Category Archives: Tech of Sports

From the shoes we wear on our feet to the high definition televisions in our living room, wearable devices, the sports universe is a breeding ground for technology. Writer and Photographer Rick Limpert will examine this each week on The Tech of Sports – With guests which include athletes, inventors and journalists that cover the intersection of sports and technology.

Tommy Fleetwood, PGA Tour Star on FedEx Junior Business Challenge

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Caught up with PGA Tour golfer, Tommy Fleetwood, this week at the Tour Championship at East Lake. Fleetwood was among the 30 golfers that qualified for East Lake this year. He was also serving as one of the judges for the FedEx Junior Business Challenge this week in Atlanta.

This week, Junior Achievement students from across the United States competed in the finals of the FedEx Junior Business Challenge held at the tournament’s host site, East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The three JA student companies that participated in the finals secured their spots by winning each of their individual qualifying events, which were hosted at PGA TOUR tournaments throughout the summer. At the event, the JA student companies pitched original business ideas, with Our Story from JA of the Chisholm Trail being selected as the winner and recipient of a $75,000 donation from FedEx to their JA chapter. Our Story is a motivational journal company for teens that helps to reduce anxiety and stress.

Fleetwood was impressed by the high school students and their products.

The judging panel evaluated each company’s ability to deliver a compelling pitch, create a succinct visual presentation and connect their business concept to innovation, sustainability, job creation or the trade industry.

Through its PGA TOUR sponsorship, FedEx hosted FedEx Junior Business Challenge qualifier events at three PGA TOUR tournaments this year: the Charles Schwab Challenge (Ft. Worth, Texas), the Travelers Championship (Cromwell, Conn.) and the 3M Open (Blaine, Minn.). At each event, JA student companies presented their business ideas to a judging panel consisting of a mix of PGA TOUR players, local celebrities, FedEx Small Business Grant winners and business leaders.

In August 2013, Fleetwood won his maiden title on the European Tour at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. He won in a three-man sudden death playoff, after a birdie on the first extra hole to see off Stephen Gallacher and Ricardo González.

In May 2015, Fleetwood scored an albatross on the par-5 4th hole at the Wentworth Club during the second round of the BMW PGA Championship.

2017 was Fleetwood’s most successful year to date. In January he won his second European Tour event, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, by one stroke over Dustin Johnson and Pablo Larrazábal after a final round 67. In March, Fleetwood was runner-up in the WGC-Mexico Championship, a shot behind Johnson. In April, he lost in a sudden-death playoff at the Shenzhen International to Bernd Wiesberger, at the first extra hole. Fleetwood had come from eight strokes behind on the final day with a stunning round of 63 to set the clubhouse lead. In the playoff, Fleetwood found the green in two, but Wiesberger from trouble fired an approach to within five feet and holed the birdie putt for the victory. In June, Fleetwood finished fourth in the U.S. Open, while in July, he won the Open de France, beating Peter Uihlein by a stroke, after a bogey-free final round 66. He moved from 99th in the World Rankings at the start of the year into the world top-20. In November 2017, Fleetwood won the European Tour season-long Race to Dubai and won $1,250,000 from the bonus pool.

Fleetwood made a successful start to 2018, winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by two strokes from Ross Fisher. He had a final round of 65, with six birdies in the last nine holes.

He is the sixth golfer to shoot a 63 in U.S. Open history, tying the championship’s single round scoring record. He did this in the fourth round of the 2018 U.S. Open on 17 June at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. He finished one stroke behind the winner Brooks Koepka.

Tommy was a delight to talk to and best of luck to him this week in Atlanta.

Jay Caldwell, Preserving History of the Negro Leagues

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A centennial celebration of the Negro Leagues launched at The National, thanks to the hard work of Seattle’s Jay Caldwell.

Glad to be joined by Caldwell, on this week’s “Tech of Sports.”

Caldwell is a collector who has a passion for preserving the history of the Negro Leagues.  At the National, he was offering a variety of commissioned artwork, bobbleheads and other items with profits designated for the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City.  They’ll be used to advance educational and conservation missions to preserve the legacy of the Negro League players. Additional royalties will be paid to the players’ estates for securing the rights to use of their likenesses in the products.

There will be two large exhibits in 2020 commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues.

“Our mission remains the same,” Caldwell stated. “To celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Negro National League on February 13, 1920 at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City. The Negro League Baseball Museum (www.nlbm.com) selected us to stage an art and memorabilia show at the NLBM between February 1 – May 31, 2020. The exhibit will feature 320 pieces of original art depicting African-American, Cuban and other players who participated in black baseball from 1867 – 1955 as well as over 80 pieces of Negro League memorabilia including the earliest pieces known relating to African-American baseball dating back to the 19th century.”

The first exhibit of Negro League art will be at the museum, running from February 13, 2020 to May 31, 2020.

The exhibit will then move to Milwaukee and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, August 15, 2020 to February 15, 2021.

See more here and support Jay’s efforts.

John Parisella, Horse Trainer to the Stars with his New Book

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Great to be joined by quite an interesting character, horse trainer, John Parisella, talking about his new book. And does he have some stories to tell.

The book is: From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars: John Parisella’s Lifetime of Celebrity Connections

This is an amazing read!

