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alivingfire · 7 years ago

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Ohmygod I love podcasts!!! Can you rec me some? It's hard to find good ones sometimes.

YES! I CAN!

i’ve been knee deep in podcasts for about three months now, and i have, apparently, wide and varying interests, so i’ll put a little descriptor of each. also, i listen to podcasts on the Stitcher app, but i think all of these are on itunes if you prefer that, and i linked the websites if you want more info.

DARK STUFF

my favorite murder - this is 100% my favorite podcast now, but the first time i listened to it, i had to switch it off. start from the newest episodes, get a feel for it, and then you can go back and start at episode one, which is still interesting but before the hosts really find their footing. basically, karen and georgia are two friends who love true crime, so they talk about their favorite weird murders and mysteries. it’s dark, but it’s also really funny (they’re both comedians) and i think they learned to really strike a balance between jokes and the serious stuff. they’re also super feminist – their sign-off at the end of each episode is “stay sexy, don’t get murdered.”

someone knows something - canadian investigative journalist david ridgen tackles unsolved mysteries, one story per season. if you like documentaries, you’ll like how this podcast is set up. ridgen interviews witnesses, friends, families, police officers – basically everyone around the cases he’s looking into. it unfolds like a story and you really feel like you’re right in the middle of it. you don’t have to start at season one, but definitely start at episode one of whichever season you pick, because these are episodic and won’t make sense if you go backwards.

lore - this podcast is SO GOOD, and it’s actually just been turned into a short miniseries on amazon prime that is incredibly creepy and well done. lore is written by a horror author, aaron mahnke, who takes you through the scariest stories and legends, and how they came to be part of our world. the first episode is about vampires, and it legitimately has such a twist ending that i screamed. if you like spooky, mythology and legend and history-based stuff, this is the best.

LEARN STUFF

literature and history - think about your favorite dorky teacher who makes ridiculous jokes and is so. genuine about learning and teaching that you get interested in the subject because he’s so interested in the subject. now imagine that guy was a harvard professor who totally knows his shit and he starts a podcast. starting from the beginning of history, this guy takes you through the pieces of writing that have changed the world. he’s super soothing and i’ve already read a couple of books he recommended. definitely start at episode one for this one, chronology is important and he builds on each episode.

no such thing as a fish - if you like dry british humor and trivia, this is the one you’ll want. the writers of the super famous british panel show QI (the show stephen fry hosted) talk about their favorite random facts that they discovered and researched that week. super funny, and you’re still learning.

good night stories for rebel girls - if you are a strong woman or love strong women or want to someday be a strong woman, listen to this podcast. this is still relatively new, but the format is amazing: the writers and hosts turned the stories of real women throughout history into fairytales. incredibly inspiring, and you get to learn about awesome women you might have only vaguely heard of.

nancy - the best lgbtq podcast you could ask for. lgbtq people, stories, histories, pop culture, and interviews that will absolutely have you bawling. this is an NPR podcast, so it’s interview-heavy, but the subjects are handled well and there’s no queer tragedy here, it’s all very hopeful and realistic without being pessimistic.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF

ID10T - this used to be called nerdist, and it’s hosted by chris hardwick, the guy who used to host @midnight on comedy central. basically, hardwick and either his cohosts or a famous person – as of this post, the last guest was antonio banderas – talk about ~~nerd things of the week: movies, comics, video games, tv shows, etc. etc. it’s basically just pop culture, at this point (because video games aren’t just for nerds anymore, kiddos), but what’s fun about it is that hardwick is incredibly unapologetic about absolutely loving the things he loves. it’s more fun to listen to this guy geek out about stuff than listening to other people find ways to criticize the things you love, i promise.

gilmore guys - pretty much what it says on the tin - two guys watch gilmore girls and talk about each episode. you’re probably wondering why you would want to listen to some random guys talking about a show you (presumably) love, but they’re really careful to stay away from anything mansplain-y or judgmental. one of the guys, kevin, is a huge gilmore girls fan, and the other host, demi, is watching for the first time, so it’s interesting to hear their discussions, especially regarding race, homophobia, and a lot of other issues that the the show writers tiptoe around. definitely don’t start at season one for this show – it’s super rough and there’s even a little minute-long intro on the very first episode that says so. start at about season three, there’s not a lot you’ll miss and they’ve got a rhythm down by that point.

STRAIGHT UP STORIES

welcome to night vale - if you’ve been anywhere near podcasts or, tbh, tumblr, for the last few years, you’re probably at least slightly aware of WTNV. in all honesty, it lives up to the hype. it’s not scary so much as unsettling, very southwest gothic and supernatural. WNTV is the story of a strange town in the middle of the desert, told to you by cecil, the town’s local radio broadcaster. cecil tells you all about what’s going on in night vale, from the shadowy city council who sends monsters after people they disagree with, to the radio station’s cat floating in the bathroom, to old woman josie’s angels that hang out in her house. it’s interesting because, underneath all the unsettling creepiness, it’s super feminist, super pro-lgbtq rights, and super anti-authority/anti-establishment. if nothing else, cecil’s voice is one of the most soothing of all the podcast voices, and the quality of the writing and acting is superb from episode one.

wooden overcoats - hands down one of the funniest dramedies i’ve ever seen or listened to. wooden overcoats is the story of a tiny british island, where brother and sister rudyard and antigone funn run the island’s only funeral home, at least until a guy named eric chapman moves his own funeral home in right across the street and ruins everything for them. everyone, from the mayor down to antigone herself, falls head over heels for chapman, and rudyard has to find a way to keep the family business running even though he’s not very good at his job and would prefer to do as little as possible. the voice acting is SUPERB, and i genuinely mean it’s hilarious, with lots of gallows humor and funny timing.

the penumbra podcast - the penumbra is a hotel in the middle of nowhere, and every person staying there has a story. some of the stories are one-offs, and some of them, like the story of juno steel, space private eye, are recurring. it’s very old-timey radio style, lots of noir monologues and humphrey bogart-esque one-liners. some of the early episodes are rough, but they’ve actually gone back and re-recorded the juno steel ones, so they’ll be the best to start with.

the bright sessions - do you like superheroes? do you like the dark side of superhero stories, where people with powers have to deal with being different and strange and emotional all while trying not to accidentally time travel or read someone else’s mind? this one’s for you. the bright sessions are therapy sessions between dr. bright and her patients, who are atypicals, or, basically, superheroes without the spandex. dr. bright helps her patients work on controlling their powers, all while a shady secret government organization watches overhead. you’ll want to start from episode one on this story, but you’ll probably immediately have a favorite patient.

the bridge - another not so creepy, but more unsettling podcast. set in a slightly-different alternate universe where there’s a hundreds-of-miles-long bridge that stretches across the atlantic ocean from the united states to europe, you join a bored traffic reporter as she tells stories from other watch towers and stations along the bridge, which, after decades of use, is mostly abandoned. all the while, creepy stuff starts happening on her watch, and she and the other bridge employees have to figure out if they’re really in danger, or if they’ve been at sea too long.

the truth - a lot like the penumbra podcast, the truth is a collection of short stories, acted out like actual movies. the first one caught and hooked me – what would’ve happened if apollo 11 didn’t land on the moon, and instead became the first space tragedy? the stories are (again, i have a pattern) dark but funny, and they’re incredibly creative.

PODCASTS I HAVEN’T STARTED, BUT THAT ARE ON MY LIST:

you must remember this - classic stories from the classic hollywood era, from marilyn monroe to charles manson and a lot more early stars we’ve completely forgotten about.

wolf 359 - stories set in a space station floating out in the middle of nowhere, the crew of wolf 359 search for alien life and try not to die lightyears away from home.

alice isn’t dead - made by the creators of welcome to night vale, so i’m sure this is good. alice is a truck driver who has to road trip around the country (and beyond) to find her missing wife.

the podcast history of our world - a lot like literature & history, this guy is just so excited to teach that he makes you excited to learn. he’s also really good about covering underrepresented people, which is more interesting than learning yet again about history from the side of colonizers.

EOS 10 - i have at least listed to the first episode of this, so i can confirm what everyone says: this is basically the show scrubs, set in space. a lot of doctors who think they know what they’re doing but are really on their own with no clue what to do.

heaven’s gate - more true crime! heaven’s gate was a cult that committed mass suicide in 1997. the host dives into the lives of the cult members to prove that anyone could’ve been caught up in the story.

if anyone has any recs, i’m happy to add to my list!

#anonymous #rachel talks #podcasts

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gotmudonyou · 5 years ago

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OCR World Championships 2019 3K Report

Last year’s OCR World Championships saw some of the most glorious weather you could hope to see in October. Could we be that lucky 2 years in a row??!! In a word...No. It was colder, wetter and muddier than last year and those elements combined to make this a very different race.

With the injury plagued season I had last year I had worked hard on my pre-hab and very slowly increased my mileage across the year. Following the 2018 World Championships I’d been experiencing shoulder pain which limited the amount of hanging work I could do. In fact it hampered many elements of my training and was finding it hard to bench press or bicep curl without pain. This turned out to be a mixture of biceps tendinitis and rotator cuff instability. It took roughly 4 months of physio and rehab to sort this. Everything was going great until knee pain reared its ugly head again around July. With no chance to take time out to properly sort the issue I agreed with my physio that damage limitation was the key, I needed to go into the event with as little knee pain as possible. This meant very reduced running mileage which I made up for in functional obstacle training over longer periods and walk/run/bike sessions to get ‘time on feet’.

The 3K was a short but obstacle heavy course. It was certainly more technical than last year’s 3k. Before my race I managed to watch some of my wife Jo’s race. Seeing many competitors struggling with some of the obstacles in the rain was worrying me but I needed to focus. I’d been out on a walk of the course with Team UK the day before so I knew my race plan and how I was going to attack each obstacle.

With the 3k each age group are set off in waves of around 10 competitors to ensure the course doesn't get any queues. Having agreed to film the pro waves for the official live stream a short time after my finish I wanted to be near the front. I stood in the start pen next to my good friend Stuart ‘El Capitan’ Neail who had cleared the final obstacle at the same time as me the year before.

This year there was little pre-amble from Spartan Phil and we were off. The first few obstacles were designed to drain you and spread the field. A set of ditches into a tyre pit and then Monty’s Hurdles. These are a set of wooden hurdles around chest height that you have to go over and ensure your feet touch the ground in between each hurdle. There are around 10 of them and they take it out of you!

Next up was the first technical obstacle, the first Force 5 Rig .

Force 5 Rig 1

This was a fairly simple obstacle with some pivoting holds and rings to swing across but a nice obstacle to warm up on. After another Nuclear Races obstacle ‘La Gaffe’ it was a little run up through the woods to meet the first proper rig -The Nuclear Nitro Rig. This was a a rig of various holds and ropes. It wasn't particularly difficult or grip sapping but it was fiddly and I’m not sure there was a graceful way of completing it. I got it done going for safety rather than speed.

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Nuclear Nitro Rig

After a little A frame it was into the huge tent for one of the new signature obstacles, Valkyrie. This was a a set of rings going up and down that you can only traverse with your hands. Watching the earlier waves I noticed many missing out rings on the way down so this was my plan as well, my thinking being the less time spent hanging the better. This is largely a strength based obstacle but good technique can make it easier. I flew up and missed a couple of rings on the way down as planned. Damn that was fun!

Valkyrie

Being a short course there was no let up now, following Valkyrie it was straight into another new signature grip obstacle, the wonderfully named Sabretooth. This was a set of monkey bars that went up and down twice and it was long! Earlier in the day it had rained and I'd seen many racers struggle with this obstacle. I decided on using a side on technique on the incline sections for safety. This meant I could clamp my hands on either side of each bar which meant there was less chance of slipping off. Thankfully the rain held off for my wave and I sailed through.

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Sabretooth

I knew this section would be intense but wow! Straight in to another rig! The Force 5 Rig 2 had a variety of T-bar attachments which pivoted and a spinning wheel to finish. I’d been planning my approach since I’d seen some photos of this obstacle a week or so before. The key element was the flat T-bar before the wheel which swung towards you. My plan was to reach to the furthest part with my stronger hand and pull it towards me. Then once I had a firm grip I’d 2-tap (quickly grab with my other hand) before grabbing the wheel with an alternating grip. No hesitation, just go! Swing, swing, swing, grab the wheel, hit the bell, ding!

