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The Little League World Series is officially underway after its start last Thursday and will continue until its climax Sunday, Aug. 25, with the championship. Here are the records to this point (keep in mind that this is double elimination):

US Teams

Great Lakes
0-2
Mid-Atlantic
1-1
Midwest
1-1
New England
2-0
Northwest
1-1
Southeast
1-1
Southwest
0-2
West
2-0

International Teams

Asia-Pacific
1-1
Australia
0-2
Canada
1-1
Caribbean
1-1
Europe & Africa
0-2
Latin America
1-1
Japan
2-0
Mexico
2-0

But the team to watch for is Eastlake Little League of the Northwest from Sammamish, Washington, which has been provided with 29 GelDefender products to finish out the tournament. Eastlake beat the team from the Southwest Thursday 8-4 but lost yesterday 7-9 against New England. However, the team is not out of the tournament yet, and they play again tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern against the Midwest team (to be televised on ESPN2). Keep an eye on these players as they advance, and check in with us periodically for updates on both their progress and the rest of the World Series!

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Golden Anniversary Enshrinement Festival will reach its climax this weekend, with the Class of 2013 Enshrinement Ceremony on Saturday and the NFL/Hall of Fame Game – featuring the Cowboys and the Dolphins – on Sunday. Here are the inductees to be enshrined:

 
• - Larry Allen
• - Cris Carter
• - Curley Culp
• - Jonathan Ogden
• - Bill Parcells
• - Dave Robinson
• - Warren Sapp

GelDefender is going to be keeping you up-to-date on what’s going on in Canton through Facebook, on Twitter, and here on the blog. We’re also going to be featuring throughout the week football greats who have stood up for head safety in the sport – GelDefender Impact Players. So be on the lookout this week for our coverage of the Hall of Fame events and see how our Impact Players have been fighting to make the game safer.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

It was September of 2010, and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Blake Hawksworth—in only his second season in the majors—was on the mound against the Chicago Cubs. In the fifth inning, moments after a pitch to Cubs’ outfielder Sam Fuld, a stadium full of people cringed to see Hawksworth on the ground, blood dripping from his face.

“I can remember the incident, and I can remember seeing the baseball,” said the young righthander. “I can still even hear it, the sound it makes coming at you.”

Hawksworth was just a split second too slow getting his glove up to prevent Fuld’s line drive from hitting him squarely in the face.

He was taken immediately to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a split lip and a concussion. A few stitches, some dental work, and a month later, and he was back on the mound.

“If it was higher, lower, who knows how bad it could have been,” he said. “It could’ve been my eye, who knows. It’s just such a blessing to walk out of that okay.”

Now, with the upswing in concussion awareness, he is looking for ways to protect himself and his fellow pitchers for when what happened to him in 2010 happens again. “I’m fearful of it for anyone,” he said, “because I know the effects it has.”

Hawksworth said athletes often don’t consider themselves vulnerable to head injury until they are faced with one themselves. “In any sport, there’s a sense of invincibility,” he said. “You kind of have that thought of, ‘Yeah, that’s scary, but the odds of that happening to me are slim.’ Until it happens to you.”

He said hearing about people that have dealt with head injuries and their side effects for the rest of their lives, let alone their playing careers, has motivated him and major sports organizations to seriously consider greater protection.

“It’s an issue that’s going to be addressed, and Major League Baseball I know for a fact is looking into it, and especially in the NFL – hockey, cycling, you name it,” he said. “Head injuries are the scariest injuries out there.”
After taking a look at the GelDefender head protection pad for caps and working with it off the mound, he said he thinks its subtlety, its comfort, and its cooling make it a good options for pitchers.

However, he said that regulated protection for players may be in the distant future for a very traditional sport like baseball.

“Unfortunately, there’s some vanity in sports, and people are hesitant to wear something that is different,” he said. “But I think at the end of the day people have families, and they have lives to live after they play. And they want to do everything they can to live a healthy life.”

Listen to audio excerpts from our interview with Blake here: https://soundcloud.com/geldefender

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

The Women’s College World Series championship round kicked off last night in Oklahoma City with a 5-3 win for the Oklahoma Sooners against the Tennessee Vols. The best-two-of-three series between No. 1 Oklahoma and the No. 7 Tennessee will continue tonight with game two, with game three if necessary Wednesday night to determine the 2013 championship team.

