unmentionable-genius:

Brainstorm nodded along with Eject’s comments even though the smaller ‘bot couldn’t see the motion. Everything was going well so far, but he had a few more leading questions to ask, and they’d probably be more transparent in their double meanings.

Venting deeply, the scientist responded. “Okay, so every team member is vital to the game. Right. And I’m guessing the coach doesn’t actually play the game, but instructs and guides his team on what to do and not do? He also monitors the game and the players, right?”

“Eject…” Brainstorm added somewhat hesitantly, “What do you like most about team sports like this?”

Eject is not terribly adept at picking up hidden meanings in speech at the best of times, and especially not now, when he’s rambling about his favorite subject. “The teamwork! It’s somethin’ real special when a bunch of individual humans can pull together, and they sort of turn into this… this machine on the field!” He is unabashedly gushing now, all youthful enthusiasm.

“When a team really comes together, you can see it. You can feel it. The crowd can, too. It all just kinda runs together into one huge… into one huge roarin’ thing. Primus, it ain’t like nothin’ we got on Cybertron. I was real confused at first about sports, because I was wonderin’ why they did it, if it wasn’t a fight? I mean, I remember the first time someone told me that nobody died—it floored me.” Up until that point, Eject had simply been so used to his personal circumstances that he couldn’t imagine that there was anything but the horror of war. “But they do it because they love it.”

it is quite obvious to him that sports are more than just an entertaining diversion. They are, very simply, the first thing that gave him hope. “And when the teams are both tight and they’re strugglin’ against each other, and the crowd is watchin’, and there’s this connection between them all, and they’re all there just because they want to be there, because they have to be there for the game, and for the players, and it’s just… it’s just all that love caught up in one moment…” He shakes his head. “It’s powerful stuff, Ace.”

Anonymous Says:

THIS is why I want to learn how to pole dance.

Pole dancing isn’t always sexual. It’s an incredible work-out and it takes a lot of time and practice. It’s one of the most scrutinized and frowned-upon forms of dancing, but  it really shouldn’t be. The ladies and gentlemen who take time to learn how to pole dance are incredible- and so are their bodies! Pole dancing increases cardiovascular state, muscle strength, muscle endurance, motor skills AND flexibility. An average session of 45 minutes can burn 250 calories. You reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, you increase your bone density, and decrease your cholesterol. How can pole dancing be seen as so horrible when it’s really, really good for you?!

“Hey, I’m with you all the way, anonymous! I mean, how can anyone look at that and think it’s not impressive? Pretty much all dancin’s a sport, because it takes skill and practice and you gotta push yourself to your limit. Doesn’t matter if you’re B-boyin’, dancin’ ballet, or dancin’ with a pole. It’s still dancin’, and in my opinion, it’s still a sport. If you wanna dance for other folks to watch you—that’s great! But there also ain’t nothin’ wrong with dancin’ just ‘cause you like it, and dancin’ just for yourself. Rock on, anon!”

madebyarchetype:

1992 Dream Team

Oscar Pistorius runs with 5-year-old Ellie May Challis. Images taken from here, photographed by Andy Hooper. Find out more about Ellie May and her run with Oscar here.

discoverynews:

How Olympic ‘Blade Runner’ Sprints Without Feet

South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius will be the first amputee to compete in the Olympics. Here’s a look at the mechanics of how he runs.

keep reading

“Look at this fraggin’ guy. Look at this boss. I bet people all his life told him, ‘You ain’t never gonna be able to do what you wanna.’ And it’s pretty obvious by this pic that he said, ‘Watch me.’ Primus, how can people not love the Olympics? Not when you see this? This guy isn’t just a runner. He’s one of the best damned runners on all of Earth. This is what the Olympics is all about. It’s about people who did what they had to, no matter what, to get where they are.”

Eject shakes his head. “There just ain’t nothin’ else quite like it. Not here, not anywhere.”

“Okay. Gonna do somethin’ real stupid and try to explain how this makes me feel. With words. You see those stands behind the players? The lights and the fireworks are real impressive, but you know what impresses me more?

