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.
Another “Tech of Sports” this week. Rick is joined by University of Georgia Kicker, Rodrigo Blankenship.
Blankenship just was named the winner of the 2019 Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker.
He talks to Rick about his kicking philosophy, technology he uses and NFL kickers he admires.
As a senior, Blankenship connected on 25 of his 31 field goal attempts, while also making all 44 of his extra points. Blankenship has not missed a single extra point in his Georgia career.
In addition to placekicking duties, Blankenship has also handled kickoff duties for Georgia. He finished ninth in the country in touchback percentage this year, as 60 of his 79 kickoff attempts were not returned.
This is the latest in a long list of accolades for Blankenship this season, as he was named the SEC’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as First Team All-SEC for his position.
Related: Andrew Thomas, Rodrigo Blankenship earn SEC Player of the Year honors
Blankenship is the first Georgia kicker to win the award and the third SEC kicker to do so, with the last coming in 2003. Randy Bullock of Texas A&M won it in 2003, but the Aggies were still Big 12 members at that point in time.
Great to catch up with Miss USA, Cheslie Kryst, at the Miss Universe Pageant in Atlanta. A perfect guest to have on “Tech of Sports” this week!
Kryst is a full-time attorney that is licensed to practice law in two states. She earned both her law degree and MBA from Wake Forest University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina, where she was a standout track and field star as a heptathlete, long jumper and triple jumper on South Carolina’s track and field team. Additionally, she sits top ten in the record books at South Carolina for the triple jump. Cheslie runs a fashion blog, “White Collar Glam”, that focuses on workwear fashion for women. She is an active volunteer for Dress for Success and credits her achievements to her ability to learn from failure.
She was impressive, finishing in the top-10 at Miss Universe, making a good showing in her home country.
She talks with Rick this week on “Tech of Sports.”
In honor of me working the Miss Universe Pageant in Atlanta this week, a special “Tech of Sports” this week.
It’s the perfect combination of sports and tech with Miss Ireland, Fionnghuala O’Reilly. Call her “Fig”. Fig is a Datanaut with NASA and a former Junior Olympic Athlete.
She has been my favorite contestant to deal with at Miss Universe this week. She is a member of NASA’s Datanaut program within the space agency’s Open Innovation program, and also works remotely out of Dublin as the executive director of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, which hosts an international hackathon each year. She’s involved with “Girls Who Code” and volunteers her time to many charitable efforts.
This year, she’s dedicated her pageant platform to making sure young girls know what options are available to them — something she pushes with her #ReachForTheStars social media campaign.
As part of her efforts, O’Reilly has even teamed up with Girls Who Code to bring a group of young girls on a pair of trips to NASA to check out the Mars InSight Lander launch and landing.
She’s also a decorated athlete, and a top sports performer in her home country.
You’ll find out about all of that and more this week, as Fionnghuala O’Reilly, Miss Ireland, is the first pageant contestant on Tech of Sports.
Good luck to Fig this week at Miss Universe and see her big feature in People Magazine this week!
There are sports connections of course as L.D. will explain in this fascinating interview.
Think Like a Bartender: Recipes for Life would be a great addition to a holiday gift guide! Comedian, former bartender, and storyteller L.D. Morrow has written the new book, which shows the amazing parallels between the job skills of a bartender and life skills for everyone. From learning how to cut people off to working through a bad day, Think Like a Bartender encourages people to tap into their inner mixologist and “serve up” their best selves. Think Like a Bartender is set for on November 18 and will available in print, ebook and audiobook on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and many more booksellers. The book will retail for $11.99 ISBN: 978-0-578-44889-3.
“Think Like a Bartender mixes two parts wisdom and one part comedy for a delicious cerebral cocktail everyone will enjoy!” says Morrow. “Even if you have never had an alcoholic drink, you will giggle your way through this personal, yet amusing perspective on living your best life.”
Have a listen as Rick and L.D. talk about people that spend copious amounts of times at bars and the various roles of the bartender.
Morrow’s career path included bartending while she was in college. She developed a love for the profession and wrote the humorous “self-help” book to show how a bartender’s skills translate to life skills for everyone. The book also serves up some of Morrow’s favorite cocktail recipes at the end of each chapter.
In addition to writing, Morrow is a sought after comedian. She has performed at New York’s famous Caroline’s on Broadway, Broadway Comedy Club and other notable venues. Morrow’s southern charm and quick wit has served her well as host of red carpet events and moderator of panel events around the country. She is also an associate producer for the 2019 short film Burden.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Morrow holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, an MBA from the Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University and is a graduate of leading industry programs, CTAM-U at Harvard Business School and the acclaimed Digital Marketing program at Cornell University.
A lover of Tequila and Irish Whiskeys, Morrow can often be found making cocktails for her friends while cracking jokes.
Have a listen to Rick and L.D. and make sure you check out Think Like a Bartender.
Rick is joined on this special Thanksgiving week episode of ‘Tech of Sports’ by his co-author of The Invaluable Experience, and WTA tennis pro, Danielle Lao.
Danielle, a former USC All-American is wrapping up the 2019 tear on the WTA Tour and is now in the off-season until she heads to Australia to start out 2020.
Rick and Danielle talk her tennis and her favorite gadgets and tech. She candidly answers some rapid-fire questions and talks about her love of podcasts and blogging. Danielle gives great insight what it;s like to be a top-200 player on the WTA Tour.
Good luck to Danielle and enjoy this episode.
Danielle gives and honest recap of her 2019 in here blog here.
As an Author:
Danielle Lao, a two-time All American tennis player at USC explains why playing college tennis was a time in her life she will never forget and why playing college sports is an “Invaluable Experience.” .
As a Player:
Danielle has played at all four Grad Slam tournaments, has has success on the ITF Pro Circuit and currently has a WTA ranking of No.196.
Rick is joined by a great guest this week on “Tech of Sports.
Golflogix Co- founder/President, Pete Charleston. Prior to GolfLogix, Charleston co-founded Premium Cigars International and helped take the company public on the Nasdaq. Charleston served as vice president of sales for Premium Cigars International, where he successfully launched an in-store humidor program in over 10,000 retail outlets, negotiating contracts representing over 25,000 retail locations and managed 50 sales reps. Charleston now leads GolfLogix’s marketing, sales, and business development efforts and helped successfully negotiate the acquisition of GolfLogix by Emigrant Capital Corp. in 2014. Having been in the golf GPS business since its inception in 1999, Charleston is one of the most experienced executives in the Golf GPS industry.
Founded in 1999, GolfLogix is the world leader in Golf GPS technology, was the first to introduce handheld GPS to the golf industry, and holds a patent on wireless Golf GPS. GolfLogix has been professionally mapping golf courses for over 12 years and is proud to have the largest, most up-to-date golf course database in the world. All of our maps have been verified by millions of rounds of golf played by our members.
We talk about the new Putt Line feature. The long-anticipated update to the innovative app shows the exact read for distance and line, taking the guesswork out and allowing users to see exactly where to aim their putts.
GolfLogix is the only on-course app that shows you the exact line of your putt to the hole, along with break, change in elevation and the speed of the green.
Now the regular golfer can use GolfLogix to get the same information that the pros have on tour.
With one simple swipe, golfers can easily:
Get the exact read for distance and line
Determine the optimal aimpoint of each putt
See the elevation change from the ball to the cup
Read the changes in speed with the color-coded putt line
View contour lines, arrows, and the slope grid
Set the green stimp
Use the animated putt line to see how the ball will break into the cup
Sink more putts!
Through 2005 GolfLogix developed proprietary software and maps for a Garmin co-branded handheld GPS device that was featured at thousands of prestigious golf courses all around the world. In 2006, the USGA and the R&A officially sanctioned the use of Golf GPS and many companies scrambled to develop GPS solutions for golfers; but GolfLogix was already there. In 2007, the company launched the GolfLogix GPS-7 handheld waterproof consumer unit and based on the company’s mantra of “keep it simple” it was adopted by golfers around the world with incredible success. GolfLogix followed up with a launch of the GPS-8 unit including a full 30-minute TV infomercial campaign featuring Gary McCord and Peter Kostis which captured the attention of millions of golfers worldwide. Today, the GPS-7 and GPS-8 units still lead the pack in being the most reliable and easy-to-use golf GPS system ever produced.
In 2009, seeing the rapid advances in Smartphone technology, GolfLogix quickly captured the market with a golf application that provides precise GPS distances plus keeps score and tracks stats and uploads them to our online clubhouse community where golfers can share and compete with millions of golfers worldwide. Now available on over 60 different Smartphone models, with new phones being added monthly, the GolfLogix Golf GPS application has become the No. 1 Golf App across all Smartphones.
Great to talk with Pete and continued success to Golflogix.