Force 5 Rig 2

This section was always going to be demanding with so many grip obstacles in a row but I was feeling good. I’d managed my heart rate in the run up to the village to ensure I was in a position to hit each obsatcle running. With barely 10 seconds of running it was into another new obstacle, the Force 5 Low rig. Last year there were complaints that the low rig was far too easy, consisting of a bar to ring to bar. So this year they upped their game by bringing a more technical low rig. This was a lot of fun. I’d decided to go head on the whole way which worked out well but required some real core strength to keep my legs from dropping to the ground on the final transition.

Force 5 Low Rig

Next up was the new obstacle everyone was talking about in the run up to the event. The Gibbon Experience. This consisted of 5 swinging metal holds where you had to move along using 2 dowels that fitted into each hold. Essentially like keeping hold of monkey bars and placing them in each hold. This was a totally new obstacle that no one bar those at the North American Championships (where this had debuted) had attempted. Not wanting to try this for the first time in a race I’d ordered a set from obstacle builder Foz Sug. This was a tricky obstacle as it involves hanging on a single arm on a bar that can twist. This causes your hand to open up and your grip to fail quickly. So over a 2 month period I’d been practicing hanging on a single arm from one gibbon hold until my grip failed. Once I felt confident holding onto a twisting bar I worked on my technique. It became clear that swinging like you usually would on monkey bars wouldn’t work, it puts too much force through your hanging arm. So the key was a very controlled movement to place the bar into the hold with light fingers. It also involved a lot of concentration as if you miss putting the bar into the hold you are left swinging on one arm with no forward momentum.

Watching the footage from the North American Championships the majority of racers used a technique that has become known as the ‘Chicken Wing’. This involves hooking your elbows over the bars rather than hanging from it by your hands. This allows you to complete the obstacle if you don’t have the grip strength but it hurts so I had no plans to use this unless absolutely necessary.

I approached the obstacle and took a moment to collect myself. I really wanted to nail this first time. I took two wooden dowels and placed the first one into a hold. I swung out and placed the next one first time. So far so good. I then swung to the third hold but just missed it. I was left hanging on one arm, not where I wanted to be! I stayed calm as I prepared for this scenario. I tried again and got one end of the dowel in the hold. The other end was precariously placed on the edge of the hold but not properly seated. One wrong move and it would fall out and I’d be likely needing to drop and start again. Thankfully I managed to manoeuvre it into the hold. I seated the 4th first time which left one final hold. I decided to get a good swing and reach for the bell from the 4th hold, missing out the final one. Ding! Success!

Gibbon Experience

Next up was another new obstacle Force 5 over and Under. This was a very simple idea but made for an enjoyable obstacle. The premise was simple, start on top, go under and end up on top.

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Force 5 Over & Under

Then it was into Triumph, this was 2 dragons backs into an under and up net climb. The Nuclear dragons backs are nice and close together and you only really need to lean out to grab the bar (although if you are afraid of heights that’s easier said than done). This one had a serious gap to jump, add to that the fact that the bar was pretty low and this was more than just a mental obstacle to overcome. 2 leaps of faith and a crawl under and up the cargo net and ding, the bell was rung.

Next up was an improved version of Skitch. Skitch debuted at the Worlds last year and consisted of 2 handheld hooks that you hang from and traverse along a bar which has a chain attached to the middle where you need to unhook each hook and transition to the other side of the chain. They clearly decided that this wasn’t hard enough so this year added a second transition. Thankfully I had practiced this and managed to clear it first time.

Not more than 30 seconds of running and it was into Skull Valley. This was a new version and arguably easier than last year’s obstacle. It had a really fun flow and was really enjoyable to complete.

Skull Valley

After smashing the Ninja Rings there was a short run through the wood to the next obstacle, the aptly named Snaked Pit. This took a page out of Hang-on Run’s book in that it was lots of ropes. I missed out every other rope and remembered Coach Scotty’s advice to get as high as possible on the rope traverse to ensure I didn’t end up sitting on the knot of the next rope.

Snake Pit

A short carry and then it was onto a new balance obstacle which was simple enough. A weaver and some tubes to slide down and it was over the final wall to the finish line. I crossed in 56th place out of 189 which put me in top 30%. Could I have pushed harder on the running between obstacles? Possibly, but would I then have cleared each obstacle first time? That’s the balance of obstacle course racing. In any case I felt strong on all the obstacle and most of all, I enjoyed myself!

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rickhorrow · 6 years ago

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15+5+5 To Watch 52019

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 20

with Jacob Aere

“Game of Thrones” may be over, but the legend of Brooks Koepka grows. On Sunday, Brooks Koepka hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy and waded even further into fantastical lore. Perhaps USA Today said it best, “For a man almost childishly alert to perceived slights off the course, he moves through the choppy waters of a major like a shark focused on real meals and uninterested in the chum bobbing along the way.” Koepka overcame four consecutive bogeys on his inward nine Sunday – he led by seven strokes as the final round got underway – to beat Dustin Johnson by two shots with a final-round 74. The defending PGA champion, Koepka won for the fourth time in the last eight major championships he has played. He is guaranteed the top spot in the world golf rankings. Sunday’s victory netted him a cool $1.98 million. More importantly, it may have finally cemented ultimate respect and big paydays with potential sponsors. Koepka’s current biggest deals are with Nike and Michelob Ultra, and he doesn’t have an equipment sponsor. Dollar signs behind an equipment deal just went up big time.

It’s graduation season, and we’d like to suggest a gift. Our Sport Business Handbook recognizes the last 50 years as the formative era of the modern sport business industry. As colleges and universities graduate their 2019 classes of aspiring career professionals, this is a rare opportunity to hear from some of the industry’s most influential players. Consider that according to Forbes and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the U.S. Sports Industry will be an $80 billion annual category by 2022. Job growth across all sports-related industries is expanding at over 12 percent annually — more than double the national job market. In markets like Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Miami, Dallas, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, sports-related job growth is increasing at or above 20% annually. The global sports industry is estimated to be a $1.3 trillion category. Sports media is the fastest-growing segment of the industry. As a subset of that, legalized sports gambling represents a multi-billion-dollar category poised to grow exponentially, as evidenced by casino and mobile sports betting legalized in Iowa last Monday. So if you have a child poised to join the workforce post college, they could do a lot worse than a career in sports.

The NCAA is opening the door for college athletes to be compensated for their names, images and likenesses. The Washington Post reported that the NCAA is examining how its rules can be modified to allow the change. Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith will head a new working group on the topic. “This group will bring together diverse opinions from the membership — from presidents and commissioners to student-athletes — that will examine the NCAA’s position on name, image and likeness benefits and potentially propose rule modifications tethered to education,” Ackerman said in a statement. In most scenarios, NCAA rules forbid its athletes from receiving benefits or compensation for their names, images and likenesses from either a school or a third party, including commercial contracts. While the working group will not consider any concepts that “could be construed as payment for participation in college sports,” the NCAA says that its mission is to “provide [an] opportunity for students to compete against other students [that] prohibits any contemplation of pay-for-play.” A final report is due to the NCAA’s board of governors in October.

The Indianapolis 500 will likely be the first time a CBD sponsorship will be featured during an official IndyCar race. The development comes after Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (ASPM) last Thursday announced a partnership with CBD-based sports drink Defy, according to the Indianapolis Star. The product’s name will appear on both James Hinchliffe’s No. 5 and Marcus Ericsson’s No. 7 entry. CBD has been legal in Indiana since March 2018, and the growing CBD industry has the "potential to become a new revenue source for teams." That comes amid plenty of examples of "drivers struggling to find sponsors," including Kyle Kaiser's No. 32 car from Juncos Racing. ASPM Team President Jon Flack said that fellow team sponsors, IndyCar and NBC were "all open to and approved the idea of allowing sponsorships that advertise products containing CBD." Interestingly, while THC level in Defy is allegedly well below the 0.3% allowed, IndyCar drivers can’t drink it because CBD is on the organization’s banned substance list. As the CBD market grows across the country, it is fair to wonder what sponsorship effect it will have on IndyCar.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation "allowing gambling on college and professional sports in Iowa," according to the Des Moines Register. The new legislation "allows Iowans 21 years and older to wager on sporting events at any of Iowa's 19 casinos and online if they visit a casino once in person to prove they are at least 21." It also "legalizes bets on fantasy sports through websites and apps like DraftKings and FanDuel." The law "does not allow in-game proposition bets on college sports." While the legislation "takes effect immediately, some of the rules still need to be ironed out." The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, which will regulate sports betting in Iowa, previously said that it would "start to develop rules for casinos to implement after Reynolds signed the legislation." Those rules "would likely be implemented in July or August," before college sports and NFL games start. Iowa is only the latest state to allow legal sports wagering, and with every state that signs on, the stakes – and the potential revenues – rise considerably.

The WNBA officially has a new commissioner. Last week, the league named Cathy Engelbert, current CEO of Deloitte and the first woman ever to lead a Big Four professional services firm in the U.S., to the role with a start on July 17. Engelbert, who played college basketball at Lehigh, becomes the fifth top WNBA exec in the league's history, following Val Ackerman, Donna Orender, Laurel Richie, and Lisa Borders. One thing Engelbert "will have to deal with relatively quickly," according to SportsBusiness Journal, is the current CBA, which expired after this season. “Cathy is a world-class business leader with a deep connection to women’s basketball, which makes her the ideal person to lead the WNBA into its next phase of growth,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “The WNBA will benefit significantly from her more than 30 years of business and operational experience including revenue generation, sharp entrepreneurial instincts and proven management abilities.” The WNBA took seven months to name its new leader, but it was worth the wait.

Thanks to an exploding NBA salary cap and a wild NHL postseason that saw many of the league's highest-paid players sent home early, the salary disparity between the two leagues has never been more glaring. Axis Sports notes that not a single player left in the Stanley Cup playoffs makes more than San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns' $10 million — a salary that would rank eighth-highest on the Milwaukee Bucks, alone. Burns' salary would rank seventh-highest on the Portland Trail Blazers; sixth-highest on the Golden State Warriors; fifth-highest on the Toronto Raptors; and just 23rd-highest amongst all remaining NBA players. It's also nearly four times less than Steph Curry's salary ($37.5 million), and more than three times less than Kyle Lowry's ($31.2 million). Additionally, San Jose's Logan Couture is the NHL postseason's leading point-scorer, and he's making $6 million this season…Portland's Meyers Leonard will make almost twice that much ($10.6 million), and he's played a total of 82 minutes in the playoffs. Tellingly, the just-vanquished Carolina Hurricanes’ highest-paid player, Jordan Staal, makes just $6 million — $1 million less than what the Bucks are paying journeyman Ersan Ilyasova ($7 million).

New Orleans winning the lottery capped a wild NBA Draft Lottery night that saw three teams jump way up in the draft order. Winners, according to Axios Sports: the Pelicans (projected to get the No. 7 pick, jumped to No. 1), the Grizzlies (projected to get No. 8, jumped to No. 2) and the Lakers (projected to get No. 11, jumped to No. 4). Losers: The Knicks, Cavaliers, and Suns all had the best chances to land the No. 1 pick (14%), but ultimately ended up with picks Nos. 3, 5, and 6. Having the league's worst record gave you a 25% chance of winning the top pick, with each subsequent lottery pick having a lesser chance of winning. The NBA flattened out the percentages to make it less appealing to have a worse record (aka, "tank"), so the league must be thrilled with last night's outcome. This is exactly what they wanted to see happen. The NBA offseason, and all the drama that comes with it, is officially off to the races. Meanwhile, the playoffs are in full swing.

David Beckham has acquired full ownership of Beckham Brand Holdings by "buying out the minority stake" held by Simon Fuller for around $50 million, according to the Financial Times. The 33% stake in the company, according to SportsPro, had been held by Fuller's XIX Entertainment. The deal gives Beckham and his wife, Victoria, "full control of the company, which manages his partnerships and brands." It contains stakes in Seven Global and David Beckham Ventures, as well as a piece of MLS expansion club Inter Miami. Beckham Brand Holdings was founded in 2014, as Beckham has "built a personal branding empire, partnering with brands such as L'Oreal and Adidas.” Forbes further noted that Beckham is now "truly a global brand," and he "appears to be getting a good deal, buying back his company at just nine times earnings.” While pro sports ownership is the pinnacle achievement for most MLS franchise owners, Beckham is clearly breaking the mold with his Florida MLS team ownership – expect landmark branding deals around that club.

