Where I?ve Trained, What I?ve Learned

An early adopter of CrossFit, Russell Greene shares lessons from his first decade of training.

As CrossFit has expanded, finding a fully equipped CrossFit gym has become much easier. During our recent honeymoon in Maine, my wife and I found ourselves running into CrossFit gyms by accident. It was a major contrast from when I started CrossFit in 2002.

Back then, there was only one CrossFit gym, and it was 3,000 miles away. I would estimate that I was one of the first people to try the Crossfit.com WODs in a Globo Gym. From this position, I am in awe of the growth that CrossFit has seen. I can’t help but find myself a little bit jealous of people who can start their first day of training with a full stock of equipment and a CrossFit trainer. These people have staggering potential to improve their fitness when they start in such an environment.

As I look back on my training history, I hope that one day no one will have to go through the hassles I have endured in working to improve fitness. As with all difficulties, however, we are strengthened by the challenges that we face in getting our training done in non-supportive environments. In this spirit, I’ll examine several places I have trained and share something I learned in each place. It’s the story of where I have worked out and how those places have made me who I am today.

Diora Baird Laura Prepon Ashley Scott Michelle Behennah Julie Benz

Coaching the Backflip

“It’s just amazing how CrossFit teaches you this foundation that you could develop into different sports, gymnastics included,” Jason Khalipa says.

Join the 2009 Games champion and coach Carl Paoli, a trainer at San Francisco CrossFit and owner of Naka Athletics, for another look at the backflip. In the video Jason Khalipa Learns the Backflip, Paoli coached Khalipa through his first backflip. Today, Paoli breaks down the movement into progressions:

1. Jump
2. Jump on box
3. Knees through elbows
4. Harness (or shoulder roll)

After the progressions, they discuss how to improve Khalipa’s backflip for power and efficiency. Paoli identifies the Olympic lifts as the most relevant to the backflip. More than “raw strength” lifts like the deadlift and back squat, Olympic lifts translate directly because they are more about speed generated by moving through a full range of motion.

The hollow-body position is crucial.

“I feel like I’m catching a big sandbag, and that’s really hard for me to control,” Paoli says when spotting an athlete without a well-developed hollow position. “Where this improves is during warm-up.”

Paoli continues with progressions on the mats for gyms without the specialized gymnastics equipment, and he demonstrates how to spot an athlete in each progression. Khalipa then uses Paoli’s instruction to coach his own athlete through the progressions.

26min 02sec

Additional reading: The Russian’s Gymnastics Warm-Up by Leo Soubbotine, published Nov. 21, 2009.

Carla Gugino Ana Hickmann Mischa Barton Jamie Lynn Sigler Stacy Keibler

SWOLF: Improving Swimming Efficiency and Power

Swimming is as much about efficiency as it is about power output. More efficient swimmers are able to swim faster while using less strokes per lap. One way to calculate a swimmer’s efficiency is to find his or her swimming golf or “SWOLF” score. The SWOLF score combines a swimmer’s 25-yard swim time with the number of strokes he or she takes.

In this video, the CrossFit Endurance team takes a group of athletes through four 25-yard swims where they try to improve their SWOLF score on each swim. CrossFit Endurance coach Brian Nabeta says there are several ways to get a better score, but the ultimate goal is simply to go faster while using less strokes.

8min 21sec

Additional Video: Yards: Swimming With Champions by Sevan Matossian, published March 9, 2010.

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Did a routine post-TD salute really cost K-State a Pinstripe comeback?

Syracuse 36, Kansas State 34. All things considered, Kansas State and Syracuse probably gave us the most entertaining game of a tepid bowl season this afternoon, across the board. The offenses combined for 70 points, 888 total yards and four second half lead changes. Syracuse running back Delone Carter and receiver Marcus Sales delivered career performances, racking up 371 yards and five touchdowns between them. Neither team turned the ball over. There were at least two hilarious moments involving officials, and at least one player suffered a minor injury while over-enthusiastically celebrating a minor success.

[Related: Wild ending to college bowl game]

In the end, Syracuse left the stadium with its eighth victory of the season, doubling the Orange's best effort in the win column since 2004. (That would be Yankee Stadium, by the way, hosting its first postseason game since 1962, on the heels of a blizzard.) All of which was immediately overshadowed on Kansas State receiver Adrian Hilburn's 30-yard touchdown reception to bring the Wildcats within a two-point conversion of tying the game with 1:24 on the clock, when Hilburn's post-touchdown salute was met with the most dubious flag of the postseason, at least:

The touchdown stood, but instead of attempting a two-point conversion to tie from the Syracuse three-yard line, the Wildcats were forced into a longshot heave from the 'Cuse 18 and, when that (predictably) failed, a desperation onside kick. That failed, too, allowing Syracuse to run the clock out on its biggest win in nearly a decade.

Is it the worst call of the year? In technical terms, probably not, since it can be conceivably justified by the rule book as a player drawing attention to himself. (The Wildcats might get a "clarification" from the bowl or the Big Ten, which supplied the crew for the game, but almost certainly not the mea culpa the SEC issued last year after a bogus celebration call against Georgia.) In practical terms, coming against a senior who didn't taunt his opponent, throw the ball into the crowd or break into any sort of elaborate dance after taking in his second career touchdown in the most crucial moment of probably the biggest stage of his life, it has to be up there. And for its immediate impact on the outcome, I'm inclined to give it the title.

[Related: NFL player's 'respectful' f-bomb]

In the meantime, Syracuse fans should enjoy the victory, unless they're the type of fan who responds to this sort of thing by saying "act like you've been there before," in which case I imagine they find it difficult to enjoy anything. But even the over-legislated "No Fun League" thinks the guy who threw that flag is a self-important killjoy. Let 'em play, and occasionally salute.

[Update, 8:26 a.m. ET, 12/31] If you started listing the counter-examples of similar salutes (and worse) that aren't flagged – beginning with Tennessee's repeated post-touchdown salutes in Thursday night's Music City Bowl loss to North Carolina, another controversial finish overseen by Big Ten officials – you'd never stop. But Hilburn didn't even have to think outside of this game to call out the inconsistency:

"I really don't agree with the call. My teammates are backing me on the call," a distraught Hilburn said afterward. "I saw our opponent throw up diamond signs after they score a touchdown and now I give a salute? What's that? Respecting our soldiers? It hurts.

"I know we're kind of on their turf and I shouldn't have done it but I still don't think that was a good call."

I'm not sure I believe that "our soldiers" were anywhere in Hilburn's mind during the touchdown, but the guy has a point: If you're going to nitpick, at least be consistent enough about it that players know what to expect.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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The Diamond Head Classic is a litmus test for five mystery teams

For a tournament that features only one ranked team and suffers from its title game being held on Christmas Day, this week's Diamond Head Classic should provide some particularly compelling basketball.

