Offtopic/fun » entertaining, gutsy and captured ever

If the Olympics captivated you with inspiring stories last month in Rio de Janeiro -- such as runners Abbey DAgostino and Nikki Hamblin falling and helping each other up to complete the womens 5,000 meters -- prepare for many more awesome, inspiring athletes this month at the Paralympics. These athletes picked themselves up from far worse falls yet became great examples to everyone: just keep going.Consider five-time Paralympic medalist Josh George, who will compete in an astounding five events in Rio, his fourth Games. George fell out of a 12-story window when he was 4 years old. While he punctured his lungs and was paralyzed from his mid-chest down, he survived the 120-foot fall, perhaps an indication of his physical and mental strength. I stuck the landing, he said with a laugh.I landed straight up and down on my feet in these short, little bushes next to the building, Thats what really saved me, George added. The combination of landing on my feet and in those bushes and the fact that when youre 4, your bones still arent fully formed so they still have a little give to them. They absorbed enough for me to survive.George, 32, has a great sense of humor and outlook on life, along with a love of sports. Despite needing a wheelchair to get around, he grew up playing basketball and tennis, swimming, racing track and more. His parents made sure that he used sports to continue moving forward.I give my parents all the credit in the world, he said. They could not have handled the situation any better. They were amazing. They took it all in stride. They never looked at me as disabled. I was just as able as anybody else in their eyes, and thats how they treated me. I just had to use the wheelchair instead of walking.The athletic activity turned out to be more than just fun and games for George.Sports created seeds of creative problem solving, he said, to be able to find opportunities to maximize my potential. And it carried over in life. Once you learn how to recognize opportunities and once you learn how to utilize different tools to accomplish your goals, it gives you confidence in your ability to approach problems in your future and know youll be able to figure out a solution.After playing wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois, George has concentrated on track, an endeavor in which he has won five Paralympic medals, including gold in the 100 meters and silver in the 800 at the 2008 Beijing Games. In Rio, where the festivities start with Wednesdays opening ceremony, he will compete in the 400, 800, 1,500, 5,000 and marathon wheelchair races.Im going to have my hands full, he said.His hands also will be on the improving carbon-fiber wheelchairs that he says help racers put their power into forward momentum. It doesnt necessarily make you faster, but it makes you more efficient, he said.That efficiency helps especially over longer distances, such as the marathon. Wheelchair racers complete marathons considerably faster than runners -- Georges personal best is 1 hour, 22 minutes, 55 seconds -- though uphill portions can be more grueling since the racers are relying on nothing but arm strength. Going downhill is much faster, with some reaching speeds of 40 mph, but that also leads to potential crashes.Its exciting, George said, but sometimes you end up with your stomach in your throat.It all makes the race as compelling as the regular marathon, and perhaps more so. It is like watching the combination of a running and cycling race.Wheelchair racing is growing in attention and popularity. George says that when people see him arrive in an airport with his wheelchair now, they will ask him whether he will be racing in the city marathon. He usually is, having won eight marathons in Chicago, Los Angeles, London and the Twin Cities.George also writes -- he studied journalism at Illinois -- and you can follow his experiences in Rio at joshgeorgeracing.com. He also is running a campaign called Maximize Your Potential that urges everyone to achieve their highest goals.They can see that is possible in the Paralympics, which George hopes people will watch so they can witness how great the athleticism is -- especially in the United States.We have an interesting relationship with disability, George said of Americans. Its very much a medical model where we think its people who are broken or injured or old. And thats far from the case. We all have a different disability, but were not really overcoming that disability. The overcoming part has come and gone. The struggle has come and gone. We are all out there now to maximize our abilities as an athlete and compete for a gold medal in the same sense the Olympians are.Paralympians have picked themselves up. And now they are providing the same exciting thrills and inspiration as Olympians. Raphael Varane France Jersey . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Custom France Soccer Jerseys . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/samuel-umtiti-france-jersey/ .ca! 