I played baseball my whole life and my Dad always told me to never take my eye off the ball no matter if I was playing or watching on TV. Now ESPN has made that even easier for the people at home watching. You noticed this if you watched the Home Run Derby the other night. The first thing I thought when I saw it for myself was how the hell did they manage to show those cool ball trails in real time?

I suck at math and hate it but it involves a complicated math algorithm (whatever the hell that is I don’t know) that tracks and predicts the ball’s trajectory in real time, only 400 milliseconds after being hit. To get the data needed for the calculation, ESPN uses a 2000Hz Doppler radar which follows the ball’s speed, location and spin, given precise data of distance travelled, something that before took seconds or even minutes to calculate. After calculation, the path is shown overlaid on screen in real time, chasing the ball precisely.

That’s some new age technology is an old school game and I love it!

Tags: baseball, cool ball trails, ESPN, Home Run Derby, worldgaming

I can honestly say that my favorite day of the year lies in April.

More so than the birthdays of my beloved family members, wonderful friends, and even my very own date of birth. This day is more special to me than any holiday we celebrate, ranging from Valentines Day (sorry ladies), Easter, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, and even Christmas. Every year this day is more fun to me than any Halloween or New Years Eve party I have ever or will ever attend.

Fathers play hooky from work to take their sons with them to a day at the ballpark (at least mine did), which neither will never forget.

And college kids skip classes to barbeque and drink beers (and although I don’t condone this behavior, I must admit guilt in participating in such actions).

It’s a day when no matter what mother nature gives us for weather, the day is still glorious. The beauty of a well kept infield diamond and the smell of freshly cut grass is quite a sight to behold after enduring several months of a long dreary winter.

The aroma of food is tantalizing as it fills the air. Nothing beats an ice cold Pepsi (substitute a beer here if your 21) in one hand, and a giant hotdog with everything on it in the other. Kids clamor for cotton candy, cracker jacks and cheesy nachos. You throw around your money buying t-shirts, hats, programs and giant foam fingers (I swear I never purchased one) without a second though of the price just because it’s just fun to be in such an electric atmosphere.

The camaraderie is next to none when your sitting in your seat. A grade school kid can easily engage in conversation with the elder businessman about the teams chances and prospects for the season. Anyone and everyone is your friend on Opening Day because every team playing is in first place and you truly believe your team has a shot at winning it all.

The upcoming 2009 baseball season guarantees to be better than last year. The huge cloud that is steroids continues to linger of the heads of many players in the wake of the Alex Rodriguez admission. Are the Phillies really good enough to repeat? New faces in new places, which provide excitement in cities throughout.

As a die-hard Cubs fan this season is especially important to me. I’m still heartbroken over the White Sox winning it all a few years ago (although I do give credit where credit is due). It’s a season that brings more question than ever before on the North Side? How will the Cubs rebound from having the best regular season record only to get humiliated and swept in the first round? Will the old ace Carlos Zambrano show up of the guy who got shelled most of the second half? Can Rich Harden stay healthy are realize his full potential. Will Alfonso Soriano ever stay healty and be worth his mega $136 million dollar contract? How long before Lou Pinella goes totally ape?

Despite all the questions surrounding the team, I have full faith in my Cubs. This is the year for us, I am convinced of it! The Chicago Cubs will win the World Series in 2009. You heard it here first.

And if it doesn‘t happen, we always have Opening Day to look forward to next year!

Tags: aura, baseball, Cubs, favorite day, Opening Day, worldgaming

Since my boy Tiger Woods is back on the PGA tour today, a lot of tour pros are not only shaking in their ugly golf pants but they’re longing for the good ‘ol days of the last 8 months when they had a chance.

Now, their only chance and prayer is that Tiger’s new bionic leg will fall off. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’ll be fine. I mean, he’s playing some bum in the first round.

All the good sun is gone for these guys!!

Tags: commercial, lollipops, Nike commercial, sunshine, Tiger is back, Tiger Woods, worldgaming

Some dude named Ron Hamilton is my new hero. I have to meet this guy. If your out there reading this or somebody out there is and knows him, have him contact me because him and his partner beat out a 400 team field in the World Series of Beer Pong at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to take home the $50,o0o grand prize.

How in the world I wasn’t there for this is beyond my belief. I’m ashamed to admit that this wasn’t even on my radar. So for this shame, I’m amending my goals for 2009 to include a rigorous beer pong training program in preparation for the World Series of Beer Pong in 2010. It’s going to be hard to get this training regiment OK’d from the better half but with a little effort (or a really nice present) I think I can get the go ahead.

I’ll see you drunk chumps there!

Tags: champion, Flamingo Hotel, Las vegas, ping pong balls, red cups, Ron Hamilton, World Series of Beer Pong, worldgaming

Every football fan has had a ref make a bad call at their team’s expense and knows, NFL refs aren’t perfect. But footballs and gloves with built-in sensors? Those might just make coach’s challenges history.

Dr. Priya Narasimhan of Carnegie Mellon University has developed the football and gloves, loading them up with wireless sensors that can precisely determine whether or not a ball hit the ground before being caught or whether or not someone had control of the ball before fumbling. It could also, using GPS, determine whether or not the ball cross the goal line. But the applications do much more.

