ESPN Sports Science: The Torque on Tiger

In the post marital shenanigans era, Tiger Woods has been nothing like his former self on the golf course.  Sure, he's regained the number one spot in the PGA, and he's still the highest earning golfer around.  But without a major since 2008, there is increasing doubt that he will ever break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 wins.  His oeuvre is arrested at 14 wins.  Moreover, he has suffered assorted injuries in this span, including a serious back injury, for which he had surgery in March and which recurred when he returned to play over the summer, clearly too soon for his own good.

In terms of physics, John Brenkus gives us the lowdown on the amount of stress Woods has subjected his body to, simply by playing the dominant game he's played over several years.  Like many athletes, he is evidently reluctant to acknowledge the impact of this stress and to do what he needs to do to recover from his injury: namely, take more time to rest and heal, ease back into the game, and probably most difficult of all adjust his game accordingly. 

In a related vein, Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose has had two season-ending injuries to one knee, then the other knee, and really hasn't play much basketball over the last three seasons.  The season before he tore his ACL, in particular, he suffered various injuries and missed about a third of the games.  There is every indication, then, that at such a young age, just in his mid-20s, his body is wearing down.  Talk from him, his teammates, the Bulls front office, the media and fans is to see if he can recover the old Derrick Rose.

But as a Google+ friend said of Woods, I think Rose also harbors a suspect psyche.  There is no athlete who is invincible or omnipotent.  They're stronger, more agile, and more flexible than the average person, but they are still very much human.  If they don't adapt their game to their aging bodies, then Father Time will inevitably win over their bodies sooner than later.  Woods and his handlers may or may not have seen this Brenkus episode of Sports Science, but if I were he, I'd take serious note and work diligently at adjusting the force and mechanics of his swing.

As for Rose, let's see how he weathers a new NBA season and what adjustments (if any) he makes to his game.

ESPN Sports Science: The Catch

Willie Mays was the man, and little did he know it, when he made this fateful catch in Game 1 of the World Series on September 29th 1954.  It was top of the 8th inning, and the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians were knotted up at 2-2.  Had Mays not made The Catch, the Indians would've taken the lead and perhaps won the ballgame.  As it were, the Giants beat them in the 10th inning, en route to a championship sweep.  Had Mays not made that catch, the complexion of the series may have altogether gone in favor of the Indians.  John Brenkus and his Sports Science pals draw on sophisticated technology and cool graphics to show us how truly remarkable Mays' catch was.  They show us what a uniquely gifted athlete can do that the vast majority of us non-athletes probably cannot do.

ESPN Sports Science: Run or Slide?

I love these ESPN Sport Science features, even though it's really more technology, analytics and cinematography than science.  The conclusion here seems clear enough for base runners:  Run through first base, and don't slide.  But John Brenkus himself points out that for a very short segment, the sliding base runner actually lurches forward faster than the run-through base runner.  Sure, the base runner decelerates and loses time to the bag, if he launches into his slide too soon.  However, if he were to time that slide closer to the bag, he would actually get there fractions of a second sooner than the run-through base runner.  A true scientific study would have experimented with different distances from bag, and determined that at a certain point it would be better to slide than run.

Roger Goodell isn't going anywhere

This should be the final straw for NFL's robotic Roger Goodell

Going into Friday's news conference in New York, the question was whether Roger Goodell would resign. Coming out of it, the question is whether he will be fired.

Not likely. This corporate employee served well his corporate bosses, the 32 NFL owners.

They were probably thrilled with his performance. Most of the rest of the free world was appalled. The reviews ranged from disappointment to horror. If this had been a Broadway play, the theater's doors would be closing right now.

I understood better why Goodell was still in office, several days after the Ray Rice fiasco erupted like a volcano that evidently neither he nor the NFL was equipped to control.  Alex Grossman posted the article above, and I commented in response to a telling point from Leo Sanchez:

Even if Goodell leaves his position, which I seriously doubted. That's not going to solve the domestic violence situation..!!

