Golf Magazine
URL: http://www.golfonline.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Golf magazine has created a useful Web site that goes beyond the regular print version. It¹s got up-to-tee-off news, the latest weather report so you don¹t get hit by lightening, a database of the top golf instructors, the rules (in case you forgot), a database of courses and resorts, and a bulletin board on golf-y topics. My favorite feature is the Personal Profiler. Fill out a form that and the computer gives you a detailed plan on how you can improve your game. It told me to wait for the monkey to swing all the way over before teeing off at the mini-golf course.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

ESPNet
URL: http://espnet.sportszone.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Jon Phillips
What do you want? You want highlight films? Boom. It¹s got highlight films. You want play-by-play? Boom. It¹s got play-by-play. You want player interviews? Stats and box scores? Sports talk? That¹s right. Boom. You betcha. ESPNET SportsZone has it all ‹ on your computer, right there, and in your face. Bet your Bulls¹ tickets on it. SportsZone offers the best, most comprehensive, multimedia sports coverage on the Web today. From video clips to sound files to link after logically placed link, you won¹t find a more gigantic resource of up-to-the-minute professional sports information. The array and timeliness of the content sets a benchmark to which other news organizations should aspire. Indeed, in one form or another, SportsZone offers all one may find on ESPN¹s cable TV network. The site is rife with impressive, innovative features. In no particular order: Video clips of amazing plays. You¹re watching the 5 p.m. news and see Shaq hit the first three-pointer of his career. You book on over to SportsZone, and ‹ *yes* ‹ it¹s the Video Play of the Day. Download the QuickTime or AVI clip, and you¹ve saved Shaqidocious for posterity. Game flow graphics. At this point, SportsZone begins to compete with TV. If your favorite games aren¹t televised, you can use your computer for real-time statistical accounts of games in progress. You say pretty, constantly updated graphics aren¹t enough? Then check out the play-by-play descriptions. Celebrity Q&A. SportsZone gets you closer to the competitors by letting you submit questions to select players. And we¹re not talking back-up tight ends and the third-round picks who play garbage minutes. We¹re talking legitimate blue-chip names like Ken Norton Jr., Sean Elliott and Greg Lemond. Ride¹em if you have to ‹ these guys are tough, and they¹ll answer tough questions. Sports chat. Why call up talk radio shows and wait on hold when you can instantly argue about sports with fans worldwide. SportsZone¹s chat function is quick and reliable, and the level of debate tops America Online. OK. Enough said. SportsZone is the ticket. Pass those Beer Nuts, and quit blocking the computer screen.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

The Sports Network
URL: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
O.K., sports fans, if you¹re looking for an alternative to ESPNet (http://espnet.sportszone.com/), this ain¹t a bad jaunt. It¹s consistently updated with news, events, and scores, and offers both professional and collegiate coverage. It¹s got a nice layout, good enough graphics (though few huge glossy action photos), and a pretty dang fine searching mechanism. And they don¹t skip corners. There¹s information on just about every team, archived locally on the server. (Yup, mucho original content here.) It¹s a winner. (Nice cliche, eh?)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Cleveland Indians Home Page
URL: http://www.indians.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
The Cleveland Indians Page offers much the same as the Seattle Mariners page, by way of content. You¹ll find player info, game schedules, online merchandise sales, and team stats. The difference is that the Indians page has great graphics, putting it an inch above most other baseball-related sites. The icons are tasteful, the pages load quickly, and it¹s overall just better. And, they promise to add video soon to jazz up the site with a little multimedia foo foo. Of course, if you aren¹t an Indian fans, none of this matters anyway.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

NBC Golf Tour
URL: http://www.golf.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
At first glance, it¹s a little busy, but after probing through the golf.com site, I was left to assume it¹s cluttered only because it has more golf information than any sane server could handle. Egads, it¹s packed. Search the entire world for gold courses, via a clickable image map, get gold tips from pro Jeff Maggart, stay in tune with upcoming events and NBC broadcasts (yes, NBC is a very visible sponsor), or visit local clubs and merchandise vendors. No corners are skipped: There¹s contact information for all of these places. It¹s perfect for serious golfers.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Resort Sports Network
URL: http://www.RSN.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
Skiers of the world unite. Well, skiers, snowboarders, and resort lounge lizards of the world unite. This site aims to be a one-stop shopping guide to winter resorts in the U.S. It does an outstanding job. RSN starts with an ultra-clean front page laced with smooth-stylie graphics (nice icons) and a comprehensive main menu ‹ what's new, video clips, a resort locator, events schedules for the resorts you locate, contests to play, links to follow, and a series of spy cams to show you what's really happening in these vacation havens. It's packed. RSN maintains a huge college students section, and although it has some cheesy bits and bytes about what is "Rad" and "Raging" (like the silly little dictionary of "cool" words), it also has some very useful information. The extreme sports page is great, with a comprehensive list of trails and runs for the dangerously inclined (the mountain biking in Maui interview is fabulous). There's a special contest area "for college students only." The site also helps you organize group trips and guides you through an events calendar for the various resorts (it's actually the same as the events calendar linked from the top page, but in different, perhaps hipper colors). Most impressive, and important for the budget-minded, the site points you to where to ski for free. RSN lists resorts that are looking for seasonal instructors and helpers in exchange for free passes. The video clip collection, though not huge, has a number of high-quality action videos of mountain biking, wind surfing, and general extreme sport goop. You can also view the scenery from one of 14 resort cams (Vail, Tahoe, Park City, Wildcat, and others), with an updated image every few hours. RSN sports a Usenet-like, threaded chat section for surfers to converse about the various hot spots and not-spots, trade skiing tips, and ramble about whatever else they want to, which may or may not relate to resort stuff. It's a fairly active list, so definitely check it out. All the pages load quickly, look great (the creators have mastered their HTML and Netscape extensions), and have lots of information. It's a great site.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

GT BICYCLES
URL: http://www.gtbicycles.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
I ride GT because its bikes are well-constructed and look cool. And, guess what? Its Web site follows suit with a super-clean layout, mucho information (e.g., an online catalog of all its bikes and accessories), and valuable dealer locator searching capabilities. You can type in a zip code, select what you¹re looking for (parts, frames, tech shops), and you¹ll get an accurate list with addresses and phone numbers. GT also provides updated news, events, and bike related links. Very cool.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Golf Magazine
URL: http://www.golfonline.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Golf magazine has created a useful Web site that goes beyond the regular print version. It¹s got up-to-tee-off news, the latest weather report so you don¹t get hit by lightening, a database of the top golf instructors, the rules (in case you forgot), a database of courses and resorts, and a bulletin board on golf-y topics. My favorite feature is the Personal Profiler. Fill out a form that and the computer gives you a detailed plan on how you can improve your game. It told me to wait for the monkey to swing all the way over before teeing off at the mini-golf course.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

