And now for your YD sports update! The big story here? YES, there is YOGA in FOOTBALL! And these guys aren’t afraid of pastel mats and farts. As far as sports go, and really any kind of athletic activity, especially where your body is tossed around like a pinata, it’s not just post-injury rehab, but pre-habilitation that can be most effective. And wouldn’t YOU want to have a clear mind when a 300 lb wall of human cement is barreling towards you? Fight or flight people! So it’s no surprise we keep hearing about more and more pro athletes, and whole sports teams starting to pre-game with yoga. In fact SO many teams are catching onto the practice in from high school to the NFL that ESPN’s SportsNation decided to take it to the people and tweet about it of course!
Yeah tough guys be honest </eyeroll>. To make it official they created an official poll: Should More Teams Embrace Yoga? The results? It’s a split, but yoga wins!
And there’s a map!! (click to enlarge)
60% Yes vs 40% No…. Really?
Fascinating…It has been noted: majority of Iowa, Alaska, and Delaware say NO. Biggest supporters are Colorado with 84% Yes vs 16% No, and Nevada with 72% Yes vs 28% No. You MUST check out the map yourself and mouse over to see actual votes and percentages for each state.
Is this essentially an indication of yoga popularity and overall acceptance in America? SportsNation co-host Michelle Beadle agreed with the masses: “There’s nothing that yoga isn’t good for and there’s no one out there who wouldn’t stand to benefit from yoga. Your strength is upped, your mental capacity grows and most importantly your flexibility improves.” Take that skeptics!
Regardless of naysayers, yoga has really picked up the pace in sports recently. Here’s just a sampling of the latest news:
ESPN.com did a spotlight on on Ray Lewis, 35, and his fondness of yoga. And he doesn’t even do the non-spiritual hot “manly” kind.
“I do like hour and a half classes,” Lewis said. “But not Bikram (the form of yoga practiced in a 105-degree room), that’s too hot. I tried it a couple times, but I probably won’t ever do that again.”
And ya know what? It’s not just about stretching sessions for football games. Lewis, at age 35 and in the NFL now for 15 years, has signed on to yoga for a lifetime contract:
“I do it for a lifestyle, and that’s a better motivation,” Lewis said. “If you’re just training and living trying to get football statistics, then once you get bored with football, what are you left with?”
So profound this one!
Oklahoma [via NewsOK]: DeMarco Murray’s college football career has been riddled with injuries: turf toe, a dislocated kneecap, a torn hamstring! Now in his senior at OU, Murray is ready to tackle the season, sans injury.
Instead of going out for fast food, he’s been grilling chicken and vegetables in olive oil at home. He’s also spent countless hours stretching out his muscles. He’s even taken a yoga class.
“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I’m mentally there, physically there.
“I’m just ready to get it going.”
Colorado [via CUBuffs]: Reluctant at first, student-athletes at Colorado U involved in all sports from football to golf to skiing participated n summer yoga classes to physically and mentally prepare for the new season, and well, life.
“To me, it’s like a longer stretch,” junior quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “It helps me combat soreness, getting all the lactic acid out (of muscles) and makes me feel much looser. I keep telling guys when they’re sore they need to go to yoga; it helps a ton.”
Another benefit cited by Hansen was the visualization segment that ends each class. When asked to visualize success, Hansen conjures an image of him and teammates surrounding a Big 12 Conference championship trophy.
“We’re asked to relax and picture our goal,” he said. “After one of the classes, I asked (safety) Ray Polk what he was seeing – he had the same picture in his head, the Big 12 trophy . . . we’re all on the same page.”
Read More Yoga and Football on YD
Earlier…
With Cincinnati up 20-16 in the third quarter, RB George Winn broke away for almost any 46-yard touchdown run. Significance of Cincinnati’s victory: The Bearcats earned their fifth 10-win season in the last six years. The win eases the transition from departed coach Butch Jones Steve Stripling served as interim coach for that game to new coach Tommy Tuberville. Significance of Duke’s loss: Duke’s first bowl game since the 1995 season ended having loss, and the season ended with five straight losses. The team’s weaknesses on defense, particularly the secondary, were exposed for the handful of explosive plays that decided the game. Duke is usually a young team that should continue the upward trajectory. Duke coach David Cutcliffe along the result: I seemed to get whipped pictures was little about the way I reacted to losing.
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