Oregon Baseball And Nike Unveil New Uniforms

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon and Nike unveiled the 2009 Oregon baseball uniforms at a press conference today inside the Autzen Stadium Endzone Terrace Room.

The Ducks are returning to the diamond in 2009 for the first time in 28 years, led by head coach George Horton.

The new uniforms epitomize the tradition of Oregon baseball, but also reflect the innovation that Nike and the University of Oregon are known for. Like uniforms for other Oregon sports programs, the Ducks new baseball uniforms are designed for performance as well as style, with the ultimate goal to remove any distractions so an athlete can perform to its full potential.

“Nike is excited that baseball is back at the University of Oregon and honored to design these unique uniforms for the baseball team,” said Todd Van Horne, Nike Inc.’s Creative Director. “Nike is proud to continue supporting the University of Oregon and their athletics program.”

The weight of the new uniforms are 33% lighter than a traditional baseball uniform, feature customized tailoring specifically for baseball players and positions, and also the latest technology for warming, cooling and drying.

The baseball uniform is fitted and the stretch fabric eliminates bulk on the athlete. Also, to enhance mobility, Nike incorporated freedom of movement in both the shoulders and knees of the uniform.

“I would like to thank Nike for being able to create an incredible functional and aesthetically pleasing uniform,” Horton said. “Nike really hit a grand slam. We are very excited to wear these uniforms and represent this great University.”

The uniforms are now available at most retailers including The Duck Store and Nike retail stores.

A close look at the gray pinstripe reveals that the pinstripes are made with the words of the Oregon fight song.

The jerseys also use a unique “Ducks” script created by Nike for the Oregon baseball program.

Prior to the start of Saturday’s football game with Stanford, the Oregon baseball team will be available in the Moshofsky Center beginning at 10 .am., for a meet-and-greet and autograph session with fans. In addition, there will also be games for kids as fans get their first up-close look at the new uniforms.

The Oregon baseball team will also be introduced to the Autzen crowd during the football game on Saturday.

The University of Oregon reinstated baseball in July of 2007 and that fall hired College World Series championship skipper and two-time National Coach of the Year George Horton.

Recently the 2008-09 Oregon baseball recruiting class received two top-10 honors by collegiate baseball publications.

The Ducks received the No. 2 ranking in the nation by Collegiate Baseball’s annual evaluation in September, and were ranked 10th in the nation by Baseball America’s evaluation of NCAA Division I baseball classes in October.

The Ducks will play their first game in 28 years on Friday, Feb. 20 at Saint Mary’s. Oregon will then christen PK Park, hosting defending College World Series champion Fresno State on Friday, Feb. 27 in Eugene.

The BCS Question No One Is Asking

This post is from SportsBiz guest blogger Lake The Posts:

ESPN is reportedly the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) sweepstakes winner as FOX respectfully bowed out of the bidding process yesterday.

Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal reported the "Worldwide Leader" has offered the BCS $500 million for four years beginning in 2011. This trumps the existing $330 million four-year Fox deal by $40million per year. Most college football pundits are asking " how will ESPN change the BCS (while network CFOs must be asking "what economic downturn")? I'm asking why no one is asking why the NCAA let go of this cash cow franchise?

College football is under the jurisdiction of the NCAA along with every other sanctioned varsity college sport. Yet, the Division I college football postseason is under the jurisdiction of 11 NCAA Division I conference commissioners, Notre Dame's athletic director and a presidential oversight committee (comprised of the likes of Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn State, and Oregon to name a few) simply known to the masses as the BCS. It must be all about the money, right? Why is it, then, Myles Brand's NCAA team is fit to run point for a March Madness that fetches approximately $400 Million per YEAR in CBS rights fees alone, more than the entire Fox BCS contract?

Perhaps President-elect and hoops junkie, Barack Obama can convene a special investigation. Oh yeah, he's already jokingly threatened to misuse taxpayer's dollars by doing so. In fairness, Republican Mike Simpson (Idaho) co-sponsored a bill to do just that; investigate the BCS and it garnered support from both sides of the aisle including Democrat Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii), before their constituents balked.

No doubt, the co-sponsors shared a common bond of BCS slights in the past, but it appears it will take a Boise State-esque miracle against the Oklahoma-esque incumbents to hit paydirt for a college football playoff. Even the ironically named Knight Commission (it is named for its founders John & James Knight, NOT Myles Brand's nemesis Bobby Knight), a non-profit panel of collegiate influencers, has recommended the only way to minimize the widening gap of profit "haves" versus "have nots" is to return jurisdiction to the NCAA.

The eye-popping offer by ESPN only exacerbates the power of the most enigmatic decision-making braintrust in major sports. They're so smart, they have created a brand that essentially has a target-less head as the point person is given a powerless title (BCS Coordinator) and rotated every two years (ACC Commissioner, John Swofford is the current coordinator).

