The Riddell 360 football helmet could help reduce brain concussions sustained by football players (Click Image To Enlarge)
EXPERTS AGREE, EVEN IF A CONCUSSION-PROOF HELMET WERE POSSIBLE, SUCH A SOLUTION WOULD BRING NEW INJURIES OF ITS OWN--TO THE SPORT AND ITS PLAYERS.
Imagine that you drive a car straight into a building at 40 mph. Despite airbags and seatbelts, you’d probably feel lucky to be alive. But when an NFL wide receiver meets a safety head-on, we expect them both to get back up to play second down.
What’s the difference? One expert tells me.
“In a car crash, you stop in a matter of feet. In an NFL impact, you stop in inches.”
In the eyes of physics, a big hit on the field can be just as devastating as a car crash--or in many cases, worse. We’re expecting a mere 1.5 inches of foam and candy shell to decelerate a player’s head gently enough to prevent their brain from bouncing around inside their skull and causing poorly understood, but permanent and devastating injury. After talking to some of the brightest minds in helmet design, helmet testing and football physics, the elephant in the room became clear: A concussion-proof helmet is a pipe dream. If the NFL wants concussion-free football, they’ll need to redesign football.
That said, conditions have never been riper for disruptive technologies to increase player safety. And for the first time in football’s 200+ year history, we’re finally developing the methodology to separate our best helmets from the decorative chunks of plastic.
Just two years ago, a team led by Dr. Stefan Duma from Virginia Tech released the first ever five-star crash rating for football helmets (PDF). It’s one reason that Duma likens the NFL of today to the auto industry in the 1970s. Originally, all cars were rated by a basic pass/fail crash test, and it wasn’t until Congress passed legislature for a five-star crash rating system that car companies had the impetus to do better.
Before Duma’s testing, the same was true for helmets. The industry’s only concern was whether football players could take a hit without fracturing their skull or sustaining subdural hematoma. Concussions--or any other traumas--weren’t part of testing. So designing helmets became a limbo bar. If a manufacturer came in anywhere below crushed skull territory, their helmet was thrown in the approved pile.
Duma says.
“Our rating system is the first that actually shows people that some helmets are better. One of the things we wanted to do was provide a mechanism for improved design. You’ll never have a concussion-proof helmet because injury is all about risk. But the better helmets lower your risk. That can be substantial. We found the best helmet lowered risk of concussion by 85%.”
Duma’s top-rated helmet today is the Riddell 360. Priced at about $400, it features a hard polycarbonate shell to bounce off an impact and an energy absorbing foam lining to absorb the aftershock. The pièce de résistance is its huge, spring-like facemask optimized for forward-facing collisions. The entire ensemble is so effective that it can cut the peak force of a head-on-head impact in half when compared to the league’s worst helmets. (And it just so happens, Riddell’s VSR-4, discontinued in 2010 but still supported for factory refurbishing, is one of football’s worst rated helmets.)
But why should players wear helmets at all, one might ask. In the mid 20th century, as many as 30 players were dying a year due to head injuries. Helmets were the byproduct of the NFL’s first head-trauma scandal. The first were thin, hard leather. Then they adopted plastics, padding, and face masks. As we learned more, the focus quickly became, not just hard protection, but the shock absorption of softer materials. This approach worked. Since the 1980s, we haven’t had a single skull fracture in the NFL. Today’s Riddell helmet is bigger than its predecessors, but it’s ostensibly the same design we’ve been building on for decades.
The Riddell Football Helmet (Click Image To Enlarge)
Each product Riddell releases follows about two years of R&D. They create a prototype. They fill it with a human head surrogate (complete with a brain-like liquid center) used in pass/fail certification testing. They smash it to simulate a head hitting the ground. Then they use another human head surrogate called the Hybrid III (found commonly in the auto industry’s crash test dummies), then they pummel the helmet again, focusing on specific angles of impact more like one might expect in an NFL game. Following that, Riddell seeds their new line to teams to test out in real-world conditions.
But with all this research and testing, can Riddell promise a concussion-free helmet?
Thad Ide, SVP of Research and Product Design at Riddell says.
“I wish we could. With current technology and understanding, we’re just not there.”
The problem is ultimately one of physics. All helmets work under the same principle. The force striking one’s head--acceleration mixed with mass--can’t actually be prevented. Physics says that energy has to go somewhere, right? What good helmets do is lengthen the duration of the impact itself (in the hundredths of a second range), reverberating energy through various structures and materials, to smooth a hit from a sharp, high-g strike to a relatively smooth curve of deceleration. Consider landing on a concrete floor or a pile of pillows. Which impact takes longer and which impact hurts more?
Dr. Timothy Gay, University of Nebraskaphysics professor, writer, and industry helmet consultant said.
“I think that it’s true that football helmets are 85% as good as they’re ever going to get. The optimal football helmet won’t be much better than the helmet you can buy right now because there are just physics restraints on the kind of padding you can use. We have a pretty good micro, nanotechnological understanding of how materials work. And basically, there are limits on what padding materials can do for a given thickness.”
That’s an interesting point--what if we just increase the padding’s thickness?
Gay tells me later, countering his own argument that had just sounded so convincing.
"You can certainly make a helmet that’s concussion-proof. All you have to do is put 15 inches of foam rubber on the outside of the helmet.”
This idea may seem as ludicrous as wrapping a fully padded football player in one of those novelty sumo suits. But it just so happens, there’s a company doing pretty much just that.
ProCap is a soft wrapper for football helmets that’s actually been around since the late 1980s. Most famously adopted by San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Steve Wallace, this extra layer of padding is a means to further slow the impact of the blow. Its known downfall? The soft outer padding can look a bit silly. There are also claims--though no studies that I could find--that the friction generated by a soft outer shell could lead to a neck injury.
ProCap’s inventor wasn’t available for comment, but when I asked Duma about the potential of foam-wrapped helmets, he said that his lab hasn’t tested any, as the ProCap has generally existed as an add-on, not a self-contained helmet in its own right. But he did have the first reasoned red flag to this cult-worshipped design. In the 1990s, Duke researched the possibility of adding padding to the ceiling of cars to protect passengers in the case of a rollover. What they found was precisely on-point with football’s current fear, that the softness actually distributes pressure to the neck, which can cause horrendous spinal injuries. Duma says.
“The notion was out there, ‘Let’s put 4 inches of foam in the ceiling!, but you may just end up with a bunch of quadriplegic people.”
It makes sense. Just look at your car. You have side doors full of foam or even airbags, but the ceiling is covered by a glorified sheet.
Another, equally enticing possibility is to model football helmets, not after football helmets, but after motorcycle helmets. Most football helmets are designed to be reworn until they’re refurbished. They have to serve play after play. But motorcycle helmets are designed differently. They use a more drastic energy-absorbing foam and a hard shell that isn’t afraid to crack. The downfall is that these helmets completely disintegrate upon impact--they’re totally ruined--with the interest of absorbing every bit of energy possible.
But David Rogers, VP of Concept Development at Gentex, the leading manufacturer of helmets for the Air Force (that owns companies that have designed everything from football helmets to special ops helmets), argues that single-use helmets are not the panacea they appear to be. Beyond the fact that players would need to pause each play to swap out helmets, even our best motorcycle helmets are only designed for 18 mph impacts (not our theoretical 40 mph maximum hit of two players running 20 mph). And as Rogers puts it,
"Should you have a head-on collision in a motorcycle helmet at 18 mph, you probably still have a concussion, but you’re not dead.”
After going back and forth with experts with every conceivable conspiracy theory I could imagine, the consensus was obvious: A concussion-proof helmet is either impossible, or its requirements would affect play so drastically that it would either impair the sport or lead to other injuries. Even if we can mitigate the impact of the average tackle (and current helmets actually do this exceedingly well), the worst hits in the NFL are exponentially harder than the baseline. I’ve heard estimates that 5 to 10 hits in any given professional game are of concussion caliber. It’s no wonder so many of our players have been out this year with brain injuries.
Dr. Duma tells me, when I ask what can change.
“The helmet is the third barrier of defense. You have to work on the rules, and you have to work on the coaching.”
Football is a brutal sport, and it always has been. The hits seem big only because they are. Sooner or later, driving a car into a wall at 40 mph is going to hurt you, with or without a $400 piece of plastic on your head. Every single helmet expert agreed that we can redesign football much more quickly and effectively than we can redesign the football helmet--in fact, most suggested the idea to me. The only question that remains is, are we actually willing to change football? Or do we value the spirit of the game more than the lives of the people playing it?
COMMENTARY: The fact of the matter is that the human brain was never meant to take the brutal hits of football players. It is vicious sport where just one well placed hit can put you in the hispital, give you a concussion or make you a paraplegic for life. There is not helmet that can be designed to protect the brain from that kind of damage. The brain is a jellatinous material that was never designed to take that kind of physical punishment.
Courtesy of an article dated February 2, 2013 appaearing in Fast Company Design
Drawing on millions NFL team page “likes,” Facebook reveals every county’s favorite Super Bowl team
Thirty-five million U.S. Facebook users have “liked” the page of at least one of the NFL’s 32 teams. Combine that with location data and you’ve got, as Facebook says, “one of the most comprehensive samples of sports fanship ever collected.”
Facebook used the data to determine which team was the most popular in every county in the country. Here’s how it looks, mapped:
Facebook Map of NFL Team Popularity By Geographic Location (Click Image To Enlarge)
Unsurprisingly, most counties devoted to given team are concentrated in that team’s region of the country. The fanbases of few teams, though, are apparently not as bound by geography. The Dallas Cowboys are often referred to “America’s team,” and the data do indicate that the team’s fanbase covers an impressively large area of the country, stretching from Virginia to California, and pro-Cowboy counties appear in nearly every region. The Pittsburgh Steelers fan footprint is also fairly large and dispersed. Tim Tebow’s New York Jets, meanwhile, are the most popular team in only one county on Long Island.
