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10 Years After She Ran Across The U.S., Katie Visco Took On Australia

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Long distance runner Katie Visco just completed a 2,200 mile, 119-day run across the Australian Outback.



RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A marathon is a little over 26 miles. Imagine running more than a marathon every single day for four months.

KATIE VISCO: I officially ran across Australia – 2,210 miles back roads, dirt roads, through the deserts with bicycle support.

NOEL KING, HOST:

That is Katie Visco. Her day job is delivering homemade soup on her bicycle. But this summer, she decided to run down the middle of Australia.

MARTIN: Katie ran between 28 and 38 miles every day while her husband, Henley, biked alongside her with their supplies. A lot of the terrain is desert, right? They dealt with heat, exhaustion and high desert winds.

VISCO: I could feel the wind emotionally because it’s so strong, in your face, right at you, and you can’t do anything about it. It’s literally like running through the most viscous sludge.

KING: The going got rough – like, really rough. In the sandiest stretch of desert, Henley had to push a supply bike for a few days. It weighed 350 pounds.

VISCO: And so with all of his might, he pushed, dragged, pulled this bike through two days of deep sand. There was a couple of moments where he sobbed. A huge lesson from the trip is that if I’m in pain – like, I have to run another 30 miles today and my foot hurts – whatever it is, it is brief.

MARTIN: Dragging yourself across the desert may not sound like fun, but Katie says she’s kind of sad it’s over.

VISCO: This run across Australia was ultimately a mission of self-discovery and self-love. I wanted to become somebody more than I thought I could be.

KING: So what is next for these two? Katie and her husband say they aren’t sure yet, but they are already daydreaming about it.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Serena Williams’ Busted Tennis Racket Is Up For Auction

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The racket is the one she smashed at the 2018 U.S. Open during a match she lost to Naomi Osaka. That was the game where Williams got a charge for illegal coaching, and got into it with the referee.



RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I’m Rachel Martin. A famous tennis racket is up for sale, and it doesn’t even work. It’s Serena Williams’ Wilson Blade, the one she smashed at the 2013 U.S. Open during a match she lost to Naomi Osaka. It was the crack heard round the world after a dramatic game where Williams got a charge for illegal coaching and got into it with the ref. Williams gave the busted racket to a ball boy. He sold it for $500 to a collectibles store to get some cash for college. Now the store’s auctioning it off for a whole lot more.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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University Of Colorado’s Live Buffalo Mascot To Retire Because She Runs Too Fast

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Ralphie V, mascot of the Colorado Buffaloes, is led onto the field before the team’s game against the Arizona Wildcats at Folsom Field on Oct. 05 in Boulder, Colo.

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images


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Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

After 12 seasons of leading the University of Colorado Boulder’s football team onto the field, Ralphie V, the 13-year-old, 1,200-lb buffalo, is officially retiring as the school’s mascot.

The reason? The athletic department says she’s too fast.

“With past Ralphies, as they aged, their speed typically decreased; with Ralphie V, she has been so excited to run that she was actually running too fast, which created safety concerns for her and her handlers,” A press release from the university said.

“She also wasn’t consistently responding to cues from her handlers,” The press release continued. “And her temperament was such that she was held back from leading the team out for CU’s last two home games against USC and Stanford.”

The Ralphie tradition goes back to 1934 at CU and has evolved over the years. This is the 53rd season that a live buffalo has led the team out on the field. Ralphie V retires as the second longest serving Ralphie in the program’s history running a total of 76 times. The original Ralphie ran 78 games over 12 seasons, according to the press release.

“As one of the biggest and fastest Ralphies, her love for running and power was showcased every home game during her career,” John Graves, Ralphie Program manager since 2015 and a one-time handler said in a statement. “It’s almost like she knew she was the queen of campus and she loved to show that fact off when she ran onto the field and at her public appearances.”

Ralphies run the field with a group of CU volunteer handlers, who are all varsity student athletes. It’s a physically demanding job, handlers have to train and practice five days a week to stay in physical shape to keep up with the buffalo.

CU’s Ralphies are beloved by students and often called one of the best live mascots in college sports.

But not everyone is a fan of these types of mascots and the question of using animals in this way has come up recently.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says live-animal mascots score an “F.”

“Regardless of the length of time that they’re kept in captivity, lions, tigers, bears, and other exotic animals don’t ‘get used to” being in public settings,’ ” An article on the organization’s website says.

Earlier this year, PETA called on the University of Texas and the University of Georgia to end their use of live mascots after an incident where Bevo, the Texas Longhorns mascot charged Uga, the Georgia Bulldogs dog mascot before their bowl game matchup.

“It’s indefensible to subject animals to the stress of being packed up, carted from state to state, and paraded in front of a stadium full of screaming fans,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement.

