Olympics Committee Recognizes Frisbee

This doesn't necessarily mean that frisbee will become an Olympic sport. The list of other officially recognized sporting organizations includes those for chess, bridge, bowling, billiards, and orienteering. (Yeah, I had to look that one up.)

Tim Tebow's Strange Workout

(Tipped by JMG reader Philip)

Beijing To Host 2022 Winter Olympics

CNN has more:

Beijing is set to become the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics after it was chosen to stage the 2022 Winter Games. International Olympic President Thomas Bach confirmed Beijing, which hosted the Summer Games in 2008, had been chosen ahead of Almaty in Kazakshtan at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday. "I am so excited. This is China's pride," Zhang Hong, China's women's 1,000m speed skating gold medal winner at the Sochi Games, told CCTV. Only Beijing and Almaty had been left in the running after Oslo, Munich and Stockholm bowed to public pressure and decided not to pursue plans to host the winter sports showpiece.

The opening ceremonies for Beijing's 2008 Games was the most stunning thing I've ever seen on television.

TRAILER: Back On Board: Greg Louganis

Debuting Tuesday, August 4th on HBO.

Caitlyn Jenner Receives ESPY Award

According to Radar, Jenner demanded the award in return for giving her story to ABC.

ESPN has come under fire for awarding Caitlyn Jenner the prestigious Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs Wednesday night. But RadarOnline.com has learned, it wasn’t initially their idea! According to an insider, Jenner’s reps approached the network suggesting she receive the award — and offering PR plugs on her upcoming docuseries in return. According to an insider, negotiations started as Jenner’s publicist was finalizing the terms of her interview with Diane Sawyer. Her agents approached ESPN, which is owned by Disney like Sawyer’s ABC, “and they suggested that she receive the Arthur Ashe award,” the source claimed. “It was a brilliant move because the executives at ESPN loved the idea, and immediately began making sure it got done. Caitlyn’s journey to accepting the award will also be featured on her upcoming reality show, I am Cait.”

New York City To Host Ticker-Tape Parade For Champion Women's World Cup Team

Via Gothamist:

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team will be honored with a ticker-tape parade on Friday to celebrate their recent World Cup championship. On the heels of a growing petition and entreaties from the Manhattan Borough President and others, Mayor de Blasio's office announced today that the parade will kick off at 11 a.m. on July 10th. The parade will start near the World Trade Center and continue down Broadway and the famous "Canyon Of Heroes" between the Battery and City Hall. According to the Mayor's office, "all are invited to celebrate along the parade route highlighted on the map below, and there are limited places available for those who would like the chance to attend the ceremony at City Hall upon the conclusion of the parade."

This will be the first-ever ticker-tape parade for a women's team. The last solo female so honored was 55 years ago after figure skater Carol Heiss took the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. New York City's first ticker-tape parade, a spontaneous event, took place in 1886 for the dedication of the Statue Of Liberty. Stock ticker machines became obsolete in the 60s and while the "ticker-tape parade" name survives, shredded office paper and commercial confetti is now thrown from office windows and rooftops. Friday's will be the 206th such parade in New York City history. Wikipedia maintains a list all previous parades.

From ESPN Magazine's Body Issue

USA Wins Women's World Cup, Champion Abby Wambach Rushes To Kiss Her Wife

Via SB Nation: "For the first time in her career, Abby Wambach is a World Cup winner. And after the final whistle blew in the United States' 5-2 win over Japan, she sprinted over to the stands to find her wife, Sarah Huffman, who was sitting in the front row with the rest of the American supporters."

Breanna Sinclairé Becomes First Trans Artist to Perform National Anthem For MLB

Via Mediaite:

A 25-year-old opera singer made history at the Oakland A’s game when she sang the national anthem. Breanna Sinclairé, the first openly transgender woman to study and graduate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, became the first transgender singer to perform the national anthem at a professional sporting event. This particular game, which pitted the A’s against the San Diego Padres, was on the A’s Gay Pride night at the Oakland Coliseum and a member of the LGBT community was specifically sought for the honor of performing the national anthem.

Smell Like Ben Cohen

The Herald & Post reports:

Ben Cohen was greeted by excited fans at his fragrance signing event at Northampton's Grosvenor Shopping Centre today. On one of the hottest days of the year, Cohen took to the Superdrug store to celebrate the launch of his first fragrance, Ben Cohen for Men. The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant met dozens of fans, posed for pictures with them and signed bottles of his fresh scented eau de toilette. Speaking to the Northants Herald and Post before the event, which took place from 4pm - 5pm, Cohen said: "I never thought I'd be one day launching a fragrance, but here I am! And I'm glad I am. "It has been a great journey doing this - from being approached by a company to launch my own fragrance, through to choosing a scent and then seeing the finished product. "I really like the fragrance because the company that created it have delivered what I want - which is a fresh, woody and citrusy smell. "In fact, I am using it all the time now - like water! Well, maybe not like water, but I do use it a lot."