Facebook went further in its analysis, removing teams from the mix as they were eliminated from Super Bowl contention, either when they failed to make the playoffs or lost a playoff game. You can check out each of the resulting maps here.
So who wins the Facebook likes-per-county Super Bowl? The San Franscisco 49ers defeat the Baltimore Ravens in a landslide:
Click Image To Enlarge
COMMENTARY: Very interesting that America's Facebook users predict that the San Francisco 49ers will win Super Bowl XLVII. However, Jimmy Fallon used a complete different way for predicting who will win this year's Super Bowl: PUPPIES.
If you haven't already done so, please read my blog post datedJanuary 31 2013 about this year's Super Bowl XLVII teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, and find out which team the pro football experts think will win the Super Bowl, and my own prediction.
Super Bowl XLVII, between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, has the potential to be one of the greatest Super Bowls in recent years — not just because of the level of play these teams have demonstrated in the playoffs, but mostly because of the story lines all over the field.
Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker, will play his final NFL game (Click Image To Enlarge)
Ray Lewis, one of the greatest linebackers in history, will play his final NFL game, retiring after 17 seasons, hoping to win his second Super Bowl ring, making a return to the big stage after 12 years. The 49ers’ head coach, Jim Harbaugh, was Lewis’ teammate in the late 90′s, not to mention the brother of the head coach on the opposite side, John Harbaugh.
Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers quarterback, runs for a 30-yard touchdown versus the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Playoffs (Click Image To Enlarge)
There’s the obvious quarterbacks angle: Colin Kaepernick, beginning the season as the backup to Alex Smith and emerging as an explosive runner and very patient and accurate passer in the playoffs, and Joe Flacco possibly proving he’s part of the elite group of QBs in the NFL after years of criticism. One of the two — Randy Moss (49ers) and Ed Reed (Ravens) — will finally win a Super Bowl ring.
The 49ers enter the Super Bowl as the favorites, but as you can see by the roads both teams have taken to the big game (see the infographic below), there isn’t that much of a difference between them in quality.
This is probably the best ingredient to make sure Super Bowl 47 will be among the most exciting we’ve seen in recent years.
Click Image To Enlarge
Harbaugh Bowl, Harbowl, Harbaughl, Brobowl, SuperBaugh or my own personal favorite, Super Bowl XLVII. Whatever you want to call it, come Sunday the only thing that will matter will be what happens on the field between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans. With that in mind, here's how the teams will match up against each other this Sunday.
The Harbaugh Brothers - San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh (Click Image To Enlarge)
Baltimore Ravens offense vs San Francisco 49ers defense
The Baltimore Ravens' expectations have changed on offense since the beginning of this playoff journey. The Ravens were the 10th-best scoring offense in the regular season, but their production from week-to-week fluctuated dramatically throughout. But those regular season statistics mean next to nothing for the Ravens after sweeping through the AFC playoff bracket scoring 90 points in three games.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (Click Image To Enlarge)
Much of that is due to quarterback Joe Flacco once again bringing a greater level of consistency, composure and focus to the field in the post-season. Flacco's individual performances have improved significantly for multiple reasons, but maybe the most publicized is the impact of Jim Caldwell. Caldwell took over the offensive co-ordinator role from Cam Cameron at the beginning of December. He has improved the offense in almost every conceivable way. The Ravens' play-calling is less predictable, the execution is sharper than it was under Cameron and Caldwell has an understanding of how to best utilize his weapons, something Cameron consistently failed to do.
In the Super Bowl, the Ravens will face a much stiffer challenge.
For the past two seasons the San Francisco 49ers have ranked second in the NFL in points allowed. They are the most physically intimidating group in the league and the most consistent from week-to-week. The unit combines a rare mixture of superstars leading the way, with high quality depth throughout the whole defensive depth chart and the type of coaching that keeps every player clued into their responsibilities on every single play. Unlike the Colts, rarely does this unit need to be bailed out by their offense. Unlike the Broncos, this defense doesn't need a soft schedule to rank amongst the very best in the league. Unlike the Patriots, one or two injuries to key players won't stop them from being competitive.
Chicago Bears quarterback Jason Campbell (2) is sacked by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith (99) as defensive tackle Justin Smith (94). These two have terrorized opposing quarterbacks during the 2012 regular season (Click Image To Enlarge)
San Francisco 49ers defense ranked No 2 in the NFL in points allowed during the regular season (Click Image To Enlarge)
Flacco's production for the Ravens has primarily come on throwing the ball downfield. He is averaging over nine yards per completion, while Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones are averaging over 22 yards per reception in the playoffs. Even Anquan Boldin and Ray Rice are averaging over 17 yards per catch. According to Pro Football Focus, Flacco throws over 25% of his attempts further than 20 yards downfield and has completed over 50% of those during the playoffs. That won't intimidate the 49ers. Through a combination of an excellent pass rush and quality coverage, the 49ers only gave up 38 passes of more than 20 yards during the regular season, good enough for third fewest in the league. Of course, during the regular season you don't see a player like Torrey Smith every week. Smith has the speed to beat any defensive back in the NFL on any given play. However, that speed is only valuable when teams leave him in one-on-one situations like the Denver Broncos did in the Divisional round. The 49ers don't typically expose themselves like that, nor are they under pressure to inadvertently do so by focusing elsewhere.
Atlanta Falcons' superstar wide receiver Julio Jones was able to expose the 49ers' deep coverage in the NFC Championship game. Jones finished the game with 11 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns. However in the second half he only had three receptions for 23 yards before catching a 24 yard pass on the final play against prevent coverage. It took a monumental effort from Jones to take over the first half of that game, but once the 49ers adjusted their coverage his way in the second half, he was limited to short gains. With two weeks to prepare, they should take the same approach towards Smith. When teams do that, they expose themselves to Dennis Pitta, Jacoby Jones and Anquan Boldin. Boldin and Pitta are able to overpower most defensive backs/linebackers in single coverage, while Jones is always a threat to go deep with his speed. However, Boldin and Pitta won't be able to bully the 49ers' defenders the way they have most this post-season. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman are two of the most physically intimidating coverage linebackers in the league, not to mention the two best all-around inside linebackers in the NFL. Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner are big-bodied safeties who can run and hit in space, while cornerbacks Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers play consistently physical football. Jones was able to expose the 49ers' physical approach in the NFC Championship game, but outside of Smith, who the defense can focus their coverage on, none of the receivers present the same matchup nightmare that Jones' athleticism and straight line speed did.
San Francisco 49ers linebackers Patrick Willis #52 and NaVorro Bowman #53 are two of the most intimidating linebackers in the NFL (Click Image To Enlarge)
The receivers should be able to get some success – they are still a talented group - but will it be enough? An obvious solution would be to run the ball, but that will be playing into a 49ers strength. Jim Caldwell must get creative with his receivers to free them from the 49ers' secondary. Maybe more importantly, he must also be creative in how he approaches running the ball.
Baltimore Ravens runing back Ray Rice #27 runs for a touchdown in the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots (Click Image To Enlarge)
Ray Rice, arguably the best all-around running-back in the NFL, and explosive rookie Bernard Pierce have combined to create a very productive rushing attack in the playoffs so far. Pierce is a home-run hitter who has longs of 78 and 43 yards in this season's playoffs. Although he is averaging more per carry in the playoffs than Rice, Rice's ability to make defenders miss in space and his receiving talents could see him become the focal point of the whole offense. Rice has been featured prominently in the offense since Caldwell became the offensive co-ordinator, but hasn't produced to his potential. Excluding the final week of the regular season when he was rested for most of the game, Rice has averaged 22.6 touches (receptions + rushes) for 94 yards per game since Caldwell was promoted. The last time he faced the 49ers, he had similarly ordinary-looking numbers, finishing the game with 24 combined touches for 83 yards, although that game was called by former co-ordinator Cam Cameron. On the biggest of stages however, teams typically look towards their biggest performers to carry them to glory. While it doesn't always work out that way, Caldwell should still gameplan to ride Rice as much as possible.
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith #94 celebrates after making a quarterback sack during in a game versus the New Orleans Saints (Click Image To Enlarge)
The 49ers' front seven is a special group, led by all-pro defensive end Justin Smith. Smith is the kind of interior defensive lineman that plays so fast it often appears he knows what play the offense is running before the ball is even snapped. He has the ability to stack blockers at the line of scrimmage while still stopping running-backs up the middle and his ability to chase down plays designed to run away from his area of the field. Smith has been dealing witha serious triceps injury, but it hasn't affected his ability to stop the run in recent weeks. In New Orleans he will have a very favourable matchup against the inexperienced Kelechi Osemele. Osemele is a rookie right tackle who recently became the Ravens' starting left guard. His ability to contain Smith, even with double team help, will play a major role in deciding the outcome. As a tackle, Osemele is better in space rather than fighting off bigger defenders at the point of attack. Therefore, it makes sense that the Ravens will look to put Rice in space with short passes taking the play away from Smith. Rice consistently turns short passes into big gains, not just that famous fourth down in San Diego.
San Francisco 49ers offense vs Baltimore Ravens defense
Just like the Ravens offense, not a huge can be learned from the 49ers' regular season statistics. With Alex Smith starting the first 10 games of the year, the 49ers not only had a different quarterback under center, but also a less aggressive offense as a whole and a completely different schematic approach. Having replaced Smith with second year professional Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers offense went from a conservative unit working hard to adequately complement a dominant defense, to an offense that has all the capabilities of blowing out an opponent.
Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers runs the ball against the New England Patriots in the second quarter at Gillette Stadium on December 16, 2012 in Foxboro, Mass (Click Image To Enlarge)
Frank Gore #21 of the San Francisco 49ers scores a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game (Click Image To Enlarge)
The 49ers' young quarterback has the ability to beat the Ravens with his arm or his legs, or a combination of the two. However, when it comes to stopping the 49ers' offense, the Ravens must remain disciplined and not focus too much on Kaepernick. That was the downfall of the Atlanta Falcons, as they allowed Frank Gore and LaMichael James to combine for three easy rushing touchdowns at the cost of containing Kaepernick. Considering the Packers did the opposite, allowing Kaepernick to run for 181 yards with only six coming after contact, the Ravens must find a balance between the approaches.
