Dec 23, 2008 by brian

Scouting Report: Barack “Obomber” Obama

You’ve probably heard by now that our 44th President is an avid basketball player. The scouting report on the lefty is that he’s a wily player, with a steady jump shot and a nose for the basket. What he lacks in talent he makes up for with grit, hustle and determination.

Barack “Obomber” Obama has been playing ball all his life. He was on the state championship team at Punahou Scholl in Honolulu. Obama played regularly during his Presidential campaign, and even played in a pick up game on Election Day. Craig Robinson, the basketball coach at Oregon State and brother-in-law of Barack, recently wrote about the day for Time magazine.

In his memoir, Obama wrote that “I could play basketball, with a consuming passion that would always exceed my limited talent.” He also wrote that “At least on the basketball court I could find a community of sorts, with an inner life all its own.”

While in Kuwait this summer Obama drained a three point shot on his first try that got a rousing cheer from then U.S. troops.

 

 

In fact, Obama’s cabinet is shaping up to be one heck of a rec league team. My guess is that the “go to guy” will be Reggie Love, Obama’s personal aide, who played both basketball and football at Duke University. But I wonder how Love felt when Obama got some burn in a scrimmage with the UNC squad (Duke’s rival) back in April.

During the campaign, Obama said he planned to replace the White House bowling alley with an indoor basketball court. NBA officials have since reached out to Obama’s transition team to offer their services in installing a court. Obama isn’t as talented or passionate about bowling. In an outing before the Pennsylvania primary he bowled a 37!

If Obama’s staff goes easy on the President or if the White House basketball court falls through, we’re sure he’ll always be able to find some decent competition on Sportsvite!

 

 

Dec 11, 2008 by brian

Mini Ebbets Field

Wiffle Ball can be played just about anywhere. The backyard, park or at the beach are some of my favorite spots to play. I’m sure anyone with a fondness for wiffle ball has their own special spot.

Sportsvite member Tom Hannon didn’t just find a favorite spot, he built one! Little Ebbets Field is modeled after the real Ebbets Field (1/4 the size). Although the field is in Amesbery, Massachusetts, he chose Ebbets Field because so many people had built replicas of Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. (According to Tom, the best Little Fenway park belongs to Pat O’Conner in Essex, Vermont.)

When Tom first started building the field, he didn’t realize what he was getting himself into. As Tom says “The task was one where I think most people would of quit, the materials and effort was a challenge to say the least. I built it myself, other then an excavator to remove the dirt and a landscaper to do a handful of things. I completed it in August we had alot of fun out there we only wish summer was eternal.” To complete the field, Tom used 250 bags of concrete, over 50 4×4 posts, 50 sheets of plywood, 40 sheets T-11, and 50 pounds of screws and nails.

Tom firs attempted to build a wiffle ball field at his previous residence. That field was decent, but it was slopped down hill, had a deck in the way, various tree’s and homers to right field went into a retaining pond which was pretty messy. So in the Summer of 2007 he decided to look for a new home and the home had to have the land he we could build a field. Not just some bases and a wire fence but the ability to build true field. After looking at 42 homes he finally found one that worked inside and out.

Tom loves wiffle ball because he see the sport as the great equalizer. Kids from 13 to 60 can play and he mentions “Seeing I am closer to 60 then 13 the game made sense. I played of course when I was a kid. I cant say I swung a Wiffle Ball Bat more then a dozen times between 1990 and 2004. Then the kids started playing so we started getting into it again.” Check out the Wiffle Ball ground rules for Mini Ebbets Field.

Tom is about to publish an ebook called Wiffle Ball 101. Tom couldn’t find a great book about Wiffle Bal so he took a shot on writing one. In the book he reviews pitching, hitting, tournaments, field building and the different equipment.

If you’re ever near Amesbery be sure to hit Tom up to play a game of Wiffle Ball at Mini Ebbets Field. Even if you’re not, join the Mini Ebbets Field community on Sportsvite.

