July 11, 2006, 7:43 PM CT

Off topic: a-la-matt

My friend Matt writes an off-topic post on soccer once in a while. He is a real soccer fan, who grew up in the wrong country. Therefore, he chose to root for an English team (Arsenal) and France (where he spent some of his life) as his national team. He often writes analogies between open source companies (mainly Alfresco lately ;-) and soccer.

Matt was the reason for me to start this blog and I like him. Unfortunately for him, he is just bad at picking soccer teams. His Arsenal was crashed in the Champions League final (nobody remembers who you beat to get there, people just remember the winner), France was crashed today in the World Cup final by Italy.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

July 1, 2006, 8:29 AM CT

The Game Theory of Penalty Kicks

As the World Cup reaches its final stages, it is likely that at least one of the remaining matches will be tied after 120 minutes and then decided in soccer's peculiar endgame: Which team can make more penalty kicks in a shootout. In 2002, Korea advanced to the semifinals after knocking off Spain on PKs. In 1998, France could never have won the tournament had it not edged Italy in PKs in a quarterfinal match. And, of course, had Roberto Baggio not shanked his PK in 1994 (YouTube), the Italians could have been world champions themselves. So the ability to make penalty kicks (and stop them if you are a keeper) is tremendously important.

For Ignacio Palacio-Huerta, that ability is the focus of an exhaustive study [PDF] that reveals how keepers and shot-takers alike deal with penalty kicks. But Palacios-Huerta, who grew up in the soccer-mad Basque region of Northern Spain, doesn't analyze player tendencies in order to help a particular team. Rather, he's an economist at Brown University whose interest in soccer has led him to write several papers about how motivations, risk, and reward influence decision-making on the pitch.

by David Goldenberg and Rachel Bialik........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

June 11, 2006, 9:00 AM CT

Ant world cup

It can't be. But in fact it is. Here you see the first World Cup played completely by ants. Japan versus Brazil.

It says the match ended in a draw, which I feel is totally unacceptable. It doesn't say what the score was, either. Shoddy journalism.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

June 11, 2006, 8:07 AM CT

Winning Items In A Claw Machine

Imagine This; You are walking out of a Wal-Mart SuperCenter and you see a claw machine. Eventhough you have 2 dollars of spare cash in your pocket, you are not the greatest of "claw machiners" in the Wild West. You decide to have some fun and a little laugh so you walk toward the claw machine. You glance around the inside the machine to look for any tresures that may catch your eye for a friend, younger family member, or girl/boy friend.

You see a number of items here and there and finally decide on several of them. You dig thru your pockets and find the two 1 dollar bills. You insert them into the dollar slot and then proceed to gripping the joystick of the game. You also notice the timer on the game has been disabled. So you have all the time in the world. You carefully get the hang of the controls and begin to approach your 1st item with the stainless steel 4 pronged claw.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

June 11, 2006, 7:28 AM CT

Urinal During World Cup Season

This is how the urinal looks in world cup soccer season.

Men are weird.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

June 10, 2006, 7:33 PM CT

New World Cup Football Will Unsettle Goalkeepers

The Adidas 'Teamgeist' football has just 14 panels - with fewer seams - making its surface 'smoother' than conventional footballs which have a 26 or 32 panel hexagon-based pattern.

This makes it aerodynamically closer to a baseball and, when hit with a slow spin, will make the ball less stable, giving it a more unpredictable trajectory in flight.

"With a very low spin rate, which occasionally happens in football, the panel pattern can have a big influence on the trajectory of the ball and make it more unpredictable for a goalkeeper," said Dr Ken Bray, a sports scientist at the University of Bath and author of the new popular science book How to score - science and the beautiful game.

"Because the Teamgeist ball has just 14 panels it is aerodynamically more similar to the baseball which only has two panels.

"In baseball, pitchers often throw a 'curve ball' which is similar to a swerving free kick and the rotating seam disrupts the air flow around the ball in much the same way as a football does.

"Occasionally though, pitchers will throw a 'knuckleball' which bobs about randomly in flight and is very disconcerting for batters.

"It happens because pitchers throw the ball with very little spin and as the ball rotates lazily in the air, the seam disrupts the air flow around the ball at certain points on the surface, causing an unpredictable deflection.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

June 9, 2006, 0:20 AM CT

Young Footballers Playing In New Boots

As the World Cup kicks off, doctors in this week's BMJ report an unusual condition that can develop in budding young footballers.

They describe two cases of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) in children after playing football in new boots. Both developed friction blisters over their Achilles tendons. The blisters contained Staphylococcus aureus, which in one case was found to express the toxic shock syndrome gene (TSS1).

In the first case, a 13-year-old girl developed friction blisters over both heels after playing a competitive game of football in new boots. She was admitted to her local hospital after developing a range of symptoms including fever, rash, abnormally low blood pressure (hypotension), vomiting and diarrhoea.

Further examination revealed a blister, 2cm in diameter, over each of her Achilles tendons containing the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with the toxic shock syndrome gene (TSS1). A diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome was made and she was treated with antibiotics.

In the second case, a healthy 11-year-old boy played football in a new pair of boots, causing a blister on his right heel. Over the next two days he developed fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, and a rash.

Within hours of admission to hospital, his condition deteriorated and his blood pressure fell. Again, pus from the blister on his heel contained Staphylococcus aureus. He also developed a secondary rash during convalescence.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

May 31, 2006, 8:26 PM CT

England Drinking Hat

Imagine what it would be like to watch a football world cup match without you enjoying a drink...... won't be great fun, for sure! But, you don't have to miss even a single kick to get yourself a drink, all you need to do is to go on wearing this England Drinking Hat, all the while, showering your support on your team.

So, you can now clap or whistle or show your excitement in any way you want without your hands occupied with your drink! And, on another thought, you will stand-out uniquely amongst the crowd!! The drinking hat sells for just £8.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

May 6, 2006, 8:34 PM CT

Crockey

Crockey, as per the eponymous Wikipedia, is a baseball-like game in which everyone has a bat. The field is marked as illustrated. In addition, "there is the Crock" - "a regular softball encased in foam padding and wrapped in several layers of duct tape. A Nerf-type foam is typically used to pad the ball, and this is accomplished by slicing the foam ball in half, coring it to the size of the softball, and reassembling it around the softball with duct tape." (hence, our junktropic interest). On the only other Crockey-specific site I could find, I also learned the following:

"Crockey is much like volleyball or tennis. The ball is propelled back and forth across the midlines by each team. Each player may use a bat and other methods to propel the ball. If a team fails to return the ball to the other side, the other team scores one point".

and "In the game of crockey, having fun is the primary object. Winning is secondary, so let the younger players have a chance to have fun. Rotating gives every player a chance to play a different position".

Crockey bears all the marks of true, Junk-enabled fun. Hence, we hereby grant the title of Junkmaster to the game's inventors, Joshua and Josiah Inman of Seaman, Ohio. We thank you, Junkmasters Joshua and Josiah, for this gift of junkly fun.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

May 6, 2006, 8:31 PM CT

Top 100 prospects for the 2007 NFL draft

With the 2006 NFL draft in the rearview mirror, it's time to forge ahead and analyze the next crop of top collegiate prospects positioning themselves for a run at the next level. The following is an in-depth look at the top 32 seniors to watch for 2007.

1. Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame: Quinn enters next season nearly as strong a favorite to be drafted No. 1 overall as Reggie Bush was this time last year. The Irish quarterback has the prototype combination of size, arm and the intelligence scouts are looking for. He enters his senior season already Notre Dame's career leader in passing yardage (8,336) and touchdowns passes (58).........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

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