Studio711 - Ben Martens : Sports

Vijay Singh and Tim Young

bwmartens — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:30:00 GMT

I was amazed to open up Facebook the other day and see that my cousin, Tim, was playing in the BMW Pro-Am with none other than Vijay Singh! I can’t wait to hear his thoughts on the experience. His son, Grant, got a lot of good autographs that day too.

In these pictures, Tim is the one in the purplish shirt.

Outscored

bwmartens — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:35:03 GMT

My city league softball team has never been great. Our record over the past two years is 9 and 17. This year I’ll be surprised if we even win one game. Our opponents have scored four times more runs than us over the span of four games. We’ve only had one game that didn’t end by the 10 run rule. While it’s fun to get out and run around, I need to at least feel like we’re competitive once in a while. On top of that, despite having 15 people on the roster, we’re lucky if we can get 10 people to show up for a game.

If things don’t turn around, I think this might be my last season, and I’m pretty sure Tim feels the same way. It stinks because it was so hard to find a team that needed an extra two players, but the other things I could be doing instead of softball are starting to look better and better.

World Cup Group C Scenarios

bwmartens — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:30:00 GMT

I don’t pretend to be a big soccer/football fan, but I do enjoy getting caught up in the World Cup excitement. It blows away any other sporting event in terms of viewership. For example, the Chinese Olympic opening ceremony was the most watched sporting event of all time (minus soccer) and had 125 million viewers. The last World Cup championship game had 300 million viewers by conservative estimates with other estimates putting the number well over a billion.

So if you’ve been following along this year, there have been plenty of surprises. Group C is still wide open and here are the various outcomes on Wednesday:

US wins. If the US wins, they make it through no matter what.
England wins, US loses. England will go through, and Algeria will probably go through although the tiebreaker could go to Slovenia.
England loses, US loses. Slovenia and Algeria go through.
England ties, US ties. Slovenia goes through, and the US and England go to a tiebreaker on stats. US goes through unless England outscores them by 2 goals.
England ties, US loses. Slovenia and Algeria go through.

The England game and the US game take place at the same time on Wednesday. The last match in each group is played simultaneously to avoid any fixing of the outcome. If you want to look at the possible outcomes for yourself, run the numbers at http://www.cupcalculator.com/

Softball Stats

bwmartens — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:30:00 GMT

When people ask me why I don’t have an iPhone, my immediate response is always “Because Steve Jobs won’t let me write apps for it. I have to buy a Mac to write an app and then get it blessed by his goons before I can distribute it.” The next question is usually “So what kind of apps do you write for your phone?” The truth is, the apps I write aren’t very sexy so they don’t make good demos. Once I get an app to work, I’m satisfied and don’t spend the time to make it pretty. The one I use regularly lets me post moblog photos to this site. And then of course there is the Boggle app that I was obsessed with writing a few months ago.

But on Saturday, I had another idea. I like to keep stats when I play softball. I know it’s geeky and perhaps self-absorbed, but I like numbers and it’s a game full of numbers. I have stats going back for the last 8 years. (My career batting average is 0.594 and I’m slugging 1.039.) When I play a game, I usually have my phone handy and I write down what I did at bat whenever I get back to the dugout. It’s not a great solution though because I’m just typing it in to a text message or something.

So this weekend I sat down and wrote an app for keeping track of my stats. It’s nothing special really, it just saves a bunch of numbers to a text file that is automatically saved to my phone so I can translate it into Excel later. But the point is, I wanted a very specific app for a specific purpose and 30 minutes later, I had it without having to bow at the feet of Steve Jobs.

Another one that has been on my list is a GPS tracker that will show my current position and a 30-60 minute trail of where I have been on a website. The website will be password protected. It will also show current speed, etc. This would be good for those long motorcycle rides when Tyla is worried about me.

And yet another idea is an app that would help me figure out the best routes to work. It would keep track of how long it takes me to get between various points on the route so I know which side streets are the best given the time of year, day of the week, and time of day.

Whitewater Rafting Video

bwmartens — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:01:52 GMT

One of the guides from Orion River Expeditions recently shot some video on the Wenatchee (although he wasn’t guiding on this ride.) It gives you a good idea of what it was like, although you can’t get the real feeling of the size of the waves by watching the video. The last wave in the video dumped some people on our trip too.

GoPro Action - River Raft from P Ryde on Vimeo.