LaMichael James #23 for the San Francisco 49ers runs for a touchdown versus the Atlanta Falcons during the third quarter of the NFC Championship game in Atlanta, Ga (Click Image To Enlarge)
Baltimore Ravens DTs Ma'ake Kemoeatu and Terrence Cody (Click Image To Enlarge)
Much of the 49ers' running success comes from the option offense: the key aspects of this are that the offensive line deliberately doesn't block the last defender to one side of the field. Instead of blocking that defender, the quarterback reads and reacts to what he does after the snap. If the defender moves inside, the quarterback takes the ball away from the running-back and sprints outside. If the defender stays outside, the quarterback gives it to the running-back who runs up the middle against less defenders. This offense puts a huge amount of pressure on the defensive linemen and outside linebackers. The Ravens tend to flip between a 4-3 and 3-4formation, but should primarily play 3-4 in this game to counter the 49ers' running game. The 3-4 will allow the Ravens to keep three of 340 lb defensive endHaloti Ngata, 340 lb nose tackle Terrence Cody, 315 lb defensive end Arthur Jonesand 345 lb nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu on the field as often as their fitness allows, while Terrell Suggs and Paul Kruger primarily start as outside linebackers. On any given option play, one outside linebacker will be left unblocked and it will be that player's responsibility to contain Kaepernick. Presuming he contains Kaepernick, the Ravens' big bodies inside must then swallow Gore by beating the 49ers' excellent offensive linemen. That is the best way to stop the option, but it requires discipline. The Atlanta Falcons attempted the same approach in the NFC Championship game, but they didn't have the talent or size on their defensive line to stop Gore and the team's other backs. The Ravens will feel comfortable asking their defensive linemen to make plays consistently enough to contain the 49ers offense in those situations.
Baltimore Ravens DT Arthur Jones (Click Image To Enlarge)
What makes the 49ers offense so dangerous, is that even if the Ravens successfully stop the run, Kaepernick has proven capable of connecting with his receivers consistently from the pocket. During the regular season, Kaepernick completed over 62% of his passes for 1,814 yards, with 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions. In the last two playoff games, he has further improved to 63.5%, 496 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The 49ers may have lost explosive wide receiver Mario Manningham to injuryearlier in the season, but Michael Crabtreeemerged into a star receiver when Kaepernick came into the offense, a 35-year-old Randy Moss has made a number of receptions in the playoffs and tight endVernon Davisawoke in the playoffs after slumbering through the regular season.
49ers pass receivers Vernon Davis #85 and Michael Crabtree #15 will be big targets for quarterback Colin Paeternick when the Niners play the Ravens (Click Image To Enlarge)
The 49ers' receiving options are horrible matchups for an injury-plagued Ravens' defense. Superstar cornerback Lardarius Webb would have been the perfect matchup for Crabtree. Webb is probably the best tackler in space in the whole league and Crabtree does most of his best work running after the catch, 626 of his 1,281 yards on the season came that way, but Webb tore his ACL earlier this year and hasn't played since the regular season. Cary Williams, a solid but not great cornerback, will likely take on the responsibility of stopping Crabtree depending on the health of Jimmy Smith. The Ravens are also without starting inside linebacker Jameel McClain because of injury. McClain is more consistent in coverage than his replacement Dannell Ellerbe, while being much more athletic than Ray Lewis at this point in their respective careers. Lewis is too slow to cover Vernon Davis, while the Ravens likely won't trust Ellerbe or Bernard Pollard to do it consistently. Those injuries will force the Ravens to play a lot of zone coverage because they simply can't match the athletic ability of the 49ers' weapons.
Ravens cornerback Cary Williams, center, celebrates his interception and touchdown with teammates cornerback Lardarius Webb, left, and defensive back James Ihedigbo during the second half against the Browns (Click Image To Enlarge)
Since Kaepernick became the starter, the 49ers have only been held under 24 points twice. Both times they faced off against talented defenses who played disciplined football on the day. However, even in those games, against the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks, Kaepernick only turned the ball over twice. One of those turnovers was a missed pitch that was recovered in the endzone by the Rams' Janoris Jenkins, but Kaepernick was also forced into a safety in that game. The Rams were able to pressure Kaepernick into making two game-changing plays because they were disciplined and aggressive. That is the style the Ravens need in order to win this game. Game-changing defensive plays do come from pressure more often than not, but the Ravens normally look to Ed Reed for their game-changing defensive plays. Reed has had a relatively quiet season - dealing with a torn labrum in his shoulder hasn't helped - but he has proven to be a big-game player.
San Francisco 49ers defensive back Perrish Cox, Michael Thomas and Darcel McBath answer questions during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orlean (Click Image To Enlarge)
There are two contrasting matchups within this game. The Ravens offense needs to get creative and knock the 49ers defense off balance. The 49ers offense knows exactly what it is going to do, as does the Ravens defense. One side should see plenty of creativity, while the other will simply come down to who can execute better on the day.
Special Teams
Baltimore Ravens field goal kicker Justin Tucker #6 scores a field goal in a game during the 2012 NFL season (Click Image To Enlarge)
AsNFL Network's Rich Eisen will tell you, punters are people too. Not only are they people, but they are very important players even if they are rarely appreciated by fans. Both of these teams understand the value of a quality punter. Andy Lee has been considered a valuable weapon in San Francisco for some time now.Sam Koch isn't on the same level as Lee in terms of leg power or accuracy, but he has been a consistently reliable performer.
Baltimore Ravens. Jacoby Jones #12 returns a kickoff for a touchdown in a game versus the Dallas Cowboys during the 2012 NFL season (Click Image To Enlarge)
Jacoby Jones vaulted the Ravens' special teams returns to the top of this year's rankings, as well as adding three touchdowns. Jones' ability to break free at any moment could make the difference in a tight game, but Ted Ginn and LaMichael James offer similar potential to the 49ers' special teams. James and Ginn have incredible straight line speed, while Jones has the elusiveness to make defenders miss in open space.
Head Coach Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers embraces his brother Head Coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens prior to the game at M&T Bank Stadium, Nov. 24, 2011, in Baltimore (Click Image To Enlarge)
The eldest of the brothers, John, has much more experience as a head coach at this level of football and at this time of the year. Since he was appointed head coach in 2008,John's Ravens have made the playoffs every season. The consistency of the team from season-to-season has been incredible, resulting in a 54-26 record in the regular season and an astonishing 8-4 record in the playoffs. It's difficult to fathom years later, but John was actually the Ravens' second choice to be their head coach after Jason Garrett initially turned the opportunity down. John was almost unknown to fans, who were disappointed not to sign the highly thought of Garrett. His career had been spent primarily coaching special teams, with little specialty as an offensive or defensive coach. Instead, Harbaugh brought accountability, discipline and an ability to unify a locker-room. It is that part of his coaching that Ravens players pointed to as the reason they made the Super Bowl this year.
What Jim Harbaugh lacks in coaching experience, he makes up for in expertise. Jim has only been an NFL head coach for two seasons, but he also started 140 games as an NFL quarterback, developed an extensive relationship with Bill Walsh (a coach who played a major role in developing the passing ideals that many teams live on in today's NFL) and a very successful four-year stint as head coach at Stanford. That expertise has allowed Harbaugh to turn the 49ers from a 6-10 team in 2010, into a team with a regular season record of 24-7 over the past two seasons, two NFC Championship games and now a Super Bowl.
Much like his brother, Jim is able to unite his players and get the very best out of them. Although he is known for his work developing quarterbacks, most notably Andrew Luck, and the rebirth of Alex Smith's career from 2011 onwards in the NFL, Jim has also elevated the 49ers' defense into arguably the best unit in the league. The 49ers ranked 16th in points allowed during the final season of Mike Singletary's reign, but since then they have finished second in both of Jim's seasons as head coach. He and his staff's ability to identify key free agents such as Donte Whitnerand Carlos Rogers, while drafting/developing key contributorsAldon Smith, NaVorro Bowman and Chris Culliver allowed the defense to grow around superstars Justin Smith and Patrick Willis.
COMMENTARY: The Super Bowl game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens is going to be a historic defensive battle. If this holds true, the game will turn into a low scoring affair, dominated by the defenses of both teams. Special teams will be critical. 49ers field goal kicker David Akers must come through for the Niners to have a chance to win. The team that can create scoring opportunities with their special teams and commits the least turnovers and mistakes will win. I think the game will be decided by a field goal or touchdown. My prediction: San Francisco 49ers 20, Baltimore Ravens 17 in double overtime.
Super Bowl XLVII has been scheduled for Feb. 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The San Francisco 49ers will face the Baltimore Ravens, and the game is being nicknamed the Bro Bowl because of coaches John and Jim Harbaugh. The following is a complete TV schedule for the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XLVII TV Schedule
6 a.m. EST, NFL Total Access (NFL Network)
7 a.m. EST, First on the Field (NFL Network)
9 a.m. EST, NFL GameDay Morning (NFL Network)
11 a.m. EST, Road to the Super Bowl (CBS)
12 p.m. EST, New Orleans: Let the Good Times Roll Sponsored by Pepsi (CBS)
1 p.m. EST, Phil Simms All-Iron Team: Super Bowl Edition (CBS)
2 p.m. EST, The Super Bowl Today (CBS)
5:30 p.m. EST, A Football Life: Ray Lewis (NFL Network)
6 p.m. EST, Super Bowl Kickoff Show (CBS)
6:30 p.m. EST, Super Bowl Kickoff, San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens (CBS)
10 p.m. EST, NFL GameDay Overtime (NFL Network)
10:30 p.m. EST, NFL GameDay Final (NFL Network)
10:30 p.m. EST, Toyota Super Bowl Today Post Game Show (CBS Sports Network)
Courtesy of an article dated January 30, 2013 appearing in Visual.ly and an article dated January 28, 2013 appearing in The Guardian
The NFC court is a modular, rapidly deployable, outdoor gym (Click Image To Enlarge)
WE KNOW OBESITY IS AN EPIDEMIC, BUT GYM MEMBERSHIPS ARE EXPENSIVE. SO MAYBE WHAT WE NEED ARE NEW GYMS.
