The Daily Valet. - 7/19/21, Monday

✔️ Summer's Wildest Game

July 19, 2021

Monday, July 19th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Who’s up for a game of underwater torpedo?

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Summer’s Wildest Game

You’ll need to be super fit to thrive in this new watersport

It’s an intense game of five against five, similar to water polo. But instead of a ball, it is practiced with a little handheld torpedo—underwater.

Underwater torpedo is easy to learn but hard to master. The game is a sport that requires a lot of oxygen capacity. It also invites you to drown your fear of the unknown. Which, perhaps, is why it’s been gaining serious traction.

The Underwater Torpedo League has made a splash in SoCal with several locations; it has a new spot in Miami, and it’s currently scouting venues in Austin as well as Hawaii.

The idea was originally founded by the U.S. Marines for training, then adopted by fitness junkies and evolved into a proper game. So how do you play? Each game consists of three matches. Two teams of five compete against each other underwater to gain possession of a small rubber torpedo to score five goals in the back of a net in order to win a match.

The play resembles that of five-on-five football, with a wrinkle: You can advance the torpedo (by passing it, handing it off to a teammate, or moving with it) only when fully submerged. Have any body part breach the surface while holding the torpedo and you draw a penalty. Yes, that means you must hold your breath underwater whenever you have the torpedo.

Perhaps this is why the game attracts the most adventurous athletes. According to Men’s Health, survive a game of underwater torpedo and you’ll build lung capacity, forge mental toughness and rewire your body (and mind) to feel at home in the water.

↦ Dive Deeper: Want to see the game in action? This video highlights the underwater torpedo basics.

It’s the Summer of the Spritz (Again)

And now, canned cocktails make it simple to pop and pour

It seems that every summer, for at least the last five or six years, someone declares it to be the Summer of the Spritz. But here's the thing: It's always the Summer of the Spritz.

What's different this year is that getting your spritz fix has never been easier. Just pop the top of a can. Because, according to Liquor.com, they're actually really good now.

They pulled together a few of their favorites. Some are from winemakers and somms, some from craft distillers, and of course there's an entry from one of Italy's best bitter and aromatized wine producers.

Even the godfather of the bitter aperitif, Aperol, is unleashing a pre-mixed Spritz. But only in select markets to start—New York, Florida and Southern California, to be exact.

↦ Can It: Speaking of delicious canned cocktails, Airows makes the case for Atlanta-based Tip Top Cocktails, who makes a mean canned Negroni.

Tadej Pogačar Wins Tour de France

The cyclist’s second Tour victory in a row

Slovenian Tadej Pogačar officially claimed his second Tour de France victory on Sunday. Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard finished second overall, with Ecuadorian star Richard Carapaz, finishing third. Carapaz is the first Ecuadorian to ever finish in the top three in the Tour's history.

Last year, at just 21-years-old, Pogačar was the youngest champion of the Tour in over a century—and won somewhat unexpectedly after a well-known rival faltered.

This year, however, he raced like the virtual leader from the very first weekend and only wore his UAE Team Emirates kit for one day.

There was, however, no time to party for Pogačar as he was due to fly overnight to Tokyo for the Olympics road race—literally just a few hours after crossing the finishing line on the Champs Elysees.

↦ FYI: Despite rumors of illicit motorized assistance at the Tour de France, riders say it's highly unlikely. In fact, it was most likely a lowly rice cake.

BMW Is Making an Electric Scooter

But at $12K will anyone buy it?

BMW has been saying that it wants to make and sell a radical electric city scooter for years, and now it's following through.

Acquire says the BMW Motorrad's CE 04 brings futuristic styling and the latest in EV tech. There's a 10.25" display, a ventilated USB-C charging compartment, LED lighting throughout, side and front storage compartments with a side helmet compartment that can be accessed when seated.

According to The Verge, BMW is really angling for the CE 04 to be a city vehicle—so much so that the press release quite seriously opens with an extended first-person narrative written from the perspective of a fictional owner and parka-obsessed city-dweller that I cannot recommend enough.

It definitely looks promising. But until BMW produces something much cheaper than its gas equivalents (you can buy a new Vespa for under $5,000), Tech Crunch warns that this electric scooter will not likely take cities by storm anytime soon.

In Other News

↦ Necessary or Not, Booster Shots Are Probably Coming

↦ Two Athletes Tested Positive for COVID-19 at the Olympic Village Five Days Ahead of the Games

↦ Witness Spike Lee’s Epic Goof at Cannes as He Reveals the Top Winner Too Early

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

This Kia limo

Dessert menus

Losing a season

Your Summer Grooming Kit

The products our team are using faithfully

The world of grooming is bursting with promises. You want smaller pores? Fuller hair? Smoother skin? There are countless products out there that assure you they'll do just that. Of course, a lot of them never live up to the hype.

But some really deliver. These are those products. The ones our team swears by. Herewith, a handful of our tried-and-true favorites getting us through this season of sweaty days and extreme heat.

And I can personally attest to nearly all of these as well. I'm currently on my second tube of Vacation sunblock and I've used that exfoliating bar on every inch of my body—or, at least, every part that can withstand a subtle sanding.

↦ Buy: The products you need to look and feel your best this summer.

Stuff We Want

Loafers are everywhere this summer. And the two-tone version is the one that stylish guys are wearing most these days. And the Weejuns from G.H. Bass ($110) are one of the most reliable, comfortable and affordable pairs you can find. Cut from quality leather, with classic beefroll stitching, they only get better looking with a few scuffs.

↦ Want More? The five stylish items to buy this week