Strollerderby : shooting

Baby Born Healthy After Mother Shot in Side

Kate Tuttle — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:02:00 GMT

Five months after being shot in the side while riding on a motorcycle, Alissa Musser gave birth to a healthy daughter. Musser, 26, was a passenger that day when the motorcycle went by a sporting club outside Pittsburgh, PA. A 47-year-old target shooter's round went astray, traveling a mile to hit Musser in the ribcage.

Although she wasn't seriously injured in the incident, she spent the next five months worrying about her child's health; her worries were put the rest with the birth of seven pound, 11 ounce Scarlett Keagan.

Anyone who's suffered a fall or other worrisome accident while pregnant will have some inkling of her relief. Scarlett's mother says they've already started calling the baby by an appropriate nickname: Lucky.

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Why the puppy games are better than the Olympics

Brett Singer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

OK, that's not true. But if you haven't seen this dopey show on Animal Planet, you're missing out on something very cute.

Here are a few highlights:

1. Commentary: "It's going to be tough to impress the judges." True – because they're goldfish. "This is like a chess match." Indeed – if chess opponents gnawed on the pieces and sniffed each others' butts. Bob Costas doesn't get lines like these.

2. No controversy: As far as we know, the opening ceremonies were real, no protesters, journalists or grandmothers were arrested, and no one is complaining about the puppy's potentially sexist costumes.

3. Who won? Who cares?: They're, you know, dogs. They have no idea where they are or what they're doing. You can still cheer for your favorite breed (the Cocker Spaniel is really cute) but at the end of the day, it's all up to the judges… who are goldfish.

4. Two words: Waterbowl Cam.

Not sure if they're going to air this again or not, if so, I highly recommend watching it. There are a bunch of video clips on Discovery.com; here's one of the Gymnastics event.

source/image: Animal Planet

Other Old Olympians

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Bela Karolyi likes to kill things

Did Michael Phelps actually win 8 medals?

Michael Phelps to endorse Frosted Flakes

Olympic Athletes To Be Tested . . . For Gender

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

33 year old mom wins silver medal, saves son from leukemia

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Shawn Johnson more mature than her coach

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Other Old Olympians

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Dara Torres is 41, and Oksana Chusovitina is 33 (and saved her son from leukemia), but they aren't even close to the oldest Olympic athletes in history, or even this year. Most aren't in the more physically strenuous events, but competing in anything at their age is pretty impressive.

* Iain Murray is on the Australian Olympic sailing team, and at age 50 is making his Olympic debut. Murray is Australia's oldest Olympian; Andrew Palfrey, a teammate, is 41 and also competing in his first Olympics.

* Luan Jujie was 50 years old in 1984 when she won a Gold medal in fencing for Canada.

* Susan Nattrass is 57 and currently in Beijing on the Canadian shooting team. In 1976, she became the first woman shooter to compete in the Olympics.

* Hiroshi Hoketsu, a Japanese equestrian, made his Olympic debut in 1964 and is now back for a second time – at age 67.

* Oscar Swahn (Shooting) competed in his last Olympics in 1920 at the age of – are you ready for this? – 72. (He was planning to go in 1924 but he got sick. Wimp.) Over his career, Swahn won three gold medals, two bronze, and a silver in 1920, making him the oldest Olympic medallist ever. Fun fact: his son competed with him in 1908, 1912 and 1920.

For more, see NBCOlympics.com

Image/Source: nbcolympics.com

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Egyptian woman gives birth to septuplets because she wanted a boy

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Like father like son

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Brett Singer — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Back in the year 2000, Dara "Superwoman" Torres was at a swimming camp in California. Two sisters, Sandra and Danielle Fong, were fascinated by her, and the medal she had just won at the Santa Clara International Invitational. So she did what anyone would do: she gave them her medal.

OK, that's not what everyone would do. But it is what Dara did. And now, eight years later, both of the Fong sisters will be competing in the Olympics, although not in swimming. 18-year-old Sandra Fong is on the U.S. shooting team. Danielle Fong, 17, has cerebral palsy and will shoot for the U.S. at the Paralympics in September.

Torres, in case you didn't know, just won a Silver medal – at the age of 41. So yeah, we like her.

Image/source: nytimes.com

Read more:

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

33 year old mom wins silver medal, saves son from leukemia

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Hunka hunka burnin Barbie

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Matthew McConaughey keeps placenta

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Birth inspires lottery ticket purchase

Retarded movie boycott

Rapper Remy Ma(ma) going to jail

Brett Singer — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Rapper Remy Ma (née Reminisce Smith, Remy Martin) was sentenced to 8 years in jail on Wednesday for shooting Makeda Barnes Joseph in "a dispute over money." The judge in the case, Rena Uviller, told Remy that she was, "a young woman whose anger is out of control."

Her fiancée, Papoose (I thought that was a girl's name -- dude, I'm just kidding, don't kick my ass) gallantly offered to take her place, screaming, "Lock me up! Lock me up!" before being removed from the courthouse. (He also shouted, "All you want is money!" at the victim; that part wasn't all that gallant.) Apparently Papoose also showed up to see Remy the other day and brought a handcuff key with him, which caused correction officials to cancel their planned wedding at Riker's Island this weekend. If nothing else, nobody can accuse them of being dull.

