Sports

There are 76 posts filed in Sports (this is page 4 of 8).

The 100 Up Exercise

Here’s more on the 100 Up running exercise that the New York Times Magazine discussed. The video below is helpful to see what the proper technique is.

The 100 Up exercise, which McDougall is touting as a surefire technique for training away these bad habits, is actually an incredibly old invention of a long dead English chemist apprentice. Since he was English, in this case being a chemist probably refers to a pharmacist. W.S. George developed his exercise pattern so that he could train for running even while busy at work all day. The technique was apparently quite successful, as George went on to achieve world record times in several short and middle distance races.

via The 100 Up Exercise: Method for Training Barefoot Running Form | Naturally Engineered.

The Once and Future Way to Run

Here’s a thought-provoking look at how the way people are running today may be leading to more injuries than the way people run naturally when they’re barefoot.

It’s what Alberto Salazar, for a while the world’s dominant marathoner and now the coach of some of America’s top distance runners, describes in mythical-questing terms as the “one best way” — not the fastest, necessarily, but the best: an injury-proof, evolution-tested way to place one foot on the ground and pick it up before the other comes down. Left, right, repeat; that’s all running really is, a movement so natural that babies learn it the first time they rise to their feet. Yet sometime between childhood and adulthood — and between the dawn of our species and today — most of us lose the knack.

via The Once and Future Way to Run – NYTimes.com.

ACC expansion

I miss the days when an away game in the ACC was an easy drive.

Butch Davis gone

Wow. UNC football coach Butch Davis finally gets canned. Is there anyone outside of the UNC administration who didn’t see this coming? Months ago? I can’t help but wonder what precipitated this change.

I feel sorry for the folks over there who still play by the rules. Those who choose to cheat, though, deserve their just punishment. It’s refreshing to watch UNC own up to its mistakes.

After more than a year under the NCAA microscope, Butch Davis has been fired as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina.

“To restore confidence in the University of North Carolina and our football program, it’s time to make a change,” said UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp. “What started as a purely athletic issue has begun to chip away at this university’s reputation.”

via Davis out as UNC coach – WRALSportsFan.com.

Family, projects, baseball

I enjoyed the weekend. It began Friday afternoon with Hallie’s violin performance in the Conn variety show. Our girl stood in front of half the school and absolutely nailed her piece. Kelly and I are constantly amazed that the complete confidence our kids have for performing in front of a crowd. She had not one whit of stage fright and played beautifully.

My parents came over to see the performance and Kelly’s parents came down for that and to stay the weekend. We spent Friday evening at Music on the Porch and were ready for bed around 10.

Saturday morning, I cooked pancakes for the family. Then we went to the NC Museum of History to check out a toys exhibit. It was fun looking through the exhibits, many of which I hadn’t seen before.
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It’s not about the bike, it’s about the EPO

Tyler Hamilton, one of Lance Armstrong’s most trusted lieutenants in many of his Tour de France victories, has told Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes that Lance doped regularly. His allegations follow those of former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis.

Asked what he actually witnessed, Hamilton told Pelley, “I saw it in his refrigerator, you know. I saw him inject it more than one time.”

“You saw Lance Armstrong inject EPO?” Pelley asked.

“Yeah, like we all did, like I did many, many times,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton earned my respect when he rode through the 2003 Tour de France after breaking his collarbone. Later he lost my respect when he was banned from the sport for doping. After being busted for doping, Landis came clean with his doping history, which brought back a measure of respect for him. Hamilton says that if a rider isn’t taking EPO, he’s not going to win. Those seven Tour wins that Lance has racked up don’t seem as impressive or honest anymore.

In fact, I’ve gotten to the point that my respect for Lance actually drops now every time he denies doping. His claims of innocence are simply no longer credible.

I once loved the sport of cycling but the cheating and the fraud have long left me jaded and suspicious. If you have to cheat to become the champion you’re anything but a champion.

Cheap thoughts: foul contest

Through each game, basketball players carry stats on their shots, assists, and fouls. There are contests held for free-throw shooting, there are dunking contests. Why aren’t there any foul contests? Players could take their best shot at each other and whomever has the most egregious foul wins. Maybe they could make it pay-per-view.

Kids and coaches

I had a up-and-down day yesterday. I was feeling bummed about politics and ran into snafus during my work day that dragged me down. All that changed, though, after 5 PM when I took our kids to Hallie’s soccer practice.

After dropping Hallie off at the practice field, Travis and I went over to the basketball court, where I worked with him on shooting. While we were there, a half-dozen boys Travis’s age wandered up and asked if they could join in. These were immigrant kids, poor and mostly Hispanic, and they looked like they could really use a break. After checking with Travis to see how he felt about it, I agreed to let them join in. I then taught them the game of Pig and we all spent the next hour playing it.
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Chris Colmer

I was sad to learn today that Chris Colmer, former standout N.C. State offensive tackle (2000-2004), died yesterday. He was 30 years old. His agent would not disclose the cause of Colmer’s death.

Wikipedia says at the moment that he died in Florida in a car accident, but that comment was made anonymously. Being the curious lot, I did a search on Twitter for news on Colmer and found a tweet claiming Colmer jumped from a bridge:

??? RT @bridgetZtalk Tampa Bay Buckaneer, Chris Colmer, jumped off a bridge. So sad.

The tweet has since been taken down, and there is no corroboration at the moment, but this scenario seems to fit with his agent’s reluctance to discuss the circumstances. Tampa’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge does have a sad reputation as a suicide bridge. On the other hand, friends of Colmer’s former teammates say Colmer died in a car accident.

Whatever the cause, it’s truly sad. What a shame that this young man’s promising life has been cut short. He played his heart out for N.C. State. My condolences to his family and friends.

Update 6 Jan: A visitor to the Bucstats.com website says Colmer died from a car accident Dec. 28th.

Update 2, 6 Jan: Chris Colmer’s online obituary is here (until 12/31/2011).