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Norman Sas, Inventor of Electric Football, Stops Vibrating

July 9, 2012 by

Norman Sas, one of the giants of football home games died late last month at age 87. No he did not invent EA Sports’ Madden NFL or even Tecmo Bowl, instead he was the man behind Electric Football. Unfamiliar with Electric Football? You are showing your age, or lack thereof. Prior to the modern video games there was Electric Football.

The game was around for a few decades before it gained a tie-in with the NFL, which allowed it to use team colors and logos in 1967 and then sales soared for more than a decade, until the advent of electronic versions slowed sales a great deal.

A quick recap of how the game is played. It had a marked football field and two teams of players. When lined up the game was turned on and the board vibrated, sending payers to and fro across the board, sometimes as you wanted them to go and often, at least when I played, into a jumbled mass in the center of the field. There is a quarterback that can actually throw the ball, another skill I never mastered.

However there are obviously some people much better at the game than I as there appear to be several leagues past and present that have competed for bragging rights. Of course the game is still available, and according to this article, it has sold 40 million copies since its invention in 1948. Now available from Miggle Toys the game can be had on Amazon for around $60.

Filed Under: Electric Football, Humor, NFL Tagged With:

US Archery Aims for the Olympic Gold that has been Eluding the Team

July 9, 2012 by

I was walking down the street the other day and one of my neighbors was loading his kids into their car, which was not unusual, but what caught my eye was that he was also loading in a couple of bows along with arrows.

I know that the sport has seen a renewed interest of late, apparently fueled by the popularity of the movie “The Hunger Games.” I have not seen the movie but I have seen all of the promotions featuring the bow carrying heroine.

Even without the assist from Hollywood it looks like the US is fielding a very strong team, from all reports. The most a nation is allowed is three men and three woman participants, and each has to earn their way to the games. The US has not won a medal in more than a decade.

The men’s team features Brady Ellison, currently the top ranked archer in the world and a participant in the 2008 Olympics, where he finished 27th. He has also won gold at the 2011 Pan American games and for three years running, starting in 2010 has been an Archery World Cup gold medalist. Also on the men’s team are two other highly regarded shooters in Jake Kaminiski and Jacob Wukie.

The women’s team is lead by Miranda Leek, who is also the top ranked US women’s archer but the most interesting might be Khatuna Loring, who will be participating in her 5th Olympics, and for her third country, having been on the Unified Team in 1992, Georgia in 1996 and 200 and the US in 2008. She was also the trainer for Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games.” Jennifer Nichols fills out the team as she also heads back to the Olympics, having participated four years ago and finishing 24th.

Archery has been part of the Olympics since 1900 but has not been an event every four years, with it dropping in and out until 1972, and the format that is used today, head-to-head, was established in 1992. The first paraplegic, Neroli Fairhair competed for New Zealand in 1984.

The sport is governed by the International Archery Federation and recurve archery is the only discipline allowed. The current version of the game consists of four medal events: men’s individual, women’s individual, men’s team, and women’s team. In all four events, the distance from the archer to the target is 70 metres.

It is interesting to note the steady increase in its popularity over time (pre- Hunger Games). In 1908 only the US entered athletes, pretty much ensuring success but there are now 83 nations that have competed. It is tough getting a spot as only a limited number of slots are available for continents along with a number of other positions based on ranking, host nation privilege etc… All time South Korea has the most Gold Medals with 16 followed by the US with 14, but the US has an edge in total medals, 31-30 over Korea.

P.S. If you are wondering of the movie has had an actual impact on the sport the answer seems to be a solid yes. According to this piece. US Archery’s website unique visitors have nearly doubled the past three months, Facebook fans have more than tripled and Twitter followers have more than quadrupled since the movie.

Filed Under: Archery, Olympics Tagged With:

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Top 5 Tablets, Nexus Components Breakdown = $184

July 9, 2012 by

Google is now asking for $4 million from Oracle to cover Google’s legal expenses it incurred during its recent copyright and patent infringement battle. According to a piece in Wired, Google claims that since it prevailed on the majority of issues it is entitled to recovery costs.

It has not made public an individual breakdown of the bill but it includes $2.9 million for the copying and organization of the 97 million documents used in the case. Oracle has already said that it will appeal the case.

Google Nexus component costs = $184
A teardown on the recently announced Google Nexus 7 appears to show that the company is basically selling the device at cost, something that is also believed to be true of its rival Amazon’s Kindle Fire. According to research done by Tech Insights a list of the components are available.