The 12-inning nail-biter tested the women to the height or their endurance as they played the longest game in the championship round of the WCWC since 1984. The only runs scored were in the eleventh and twelfth innings. After the Vols scored three runs in the top of the eleventh, the Sooners answered in the bottom with three more when down to their last out and last strike. The Sooners closed out the game with another two runs in the bottom of the twelfth in the important first game of the series.

The excitement and hype surrounding these games and the rest of the WCWC has been high as these women battle for the top. It’s strange to think that a few short decades ago, women were fighting at the Congressional level for rights that are today obvious.

Title IX, the act that laid the foundation upon which women’s amateur and professional sports are built, was made law in 1972 and ensures that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in . . . any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” This assurance has had far-reaching influence in the sports world, as it guarantees women the same opportunities as men athletically as well as in other educational endeavors.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

It’s a rarity for pitchers to get beaned by a batter’s line drive, but it’s also a reality. With that in mind, Major League Baseball has been scrambling over the past several months to find head protection for its fielders, particularly pitchers.

Unfortunately, the search has not yet yielded the results MLB has been seeking, and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ faced that very scenario Tuesday without any head protection. Luckily, Happ seems to have suffered no significant injuries other than bruising and a cut ear and has since been released from the hospital.

While the search for the right product for pitchers to comfortably wear under their caps has not yet been successful, watch for a new GelDefender product – one made specifically for caps – that will be available May 18.

The comfortable soft gel and the cooling benefits make the newest GelDefender head pad perfect for use under caps, and the design allows the pad to fit inside caps securely.

We’re sending samples to MLB and a few MLB teams that have requested our product, and we hope they and other ball players will choose this new equipment option.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

Now that the NFL draft has been completed, 224 draftees and an undefined number of free agents are making plans to strap on their helmets and work to earn a spot on a team.
 

In 2012 the big news was how many rookie quarterbacks were opening day starters. This year, it’s how few quarterbacks were drafted in prominent rounds.
 

Florida State’s E.J. Manuel was taken by Buffalo but was the lone QB picked in the first round.
 

Second-rounder Geno Smith will have a shot at immediate playing time as part of the Jets dreadful offense, but the remainder of the 11 quarterbacks taken—with the exception of Southern Cal’s Matt Markley—are longer-term projects.
 

Matt Barkley, taken in the fourth round by the Eagles, looks to be one of the most intriguing picks. Injuries and a weaker Southern Cal team dropped his stock in 2013, and arm-strength questions remain. But Michael Vick’s 2013 performance was nothing memorable and new coach Chip Kelly will be looking for any way to score points.
 

The 2013 NFL preseason kicks off Sunday, August 4, when the Dallas Cowboys face the Miami Dolphins in Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
 

The defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens lead off the regular season with a Thursday night game on September 5.
 

Three days later, Bills fans will find out if Manuel will have the reins when Buffalo tees it up against New England. That same first Sunday of the season, the Jets may have West Virgina’s Smith under center against Tampa Bay.
 

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

The NFL draft has become perhaps the most important annual sports activity that involves no activity on the field.

When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell strides to the podium Thursday night—shortly after 8 p.m. ET—to announce the first selection in the 2013 draft, he’ll be in front of a packed house at Radio City Music Hall in New York and over 8 million viewers on ESPN and the NFL Network.

Such viewership, not even including months of pre-draft speculation and post-draft analyses, makes the NFL draft a television powerhouse that approximates viewership for hallmark sports events such as the final round of the U.S. Open, the Indy 500, NBA playoffs and most NASCAR events.

Typically, given the geography, fans of the New York Giants and New York Jets dominate the live audience and annually provide collective groans or cheers depending upon the fan view of the choices made by team executives.

This year, it is likely that the most vocal of those reactions will come from fans of the Jets, who watched their team end a disappointing 2012 season plagued by the Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow quarterback puzzle and are now debating the pros and cons of the recent trade of star quarterback Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay for the Bucs 13th pick in the first round and a chump change pick in 2014.

Jets fans unhappy with current starting quarterback Sanchez may plead for West Virginia QB Geno Smith, but the Jets are most likely to grab LSU linebacker Barkevious Mingo if he’s still available.