ESPNet
URL: http://espnet.sportszone.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jon Phillips
What do you want? You want highlight films? Boom. It¹s got highlight films. You want play-by-play? Boom. It¹s got play-by-play. You want player interviews? Stats and box scores? Sports talk? That¹s right. Boom. You betcha. ESPNET SportsZone has it all ‹ on your computer, right there, and in your face. Bet your Bulls¹ tickets on it. SportsZone offers the best, most comprehensive, multimedia sports coverage on the Web today. From video clips to sound files to link after logically placed link, you won¹t find a more gigantic resource of up-to-the-minute professional sports information. The array and timeliness of the content sets a benchmark to which other news organizations should aspire. Indeed, in one form or another, SportsZone offers all one may find on ESPN¹s cable TV network. The site is rife with impressive, innovative features. In no particular order: Video clips of amazing plays. You¹re watching the 5 p.m. news and see Shaq hit the first three-pointer of his career. You book on over to SportsZone, and ‹ *yes* ‹ it¹s the Video Play of the Day. Download the QuickTime or AVI clip, and you¹ve saved Shaqidocious for posterity. Game flow graphics. At this point, SportsZone begins to compete with TV. If your favorite games aren¹t televised, you can use your computer for real-time statistical accounts of games in progress. You say pretty, constantly updated graphics aren¹t enough? Then check out the play-by-play descriptions. Celebrity Q&A. SportsZone gets you closer to the competitors by letting you submit questions to select players. And we¹re not talking back-up tight ends and the third-round picks who play garbage minutes. We¹re talking legitimate blue-chip names like Ken Norton Jr., Sean Elliott and Greg Lemond. Ride¹em if you have to ‹ these guys are tough, and they¹ll answer tough questions. Sports chat. Why call up talk radio shows and wait on hold when you can instantly argue about sports with fans worldwide. SportsZone¹s chat function is quick and reliable, and the level of debate tops America Online. OK. Enough said. SportsZone is the ticket. Pass those Beer Nuts, and quit blocking the computer screen.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

SportsLine USA
URL: http://www.sportsline.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Blue Grrrl
This site is all about the red, white, and blue of American sports ‹ quite literally, the layout is almost exclusively fashioned after the US flag. It's got your baseball, football, hockey, and golf (as well as soccer, tennis, and thorough Olympic coverage.) SportsLine is part of the new paradigm of subscription based Web sites. Pay $4.95 per month for exclusive member-only content ‹ daily features, columns, and game coverage (newscaster style), or a one time $39.95 for an annual "box seat" subscription. While I'm wary of any site that charges for access, SportsLine also has a significant amount of free content to offer, such as news, updated (to the minute) scores, and live chats with the players. April's line up held chats with Joe Namath, Kevin Greene, and Michael Lewis to name a few. You can run for miles through the member-only content which, for sports fans, is worth the $4.95. Besides what's already been mentioned, SportsLine offers daily sports feeds from the associated press wire, links to contact sports heroes, and an audio arena, updated every morning at 8:00 AM. The audio section is exceptionally cool because it offers the files in Real Audio, .wav, and Streamworks formats! There are no strategic alliances to force you to use one or the other. Members also get to play fantasy sports games, like chat-based muds and moos ‹ be the pitcher on your favorite team or score the home run of a lifetime. The fantasy section is actually quite popular, and hosts a well-established community of players. That alone could be worth the monthly fee. Technically the site is running about par with the rest of the corporate lineup. There¹s some nice use of Forms and Tables; the CGI scripts are exceptionally fast; the chat is supported via Netscape's new chat client; and the transactions in the mall and registration are handled on Netscape secure servers. The baseball diamond animated gif is kind of nifty too. Overall, SportsLine gets a high five and is well worth a regular spot on your bookmark list, with or without the membership. -BG
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Boston Marathon Central
URL: http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Wannabe marathoners who marvel at how *anyone* could run 26 miles in 2 hours, 9 minutes (as this year¹s Boston Marathon winner, Moses Tanui of Kenya, did) will find some answers here. This well-designed, easy-to-navigate site is jam-packed with training tips and diaries, not to mention a searchable database of statistics, video clips, hour-by-hour coverage of the race, and maps of the course. What¹s especially exciting is the high level of interactivity built into the site. Send in tips, debate the merits of eating breakfast before running, and even vote on the best Boston marathoner of all time. And try waffles an hour before you start your next long run.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Rock Œn¹ Road
URL: http://www.rocknroad.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Rockclimbers looking for new territory to explore will find a valuable bookmark at Rock n¹ Road, the online climbing guide to cragging areas across North America. Based on a book by the same name, the online version allows you to zero in on a region via clickable map, then search the localized map and database for climbs according to type, difficulty, and quality rating. There¹s a link to The Weather Channel for each area¹s reports, and a place to add your own material (photos, information, and updates) as well. A marvelous resource for craggers andywhere on the continent.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

