Obscure Sports Dude

The 3ICE league - which is a professional hockey league featuring 3-on-3 play - has returned this summer with eight teams representing Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota, NY/NJ, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.  Instead of playing in their representative cities, the league will play a short, four-week season at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  The championship will be held on August 14. The 3ICE league was a six-team, tour-based league for its first two seasons (2022-2023) and did not play in 2024. Coaches for the teams: Boston - Ray Bourque Buffalo - Pierre Turgeon Chicago - Grant Fuhr Dallas - Guy Carbonneau Minnesota - Larry Murphy NY/NJ - Ken Daneyko Tennessee - John LeClair Games consist of quick eight-minute halves, with the clock stopping only for penalties and injuries. Unlike in NHL overtime, where penalties create four-on-three power plays, penalties in 3ICE lead directly to penalty shots; these are "jailbreak" penalty shots, where other pl...

Did you know that there is a team-based horse racing league? The league is called the National Thoroughbred League (NTL) and was founded by Randall Lane and Bob Daugherty and supported by celebrities like Lamar Jackson and Julius Erving. The NTL is hoping to modernize horse racing through team competition. The league is actually in their third season with 10 teams. The teams include: New York Knights California Shamrocks New Jersey Degens Maryland Colts Miami Thunderbolts St. Louis Nellies Nashville Dreams Philadelphia Stallions San Francisco Unicorns Phoenix Mustangs The most recent news was when rapper Nelly purchased the Seattle Gems team and moved it to St. Louis and renamed the Nellies. The NTL season includes Cup events which features three races, with all 10 teams entering one horse from their roster per race. The entire competition wraps in under three hours, complete with fast-paced racing and entertaining moments between races. Distances range from six furlongs to one mile on...

While beach volleyball gets a lot of attention, there is also a variation of soccer that is widely played throughout the world. Although not as popular as its traditional game, Beach soccer is played in over 200 countries, with more than 30 major international events held annually, including both men's and women's competitions. The sport gained significant momentum when FIFA officially recognized it in 2005 and organized the first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. The game is also being considered for inclusion in future Olympic Games. Brazil won its 7th FIFA Beach World Cup in May. The U.S. team did not qualify for the tournament however they did finish third at the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Tournament. In the United States, the Beach Soccer Championships were played in Oceanside, California. There are no current professional beach soccer leagues but there are hundreds of club teams which participate in tournaments. For more information on the rules: https://beachsoc...

Move over Patriots, New England has a new sports dynasty. The New England Free Jacks defeated the Houston SaberCats 28-22 for their third-straight Major League Rugby (MLR) crown. Paula Balekana scored a brace of tries, while Sam Caird also dotted down and their fly-half, Dan Hollinshead, got 13 points from the kicking tee. Scoring Summary In the seventh minute, Dan Hollinshead completed a penalty goal to kick off the scoring. Shortly after, the SaberCats followed up with their own penalty goal, led by AJ Alatimu. The Free Jacks then scored twice in a row, with Paula Balekana completing a try, followed by a conversion from Hollinshead in the thirteenth minute. Then, in the eighteenth minute, Dan Hollinshead completed another penalty goal. The SaberCats answered back, though, with Max Schumacher scoring, followed by Alatimu’s conversion. The Free Jacks led going into halftime 13-10. Then, in the forty-sixth minute, Sam Caird completed a try, followed by another Hollinshead conversion. Ho...

They have done it all season in Arena Football One’s first season. The Albany Firebirds completed it this weekend with defeating the Nashville Kats 60-57 at home to win the Arena Crown. Less than 24 hours after being named AF1’s Most Valuable Player, Albany quarterback Sam Castronova added Arena Crown MVP to his list of honors. The star quarterback completed 17-of-25 passes for 233 yards and five touchdowns, and added a pair of rushing touchdowns as he won his second league championship in Albany. Nashville (7-5) pushed Albany for 60 minutes, led by quarterback Tyler Kulka, who put up 347 yards and seven touchdowns. A pair of fourth-down sacks allowed Albany to get two key stops in the first half, and defensive back Tre Wortham provided a four-point swing in the second quarter when he intercepted a two-point conversion pass and took it the length of the field to put two points on the board for the Firebirds, who eventually led 32-21 at halftime. Albany pushed its lead to as many as 1...

This was Beaumont's first season and they ended it with a bang as they dethroned the defending National Arena League (NAL) champions to win the championship. The Renegades jumped out to an early lead on the Omaha Beef and never trailed on their way to a 37-29 win. Renegades' quarterback Carl Robinson III scored four touchdowns and was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. Beaumont received the opening kickoff, and it took them five plays to score the first points of the game as D’Nerius Antoine finished the drive with a one-yard drive, Ryan Hibbets missed the extra point try and it was 6-0 Renegades. Omaha needed only two plays to tie the game as Tommy Armstrong took it 30 yards to the house, but Caleb Shudak missed his extra point, and it was tied at 6 with 9:47 in the first quarter. The Renegades used a nine-play drive to regain the lead as League MVP Carl Robinson III scored on a quarterback sneak with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter then Beaumont’s defense got the...