For those who can’t seem to function when the Twins lose and subsequently use their bedroom as a personal jail cell to ponder the reasons for the loss, ESPN’s new virtual “Play-by-Play” may just be the new remedy.

The new visual aid, which has been in the works for a full year, combines virtual athletes—for example, Madden NFL players—with real live anchors to demonstrate scenarios for upcoming games and replay past sequences. The idea is to help audience members understand team-specific strategies
and plays.

What if Tavaris Jackson from the Minnesota Vikings escaped that tackle at the 25-yard line? Virtual “Play-by-Play” could simulate an exact replica of the play, demonstrating what could have happened if Jackson completed the pass to Adrian Peterson.

Debuting during ESPN’s “NFL Countdown,” the new improvement will serve as an aid to a variety of sports including soccer, baseball and basketball.

Ryan Statz, a University of Minnesota student, avid sports fan, ESPN viewer and gamer, thinks the new addition to ESPN is not only creative, but puts a new perspective on sports programming.

“I like that it shows real-life situations instead of just having an anchor describe it. I like that I can actually see how the play is breaking down,” Statz said.

Although most people agree that virtual “Play-by-Play” peaks on the coolness scale, some think the new visual aid is another gimmick that distracts viewers from the actual game.

Football, like most sports, is built on excitement and spontaneity. Some believe ESPN’s newest attempt to attract a wider audience takes away from that spontaneity. John Price, a 47-year-old Green Bay Packer fan who has been watching ESPN since its debut almost three decades ago, thinks that “predicting the game and all of its possible outcomes is like ruining a good story.”

Phil Hart, a student video technician for CLA TV Studios, agrees with Price: “I think it’s a really neat piece of technology, but it’s a little indulgent. If people have all these scenarios played out for them, they won’t be able to appreciate what is actually happening in the real game.”

Originally, ESPN anchors used simple X’s and O’s to describe what was happening on the field. Does Play-by-Play offer a distinctive difference?

Tim Moore, a studies in cinema and media culture major, doesn’t think the new technology offers much of a distinction.

“The intent of this (virtual ‘Play-by-Play’) is a visual aid, butit’s not much of a dramatic step from X’s and O’s.”

Moore does see the new aid as a logical progression, but nothing that comes as a surprising alarm, especially when taking into account the rapid growth of media and gaming technology.

The new advancement raises another question: Will a system develop where ordinary gamers can enter
video game simulations just as ESPN anchors can?

Yes is a probable answer to Moore, who estimates that in 10 to 15 years players will be able to enter their video games and play alongside their favorite athletes.

The expansion of motion-censored technology in the form of video games is exploding, and Nintendo Wii is just the beginning for sports fans and gamers alike.

Brad VandeVoort, a student invested in video game technology, considers the possibility of being able to play inside a game “revolutionary for gamers.”

“It would be really cool to be able to catch a pass from Brett Favre,” he said.

Frivolous gimmick or not, virtual “Play-by-Play” is the first of its kind. It offers an experience guaranteeing to wow sports fans, technology gurus and gamers across the globe.

Splat!

The sound is music to the ears of paintball enthusiasts everywhere. It’s also a sound that can be heard around campus, if you listen closely enough. But that wasn’t the case until recently.

After playing paintball throughout high school and during his first year of college at St. Mary’s, John Thomason transferred to the University of Minnesota and was stunned to find no club team affiliated with the National Collegiate Paintball Association (NCPA), a league designed specifically for college students.

Thomason decided to take initiative and sought to launch a paintball club team. “Being that the U has such a large student body, I knew I could find enough people to get the club started,” he says.

The paintball club became recognized by the U of M last September and launched with six members; since that point, membership has grown to 20. Despite its relative youth, the club is currently ranked 12th in the nation by NCPA and placed second out of 26 teams in a late February tournament in Wisconsin.

Paintball breaks down into two categories; recreational woodsball and competitive speedball. The University team fits into the latter category, a fast-paced game played in a relatively small arena filled with bunkers. Getting into the sport at an advanced level such as this can be expensive (players on the team use guns, or “markers,” that run upwards of $700), but those who get into it take it very seriously and seem to enjoy it thoroughly.