MLB@Bat
URL: http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The domain name says it all: this is the official site of the major leagues, and they stop at nothing to please ball fans: The latest scores (from completed games), weekly roundups, league and team standings, a photo of the day, players of the week, broadcast and season schedules, other baseball sites -- you name it, MLB has it. Well-designed and easy to navigate, the site is one by which to measure all others.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Federation Internacionale de Football Association (FIFA)
URL: http://www.fifa.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Patrick Joseph
The international governing body of the sport of soccer, FIFA oversees the world¹s single most popular sport. Many Americans still scoff at that last designation, unimpressed even by the `94 World Cup, hosted on their home turf. It¹s boring, they are bound to say. Not enough scoring. (Nevermind that a nation enamored of sports as leisurely as baseball and golf should think to call anything slow.) I think this attitude goes deeper than a mere disinterest in the game. It¹s just a theory, understand, but I think it¹s more symbolic of a general parochialism -- the old, isolationist tendencies that keep us an ocean¹s length from even those countries we share our borders with. We¹d rather not attend that wild party, known in the rest of the world, as ³football.² Football hearkens back to the old country, and as we all became, across generations, ³Americans,² we tried to -- had to -- forget our heritage. And so we invented our own, new games; baseball, basketball and football -- the American version, that is -- are all homegrown pastimes, don¹t forget. Well, whether or not that tossed-off theory holds water, I think its time we got back into the game -- *the* game -- with its overtones of war drama (a not so subtle element in light of British hooligans and South American stadium riots) where nations pit their champions against the other side¹s champions and root as if the last tatter of national pride rode on the outcome. Everyone gets drunk, the country shuts down, and either mourns or celebrates in unison. It¹s cathartic. We could use a good catharsis. But that isn¹t even what I like so much about it. Let me tell you what I like so much about it: I like the fact that in international soccer, teams invariably play according to the national character; that is, the style of play is as true to the country as it¹s food, language, or style of dance. Thus the World Cup champion Brazilians play as if they were dancing samba: loosely, gracefully, and exuberantly. The Germans play as if they were building Volkswagens or Mercedes Benz¹s; not much flair or imagination, but they get the job done, solidly. Cameroon plays a straight-ahead, fast game, amiably and with no discipline at all. Colombian football is just plain reckless, the goalie abandoning his post once a game to play the ball to midfield. And on and on. Want to know about a country, watch it¹s soccer team. At the FIFA site you can educate yourself as to the sport¹s illustrious history while keeping up on the latest results of contests around the world. Women¹s soccer is prominently featured as are international junior competitions. There isn¹t much in the way of multimedia here, or even an abundance of photo images (the latter would be a welcome addition), but as the `98 World Cup in France approaches (qualifying matches are already underway) this is one for fans of the sport everywhere to bookmark. See you in France.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Total Baseball
URL: http://www.totalbaseball.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Patrick Joseph
For fans of the sport everywhere, Total Baseball is as good as it gets. This site is loaded with baseball history, baseball personalities, baseball stats, baseball everything. Like the paper volume by the same name, Total Baseball Online is the official encyclopedia of the national pastime. Adding value to the whole enterprise, the Web site allows you to join BBS discussions, post your questions to the editors, and subscribe to baseball-oriented newsgroups. Navigating in Frames, visitors will find easy access to the information -- stats and stories, both -- laid out in careful detail and generously illustrated. The history section is especially good, intelligently written and comprehensive, with sections on the ³Negro leagues² as well as Japanese, Caribbean and minor league ball. The ³Players² section gives concise, informative bios for the all-time greats, from Hank Aaron to Cy Young; speaking of whom ... did you think Cy was shot for Cyrus, like I did? Guess again. In the section on nicknames you get the real origin of the moniker. It¹s from cyclone, for the effect his fastball had on the backstop; that is, it ³looked like a cyclone had hit it.² Of course, true aficionados would scoff at a trivia softball like that one. For them, there¹s the Total Baseball Player Register, which allows users to get comprehensive stat summaries for any player who ever swung a bat in the big leagues, including dates, career averages, team affiliations, and more. So you knew Cy was from ³cyclone,² eh? Well, what can you tell me about Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons or Tiny Leonard? Don¹t understand the significance behind all the averages, anyway? No worries; the site gives excellent explanations of how the numbers are crunched and what they mean. The only regrettable thing about this site is the amount of time you can wile away here revisiting the legends of the game: Names like Joe Dimaggio and Satchel Paige, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays, Dizzy Dean and Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and Casey Stengel, Roberto Clemente and Ed Delahante... It just goes on and on, resonating like a nursery rhyme, a fan¹s dream.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

RedSox.Com
URL: http://www.redsox.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
This site has got everything you'd expect a major league site to have, including box scores, player bios, and game updates after every pitch. Then there's the extras: a photo tour of Fenway, a video game, and profiles of the club's legendarily loyal fans. You really get the sense that this team has a special relationship with its city, something to be appreciated in this day and age. Red Sox history is all about nostalgia -- the epic seasons, the famous runs, the heroic players -- but this site projects a confidence that the greatest days are still to come. The perpetual pennant race, the decades spent pursuing the World Championship, it all makes for a very interesting baseball history.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

ROLLERBLADE
URL: http://www.rollerblade.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
This site can be viewed in either a high or low-bandwidth version and sports a great-looking design by Adjacency (www.adj.com), purveyor of spiffy Web sites. The site contains nine sections, including instructions for skating and a directory of events, places and associations related to the sport/fad/empire/religion of in-line skating. The directory even includes resources for skaters in such far-flung locales as Alaska and Tahiti. Why anyone in Tahiti would want to risk road rash and broken teeth is beyond me.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Ballparks
URL: http://www.ballparks.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
No big baseball fan, I still dug this one. Stadiums are part of American history, after all: the hallowed ground where legends are made, each one a diamond. For too long, stadiums have been shown no respect. Some of the greatest parks of old are now nothing more than a bronze plaque in the ground floor of an apartment building. Polo Grounds, Ebbetts Field, and dozens of others have gone the way of the wrecking ball. This site recounts the history and vital stats of all the current parks in the majors, pays tribute to the fallen stadiums, and even anticipates future construction. It's all a whole lot of fun, smartly designed with plenty of photos for the image-hungry. Plans are in place to include NFL venues.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Fastball
URL: http://www.fastball.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
I have a vision of Fantasy Baseball addicts, spittle dripping from their mouths, pouring over the intense baseball minutiae on this site. Run by Cox newspapers, this site has access to tons of content ‹ professional reports, pictures, videos and Real Audio reports. It¹s got the latest baseball news fresh off the wire and organized by team, the latest team transactions, discussion areas, batter by batter stats, scores, schedules, photos, Official Rules, and even quotes by baseball¹s least funny spokesperson, Bob Ueker. The only limitation of this stat-loaded wonderland is it¹s Atlanta Braves bias. Good thing they won last year.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

SkiNet
URL: http://www.skinet.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Ski and Skiing magazine have teamed up to bring you a detailed Web resource on tennis. Not really. It¹s best feature is an incredible database of equipment reviews you access by filling out a form which will determine the best stuff for you and your ability. It¹s like a salesperson in your computer who isn¹t pushy. There¹s a regional snow report, a technical forum where you can quiz the experts, competition reports, news items, a resort finder database, and content from both magazines. The only way this site could be more complete is if it could make snow shoot out my monitor.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

1996 Centennial Olympic Games
URL: http://www.atlanta.olympic.org/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Everyone wants a piece of the 1996 Olympic Games and IBM is no exception. Look at its site for cute animations of blinking stars and flying Olympic tickets available to purchase online. Search the program for schedules of the 26 sporting events or learn more about the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival. Watch out for glitches in the system where it won't let users access the fun side. Maybe someday debugging Web sites will be an Olympic event!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Taylor Made Golf
URL: http://www.taylormadegolf.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Taylor Made Golf is no more than a commercial for selling metal driving golf clubs. Read the news to see which pro golfer won a tournament with the new Bubble Burner golf club or study up on the history of the company. The only section that seems void of the "buy our clubs" message is "It's Your Shot" where golfers can share tips, stories and jokes. Download golf games and screen savers in the "Gimmies" section (after filling out a survey.) Even though the site is well-designed, the content is still swinging aimlessly in the sand trap.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

SkiNet
URL: http://www.skinet.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Ski and Skiing magazine have teamed up to bring you a detailed Web resource on tennis. Not really. It¹s best feature is an incredible database of equipment reviews you access by filling out a form which will determine the best stuff for you and your ability. It¹s like a salesperson in your computer who isn¹t pushy. There¹s a regional snow report, a technical forum where you can quiz the experts, competition reports, news items, a resort finder database, and content from both magazines. The only way this site could be more complete is if it could make snow shoot out my monitor.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

1996 Centennial Olympic Games
URL: http://www.atlanta.olympic.org/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Everyone wants a piece of the 1996 Olympic Games and IBM is no exception. Look at its site for cute animations of blinking stars and flying Olympic tickets available to purchase online. Search the program for schedules of the 26 sporting events or learn more about the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival. Watch out for glitches in the system where it won't let users access the fun side. Maybe someday debugging Web sites will be an Olympic event!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Taylor Made Golf
URL: http://www.taylormadegolf.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Taylor Made Golf is no more than a commercial for selling metal driving golf clubs. Read the news to see which pro golfer won a tournament with the new Bubble Burner golf club or study up on the history of the company. The only section that seems void of the "buy our clubs" message is "It's Your Shot" where golfers can share tips, stories and jokes. Download golf games and screen savers in the "Gimmies" section (after filling out a survey.) Even though the site is well-designed, the content is still swinging aimlessly in the sand trap.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Seattle Mariners Home Plate
URL: http://www.mariners.org/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
It¹s official. (Toyota advertisement and all)! Learn everything there is to learn about the Seattle Mariners. Did you know that Infielder Rich Amaral has a degree in business from UCLA and weighs 175 lbs.? Yes, that¹s the nitty gritty type stuff you¹ll have access to. Of course, the site has archived team schedules, tells you how to contact your favorite Mariner, and contains ³merchandise² to buy (secure only for Netscape users). The layout is O.K., nothing too special, but die-hard fans will probably like it just fine.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

DansWORLD Skateboarding
URL: http://www.cps.msu.edu/~dunhamda/dw/dansworld.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
It may not be slickest-looking skateboard page, and it may not even have the most current content, but nonetheless, I really like this site. It¹s got FAQ files, gossip, tons of pictures, a few videos, links, and a super-cool photo archive of net surfers who also also skate. The Mike Blabac photos of the San Francisco skate scene are pretty tasty, too.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

SoccerNet
URL: http://www.soccernet.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Lydia Schwartz
SoccerNet is a big, big site for the English and Scottish soccer divisions. Get the latest news and files, link to team profiles (with adorable little shirts and shorts icons that actually match team colors), or place bets in the Soccer Pools area. The graphics for the most part are gaudy, tacky, eye-bending spectacles, but if you can get past that, this is a decent page. Most of the focus is on team profiles, history, players and awards. Not bad.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Fastball
URL: http://www.fastball.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
I have a vision of Fantasy Baseball addicts, spittle dripping from their mouths, pouring over the intense baseball minutiae on this site. Run by Cox newspapers, this site has access to tons of content ‹ professional reports, pictures, videos and Real Audio reports. It¹s got the latest baseball news fresh off the wire and organized by team, the latest team transactions, discussion areas, batter by batter stats, scores, schedules, photos, Official Rules, and even quotes by baseball¹s least funny spokesperson, Bob Ueker. The only limitation of this stat-loaded wonderland is it¹s Atlanta Braves bias. Good thing they won last year.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Scuba World
URL: http://www.scubaworld.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
This site makes other water sports pages look like fish bait. Design and desire for knowledge (sub)merge to give divers the depth of information they deserve. Check out the directories of scuba equipment manufacturers and scuba instructors. Search for a career in diving or follow links to see the latest weather forecast. Scuba World offers descriptions for 30 diving magazines and additional links to more underwater resources.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

USA Gymnastics Online
URL: http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/usag/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
They¹ll tumble for ya at USA Gymnastics Online. Find out about upcoming and past events such as the 1996 USA Gymnastics Congress and the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics Junior Olympic Championships. Search the list of biographies of famous USA gymnasts and Olympic medalists. read selected articles from the sporting magazines, Technique and USA Gymnastics. Learn about the history of artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. USA Gymnastics Online balances style and expertise perfectly.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

International Soccer
URL: http://www.vol.it/RETE_/homerete.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Rete is bookmark material for serious international soccer fans. You can access a graphical or text-only version in English, Italian, Spanish or Dutch. There are scads of links: to scores and stats, national, team and local club matches (and they appear to be kept current). Check out the Quicktime movies of goals and other cool maneuvers, or search the (1.6 gig!) database for players and scores. Free registration entitles you to an e-mail newsletter and chat access. The winning touch is a page featuring scores of links to other soccer sites, by country as well as by club and server.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Golfweb
URL: http://www.golfweb.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Golf has a rich and well-organized Web presence at Golfweb. There¹s a ton of info here on current and recent tournaments and stats, upcoming matches and tours. Of course there¹s a pro shop featuring everything from putters to wedges, plus books, videos, shoes -- even golf software. And Golfweb wants to see you again, which explains the sweepstakes, weekly opinion polls, and a growing list of other golf links.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Surf-Shop.com
URL: http://www.surf-shop.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
They¹re on safari to stay at Surf-Shop.com, a site for honest-to-God surfers, not hodaddy posers and Web surfin¹ wannabes (like myself). It¹s not so much a shop as a resource to shops (for whatever that¹s worth) on the West Coast and in Hawaii (Atlantic and Gulf Coast surfers are out of luck). There¹s weather information on the site, along with the obligatory satellite map. But the feature with the mostest is Wave Action Surf Mag (WASM). It¹s a good place to stay up on surfer lingo and soak up some post-adolescent attitude. Of special note is the ³People Who Don¹t Surf² bit, a feature devoted to ³gurning famous people.² And don¹t miss the animated table of contents, which, as of this writing, features a yawning shark and a sprouting afro. You can¹t find that kind of thing just anywhere.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

La Jolla Surfing
URL: http://facs.scripps.edu/surf/surfing.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
If you believe the stereotypes, you can¹t imagine a bunch of surfers could put together such a good site. This one is on the money, balancing an impressive amount of tech-savvy with old-fashioned, informative writing. There're digital satellite weather maps and wave sensors, so you can check conditions at your favorite beach before you go. There's also a generous amount of how-to stuff, along with equipment and multimedia reviews. Most impressive perhaps was the Respect the Beach Project, a sort of environmental initiative to protect the surfer's playground. The only drawback is the limited California focus (with brief forays south to Baja, Costa Rica, and the like); every region should have a page this good.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Climbing On-line
URL: http://www.climbing.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
Once the pastime of a handful of reckless adventurers, climbing has gone mainstream. With climbing walls in most metropolitan areas and trips to Everest for sale to any weekend warrior with enough cash, the sport's practitioners are equal parts nature-lover and yuppie. Climbing magazine has been there since 1970, trying to keep up with changing circumstances and shifting audiences, while maintaining their ties to the purity of the sport. The site demonstrates a smooth transition. Classy, informative, and with a great respect both for their readers and the mountain experience, this is the site for climbing on the Web.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

