Posts About ‘Sports’

Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Week 5

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Yes! Cheerleaders! Go Texans! (image: texansbullpen.com)

Well, it’s week five which means it’s time to start the bye weeks. That doesn’t mean any less writing for me though, as I’m introducing a new concept to the column for this year, talking about the bye week teams and what they need to do to get better (if anything.) That’s at the bottom. I had another week at 12-4, which puts me at 46-18 (72%) on the year. Suck on that shit so-called experts. Why haven’t I been hired by CBSSports or ESPN.com yet? I have no idea. I’ve been doing this for years. Maybe cause it’s because I say fuck, and vagina slobber. Enough! On with the picks!

Featured Game

Oakland at Houston Line: -7.0
Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the season, did you think this would ever be one of my featured games? I ain’t messing around with this one. This is going to be a crazy good game. The Raiders may have just lost to the Patriots, but they put up a good fight. Penalties killed them in the second half, and they were playing against the best offense in the league. Campbell needs to be a bit more protective of his passes. The Raiders run defense is suspect, allowing plenty of yards on the ground, while Arian Foster ran for 155 against the Steelers. What do you think he’s going to do against the Raiders? But wait, the Raiders have the leagues highest rated rusher in Darren McFadden! While the Texans don’t have the best run defense, they have a better one. There should be a lot of running going on in this one. I’m taking the Texans to win, and Hue Jackson to predict that the Raiders will win the Stanley Cup after they win the division.

Tailgate City (The Rest)

Philadelphia at Buffalo Line: +3.0
Ok, maybe I’ve been a bit too sold on the Bills. They do have one of the leagues worst run defenses after all. But still, it’s offense that wins games and last week – they didn’t have it. Thankfully, neither do the Eagles. What’s that you say? But they have Vick – he makes plays happen! Sure, every once in a while for a first down or something, but he’s not getting the scoring plays and the Eagles run game is terrible. They couldn’t get it done against the Niners at all. The Eagles have no red zone offense. If the Bills can get their offense back like it was the first three weeks, this is their game to lose. Bills at home.

Kansas City at Indianapolis Line: -1.0 CRAPFEST OF THE WEEK #1!!
The Colts netted a whole 62 yards on the ground against the Bucs. I’m sorry, but if you have a rookie QB and at least 3 top flight receivers, you’ve got to establish a run game so that when he (Painter) does throw the ball – he’s got time and he’s on target. Instead, he was all over the place. Peyton ain’t coming back. Collins was a bust. Carson Palmer is still couch surfing. Just saying. The Chiefs fared a bit better this week, actually getting a passing game going and remembering that Thomas Jones ain’t retired yet. They took advantage of some situations and pulled out a win. This one is tough for me, but I think with weapons like Piere Garcon and Reggie Wayne, you shouldn’t lose. This game is going to come down to defense, specifically run defense. Shit. I have no idea. I’m winging this one and running with the home team. Colts at home.

Arizona at Minnesota Line: -3.0 CRAPFEST OF THE WEEK #2!!
You know the Vikings are playing bad when they rely on Peterson the whole game and he gets bottled up by the Kansas City defense. The Vikings sure do need a win, but their schedule doesn’t really have one penciled in for a while. McNabb used to be able to engineer a nice comeback, and I expect he’ll need one against the Cardinals. The Cards are struggling to stay afloat. Beanie Wells had a career rushing game against the Giants, but the Cards defense managed to blow the lead and waste that effort. Good job guys. Whose defense is worse? Like the above game, this one is a shit fest too. Home team wins just cause. The fact is, there are a lot of terrible teams in the NFL this season (compared to other teams in the NFL.) Perhaps this had to do with the lack of an offseason, who knows? Either way, this week kind of highlights the turds.

Seattle at NY Giants Line: -10.0
The Seahawks could not part the defensive line of the Falcons last week, so how are they going to fare against the Giants? Not so good. As the game goes on, Eli and the men around him get better. So the Hawks better jump out to a huge lead, and I mean huge, because just last week Eli showed he can mount a comeback. The Hawks offense, while showing a little spark against the Falcons, needs to focus on the run because the Giants gave up a ton on the ground to Wells last week, and will probably do it again. Pound, pound, pound. Won’t matter though in the end. Giants at home.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh Line: -6.5 UPSET SPECIAL!!
So Hasselbeck is no slouch. We knew that. He saw holes in the Cleveland defense last week and went to town. Even without Kenny Britt, Hasselbeck found his very able tight ends slipping out of coverage. The key against Pittsburgh is taking advantage of the aging defense with some tomfoolery. Play action, passes to Johnson in the flat, flea flickers, tight ends lining up as blockers and slipping out into the slant – whatever. The Titans need to go into their bag of tricks. Hasselbeck can pull it off. The Steelers are reeling. Big Ben is hurt, but not out. Mendenhall is hurt and out. The offensive line is like a quilt in a retirement home, on fire. The Steelers are in trouble, and I think this is the week the Titans step out of the Colts long shadow. Titans to win on the road, upsetting the Steelers. Yeah, I said it.

