THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 SPORTS College football begins with low-key opening game ATLANTA: Welcome back, college football! The sea- ago. The Panthers were one of only two FBS teams “I like the idea of being able to go somewhere and a 6-5 mark last year as they made the transition to the son begins Wednesday night with a game that won’t that failed to win a game, joining Miami of Ohio. Now, start something new, start a new tradition, take a higher level. They had no trouble scoring against have any impact on the national championship race: they’re hosting the very first game of the season. “It’s team that really hasn’t won very many games and tougher competition, averaging 45.5 points and 487 Georgia State, starting its first year as a full-fledged a huge opportunity for us,” said Nick Arbuckle, bring them into an era of actually winning and maybe yards per game. FBS member, takes on Division I newcomer Abilene Georgia State’s new starting quarterback. “It brings a competing for the conference championship and win- After the low-key opener, there are plenty of big Christian at the Georgia Dome. It will be the first of spotlight to us, and hopefully we can take advantage ning some bowl games.” games spread over the rest of the holiday weekend, three games in four days at the stadium in down- of that.” Coach Trent Miles knows the most immediate pri- many of which could have an impact down the road town Atlanta, the others having a bit more curb The Panthers, who launched their football pro- ority is simply winning a game. “Our kids are just excit- on the new four-team playoff. No 9 South Carolina appeal. No 18 Mississippi faces Boise State on gram in 2010, have lost 16 straight games and 22 of ed to play, to go out and chase the victory and put the hosts No 21 Texas A&M in a Southeastern Conference Thursday night, then No 2 Alabama meets West 23 over the last two seasons. While they are now eligi- demons away,” he said. “It wouldn’t matter whether it’s clash on Thursday. Two days later, No 12 Georgia Virginia on Saturday. ble for the Sun Belt Conference championship and the first college game or the third or the 10th.” Abilene entertains 16th-ranked Clemson in nearby Athens; No Georgia State was forced to move its opener to the bowl invitations, those goals seem far down the road. Christian moved up from Division II to the Football 13 LSU takes on 14th-ranked Wisconsin in Houston; middle of the week to accommodate the Chick-fil-A Arbuckle hopes to get the process started after trans- Championship Subdivision after the 2012 season. The and top-ranked Florida State, the defending national Kickoff Games, but at least that gives the school a lit- ferring from a junior college in California. “There were Wildcats, a member of the Southland Conference, champion, travels to Texas to take on Oklahoma State tle something to brag about after going 0-12 a year a lot of people wondering why I picked here,” he said. have posted eight straight winning seasons, including at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington. — AP Sponsorships lift extreme sports to the next level WASHINGTON: Erich Wegscheider is a man with a plan: to com- pete in 28 of the world’s toughest cycling, mountaineering, triathlon and ultra-marathon events-and find sponsors to foot the bills. “It’s not cheap. To do all these events is well beyond my means,” said the California-based athlete as he prepared to tick the grueling 104-mile Leadville Trail mountain bike race in Colorado off his bucket list. He’s not alone. With extreme sports growing in popularity worldwide, more and more practitioners are partner- ing with corporate patrons to help cover the cost of their passion, if not make a living out of it. In North America alone, brands are projected to spend $14.35 billion on sports sponsorship this year, up 4.9 percent from 2013, according to sponsorship consultancy IEG in Chicago. The lion’s share of that bounty goes to professional teams and A-list mainstream athletes who can deliver huge num- bers of fans to brands looking for high-volume exposure. “But we’re definitely seeing some of that money trickle down to action sports,” IEG’s Sponsorship Report senior editor William Chipps told SINGAPORE: A man skis at SKI360Degree, a cable-ski facility set in a small lagoon along SINGAPORE: A girl starts to ski at SKI360Degree, a cable-ski facility set in a small lagoon AFP, although it remains “a very small sliver” of the overall sponsor- Singapore’s east coast. Singapore, which is known as a ‘nanny-state’ for strict