An accomplished trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, John Parisella grew up on the streets of post-Depression, post-war Brooklyn. The son of a bookmaker and shylock, he began playing the horses at Aqueduct and Belmont while in high school. He became the protégé of fellow New Yorker and Hall of Fame trainer, John Campo. Parisella ran horses at thirty-eight tracks and half the Thoroughbreds he sent to the post finished in the money. His most famous horse, Simply Majestic, once ran faster than the great Secretariat. That’s only part of the story of the man who went FROM THE STREETS OF BROOKLYN TO TRAINER TO THE STARS.

John Parisella enjoyed over five decades of adventures with the biggest names in sports and entertainment. In the early 1970s he appeared twice on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” and on his second appearance was proclaimed the “Trainer to the Stars” by actor Jack Klugman because, at that time, Parisella was training horses for a stable of movie stars that included Klugman, Caan and Telly Savalas. He went drinking with Mantle; cajoled Steinbrenner into helping Joe Pepitone and lived with James Caan at the height of Caan’s fame; became Pitino’s close friend and was the intermediary with the New York Knicks as he orchestrated Pitino’s move to become head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky; and, as Bethenny Frankel’s stepfather, was the father-figure in the future Reality TV star’s life as she was growing up.

The long list of notable figures with whom the TRAINER TO THE STARS was connected includes “Broadway Joe” Namath . . . Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater . . . iconic actor James Stewart . . . lead singer Bono of the mega-group U2 . . . former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones . . . and New York City shock jock Howard Stern . . . as they, too, are among the many stars within John Parisella’s almost-unimaginable orbit. He was even befriended by John A. Gotti, son of the man called The Teflon Don, mob boss John J. Gotti.

John Parisella lived faster than his horses ran, burning through millions of dollars as a result of his generosity and profligate spending. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he endured addictive behaviors associated with the condition—drug abuse and compulsive gambling. From the Streets of Brooklyn to Trainer to the Stars shares the whole story with never told behind-the-scenes conversations and dealings that helped make history.

Have a listen to Rick ad John this week- a lot of fun!

Michael Breed talks Golf and Partnership with MorganFranklin Consulting

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Another “Tech of Sports” this week.

Rick is joined by world famous golf instructor, Michael Breed.

Michael Breed is the No. 1 golf instructor in NY, has coached winning Tour players and had the most successful instruction show on The Golf Channel – now he’s embarking on a totally new venture by collaborating with MorganFranklin Consulting to transform and change the game in business and on the golf course. A completely new partnership for both, Michael’s influence in the golf industry is helping to reach untapped target audience of businessmen and women. They are even offering a fun sweepstakes, interactive Q&A with Breed and swing and playing tips right on the MorganFranklin website. Ask Michael your questions.

On the heels of the PGA Tour’s sponsorship announcement with Korn Ferry, golf and big business are coming together now more than ever, seeing the golf market as an entry point to reach a totally new audience and consumer. Steph Curry’s show on ABC and Beats being the first to offer golf headphones shows that golf is a hot sport companies are investing in to grow their businesses.

The MorganFranklin partnership is another example of how businesses are leveraging golf to engage with the business and lifestyle consumer and solidify relationships outside the sport, which in turn gets people golfing and grows the game at the same time. A win that makes sense for both industries.

Michel talks that and a lot more with Rick.

Gary Vee at the National Sports Collectors Convention

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This week, an excerpt from Gary Vee’s talk at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago.

Gary Vaynerchuk is no stranger to technology as he has invested in numerous tech startups. Well, he’s also an investor in baseball and sports cards.

Serial entrepreneur, social influencer and CEO of VaynerMedia, Gary Vaynerchuk, never had the chance to attend “The National” when he was a young card collector and “investor.”

So to say he was “giddy” at a Wednesday afternoon panel discussion to open the 40th edition of the “Super Bowl of Sports Collectibles’ was an understatement. The pre VIP Party special appearance also featured Josh Luber, co-founder of StockX, an online marketplace that is creditied with beginning the wheeling and dealing of collectible sneakers in our culture.

Vaynerchuk and Luber were in fact, childhood baseball card collecting friends that met in a New Jersey diner having lunch and talking card collecting and investing.

“I’m incredibly humbled to be here,” admitted Vaynerchuk in his opening remarks. “I’m an immigrant from the (former) Soviet Union and grew up in New Jersey among the lemonade stands and having sports cards.”

Vaynerchuk, worth an estimated $50 billion was an early investor in many tech companies, including Twitter, Tumblr, Uber and Snap.

In this clip, Vaynerchuk explains why sports cards and sports collectibles are so hot again. Also what does the future hold for sports collecting? Very interesting opinions and theories.

 

 

Bud Selig, ‘For the Good of the Game’

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Former MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig, from a book signing in the Atlanta area, this week on “Tech of Sports.”

Bud Selig is the former ninth Commissioner of Baseball. A life-long baseball fan and long-term baseball executive, he’s known for contributions to America’s Pastime including reform of the economic structure of the game, as well as labor and drug-testing policies. Tenured for more than two decades, he lives with his wife, Sue, and they have three daughters.

In this clip, he talks about his unique relationship with the legendary, Bob Uecker.

Uecker, remains a Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcaster and he’s beloved by Brewers and baseball fans.

For more than a century, the game of baseball was resistant to change – owners, managers, players, fans all were against it. No one knew this better than Bud Selig, who, as the game’s ninth commissioner and the head of MLB for more than twenty years, brought about more change during his tenure than his eight predecessors combined. He ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history – modernizing a sport that that had remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s. In this enlightening and controversial book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the past forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues including the steroids scandal and the labor and economic issues that threatened to destroy the game.