There have been some odd stories in sports lately. Here are a few.
One that hasn't gotten the attention it may deserve is a ruling by a judge that makes boating illegal.
That's right … the judge said that, if you take your boat out on Lake Erie or on the Sandusky River, you are guilty of criminal trespassing.
An article in IBI Magazine said the ruling comes from a case in The U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Louisiana. Judge Robert G. James said that federal law gives "exclusive and private control over the waters of the river, outside the main shipping channel, to riparian landowners."
The magazine article goes on to say that, although the case, Normal Parm v. Sheriff Mark Shumate, involves the Mississippi River, the ruling makes boating illegal across most of the country.
It adds, "The shallows of the navigable waters are no longer open to the public. That, in effect, makes boating illegal across most of the country."
This would be an Attorney Permanent Employment Program if the principles of the decision come up in courts in other parts of the country. Most notably, I think, because of the judge's reference that exclusive and private control belongs to "riparian landowners."
The word "riparian," for those of you so unfortunate as to attend high school after Latin was taken out of the curriculum, refers to matters involving rivers.
So, does it also apply to Lake Erie? How about smaller lakes and reservoirs? How about rivers like The Sandusky, which is hardly very navigable above Fremont's Ballville Dam?
Quite a fine kettle of fish.
George Foreman wants to be a race team owner. Yeah, that George Foreman. When the Indy Racing League was at Sonoma, CA recently, Foreman met with the Andrettis and several other team owners.
According to an Associated Press article, Foreman would like to buy into an established team before setting up his own. Smart, George … very smart.
Foreman reportedly said, "I have lots of fans and they can't find me in the ring anymore, so this would be a place where they could find me."
True, but the IRL should hurry to get Foreman on board before NASCAR, with its loudly touted diversity program, lures him to their camp.
But would Foreman's team have to mount Meineke Mufflers?
And a good news story from Wisconsin. A doctor who treated driver Cristiano da Matta terms his ongoing recovery from head injuries "a miracle."
You may not have heard much about this story, since there weren't many pictures or videos of it, so it didn't make good TV.
In August da Matta, of the Champ Car circuit, was practicing for a race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, when a deer crossed the track in front of him. The computer data recorded during the crash showed the deer's body hit da Matta's helmet.
Dr. Randall Johnson said that the energy absorbing material inside the helmet was completely compressed, indicating that it dissipated all of the energy it could. The rest of the energy went into da Matta's head.
He was in a coma for a month.
The miracle? According to AP, about 90 percent of people whose heads are hurt that badly never wake up. If they do, they stare at the ceiling, trapped in a vegetative state.
A ruptured blood vessel had to be repaired and about 40 percent of his skull had to be removed to allow his brain to swell. The last of the skull wasn't replaced until a few weeks ago.
Now, da Matta has returned to his home in Miami. He can walk, talk and play the guitar. Dr. Johnson said he will be able to ride a bicycle and drive, although whether he will race again remains to be seen.
Bubba wanted to know: Who got the deer?