“When I started my freshman year last semester, I had just about given up on paintball,” says Jordan Carlson, a team member who had been playing for about eight years. “Then my life was changed by finding out about the U of M team. After I found out, all I wanted to do was get on the team and play for the University of Minnesota.”

This is a very young squad still looking to make a name for itself. Currently, the paintball team is only recognized by the U of M as a “club” and not a “sports club;” it is an important distinction because the latter receives more school funding and access to facilities. They are on a one-year probation period toward becoming a sports club, and Carlson notes that they have made efforts to set up a table in Coffman Memorial Union to spread the word and recruit new members. Considering the rapid growth the team has experienced during its first six months of existence, it seems only a matter of time before the U of M can field one of the nation’s elite paintball squads.

Stories like this one and that of the Premier Dance Team, which I covered a few issues ago in this column, illustrate a very important and encouraging truth about attending a university as massive and well-populated as this one. If you have an interest or hobby in the field of athletics, there are almost certainly others who feel the same way. And if there isn’t already a club or team available, it isn’t too tough to get one started on your own.

As the calendar rolled from February to March a year ago, things looked awfully glum for the Gopher men’s basketball team. Holding a 9-21 record, the Gophers were still adjusting from a mid-season coaching change, and looking towards a very uncertain future.

What a difference a year makes. With new head coach Tubby Smith at the helm, the Gophers have returned to respectability. His Gophers entered this March with a 17-10 record (7-8 in the Big Ten) and as outside contenders for a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament.

The effect that Smith has had on the fan base has been remarkable. Students are once again filing enthusiastically into Williams Arena for each home game. Judging by the promotions at the games and the t-shirts worn by fans, one might conclude that there are more Tubby Smith fans around campus than Gopher basketball fans.

This is interesting, because Smith really seems like the polar opposite of the University’s other relatively recent high-profile coaching hire, football coach Tim Brewster. Unlike the boisterous and emphatic Brewster, Smith maintains a relatively low profile and keeps to himself for the most part. In post-game interviews, Smith speaks calmly and evenly, and he doesn’t go out of his way to sell fans on his team.

Amanda Mrotek is the Marketing and Promotions chair with the Barnyard Board, a group of students who oversee the student section at Williams Arena (a.k.a. “The Barn”) and plan events and promotions to increase attendance and excitement among the student fan base. Mrotek says that she has noticed a dramatic rise in attendance and enthusiasm among fans compared to last year. She adds that these trends are largely attributable to Smith’s arrival, because the team’s roster is roughly the same as it was last year.

So what is it that has caused people to embrace Smith so fervently?

“His success and his track record in college basketball, I think, got people excited about what he could do for Gopher basketball, and I think he’s proven himself,” Mrotek says of Smith. “The improvement that fans have seen in the same team that they were watching last year is huge, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Indeed, Smith has breathed new life into a group of players that seemed unmotivated at times last season. The 2006-07 team did not have any seniors, so nearly every member of that team (which finished 9-22, 3-13 in the Big Ten) returned this year. A few freshman additions, such as Blake Hoffarber and Al Nolen, have delivered helpful contributions, but it is clear that a fundamental change in coaching philosophy has fueled this program’s dramatic turnaround.

Smith’s immediate results speak for themselves, and he has a recruiting class in place that is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation by the Web site Rivals.com. Smith hasn’t needed fancy words or gimmicks to infuse the fan base with hope. He’s simply carried over the style and skill that brought him success at the University of Kentucky and at the University of Georgia before that.

Judging by the reaction Smith is getting at The Barn, I doubt many fans will be squawking their disapproval.

Growing up, Beth Novak always loved to dance. When she first came to the University of Minnesota back in the autumn of 2004, she wanted to keep dancing. When she didn’t make the university’s prestigious Dance Team, she found that there were no options for a person in her position short of becoming a dance major. So she created one.