From the list it appears that a $199 version of the device would have a cost of $184, leaving the company a whopping $15 profit, as long as there was no shipping and handling charges for it. It looks like the razor/razor blade model is alive and well.

Top 5 Tablet companies
Google entered the tablet space to a great deal of fanfare last month when it introduced its Nexus 7, a 7-inch tablet that is being manufactured by AsusTek. Yet as even the most casual observer notes, Apple continues to dominate this space and new players are expected to enter with the expected onslaught on Windows 8-powered tablets including Microsoft’s Surface tablet will also be available, greatly increasing the level of competition in this space.

According to market research firm HIS iSuppli, as reported by the Ventura County Star, last year Apple owned 62% of the market with 40.5 million iPads sold.
2) Samsung 9% 6.1 million Galaxy’s sold
3) Amazon 6% 3.9 million Kindles
4) Barnes & Noble 5% 3.3 million Nooks
5) AsusTek 3% 2.1 million Transformers
• Other, 9.4 million, 14 percent

Samsung to offer Windows RT Tablet in fall?
Samsung is reportedly preparing a tablet that will run Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows RT software, a version of Windows 8 that is designed to operate on devices powered by the ARM processors that current dominate in the Android space.

Samsung had previously said that it would support the Windows 8 Pro that is designed to run on chips from Intel and AMD. Rival Hewlett-Packard has said that it will support Windows 8 Pro but was unclear if and when it would also support RT.

Facebook in new mobile ad push
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Facebook is addressing one of its perceived weaknesses, the lack of mobile revenue, with an advertising push that will be based on tracking which apps are used on phones.

This will not be all apps, just those that are used through its Facebook Connect feature, and then it will produce ads based on that usage. Apple and Google currently track what apps users have downloaded, and Apple targets them with specific ads while Google currently does not, the piece said.

Facebook and Yahoo kiss and make up on patents
In a move that stands out because it is so rare, Facebook and Yahoo have come to an agreement on patent infringement issues that had lead to the filing of lawsuits against each other. Rather than see the issue through the long and costly court system the two settled all patent issues between themselves.

In addition the two have launched a new advertising partnership and extended and expanded an existing distribution agreement between the two companies. As part of the advertising agreement their will work to get ads that run on both sites and work to integrate the two sites.

Leading Judge blasts US Patent system
On the flip side of the Facebook/Yahoo agreement is the Apple vs. Motorola Mobility lawsuits. U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner, the man who threw out the case between the two has said that the patent system resembles a jungle were rivals seek to wound foes by any means necessary.

Posner questioned whether patents should cover software in high tech and said that while it made sense to give intellectual property protection in some areas such as pharmaceuticals due to the huge investments, he wondered if that was true in other markets.

Samsung wins temporary stay on Galaxy Nexus ban
The US Court of Appeals has granted a temporary stay on the injunction that prevented Samsung from selling its popular Galaxy smartphones. Apple now has until July 12 to respond to the motion to stay, according to Foss Patents.

After Apple responds the court will then decide on a stay for the entire time that it takes fro Samsung’s formal appeal to be heard. Samsung had apparently lost its last 5 attempts to win a stay in this case, according to Foss.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Kindle, Lawsuit, Mashable, Motorola, Nook, Oracle, Samsung, Tablets, Yahoo Tagged With: , , , ,

Lance Armstrong’s lingering USADA saga prompts odd response from former teammates, USA Cycling

July 8, 2012 by

With the 99th Tour de France now in its second week, crashes and the evolving overall race competition dominate the news as riders pedal into mountains for the first time.

The lingering saga that is Lance Armstrong versus USADA and the connection to four former teammates competing in the Tour de France has subsided — for now.

But the issue isn’t going away soon.

Did Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie, Dave Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer admit that they doped in their careers and say that Lance Armstrong did, too, in exchange for plea-bargained, six-month suspensions?

Or is the story leaked a few days ago to newspapers in Europe fiction?

That’s the claim of Jonathan Vaughters, the general manager of the Garmin-Sharp team who’s also listed among those who testified.

One of story’s complementary components is the role or lack of role in the controversy of USA Cycling, the sport’s governing body.

Each of the four cyclists in the fiasco expressed interest in competing in the Summer Olympics later this month in London, England.