U.S. Club Soccer, a prominent member of the U.S. Soccer Federation and the leading organization developing soccer clubs across America – welcomes Dick’s Sporting Goods as its Official Sporting Goods Partner. The strategic partnership provides U.S. Club Soccer members with a valuable resource for their soccer-related equipment and sporting goods needs. U.S. Club Soccer members will receive special discounts to Dick’s Sporting Goods stores throughout the country and online, while Dick’s Sporting Goods is presented to U.S. Club Soccer’s growing community of members through various digital, social, and on-site marketing efforts. US Club Soccer’s mission is to foster the growth and development of soccer clubs throughout the country to create the best possible development environment for players of all ages in every club. U.S. Club Soccer also prides itself on fostering the safest environment for players in youth sports – to whit, they’ve implemented best-in-class background checks for all registered staff, and require personnel to complete an online injury recognition course, as well as SafeSport online training.

Just-concluded Upfronts detail the power of digital and social media broadcasting. According to Daily Hashtag, YouTube has 2 billion monthly unique users globally, CEO Susan Wojcicki shared at its Brandcast event in New York. The number is up 5% from the 1.9 billion monthly users YouTube announced last summer. Wojcicki said watch time of YouTube on TV screens was more than 250 million hours per day as of March 2019, a rise of 39% in less than a year. In other top lines, YouTube is going to make all original scripted and unscripted programming – including series Cobra Kai and Liza On Demand – available for free, ad-supported viewing starting later this year in post-SVOD windows. Likewise, Twitter announced a deal with Univision Communications that will deliver more sports, news, and entertainment content to its Spanish-language users, including analysis of the 2020 presidential race and soccer highlights. The social media giant also unveiled agreements for content from the Wall Street Journal and Time magazine. New initiatives with previous partners include shows and brand extensions with the NFL, ESPN, Viacom, MLS, Live Nation, and Activision Blizzard. Sports remain a key part of the streaming universe.

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home to the Oakland A’s and Raiders, is set to become the Ring Central Coliseum. Belmont-based communications firm Ring Central has sealed a three-year, $3 million naming rights deal for the 56,000-seater stadium, including an option for a fourth year. Ring Central will assume a role last held by Overstock.com, which pulled out of its $1.45 million-a-year deal with the Coliseum after the Raiders announced plans in 2016 to relocate to Las Vegas. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum will soon become RingCentral Coliseum, as the California-based business communications provider is buying the naming rights and will pay $1 million a year for the "next three years, with an option for a fourth year." As the stadium authority approved the deal, the "name change would go into effect immediately." Even though the Oakland pro sports universe is undergoing seismic change, as the Raiders prepare for their Vegas move and the Warriors head to San Francisco, its signature sports facility remains an attractive target for brands.

La Liga is still exploring the possibility of staging a top-flight Spanish soccer game in the U.S. as part of wider plans to grow internationally, according to Keegan Pierce, the league’s UK and Ireland delegate. The Spanish soccer body signed an extensive 15-year deal with Relevent Sports in August 2018 to roll out a number of initiatives in North America, including the potential to stage a regular season match in the region. Barcelona was slated to take on Girona in Miami in January in the first instalment of that partnership, but the club canceled due to a lack of consensus between the league, the Spanish Football Federation and FIFA. Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu reaffirmed the club’s desire to play La Liga games outside of Spain. La Liga has been taking significant steps in recent years to boost its international profile in an attempt to close the revenue gap to England’s Premier League, including opening offices abroad and launching a global network initiative which sees more than 40 delegates represent the Spanish league in countries around the world. La Liga’s latest financial report released last week showed that revenue has climbed to a record $5 billion.

Trump tariffs will impact sports, and sports fans. $11.4 billion. That’s the total value of the footwear imported from China to the U.S. last year as reported by SportsBusiness Daily. About 72% of sneakers imported to the U.S. are from China. The publication quoted CNBC’s Sara Eisen, who said of how the ongoing trade dispute is affecting the shoe industry, “These companies have been diversifying but there’s no denying that a lot of sneakers are still made in China.” So-called “sneaker wars” have long played a seminal role in basketball, soccer, and increasingly, in lifestyle brands popular in the U.S. and elsewhere. This may seem inconsequential compared to the toll expected in other industries like agriculture and electronics. But a prolonged sneaker tariff will have a lingering effect on the athlete pipeline, as those footwear brands have long funded the tournaments young athletes compete in in order to catch the attention of the pro ranks.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. According to multiple New York-type sources, the Mets and Sony Pictures Television have announced a "new partnership that will bring 'Seinfeld Night' to Citi Field" on July 5, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the sitcom's premiere on NBC. Jerry Seinfeld and SNY's Keith Hernandez "will reunite for a day about nothing" before the Mets host the Phillies that night. Adds the NewYork Daily News, the team will "kick off the night with a Jerry Seinfeld co-branded bobblehead, available to the first 25,000 fans who arrive at the ballpark.” Seinfeld "will be on hand for trivia with fans," and actor Larry Thomas -- the "'Soup Nazi' character from the show -- will be greeting ticket-holders on the concourse." Meanwhile, the Dodgers are "also doing a 30th anniversary 'Seinfeld' tribute" that week. To that, we say, “Yada yada yada.”

Top Five Tech

ESPN partners with Caesars for sports betting shows. According to Bloomberg, Caesars Entertainment Corp will have its odds data and branding integrated with ESPN programs. ESPN will put a studio inside Caesars’ Linq Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and build a new series of shows and videos aimed at the sports gambling market. The gaming corporation plans to contribute to programming on the ESPN network, ESPN’s website, and on the ESPN app. The sports betting content on ESPN’s betting-related content includes a few podcasts, segments on shows like “SportsCenter” and “Outside the Lines,” and a full sports gambling show called “Daily Wager,” which launched in March. Nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling which federally legalized sports gambling, TV networks have jumped on the opportunity to boost their viewership through sports betting as many consumers use other devices and OTT platforms for entertainment.

UFC and Chinese social media platform Weibo partner for a larger overseas profile. According to SportsPro, Weibo will become the official social media partner of the UFC in China. This is the first time that MMA has broken into China with a variety of content for new fans including exclusive interviews, highlights, fight announcements and more. Furthermore, the UFC has built the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai which is its most robust center to date. Highlights from UFC matches will also be shown and the center which is touted by the UFC as the world’s largest MMA facility. Reportedly, the complex costs US$13 million to build, and is set to open in the second quarter of 2019. There has been a rising popularity of MMA in China partly thanks to its homegrown stars of straw weight Weili Zhang, bantamweight Yadong Song and welterweight Li Jingliang. Getting online in China will help the MMA combat other losses that it may be expecting due to more OTT leagues encroaching in the MMA territory.

Sinclair Broadcasting has a base for sports betting. According to The Lines, Sinclair Broadcasting Corp CEO Chris Ripley plans to eventually allow viewers to place bets right from their screens during live games. The television broadcasting company is already in talks with sportsbook operators about creating in-game wagering for the Tennis Channel and eventually plans to allow legalized gambling on all of its recently added RSNs. All of this comes after news of Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired 21 regional sports networks (RSNs) from Disney for over $10 billion where the company saw its stock rise nearly 30% after the deal had been completed. Down the road, Sinclair expects to generate $1.5 billion to $2 billion in ad revenue from sportsbook operators and companies targeting sports bettors. While Sinclair can’t alter national broadcasts, they could tailor regional programming before and after towards sports betting and create alternate broadcasts similar to what NBC has displayed for teams in Washington and Philadelphia.

VR Color Analysis will be delivered by ex-Pistons’ player Rip Hamilton for the NBA Conference Finals. According to SportTechie, Intel will be the brains behind the production team of the VR broadcast while Hamilton will be accompanied by seasoned NBA broadcaster Stephanie Ready. 2019 marks the second full year that the tech company is a virtual reality broadcast partner for the NBA on TNT. Last year, Intel and Turner streamed seven games in virtual reality during the regular season, and a more than a dozen games during the playoffs. Oculus NBA on the TNT VR app provided fans given access to live games this past year with full-game replays and highlights. Intel streamed 10 regular season games beginning in December, the All-Star weekend, and eight playoff games prior to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now the full series between the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks will be available in VR. Intel has updated their stereoscopic cameras, and in-game statistics to give tech-oriented fans fully immersive and personalized experience.

2019 Women’s World Cup fever finds its way to Snapchat. According to Fast Company, Nike has launched a new Snapchat Lens that allows fans of the U.S. women’s national soccer to try on and buy the team’s new kit before the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France in June. Fans can pick between the home and away jerseys through an AR filter, then a quick swipe-up will take you to nike.com for an instantaneous purchase of the new kits. Nike broke social media waves last year when it became the first brand to sell a product directly through Snapchat by making the Air Jordan III “Tinker” available via special Snap codes. This new AR filter was only available for a day, but the soccer kits prove that women in sport are getting a serious marketing push as it marked the first time that the brand has ever done a shoppable lens for apparel on Snapchat.

Power of Sports Five

McCourty twins honored by Rutgers for their commitment to service. Last week, New England Patriots defensive stars Devin and Jason McCourty returned to their alma mater Rutgers to be honored by the school: the twin brothers received honorary degrees on Sunday, May 19 when they also addressed graduates at Rutgers University as this year’s commencement speakers. “The McCourtys often return to Rutgers to inspire current Scarlet Knights and to lead fundraising events with Embrace Kids Foundation, which helps families whose children are facing cancer, sickle cell and other serious health challenges,” the school wrote on its website. “The McCourtys have also been strong advocates in the fight for criminal justice reform, fair educational funding and racial equality at the federal, state and local levels through awareness, education and allocation of resources.” Three months after the Patriots’ Super Bowl win, the two realized the next honor bestowed upon them.

Ted Leonsis is the owner of the Washington Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, and Capital One Arena and has a plan to get the D.C. punk band Fugazi back and playing together. Leonsis said that he would compensate the band, and make a major donation to local charities around Washington D.C. in their names. Fugazi hasn’t been playing together since 2003, however the four members were recently reunited due to a museum exhibition called “Action. Reaction. Action: Visualizing Fugazi” at the Lost Origins Gallery in D.C. According to WTOP, the exhibit fittingly explored the impact of the band, both as musicians and activists. Whether or not the punk band reunites, their activism has already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars thanks to their fame and keenness for charity.

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson honors his late friend through a youth-focused charity. In May, 2016 the shortstop received the terrible message that his best friend Branden Moss had passed away from a shooting. In order to keep his friend’s legacy going, he created Anderson’s League of Leaders. Since the charity's inception in 2017, Anderson and his wife, Bria, have helped organize back-to-school haircuts for kids, provide school supplies, host Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for those less privileged and run free youth baseball camps. There is also a scholarship in Moss’s name, providing $1,000 for students from their high school affected by violence. Anderson is proving to be a role model for kids all over the nation and particularly for African-American kids from the Southside of Chicago. He makes sure to educate youth about the history of black players in baseball while this year he has pledged to donate $500 to his charity for each time that he steals a base during the 2019 season – he’s already at 13, and it’s just mid May.

"Final Whistle On Hate" charity soccer match drew a crowd of 27,329 to Gillette Stadium. As EPL club Chelsea topped the Revolution 3-0, Bruce Arena was in attendance, with the Revolution set to formally announce that he will be "tabbed with the dual roles" of coach and Sporting Director. It is "not known exactly when Arena will assume his new posts." The match "helped raise funds for organizations that oppose discrimination and hate crimes," according to the Boston Herald. And the Boston Sports Journal noted the event raised more than $4 million, with $1 million each from Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich and Revolution owner Robert Kraft.

LeBron James is partnering with Wal-Mart to "feed the hungry and inspire positive change in Akron and across the country." According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, James will be part of the retailer's "Fight Hunger Spark Change" campaign, which "raises money through donations and the purchase of participating products." The effort to date has raised $74 million, providing 749 million meals, with a goal of 1 billion meals. Wal-Mart will "keep the pantry at James' I Promise School stocked with food, toiletries, clothing and basic necessities." James and Wal-Mart will "support each other's education programs" starting this summer with a Back to School campaign.

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theliberaltony · 4 years ago

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Call it Super Tuesday III: The last big primary day of the season is upon us. Today, millions of voters in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington go to the polls — or, more likely, fill out an absentee ballot — to decide the Republican and Democratic nominees for congressional and state office. There are over a dozen races worth watching today, but here’s the skinny on the most consequential.