The top five teams in the field have all circled this tournament as a final chance to earn much-needed marquee wins before conference play begins.

Favorite Baylor enters this tournament 7-1 and ranked No. 15 in the nation, yet the Bears' loss to Gonzaga in Dallas last week was alarming because the Zags are the first opponent they've faced with a pulse.

ACC contender Florida State is in a similar predicament to Baylor, having piled up nine wins against nobody of consequence yet losing both previous non-conference tests to Florida and Ohio State. 

Butler arrives in Hawaii even more desperate for wins because this represents the Bulldogs' final chance to defeat a quality non-conference opponent and revive their sagging at-large hopes. 

Mississippi State at least has conference play to build its resume, but the SEC West favorites currently have no memorable wins, two awful losses and a 31-point drubbing at the hands of previously struggling Virginia Tech.

And finally, improved Washington State needs another big win or two to put alongside its victory over Gonzaga and strengthen its NCAA tournament hopes entering the start of Pac-10 play.

The biggest key for all five of these teams is to avoid a quarterfinal loss, so they don't wind up in the consolation bracket against middling opponents who will only drag down their RPIs win or lose. Baylor should have little trouble with hapless San Diego, but the other three opening-round games carry more intrigue with Butler facing Utah, Florida State meeting host Hawaii and Washington State and Mississippi State squaring off against one-another.

If someone forced me to make a prediction on how this tournament unfolds, I think Baylor's formidable frontcourt and Florida State's defensive prowess should be enough to carry their respective teams to the title game on Christmas night.

No matter what happens, however, we'll emerge with a clearer picture of where all five of these teams stand entering conference play.  

Brody Dalle Taryn Manning Nikki Cox Carla Gugino Ana Hickmann

SEALFIT Part 1

Leave your tights, weightlifting shoes and iPods at the door. In this camp, your name doesn’t go on the whiteboard. It goes on your plain white T-shirt.

This is SEALFIT’s Kokoro Camp.

“The training we give is really the hardest training outside of any military organization in the world,” says SEALFIT founder Mark Divine.

On the line to accept that challenge are CrossFitters including Mikko Salo, Kristan Clever, Rob Orlando, Tommy Hackenbruck, Caity Henniger, Jimi Letchford and original firebreather Greg Amundson.

“We do today what others won’t,” Divine says.

“We do tomorrow what others can’t,” his trainees answer.

7min 36sec

Additional reading: Full Mission Profile by Robert Ord, published March 1, 2009.

Monica Potter Brittany Snow Lauren German Cindy Crawford Mariah OBrien

Who's for real in Conference USA?

Is this a one-bid league? Could it garner three, or even four dance tickets? Those determinations won't grow themselves out for another few weeks, but we at The Dagger wanted to take a look at the ultimate tweener conference.

And it's a situation right now that hasn't been picked apart by too many people, so allow us to display some evidence and come to a few conclusions that will surely be laughable by the time the calendar gets taken off the wall. More than anything, we've got some time to do some amateur-hour evaluating this week, so indulge us, K? Consider this an in-season, in-case-you-missed-it primer of sorts.

The primary question is, just how deep is C-USA, and will Memphis be challenged, or even struggle, en route to winning the regular-season conference title? Just like last year, when UTEP went 15-1, the answer appears to be yes. And this is still sort of alien for this assortment of Conference USA teams-prior to UTEP's 2010 run, the Tigers had won the league every season since massive realignment sent Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida to the Big East.

As of Tuesday, the conference had seven teams with two losses or less (Central Florida was the only one without a loss still standing) and was ranked eighth by KenPom.com, one spot ahead of the Atlantic 10, which was expected to produce three or four NCAA tournament-worthy teams.

Let's look at Memphis (7-1) first. The Tigers haven't yet shown they're as good as expected. Plenty of time left, but Josh Pastner's not fully using all the tools at his disposal. To be fair, some of those tools have faulted him. Freshman Jelan Kendrick was booted off the team last month; veteran Angel Garcia left for overseas play this week.

The Tigers don't rank in the top 40 in any of the four factors-three of the four teams mentioned below do in one or two categories - and in its most recent game, against Kansas, showed not one, not two, but a few signs why it's unlikely to be elite this year. In 2006, 2007, 2008, the Tigers were clearly a level above the rest of C-USA.

So what about Central Florida (8-0)? You can point to the Dec. 1 win against Florida as a reason why UCF should be taken seriously. The Knights have hovered around .500 the past three seasons, so while it's fair to wait to see more from this team, like if it can win with a target on its back, you can't deny the athletic ability and shooting rate from it. Donnie Jones' group protects the tin and attacks it at elite levels, shooting 57.6 percent from the floor in effective field goal percentage and holding opponents to 38.7 percent.

Doubt them if you'd like, but that disparity is eye-popping, no matter the quality of collective foes.

Due to being senior-laden and returning so much statistical help from 2009-10, Southern Miss (7-1) was expected to be a legitimate contender, and so far signs are ... undecided. The only loss came against Ole Miss, a road game. Best win? At Cal. This team rebounds the ball offensively really well, and with three prominent players at 6-8 or taller leading the team, that number shouldn't dip. It should learn to put a hand in a passing lane, though; only six teams steal the ball less frequently than the Golden Eagles. On the heels of its only three-game road trip of the season, the best is yet to come.

Will Mike Davis ever earn respect? His 7-2 UAB team has two losses by a combined five points to Arizona State and Georgia. The best win was a neutral-court one against Arkansas. Jamarr Sanders and Aaron Johnson aren't the most effective scorers right now, but they're factoring into the team the most. The Blazers get a road game at Duke Jan. 5 before conference play begins. Does that make or break the spirit of that team? This has been a schizophrenic group in the past.

We'll close up shop with UTEP (6-2), which has the preseason Player of the Year pick in Randy Culpepper. The problem with Culpepper is, while he's a great highlight reel, he doesn't lift the team around him. And there isn't too much on this roster to like, offensively. When a team averages more than 70 possessions per game, as UTEP does, that's not a fruitful combination. Last year's C-USA Coach of the Year, Tony Barbee, is now at Auburn. No Derrick Caracter and Arnett Moultrie this season has also caused some visible erosion.

Plus, The Miners have a non-D-I team planted right in the middle of their schedule (Western New Mexico on Dec. 28), and that can only anger the hoops gods. They won't contend at the top of the league, but the possibility of being a spoiler exists.

