Sports Business

Shirts and Skins

Chuck Wielgus — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:43:09 -0500

We all have our passions. Mine happens to be playing pick-up basketball, and at the age of 55, I still load up my gym bag three or four days a week and slip off to the downtown YMCA to play in the noontime pick-up basketball games. It's the same crowd you'll find in most any active YMCA gym. The ages range from the early 20s to the late 50s; the players are black, white, and Hispanic; some come into the locker room wearing shirts and ties, but most are more casual. A few have even been known to wear ankle bracelets compliments of the local criminal justice system.

Carving Out a Niche

Anni Layne Rodgers — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:41:14 -0500

Roberta Rodger is a fiery 24-year-old with a penchant for mad half pipes and backcountry powder. She's also a calculating businesswoman, plotting ambitious sales forecasts and innovative marketing ploys. But, most notably, Rodger is a woman scorned -- and she's vowed never to be disregarded again.

It's All Good

Fast Company staff — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:35:48 -0500

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today, and we don't know where the hell she is." -- Ellen DeGeneres, comedienne

It's All Good

Mark Albion — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:35:46 -0500

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today, and we don't know where the hell she is." -- Ellen DeGeneres, comedienne

The B in Business Stands for Bluff

Carleen Hawn — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:12:40 -0500

How to explain poker's latter-day revival as America's most popular sport? An estimated 60 million to 80 million Americans play the card game, more than play baseball. Poker Web sites, where amateurs convene to play for real money in cyberspace, are among the most popular on the Internet. And Bravo network's Celebrity Poker Showdown has fashioned the game into a contemporary Hollywood Squares.

The Piniella Effect

Fast Company Staff — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:09:21 -0500

Former Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager "Sweet" Lou Piniella may get tossed from a lot of games, Jeff Angus observes, but he's also consistently effective. He understands how to mine an organization for ideas that other managers overlook. And he knows how to handle hot-shot talent (but less so with the D-Rays). The result: a better record within one year of taking over a losing team.

Uniformity

Paul Lukas — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:57:05 -0500

You've probably never heard of Todd Radom. But if you're a sports fan, you've seen his work, because Radom has emerged as a leading uniform and logo designer. Those new uniforms that baseball's Washington Nationals are wearing this season? They're his doing.

Hoop Schemes

Chuck Salter — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:54:46 -0500

Mark Cuban

Owner, Dallas Mavericks | April 7, 2005 | Basketball game

It's nearly game time. As a full house at the American Airlines Center in Dallas clamors for its beloved Mavericks, Mark Cuban watches from his usual spot -- not near the court, but on the court. Nodding, clapping, bouncing, he helps Dallas reserves form the lane the starters will jog through. High five for star forward Dirk Nowitzki. High five for sharpshooter Michael Finley.

Bull-sitter

Paul Lukas — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:54:22 -0500

For geezer drunks and slumming hipster youth, the letters PBR stand for Pabst Blue Ribbon. But for a growing cadre of thrill enthusiasts, PBR means the Professional Bull Riders Inc., a rodeo offshoot that features statistics such as "buckoff percentage" and draws more than a million paying fans annually.

Driving Ambition

Chuck Salter — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:53:50 -0500

As she watched the auction unfold, Sherri Heckenast's heart was racing. She had traveled last July from Chicago to rural Kentucky with high hopes. Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway, a dirt oval track outside Paducah, was on the block. But once the bidding began, her chances looked slim.

"Going once!" called the auctioneer.

On Thin Ice

Cheryl Dahle — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:45:20 -0500

These are the conditions of Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen's current work- place: The sun shines a scant few hours a day; temperatures routinely drop below -75 degrees; the ice under their tent creaks and shifts with the currents of the ocean beneath it; when they travel, that ice can open into wide cracks, which the two must swim across in cumbersome dry suits while towing 250-pound sleds. They pack a .44 magnum revolver to guard against polar bears.

Between The Lines

Fast Company — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:44:45 -0500

In the Nick of Time?

Dealing with high-pressure deadlines is second nature to journalists. But spending three days in Athens during the run-up to this month's Olympic Games ("Time [Zone] Travelers," page 60) brought me to the brink of an anxiety attack. Everywhere I looked, people raced to complete a project -- an electric tramway, a road, a stadium, a museum renovation -- in advance of August 13 at 8 p.m. That's when the opening ceremonies will officially begin.

In Indy's Pits, It's More than Speed

Michael A. Prospero — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:44:27 -0500

You can't be in faster company than the pit crews at the Indianapolis 500. With 33 cars screaming around rain-slicked asphalt at 220 miles per hour, the only constant is change. To win the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," a racing team's pit crew needs to be as finely tuned as the car it services.

The Stuff of Athens

Jennifer Esty — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:44:02 -0500

Didn't qualify for the games this time around? Not to worry. Sporting-goods companies are bringing on a wealth of technology-powered products to help you perform like an Olympian -- or just look like one.

