NEW YORK -- Dr. Scot Refsland didnt know he was standing on hallowed ground in the aviation world. He was just looking for a scenic backdrop (and more importantly a legal area) to hold the U.S. National Drone Racing Championships in New York City. His journey eventually took him to the picnic point on Governors Island, with the Statue of Liberty to the left and the Manhattan skyline to the right, painting a picture-perfect postcard of the city.What Refsland didnt know at the time was that this was the same location where Wilbur Wright (of Wright brothers fame) built the first aerial canoe in 1909. Wright, wanting to fly over water for the first time, slung a canoe underneath the lower wing of a Flyer and made a historic 21-mile, 33-minute flight in front of a million onlookers in what would be his last public flight. He circled the Statue of Liberty and passed Grants Tomb, flying north over the Hudson along the west shore of Manhattan before safely returning to Governors Island.When I found out that this is where the Wright Brothers had their first flight over water, I got chills, said Refsland, the co-founder and chairman of the Drone Sports Association (DSA). That was the first realization of the dream of flying over water, and now were here realizing the next generation of human flight.The next generation of human flight isnt so much humans actually flying, but feeling as if theyre flying. First-person-view (FPV) drone racing has caught on as a popular recreational sport over the past two years and is now being talked about as the next emerging sport on the heels of this past weekends national championship in New York and the first world championships in Hawaii in October.It taps right into an inherent DNA structure in humanity where we all have had the dream of flight, Refsland said. Weve always wanted to fly. What flying first-person-view has given us is give us superpowers and made us superheroes. Now you can literally fly.There was a reason Refsland wanted to hold the U.S. National Drone Racing Championships in New York. Hes still selling the sport and his league to Madison Avenue, and what better way than going right up to the doorstep of prospective sponsors to do that. He would have held it in Times Square or Central Park if New York Citys rules and regulations on drones werent so strict. So he ended up getting as close as possible and inviting as many companies as would listen to him out to the races.Ive met with 20-30 investors, and the first question I ask them is, Have you ever flown FPV? And they say, no, so I take out a little kit that I bring with me that I fly in boardrooms, Refsland said. Its a little tiny drone and its got a camera on it, and I put it right on the boardroom table. And I give everyone in the room goggles and I take off, and half of them fall off their chairs right away. Then I fly down the halls and all the employees are on their feet and excited and it causes this huge buzz, and thats when they get it. They suddenly have experienced the dream of flight that has been embedded in their brains. Ive unlocked that understanding of why people are attracted to it and why this is growing so fast.GoPro was the title sponsor of the U.S. National Drone Racing Championships, which was the first event aired on ESPN as part of a multiyear, international media distribution deal with DSA. Other sponsors included AIG, Ernst & Young, Vizio and Ecko Unltd. Many executives from other companies were invited to make the trek to Governors Island, where they got their first taste of drone racing. The execs were hosted inside a white hospitality tent near the finish line and treated to an open bar and hors doeuvres, and plenty of FPV goggles. On top of each table in the tent was a Harvard Business Review study on drones and drone racing.This drone race was designed to build the business and build the model, Refsland said. Its in New York City and a 10-minute ferry ride from Wall Street, and a lot of CEOs from Fortune 500 companies are here that are investors and scouts looking at this. We told our pilots that this is your golden moment. Put on your best Sunday suit and fly your best, and were going to match you with companies and kick-start the money flow.The money has already started flowing into drone racing, but theres not just one pot for that money, as a few leagues have popped up. In addition to the Drone Sports Association, theres the Drone Racing League and the International Drone Racing Association. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has invested $1 million in the Drone Racing League through his investment firm RSE Ventures. CAA Ventures, the venture capital arm of talent firm Creative Artists Agency, has also invested into the league. Were in the golden hour, and were all in the jockeying position of whos going to control what, Refsland said. Its an exciting time for everyone.Zoe Stumbaugh was in tears as she explained the way she feels when she puts on her FPV goggles and races. A series of medical complications and surgeries led her to being bedridden for two years and unable to ride her motorcycle. One day a friend suggested she find another hobby; she bought a drone and her life hasnt been the same since. I could get outside of my own body and be like a bird and be free, she said. It gets my adrenaline going. Its a very