Monica Keena Anne Marie Kortright Paige Butcher

A line-by-line review of Frank Martin's epic press conference

Frank Martin Postgame Press Conference @ Yahoo! Video

Frank Martin's postgame news conference after Kansas State's 63-59 loss to UNLV on Tuesday night was one of the better eruptions by an aggravated college basketball coach that we've seen in years. 

In honor of Martin's hilarious reaction to the loss and the suspension of Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly, let's go line by line through a partial transcript and break down what he said and what he really meant.

Q. Is Rodney (McGruder) OK?

FM: Part of playing sports. You get hit, you bleed a little bit.

Translation: You kidding me? It's just a broken tooth. Not like he lost a limb or something.

Q. Frank I know you said you guys weren't going to expand on the statement.

FM. So why are you asking?

Q. I'm not asking about it. How emotional --

FM. I'm not speaking about people that are not here today.

Translation: In case you can't tell by the perma-scowl on my face, I'm really, really mad tonight. Like found my wife in bed with the pool boy mad. Ask about Curtis Kelly and Jacob Pullen again at your own risk.

  

Q. Frank, did Rodney lose a tooth?

FM: I got no idea. I broke my nose three times. It's part of playing sports. He'll be all right.

Translation: The tooth thing again? It's nothing some super glue wouldn't fix. How about we talk about that opportunity to draw a key second-half charge he missed?

Q. How do you think you guys responded to being shorthanded?

FM. We lost. Obviously not good enough. We're not about losing here. We're not about playing hard and coming up close and moral victories. That's not what we built our program about. We lost, so it wasn't good enough.

Translation: How did we respond? We missed 12 free throws, committed 23 turnovers and lost to a team that shot 38 percent. Did you not hear me through the wall of our locker room when I was tearing our players a new one? How do you think we responded?

Q. Any hints of the leadership without those guys on the court?

A. You guys are trying to get under my skin today, aren't you? I've been pretty respectful of the media my whole career. I don't want to hear anything else about leadership about anyone other than the guys on the basketball court. I do not want you to refer any questions again about anybody who was not dressed and in uniform here today

Translation: One more question and I'll go Rampage Jackson on all you guys. Don't think I won't.

Q: Did you feel like there were a couple of times in this game you guys could have broken when you got down nine?

FM: We're immature. Somewhere along the line our guys think you can win basketball games without passing the basketball. Six assists, 23 turnovers. And all 23 are just nonchalant, non-aggressive turnovers. It was frustrating to watch.

Yeah, we battled and we fought and we clawed and that was nice. And yeah, we clapped and we hugged, but now we cut it to one and we've got them on their heels and they've got a baseline drive, a dead charge and Rodney gets out of the way (for a) three-point play. That's not a winning play.

Translation: If you guys aren't going to bring up the charge Rodney missed, I'll do it myself. Do I have to do everything around here?

Q: Have you ever faced a challenge like this as an assistant or a coach?

FM: You remember my first year when all you guys thought I was a moron and had no idea what I was doing? When I lost my AD halfway through the year? That was a little bit harder.

Translation: You new around here? Next question.

Q. What do you like about your backcourt right now?

FM: <four second pause> That they're good kids. 

Translation: I've been ranting up here for five minutes about our lack of poise, lack of leadership and lack of identity, and you're going to ask me that now? I really need a vacation.  

Uma Thurman Alice Dodd Kate Walsh Autumn Reeser Camilla Belle

Finding and Developing Your Handstand Push-Up: Part 2

Join gymnast Carl Paoli, Kim Bozman and HQ trainer Adrian (Boz) Bozman as they teach handstand fundamentals by applying gymnastics to elite CrossFit skills.

In the first installment of this series, Paoli developed a handstand using hollow-body-position, headstand, and modified handstand-push-up progressions. Today we continue to learn how to apply gymnastics skills to the handstand with more challenging progressions that will eventually bring us to ring handstand push-ups.

In Part 1, Paoli emphasizes the stability and strength of facing the wall in a handstand push-up. According to Paoli, the poor position that results from a handstand with your back against the wall “puts a ceiling on your performance immediately.” The face-to-wall handstand better mimics a freestanding handstand, especially for balance. Watch as Paoli and Boz use progressions to develop a face-to-wall handstand push-up.

In Part 2, Paoli goes back to the headstand to start working toward a freestanding handstand push-up. Using Boz as his model, he develops a kipping handstand push-up. Although the kipping version is useful for developing balance, awareness and basic strength, it isn’t the end point. According to Boz, “You don’t want to use this as a crutch for not developing the upper-body strength to be able to do them strict ... .”

In Part 3, Paoli teaches the ring handstand push-up. According to Paoli, you can set yourself up for greater success just by learning how to get into the movement properly. Through progressions, Paoli develops this elite skill that challenged even top athletes at the 2010 CrossFit Games.

Part 1: 6min 06sec
Part 2: 3min 59sec
Part 3: 7min 23sec

Additional reading: The Freestanding Handstand Push-Up by Roger Harrell, published June 1, 2006.

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CrossFit Radio Episode 149

On Episode 149 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Greg Amundson, creator of the Greg Amundson CrossFit Goal Setting Seminar. Also featured on the show was Zach Even-Esh, who is an affiliate owner in New Jersey. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010.

1:25 Justin gave a product review of Samson Rings made by CrossFit affiliate owner Nick Massie.

6:30 Original firebreather Greg Amundson started training with Greg Glassman in the early days of CrossFit and has used his experiences since that time to create the powerful Greg Amundson CrossFit Goal Setting Seminar. Greg came on the show to explain how a CrossFitter would benefit from the seminar, and he defined what a goal actually is. By following the steps he outlines in his seminar, Greg believes one will see improvements in his or her performance. Greg also talked about how the knowledge gained from the seminar will carry over into other aspects of a CrossFitter’s life.

38:10 Justin issued a WOD challenge where the winner will receive a CrossFit Radio T-shirt.

40:50 Zach Even-Esh has built his affiliate, Underground Strength Gym, around training high-school and college athletes. He specializes in wrestlers but has had success with athletes from a variety of sports. Zach came on the show to talk about the difference between programming for athletes who are in season vs. those who are in their off season. Zach described how important general physical preparedness is to athletes, and he explained how having young athletes specialize can actually be detrimental to their progress in the long run.

1hr 14min 12sec

Melissa Joan Hart Bianca Kajlich Giulianna Ramirez Ashley Greene April Scott

Happy Birthday, JoePa

Eighty-four years old today and kicking in preparation for Penn State's Outback Bowl date with Florida on Jan. 1.

For the record, no, he doesn't mind if you combine his birthday present with his Christmas present. He thinks it's a little cheap, but he doesn't mind. And just in case you were headed down the obvious path, yes, the living room is still rocking the Burt Cooper Asian motif. And yes, it's still working just fine for him, thanks.

