NachiBlog

Nike+iPod

Nike+iPod. Seconds after my post about Apple partnering with the NBA, we have this announcement. NIke and Apple have partnered to integrate music + excercise, while maintaining the leadership of the iPod as THE quintessential portable music player. My friend Paul Greenberg is going to LOVE the fact that Apple leapfrogged Sony on this one (although I have found no indication that such a deal was even contemplated, let alone discussed).

Now, there are three different product concepts according to Apple and Nike*

1. Get in gear. Grab an iPod nano, a pair of Nike+ shoes, and the Nike+iPod Sport Kit.
2. Rock ’n’ run. Your shoes talk. Your iPod nano listens. Track your run in real time.
3. Stay in sync. Connect your iPod nano, then connect with the world on nikeplus.com.

The first one "Get in Gear" is just a kit that has limited assembling of the two product ideas.

Rock'n' Run on the other hand has this transmitter that goes in your Nike's and transmit's data to your iPod (Nano). Simple stuff like time, no. of miles, and other pedometer data.

Stay in Sync. is an extension of Rock'n' Run where, all this data can be Sync-ed to multiple devices including (obviously) your .Mac over the internet.

Now you can grab your Nike's, grab your iPod Nano and go running with your favorite playlist and rest assured that all your important excercise data is being sent to the Nano and later on to the the internet.

The actual usefulness of the concept can be debated, needless to say. But it sure is COOOL! Very Coool. I mean i'd love to know how many miles I walk or run with Max (the Great Dane/Lab puppy) while I listen to "Eye of the Tiger" singing...

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

But before you run out to buy your Nike+iPod (SwooshPod?) gear, check prices. Oh! and make sure you check out the new games that are available on the iPod (kidding!). And the little golfer device that is built in to your Nike Golf Shoes, that tell your iPod Nano, how far the green is and wheather you should use your Five iron or your Three iron, and when you get there, how hard you would need to putt, what distance, what angle, and trajectory. Oh and it will also tell you, based on sweat analysis from your sweaty bicep, how much gatorade you need to drink in the next 10 minutes to keep you optimally hydrated (in case you are playing 54 holes that day).

** Pics. courtesy Nike+iPod

Zen and the Art of Tom Brady.

Tom Brady was magnificent in his role as the quarterback and offensive leader of the Patriots against the Steelers, last Sunday. That may have been his best performance ever-till date.

I have been a Patriots fan since the mid1990’s when Drew Bledsoe and Ben Coates were household names here in New England. Bledsoe, to his credit brought class and dignity to the Patriots and made them a team to reckon with. With all his shortcomings Bledsoe, among others, raised the profile of the Patriots in a time when they were nobodies.

Brady has taken this team to another universe. He created his own playing field – level THAT!

Brady showed the Patriots how to win games and the respect of his teammates, fans and sportswriters alike. There are many quarterbacks in the league that will beat Brady in every individual category of “skill” or “ability” when compared side-by-side. He is not the possessor of the strongest arm or the fastest feet or the most courage or the most determination – in short, not the type of person who commands superlatives in any category under “skills” or “talent” or “ability”.

What he is, is Mr. Intangible. You heard a lot about “intangibles” during the reign of Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson and you hear it now with the likes of Derek Jeter (remember that backhanded flip from Jeter during the World Series against the Diamondbacks?), David Ortiz (Boston’s Mr. Clutch) and the venerable Andre Agassi.

What does it all mean? Well, in simple terms, it is the ability to stay in the moment during periods of intense (perceived) pressure, and letting things “happen” (commonly referred to as “not forcing the issue”). It is the ability to “trust” the moment. Every sports person (and every human being, albeit in different circumstances) worth their mettle experiences this Zen-like state but very few people can get themselves into that state in a high-pressure situation seemingly at will (although this state is not “willed” by the ego, but “allowed to be”). It is the ability to embrace a moment as if you had chosen it while knowing completely that the moment has chosen you- which interestingly enough, keeps you humble.

That is a quality that the Vicks, McNabbs and Mannings of the world don’t possess and THAT is the single greatest quality required of a true champion. The beauty of it all is that this can be “learned”.

Try it.

Agassi, not a cliche....

Agassi, my teenage hero, when he was a teenager himself, was a pleasure to watch even at 1.00 a.m. on Wednesday night. I am not an avid tennis watcher anymore. I maybe suffering from sports overload especially living two blocks from The Fenway Park. (You’d probably anticipated that I would work the Red Sox into a ‘tennis’ entry-go figure.) Anyway, with that digression out of the way lets get back to the US Open and Agassi and Blake.

As always, thanks to media hype and “generationalism” or one reason or another most people seemed to be rooting for Blake. Not me – although I admit that I watched the match, because it was Blake v/s Agassi, after I read about Blake’s (in the New Yorker) odyssey in 2004, with his broken neck, paralysis and his father’s death. But I was rooting for my teenage hero Agassi.

From the age of 13-20, I was an ‘almost professional’ Badminton player (do I hear laughter?). Badminton, see, is a lot like tennis. It is two or four people, chasing an object, only to hit it back really hard and really far away from the other person/s. The net in Badminton is about 5 Feet high though, so there is more overhead activity. So I admired tennis players young and old and learned all about things like temperament, grace under pressure, when to turn it on and when to turn it up, how to rest between points, how to hold your emotions in your belly so as not to betray your thoughts or feelings, how to deliver the knock out punch, how physical conditioning helps you become a winner (even McEnroe admitted that!), and how to or how not to conduct yourself on the court- from watching people like Agassi.

Agassi was one of these flamboyant teenagers when he came onto the ATP tour, who most people dismissed as the fast-burning, short-lasting type. This was when Icemen like Ivan Lendl (who now lives in suburban Connecticut), Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander, were on the top of the tennis world, replacing people like McEnroe, Connors and Borg. So Agassi in a sense was the antithesis of Lendl who was stoic, emotionless, and looked distinctly unhappy on the tennis court. Agassi, on the other hand was fun, flamboyant, and sponsored by Nike who adorned him in black and neon (green, orange or red). (And you thought that Anna or the William’s sisters brought style into tennis? Psshhhh…

For years Agassi was the over-talented, rebellious, temperamental child, who had no “respect” for Tennis and its traditions but who could hit the ball really really hard, with two hands (two hands!!?) and make it land on the outer edge of the line – as long as he got to wear whatever he wanted. Then somehow, somewhere, something clicked in his head (or heart) and his internal drama subsided. In 1992 he showed up at Wimbledon, which is all about respect and tradition, wearing all white, and playing great tennis with his head down. He won beating the Ivanisevic in a five-set Final after which he fell to his knees- weeping.

Since that moment, Agassi has publicly become what he always was, a good human being who can play great tennis. Two nights ago, watching him take Blake’s best shot and returning it ‘on the line’ for a winner, was a distinct pleasure even at 1.00 a.m. on Thursday. At almost 36 Agassi is one of the best-conditioned athletes in the world. He is better than Connors, McEnroe and other long-lasting tennis players because all the others won a match here and there or had a good week at the US open, their home court. At almost 36, Agassi, is consistently one of the best in the world, years after his main rival, Pete Sampras retired. Agassi is better than Lendl, Edberg, Sampras not only because he has outlasted them, but because he wins more and with more humanity.

This Saturday, he plays in the semi-finals of the US Open and I put my money on the man from Las Vegas. He probably won’t beat Federer in the Finals (if they both make it) – but at 35 years and 130-odd days old, he will be making a statement – not the clichéd “my statement is being here” but “I am going to try and win this tournament, right here” kind of a statement. Agassi is not into clichés. He just wants to be himself. What else is there?