Light and packable, these efficient shells weigh in at less than a pound, yet their streamlined design features windproof, waterproof zippers and “zipper garages” along with “tiny” seam tape and micro-seam allowances for secure storm protection. And not forgetting that a warm, dry head makes any outdoor activity more pleasant, they offer an integral wide-billed storm hood with bungee adjustments on the sides to ensure you’ll mock the wind, rain or spray trying to send a chill down your spine. Smoothskin neoprene waistband with adjustable bungee drawcord and splash closures complete this highly compressible pullover’s mission, which is to ensure that water won't get in. And the highly breatheable, lightweight fabric means you won’t feel like you’re trapped in a steamy hefty bag.

The folks at Gore-Tex take this seriously. They combine the best science and technology can offer with relentless testing. The result? They guarantee you won’t get wet

Just having this jacket makes me want to go outdoors. In the rain. And wind. On a rocky coast buffeted with sea spray. If your work or leisure activities mean you’re often cold and damp, you owe it to yourself to step up to the top-of-the-line in comfort and protection, with Gore-Tex

Source: Gore-Tex

But once you go beyond the cool, sleek look, the world-class athletes and superior website, there had better be quality products or a lot of money spent on flash and sizzle will go down the drain. Fortunately, like a player who tells you he’s good, and then backs it up in the game, Mission’s products deliver solutions for skincare worthy of their dynamic marketing.

Teaming up with scientists and skincare industry veterans, the entire Mission Product line is designed, and has been proven, to meet the specific needs of athletes and sports enthusiasts across all sports. By providing vital nutrients and antioxidants, Mission provides the best equipment for your skin, so athletes can focus on their sport and maximize their performance.

Some of the world's most accomplished athletes, including two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, two-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Amanda Beard, two-time Olympic gold-medal soccer player Mia Hamm, 2008 X Games Halfpipe Gold Medalist Gretchen Bleiler and extreme endurance athletes Charlie Engle and Hunter Kemper, have joined the team at Mission Product and are intimately involved in product innovation and development.

We tried each of the Mission products, and they really perform as advertised. The sunscreen and lip balm provide powerful sunblock, and the Foot Synergy Gel softens and relieves calloused and cracked feet. The Revive Gel helps re-hydrate, re-nourish and replenish skin by replacing precious nutrients lost by sweat and prolonged exposure to the sun. All are oderless and greaseless, chock full of vitamins and antioxidants, and can turn the leather skin of the Old Man and the Sea into a chamois. And if you want to feel good, and feel good about feeling good, check out the charities Mission Product supports.

So in a world where great sizzle doesn’t necessarily mean great steak, it is nice to find something that gets it right on both fronts. Yes, the folks at Mission Product can talk the talk, but, to their credit, they can also walk the walk. And, then, after the walk, they’ll make your skin feel better.

Source: Mission Product

I stumbled upon the folks from Victory Athletic, (www.victory-la.com), and instantly felt a kinship. One look at their website and I knew that these guys made top-of-the-line stuff. Their custom-made pants and jerseys have the tailored look of the professionals and they use only the finest materials available. But it was when I began talking to them about our needs that I felt as comfortable as their uniforms looked.

We had a big order, and we needed it in a short time. My rep, Ray, couldn’t have been more of a pro. He was in constant contact and worked with me every step of the way, guiding me through the selection of sizes, materials, colors, fonts, and everything else needed to create a stunning uniform from scratch.

I felt like a little kid myself waiting in anticipation of the uni’s. And when they arrived – meeting our ambitious deadline – they didn’t disappoint. The soft, breathable jerseys and wool flex-fit caps were the best-looking gear our league’s all-stars had every sported. And the “Ohh’s” and “Sick!” comments I heard from all the kids when we pulled them out of the box made the work that went into the project worthwhile. 

If you’ve volunteered to do your basketball or baseball team’s uniforms, for Little League, travel, high school or any level, you owe it to yourself, and the kids, to give Victory Athletic a shot. They’ll manage all the details to ensure that while your team experiences the thrill of “Victory,” they’ll look great doing it.

Source: Victory Athletic

The tee gets a bad rap. Consider this quote from Hall-of-Famer, Tony Gwinn, arguably the finest pure hitter of his generation: “For me the most effective way to practice hitting is to use a batting tee and a bag of wiffle balls. Tee it up and start hacking. Even after 18 years in the big leagues, every winter I go home and break out the tee and wiffle balls. It's not the most exciting thing, so you have to be creative. I put my headphones on and listen to my favorite music while I concentrate on my hitting technique.”

