For those keeping score at home, go ahead and add Showtime to list of companies for cord cutters to support. On an earnings call on Wednesday, CBS — parent company of Showtime — CEO Leslie Moonves stated standalone Showtime will be available in 2015 “fairly definitively.” The news was first reported by Julia Boorstin, editor of CNBC’s Media Money, and this move by Showtime is coming off the heels of a similar move by competitor HBO.

Though it may not be a hard “yes!” CBS already has a large online infrastructure in place. With their CBS All-Access (available for 5.99 per month) and free CBSN site/app that launched today, the company is clearly headed in new direction.

Be it championship boxing, 60 Minutes Sports or any of their sports documentaries, there is no shortage of quality programming for fans on Showtime. As more and more people decide to move away from dozens — if not hundreds — of unused television channels, it’s encouraging to see the content producing companies shift as well.

Once more ESPN is partnering up with esports and Major League Gaming, again at a venue for the X Games. After the successful MLG debut at this year’s June X Games where Call of Duty: Ghosts was the game, this time the showcase for esports will be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Both X Games and MLG executives were thrilled with June’s turnout and used that success to parlay this new venture. Tim Reed, senior director of X Games content strategy was quoted as saying:

We took a big step in creating a broader experience for our fans in Austin, with the new gaming event, the music festival and other interactive activities and content on site, and now we’re working to extend that to Aspen.

MLG President and co-founder Mike Sespo echoed a similar sentiment, telling ESPN

Our fan base was really electrified with the idea of having MLG competitions at the X Games and having our pro players earn X Games medals in Austin, where it was a tremendous success. We’re thrilled to announce that Austin wasn’t a one-off.

The 2015 Aspen X Games will take place from January 23-25 and will feature eight different qualified CS:GO teams. The original version of Counter-Strike debuted in 1999 as a Half-Life modification and different versions of the game have been in global competition since the early 2000’s.

After personally played CS 1.5 and 1.6 at a decently-high level, I can say I am thrilled to see CS:GO continue to gain steam. Despite being out for over two years, only recently has Global Offensive began to meet the previous high water marks in popularity of the Counter-Strike 1.5 and 1.6 — early-to-mid 2000’s — heyday.

If you plan on being in the crowd at Aspen, there is one downside: the esports section will be the only non-free admission area. The limited seating forces a premium to view CS:GO in person, however live streams will be available at MLG.tv as well as highlights on ESPN and ABC broadcasts. Tickets are currently available and the $100 price tag includes benefits such as reserved seating, a behind-the-scenes-tour and a gift bag full of MLG goodies. For a three-day weekend of live esports action, the price isn’t outlandish.

Continuing the merge of MLG and X Games events could very well continue, as Sespo told reporters

This is a dream partnership and we’ve always thought MLG and X Games would be a really good match. Austin was a very successful experiment where we learned that these sports play well together and that we can dramatically open up the audience on both sides of the partnership.

Over the years MLG has proven to be a stable platform for displaying esports to a greater population. The continued support of ESPN and the X Games will extend MLG’s reach even further.

(Header image via Piotr Drabik)

Feeling nostalgic for video games of the 1990’s? How about the 80’s? Maybe even the original 70’s games? If so, then good news everyone! The Internet Archive (IA) just expanded their Arcade section and added a wide variety of games from previous decades. The Arcade boasts over 900 different games, ranging from SEGA Champion Boxing to Champion Baseball to both Hyper Sports as well as Hyper Olympics.

Rather than requiring a download and setup of an emulator, IA runs games within your browser. The website suggests Firefox, though I didn’t come across any issues using Chrome. My fondness of baseball is no secret around these digital pages, so the first game I loaded up was Curve Ball, published three years prior to my existence.

There is a brief loading screen, but at least there aren’t any cartridges to blow into.

And it is worth the wait. Those graphics are glorious.

Each game will have different buttons on your keyboard — or use a controller, unfortunately my joystick wasn’t allowed to be used — to accomplish different things. Bunting, swinging and pitching inside or out are all various options and if using your keyboard, can be changed at will.

I didn’t come across an error in the games I explored, but IA provides the email address of their primary Operator, Jason Scott, on their website. In a blog post that went up yesterday, Scott outlines any known issues as well as thanks for every who has helped get the site up and running. Head over there and show your support by putting up a triple bogey while on the first hole of Birdie King 3. Failing that, you could always grab a Shasta, your all-Rush mix-tape and play on Saturday night.