Samantha Mumba Busy Philipps Thora Birch Jennifer Garner Poppy Montgomery

Welcome, Ralph Friedgen and friends, to the Discarded Coaches' Club

To the surprise of no one, Maryland confirmed coach Ralph Friedgen's exit this afternoon, drawing the curtain on a solid decade at his alma mater. He'll coach the Terps in their Military Bowl date with East Carolina next week, after which the school will terminate his contract, pay the remaining $2 million for the remaining year and begin its pursuit of Friedgen's presumed successor, Mike Leach, in earnest.

Presumably, first-year athletic director Kevin Anderson would have set Friedgen adrift if he'd had the chance last year, when Maryland could at least chalk his exit up to "What have you done for me lately?" in the wake of a 2-10 debacle that sucked any sense of optimism or progress out of the air. This year, though, he has done something for the Terps lately: The team rebounded to 8-4, and Friedgen was voted the ACC's Coach of the Year. Of the 14 coaches who have ever left a job immediately after winning their conference's coach of the year award, he's the first who was fired.

This year, though, he's not alone. Just up the road, Pittsburgh dumped Dave Wannstedt, and West Virginia effectively fired Bill Stewart with 365 days notice, both of them coming off their third consecutive winning season. (Technically, though UConn earned the Big East's automatic bid to the BCS, the Panthers and Mountaineers also shared the conference championship.) Combined, Friedgen, Stewart and Wannstedt are 143-92 (.609) over 19 years with 12 winning seasons, six top-25 finishes and three conference titles – at Maryland, West Virginia and Pitt.

How many coaches get the guillotine with a conference championship and a .600 winning percentage to their name? Enough to fill a small graveyard every decade or so. By my count, Friedgen, Wannstedt and Stewart following eight other … let's say, questionable terminations in the BCS era:

• John Cooper, Ohio State (Final season: 8-4 in 2000). Before he was a punchline for his lame record against Michigan, Cooper was an architect of a string of first-rate, national championship-caliber squads from 1995-98 that always managed to spit the bit in one fashion or another. The Buckeyes slipped to 6-6 in 1999, and a rebound to 8-4 in 2000 couldn't save him.

• R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M (Final season: 6-6 in 2002). The Aggies won four straight Southwest Conference titles under Slocum from 1991-94, and staked an early claim in the Big 12 with a South Division title in 1997; they stunned No. 1 Kansas State for the conference championship a year later. Four years after that, Slocum got the boot for finishing three straight seasons outside the top 25, on the heels of resurgent powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas.

• Frank Solich, Nebraska (Final season: 9-3 in 2003). The other Oklahoma/Texas victim. Solich, hand-picked successor to Tom Osborne's 'Husker dynasty, had a Big 12 title to his name in 1999, and a trip to the de facto BCS championship game in 2001. He rebounded from a 7-7 collapse in 2002 to win nine in 2003, but there was no patience in Lincoln for Alamo Bowls.

• Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse (Final season: 6-6, Big East co-champs in 2004). Pasqualoni's resumé over 15 years included seven top-25 finishes, at least a share of four Big East championships and only one losing season, in 2002. Three years of stagnation got him fired in '04, but after four years under Greg "Gerg" Robinson, stagnation never looked so good.

• Gary Barnett, Colorado (Final season: 7-5, Big 12 North champs in 2005). Barnett was done in by a renegade program as much as his record, though it didn't hurt that his last team lost its last three games by a combined score of 130-22, including a 70-3 humiliation at the hands of Rose Bowl-bound Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. In the big picture, though, Barnett – fresh off his miracle-working stint at Northwestern in the mid-nineties – ended CU's decade-plus title drought with a Big 12 championship in 2001, the first of four North Division crowns in five years.

• Larry Coker, Miami (Final season: 7-6 in 2006). Coker is the rare coach fired after delivering a national championship, in 2001, and he almost brought the U another one in 2002, if not for the overtime Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State that snapped a 24-game win streak to kick off his head coaching career. It was downhill from there, but there was still another Big East championship, BCS berth and top-five finish in 2003, before the walls started to crumble around him in the transition to the ACC.

• Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee (Final season: 5-7 in 2008). Fulmer is the only other BCS-winning coach later thrown to the dogs, and only a year removed from an SEC East title in 2007 – the Vols' third surprise trip to the conference championship game since 2001. The final collapse in '08 was only the final straw in a long pattern of diminishing returns.

• Tommy Tuberville, Auburn (Final season: 5-7 in 2008). Tubs' ouster a few weeks later was more abrupt: Since surviving an attempted coup in 2003, he'd taken the Tigers to four straight top-15 finishes in the final polls and a 13-0, SEC championship run in 2004 that would have ended in a BCS title shot in almost any other season. His murky exit still makes a lot more sense as a resignation.

The lesson: Old bulls get a short leash when boosters start to grumble and attendance starts to slip. The other lesson: Be careful what you ask for – five of the eight successors to the coaches on this list were fired themselves within five years, and another (Lane Kiffin at Tennessee) bailed on a depleted roster after just one. The new must replace the old, but it doesn't always amount to progress.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Ohio State Moves to 13-0 With 60-Point Rout

Filed under: Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Lucky for Ohio State coach Thad Matta that he didn't have to predict how good his team would be so far this season.

"If you would have put a gun to my head before the season started -- 13-0, yes or no? -- I don't know if I could have told you that we [would]," he said Monday night after hig second-ranked Buckeyes romped to a 100-40 victory over Tennessee-Martin.

William Buford scored the first seven points of the game and came out of an offensive funk to finish with 23 as the Buckeyes tuned up for their Big Ten opener on New Year's Eve at Indiana.

"I'm glad we went 13-0 in the non-conference," Buford said after hitting 9 of 11 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 3-pointers, and adding five assists and four rebounds in 23 minutes. "We just want to stay hungry and get ready for the Big Ten."

Deshaun Thomas chipped in with 20 points, Jared Sullinger had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and David Lighty and Dallas Lauderdale scored 10 points apiece for the Buckeyes (13-0), one of eight remaining Division I unbeatens. They are off to the fourth-best start in the program's 112 seasons.

It was the ninth-biggest victory margin in Ohio State history.

Thomas hit two free throws in the final minute to allow the Buckeyes to hit triple digits.

"I knocked them down for the crowd. They got hyped after that," he said. "Every team likes to shoot for 100 points. We came in, we were just ready to come down and blow the team out. We wanted to get 100."

Ohio State took a 12-0 lead after the opening 3 minutes, then scored the first 18 points of the second half.

Reuben Clayton had 13 points for the Skyhawks (4-9), coming off a 4-25 mark a year ago and picked to finish last in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.

