ALL


Computer Chess Record Books, Meet the Asterisk

Posted by John Hamlin in GAMING on 07-13-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

The world of computer-versus-computer chess competition took its first step toward becoming a modern sport, and maybe even being interesting.

In quite possibly the nerdiest controversy outside of Dungeons & Dragons, the International Computer Games Association stripped Rybka, a chess-playing computer program, of its four World Computer Chess Championship titles. In a 5-0 decision, the ICGA ruled that Vasik Rajlich, an American-Czech dual citizen living in Poland, used code from two other chess programs without attribution in writing Rybka.

“Vasik Rajlich is guilty of plagiarizing the programs Crafty and Fruit, and has violated the ICGA’s tournament rules with respect to the World Computer Chess Championships in the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010,” said an ICGA press release. ”Furthermore, it seems to the ICGA that Vasik Rajlich clearly knew that he was in the wrong in doing so, since he has repeatedly denied plagiarizing the work of other programmers.”

Rybka will be erased from the record books, more like an opponent of Joseph Stalin than a juiced-up MLB slugger. Plaques will be revised, and trophies will be sent to the newly determined champions.

While big computers don’t cry, Rajlich’s tear ducts may well be working overtime. He is banned for life from ICGA competition and must return all trophies and prize money. The total is unknown, but in 2010, he won about $1,400. Moreover, the news should cut into sales of Rybka, which goes for about $100 online.




Football Season Begins Now: NCAA 12 Rocks With New Features

Posted by Seth in GAMING on 07-11-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

The unofficial start of football season comes Tuesday when NCAA Football 12 hits the stores. It hardly seems possible, but EA Sports keeps coming up with new tweaks and innovations that make this game a richer experience each year, even though the gameplay stays largely the same.

The first thing that caught my eye about this year’s game is that the Road To Glory mode has been expanded. In layman’s terms, this is the career mode, where you create a player and guide him though his college career. Except now your career starts with your senior year of high school, which is a playable mode in the game. Your performance in your senior season dictates what types of college programs recruit you. Play well, and you’ll end up with a school in a BCS conference. If you’re mediocre, you’ll end up in college football’s hinterlands.

If you’re more interested in coaching than playing, there are new features on that front as well. At the end of each season in the dynasty mode, there is the Coaching Carousel, where schools offer you and other coaches new contracts. You can re-up with your current school if they make you an offer, or you can hold out and see who else wants to throw a deal your way.

But the features I like the best are the ones that give you seemingly limitless flexibility in the way you manage your dynasty. First of all, you have the ability to set up the schedules and the conference alignments any way you want them. Think Pitt should be in the Big Ten so they can play Penn State every year? Move them there. Want to make the SEC the ultimate super conference? Move Texas and Ohio State in there. In a way, this sort of thing takes video gaming into the realm of fantasy gaming. There are communities out there with people setting up their own leagues.

Last year’s NCAA Football game allowed you to manage your recruiting from your PC. Now you can play your games from there too. This I love. You can be sitting at work and calling plays. You don’t actually control the players’ movements like you do when you play on a console, but it’s the next best thing and a hell of a cool idea. EA Sports would do well to implement more of this sort of thing in their other titles.

To top it off, the presentation, which has fully integrated ESPN content, is getting rave reviews by everyone in the gaming community. Long story short, there’s a lot to love about this game.




Your Own NFL MiniCamp: Zephyr Offers Free Virtual Training Tool

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT, MOBILE on 07-08-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

via Zephyr Portal

Dang! There goes my last excuse for being old, slow and fat.

Annapolis, Md.-based Zypher Technologies is now offering what amounts to the remote training and monitoring tools that the pros use on your Android phone. And pretty much for nothing.

The company’s ZephyrAnywhere portal is up and running. For little more than your name, email address and password, you can log into a remote training tool that offers more data than you could ever want on how dangerously out of shape you really are.

You will need to get a biometric harness, download some apps and otherwise tinker around to get this thing to work right. And there are always issues when you load up advanced workout tools. Still, for what amounts to a sales tool, this product is pretty darn cool.

Here are the links, company and portal.




Adding A Third Dimension In Sports

Posted by Anthony Mowl in TELEVISION on 07-08-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

The BBC had its first 3D broadcast last weekend, adding a new dimension in its airing of Wimbledon’s men’s and women’s semi-finals. It was a hefty endeavor, with two huge broadcast trucks, dedicated staff and specialty cameras all brought in for a 10-day test run leading up to the actual broadcast.

