Booter McGavin

aspiring microinfluencer, amateur phrenologist

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Could have been anything if I had the talent

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Have you ever seen more performative tattoos on a man than Isaac Heeney? #aflswanstigers

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Retweet, share, bump etc

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Had a really good run today so guess that means I’ll be injured in 2 weeks

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

@Executivejeff1 @BenDerr_101

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Sometimes when I feel useless at my job I just remember that Samson Ryan is still on an AFL list

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Every single coachella crowd looks about as fun as a funeral, what’s even the point

[Max @maxtmcc]

Apple Maps consistently overestimates the time it takes me to walk somewhere by about 20%. There should be a setting that takes into account if you have that dawg in you

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

@lilschweddy @lil_Sidley Woke

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Real talk though how does anyone sleep with a top sheet I feel like I’m being strangled by my own bed

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Will never be a fan of in-game interviews with players

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Genuine fucking abomination

[Matt Jones @KySportsRadio]

High Point student radio call of the game is what it is all about

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Going to the 9/11 memorial museum today and it’s still going to be the second most depressing part of my day after seeing Lynch kick 2.7

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

New York bagels horrifically overrated

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Turnstile cover The Stone Roses' ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ for Like A Version https://t.co/hVZMSM6TnO via @YouTube

Absolute top notch gear

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Oysters are chopped

[Booter McGavin @bootermcgavin_]

Had a really good run today so guess that means I’ll be injured in 2 weeks

[Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 @cmclymer]

It annoys me that so many people are under the impression that this guy, Steven Bradbury, is some subpar goober who lucked his way into gold.

That could not be further from the truth.

This is one of the most satisfying victories in the history of the Olympics if you know the full backstory.

This medal final was during his fourth Olympics, in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Earlier in his career, he was among the best athletes in the world in this specific event, the 1000 meter short-track men's speed skate.

But despite his talent, he just had some of the shittiest luck in the sport. We're talking a decade of shit luck.

In the '94 Winter Olympics, he was considered the odds-on favorite to take gold, but he fell in his heat after getting illegally pushed by an opponent (who was later disqualified). He didn't get a re-do. That was it. He got shoved by some asshole, and his Olympics was over.

Then in the '98 Winter Olympics, he was a favorite to at least medal in the same event but got caught up in a collision that wasn't his fault and failed to advance.

In 1994, he got his thigh sliced open by a competitor's skate during a race, which required 111 stitches and 18 months of recovery time.

In 2000, he broke his neck during training because a skater in front of him fell and tripped him up. That required a bunch of screws and plates being inserted into his skull and back and chest.

And doctors told him that he should stop skating. But he didn't wanna give up. It meant too much to him.

So, there he was in Salt Lake City in 2002, past his prime, a walking erector set, going up against opponents who were faster and younger and in their prime.

He manages to win his heat and advance to the quarterfinal but then has the shit luck (yet again) of having to go up against the best two athletes in the quarterfinal and only the top two advance.

He finishes third and thinks: "Damn, I gave it my best shot." But then, the second place finisher is disqualified, so Bradbury gets to advance to the semifinal.

Now, at this point, he's thinking: Well, shit, I'm not as fast as these younger guys, and I got a bad habit of getting taken out by crashes that aren't my fault.

So, he consults with the Australian national coach, Ann Zhang, and they decide that he should hang back from the pack and hope the pack crashes.

That is a perfectly valid strategy. If you crash, you lose, but speed skaters risk crashing to gain an advantage in order to win.

It may not feel exciting, but it is a valid strategy and just as risky: avoid crashes entirely and hope that pays off.

It paid off in the semifinal: the pack, including the defending Olympic champion, jostled too much and crashed. Bradbury wins and advances.

So, he's improbably in the final and takes the same approach, and it works: the entire pack jostles too much and crashes, and Bradbury's risk of hanging back pays off.

This victory was not some un-athletic schlub lucking his way into gold.

It was a journeyman athlete who never gave up and played smart after a career of shitty luck and finally got his due after it being snatched away from him so many times.

Hands down, one of my favorite Olympics stories.

[Australian Athletics @AustralianAths]

JACK IS BACK 👑👑

Jack Rayner has become just the second Australian man in history to shatter the 60-minute barrier in the half Marathon, torching the streets of Barcelona in a time of 59:51 to take down Brett Robinson's national record of 59:57 set in 2020.

Rayner finished in sixth place in the Barcelona Half Marathon, smashing his previous best of 1:01:01!

#AthleticsNation