Sports Archives - Page 19 of 20

She Runs LA. I Ran Houston.

Twenty-four hours to start and finish a 10K. Amazing, right? This coming from the girl who earlier this year clocked a painful 2:45 for the Houston Half. Twenty-four hours to run 6.21 miles? Piece. Of. Cake.

This was all part of Nike’s first ever digital race, She Runs LA.

Simply breaking down the name, here’s what it was:

She – targeted towards all women, mostly the younger variety
Runs – it’s Nike, so obviously running, that was a given
LA – suggests it took place in sunny Los Angeles, about 1600 miles from Houston, but it was more of a run where you are kind-of 10K

May 19, 2011/by Jayme

Cheerleaders for Cheerleaders?

Cheerleading

Photo Courtesy of Bill Baptist

It might sound redundant, especially on a day as important as NFL Draft Day, but there were in fact cheerleaders for the cheerleaders last night at Reliant Stadium and they were in full force.

About 15 minutes before Carolina announced the first round draft pick overall, fans gathered on the Club Level to see the 50 finalists. The smoking hot, talented and football-lovin’ girls were vying for a chance to call themselves a 2011 Texans Cheerleader.

As the girls filed down the stairs in their navy blue Soffe shorts and Texans midriffs, the fans went loco. These “fans” gathered around weren’t Texans fans, at least not for those 15 glorious minutes. They were fans decked out in custom-made shirts, bedazzled and professionally printed signs, buttons, even face paint donning contestant numbers.

May 2, 2011/by Jayme

Bring It On – Texans Cheerleader Tryouts

Cheerleading

Photos: Mike Welsch

The first thing I noticed entering the Methodist Training Center for Saturday’s Texans Cheerleader tryouts was the food. But the smell of burritos, the Tres leches staring me in the face and the lure of ice-cold Miller Lite was quickly put on the backburner as I noticed 425 of Houston’s finest women lit up in neon American Apparel dance wear complete with glitter, bedazzling and anything else you might imagine.

I’m a girl who prides myself on having no filter, not afraid of a single thing (except possibly karaoke) but I quickly realized it takes some massive ovaries to stand up in front of a hundred judges (mostly men) and show off your dance skills.

April 14, 2011/by Jayme

NFL QB’s Parallel To The Jersey Shore

Football

Jersey Shore cast

The NFL has been a staple in my life longer than My Little Ponies. Seriously. And for better or worse I tend to dwell on comparing people. I’ve been known to compare myself to my boyfriend’s exes a time or two, and it’s not a pretty site. For anyone. I’m also a big fan of train wrecks. Especially those involving Ed Hardy and other tight glittered dragon ensembles in the form of a t-shirt.

And so begins my eloquent segue comparing today’s NFL Quarterbacks to the crusty cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore (for fun, and because of my extreme dislike for the Dallas Cowboys, I’ve also made a Tony Romo parallel for each):

Pauly D. – The DJ infinitely known for his “blow out” and mass amounts of gel products. When you think of hair in the NFL, two guys should come to mind: head and shoulders spokesman Troy Polamalu of the Steelers and Patriots Quarterback, Tom Brady. Pauly D. is about as non-controversial as you can get in the shore house. He seems to be that guy everyone likes – even stalks. Tom Brady fits that to a t. He’s the ultra cool guy on the field, good passer rating (111.00 last season), great hair, and a smoking hot wife. Most people are fans of Pauly D. and Tom Brady – or at least wish they were friends with them.

Pauly D. has a tanning bed in his house. That he brags about. Talk about the douchebag meter running at ultra high levels. “Douchebag meter running at ultra high levels” should be the urban dictionary definition of Tony Romo.

April 1, 2011/by Jayme

Should I Get Grouper, Snapper or Seared Tuna?

March Madness

@cponder7 timeline

Really Christian Ponder? How about you get a clue. In response to your ill-timed tweet lacking respect and any semblance of school spirit, that’s what you should get, a clue. A clue about being a real fan. Of all people, you should know just how important fans are during every single game, especially a game with this much to lose.

March Madness is just that – Madness. Utter nonsense. Madness for your team. Madness for your bracket. It isn’t for the faint of hearts which every sports fan knows, so it should go without saying every college athlete knows too.

You Ponder, are the same guy expecting fans to throw up a tomahawk chop right after throwing an interception to end the half. You ramble on and on in press conferences about how important your fans are to your success. To the vitality of your team. But at the same moment your basketball team, your fellow Seminole athletes, who are in the midst of their first overtime game of the season, you’re more concerned with posing a question via twitter as to what kind of fish you should eat? Really Ponder? That’s the kind of man I cheer for to lead my team to a championship? That’s the kind of man I’ve been rooting for and praying gets back up on his feet after an earth-shattering sack that he should have seen coming? Not to mention during a game like this, who the hell cares what kind of fish you eat or if you eat at all?