New Orleans at Carolina Line: +7.0
Why are you kicking to Hester? The Panthers have a coach whose job it is to make sure special teams doesn’t fuck up like that. They fucked up. Cam Newton made some rookie mistakes as well, go figure. Finally he gets to face the Saints, who are going to make the Carolina defense look like confetti draped around a topless drunk girls boobs. Sproles is gonna motorboat that front line like the same. Brees is going to pick them apart like picking said confetti out of said drunk girls pubes. Cam isn’t going to have an answer on offense. Expect to see him get seriously flustered. Where he looked poised against the Packers, the Saints are better at getting under their oppositions skin. Saints to win on the road.

Cincinnati at Jacksonville Line: -1.5 CRAPFEST OF THE WEEK #3!!
The turds keep sliding out of this schedule. Like I said, a lot less parity to go around this year. These two teams play sub-par football at best. Yet, they’ve both beaten a top team. The Jags beat the Titans in week one, while the Bungles just knocked the Bills down a notch. So what happens when they meet up in Jacksonville? The Bengals defense isn’t playing half bad, holding the high scoring Buffalo offense to one TD. The Jags struggle on offense just to score that. Gabbert might turn into a franchise QB for the Jags, but he can’t rely on his defense this week. He’s got to score points. It’s rookie QB vs. rookie QB. Defense vs. Defense. Who you got? Home team. Jags to win by like one point on a late FG or something.

Tampa Bay at San Francisco Line: -2.5
Good thing Philly kickers still suck. Oh wait, was that David Akers missing a FG for the Niners? The Niners were still able to grind out another win. They are a scrappy little team, but scrapping isn’t going to be much against the defensive and growing offensive prowess of the Bucs. The Bucs are slowly gaining some serious klout. They pushed around the Colts on Monday night, slapping them around for a nice 24-17 win. It took a little bit of a comeback, but as much as I hate them, they are playing good football. The man-love affair between coach Rahim Morris & QB Josh Freeman is paying off. Bucs to win on the road.

San Diego at Denver Line: +6.0
Seriously. TEBOW! TEBOW! TEBOW! Denver sucks. The defense gave up 507 yards & 5 TD’s to the Packers. Not to mention the offense turning over the ball four fucking times. The whole team save for McGahee looked like a bunch of half drunk idiots. Can Tebow save this team? At least net them a win? Not this week, as the Chargers roll into town ready to lay the smack down. Rivers is charged up after shredding the hapless Dolphins, but that was helped by four nice field goals. The offense will have to start doing better than that. Thankfully against the Broncos defense, all they’ll need is a safety to win. Chargers on the road.

NY Jets at New England Line: -8.0
There was a point in the game against the Ravens where Sanchez fumbled the ball, then simply watched as it was scooped up and ran in for a touchdown. That was some lazy ass shit GQ poster boy. That kind of exemplifies how the Jets are playing right now on offense. While the defense is still stepping up and keeping them in the game (three turnovers and a TD against the Ravens,) the offense is blowing chunks. Maybe they’ll be a bit better when Mangold gets back. So needless to say, the Patriots are playing killer offense. Yeah, their defense is so-so, but who cares? Brady to Welker, touchdown x 4. Patriots win.

Green Bay at Atlanta Line: +4.5
I swear I can hear Matt Ryan sigh when he gets back into the dome. He does not play well outside. The Falcons nearly blew it against the Seahawks, but good offensive line play saved them. Plus, no turnovers. The defense allowed over 300 yards to the Seahawks low rated offense, which spells trouble with a capital cheese head against the high flying Packers. The only answer is going to be more touchdowns by the Falcons offense. It’s the only way as the defense will be struggling to keep Green Bay from scoring. The Green Bay defense has weaknesses, like giving up 384 yards to Denver. This should be a nice back and forth for a while. An offensive firestorm. I’m waffling on this one, but sticking with the Packers and taking them to win on the road. I better bench the Falcons defense this week in fantasy.

Chicago at Detroit Line: -6.0
Yeah, the Lions are for real. Deal with it. Undefeated. On a roll. Defense and offense both playing strong. You are looking at a sure fire playoff team, if not a Superbowl team. Crazy huh? Some twilight zone shit for sure. So they welcome their division foes da Bears to town. The Bears, well, their pass defense is terrible. Which is good for me since Calvin Johnson anchors my fantasy team. The dude has had two TD’s in every game thus far. He should get 4 in this match-up. Lions to win. Easy.

In the Sauna (Bye Week Teams)

Bye Week at Cleveland
The Browns, once again, are probably the best worst team. A complete breakdown on defense and offensive lines last week cost them dearly. Colt McCoy has got to spend the bye week working on his fucking accuracy and the back shoulder pass. Figure it out Colt, stop over throwing your wide open receivers.