Get it here.

John Oliver Keeps FIFA Pledge

Last week John Oliver vowed to sample the products of major FIFA sponsors if its president were to step down. Last night he kept that pledge, despite his opinion that Bud Light Lime tastes like “the Jolly Green Giant’s ejaculate.”

FIFA Official: Yes We Took Bribes

KAZAKHSTAN: Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill Struck Down To Save 2022 Olympics Bid

Via Eurasianet:

Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council has struck down a controversial law that would have outlawed “propaganda” of homosexuality to minors, amid signs the legislation was damaging the country’s bid to host the Winter Olympics. The law was “not in line with the constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan” the Vlast.kz website quoted the Constitutional Council (which rules on the legality of legislation) as saying. The law governed “the protection of children from information causing damage to their health and development." It was passed by parliament in February. The council struck down the law because of unclear wording rather than human rights concerns, the Vlast.kz report said. The announcement came after a group of household-name sports stars urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reject Kazakhstan’s bid to host the Winter Games in Almaty in 2022, arguing that the law outlawing the “propaganda” of homosexuality to minors was incompatible with Olympic principles of equality.

After the October 2014 withdrawal of Oslo, Almaty's only remaining 2022 Olympics rival is Beijing, which hosted the summer games in 2008. The IOC makes its final decision on July 31st. Almaty is Kazakhstan's largest city with a population of 1.5 million.

CANADA: Michael Sam Signs Two Year Deal With Montreal's CFL Franchise

Via The Score:

The CFL's Montreal Alouettes have signed former NFL defensive end Michael Sam to a two-year contract. Sam, who made headlines as the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, never played a regular-season snap in the league. Sam was released by the St. Louis Rams at final cuts prior to the 2014 season and later spent time on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad. The 25-year-old was out of football last season. He competed at the NFL's inaugural veteran combine this spring but managed only a 4.99-second 40-yard dash.

The Canadian Football League was founded in 1958 and has nine teams. Its championship Grey Cup game is Canada's most-watched sporting event. (Tipped by JMG reader Dave)

MLB Launches Pride Wear Line

Major League Baseball has launched a line of "Pride" rainbow t-shirts and hats. T-shirts are $30 and caps are $20. Not all teams are available at this writing, but right now I'm seeing the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, and Washington Nationals. See them here. (Tipped by JMG reader Jeremy)

WNBA Suspends Newly-Married Players In Wake Of Their Domestic Violence Arrest

Via the Associated Press:

WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were suspended seven games each Friday for their domestic violence arrest last month — the league's longest ban in its 19-year history. WNBA President Laurel Richie said the league "takes all acts of violence extremely seriously" in handing down a suspension that represents more than one-fifth of the 34-game regular season. Richie called the players' actions "unacceptable." "Brittney and Glory's conduct is detrimental to the best interests of the WNBA and violates applicable law," Richie said in a statement. "We also understand that people make mistakes, and that education and training are as important as imposing discipline." The punishment comes at a time when sports leagues around the country are reviewing domestic violence policies following high-profile cases involving the NFL. Richie said she consulted with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and a variety of experts.

The couple was arrested in late April following a fight in the home they recently bought. They married in Arizona last week.

$70B Spent On State Lotteries Last Year

Via the Atlantic:

According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, lotteries took in $70.1 billion in sales in the 2014 fiscal year. That’s more than Americans in all 50 states spent on sports tickets, books, video games, movie tickets, and recorded music sales. The national average hides a lot of variance among the states. In North Dakota, per-capita lottery spending is a pittance at just $36 a year. In South Dakota, however, it’s an egregious $755 per head. Lotto games bring in the most money per person in the mid-Atlantic and northeast: number-one Rhode Island (nearly $800 per capita!), Massachusetts, and Delaware are among the top five states, while New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania join them in the top 13 (so does Washington, D.C.).

The national annual average is about $300 per adult.

Viral Video Of The Day

The guy with the sunglasses just got fired.

Tom Brady Suspended Over DeflateGate

Via Yahoo Sports:

The NFL took deflate-gate very seriously, hammering the New England Patriots with unheard of punishment in the matter of deflated footballs. The league announced that quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games, the team was fined $1 million and will lose its 2016 first-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017. The league has been considering punishment since the release of investigator Ted Wells' report last Thursday. That's a huge punishment considering there was no evidence Brady was directly involved and the Wells report said Patriots ownership and coach Bill Belichick weren't involved. The league said it was for violating playing rules and not cooperating fully in the investigation.

But their Super Bowl win stands.

Viral Video Of The Day

This gave an Australian morning show a case of the giggles, especially since the player on the left's name is Willie. The female anchor exclaimed, "No reaction at all! Was that some sort of secret handshake? At least buy him dinner first." The two players are former teammates, by the way.