#risks in sports

[pratchettquotes]

There is a saying, "You can't fool an honest man," which is much quoted by people who make a profitable living by fooling honest men. Moist never tried it, knowingly anyway. If you did fool an honest man, he tended to complain to the local Watch, and these days they were harder to buy off. Fooling dishonest men was a lot safer and, somehow, more sporting. And, of course, there were so many more of them. You hardly had to aim.

Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

[dozydawn]

Boxer Ray Mancini and girlfriend Sheila Kennedy photographed by Ron Galella, 1984.

[verdemint]

Valentino Rossi about courage in Motogp (2009)

Translation oui!

I: "And courage? You must need courage (implied: to ride a bike)..."

V: "The courage is there. Courage is very important in our sport, but I think of it as having "bonuses"... like in a deck of cards you have four jokers, so you have four jokers in a season and those four times you can risk it and risk a lot, but if u go all the time beyond your limit then ... one time it's gonna go wrong"

[bl-bracket]

Anyways I know we settled that Pit Babe is the most unhinged BL today, but I can't close the book on talking about unhinged shows without talking about what is probably the most insane show of them all (at least in the ql-adjacent world)

like the first couple episodes is like "oooo spooky museum, cursed artifacts, bit of monster of the week but like with cursed items, is Dome Katha's reincarnated brother?" and then the last episode is "Katha has become the new Christian God. the moon has literally exploded and is going to end the world. Dome is actually one of the 4 horseman of the apocalypse and shot down from the sky to take over a normal guy named Dome's life. Dome isn't Katha's brother, that's Chan, another horseman of the apocalypse, who is from a different universe and also looks the same as Dome because all celestial creatures look like Dome because God made them all look like that across universes and God is Katha but not really. Dome and Chan were both from different universes (there's currently 3) but were all mixed around because Death (who also looks like Dome) killed his God and destroyed his universe so he's been hopping around trying to find a new God also he's possessed the body of Adam (like from the Bible) who had become a mannequin." and they made that jump in like 10 episodes

Truly one of the most unhinged pieces of television ever made I wish they made Katha and Dome kiss so I could include them in this bracket.

[friedpestochicken]

😭showed up today with a helmet

[blusical]

Idk how to properly explain it, but the amount of attacks against Imane Khelif aren't only misogynistic, racist and transphobic, but they also *reek* of intersexism. (Also, comparing a woman with high testosterone levels throwing a punch in boxing to literal domestic abuse is fucking weirdo behavior)

[zeldasadork]

scott and joel are good rivals too because they both are sort of the catalysts of their own demises (particularly in secret life) but scott moreso in a tactical self-martyring way and joel in a “unlucky and with poor risk assessment” way

[estebunny]

esteban ocon interview with FlowBank

[doginprogress]

Ok. Let’s talk lure coursing safety.

A pretty awful accident occurred during the lure coursing at UKC Premier this past week. I wanna make it clear that I cannot and will not be passing any kind of judgement on what happened. I was not there, I do not know many details other than the owner themselves called it a freak accident.

And the truth of lure coursing is that even if/when things are done perfectly, this kind of accident is always a possibility. There is a certain amount of risk you must weigh and decide to take when you decide to let your dog lure course.

1. Mechanical Risks - like with this accident, there is always the possibility for injury when coming in close proximity to a thin, tensioned wire running at speeds upwards of 30+ mph. Line burns on paws and lower legs are not uncommon, and many dogs run muzzled to prevent them from cutting their mouths when trying to bite a moving line. Azula has gotten tangled and line burnt after the line, loosened by wet conditions, popped off a pulley mid run. I myself have scars from some pretty awful line burn after a freak accident while setting up the field.

To help mitigate this risk, the huntmaster should always have a knife or scissors on hand and should be closely watching the dogs running so they can cut the line and release tension at any sign of a tangle. The lure operator should be highly trained and also be keeping out for any sign of danger so they can stop the lure when needed. As a competitor, make sure you are aware of the line at all times. Not only where it is, but when it is and isn’t moving. I try to never move my dog over a moving line, and when I am moving over a line, I am either taking extra tall steps or stepping on it to make sure I don’t trip (but, DO NOT step on a moving line). Try not to grab a line unless absolutely necessary and never ever ever grab a moving line - you will cut through your hands.

2. Other Dogs - lure coursing is one of the few (maybe the only?) dog sports where multiple dogs are competing at the same time potentially hundreds of yards away from their humans. It’s a high arousal and highly competitive environment, and this can lead to conflict between dogs. Sometimes this can be mitigated with muzzles and sometimes the dog should simply not be participating in lure coursing. If it is your dog that is aggressive and putting others at risk, please do not run them in the Open or Specials stakes. Dogs can have just as much fun running in singles and no title is worth potentially endangering your dog and others by running a dangerous dog.

However sometimes the risk comes simply from dogs running together at high speeds. Dogs can unintentionally bump into or trip each other, I’ve seen dogs leap over another in the field, tumble into each other while slowing down, and run into each other when they’re paying too much attention to the lure and not enough to the other dogs on the field. Sometimes unintentional contact happens and it’s important to recognize that too. There’s really not much that can be done in those cases.

3. Field Conditions - heat, rain, snow, height of grass, dry ground, rocks, trees, and the course plan itself can all pose issues when running. The club running the event should be continuously assessing these and doing what they can to alleviate the effects, but there’s a lot that you have to judge for yourself and what you know about your own dog. Wrapping paws or soaking them in water can help minimize injury due to dry ground, soaking a dog in water can help keep them cool on hot days, and knowing how your dog may handle tight turns can help you evaluate whether you should enter based on the plan for the course.

