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.

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.

 

Laura McKoy, Creative Director and Vice President of Interior Design for Omni Hotels & Resorts

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I had a great trip to Austin, TX and the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa a few weeks ago, so I thought we’d have a guest on that played a big part in the $150 million renovation of this popular Texas resort.

Fantastic to be joined this week by Laura McKoy of Omni Hotels and Resorts.

Laura talks about the changes guests can expect at Barton Creek.

We also talk sports and sports bars, as the resort features a neat and upscale sports bar called Crenshaw’s, names for Austin’s own Ben Crenshaw. It’s a bar that pays homage to golf course architecture.

What a fun episode.

Omni Hotels & Resorts named Laura McKoy its creative director and vice president of interior design in May of 2016. McKoy oversees the curation of retail and hotel programming alongside the brand’s operations team. She served as Omni’s director of interior design prior to that starting in 2007.

Before joining Omni, McKoy was director of interior design for CNL Hotels and Resorts where she contributed to projects such as the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Hawaii; the La Quinta Resort and Club in La Quinta, California; the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix; the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando; and the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. McKoy has also held positions at design firms including BBGM in Washington, DC.

McKoy earned a bachelor’s degree in interior design from the University of Alabama. She continues to serve on the board of the College of Human Environmental Sciences.

Sabrina Ann Zielinski, Mrs. Georgia and Author of The Essential Oils Diet

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Rick is joined this week, by Sabrina Ann Zielinski. She is not just the newly crowned Mrs. Georgia, She is here to discuss her secret to living a healthy life which she has shared in her book with husband Dr. Eric Zielinski, THE ESSENTIAL OILS DIET: Lose Weight and Transform Your Health with the Power of Essential Oils and Bioactive Foods, (May 2019).

In the book, the Zielisnki’s have combined the health benefits of essential oils that Sabrina promises is her secret to major health benefits for mental and physical health, like fighting off common ailments like colds and the flu, as well ass weight loss and weight management.

Sabrina Ann is a home birth mom of four and a natural health guru. The mastermind behind the allergy-friendly food recipes & DIY remedies featured on their website and books, she’s known as “Mama Z” to many mamas who are looking for natural ways to take care of their families. She is a personal trainer and pageant coach, now she is Mrs. Georgia 2019.

The Essential Oils Diet features a sensible, evidence-based, two-phase program—first, the 30-day essential fast track, which helps you banish excess pounds quickly, followed by the essential lifestyle, a gentle, practical maintenance program you can follow for life. Featuring delicious, easy recipes, meal plans, and strategies to keep you on track, you’ll learn how to harness essential oils and bioactive foods to help your body reach the homeostasis necessary to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight and abundant health.

A great interview and this book comes highly recommended. Follow Sabrina Ann on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sabrinaannzielinski/

Kim Glass, Olympian, All American Talks Volleyball and Halo Sport 2

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Rick is joined by 2008 Olympic Volleyball Silver Medalist, Kim Glass, this week.

Kim was an All-American and four-time All-Pac-10 pick, is Arizona’s career leader in kills with 2,151 and ranks third all-time in the Pac-10 in the same category. She averaged 5.27 kills, 2.84 digs, 0.70 blocks and 0.40 aces per game for the Wildcats. For her career, Glass had double-digit kills in 105 of her 115 matches played, along with 20 or more kills 54 times en route to a school-record 5.27 kills per game average. She holds the Arizona school record with 162 aces, and is third in career digs with 1,158. Glass provided 77 block solos, which ranks eighth all-time for the Wildcats

Played professionally for almost 10 years.

Member 2008 Beijing Olympics, Team USA Indoor Volleyball team, helping the US to a silver medal.

Kim is a personal trainer, a model and works with sports tech companies.

One of the companies Kim represents is Halo Sport.

The Neuropriming headset that integrates seamlessly into your workout.

Halo Sport 2 headphones is tech that delivers an electrical current to the motor center of your brain.

The idea is to use this device for 20 minutes before an activity to create a state of ‘hyper-learning’ by neuropriming.

The headphones themselves feel well-built and have a firm hold on the head, making it easy to get the fit you want. This is important, as the companion app from Halo needs to confirm it’s making clear contact with your head before the process can begin.

“That process is unlike anything we’ve felt before. The second you start, and the app tells you that it’s ‘ramping up’, you’ll begin to feel a tingling in the skull where the electrodes… sorry, primers are.”

The audio quality in vocals is pretty good – and you can remove the primer spikes to make wearing the headphones more comfortable day to day.

The idea is an interesting one, unlocking something as simple as firing an electrical current into the brain to improve performance. It’s called transcranial direct current stimulation (TCDS), which is just as described above – the idea of stimulating the brain to achieve a heightened state of learning.

Great to have Kim on to explain more. Enjoy!