PETA suggests universities use “costumed human mascots” instead.

“It’s no surprise that a skittish steer would react to a perceived threat by charging, and PETA is calling on the University of Texas and the University of Georgia to learn from this dangerous incident, retire their live-animal mascots, and stick to the talented costumed mascots who can lead cheers, react to the crowd, and pump up the team,” Lange said.

Still in good health, Ralphie V will spend her retirement on a ranch under the care of the program. Her handlers keep the location a secret, so fans don’t overwhelm her and so opposing fans don’t find out and harass or kidnap her, The Washington Post reports.

The university has been preparing for her replacement and officials are currently in the process of identifying potential candidates for their next mascot, who will be named Ralphie VI.

Ralphie V’s final appearance will be during Colorado’s final home game against Washington on Nov. 23., but she won’t be running. She’ll be a spectator in her pen, according to university officials.

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Saturday Sports: Colin Kaepernick, Myles Garrett

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Colin Kaepernick is finally invited by the NFL to work out in Atlanta, and the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett has been suspended and fined. Scott Simon talks to Howard Bryant of ESPN.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

I look forward all week to saying it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Colin Kaepernick is an NFL tryout today. Is it for real? And a swing of the helmet ends the season when it lands on a player’s head. We’re joined by Howard Bryant of ESPN. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT: And good morning, Scott. How are you?

SIMON: I’m fine, thanks. But you’re in Atlanta, my friend, for the Colin Kaepernick workout today. He’s been out of football for three years – reached in agreement in his collusion case against the NFL. He still really wants to play NFL football, I guess, doesn’t he?

BRYANT: Well, that’s what it appears to be. There have been so many questions that people have asked about this tryout from the Colin Kaepernick side – why is he doing this after three years in a collusion lawsuit and lots of humiliation and insults from the president? And why would he do this? And I think the bottom line is not very complicated. I think it’s very clear. This is his profession. He wants to play football. This has not been a two-way relationship in terms of the NFL. He’s always been very clear that he wanted to play in the NFL. And the NFL also made it clear that they didn’t want him. So it makes sense that given the opportunity to play, he would come and say he was ready.

SIMON: You’re there to cover the event for ESPN, as only you can, my friend. But is it a real workout?

BRYANT: Well, it’s going to be a great question. And I think that you have to take it somewhat at face value, even though it’s completely unorthodox. Usually when you bring in a player, the teams don’t call the NFL. The NFL doesn’t set up the workout usually. The team calls the player directly and that player comes directly to that team’s facility. And usually, they don’t do it on a Saturday before a game day, when a lot of the coaches are preparing for a game tomorrow. And the scouts and GMs are preparing for a game. But on the other hand, this is the first time since Colin Kaepernick last threw a football in the NFL back on January 1, 2017, that he is going to throw a football in front of, you know, live NFL personnel.

SIMON: I have to ask about a brutal scene in Thursday night’s game between Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. End of the game Myles Garrett, the defensive end, ripped the helmet off the Steelers’ quarterback Mason Rudolph – took that helmet and clubbed him in the head. He’s been suspended by the NFL for the rest of the season. Is that enough? I mean, even by the standards of NFL football, this was ugly – even a criminal act.

BRYANT: It certainly was ugly. I don’t know if it’s a criminal act. It looked awful. I think that…

SIMON: Football criminal act, OK?

BRYANT: Well, you know, what’s funny about that, Scott – not really funny in terms of hilarity, obviously. But one, when you watch the play, Rudolph first tries to rip Garrett’s helmet off. And he doesn’t succeed. So then Garrett gives him a taste of his own medicine by actually succeeding and then going the extra step of hitting him in the face with it or in the side of the head with it.

But I think that what I found most interesting about this, too, was one, that Rudolph – so far – has faced no discipline at all – not even a fine yet. But the other part of it, too, is that the NFL – in terms of all of its violence, in terms of all of its hits – the reason why this was so out of bounds was because Garrett used the helmet as a weapon. But the actual hitting, the actual game is still so violent that it’s not even the worst hit we’ve seen. It’s just simply one of the most illegal things that we’ve seen in the game.

But in terms of actual viciousness, there are so many things that take place inside of those 60 minutes. It’ll be very interesting to see how the NFL decides. He’s already gone for the final six games of the season. But the suspension is indefinite. They may bring this into next season, as well.

SIMON: ESPN’s Howard Bryant, thanks so much.

BRYANT: Thank you.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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What Canadians Think Don Cherry’s Firing

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Iconic hockey commentator Don Cherry was fired for making comments deemed to be anti-immigrant. Cathal Kelly, columnist at The Globe and Mail, tells NPR’s Scott Simon how Canadians are responding.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

For the first time in almost 40 years, tonight, Canadians will not see and hear Don Cherry say, it’s hockey night in Canada. Mr. Cherry, a former player, coach, still a Canadian national icon, was fired earlier this week for on-air comments that many, including, ultimately, his employer Rogers Sportsnet, deemed offensive to immigrants.

