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The
other extreme, by Matt Holden - 1st March 2002
(Credit: Fairfax)
Media Man Australia has a business relationship
with Colin
Handley of the Australian
Stunt Academy. Projects on the way include:
PUBLICITY
STUNT!
Extreme
Sports Directory
First stop is St Moritz for a spot of cricket: in
the middle of a frozen lake
(www.extremesportsphoto.com/
cricketonice.html). Any game that takes five days
to play and still ends in a draw is pretty extreme
already, so why would you want to add sub-zero fielding
conditions to the mix? But all you need is a large,
level surface and 22 fools, flannelled or otherwise.
Long sleeves obligatory, thermal pillboxes optional
but recommended. Leave your whites at home. Voila!
Cricket on ice.
Still at St Moritz, this time on the slopes, for an
activity that involves chasing an elephant down a
ski slope. A large, red, inflatable plastic elephant,
that is. About the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. On
a sled. There must be something in the mineral water
(www.btinternet.com/~dafyddk/dsc.htm).
The
elephant chaser was a member of the Dangerous Sports
Club, a loose gang of people from different corners
of the globe who take their recreation weird, with
a twist of fear. The DSC is active in England (of
course), and one of its favourite games is human catapult
(www.btinternet.com/ ~dafyddk/dscpics/trebuchet.htm).
The
sport is played like this: large, medieval-looking
catapult launches person. Person somersaults through
air. Person hits net. Person bounces out of net. Person
lands in mud and fractures pelvis. Ambulance takes
person to hospital. Ouch!
Now,
if you think catapults are dull, there's always free-style
stunt pogo (www.envy.nu/ stuntpogo/metal/). The tricks?
How about making the stick spin through 180 degrees.
Or through 360 degrees. Or even through 540 degrees.
With no hands. Last time we looked, the URL was dead.
Must be coming back bigtime later in 2002 with a fully-sponsored,
Flash-enabled, very loud and ugly, rock'n'rollin'
site. Phew!
There
are other ways to get x-tremely up in the air, like
Paramotor x-treme flying
(www.
geocities.com/Pipeline/3845/). The site developer
says his name is Luke Skywalker (really), but the
guy is not kidding. This is a real-world activity.
As
Luke's page says, "You can take off from an area
as little as a tennis court, fly a couple of feet
above the ground, cruise up to 10,000 feet ! and finally
land SAFELY And everything fits in your car ! No hangar,
no heavy infrastructure or maintenance needed ! IT
JUST REQUIRES YOUR COURAGE..."
What
is a paramotor? Basically, a person with a parachute
and a small motor strapped to their back?that's right,
you use the parachute to go up, not down, by running
to get the canopy full of air.
The
motor, a twin-cylinder 250cc affair with what looks
like a large household fan attached to the back, provides
forward momentum and lift to help get you in the air,
and if it fails, well?you just pick your landing spot
and parachute safely back to earth. No need to worry
about the canopy opening, either, because it's?already
open! And yes, there is a school in Australia, on
the Sunshine Coast (members.ozemail.com.au/
~intheair/).
Then
there's Extreme Championship Wrestling: as if World
Championship Wrestling wasn't extreme enough (www.
wcw.com/ecwsite/). Apparently, Extreme Championship
Wrestlers are bigger, uglier, meaner, louder than
regular wrestlers. I can't tell the difference.
Human
beings will go to great lengths to make safe activities
exciting and dangerous. Even ironing has its extremists,
people who'll take a Sunbeam and some creased linen
anywhere to combine "the thrills of an extreme
outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed
shirt." They've been spotted pressing hankies
and underpants on mountainsides, in kayaks, while
snowboarding and skiing, from London to Colorado and
unspecified locales in Wales and France. Although
it's a non-competitive sport, the Extreme Ironing
Bureau claims it does hold freestyle championships,
with points awarded for style, execution of ironing
and difficulty (cub.phpwebhosting. com/~eib/ei/homepage/main.php).
The last competition attracted entrants from South
Africa, Germany, the UK and the US.
But
don't hold your breath waiting for the Double-Caffeine
Big-Bang Supercola X-treme Ironing Pro Tour at a beach,
mountain or snow-field near you any time soon. This
is a sport strictly for ironists.
Media
Man Australia
Profiles
Extreme
Sport Directory
Australian
Stunt Academy
Publicity
Stunt!
Colin
Handley
Anthony
Kelly (Reaction Extreme Trainer)
Steve
Irwin look-a-like
Crocodile
Mick Pitman
Media
Man Australia: Sport
Guinness
World Records
Stuntmen,
Stunts & Daredevils
Websites
Australian
Sports Entertainment
Australian
Sports Entertainment - Sports websites
Backyard
Wrestling - Australian Sports and Entertainment
Portal
Extreme
Championship Wrestling tribute
Australian
Stunt Academy
ABC
- The Sports Factor - The Extreme
ABC
- Double The Fist
Snowboard.com
World's
Fastest Drummer - Extreme Sport Drumming
Articles
Death
Of Wrestling
Powder
to the people
Jump
on board
Money
Still Rolls In To Top Sports
Interviews
Justin
Lawrence - Xtreme Fighting Championships
Dan
Severn - UFC Champion
Paul
Hough - The Backyard
Ron
Ziemiecki - Aussie People
Richard
Cashman - Sports author and expert
Killer
Kowalski - Pro Wrestling Legend
Max
Markson - Markson Sparks!
Press
Release
Sponsors
- The Right Combination
Sports
movies and documentaries for sale
Wheels
On Fire (Drag Racing in Australia)
The
Far Shore (Surfing)
The
Backyard (Backyard Wrestling)
Other
Sport
Attention:
Public and Media
Media
Man Australia has a track record of securing media
coverage for the sports and extreme sector.
Entities
and talent assisted includes, but is no means
limited to:
Colin
Handley, Australian Stunt Academy - Media Man
Australia
Shane
Warne, via association with Kym Illman and Max
Markson - B&T, Sydney Morning Herald, The
Australian, ABC TV 'The Glasshouse', 4BC, Marketing
Magazine
Maroubra
Skatepark - Southern Courier, ABC Radio, Radio
2GB
Maroubra
Fun Run - Southern Courier, ABC Radio, 2UE Radio
Australasian
Wrestling Federation - Media Man Australia
Corvette
Show N Shine - The Daily Telegraph (Cars Guide)
Natallie
Saville, Radio 2SER, The Daily Telegraph (Weekend
Planner)
Arina
Manta - Media Man Australia
Carlie
Thornton - Media Man Australia and SoulMark -
Mark Of The Soul
Steve
"Crusher" Rackman - ABC Mondo Thingo,
ABC Radio Northern Queensland, 2CC
John
"Vulcan" Seru (BBC Radio)
Mario
Milano - 2CC
Crocodile
Mick Pitman - ABC Radio, Channel Seven 'Sunrise'
and 'Today Tonight', Channel Nine 'Today', RTHK,
Triple J, The Bulletin, The Courier Mail, The
Sun Herald, UK Daily Mirror
Keith
"Bendigo" Sloan - The Age, The Times
World
Wrestling Entertainment - Lion's Gate Films -
ABC Radio Northern Queensland
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