There are a lot of reasons not to go to the gym. The membership is pricey. It’s far away. You have no idea how to use half the equipment anyway. It’s yet another place you’re going that’s inside.
The National Fitness Campaign’s (NFC) court, designed by NewDealDesign, challenges each of these barriers to working out at a gym. It’s a low-cost, open-air space that is constructed in factories, then modularly assembled on-site in just half a day. The idea is that any community could set up, customize, or relocate a gym in a public space--without any money at all. Communities can actually request a gym to arrive for free, and locals needn’t buy memberships.
The NFC court uses passive equipment structures--resistance training--to enable workouts without lots of weights and complicated moving parts (Click Image To Enlarge)
The NFC court's most innovative aspect may be its business model -- The gym is free to bring into a community. Corporations subsidize the cost (Click Image To Enlarge)
How? The NFC courts are corporately subsidized. The platform is pursuing a model in which businesses can use the space as an advertisement, subsidizing community fitness while scoring some solid PR in the process. It’s actually an old idea, one that started by Mitch Menaged back in 1979. It was quite successful. The decade-long, international campaign reached 4,000 cities in three countries. Now, Menaged, along with Sam Lucente, is launching the idea again, updated with 30 years of innovation. The first NFC has arrived in San Francisco already, and more than a dozen others are planned for the area in 2013.
The design concerns of such a project are numerous.
Materials had to be durable enough to withstand outdoor weather.
The components had to be easily transported, assembled, and even rearranged.
The equipment had to offer a full body workout for all fitness levels.
Off-the-shelf solutions wouldn’t work, so NewDealDesign brought on seven personal trainers to help develop and test what’s all-new (or highly modified) equipment. What they quickly decided on was to ditch weights--they’re heavy, and they’d be difficult to tether to the platform--and rely on a body’s own mass for resistance training. But while exercises like pull-ups may offer a great workout, not everyone can do a pull-up. The solution? Make exercises tweakable by designing equipment to work with various postures and grips. Then, put many of the hardest exercises along the structure’s single wall.
The NFC court does not charge memberships, meaning it doesn’t cost anyone $50 a month to not use their gym membership (Click Image To Enlarge)
The NFC court comes with a podcast, developed by personal trainers, that will take you through the whole workout circuit (Click Image To Enlarge)
NewDeal Director Gadi Amit explains.
“The wall was a major enabling factor, allowing us to hang devices, but also give a few steps for people who are weaker or not trained enough to come onboard and enjoy the space. You can lessen the stress level by standing on slats, then slowly reduce the support of your legs.”
Menaged and Lucente developed prototypes in a basement near NewDealDesign’s HQ, also bringing in trainers to constantly test and assess the designs. Once the NFC was complete, the trainers turned the circuit workout into a seven-minute podcast, so any couch potato can show up to be guided through each exercise by a virtual personal trainer. The idea is kind of like a museum audio tour, that is, if museums could give you 20-inch biceps.
COMMENTARY: I like the NFC court's overall simplistic, modular and modern design, durability, and ability to provide the user with a complete body workout. This is not an exercise court designed to build bulging muscles, but to provide a good, solid aerobic workout that each individual can customize for their specific needs, requirements and limitations. The free cost is a big plus. This sort of remends you of some of the beach exercise courts that I have seen in Rio De Janeiro around Leblon and Ipanema beach. If NFC can get enough corporations to buy into the advertiing concept, I think they can gain traction very quickly.
I loved the using San Francisco's Marina Green as a backdrop to demonstrate the NFC court and test bed. It's a great place to hangout and soak in the liberal San Francisco culture. If they can incorporate free WIFI at each NFC court, then they will really have a social watering hole. Just love it.
Courtesy of an article dated December 12, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
Alexey Molchanov poses after setting a new CWT freediving world record at Suunto Blue Dive at Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island Bahamas (Click Image To Enlarge)
It is the world's deepest blue hole of its kind. Plunging to 203m (666ft) just a few metres from the shore, Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas is an awe-inspiring natural wonder. It's also the perfect venue for the sport of freediving. Last month it was home to the Suunto Vertical Blue, the largest freediving event of its kind. It saw 56 athletes from 21 countries battling to reach incredible depths on a single breath of air.
Close-up view of Dean's Blue Hole, Bahama Islands (Click Image To Enlarge)
Over ten days, two world records and 65 national records were broken in the course of 252 individual dives. On the first day of the competition on November 21, Ashley Futral Chapman (USA). broke the Constant No-Fins (CNF) women's world record with a dive to 67m in 3'15. The North Carolina native dived without fins and used a modified breastsroke technique to achieve her third world record.
Dean's Blue Hole, Bahama Islands (Click Image To Enlarge)
The Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov raised the bar to a new level with a world record dive to 126m in Constant Weight (CWT), in a time of 3'46. This is the discipline of diving with just a monofin for assistance.
Alexey Molchanov after completing world record CWT 126 meter freedirve (Click Image To Enlarge)
Mid-competition the Suunto Vertical Blue looked set to turn into a clash of the titans as just minutes after Molchanov's dive, organizer and Suunto ambassador William Trubridge sought to recapture the record.
On this occasion, the multiple record-breaker made a technical mistake and turned back too early. Two days later Trubridge made another attempt but in the end the fates were not on his side.
However, by diving to 121m on the penultimate day of the competition he achieved a new national record for New Zealand.
William Trubridge back from a deep 121 meters dive and a new record for New Zealand (Click Image To Enlarge)
Each freediver accrued points for each dive during the competition and Trubridge also finished top of the overall rankings.
Afterwards he said:
"I'm a bit disappointed with my own performances but given the enormity of Suunto Vertical Blue I can't be too disgruntled. The results speak for themselves. We had the most performances of any depth competition ever and I have had more athletes tell me that this was the best comp they've ever attended!"
"Alexey, Ashley and many other athletes all gave outstanding performances."
He added:
"I will take a break at Christmas and get back into training in January. One of the surprises of the competition was the Japanese freediver Tomoka Fukuda who achieved a national record of 65m in Free Immersion (ascending and pulling on a rope) as well as an 80m dive in CWT despite the fact she's only been competing for a year. "
Alena Zabloudilova - another national record of 90 meters (Click Image To Enlarge)
Ashley Futral chapman wins the bronze medal for overall freediving (Click Image To Enlarge)
Other national records fell to France, Britain, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Spain, Mexico, Israel, Tunisia, Finland and Venezuela.
The Suunto Vertical Blue champions for 2012, Men - William Trubridge (gold), Alexey Molchanov (silver) and Robert King (bronze), Women - Alena Zabloudlova (gold), Ashley Futral Chapman (silver) and Tomoka Fukuda (bronze) - Click Image To Enlarge
Overall Winners Men and Women
Women:
Gold: Alena Zabloudilova (Czech Republic)
Silver: Ashley Futral Chapman (USA)
Bronze: Tomoka Fukuda (Japan)
Men:
Gold: William Trubridge (NZ)
Silver: Alexey Molchanov
Bronze: Robert King (USA)
The overall winners each received a Suunto D6is and a wetsuit from Orca. Suunto, the world's leading dive computer brand, is the official depth gauge used at all AIDA World Record freedive attempts. Mika Holappa, Dive Business Unit Director at Suunto, says:
"With so many of the world's top athletes taking part and so many fantastic World and National Records, Suunto Vertical Blue has been an amazing festival of freediving and we are proud to have been involved. William Trubridge should be congratulated not only for his inspiring dives but for organizing such a successful event."
William Trubridge, organizer, added:
"What makes Vertical Blue so special is that it gives the athletes free reign to mine their aquatic potential. If you left your diamonds in the basement of a 40-story skyscraper that flooded up to its roof then these guys could freedive down the lift shaft and collect them for you. The deepest dives last in excess of four minutes, but that's not four minutes of holding your breath in your bathtub — it's four minutes of propelling yourself through the water column, while combatting pressures that would crush a soccer ball to the size of a tennis ball and which exert mind-numbing narcosis on neural circuitry. It's four-minutes that takes place in another dimension, where time is drawn out into an eternity — an eternity that lasts but a single breath."
Suunto Vertical Blue 2012 - Women's Final Ranking
Click Image To Enlarge
Suunto Vertical Blue 2012 - Women's Final Ranking
Click Image To Enlarge
IMAGES AND VIDEO
A selection of high res images from the Suunto Vertical Blue can be downloaded at the following link: media.z3om.net/Suunto/press_suuntoVB.zip
Breathe, a documentary by nine-time Emmy award-winning producer Martin Khodabakhshian, follows Trubridge as he explorers his physical limits. A limited number of preview DVDs are available upon request.
More results and reports can be found on www.facebook.com/verticalblue and www.deeperblue.com.
For more information, contact:
Tarquin Cooper (zooom productions)
tarquin.cooper@zooom.at, cell: +436645449241
COMMENTARY:
About William Trubridge
Freediving is in Trubridge's blood. Born in Britain, the first few years of his life were a nomadic existance sailing around the world on his parents' yacht before the family settled in New Zealand. He learnt to swim at the age of 18 months, and was freediving to 15m by the age of eight, competing with his older brother to see who could bring back a stone from the deepest depth. But it was not until he was 22 that he discovered competition. Since then the 32-year-old has broken numerous freediving records. He was the first man to break the 100m depth barrier completely unassissted — without the use of fins, rope or weights in 2010. He also holds the record for ‘Free Immersion’ — 121m — where divers descend and ascend by pulling on a rope. In 2011 and 2012 he received the World's Absolute Freediving Award (WAFA), which ranked him as the world's top freediver.
