Jul 25, 2008 by admin

Charmaine Abbot Is Making a Racquet!

We here at Sportsvite dig good ideas, which is why we’ve elected Charmaine Abbott as this week’s Sportsvite featured player. As both a wife and mother, Charmaine is not necessarily the stereotypical Sportsvite user, but hey, this woman knows how to bring people together. Charmaine is the captain and creator of a unique group entitled, Ladies Making a Racquet at Dinners & Events. The concept is for women get together to play tennis, and then meet at a local restaurant or event to socialize and vent. Whether it’s a snoring husband, their child gets picked last in kickball, or the new Sarah Jessica Parker movie, all the ladies are there to listen and support one another.

I’ve been emailing with Charmaine recently and asked her a few questions about how the group got started, its success, etc… Here are a few of her responses:

Q: Where did you get the idea for the “Ladies Making a Racquet at Dinners & Events” group?
CA: The idea came out of the need that some of my friends from my tennis team lost touch with each other. Years ago, it was unusual if the girls didn’t meet up for a round robin, dinner, movie, drinks, etc. (with or without kids or hubbies). These were women who would coordinate a meal schedule for a sick friend, or visit teammates in the hospital; attend funerals or birthdays as a group. We spent time discussing our children and gave advice when asked. Some of them lived through divorces even though it wasn’t their own. It was a tight, competitive, sometimes feuding, and loving group of women who enjoyed each other’s company.

Q: Do you find that a nice meal and conversation after a work out is therapeutic?
CA: After tennis matches or tennis practice, we have spent time having fun at a late dinner sometimes to the point where we don’t realize how late it has become until a husband calls.

Q: How long have you been organizing the group?
CA: The group just started a few months ago.

Q: What is your most memorable experience in regard to the group?
CA: So far, I would say it would be when a few of us met up for dinner and drinks, then watched the Sex in the City movie together. It was an absolutely fun time filled with laughter and poking fun of each other.

Sex and the City? After a little debate, we’ve decided to let Charmaine retain her status as ‘Player of the Week’ despite her taste in movies. But in all seriousness, we should all applaud Charmaine for her originality and intuitive thinking. It is people like her that help make the daily grind a little easier and the Sportsvite community a better place; knowing that some enjoyable competition and good times with friends lie ahead. Hopefully, her group will spark up similar teams across the country, and soon enough, we’ll all be leaning on each other’s sweaty shoulders.

If you’re a female living near Lawrenceville, Georgia be sure to contact Charmaine to learn more about the tennis group.

If you couldn’t already figure it, this blog post was written by our summer intern/wannabe meathead Eric.

Jul 18, 2008 by admin

Featured Team: My Better Is Better Than Your Better

My Better Is Better Than Your Better (name borrowed from this Nike commercial) is not just a group of cocky softball players, but a real life dynasty. With a name like that, you gotta figure this team is full of Josh Hamiltons, Jenny Finches and the occasional Dan Uggla (stellar all-star performance), but in fact, it is simply a group of hard-working media nerds and young NYC professionals with one goal in common: have fun. I spoke with Peter Ehrlich, the captain of My Better is Better Than Your Better about his experiences with the team, it’s past success, and what lies ahead.

Pete is one of those guys people my age strive to be: handsome, smart, athletic, and a few inches away from a million dollars. Pete was introduced to Sportsvite through a friend and has been using the site to manage his team for the last two seasons.

My Better Is Better Than Your Better has been around for the last four years, bringing home three of the last four titles in their Zog Sports league. His explanation for why the team has been so successful is the simple reason that everyone is there to have fun. By stressing such a high morale, no pressure, and maybe a few skills here and there, Pete can practically write the book on intramural success.

While Pete mainly uses Sportsvite for scheduling purposes, he does a great job of keeping the team page up to date with photos, videos, and game updates which helps promote the up-beat atmosphere that the team strives on. Thorough use of the Sportsvite functionality is what grants My Better Than Your Better with this week’s mythical “Team of Week” honors.

This decision was made easier after Pete enlightened me with a story involving a story from a game that occurred within the last few weeks. After taping the first few innings of the game with the hope of catching some web gems to upload on the team page, the cameras were turned off. In the next instant, a line drive nailed one of the female players in the face. Man, i wish we could have that footage to show you. That would be awesome. Instead here is a clip of MBIBTYB in action (back in ‘07 when the team name was Pumpkin Eaters!)

This beautiful blog post was penned by Sportsvite summer intern/wannabe meathead Eric.

Jul 17, 2008 by admin

Chicago’s All Stats Sports Is Always Keeping Score

Scott Snower is the head of the All Stats Sports League based out of Chicago. Scott runs a cool league where every single player of every team gets a ridiculous number of stats kept for them and updated on the website (allstatssports.com). On top of the near-fanatical stat keeping, Mr. Snower and the other league-heads do a phenomenal job of making the amateur athlete feel like a pro, as they have even finagled permits to play at the awesome field at UIC.

“My lifelong friend and I really played in all the intramural leagues Chicago had to offer, and we felt that they were missing something,” said Snower. “They just kind of told you to show up and pay the fees, and that was that. So when we started All Stats Sports League, we wanted to do something that set us apart.”

And Snower did just that. All Stats Sports League started three years ago, and they now run multiple Softball leagues (12 and 16 inch style), a Basketball League, and a Bowling league. With each league comes an incredibly in depth stats page showing every statistic imaginable for each player, ranging from Slugging Percentage, to Fielding Percentage, from 3-pt percentage to points/game.

“We do player of the week awards, end of the year awards, all that stuff. We want to make it as interactive as possible - as fun as possible,” said Snower. “In Chicago you’ve got about 6 months of good weather - from April to October - so come February and March people are itching to play. And once the minute April comes around we’ve got people out there ready to go. We just love being out there on the field, everybody has a great time.”

Scott really does a great job running the leagues, definitely check out the website to see the kind of leagues he’s running. I highly suggest anyone in the Chicago area get in touch with him, as without a doubt you’ll have the most complete sports experience playing in the All Stats Sports League.

Below are some screenshots of some of the stats pages from his site so you all can see how literally the phrase “All Stats” is taken by Mr. Snower and his staff.

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This blog post was contributed by Sportsvite intern extraordinaire Pat.