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.

Matt Lawler, Director Digital Media at AEG Global Partnerships on Digital Sports Marketing

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Rick is joined this week on “Tech of Sports” by Matt Lawler. Lawler, director of digital media at AEG Global Partnerships, is at the head of this. He will be speaking on the panel “The State of Sports Analytics” on Thursday, January 9 at CES in Las Vegas. Lawler gives a preview as to what he may be talking about on the panel as well as a look into the future of digital sports marketing.

AEG is the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. Known for staying at the forefront of data and analytics, the company is discovering new ways of boosting fan engagement across 135 topnotch AEG assets, including more than 90 venues, 20 sports teams, events and festivals.

Matt is responsible for leveraging digital assets and creating massive brand partnership opportunities across professional sports teams (LA Kings, LA Galaxy), hundreds of venues (STAPLES Center, Dignity Health Sports Park) and thousands of live events each year including The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Stagecoach and many more. Things Matt can speak on include:

-How advances in technology and data tracking are allowing teams and events to understand their fans to a greater degree.
-How to make sure to capture meaningful data before, after and during an event.
-The importance of sponsorship analytics: how analytics can create more effective partnership campaigns.
-How analytic strategies are driving the future of sporting ticket sales through an improved fan experience, maximizing revenue and overall increased attendance.

With millions of dollars invested in AEG, Matt is integrating cutting-edge digital capabilities into strategic media and marketing campaigns, engaging communities and building partner and fan-generated content.

Have a listen to Matt and Rick!

Max Duffy, Kentucky Punter, 2019 Ray Guy Award Winner

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Rick is joined this week by University of Kentucky punter, Max Duffy. He just won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top college punter.

Duffy, of Perth, Australia, has been an absolute weapon for the Wildcats this season, dominating the field position game with his booming and accurate leg. He leads the nation in punting at 48.6 yards per punt and has helped the Cats lead the nation in net punting as well. He has been consistently excellent this season and was twice named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week. Duffy also is UK’s all-time leading career punter at 46.47 yards on 107 kicks.

Duffy recently earned first-team All-SEC honors by the AP, first-team All-America by the FWAA and was a second-team choice by the league coaches.

He was twice been named the Ray Guy Award Player of the Week during the regular season and earned Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 28 after a magnificent night of punting vs. Missouri. He was on the Ray’s 8 weekly honor roll three times. He also was a First-Team Midseason All-America choice by ESPN and The Sporting News and a Second-Team Midseason All-America selection by the Associated Press.

Duffy is an interesting guy as he got his start in Australia playing Aussie Rules Football, before he even tried kicking an American football.

Rick and Max talk a wide range of topics. Have a listen.

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin Running Back and All-American

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Rick is joined this week by the splendid running back from the University of Wisconsin, Jonathan Taylor.

He’s picked up quite a few honors so far as the regular season has ended and you’ll be seeing him in the Rose Bowl.

Taylor, who is arguably the most dominant running back in the history of college football, was named a first team AP All-American

During the 2018 and 2019 seasons he won the Doak Walker Award, the award for the top running back in college football.

Awards/honors
National
1st-team All-American (2019)
Unanimous 1st-team All-American (2018)
2nd-team All-American (2017)
2× Doak Walker Award Winner (2018, 2019)
AP Big Ten Newcomer of the Year (2017)
Pinstripe Bowl MVP (2018)
Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year (2018, 2019)
Big Ten Thompson–Randle El Freshman of the Year (2017)
3× Consensus First-team All-Big Ten (2017, 2018, 2019)
8× Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (2× 2017, 2× 2018, 4× 2019)
8× Big Ten Freshman of the Week (2017)

Records
NCAA
Most 200 yd rushing games in FBS (career): 12
Most rushing yards through junior season: 6,080
Most rushing yards as a freshman and sophomore: 4,171
Most rushing yards in a season in FBS by a freshman: 1,977
Fewest games for a freshman to reach 1,000 rushing yards in FBS history: 7 games (tied with 6 others)
Big Ten Conference
Most Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards: 8

Rick and JT even talk about some of the tech he uses with the Badgers. Great to have Jonathan on “Tech of Sports.”

Rodrigo Blankenship, University of Georgia Kicker 2019 Lou Groza Award Winner

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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.

Good luck to Rodrigo.

 

Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA and World Class Heptathlete

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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.”

 

 

Miss Ireland, Fionnghuala O’Reilly, on Sports and Working for NASA

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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!