Currently, there are no teams or football organizations on board with the technology, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a network got on board to help them create super-accurate animations and recreations of plays.

Ed “Guns” Hochuli is praying for this!

Tags: built-in censors, Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Priya Narasimhan, football, gloves, NFL refs, worldgaming

I love trick shots in basketball even if I couldn’t pull one out of my butt if $1,000 was on the line. But this kid is another story…check him out!!!!!!

Tags: basketball, trick shots, worldgaming, youtube

I love sports. And I’ll pretty much watch whatever is on. But never hockey.

It’s boring, except for playoff hockey which I love and actually will watch. Living in Toronto this isn’t going to be a popular decleration with my Canadian brethren. Sorry buddies.

But I love my boy Alexander Ovechkin. I love him because besides being amazing on the ice, he’s making a move that nobody else of his stature would. When the world’s richest athletes sign endorsement deals, they usually go with a top of the line company. So how cool is it that Ovechkin’s new endorsement deal (he signed a 13-year, $124 million dollar deal with the Washington Capitals in January), is with the Hair Cuttery.

Just about any other prominent athlete would have inked a deal with a hair cutting chain that cost $500 a pop. But the league MVP, whose contract is the richest in league history, gets his haircuts at a place that charges $14 for a cut and a wash.

I know your wondering so here’s the breakdown of the deal for the 24-year-old Russian who will earn $9 million next year. He gets $109,756 per game, $1,829 per minute and $30.48 per second. That all means that Ovechkin pays for his haircut in roughly a half second of a game.

I love it even more because the best part about this endorsement is that he really goes to the Hair Cuttery! I get mine cut at this crazy place called the House of Lords by my girl Sara (your the best!) for a whopping $15, so it looks like I’m a baller. But I’m curious…how much do you pay for your haircut and what’s the most you’d ever pay? Leave a comment and we’ll have some fun with this one!

Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Hair Cuttery, haircut, hockey, worldgaming

In case your not all over the tennis scene or a big aficionado of the sport: Rafael Nadal, or Senior Shpants as i call him, is the world’s top player with the whole weird/Eurotrashy clothing thing going on.

He sports the long hair held back with a colorful bandanna, sleeveless tank top/t-shirts, and his go-to just-past-the-knee, tight-fitting man pants.

But I can’t really knock the guy because…

1. He’s got the guns to flaunt
2. He the #1 ranked guy in the world (even if I still think Federer is better)
3. He makes tons of money
4. He’s European (Spanish), so what would you expect?

But the big dogs at Nike aren’t so happy with their boy and his fancy pants wardrobe. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Nike announced Nadal will be wearing some more conservative polo shirts and looser, more traditional shorts for the US Open. They referred to it as him ‘growing up’.

But my boy Darren Rovell, of CNBC sports business has a different take on the whole situation and I have to agree with him. He had this to say…

“Although Nadal’s public relations person told The Wall Street Journal before the tournament that this was the Spaniard’s choice, I knew from the start it couldn’t have been. It was Nike’s choice. Why? Because just like Puma couldn’t sell Serena catsuits, Nike can’t sell cutoffs and tight capris to the average tennis player. Not only does the average tennis player not have the guns to showcase, but try wearing the cutoffs at a country club. And those pants? I’ve never seen one average Joe wearing those.

We know the story by now. Nadal said he couldn’t get used to the attire in time and has worn his muscle T’s and capris throughout the Open. Bottom line is it’s a great look for Nadal and adds to his personality, but his clothing choice is admittedly bad for Nike’s business.”

Poor Nike. They got bashed for snubbing Adidas’ Dwight Howard in the Team USA promo photos and then they announced that they can’t compete in making swin suits against Speedo.

PAGING TIGER WOODS!!!!!

Tags: CNBC, Darren Rovell, Nike, Rafael Nadal, US Open, Wall Street Journal, worldgaming

If your squeamish, you shouldnt watch this. Some of these are just nasty to see and give you a weird sick feeling in your stomach. It always amazes me how human body can twist and bend in ways they shouldn’t.

Tags: basketball, football, human body, sports injuries, worldgaming

One of the first things I think about when the Olympics come around is how much sex is going down at these things? All these superior and good looking athletes (including my girl Leryn Franco) are walking around half naked most of the time so it’s only natural that they’re going to be attracted to each other. And it’s not like they’re going to be intimidated to talk to one another, they already have an easy ice breaker being from different countries and sharing the fact that they’re one of the best in the world at what they do.

So to give us insight into the freak fests that go down in Olympic Villages, former Olympian Matthew Syed, who now works as a commentator, wrote for the Times of London, “This sex fest … [happened] right here in Beijing. Olympic athletes have to display an unnatural … level of self-discipline in the build-up to big competitions. How else is this going to manifest itself than with a volcanic release of pent-up hedonism?”

Syed said that winners “as geeky as Michael Phelps” were wanted by tons of female athletes, but that even the losers get some lovin.

Matthew says he “got laid more often in those two and a half weeks (at the Barcelona games in ‘92) than the rest of my life up to that point.”

And this guy played table tennis!!!

When are video games going to become an Olympic sport?!?!?!?

Tags: Beijing, Matthew Syed, Olympic Village, Olympics, sex fest