Watching Sports Makes Us Fatter

For those of us who never played in college and didn't have what it takes to make it to the pros, playing pickup games at the park and watching the real deal on televison is as close as we will ever get to being an elite athlete. It is no question that American culture over-watches television in general. In 2010, a man named Jeff Miller was lauded for setting the world record for consecutive hours spent watching sports on TV, 72 hours.

Professional sports leagues will never tell you to get off the couch and stop watching their broadcasts, but they do have programs that push for healthier children, like NFL Play 60. Despite mixed messages of health and team loyalty, people watch hours of sports every week. Are we as a society hurting ourselves by watching the sports we love instead of playing them?

There is ample research that shows less television watching is healthier for your mind and body. This article from The Telegraph suggests "every hour of TV watching shortens life by 22 minutes." Mathematically, if a person watches 3 hours of sports a week for 50 years, she'll have shortened her life by approximately 119 days, almost 1/3 of a year. Plus, she will have spent 7800 hours watching sports in those 50 years.

This graphic from statista.com shows, during football season, 31% of adult males in the U.S. watched 6-10 hours of just football each week. If you throw in women as well, that number only drops to 27%! Our society loves watching sports but it's clearly better to play sports than to sit on the couch and watch them.

As sports fans who want to watch our favorite teams, how do we drop the remote, get off the couch, and get to work on getting ourselves in shape?

My answer is, maybe we don't have to miss the big games in order to better use our time for exercising. I believe it is possible to both support your favorite team on game day by watching the game and get a good workout. Below is an image I created featuring a baseball-themed workout.

This is just one baseball-related example, but you could search for or create your own workout to help you better utilize your television watching time regardless of the sport. So go to your living room, turn on the game, get off the couch, and get your sweat on while cheering for your favorite team.

- Isaac M. Comelli (6/6/13)

Shot Blocking: Very Different When You're 5'6''

I played four years of basketball in High School, four years of intramural hoops in college, and regularly frequent local parks for pickup games. Reaching a soaring height of five feet, six inches, I have never been known for my shot blocking abilities. However, that doesn't mean I don't get the occasional swat at the rim. I just don't have the blocking talent of, say, Shaq, Dwight Howard, or the ever videogenic (it's about time someone made up that word) Dikembe Mutombo.

You may have seen Mr. Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo, as his friends call him, in a recent insurance commercial wherein he shows the joy he has for rejecting his opponents. This finger-wagging, 7'2'' center was an intimidating presence in the paint. Much unlike Mutombo, I am not a formidable foe against forwards flying to the hoop.

Throughout his NBA career, Mutombo had almost 3,300 blocks and I'm sure some variation of, "No no no! Not in my house!" was said or thought for each and every one of those. I, on the other hand, am able to pull off a block once in a blue moon. It's usually because I turn around and suddenly a guy is driving through the lane, so I stick my hand out and he happens to run the ball into my hand. When this rare feat happens, I definitely don't wag my finger or taunt my opponent. Usually this is the thought process going through my mind: "Teehee!" *:-D giddy school girl giggle* "Ouch, he really tweaked my arm there. Dang! I probably should have just let him score."

Alas, the game wasn't built for five and a half feet grown men to be swatting balls out of the air. Besides, when was the last time you saw Dikembe Mutombo do a crossover, penetrate the lane, and dish off the alley oop? Never! So, when I learn to do some of those moves, I will be better than him at one aspect of basketball! Until that day, it's park ball pickup games for me.

- Isaac M. Comelli (4/24/2013)

(Just to settle the debate, this is what would happen if Mutombo tried to come into MY house!)

Cinderella Coach Cops Out On Coast Crew

The Cinderella story of Florida Gulf Coast University's Men's Basketball team from the 2013 March Madness has been heard by sports fan everywhere. If you missed the big news, here are the highlights:

• The FGCU Eagles rearched the "Big Dance" in just their 3rd year as a D-I program
• As the #15 seed, FGCU upset #2 Georgetown in the Round of 64, 78-68
• #7 San Diego State fell in the Round of 32 to the Eagles by 10 points
• Their 2nd win made FGCU the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen in tournament history
• The Eagles were defeated by their fellow Floridians, the Gators (U of F) in the Sweet Sixteen
• The team became lovingly known as "Dunk City" with their acrobatic lobs and alley-oops

March Madness' complete coverage gave this unknown team instant fame after its first win. From there, the team's notoriety grew rapidly and the underdogs soon became the fan favorites. Despite their loss to #3 Florida, FGCU's team ended an amazing season with high spirits and high hopes for the next year. The Eagles were looking ahead to a year that would include a better recruiting class and a team that would lose only one senior while likely returning one junior and three sophomore starters. FGCU could have turned their program into one of the perennial mid-major contenders.

Alas, the head directs the body and FGCU's head (coach), Andy Enfield, was signed by USC's Men's Basketball program just 3 days after their tournament exit. If Kentucky's leader John Calipari were to announce he was leaving the program, the nation's #1 recruiting class would likely have some student-athletes skipping towns to head to Duke, Indiana, or Michigan. Unfortunately, much of the momentum the Eagles had built with their historic run could be cut off before it really gets rolling with the loss of their coach.

Sources say that Enfield's annual salary could increase from $157,000 to over a million because of the move. But I dare say that fans, parents, and Enfield's former players will ask the question, "Was it worth it?" In a society where commitment and loyalty suffer, it would have been nice to see the "Little Guy" stick to his guns and try to turn FGCU's program into a legitimate threat on a regular basis. Although the university's athletic department press release appears to be amicable, there is still a sense of regret and dissatisfaction.

- Isaac M. Comelli (4/2/2013)