Cathal Kelly is a sports columnist for Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, joins us now. Thanks very much for being with us.

CATHAL KELLY: Thanks for having me.

SIMON: So, first of all, what did Don Cherry actually say?

KELLY: Well, that he’s a big supporter of veterans in this country. Remembrance Day was coming up and usually has a big push here for the poppy – wear the poppy to remember the vets.

SIMON: You make a donation to help the families of veterans, and you get a red poppy.

KELLY: Exactly. And then you wear the poppy, usually for a couple of weeks leading into Remembrance Day. And Cherry began, as he often does, a screed about something that had upset him. In this case, it was that people weren’t wearing the poppies. This time, he veered into far more dangerous territory when he began, seemingly – and I don’t think there’s any other way to interpret it – berating immigrants for not wearing them.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DON CHERRY: You people love – you come here, whatever it is. You love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that. These guys pay for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada.

KELLY: And that caused a 24-hour firestorm that consumed him.

SIMON: Can we understand down here the space, as we say it nowadays, Don Cherry has filled in Canadian culture?

KELLY: I don’t know if there’s an American analogy, but Cherry embodies something about a Canadian ideal. It was much more than the sport. The sport is so central to this culture or has been – that’s changing – that Cherry came to personify the most masculine version of it. That was something clownish, cartoonish, fun about him. He was impossible not to know. Fifteen years ago, the CBC, our national broadcaster, did a poll trying to find the greatest Canadian. Don Cherry came seventh (laughter), which tells you where Don Cherry exists. And this is in the entire history of the country.

SIMON: What if Don Cherry had said something like, look; people come to this great country from all over the world, and we’re proud of that, but once a year, we should remember the sacrifice soldiers made, so give a donation and put on a red poppy?

KELLY: You know, if someone like you had said that, Scott, I think that would’ve gone over fine. But Cherry had a history of – bigotry I think is the only word you could call it. But his targets were softer targets in general, Quebecois, Scandinavians, Russians, players he thought were insufficiently tough. But he would round those criticisms into generalized criticisms.

SIMON: You mean relied on skating skills as opposed to elbows.

KELLY: Yeah, exactly. They were not – they had all their teeth. And in Cherry’s world, that doesn’t make you much of a hockey player.

SIMON: Well, I have to ask you. A friend in Canada sent me a link to the story of Jess Allen on CTV who, speaking of hockey players and even fans, said, quote, “they all tended to be white boys who are, let’s say, not very nice.”

KELLY: Yes.

SIMON: She won’t be let go for referring to hockey players as white boys – right? – or calling them bullies.

KELLY: That’s absolutely true. Like, I mean, I argue that most people in this country until that happened had no idea who Jess Allen was. I think that’s part of her protection there. We also have to talk about the cynical level on which Cherry was fired. It wasn’t just for the comments. Rogers Sportsnet has paid a fortune for the broadcasting rights to hockey – $5 billion. And that’s not going so well. And Cherry makes an awful lot of money. So there was also an element here where they probably wanted to ship him out, and this was their opportunity.

SIMON: Are Canadians talking to each other about this or just hurling preset spears of opinion at each other?

KELLY: That’s the kind of really disappointing thing about this is that, yes, it hasn’t become that rational discussion about why this has provoked so much feeling in so many people one way or the other. Right now, it is – it’s still at the screaming stage, but then it gets into a more uncomfortable conversation, I think bizarrely in this country, about hockey and what hockey means to us because that is changing. And I don’t think – there’s a lot of people who don’t want that to change. Hockey is – it’s so foundational in Canada in terms of our self-image. So, you know, what Cherry has done, I think unwittingly, is touched off an entire discussion about the central place of that sport in our culture.

SIMON: Cathal Kelly, sports columnist for Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, thanks so much.

KELLY: Thanks for having me.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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NFL Suspends Myles Garrett ‘Indefinitely’ For Hitting QB With His Own Helmet

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Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett hits Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his own helmet as offensive guard David DeCastro tries to intervene, in the final seconds of their game Thursday night.

Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports / Reuters


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Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports / Reuters

Updated at 12:05 p.m. ET

The NFL has suspended Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett “indefinitely,” after Garrett ripped off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and whacked him in the head with it during a fight at the end of a game Thursday night.

Garrett won’t play again in the rest of 2019 and the postseason, the NFL announced. A date for his possible reinstatement and return won’t be set until he meets with the commissioner’s office.

“Garrett violated unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules, as well as fighting, removing the helmet of an opponent and using the helmet as a weapon,” the NFL said as it announced its decision.

