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Get Ready for the PGA Cell Phone Backlash — After the Mickelson Memorial Incident

May 31, 2012 by 8 Comments

You don’t have to be a website called Mobile Sports Report to see this storm brewing: The reported bad cell-phone behavior that might have led to Phil Mickelson’s withdrawl from the Memorial Thursday is almost certain to cause a cell phone backlash from the PGA Tour.

Though phones didn’t used to be allowed at tour events — and special tourneys like the U.S. Open (run by the USGA) are pretty damn clear that you can’t even think of bringing a phone or a camera phone on the shuttle bus, much less at the course — many other tour stops are now allowing or even encouraging folks to bring their mobile devices. Check out what went on at the recent HP Byron Nelson tourney down in Texas, where some savvy social media folks turned the knobs up to 11, based on a lot of on-course fan-phone interaction.

Great for marketing. But is it good for the game? It’s clear the “talent” doesn’t think so. And they’re not going to stay quiet about it.

Phil himself is probably too nice and too media-savvy to come right out and say bad things about fans — patrons — whatever you call folks at a golf tournament — but new Masters champion Bubba Watson has no such restraining bolt, and told anyone who was listening that people taking pictures with cell phones was the main reason why Phil got Phed up (and shot his way to a 79).

I’m going to quote the entire report by AP’s Rusty Miller (which we found on the PGA’s site) because it highlights the big, bad point: Apparently a LOT of people were using their cell-phone cameras whenever they pleased, golfers backswings be damned:

DUBLIN, Ohio — Everyone has seen a golfer swivel and angrily stare at a news photographer who accidentally clicked a shutter during a swing.

Now imagine what it’s like when there are 10,000 or even 40,000 people on a golf course, all with cell phones that take pictures.

With a huge gallery following the marquee matchup of Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson in Thursday’s first round of the Memorial, the continual distraction of fans with cell phones may have played a role in Mickelson’s withdrawal from the tournament.

“It took Phil out of his game,” Watson said of the continual clicks and snaps of cell phone-camera shutters. “Phil’s a great player and a great champion and it just took him out of his game. It’s sad. It’s sad that cell phones can make or break a championship.”

Mickelson said the reason he was going home in the wake of a frustrating round of 7-over 79 was because he was tired after a recent trip to Italy and France to celebrate wife Amy’s 40th birthday.

“There were a few phones out there,” Fowler said with a laugh. “There were a few times when we had to back off and reset. You could see Phil was a little fatigued and was having trouble blocking it out a bit.”

Mickelson made the turn at 1 over before struggling. Fowler shot a 71 and Watson, who won the Masters last month, had a 75.

Watson blamed a PGA Tour rule which permits fans to have cell phones on the course — if they are on vibrate and are only used in specified areas.

“Yeah, it was bad. But it’s been pretty bad ever since they made that rule,” Watson said. “When they make these marquee pairings, more people are going to follow them and more people want to take pictures. So it makes it very difficult. Ever since they made that rule that cell phones are allowed, it’s just not fun playing.”

Whoa. On one level you might be tempted to say, get a grip, Bubba. You (and Phil) are playing a game for millions of dollars of someone else’s money… and a cell phone noise is making your life miserable? I mean — baseball players have to hit a ball that is coming at them at 100 mph, not one that is lying still on the grass. And they don’t mind the noise. So… why should golfers have or expect complete silence, when they are playing in a very public arena?

Originally this was my argument on this matter — I think if you try to ban phones again you may end up with nobody at golf tournaments other than the Masters… and maybe the U.S. Open. But I think you also have to recognize tradition and what golf is all about. There’s a certain tranquility that most every golfer expects and loves when they are playing themselves. You don’t have to be Bubba to be pissed off at someone talking on a cell phone on a golf course. So in that sense Bubba is more like the rest of us than some pampered star. So I am admittedly confused now over whether I think the players have grown Colin Montgomerie ears, or whether your average fan is a self-important jerk like the people I see texting while they are driving on the freeway. Maybe, some of both.