Now a senior in the Carlson School of Management, Novak has watched the dance team she and a pair of high school friends created grow and flourish over the past three years. What started out as a student organization consisting only of an informal dance clinic has now developed into Premier Dance Team (PDT), an established club team that competes against other regional dance squads.

In its first year, the program was simply a spring clinic where girls could show their skills and learn some choreography for fun. Yet, the idea was always to create a competitive team. So in the fall of 2005, the team held their first tryouts. Novak knew the team was serving a need on campus when over 100 people showed up for the first day of auditions.

Now, PDT has become something more than an option for girls who were unable to make it onto the U of M Dance Team. It is an opportunity for dancers to continue doing what they love without the pressure and tremendous time commitment associated with the Nationals team.

“Education’s very important to me and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to do my homework,” says Tara Ata, a junior in her second year on the team. She enjoys the team’s relatively light practice schedule, and adds that she likes the camaraderie among teammates, noting that the girls on the team are “like a second family.”

Dani Benson, a sophomore who will be taking over as a captain next year, says she expects the team to continue to grow. “We have more and more girls try out every year,” she says, estimating that the number of people at tryouts this year increased by 30 to 40 percent from last year.

That growth will help bring PDT toward the goal that Novak envisioned when she started the team.

“I think the level I would want it to reach is where we are closely ranked among all of the teams that have professional coaches and university funding,” she says.

With a group of enthusiastic, motivated and – above all – young members (all but two of the team’s current 18 members are underclassmen), there’s no reason that goal can’t be reached.

Today I rushed toward Cooke Hall 308 where the University of Minnesota Vo Lam Kung Fu workout takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Knowing nothing about the true nature of Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu, I envisioned bloody boxing matches and street brawls that looked like screenshots from my two favorite fighting video game series, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.

In point and actual fact, many of the philosophies that I have encountered in books on Shotokan karate and Shaolin kung fu highlighted the importance of harmony and self-defense. Until chatting with Josh, the instructor, about the characteristics that make Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu unique and observing him teach the participants practicing the martial art, I thought I might only see people strike each other.

Josh reminded me that martial arts have other purposes besides fighting. He emphasized the peacefulness of his martial art. “I liked the traditional style that it is taught in,” he says about his club. Participants bowed when exiting and entering the gym, which I mistakenly thought might contain several punching bags, weight-training equipment and mats; instead, they put together their hands and bent down slightly at the doorway of a room with only a wall mirror, white beam and ample space for exercise.

I found this scene intriguing for its simplicity, which I thought advantageous in allowing the participants to focus on practicing technique without the distractions of a complex atmosphere. Rather than wearing the white or black coats that many other martial artists wear, some of the participants wore a yellow outfit with white cuffs while others wore a gray shirt and black pants. I paid little attention to the color of the belts that they wore since Josh told me that they did not compete in tournaments like practitioners of Shotokan karate and tae kwon do.

“We don’t fight, but we can,” he said when I asked him if they break boards. However, he said that knowing “punches and blocks” helps them to learn how to defend themselves. He adds, “black belts only break boards, and this strength comes from internal power generation.” Interestingly, as soon as he mentioned that they “build from basic techniques and build up,” I somehow saw a commonality between math and martial arts.

I agree with Josh’s comment that “Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu provides an excellent workout.” In preparation for their practice routine, many of the students spent a lot of time stretching, bending and swinging their legs while holding onto the white beam. One of them side kicked the brick wall. One of them faced the mirror to perhaps find ways of improving their techniques. I had no doubt that Josh’s legs ached, especially with the numerous repetitions of exercises and the 30-45 minute basic stance work that he mentioned. I understood why they needed a break at 8 p.m.

From the first half-hour of the practice, I listed 47 different parts of a practice routine, including the deep breathing exercises that tended to follow a series of punching, blocking, chopping, kicking or rolling techniques that looked somewhat like the black and white photographs in a book I read on ninjutsu. Their endurance surprised me. I saw every part of their body stretch. They rolled their heads, waved their wrists, bent their legs at the knees, swung their hands back and forth and shifted in all directions to build strength in their stances.

