NEW YORK -- If you want to glimpse the future of sports broadcasting, you can check out the Rio Olympics in virtual reality. But if you really want to immerse yourself in the competition, just turn on the TV.NBC, BBC and other Olympic networks around the world are offering the opening and closing ceremonies and selected events in VR, giving viewers a 360-degree perspective -- that is, the ability to look up, down and all around -- when they wear special headsets. Its a first in Olympics broadcasting, and NBC itself admits that its more than 100 hours of VR coverage is experimental.Its good that television networks are getting a head start on figuring out what works with the new technology. Watching the Olympics in VR can occasionally transport you, giving you the sense of actually being there in Rio. But those moments are still too few and far between.---THE BASICSTelevision networks are relying on the shared resources of the Olympic Broadcasting Services. In the U.S., viewers need a cable or satellite TV subscription, a Samsung Gear VR headset and a recent flagship Samsung Galaxy phone.The VR schedule has a haphazard feel. It offers preliminary rounds for some sports and finals for others, but focuses on just one sport on any given day. Events are shown a day after the fact, too, apart from one fencing event and two days of mens basketball expected to be live.---THE OPENING CEREMONYFriends who hadnt tried VR before were impressed by the opening ceremony, though the spectacle was less momentous if youd seen enough of VR for its newness to wear off. A few scenes still stood out:- At one point, performers clad in feather-like costumes sashayed and shimmied around me as they introduced the world to Brazils music and dance. Producers had set up a 360-degree camera right next to them on stage, giving the VR audience the sense of being in the show instead of just watching it. Alas, producers then switched to more-distant cameras.- VR cameras captured the parade of athletes from at least two vantage points on the floor, giving me the sense of standing near them as they passed by. TV shots, by contrast, were mostly birds eye views. I even caught one of the stadium marshals next to me -- I mean the camera -- snapping a photo with a smartphone.- While television mostly had aerial shots looking down at fireworks, VR offered a perspective from inside as fireworks shot up from around the entire stadium.But VR doesnt do everything well, as I learned myself while recording 360-degree videos .With no zoom, shots from the stadiums seats felt distant. Television showed close-ups of supermodel Gisele Bundchens runway walk to The Girl From Ipanema, but in VR all you could see was a dark, empty stadium floor. She was just too far away.VR tried to compensate by showing a TV feed within the VR environment, but the virtual monitor got distracting. And when I looked down, all I could see was a computer-generated disk intended to hide the camera rig. It felt like standing on a giant dinner plate -- there as an observer, but not really there.---COMPETITIONThere are currently no commercials or commentators intruding on the VR Olympics; all you get is natural sound from the venue. On the other hand, theres no way to jump directly to a specific match or athlete.Among other drawbacks, athletes sometimes looked like video-game characters. VR video wasnt as sharp as what Im used to on TV, and 3-D rendering might have compounded that feeling of fakeness.In beach volleyball, one challenged play got shown repeatedly on television, but VR offered no instant replays or slow motion.With boxing, coverage switched back and forth between a floor-level camera and one about the height of a street lamp. That forced me to continually tilt my head to look up and down again as though nodding. Let the viewer choose the camera.For mens gymnastics, four cameras covered the six-event all-around finals, meaning you had to turn around to watch two of the events in the distance. Once again, you dont get to control the shot. You might be fixated on the pommel horse when you suddenly get a floor-exercise routine going on at the same time. Track-and-field coverage this weekend will probably have similar issues.For now, VR is most exciting behind the scenes. I could feel the joy as Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura won gold and hugged his support staff, surrounded by cameras. You dont get that sense of closeness when its a straight-on television shot. I would love to see warmup areas and locker rooms in VR (for team strategizing, of course). VR works best when the room is small and people are close to the camera.---LOOKING AHEADIts easy to take television sports coverage for granted. Before satellites, TV rarely covered sports live, and cameras were rudimentary. Now, underwater cameras can capture swimmers intensity in the pool, while a computer-generated yellow line shows the world-record pace. Elsewhere, skiers and ice-hockey players have strapped on GoPros. No doubt VR cameras and production will get better.Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC Olympics, said it well just before the Olympics started: It seems like a cool thing, but where it stands right now with the goggles and youve got to put this thing on your head, its not there yet. I kind of like the experience of watching big events like the Olympics on a high-quality television screen, which as we like to say, is as God intended it. Lance Stephenson Jersey . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Myles Turner Jersey . 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The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Desperate to improve Floridas free throw shooting last season, coach Mike White tried a little bit of everything.He tweaked some of his players mechanics. He increased repetitions in practice. He had guys shoot while tired and winded and with some team accountability at stake. He even considered bringing in a sports psychologist.I didnt want it to become more mental than it already was, White said Tuesday.So he waited until the offseason.Over the summer, White brought in renowned sports psychologist Spencer Wood to work with the Gators.If you can train your mind, use different methods to understand how to stay in that place -- whatever that place is for you or whatever that trigger word is for you -- or get you back into that place of calm, or confident, those type things, I think it can help you with the rest of your game as well, said White, whos in his second season in Gainesville.So far, its made a noticeable difference for Florida (2-0), which plays St. Bonaventure (1-0) in Lakeland on Thursday night.After ranking 323rd (out of 346 NCAA teams) from the foul line last season, shooting a meager 64.7 percent, Florida is up to 78.6 percent so far this season. Two games are hardly enough of a sample size to make White a believer, but he wants to think there is improvement.You hope that moving forward we can be in the same mindset, White said. Im not sure its fixed. I dont want to sit here and think were a great free throw shooting team. But what weve seen the first two games is what weve been in practice. You want that to continue, of course. Our guys are in a pretty good place.White said feedback was positive, especially from center John Egbunu, point guard Kasey Hill and forward Justin Leon. Egbunu (53.2 percent), Hill (53.8) and Leon (46.2) were among Floridas worst foul shooters last season. All three are above 70 percent through two games.ddddddddddddLeon said Wood worked with players to find their hype meter on a scale of 1 to 10, telling them they needed to play defense at a more frantic pace than offense, especially at the line.He gave me a lot of different breathing patterns, Leon added. So thats really been working for me. ... Its good to see it impact the game. That means the stuff weve been doing is working, and it shows weve taken the time to put the effort in the gym.Woods resume includes a number of college and professional teams. He worked with the Gators previously, getting invited by former Florida coach Billy Donovan before the 2010 season and helping that team deal with the psychological aspects of trying to get back to the NCAA tournament after a two-year absence. The Gators, led by Chandler Parsons, Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker, returned to the tournament.White blamed free throw shooting for his team missing the NCAA tournament last season. The Gators blew several leads, failing to put teams away late from the line, and had double-digit misses in 10 games.The Gators look considerably more confident this season. If not for newcomer Canyon Barry missing three of his first four underhanded free throws in the opener because of nerves, the Gators would have shot at least 80 percent from the charity stripe in both games.Very nice, very nice, White said. Knock on wood we continue shooting it this way. We have in practice. We just hope we continue to see that carry over. You can see it [in] their body languages, a little more confident at the foul line. ... Its a big factor for us. It kept up out of the NCAA tournament last year, single-handedly, and hopefully this year we continue shooting like this. Discount Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Black China NFL Jerseys Disocunt Football Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Black China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Stitched Jerseys ' ' '