In April 2010, William Trubridge broke a free-diving world record in a blue hole reaching a depth of 92 metres (302 ft) without the use of fins (Constant Weight Without Fins). I learned about the dangerous sport of freediving and New Zealander William Trubridge's amazing world record he had set in this sport and instantly became a fan. In a blog post dated October 18, 2011, I recounted the story of how William Trubridge on December 14, 2010, set a new CWT freediving world record of 101 metres at Dean's Blue Hole on a single breath using only his hands and feet for propulsion.
Russian Alexey Molchanov Sets A New CW Freediving World Record
Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov has done it again. On the last occurring Saturday in November, Alexey improved upon his own World Record in Constant Weight (CWT) by one meter to set the plate a little deeper to 126m at Suunto Vertical Blue 2012.
In a clash of the “Neptunes”, extraordinary depth announcements made by both William Trubridge and Alexey Molchanov stunned the freediving community as both athletes announced they would dive to an unimaginable 126m in CWT on the very same day. A coin toss ensued, which Molchanov won and down the line first he did go. Freedivers and fans around the world could almost be heard audibly gasping in unison as they wondered to themselves: Who will take the world title? Which champion will successfully hit the mark nearly 420 feet into the abyss of Dean’s Blue Hole? Might one of these competitors black out?
Anticipation also ran high amongst the spectators on the shore and at the surface at the event in the Bahamas as the gazed upon the two aquatic gladiators warming up simultaneously on opposite sides of a smaller platform.
In the end a a failed alarm foiled Trubridge’s dive and the formidable but humble host of the last stop on the AIDA world cup acknowledged Molchanov’s incredible performance,
“Alexey Molchanov set an amazing world record of 126m this morning, but I couldn’t join him today.”
Alexey was very calm on the main dive platform as he collected his thoughts and composed himself for an epic descent. As he gently slipped into the water and moved over to the line, everyone watching knew that either way history was about to be made.
Wearing no dive weights, a golden wet-suit, a simple nose clip and no protective eye equipment Alexey successfully complete his dive to 126m in 3 minutes and :46 seconds. Capable of a breath-hold in excess of 8 minutes and :31 seconds, barring any equalization issues Molchanov has the capacity to go even deeper.
About Dean's Blue Hole
Dean's Blue Hole is the world's deepest known blue hole with seawater. It plunges 202 metres (663 ft) in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island Bahamas.
White sand beach next to Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island Bahamas (Click Image To Enlarge)
Blue hole is a term which often is given to sinkholes filled with water, with the entrance below the water level. They can be formed in different karst processes, for example, by the rainwater soaking through fractures of limestone bedrock onto the watertable. Sea level here has changed: for example, during the glacial age during the Pleistocene epoch (ice age), some 15,000 years ago, sea level was considerably lower. The maximum depth of most other known blue holes and sinkholes is 110 metres (360 ft), which makes the 202 metres (663 ft) depth of Dean's Blue Hole quite exceptional.
Aerial view of Dean's Blue Hole (dark blue area in top of bay inlet), Long Island Bahamas (Click Image To Enlarge)
Dean's Blue Hole is roughly circular at the surface, with a diameter ranging from 25 to 35 metres (82–115 ft). After descending 20 metres (66 ft), the hole widens considerably into a cavern with a diameter of 100 metres (330 ft).
Some water-filled sinkholes are deeper than Dean's Blue Hole, Zacatón in Mexico (335 metres (1,099 ft)) and Pozzo del Merro in Italy (392 metres (1,286 ft)) among them. Dean's Blue Hole though is the deepest known sinkhole with entrance below the sea level.
Courtesy of a press release dated December 7, 2012 issued by Tarquin Cooper for Zoom Productions for Suunto Vertical Blue, an article dated May 10, 2011 appearing in Droompleken, and an article appearing in Vertical Blue News
From perceived barbarity to 'the fastest growing sport in the world', UFC has come a long way - but it wasn't easy.
UFC 148 - Middle weight champion Anderson Silva defends his title versus his longtime nemesis Chael Sonnen (Click Image To Enlarge)
On the afternoon in July just before one of the biggest mixed-martial-arts fights of 2012, a group of Ultimate Fighting Championship employees take up positions in the 103 degree heat of a parking lot outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. UFC president Dana White just tweeted their location. White is giving away 20 $1,200 tickets to UFC 148, headlined by a rematch between Brazilian middleweight champion Anderson Silva and his American nemesis, Chael Sonnen. Any fan who shows up within 20 minutes with a can of UFC-branded Edge shave gel will be entered into a ticket raffle.
Chael Sonnen tries to fend off a furious striking attack by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Anderson won the match in round 2 after the referee stopped the fight. (Click Image To Enlarge)
UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva mercillessly pounds challenger Chael Sonnen as he lays on the mat during UFC 148 (Click Image To Enlarge)
UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva walks away with hand raised in victory after the referee stopped the fight with Chael Sonnen during UFC 148 (Click Image To Enlarge)
UFC 148 was the rematch of an August 2010 fight between these two fighters that went late into the fifth round when Anderson was able to surprise Chael with a triangle choke hold with two minutes left in the fight. Up until that point, Chael had dominated the fight, taking Anderson to the mat in all five rounds, and maintaining control from the top, but never able to finish off the champ. Here's a YouTube video (in Portuguese) of the UFC 148 fight between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and his challenger and long-time nemesis Chael Sonnen. Hurry, before its taken down by UFC.
Minutes later, a horde bursts from the casino--mostly men in the UFC's coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic, but women, too, in a dead sprint. They stampede toward the UFC team, grooming products in hand. These are the ones who buy the UFC's pay-per-view shows, which blend wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and other combat styles into an action-packed, often-bloody sport known as mixed-martial arts, or MMA. They buy apparel and merchandise. Above all, they buy into a UFC lifestyle that celebrates everyone's inner warrior.
Comparison of Sports Demographics for 18-to-34 Year Old Age Group (Click Image To Enlarge)
Percentage of Male vs Female Fans by All Sports (Click Image To Enlarge)
White likes to say.
"Fighting is in our DNA."
It's an easy sell. But that dismisses a larger achievement:
The UFC turned what was essentially a no-holds-barred spectacle banned throughout the country into a sanctioned sport with mass appeal.
MMA is now one of the country's fastest-growing sports.
The UFC has become one of the world's most valuable sports franchises, with annual revenue approaching $600 million, according to one of its owners--and a worth, if you believe the smoke signals, of more than $2 billion. That's more than the New York Yankees, more than the New England Patriots, more than Real Madrid. And there's seemingly more to come.
All Sports - Comparison by Total Number of Fans - 2007 through 2009 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Avid Sports Fans - Comparison of Total Number of Fans - 2007 through 2009 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Percentage of Avid vs All Sports Fans (Click Image To Enlarge)
In 2011, the UFC signed an unprecedented $700 million deal to air fights in prime time on Fox, the goal being to turn fringe fans into "casuals" and casuals into hardcores. Fight sports have been extremely rare on prime-time network TV since the 1980s.
Now the UFC is at a critical juncture. It could join the country's major sports leagues--an ascension fueled by big profits, network TV acceptance, and aggressive international expansion. Or, the UFC could mismanage its growth--by fatiguing fans with too many events, failing to resolve labor tensions with fighters, or simply overreaching. And, of course, there's an inherent question the UFC is finally large enough to confront: Is this sport too violent to thrive in mainstream America?
A visitor to White's office in the headquarters of Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, will encounter a yakuza member having sex with a young woman. The giant Nobuyoshi Araki print hangs on a wall next to a giant print of Mike Tyson's bull neck, which isn't far from a giant print of a gorilla holding a gun. A partial list of the room's other contents: a painting that blares "Pay attention, motherfuckers!"; copies of the Old and New Testaments carved into the shape of pistols; a $380,000 print of a naked Stephanie Seymour hanging over the toilet. The showpiece, however, is against the back wall inside a glass case. "Check this out," White says, hovering reverently over the case. "I bought it from a museum in Dallas." It is a fossilized sabertooth tiger skull. It cost $160,000.
The UFC Executive Team (Click Image To Enlarge)
By contrast, Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC CEO and White's best friend, has a Basquiat hanging in his adjacent office. He won't talk about the painting unless prompted. Fertitta and White met in high school. As different as they are, they complement each other nicely: White's streetwise yin to the pensive yang of Fertitta, a New York University business-school grad who focuses on strategy.
Dana White, left, and UFC business partner Lorenzo Fertitta. | Photo by Gus Van Der Most (Click Image To Enlarge)
Fertitta says, waving his muscle-bound arm past a window down West Sahara Avenue.
"I grew up in a housing development just over there."
Fertitta and White didn't start the UFC. That happened in 1993, with a group of businessmen and martial artists who wanted to pit different fighting styles against each other--to see if, say, a practitioner of the "Hawaiian art of bone breaking" could beat a barroom brawler. (Answer: no.) A few years after that, Fertitta, White, and Fertitta's older brother Frank III were taking classes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a fighting style that had come to dominate the early UFC. They met several of the company's fighters, and White was the first to spot opportunity: He ran a small business managing fighters and signed two of the UFC's, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
But when White and Fertitta attended UFC 27 in New Orleans in September 2000, they were stunned by the empty arena and the anemic marketing. Fertitta says.
"There was no buzz at all. We're literally sitting in the front row and I'm going, 'This has gotta be one of the worst-run businesses. What is missing here? There could be much more to this.'"
The UFC was a victim of its own gore. In its early days, there were no weight classes, no time limits, and only two banned moves: eye gouging and biting. Fighters could surrender (and still can, by tapping out), but promoters played up the death-match atmosphere. That prompted Senator John McCain to successfully petition governors around the country to ban MMA. McCain also pressured cable companies to take the sport off the air. Although the UFC adopted better rules--creating about 30 fouls, such as throat strikes and head butting--it was too late: The company was near bankruptcy. A month after White and Fertitta's New Orleans visit, it went up for sale.