Bye Week at Dallas
It might seem like the Cowboys blew a second half lead against the Lions, but it wasn’t them – it was the Lions stepping up and being the better team. Games aren’t lost, they are won. And the Lions won. And pretty much everyone who has played the Cowboys. Romo, vacation is over buddy. Step your game up.

Bye Week at St. Louis
What can we say about the Rams? On paper they seem to have all the tools needed to win. Josh McDaniels is clearing up any detractors as to his firing in Denver, by sucking in St. Louis. An offensive line overhaul might help Bradford actually find a receiver. Shake it up Rams, what do you have to lose?

Bye Week at Miami Line: -14.0
This is how bad Miami is this season. You can bet against them on a bye week. The Dolphins need to get their offense straightened out. Moore was almost as terrible as Henne has been lately, shoulder issues withstanding. Fans are already calling for Tony Sporano to get the axe. I don’t think that’s going to be enough to salvage this season.

Bye Week at Washington
The Redskins have been riding a bit of luck up to this point. Rex Grossman isn’t really that good, but a good run defense and a strong(er – than opponents) rushing attack have helped them pull off some close wins. Could they take the division? Maybe.

Bye Week at Baltimore
The Ravens are playing outstanding defensive football. For all the mistakes Flacco made last week, the defense made up for in touchdowns. If this team loses to the Patriots in the playoffs I’ll be surprised.

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Trick It Out Golf

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

The 4th of July is here with a bunch of upcoming summer weekends at home, the beach house, on vacation, or visiting friends & family.  This is the best time to enjoy yourself outside playing games while drinking your favorite beverage, barbecuing, or just hanging out.  It could be horseshoes, volleyball, frisbee, wiffle ball, or playing catch.  Now there’s a new game that will not only pit you against your buddies, but actually improves your golf game.  It’s called PGA Trick It Out Golf.

Trick It Out Sports is a company I created 3 years ago, that makes learning the fundamental skills of sports more engaging and fun by breaking them into measurable tricks.  Most recently we partnered with the PGA of America and designed our first golf product.

PGA Trick It Out Golf is a backyard skills game for any level of play.  Based on mini-skill competitions that are called “tricks”, and a virtual web based scoring system, you can conduct on-going competitions throughout the summer, wherever you are.

This unique and innovative PGA game breaks down all the fundamentals of golf into a series of fun tricks, in combination with a virtual web tool that measures each golfers improvement, while providing everyone the opportunity to compete and rank each of their trick performances among other golfers around the world.  In your own backyard!

All tricks are introduced and available on a member’s personal PGA Trick It Out Golf web page, via trick videos, and an illustrated pocket guidebook, that provides step by step instructions on how to set-up, execute, and score each trick.  After a golfer executes a trick they download their best score onto a virtual scoreboard that automatically shows where that performance ranks.

For this upcoming holiday weekend you can try it out and let PGA Trick It Out Golf know what you think.  All you need is 10 yards of open space, a pitching or sand wedge, 5 short flight golf balls (wiffle, foam, etc), 7 small disc cones (you can substitute with two jump ropes, rope, string, etc), 6 empty shoe boxes or pairs of different size buckets that form 3 different size obstacles approximately 6, 12, & 18 inches in height, an extra club or stick to lay on top of the shoe boxes or buckets.

See Trick Card for set-up and how-to execute

Then go to PGA Trick It Out Golf on Facebook and let them know what you think. If you’re pleased, and want to try more, log onto www.pgatrickitoutgolf.com and register for a one year membership.

Anyone can sign-up & join. You can sign-up your kids by age category, as well as register yourself to the open adult division.

A one year individual membership includes:

  • Access to 10 introductory tricks on video, with more tricks added throughout the year, including indoor tricks for the winter.
  • A virtual realtime scoreboard that ranks your trick performances among others nation & worldwide.
  • Tips from the pros.
  • Download video of your swing, or tricks performed, and link them to a certified PGA Teaching Professional for analysis (your local pro can sign-up and link to you anytime)
  • A calendar of upcoming PGA Trick It Out Events throughout the country.
  • All for just $9.95 per year

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Part 2: Lack of Athletic Creativity = A Missed Opportunity to Excel

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Last week I wrote the first of a series of blogs on “Athletic Creativity”.

It stirred many responses and comments, while many liked the article some thought I was criticizing team sport athletes for their lack of creativity. I can assure you I was not criticizing team sport athletes. My point was, youth team sports need to do more to develop creativity in our young athletes. This is a sentiment that many high level college coaches have expressed to me over the past 5 to 10 years. Many college coaches consistently spend too much time trying to deprogram incoming freshman to become less robotic and command driven, and more open to experimenting with what they’ve learned.

Last week I wrote: “Creatively there is no question that a young action sport athlete has a tremendous advantage over a young team sport athlete. Unfortunately, unlike action sports, team sports don’t emphasize improvisation, where freestyle execution of skills are frowned upon and often not allowed by coaches. Action sport athletes have the freedom to learn and develop on their own, through their own style and creativity. Team sport athletes are robotic, waiting to be told what to do, stymied through a right and wrong way to execute skills.” This week let’s look at several different ways to incorporate the development of creativity into team sports.

