PJH Studios

Tag: sports

  • Cheating at stone skimming championship

    Who knew you could cheat at stone skimming?

  • Play ball, get a car

    Back in the day, a college football player getting a car required either subterfuge or other shady creativity. Today, however, with the free for all that is NIL, players can get a car easily, and car dealers are becoming a power broker with programs.

    There has always been a mystique around cars in college football. Before NIL, there were whispers, message-board postings and social media photos soft-pedaling accusations of underhanded dealings by boosters.

    Paparazzi-style photos appeared in the newspaper, like in 1979, when future SMU Pony Express (and Excess) star Eric Dickerson’s gold Trans Am made national news and became the most famous car in college football history, right up there with the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech.

    But now, there are thousands of Eric Dickersons. Players legally pose with their new sports car on a dealer’s Facebook page. While it takes some of the cool factor out of the old days, it’s a natural evolution for the combination of sports and commerce. And a Pontiac seems downright quaint in retrospect. Across the country, major college football parking lots might as well be outside the Chateau Marmont.

  • What does a coxswain do?

    A friend of mine has a daughter who will be on a collegiate, Division I rowing team as a coxswain. It’s been interesting hearing about the recruiting process and what they do on a boat–they’re the brains.

    “They’re pretty much in charge of the whole race,” says Tom Sanford, the Director of Rowing at Marist. “They are a coach while they’re on the water”. Sanford also likened coxswains to jockeys in a horse race.

    The most important position on a rowing team, the coxswains are the ones responsible for steering the boat. They do this mostly by yelling loudly, but they also use a rudder and a GPS system that displays the boat’s performance metrics, such as speed and strokes per minute, on a screen. They have to be small in stature so that they don’t weigh down the boat and also possess great leadership skills.

  • Home run swing off

    When the Major League All-Star game ended with a miniature home run derby, it felt like something out of Banana Ball.

  • 2025 Barkley Marathon

    The Barkley Marathon is a unique and rugged ultramarathon. After 5 people completed the race last year, the race was made more difficult.