[1] Find your inner shark | Speedo teamed with shark researchers, Hollywood special-effects experts, and Formula One software providers to produce the Fastskin FSII, a swimsuit it says cuts drag by up to 4%. It has different fabrics, alternatively smooth and scalelike, for different parts of the body, inspired by the textures of a shark's skin.

You're Playing with My Mind!

Ian Wylie — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:51:46 -0500

I'm in Stockholm, playing Mindball. And stunningly, I'm beating Bitte Hannell, a partner of the company that hopes to turn Mindball into a gaming phenomenon. Call it beginner's luck--or evidence that I'm just really relaxed.

Mindball is a slightly surreal take on table soccer, where players move the ball with nothing but their brain waves. To compete successfully, you . . . don't compete. Just close your eyes, relax, and empty your head.

The B in Business Stands for Bluff

Carleen Hawn — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:46:57 -0500

Joe Redneck, Meet Eustace Tilly

Ryan Underwood — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:44:25 -0500

As if Red Lobster, Toys "R" Us, and the freakin' Lion King weren't crowding Times Square enough, New York now faces the very real prospect of stock-car racing. Jeff Gordon! Rusty Wallace! Burning rubber and nonstop screaming thrills! Yes, NASCAR is coming to town. At least, it wants to.

Leadership Lessons of a Rock Climber

Jim Collins — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:44:01 -0500

As an avid rock climber for more than 30 years, my whole approach to life and career has been inextricably linked with my development as a climber. I began in my early teenage years, when my stepfather signed me up for a climbing course against my will. ("I'd rather study," I whined.) At the end of the first day, however, I knew I'd discovered one of my life's burning passions. Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, I had one of the world's great climbing centers as my backyard, and some of the greatest climbers in the world as mentors.

Beane's Magic

Keith H. Hammonds — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:43:42 -0500

Back in May, in "How to Play Beane Ball," we wrote glowingly of general manager Billy Beane and his Oakland A's baseball team which, we predicted, "almost certainly will win a lot more games than it will lose this season."

Make Tracks

Bill Breen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:08:22 -0500

Even from 20 feet away, you can clearly see the claw marks. The beech tree's smooth, silvery bark is scarred with hundreds of weathered lacerations, left by black bears that scrambled high into the upper canopy for food.

Thirteen tracking students gather around the pockmarked tree. Their instructor, Paul Rezendes, pulls out a tape measure from his day pack and locates a fresh set of marks. "This is a feeding tree -- bears have been hitting this beech for many, many years," he says as he measures the marks. "Four and three-quarter inches -- that's a good-size bear.

Geronimo!

Gina Imperato — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:07:41 -0500

"Take a deep breath when you get to the door," shouts my jump master, Monica Olsen, 30. She and Jess Rodriguez, 45, another instructor, yank me off of the floor of the Twin Turbine Super Otter, which has leveled off at 15,000 feet. Staggering under the weight of my 25-pound pack, I scramble half-crouched to the open door. In 30 seconds, I will step out into the cloudless sky above California's Monterey Bay.

These Blades Were Made for Walkin'

Heath Row — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:04:12 -0500

The problem with most in-line skates is that they don't ever stop being skates. You strap them on, skate where you're going, and then change into your shoes once you get there. Hypno, an in-line-skate company based in Italy, has created what might well be the first line of in-line shoes.

The Hypno ATC4 combines a traditional soft-boot design with a detachable wheel frame. Skaters can detach the shoes' wheels in about 30 seconds and then continue walking in the lightweight boot.

Swing into Spring Training

Tom Harack — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:31 -0500

The golf careers of most weekend warriors consist of interminably long off-seasons, punctuated by summers that seem to pass by in a week. In the north, winter rain and snow render courses unplayable for months on end. Even in the Sun Belt, if one thing doesn't keep the clubs in the closet, something else does: work, family, an injury.

Play Smart

Heath Row — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:10 -0500

If it's February, then spring training must be just around the corner. So it's not too early to start thinking about the office softball league. Here are two smart plays for next season.

The Copperhead ACX is baseball's first "electric bat." It uses vibration-control technology that was originally developed for jet fighters and applies that technology to the collision between bat and ball. What's the point? By converting unwanted vibrations into small amounts of electricity, the Copperhead enlarges the sweet spot and reduces the "sting" caused by an off-center whack.

This Ain't No Ordinary Race

Todd Balf — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:59:54 -0500

Just after sunup, in the damp Connecticut woods 10 miles west of Hartford, a mass of competitors herd toward the starting line of the Hi-Tec Adventure Race. Matt Felix trails behind, wondering what in the world made him sign up for a triathlon-like endurance race in which just about the only rule is that there are no rules.

Matt is a last-minute substitute for his brother Mark's team, dubbed the Garbage Plate Gang. The team's third member, Mark Wood, abruptly disappeared 30 minutes ago.

"Where's Woody?" Matt mutters.