One of the main reasons kids struggle with their athletic creative development is the fact that they spend less time outside with their friends playing, experimenting, and replicating or mimicking great athletic plays they’ve witnessed on television, the internet, etc. Many of us did this growing up, you’re in the driveway by yourself, and there’s 3 seconds left, you pull-up beyond the 3 point line, you shoot ….. IT”S GOOD!!! If we’re not giving kids enough time to go out and play with their free time, then it’s time to bring that to organized practices.

Simple Examples to Develop Athletic Creativity


BASEBALL

A drill I use to conduct with my little league team when we’re working with outfielders to track and catch balls hit into the gap was a simple but fun QB/WR Drill with a baseball and gloves. After practicing the fundamental basics of catching a routine fly ball we have players go out for passes into a large marked end zone, entering either from the right or from the left. Points were achieved for every ball caught in the end zone that they chased down. If they caught a ball while diving for the ball they received bonus points. The magic behind this drill was that it was fun, kids wanted to do it repetitively, and it forced them to execute catching a ball outside their comfort zone of a routine catch. They also had to creatively adapt, they improvised and free-styled their way into catching the ball. They were preparing themselves for any type of situation that may occur on the field, while building their confidence that they could successfully make dramatic and difficult plays.

SOCCER

The process in the drill just described above is one that skate and snowboarders use all the time. They work on the basic fundamentals while also mixing in fun challenges that increase the degree of difficulty and force themselves to visualize and think through how to best execute that skill or trick. The same can be used in team sport athletic skill training. Let’s take for example a soccer team working on their shooting skills. The team begins by working on some basic shooting drills and the fundamentals of correctly striking a soccer ball. Then in order to raise the level of difficulty and enhance the interest of everyone practicing the drill, you ask the team to attempt to bend the ball around objects, in order to hit a target. The next progression would involve moving the players to a position between a goal and the corner kick spot on the field but slightly behind the end line. Though this type of shot would never be allowed in a game, it presents a challenge that emphasizes the need to bend the ball into the goal, forcing them to visualize and think through the best execution of how to achieve bending a shot. After a player successfully places this type of shot into the goal you move that player 3 to 6 feet further back and away from the end line. Each player continues to move back, with the player who scores from the furthest distance back winning the competition. Then repeat from the other side.

Though maybe considered an unorthodox drill, it is the type of creative challenge that captures the imagination of an athlete and reinforces the skill into their muscle memory and can be pulled up much easier when the time comes to execute the skill of bending a ball around a wall of defenders or a goal keeper.

These are only a few examples of creative methods to apply to learning fundamental athletic skills. I will continue to provide other examples as this series continues over the next several weeks. I would also love to share creative drills that you have used, you saw a coach use, or you experienced when you participated.

Solving the issues in youth sports needs to be a conversation that we all participate in as we witness and experience different things that happen on our children’s playing fields. I look forward to hearing more of your great insight into this subject as well!

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Making Exercise Child’s Play

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Gulf New’s has a fantastic three-page feature on our very own Scott Lancaster and his recent efforts in the United Arab Emirates,

“Scott Lancaster is a man with a mission. He plans to fight obesity among children in the UAE. How is he planning to do this? “By tricking them into playing sport and outdoor activities,” he says. As founder and president of Athletic Fitness, Inc; Trick it out Sports; and author of Fair Play: How to Make Organised Sports a Great Experience for Your Kids, Lancaster has 20 years’ experience in developing youth sports programmes in soccer and football in the USA. His innovative approach to improve youth sports is set to be introduced by Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, through a fitness programme called ‘R U Ready’.

In an exclusive interview he tells Friday how he plans to bring a more family-friendly way of playing sports for children aged 5 to 17 to the UAE. Backed by more than 12 years’ experience with the National Football League (NFL), USA, he has charted a youth sports philosophy for Abu Dhabi schools. He says that this will redefine the world of sport for youngsters. ”

Be sure to click the link for the full feature and look for more from Scott, right here on Digital Dads.

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Taking Fun Seriously

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Photo courtesy of WBUR

 

Taking Fun Seriously

I hear the following repeated many times at youth practices – “It looks like your having too much fun out there guys.” or “Your going to start running if you don’t take this seriously.”

On the other side of the coin are people that believe that sports should be fun but not taken seriously.  Or if it’s fun, it cannot be a serious athletic experience.

The fact is they’re all wrong. As a matter of fact taking the fun away totally runs contrary to what youth sports should be all about, and actually can stifle overall performance.

With an overall attrition rate when kids reach the age of 12 in youth organized sports of 75% we obviously have underestimated the value and under delivered the amount of fun necessary to keep kids active and involved.