The Skyhawks hit just 17 of 63 shots from the field (27 percent) while the Buckeyes were 41 of 70 (59 percent). Ohio State also had a 49-28 edge on the boards and forced 19 turnovers while committing just nine.

"I thought we'd play a little better," coach Jason James said. "Obviously, they're as good as they get in the whole country. I thought we'd come out and compete a little bit better. I don't think you ever expect to get beat by 60."

Matta moved to 97-2 against unranked teams at home and 90-17 against non-conference opponents in his seven years at Ohio State.

Ahead 49-17 at the half, Ohio State poured it on in the opening 5&frac12; minutes of the second half, going on an 18-0 run before Terence Smith ended the drought with a short jumper.

UT Martin fell to 0-9 against the Big Ten and 0-2 against Ohio State.

Buford, the Buckeyes' second-leading scorer a year ago, had gotten off to a slow start this season. His shooting percentages overall, on 3-pointers and at the line were all down and he was averaging 12.5 points -- down from 14.4 points as a sophomore.

He had worked after practice the past few days to try to regain his touch.

"Will's one of those guys who gets stronger as the season goes on," Matta said. "I was on him the other day for shooting 29 percent from 3-point range. The work he has put in in the last 48 hours, it's great to see as a coach. You always love to see guys who work really hard. And he's been taking a ton of shots after practice. That was good to see him play well tonight."

Buford said the extra shooting paid off.

"Absolutely. I had my legs under me today," he said. "I was just focused in on if I had good looks, just take them and knock them down."

But he made sure that he and the Buckeyes got off to a quick start. Buford hit a jumper from the right corner to open the scoring, then made a breakaway layup and popped in a 3-pointer to make it 7-0 after the first 1:06.

Sullinger then scored the next five points as the Buckeyes led 12-0. The Skyhawks didn't get on the board until Terence Smith's runner from just inside the free-throw line fell in at the 16:46 mark.

The Skyhawks, a young team chocked with freshmen, must try to build on the little things.

"It's very difficult to find positives," James said. "I think we only missed one or two free throws [they were 2 for 3], so we'll try to build on that."

Former Ohio State center Greg Oden, who led the Buckeyes to the national championship game, sat courtside. He received a lengthy standing ovation when a montage of highlights from his one year at Ohio State were played.

Buford said it was a thrill to see the big man, now on crutches while coming back from microfracture knee surgery, sitting across from the team bench.

"We see him here," Buford said. "You can't miss him."

 

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Finding Where You?re Supposed to Be

“There is a place where your talents meet the needs of the world, and when you go to that point, that’s where you are supposed to be,” says Lacey Dean, a member of CrossFit Boston.

With her son off to the Air Force Academy, Dean decided she wanted to be an officer in the U.S. Army. However, in officer testing she realized her lack of physical fitness was holding her back. At 39 years old, she would have to get stronger, faster and fitter to keep up with the other new recruits.

That’s when she found CrossFit Boston.

“When every single person who’s at the pinnacle of fitness for where you want to be is saying, ‘Go to CrossFit,’ I had to look into CrossFit,” Dean says.

Welcomed into the CrossFit community, Dean found a new home. She admits that she started weak as a kitten but has continuously seen her strength and ability ramp up. The score on her physical fitness test for officer school improved from 213 to 296 just a year later—and 296 is only four points from a perfect score. She even introduced CrossFit to her son, who is now a member of the affiliate at the academy.

“Sometimes you just know. You just know where you’re supposed to be,” Dean says.

6min 50sec

Video by Again Faster.

Additional reading: Validity of CrossFit Tested by Greg Glassman, published Jan. 1, 2006.

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Rating the Little Caesars Bowl: Come for the pepperoni, stay for FIU's bowl debut

Bowls: There are a lot of them. As a public service, the Doc is here to rank each game according to five crucial criteria, with help from the patron saint of the game in question. Today: The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl!

Teams. Florida International Golden Panthers (6-6) vs. Toledo Rockets (8-4).
Particulars. Dec. 26 (Today), 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Favorite: Toledo (–1½)
Patron Saint: Imp. Caesar Flavius Valentinianus, commonly known as Valentinian II, acclaimed augustus (emperor) in 375 at the age of four years old. The title was bestowed upon the death of his father, emperor Valentinian I, by generals who feared the rise of the boy's older half-brother, Gratian. Amid the political pandemonium that followed the death of Valentinian I and later his brother, Valens – killed at the hands of the Goths in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, widely considered the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire – the empire was effectively split in half when control in the east was assumed by another general, Theodosius. Valentinian II was forced in 583 to accede the northern territories of the Western Empire to another general, Magnus Maximus, and governed as an ineffectual puppet until 392, when he was found hanged – possibly at the behest of his Frankish general, Arbogast, who maintained de facto rule in the South – at the age of 21.

• Locale. In contrast to the old Silverdome, Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium or the Vet in Philadelphia – virtual paragons of no-frills, ACL-shredding discomfort – Ford Field's classy, glassy exterior marks it as a pioneer in the rise of athletic arena as hotel lobby meeting room, a beacon of aggressively neutral, Starbucks-inspired, faux upscale, brick-facaded suburban plush. Like a bookstore where a football game just so happen to beak out. And you don't have to cheer, you know. Just enjoy the game at your own pace and if you feel compelled to get a little rowdy, well, then, it's appreciated, as long as maintained within designated zones and appropriate levels of enthusiasm and other patrons' enjoyment of Josh Groban during timeouts is not impeded. But seriously, man, no pressure.

    More 2010 Bowl Ratings
  • Dec. 17: New Mexico Bowl
  • Dec. 18: Humanitarian Bowl
  • Dec. 18: New Orleans Bowl
  • Dec. 22: Maaco Bowl Las Vegas
  • Dec. 23: Poinsettia Bowl
  • Dec. 24: Hawaii Bowl

• Tradition. You may recognize the Pizza Bowl as the Motor City Bowl, jointly sponsored by Detroit's "Big Three" automakers from 1998 to 2007, before the onset of economic recession nearly destroyed the domestic car industry in 2008. Chrylser was replaced at the last minute in '08 by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights; General Motors pulled out last year under bankruptcy. Into the breach stepped Motown Mike Ilitch, founder of Little Caesars Pizza, who parlayed his pepperoni fortune into redevelopment efforts in downtown Detroit and ownership of three of the city's four major pro sports teams.

The only one of the "Big Three" that remains on board: Ford, which refused the government bailout that kept its competitors afloat in late 2008 and just turned in the most profitable third quarter in the company's 107-year history ($1.69 billion), its sixth straight quarter in the black. Still, 50 points if you can name either of the teams that played in the game last year*.