Our favorite golf blogger/Tweeter Stephanie Wei was following up on this with cascaded Tweets and a good recap post — basically saying that for some reason there were just a lot of jerks on the phones Thursday. She also believed (like several other golf writers) that Mickelson’s withdrawl was done to make a point — that cell phones shouldn’t be allowed near the field of play. Phil is getting some roasting for his move — basically golf purists here, saying that you don’t WD because you are mad and playing poorly — but Wei makes a great point by saying that even at fan fiesta tourneys like the Waste Management in Phoenix the fans are smarter in how they use their phones. Anyone from Ohio who wants to weigh in here, feel free.

What I expect is that by sometime on Friday we will hear from the PGA loud and clear about how anyone seen using a cell phone in other than “designated areas” is going to be ushered off the grounds. And I’m not sure how I feel about that, other than that this is pretty obviously a clash of the magnitude of the topic as to why we started this site: Technology, especially mobile technology, is crashing into sports in ways nobody really imagined. How does it get solved? That’s the story for tomorrow, the day after, and the day after. Stay tuned on this bat channel, because we’ll be covering it. Maybe via our phones or tablets.

(Some of Stephanie’s Tweets embedded below)

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, BlackBerry, Facebook, Golf, PGA, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Webscorer Debuts Timing Apps to Save Plenty of Time at Races

May 29, 2012 by 1 Comment

Sports fans, coaches, event organizers, timing companies, publishers and even proud parents can now easily track sporting event results with a new a comprehensive platform that automates much of more complicated manual timing formats.

Webscorer Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., has introduced a platform that includes three integrated components, also usable separately: a race registration tool, a manual race timing app that runs on the iPad and iPhone, and a website that supports race results posting from the Webscorer timing app and other sources via an open interface.

Webscorer PRO is available as an in-app subscription from Webscorer FAN at the following rates on the iPhone and iPad versions for $9.99 for one week and $49.99 for one year. Webscorer Online Race Registration Service Webscorer has varying costs. Webscorer .TXT Results Posting Service is free.

“As a racer myself, I witnessed the difficulty race organizers were having in timing races and providing timely results to racers,” said Vesa Suomalainen, CEO of Webscorer. “With the emergence of the mobile Internet, we saw an opportunity to help modernize the pen & paper method still widely used in recreational racing today.”

Founded in July 2009, Webscorer began with a mission to make race timing easier, more affordable and to improve the quality & speed to get the results to racers.

The full Webscorer platform is available worldwide. Webscorer has identified 36 timing-sports that can benefit from its products.

For more information, visit www.webscorer.com as well as the company’s Facebook, YouTube  pages and Twitter account (@webscorer).

Filed Under: Apps, Cycling, iPad, iPhone Tagged With: , , , , ,

Startup seeks to turn iPhone into Sports Video Recording Device

May 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

I am slowly becoming addicted to Kickstarter, the funding platform that basically enables anybody to invest in small start up companies that need small infusions of cash to get going. We have already covered one such project here.

While looking for something else I found a project that incorporate iPhones for (mostly) sports purposes. The simple device is called the ProtoSports Holster for iPhone from a start up named ProtoSports. The idea is pretty simple; it has developed a case that holds an iPhone 4 or 4S for use in creating feedback videos

The case can be attached to a thin alignment sticks in either landscape or portrait mode and enables a user to have it operate as a hands free, standalone video camera that record their actions, such as a golf swing or time in a batting cage. The plastic holster and the alignment sticks could easily fit into a golf bag.

I have no idea how well this would work, or how hard it would be for your average DIY handyman to develop something similar in their shop but I like the fact that a garage inventor can throw an idea out there and get funding from people if they like the project.

Of course not all ideas that get presented at Kickstarter are well thought out. There is a funny, and kind of sad, piece on some of the failed efforts on that site presented by Buzz Feed. There is a whole lot of fail going on!

Filed Under: Apple, Golf, Humor, iPhone, Kickstarter, Startup Tagged With: , , ,

Apple Still Red-Hot: Earnings Blow by Estimates as iPhones, iPad Sales Soar

April 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

By almost any metric you can use Apple had a stupendous quarter that ended March 31, 2012 with quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and a net profit of $11.6 billion. Compare that to the same quarter the previous year’s numbers of revenue of $24.7 billion and net profits of $6 billion.

iPhone sales increased 88% over the same period a year ago, reaching 35.1 million units while iPad sales reached 11.8 million units in the past quarter, up 151% from the previous year. The company noted that it has sold 67 million iPads in two years.