Achieving Results While Keeping it Fun:

For several years I coached a youth tackle football team with kids from the ages of 7 to 10 years old. I approached my coaching responsibilities with the objective that it was going to be all about fun. The team would learn the correct way to play through fundamentals skill development, but in an entertaining and kid like way.  I didn’t believe kids should be treated like miniature adults, especially in a sport as violent and physical as tackle football. The objective was to give kids a fun experience that left them loving the game rather than dreading it.

In contrast there was another team made up of kids the same age that practiced right next to us every day.  Their team’s philosophy was a traditional experience of conditioning (push-ups, sit-ups, wind sprints), with a macho philosophy that their team would never take their helmets off during practice, they hit every day, and they’d wear full gear no matter how high the temperature and humidity would reach.

Often our team would alternate football skill development drills with fun games such as Ultimate Frisbee with a football, or a game of rugby without the tackling, all with a focus on athletic development (agility, coordination, and speed) yet in a fun entertaining fashion.  While the other team struggled to keep it’s roster large enough to field a team, we had 100% attendance at every practice throughout the season.

Bottom line, practices were fun yet developed every child athletically and kept their interest throughout 12 weeks of practices and games.  Even the sport of youth tackle football can be fun.

How the Pros Use Fun To Excel:

I interview elite athletes every week on my Sirius/XM radio show “The ABC’s of Sports”.  Many times I have snowboarders, free style skiers, surfers, and skateboarders on the show to explain why they left team sports to pursue a career in action sports.  A majority , if not all say they at one time played a team sport growing up but quit due to “not having fun”.  They explain how coaches and parents took winning too seriously and practices were boring.

I’ve interviewed Snowboard Olympic Gold Medalists – Shawn White, Torah Bright, Hannah Teter, Ross Powers, X Games Skateboard Gold Medalist – Ryan Sheckler, 2010 Supercross Champion – Ryan Dungy, X Games Free Style Ski Champions – Simon Dumont & Sarah Burke to name a few and all mention the word “fun” an average of 20+ times per interview.

Most recently I spoke to 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist, Hannah Teter, from the Burton US Open in Stratton Mountain, Vermont, she explained fun as follows:

“Snowboarding is just the freest sport.  When you go out there you’re with your friends, your out in nature, your having a good time.  And we progress fast because we’re always having fun, which is key to evolving a sport.”

As we approach this upcoming Spring Season, coaches need to remember to use the element of “fun” as their most important tool to enhance performance and keep their team motivated.

Oh, by-the-way you might have some fun yourself.

Hannah Teter Interview w/Scott Lancaster for Digital Dads (audio)

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Digital Dads Week in Sports: I Didn’t Pick Her Up at No Playground

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Ochocinco met Real Madrid and got the soccer bug. (Image: MLS)

So after being lazy last week with only posting my NCAA picks, you are probably wonder how I did? Well, in a poll with a bunch of school teachers and my 10 year old, I’m dead last. He’s in sixth place. Really though we’re not too far apart, but my final four is already busted. Ah, such is life. Thankfully the ten year old didn’t get them all correct, because I told him that I’d give him $100 if he got every single one correct. I don’t have $100. C.C. only pays me in week old corned beef sandwiches.

Whose Jersey are you Wearing?

According to sales of MLB jerseys, Derek Jeter and Joe Mauer have the most bought and worn jerseys. This is easy to believe due to the popularity and consistency of both players. It’s no mystery that the Yankees would find themselves at the top of jersey sales. Even down here in South Florida, there are generally more Yankees fans at Rays games than Rays fans. Kind of sucks, but that’s the way it is. The best part of this list is that the next three best selling players are all Phillies. Roy Halladay, Chase Utley and Cliff Lee round out the top five. As for Lee, his Rangers jersey accounted for a portion of his total.

Here’s my theory on jersey’s and why I only have three. I have one Indians jersey with no name on the back, which is the best kind of jersey. Aside from that I have two Carl Crawford jerseys. One classic Devil Rays jersey, and one new one. Hopefully I’ll be burning those soon as he is now playing for the Boston Red Sox. The point is, with free agency it’s hard to buy a jersey and keep it for more than a year. Which is probably why most of the best selling jerseys are from players who have been with their team for a while. There is nothing worse than buying a jersey (say a Brady Quinn Browns jersey) then seeing that player leave the next year. These things aren’t cheap, not by a long shot. Even the cheap ones aren’t cheap. Which is why I suggest just buying a no-name one for your team.

Aside from the jerseys, officially licensed MLB merchandise reached an all-time high in 2010, up over six percent the year before. This is good news for MLB as a whole, who is still regaining fans that were turned off within the steroid era – as it’s now referred to. However, I’m still not spending hundreds of dollars on an article of clothing anytime soon, especially for the Rays who dumped half their staff last year. Sure, I could go out and buy a David Price jersey, but will he even be with the Rays next year? Who knows?

