who see it as an improper use of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which is typically used to suppress pirated content like music and movies.

Despite the takedown request by NASCAR, the eyewitness video has already been shared on the internet and can be viewed above.

___________________________________

NASCAR officials are optimistic that the 55th running of the Daytona 500 will proceed on Sunday as planned.

Link

Snow halts Match Play Championship golf tournament in Marana, Arizizona

Snow turned Wednesday's first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship into a white out.

Dove Mountain, just north of Tucson, Arizona looked more like a winter wonderland than a high desert golf course on Wednesday after a blanket of snow halted play in the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Link

The $1,000,000,00 golf outing Obama didn’t want the world to see

The media was snubbed because it was a mega golf outing the president didn’t want publicized.

While in Florida the media was left out of Obama’s time with Tiger Woods. The presidents’ handlers evidently wanted to downplay the Tiger Woods part of the golf outing. With Tiger Woods sordid past with prostitutes and porn stars who could blame them.

Obama (on right) wanted to downplay his time with Tiger Woods.

___________________________________

News correspondent Ed Henry said the president delivered a weekend bogey at the Florida National Golf Club:

“Speaking on behalf of the White House Correspondents Association, I can say a broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration at having no access to the president of the United States this entire weekend.

___________________________________

Mr. Obama did, however, try to mend a tense relationship with his traveling press corps by 'hanging out' with them for 10 minutes on the flight back.

Ten minutes must have placated them because the American media obliged by downplaying the trip. The British media was not as obliging.

The link below shows full coverage by the British press including a calculation of the cost involved:

___________________________________

Barack Obama’s Florida golf outing cost $989,207.00

$943,687.50: estimated cost of a trip for Air Force One from Chicago to West Palm Beach and then back to Washington, D.C.

$13,500: Cost to rent out three four-bedroom guest cottages at The Floridian for three nights

$24,000: Cost of an eight-hour private golf lesson with famed instructor Butch Harmon

$1,800: Greens fees for three guests for two rounds of golf

$1,600: Cost of four caddies for two rounds of golf

$4,620: Cost of 20 rooms at the Port St. Lucie Holiday Inn for traveling press and security detail based on the government per-diem rate

TOTAL: $989,207

___________________________________

The British press coverage of Obama's mega-expensive Florida golf outing can be found here.

Obama hires $1,000 hour golf instructor

Economic growth is falling.

Unemployment is rising.

Poverty is rising.

Gas prices are rising.

Health care premiums are rising.

Middle class income is falling.

Consumer confidence is at a two year low.

America’s deficit is unsustainable.

And now Barack Obama has just signed up for private golf lessons with two of the top teachers in the country.

___________________________________

The $1,000+ per hour golf lessons are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost to get Obama to Florida.

It costs $181,757 per hour to fly Air Force One. Then there is the cost of transporting the Pope mobile ...er... make that the President’s limousine along with his helicopter Marine One, and whatever else he takes with him wherever he goes.

___________________________________

Safely re-elected and with no concerns whatsoever that the media will take issue with his elitist behavior because the narrative has already been set that Obama can do no wrong.

Link here and here.