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Tennis (balls) Anyone?

A weird experiment that shot tennis balls at a guy.

I never have a problem sleeping. My two older brothers often have bouts of insomnia.

But the other night, I was tossing and turning, so I turned on the TV.

There was some show called something like "Science of Sports" where they talk in detail about some scientific aspect of an athlete.

They were showing boxers that throw low blows. They wondered if getting hit below the belt, could cause severe damage or death.

Having played sports as a kid, I can tell you, death is probably less painful.

After they showed all these graphics of the human body, and what happens when you are hit in the testicles, I couldn't stop laughing. It was like being in sex ed class as a 6th grader.

The reason I laughed, is they went out and got someone they paid $50. He was to stand there, and a machine would shoot tennis balls, at a speed of 50 mph, at his crotch. They had him wired up, and wanted to see what it did to his heart rate. They wanted to see if it would get close enough to where it could kill him.

I thought, even if it doesn't come close, is this an experiment we need to do?

The guy placed a huge piece of glass in front of him, while they calobrated the machine. When a test run was done, his heart rate jumped up to that of someone anticipating a roller coaster ride. The glass was removed, and after a few minutes of anticipation...the first shot nailed him.

He hit the ground screaming and cluthing himself. The funniest part was a few seconds after he fell, seeing a second yellow ball sail by his face, before they shut off the machine.

Medics came in and looked at him. He said, aside from pain in the obvious area, he couldn't feel anything in his right arm. His heart rate was off the chart, and they said near a state that could kill him.

So many things were wrong with this experiment. What if the ball (uh, tennis ball) didn't hit him exactly in the area, but just grazed it? Or, what if they damaged this guy? In high school, we had a catcher that lost a testicle when a baseball was thrown from a pitcher. Sure, that was probably 75 mph, and a baseball is harder, but still.

If the writers strike doesn't end, maybe this can be the next "reality show" they have. Guys standing in front of tennis machines and batting cages.

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I never have a problem sleeping. My two older brothers often have bouts of insomnia.

But the other night, I was tossing and turning, so I turned on the TV.

There was some show called something like "Science of Sports" where they talk in detail about some scientific aspect of an athlete.

They were showing boxers that throw low blows. They wondered if getting hit below the belt, could cause severe damage or death.

Having played sports as a kid, I can tell you, death is probably less painful.

After they showed all these graphics of the human body, and what happens when you are hit in the testicles, I couldn't stop laughing. It was like being in sex ed class as a 6th grader.

The reason I laughed, is they went out and got someone they paid $50. He was to stand there, and a machine would shoot tennis balls, at a speed of 50 mph, at his crotch. They had him wired up, and wanted to see what it did to his heart rate. They wanted to see if it would get close enough to where it could kill him.

I thought, even if it doesn't come close, is this an experiment we need to do?

The guy placed a huge piece of glass in front of him, while they calobrated the machine. When a test run was done, his heart rate jumped up to that of someone anticipating a roller coaster ride. The glass was removed, and after a few minutes of anticipation...the first shot nailed him.

He hit the ground screaming and cluthing himself. The funniest part was a few seconds after he fell, seeing a second yellow ball sail by his face, before they shut off the machine.

Medics came in and looked at him. He said, aside from pain in the obvious area, he couldn't feel anything in his right arm. His heart rate was off the chart, and they said near a state that could kill him.

So many things were wrong with this experiment. What if the ball (uh, tennis ball) didn't hit him exactly in the area, but just grazed it? Or, what if they damaged this guy? In high school, we had a catcher that lost a testicle when a baseball was thrown from a pitcher. Sure, that was probably 75 mph, and a baseball is harder, but still.

If the writers strike doesn't end, maybe this can be the next "reality show" they have. Guys standing in front of tennis machines and batting cages.

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