Kansas

Kansas’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate might be the biggest down-ballot primary of the year. Although Kansas is normally a blood-red state, Democrats will have a real shot to win a Senate seat here for the first time since 1932 (their longest drought anywhere in the nation) if the GOP nominates former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

For reasons ranging from his quixotic pursuit of voter fraud to his far-right views on immigration, legal troubles and an incompetent campaign, Kobach is such a weak candidate that he already lost the 2018 race for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly. And internal GOP polling has reportedly found that nearly 30 percent of Republicans would support Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier this November if Kobach is the nominee for Senate. That’s enough to put Kobach and Bollier in a virtual tie in the few public polls of the race we’ve seen recently.

That’s not to say Republicans don’t have an alternative. The problem is, they have two: Rep. Roger Marshall and plumbing and HVAC mogul Bob Hamilton. And thanks to his ability to self-fund, Hamilton had spent the most as of July 15 ($2.7 million), saturating the airwaves with campaign ads — and that’s on top of the years’ worth of kitschy commercials his company is locally famous for.

However, Marshall has the support of the party establishment: In addition to the $2.3 million spent by Marshall’s campaign, the Senate Leadership Fund has spent $1.9 million to help him. Marshall also has the endorsements of a prominent Kansas pro-life group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and retiring Sen. Pat Roberts. But one big name has yet to weigh in: President Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly urged the president to endorse Marshall, but (so far at least) he’s been unwilling to lift a finger against Kobach, his ideological doppelgänger.

A new super PAC with ties to McConnell, Plains PAC, has spent heavily ($3.3 million) this month on negative ads associating Kobach with white supremacists. But the biggest spender in the Republican primary is actually a super PAC with Democratic ties: Sunflower State PAC, which has spent $5.3 million, including on an ad “attacking” Kobach for being “too conservative” and actually attacking Marshall for being “phony” and “soft on Trump.” It’s not unheard of for parties to meddle in the other side’s primary like this to land their preferred opponent, but rarely have they gone so all-in on it.

Public polling of the race has been sparse; the latest data we have is an internal Republican poll (reported by Politico) that put Marshall at 33 percent and Kobach at 30 percent, with Marshall further behind. But you know what we say about internal polls — and be extra careful with this one; we don’t know which pollster even conducted it.

Remarkably, that is not the only race in Kansas in which a tainted nominee could cost Republicans the election in November. Dogged by allegations of adultery, unwanted sexual advances, campaign-finance violations and inflating his résumé, Rep. Steve Watkins of the 2nd Congressional District was already facing a vigorous challenge from state Treasurer Jake LaTurner, the youngest statewide elected official in the country at age 32. Then, on July 14, Watkins was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor for voting from an address where he does not live. The scandal prompted Watkins to step down from his committee assignments in Washington and neighboring Rep. Ron Estes to endorse LaTurner. (However, Republican brass such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have stuck with Watkins.)

Although this eastern Kansas district voted for Trump by 18 points in 2016, it’s looking competitive this fall — and could be especially vulnerable if Watkins wins the primary. According to a poll from LaTurner’s campaign (mind you, hardly an unbiased source), Democratic Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla leads Watkins 50 percent to 37 percent, while De La Isla and LaTurner are locked in a virtual tie.

Michigan

In Michigan, there are three interesting House primaries, but the one grabbing the most national attention is probably the rematch in the 13th Congressional District between Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones.

This is a race with a lot of history, too. After the resignation of Democratic Rep. John Conyers in December 2017, the seat hosted two elections in November 2018 — a regular race for Congress and a special election to complete Conyers’s unexpired term. Tlaib and Jones faced off in crowded primaries, with Tlaib ultimately winning the regular primary and Jones the special. Jones tried to mount a write-in campaign against Tlaib last November but lost, meaning Jones represented the district for a few weeks before Tlaib took office.

Now, though, Tlaib and Jones are the only primary contenders, which might help Jones in the majority-Black, Detroit-based district as she is African American herself. In 2018, however, African American voters didn’t coalesce around a single candidate. Instead, Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, came out on top. However, this year Jones has the endorsement of every other Democrat who ran in 2018, and she’s taken aim at Tlaib’s sometimes-controversial national profile as a member of “The Squad,” claiming Tlaib is prioritizing celebrity over her constituents.

For the moment, though, Tlaib appears to have the upper hand, in part because she held a massive 40-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage over Jones as of July 15. Tlaib has also attacked Jones for not living in the district, and it probably helps Tlaib that Jones has her fair share of controversies, too, including alleged violations of state campaign finance laws. A July survey from Target Insyghts found Tlaib ahead 52 percent to 24 percent, so it looks as if this is Tlaib’s race to lose.

Over in western Michigan, we’re also keeping an eye on the Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, a Grand Rapids-based seat currently held by Rep. Justin Amash, a Libertarian and former Republican who isn’t seeking reelection. The principal GOP contenders are state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis and Peter Meijer, a U.S. Army veteran and scion of the family that owns the eponymous Midwestern retail chain — which probably helps with his name recognition.

Meijer appears to have the upper hand, too, as he has support from House Republican leaders and leads the money race. As of July 15, he had raised a little over $1 million in contributions, compared to Afendoulis’s $625,000. Not to mention, he had a $400,000 to $140,000 cash edge for the home stretch (Meijer has also loaned his campaign $475,000; Afendoulis has given hers $256,000). Still, Afendoulis argues she’s the only candidate with legislative experience and is the only conservative for the job, having earned an endorsement from Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortion rights. She’s also questioned Meijer’s loyalty to Trump and the GOP, slamming him as a “Never Trumper” who helped Democrats by working for With Honor, a bipartisan group that aims to elect veterans to Congress.

A mid-June survey from Meijer’s campaign found him ahead of Afendoulis by 24 points, 41 percent to 17 percent, although we should take internal polls with a grain of salt. Ultimately, the Republican winner will advance to face attorney Hillary Scholten, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary. And although Trump carried this district by about 10 points in 2016, 52 percent to 42 percent, election handicappers only give the GOP a narrow advantage in the race.

In the last district we’re watching, three Republicans are vying to replace retiring GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell in Michigan’s 10th District, which lies north of Detroit in “The Thumb” and is the most Republican-leaning seat in the state.

First up, state Rep. Shane Hernandez has enjoyed the backing of groups promoting limited government like the Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity. The Club’s political arm has spent about $1.5 million to help Hernandez, which includes ad buys featuring Mitchell endorsing Hernandez and emphasizing Hernandez’s support for Trump. Meanwhile, businesswoman Lisa McClain had spent $1.6 million on the race as of July 15 — about four times as much as her opponents — and has run ads calling herself a conservative outsider and pro-Trump Republican. McClain has also questioned Hernandez’s Trump bona fides by running an ad claiming that Hernandez opposed Trump and the idea of building a border wall in 2016. A super PAC backing McClain has also spent nearly $500,000 boosting her. A third candidate, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Doug Slocum, has little outside support, but he’s stressed his early support for Trump and his extensive military service as a pilot in the Air Force and as commander of Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, which is in the district.

The only recent survey of the race comes from Hernandez’s allies at the Club, which in mid-July found him narrowly leading McClain by 6 points, 33 percent to 27 percent, with Slocum in a distant third at 10 percent.

Missouri

Progressive challengers have already unseated incumbent Democratic congressmen in two districts this year — could Missouri’s 1st Congressional District be next? A Clay — either current Rep. Lacy Clay or his father, Bill — has represented St. Louis in Congress continuously since 1969, but registered nurse and Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush is determined to bring that streak to an end. Clay defeated Bush 57 percent to 37 percent in the Democratic primary here in 2018, but it’s a much fairer fight this time around: Instead of being outspent more than three to one like she was in 2018, Bush has spent nearly $442,000 this year to Clay’s more than $548,000 (as of July 15).

In addition, outside group Fight Corporate Monopolies has dropped six figures on an ad attacking Clay for fighting the Obama administration on Wall Street reform. Generally, though, Clay has a pretty progressive voting record: He’s more liberal than 83 percent of Democrats in the current Congress, according to DW-Nominate, and, like Bush, supports both single-payer health care and the Green New Deal. On the other hand, the nationwide movement against police violence may help Bush, as she first rose to prominence amid the 2014 protests over the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, which is in the district. But whoever wins the primary will likely punch their ticket to Congress, since the 1st District is overwhelmingly Democratic.

Missourians statewide will also vote on Amendment 2, a ballot measure that would make Missouri the 39th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. In the face of opposition from Republican governors and legislatures, proponents of Medicaid expansion have had a lot of success recently at the ballot box — Idaho, Nebraska and Utah passed it in 2018, and Oklahoma did so just a month ago — and Missouri looks like it could follow suit. A June poll from Remington Research Group found Amendment 2 leading 47 percent to 40 percent, and as of July 27, supporters had outraised opponents by the shocking margin of $10.1 million to less than $112,000. If the amendment passes, an estimated 230,000 people would newly become eligible for Medicaid starting in 2021.

There are also several races we didn’t have room to cover — like an “accidental congressman’s” comeback attempt in Michigan’s 11th District and the question of whether Washington state will elect its first Black representative or a protégée of Bernie Sanders in the open 10th District. Feel free to follow us on Twitter tonight for full coverage up and down the ballot. However, as usual, it could be several days before we get final results. And if any of those results have an effect on who’s favored in November (lookin’ at you, Kansas), we’ll cover it for you right here on FiveThirtyEight.com.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley

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kristablogs · 5 years ago

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The next generation of race car drivers started out as gamers

Getting ready for the raceway increasingly means cutting your teeth on virtual tracks. (The Voorhes/)

James Baldwin’s confidence overtakes his ability midway through his fourth lap of Silverstone Circuit. The track, home to the British Grand Prix and among the most famous in racing, features a tricky series of sweeping curves best approached with a delicate balance of gas and brakes. Baldwin, however, attacks them at 110 miles per hour, risky given the damp morning’s freezing cold. His tires skate across the slick pavement and he careens onto the grass. After hitting the brakes, he cranks the shuddering steering wheel to the left, turning into the skid. The car skitters for several seconds and just misses a wall, but the move arrests his slide and gets him pointed the right way. Baldwin exhales, downshifts, and roars back onto the track. Within moments he reaches 110 again for the sprint down a short straight, then heads into the next turn. Chastened, he takes this one at a more prudent velocity.

The 22-year-old Brit watches this drama not through the visor of a helmet, but on the screen of a racing simulator. Baldwin is among the best esports drivers in the world, one of several dozen who earn a living competing in the digital domain. Now he’s preparing for his professional motor-sports debut on a bona fide road course.

Baldwin earned his shot a few months earlier, when he won the second season of World’s Fastest Gamer, a reality television series that saw 10 would-be Mario Andrettis compete for the chance to go wheel-to-wheel with seasoned pros. They raced on virtual and physical asphalt and dirt tracks and faced a series of challenges designed to test their problem-solving and leadership skills. When filming started in October 2019, Baldwin hadn’t done much more real-world driving than tooling around town. Fourteen days later, he crossed the finish line at Las Vegas Motor Speedway doing more than 130 miles per hour in a machine he called “fast enough to be scary.”

That isn’t as foolhardy as it might sound. Hyper-realistic driving games and hardware that mimic the sensation of hurtling around a track have made it possible to go racing with minimal experience in a proper car. Research suggests that the skills needed to master titles like Gran Turismo or Forza apply to competing in events like the 24 Hours of LeMans, one of the most grueling contests in motor sports. Baldwin now joins a handful of sim hotshots who have made that jump, something you don’t see in other sports, says Darren Cox, who launched World’s Fastest Gamer after a career in the auto industry. He notes that people who excel at, say, playing soccer on their Xbox aren’t going to find themselves appearing in the World Cup. “You can’t kick a ball around in FIFA and become the next Ronaldo,” he says.

The line between the virtual and real worlds began to blur in 2008, when Cox launched GT Academy, a TV program that turned gamers into drivers. When the show’s inaugural winner went on to finish second at LeMans in 2011, Formula One, Nascar, and other leagues started paying attention. Several have since joined the automakers that compete in them to launch online teams and tournaments in a bid to attract new drivers and, more importantly, fans. Many involved see gamers crossing over in greater numbers within the decade.

Not everyone believes the next champions will emerge from the world of esports, however. Skeptics argue that the physical and mental demands—let alone the inherent feel for the machinery—needed to compete at the upper echelons require experience, not simulation.