While tennis is probably one of the most 3D-worthy sports (think about a tennis ball flying toward your face at 120 mph), you have to ask yourself if the effort was worth it. The broadcast was shown live in just 200 theaters worldwide, and less than 200,000 televisions in the UK support 3D. While sales of 3D televisions are picking up, movie theaters around the world are literally making customers sick of 3D.

3D started off with a bang when 80 percent of people who watched Avatar in theaters saw the movie in 3D. But newer movies are averaging only 35-45 percent 3D viewership. Moviegoers are literally getting headaches and feeling sick from the 3D effect, balking over the $4 to $6 premium to watch a film in 3D, and in some cases they’re complaining about the diminished quality of the movie itself. It turns out that some theaters, in an effort to save money, are dimming the bulbs on their projectors so the picture does not come out as bright or as sharp. While director James Cameron believes 3D is here to stay, moviegoers are saying otherwise with their wallets and opting to see movies in 2D instead.

This makes us wonder whether Wimbledon’s 3D broadcasts were simply an experiment or an assertion of what is to come in future sports broadcasts. If performance in movie theaters is any indication of the public’s interest, is it worth pursuing a third dimension in sports broadcasts? 3D is expensive, technically challenging, and not everybody likes it (including The Sports Tech Nihilist). Sure 3D might be a neat gimmick, but is it commercially viable?




Twitter: Killing Sports Journalism 140 Characters At A Time

Posted by Seth in INTERNET on 07-06-11    2 Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Holy crap, has Twitter ever royally screwed up the sports journalism business.

Depending on your perspective, this may be a good thing. As a career sports editor, I have a tough time getting on board with the whole social-media-has-changed-sports-journalism-as-we-know-it vibe. But my old-school journalistic sensibilities are being overrun by the ever-increasing evidence that my species is becoming irrelevant.

The latest example comes courtesy of a blogger named Nate Dunlevy, who runs an Indianapolis Colts site called 18to88.com. That’s 18, as in Peyton Manning, to 88, as in Marvin Harrison, in case you’re completely oblivious. Last week, longtime NFL writer Len Pasquarelli wrote a story that got syndicated to many outlets on the web, claiming that Colts’ defensive end Robert Mathis is planning to hold out of training camp once the NFL labor situation is settled.

Pasquarelli reported “with some degree of certainty” (whatever the hell that means) that Mathis won’t show up for camp without a new contract. While he quotes an anonymous source saying so, he does not quote Mathis. He also makes no reference about having attempted to contact Mathis for comment. Forgive me for criticizing a writer infinitely more accomplished than I will ever be, but that’s News Reporting 101. When you make a claim about someone, you owe them the opportunity to respond. Even a line in the story that says attempts to reach Mathis were unsuccessful is better than nothing.

Well, it turns out Dunlevy decided to do what Pasquarelli didn’t. Dunlevy tweeted Mathis to ask him about the report, and what do you know, but Mathis responded with a denial.

So here’s a guy sitting on his couch in his underwear somewhere in Indiana — and we say that because we have some experience with blogging and it involves couches and an unbelievably relaxed dress code — who got an answer that a well-respected football writer didn’t.

Now, the one thing that bothers me about using social media as a reporting tool is that it’s impossible to be certain that the person you’re interacting with is the person you think it is. It takes no skill to set up a Twitter account and pretend you’re an athlete or celebrity. Just do a Google search for “impersonated on Twitter,” and that much becomes obvious.

Assuming for the moment that this really is Robert Mathis’ Twitter account — which it apparently is — this is a striking example of the way a simple web-based tool has circumvented the sports media establishment. Of course, it’s not every athlete who is going to respond to random tweets from people they don’t know. But with an endless stream of chatter being churned out by sports websites and talk radio and TV, you can understand athletes getting fed up with misinformation or misrepresentation and using their own means to get their message out.

Don’t be surprised if little old Twitter kills sports media as we know it — 140 characters at a time.

#SportsJournalismIsDoomed!




