New Florence. New Renaissance.

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.

 

Tires and steering wheels at the Indy 500

For the Indy 500 and the 5,000 tires used there, the right side must sustain long duration—turn one can last 35 seconds—of loads over 3,000 pounds.

“The right front is stiff, the right rear is stiff, matched to the front,” Adams says. “They are durable and consistent.”

The right rear tire comes one-third of an inch bigger than the left rear, which is also softer. The left front is where the grip comes to play, so expect to see 11-inch treads in the front and over 15-inch treads in the rear.

Firestone, which has served for the past 20 years as the exclusive provider of racing tires for the IndyCar circuit, will produce one specification for every corner of the car from its factory in Akron, Ohio. Adams says most teams will have two variations of dry tires, one that puts a focus on durability and an alternate that has an initial performance benefit that drops away quickly. Every team will also have rain tires. Every tire includes a mix of fabric, steel, and over 10 different compounds.

Popular Mechanics

BTW, the steering wheel on those cars is way different than what you and I have in our cars

Rock climbing as Olympic Sport

For McColl, last month’s news that organizers of the Paris Games would like to separate speed climbing from bouldering and lead climbing to make two events was vindication that the strategy is working. “For 2020, we got one medal and 40 spots. Now, we have 2 medals and 72 athletes in 2024. My hope is we’ll get four medals by 2028.”

According to McColl, the evolving Olympic format is having a trickle-down effect that will be felt throughout competitive climbing’s ranks. “For 2020, we’ve been encouraging all the [national] federations and competitive climbers to do combined events with all three disciplines. But for 2024, with speed being taken out, combined competitors won’t need to do speed,” he says.

National Geographic

 

 

 

Oldest Baseball Stadium gets newest technology

On Baseball Opening Day a story about Fenway Park from Cheddar

"The (Red Sox) team has already integrated new video monitors with real-time statistics and playback. It has also worked with the MLB to create the “At Bat” app, which offers fans subscription services for premium content and live coverage of MLB games.

The stadium is now expanding to incorporate a 5,000-seat indoor theater for entertainment events, concerts, and esports games. It's an “opportunity to bring new people into the Fenway Park ecosystem,” Grossman said.

Fenway is also using virtual and augmented reality systems to bring fans “closer to the action,” he said. Moreover, the ballpark is honoring its history and using VR to “augment a historical and traditional experience at Fenway.”

Cheddar

 

 

 

The virtual set for Daytona

For the race today, Fox Sports will be showing off its new NASCAR studio in Charlotte.

The Super Bowl tech laden venue

The tech-laden Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens up a lot of opportunity for a broadcast team. The stadium won the SportTechie Award for Most Innovative Venue last year and, unlike older venues, has much of the infrastructure in place for CBS to do more.

“New stadiums just make the setup better. They’re wired better, ready for the technology,” said Bryant, also a SVP for production at CBS Sports. “Once you get the base in place, then you can make sure all the new toys and gadgets are working.”

Bryant said he’s going to look into placing cameras “in places that you wouldn’t normally put cameras,” including up high in the stadium’s overhead, circular videoboard. For both the Super Bowl and the season, he added that CBS is exploring additional augmented and virtual reality tools for video and graphics, at least in pregame coverage.

“We’re in a golden age because [technology] continues to get better,” Bryant said. “Every year, there’s a new level of high-speed camera or better quality audio or some type of enhanced replay device.”

SportTechie

Reebok’s Sports Bra

The creation of the bra was spearheaded by Danielle Witek, a Reebok designer, who stumbled upon the technology while thumbing through a science journal (something she does for fun). In 2005, chemical engineers at the University of Delaware had invented a new substance called Shear Thickening Fluid, a gel-like solution that takes liquid form when in a still or slow-moving state, and stiffens into a solid when moving at high velocities. It was originally designed to be a modern form of armor technology, since you can incorporate it into a protective garment to defend the wearer from items flying at their body at a high speed–it’s since been used in everything from Kelvar bulletproof vests to NASA spacesuits that protect astronauts from shrapnel.

Fast Company