“All those little black-and-white dots are people. The people in them stands are holdin’ up these cards, see, to make those big letters. They probably mostly don’t know each other, but that don’t matter. They can band together because they’re fans. They didn’t show up because they had to. They showed up because they wanted to. Because they love this sport, this game. Before I came to Earth, I never seen anythin’ like that. I ain’t never seen anythin’ like it since. So much… so much goodness all bound up in one moment.

“These people, who don’t know each other, who only know that they’re there for the sport they love, they managed to come together to make that huge sign. And there ain’t nothin’ holdin’ them all together but that love. It’s just… how can you not like that?”

“Well, I can’t show you on account of there not bein’ a football field inside the Lost Light. But I can tell you! I mean, it’s pretty easy, you just get your ball to the other team’s end zone, is all. You get that ball from Point A to Point B.”

“But,” Eject points out, “when you’ve got a team full of folks whose job it is to make sure that ball don’t get to that endzone, is where it gets complicated. So it’s simple and complicated at the same time. Gettin’ that ball from point A to point B is going to mean you gotta out-maneuver and out-think the other team.”

Eject shakes his head. “Gettin’ that ball from point A to point B is most of what makes American football. All those moments when you’re chargin’ through the defensive line only to get tackled, when you’re leapin’ to catch the ball in mid-air, all those moments when you’re settin’ up all them slick trick plays, makin’ your opponents think that one thing is happenin’ when the action is actually on another whole side of the field—that is what it takes to make a touchdown.”

“And it don’t just involve one person, neither. Even if you are rushin’ the play, you need your whole team to cover you. You need your own defense to keep the big guys at bay, you need them tight ends to be ready to take those tackles for you, you need your wide receivers ready if you gotta chuck that ball, you need your other runnin’ backs to be ready to go, and you need, you need your quarterback to have everyone together, to make sure that the whole team is ready to go before the play even goes into action. Everyone’s gotta know what it is they do, and they gotta do it and give it their all if that one little ball is gonna get from point A to point B.”

Eject pauses to catch his breath, venting for a moment. He seems to have gotten a bit carried away.

“Scorin’ a touchdown is a beautiful thing. But scorin’ the touchdown is what the entire game of American football was more or less made around, so it’s… it’s real complicated.” He laughs. “And it’s definitely a team effort.”

Eject pauses for a moment. Of all the questions he’s received in his inbox, this one surprises him the most. “Well.” He begins, and then, a bit overwhelmed, he adds, most intelligently, “well.”

He vents deeply. “You’ve been doin’ it since you were five? Sounds like you knew what you wanted a long time ago, pal. Hold onto that, okay? Hold onto that want, buddy, because the road to the Olympics ain’t an easy one. You’re gonna go through some tough times, I’m predictin’, but as long as you can still feel that inside you, that need to do what you know you hafta, you’ll be able to push through.”

His voice is impassioned as he speaks; clearly this message is something that resonates deeply with Eject himself. “There’s gonna be times when everyone else around you doubts you, but you can’t doubt yourself, because you never know when yourself is gonna be all that you’ve got. It might seem hopeless, but hopeless things have happened before.”

“Another thing. I don’t know much about the workin’s of humans, but be sure to listen to your doctor, okay? If your Doc says you’re pushin’ it too hard, ease off. Your doc’s there to look out for you and to help you. Hurtin’ yourself won’t do you no good! Never turn down a teammate, not when you could have one, and your Doc is the best teammate of all.”

He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before he adds, “Thirdly, just give it your all. Not everyone’s gonna make it to the top. Maybe you will, but maybe you won’t. As long as you did the best you could, then you shouldn’t have no regrets, pal. Michael Jordan once said, ‘I can accept failure. Everyone fails at somethin’. But I can’t accept not tryin’.’ With all due respect to The Man, as long as you try, and you give it your all, no matter what the outcome, I wouldn’t count it as failure. I do agree, though, on tryin’, no matter what.”

There’s a grin in his voice as he speaks, “But what little I heard from you sounds like you got a lot of determination, buddy. I think maybe you’ve got a real good chance, and if you do make it, I’d sure as the Pit like to be there to see it, one way or the other.”

A pause. “Uhh, if I’m in the same dimension, that is.”