In every snap or rotated kick, the students coordinated their arm and hip movements as well. When they punched, they sometimes moved their legs apart to keep their form, or they placed one bent leg ahead of another to form a front stance with their legs. Even when they threw strikes with two fingers, I saw some kind of stance and arm movement that supported the strength of the attack.

With all these movements, I lost track of count after a while, but I did recognize Josh’s observation of Vietnamese Vo Lam kung fu’s balance between the hardness and softness as well as the equal use of the upper and lower body that distinguishes it from other types of martial arts. They applied both linear and circular techniques; their ability to directly strike an opponent and to add strength to their punches and kicks through swinging their arms, legs and hips demonstrated this unique quality. They did not concentrate on only one part of the body but the body as a whole for use in self-defense.

Sure hovering over a checkered board for a few hours doesn’t seem all that exciting, but neither does sitting on your ass watching television if you think about it. So while some people are shocked by the amount of drugs Anna Nicole Smith had in her system, others stare at figurines of horses, kings and queens looking for answers. The tournament chess club at the U focuses their attention on implementing new strategies on the board to crush their opponents.

There are many misconceptions about people who play chess, which is unfortunate because it closes the door to others who probably would have an affinity for the game. Chess is universally known as one of the most complex games where a variety of moves are employed. With moves like castling, dragon and the King’s Indian Defense what’s not to love?

The tournament chess club spawned from the chess club and allows members to play against different people from different colleges, leading to, dare I say, a social scene. The tournament chess club started last semester after a call for more competition by chess club members.

“Anyone can come to the meetings. We have anywhere from 10-year-olds to 60-year-olds showing up and wanting to play,” chess club president Jeff Olson said.

Members of the chess club organized the tournament chess club after growing weary of the same room and same opponents.

“You get used to people’s style and it’s nice to have competitive challenges with having tournaments,” Olson said.

Olson got his start in chess in high school along with a friend, Matt Jensen. Together they quickly improved to become the top two players in their school. The former president of the chess club knew them and invited them to come along to play at the U. They have continued to climb the ranks in the world of chess. Jensen has reached expert level. The top level of achievement is grandmaster followed by various forms of master status, expert and then class A to class J levels.

In addition to hosting tournaments, the club brings in top local players to teach different moves. Last year Grandmaster Pablo Zarnicki came to Coffman and played against 30 people at the same time. Alexander Balander, a top 5 Minnesota player also visits once a month for a couple of hours to go over openings and other tactics with the members.

Often times, area schools call the club to help coach their teams or get a program started, Olson said. He says helping other people learn the game is a rewarding experience and allows the club to draw more talent in the future.

The chess club will have booths at Coffman about once a week to gain more exposure and to educate the masses about chess. Olson said they will have games going on while people stop by to ask questions. They explain some of the different moves for curious people and then get back to their game. The chess club meets at Coffman every week and holds tournaments every other week.

The University Juggling Club has experienced times of great popularity and spells of waning interested, but through it all they remain one of the most unique groups on campus with a visible presence.

On a sunny day while walking to class, students can spot the club performing different tricks. It’s enough to convince any student that they ought to be doing something besides going to class on a beautiful day. Dazzling maneuvers entice onlookers and evoke admiration.

The group reached a critical mass in the early ‘90s when they performed at various university functions and garnered appreciation for their skill level. The members of the group during that time parlayed that acclaim into an annual festival.

The Mondo festival is now one of the largest in the country with participants coming from all over to take in the sights and display their skills. Some of the events include an endurance competition where a group of jugglers perform together until the last person finally drops a pin. The festival is often held in conjunction with the Minnesota Unicycle Club, another big organization that performs across the state.

Jonathan Gill, president of the club, says he knew how to juggle before joining the group and saw it as an opportunity to improve and meet people on campus. He has been involved with the club since 2000, when many of the experienced members graduated and he took on the leadership of the group.

The Juggling Club now consists of around 15-20 members, he says. They vary in skill level from beginners to some members with more experience. It doesn’t take long to learn how to juggle pins, Gill says. After refining individual skills the group moves on to work on passing skills that will help in future shows. From there members start to play juggling games like combat where three people juggle together while trying to knock each others’ pins out of the way. The games help members work on passing patterns, which in turn lead to great shows.

