Frosted Flakes: Diversity in Softball, the Segway Is Dead and Lego Submarines

The story below is an interesting one. Kiki Stokes is a former Husker softball player and (I believe) is currently (or recently) a volunteer coach for the Huskers. She was a two-time All-American for Nebraska and was drafted to play in pro softball.

I’m just spitballing here, but I’m guessing that there are not a lot of pro softball teams and that opportunities to get paid to play a sport you love are pretty rare in softball. That makes what Kiki and her teammates did even more remarkable.

I’m not putting this article into Flakes because of its political connotations. I know there will be some comments over the politics, just keep it civil, okay? The reason I put this story at the top of Flakes is because it featured a former Husker. A pretty outstanding Husker at that.

I also found it pretty amazing that Kiki was the only Black player on her pro team. That led to a bit of googling and discovering that softball overall has a diversity problem. It is a real testament to Kiki that she has not only reached the highest level of the sport but is confronting its problems head-on. She is going to be an outstanding coach someday.

Side note - I tried to find a picture of Kiki for the article. None of our licensed sources had one. I’m sure most softball players are nodding and saying, “yup, sounds about right”.

Pro-Softball Players Quit Over General Manager’s Politicized Tweet : NPR
NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with pro-softball player, Kiki Stokes, about her team’s decision to disassociate from the ScrapYard Dawgs over the general manager’s misrepresentation.

Frosted Flakes

Cahoy, Siedhoff Named Academic All-Americans - University of Nebraska
Nebraska track and field senior Kevin Cahoy was named to the 2019-20 Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team and senior Luke Siedhoff was named to the Second

Osmond gas collection spans decades of history - NORTHEAST - NEWS CHANNEL NEBRASKA
It’s an iconic landmark for the town, its walls lined with a history that is becoming ever more scarce.

Changes coming to Husker schedule, with some matches played in PBA | Husker Volleyball | norfolkdailynews.com
Nebraska coach John Cook expects this season to be an “adventure” as the NCAA, Big Ten and volleyball teams across the country try to navigate issues created by the coronavirus.

Husker notes: Palensky Signs with New York Yankees - RIVER COUNTRY - NEWS CHANNEL NEBRASKA
Nebraska junior outfielder Aaron Palensky became the latest Husker to join professional baseball, as he signed with the New York Yankees organization, it was announced on Thursday.

Husker Harvest Days cancelled
Farm Progress, the Husker Harvest Days parent company, announced on Monday afternoon that the 2020 event will be cancelled.

Shatel: What are the odds the Huskers get a full 12-game football season? | Football | omaha.com
The prospects of Nebraska playing a 12-game football season this fall look extremely doubtful, says Tom Shatel. What would that mean for Scott Frost and the Huskers?

Frost says five Husker football players tested positive for COVID-19 since early April | Football | journalstar.com
Nebraska has tested roughly 250 student-athletes and staff, and there have been eight positive tests, including five football players.

Four former Huskers on MLB 60-man rosters
Nebraska baseball will have four former players on Major League Baseball 60-man rosters as teams prepare to begin spring training with an eye on starting the regular season in late July.

Sun, Huskers continue to prepare for uncertain 2020 season - KLKN-TV
LINCOLN – Lexi Sun and Husker volleyball are as motivated as they’ve ever been.

Sportsin’ Stuff Outside the 402/308

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith doesn’t think NBA players can go months without sex | Fox News
Stephen A. Smith argued on “First Take” Tuesday that NBA players might not be able to last three weeks – let alone three months – without being able to have sex.

The most absurd and controversial national title claims in college football history
In most sports, the question “Who won the title?” is a straightforward one. Not so in college football. As we get ready for a season unlike any other, here’s a look at some of the strangest title claims and races in the sport’s history.

Morehouse likely not last NCAA school to cancel football season - Sports Illustrated
Will other D-II schools, or even D-I, follow in the footsteps of Morehouse and forgo the 2020 college football season?

Everything you need to know as MLB's 2020 season restart begins
Spring training 2.0 ... or summer camp? No matter what you call it, baseball's road back to the field starts today. Here's what you need to get up to speed.

Jay Cutler is spending quarantine trying to find a chicken murderer - SBNation.com
Detective Jay Cutler wants to find the animal killing his chickens

I know the feeling Jay.

Why do we love sports? Our (and your) memories of that first spark
Why do we love sports? What was that one moment or experience that created such a connection for each of us? These are our — and your — stories.

Predicting the Next Plague

The murder hornets didn’t pan out. Maybe one of these will?

There’s a Spider Baby Boom in the Arctic, Fueled by Warmer Temperatures | The Weather Channel
Arctic wolf spiders are producing twice as many eggs in years with earlier snow melt.

Mysterious radiation spike detected over Scandinavia | Live Science
Experts have said that a slight spike in radioactivity above northern Europe likely originated in Russia, but Russian nuclear plants in the area deny any abnormalities.

NZ’s ancient monster penguins had doppelgangers, study finds | Stuff.co.nz
The ancient 1.5m monster penguins, whose fossils were found in North Canterbury, had doppelgangers in Japan, the US and Canada.

Monster penguins coming back to life would be just about the right way to end 2020.

More Noise and Other Disturbances

This Twitter Thread About Carl Reiner, His Biggest Fan And Beef Stroganoff Is The Most Heartwarming Thing You'll Read Today - Digg
To commemorate the passing of legendary funnyman Carl Reiner, comic book writer Matthew Rosenberg shared a story on Twitter about the comedian, his dad, and a wonderful anecdote involving a misheard joke on the old Sid Caesar sketch comedy program "Your Show Of Shows."

Plastic keeps virus, not love away from Spain nursing home
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Even when it comes wrapped in plastic, a hug can convey tenderness, relief, love and devotion. The fear that gripped Agustina Cañamero during the 102 days she and...

‘One in a 50m chance’: woman with two wombs carrying a twin in each | UK news | The Guardian
Kelly Fairhurst found out about uterus condition when she went for 12-week scan

NASA Simulation Reveals What Sunsets Would Look Like On Different Worlds | IFLScience
A simulation of sunset on Uranus made to help understand its atmosphere has been compared with the same event on other worlds

Siberia’s Lake Baikal Is the World’s Oldest and Weirdest | HowStuffWorks
Lake Baikal is a massive, ancient lake in Siberia. It’s home to nearly 4,000 different species, earning it the nickname the ‘Galapagos of Russia.’

Another Week, Another Poop Article

Faecal microbial transplantation more effective and less costly than antibiotics to treat C-diff infections, new study shows
An innovative treatment for patients with Clostridium difficile infection which uses transplanted gut bacteria, is more effective and more cost-efficient than using antibiotics, a new UK study has found.

Then There’s This

Sirocco: The celibate spokesbird worth $80,000 | RNZ News
He lives on a secret island, flies in private aircraft and has more than 230,000 online fans. Despite being flightless and effectively celibate, one hand-reared kākāpō might be the closest thing NZ has to royalty.

Maybe he can teach NBA players how to ‘maintain the bubble’?