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Monthly Archives
September 27, 2005
Posted by Nick
Bowling is another sport wrestling with the right balance of technology in the game
The United States Bowling Congress is unleashing its Bowling Ball Specifications Task Force.
It seems technology has rendered bowling a bit too easy, so the task force will study whether and how to rein things in through ball-performance standards.
The USBC is "concerned with the degree of influence technology is having over true player skill as a main factor for success in bowling at all levels of competition," USBC president Michael Carroll said in a statement.
There also are rumors that professionals will no longer be allowed to use gutter bumpers.
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Posted by Nick
Royal and Ancient and the USGA are apparently going to green light the use of laser devices to allow players a more accurate reading on distance to the pin. In the linked article, one player says it will speed up play and probably use it.
``They're probably doing it to speed up play and it's probably a good thing,'' Australia's Scott Barr, the Asian Tour's sixth-ranked golfer, said in a phone interview. ``They're moving with technology and I'll probably use it.''
Personally, I do not like this. One of the challenges of playing golf for anyone who has played, is to learn a course, learn distances. Some players do that better and others -- thru hard work. That hard work shouldn't be negated by this device. Perhaps most importantly, I do not think fans will like this development.
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September 26, 2005
Posted by Nick
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September 21, 2005
Posted by Nick
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September 20, 2005
Posted by Nick
Here's a cool proposal. Some San Mateo geeks are developing a sports player stock market, so you can buy and sell athletes as if they were equities.
Sports fans may soon be wondering whether their "shares'' in 49ers quarterback Tim Rattay are falling or whether they should add Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss to their portfolio.
That's because a San Mateo startup called Protrade Inc.... plans to launch an online venture that assigns a value to pro athletes as though they were publicly traded companies."It's much more similar to a sports stock market than a fantasy sports league,'' said Protrade co-founder Mike Kerns....
...Fantasy sports are now a major hobby for an estimated 32 million people whose average household income is about $89,000. Fantasy sports leagues typically use a scoring system based on the statistics of players in sports such as football, baseball and basketball.
But Kerns and Ma have developed a more intricate system to determine a pro athlete's value based on performance during different game situations and contribution to a team's wins or losses. The analysis also takes into account factors that could affect performance, such as trade rumors, injuries, contract holdouts, coaching changes and arrests for crimes.
Protrade members can then watch the value of players in their portfolio rise or fall, deciding, like a day trader, whether to buy low or sell high.
Scouts and player personnel managers at pro sports franchises beware. The market is going to vote on your judgments.
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September 17, 2005
Posted by Nick
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September 15, 2005
Posted by Nick
A friend alerted me to these cool new running shoes.
Spira Footwear, a four-year-old company based in El Paso, Texas, makes the world's only shoes with actual springs in the soles. The springs act as shock absorbers, reducing the stress on your feet. Spiras feel so good, they're illegal--at least to some. USA Track & Field, which sanctions some 4,000 road races each year, has banned Spiras for violating Rule 143 (3)(a), which states that "no spring ... may be incorporated in the shoes."
I have no idea how US Track and Field makes its decisions regarding equipment, but if these in any way reduce stress and injury, they may need to reconsider.
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September 14, 2005
Posted by Nick
If you were redirected here from Slate then... welcome. As a wise man once said: "go ahead, snoop around."
For TG readers, I have a piece at Slate magazine on performance apparel and the war on sweat.
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Posted by Nick
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September 06, 2005
Posted by Nick
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Posted by Nick
Do helmets help? As in many things, it depends:
Do helmets actually help? The answer, said Shealy, is a surprising yes and no. Studies of football players show that helmet use has indeed resulted in a dramatic decline in serious head injuries. The same can't be said for other sports. Shealy said the rate of fatal head injuries in skiing is unchanged, despite the fact that 33 percent of skiers now wear helmets.
In bicycling and hockey, he said, the rate of serious head injuries has actually increased.
The problem, he speculates, isn't with helmets but with human nature.
"You put on a helmet and now you think you're safer. For some people, that means they can engage in riskier behavior, do things they probably shouldn't, such as ski faster or be more aggressive in games. It's not necessarily a conscious decision."
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September 05, 2005
Posted by Nick
The NY Times features an excellent reported piece about EPO and EPO tests in the context of the most recent accusation that Lance Armstrong used EPO in 1999.
You have to read the whole thing, but what struck me most about it is how irresponsible the World Anti-Doping Agency chief Richard Pound has become. It's obvious the tests aren't perfect. And there's no way Lance can be sanctioned over this accusation. What's more, there's no way for Lance to prove a negative -- so it should remain nothing more than an accusation advanced by a paper with a history of negative attacks on Lance.
If a newspaper wants to run with the accusation, that's fine, I suppose. But why is Pound insisting on injecting himself into this controvery when nothing conclusive can come of it? It seriously undermines the perception that any anti-doping chief needs to cultivate, that of a dispassionate arbiter. Time and time again Pound has come across half-cocked, as a zealot. With his careless remarks, he shifts the burden of proof onto the athlete, something no anti-doping chief should ever do. How can any athlete have any confidence that Pound will not believe them innocent until proven guilty? With his imprudent table-thumping lately, he's undermined his and his agency's moral and scientific authority. It's time for him to go.
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September 03, 2005
Posted by Nick
The Wall Street Journal ($) has a fascinating piece on how baseball does not have a reliable way of measuring how far home runs travel.
Of course, tracking homers isn't a simple process, and it usually involves calculating how far a ball would have gone if it had hit flat ground instead of bouncing off a light pole or hitting the picture window of a restaurant in the stadium's upper deck. And the numbers aren't the least bit relevant to the outcome of a game. Still, the true distance of an epic homer is precisely the sort of barstool topic that fans are intensely curious about.
But at a time when sports such as tennis and golf are using lasers, microchips and computer models to determine the trajectories of shots, baseball is running out of excuses. Not only does the technology exist, but the necessary equipment has already been installed at nearly a dozen ballparks.
Ed Plumacher, president of QuesTec, a company that has fitted cameras in 11 major league stadiums to monitor the performance of umpires, says that with an investment of about $15,000 per stadium in new software, this system could measure home-run distances to within one meter. The only trouble, he says: "I haven't found anybody who wants to pay for it."
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+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Baseball
September 02, 2005
Posted by Nick
FIFA may use goal-line technology in the World Cup.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has confirmed a "smartball" system will be tested at the World Under-17 Championships in Peru later this month.
Blatter said: "We will definitely use the technology in Germany next year if the experiment works in Peru."
Developed by sports firm adidas, a microchip in the ball sends a signal to the referee by triggering a wristband to vibrate and bleep when it passes over sensors on the touchline or goal-line.
But world football chief Blatter insists the move will not lead to a flood of gadgets and gizmos tampering with the game.
He added: "This goal-line technology is enough. Football must keep its human face and must accept errors.
"If we start to make it too scientific this game will lose its fascination."
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