regulations, along Singapore’s east coast. ship pie. Red Bull is the 800-pound gorilla of extreme sports spon- has developed safe versions of extreme sports to satisfy its citizens’ cravings for thrills sorship. It has backed hundreds of athletes in a variety of activi- while limiting the risks. — AFP ties-including Felix Baumgartner, who bore the energy drink’s logo on his record-setting 24-mile skydive to Earth in 2012 - as well as producing its own events. “Fundamentally, they want to do cool things with their brand,” Fast, not furious in said ice climber and paraglider Will Gadd, who credits Red Bull for enabling him to make a film about his 2006 expedition to climb icebergs drifting off Labrador, in his native Canada. “The reality is that I would have gone and done it anyway, even without Red Bull’s support, because it’s what I wanted to do,” said Gadd before Asia’s ‘nanny state’ setting off on his latest exploit-paragliding the length of British Columbia through the Rocky Mountain Trench valley, again with Red Bull’s support. “If you’re really good at what you do, that’s not really enough. What you have to do, year after, year, is do a good SINGAPORE: When 13 year-old Singaporean Choo Yixuan sitting on a rubber tube in an indoor “Snow City”, cable-ski- a lot of potential. There isn’t much land here in Singapore, job of representing a company to the public and to your core wants to take a break from her grueling daily schedule of ing around a pond, and wakeboarding along a tiny strip of but (these) places show that you can certainly do some out- sport. “If that comes naturally, then it’s usually pretty easy.” schoolwork and swim training, she dons a jumpsuit to go water. door sports in a small area too,” he told AFP after an after- skydiving-without a parachute. But her parents need not noon of wakeboarding at the Ski360Degree facility-a cable- Sponsors ‘doing the legwork’ worry - Choo’s thrice-weekly indulgence happens inside a Risk aversion ski facility set in a small lagoon along Singapore’s east coast. In the best-case scenario, a sponsored extreme sport athlete wind tunnel, shielding her from the risk of dramatic mishaps “The younger generation of Singaporeans are looking for However, others say cost remains a barrier hindering can earn “probably a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year,” in the sky. The self-confessed adrenaline junkie is among the extreme sports that offer exhilarating experiences, but they more people from coming on board as extreme sports said Gadd, who personally gets much of his income from TV com- growing ranks of young Singaporeans taking up versions of are also calculating the level of risk it poses,” Lawrence Koh, a enthusiasts in Singapore. Two hours at Ski360Degree will set mercials and stunt work. More often than not, the norm is spon- sports whose only extreme element is their level of safety. former veteran military skydiver who founded iFly Singapore you back Sg$64 ($51) on a weekend, while two 45-second sorship in kind instead of cash. US skydiver Taya Weiss considers “I don’t see anything ‘extreme’ about indoor sky-diving, in said. While the bulk of indoor skydivers at the facility-housed dives at the iFly Singapore wind tunnel costs Sg$99. herself “pretty lucky” to get her wingsuit, parachutes and harness- fact it is actually very, very safe,” said Choo, a student at the inside a gleaming glass building on the resort island Mastering special moves is the main allure at SKI360Degree, es from her sport’s artisanal equipment manufacturers, which elite Singapore Sports School and an aspiring professional Sentosa-are one-time thrill seekers, Koh said nearly a hun- where an automated cable system pulls wakeboarders or can’t afford grand marketing budgets. “If you want to get good at swimmer. Choo was recently part of a team that set a dred are committed local hobbyists. water skiers around a 650-metre (0.40 miles) circuit at a this, you really have to put your heart and soul into it, and a lot of Guinness World Record for the most number of passes Vernon Quek, a 28-year-old Christian pastor, is one of speed of up to 58 kilometres (36 miles) an hour. “Many of your time-and it’s expensive,” said Weiss, who reckons she carries through a hula hoop while indoor-skydiving. A study by them, making weekly visits to the wind tunnel to practice our customers see this as a safer alternative to doing water $8,000 worth of gear when she wingsuits out of a plane. Western Michigan University School of Medicine released “Dynamic 4 Way”, a form of synchronized indoor skydiving.