Back From The Future: Tennis At Wimbledon, 2036

Posted by Anthony Mowl in EQUIPMENT on 07-06-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

It was another thrilling Wimbledon tournament. Novak Djokovic upset Rafael Nadal to become the top-ranked tennis player in the world, and there were slow-motion shots of Pippa Middleton gasping and cheering during the matches. Yes, slow-mo of Pippa. The tennis gods do exist. Short of the microphone not working in the post-championship interview with Djokovic, tennis’ popularity continues to assert itself with yet another star making his way to the top.

Tennis is one of those sports like golf, where with every match it pays tribute to its lineage and history. There have been few major changes that have altered the sport, unlike the 3-point line in basketball or the forward pass in football. While technology has changed sport in many ways, the best innovation in tennis to date has been getting rid of wooden rackets for graphite rackets. For its 125th anniversary Wimbledon’s banking partner HSBC decided to commission a study of potential technology that will be developed in the future for tennis, and they came up with some pretty neat stuff that shouldn’t pervert the game.

Loughborough University’s Sports Technology institute conducted the study, and research leader Dr. Jouni Ronkainen had the pleasure of imagining what the game would look like in 2036. They looked at three major areas where innovation could occur: the ball, racket, and players’ clothing. The study also mentioned broadcasting matches over hologram, technology that Japan first offered up in their 2022 World Cup bid. Hopefully they won’t stop working on it because they lost the bid.

The major innovations in tennis will come in the remote measurement and reporting of information, stuff like players’ biometric information, tracking where the ball lands on the court, racket speeds, and whether the racket strings are about to break. The neat things about these innovations is that they would improve the game without changing the game too much, something that even sport historians would appreciate. The game will get faster, players will get bigger and stronger, and fans will need neck braces to help them follow the ball back and forth across the court.

Loughborough even came up with some cool graphics that make the tennis player look like some sort of spaceman in the mold of Iron Man. While I believe that we’ll have better-constructed balls and rackets and data on the players’ heart and breathing rates, I have a really hard time thinking that tennis players will dress in a form-fitting body suit. But if Pippa wanted to wear one of those and it was broadcast as a hologram, I’d be all for it. That would prove once and for all that the tennis gods want us to be happy.




Modern Gaming: Two Sports Titles Make IGN List

Posted by Seth in GAMING, Uncategorized on 07-05-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Like one of those countdown shows on VH1 Classic that are great for killing a Sunday afternoon, the folks at video game website IGN.com have been busy ranking the top 100 modern games. Modern, for their purposes, means games made for the current generation of consoles, the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. They’ve also tossed some PSP and Nintendo DS games in there as well.

There were only two sports games on the list … no, I don’t count Wii Sports Resort or Forza Motorsport, both of which made it. I’m talking about honest-to-goodness sports games here, and they didn’t pick the one I’d have expected to be there.

The two they singled out are FIFA 11 and NBA 2K11. Definitely two good choices. FIFA 11′s gameplay and customization are excellent. NBA 2K11 featured a whole mode dedicated to the career of Michael Jordan, where you could replay some of his greatest performances. This is the sort of thing more sports video games should embrace. An appreciation for the history of sports is often lost in these games.

The one they left out that would certainly be on my list is NHL 11, which came out last year and added a whole bunch of new in-game tweaks that upped the realism and a new Ultimate Team online mode. But by far the best part of NHL 11 is its fluid, fast-paced, addicting gameplay. It gives you a realistic hockey simulation while still retaining the sense that novices can simply pick up and play. And that doesn’t happen very often with the so-called modern games — especially not the sports titles.




It’s Official: All Old School All The Time On NBA.com

Posted by Seth in INTERNET on 07-01-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

It is the height of absurdity, but as we wrote earlier this week, all traces of current NBA players have been wiped off the face of NBA.com and each of the team websites in the wake of the lockout.

Now, if you’re into old-school NBA heroes of the past or stories about team support personnel or cheerleaders you’re in luck, because that seems to be all you can find on the league and team sites right now, as well as the NBA’s YouTube channel. Everything current is gone. The Oklahoma City Thunder even deleted their roster from their site. Go ahead, try and find it. Many of the other teams still have their rosters listed, but clicking on the players’ names takes you back to NBA.com.

We’re not sure if this is a mistake or an oversight, but the player database link on NBA.com seems to be functioning for now, so you can find stats. Of course, there are lots of ways around the league site for that sort of information. Basketball Reference is my favorite.

And if you need to see NBA players again, just to reassure yourself they still exist, Yahoo Sports has big photo galleries on each of their team sites.