Whitewater Rafting

bwmartens — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:30:00 GMT

Last weekend was crammed full with activities. Saturday was beautiful so we hopped on the motorcycle and had a picnic at the Ballard Locks. Since we were so close to the zoo, we stopped there to use our wedding gift zoo memberships. The zoo was packed but it was fun to see some of the new exhibits including the meerkats and the tree kangaroo that we adopted last year.

The weather on Sunday was wetter, but we headed east across the mountains for our whitewater rafting adventure. I got a half price deal through Groupon a while back and this was the day we scheduled to do it. We had no idea what to expect so we were a little nervous about what to wear, especially because it was much colder than I had hoped it would be. We wore underarmor and a swimsuit under the provided wetsuit. Then on top of the wetsuit I had a dry shirt, fleece, raincoat, and shorts. Do NOT wear any cotton on any layer.

We met Orion Rafting Expeditions in Cashmere and road a bus into Leavenworth where we hopped into a boat on the Wenatchee. There were about 6-8 people per boat plus a guide. I was surprised that we were on the river for over three hours. It sure didn’t feel that long. The trip itself was a mixture of relaxing floating and high adrenaline rapids. I ended up in the front of the boat so I got completely soaked. There were times when waves were crashing over my head and I was blindly trying to comply with “Ahead!” instructions from our guide.

The river is 100% mountain fed and that means it’s mostly snow melt this time of year. The water was around 45 degrees but somehow neither one of us felt cold. We even finished the trip in sunshine. The river was running at about 10,000 cubic feet per minute which is about as high as it will go and still be open to commercial rafting trips. They were rated as Class 3 rapids and I think that was just about perfect for our first time.

We don’t have any pictures of us in the raft, but the one I used for this post might as well have been taken on our trip. That’s what our boat looked like, and the only difference is that we had seven people including the guide.

If you get the chance to try rafting, don’t pass it up!

Baseball Fan?

bwmartens — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:30:00 GMT

On the flight from Atlanta to Seattle, Delta offered free satellite TV through their in-headrest entertainment system. There wasn’t much on, but ESPN was showing a baseball game. I couldn’t remember the last time I actually watched a baseball game on TV. My Tivo is still set to record any Cubs games, but even those usually get deleted without being watched. What has happened? I used to watch every Cubs game on WGN when I was at Purdue, but since then I have become almost completely unplugged from baseball. I don’t even watch the World Series. At what point do you have to admit you’re not a fan anymore? On the flip side, baseball is still my favorite game to play and I love going to games at Safeco with friends, but I couldn’t tell you who is having a good year or anything that has happened this season. This is embarrassing to admit because baseball holds a special nostalgic place in my life. But with the increasing pace of life, the decreasing pace of baseball games and the whole steroid debacle, I’ve lost interest in the day-to-day drama of the game.

WhirlyBall

bwmartens — Mon, 17 May 2010 07:30:00 GMT

A few days ago, my team from work went to play WhirlyBall.I had no idea what that was and had to look it up. I think it’s best described as a combination of lacrosse and bumper cars. You drive around in special bumper cars holding a small plastic racquet that holds a whiffle ball. You are never allowed to touch the ball with your hand. Your team of five is battling another team and you are trying to score a “basket.” The baskets are an open area about a foot and a half in diameter in a backboard. There is an electronic sensor to tell you when you hit that spot in the backboard. A ref sits above the playing area giving points to the other team when you commit various fouls. The cars are tricky to drive. You get a handle a pedal. Press the pedal to go and use the handle to steer. Rotate the handle 360 degrees to to go in reverse and do it again to go forward again. The floor itself is electrified so you really don’t want to get out during a match or let your hand touch the floor!

I had no idea what to expect, but I have to say that I love this game! Strategy is very similar to basketball or hockey. There are a bunch of national championship banners hanging on their walls and I’m sure members of those teams would laugh at these suggestions, but here are a few beginner whirlyball strategy tips I picked up:

