Sports

West Indian Sir Garfield Sobers is widely regarded as one of the best cricketers of all time. His career sadly came to an end before the shorter forms of the sport (Twenty20 and one-day) arrived, because Sobers could conjure up a storm with a bat like few others. Even with the recent advent of 50 over and now 20 over a side cricket, the feat of hitting every ball of a six ball over for six has only been done four times, two of those in the shortened form of the game more conducive to fast scoring. Sobers was the first to achieve it in the longer form of the game (a feat only equaled once) and the ball he hit over the fence six consecutive times in 1968 is to go to auction.  Read More

Apparently, OluKai Maliko is Hawaiian for funky, hoof-like shoes. The term also carries a hint of innovation. Not only do these shoes split your toes, they give you extra grip. Forget sticky rubber and aggressive traction patterns, the Maliko brings a sole that's lined with suction cups.  Read More

PhatBlox hardware is designed to give longboarders a new level of control and adjustability on their board. It's also designed to give heavier riders the support that they need. The hardware installs around the trucks and lets boarders make adjustments that fine-tune their ride for the dynamics of the day.  Read More

The creators of the SNAP Skateboard bill it as the world's first folding skateboard. The aluminum board folds into three segments so that you can easily transport it when not in use. The hinged, aluminum board is designed for both tricks and cruising. Given that the skateboard has wheels and rolls you where you need to go, we're not sure that it needed to get more portable. But, we suppose that the standard wheeled board can't take you everywhere you need to go, and sometimes you need to slide it in a bag or under your arm, so the smaller, the better.  Read More

Part Swiss Army knife, part splitboard and part old school powder surfer, the Signal Snowboard Survivor Split snowboard is a one-of-a-kind, experimental board that equips you with all kinds of tools for the backcountry - it can cut wood, start a fire and shovel snow.  Read More

The Airhead is a simple helmet accessory designed to fit inside the helmet and increase air circulation, keeping you cooler. By limiting your head heat and perspiration, Airhead also promises to combat "helmet hair." Conceived during a road trip on long, lonely stretches of barren Australian asphalt, Airhead tackles the problem head on (pun intended). It is designed to help you maintain the carefully groomed hair that you spent minutes or hours parting and spraying before clamping your dirty helmet on top of it.  Read More

Hailing from New Zealand, "land of the extreme," the Gyroboard is a balance board for general exercise and off-season training that appears to have the potential to become a fun hobby on its own. Gyro Enterprises, the brains and bills behind the device, says that it helps your core strength, balance and coordination. It can be used for injury rehabilitation, sports training, fitness, etc. The board simulates the movements of board sports like skateboarding and snowboarding, so it's a good way to practice in the comforts of your own backyard or home.  Read More

If you buy a suitcase these days, it will likely come with those little built-in wheels that let you pull it along behind you. Most people, in fact, would probably feel cheated if they ended up with luggage that they had to carry everywhere. Well, Connecticut-based inventor Joanna Lach is hoping her SkiCart product will do for downhill skis what those little wheels did for suitcases. The device attaches to the back end of a set of skis, so those skis can be pulled from the car to the slopes, instead of having to be hefted in the user’s arms or perched on their shoulder.  Read More

We're not aware of lost skis being a huge problem, but the folks at Washington state-based company Ski Retriever have obviously faced that problem often enough to go to the trouble of developing a solution. The Ski Retriever is a homing system for lost skis that involves attaching homing tabs to your skis or snowboard and using the radio-based, handheld device to track them down should you misplace them. Less time spent digging fruitlessly through the snow means more time skiing the mountain.  Read More