Baldwin is determined to prove them wrong. After winning his shot, he started working with a coach to hone the skills to handle the 700-odd-horsepower McLaren he’ll drive throughout Europe sometime in 2020. As he clocked hours in the simulator and miles around Silverstone, the COVID-19 pandemic put the date of his debut on hold. Nonetheless, Baldwin will spend the intervening time enduring an arduous schedule of workouts to prepare his body—and mind—for the challenges ahead. “This has been my dream since I was a kid,” he says. “Because of my esports experience over the last couple of years, I believe I will be able to compete at a very high level in the real world.”

Esports ace James Baldwin with the McLaren he’ll drive in his live racing debut. (The Voorhes/)

On a bright, clear morning in November 2019, Baldwin and three other finalists on World’s Fastest Gamer stood on the pavement of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The circuit, 20 minutes northeast of the Strip, has seen Nascar drivers approach 200 mph, but no one had any illusions of reaching such a number during the 22-minute dash that would determine the show’s grand prize winner. Moments later, Baldwin pulled a helmet over his spiky blond hair and folded himself into a sleek fiberglass-bodied racer called a Mitjet EXR LV02.

The pack sprinted away from the starting line. Californian Mitchell de Jong led for two laps before Baldwin squeaked by. He ruthlessly built a 10-second lead—forever in auto racing—by the time the checkered flag waved. Cox congratulated him as he climbed from the cockpit, sweaty and elated. “We’ve just watched a group of kids, most of whom had never raced a car in their lives, get into a superfast sports car and dominate this track after just two weeks of practice,” Cox said.

Baldwin began training for his big-time debut two months later. He started at Brands Hatch Circuit, near London, before switching to Silverstone. The track is not far from where he grew up watching Formula One, the pinnacle of motor sports. At an age when most kids learn to ride a bike, he begged his mother and father to let him take up karting, often the first step toward a career as a throttle jockey. As hobbies go, it’s not cheap—a few thousand for a decent machine, and, at the uppermost levels, as much as six figures in expenses each season. Still, they relented, and over the next several years Baldwin did well enough to move up in 2015 at age 17 to a larger, more powerful ride in the Formula Ford division. He entered four events in six months, compiling a decent record but spending $20,000 doing it. “My parents were like, ‘We have to stop now,’” he recalls after a session in the simulator at the track.

Baldwin switched to playing the racing sim Project Cars in his bedroom when he wasn’t in a classroom studying engineering. The title is among the most popular in a genre that dates to 1974, when people used to drop quarters into Atari’s Gran Trak 10 arcade game, which featured a genuine steering wheel, shift lever, and pedals. Despite the realistic hardware, the experience was more Mario Kart than Indy 500. That remained the norm until the mid-1990s and the debut of seminal titles like Gran Turismo, Grand Prix Legends, and others that featured lifelike physics, environments, and driving techniques.

The rise of online gaming in the early 2000s has allowed players to compete against each other, more like they would on the track. Dabblers get by with consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but hardcore competitors often favor computers with peripherals like a steering wheel, shifter, pedals, and seat. “Once I transitioned to a more realistic simulator, not only did I get faster, but I had more fun,” Baldwin says.

He started entering tournaments and in 2018, at age 20, joined Veloce Esports, a gaming team in London. He quit school, and within a year ranked among the world’s top competitors in Project Cars 2, prompting Cox to offer him a spot on World’s Fastest Gamer.

Cox grew up wanting to try karting, but turned to video games because his parents couldn’t afford it. He studied politics and economics in college before going to work for Renault and then Nissan, where he led its global competition operation. The automaker launched a marketing campaign with Gran Turismo in 2006, and Cox invited aficionados of the game to lap a track with professional drivers. “Some of the instructors came up to me after and said, ‘You know, a bunch of these guys can really drive,’” he says. “That was my light bulb moment.” Seeing a chance to cultivate talent and attract new racing fans, in 2008 Cox launched GT Academy, an unprecedented television series in which Gran Turismo players competed for a seat on Nissan’s racing team. The show, filmed in Britain, ran for eight seasons, aired in 160 countries, and drew 100 million viewers at its peak.

A new generation of drivers are getting their start on consoles instead of racecars. (The Voorhes/)

It also launched several careers—impressive, given that most contestants had never climbed behind the wheel of anything faster than the family hauler. The show’s first winner, Lucas Ordóñez of Spain, has since competed in 112 events and racked up 21 top-three finishes, including two at LeMans. Jann Mardenborough earned his driver’s license just two years before winning season three. Nissan spent six months preparing the Brit for the 2011 24H Dubai endurance race, where his team placed third. He’s been at it ever since. “The transition from the virtual to the real world felt completely normal,” says Mardenborough, who now competes with Kondo Racing in the Japanese Super GT series. “Being a 19-year-old at the time probably helped; I didn’t have the self-preservation part of my brain telling me to back off.”

The pivot could not have come at a better time. Formula One saw viewership in Britain, where most teams are based, plummet 24 percent between 2018 and 2019. Nascar has lost more than half of its live and TV audience since 2014. The sport is on a “constant quest” to counter declining viewership, and “esports presents an intriguing opportunity to access a potentially valuable new demographic,” according to a 2017 report by Nielsen analysts. The tactic worked for soccer. A 2016 University of Michigan study cited the success of the FIFA game franchise as a factor in the sport’s surging popularity in the US.

In 2015, Cox founded his own outfit, which joined the Canadian firm Torque Esports in 2017. One year later, he launched World’s Fastest Gamer. The first season aired on ESPN and CNBC. Some 400 million people tuned in, and Rudy van Buren of the Netherlands won the grand prize: a job as a simulation driver for McLaren Racing, helping perform virtual tests of its Formula One cars. Impressive, but Baldwin will face the ultimate challenge of driving a McLaren 720S GT3 for Jenson Team Rocket RJN in the 2020 GT World Challenge endurance championship series. “Of course people in recent years have been on a similar journey, going from esports into the real world, but no one has gone in at the level of racing we are,” Baldwin says. “I am determined to show what is possible.”

Given Baldwin’s resolve to prove he can handle a $600,000 carbon-fiber rocket on wheels, it is perhaps ironic that he still spends much of his time in a simulator. But then, so do many pros. Teams at every level rely on the machines, which can cost as much as eight figures, to precisely replicate navigating any course, in any conditions. They allow drivers to acquaint themselves with a car or track and help engineers analyze vehicle performance. The technology is so precise that it has in many cases largely replaced expensive physical testing.

That explains why Baldwin’s training relies so heavily on it. If he isn’t in his rig at home, he is squeezed into the form-fitting seat of a simulator built by Allinsports, an Italian firm founded by a former Formula One engineer. His hands grip a steering wheel flanked by gearshift paddles (the computerized controls long ago replaced conventional stick shifts), and his feet depress gas and brake pedals. His eyes rarely leave the curved 48-inch screen before him. The hardware, about the size of a recliner, sits in the corner of a conference room overlooking Silverstone.

An off-the-shelf program called rFactor 2 allows Baldwin to experience nearly any circuit in the world, in any of dozens of cars. He can adjust his ride’s suspension, tune its engine, even customize the paint job. The software models factors like the damage tires sustain in a skid and how traction varies as the rubber wears and pavement conditions change. The system uses these calculations to provide surprisingly tactile feedback. The steering wheel shudders and vibrates, the brake pedal demands a firm push, and, like the McLaren he’ll drive, everything requires a deft touch to avoid a stall or spin.

James Baldwin practicing in a racing simulator. (The Voorhes/)

Evidence suggests the skills Baldwin has honed in the digital realm will serve him well as he crosses over. Cognitive psychologists at New York University Shanghai and the University of Hong Kong showed that gamers are much better than other people at processing visual information and acting on it. They also found that driving sims can help anyone “significantly improve” those abilities in just five to 10 hours, leading the researchers to believe that such software could be effective training tools. Their 2016 study builds on work by Daphne Bavelier and Adrien Chopin, cognitive neuroscientists at the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne in Paris, respectively; their 2012 inquiry revealed that playing titles that feature highly dynamic situations and demand rapid decision-making can improve perception, attention span, and spatial cognition. Chopin has little doubt that esports players can become racers, given the authenticity of the vehicles, environments, and controllers. “Because of these characteristics, it is essentially the same task,” he says. “What you learn in the game should be transferable.”

Still, Baldwin knows he must hone his abilities through real-world experience. He’s lapped Silverstone in several cars, learning how to handle them at racing speeds. (So far he’s achieved 170 mph.)

This past March, he spent two days zipping around Circuit Paul Ricard in France in the McLaren. “The team was very happy with my performance,” he says. “They said my pace and consistency were great. And I didn’t crash, which was a massive tick in the box for them.” Naturally, he crammed for that test by driving a virtual version. Still, Baldwin concedes there are some things a simulator can’t prepare him for. “A real car is hot, it’s sweaty, it vibrates,” he says. “It sounds silly, but you don’t actually realize this until you get in and start driving.”

Beyond heat and noise, gamers have a lot to learn. They often miss subtle signals from the tires and suspension that can help them go faster and avoid problems, says Ross Bentley, a coach who has trained them. And while esports drivers possess excellent reflexes, concentration, and hand-eye coordination, they often lack the fitness long stints at speed require, says Mia Sharizman of Renault Sport Academy, the automaker’s driver recruiting program. During a race, competitors can lose several pounds, experience as much as five times the force of gravity, and endure heart rates as high as 170 beats per minute. “You need to be able to have core and neck strength to withstand the extreme G-forces, leg strength for the braking, and, most importantly, mental fortitude to be able to function while knowing that your life is at risk,” Sharizman says. “It’s extremely difficult to replicate that type of scenario and environment.”

Fortunately, Baldwin has some appreciation of this from his childhood racing experience. He’s working with Simon Fitchett, who has spent seven years training Formula One drivers, to prepare his body and further sharpen his concentration. “It’s hard to focus my mind sometimes,” he says. But the greatest challenge may lie in mastering fear, something Juan Pablo Montoya, whose long career includes stints in Formula One and Nascar, saw competitors struggle with while he was a judge on World’s Fastest Gamer. “A fast corner in a simulator is nothing. You press a button and you try and you try until you get it right,” he says. “When you’re doing 150 or 180 miles per hour on a track in a corner and you have to keep your foot down, the reality sets in. That’s when you’re going to start seeing the difference between the guys who can make it in reality and the guys who can only make it in esports.”

Baldwin will face that test when he finally rolls up to the starting line at Brands Hatch Circuit outside London, fulfilling a childhood dream. He has no doubt he’ll pass. “As long as I’m finishing first,” he says, flashing a cheeky grin, “then it should all be good, right?”

This story appeared in the Summer 2020, Play issue of Popular Science.

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scootoaster · 5 years ago

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The next generation of race car drivers started out as gamers

Getting ready for the raceway increasingly means cutting your teeth on virtual tracks. (The Voorhes/)

Esports ace James Baldwin with the McLaren he’ll drive in his live racing debut. (The Voorhes/)

A new generation of drivers are getting their start on consoles instead of racecars. (The Voorhes/)

James Baldwin practicing in a racing simulator. (The Voorhes/)

This story appeared in the Summer 2020, Play issue of Popular Science.

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mastcomm · 5 years ago

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A Hockey Globetrotter Finds Her Showcase at Home

VANCOUVER — Early in Game 4 of the 2020 women’s hockey Rivalry Series, Team U.S.A.’s Megan Bozek skated the puck down the ice. As she entered the offensive zone, she lifted her stick horizontally and drilled it into the protective cage of Erin Ambrose, the Canadian defender who had been blocking her path to the net.

After losing Game 3 in overtime two nights earlier, Bozek was sending the message that the United States team would be taking no prisoners.

Body-checking may be illegal in women’s hockey, but intense physical play is the norm whenever the world’s two top hockey nations square off, even when there’s nothing more than pride on the line.

“Used to it. Yep. Nothing different than we haven’t seen before,” said U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield after her team’s 3-1 victory in a contest where Bozek’s crosschecking minor was one of 11 total penalties called on the night.

In the so-called “gap year,” the time between the Canadian Women’s Hockey League’s folding in spring 2019 to now, there has been no North American professional league available to the sport’s top players. Bozek and her teammate, Alex Carpenter, have been playing in Russia’s Zhenskaya Hockey League to work on their games, giving them a leg up on the many Olympians and other elite players continuing to boycott the National Women’s Hockey League. But their stories also reveal how hard it still is to make a go of life as a female professional hockey player.