Purchasing tickets online is nothing new, but Gametime has made the process even easier when buying from your mobile — Android or iOS only — device. The company has just update their free mobile app and now rather than refreshing a page again and again, the app now has a “pull to refresh” email style option. It’s a small change that goes a long way in terms of convenience.

Not only is it easier to search for tickets with the pull to refresh option, Gametime now shows exactly where you’ll be sitting. With a birds eye view of the stadium or a field view, you know if you’ll be up in the nosebleeds or right on the sideline.

The field view gives the section, row and seat while showing what the field/court/rink will look like from the seats you’re interested in.

The app allows purchasing up to 20 tickets per transaction and is within one second of real time availability. In an interview with VentureBeat, Chief Executive of Gametime Brad Griffith said of the updated ticket availability:

“We shifted to a video game style technology that can be immediately updated…It’s like playing a video game with another player. You have to keep it synchronized or it’s not a good experience.

Gametime currently works in 22 different cities and 60 venues. With app you can purchase tickets to NFL, MLB, NCAAF, MLS, NBA and NHL games. One downside is you’ll need a credit/debit card on file, as neither Paypal nor Venmo is currently a pay option.

Another curious quirk was the start times of certain games is wrong. After selecting Detroit as my city, it showed the Lions are playing at 8 am on Sunday, November 9. The game actually kicks off at 1 pm.

Gametime did get the University of Michigan game and the Pistons start time correct, but they were an hour early on the Michigan State game. There wasn’t a way to change your timezone, so make sure to cross check the actual game times with what is listed. After checking more Lions games, it appears as though each game time for the Detroit football team is wrong.

If you happen to find any other unusual goings on, reporting them to Gametime is as easy as shooting an email to their feedback email address or one could call or text them from 8am-11pm Pacific at their 1-800 number. Both help options are listed on their website FAQ, not in-app however.

Overall the app does exactly what it should: purchasing tickets from mobile quickly and easily, usually  without having to print them off. A small number of venues still require a paper PDF ticket but that is outside of Gametime’s control. It can certainly be a useful app for everything from a last-minute decision to go to a game or if you just need an extra ticket while on the way to the stadium.

Strava, makers of the workout app of the same name — available for free on iOS and Android — is venturing further into their client’s lives. On top of their GPS tracking, challenge-a-friend routines and viewable stats, Strava is seeking to join you up with local runners and cyclists as well.

With their Strava Metro system already in place showing where people are running or biking, the next step for the company seems to become a social app as well as a fitness one. With $18.5 million from the latest investor group, Sequoia Capital, and prior groups Sigma West and Madrone Capital Partners, Strava is seeking to bring fitness-minded people together.

In a press release, Michael Moritz, Chairman of Sequoia Capital said:

“Strava is building tomorrow’s sporting network in the manner that Facebook and LinkedIn have developed today’s social and professional networks. Even for the hapless and occasional athletes at Sequoia, Strava has become the essential and amusing way to post and compare our woeful performances and share them with friends and family,”

From using Strava Metro to map out a popular routine, to soon being able to map out a group run with similarly-conditioned strangers, Strava is aiming to becoming a social workout company. Strava already ties in with Instagram so hashtagging, taking morning sunrise pictures or anything that may catch one’s eye is quick and easy. Given the recent investment and the idea on how to use said investment, Strava CEO Mark Gainey was quoted as saying:

“Since day one we have focused on building a network that serves to motivate and entertain the world’s athletes. With Sequoia joining our team, we are better positioned to execute our mission and strengthen Strava’s leadership in digital sports.”

According to the company FAQ, Strava has collected over 300 billion GPS points and boasts over 2.5 million GPS tracked activities being uploaded each week. With funding in hand, a growing user base and a constantly expanding sample size, Strava appears to be the app of choice for many running and cycling enthusiasts.

Most everyone remembers the old “shin bone connected to the knee bone, knee bone connected to the thigh bone” song. While not exactly taught in medical school, everything in the leg is connected one way or another. And according to a recent study, calf muscles, not hamstrings may have more to do with ACL and knee injuries than previously thought.

The study was conducted by The University of Western Australia’s School of Sport Science as well as the University of Tennessee’s Exercise and Health program. The groups observed a series of Australian Rules football players each doing single leg jump landings while attempting to grab a football.