• Swag. The best part of playing here: The gifts are on the nice end of boring. Players will come away with a watch, a leather duffel bag, a commemorative football and a mysterious "gift suite" that (and this is only a guess) probably does not include a new 4Runner. The only disappointment: The Pizza Bowl somehow isn't giving broke college kids coupons for free pizza.

• Sponsors, trophies and other ambiance. For the past two months, Little Caesars has orchestrated the "Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Instant Win Game and Sweepstakes," probably the most elaborate "bowl challenge" promotion in postseason history. The upshot is a "Squares" contest during tonight's game, in which contestants whose assigned squares intersect with the last digits of each team's score at the end of each quarter tonight will be entered into a random drawing for free tickets and airfare to the Rose Bowl (first quarter), Orange Bowl (second quarter), Sugar Bowl (third quarter) and BCS Championship Game (final score).

That's the bait. The hook: A "special in-store product promotion" to be broadcast to those anxious, pizza-loving contestants during the game.

• This year's match-up. Florida International earned its first ever bowl appearance by taking the Sun Belt championship at 6-2 in-conference; on the other side, Toledo rolled to a 7-1 mark in the MAC, falling only to West Division overlord Northern Illinois. Their combined record outside of the two meekest conferences in the FBS: 1-7.

At least the non-conference failures came in the process of daring greatly against respectable competition: Six of those seven losses came at the hands of "Big Six" foes, including bowl-bound Texas A&M, Maryland and Pittsburgh (all early winners over FIU) and Arizona and Boise State (which both scored blowouts over Toledo). Then again, the Panthers and Rockets also suffered defeat at the hands of 4-8 Florida Atlantic and 3-9 Wyoming, respectively, so you can take those records at face value.

• Star power. The postage highlight reel will likely be a duel of two of the most productive all-purpose types in the country, undersized receiver/return men Eric Page (Toledo) and T.Y. Hilton (FIU). Page led the nation with three kickoff returns for touchdowns and tied for the national lead with seven plays covering at least 50 yards, on top of 1,000-yard campaign as a receiver that included six 100-yard games and at least one touchdown in each of the last five.

Hilton was right behind him on all fronts, especially after an explosive November that included 863 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns over the course of the Panthers' conference-clinching, four-game winning streak over Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State.

Final rating: out of five.
Even with a conference champion matched up against an eight-game winner, this is arguably the least attractive selection of the entire 35-bowl lineup – the Panthers and Rockets combined to go 2-6 over opponents that finished with winning records, beating Ohio and Troy. That might put it ahead of the New Orleans Bowl, but only if it produces the equivalent of Will Goggans' amazing beard.

- - -
* Marshall defeated Ohio, 21-17.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Roundtable in Tahoe: Multiple Competition Season

With some of CrossFit’s top athletes in Lake Tahoe, Calif., for the Rogue Vs. Again Faster Throwdown, it was a great opportunity to put the athletes into a room and get them talking with the cameras rolling.

In our second installment, the athletes discuss the evolution of CrossFit into a professional sport. Austin Malleolo brings up the possibility of a CrossFit Games circuit of multiple competitions throughout the year, and the competitors discuss the likelihood of professional CrossFit athletes being created—and if they even want that.

To some, the training aspect of a year-long competition season seems daunting.

“I don’t know that I could do the Games training all the time ... . That would eat me up,” says Heather Bergeron.

Pat Barber emphasizes that the road to become a professional athlete won’t be easy.

“There’s a very big difference between CrossFit the sport and CrossFit.com,” he says.

“The reality is we’re all specialists at CrossFit,” Chris Spealler says to the room full of Games competitors.

So where will specializing in CrossFit take them?

9min 48sec

Additional reading: The Story Behind the Rogue vs. Again Faster Throwdown.

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Marcin Gortat is Unhappy with the Phoenix Suns Lack of Defense

Marcin Gortat: “I came from a team where everybody’s competing and trying, doing the stuff that Coach is saying … there’s a lot of work in front of us. The positive thing is it can’t be worse … There are so many things that we are doing bad … It’s just frustrating, frustrating as hell. [...]

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Fitness Is � Potential

Greg Glassman asked the question, “What is fitness?” Blair Morrison offers some of his own thoughts to help you discover what fitness means to you.

What is fitness?

The question is one of the foundations of the CrossFit program, and asking it will make you reconsider just about everything you know about training. In answering it, Greg Glassman created a new way of training and a new way of thinking about health and human performance. He also got people thinking and answering the question for themselves.

In the first installment of this multi-part series, two-time CrossFit Games competitor Blair Morrison talks about what fitness is to him.

In Part 1, Morrison suggests that we all have the potential to be something more than we are at present, and we owe it to ourselves to realize that potential through hard work.

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Superlatives: The sharpest turning points of 2010

Revisiting the best (and worst) of the season. Today: The year's most abrupt one-eighties.

5. Iowa's long November. Some late season streaks (in both directions) come with the schedule: Arizona took a 7-1 record into the meat of the Pac-10 slate, and emerged at 7-5 after consecutive losses to Stanford, USC and Oregon; Tennessee started the final month as 2-6 wreck beaten down by the toughest September-October schedule in the country, and ended it with four straight wins over the dregs to secure a bowl game. With Iowa, though, it was a bona fide collapse.

At Halloween, the Hawkeyes were 6-2 with late, skin-of-the-teeth losses to a pair of top-15 outfits, Arizona and Wisconsin, and coming off a 37-6 shellacking of undefeated Michigan State that left them in the thick of a four-way knot for the right to the Rose Bowl. On paper, the only obstacle to the conference championship was Ohio State, which came to Iowa City on Nov. 20. Instead, Iowa came within a dropped pass of blowing a layup in an 18-13 win at Indiana, was upset by Northwestern in Evanston, blew a fourth quarter lead against the Buckeyes and closed the year with a humiliating loss at the hands of lame duck Minnesota. The Hawkeyes averaged 34 points per game over their first eight, to just 19 points over the last four, only one of which came against a top-50 defense.

More 2010 Superlatives
• Dec. 8: Best Upsets
• Dec. 11: Most Overachieving Teams
• Dec. 13: Most Overachieving Players
• Dec. 15: Most Underachieving Players

4. UConn gets greedy. Halfway through the season, the Huskies were 3-4 with bad losses to Temple, Rutgers and Louisville, a 26-0 debacle that seemed to confirm UConn as the Big East's resident bottom dweller after an 0-2 start. The Husky defense had forced exactly one turnover in the four losses, and the giveaway/takeaway margin stood at zero for the year.