Why mention this here? Because when the case was over, Remy pleaded for a lighter sentence, citing her difficult childhood -- and her 7-year-old son.

The maximum sentence was 25 years; she got 8. The judge didn't really take her mom-ness into account. However, if what television has taught me about the legal system is correct, she could be out in 3 years with good behavior.

So the question is: should being a mom factor into the length of a jail term? I mean, we're talking about a shooting. (I'm assuming that the verdict is accurate; I wasn't actually there.) Some of Remy's fans seem to believe that race played a factor in the case, but, like, she shot someone. Did I mention that?

Anyway, should the fact that someone has a child matter be considered with regard to their sentencing if they commit a crime?

image: amny.com

Update On Girl Who Took Bullet For Her Mom

Kelly Mills — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:38:00 GMT

I'm sorry, but this story just got to me when it came out, so I'm glad to give the update. Some of you might remember that Alexis Goggins threw herself in front of bullets intended for her mother. When the gunman was about to open fire on Seliethia Parker, Alexis cried "Don't hurt my mother!" and ended up with six gunshot wounds, putting her in critical condition and blinding her in one eye.

So what's the word on Alexis now? After six surgeries and two months in the hospital, she's doing well. She has several scars and attends physical therapy twice a week, and she will be fitted for an artificial eye soon. Her mother says she rarely speaks about the shooting, and only remembers pieces of it. But Alexis also received over 200 letters of support from folks who heard her story, and a fund set up to help her through school has collected $30,000. Her mother says, "I'm thanking God every day that me and my baby are still here. It has taught me to...appreciate the smaller things in life." Sniff. Time to go hug my daughter now.

Photo: Associated Press

7-Year-Old Girl Puts Herself Between Mom and Bullets

Kelly Mills — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:33:00 GMT

Hey, it's time to get weepy with the Derby. See, sometimes as parents we can barely write about the stuff in the news because we use up too many tissues and risk electrocution from tears on our laptops. But let's give it a go anyway: Selitha Parker dated Calvin Tillie for a few months before breaking it off. But Tillie kept calling and bothering Parker, and on December 2, when Parker and her 7-year-old daughter Alexis Goggins climbed into the SUV of a friend on the way to the friend's mom's birthday party, Tillie jumped into the backseat of the vehicle next to Alexis. He pulled a gun and forced them to drive around, until the friend convinced Tillie she needed to stop for gas and called 911 with the station attendant.

When she and the attendant heard shots they ran back to the vehicle, and saw Alexis curled up under the steering wheel in a pool of blood. She had leaped from the backseat to the front seat, shielding her mother with her body, saying, "Don't hurt my mother!" Six bullets hit Alexis, piercing her eye and striking her jaw and chin. She was blinded in that eye, and has undergone three operations since the shooting. Parker was struck with two slugs, and while seriously wounded, she was well enough to be released from the hospital a few days later. Tillie was arrested at the scene.

Parker said, "My baby is just an angel to her mother. I thought as the mother, I'd be saving my child. I never thought my daughter would be saving me." At Alexis' special education classroom at school (she has learning disabilities, suffered a stroke before age 1 and has epilepsy) classmates named a stuffed toy "Hero" and put it in her seat because they didn't want her chair to remain empty. Her teacher showed off her recent progress in writing letters in a journal. Parker's cousin said, "I know she can do it. There's no stopping Alexis. It may take her a little longer now because of this. But she is a fighter."

Feel free to sob without restraint.

Associated Press photo by Carlos Osorio

Get Your Girl Into Hunting With a Pink Gun.

Kelly Mills — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:30:00 GMT

In a bid to make shooting more appealing to the girls and ladies, some gun stores are now packing pink guns. They call it, "blaze pink" and the color tickled the pre-teen girls in this article. I'm still looking for a gun that doesn't make me look fat, but pink is okay. Because I've wanted to get into shooting, but you know, the guns are so dull and drab and butch. A splash of color seems just the thing to brighten the cold hunting palette. Why, it's the perfect accessory! Check out the details, dahlings: "The .22-caliber Crickett rifle ($169.99) has a bright pink stock, and the Remington Express Jr. .20 gauge shotgun ($379.99) has a laminated pink-and-black stock emblazoned with the slogan 'Shoot like a girl if you can!'" Aw yeah. And as Mike reminded me, "Pink guns don't kill people, girls do."

Okay, all mocking aside for just a second, I do understand the appeal of pink guns, and it has less to do with what gun store owner describes by saying, "Females want to shoot guns, but they want them to look pretty, too." I don't think it's the beauty factor that is so appealing. See, while I'm not exactly stocking an arsenal, I do desperately want pink boxing gloves. Why? Because I love boxing, it's a traditionally masculine thing, and the idea of someone catching my hot pink right hook seems cheeky. Sort of, "Yeah, I'm female. Now don't drop those hands." I'm getting my kid pink gloves too, the minute she starts whacking people in earnest. I suppose if I was into firearms, I'd get a pink one. Especially after reading about the horrified gun store owners who scoff at them. But if you hate firearms, there's always this hairdryer with the same appeal. Shoot me if my hair doesn't look good.