In response to the NFL’s move, Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam sent a statement about Garrett to member station WCPN ideastream in Cleveland saying, “We understand the consequences from the league for his actions.”

The NFL also suspended Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey for three games for fighting: he punched and kicked Garrett in the aftermath of the helmet hit. And it punished the Browns’ Larry Ogunjobi with a one-game ban because he blindsided Rudolph with a hit after the quarterback had been separated from Garrett.

The league also fined all three players, but it did not disclose the amounts. The Browns and Steelers organizations were each fined $250,000.

The Haslams said they are “extremely disappointed” in the altercation. They added, “We sincerely apologize to Mason Rudolph and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Myles Garrett has been a good teammate and member of our organization and community for the last three years but his actions last night were completely unacceptable”

If Garrett’s suspension withstands an expected appeal, he would miss the Browns’ last six games. His punishment is one of the stiffest penalties for on-field behavior the NFL has ever levied, second only to that of Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was suspended for the rest of the season in late September, with 12 games remaining.

The NFL says more disciplinary measures “will be forthcoming” for other players, including those who left their benches to join the fight.

Garrett’s actions obliterated the NFL’s boundaries of controlled violence, resulting in his immediate expulsion from Thursday night’s showcase game. The fighting also triggered shock and outrage and disbelief in the closing seconds of a game that the Browns’ defense had dominated.

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Garrett was ejected from the game along with Pouncey, who rushed in and helped take Garrett to the ground in retaliation for his attack on Rudolph. As lineman David DeCastro grappled with Garrett, Pouncey punched and kicked at his helmet. The Browns’ Ogunjobi was also ejected.

Discussing the fracas after the game, Garrett said it was “embarrassing and foolish and a bad representation of who we want to be.”

“Rivalry or not, we can’t do that. We’re endangering the other team. It’s inexcusable,” Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said.

Garrett has emerged as a defensive star for Cleveland in his third professional year, but he has also incurred penalties at a fast rate, including two roughing-the-passer calls and an unsportsmanlike conduct foul before Thursday’s game.

The NFL has a personal safety rule forbidding “impermissible use of the helmet” — but the rulebook foresaw players using their own helmet to hit others in the course of a game, not a football player ripping an opponent’s helmet off and striking him with it.

“I made a mistake, I lost my cool,” Garrett said afterward. “And I regret it. It’s going to come back to hurt our team. The guys who jumped in the little scrum — I appreciate my team having my back, but it should never have gotten to that point. That’s on me.”

“I thought it was pretty cowardly, pretty bush league,” Rudolph said after the game. When asked how he was feeling after the violent end to a tough game, he replied, “I’m fine. I’m good, good to go.”

Before this season, the NFL’s longest suspension was a five-game ban earned by Albert Haynesworth in 2006 for removing a Dallas Cowboys player’s helmet and then stomping on his face.

After last night’s game, former Steelers linebacker James Harrison — who faced his own suspensions for dangerous hits during his career — was one of many NFL insiders who said Garrett’s actions amounted to assault.

“That’s assault at the least,” Harrison said via Twitter. He added, “6 months in jail on the street.. now add the weapon and that’s at least a year right?!”

The incident began with around 10 seconds left in the game: Garrett grabbed Rudolph as the quarterback completed a harmless third-down pass in the Steelers’ own end, stopping the game clock at 8 seconds. But after Garrett tugged and twisted Rudolph to the ground, the two began wrestling and Rudolph grasped Garrett’s helmet with both hands.

As they got up, Garrett ripped the quarterback’s helmet off by its facemask — and as DeCastro tried to intervene, Garrett swung Rudolph’s helmet in a vicious overhand arc, hitting the quarterback. As Rudolph turned to an official seeking a penalty, the Browns’ Ogunjobi leveled him from behind, sending him back down to the turf.

At the time, the Browns were leading 21-7, and their defense had already recorded four sacks and four interceptions against Rudolph’s Steelers. In the Browns’ stat sheet for the night, Garrett was notably absent from its sack list.

Going into Thursday night’s game, Garrett was leading the AFC in sacks, with 10 quarterback takedowns through the first nine games of the season. He had also been effective against the Steelers, recording four sacks and forcing three fumbles in just three games against the Browns’ division rivals.

Cleveland started the year on a wave of optimism, with talk of a possible run deep into the playoffs. But the team hasn’t lived up to those expectations. And now — instead of discussing their hopes to build on a win that brought their record to 4-6 — the Browns and Garrett are the talk of the NFL for all the worst reasons.

Prior to Garrett’s ejection, Browns safety Damarious Randall was also kicked out of Thursday night’s game, for delivering a dangerous helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson. But it was the end of the game that left the worst impressions in Cleveland.

“It feels like we lost,” Mayfield said afterward.

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