Hincapie, 39, a five-time Olympian, is retiring in August. Leipheimer won the 2008 Olympic time trial bronze medal. During the Tour of California, Zabriske said he was focused on winning the event’s individual time trial because he wanted to prove he belonged on the team. Vande Velde said he’d welcome a spot on the team, which would have been his third Olympics.

But in mid-June, all four riders said they had requested via USA Cycling to have their names removed from Olympic team consideration. This year, because no American cyclist met automatic qualifying standards for time trial or road team selection, the choices were subjective and made via a USA Cycling committee.

When asked, USA Cycling issued a statement that it didn’t know why the four riders had made the request. The governing body also said it would have no further comment on the matter.

The surprising turn of events are odorous.

Why did the riders ask to have their names removed? Why did USA Cycling find it necessary to make its “no further comment” comment? Did it think no one would question the odd circumstances?

Why couldn’t any of the cyclists, all largely accommodating with the media throughout their careers, say something along the lines of “a private matter,” instead not commenting?

The actions of USA Cycling are particularly disturbing. The organization offers plenty of news of its expanding membership and corporate sponsorship deals. But when a difficult scenario arises, it removes itself.

If USA Cycling wanted to avoid the controversy, it could have just announced the five-rider team and said nothing. And now, regardless of what happens next, USA Cycling and the four cyclists involved, all with their career reputations at stake, simply look bad.

Note: To watch live Tour de France video online, you can sign up for the $29.99 package for the entire race, or $4.99 per stage. Plus, you need to sign up for a Map My Ride account.

Filed Under: Cycling, Olympics, Tour de France Tagged With: , ,

New Rules for International Soccer- Video Replay included

July 6, 2012 by

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) held a special meeting yesterday and passed several decisions that will result in new rules for the game, with one of the decisions relating to goal line technology to review goals.

If anybody was watching the just concluded Euro 2012 they no doubt saw the Ukrainian team denied a goal against England, a goal that would have been allowed if technology had been in place to review the incident.

The new technology, which has been tested for the last nine months, will be slowly implemented after a unanimous vote and is now subject to installations in stadiums and a final quality check. The technology will only be used for goals and no other areas, such as diving.

However the issue of diving might be addressed by a second resolution that passed unanimously, that of adding two additional assistant referees to the game, following a two year experiment UEFA Champions League, Europa League and EURO 2012, as well as the AFC President’s Cup and competitions in Brazil, France, Morocco and Qatar.

The last resolution passed was the allowing of players to wear headscarves. This will be allowed temporarily and the composition, color and other features of the scarves will be decided later this year.

Filed Under: Euro 2012, FIFA, Soccer Tagged With: ,

Watching NASCAR this Weekend: Coke Zero 400

July 6, 2012 by

Driving a second car does not keep Brad Keselowski in second place. Despite destroying his primary car in a practice round last week in Kentucky and yet he managed to drive the backup to victory, something that you very rarely see.

Not only did he win but he led the last 55 laps but he did it with a limited gas supply in earning his third victory of the season. Kyle Busch looked very strong early but a bump into the wall and the resulting damage ruined any chance he had of a win. The top five for the week was filled out by Kasey Kahne in second followed by Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Next up- Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola
This week the teams are back at a place they are very familiar with, Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Not much that can be sad about the track that fans do not already know. It is a 2.5 mile tri-oval and if my math is correct this race marks the half way point in the season. The leader board is very tight and we will probably expand it to the top ten next week.

I did catch an interesting piece over at ESPN about a proposal to include mandatory cautions in races to add excitement. Burton Smith, a billionaire track promoter said that the inclusion would make the races more exciting, something that he believes long stretches of green flag racing is not. NASCRA official seem very cold to the idea, at least right now.

Twitter– Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a list.

Broadcast
July 7 6:30 ET TNT

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -11
3) Jimmie Johnson -23
4) Greg Biffle –25
5) Denny Hamlin -68

Nationwide Series
The Nationwide race last week was an up and down day for Austin Dillon. He was absolutely dominating in the race, winning his first Nationwide Series race by leading it for 192 out of 200 laps. The win enabled him to take over the leader board from Elliott Sadler, at least for a very short while.

A look below at the point’s leader shows that Dillon fell out of the points lead. The reason for this was a six point penalty because his car failed an inspection following the race last week for having a car that was too low. The top five of the race was filled out by Kurt Busch in second with Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier filling out the remaining positions.

This Week: Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by Coca-Cola

Broadcast
July 6, 7 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -4
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -31
5) Justin Allgaier -71

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., ESPN, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr. Tagged With: ,
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