A buddy of mine encouraged me to hit up YouTube for some Roberto Carlos clips, and I’m glad I did. First up is the physics-defying free kick against France HQ. It must have been disbelief that kept the goalie pretty much pinned in place. That post should not have been fair game. This top 10 goals compilation is also pretty good (alas, not in high quality). I think the goal at 2:57 is actually more impressive than the free kick, and if the soccer itself isn’t proof of his athleticism, check out the air on his celebratory leap at 0:40.

• I enjoyed Keith Scott's simple explanation of the hows and whys of foam rolling. Then I noticed his blog is good across the board. « via Joachim Bartoll »
• From "The Genius in All of Us": How Beckham Bends It. Be sure to check out the highlight reel he links to.
• Two videos: an impressive jump, and the Crossfit women display impressive Tabata squat prowess (you'll have to click through to the video).

...allegedly (he pleads not guilty).

Holy crap. Imagine if Larry Bird's last act on the court was to knee Magic Johnson in the balls.

(The analogy almost certainly breaks down in drawing the Materazzi/Magic comparison, but still...)

A buddy of mine e-mailed succinctly: "Did you watch Zidane today? Amazing thing, competitiveness."

How sad.

I've collected a few links I've been meaning to post separately, but ran out of time. So here's the lot:

• The photo here is of Parallette Back Push-ups: "The U.S. Navy record for this exercise in 1943 was 89 reps."
• Dynamax medicine ball workout (WMV 5MB). Looks intense. Wish I knew how heavy the ball was. « via CrossFit »
• Art De Vany: Vitamin A, Protein, and Testosterone. Who knew?
• Wow, check out the Seven-minute Michael Owen highlight reel. English striker whose World Cup ended on an ACL tear. What a shame.