Practice throwing the ball if you can. Holding the racquet in front of your nose completely vertical. Flick your wrist. Arcs won’t work for scoring goals but you may need them for passing to other players.
Like basketball and hockey, you need to spread the floor. The first few games were like a bunch of 6 year olds playing soccer. Everyone chases the ball. Box out, get open, keep moving.
There are 2, 3 and 5 point zones. When you’re getting started, stick to head on shots from the two point range. Three pointers aren’t much harder once you get the hang of that. Shots from off to the side are very difficult. Keep this in mind when playing defense. Guard the middle very heavily.
Once the other team has the ball, you basically cannot get it from them unless they give it up. So when you are trying to get the ball back, use your car to get into position to hit the player with the ball and stop them. Make them pass or shoot.
Passes are very difficult when you’re learning. Unless the other player is wide open and in position to go chase the ball if they miss it, take the shot. Otherwise you’re going to end up with a turnover and not even a chance at points.
A good portion of the points are due to penalties. Penalties are almost always avoidable. Use your head.
People kept saying I had a faster car. It happened in so many different cars throughout the day and I way more than most people there that I’m pretty convinced it’s just because when I needed speed, I’d focus on driving perfectly straight. Event small deviations from straight slow you down dramatically.
There is no brake so stopping is difficult. You can take your foot off the gas but you slow down gradually. Instead, crank it into reverse while keeping it floored. The wheels will spin in reverse and slow you down much faster. As you approach 0 velocity, crank it back to forward and let off the pedal.

I had my camcorder with my for the event. Here is a video to give you an idea what it’s like, or you can go to YouTube and watch it in HD. And oh yeah, out of five teams, my team won the championship even though we were the third seed based on the qualification games.

ESPN3.com

bwmartens — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:30:00 GMT

We’re now one step closer to ESPN8. ESPN has rebranded ESPN360 as ESPN3.com. You’ll still need your cable provider to support it, but once they do, you’ll get a new and improved user interface. In addition to more content, they are adding HD feeds as well as the ability to view up to four games at once.

Un-retired

bwmartens — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:30:00 GMT

Michael Jordan won three championships, retired, came back and won three more. (Then he retired and came back again and hurt his legacy a bit.) Now one of sports most dominating athletes is going to accomplish the same thing as Jordan.

Michael Schumacher is coming back to Formula 1 after three years in retirement. He won the championship 7 years out of the 15 that he was in the sport, never finishing lower than 5th in the championships. Now he’s back racing for Mercedes. It will be interesting to see if the 41 year old Schumacher can compete with guys 20 years younger than him. I think his return will be judged as a failure if he never wins a race and maybe even if he doesn’t win a championship. Nobody likes to see a former superstar erase legendary memories with mediocre performances.

On a side note, it’s incredibly frustrating that one of the world’s most popular and rich sports is not in HD and won’t be until the 2011 season. NASCAR will be in it’s seventh season of HD by then.

NASCAR Returns

bwmartens — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:30:00 GMT

I know these last few months have been hard for you without any NASCAR to watch. Luckily, the short offseason is just about over. The Bud Shootout is this Saturday at 8pm eastern. Practice and qualifying starts on Thursday. The actual season starts the following Sunday (Valentine’s Day) with the Daytona 500.

It’s a great event but we’re forced to hear endless comparisons calling the race “the SuperBowl of NASCAR.” I hate that. Why don’t we call the SuperBowl “the Daytona 500 of the NFL?” NASCAR fans can be desperate for the validation and national recognition that the attendance and viewership numbers demand, but comparisons like this make you sound needy. Stand on your own. Be proud of your event and let the cards fall where they may.

Besides, I think it’s a ridiculous comparison. While it is one of the most prestigious races, it doesn’t compare at all to the SuperBowl’s importance to the overall season. Lose the SuperBowl and you lose the championship. Lose the Daytona 500 and you can easily come back to win the championship. It’s even arguable whether or not it’s the most prestigious. There are some racers who would much rather win the Brickyard 500 than the Daytona 500.

There are a number of changes this year. Most notably, NASCAR is loosening up it’s enforcement of on-track violations. Restrictor places are bigger and there are no bump drafting rules anymore. Have at it boys!

However, I’m disappointed that they still haven’t changed one thing: the number of Sprint Cup regulars who compete in the Nationwide events. I want to see a rule that limits Sprint Cup regulars to 10 races in the Nationwide series. Yes, it’s good for the Nationwide guys to get a chance to learn from the big boys, but is anyone really impressed when the big boys win all the races and the championship in the minor leagues? It hurts the Nationwide series and limits the number of spots available for new drivers. Kyle Busch, I’m looking at you. Give it a rest and focus on the Sprint Cup. You could obviously put the extra time to good use there considering you didn’t even make the chase last year.