On Oct. 29, they recovered four West Virginia fumbles in an overtime upset over the Mountaineers, and it was on: Altogether, UConn forced 17 turnovers over the course of their five-game winning streak to close year, while giving up only five – good enough to send the Huskies on to the Fiesta Bowl as Big East champs despite being outgained by 86 yards per game and nearly a full yard per play in conference games.

3. Taylor Martinez sprains his ankle. It was a footnote in the second half of Nebraska's 31-17 rout over 7-0 Missouri to seize control of the Big 12 North: Cornhusker quarterback Taylor Martinez, one of the breakout stars of the first half of the season, was forced out of the game with a sprained ankle in the third quarter. The offense did nothing in his absence, but the 'Huskers were comfortably in front, and Martinez was expected to be back the following Saturday at Iowa State.

But he didn't play in Ames, a 31-30 overtime escape, and clearly wasn't all the way back in a lackluster win over Kansas or the subsequent 9-6 loss at Texas A&M, in which the 'Huskers didn't score an offensive touchdown. Martinez didn't play in the season-ending blowout over Colorado, and could only hobble through an uninspiring effort in Nebraska's Big 12 Championship loss to Oklahoma, a 23-20 defeat that dropped the 'Huskers from the Fiesta Bowl to a return trip to the Holiday Bowl to play a 6-6 team they beat by five touchdowns in September.

Before the injury against Mizzou, Martinez had 886 yards rushing on 7.9 yards per carry, 14 carries covering at least 20 yards and 12 touchdowns, with another nine TDs passing. After the injury, he had 56 yards on the ground in three games, with a long gain of 18 and zero touchdowns as a runner or passer.

2. Texas A&M goes with Plan B. One of the beneficiaries of Martinez's slide was the A&M defense, which nearly held Nebraska off the board en route to a signature win on Nov. 20. But the Aggies' turnaround from fazing, 3-3 also-ran to Cotton Bowl-bound, division co-champs began with the offense – specifically, the decision to replace senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson with converted receiver Ryan Tannehill and the simultaneous emergence of tailback Cyrus Gray in place of the injured Christine Michael.

A&M exploded out of a three-game losing streak with 45 points in each of its back-to-back wins over Kansas and Texas Tech, hung 33 on Oklahoma in a sit-up-and-notice upset in College Station, and ripped Baylor for 42 in Waco, with Tannehill combining for over 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns (to three interceptions) in those four wins. The passing game cooled off against Nebraska and Texas, but Gray didn't, churning out six straight 100-yard efforts with 10 touchdowns as the Aggies tore through the second half of the schedule. He capped the run with a 223-yard, two-touchdown outburst in Austin that pushed him over 1,000 yards for the season – only six weeks after Gray came out of the skid with 11 carries for 7 yards to his name in those three games.

And thus does Mike Sherman remain securely employed.

1. Notre Dame goes out swinging. Brian Kelly's first season in South Bend isn't going to be remembered as a smashing success – both of his predecessors, Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham, took similarly mediocre outfits to top-five rankings and Jan. 1 bowl game in their debuts – but it's a borderline miracle that it wasn't worse. Much, much worse. At the end of October, in fact, it might have been as bleak as it's ever been: The Irish had just dropped back-to-back games to Navy and Tulsa to fall to 4-5, lost their starting quarterback for the season and were burdened by the dual distractions of a student death on the practice field and lingering allegations of sexual assault in connection to a suicide earlier in the season.

Heading into the Nov. 6 bye week, with 8-0 Utah and annual overlord USC rounding out the stretch run, a bowl game was out of the question. Only the indignity of a tooth-and-nail struggle against Army remained.

But the Irish didn't struggle against Army, or against Utah, dropping both by a combined score of 55-6. The 20-16 win over USC in the finale snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Trojans, sealed Notre Dame's first winning season since 2006 and, more importantly, moved ND to 3-0 in November – the month that ultimately brought down Charlie Weis. At Halloween 2008, Notre Dame was 5-2; it went on to lose four of its last five, punctuated by a humiliating loss to Syracuse in the home finale and the token pounding at USC in back-to-back weeks. In 2009, the Irish went into the final month sitting at 6-2, and proceeded to drop four straight, including home losses to UConn and Navy.

Kelly's first team, by contrast, started November in the throes of utter chaos – on and off the field – and responded by notching the program's first win over a ranked team in almost four years, then by breaking the bonds of the most one-sided major rivalry in the country. For beleaguered Irish fans, 7-5 with a trip to the Sun Bowl looks about as good as it ever has.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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CrossFit Radio Episode 151

On Episode 151 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed Chad Wittman, an executive with Reebok, and CrossFit HQ’s Director of Business Development, Jimi Letchford, along with his wife, Madeline. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010.

3:15 Chad Wittman is an executive with Reebok and has been instrumental in establishing its affiliate, Reebok CrossFit One. Chad came on the show to talk about the relationship between Reebok and CrossFit. He explained why Reebok is so interested in CrossFit and how he thinks each will benefit the other. Chad also talked about the CrossFit community and how important it is for Reebok to do all they can to help that community. Chad spoke about having an affiliate at Reebok corporate headquarters and explained the differences it has made in the working environment.

26:15 Jimi Letchford is the Director of Business Development for CrossFit. He explained what his job entails and what he’s currently doing to grow CrossFit, and he spoke about the relationship with Reebok. Jimi’s wife, Madeline, has been doing a lot of work to make the CrossFit Sports Series a success. She joined Jimi to talk about why the Sport Series is important to CrossFit and the community. Together, they described the events that have already taken place, highlighted the events that are set up for the near future, and explained how CrossFitters can get involved.

54min 50sec

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sun, dec 26th, 2010

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Renardo Sidney, Elgin Bailey, Miss. State Players Suspended for Fight in Stands

Filed under: Mississippi State

Two Mississippi State players, Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey were suspended indefinitely after a fistfight Friday in the stands at the Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

Both players were sent home Friday on separate planes and will at least miss Saturday's game against Hawaii and a game against St. Mary's in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Additionally, after Sidney tweeted ""Haha, keep hating people am loving it...," Scott Stricklin, athletic director at Mississippi State, warned MSU's basketball team to stop posting "inappropriate" messages on the social networking website regarding the altercation. If the guideline is not followed, players were told that they would not be allowed to tweet all together.

Just before a second round game of the Diamond Head Classic -- a game that featured Hawai'i and Utah -- on Thursday night, Sidney and Bailey were caught on tape throwing punches at one another before the altercation was broken up by teammates.

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Video of the Fight Between Renardo Sidney, Elgin Bailey

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It Changed My Life: Deborah Scarborough

“I love it. It’s a life-changer. It’s the best thing in the world,” says Deborah Scarborough, a restaurant owner, chef and member of CrossFit Inferno.