Analysts set up a series of 12-cameras to create a three-dimensional computer model of each football player’s jumping and landing. The findings surprised the researches and Assistant Professor Cyril Donnelly of UWA said:

“This was initially surprising as 30 years of clinical research has suggested the hamstring muscles were key players for supporting the knee during sporting tasks, We are not saying you don’t use your hamstrings, just not as much as we originally thought.”

The previously linked article states over 200,000 ACL injuries occur every year in the United States alone, and these numbers by the University of California, San Francisco claim approximately 70% of these injuries occur playing sports. Soccer, football, skiing and basketball being the primary sports behind ACL injuries.

Be it a figure skater coming off of a double-axel, a defender trying to head a corner kick out of his box or an outfielder leaping at the wall to rob a home run, one-leg jump landings are incredibly common in many sports. From an injury prevention standpoint or even rehabbing post-injury, perhaps we’ll begin to see trainers and medical staff focus more on the calf when dealing with ACL issues.

(Header photo via Becky Stern)

From the “8-minute abs (VHS alert!) ” to even the “7-minute abs” we have seen time become a critical factor in choosing our workouts. From jogging just every other day to maybe twice a week, to perhaps once a week, I’ve seen the ugly side of sitting at a desk firsthand. Things changed for the better last year when The New York Times launched their Scientific 7-Minute Workout app and today they released the advanced version for iOS and Android. Now between the two apps, the combined workout is still probably less than your commute to work.

The original 7-Minute Workout required only yourself, a stable chair and the wall isn’t particularly challenging, but still well worth the minimal time investment. A non-rolling chair is best suited for the required tricep dips, but if all you have is a roller then make sure to brace it against the wall.

To help guide you on your quest to workout more frequently is a voiced personal trainer. You’re able to pick either male, female or no voiceover whatsoever. Be warned, if you do opt for the trainer, your music — at least on iOS — will stop playing. It isn’t the end of the world, but I can’t remember the last time I worked out without any music to distract me.

The advanced version requires a pair of dumbbells — of whichever weight you feel comfortable to start with, you can always increase the weight as you progress — but those are something that can be found fairly cheap either online or at any sports store. The advanced workout is defined as:

“A more demanding nine-step regimen than the original 7-Minute Workout, one that requires of a couple of dumbbells but still only takes seven minutes.”

After going through both workouts this morning I can already tell I should do these more frequently. Luckily it is basically winter here in midwest, so I can rationalize and consider these extra pounds to be my hibernation weight. Both the standard 7-Minute and the Advanced 7-Minute Workouts are well worth the time. Given the accompanying price of absolutely free, I highly recommend this for anyone else who finds themselves pinned to a desk 40+ hours per week. The app won’t immediately whip you into shape — diet of course comes to play — however for less than a quarter of an hour each day, there is no reason to pass on it.

A full step-by-step workout guide is available at The New York Times link posted in the opening paragraph or by clicking here.

The wonderful folks who run the Trade Rumors websites launched their latest app today. Rather than individual apps for MLB, Hoops and NFL goings on, now all three are together in a single free download for iOS and Android users.

The welcome screen loads all three sports at once, however a simple touch of the settings button allows the user to toggle which rumors they’d prefer to see. Running all three sports took a moment to load, so I decided to parse down the content.

As a baseball fan — the only football I follow is fútbol — fan I decided to hide both Hoops and NFL news. Upon narrowing the field down to only MLB news, I added my beloved Oakland Athletics.

Rather than just teams, the minds behind the app also allow the user to add news updates for specific players. If you’re looking for news on free agents, say, Hanley Ramirez or Max Scherzer, it’s as simple as typing their name in the search field.

In addition to customizable players and teams, you’re also given the option to filter All Stories or just Top Stories within each field. It’s impossible to tell what constitutes a Top Story, so it seems prudent to leave the default All Stories on.

The free app does a perfect job of keeping people up to date on trades, signings and the like. It’s a condensed version of their full site, and that is a compliment. Trade Rumors is basically an RSS feed for whichever team or player you could want, without the need to set up a real RSS feed. Given the quality of work from the Trade Rumors people over the years, it should be no surprise to see their latest project work so well.