So, if it’s good enough for Tony Gwynn, I’d say it’s good enough for your player. But when Tony said “It’s not the most exciting thing, so you have to be creative,” he probably didn’t know about the Multi-Tee (www.multi-tee.com).

What makes the Multi-Tee better than an average tee? It’s hard to know where to start. Until now, most batting tees have used only one upright tee – good for practicing those pitches down the middle. But what about getting help on the other 90 % of the pitches you’ll see from a good hurler? The majority of amateur baseball and softball players have not been taught the correct position of ball and bat contact for pitches in the other two hitting zones, (inside and outside). When you use the Mult-Tee, you can easily rotate the swing arm to the proper position for proper bat and ball contact. This is why the Multi-Tee is especially useful to those who don’t fully understand basic hitting techniques. Not only can this training device be set up to hit a ball in the three primary positions, you can vary it in dozens of increments in between, creating nearly unlimited practice scenarios.

I talked my kids into trying the tee out, in the garage, using wiffle balls. I tasked them with hitting twenty-five inside, twenty-five outside and twenty-five down the pipe. Before long, on their own, they were adding cuts to the twenty-five I’d suggested because the variety the tee offers breaks up the monotony of ordinary practice. Plus the unique double tee feature allows them to work a unique “High Hands Drill” and a “Hands-Through-the-Ball Drill,” both of which teach proper fundamentals and can only be accomplished with the Multi-Tee.

So don’t be in such a big hurry to get “beyond” the tee. In fact, if you take Tony’s advice, the tee will always be part of your training regimen. And if that’s the case, why not use the only device that teaches the proper swing, in the proper zone, and that takes an activity that used to be a chore, and turns it into a challenging and skill-enhancing exercise for kids from Tee Ball to the Hall-of-Fame.

Source: Multi-Tee

Step on, like riding a skateboard, and the board will have a slight roll and lots of tilt to challenge your balance. Once you are comfortable with the board touching the ground on both sides you can try to stay balanced in the small amount of travel or roll that is allowed by the Pipe-Lock and stops. There is a fine line you can feel when you are centered over the pipe roller and maintaining control. That same senstion is common to most board sports.

Are you a “twin-planker” like me? You can practice your skiing technique by placing your feet on the board inline with the pipe and board lengthwise. From the hips down it really does feel like you’re heading down the slopes. Bend your knees for more challenge.

But if you really want to know who the HoloHolo is aimed at, check out this pitch from the website: Your pint size kids will ride it and then shred the mountains, lakes, surf and sidewalk like never before. This is not just for the little groms, regular size humans love it for all the same reasons they love all of the Holoholo Boards. Like I said, “Gnarly.”

But that doesn’t mean that would have been a good thing. It’s fine that my kids enjoy video games to a point, but when it starts causing arguments or when I walk past the family room and one of them doesn’t appear to have moved for hours, that’s when I draw the line.

So when Sony announced that it was releasing a PlayStation Portable a few years back and my kids asked for one, my first thought was, “Yeah, right.” The last thing I want to do is make it even easier for them to be connected to a video game. Plus, I doubted the quality of the graphics and complexity of the games would be such that would justify the unit’s price tag.

But of course, my wife’s dad got them one for Christmas. Thanks, Grandpa. Now there was one more reason to not read a book, to not go outside and get better at sports. I shook my head, but what could I do? Trying to keep them off PlayStation was like trying to stop them from raiding the candy dish. I told myself that not everything they ever did had to be “good for them.” It wasn’t like they weren’t active kids. But deep down I wished PlayStation had never been invented.

Then, I took a look at the little thing. Imagine taking a high-res, flat-panel screen and shrinking it down to the size of a 3 x 5 index card. Then imagine a series of intuitive and ergonomically perfect buttons, and the same, “can’t stop playing them” games available in miniature. Once I tried it, all of a sudden, I was hooked. Now my kids were waiting for me to get off the PlayStation. Out of the blue, my wife got me one as an anniversary gift. I hadn’t asked for it or indicated that I even wanted it, but secretly, I was thrilled. I hadn’t felt as excited about a gift since I was a kid.