Fields with numerous trees or other obstacles are dangerous for dogs who may be paying more attention to the lure than their surroundings. If you’ve never been to the field before I highly suggest talking to someone was has to get a feel for what to expect.

4. Honest to God Freak Accidents - sometimes shit happens. A dog steps into a hole no one noticed and breaks their leg. A group of deer pop onto the field and your dog takes off after them, disappearing for hours. A dog with no prior indications has a cardiac event mid run, and is gone before anyone can even process that they’ve stopped running.

Sometimes there is absolutely nothing that could have been done differently and things just happen. It unfortunately is part of life and something that can be so hard to accept. Occasionally, there is no rhyme or reason, no blame to lay. When you go to that coursing event and run your dog, you’re entrusting that a lot of the risk has been mitigated for you by those running the event. That’s why it’s so important to know who that is and what experience they have.

But beyond that, you are assuming some amount of gambling by participating in lure coursing. The sport itself has dangers that cannot be managed away. But so does agility, and flyball, and disc, and dock diving, and any other sport of any kind. This does not mean that any of these things should be discontinued, but that you should not take any of these lightly and consider the risks vs the rewards, both personal and for your dog. Lure coursing has unfortunately become fairly available to do on a whim in recent years when it is truly something you should be heavily educated about before choosing to participate.

[ihni]

I was listening to "Son of a preacherman" on my way to work this morning and now I want a Harringrove fic. (If it already exists in some form, feel free to throw the link my way!)

Imagine it: Neil finds out his son is into boys, and brings the whole family to the middle of nowhere, Indiana, because he is a god-fearing man and no son of his will turn out that way, etc etc. The first time they go to church (which is well-attended, there are many religious people in Hawkins, which is probably why Neil chose it), the preacher welcomes the new family and also invites them to dinner with his own family. Neil is pleased, and threatens Billy to be on his best behavior or else. Billy, still recovering from the beating he probably got before they moved, grits his teeth and says yes sir, because he has decided that he's gonna just get through the next couple of years without making a splash - just survive until graduation, and then leave.

Only, the preacher and his wife, they have a son, who they introduce as Steve. And he is pretty and popular and polite and Billy curses internally because he's just Billy's type. Billy resigns himself to catching a few glances in secret only. Good thing the guy is the preacher's son, right? Because surely such a boy is too much of a goody two shoes to even notice those glances, let alone know what they mean, right?

Wrong! The good boy act is really just an act. Scraping a bit on the surface, or getting him away from parents and authorities, reveals King Steve. He smokes, he drinks, he fools around ... And apparently, not only with girls ... He sees Billy's looks and he very much knows what it means, and more than that - he's interested.

Suddenly just surviving until graduation is much harder - because Hawkins' preacher's son, secret bad boy Steve Harrington is not the good influence Billy's dad thinks he is.

[puckpocketed]

when does a prospect on a different team stop being a sweet kid in media and become your enemy? how does anyone do this. watch these kids get drafted, spotty and skinny and awkward, with their honking laughter and their earnest “this has been a dream of mine” interviews, and one day see a beloathed rival. is it their first point against your team? is it their first hit against your beloved superstar. their first scrum? i’m not like. trying to be cute here. i goofed around and posted a lot about the draft this year because thats what filled my time during off-season, and now i’m standing in this rising water and i’m wondering when it’s gonna start boiling me !

[radio-4-is-static]

Audacious | Franz Ferdinand

So don't stop feeling audacious, there's no one to save us So just carry on And don't go blaming the neighbours, you know they're the same as us We should just get on Get on

[pwhl-mybeloved]

the entire offseason should be dedicated to this sort of thing tbh

I love the physical play but they’ve gone from 0-60 in this league and it needs to be done safely

[drivestraight]

The only way to enjoy this sport is to never have any fun. By the way. You cannot ever enjoy anything that happens on the track.

[darkwood-sleddog]

because i had to (politely) warn/criticize an acquaintance musher who was out on the trail in 86% humidity and 80F weather running their dogs on a rig when i was there today, i thought now was a good reminder that:

dogs do not cool down effectively when it is more humid

dogs that have previously suffered heat stroke are more at risk of developing it again and will do so more easily than a dog who has never had heat stroke. This ALONE is a great risk to sled dogs.

in the northern hemisphere a majority of dog heat stroke incidents take place in July (which is the month I'm writing this).

most mushers do not recommend running dogs in harness over 50F. No your dogs are likely not an exception. All dogs can develop heat stroke.

HERE is a post with a helpful chart from the Australia Sledding Sports Association about how to determine a safe combination of humidity and heat to run in. (it is in Celcius, but the combination of what we walked in today was easily a 26 on this chart.)

Some mushers CAN train dogs during the summer. Those that are in much more arctic conditions where early am may sometimes be frosty this time of year are clear to do so. Although the Mush with P.R.I.D.E. Sled Dog Welfare Guide has some warnings about the risks running dogs in hot weather poses. Their description of heat stroke even mentions snow which, yes, is true. Sled Dogs can easily overheat even in snowy conditions. Even then though, the summer mushers i see (who are in like...the Yukon...) are regularly monitoring temperatures and not running when it is above 50F.

and look. I've been at the receiving end of weather temperature criticism myself. I once ran Sigurd and Zombie on a like...60F degree evening in summer as a novice and my mentor tore me a new one. I felt bad (and cried lol), but it is what it is and i never did it again. It's also why working with and/or seeking advice from sport veterans is important. I will also never stall or refuse to tell somebody they're posing a risk to their dogs, not only bc i care for their animals well beings, but because mushers pushing dogs like this does reflect badly on the sport.

The one thing i do to make sure i'm aware of how hot my dogs may be besides monitoring the temperatures? I overdress whenever i take them out.