It's Outdoor Week on Sport.Woot and we're GIVING AWAY three High Sierra backpacks to three Facebookers.

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It's Outdoor Week on Sport.Woot and we're GIVING AWAY these Geigerrig hydration packs to two thirsty Facebookers. They grant you the power of the camel's mighty hump. Humping powers?

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Are you ready for some WOOTBALL? We've got tons of NFL, NCAA, and drankin' gear on sport.woot.com, and we're GIVING AWAY this Seahawks Can Cooler to one lucky Facebooker.

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Going camping? Want to freeze? If you answered "yes" and "no" in that order, you need a sleeping bag! If you gave the same answers in the opposite order, you need a liquid nitrogen gun.

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Five.

That's how many fishing trips it took for me to finally catch the first fish of my adult fishing career. I didn't expect it to matter as much as it did, to be honest. When I was first invited to a fishing trip with some friends a few months ago I figured I'd mostly be along for the beer, and a little sunshine wouldn't hurt either. I couldn't remember the last time I'd fished, but I was pretty certain my dad had to bait the hook for me. I guess catching crawdads on sewing thread tied around chunks of hot dogs counts, so let's say 12. I was 12 the last time I fished.

And I had forgotten how much fun it is.

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Did you hear about this thing? This inspiring athletic event going on in England?

No, not that one. this one.

Six women -- career women and/or moms all, and none of them pro athletes (but all of them super tough) -- are swimming a two-way crossing of the English Channel as part of an effort to raise donations for ALS research. And there's a chance they could even set a women's relay team record.

As if that's not a dramatic enough endeavor, team leader Amanda Mercer was diagnosed with breast cancer this March. The last four months of her training were hampered by three rounds of aggressive chemotherapy. But the team is nonetheless on the Channel this week for a probable crossing attempt today, conditions permitting. See what I mean about tough?

I have a special interest in this awesome story: One of the women on the relay team is my cousin. (Go, Jenny!) But even with no family ties, after you watch this video, I bet you'll have a special interest in it too.

Life Cycles from Bob Berg on Vimeo.

You can donate to the fundraising effort at the Channel for ALS site. (Donations do not go toward the team's travel costs.) They've raised $68,000 so far! And it doesn't cost anything to be thinking of these six ladies today, or this weekend, or whenever the conditions are right for their swim.

It's a big deal. They'll be contending with the cold, the current, the waves -- even jellyfish, for crying out loud. (Jenny's son also wanted to be sure she was appropriately concerned about unexploded mines from World War II). But if ever a group of athletes embodied that "strength and determination" thing the big-league play-by-play announcers are always going on about, it's gotta be these six women. Go for it, team!

Six Michigan women to swim English Channel to fight ALS (SI.com)

Swimmers Take On English Channel for a Cause (ESPNW)

Cancer survivor channeling her pain to set world record (Detroit Free Press)

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Every page in Woot 2012 Calendar includes a QR code that, when scanned after each month begins, takes you to a new chapter in The Secret of El Arenque Rojo. In Chapter 1, video store owner Roy Odom found a box of mysterious VHS tapes. In Chapter 2, he started to notice some odd coincidences and symbols in the movies on the tapes. He sought the help of an unusual film professor in Chapter 3; discovered that the implications were bigger than he'd ever imagined in Chapter 4; and had a disquieting dream before being betrayed by a confederate in Chapter 5. The turncoat had a change of heart in Chapter 6... but will it be too late?

Where is she? Dr. Chamberlin Duke fretted. He hadn't thought Evelyn Sayre the type to be late, especially in pursuit of an invaluable piece of film history like the VHS tapes in the box on his cheap hotel bed. That kid was intense. Hadn't he been the one to instill her love of cinema? He had done the right thing in reconsidering his plan to flee with the tapes. There was no way she would let him rest for a moment, much less long enough for the sustained and quiet focus necessary to produce a well-reasoned scholarly paper-

BOOM! The hotel room door flew open and slammed into the wall next to it. Shapes stood silhouetted against the Mexican sunlight. One stepped forward. A small one. Evelyn Sayre. She glared at him with a fury beyond her tender years. Duke squinted at the others massed in the doorway. OK, there was Roy Odom, the video-store owner who had found the tapes in the first place. But who else…?

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