In addition to standard fantasy football — err, actually soccer — options such as Yahoo!, ESPN and the like, FLIP Sports offers a brand new way for Android and iOS users to participate in the biggest sport in the world. FLIP (Fantasy League In-Play) Sports doesn’t require any initial signup fees, league dues or even a multi-hour draft process to select your team. The premise of the app is to use it as a “an engaging & compelling second screen experience.”

If FLIP Sports aimed to make fantasy football/soccer easier, then it certainly succeeded. It helps to have a working knowledge of clubs and rosters, but the app is easy to navigate. After the initial download, just pick what fixture you want to play in.

Once you’ve nailed down which teams you’ll be using, it’s time to pick your lineup. I chose my team late Friday, prior to the real-life lineups being announced, so I gambled and got lucky. Unfortunately I could not tell if the app differentiates between who is in the lineup and who isn’t so I used the Forza widget to cross check lineups. There are certain options within the lineup as you can change the format from the default 2-2-1 formation to a more attacking 2-1-2 lineup. You’re also forced to choose players from both teams — a minimum of two from each club — so no stacking your lineup with all of one side. The match I picked was Arsenal vs. Hull City.

Now with a lineup in hand, it’s time to choose what type of competition you’ll be in. The app is fairly new and none of my friends had it yet, and thus private or head-to-head wasn’t an option. Off to the public league went my chosen lineup. Rather than real money, you wager FLIP Coins. It cost x many to join a public league, y for a head to head, etc. The more people playing, the bigger the pot grows, similar to poker.

As I was reading the rules, a rather annoying screen popped up several times. Despite being on Wi-Fi, the following screen was flashed on my device repeatedly. It’s still a new app, so I’m willing to bend on loading screens, but I do expect things to be cleaned up in the future.

Since one of the ideas of the app is real-time second screen viewing, the instant scoring updates on my lineup was quite nice. Everything from goals to defensive clearances to clean sheets for goalies accumulate points. Negative categories such as yellow and red cards and even things as simple as losing possession of the ball hurt you. Even with negative categories — something I’m not terribly keen on, but I understand the importance of — my team was winning the public league, at least through the first half!

The downside of being a new app shows again, as I was one of only five participants in this fixture. Presuming this app gains traction and popularity, the number of public league players will of course rise. Unfortunately, I was hit with yet another “connection interrupted” screen.

Even with the mild annoyances, I was victorious! I didn’t use the “booster” option, something that gives 2x the points for the chosen player for 10 minutes as I think it’s a bit cheesy to do so. The game stands on its own legs, no need for gimmicks.

Overall FLIP Sports is very fun, though there are some technical glitches to work through. I do hope more people join on as it’s a quick and easy way to root for players other than those on your favorite squad. It isn’t perfect for everything, but if you’re the competitive type looking for a free daily fantasy league, FLIP Sports is perfect for that.

Between esports scholarships and ESPN previously showing the Defense of the Ancients 2 — or DotA 2 — on their ESPN3 stream, the “worldwide leader” is continuing their foray into esports. Yesterday ESPN announced their intent to broadcast the League of Legends — commonly shortened to LoL — World Championship finals on ESPN3 this Sunday, October 19 at 2:30 am Eastern, 11:30 pm Pacific. The finals are being held in South Korea, almost inarguably the esports capital of the world.

The announcement came as a bit of a surprise given not even a month ago ESPN President John Skipper didn’t mince words on his thoughts on the esports as a sport debate at the Code/Media Series: New York:

“It’s not a sport — it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition…Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports.”

The signals may be getting mixed, as according to some sources, ESPN execs were “delighted” with the viewership numbers from their DotA 2 stream. While there may not be any other DotA 2 events in the near future for ESPN, it is clear the network is interested in esports.

Athletes are getting on the esports hype train too. Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz recently tweeted his affection for LoL while simultaneously challenging LeBron James. Hayward, no stranger to esports has previously mentioned StarCraft II and even joined a StarCraft II tournament.

Regardless of whether professional athletes join the ranks of professional gamers, ESPN has clearly found the previously little niche genre of esports is rapidly growing. Between the streams available on Twitch.TV, YouTube and ESPN, plenty of LoL action will be viewable this weekend. While we aren’t at the point of tailgating for esports, we’re getting awfully close. As more and more companies realize the viewership potential, ad revenue and product placement opportunities, expect the contrast between esports and sports continue to fade.
(Header image via Riot Games, makers of League of Legend)