White_Savage
Mentor
You know, there are all kinds of people, like our friend Sailer, who love to put together a few biometric statistics and declare us hopelessly inferior athletes.
"Yes you're better at swimming, you blubbery white man", they'll admit. As has been pointed, Strongman competition, MMA, and the Klitschko brothers are conveniently left out of these people's reckoning.
But what of their contention, oh White man, that because your body naturally has a highter percentage of heat-retaining fat (you are a NORTHERN subspecies of the "naked ape" after all) ,and because, (let's face it), your average sprinting speed is somewhat slower, why, you're just almost a eunuch compared to the all mighty *******?
Well, being the gentle nature loving pagan I am (ha ha ha), I believe I've found a good answer in observing the world of animals.
The lion is Africa's largest and most powerful predator. The bear is Northern Europe's "king of the beasts." Leo certainly carries less fat than Ursus, especially around this time of year. The big cat, lacking a thick layer of fur, probably has the all important "cut look" that for some reason becaome confused with being powerful. It's even possible that the lion is faster in a sprint than a bear, though a grizzly can catch and kill elk, horses, and cattle, and thus is no slowpoke.
Among the many ingeniously depraved entertainments to be had in San Francisco and other towns in the gold-rush days were blood sports of every kind. Bull-baiting, Bear-baiting, *******-fighting, dog-fighting, and of cours, the prize ring of the era. Now it is a historical fact that among other things, full grown lions were sometimes imported and induced to fight with grizzly bears. Not just 1200 lbs bears against 500 lbs lions mind you, most often they were rougly equal in size. The interesting part is that the bear quickly killed the lion nearly each and every time. While the lion's claws and swipes can make grievous swiping cuts, a bear typically uses his paws to make blows with tremendous strength, blows that can break skulls, spines, limbs, and pelvises. Indeed bears often kill things like bison and cattle in this manner. In close grappling and biting power, there is also no comparison.
This historical footnote struck me as so strikinly similar to the usual results of MMA matches as to be the perfect natural metaphor, and makes me wonder if the North Gods don't have their own unique sense of humor.
"Yes you're better at swimming, you blubbery white man", they'll admit. As has been pointed, Strongman competition, MMA, and the Klitschko brothers are conveniently left out of these people's reckoning.
But what of their contention, oh White man, that because your body naturally has a highter percentage of heat-retaining fat (you are a NORTHERN subspecies of the "naked ape" after all) ,and because, (let's face it), your average sprinting speed is somewhat slower, why, you're just almost a eunuch compared to the all mighty *******?
Well, being the gentle nature loving pagan I am (ha ha ha), I believe I've found a good answer in observing the world of animals.
The lion is Africa's largest and most powerful predator. The bear is Northern Europe's "king of the beasts." Leo certainly carries less fat than Ursus, especially around this time of year. The big cat, lacking a thick layer of fur, probably has the all important "cut look" that for some reason becaome confused with being powerful. It's even possible that the lion is faster in a sprint than a bear, though a grizzly can catch and kill elk, horses, and cattle, and thus is no slowpoke.
Among the many ingeniously depraved entertainments to be had in San Francisco and other towns in the gold-rush days were blood sports of every kind. Bull-baiting, Bear-baiting, *******-fighting, dog-fighting, and of cours, the prize ring of the era. Now it is a historical fact that among other things, full grown lions were sometimes imported and induced to fight with grizzly bears. Not just 1200 lbs bears against 500 lbs lions mind you, most often they were rougly equal in size. The interesting part is that the bear quickly killed the lion nearly each and every time. While the lion's claws and swipes can make grievous swiping cuts, a bear typically uses his paws to make blows with tremendous strength, blows that can break skulls, spines, limbs, and pelvises. Indeed bears often kill things like bison and cattle in this manner. In close grappling and biting power, there is also no comparison.
This historical footnote struck me as so strikinly similar to the usual results of MMA matches as to be the perfect natural metaphor, and makes me wonder if the North Gods don't have their own unique sense of humor.