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City, Daily Bread, Faraway Places, Sports, Winter

Daily Bread for 3.15.25: Snowball Fighting as a Sport (Winter Will Be Back Soon Enough)

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 67. Sunrise is 7:06 and sunset is 7:01, for 11 hours, 55 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 98.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1991,  the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Japan’s Intense Snowball Fighting Sport:

Snowball fighting. Where Dodgeball meets the Winter Olympics. Scenes from Elf and Home Alone come to mind. Well, in Japan, they take Yukigassen, which translates to ‘snow battle’, very seriously… Today, over 100 teams from 15 countries travel to the foot of Mount Usu to compete in the World Championships. In this week’s video, with the help of prior champions, The Tobu Raiders, we break down the rules, the gear and the tips you need to become a champion.

Whitewater could do this, properly organized and managed. Much better than Spring Splash. Lots of college towns have spring events, but a winter snowball competition would be something… special.

Cutting ties:

Animals, Daily Bread, Sports

Daily Bread for 11.17.24: Pigeon Racing in Wisconsin

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 56. Sunrise is 6:50, and sunset is 4:29, for 9 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 95.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1820, Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica. (The Palmer Peninsula is later named after him.)

Wisconsin Life | Family passion for pigeon racing:

Dark Horse Loft near New Richmond is home to a unique mother and son pigeon racing team who compete against each other in an unusual sport hundreds of years old.

Not my sport, yet fascinating nonetheless.

The person in line ahead of you ordering coffee:

America, Daily Bread, Sports, University

Daily Bread for 9.8.24: Team USA Wheelchair Basketball Defeats Great Britain, 73-69

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 6:28, and sunset is 7:15, for 12h 46m 45s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 24.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1760, during the French and Indian War, the French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter’s conquest of New France.

Led by Steve Serio’s near triple double in his final game, Team USA won their third straight men’s wheelchair basketball gold medal with a 73-69 victory over Great Britain.

It was a good day for America — and for UW-Whitewater — yesterday in Paris as the United States took its third consecutive gold medal in wheelchair basketball. Liam Griffin of the Wheelchair Sports Federation writes On Top Again: U.S. Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Tops Great Britain for Third Straight Paralympic Gold:

Paris, France (Sept. 8) — Winning two consecutive championships is widely considered one of the hardest things to do in sports. Three in a row? Even tougher.

Team USA men’s wheelchair basketball had none of that on Saturday at Bercy Arena.

Great Britain gave the U.S. all it could handle, but it wasn’t enough. Team USA pulled out a 73-69 victory to secure gold once again.

“This team has grown so much over the course of the last couple of years,” proclaimed Steve Serio, team captain. “We knew that Great Britain was going to be a great opponent, a really tough group of guys. Right now, we’re just excited that we won a basketball game and got to bring home another gold medal for our country.

“It feels awesome,” exclaimed Jake Williams [UW-Whitewater alumnus, profile @ Team USA], owner of a third gold medal. “Gold medals are never easy, and I think this was one of the hardest ones with only eight teams being in the tournament, they’re all really good, but we stayed together as a team and I’m definitely glad that we came out on top.”

….

The win is a bittersweet one for Team USA. Before the game, Serio made a major announcement. The opening ceremony flag-bearer revealed that the Paris Games would be his last.

“He definitely makes my job a lot easier,” said Williams. “Playing for Team USA has been so much fun, definitely the most fun I’ve had playing basketball.”

Boeing Starliner successfully returns to earth without crew:

Boeing’s Starliner capsule successfully returned from the International Space Station Friday evening with an empty cabin, leaving behind two test pilots who must now remain on the station for another five or six months.

Daily Bread, Sports

Daily Bread for 8.17.24: Jai Alai, The Sport That America Forgot About

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:04, and sunset is 7:52, for 13h 47m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 93.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1936, the state of Wisconsin issued the first Unemployment Compensation Check in the United States for the amount of $15. The recipient was Neils N. Ruud who then sold it to Paul Raushenbush for $25 for its historical value. The check is now at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin was the first state to establish an Unemployment Compensation program.

On this day in 1978,  Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.

Jai Alai: The Sport That America Forgot About:

For much of the 20th century, jai alai dominated the Miami sports scene, attracting crowds as large as 15,000. Today, the sport is barely hanging on in America. So what happened? Well, it’s a wild story, one involving gangs, organized crime and murder. We caught up with decorated jai alai athletes Benny Bueno and Leon Shepard to get the scoop on the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of America’s forgotten sport.

Progress cargo spacecraft docks with space station in time-lapse:

Daily Bread, Sports

Daily Bread for 4.6.24: Meet the Climbing Champion With One Hand

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 53. Sunrise is 6:25 and sunset 7:28 for 13h 02m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 7.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1965,  Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, is launched. 

Meet the Climbing Champion With One Hand | Super Power:

Meet the Mars Samples: Comet Geyser (Sample 24):

Badgers, Daily Bread, Sports

Daily Bread for 3.20.22: Wisconsin vs. Iowa State

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Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 59.  Sunrise is 6:56 AM and sunset 7:07 PM for 12h 11m 41s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 94% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech…