Monthly Archive for September, 2010

The New York Jets: Week Two

Published on September 23, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

bill-belichick-042909-lg1By Morgan Meis, from The Owls

Few players have ever glided across the field like Randy Moss. Moss is the wide receiver for the New England Patriots. I sometimes imagine him playing in slippers. He’s just gotten up from a long winter’s sleep. He is heading out in the snow to pick up the morning paper. And then, he drifts out on to the field of play, lifts up his long right arm, and into his fingers drops the oblong spherical object we call a football. He has scored a touchdown, and he hasn’t even spilled his coffee.

He did that against the New York Jets. He slid down the field in his slippers and raised his arm to the heavens. In dropped the football. He didn’t even bother to use his other hand. All he needed was the gentle lift of his right arm. One or two fingers were enough. An absolute economy of motion. A beautiful thing. A beautiful thing. Like the hand of an angel. For a moment it did not bother me that the Patriots had pulled ahead 14 to 7.

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Dr. Boria Majumdar Will Attend the 2011 Sport and Society Conference

Published on September 20, 2010 in Newsletter. 0 Comments

We are honored to welcome Dr. Boria Majumdar as a plenary speaker for the upcoming conference.

India Economic Summit 2009

Boria Majumdar, a Rhodes Scholar, is Executive Editor of the Journals, Sport in Society and Soccer and Society and General Editor of the book series, Sport in the Global Society- Contemporary Perspectives. He is the author and editor of many books which include the internationally acclaimed, Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom: A social History of Indian Cricket, 2004 and The Illustrated History of Indian Cricket, 2006, second ed, 2009. His most recent book, Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games (with Nalin Mehta) has just been published by Harper Collins, India.

Announcing Ten Time National Champion as Plenary Speaker

Published on September 19, 2010 in Newsletter. 0 Comments

Varsha Majmudar, ten time National Champion will be attending the 2011 Sports Conference as a plenary speaker.

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Varsha Majmudar has been a National Champion ten times in all in four internationally recognized sports – Table Tennis, Snooker, 9-Ball Pool, and 8-Ball Pool. She was the Indian Ladies National Champion in Table Tennis in 1987, and the Indian Ladies National Snooker Champion in 2002.

She won the Singapore Ladies National Snooker Championships from 1999-2002. She won the Singapore Ladies national 9-Ball Pool Championships from 2000-2002 in addition to the 8-Ball Pool Championships in 2002.

Varsha has represented India in Table-Tennis in various Junior and Senior level international competitions, some of the main ones being the Asian and World Championships. She was awarded the Chatrapati Shivaji award for Sports Excellence by the Maharashtra State Government.

She has represented Singapore in various international events in Snooker and Pool, most notably at The Ladies Embassy World Snooker Championships.

In addition to having played the above games, Varsha is also passionate about watching and reading about most other sports, mainly cricket and tennis.

She has also done sports commentary on ESPN-Star Sports and for different media networks in Table-Tennis, Snooker, Pool, Badminton and Tennis from 1996-2007.

Please click here to check for updates on our plenary speakers.

In Celebration of the US Open 2010 Finals

Published on September 16, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

From Fans in a Flashbulb

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Martin Munkacsi, [Delores del Rio with tennis racket], 1936

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Walter Baker, [Unidentified Man with Tennis Racket], ca. 1900

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US Open Tennis Real-Time Data Visualization

Published on September 15, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

usopen_visualizationFrom Information Aesthetics

On the heels of the many real-time sports visualizations that appeared alongside the recent FIFA soccer worldcup, the US Open Pointstream [usopen.org] presents an original 3D-like way of exploring the statistical data generated during all the live tennis matches of one of the most famous sports events in the world.

To read more…

As Stadiums Vanish, Their Debt Lives On

Published on September 8, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments
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William T. Cahill, left, the New Jersey governor in 1971, with Wellington Mara, center, the owner of the Giants. Neal Boenzi/The New York Times

From Ken Belson in the New York Times:

It’s the gift that keeps on taking. The old Giants Stadium, demolished to make way for New Meadowlands Stadium, still carries about $110 million in debt, or nearly $13 for every New Jersey resident, even though it is now a parking lot.

The financial hole was dug over decades by politicians who passed along the cost of building and fixing the stadium, and it is getting deeper. With the razing of the old stadium and the Giants and the Jets moving into their splashy new home next door, a big source of revenue to pay down the debt has shriveled.

New Jerseyans are hardly alone in paying for stadiums that no longer exist. Residents of Seattle’s King County owe more than $80 million for the Kingdome, which was razed in 2000. The story has been similar in Indianapolis and Philadelphia. In Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Memphis and Pittsburgh, residents are paying for stadiums and arenas that were abandoned by the teams they were built for.

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Recently published in the Sport and Society Journal

Published on September 7, 2010 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

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