“The physicality has been very helpful,” Carpenter said. “Those teams just never give up and they always go, so I think playing against competition like that and very skilled players is definitely helpful.”

U.S. head coach Bob Corkum liked what he saw from Carpenter when she arrived for the first Rivalry Series training camp and exhibition games in the Pittsburgh area last November. She has since been named Player of the Game for scoring the game-winning goal in the second game of the series.

“I’m not sure what has given her the advantage, but this whole year, she’s been lights out,” said Corkum. “She’s been one of our most consistent players.”

The demise of the C.W.H.L. led to the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, a group of more than 200 players who pledged not to play in a North American pro league this season due to concerns about operations and low wages. The highest announced salary in the N.W.H.L., a five-team outfit now in its fifth season, is $15,000.

The P.W.H.P.A. has made no bones about its desire to partner with the N.H.L. to launch a league styled after the relationship between the N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. The connection between Russia’s top men’s league and its women’s league may provide another template.

“I think it would be great to take a look at that league,” said Carpenter. “I mean, there’s things that we could do better, there’s things that are great already, but I think just taking a look at that overall, due to their backing with the K.H.L., I think would be a really great start for us moving forward.”

After playing her first pro season in 2016-17 with the N.W.H.L.’s Boston Pride, Carpenter headed for China after she was cut from the 2018 Olympic team that went on to win gold medal over Canada in Pyeongchang.

Her father, former Ranger Bobby Carpenter, was coaching the men’s Kunlun Red Star team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League and suggested she come over and join the women’s side, one of two women’s teams based in Shenzhen and affiliated with the C.W.H.L.

Carpenter returned to China for the 2018-19 season, when Red Star and the Vanke Rays merged into one squad. This season, the Vanke Rays joined up with the W.H.L., which has been backed by the K.H.L. since 2015, giving Carpenter a chance to stay in China for a third year — and to get a sense of how a women’s pro league that’s affiliated with Russia’s top men’s league operates.

“We didn’t know what to expect going into it,” Carpenter said. “We came from the C.W.H.L. and we’d bounce back and forth between China and North America for a month and a half at a time.”

Playing in the same arenas as the men, either before their games or after, came with perks. “We get towels, we get a locker room a week before if we need it,” Carpenter said. “We get a coaches’ room. Small things like that, that you don’t think are a big thing. But they really make a big difference in your travels.”

N.H.L. commissioner Gary Bettman has stated repeatedly that his league is reluctant to get involved while there’s an existing women’s league in operation. Instead, top women’s players have gotten showcases, like at last month’s All-Star Weekend, which for the first time included a three-on-three game between the U.S.A. and Canada.

In addition to the other showcases provided by the P.W.H.P.A.’s ongoing Dream Gap Tour, the current five-game Rivalry Series, in its second year, has provided opportunities for real competition and put the spotlight on the women’s game. All five games this year have been broadcast on national television.

Wednesday’s win gave the U.S. team a 3-1 edge in the five-game Rivalry Series. But even with bragging rights established, both teams are looking forward to another big moment in Anaheim on Saturday, where more than 11,000 fans are expected at Honda Center in what is projected to be the largest crowd ever to watch a women’s national team game in the United States.

“I think this year, our main objective is really to have that big exposure and to get our product in front of fans,” said Canadian forward Sarah Nurse. “We want to be seen by everybody. That’s the only way that people are going to recognize the value in our product.

While the players who have stayed in North America have found ways to keep busy even without league play, some of them admit that the lack of structure has made it more difficult to find a rhythm when preparing for the Rivalry Series and the Women’s World Championship, which begins on March 31 in Nova Scotia.

“I think I would be lying if I tell you it’s easy,” said Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin. “The routine is not there at all.”

Carpenter has traveled to North America for the Rivalry Series games and All-Star Weekend, and will be back for the World Championship, but says she’s glad to have been playing in a more traditional league situation this year, where she’s leading the W.H.L. scoring race. “It’s nice to have that competitive environment. where you’re ultimately working with a team for an ultimate goal,” she said. “I think that helps me, myself, carry that over to here, knowing that when it’s ‘go time’ during the games, I’ve been working on that all year.”

That decision may put her in an advantageous position when it is time to name the Team U.S.A. roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“It would be pretty cool to be able to go and be there with some of my Chinese teammates who are trying to make their team.”

If there’s still no new pro league in North America next season, Carpenter said she would love to see more P.W.H.P.A. players join her in the W.H.L. After Saturday’s Rivalry Series finale in Anaheim, Carpenter and Bozek will head back to Russia to finish out their regular season and start playoffs, then return late next month for the World Championship.

With all the international travel, Carpenter’s passport is getting full.

“It is. I need a new one soon.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/a-hockey-globetrotter-finds-her-showcase-at-home/

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thrashermaxey · 6 years ago

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21 Fantasy Hockey Rambles

Every Sunday, we'll share 21 Fantasy Rambles – formerly 20 Fantasy Thoughts – from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's ‘Daily Ramblings’.

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

1. If you own Mathew Barzal, you were waiting for his next goal for a while. As in over a month. Fortunately, the Isles’ center broke his goal-scoring slump (and added an assist) on Thursday. Barzal had gone without a goal in his previous 19 games.

Barzal isn’t one to pile up the goals, as his 18 goals this season is just four fewer than his total last season. With 62 points at the moment, however, he is well short of his 85-point rookie season from last season. This could be the result of having to play the tougher matchups this season versus last season, when John Tavares was still in the fold.

Playing on the top line alongside Barzal, Jordan Eberle might have decent value at this very moment based on where he’s being used, but he’s also staring at his first sub-40-point season (lockout-shortened 2012-13 not included) in his career. (mar29)

2. The Panthers might be out of the playoff race but that isn’t stopping Jonathan Huberdeau. Huby now has nine multipoint games during March to go with nine goals and 23 points over his last 13 games. Too bad I’ve been eliminated in the league that I own him in. Don’t you just hate it when your players cash in after you’ve been eliminated?

Evgenii Dadonov is another Panthers’ forward who has picked up the pace. Over his last 13 games, Dadonov has 19 points (6g-13a). Playing on a line with Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov might have something to do with it. Dadonov has now surpassed last season’s point total and is just two points shy of his first 70-point season. (mar29)

3. It’s been a down year for Rickard Rakell but he might still make it to 20 goals. It’s not the 34 goals like last season, or the 33 he scored the season before, but Rakell has piled up seven goals over his last five games.

Rakell was a recent buy-low candidate through his goalless droughts of 14, 9, 8, and 6 games, up to the point in which he had just nine goals on the season earlier this month. To justify that buy-low, his shooting percentage was at a highly unlucky 6.3 percent, but it is now up to a more respectable 9.6 percent and could still climb further.

In terms of what you can do going forward, look to Rakell as a rebound candidate as he will probably slip in next season’s fantasy hockey drafts based on his overall numbers. He was drafted at around the 70th pick in this season’s Yahoo drafts, but next season he could provide great value if he is drafted outside of the top 100. (mar31)

4. The Cam Talbot era in Philly might be short-lived, but at least he made another start on Saturday (just his second since being acquired). Talbot allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to Carolina.

Now that the Flyers have been eliminated, the Flyers might start Talbot one or two more times as they play out the string. With this being the second consecutive season that Talbot has posted a goals-against average over 3.00, he probably won’t be considered a starter anywhere. Instead, expect him to land as a backup or at best a timeshare somewhere. (mar31)

5. Nick Schmaltz’ new seven-year extension with an unconfirmed cap hit of $5.85 million might seem like a lengthy extension for a player that has cracked 50 points just once in three seasons, but remember that the Coyotes coveted him enough to pay a significant price (Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini) just to acquire him.

Regardless, he was fitting in well with his new team (14 points in 17 games) before suffering a season-ending knee injury late last December. Even though the trade may appear heavily weighted in Chicago’s favor, it’s one of those that could still work out well for both teams. Salary cap owners would likely prefer to see more sustained production before investing, though. (mar31)

6. Kevin Fiala’s ice time is up 2:40 per game with the Wild versus what he was getting with Nashville. And yet he has just seven points in 15 contests. We expected the jump in ice time but had assumed it would come with a corresponding bump in production.

That hasn’t happened, but as fantasy owners that's the mindset we need to stick to – opportunity increases the odds of success. Just because it’s a ‘fail’ (so far) doesn’t mean we figured wrong. Next year is his fourth and I expect some magic. (mar30)

7. So, does Ryan Strome have upside after all? I mean, obviously not the elite upside we hoped for six years ago, but fantasy-worthy upside?

Now that the Rangers have shed some top players, Strome is usually seeing about 18 minutes of ice time. This is ice time he was given during the first few years of his career and he didn’t do anything with it. Now he’s doing something.

Entering Sunday action, Strome had 18 points in his last 23 games, and nine in his last 10. Food for thought: Friday he was on a line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Lias Andersson. His next goal would be his 18th, which would set a career high. (mar30)

8. Mackenzie Blackwood is 3-8-0, 2.90 and 0.901 over his last 11 games. He’s 22, a high draft pick and has bounced back in this his third pro season after having it rough during his first two. I’m not yet ready to write him off as a potential starter for the long term but this year is the most he has played as a pro (40 combined games). (mar30)

9. Andreas Athanasiou scored his 30th goal this past Friday. Unfortunately, the assists haven’t really been there for this year because he’s often placed on a line with the likes of ‘Tommy Stonehands’ and ‘Jimmy Lunchpail’ – for example, his linemates on Friday were Luke Glendening and Taro Hirose.

When he hits his prime in a couple of years, though, the Red Wings should have the talent around him upgraded by that point. Next year, I see another small step forward, perhaps hitting 60 (if anyone does on this team besides Dylan Larkin, it should be him) before his big jump in his sixth campaign. (mar30)

Elsewhere, the early results for Detroit’s undrafted NCAA foray this year are in. Entering Sunday action, 22-year-old Ryan Kuffner was pointless and minus-2 in six games. He had 96 points in his last 67 games with Princeton, as Max Veronneau’s (now with Ottawa) sidekick. Taro Hirose, also after six outings, saw a five-game assist streak come to an end on Friday. Hirose didn’t have a Veronneau to play with at Michigan State and to me has the higher upside. He’s been averaging about 15 minutes per game to Kuffner’s 10, so you know coach Jeff Blashill sees it the same way. (mar30)

10. Hawks’ Alex DeBrincat now has 41 goals – that places him in the league’s top-10 in goal scoring. Not bad for a 21-year-old in just his second NHL season and who many teams thought was too small. DeBrincat is not averse to slumps, though, as he was pointless during a six-game streak before hitting the scoresheet again late this past week. (mar29)

* Don’t forget to download your Playoff Draft List. released this Friday, April 5.

If you bought the Ultimate Fantasy Pack in the summer, this will be included in that purchase. It is not included in the Keeper Fantasy Pack.

11. Leon Draisaitl also scored goal number 47 this week, which has him four behind Alex Ovechkin in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. Both Connor McDavid and Draisaitl have now hit 100 points and are in the top-5 in scoring. You’d think that would set the Oilers up nicely for a playoff spot, right? Of course not. You need an entire team, not just a couple of top-end players. The same theory applies in fantasy. (mar29)

12. Dustin Byfuglien finally returned to the Jets’ lineup on Saturday, logging 24 minutes of ice time. Big Buff had missed the past month and a half with an ankle injury. In fact, he has been held to just 38 games this season, so it appears that playing a physical style for a decade has finally caught up to him.

Byfuglien could be in for a bounceback next season if he can stay healthy most of the time, but I’d be weary of drafting him as high as he has been in recent seasons. He averaged as the 40th pick in Yahoo drafts last fall, but I’d suggest waiting at least another round or two for the multicategory beast next season. (mar31)

13. It was Happy Quinn Hughes day last Thursday in Vancouver, as the seventh overall pick in last summer’s NHL Entry Draft made his NHL debut. He was paired with the recently-resurgent Luke Schenn in just over 15 minutes of ice time. For fantasy owners who were lightning-fast in adding Hughes to their lineups, he recorded his first NHL point by assisting on Brock Boeser’s second-period goal. Hughes did much of the work on the goal, hopefully giving us a preview of things to come.

No first-unit power-play duty for Hughes (in that game), as the Canucks went with a four-forward first unit with Alex Edler on the point as per usual. However, 3-on-3 overtime with Hughes, Boeser, and Elias Pettersson was a sight to behold. Amazing stuff. (You can also check out Hughes' profile on Dobber Prospects.)