Obviously, the NBA doesn’t need to worry too much about traffic on its website in the middle of the summer. They probably don’t draw much traffic in July anyway. But in the age of instant, on-demand information, it’s really striking to see one of the best pro sports leagues in the world pretend its players don’t exist. What a joke.




Suh Takes A Hit (And Measures It) For Player Safety

Posted by Anthony Mowl in ALL, EQUIPMENT on 06-30-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Let's hope player safety doesn't mean more weird helmets like this one.

Ndamukong Suh is a physical freak of nature. He packs 307 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame and runs the 40 in 4.9 seconds. As the No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft, Suh racked up the stats. He led the league with 10 sacks in his rookie season, amassed 66 tackles, and threw in an interception and a forced fumble. Let’s not forget he even attempted an extra point. That kick went wide right and hit the upright. No doubt the offensive players who face Suh wish he would miss more often, because the combination of his size and speed leads to highlight-reel pancake hits.

With more players like Suh entering the league, the NFL has faced increasing issues with player safety, especially when it comes to head injuries. Concussions during the 2010 season were up 21 percent over the previous season. Players with body types like Suh’s are steamrolling over players in head-on collisions, which plays a major role in the increase in player injuries.

Player safety is one of the issues on the long list of items at the center of the NFL lockout battle, with players wanting better insurance coverage while the owners hope to increase the schedule — and the potential for injury — from 16 to 18 games.

Amid the dispute, Battle Sports Science may have come up with an intelligent solution that could contribute to player safety. They developed the Impact Indicator, a chinstrap that attaches to any helmet and measures the length of impacts and G-forces that a player endures during a game. While the chinstrap itself doesn’t offer any protection, it does signal to a team’s training staff, coaches, and referees whether a player needs to be pulled off the field for assessment after a particularly brutal hit.

I question whether simply measuring the impact of hit will give a false illusion of security. Preventing concussions should take precedence over simply identifying concussions. Even with measurements from this device, each player will have his own unique physical response to a hit. Some may bounce up off the ground from a particularly brutal hit that measures off the charts, while others may suffer a concussion from a less-severe but well-placed hit. But even with these issues, Battle Sports Science’s system at least gives some indicator and emphasis about safety where there was previously little attention paid.

Having a reputable player like Ndamukong Suh as the first NFL player to wear the Impact Indicator is an excellent start. A player involved in as many violent collisions as Suh should give the system a good test and provide some indication whether it can make the game safer. Soon enough we may see these chinstraps become the standard for every football player. I look forward to seeing players combine the Impact Indicator chinstrap with new helmets that better absorb hits and offer more protection. That would be a formidable one-two punch against getting knocked out.




Will NBA.com Do A Disappearing Act?

Posted by Seth in INTERNET, Uncategorized on 06-28-11    No Comments


VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Imagine a major pro sports league website without any photos or videos of the league’s players. Later this week, it’s possible you may not have to imagine, because that’s what NBA.com might look like.

While the entire world remains breathless about the status of the NFL’s labor situation, the NBA is also getting ready to revisit its collective bargaining agreement. There could be a lockout coming, and if that happens it seems NBA.com as we know it will disappear with the old CBA. According to several sources, with no CBA in place the player’s association could force the league to remove all player likenesses from league and team websites. Apparently the league and teams have been scrambling their web staffers to get a redesign of every team’s page and the league page by the end of the week. We assume this means the NBA’s YouTube channel will go dark as well.

Wow … where to begin?

First of all, this is ridiculous. Why such a provision would even be part of a CBA is a major question. Obviously, the players have a right to negotiate the use of their likenesses, but forcing the league to yank all that content off the web in one fell swoop is just plain ludicrous. Even in the worst pro sports labor disputes — the 1994 baseball strike and the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season — the league survived. The need to promote the teams and players goes on. Indeed, that need is even more critical when you have a work stoppage. It took baseball forever to bounce back from 1994. Public relations is everything, and a vibrant website is a big piece of that.

Beyond that, it’s truly hilarious that anyone could be talking about wiping such a large swath of content off the face of the web. This is the digital age. You can’t stick the toothpaste back into the tube. Once it’s out there, it’s out there, baby. Just ask Anthony Weiner.

Either way, if you want to watch video clips of your favorite players, you’d better do it in the next few days.