surreal, deep experience. Its an escape. Ive been able to fly and its given me my life back. Otherwise, Id be in pain all the time and I wouldnt want to do anything.Stumbaugh, 25, lives in Sana Cruz, California, and she is not only one of the few female pilots in the sport but also one of the best in the country. Her ability to outperform men is one of the reasons she hopes the sport will catch on with other females.There are not enough women in this sport, and this is one of the few sports where you have an even playing field with the men across the board, Stumbaugh said. It all comes down to your brain and finger movements. I know some very dexterous ladies out there that could do this sport just as good as any of the guys. Im hoping well start seeing more women competing in the next year.The beauty of drone racing during this infancy period is that just about anyone can compete if they have the means to drop about $1,000 on a fast drone and then start practicing. Thats how Conrad Miller, 37, and his son, Sorell, 12, who live in Boise, Idaho, ended up at the nationals not as fans but as competitors. They are first and only father-son tandem to compete at the two-year-old event.It feels like were back at home, said Sorell. We compete against each other every Sunday, and doing it here at a race like this is different because there are other people involved, but it makes me feel like Im at home competing against my dad. I dont know what it feels like to be as old as everyone else here. Im just having fun.FPV video on YouTube turned many hobbyists into full-fledged drone addicts because they could see what drone operators were capable of with their machines. Suddenly, a drone that was used by many simply to fly around in a park on the weekend was flying through deserted buildings and near cliffs too dangerous to navigate by foot.The big kick-starter for us was a pilot named Charpu, Carlos Puertolas, Refsland said. Hes a Spaniard who lives in the U.S., and he got to the same place many hobbyists were in, where its not that fun flying circles. So when FPV came, he saw that it gave a breath of fresh air into the sport. He came to one of our shows two years ago and did all these tricks nobody had ever seen before and was flying this airframe nobody had ever seen before, and everyone started copying him. That was the real catalyst that started this whole thing.Puertolas, one of the head animators for DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, California, has been posting videos on his YouTube page for the past two years and has almost 4 million views. In an infant sport void of legends, hes as close to that status as possible; he took pictures and signed autographs while walking around Governors Island before the races.Its a great feeling when someone says they started doing something that they love because of you, Puertolas said. The first time you try FPV it feels like an out-of-body experience. When you get good it becomes second nature, and at that point it does feels like youre able to switch into a different body that is much more agile and can do things you cannot do physically. You have this freedom of movement and can go superfast without getting hurt. Its really like youre a superhero with a superpowers.The most popular comparison to drone racing is auto racing, only smaller and in the air. At least thats the dream of league organizers and sponsors, who would love to see the fledgling sport become that popular and lucrative someday.We want to build the next NASCAR of drone racing, Refsland said. Up to this point, this has all been run by nerds standing in a field flying gnats. Now were thinking about the fans and the spectators. We have a barrier that is 5 feet from the netting, and the netting is 5 feet from the racing. We have huge JumboTrons showing the races and showing who is in first. Weve numbered all the racers and color-coded them. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. walks out, you know its him. We want to have the same thing here. Were going to rank them so if Las Vegas wants to create odds and take bets on the races, they have the rankings.The biggest issue at the moment for drone racing is that what makes it so addictive for the pilots is also what makes it so hard to enjoy for casual spectators. While the FPV goggles make pilots feel as if they are sitting in the cockpit of a plane they are flying, soaring over and around obstacles, many of the spectators on Governors Island over the weekend had a hard time deciphering which pilot was manning which drone and had no idea who was in first place. From afar, it looked like eight oversized bugs buzzing around in circles, with one occasionally splattering on an iron beam or Plexiglas wall. The fans who put on goggles to see what the pilots were looking at quickly took them off because of the quality. The FPV footage for live races is still mostly in standard definition and looks like grainy footage shot from an old home video camera in need of tracking adjustment.I think it could be a good sport for TV if the FPV was high definition, said Juan Pablo Montoya, who has won races in Formula One, CART, IRL, IndyCar, Grand-Am and NASCAR. I think visually you have to come with goggles to be able to appreciate it because theyre so small and they fly so quickly. I think as the sport grows, the