Elsewhere, with Thatcher Demko in net, the Canucks’ roster on Thursday provided a real glimpse into the future. Demko stopped 37 of 39 shots in earning his second win in three games. It looks like the Canucks will alternate between Demko and Jacob Markstrom the rest of the way, so plan accordingly. (mar29)

14. Following three straight 30-point seasons and back-to-back 35-point seasons, things were looking bright for Colton Parayko heading into 2018-19. The team added names like Ryan O’Reilly, Patrick Maroon, David Perron, and Tyler Bozak, giving them loads of scoring depth. With Parayko’s stout peripheral production, a 40-point season would have made him a top-10 multicategory defenceman.

That didn’t come to pass, obviously, as Parayko sits with 26 points in 78 games. His peripherals and plus/minus have meant a solid fantasy season, but he’s still yet to attain anywhere close to his ceiling. The problem is his assists, as he has managed just 16 total thus far, and just two primary assists at five-on-five. Among 114 defenseman with at least 1000 minutes played at five-on-five, he has the fourth-lowest primary assist rate.

Parayko will be in tough to reach his ceiling now that he’s apparently third in line for power play minutes. It doesn’t mean he can’t be very valuable in fantasy leagues. With the Blues loaded with both rising and established stars, and Parayko due for a rebound in his assists next year, it seems very possible he’s a top-10 blue liner in multicategory leagues in a year’s time. (mar28)

15. Sergei Bobrovsky is showing up when it matters most – for his squad and for his fantasy owners. Much has been said about the pending unrestricted free-agent and the likely anchor of a contract he may sign on July 1. Well, the two-time Vezina winner has been near the top of the heap for the last three months.

Stretching back to the beginning of February, Bobrovsky is 16-7-0 with six shutouts and his season save percentage is now up to .912. He’s had a few clunkers mixed in there but the overall theme is positive.

He remains a tier one guy heading into 2019-20 – especially if he finds himself on a contender next fall. (mar27)

16. If I’m sitting down to draft a one-year league next fall, I’m pencilling Jordan Binnington into a tier-2 position. I feel that’s as aggressive as anyone should be. We’re constantly burned by the masked men, that drinking the kool-aid too quickly will send you on a not so welcoming trip. (mar27)

17. Darcy Kuemper continues to be a rock for the desert dogs. This season could've easily been a write-off for Arizona when Antti Raanta went down in November, but thanks to Kuemper, the Yotes still have a slim shot at some playoff revenue. He's posted a quality start in 35 of 52 outings, while his 0.922 save percentage on the year is top-5 amongst ‘regular starters’.

Kuemper’s value lies at this moment, as we won't be seeing him earn this amount of starts next year. That is unless we see a team make a play for the 28-year-old via trade. He makes 1.8 million next season before hitting unrestricted free agency. (mar27)

18. Reports came out last Tuesday that Hurricanes prospect and Hobey Baker finalist, Adam Fox, will return to Harvard for this senior year. This could a big blow for the Hurricanes, who targeted Fox in last summer's blockbuster trade with Calgary. In fact, Fox could become a free agent in 2020 if he decides to and that would be great news for all the teams in search of a young, super offensive right-shot defender. Fox would have plenty of suitors. (mar27)

19. To give some positivity to the realm, I’m quite enjoying the trio of Jordan Greenway, Luke Kunin and Ryan Donato. Those three have been lining up together at even-strength and on the team’s second power-play unit. All three possess decent multi-category upsides. (mar26)

20. Former first-round selection Jared McCann is with his third organization but appears to have found a fit in Pittsburgh. McCann has great wheels, a heavy release and loads of tenacity. He’s finally cracked the second power-play unit, but 31 of his 34 points have come at even-strength or while shorthanded. There remains some intriguing upside with the 22-year-old, especially if he maintains his space in the top-six moving forward. (mar26)

21. Petr Mrazek is yet another unrestricted free agent in the summer ahead and he’s completely revived his career. The Hurricanes were likely going to move on from him come July and now I think they’re interested in hearing what he’s looking for.

If I was GM Don Waddell, I would see if I can’t lock him in for two years at a low cap rate of perhaps under $3 million. Carolina was a destination for one of the many UFA goaltenders this summer but Mrazek is doing what he can to shut the door on that opportunity for those people such as Cam Talbot, Brian Elliott and Robin Lehner.

Have a good week, folks!!

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles-11/

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eddiejpoplar · 6 years ago

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Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble

It’s been a busy couple of months for our long-term Stinger, which has racked up another 6,000 miles since our last report. In addition, for the first time since its arrival, we can’t say that the Stinger has been trouble-free; it had a little trouble, and nearly facilitated a bit of trouble for me.

I was scheduled to attend a press event just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, and thought it would be a great opportunity to put some miles on a Four Seasons car. Truth be told, the Stinger was not my first choice. I was looking at four days and 2,100 miles, and three members of our fleet, the BMW M550i, Infiniti QX50, and Volvo V90, had advanced semi-autonomous driving systems that I knew would ease the burden of those long hauls. But the Stinger needed miles, so the Stinger is the car I took.

After a few hours of driving, not only was I glad I took the Stinger, I was also looking for plausible excuses to lengthen the trip. My plan was to avoid the super-slab and take the two-laners north out of Los Angeles to Bishop, California (home of Mule Days!) before turning east into Nevada and then on to Utah. These are the perfect roads for a car like the Stinger: Lots of places to stretch its legs and not many places for cops to hide. (Or so I thought.)

The Stinger has been hailed as the closest South Korea has come to building a BMW—until perhaps the Genesis G70, that is—and as I have told anyone who will listen, all you need to do is drive the car at 100 mph to see that it’s the real deal. The Stinger is as stable and comfortable at those speeds as most cars are at 60. The chassis’s refinement really comes into its own, as does the twin-turbo V-6 engine, which has plenty of power to pass slow-moving traffic even with minimal space ahead. Still, aside from a couple of brief excursions, I kept my speed to two-digit numbers . . . but only just.

Fortuitously, I had slowed down to 85 when the Nevada state trooper clocked me.

He caught me on a lonely strip of two-lane just west of Ely, my planned stop for the night. I handed over the Stinger’s paperwork, which says that the car belongs to Kia and that it’s being driven for evaluation purposes. The officer asked what I did for a living. I told him I worked for a car magazine.

“Are you testing this baby?”

“Will it make a difference as to whether I get a ticket?” I asked.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said with a smile.

What ensued was a long discussion of the Kia Stinger and its merits, specifically its high-speed stability. (I assured him that my 100-plus-mph experience had all taken place other states, which is mostly true.) He asked about the Stinger’s head-up display, a gizmo which I realized as we talked destroyed any hope I had of plausible deniability. And he, like other officers I’ve spoken to, expressed lament for his Explorer-based Ford Police Interceptor Utility, which, apparently, is no proper replacement for the Crown Vic.

In the end the officer decided that he could live with 20 over the posted limit (“Five faster and we might be having a different conversation,” he said), and sent the Stinger and me on our way with a handshake instead of a ticket. I crept quietly into Ely at a sedate 70. I tried staying legal all the way to Utah—I really did—but the siren song of the Stinger’s 365 horses proved too much temptation. Luckily, I managed to spot the local constabulary before they spotted me, but I’ve decided that before I take another road trip in the Stinger, I’m going to buy a radar detector. (I can expense that, right?)

Naturally, I did make use of the Stinger’s lane-departure prevention system, which, though not as aggressive as those of the BMW, Infiniti, or Volvo also in our stable, does supply some modicum of self-steering. And in doing so, I noticed a most curious phenomenon.

All of these systems issue a warning if you take your hands off the wheel for more than a few seconds; most detect torque the driver applies to the steering wheel in the form of subtle corrections. The Stinger falls into this camp, and I found I’d get alerts even when my hands were on the wheel. The problem, I believe, is that the Stinger tracks so straight and true that one need make no corrections. Looks like the chassis engineers did their job a bit too well for the software engineers.

So, on to what little trouble we’ve had with the Stinger: Before I left for my trip, when the car had 6,204 miles on the clock, online editor Ed Tahaney hopped into the car to find that several of the driver’s seat controls had packed up. Lateral and height adjustments were non-op, though the lumbar and side-bolster adjustments still worked.

“Probably a blown fuse,” Ed said to me. “We could probably change it ourselves.” “Nah,” I insisted, “Cars don’t just blow fuses anymore,” and I took the Stinger to our closest dealer, Kia of Carson, who promised to squeeze me in between appointments. Two and a half hours later, the car was ready. The problem? A blown fuse, which they replaced under warranty. They also found a technical service bulletin (TSB) related to “ICU Headlamp Logic” and applied the fix, allowing me some degree of face-saving when I returned to the office. Ed has yet to say he told me so, but I expect it’s coming any day now.

During my long drive to Utah, I noticed that the brake pedal was pulsing. Warped rotors? In a car this new? That didn’t seem right. By this time, the car had just over 11,000 miles and ready for its next service. (The interval is 6,000 miles, but the first service was done early.) Back to Kia of Carson we went. They performed a routine service—and, contrary to the advice given at our first service, said there was no need to rotate the tires since they were staggered—and confirmed that the rotors were indeed warped.

This was their first time dealing with a problem like this on a Stinger and they wanted to talk to the factory reps first, so they arranged a complimentary rental car for me to head back to the office. The rotors were resurfaced and the pads sanded—all under warranty—and the car was ready to go that evening. Oh, and the bill for the oil change? $55.23, much more in line with our expectations than the $220.99 that Car Pros Kia stuck us for last time. Lesson learned: Shop around for service. And speaking of money spent, fuel economy is up about to just over 20 mpg, so we’re saving a bit at the pumps.

We told Kia about the warped-brake episode. Though we’ve certainly driven the Stinger quickly, we haven’t had it on a race track, and we don’t think a performance-oriented car should be heating its brakes to the point of warping. Kia told us they were aware of the issue, and promised more information about what’s being done. We’ll report on that in our next update.

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy our Stinger, which is proving to be a robust and reliable travel companion—even if it does get us into trouble every now and again.

Our 2018 Kia Stinger GT

MILES TO DATE 11,544 GALLONS OF FUEL 535.861 OBSERVED MPG 20.3 FUEL COST TO DATE $2,139.98 AVERAGE COST/GALLON $3.99 MAINTENANCE 2x oil changes, 1x tire rotation, $276.22 WARRANTY REPAIRS Blown fuse, front brake rotors resurfaced RECALLS AND TSBs Headlight software fix OUT OF POCKET None SPECIFICATIONS AS-TESTED PRICE $50,175 ENGINE 3.3-liter twin-turbocharged DOHC 24-valve V-6; 365 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 376 lb-ft @ 1,300 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, RWD hatchback EPA MILEAGE 19/25/21 mpg (city/highway/combined) LxWxH 190.2 x 73.6 x 55.1 in WHEELBASE 114.4 in WEIGHT 3,829 lb 0–60 MPH 4.7 sec TOP SPEED 167 mph (mfr) OUR OPTIONS Rear bumper appliqué, $75

The post Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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jesusvasser · 6 years ago

Text

Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble

Fortuitously, I had slowed down to 85 when the Nevada state trooper clocked me.

“Are you testing this baby?”

“Will it make a difference as to whether I get a ticket?” I asked.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said with a smile.

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy our Stinger, which is proving to be a robust and reliable travel companion—even if it does get us into trouble every now and again.

Our 2018 Kia Stinger GT

The post Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

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jonathanbelloblog · 6 years ago

Text

Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble

Fortuitously, I had slowed down to 85 when the Nevada state trooper clocked me.

“Are you testing this baby?”

“Will it make a difference as to whether I get a ticket?” I asked.

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said with a smile.

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy our Stinger, which is proving to be a robust and reliable travel companion—even if it does get us into trouble every now and again.

Our 2018 Kia Stinger GT

The post Our Long-Term Kia Stinger Tried to Get Us in Trouble appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4 https://ift.tt/2U0uS4j via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4

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rickhorrow · 6 years ago

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10 To Watch : Mayors Edition 5719

10 TO WATCH : RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 6 : MAYORS EDITION

With Jacob Aere

We kick off our week at Drexel University. Drexel2020: The Evolving Sports Business Market will be held in Philadelphia the morning of May 6, and presents a rare opportunity to hear directly from movers and shakers in the sports world and gain access to their personal insights. Our signature new book, The Sport Business Handbook, recognizes the last 50 years as the formative period for the modern era of sports business. The Drexel University panel will explore its most influential moments. Most importantly, a vision for the future will emerge, with valuable perspective offered from the very individuals shaping that future. I look forward to moderating the panel, which features sports business leaders Jon Butler of Pop Warner, Tony Ponturo of Turnkey Sports and formerly Anheuser-Busch, and Nick Sakiewicz of the National Lacrosse League. The event is free and open to students, members of the sports business community, and others looking to learn more about the ins and outs of our high-profile industry.