After several years packed with quarterback talents including Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck and Cam Newton, Smith may be the only QB taken in the first round, with Matt Barkley of Southern Cal and Ryan Nassib of Syracuse slipping to Friday night’s second round.

Most of those considered in the “can’t miss” category in 2013 are beefy offensive and defensive tackles. If Kansas City doesn’t trade down, watch for Notre Dame’s Luke Joeckel or Texas A&M’s Eric Fisher to be called first by Goodell as the Chiefs try to keep new QB Alex Smith protected from the concussion problems that knocked him out mid-season in 2012.

The first round of the draft concludes Thursday night, rounds 2-3 are Friday evening and rounds 4-7 are Saturday afternoon.
 

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

The 2013 Supercross AMA National Championship is poised to kick off April 6 in Houston, TX and will definitely be a stiff competition among the many challengers. Some of the top riders should be Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Blake Baggett, Justin Barcia, and Ricky Carmichael. Houston is just the first leg in the tour, where riders will attempt to set the pace.

The most dominant riding should appear in both this race and the last race. We predict the top three riders will finish in this order: Villopoto, Ivan Tedesco, and Ryan Baggett. Though Ryan Dungey was a tempting pick, we cannot see him finishing in the top three given his subpar performance in the World Motocross Championships. In the 2012 Motocross Tour in Germany, Dungey came in behind Baggett below the #7 spot. This shed light on the inefficiencies of the US Motocross team and Dungey specifically.

Tedesco is a hard-to-sell pick, but he has been finishing in a higher position every year. Travis Pastrana would make an interesting pick, but his foray into other sports have taken away from the time he used to spend solely on motocross runs. He’ll likely make the top ten, however, and have a chance to redeem himself in the next leg of the race. We’re definitely excited to see how it turns out!

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

The baseball season is officially underway, bringing with it plenty of stories throughout MLB. The highlight of opening day was a shutout from the Los Angeles Dodger’s ace, Clayton Kershaw. On top of that, he became the second pitcher in history to hit a homerun and pitch a shutout on opening day. The Dodgers were locked in a 0-0 tie with the San Francisco Giants until the 8th inning, when Kershaw broke it open.

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper also cemented his place in history at just 20 years and 167 days old by becoming the youngest player ever to hit two home runs in the season opener.

Star Nationals pitcher Steven Strasburg also looked very solid in his season debut, going seven innings. This is the longest outing he has had since the middle of last season. He allowed 0 earned runs. His pitch count was being monitored, but he made each one count.

Finally, after missing much of last season due to severe injuries, the Philadelphia Phillies’ second baseman, Chase Utley, made a splash by hitting a homerun and a triple and driving in 3 runs. He looked much more like the Chase Utley of old, an exceptionally gifted offensive and defensive player capable of stealing, fielding, and hitting the long ball.

As the season progresses, we can expect to continue seeing dazzling highlights. We can only hope that players stay safe and protect themselves so as to enjoy long, productive, and entertaining careers!

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.

Some have speculated recently about the future of football, given recent head injury issues. So far, most seem to think that football will not be unseated from America’s sports throne and that, with better equipment and several rules changes, it’ll get through.

But, according to a recent Reuters report, another sport could be in more imminent danger: boxing. In the words of Dr. Calvin Inalsingh, head of the World Boxing Association’s medical advisory committee, “Boxing is the only sport in which the objective is to render blows to the head and body of the opponent so as to cause the opponent to be incapacitated."

It’s easier to alter football’s rules while keeping the goal of the game the same. Score touchdowns. Kick field goals. Keep the other team from scoring.

In boxing, the goal is to hurt the opponent. Hard hits aren’t a means to an end; they are the end. And while violence is somewhat inherent in football, it’s doubly true that violence is the essence of boxing. Not senseless violence, but violence none-the-less.

Boxing, like football, incorporates contact into its practices as well as its matches. Sparring sessions in boxing can lead to much head and body contact, even with pads that have been used for years in such practices.

One boxer taking the next step with his equipment is undefeated heavyweight Amir Mansour. The Wilmington, Del., native recently became the first boxer to supplement traditional sparring head gear with the new GelDefender head pad.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender^TM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.