Fun Chatting World Series!

Last night's episode of StarTalk's Playing with Science focused on the World Series.  We discussed many iconic moments, such as Willie Mays' famous over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series and Kirk Gibson's lone at-bat in the 1988 World Series.  Click below for a link to the episode.

• Season 2, Episode 18 (October 25, 2017):  World Series Throwback Special

The above episode aired a week earlier only on TuneIn.  Click here for that link.

Last night the Astros evened up this year's Fall Classic with a thrilling 11-inning win.  Game 3 will be in Houston tomorrow night.  I love baseball and I love the World Series, but I grew up with the Astros in the National League.  This year's World Series has a weird feel for me!

Great pick by Eddie Jackson!

I had a lot of fun analyzing Eddie Jackson's second interception in yesterday's Bears' win over the Panthers.  Jackson, a rookie safety out of Alabama, perfectly timed his run to a tipped ball and took Cam Newton's pass 76 yards for his second TD.  His first came on a 75-yard interception, meaning Jackson became the first defensive player in NFL history to have two 75+-yard returns for touchdown in one game.  Check out my screen capture below as Jackson just gets to the deflected pass (click on the image for a larger view).

Can you tell which player is moving fastest?  It should be obvious by the amount of blur!  The Panthers' Kelvin Benjamin was the intended receiver.  He appears to have a good bead on the ball after Prince Amukamara got his right arm on Benjamin's chest just as Newton's pass arrived.  But that blur coming from the right is Eddie Jackson, moving at nearly 17 mph.  That running start was all he needed to snag the ball and take off for a pick six.  I'm sure the fact that Cam Newton went to Auburn made the interception all the sweater!

The above play is the one I discussed on TuneIn yesterday.  Gary O'Reilly joined me as we pitched the wonders of Playing with Science.  Click here for our segment on yesterday's No Huddle.

NFL Physics

Chuck Nice, Gary O'Reilly, and I joined Brian Webber and Nick Ferguson on TuneIn's 1st & Goal this past Sunday.  We discussed Golden Tate's great touchdown run during Detroit's loss to New Orleans.  There was some terrible tackling during the play, but Tate capped his touchdown run with a spectacular front flip into the end zone.  Check out the screen capture I took of Tate crossing the goal plane (click on the image for a larger view).

I analyzed the play and provided physics commentary.  As he crossed the goal plane upside down, Tate was moving 12 mph and rotating at 60 rpm.  Think you could score a touchdown like that?!?

Click here for the seven-minute segment that contains more of my physics analysis of the Tate's touchdown.  It was a lot of fun doing a live show!