White persuaded Fertitta and Frank III (known as "Three Sticks"), who now runs the family casino business, to take a chance. The Fertittas plunked down $2 million and gave White a 10% stake in the company; in exchange, he took over running day-to-day operations. Now they looked crazy. But Fertitta had served on the Nevada Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing, a sport deep into its nosedive by 2001. He says.
"We felt like we had a better product than boxing. It was the next evolution. But it was as much about the brand as anything."
The new owners began an arduous process of rehabilitating the company's image by further increasing safety measures and working with states to lift their bans. But news coverage was slim, and pay-per-views didn't sell. By 2005, the UFC was $44 million in the hole, and the Fertittas were covering expenses from their personal accounts. They decided to take one more chance.
All fight photos from UFC 150, in Denver. Erik Perez celebrates breaking the bantam- weight record for fastest knockout, defeating Ken Stone in 17 seconds. | Photograph by Benjamin Lowy (Click Image To Enlarge)
World Wrestling Entertainment provided inspiration. Fertitta and White had pored over its public filings when they first bought the UFC. Now they copied the WWE's model. Fertitta says.
"[WWE] had mastered the ability to use television to suck people into a story line."
And story lines fueled pay-per-view buys. So the UFC came up with one of its own, tailored to the reality-TV boom of the time: They envisioned a show about a group of fighters living together as they duke it out for a contract.
Fertitta says.
"We met with ABC, NBC, Fox, MTV, Spike--I mean, literally everybody. And everybody turned it down."
So the UFC produced the show on its own for $10 million, gave it to Spike for free, and spent another couple million on ads and billboards. The Ultimate Fighter became the highest-rated show outside of WWE to ever air on the men's network. More than 2.5 million people watched the first season finale between fighters Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. As Fertitta and White left the arena that night, Spike execs grabbed them and drew up a deal on the back of an envelope for two more seasons of the show, plus other programming. The UFC quickly went on to pass the WWE--and HBO boxing--in pay-per-view audience.
To appreciate the economic system that Fertitta and White have since fostered, stop by its regular UFC Fan Expo. This one is at the Mandalay Bay, in advance of UFC 148, where fans wander by exhibitors with funky names such as Muscle Eggand Sweet Sweat. They buy apparel from TapouT, which pulled in more than $200 million in 2009 (the last year it offers data) by plastering its logo all over UFC fighters and riding MMA's rise. Large brands are here too--Topps trading cards, Bud Light, and Dodge.
You don't get sponsors at that level without big-time stars, and the UFC is constantly working to humanize cauliflower-eared men who break noses for a living. Fertitta says.
"Our culture is that you interact with the fans. If you're not willing to do that, you can't be on the roster."
That's why heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos--a 6-foot-4-inch, 238-pound Brazilian superstar--arrives early for his autograph session at the expo, his demeanor as unthreatening as an oversized accountant's. This weekend, he's one of more than 50 of the company's 442 fighters in town to glad-hand.
UFC Title Holders as of November 20, 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)
As part of their duties, fighters also stop by the EA Sports tent to pose for the game maker's cameras. It's a live stunt with a purpose--the images will be used in EA's 2014 UFC game. Video games address a key obstacle for the UFC: The sport's intricate, on-the-ground combat wrestling moves can be hard to appreciate, so future fans need schooling. says Bryan Johnston, the UFC's chief marketing officer.
"As these kids start playing the game, they start understanding fighting very well because of in-game tutorials."
UFC Notable Fighters as of November 20, 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Once fans are educated, the UFC wants to turn them into paying viewers. It already has a robust pay-per-view system; a successful event can notch 700,000 buys at around $50 each. (This is also why the UFC partnered with Xbox Live, which, with 40 million subscribers, is one of the largest pay-per-view platforms in the world.) The UFC stages at least one pay-per-view a month and, during each event, airs a few preliminary fights on Facebook and a few more for free on cable TV. These might scoop up some casual viewers one night, but the real prize is in the future: A broad base of fans won't have to pay to see the UFC's lower-tier fighters. If those fighters graduate to pay-per-view events, the fans are more likely to follow.
Using free content to hook viewers is nothing new. But the UFC's 2011 partnership with Fox is. The seven-year deal gives the UFC an unparalleled platform from which to recruit new fans. (Fox, for instance, promotes UFC fights during NFL broadcasts.) And there's a hierarchy to the content that's consistent with the way the UFC grooms talent. The Fox-owned Fuel TV--the cable baby of the bunch--generally airs cards with lesser-known fighters. Another Fox property, FX, is the teenager, showing events with more established fighters. And Fox prime time is the daddy, airing cards roughly on par with the UFC's elite-level pay-per-views.
It's been a learning experience. The first Fox show, last November, was a one-hour live event built around a single fight. After some seemingly interminable throat-clearing from commentators, dos Santos knocked out his opponent in just one minute and four seconds to win the heavyweight title. (Championship fights can go for five five-minute rounds.) The limited action left fans disappointed and Fox wondering how better to showcase fights, which can be hard to predict.
Now the Fox shows are well planned; each has four fights, with commentary in between. If a bout ends in a quick knockout, Fox can plug the gap in airtime with one of the preliminary fights. The shows air about once every three months.
How many new fans can the UFC make this way? It's too early to tell. The first Fox event drew 5.7 million viewers, but that number has slipped since. A Fox show in August drew 2.4 million (though it was up against the Olympics). Still, the network seems excited by the potential. says Eric Shanks, president of Fox Sports.
"We're going to go through a wall for them and they're going to go through a wall for us, and that's a rare thing in the sports business."
An American audience isn't the UFC's only stated prize. A global one is, too--and here, the company is making inroads that the NFL and others might envy. White often crows that MMA will soon be "the biggest sport in the world," and you can see why he's excited: UFC programming now reaches more than half a billion homes in 175 countries and in 22 languages.
The UFC has border-hopped since 2007, first into Europe and Canada, then Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, and the Middle East. The next step is both simple and excessively difficult. Any international fan knows it: "We need a [local] hero," says Puerto Rican journalist Angel Cordero. He runs a site called The MMA Truth that caters to a Latino audience, and he is convinced his boxing-obsessed homeland will embrace MMA--but only when Puerto Ricans can root for one of their own.
Brazil is the UFC's model country, a place with a tradition of martial arts and local heroes, none of them bigger than Anderson Silva, one of whose fights drew 32 million local viewers. The UFC has put on four live events in Brazil since 2011. It also went back to its American playbook--launching a Brazilian version of The Ultimate Fighter, which was a smash hit, generating the same level of social media buzz as Brazil's 2010 presidential elections. MMA is now challenging to be the No. 2 sport in this soccer-crazy country.
Here, the UFC sees a formula.
First, it studies web and social media traffic, and talent scouts track where in the world fighters are being produced. If a particular region looks promising, UFC envoys start educating local government agencies about safety and rules. (Severe injuries are rare, although a handful of people have died in unregulated amateur MMA fights and the sport is too young to know whether a concussion problem exists.) Then the UFC reaches out to local broadcasters, seeking deals in which the company provides free content, packaged for TV. In return, the carrier must agree to position the UFC as tentpole programming and air it exactly as provided. Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC's director of international development says.
"If you are selling a can of Coke, you want it on every shelf. In our world, every shelf means a free-to-air broadcaster."
In India, for example, the UFC has partnered with the popular TV network Multi Screen Media, which airs a daily 9 to 11 p.m. UFC show on its sports channel. "India has traditionally been a one-sport nation, which is cricket," says Man Jit Singh, Multi Screen Media's CEO. "Our research pointed out that the young people in India are tired of their parents' game. They are not watching a five-day test match. They want a fast-moving sport."
As TV ramps up, the company returns to its old trick: a reality show. Much as it did in America, the show identifies and incubates a new generation of stars that could rise in the UFC and prime a country for a live event. And as with other international versions, The Ultimate Fighter: India, airing on Singh's network in 2013, will culminate in a live UFC card, most likely in Delhi or Bombay. After that, Indian fighters will have a chance to progress from local shows to bigger-ticket events, as will fighters in other parts of the world: The UFC plans to launch regional promotions in both Asia and Latin America that will eventually feed burgeoning stars to the pay-per-view shows.
At his UFC Hall of Fame induction speech in July, Tito Ortiz--a former Mexican-American champ, one of the first Latino heroes, and one of those guys White signed up to represent back when the UFC was foundering--summed up the company's attitude on international expansion: "Soccer, basketball," he said, his fist raised. "We're coming after your asses."
This summer, a different kind of rumble broke out in the UFC: Dana White versus his light heavyweight champion, Jon "Bones" Jones, who was scheduled to defend his belt at UFC 151, two months after the Vegas event. With about a week to go, Jones's opponent pulled out of the fight with a torn knee ligament. Injuries are common in fighting, and the UFC usually just plugs a replacement into the card. But Jones refused to take on the new opponent, Chael Sonnen, claiming he didn't have enough time to prepare. That led to a UFC first: It had to cancel the event.
White ripped into Jones and his trainer, Greg Jackson, whom he called a "fucking sport killer." He labeled Jones a "guy a lot of fans don't like" and savaged his decision as "selfish, disgusting." Hard-core followers, who take their cues from the UFC boss, turned on Jones, blaming him for the demise of a card that White branded as "the event Jon Jones and Greg Jackson murdered." No need for a publicist to point out that you won't see Roger Goodell behaving in this manner. Or Bud Selig. Or, typically, David Stern. But the barrage was normal for White, who could fill a chapbook with the boorish remarks he's made on the job.
The Jon Jones fiasco does, however, raise a more persistent, less navigable problem. In White and Fertitta's UFC, fighters are expected to be company men or face exile. But as the sport's stature has grown, its most famous fighters have gained a bit of the leverage possessed by other sports' stars. A handful of UFC fighters have big sponsorship deals--Jones signed with Nike this August, welterweight king Georges St-Pierre has a deal with Under Armour, and Silva is with Burger King--and fans demand to see them in action. In years past, White might have booted Jones from the UFC. But all the UFC president could do now was move his fractious fighter to the next card. Then, to capitalize on the scandal, he booked Jones and Sonnen as opposing coaches in The Ultimate Fighter's upcoming season. The two men will fight on April 27.
