June 2008 Archives
On one side were college coaches seeking the right to use modern technology to maintain a casual relationship with top prospects. On the other were high school athletes so inundated with text messages that their cell phone bills were skyrocketing and their phones were buzzing during classes.
So which side is right? As usual, the answer lies somewhere between the two extremes.
Instead of depriving coaches and kids of an effective communication tool, couldn't the NCAA have limited the number of text messages a coach can send per week, mirroring the rules already in place regarding calls to recruits? Or perhaps the organization could have implemented a ban on texting after 10 p.m. or during school hours?
Read on here...
Remember having your mother tell you that you need to step into someone elses shoes in order to understand a situation? Well, now is your chance! This coming July Nike is releasing products which will be worn by your favorite basketball players on TEAM USA. Nike has developed an "18 percent lighter than the average Nike basketball shoe and is the lightest and strongest basketball shoe Nike has ever created." Sports technology is not just for the pro's, it's now coming to a store nearest you! Save up, buy, and score!
"Key products inspired by the USA Basketball uniform and Hyperdunk footwear featuring Flywire technology will be available to consumers beginning July 26th. WHEN: Monday, June 30 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Media check in at the top of the steps to the ice rink begins at 11:30 am WHERE: Rockefeller Center Ice Rink 30 Rockefeller Plaza MEDIA INFO: Media availability for Team USA will take place from 2:30 pm until 4:30 pm at the Plaza Hotel. Enter on 58th Street. Media check-in for interviews at the Plaza begins at 1:30 pm. Players will NOT be available individually, but in pool sessions. To view the entire USA Basketball player roster, please visit www.usabasketball.com....
The specially made Nike running shoes with Nike Plus technology start at $85.00, which isn't bad at all. For shoes and this technology, $85.00 seems like nothing to be able to hear how far you've jogged and how many calories you've burned. The majority of Nike shoes cost more than $100 these days, so to be able to have it this cheap is surprising.
If you don't have an iPod, Nike has come out with a sportband that has a digital readout of your pace, distance traveled, calories burned, and elapsed time.
After people go for a run, can store and track their running information on Nike's website. The sensor from your shoe can plug into your computer with a USB connection. From there, you can upload your running information. You can even set goals for yourself, see Nike's training information, and see other people's information from all over the world.
Read on here and
here... "For about $10,000, Ryan's phone message helped the team sell more than 4,000 tickets in just two weeks, earning $200,000."
With the success of this technology start to expect more and more teams using Vontoo. You never know you might be getting a call from your team's star player sometime soon!
The calls are cheap - they cost about 10 cents each - and the technology can track how many people pick up the messages, which ones go to voice mail, and how many transfer immediately to a ticket agent. It's a far more cost-efficient tactic to reach fans than snail mail. And while e-mail has grown in popularity as a way to communicate with supporters, teams are increasingly finding their messages get lost in spam filters.
Even before the Boston Celtics added all-stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and got off to their torrid start in the 2007-2008 season, the team got some off-the-court help last spring from players like center Kendrick Perkins, who left messages asking thousands of past season ticket holders to renew their purchases. On the day the team ran its phone message campaign, the Celtics nearly doubled the number of season ticket renewals purchased in the same day the previous year.
The Celtics are planning to use Vontoo again later this month, to send out playoff information and to get an early start on season tickets (which should be an easier sell, given the team's current success).Read on....
Can olympic players win without technology? It seems that preforming in sports games without any type of sports enhancement technology is something of the colonial times. What ever happened to just good old plain
jane competition? Has it officially died? Is sports now merely a competition of technology?
Technology is now an advantage in sports. Better equipment now means better preformance. But what if you don't have the money or the means for this technology? Are there still olympic compeditors who are without these technology means?
Yes! Alas! There are still compeditors doing things the "old fashion way"!!
"While in Cairo, Egyptian sprinter Amr Seoud says he trains without using any special technology. "There is no latest technology at all. I am just training. I have a track and some spiked shoes," says Seoud.
But coach Medhat Nabi points out that training methods and even the track are more modern than a generation ago. "In the past, we used to run on a sand field. There was no 'tartan' synthetic track," he says, "and timing was done manually."
Technology has long been used in sports to improve athletic performance, even if it gives the winning edge to athletes and countries that are technologically advanced.
At the U.S. Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs, gymnast Todd Thornton uses a digital video system to improve his technique.
"For the majority of my career I have trained without this system. I can tell you, our coaches can tell
us all day long that we are doing something wrong, but if it feels right to us we are not going to kn
ow unless we see it," said Thornton. "It gives us that advantage to be able to see what we are doing...."
ESPN is expected to announce today that their online video
website will make a small twist. Instead of charging individual customers for
access to their website, ESPN asks the internet providers for the cash. This is
an unusual business model similar to how many cable TV networks operate also
has likely limited its growth. ESPN360 can claim AT&T Inc. and Verizon as
customers, however major cable companies like Time Warner Cable Inc., Comcast
Corporations and Cox Communications Inc. are passing on the idea.
"That's not a model we're looking to take into the Internet space,"
says a Cox spokesman.
Sports fans receiving high-speed
Internet service from nonparticipating companies cannot view the site, and many
of the biggest cable companies show no signs of budging. As a result, ESPN360
reaches fewer than 16 million households. A total of 53.3 million homes had
high-speed connections in the first quarter of 2007, according to Jupiter Research
LLC, a division of MCG Capital Corp.