The club used to perform many shows, but now with membership and commitment levels down, it has become more of a social group. Gill says he would like to get back into doing more shows as a group. The shows are lively events, often including torches, balls and even knives being juggled. Through performing at shows individuals in the group try to work on their own style and create their own persona on stage by juggling unusual objects or performing difficult juggling patterns, Gill says.

The group performed for the Alumni Association awhile back, getting Bob Bruininks involved in the act by having him stand in the center while pins flew over his head, perhaps leaving some audience members hoping a pin might fall.

Gill said the first day of the school year is usually the biggest day for the group to gain more exposure to students. The first day is typically nice outside and many of the new students are out and looking for various ways to get involved on campus, he said.

The Juggling Club presents a different type of activity for people looking to try something interesting. Many of the members are from the IT school, mainly because of the type of personality some IT students share. Once they get started on something they tend to focus on it and work on it until they get proficient in that skill, Gill says.

At any rate the Juggling Club gives a unique outlet to students who want to participate in something outside the norm. The club is gearing up for a charity performance at Coffman on April 20th. So if you “just wanna chill for awhile” and take a break from celebrating, be sure to check these guys out and their mesmerizing aerial display.

“Last year’s success led to the National Dodgeball League’s second annual Amateur Championship Tour,” NDL Operations Director Niki LaGrano answers when I ask her about the NDL’s decision to start a second tour. LaGrano makes the popularity of dodge ball evident. Although the Amateur Championship Tour originally began with four stops, 16 now make up the tour to satisfy the public’s growing interest.

LaGrano says, “The NDL brings dodge ball across the country at both the local and national levels and hosts games for corporations, parties and charities in Dodge-It centers.” Adding to the excitement of dodge ball, the NDL’s second annual tour offers local winners the chance to earn cash prizes and move onto the next level of competition in Las Vegas on Aug. 17 and 18.

By attending the Saturday, Mar. 31 stop at the Xcel Energy Center, I can confirm LaGrano’s description of dodge ball. She says, “Dodge ball is about fun and competition.” Teams arrived before 11 a.m. to participate in the competition and started playing by 12:45 p.m. Participants in green, yellow, gray, blue, and red sat among their own teammates, seemingly relaxed and focused on enjoying their time. They hardly paid attention to the pressure of competing against other teams that came from other states.

One of these teams, who arrived first at 10:35 a.m., clustered near the stairs where a clock stood to the right of the entryway to the stadium. Team Conviction, whose team members wore neon orange shirts with blue numerals, showed confidence in their ability to win and tell some good dodge ball jokes. One team member says, “We are ready to stomp everybody,” and another teammate tells me, “Dodge ball is all about the catches and the footwork.” The anxious members calmed themselves by pacing back and forth on the sidewalk outside the Xcel Energy Center. They told me that they drove three and a half to four hours from Iowa. Not long afterwards, LaGrano revealed that teams also came from Pennsylvania, Northfield and St. Louis Park.

Although the rules regulate the game for easy judgment calls, participants employed an array of strategies on the 30 feet by 60 feet playing field and showed the throwing and catching skills that they had practiced with either footballs or dodge balls before the competition began. One popular game-time strategy was to identify weaker and stronger opponents by throwing all the balls at one person, eliminating them from the game. A seventh person, the retriever, helped the teams gather the balls lying outside the boundaries on their side of the playing field.

Before the whistle is blown to signal the start of the competition, many players assume a running stance. They line up next to each other, and at the start of the game, they run to the four-foot-wide neutral zone in middle of the playing field to grab a ball. Once they grabbed the balls lined across the center of the playing field, they immediately backed to the boundaries of their zone, the farthest position possible from their opponents. This strategy was effective at making opponents throw longer distances, amplifying the difficulty of targeting players and effecting fatigue sooner.