As I learned more about it, I was even more impressed. The PSP is one of the most amazing multi-purpose pieces of technology ever invented. The games every bit as good as on the big unit, but that's just the beginning. Got a wi-fi connection? You can browse the Internet on your PSP and send and receive email. Use it as an MP3 player and download songs. The PSP plays full-length movies, which came in handy on a recent flight back from New York. Soon there will be a GPS Navigation application. And, if you want to get Skype, you could even use the PSP as a phone. And maybe coolest of all? PSP is equipped with Bluetooth so that I can sit inside on a beautiful day and play an entire NBA Live tournament with my boys. Not that I’d ever do that, of course. Well, maybe just on weekends.

Source: Sony

Apply Foot Glide or Body Glide skin protectant stick directly onto your feet or any part of your body where annoying irritation may occur. If blisters or chafing have ever prevented you from running or riding that extra mile, now you can “glide” through your next race with ease.

Source: Body Glide

Hand-crafted necklaces, pins, key chains and tie tacks (pictured), made from sterling silver can be customized with your player’s number, creating a unique and attractive memento. Men and women both will appreciate the styles available, the quality is tremendous, and Silver Diamond’s prices are more than reasonable. Sister company Silver Ice Jewelry produces the same great items, but for those who chase the puck instead of the horsehide.

When looking for that perfect present, it’s nice when you’re able to hit a home run. In a world of ordinary, a gift from Silver Diamond Jewelry is out of the park.

Source: Silver Diamond Jewelry

I have three baseball-playing sons and a softball-playing daughter. The two oldest boys are in high school and, nearly every day, they beg me to take them down to the school and pitch to them. Every morning I wake up with a lower back that feels like two Ginsu knives are stuck inside, and to say I have tendonitis in my throwing shoulder would be like saying gas prices are a little high.

Just like everywhere, there are plusses and minuses to living in Southern California. On the positive side of the ledger, there is beautiful weather, incredible beaches, natural beauty, and proximity to many great attractions and sporting events. The downsides include, overcrowding, high cost of living and smog. Add to that list the fact that, unlike where I grew up in the Midwest, homes out here are usually built on postage-stamp-sized lots. They don’t sell a lot of riding mowers in So-Cal.

Since my backyard is about big enough for a good-sized swimming pool, but not much else, if I were to get a backyard batting cage, it would take up most of the lawn. That would be fine with me, and would be thrilling to my kids, but my wife thinks it would “look terrible.” “If we had a side lawn so I wouldn’t have to look at it, that would be fine,” she says.

For those of you who, like me, believe a batting cage would be the perfect home improvement; who either have bigger lawns, or less ardent spouses, there is Cages Plus. (www.cagesplus.com). Cages Plus is a family business that specializes in bringing the batting cage dream to backyards everywhere. What is so special about Cages Plus?

For one, it is affordable: For about the cost of 10-15 hours in the indoor cage, you can own your own at home. The system is easily installed and durable, and the owners will provide you with the best customer service you could wish for. But, maybe best of all, a batting cage system from Cages Plus means no more trying to find an open field, losing baseballs, and losing sleep because of back pain.

It used to be that the backyard batting cage was reserved for the fanatical baseball-dad. No more. The only excuse you need now is a son or daughter who wants to hit, a lawn slightly larger than a postage stamp and a wife who sees the intrinsic beauty of 10’ poles, knotted nylon, and frozen ropes.

Source: Cages Plus

My son and his buddies on the street have a roller hockey game at the end of the cul-de-sac every day after school. Prior to owning the Rage Cage a couple kids had cheap nets around a PVC pipe frame, and they hardly ever went out and played. They’ve taken a new passion for the sport in large part because the Rage Cage hockey net gives them true-to-life action. Because the net is made of heavy-duty steel, and thus is somewhat weighty, they’ve even devised a couple ingenious methods of transporting it down the street and back. Sometimes they use a skateboard to push it back and forth, other times one kid will lift the folded net and another will push him on his skates up to the garage. Once inside, its compact design means it only takes up about as much room as a child’s bike.

The Rage Cage is the hockey and lacrosse equivalent of the portable home basketball goal. And soccer is coming soon. No longer do kids need to go up to the school fields or the community center to play. Now, instead of taking your game somewhere because of the available equipment, you get to bring the equipment where you want to play.

Source: Rage Cage