You're right, domestic violence is a much bigger, more complicated problem than even the mighty NFL can handle, with or without Goodell. But I very much agree that he has to go: He has great business acumen, but he is incompetent as a leader and is morally suspect. I am astounded that despite what's obvious to us, owners have not spoken out against him. In fact the handful who have spoken out are supportive of him. What I think is this: He's done a lot of good for these owners (i.e., made boatloads of money), and in the process he's curried personal favors with many of them. So all that said, I just don't see Goodell leaving. The question about whether he was resigning, during the press conference, was a silly one: If your salary was $44 million a year, would you just resign? So the resolution to the terrible mess the NFL created will not come from Goodell, his lame apologies and promises notwithstanding, or anyone from within the NFL. Federal and-or local authorities have to step in with real subpoena and arrest powers. Otherwise how many more women and children have been harmed, or will be harmed, by how many more players we haven't heard about, yet? I mean, if anyone of us did what Ray Rice did to Janay Palmer, we'd have our asses sitting in jail!

Hope Solo may warrant a suspension

Why Hope Solo should be suspended from Team USA - immediately

Hope Solo should not be playing right now for the U.S. Women's National soccer team.

Earlier this year, the star keeper was arrested for allegedly attacking her sister and 17-year-old nephew. The police report said Solo was "intoxicated and upset," and she allegedly called her nephew "too fat" to be an athlete. Also according to the report, the boy had blood on his shirt, and his mother (Solo's sister) was visibly injured.

At the heels of the Ray Rice fiasco, courtesy of the NFL, Korinne Jackman posted the article above and noted:

Nope...we need to send a message.

If domestic violence is wrong, then it's always wrong, no matter who commits the crime, what they look like, or which sport they play.

This Hope shouldn't float...

Julia Denett commented:

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? We know there were injuries. We see the allegations. But we weren't there. I know sports figures are thought of as role models, but so are everyday Joes, going to work, raising their families, paying their bills. It'd be a downright dangerous situation if we all got suspended from our jobs or entirely dismissed based on allegation. 

Then, I chimed in:

You're right. Maybe Solo could be placed on something like the Exempt List that the NFL created, until due process plays itself out for her case. She won't play, but she'd be paid. Also, I don't know the specific legalities of innocent until proven guilty. But at some point allegations are more than just allegations. If there is clear evidence and if there is a confession from the accused, then I think these are indications of guilt. The Ray Rice case is such a mess, but with him there was video proof of his assault and he admitted to his actions. While nowhere this complicated, the Solo case may be similar depending on what evidence and confession the authorities have. My point is, maybe the allegations against her are more than allegations and, if this is the case, then her case may warrant an outright suspension.
 

Realizing things about Roger Goodell

Roger Goodell may have business acumen, but does he have the leadership competency and the moral fortitude to get the house back in order?
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

I see why some owners are reluctant to speak out against Goodell: He's done things for them, and he's curried favors.
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

I am less and less optimistic that Roger Goodell will go away.
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

Officials and authorities, i.e., outside the NFL, have to step in, please! NFL and its teams cannot govern their own people...
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

... or legislate the right policies, or enforce rules and ethics.
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

ESPN Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi are right: Young players don't have enough of the right mentors among NFL leaders.
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

Can't any football team just get it right?

Jameis Winston is the standout QB for Florida State University, and he has a pockmark history of behaving badly:

Jameis Winston to sit whole game

At first FSU suspended Winston for half a game, the first half in particular.  I was, like, Are you kidding me?  It was a mockery of a punishment, and I couldn't believe that ESPN Robert Smith tried to justify it.

So I chimed in:

@ChiTownSports Can't any football team ever just get it right the first time?
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014

@lindsayczarniak I know, right. Football officials and management may be suffering from cognitive woes as much as players.
— sportsPond53 (@sportsPond53) September 20, 2014