drones will be bigger and tougher and easier to see, but I think the potential is there. I think it could potentially be huge and a fun spectator sport to watch.Montoya, who has his own drones and has been into remote-controlled cars, boats and helicopters for years, attended the races on Governors Island last weekend and talked to pilots as they put the final touches on their planes.I love the technology behind it and how it has evolved over the years from the goggles to the radios to the equipment, he said. This is a great hobby that can become a great sport.A few hours before the Cleveland Indians were scheduled to play the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer was walking around the pilots tent at the nationals. Wearing a backpack with his three drones hanging from the outside, Bauer looked more like a competitor than a spectator.I just enjoy flying, so anytime I can come out and be around other pilots and see what they do, its a good time for me, said Bauer, who majored in mechanical engineering at UCLA. I actually design my own frames on the computer and 3-D print all the parts I need. Im very involved in the whole engineering process. Its the most fun I have. Its the closest thing you can get to flying. Anytime anyone asks me about it, I have them put on the goggles and try it. Thats the only way you can understand the feeling. Bauer, who travels with his drones and flies them on the road as well as at home, said he had a rush similar to being on the mound when he flew his drone through Devils Bridge in Sedona, Arizona, during spring training earlier this year.I really enjoy that feeling, Bauer said. That feeling is one of the things I enjoy most about baseball, so its cool to be able to put on goggles and experience that feeling. I think the more people that try it, the bigger this sport will get. Theres nothing quite like it.As Bauer walked around the tents meeting many of the pilots he follows on social media, Refsland thought about all the fans and pilots he would be reaching during the nationals in New York and how many new fans and pilots could become hooked on drone racing in the immediate aftermath.Were hoping so many people watched or heard or read about the races this weekend that Amazon will be sold out of drones by next week, Refsland said. Were hoping everyone gets involved. Who wouldnt want to realize their dream of flying? nfl jerseys china . 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Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Pete Carroll swore he was not thinking about Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday night, you know, the one he handed to the New England Patriots as sure as Roger Goodell handed them the Vince Lombardi Trophy. He said he was not rewinding the past, only living for the moment, all that blah, blah, blah.And then the 65-year-old coach of the Seattle Seahawks left his postgame microphone inside Gillette Stadium and skipped toward his locker room hollering and whooping in a liberating way, betraying the words spoken to a roomful of reporters. Sometimes Carroll acts this way as the NFLs answer to the late, great Dick Clark -- the worlds oldest teenager. But this was different. Carroll wanted this one badly, even if its part of his job description to never, ever admit it.The NBC cameras caught him acting out on the sidelines, and these regular-season scenes in November reminded me of a regular-season NBA night in January in 1995, when Pat Riley, coach of the Knicks, downplayed his first game in Houston since his team blew a 3-2 Finals lead there the previous June. To punctuate a crucial made basket in that Knicks victory in January, Riley let out a primal scream the likes I hadnt heard from him before or since. This was the sound of a coach who had allowed his guard, John Starks, to shoot 2 for 18 in Game 7 the previous June and had been having a hard time forgiving himself for it.Two years ago in the Arizona desert, Carroll made a much bigger mistake on the goal line. He needed to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch in the closing seconds to win his second straight Super Bowl title, and instead he ordered his quarterback, Russell Wilson, to throw a slant pass to Ricardo Lockette. Lynch had run for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns that season, and Wilson had run for 849 yards and six touchdowns. Pressured by Belichicks stunning decision to let the clock bleed away precious seconds, Carroll decided he wanted to get the ball to Lockette, who managed 11 catches all year. An undrafted New England rookie out of West Alabama named Malcolm Butler beat the receiver to it.Theres really nobody to blame but me, Carroll said that night.He has had to live with it ever since, just like Riley had to live with leaving in Starks in 94, and Grady Little had to live with leaving in Pedro Martinez in 2003. Carroll has done a good job of it, at least publicly. It sure seems he has taken the hit like a man.Only this return match with the Patriots was a wonderful opportunity to vent, to flex his considerable coaching muscles, and to let loose a scream or three from his toes. Pete Carroll wasnt just the coach who made the worst call in Super Bowl history to gift wrap Bill Belichick his fourth championship ring. He was also the coach fired by Robert Kraft