InterMat
URL: http://www.intermatwrestle.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
InterMat is trying to turn the sports Web site into a profit-making venture. They may just have the formula right. InterMat offers plenty for the browser/customer to look at, including state by state amateur round-ups, upcomng events, profiles, and job classifieds. But it seemed like every other page had an ad; whether it was selling shoes (cheap!) or home wrestling equipment, Intermat has all the bases covered. Updated regularly, almost daily in fact, Intermat is likely to catch the eye of amateur coaches around the country, looking for prospects, looking for work, buying equipment. Wow, someone may actually be making money from the Internet!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

The Ultimate Page
URL: http://www.access.digex.net/~cdl/ultimate.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
Why did it take so long for someone to think of Ultimate? Frisbee is not just something you throw to your dog. A sport without a ball may have been a revolutionary idea at the time, but by now it makes a whole lotta sense. This site offers a little perspective on the sport, a quick history, plenty of action photos, and the complete Ultimate Players Association Rules (they're a lot longer than you think). This is also a great place to find that summer league your looking for or the pick-up game you need to get your skills up; there¹s info on all fifty states. Ultimate is one of those games people love‹once they're exposed to it. So expose yourself.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Muhammad Ali: The Greatest Web site
URL: http://www.theslot.com/ali/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
How about a fight by fight recap of Ali's entire career, many highlighted by dramatic shots of the champ in action? You like that? Or a discussion of Ali in relation to the other great fighters of all time? Hmm. Well, perhaps the name of this site is hyperbole, but it¹s still a contender. There is one thing missing though: more bio. Not everyone is as obsessed with Ali as our programmer, after all; what about the people that want to know more about the man and his story?
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Fisbee Freestyle
URL: http://www.users.interport.net/~rmeier/disc/disc.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Anyone can catch a frisbee, but not everyone can spin a plastic disk with style. See photos of pros such as Bob Coleman catching a frisbee with his leg draped over his arm or witness the grace of Gena Sample¹s leg split as she catches a low throw. Look up the rankings of the top frisbee players in the Freestyle Players Association section or follow your favorite players in the tournament schedule. Test your disk knowledge in the Frisbee Trivia section or let the links list take you to related sites as if you were a frisbee floating across the Web.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Rugby World Server
URL: http://www.libertynet.org/~djrugby/brfc.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Considered to be one of the roughest sports around, rugby has a safe and easy site to learn more about the game and its players. The Rugby World Server pays tribute to the sport with an extensive WWW directory of pages, a coach search, USARFU and MARFU news, rugby suppliers and publications, and more! Meet the Brandywine Rugby Football Club or find out how to join the Middle Atlantic Rugby Football Union. Some of the sections are still under heavy construction, so watch out for missing links and sparse content.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

SoccerNews Online
URL: http://www.csn.net/~eid/soccer/sccrindx.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
What¹s white and black and kicked all over the globe? A soccer ball! On SoccerNews Online, fans can read who¹s kicking the ball all the way to the CONCACAF Gold Cup or which team will wow the world at the 1996 Summer Olympics. SoccerNews Online divides the reports by associations such as FIFA, CONMEBOL, UEFA, CAF, AFC, and OFC. Go to the USA section to see which college team is ranked highest in the league or follow the links to select sites each representing youth, amateur and professional teams. SoccerNews Online has reached its goal as a valuable sports resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Martial-Arts as Kent's Learned Them
URL: http://student-www.uchicago.edu/users/fun5/martial.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan now have a Web site even THEY would bow down to honor. The ³Martial-Arts as Kent¹s Learned Them² has information on Martial Arts in General/Self-Defense, Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Qigong, Jeet Kune Do, and a Martial Arts Doublespeak Guide. Read the hypertext version of the Art Of War by Sun Tzu or shop for equipment on the WWW Martial Arts Supply Catalog. Get advice on how to find a real Jeet Kune Do instructor. This is a stellar site for anyone interested in Kung Foo fighting.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

NFL PLAYERS Inc
URL: http://www.nflplayers.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
The NFL Players Inc.¹s site might be worth a look if you have a hankering for some player stats or have a player trivia bug. Type a name, team or whatever into the massive NFL player database, press the button and voilá! An Instant Electronic Football card appears, only without the picture (which would be a good idea). The Fan Club contains a Profile of the Week and in the Trivia Quiz area you¹re given $500 to gamble on your NFL player knowledge. Too bad it¹s just pretend money, since I just kept backing up the browser until I got all the questions right. All in all, a fair visit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Scottie Pippens Home Court
URL: http://www.clark.net/pub/cardman/pippen/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
If you¹re a Scottie Pippen fan, you¹ll want to check out this electronic homage to a basketball star. This site has got photos of Scottie, up-to-the minute statistics on Scottie, highlights from Scottie¹s last four games, a section detailing all the MVP awards he¹s won, and some Bulls¹ games highlights. My favorite part is the collection of Scottie¹s thought-provoking quotes which bare his naked, tortured soul to the world. The site looks good, works pretty well, and makes me wish I was seven feet tall.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Influx Magazine Issues
URL: http://enternet.com/skate/skate.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
Influx is a skate zine. Skater this and skater that, but mostly, it¹s just photos. Perhaps I shouldn¹t say ³just² photos. The pictures are RAD, but if you were looking for juicy gossip, tips, or reviews, it¹s pretty thin. It does have some video clips, though, and as image-intense as they are, the pages load fairly quickly. Some of the highlighted images are of skate icons ‹Tony Hawk, Mike Judd, and Tim Brauch.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Air Hockey
URL: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~tweissm/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Lydia Scwartz
The air hockey page warns that if you aren¹t using Netscape, the site might not look the way it¹s supposed to. I found no Netscape-only tricks to speak of. In fact, I found a dry layout with even dryer pictures. But that¹s not what Air Hockey is about, and the rest of the site is loaded with content, including: bios of key air hockey personalities, rules and procedures, a terminology glossary, and a few essay-type articles. So while you shouldn¹t expect to be blown away by innovative design hoopla, this is a great site for die-hard air hockey fans.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Little League Baseball
URL: http://www.littleleague.org/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
The prospect of reviewing this site excited me ‹ I can¹t help but twinkle at the notion of a Little League Baseball Web page. But upon inspection, I realized the news was old, and the graphics and creativity component was severely lacking. But the site does offer summer camp information, links to external resources, and an informative FAQ. Maybe as the season picks up, the site will too.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Fisbee Freestyle
URL: http://www.users.interport.net/~rmeier/disc/disc.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Anyone can catch a frisbee, but not everyone can spin a plastic disk with style. See photos of pros such as Bob Coleman catching a frisbee with his leg draped over his arm or witness the grace of Gena Sample¹s leg split as she catches a low throw. Look up the rankings of the top frisbee players in the Freestyle Players Association section or follow your favorite players in the tournament schedule. Test your disk knowledge in the Frisbee Trivia section or let the links list take you to related sites as if you were a frisbee floating across the Web.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Rugby World Server
URL: http://www.libertynet.org/~djrugby/brfc.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Considered to be one of the roughest sports around, rugby has a safe and easy site to learn more about the game and its players. The Rugby World Server pays tribute to the sport with an extensive WWW directory of pages, a coach search, USARFU and MARFU news, rugby suppliers and publications, and more! Meet the Brandywine Rugby Football Club or find out how to join the Middle Atlantic Rugby Football Union. Some of the sections are still under heavy construction, so watch out for missing links and sparse content.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

SoccerNews Online
URL: http://www.csn.net/~eid/soccer/sccrindx.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
What¹s white and black and kicked all over the globe? A soccer ball! On SoccerNews Online, fans can read who¹s kicking the ball all the way to the CONCACAF Gold Cup or which team will wow the world at the 1996 Summer Olympics. SoccerNews Online divides the reports by associations such as FIFA, CONMEBOL, UEFA, CAF, AFC, and OFC. Go to the USA section to see which college team is ranked highest in the league or follow the links to select sites each representing youth, amateur and professional teams. SoccerNews Online has reached its goal as a valuable sports resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Martial-Arts as Kent's Learned Them
URL: http://student-www.uchicago.edu/users/fun5/martial.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan now have a Web site even THEY would bow down to honor. The ³Martial-Arts as Kent¹s Learned Them² has information on Martial Arts in General/Self-Defense, Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Qigong, Jeet Kune Do, and a Martial Arts Doublespeak Guide. Read the hypertext version of the Art Of War by Sun Tzu or shop for equipment on the WWW Martial Arts Supply Catalog. Get advice on how to find a real Jeet Kune Do instructor. This is a stellar site for anyone interested in Kung Foo fighting.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

NFL PLAYERS Inc
URL: http://www.nflplayers.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
The NFL Players Inc.¹s site might be worth a look if you have a hankering for some player stats or have a player trivia bug. Type a name, team or whatever into the massive NFL player database, press the button and voilá! An Instant Electronic Football card appears, only without the picture (which would be a good idea). The Fan Club contains a Profile of the Week and in the Trivia Quiz area you¹re given $500 to gamble on your NFL player knowledge. Too bad it¹s just pretend money, since I just kept backing up the browser until I got all the questions right. All in all, a fair visit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

On Hoops
URL: http://www.onhoops.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
On Hoops isn¹t just a collection of basketball scores and statistics, but also a collection of well-written commentary. Unafraid to express an opinion, these guys bat around the league, the players, and even the announcers with impunity. They cover all the major events with reviews on games, industry insider tidbits, and critical analysis on the state of the basketball itself. These guys live, breathe and eat basketballs. My only complaint with the site is that the graphics aren¹t so great ‹ but this should hardly get in the way of any fan looking for some cutting-edge coverage they won¹t find anywhere else.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Scottie Pippens Home Court
URL: http://www.clark.net/pub/cardman/pippen/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
If you¹re a Scottie Pippen fan, you¹ll want to check out this electronic homage to a basketball star. This site has got photos of Scottie, up-to-the minute statistics on Scottie, highlights from Scottie¹s last four games, a section detailing all the MVP awards he¹s won, and some Bulls¹ games highlights. My favorite part is the collection of Scottie¹s thought-provoking quotes which bare his naked, tortured soul to the world. The site looks good, works pretty well, and makes me wish I was seven feet tall.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Skate.Net
URL: http://www.crocker.com/~webtrax/skate/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Before you can master a major half pipe, you need a kickin¹ skateboard. Skate.Net helps find you one by reviewing skateboard decks, trucks and wheels by Alien Workshop, Planet Earth, Venture, Toy Machine and others. Go to the clothing section for reviews on products from Airwalk, DC, Etnies and Vans. Most of the reviews have photos of the stuff so you know why it¹s dissed or desired. Read interviews with pro skaters Jeff Taylor, Felix Arguelles, and Richard Angelides. Look at photos galore from the Warped Tour.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Soccer America Online
URL: http://www.sportsite.com/SA/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Maybe soccer can¹t count as many American fans as the native version of football can, but this site is designed to make sure that interest in the fast-paced international game keeps growing. Created by the Soccer Industry Council of America, it promises to be ³the place to go for the latest news on American soccer.² For the fastest updates, click on News Briefs, which takes you to a list of results from the latest games, but if you¹re interested in specifics, there¹s are departments for college, national, professional, and international teams. Best of all, you can interact with soccer fans from around the globe, in the Graffiti threaded discussion area.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Footbag Worldwide
URL: http://www.footbag.org/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
There are at least three ways to play footbag (also known as Hackey Sack), and this site provides photos, audio, and video clips to illustrate the techniques involved. The top of the home page features a handy navigation tool that takes you to listings of clubs, equipment, events, and players, plus a FAQ and a link to a listserv discussion group. The great use of multimedia here really brings the sport to life while capturing the enthusiasm of footbag enthusiasts. Still to come is an audio slide show, but as the site notes, the best way to learn this sport is from other people in real-time, real life.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

ESPN's X Games
URL: http://espnet.sportszone.com/editors/xgames/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The latest sports fad is ³Extreme,² as in daredevil sports like bungee jumping barefoot water-ski jumping and inline skating. ESPN¹s X-Games has news about upcoming competitions, athletes¹ rankings, scheduled TV coverage and Extreme promotional products. There are also audio and video clips of winning maneuvers and the history of such esoteric events as ³street luge² and ³wakeboarding.² Naturally, you can link to the rest of the vast ESPN site, as well.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Futbol, Futbol, y Mas Futbol
URL: http://www.calweb.com/~migutz/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
Futbol, Futbol, y Mas Futbol is a site for enthusiasts that highlights Central California Soccer leagues and provides links (and more links) to the world of soccer at large. There's a very nice Pele page, as well as links to unexpected sites like the Boston Grafitti Documentary and the Paris Museum page. Couldn't open the Robotic Cyberbabes page, unfortunately. This site is brought to you my Miquel Guittierez, who, judging from the Guest Book Entries has filled a niche need with this page.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Half-Decent Web Site
URL: http://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
A humorous look at soccer inspired by *When Saturday Comes*, the UK's biggest independent football magazine. Visit Pele's Poetry page (did he really write this stuff?), find out about the best football pubs internationally, and drop in on Xavier's Euro 96 Culture page where he manages, in a few lines of free-association, to deftly link nostalgia fetishism in the UK to collective yearnings for an older class system. But, we're here to talk about football, right? Lot's of links to football sites in addition to the eclectic range of Real Life Links to the likes of Elvis, Webmuseum, and Screenwriters On-Line. You don't have to be a died-in-the-wool soccer fan to hang out here. Definitely better than half decent.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Raider Nation
URL: http://members.aol.com/jimbokli/jimbo/raiders.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
This is the home page for the Raiders football fan who just wouldn't feel right if they weren¹t shirtless and painted come game time. We¹re talking rabid fans commiserating with other rabid fans about their team in Oakland, ³the football Mecca of the world² (³FACE WEST AND CHANT ŒRAIDERS RULE!¹²). You understand the attitude we¹re dealing with here? Besides checking out stats, rosters, commentary on everything from training camp to the layout of the new stadium, you¹ll find homages to past championship seasons, and a definition of the ³Raider Mystique.² Also get your official Raider Nation gear, including beer mugs, shirts, and caps. Sure it only comes in black, but it will look great with a leather jacket and a motorcycle. A great page, damn it all, `cause people just don¹t take sports seriously enough these days.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