Despite worries that iPad sales would cannibalize computer sales Macintosh computer sales rose 7% to 4 million units while iPod sales representing the one sour note with a drop of 15%, to 7.7 million units. The numbers were all well above Wall Street estimates.

The company promises that it will have a number of products delivered during the remainder of the year. The conference call is pretty interested and the Wall Street Journal has live blogged it so if you want to wander over and see how Apple execs are responding to the markets questions zoom on over.

The next few months ought to see the rumor mill go into overdrive on Apple. Never slow to begin with rumors already abound for next generation iPads and iPhones. People are not even talking about potential new computers that are likely with the new Intel processor family just released this week. It will make for fun trying to sort fact from wishful thinking.

But more that that it shows how well tablets can do when they are done right and expect a further frenzy on the part of developers to deliver an ‘iPad killer.’

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, iPad, iPhone, Tablets Tagged With: , ,

Want Golf Tips from Paul Azinger? Here You Go

April 9, 2012 by 2 Comments

Dropped into Starbucks for a refresher to keep my caffeine level stable and noticed that the free iTunes Pick of the Week was not a song but rather a sports app. To be specific it was “Golfplan with Paul Azinger” and its tagline was- Personalized tips from the Ryder Cup Captain.

Since my game needs all of the help it can get, even though in the wet, wintery area I live in its unlikely that I will be on the links anytime soon, I gave the app the quick one over to see if it looked like it should join the increasingly crowded area on my phone dedicated to sports apps.

The program can be used with or without a second app called Gameshot and has a number of training categories that enable a user to focus on the areas that matter the most to them and their game. They include Driving, greens in regulation, short game, bunkers and putting. Nothing about hitting from the rough, my specialty?

What really grabbed my interest was the large number of videos that are included in the app-63 in all if my count is correct. The program received a very solid rating from users that have already downloaded and used the program, 4 out of 5 overall and slightly higher with the latest version.

On iTunes the program has a listed price of $4.99 but is free with the little card that is available where you pick up your fancy drinks. It is available for both iPads and iPhones.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Golf, iPad, iPhone, Paul Azinger, PGA Tagged With: , , , ,

MLB has App to Wirelessly Order Food at Select Ballparks

April 4, 2012 by 3 Comments

Minute Maid Park

As I was perusing the iTunes store, primarily looking for the Civil War Today app, but being easily diverted I wandered over to look at what MLB has to offer, which seems to be growing every time I head over.

I tend to gloss over established apps, just taking a quick look at what new features that they might include, now often just additional hooks into social media, but also there can be some surprises, which I found at MLB.Com At the Ballpark.

The free app does tout new social media integration, park info such as layout, parking, security and a rewards program but what really caught my eye was access to mobile food and beverage service at select ballparks.

Currently this is only available at is accessible at the following MLB ballparks: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia), Minute Maid Park (Houston), Chase Field (Phoenix) and Marlins Ballpark (Miami) but MLB has said that additional ones will be available.

I imagine that the parks the league is currently looking to establish networks in will be the next in line as these will likely have enough capacity to handle the additional traffic. While it may seem like a no-brainer that the network could handle it, heavy use can swap the network, which is why increasingly parks need separate networking equipment, such as the new Marlins ballpark.

The one piece of information that is not included, but which we will check in with MLB is where will this be available in the park? For all fans with iPads and iPhones or just ones in select section?

This is not the first time that a service has been available at a ballpark, but it looks as if MLB is going to take the bulls by the horn and establish a standard method to do so. Last time I was in box seats behind home at AT&T you could order food electronically from a server in the stands and even back at old Candlestick Park the service was available, however there was a fairly steep premium on beer carrying charges, as I recall.

Now I wonder if it will be available at the Anaheim er… Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s ballpark., They have just expanded the menu, primarily for fans that are traditionalist in that they need their hot dogs (like me ) at the game, but are willing to try new versions (like me). The Angels now offer a bacon wrapped dog, a hot dog wrapped in a tortilla and then deep fried and a hot dog topped with BBQ beef. For dessert there is now the Arctic Nachos which are cinnamon-sugar nachos topped with vanilla ice cream, then doused in caramel and chocolate sauce. Too much you say? Hah!

Next up larger seats?

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apple, Apps, Baseball, iPad, iPhone, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,
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