Speaking About Steroids…

This just won’t go away. A much thinner looking Barry Bonds is currently dealing with his perjury trial, you know, for the lying. Well, a star witness has testified that he saw Barry Bonds and Greg Anderson (trainer) coming out of Bond’s bedroom carrying a syringe. Witness Steve Hoskins, a childhood friend of Bonds, claims that his testimony and the recording of conversations was only to help Bonds, who he was truly worried about, even at one point contacting Bobby Bonds about Barry’s steroid abuse. As a baseball fan who followed Barry’s career from his skinny years with the Pirates to his shoulders on shoulders years with Giants, the dude was using steroids.

Proving it is going to be the problem, proving he lied about it is going to be even more difficult. Sure, Anderson walked out of the bedroom holding a syringe, but perhaps they were just doing heroin. Or maybe Anderson was feeling a bit diabetic. Plus, rich people do weird things. If I was rich, I could totally see injecting pure caffeine right into my bloodstream instead of drinking coffee. Actually, I’d probably shoot for straight up opium. The point is, well, I sure hope that this testimony helps convict Bonds. He was a steroid abuser for sure, and should serve as a prime example as to why steroids are bad. As if the testicle shrinkage isn’t enough proof.

Ochocinco Plans to Actually Play Futbol

This week Ochocinco has been hanging out with Sporting Kansas City, the Major League Soccer team based in Kansas City. Obviously. With about ten times the normal press expected at a MLS tryout, Ocho was a bit winded after practice. Chances are, he’s not going to make the team as he’s not in the right kind of shape for futbol. He’s a sprint runner, running fades and sprints in short intervals, not the whole game. 45 minutes with no rest might be a bit much for the NFL veteran. However, if he does make the team, he said he’ll play for free. Here’s the thing, whether he makes the team or not, they should bring him on anyway. Sure, it’ll keep some young kid from making the team but can you imagine what it will do for attendance? Merchandise sales? It would be a freaking boon for the team. Plus, it’s MLS and as it is, this is the most anyone has cared about MLS in quite a long time.

Upsets Abound in NCAA Tournament

Let’s talk upsets in the NCAA tournament. Really, it wouldn’t be March Madness without the madness part. While my brackets weren’t busted, they certainly were bruised because I picked very few upsets. It started over in the Southwest bracket with Richmond upsetting Vanderbilt in dramatic fashion, and Morehead State tossing Louisville aside. Then, USC beat Georgetown and went on to beat #3 seeded Purdue to work their way into the Sweet Sixteen. How about them apples? Over in the West, Arizona beat Texas to advance to the sixteen. While not a major upset, it still was surprising to a lot of folks, especially those who had Texas winning it all.

My final game is Ohio State vs. Pittsburgh. So when Pitt got bushwhacked by Butler, I nearly crumpled my brackets up and aimed for the trash can. Notre Dame losing to Florida State was also a bit of surprise, but it wasn’t completely unexpected. It’s something I can deal with. So now we come to the Sweet Sixteen, where teams like Richmond are in for a rude awakening. Sure, they could keep rolling, but they are going up against Kansas. Do you really think Kansas is going to roll over for Richmond? I don’t think so. However, it’s March Madness. Anything could happen.

LT Now a Sexual Predator

Lawrence Taylor, one of the greatest players to ever grace the NFL, has managed to completely tarnish his legacy. You think Brett Favre’s dick pictures were bad? LT is a sexual predator. You all know the story, but what does LT think about all this?

“I didn’t pick her up at no playground. She wasn’t hiding behind the school bus or getting off a school bus. … That’s not my M.O. I’ve been around kids and people all my life. I’m not the cause of prostitution. And sometimes I make mistakes and I may go out there . . . This is a working girl that came to my room. And I don’t know what her age was. I asked her age. She told me she was 19. It is what it is.”

So the hooker you picked up was underage. Yes LT, that makes it 100% better. All this bad behavior by ex-stars of the NFL, NBA, MLB and so on, and yet Pete Rose is still not in the hall of fame. What the hell?

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WAKE UP CALL FOR FOOTBALL: It’s time for youth football coaches to be Licensed!

Sunday, February 6th, 2011

On the eve of the Super Bowl, football’s largest stage & most popular weekend in all of sports, I’m perplexed that very little has been featured in the press on this year’s most pressing issue, head injuries.

Helmet to helmet hits to the head. Our increased awareness of concussions. High school football teams forfeiting games due to rosters depleted by injuries. A college player left paralyzed from the neck down. The medical community warning parents that hits to the head may effect their children for the rest of their lives. Is that not enough for the football community to rethink the issue of safety at the youth level?

Yet every weekend in the fall millions of kids take to the football field, instructed to hit their opponent, separate the ball from the ball carrier, and take on a warrior mentality. Kids who have not yet reached puberty, and are stilled tucked in at night by their parents will take to the football field without the security and proper instruction of a many certified adult coaches.

If that does not make you pause to think, then let me pose this question. Would you take your child to a martial arts class, where the instructor’s only qualification was they enjoyed watching Kung Fu movies? Well, that’s exactly what you do when you place your son on a youth tackle football team. Most youth tackle football coaches qualify themselves to coach by the fact that they watch the NFL and college football every weekend on television.