International Hockey :League
URL: http://www.theihl.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
To think that I made it this far without any inkling that something like the International Hockey League even existed! And these ain't no scrubs, has-beens, nor wanna-bes; the IHL is widely regarded as the second best league in the world. What¹s more, the league pioneered the four quarter game and the television-enhanced puck, while boasting the first black head coach and the first woman to ever play pro hockey. This site is a whole lot of fun, with weekly giveaways, plus all the stats, schedules, etc. you can bear. Keep up with all the season's hockey action right here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

FLORIDA GATORS CYBERSWAMP
URL: http://www.cvinc.com/gators/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
With its red, white, and blue,...and green and brown motif, this unofficial site looks like Old Glory with sinusitis and the stomach flu. Oblivious (or maybe not) to football's homoerotic subtext, the site's message board includes innumerable messages in which Gator fans and their opponents breathlessly discuss one another's sexual orientation, compare motherly affection, and make sado-masochistic plans for the weekend‹all the while using very uncivilized language (hubba-hubba). Content includes schedules, polls, rankings, a chat room, photos, sound clips and news articles. Coming soon to this same server is the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theater Training.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

CyberDojo
URL: http://www.ryu.com/CyberDojo/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The CyberDojo site represents a group of karateka interested in discussing Traditional Japanese or Okinawan Karate. The site features plenty of karate information including a FAQ, the CyberDojo mailing list, directory sorted by styles, a Karate terminology list, traditional Karate Kata list, a schedule of Karate-related events, Karate bibliography and suggested readings, and cute little Karate guy icons. Learn there¹s more to Karate than chopping wood with your feet!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Tour DuPont
URL: http://www.lubricants.dupont.com/Tour95/Tour95.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
The Tour DuPont is a big bike race sponsored by the manufacturers of a lubricant. Access schedules, course maps, details of the teams and riders, and more info about lubricants than you can ever hope to use. The coolest feature is the Predict the Winner option. First they explain a bunch of physical stats like lactate threshold (which has nothing to do with milk), and then you compare the stats of the competitors to choose a winner. Only it doesn¹t work. Probably this is because I reviewed the Œ95 page (the Œ96 one wasn¹t up yet) and it wouldn¹t be very challenging to predict something that happened a year ago.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

1996 Olympic Games
URL: http://pathfinder.com/si/athens/olyhome.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Sports Illustrated makes a grab for the torch. Sports fans can read the schedule of events, Olympic news and almanac, sport-by-sport breakdown, and an Olympic timeline. Unfortunately, though, half of the site, including information on Sports Illustrated coverage of the events, is still under construction. If Sports Illustrated took the same time and effort on this Web site as it does on the print version, the site would earn a gold medal. However, the SI 1996 Olympics Games doesn't even earn a consolation prize.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Olympic Sailing
URL: http://www.process.com/launch/olysail.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The Olympic Sailing site is sinking, but no one has jumped ship. Even with basic information on Olympic sailing classes, competition schedules, and a listing of the different boats and their crews, the site falls short of sailing that extra mile. Olympic Sailing only has one photo and lacks any other design forethought. Throw the Web master a life jacket and move on.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Portland Marathon
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~pdxmar/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Lace up your running shoes and sprint over to the Portland Marathon Home Page for the latest news and information on the September 29, 1996 running and walking marathon. Print out an entry form directly from the Web site or browse through the historical photos of races from the past. Read why so many Portland residents get up early in the morning to run in a big crowd across town.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

1996 Olympic Games
URL: http://pathfinder.com/si/athens/olyhome.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Sports Illustrated makes a grab for the torch. Sports fans can read the schedule of events, Olympic news and almanac, sport-by-sport breakdown, and an Olympic timeline. Unfortunately, though, half of the site, including information on Sports Illustrated coverage of the events, is still under construction. If Sports Illustrated took the same time and effort on this Web site as it does on the print version, the site would earn a gold medal. However, the SI 1996 Olympics Games doesn't even earn a consolation prize.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Olympic Sailing
URL: http://www.process.com/launch/olysail.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The Olympic Sailing site is sinking, but no one has jumped ship. Even with basic information on Olympic sailing classes, competition schedules, and a listing of the different boats and their crews, the site falls short of sailing that extra mile. Olympic Sailing only has one photo and lacks any other design forethought. Throw the Web master a life jacket and move on.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Portland Marathon
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~pdxmar/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Lace up your running shoes and sprint over to the Portland Marathon Home Page for the latest news and information on the September 29, 1996 running and walking marathon. Print out an entry form directly from the Web site or browse through the historical photos of races from the past. Read why so many Portland residents get up early in the morning to run in a big crowd across town.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Da Truth
URL: http://www.odyssee.net/~xsys/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
Here you¹ll find extreme sports and extreme layout, with trendy graphics and angular construction. Lines and boxes, and it sure does look cool. Unfortunately, the content is a bit thin and some of the links dead end at error stops. Sure, the site warns that some areas are still under construction, but why make a link live if there¹s nowhere for it to go? Oh well, despite its annoyance factor, the site has some good stuff for inline skaters, skateboarders, and snow boarders ‹ especially nice are the global listings of parks and resorts.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