All fight photos from UFC 150, in Denver. Kuiper hits Hamman hard. At another point, Hamman's hamstring tore when Kuiper kicked it. | Photograph by Benjamin Lowy (Click Image To Enlarge)
Seen from a higher altitude, the revolt carried a positive message for fighters, who grumble discreetly about having to give up too much to the UFC. MMA is, perhaps, moving gradually closer to an equipoise where the people getting punched in the head, at least at the top level, can claim more control over their careers.
"There's always going to be a point in time when a sport grows enough, and the revenue streams are sufficient, that the talent and the promotion or the league management is at loggerheads. But those are good problems to have."
In other sports, these problems have led to unionization. While the possibility has been bandied about, the fallout from UFC 151 shows that an MMA union isn't imminent. Instead of supporting Jones in his decision, many UFC fighters openly bashed him for not doing White's bidding or costing them paydays (although the UFC ended up paying many of the fighters on the canceled card).
The UFC claims it has created 50 millionaires and multimillionaires among past and present fighters. Elite fighters can make $250,000 or more per bout, but most athletes currently don't come near that. Entry-level fighters may net about $6,000 to $10,000 a fight (the winners double that), but may only be able to compete two or three times a year. Performance-based bonuses are paid for feats like spectacular knockouts, but those tend to go to more-established fighters. A select few also have contracts that guarantee an undisclosed but substantially more lucrative cut of the UFC's pay-per-view revenue. Life is good at the top.
Publicly, fighters will only acknowledge this one truth: Before the UFC made MMA so profitable, most of them may not have made a living at all. But still, in most major sports, revenue is split roughly 50-50 between athletes and owners. The UFC claims it now approaches that level, but a controversial 2012 ESPN investigative report estimated that fighters receive only around 10% of revenue.
White and Fertitta boilerplate their way out of interviews about athlete pay. But fighters' agents are beginning to talk--itself an indication that the balance may be shifting. As more money pours into the UFC, the pressure to spread the wealth and allow athletes more control could mount, perhaps to a combustible stage. The manager of a current UFC champion says.
"When this blows up, It's a matter of when, not if."
Not all of the UFC's problems stem from labor relations. Some of the organization's biggest stars have recently retired or been sidelined with injury. Others have yet to rise to fill the void, leading to thin fight cards as the UFC puts on more and more events. Many fans now accuse the UFC of propping up one big bout with a lot of less-consequential ones, which could be why pay-per-view revenue is slipping: It declined last year by 26%, to $310 million, according to financial research firm SNL Kagan. And pirate sites are always live-streaming those pay-per-view events, forcing the UFC into attack mode: The company shuts down hundreds of streams, and sues those who host them. Ed Muncey, senior VP of digital, who spends fight nights scouring the web for pirates says.
"It's whack-a-mole, no doubt."
But credit the UFC for this: It has come a long way from the New Orleans fiasco that White and Fertitta attended in 2000. Inside the arena at UFC 148 in Vegas, their success is on display. Many of the UFC's 231 employees--the company is still quite lean--are hard at work, determined to deliver yet another great show. Shanks, the Fox exec said.
"These are smart guys. They're not going to cook their golden goose."
All fight photos from UFC 150, in Denver. Hamman on the ground, after losing by technical knockout. | Photograph by Benjamin Lowy (Click Image To Enlarge)
During the first half of the fight card, White holes up in "the lab," a designated room where he churns out tweets with Kristin Adams, the UFC's 29-year-old social media manager. ("My Twitter baby," he calls her.)Having newly come of age, the UFC used social media to grow interest in MMA before the mainstream press showed up.White urges his athletes to tweet, even giving bonuses for those who attract the most followers. The UFC boss has 2.3 million Twitter followers of his own; compare that to the NFL's Goodell, who has 330,000. And tonight, the UFC is trying out a new tool--a Radian6 social media monitoring system that looks like it's on loan from NORAD. Its six screens, arrayed in a semicircle, allow for real-time monitoring of almost any online conversation about the UFC. Even in Iraq, people are talking about the fights. Another screen shows real-time tweets sorted by number of followers; atop the board are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, MC Hammer, Mandy Moore, and Channing Tatum, who is in attendance, and all of with whom White has cultivated relationships.
Eventually, White takes his seat among the cage-side celebrities, near Fertitta. The best friends sit by each other at almost every fight. They live down the street from one another. Employees sometimes catch them in the Zuffa offices stretched out on a couch, watching tape together, batting around fight lingo. Tonight, they're all smiles.
This is the kind of Saturday that all the preparation and planning builds to, the kind of night the UFC will need more of next year. The event sells nearly 1 million pay-per-views and does almost $7 million at the gate, setting a new record for an MMA event in Las Vegas. Seven million Americans watch. So do 19 million Brazilians, and nearly 48 million people around the world.
In the octagon, at the end, Anderson Silva needs only one opening. It comes in the second round, when his opponent, Chael Sonnen, misses a spinning backfist and falls to the ground. The serpentine Silva, whom White calls the best MMA fighter ever, is known for his sudden, venomous counterstrikes, and he unspools a knee to Sonnen's chest. The fight ends quickly. The Brazilians in the audience begin dancing. They'll dance through the night.
COMMENTARY: It's undeniable just how quickly the management team of Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta have turnaround UFC from an MMA fighting business that was on the verge of going out of business through hard work, creativity and dedication.
If you stop to analyze the reasons for the UFC's amazing success, here's what you will find:
UFC is competing in a blue ocean. UFC has redefined the sport of mixed martial arts by combining boxing (or striking) and different types of martial arts (kickboxing, vale tudo, American wrestling, luche libre, shootfighting and Brazilian jui-jitsu, to name a few). This has created a whole new level of excitement and resulted in the creation of legions of rabid MMA fans throughout the world.
UFC has brought rules and business organization to a sport that was known for having few rules, and a reputation as having fights more indicative of a bar room brawl and without weight classifications. It was not uncommon for a 165 lb fighter to fight a 220 lb fighter. UFC has instituted rules similar to those of WWE (professional wrestling) and established weight classifications similar to those in boxing (flyweight to super-heavyweight classifications).
UFC has created a sports culture where its fighters are required to interact with its fans. You will regularly see UFC fighters signing authographs, meeting, shaking hands with and posting for pictures with fans before and after UFC fight events and other sports venues.
UFC uses social media as a way to promote its fighters and fight events. Fighters are encouraged to have their own Twitter or Facebook page. They post regular updates on Facebook and Tweet to keep their fans informed and engaged on a regular basis, not just during fighting events. UFC offers its fans a huge arsenal of free content that includes videos and images on all the major social networks (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube). Dana White's free ticket giveaway promotions are legendary and status updates on each fight as they happen, and its rabid fans will do just about anything to get their hands on a free ticketo a major fight event.
UFC has signed the best MMA fighters in the world, and its competitors cannot compete with its stable of fighters. UFC fighters are signed to exclusive contracts and everyone is asked to "tow the line" and drink the UFC Kool-Aid. Although there have been some fighter disputes with UFC management, UFC holds most of the cards. The fighters really don't have anywhere else to go where they can make that kind of money and fight the best competition at some of the best fighting venues.
UFC has established a Las Vegas connection, regularly holding fighting events in some of the larget venues in Sin City (Mandalay Hotel and Casino and MGM Grand Hotel and Casino). It's competitors cannot compete with these venues because they do not have the big name fighters, and are often relegated to smaller venue in outide of Vegas.
UFC has mastered the art of the promotional Buzz. UFC builds up fan enthusiasm for each major fighting event with regular Facebook updates and Facebook tweets, and depends on the power of word-of-mouth generated by its fans to get the word out about fighting events and promotions. Fighting venues are known for having sexy chicks and well known celebrities at each fight like top boxing events.
UFC's management team of Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta really love what they are doing and united in the mission of making UFC the greatest and mot successful sporting business.
Courtesy of an article dated November 18, 2012 appearing in Fast Company
NOW THE ONLY PROBLEM IS ALL THOSE "NO SKATEBOARDING" SIGNS.
Why do skateboarders grind on railings? Was it part of an evolution of the sport, from backyard pools to urban landscapes? Sure. Was it a ridiculous idea from a skateboarder who preferred to risk life and limb, sliding down a rail rather than face certain death taking the stairs on a skateboard, again? Probably.
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Now, recent Royal College of Art graduate Po-Chih Lai has designed a skateboard that can cruise down stairs without a second thought. Called the Stair Rover, it’s the semi of skateboards, an 8-wheeled beast that’s quite literally “rocking” an aluminum Y-frame to transform stairs into a passive-propelling landscape.
Lai tells Co.Design.
“My idea is basically the same as surfers. They look for the hidden energy of nature, which is waves. Mine is looking for the hidden energy around us. Interestingly what I found is stairs, there are plenty of stairs hidden around our playground and habitat--the city.”
Whereas some may see Lai’s clever skateboard as an overly simplified parallel to the automatic transmission in a suburban car, he sees his stairmaster as an extension of the extreme sport, turning “boundaries and restrictions into a positive and creative physical enquiry into the ever changing kinesis of the urban ecosystem.” Skateboarding is an activity shaped as much by culture as it is hardware, but as a once-clandestine activity has gone mainstream, it will be interesting to see if the traditional hardware is reassessed to enable a new generation of bigger, crazier tricks (and plenty of commuter convenience along with them).
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What could Tony Hawk do on a skateboard fitted with Segway-like intelligence and an F1 engineering crew? What if sensors were ensuring his board was always at the right angle when making contact with the pavement, allowing him to focus even more on wild aerial stunts? What if traction control could assist where his balance failed?
And what if--just what if--Lai’s skateboard could climb up the stairs, rather than just down them?
COMMENTARY: Nice design. Handmade. Eight wheels. Expensive, no doubt. You are looking at a $600 skateboard. If you got the doe, and willing to take the chance of being caught skateboarding down stairs, have at it. Looks like fun to me.