after the 1999 season so Kraft could steal Belichick from the Jets.In the leadup to this game, you could hear the hurt in Carrolls voice. He said hed planned on having control in New England but that it didnt really work out that way, the way I hoped, until I went back to USC and when I got a chance to be in charge again. He pointed out that he was a smash hit at USC -- except with NCAA investigators -- when he had the power over his program that Kraft didnt give him in Foxborough. He pointed out that Kraft did give Belichick the chance to take that thing over and run it and do it exactly the way a football guy sees it, and the rest has been a great history and a great success story.So Carroll had so much invested in his first game back since Kraft fired him all those years ago. It was a wonderful back-and-forth football game, too, not unlike the epic Super Bowl encounter between these two teams. Tom Brady opened with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated in the first LeGarrette Blounts three scores, and the Seahawks started to work the problem from there.Wilson ended up outplaying his legendary counterpart, throwing three touchdown passes to Bradys none, but the night came down to -- what else? -- a questionable decision by Carroll and a goal-line stand. First, the questionable call. AAfter his team took a 31-24 lead on a beautiful Wilson throw to Doug Baldwin with four minutes and change to play, Carroll decided to attempt a two-point conversion rather than the safer kick that wouldve forced the Patriots to score eight points to tie.ddddddddddddWhy would they go for two here? Belichick was caught asking into his headset.We wanted to see if we could put it out of reach, Carroll explained, and make it a two-score deal. It was an unnecessary gamble, and one that predictably failed. New England drove the ball down the field and to the Seattle 1 with only seconds to play. Everyone in the building had a flashback. Some 2,700 miles from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the Patriots and the Seahawks and Belichick and Carroll would battle again over a very small piece of real estate.The most recognizable Pats fan in the house Sunday night, Mark Wahlberg, recalled before the game that he was in Krafts suite for the Super Bowl. He described the chaotic endgame scene of security officials entering the suite and preparing to escort the winning owner and family and friends down to the field for the coronation before Jermaine Kearse made his absurd catch in the same building where David Tyree made his to beat New England in Super Bowl XLII.It was sheer devastation, Wahlberg told ESPN.com as he was promoting Tuesdays debut of his USA Network show, Shooter, for which he serves as executive producer. We saw [Kearse] bobble it and we thought he dropped it and we were all cheering, and then we saw the replay on the Jumbotron. ... But we went from crying tears of sadness to tears of joy after the Butler interception. It was one of the craziest rides Ive ever been on.Wahlberg says he keeps a picture on his phone of Carroll working a drive-thru window and reaching out to deliver an order to a customer. Should I just hand this to you, the mocking Internet caption reads, or step back five yards and throw it for no reason.The Patriots didnt throw it until fourth down, after Blount and Brady failed to barrel it in. Brady threw a fade pass to Rob Gronkowski, who was tangled up with Kam Chancellor, and the presiding official made a good no-call. When it was over, Carroll said the Patriots had worked on that very play with Chancellor and a tall practice squad receiver, Marcus Lucas, in the weeks final practice. Just as Butler had worked on jumping the slant before the Super Bowl.It was a big moment in practice, Carroll said of Chancellors victory over Lucas.It was a much bigger moment in the game. Belichick gave a warm hug to Carroll on the field, and then raved about Seattles program the way he has done in the past. Carroll called Brady and Belichick the best of all time, and spoke of how much the Patriots had going for them entering this game: their relatively good health, the fact that they were coming off a bye week, the fact that they werent traveling across the country, the fact that they werent coming off a short week (Seattle played Monday night), and the fact that they never, ever lose at home.It cant get any better than that, Carroll said.In the winners locker room, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman fielded a question about the Super Bowl and decided the similar finish in Gillette Stadium was more ironic than anything. He said he thought the Seahawks might see the Patriots again this season, in February. He said that potential rematch would do far more for his coachs legacy than Sunday nights.Its not going to eliminate the criticism [of Carroll], Sherman said of the victory. This game is not even close to the significance of the Super Bowl. I think he gets that its a different year and hes kind of moved past it as much as you can.As far as making good on his worst night as an NFL coach, Pete Carroll still as a long way to go. But he did gain ground Sunday night.?He did pick up a good 10 or 15 yards on the ghost that will haunt him from here to his next championship parade. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '