New Florence. New Renaissance.

The Nike Vaporfly

Similar to other elite racing shoes, the Vaporfly is impossibly lightweight. But unlike the shoes made by competing brands like Adidas or Saucony, the Vaporfly’s midsole contains a thick layer of super squishy foam, which Nike calls ZoomX, and a carbon fiber plate.

Biomechanics experts say the idea behind the carbon fiber plate is to mimic the spring amputee runners get from the blades of their prosthetics. The spring allows athletes to exert less energy to run the same speed. The concept has been around for a little more than a decade, but Nike is the first manufacturer to successfully employ a carbon fiber plate in a shoe.

This marginal boost in efficiency may be hard to notice in a 100-meter dash, but Nike says that it can improve a runner’s time by up to 4.2%. In distances as long as the marathon that’s significant—it would shave almost nine minutes off of a 3:30:00 marathoner’s personal best.

“The interesting thing is for the elite runners it translates to less than 1% per percent of economy, but for the back of the pack person they actually get more out of it.”

Wall Street Journal

 

 

 

 

More exciting hockey broadcasts

Using a chip-based system, the league tracks the puck and players on the ice in a more seamless and comprehensive way than ever before. Marrying the new tracking information with its existing in-house Hockey Information Tracking System (HITS), which tallies all the essentials to properly log and score a hockey game (time-on-ice, face-offs won/lost, shots on goal, missed shots, shot types, penalties, etc.), the league and stats and broadcast-graphics partner SMT are simplifying the packaging and visualization of data in producing on-screen visuals that are both compelling to the viewer and easy to integrate for the producer.

Broadcasters dropped in IDs (or pointers) that followed players, trails of players or the puck, and advanced performance analytics at or close to real time. Even NBC Sports Digital streamed out an alternative version of its broadcast dedicated to showcasing this rich data.

SMT

 

 

The technology behind the two-hour marathon

Last week, Eliud Kipchoge became the first person in history to run a marathon in under two hours, posting an unofficial time of 1:59:40.2 in Vienna.

The Atlantic describes some of the technology he availed

The organizers scouted out a six-mile circuit along the Danube River that was flat, straight, and close to sea level. Parts of the road were marked with the fastest possible route, and a car guided the runners by projecting its own disco-like laser in front of them to show the correct pace. The pacesetters, a murderers’ row of Olympians and other distance stars, ran seven-at-a-time in a wind-blocking formation devised by an expert of aerodynamics.

Kipchoge himself came equipped with an updated, still-unreleased version of Nike’s controversial Vaporfly shoes, which, research appears to confirm, lower marathoners’ times. He had unfettered access to his favorite carbohydrate-rich drink, courtesy of a cyclist who rode alongside the group. And the event’s start time was scheduled within an eight-day window to ensure the best possible weather.

 

Disrupting the Golf Ball market

Instead, after seeing the success of Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s, and other consumer brands, they set out to give golf-ball marketing a makeover with cheeky commercials you’d expect from Old Spice or Geico.Vice sells a dozen balls for anywhere from $34 down to $11, if you buy in bulk. They come in lime green, neon red, and traditional white, or you can mix and match all three. And you can pair the brand’s logo—which rides the line between edgy and gaudy—with a picture of your own or a rival’s face. The company also sells flat-bill caps, golf bags, and waffle-knit towels and has teamed up with the NBA so basketball fans can tout their favorite team on the fairway.

Another competitor, Buffalo-based OnCore Golf Technology Inc., is taking a more technological approach. Its first ball had a hollow metal core, which helps drives stay straighter, and eventually forced the U.S. Golf Association to rewrite its rulebook. Its Genius ball, making its debut in the second quarter of 2020, will have an internal GPS to measure shot velocity, spin rate, total distance, trajectory, and apex, all while telling you how far you are from the green. Brokerage founder Charles Schwab joined as a shareholder in January, and the brand was renewed in April as the official ball of the New York State Golf Association. Its premium Elixr sells for $35 per dozen, but buying in bulk can drop it to $30.

Business Standard

 

 

 

Baseball Park architecture

As the baseball playoffs start, Architectural Digest reviews a book on stadiums

Like nature itself—but unlike, say, football—baseball has no fixed boundaries. Beyond the right angles of the infield, it occupies a theoretically limitless space whose main constraint, in the pre-suburban-stadium era, was the surrounding real estate. This called forth some creative architectural solutions to achieve maximum seating capacity, optimal sight lines, and enough distance to the outfield fence to create a meaningful distinction between a pop fly and a home run.

Mostly, these efforts fell short, in part because the laws of physics do not easily allow for a second tier of grandstands without supporting columns that interfere with the view from the lower deck. Goldberger is good on the ingenuity that was applied to fit Wrigley (and Boston’s Fenway Park, Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, and Detroit’s Tiger Stadium) into their eccentric lots. He is meticulous about details such as the commodious ramps in the original Yankee Stadium that allowed more than 60,000 attendees at its first opening day to exit the stands in just 11 minutes. He dwells, perhaps a touch more than necessary, on the facades, materials, colors, and decorative touches of what are, for the most part, utilitarian structures that are occupied, for a few hours at a time, 80 or so days a year.

 

Smart Cricket Ball

The chip inside the core transmits information from the ball back to a smartwatch, phone or tablet app. So a bowler will be able to derive a lot of information about the delivery as soon as the ball is bowled. It promises to give not only fundamental information like the speed or degree of turn but minute details like the revvs the bowler has imparted (in case he is a spinner), besides speed at the time of release, when it’s pitching and after it has pitched. As of now, the speed-guns can only measure the speed at which the ball lands and not the momentum it gains or losses after it has bounced. The smart-ball would, according to the makers, give the exact degree of bounce, drift, swing, and dip. Currently, there is one speed and revolution figure that is used when a ball is bowled — and that comes from a fixed stationary radar that sees a speed reading recorded at the same point regardless of the height of the bowler or their delivery plane. Such details would considerably help data analytics and coaching, besides enhancing the viewer experience.

The manufacturers believe that it could benefit the umpires as it could register even the faintest of nicks. Though Snicko and Hotspot are commonly used, there have been instances of the Snicko not registering any spike despite apparent deviation and vice versa. Another contentious issue pertains to low catches, where even the ultra-magnifier can’t definitively clarify whether the catcher had his fingers wrapped under the balls or has grassed it.

Indian Express

 

 

 

Low-tech mud in a high-tech sport

From Sports Illustrated, a reminder that some things evolve very slowly even as technologies and material science continues to grow more sophisticated

"It’s increasingly out of place in a hyper-controlled, ultra-competitive, high-tech league, where every detail is calibrated for peak efficiency.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that MLB has recently tried to eliminate Bintliff, teaming with Rawlings to develop a ball that doesn’t need to be enhanced by mud. But baseball is realizing that it isn’t so easy to replace him, and, in fact, it might not be possible at all."

Here's a video from a few years ago - little has changed :)

 

Four great College Football traditions

On the 150th anniversary of College Football, Southwest Magazine celebrates 4 standout traditions

Sailgating at University of Washington, Seattle

Gametime Skydiving at U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York

Yell Leading at Texas A&M, College Station, Texas

Band at Halftime at Grambling State University, Grambling, Louisiana (in vid)

 

Best Buy and fitness

On Tuesday, workout equipment will be available online, including spin bikes from Flywheel Sports, a compression recovery system from NormaTec, muscle rollers from Hyperice, rowing machines from Hydrow (in video) and a series of connected treadmills by NordicTrack. The products will begin to hit stores in the coming months.

The announcement comes as Best Buy has already started to venture into health tech. It acquired GreatCall, a health-services platform that focuses on personal emergency response services for senior citizens for $800 million in August 2018. Earlier this year, it began to sell TytoCare’s telehealth devices online and in some stores. Then, earlier this month, it acquired senior remote monitoring company Critical Signal Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

CNBC

 

 

 

The monster Cricket World Cup event

Tomorrow starts what will be 46 days of one of the most watched events in the world - the Cricket World Cup. England, the host country (with Wales), will play South Africa in the first match at the hallowed Oval grounds in London as the official app page below shows.

The Telegraph says

"The tournament is now the third biggest stand-alone world championship in any sport, below football and rugby, according to Sportcal, a sports market intelligence company. It will generate about £400 million for the International Cricket Council in broadcasting rights alone."

My own cricket is rusty. I played it when I was very young but have not kept up. The technology and the athleticism is so much better now. I have 4 games penciled in my calendar - the semis and the finals, and one game in person while in the UK. However, I asked a few friends in technology from around the world who are fanatical cricket fans the following questions and each, surprise, surprise has strong opinions.  

a) Which team do you think will win the tournament? Who would you like to win the tournament?

b) Is there a player or two you think will dominate the tournament?

c) which technologies (on the field, in broadcast etc) will make this tournament more exciting from your pov?

d) how do you plan to stay productive across 46 days of this competition?

Thomas Otter who will be watching from Germany:

a) England are in theory the favorites. They have home grown advantage, and they looked impressive against Pakistan. As has been the case since 1896, England cricket reaps the rewards of immigration.Today their best batsman and captains is Irish, and their new exciting bowler is from Barbados.

I would like South Africa to win. It is time to deal with the ghosts of 1999. I’d like to see Afghanistan surprise a top side or two. The story of Afghanistan cricket is a most remarkable thing. A small slither of joy to emerge out the horrors of decades of war and strife.

b) Batting has dominated this form of cricket lately, so I’m hoping that the bowlers will get their chance to shift this. I’d like to see Kagiso Rabada (of S Africa) bowl Virat Kohli (of India) with a yorker first ball. The fielding keeps getting better but this still takes some beating.

c) The decision tech keeps Improving. It brings more fairness to the game. I hope that we talk more about the cricket than the tech though. Kohli’s cover drive is perfection, the tech still has a way to go.

d) I hope to catch a game live, but I’ll be watching a lot on TV. I will also watch some games with the cricket diaspora in Heidelberg.

Vijay Vijaysankar who will be watching from the U.S.:

a) Highest chance is for England. I would like India to win

b) Virat Kohli of India

c) Hoping for better Umpire Decision Review System (DRS) for LBW decisions (that's leg before wicket, one way a batsman can be dismissed) 

d) By planning meetings around it as much as I can . Time difference is not terrible this time with the cup being held in UK 

Dennis Howlett who is in England, so pretty close to the action:

a) England are favorites but the weather plays a huge part in how each pitch plays and it's an open question whether England has the temperament to stay the distance. I wouldn't be surprised if India did really well with their line up.

b) I don't really want to pick a stand out player at this point. There are so many that could shine. Relieving Root of the England captaincy in favor of Morgan could see some serious slogging but then you never know. Can Archer repeat his impressive start? Is he the next gen Anderson? I'd be delighted to see a player who has been a solid journeyman shine - for whatever team. And it's high time we saw a world class spinner emerge from at least one of these sides while playing in English conditions. On batting v bowling - it's all about the weather. Headingley (one of the venues) can (and has) produced some of the most exciting cricket of all time IMO - who can forget Botham destroying Australia in a test where the odds were 250-1 on an England win. I saw that. Or Viv Richards (of West Indies) smashing 135 before lunch one glorious Saturday morning. I saw that too. I doubt that will be repeated this year given the fixtures to be played there. 

c) I'd like to see drones take a part in following the action. Example - you rarely get a full sense of swing from the TV position behind the bowler's arm but you can from above. Stump mics? Turn 'em up so we can hear the on-field sledging - always a fun part of the game for me.

d) I will try and make at least one of the Headingley fixtures. They are always incredibly good-natured with food and drink readily exchanged among competing crowds...unless it's India and Pak - then it's not quite so convivial. But that match isn't scheduled for Headingley so...but Sri Lanka v India could be a lot of fun. It's a helluva good way to spend a day out - whatever the result. If the weather holds, take your sunblock. And a poncho to save getting drenched by summer storms.

Play ball!...oh wait, I hope I still remember baseball rules after this summer.