Brett Zarda

Sports have been known to start riots. But no sports can cause utter pandemonium. For Red Sox Nation and the 20 Rays fans watching game six of the ALCS, the hypothetical nearly became reality. At 8:08 PM as the first pitch was being thrown, every bar in America was showing – The Steve Harvey Show?

A power failure in Atlanta eliminated the ability to transmit live footage while immediately placing every bartender in Boston in a very clear and present danger.

Usain Bolt is freaking fast. Usain Bolt is so freaking fast, so much more so than all those other freaking fast, that he had room to taunt his competitors in a 100 meter dash. We’ll repeat that for emphasis: in a 100 meter dash. Despite a victory dance mid-race, Bolt still broke his own world record lowering it from 9.72 sec to 9.69 sec. But what if he had sprinted through the tape? According to an astrophysicist, Bolt would’ve done something never done before in sport.

Blasting some music while riding a bike isn’t a terribly exciting or technologically novel concept. In the mid 80’s grown men would hoist a boombox pumping Run-D.M.C with one arm while controlling their beach cruiser with the other. The Cy-Fi wireless speaker ($199.95) is a long overdue evolution in cycle speakers and it's a bit easier on the back. While it offers no singular technology worth noting, the finished product is as simple as it should be, a feat rare in modern electronics. We tested the iPod speaker (there’s a Bluetooth model as well) on the local boardwalk in San Francisco.

Music can inspire much. It can evoke emotions and insert itself into our memories—but even Tom Petty ain’t getting me through 26.2 miles. Half that? Maybe. That's what the scientists behind yesterday's "Run to the Beat" half marathon were banking on by including 17 bands along the London course that were systematically chosen to distract runners from the misery of the moment.

British sports psychologist Dr. Costas Karageorghis helped pick the individual tempo, genre and location of each band to best benefit the runners.

Did you see the USC vs. Oregon State game last week? Tell me you didn’t miss it. No, I’m not talking about the shocking upset where unranked Oregon State somehow took down the number one team in the nation (though that was impressive as well. And did you know the nickname of Oregon State is the Beavers?). I’m talking about the first ever demonstration of HD instant replay.

Remember the original Tecmo Bowl? You could pick Walter Payton and be guaranteed that nobody else on the field would have a chance of catching him (except maybe Lawrence Taylor). It didn’t matter if Payton got hurt midseason, had a streak of fumbles or even retired the next year. In Tecmo Bowl, ‘Sweetness’ was forever. Ah, those were the days.

With the launch of DynamicDNA in NBA Live 09, EA Sports has completely shattered the static memory of Payton.

Couch potato coaches and fantasy folks, hold onto your hats. A new agreement between Synergy Sports Technology and the NBA will provide the average fan the ability to break down game footage like never before. Synergy employees log standard broadcasts of every NBA play creating a catalogued database that’s searchable by every conceivable basketball statistic or description. At least 24 teams pay between $50,000-$75,000 annually for the service but this season the public will have access to the same technology on NBA.com.

Can’t say we didn’t try. When we saw the proposed instant replay plan for Major League Baseball in June we pleaded with Bud Selig to reconsider. Heck, we even gave him a blueprint for how to get it right. Apparently, Bud wasn’t listening. As of this Thursday, MLB will implement its weak excuse for instant replay.