March 26, 2011/by Jayme

A New Model for Sport’s Media – Blogs with Balls (SXSW Review)

Sports

Image adapted from Design Mind

Remember the “story” that broke on Twitter announcing Magic Johnson was buying the Jacksonville Jaguars? Well, Darren Rovell, Sports Business Reporter at CNBC remembers it well. Not long ago, someone claiming to be affiliated with ESPN radio broke the news via Twitter. Darren immediately picked up the phone and called Jaguars owner, Wayne Weaver, asking if it was true. And of course it wasn’t. Twitter and sports reporting have become the equivalent to dating rumors of the Mean Girls variety – it’s becoming increasingly hard to tell a factual report from a rumor.

Thanks to the invention of mobile apps and social networks like Twitter, virtually anyone can be a sport’s reporter these days. Blogging and podcasting have been the gateway for anyone to portray him or herself as a legitimate source and there are success stories everywhere. But hidden behind a computer and not in front of a network television camera, you start to question whether these reports come from a reputable source or a geek simply trying to see how viral their reports can get. Think of the network of journalists and bloggers like America; there are some bad cities out there that give all of us a bad name.

March 22, 2011/by Jayme

The NHL Was Not Afraid (SXSW Review)

Hockey

Image adapted from Design Mind

Music and sports are two of the most unifying and emotional forces around. Without much effort, both create an intensity every other industry craves. Put those two forces together, united with the same goal and the result is epic.

The weeklong SxSWi conference, which ended last week in Austin, was devoted to innovators from every level. Those that have stories and advice to share, as well as those trying to take in as much information possible. The Sports and Music – Perfect Harmony Panel (#SXSWSportsMusic) led by Adrian Amodeo (Marketing Director, Interscope Records), Bill Bergofin (SVP, Marketing & Creative Services, Versus), and Brian Jennings (Executive VP of Marketing, NHL) was a case study on how the relationship was created between Eminem, the Detroit native, and the NHL. This case study and similar ones have become extremely beneficial as teams, fans, and businesses alike try to connect on new levels.

March 22, 2011/by Jayme

Hometown Astros outsource creativity… out of their hometown?

Baseball

Right, wrong or indifferent, the Houston Astros have long been a team that pride themselves on being a hometown team. It’s because of that Texas flair and sense of entitlement we’ve all become accustomed to and our loyalty extends almost to a fault. It’s that unprecedented pride we feel about our barbeque, our cowboy boots and our country music…and damn sure our baseball. The Astros make a point of highlighting the Texas born and bred men they add to their roster each year as if it were a valid selling point. They beam about it in all facets of media using it to their advantage anyway they can. And like blind sheep, fans flock to these men in a Josh-We-Love-You-So-Much-Kind-Of-Hamilton-Way. Simply because they’re from Texas.

Last week, the Astros front office announced their new campaign, “We Are Your Astros”. This tagline was released in conjunction with the fact that they’d again chosen to outsource the campaign and all creative aspects to Lee Queano Creative in Torrance, CA. Having worked in sports marketing for over 5 years, and at one time specifically for the Astros, I can vouch that the creativity in most front offices is oftentimes lacking.

“This is perhaps the strongest communication we have ever created for the Astros,” the firm’s principal and chief creative director Lee Queano said. “The team belongs to the fans of Houston and this year’s campaign is supported by the continuing involvement and commitment of the Astros through countless community efforts to make the city an even better place to live,” Queano continued.

February 21, 2011/by Jayme

Dropped Balls

Football

Some dropped balls we anticipate more than others. Like the New Year’s Eve ball that drops every year at Times Square. We know it’s going to happen and so we wait for it with baited breath. Hell, we even throw parties in honor of it.

Dropped balls in football – not so much. Take Braylon Edwards (wide receiver for the New York Jets) for instance. As we all know, every time he gets the ball there’s a 50/50 chance he’s going to drop it like it’s hot. The man just can’t hold on to the ball. If you’re watching at home, then you might as well make yourself a cup of coffee, or go back to your online game at PartyCasino.it for a couple of minutes – the chances are that nothing’s going to come of his catch. Our hearts race because as much faith as we publicly profess to have in the guy on any given Sunday, the moment someone like Edwards (and every team has an “Edwards”) gets the ball, said faith is thrown out the window. When push comes to shove you just never know if he’ll hang on.

Football often reminds me of the song if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands. When the guys on our team snag a high pass or run a sick slant through a tough defense, we’re exuberant fans cheering up and down high-fiving anyone that passes by. But when that same guy, even if he’s the same guy that got the game-winning TD last week, fumbles in the red zone, he’s dead to us. At least until we get the ball back and it’s out of our systems.

December 31, 2010/by Jayme

It All Started with a Starter Jacket…

Football

When I tell people I’m from Virginia and follow that up with the fact I’m a HUGE Philadelphia Eagles fan, a perplexed look immediately swoops across their faces. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.

Newsflash: Virginia isn’t home to any NFL team and never has been. Sure, the Washington Redskins are 200 miles north, but being as that’s my dad’s favorite team and I’m the rebellious little zealot that I am, I was on the hunt to find MY perfect team. (Note: the Ravens franchise did not yet land in Baltimore as they would have possibly been another viable close-to-home option.)

In sixth grade (back in good ole 1991), Starter jackets were all the rage (it blows my mind these same once-coveted trends now clutter the clearance racks at TJ Maxx, but I digress), so rationally, like an only child I just had to have one.

December 16, 2010/by Jayme