As football parents, ARE WE CRAZY??? We allow our children to play a violent sport where you are asked to hit and knock someone over, with limited instruction on how to properly execute such a difficult physical task. Not to mention the fact that young kids below the age of 15, if not older, have not fully developed their bodies to appropriately execute complicated & coordinated movements in order to make a tackle correctly. Nor have they developed the neck strength to support the head when making a tackle.

The football community needs to quickly mandate coaches to be licensed and properly trained. Currently USA Football has an on-line test that certifies coaches. Anyone can pass that test without preparing for it! I’ve administered that test to people with no football background or knowledge that have passed that test. It’s time to follow the lead of sports such as soccer and require that youth tackle football coaches pass a comprehensive on-field test in how to properly teach all the fundamentals of the game, for every position. If the sport of ice hockey, including the NHL, USA Hockey, and Hockey Canada are now asking that youth hockey re-certify coaches and change their rules on contact before the age of 13, is it not time that football start certifying coaches, and rethinking how kids learn and play the game?

I applaud the sport of hockey for being proactive to protect the future generation of players and their sport. Football needs to do the same, despite their claims that they do, through posters and pamphlets designed to educate parents, players & coaches in regards to concussions. It all falls on deaf ears when you don’t require coaches to be trained to teach the game.

Wake up football!!

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The Worldwide Trouble with Youth Sports: Apathy, Poverty, & Soccer

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

(photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)

As I traveled through the United Emirates, South Africa and Cairo, Egypt I found several striking things that they all had in common as it applied to youth sports: a sense of frustration, poverty, and soccer.

South Africa is a beautiful country that exemplifies the best conditions for an outside active lifestyle. The weather is warm, the sun shines often, and they take their sports seriously. Though I witnessed many kids playing outside, many residents told me they play only a select number of sports due to their lack of access, or introduction to a wider variety of other activities. Their sports of choice are soccer, rugby (for some), tennis, & water sports.

Egypt, a country steeped in ancient history, unfortunately has 90% of it’s population living in poverty, leaving little opportunity for a majority of kids to experience a quality active lifestyle. Their dominant sport is soccer, played by many in the streets, with little access to many other sports or activities due to the expense and lack of exposure to other activities.

United Emirates love to watch all types of sports from soccer to golf, tennis, motor sports, horse racing, cricket, rugby, etc., yet they participate in very few. The majority of active participants are “foreign transplants”. Many I talked to claimed it was the heat that prevents kids from being as active as they should be, therefore they stay inside. But a closer look unveils that it is quite pleasant 6 months out of the year.

The three most common reasons I believe such a large number of kids are inactive worldwide is as follows:

1) APATHY:
All three areas of the world that I traveled had a high percentage of inactive kids. Many people in these countries are critical of the younger generation’s “laziness”, a subject that frustrates older generations and leads to apathy. Like our parents, we often approach and attempt to solve our children’s problems without sometimes fully understanding the contemporary world kids are growing up in today. We must respect their fast paced world of information flow, and technology, in order to fully understand how their minds work and how they’re motivated to play and be active.

2) POVERTY:
All three countries have an issue with poverty, but no one quite has it like Egypt. Many Egyptians explained to me that children would love to play different sports yet they cannot afford the equipment, or access other activities (such as the water/beach, lessons, equipment etc.). The poorer areas of both South Africa and United Emirates made similar claims.

3) SOCCER:
Now I do believe that soccer is a great sport to play. I like soccer, and have nothing against the game. Outside the United States the love & obsession for the game, and the easy access to play anywhere, have made the sport the most popular in the world. At each stop along this Middle East and African tour I found dozens of soccer games on television throughout the day. They live & breath soccer, but there lies the problem. The love and obsession they have for the game of soccer has actually harmed each generation that has grown up with the sport. Many people in every country I visited pointed out that “There’s too much soccer, that’s all kids play.”

One of the main reasons I’m in these countries is to introduce kids to athletic development through different sport disciplines. If soccer is one of the only sports and athletic activities that you partake in, it can create generations of one dimensional athletes. When you ignore the development of the upper body and how it coordinates with lower extremities, you create generations of imbalanced athletes. And from a kid’s viewpoint, if you don’t provide the experience of variety, or options to participate in other activities, many lose interest in remaining active for the rest of their lives.

Now solving these issues would involve the large undertaking of changing lifestyles and culture. Something that won’t happen overnight. However if these countries ever want to reverse obesity, and turn kids into active individuals, they may seriously want to consider introducing individual type sports.

(photo by Indigo Skate Camp)

One sport that comes to mind and has limited expense, can be accessed in many different places, and develops many important athletic/movement skills, is skateboarding. If you have pavement or a hard surface, and can access a board, helmet and pads, you can skate on the streets for years learning tricks, developing agility, balance, coordination, strength & stamina.

