New exhaust header rules handed down to NHRA Funny Car teams

NHRA has announced that the angle of the headers on Funny Cars would become standardized starting with the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, outside of Denver, Colorado. This process of angling the headers on Funny Car engines has done more to advance the performance of the class than any other performance process.

NHRA’s tech department determined the process needed limits.

In a memo issued to teams on July 12, NHRA's tech department said, "Effective immediately the minimum header angle will be 32 degrees. Additionally, there will be a maximum header pipe O.D. of 2.75 inches

as well as the I.D. must remain constant beginning 8 inches below the header flange to the exit of the header (i.e. stepdown headers not permitted).

"We will continue to evaluate header angles with possibly making additional rule changes for 2017. If additional rule changes are made, we will communicate these change(s) prior to the end of the 2016 season."More info

Sports fun day at gymnasium

About 10 children took part in a basketball and badminton fun day at Thames High School's gymnasium on July 13.

Sport Waikato's Thames Coromandel district co-ordinator Justine Baverstock said the day started with basketball skills and drills, followed by a tournament.

After lunch, the 8- to 13-year-old children played badminton.More info!

No kidding: These college football players provide comic relief

With Mark Schlabach's most recent Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings as our guide, we have ranked everything from the weakest position groups to the most likely future presidential candidates. This week, a little comedy. Which players on college football's top 25 teams could moonlight as stand-up comedians?

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

Da'Shawn Hand

One of the best moments after Alabama won the national championship was when the players took over the SEC Now set after the game. The highlight was Hand, who looked like a natural in front of the camera as he made people laugh after commandeering the microphone from Joe Tessitore. From asking Tim Tebow questions about the game to his response to Kenyan Drake's touchdown, it was comedy gold. At one point, he even asked for the cameraman to zoom in on him. -- Greg Ostendorf more info

Derby girls finding fun off-season in Lawton Skatepark

Whenever someone new watches the Fort Wayne Derby Girls compete, they are always a little surprised by the intensity, intricacy and speed of a bout. Just like any other big-time athletes, they play hard on every trip around the track.
But now it's the off-season, and the Derby Girls are finding ways to have fun staying sharp. Saturday afternoon they were jumping and racing around the Lawton Skatepark, laughing, trying trick maneuvers and challenging each other while also showcasing their athletic ability and skating grace.
"This really strengthens us in different manners and gives us something to do in the off-season that is fun and outdoors and something new," long-time Derby Girl Jennifer Oetting said. "Once summer hits and it's 100 degrees where we practice, it's always nice to get a little air and a little air."

British GP: Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg on 'final warning' at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are on a "final warning" that they will be severely punished if they crash again but remain free to race.

Their Mercedes team said they had "strengthened our rules of engagement to include much greater deterrents to contact between our cars".

Boss Toto Wolff said the drivers faced "sporting and financial consequences".

3 things we learned from Germany's penalty shootout win over Italy at Euro 2016

Germany and Italy played a brilliant match. It was a tactical and hard-fought battle with plenty of close, heart-stopping moments at either end of the pitch, as two of Europe's best sides played their hearts out for 120 minutes for a place in the Euro 2016 semifinal. The match had to go to penalties after the score was still at 1-1 after 120 minutes, and a dramatic and bizarre penalty shootout saw Germany advance after one of the best matches of the tournament so far.

The first half was widely derided as a dull affair for its lack of goals, but the truth was anything but. Both Italy and Germany played a quick-paced passing game to try to beat the hard press both sides were employing, creating plenty of attacking opportunities at either end of the pitch. The lack of scoring wasn't because of a stodgy, slow-paced game plan by either Joachim Löw or Antonio Conte. It was because of impressive defensive stands, especially from Jerome Boateng and Leonardo Bonucci, and because of a series of miscues from Mario Gomez and Eder in the German and Italian attacks.