Postseason Favre

bwmartens — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:30:00 GMT

I’ve been pretty hard on Favre for basically everything since his first retirement. So when I ran across this quote, I wanted to post it, but given my past, it will probably come off as more Favre bashing. In an attempt to just present you with the data, I give you this quote with no potential explanations (although I at least a few exist on both sides of the argument.) Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

In two of his last four postseason appearances, Favre threw two of the most unthinkable playoff interceptions in NFL history, both in overtime -- to Brian Dawkins of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003 and to Corey Webster of the New York Giants in January of 2008. In fact, Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw... overtime interceptions in two playoff games. In his last nine playoff games, Favre threw 18 interceptions.

There’s a lot more where that came from in Sal Paolantonio’s article on ESPN.com.

Tivo and Tiger

bwmartens — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:30:00 GMT

Tivo has a nice feature called Tivo Suggestions. It tracks the kind of shows you watch and then, when nothing else is being recorded, it will record other shows that you might like. Now that the golf season is starting up, it’s recording all of the PGA Tour events even though I have cancelled my Season Pass. I feel bad deleting them all and marking them with a thumbs down. Maybe Tivo needs a natural language processor so I could explain my actions:

Hi Tivo. Thanks for recording all my shows. You do a wonderful job but your customer service department is terrible. I don’t hold that against you though. You’re just a box trying to please me. And that’s what we need to talk about. Lately you’ve been recording PGA Tour events for me as suggested shows. Last year, I would really have appreciated that. I watched the PGA Tour regularly. But you see, it’s different now. Tiger isn’t playing. Didn’t you notice that when I watched golf I would fast forward to only watch when Tiger was playing? Now that he’s not playing, I’m not interested. So what happens when he comes back? I don’t know. I feel like I’ll probably try to watch again, but I’m afraid that golf will end up in a similar situation to baseball. The athletes I looked up to let me down and ruined the games for me. If Tiger really is repentant, maybe I’ll be able to come back to the sport. At least he wasn’t juicing like those baseball players. So Tivo, while I appreciate your efforts, please stop recording the golf shows for now.

Bring Back The Old Tiger Woods

bwmartens — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:30:00 GMT

I told AndyC that I was looking for blog material and he suggested a post about Tiger and the other top athletes who have made bad choices (Kobe, ARod, Phelps, Tiger, etc.) I’m still trying to give Tiger the benefit of the doubt, but with each passing day, it gets harder and harder. You know when you were a kid and you told the one little lie and then it grew and before you knew it you were screaming “Yes, I AM THE PRINCE OF NEPAL!” and you wonder how you got to that point? Tiger is at that point where everyone knows he has messed up but he’s still trying to hide it.

I don’t know what happened that night. I don’t know if he really has had ten affairs. I don’t know if his wife beat him with a golf club when she found out. I don’t know if his wife is leaving him or why his mother-in-law collapsed in his house. But none of that smells very good. Couple that with his increasingly poor attitude on the course and yet another sports hero that I once admired has taken a dead-engine nose dive from the stratosphere.

One big difference is that Tiger conceivably has a very long career ahead of him yet. The greatest golfers continue to make money through their 70s on the Senior Tour and even after that he’ll still be getting paid to make appearances and host tournaments. The fact is that the American public doesn’t have much pity for sports stars who make hundreds of millions of dollars and think that there is no responsibility attached to that money.

How can the situation be fixed? Rick Reily has a great article on ESPN and I recommend reading it for the full plan. The short version is that he needs to take a year off from golf and do everything it takes to get his personal life in order. Regain the trust of his wife and family. Fix whatever infidelity or substance abuse issues he has. Calm that raging temper. Sincerely apologize to America. Golf can wait. Then, and only then, does he have a chance at a humble return to the sport that he changed forever.

Say It Ain’t Sosa

bwmartens — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:30:00 GMT

Sammy Sosa continues to find new ways to disappoint me. If you asked me to name four of my favorite baseball players when I was growing up, it would be Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace, and Sammy Sosa. It was a big hit for me when the steroid scandal hit. His incredible 2001 season is forever tainted and his numbers dropped dramatically when he stopped taking the substances he claimed to have never taken. (And the whole “I need an interpreter to read my statement so I don’t have to answer questions” thing? Give me a break.) But I had gotten over that and resigned myself to having a fallen hero.

But he’s back. Now he is apparently pulling a Michael Jackson by bleaching his skin. There are all kinds of cover stories like “it was the lighting”, “it’s a skin cream for facial rejuvination” etc. This is even more ridiculous than lying about the steroid usage. How do you think people won’t notice or talk about it? Why are you doing it in the first place? And what’s with the green contacts? Why can’t you ever just be HONEST?

It’s really painful to lose a childhood hero once, but twice? I’m done with Sammy Sosa.