Deborah came to CrossFit Inferno for its Transformation Challenge and stayed for the athleticism CrossFit has produced in her. She participated in the challenge and saw amazing results in just two months of eating Paleo combined with three to four CrossFit workouts per week.

Just shy of 50 years old, Deborah has lost 14 lb. and has had a major body-composition change clearly visible from her before and after photos. But it’s not only the body change that has her smiling.

“You just feel better,” she says.

What transformation has CrossFit helped you achieve?

6min 49sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 137 by Justin Judkins, published Sept. 15, 2010.

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Irish won't be fighting across the border on Brian Kelly's watch

I don't know if Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is a fan of journalist Charles Bowden's dogged, illuminating work on the subject, but you don't exactly have to be plugged into humanitarian reading lists at this point to know that Juarez, Mexico, is probably the last place on earth you want to find yourself. The city just counted its 3,000th murder of 2010, making this the deadliest year in its already bloody history. It is not the place to make a quick hop for tequila with the locals.

Kelly knows this. But just in case any of the testosterone-fueled adolescents under his watch during this week's stay in El Paso for Notre Dame's upcoming Sun Bowl date with Miami happen to get a little adventurous so close to the border, he's taken the extra step of confiscating their traveling papers. Per the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

Kelly is also making sure there is no chance his players will wander into Juarez, Mexico, which is plagued by drug-related murders, by taking their passports.

"That's serious. Don't go over the border, or you may not come back, simply," Kelly said. "Now I know El Paso is the safest city in the country, but it’s serious. This isn't, 'Hey, let's give it a shot, guys, and jump in the car and see what it’s like.' You can’t go there, or nobody is going to be able to help you. There’s just been too much turmoil. … You take the passports, they can't get back. These guys are smart enough to know that."

The Journal Gazette also published travel tips from U.S. Border and Customs Protection, which reminds fans of both teams that "there are a number of border crossing requirements they need to be aware before venturing across the international boundary," by which it really means "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN IF YOU CROSS THAT LINE, COWBOY."

Kelly's right, though, El Paso is totally safe. Maybe the teams can make it up to the missile range while they're in town?

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Hat tip: SBN.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Annie T. at CFNE

Annie Thorisdottir, the second-place finisher at the 2010 CrossFit Games, has come back to the States, where cameras caught her working out and sharing training secrets at CrossFit New England.

“Every week, I’m getting stronger, and I can feel it,” Thorisdottir says. “I’m always seeing progress, which is good. I’m just waiting for the point where I’m going to get stuck.”

Since the Games, Thorisdottir has become an HQ trainer who teaches Level 1 certifications, and her bootcamp has become a CrossFit affiliate. As an athlete, she’s working on her own strength and technique with lifting. She films her movement so she and her coach can analyze it, find weaknesses and make corrections.

“Definitely just going through everything again and again makes me think about it more when I’m doing stuff,” she says. “I’m getting, definitely getting, better as an athlete, teaching it and seeing the faults,” Thorisdottir says.

Video by Again Faster.

8min 05sec

Additional video: Video Interview: Annie Thorisdottir, published Aug. 23, 2010.

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Rating the New Mexico Bowl: A homemade trophy, a pickaxe and other enchantments

Bowl games: There are a lot of them. As a public service, the Doc is here to rank each game according to six crucial criteria, with help from the patron saint of the game in question. Today: The New Mexico Bowl!

Who: BYU Cougars (6-6) vs. UTEP Miners (6-6).
When: Dec. 18 (Saturday), 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Patron Saint: Fictional Albuquerque chemistry teacher turned cancer survivor and large-scale methamphetamine manufacturer Walter White, also known as "Heisenberg."

• Locale. The University of New Mexico's aptly-named University Stadium opened in 1960 with a UNM rout of the National University of Mexico (as is nature's way, the new must triumph o'er the old) and seats a little over 38,600. Outsiders probably like to think of it as an Enchantingly dusty field replete with Enchanting tumbleweeds and the occasional Enchanting outbreak of typhoid or something, but in fact University has hosted international soccer matches, concerts by the Rolling Stones and Metallica and, in1979-80, a I-AA bowl game known as the "Zia Bowl," named for the nearby Zia Pueblo north of the city.
Rating:

• Tradition. The first two New Mexico bowls held true to the event's founding vision of shameless regional patronage, featuring the homestanding Lobos against WAC foes San Jose State and Nevada, respectively, in 2006 and 2007. With UNM falling on harder times in 2008, the game branched out to invite Mountain West rivals Colorado State and Wyoming, respectively, each of which left with an upset win over Fresno State. With two 6-6 outfits squaring off to avoid a losing season again this year, only three of the ten teams to appear in the game (San Jose State in 2006, Fresno State in 2008-09) have entered with a winning record.
Rating:

• Swag. Along with an electronic "gift suite" (contents unspecified) and an array of Oakley gear, players will receive a commemorative pen and a New Mexico Bowl Christmas ornament.
Rating:

• Sponsors, trophies and other ambiance. The trophy – as opposed to some piece of random, postmodern gobbledygook – is a piece of genuine Zia pottery, crafted by a husband-and-wife artist team from their home in the Zia Pueblo. (Another Zia artist crafts traditional leather shields for the most outstanding offensive and defensive players.) True, few traditional tribal pieces feature a crude football player or a corporate logo amid deers, eagles and other native icons, but at least it's not just another pedestal with a football on top of it.
Rating:

• This year's match-up. The Cougars and Miners arrived at 6-6 from opposite directions: BYU salvaged a disastrous 2-5 start with a four-game conference winning streak down the stretch, while UTEP was busy losing five of its last six to offset a 5-1 run out of the gate. But their routes to mediocrity do have one thing in common: They were forged on the backs of some awful, awful opposition.

Of the dozen wins between both teams, only three (BYU's narrow escapes against Washington and San Diego State; UTEP's win over SMU) came against fellow bowl teams. The other nine came against lame-duck outfits that finished 4-8 or worse, including all four victims of the Cougars' season-saving streak, who combined to win nine games all season – six of them against one another.
Rating:

• Star power. The brightest spot of BYU's second-half turnaround was the emergence of hyped true freshman quarterback Jake Heaps, who couldn't have looked less like the No. 1 QB prospect in his class during the 2-5 start. Seven games in, he'd thrown a single touchdown to six interceptions, and the Cougars were averaging barely 14 points per game. Once the schedule hit the MWC bottom dwellers, though, Heaps caught fire with 10 touchdowns to just two picks over the last five, setting himself up as one of the top up-and-coming passers in the country with another solid effort to take into the offseason.
Rating:

Final rating: out of five.
Well, it exists, it has one of the coolest trophies in sports and there may or may not be an elderly man wielding a pickaxe. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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