If you're mad at the NFL you take it out on Roger Goodell, if you're ticked at the NBA, David Stern gets the darts, but if you want to gripe about the BCS, most fans don't even know where to target their angst. Have no fear college football fans, in just three years, when the ESPN cross-platform content machine starts cranking out BCS propaganda, we will have Bob Ley and "Outside the Lines" to serve the public and ask the question that no one is asking.

Lake The Posts is an anonymous site dedicated to die-hard Northwestern football fans. The name pays homage to the pre-Barnett era Cats, whose rare wins were marked by ripping down the goal posts, marching them down Central Street and tossing them into Lake Michigan (a feat known as "laking"). You can find the blog at www.laketheposts.com.

How Astronauts Stay Fit, On and Off the Planet

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN.com/health

(CNN) -- Being in space is like being Superman every day, says Clay Anderson, a NASA astronaut from Omaha, Nebraska. At the international space station, where he spent five months last year, he flew to breakfast, work and the bathroom.

But floating around in zero-G can have some serious consequences for the human body, NASA's experts have learned, including the weakening of bones. In fact, studies have shown that space travelers can lose 1 to 2 percent of their bone mass each month on average, according to NASA.

One way that astronauts have been fighting bone loss is through strength training. And they're getting some help with a new machine delivered this week by the shuttle Endeavour, which docked with the international space station on Sunday.

The advanced Resistive Exercise Device, aRED for short, functions like a weight machine in a gym on Earth, except it has no conventional weights. Instead, it has vacuum cylinders -- canisters with air that have had a vacuum applied -- that provide concentric workloads up to 600 pounds, NASA says.

The device works somewhat like a bicycle pump, only in reverse, said Mark Guilliams, a NASA trainer. For example, if you are squatting, the vacuum gets pulled out as you stand up, and when you squat back down, the vacuum pulls the bar back to the normal position.

Between the vacuum cans and the bar, there are small flywheels that spin in opposite directions, creating an artificial gravity when someone lifts the bar.

Astronauts can do upper and lower-body exercises, such as squats, dead lift, heel raises, bicep curls and bench press on the device, NASA said.

"In the movie, the 'Transformers,' it looks like one of those things that unfolds into some kind of big monster," Anderson said. "It's huge."

The existing exercise device on the space station has a mechanism that more closely resembles a rubber band. The farther you pull the rubber band, the more force you generate, Guilliams said. The limitations of this device made it somewhat boring, Anderson said.

The new device will allow astronauts do many more kinds of exercises than the old one. The tradeoff is its larger size, Anderson said. It will be in use almost constantly during the day, assuming astronauts work out about two hours a day each, he said.

The international space station also is equipped with a treadmill and a bicycle, Guilliams said.

So what's the difference between exercising on Earth and working out on the international space station?

"When you run outside on Earth, you've got 195 pounds smacking against the pavement every time you take a step," said Anderson, who weighs 195 pounds on Earth. "In zero gravity, you're trying to use bungees to hold you down."

The treadmill has clip harnesses to hold an astronaut down, such that the fewer clips used, the more force acts around the legs, making running more difficult, he said.

Using the previous exercise device on the space station wasn't so different from a cable machine in a weight room on Earth, he said.

"Instead of lifting a big piece of iron, you're basically pulling against a gear or a can," he said. "I think they were very similar in terms of feel."

Both before and after space travel, astronauts go through the same kinds of exercises familiar to athletes and others who exercise on Earth, Guilliams said -- aerobic activity such as running, and weight training. Astronauts training for a flight have scheduled exercise time two or three times a week for two hours each session, but in unscheduled time, they'll go for a run, he said.

But people who want to leave the planet must be in really great shape, right?

Guilliams says that's not the case -- as long as a person is healthy and has no cardiovascular problems, he or she can, in theory, can become a NASA astronaut, even if out of shape.

For Anderson, who played football in college and has been athletic for much of his life, space travel was "physically easy." Space walks did get fatiguing because they required him to use his forearms, hands and upper body, which don't get much exercise on Earth.

"On Earth, you tend to use your big muscle group, and in space you tend to use your smaller muscle group, especially on a space walk when you use your forearms and your hands almost exclusively," he said.

Anderson lost only 4 percent of his body mass in his 152 days off the planet, compared with the expected 12 to 16 percent, he said. He also exercised for two-and-a-half hours a day for 151 out of the 152 days, he said.

Returning to Earth on the shuttle Discovery last November, Anderson walked off the orbiter with a little assistance, and it only took him about 24 hours to walk and stand normally again.

He credits this speedy recovery to his frequent use of the exercise equipment on the space station.

Combating bone loss is one of the challenges that the space program has, especially given the goal of a mission to Mars.

An ongoing study is measuring how much astronauts who stay on board the international space station eat and exercise, Anderson said. The experiment will determine what kinds of dietary supplements astronauts should take in addition to the food they eat, and also the appropriate level and type of exercise they should get, he said.

"I think they're making some good strides in figuring out how to keep people healthy on a six- to nine-month trip to Mars," he said, although experts are still a long way away from figuring out the bone loss issue for a round-trip journey of about two years.