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Saturday, September 24Melbourne Storm ($1.40) vs Canberra Raiders ($3.05), AAMI Park at 7:40pmTeam news:The Storms controversial wrestling tactics have come under fire again this week with the Cowboys lodging an official complaint with the NRL and this unnecessary distraction could benefit the Raiders as they prepare for Saturday nights preliminary final.Melbourne have been forced to defend their tactics all week while Canberra have gone about their business quietly and with little fuss which will suit Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.The Storm suffered a major blow last week with hulking forward Nelson Asofa Solomona ruled out for the season but expect to have lock Dale Finucane available after he suffered an ankle injury in the qualifying final against the Cowboys.The Raiders are a lot more settled this week -- Josh Hodgson (ankle) and Blake Austin (hand) overcame serious injuries to play against the Panthers and will line up again. Austin has also revealed he rolled an ankle against Penrith but declared himself a certain starter against Melbourne.Key head-to-head: Cameron Smith vs Josh HodgsonIt is the NRLs smartest player against arguably the NRLs best player this year.Cameron Smith needs no introduction and there is no end to his talent, skills and ability -- he manipulates his team, the opposition and even the officials like few ever have.Hes not big so wont run over his opponents, hes not fast so wont run around them either but he understands the game more than anyone else and his scheming earns him space and time to set up his team mates to finish off the Storms set plays to devastating perfection.Josh Hodgson has been a revelation since switching from the English Super League to the NRL. He arrived at Canberra with little hype or fanfare but has built a huge reputation for himself in quick time.Hodgson was awarded the Mal Meninga Medal alongside Josh Papalii for the Raiders Player of the Year this week and is considered one of the leading contenders to become the first Englishman to win the Dally M Medal.Hodgson proved in last weeks semi-final win against Penrith that he is as tough as he is talented. He defied everybody by overcoming a serious ankle injury to play a leading role in the Raiders win and it was also later revealed he spent most of the week in bed with a virus so a semi-final against Smith will pose no fears for him.Storm:?1. Cameron Munster, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. William Chambers, 4. Cheyse Blair, 5. Marika Koroibete, 6. Blake Green, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Tohu Harris, 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Kenny Bromwich, 15. Tim Glasby, 16. Christian WWelch, 17.dddddddddddd Ben Hampton, 20. Matt White, 21. Felise KaufusiRaiders:?1. Jack Wighton, 2. Edrick Lee, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sia Soliola. Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Luke Bateman, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Joe TapineKey Stats:The Storm boast a dominant winning record against the Raiders of 70.3 percentThe Raiders won their only meeting with the Storm this season but have not won in Melbourne since 2013Storm halfback Cooper Cronk will become the second Melbourne player behind Cameron Smith to reach 300 NRL appearanceUBET verdict:$1.40 Storm, $3.05 RaidersIt is only a few weeks ago that Canberra defeated Melbourne in Canberra, but the betting trend on their match in Melbourne on Saturday night suggests that the Storm will avenge that loss, and go on to play in the Grand Final next week. The other worrying thing with the Raiders is that they have been outscored by their opponents (22-120 in the second half of the 2 finals matches they have played so far. The Storm are relentless in attack and defence, and the inexperience in finals has to be a major concern for Raiders fans against a side with plenty of the same. All of the money has been with Melbourne who have already been cut to $1.40 from $1.45, and judging by what UBET customers have been doing to date, that price may well disappear as game day approachesWeather:?An 80 percent chance of showers late in the day with expected temperature of 15 degrees at kick-off.Prediction:?Canberra have been entertaining, gutsy and captured everyones imagination this year but they now come face to face with arguably the NRLs most professional, experienced and ruthless outfit.This game looms as a battle between offence and defence - the Raiders have been the most prolific scorers in the NRL this year while the Storm are the best defensive unit in the competition.It is often said that defence wins big matches and this is just one reason why I lean towards the Storm to prevail in this one. The other reasons I favour Melbourne include the fact they have too much world class experience, are playing at home and Canberra havent played at this stage of a season in 22 years.This is exactly the type of situation that Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk thrive on and I just get the feeling their calmness and big match experience will sway the result in favour of Melbourne.Tip: Storm by 4Enter your ESPNfootytips NRL selections ' ' '