The other sport that balances the athletic development of the upper with the lower body is tennis. The access of tennis rackets and balls would allow kids to again play on any hard flat surface, and even small space areas against walls. The tennis industry would be well served to introduce the sport in the same manner soccer has throughout the world in small spaces on streets worldwide.

Different cultures around the world need to leave their comfort zone and the familiarity of what they grew up with and try new things if they want younger generations to lead healthy, active lifestyles. The same holds true for the United States. We must expose kids to many different sports and activities, then provide access through our schools, communities, and at home.

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A Super-Sized Lifestyle

Monday, January 10th, 2011

The United Emirates love their sports. Whether it’s soccer, rugby, cricket, horse racing, Formula 1, Golf, or on this particular weekend in Dubai skydiving competitions, there is no lack of sports to watch on television or in person. Yet very few Emirates actually participate in sports, and that includes their youth. As a matter of fact you see very few working out in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

Why this love for watching sport yet no desire to play or be active? Many people I spoke to here mention the heat as a reason a majority don’t engage in an active lifestyle. Granted summer brings average temperatures between 105 and 110 degree fahrenheit, combined with high humidity, and no real relief in the morning or evening, does present a problem for being outside. Yet that argument puzzled me with the beautiful weather (80 degrees , bright sunshine and low humidity) they were having now, and have approximately 6 months out of the year.

The other disturbing trend that many in Abu Dhabi have witnessed is the culture of laziness. Many kids sit at home with all the amenities of technology, and little desire to be active. Add to that the overall school system’s lack of emphasis on physical education, which has lead to over 50 percent of all people in the UAE considered to be overweight or obese.

Hmm…. sound familiar? We are trending in a very similar path.

Is there an answer to the obesity issue? Yes, but it doesn’t get solved through public service announcements on television or professional sports leagues telling kids to go and play 60 minutes every day. It happens by proactively updating the fitness industry and providing more creative alternatives for kids and families, de-emphasizing organized sports participation 12 months out the year, and rebuilding playgrounds and parks nationwide to appeal to kids of all ages.

So this trip to the Middle East got me thinking and inspired to make a difference in the lives of kids in our country. Let’s be the first country to actually do something about creating more access to an active lifestyle. Let’s begin super sizing our kids active lifestyle with less fast food and more creative thought and leisure products for the future.

My next destination – South Africa. Stay tuned.

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January 5th Abu Dhabi Diary – Same Issues, Different Country

Thursday, January 6th, 2011


Photo of Ibrahim Wadhai by Action Sports Arabia

Ok – today I was exhausted! Jet lag set in around 4 p.m. local time. I knew the short nap on a abandoned terrace overlooking the water in beautiful 80 degree weather would give me a second wind to finish my day, but the fact that I awoke surrounded by a cocktail party was the energy source (powered by utter embarrassment) that brought me back to life. Always wanted to be the topic of conversation at a party!

Today’s topic of conversation – who’s fatter? United Emirate or U.S. Kids? I actually found myself, with my American competitive nature trying to convince people we were fatter!

The problem is, it’s universal, we’re all heavier than we need to be, and on a statistical whole, kids are worse.

Both press interviews today (Shape Magazine & 360 Sports), and a past one I did with Abu Dhabi’s “Time Out Magazine”, wanted to know the solution to solving inactivity among kids.

No matter where you live the solution to getting kids interested in an active lifestyle is straightforward. In order to better engage kids we need to create interest in sports & fitness and make it more contemporary to meet their lifestyle. Let’s face it, with all the advancements in technology, science, and communications that have become staples in our children’s lives, we still present sports as a one dimensional experience similar to what we and our parents did in our childhood.

Kids today have grown up and are wired to take in information & entertainment differently than we did. They want information at their fingertips with speedy interaction with others. Despite the fact that we complain that our kids sit around too much, the irony is they actually despise being bored and waiting for things to happen. Unfortunately that’s exactly the experience they’re receiving through today’s organized sports and fitness programs.

So what’s the solution? Let’s look at where sport participation and an active lifestyle thrives among kids. You’ll find it at any skate or snow park. Kids with passion, that want to be outside learning, improving, and experiencing without a coach or a organized practice. Yet they’ll spend hours upon hours working with their peers or on their own on just one aspect of a trick.

The sport & fitness program (Trick It Out Sports) I’m introducing and installing throughout this trip in conjunction with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to the Middle East, South Africa, and Egypt is modeled similar to how a skateboarder, surfer, or snowboarder participates in their sports. We introduce 6 basic elements of athletic development (agility, balance, coordination, speed, strength, & stamina) through tricks that are self-measuring and allow for everyone to cumulate points, an element that appeals to this video gaming generation.

So my mission on this trip and throughout the United States is to introduce kids to sports & fitness in a new and contemporary way that appeals to how they want to play rather than miniaturizing the same things we do as adults.

As you read this I’m off to Dubai to introduce kids to Trick It Out Sports. I’ll let you know how it goes!

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