Nov 25, 2008 by brian

TwoKnobbyTires.com: The Art Of Bicycle Maintenance

Rob Miller is co-founder of www.TwoKnobbyTires.com, an online retailer of cycling gear, trail gear, and other outdoor gear for recreational families. At Two Knobby Tires, their motto is “Life happens outdoors” and so their mission is to use their knowledge and enthusiasm about outdoor recreation to promote a healthy, active lifestyle. In addition to selling outdoor gear, they blog about Colorado trails and provide tips to cyclists and hikers.

 

  • Inflate tires - Inflate your tires to a pressure between 35 and 45 psi. Lower pressures increase traction by allowing the tire to conform to the trail while higher pressures reduce the chance of a pinch-flat. Thus, inflate to a lower pressure on rocky trails and inflate to higher pressure on smooth trails.

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  • Clean your chain - Use a rag soaked with degreasing solvent to clean your chain of dust and debris. Be careful when using degreasers that contain hazardous chemicals by following the directions on the label. Some brands offer a “green” or “bio” degreaser with less potent chemicals. Bicycle specific degreasers are preferred but if more convenient, WD-40 can also be used as a degreaser.

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  • Lubricate your chain - Finally, lubricate your chain with a bicycle lubricant. Bicycle lubricant reduces friction and keeps the chain rotating smoothly. Be sure to remove excess lubricant with a rag.

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    Learning bicycle maintenance can be overwhelming so consult your local bicycle mechanic for additional information. For a comprehensive guide to bicycle maintenance, we recommend the book The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes.

    Nov 11, 2008 by brian

    Tennistips.net turns a student into a teacher!

    Our #1 intern Jason seems to have his finger on the pulse of the blogosphere. He recently struck up a conversation with Mo Wehbi, the creator of Tennis Tips

    People always ask me why did I decide to create www.tennistips.net?

    Well, let me start from the very first time the idea crossed my mind. I was looking online for some tennis tips and all I could find were sites that wanted a subscription fee and your credit card for some information in return. I immediately thought that this fee process really sucks for tennis fans who want to learn something that should be for free. The idea came along when I was doing my Masters at Saginaw Valley State University; in order to graduate we were supposed to build our own website for our capstone project. I of course thought about tennis right away, since tennis is my passion. Designing a website that revolves around tennis was the perfect project for me to fulfill my passion.

    I started playing tennis in late 2000 and this is when I fell in love with it. I didn’t have an instructor or take any lessons because they were just too expensive and I was only a college student at the time. In order for me to learn the game, I used to go online and try to search for some tips or just watch TV and try to learn from the Pros and imitate their tennis strokes. I believe that practice makes perfect so I kept playing the game and kept learning.

    TennisTips.net is a website designed for both people that like to read and follow direction, and for the visual learner. There are step by step instructions on how to hit each tennis stroke as well as videos that demonstrate the right technique for each shot.

    I shot as well as edited every single video on the site. My friend, Mike Major, who is the tennis coach for SVSU offered me his help in providing the right tennis terminology and the right choice of words. After all, we have to make sure that the site has credibility and what better trustworthiness than having a tennis coach proof read everything and enrich the content!

    If anyone would like to be featured on the website showing their strokes please make sure to contact me and we can discuss it. Thanks and enjoy www.tennistips.net

    Nov 03, 2008 by brian

    Comeback Player Of The Half-Century

    It seems like every week “Joe The Athlete” is accomplishing something astonishing. This week we heard the story of Ken Mink, the newest (and oldest) walk-on for the Roane State Raiders. Mink is 73 years young. In 1956, Mink was dismissed from the Lees Junior College team in Kentucky after being accused of vandalizing the coach’s office with shaving cream (Mink denies it!).

    Mink revitalized his career after getting a hot hand in his driveway hoop. “I had been knocking down shot after shot, so when I came in the house I told my wife, ‘I’ve still got it,’

    Mink runs the 40 in 6.6 seconds and his vertical leap is 20 inches. Coach Randy Nesbit claims that Mink has quickly learned the Raiders offense and may get playing time in blowouts.

    Here’s a video of Mink in action!