Athletic Fuel

by Susan Kundrat, MS, RD, CSSD

Daily Training Recommendations:

· Eat a big breakfast, lean, high-carbohydrate lunch, and small snack after school to prepare for afternoon practices.

· Drink extra liquids during the day to “boost” fluid stores for workouts.

· Use salt and eat salty foods during the day to help prevent cramping and enhance hydration.

· Get in a high-carbohydrate snack with a little protein within 30 minutes of every workout to boost muscle recovery.

· Eat a high-carbohydrate dinner with at least 1 good serving of quality protein to refuel energy stores.

· Take in a good snack before bed to continue to boost recovery.

Baseball Off-Season Questions Part I

I want to gain size and strength this winter for the upcoming baseball season. What do you recommend?


There are two goals of an off-season weight training program:

1. Aid in the preventiopn of injury to the shoulder, elbow, hips, legs, and trunk.

2. Develop a stronger and more durable athlete by increasing overall strength.


Weight training is a small piece of the puzzle when talking about the development of an off-season program. Flexibility, speed, agility, power, conditioning, balance, stability, mobility and coordination are all important in the development of the total baseball player.


You should train the entire muscle structure of the body as safe as possible. Stronger muscles produce more force, which allows the player to play stronger. A comprehensive program concentrates on increasing overall strength with emphasis on the shoulder complex, torso, hips and legs. Do not concentrate on over developing the muscles of the chest with excessive pressing movements. The upper body lifts should concentrate on the muscles of the back and posterior areas of the shoulder. Remember that the majority of the injuries in baseball are shoulder (rotator cuff and labrum), elbow, core, and hip related. Concentrate on improving strength in these areas during your training.


Be consistent with your training, add weight progressively, and make sure that you incorporate post-workout stretching. Follow a good nutritional plan that will provide you the required number of calories to feed the muscles and help with recovery. Train hard, but smart.

Today's Quotes

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will"

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.;

"They call it coaching but it is teaching. You do not just tell them... you show them the reasons."

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commtment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."

Vince Lombardi

Study Finds Ballet Dancers Fitter than International Swimmers

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2008) — As Mark Foster swaps his swimming trunks for his dancing shoes on the BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing, results of a study from the University of Hertfordshire have just revealed that the overall fitness of ballet dancers is greater than that of international swimmers.

The work, led by Professor Tim Watson and Dr Andrew Garrett, involved comparing members of the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet School with a squad of British National and International Swimmers, including members of the Olympic squad.

The investigation looked at a range of ‘fitness’ testing including strength, endurance, balance, flexibility and psychological state amongst others, enabling an individual ‘fitness profile’ to be constructed.

Of the ten most important measures of fitness employed, the ballet dancers had stronger scores in seven of them when taking into account body size. Ballet dancers were some 25% stronger when tested for grip strength for example.

"The results reveal the very different physical make-up of the two types of athletes" commented Professor Watson “and when it comes to training and recovery from injury, it is critical to know precisely the fitness profile needed by the participant in any physical activity.

“The individuals fitness training must cater for the varying demands of their ‘performance’ and should an injury occur, the treatment and rehabilitation that takes place must match the demands that they are going to put on their body when they return – or else further injury is highly likely.”

The full results were announced on October 23 during the University of Hertfordshire’s Health and Human Sciences Research Institute Showcase week which ran from 21-24 October at the University’s de Havilland campus.


University of Hertfordshire (2008, October 27). Ballet Dancers Are Fitter Than International Swimmers

Bob Alejo back as A's Strength Coach

OAKLAND -- Bob Alejo, best known for his ties to former A's slugger and current free-agent first baseman Jason Giambi, was hired Tuesday for a second tour of duty as Oakland's strength and conditioning coach.

The A's last month announced that they would not be renewing the contract of Clarence Cockrell, who had been the club's strength coach for seven seasons. Cockrell had replaced Alejo, who held the same post with Oakland from 1993-2001.

In a statement released by the team's public relations staff, the A's said Alejo will be responsible for all aspects of the organization's year-round conditioning program at both the Major and Minor League levels.

Alejo spent the past four years as the director of strength and conditioning at UC Santa Barbara, and he was a member of the United States Olympic Team in 2008 as the strength and conditioning coach for the men's beach volleyball team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, which won gold in Beijing.

Before joining the A's in 1993, Alejo was strength and conditioning coach for Chico State's football team and later moved to UCLA as an assistant conditioning coach for all sports except football.

When Giambi signed with the Yankees after the '01 season, he hired Alejo away from Oakland to serve as his personal trainer. Giambi admitted to investigators in the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs that he used steroids, but Alejo was never implicated in the case, and he's never been mentioned in connection with steroids.

The addition of Alejo surely will lead to speculation that the A's are interested in bringing back Giambi. Oakland's brass has a policy against publicly discussing free-agent pursuits. The Yankees announced Tuesday that they will not pick up Giambi's option for 2009.

Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.