Still some teams managed to deflect the ball from hitting themselves. They used the large balls called blockers to remain in the game. Other teams tended to lean, jump or lay down on the field to avoid the live balls that could eliminate them from the game. Teams rarely applied the sacrifice fly strategy that LaGrano mentioned that they could use. They rarely intruded on the opponent’s side of the playing field to make themselves vulnerable to a hit.

In offense, the teams preferred to throw stingers, small balls that proved more difficult to dodge. Teams aimed the majority of the balls thrown downward at their opponents, perhaps to avoid headshots. They took LaGrano’s warning seriously: “Head shots are at the standing level, and teams may be penalized.” On the other hand, a few team members seemed to serve the purpose of solely catching balls to bring eliminated teammates back into the game and remove their opponents at the same time.

Despite the aggression that some teams exhibited, players on opposite teams would give each other high fives whether their team lost or won the game. Spectators had fun clapping and cheering, but the winning bracket could only have three teams. The team wearing the gray and yellow, plain white and red shirts remained.

Remember when swing dancing was all of sudden hip and trendy due to a commercial? We were all blessed with the music of Cherry Poppin Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Brian Setzer. I know we’ve all moved on from those days, discarding our dancing aspirations like the slap bracelets of our youth. Although some of those bands bastardized the swing music genre, swing dancing is alive and well, thriving off the original hits. U-Swing is a student group on campus that still is jumpin’, jivin’ and wailin’ away to swing music.

“It’s something different, open to everyone and something you can do for the rest of your life,” said vice president Sammy Hilby.

U-Swing is open to anyone interested in learning to dance. Partners aren’t necessary and guest teachers often stop by to help the students with different moves. Only about eight to 10 people actively participate, but in the past the numbers were around 20-30 members.

The group meets in Coffman on Wednesdays, and on Thursdays some members dance at the Tapestry Folk dance center, a place owned and operated by dancers in South Minneapolis.

Because there is not an abundance of venues for swing dancing many people end up seeing each other on a constant basis, which forms a sense of community within the world of swing dancing.

“The Midwest is one of the best bases for swing dancing because it is open to new dancers and very welcoming. After college a lot of people get disconnected, but with swing dancing people may leave for some time, but the community remains the same,” said president Sergey Berg.

Berg became interested in swing dancing through the Concordia Language Village. He has been dancing ever since and participates in salsa, waltz and Russian folk dance as well.

For Hilby, her interest in swing music started with jazz music. Jazz music was popular in her high school and as she learned more about the music, she began to learn more about the dancing.

Together they say they are the addicts of swing dancing. Berg recently went on a binge of dancing a couple of weeks ago, dancing 11 out 14 days from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. with few breaks.

Swing dancing got its start in the early 20th century behind the music of jazz, blues and other variations of jazz. The dance itself evolved from numerous pre-existing forms. African Americans played an integral role in developing the dance. The Lindy Hop, the most essential part of swing dancing, got its name from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. “Shorty George” Snowden was asked by a reporter what kind of dance was being performed on the floor. Snowden glanced around, happened to find a newspaper with the headline “Lindy Hops over the Atlantic” and decided to call the dance the Lindy Hop.

Swing dancing stemmed from many influences of style as well. The style came as a conglomeration of European forms of dance such as the waltz, and African Americans integrated more traditional dance moves into swing dancing.

The dance resembles the happenings of America at the time because of the giant wave of immigration creating a melting pot of ideas and traditions. The influx of immigrants caused racial strife, which boiled over in California with the Zoot Suit Riots of 1942. Mexican American youths frequented dance halls and wore oversized suits. A group of navy sailors were allegedly attacked by a group of “Zoot Suits,” and the other sailors retaliated. For four days, the sailors went into East Los Angeles and attacked any “Zoot Suiter.” Many Mexican Americans suffered injuries and police made over 600 arrests of Mexican Americans. The sailors encountered little, if any, punishment for their actions.

The dance creates a sense of community for many people and continues to do so today as U-Swing is preparing for the Hawkeye Swing Festival on April 13-15. The festival features lessons, competition and a time to reconnect with other college student dancers.

“It’s not so much a competition. It’s more of a congregation of enthusiasts in a relaxed atmosphere,” Berg said.