Tiger Woods will receive his Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday. According to the New York Times, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. First awarded in 1963, it has honored achievements in fields including acting, architecture, art, economics, law, medicine, music, journalism, and politics. Among the two dozen sports figures who have been honored are Jesse Owens, Ted Williams, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan. In golf, President George W. Bush honored Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, while President Obama recognized the pioneering player Charlie Sifford. In his time in office, President Trump has honored Babe Ruth posthumously, as well as quarterback Roger Staubach. Woods’ award comes at a time when many athletes have shown a reluctance to be honored by the Trump administration. The Golden State Warriors declined a White House visit after their championship, as did the NCAA Champion University of Virginia men’s basketball team. The champion Baylor women’s basketball team attended a White House ceremony last Monday.

The U.S. government has placed Saudi Arabia on its Priority Watch List amid ongoing pressure from several national sports bodies and international broadcasters to bring down the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released two reports condemning the Saudi-based piracy operation and calling out the country for its failure to protect intellectual property. Saudi officials have confirmed the illegal nature of BeoutQ’s activities and claim to be addressing this issue by seizing BeoutQ set-top boxes. But such devices nevertheless continue to be widely available and are generally unregulated in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is included in the USTR’s "2019 Special 301 Report" that identifies governments that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property around the world. The U.S. government intervention arrives in conjunction with calls made by the U.K. government to investigate widespread piracy of live sports content in Saudi Arabia. The pirate broadcaster is also subject of a $1 billion international investment arbitration BeIN Sports brought against Saudi Arabia last October.

Fenway Park will host its own college football bowl game starting in 2020. Fenway Park will host a new bowl game starting in 2020 featuring teams from the ACC and AAC, according to sources. The ballpark will join venues in Los Angeles and Myrtle Beach as "sites for new bowl games" in 2020, which "marks the start of the NCAA's new bowl cycle." A record 43 bowls will be played that season. Fenway will become the third Major League Baseball venue to host a bowl game, "joining the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and the Cheez-It Bowl" at Chase Field. AT&T Park in San Francisco previously held bowl games under multiple naming rights partners, but the short-lived tradition was discontinued after low attendance year after year. Just as the NFL has stretched its brand marketing to become a 12-month sport, so too is college football looking to retain fan interest year round by extending its post season and timing intriguing announcements – like a bowl game underneath the Green Monster – to the post NFL Draft college football news cycle.

Women’s hockey players lay down their sticks in search of a better deal. Over 200 women’s hockey players, with names that include Team USA stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, announced that they refuse to play in a North American professional hockey league next season, noting in a statement that "We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game. Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level." Last Wednesday, the Canadian Women's Hockey League officially discontinued its operations, citing an economically unstable business model, leaving the National Women’s Hockey League the sole remaining professional league in North America. Some players noted that they hope the NHL will support a women's league via financial and infrastructural resources, according to ESPN. In contrast, on the men's side, the top ten players of the 2018-2019 season each brought home multi-million dollar paychecks from the NHL, with lucrative endorsement deals to boot.

CBD is building a perfectly legal presence in pro sports. Hemp supplement company cbdMD is sponsoring golfer Bubba Watson in a multiyear deal that kicks off with the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black later this month. Watson will feature the cbdMD logo on both sides of his headwear at all PGA Tour events. The deal includes a wide range of other integrated marketing opportunities to promote the brand. Meanwhile, another hemp company, diemCBD, has partnered with marketing company Swag'r to launch an augmented reality game for attendees of the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Users can download the app, which is modeled on "Pokemon Go," to collect diemCBD tokens while exploring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, leading them to coupons, free products, and more. From sports wagering to CBD usage and brand-building among athletes, we are certainly currently living in an era of relaxed rules considering where sports was merely months ago. As always, money talks.

Youth baseball gets a boost from Stadium and Adidas. Stadium inked an exclusive partnership with the 2019 Cal Ripken Major/70 World Series, a tournament of champions for players aged 12 and under. Stadium will air thirty-four live games over eight days, including the International Championship, U.S. Championship, and World Championship on August 10. Similarly, Little League Baseball and Softball inked a multi-year partnership with Adidas that will see the brand become the official uniform, footwear, and coaches apparel supplier for the Little League World Series and a Little League Official Sponsor. Beginning this season, Adidas will design and create all official on-field uniforms for all seven total Little League World Series events throughout the United States. Additionally, Adidas will outfit all teams with cleats, training apparel, and accessories, and all coaches will be supplied with athletic footwear and apparel. To kick off the partnership’s first season, Adidas will design brand and marketing activations at both the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Oregon. Right before school resumes in August, our attention will be riveted on school-age bats and gloves at their annual peak.

NASCAR has a plan to boost attendance and ratings: betting on races. NASCAR has signed an exclusive data partnership with Genius Sports, a deal they believe will lead to an in-race betting product and help battle slumping attendance and TV ratings. According to Hashtag Sports, currently, bets on NASCAR races are few and far between at U.S. sports books, who often only have head-to-head options or odds on the race winner. Genius will use up-to-the-second data points like car speed and track position to build a betting product that the London-based company can sell to sports books. Exclusive access to the data will allow Genius to create a betting platform that provides traditional wagers—like who will win—and prop bets such as the number of lead changes or whether a Chevy will end up in victory lane. Sports leagues and teams typically see increased engagement when live betting is offered. Not only does it attract new fans, but live betting keeps them engaged for longer periods of time. NASCAR is hoping for the same response as support for the racing circuit both in-person and on TV declines.

LA 2028 has released its first budget for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, a $6.88 billion spending plan that includes a $616 million contingency for overruns. The top line is 29% higher than a $5.33 billion budget released in 2017, which has been the most commonly cited price for the Games. However, that figure was calculated in 2016 dollars, and was designed for a 2024 Games. The new 2028 budget reflects the longer lead-time Los Angeles agreed to when it accepted the 2028 hosting duties and ceded the race for 2024 to Paris. More importantly, it is calculated in “real money” terms, adjusted for inflation based on when each dollar will actually be raised and spent. According to LA 2028 Chair Casey Wasserman, the much-discussed $2.5 billion domestic sponsorship revenue goal was already inflation-adjusted and does not change. The new number also includes $200 million in additional IOC funding promised as part of the deal L.A. accepted in exchange for being awarded the 2028 Games. Most of that $200 million will be spent on funding youth sports programs in L.A. and committee operations for an additional four years.

Disney has reached a handshake agreement to sell its share of its regional sports networks to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. After out bidding opponents, Sinclair Broadcast Group scooped up Disney’s remaining 21 networks, which are roughly worth $10 billion. If the sale goes through, this would solve Disney’s sports media monopolization puzzle after the U.S. Department of Justice informed the company it would have to divest RSNs that ESPN acquired last June. According to SportsPro, a majority stake in the YES Network – Fox’s premier sports network partially owned by the New York Yankees – has reportedly already been acquired by Amazon and Sinclair in a $3.5 billion deal. Among Sinclair’s closest rivals for the majority of the RSNs: Major League Baseball reportedly teamed up with Formula One owner Liberty Media earlier this month during the final round of bidding. With Disney having to divest some of its properties, Sinclair Broadcast Group has transformed into another sports broadcast behemoth that may have a tech advantage thanks to its partnership with Amazon.

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thegloober · 6 years ago

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NASCAR's digital evolution on track

Oliver Marks / ZDNet

The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the American motor racing sanctioning and operating company best known for stock-car racing, in many people’s minds equals high-speed banked oval track racing, southern states culture, and sports TV coverage.

Today, NASCAR, like so many other business entities and their product offerings, is grappling with differing perceptions of its evolutionary efforts to become digital in a world still mostly measured with business metrics from the last century.

American stock car racing has its roots in moonshine running (smuggling illegal alcohol in extremely fast sleeper sedans to outrun the law). These vehicles were subsequently also used for and greatly influenced motor racing events on southern beach and road tracks. The broader US has a great tradition of stadium racing, originally on banked wooden board tracks, which were wildly popular in the 20s and 30s and which greatly influenced the origins of the ‘brickyard,’ Indianapolis’s world famous banked track. These two traditions merged into stock car racing, which NASCAR was formed to organize and run.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Image: Sean Gardner, Getty Images)

NASCAR’s core product is creating, evolving, and enforcing the race series rules that the teams and drivers have to abide by, and promoting the race packages. Today, the nurture, enjoyment, and digital sentiment analysis is essential to the health of the sport, and business has never been more important, particularly to attract team sponsors in an era when motor sports has never been more expensive or complex.

The modern NASCAR media era first ignited when, as a result of a major US east coast snow storm causing other live events to be cancelled, the entire February 1979 Florida Daytona 500 race was televised live beginning to end on CBS, a first for a 500-mile race in the US. “In-car” camera views were introduced to US TV viewers, and there was a post race fist fight between the two leading drivers after a last lap collision. NASCAR quickly grew a major new armchair audience and opportunity, becoming a very popular branding opportunity for race car sponsors hungry for TV eyeballs across multiple high ratings broadcasts.

NASCAR first incorporated as a business in 1921, and the sport has gone through huge changes before and since that 1979 TV watershed media event that brought stock cars to regular television programming worldwide. I visited NASCAR’s Charlotte headquarters on its Indianapolis Brickyard 400 regular season-ending race last month to see a race day live from the perspective of the organization, view the modern digital audience interactions, and to experience the highly sophisticated technical and broadcast operations, which I will go into details of in my next post.

Multi screen digital experience enabled by a sophisticated back end

The dedicated fan base that rapidly flowered with live broadcast TV created a broader past generation of diehard fans, but today, along with many other large stadium entertainment spectacles this decade, capturing new fans and remaining relevant in our short attention span digital era is essential for continued relevance and evolution. Like many other huge stadium sports events today, the reality is that digital coverage is in many ways better than traveling to be on site, with a visual, sound, and data experience that provides deep context and information over the grandstand seat single view race perspective (although many race fans today do both).

NASCAR’s storied past is highly valuable in an online era that craves authenticity and substance, but the challenges of attracting new enthusiasts in a world of multiple screen consumption requires NASCAR to increasingly focus primarily on the digital experience alongside broadcast and streamed TV — the mediums through which the vast majority of fans experience races.

While event live attendance is currently shrinking, digital participation has increased as the sport evolved from a sit back and watch live experience to far more interactive events. The new digital recipe is live streamed broadcast TV coverage, video snippets, and 360-degree video driver views on social networks and the NASCAR website, rich data feeds of information and stats for the more sophisticated enthusiasts, a big focus on developing and promoting driver personalities, and of course, strong social network interactions.

The new generation of drivers have often spent countless hours sim racing online to hone their skills, with iRacing (which was based on the old Papyrus NASCAR racing PC game) being a highly accurate training simulation of cars and the actual tracks races are held on. Given the cost of modern race cars, this practice time is invaluable and a far cry from lap time experience in previous eras of the relatively simple previous generation stock cars.

While hall of fame NASCAR drivers have often had historically very colorful stories associated with them, our modern digital world requires a sophisticated and pervasive online network presence. At a live race, it’s common to see the drivers walk past you in the pits and sometimes stop and chat with fans depending on stress levels. Online, they are similarly working hard to relate to fans through YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and any other emerging platform.

A Charlotte NASCAR race event production suite. (Image: Oliver Marks/ZDNet)

Last weekend marked two evolutionary events: The playoff race locations didn’t have any road courses (multi left and right turn tracks) scheduled, so the Charlotte oval track infield was converted to a seventeen turn Roval to test drivers skills in the style of the Sonoma and Watkins Glen race tracks as part of the end of season points race. Also this weekend, up and coming 17-year-old driver Hailie Deegan won a K&N filters race, the first woman to win a NASCAR race since 1989. Equally, or maybe even more importantly, Hailie has a huge, authentic-feeling social media presence onlinepresence online, essential in the modern era for fan engagement, connecting with core audiences today and sponsor visibility.