Fisherman and futures trader Dave Lamoureux has a taste for danger – a danger he prefers to be served pan seared.

Lamoureux is essentially a big game sportsman, and his favored hunt – enormous tuna fish. Unlike the commercial tuna fisherman, with their big boats and harpoon wielding, Lamoureux prefers a line, a fishing pole, and the comforts of a recreational kayak that he modified in garage. Recently, according to the New York Times, Lamoureux’s and his one-man fiberglass vessel hauled in a 157-pound bluefin tuna, a record for a solo kayak tuna fisherman.

His most recent catch, on Nov. 5, was a 157-pound bluefin, a record tuna for an unassisted kayak fisherman, and a near record over all, topped only by a 183-pound halibut caught by Howard McKim, an Alaskan, in 2004. Reeling in a halibut, though, has been likened to hauling in a load of plywood, and some of Lamoureux’s admirers consider landing a bluefin, known for its power and ferocity, the greater feat. He is a hero at bait shops up and down Cape Cod. On fishing blogs, a few grumblers call him a dangerous idiot.

Lamoureax told the Times that when you hook one of these mothers it’s “sort of like a raging bull” – as the tuna will tow the kayak around until the fish expires from exhaustion. It can take hours for a bluefin to give. Here’s an idea of what it takes to reel one of these beasts in…

Lamoureax and his kayak, named Fortitude, will look to up the ante as he continues his quest, splitting time between his home in Chicago and the fishing waters off the coast of Cape Cod. Someday he hopes to one day push that record weight to 300-400 lbs.

I’d suggest a record tuna casserole bake-off at the local rod & gun for the locals in the community when that happen.
Catching Tuna and Hanging On for the Ride (New York Times)

(Photo via NYT)

The New York Times reports this week that the record for most wins by a Div. 1 baseball program is held, not by one of the Texas/Florida/California baseball factories, but the University of Fordham Rams of Bronx, NY with 4010 wins in the program’s 150 year history.

(The Fordham baseball field in 1902; photo credit: Fordham Library)

And get this. The next closest is Texas with 3,117 – a margin of 893 games.*

I crunched the numbers and, short of any hard data calculations to report, I’ve determined this record SUPREMELY UNBREAKABLE!!!

To honor the record and the 150 year Anniversary, Fordham will take on Williams College, also celebrating their team’s 150 year heritage, next Tuesday. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, Fordham’s president and the padre behind the game, will toss out the first pitch on Fordham’s Bronx campus. As sort of a backhanded complement, Hal Steinbrenner, a Williams grad. was invited to throw out the second pitch.

Check out the NYT story for all sorts of baseball almanac-type info. Like for instance, according to the article, Williams technically played the first NCAA baseball game. But they played using “Massachusetts rules,” which allows 14 players on the field, and no foul territory. Williams lost that game to Amherst 73-32.

*To be fair, Fordham baseball started 36 seasons earlier than Texas. Should have been a little less slow on the uptake, Quickdraw.

Meet Devil Dan. The Syd Barrett of Roller Derby.

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I need to post a retraction from previous post where I alluded that the season for the mighty Fordham Rams would end without an A-10 tourney appearance. Apparently, they’ve weaseled their way in as the final seed (#12). Fordham takes on St. Joe’s on Thursday, March 13th at 2:30 p.m. EST from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Moved into the new office in Soho. Got the top floor with roof access. Thinking about investing in a golf net and a redneck hot tub

The Wire series finale was bonkers. Nice chunky post coming later. Here’s the New York Times take on the finale.

99% of the sports news/commentary I digest on daily basis lives online. And 90% of this comes from blogs – all 78 of them that comb religiously – whose voices range from tongue and cheek to truly depraved (for the record, I couldn’t be happier about this). However, everyday I consciously make the effort to pick up a printed copy of the New York Times sports section. Some media pundits look at this sort of media consumption and cite it as an example of why traditional print media will never die. They’ll say that people desire that tactile experience of having something in their hand, and will never get tired of getting their fingers in there and getting dirty with their news. This argument is nothing if not sexually repressed.

Here’s an example of why I actually read the New York Times everyday. Times reporter Katie Thomas featured a story today on cockfighting in the Dominican Republic (A Question of Culture, Dominicans Say Cockfighting Is in Their Blood); she got top billing on D1 over the Clemens/McNamee debacle/fiasco.

This story comes on the heels of the reports that former and current MLB players Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez are prominently involved in the cockfighting institution of D.R. In fact, Marichal oversaw the sport when he served as the Minister of Sports in the Dominican during the 1990s. And the owner of the club in Pedro’s native neighborhood said that Martinez was a regular at his establishment. Another current Dominican ballplayer, Aramis Ramirez, is featured in an issue of En La Traba, a Dominican cockfighting magazine.

According to Thomas’ story, cockfighting dates back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus, and the fighting roosters he had with him, landed on what would become the Dominican Republic. Currently, there are 1500 cockfighting arenas (or galleras) recognized by the National Commission of Cockfighting. The fighters are bred from mothers with a history of breeding strong competitors, and their diet regimens include vitamins and antibiotics. During the matches, the bets are thrown out verbally like a Wall Street trading floor (never recorded, but honored meticulously). And police man the entrances to the arenas, checking guns (not checking for guns, like coat-checking, except its weapons).

The Dominican people defend cockfighting saying its part of the culture. Or they say that they have better things to worry about, like that 40% of the pop. lives below the poverty line (sure, fair enough). These arguments would have had Vick’s lawyers sans testiclees singing Soprano.

I have two words for Dominican cockfighting: Jet. Blue. Seriously, where do I need to go? I read the story, and I can’t get Little Jerry Seinfeld out of my mind. I’m visualizing BloodSport, BloodSport II: The Next Kumite, BloodSport IV: The Dark Kumite. I’m enthralled.

Well done, Katie Thomas. Vacation. Destination.

Now back to real world of reading and sport. Rumors and Rants has a post about a run-in with Julie “the Cat” Gaffney, and Randball has a Q&A with The Human Highlight Reel.