So, ESPN is expected to announce
today that changes will be made. These changes just include more sports being
available online. More "second tier" sports are expected to feature,
such as rugby and collegiate events.
"We've been very pleased with
the evolution of ESPN360 up to now," Mr. Flagler (manager of online video
content and programming for Verizon Communications Inc.) says, "The re-launch with the
addition of more live sports content will build upon that success. You cannot
underestimate the value of putting live sports on the Internet." For
example, CBS Corp.'s streaming of the NCAA men's basketball tournament has been
a huge hit with fans.
In a Mind Room, athletes are connected to biofeedback sensors that measure brain wave activity, muscle tension, sweat response, heart and breathing rates while watching a video of a bad performance like missing a crucial goal.
Zaichkowsky says the athlete always tenses up, their blood pressure goes up and breathing rate becomes irregular - as usually happens on the field when they choke in the clutch.
Biofeedback trains the athlete's mind to maintain a meditative state to reduce the chances of a brain explosion during a game.
Read More...
Back when I was in highschool, PE class consisted of running laps around the gym while our PE teacher blasted Shania Twain. Our class lacked enthusiasm not only because we were running in circles and never getting anywhere, but also because our PE teacher only had 3 Shania Twain songs on her cd.
New technology in PE classes has helped to grasp the enthusiasm and participation of students while being able to track success. "More than 10,000 schools across the country reportedly use heart-rate monitors--wristwatches that calculate a student's heartbeat and heart rate target zone--that make it easier for teachers to track student performance." With obesity a major concern in our society today, creating an active and fun curriculum for PE class could mean life or death for these children. Health skills that are not learned within the home need to be learned in school, and it is vital for the school to provide the necessary skills needed in order to improve these children's lives.
"Last year, many West Virginia schools bought Dance Dance Revolution games to encourage activity among children who have proven reluctant or unwilling to participate in ordinary team sports, said Susan Promislo, a spokeswoman for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an organization that includes Health Games Research. West Virginia, one of about 10 states that use DDR in gym classes, was a sensible choice for new P.E. technology, Promislo said. The state has one of the highest obesity rates in the country.
"Kids [who] would not otherwise play sports or get off the sidelines in gym class are finding DDR to be a fun, appealing option that gets them burning calories without feeling like they're exercising," Promislo said.
Cleland, whose Virginia-based organization reportedly represents 16,000 educators, said bringing video-game technology to gym classes could be the next step in what experts call the "new physical education." Teachers said this could include Nintendo's Wii Fit, a brand-new game that encourages workouts on a small balance board that gamers stand on...
In the past month or so, baseball fans have witnessed many controversial, disallowed homeruns. This controversy has been followed up by speculation leading Major League Baseball to use instant replay.
Previously, MLB general managers voted 25-5 to try replay on boundary calls. This would question if the ball was fair or foul, if the ball actually clears the fence, and if the ball was interfered upon by a fan. Now, it has been planned to use instant replay in the Arizona Fall League. If a success, we could see instant replay calls in the majors as soon as next season. It is unknown if there will be a "replay umpire" or other system in place to view the questionable calls.
The sports executive vice president for baseball operations, Jimmie Lee, asks if it's time for baseball to resort to technology. He says, "The times are such that our fans are used to seeing all the high technology and they're used to seeing the other sports that use these systems to make determinations, and the fans are clamoring for all the sports to look at that."
It would be good for
baseball to finally consider using technology to get all controversial calls
correct. Too much is on the line for so many homeruns to be denied. This is why
once trials are complete in the Arizona Fall League, Major League Baseball will
strongly consider using instant replay.
The traditional bleep of
Wimbledon's Cyclops line-calling system will be silenced on the show courts
this year as the All England Club adopts HawkEye technology for the first time.
The high-speed multi-camera technology which tracks the trajectory of a moving ball was first used at a grand slam in 2005 at Flushing Meadow and has also been successfully launched at the Australian Open.
At those tournaments players can challenge two line calls per set. An instant replay is shown on large screens, allowing both the players and the spectators to watch whether the ball was in or out.
While both the U.S. Open and the Australian Open are contested on hard courts, Wimbledon is played on lush grass where fast, skidding serves, particularly in the men's game, can dominate.
With the
European Championships just three days away, UEFA President Michel Platini
turned on a switch in the International Broadcast Centre in Vienna, Austria. Taking
place every four years, this European competition will prove to be the best
international tournament since the World Cup in Germany two years ago.
Taking
place in Austria and Switzerland, Euro 08' will be the first time in history
that a European competition will be fed to networks around the world through
one broadcast center, owned by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations). This way, UEFA can monitor what
is viewed around the world at this event and control the quality in which the
games are viewed.
Also for the first
time, ESPN has purchased the rights to show all 31 games from Austria and
Switzerland.
The games and review
shows will be shown on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Classic along with high definition
channels.
As the
American interest in soccer grows in the United States with its own domestic
league (Major League Soccer) and more viewers tuning into the World Cup and other
international matches, it is good to see that ESPN purchases the rights to
these major soccer events. Bringing the World Cup and European competitions into
American homes will help the sport develop more in this country as well as put
the world's best players on display.