Nike will now supply the National Football league with all of its team uniforms and accessories
NIKE’S LATEST MARKETING WIN: A CONTRACT TO DESIGN THE NFL’S OFFICIAL UNIFORMS. HERE’S A TASTE OF WHAT’S TO COME.
Nike’s ascendancy to mega-brand status began with basketball, on the feet of Michael Jordan. But, on April 5, 2012, the company finally unveiled a dramatic new branding strategy: Nike has now replaced Reebok as the official uniform sponsor of the National Football League, and will be charged with designing uniforms for all 32 NFL teams.
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It’s the crown jewel of a push that Nike has been making into football for years, through college football, and their Bowl-season designs for the University of Oregon have become a mini event. None of the designs rolled out yesterday have that same crazy visual flair. But they did reserve a bit of extra sauce for the NFL team closest to home: The Seattle Seahawks. The flourishes there display nods to Native American art. Otherwise, the other teams got only minimal refreshes, though you can bet that we’ll soon see redesigns rolling out in force--especially given all the positive buzz that’s surfaced from players such as Jermichael Finley saying that the Seahawks unis are the "best in the league."
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Tech-wise, the uniforms are something Nike calls the Elite 51, a “body-led” design that utilized heat mapping, sweat mapping, and motion capture “to understand exactly what the athlete needs and where they exactly need it,” according to Todd Van Horne, Nike’s creative director of football and baseball.
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The uniforms are made out of super lightweight fabric that’s woven to stretch equally well in any direction, while stretching as tight as possible over padding, to reduce grab-points for opponents. Nike Pro Combat, the uniform’s base layer system, is outfitted with a raised honeycomb construction, which likewise is meant to conform to a opposing player’s hit. In addition, the pads themselves are placed a bit more intelligently, so that the base layer doesn’t constrain airflow to places that give off the most heat, "so you get airflow from underneath and around the torso and exiting out the lumbar area,” Van Horne tells Co.Design.
Last come the hands and feet. Players will get new cleats; gloves display the team logos (a move that first appeared in the Oregon Ducks uniforms), and the socks have padding for arch support and texturing at the heel, to lock them in place once a player’s cleats are on.
Its all clever stuff. But clearly, the real news is yet to come--Reebok was never able to make a uniform redesign into a major event, but Nike probably can. We’re hoping to see a design war as teams begin trying to outdo each other, backed by Nike’s design might.
COMMENTARY: The Seattle Seahawks uniforms are really, really ugly, and their fans have a very, very bad team. The San Francisco 49ers beat them twice in 2011, and the Niner uniforms are the best in the NFC West.
While we are on the subject. Here's a great video of the exciting S.F. 49er 36-32 win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC playoffs. Who Dat? Enjoy.
It really pisses me off that the New Orleans Saints coaching staff paid out bounty rewards to its players if they hurt or knocked certain 49er players out of the game during the 2011 season NFC playoffs.
The NFL came down hard on the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, March 20, for their pay-for-pain bounty system. Football Insider’s Mark Maske has a comprehensive breakdown of the Saints punishment according a knowledgeable NFL insider:
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year.
General Manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight months.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely for a bounty systemthat provided the team’s players payments for hits that injured opponents.
The Saints were fined $500,000.
The Saints lose two second-round draft choices, one in this year’s draft and one in 2013.
No-fin freediving world champion is seen here playing with two dolphins
Fifteen times freediving world record holder William Trubridge calls for better protection of the world’s rarest marine dolphin.
William Trubridge is a New Zealander and feels a special connection with Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins, which live nowhere else. He says.
“Hector's Dolphins are the world's smallest and most endangered dolphin. One of its two subspecies, the Maui's Dolphin, has a population of less than 80.”
“Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin numbers have been dwindling towards extinction for more than 30 years, mostly due to the deadly gill nets and trawlers that operate in their territory. Instead of defending this beautiful species, the current government has caved in to the fishing industry and further reduced their protection.”
Hector's blue dolphins inhabit the coastal waters off of New Zealand and are an endangered species. Let's help save this beautiful sea mammal from extinction (Click Image To Enlarge)
To launch his new role as worldwide Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin ambassador Mr Trubridge recorded a unique under water video message at his winter training ground in the Bahamas. Facing the camera without breathing equipment, he urges everyone to do their bit to save this troubled species by signing a petition to the New Zealand government and by joining the Facebook group Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin SOS. William also asks people not to buy fish caught using nets that harm the species, and to think twice about visiting New Zealand until the government acts to protect them.
“We don't have long to fix this. Saving this species is a race against time. Commercial and recreational gill nets and trawling must be banned in the dolphins' range for any water shallower than 100 meters. Otherwise Maui's and Hector's Dolphins will be the first species of marine cetacean (dolphins & whales) to become extinct due to human causes. We can't afford to lose a single one”.
Maui's dolphins are the rarest dolphins in the world. They inhabit the waters off of the island of Maui in Hawaii. They now number less than 80 and are on the verge of extinction. (Click Image To Enlarge)
William was the first human to reach a depth of 100m without the use of fins, rope, weight, or any other form of assistance. It was the 15th time that he broke a world record. Another dive to 121m earned him the world record in Free Immersion (line-assisted freediving). Even the dolphins can’t follow him that deep. William’s other breathtaking accolades include his nomination as New Zealand athlete of the year in 2011, winner of 2010 and 2011 World Absolute Freediver, an annual prize for freedivers with the highest combined score across six disciplines, and being the highest ranked athlete at the Team's World Champs in 2010.
NABU International’s Head of Endangered Species Conservation, Dr Barbara Maas says.
“NABU International is delighted about William’s support. We hope that the backing of this world-class athlete, with his genuine affinity for the sea and the dolphins, will inspire people around the world to call for their protection”.
COMMENTARY: William Trubridge is without any doubt one of the greatest athletes in the world that competes in the most dangerous sports that many people don't know. You will find William Truebridge's Facebook page HERE. You can also find him on Twitter @WilTrubridge.
The above video is a plea to all people everywhere to help save these incredible, graceful and beautiful sea creatures. The Hector and Maui dolphins are on the verge of extinction. We must not let this happen for the sake of future generations.
William Trubridge is not only a no-fin free diving world champion, but a great person, very active conservationist and environmentalist trying his best to help save endangered sea life around the world. You can read more about William Trubridge in my blog post of August 9, 2011. If you saw the film The Big Blue, Wil is the real deal.
I hope you will join me in signing the by signing a petition to the New Zealand government and by joining the Facebook group Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin SOS.
Nike CEO and designer Mark Parker unveils the new Flyknit shoe (Click Image To Enlarge)
THE NEW FLYKNIT SHOE WAS THE PRODUCT OF FOUR YEARS OF R&D, WHICH YIELDED NEW MACHINES FOR A FABRICATION TECHNIQUE THAT NEVER EXISTED BEFORE.
When most of us think about what we want in a shoe, a sock probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Sure it has comfort, but what about stability? And how about some support?
Nike is filling in those blanks with its newest line, Nike Flyknit, which will make its big splash in the Olympics. Four years in the making, Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The resulting intricate patchwork of yarn, cables, and fabric boasts a heretofore unseen look and feel.
Flyknit was powered by athletes’ input, says Tony Bignell, director of footwear innovation at Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. And what they wanted, head-scratchingly enough, was a sock. Bignell explains.
“A sock fits great, feels snug, goes unnoticed, and you get no irritation. So the idea was, how do you engineer a sock into a high-performance shoe?”
A simple enough conceit, but one that proved harder to execute. Ben Shaffer, studio director for Nike Innovation Kitchen says.
“We had no interest in just creating a shoe that looked knit. This is where we found our first biggest challenge: There was no technology in the world available to do this for footwear.”
The intricacies of the work--building static structures and support into a dynamic knit--demanded entirely new machinery and software, Shaffer tells Co.Design.
“We were challenging a fundamental way of making shoes.”
Nike gathered a team of programmers, engineers, and designers to build technologies capable of micro-level manipulation. With machines in place, designers could engineer exactly where they wanted to add structure and flexibility to the knit upper. The next step was figuring out what yarns and fabric variations to use, requiring what seemed like an “endless” amount of prototypes, Shaffer says. The team settled on a feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength (and all softer than anything you’ll find at the bottom of your sock drawer).
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To provide structure, Nike Flywire supportive cables are weft into the knit. The cables loosen and contract with your foot, offering the comfort and ease athletes were looking for. A Lunarlon cushion sole completes the shoe.
Shaffer and co. have come a long way from the original prototype--a tube sock stitched to a sole. Shaffer tells Co.Design.
“In one layer, you have only the essentials built into a fabric.”
That one layer has some spillover benefits: Since the upper doesn’t require the usual cutting, stitching, and gluing of shoes past, it reduces waste. The Flyknit is also 19% lighter than the traditionally crafted Nike Zoom Streak 3 (worn by the gold, silver, and bronze winners at the 2011 World Championship’s men’s marathon).
The warp and weft of the shoe’s texturized knit also opens up the possibility for some interesting color combinations. Nike CEO and designer Mark Parker says.
“You have to almost think three dimensionally about the colors.”
The Flyknit Racer (Click Image To Enlarge)
The Flyknit Racer will be worn at the Olympics by marathon racers from the United States, Kenya, Russia, and the U.K. Nike is also releasing a limited edition run of the line called HTM Flyknit, a collaboration between influential stylist Hiroshi Fujiwara, Nike Vice President of Creative Design Tinker Hatfield, and Nike CEO Parker that provides a streetwear-friendly application of the technology. The three-shoe line (see below) will be sold for a few weeks in New York City, Tokyo, and London.
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COMMENTARY: The Nike Flyknit running shoes are absolutely beautiful. I like the fact that they are formfitting and very light. If you are a runner, these shoes will turn eyeballs whether you are running on the street, on a trail, or just walking around in a shopping mall. Sorry, no prices yet. If anybody knows, post a comment.
Courtesy of an article dated February 23, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
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