CyberDojo
URL: http://www.ryu.com/CyberDojo/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
The CyberDojo site represents a group of karateka interested in discussing Traditional Japanese or Okinawan Karate. The site features plenty of karate information including a FAQ, the CyberDojo mailing list, directory sorted by styles, a Karate terminology list, traditional Karate Kata list, a schedule of Karate-related events, Karate bibliography and suggested readings, and cute little Karate guy icons. Learn there¹s more to Karate than chopping wood with your feet!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Tour DuPont
URL: http://www.lubricants.dupont.com/Tour95/Tour95.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
The Tour DuPont is a big bike race sponsored by the manufacturers of a lubricant. Access schedules, course maps, details of the teams and riders, and more info about lubricants than you can ever hope to use. The coolest feature is the Predict the Winner option. First they explain a bunch of physical stats like lactate threshold (which has nothing to do with milk), and then you compare the stats of the competitors to choose a winner. Only it doesn¹t work. Probably this is because I reviewed the Œ95 page (the Œ96 one wasn¹t up yet) and it wouldn¹t be very challenging to predict something that happened a year ago.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Running Room
URL: http://www.runningroom.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Run, Forrest, Run! Running Room is a store that sells running shoes and clothes, but online it acts more like a sporting resource. Look up races in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, London and other regions. Access information on national races such as The Boston Marathon and the Olympic Day Run. Check out the clinic programs for workshops, sponsored by the store, on learning how to run without getting an injury, running faster and a special women-only program. Unfortunately, the site needs more informative articles and a personality before it¹s worth running to.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

King of the Mountain Cycling Road Climbs
URL: http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~wlculp/king.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Remember playing King of the Mountain where kids raced up a hill and whoever could push as many kids off while staying on top won? Add bikes and make that hill into a mountain and you¹ve got this sport. Search for a difficult mountain bike climbing route in Tennessee or look up Mt. Evans in Colorado, the highest paved road climb in North America. Each of the mountain bike climbs has ratings, locations, ride and race information; however, there are more ³working on it² gifs than actual goods.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Weightlifting
URL: http://www.waf.com/weights/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Step up to the platform and lift a ton of techniques for weightlifting. Read the rules for various styles including the snatch, the clean and jerk and more. Follow the hefty hypertext links to sites about Master Lifters, nutrition and training locations. Use the Weight Lifters Calculator to estimate lifting formulas or to balance your checkbook. The Coach¹s Office section has articles and tips by actual weight trainers about coaching, competition, grips and basic training routines.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

SWIMnews Online
URL: http://www.swimnews.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Sites either sink or swim on the Web, but this one manages to stay afloat. SWIMnews Online features news and swimmer profiles in its magazine. Look up rankings and records as well as meet results of your favorite human fish. Search the photo gallery for specific professional swimmers or sports photographers. This Canadian swim site has a purpose even if it does lack a personality.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Internet Squash Federation
URL: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~npb/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
While some of us would rather eat it, others have reclaimed the word and made it into a sport. The Internet Squash Federation has all the links a squasher could want on clubs, training, companies, history, newsgroups, newsletters, player profiles, rules, tournaments, TV coverage and much more. Confusion rules the humor section while the spending urge marks the mail order page. Who knows if Squash will be the next big sport of the future, but with a site like this, it¹s off to a good start.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

AT&T¹s Olympic Site
URL: http://www.olympic.att.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Longing to know the life histories and career highlights of some U.S. Olympians? This Shockwave-enhanced, statistics-laden site features 26 Olympic athletes, and invites you to explore their favorite Web sites (swimmer, Jeff Rouse, likes the Tom Clancy Home Page). Why is AT&T¹s name on this site, you ask? The corporate giant has made a multi-billion dollar donation to Atlanta to set up a ³global Olympic village,² inside which athletes can get translation assistance, play interactive games, and place long-distance calls.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

SkyWings
URL: http://test.ebrd.com/SkyWings/Home.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This abridged version of a monthly print magazine put out by the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association will definitely appeal to European fliers. There¹s a list of U.K. schools and clubs; back issues of the magazine are available and contain a wealth of information, like in-flight relief tips, pilot profiles, descriptions of memorable flights, news from Europe, and more. The down side is that the site is updated only every two months and there aren¹t any snazzy touches, like clips of actual flight.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The Mountaineers
URL: http://www.cyberspace.com/mtneers/home.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Formed in 1906, The Mountaineers is a membership organization based in Seattle that supports and educates people who do serious mountain-climbing and hiking. The site is an excellent compendium of the things they stand for: conservation, skill-building, exploration, and resource sharing. You can order topographical maps of the areas throughout the Olympic and Cascade ranges, browse the newsletter archive, link to many related sites. The only obvious omission is a section for up-to-date climbing reports.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Special Olympics International
URL: http://www.specialolympics.org
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This is a straight ahead page that informs visitors about the Special Olympics--its history, philosophy, and how to volunteer. Founded "on the belief that people with mental retardation can, with proper instruction and encouragement, learn, enjoy and benefit from participation in individual and team sports," the Special Olympics has been doing non-profit work since 1968, helping its athletes, families, and communities lead richer lives. This site also contains valuable information on the nature, preventable causes, and occurrences of mental retardation. Each year, approximately 7,250 cases of retardation are prevented due to prenatal screening and treatment. The Special Olympics International page is a good example of how the net can give a boost to non-profits.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

World of Golf
URL: http://worldofgolf.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
Yes, the name is daunting...The World of Golf. What does the uninitiated know about birdies and pars? Well, you won't get much help from this site. The World of Golf turns out to be a shopping site. Are you looking for a $499 titanium with graphite shaft number? Woods, Irons, Wedges, and putters. It's all here. You can get pricing info and specs at the click of a button. No links, simply "a world of clubs...for you."
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The CyberBoxing Zone
URL: http://members.aol.com/delisa1066/private/boxing.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
How else would one ever discover that Smokin' Joe Frazier writes like Mickey Spillane? "Bonavena hurt me with that right hand, hurt me like I hadn't been hurt since Georgie Boy had sledgehammered me that first day in the PAL gym. I'd walked into Bonavena's right like an innocent who'd strayed into the war zone." It could only happen in the Cyber Boxing Zone. And in addition to reviews of books by boxers (you said it couldn't be done) and about boxing, you get the update on related movies, computer games, and comics. This is the place for current boxing news, upcoming schedules, and information on current and past world champions. Also links to an AOL newsletter.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Go Ski!
URL: http://www.goski.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
Go Ski is more travel agent than skiing zine. Everywhere you turn, it's resorts, resorts, resorts, indexed by country, by region, by snow conditions,... even employment opportunities. There's even a damned resort search engine. You'll also find plenty of weather info, and random travel tips (where to stay, where to party, etc.). You have to be more persistent to find the essays on the skiing life, but this is the real heart of Go Ski. Equipment reviews, how to join the National Ski Patrol, etc. All good fun. Go Ski is more geared to the ski bum than the casual skier, which just means you can trust what they're saying.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Husker News
URL: http://www.net-link.net/~fricke/home.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
Covering all news pertaining to the two-time NCAA champion Nebraska Huskies, this site provides a wealth of information for the dedicated fan. Aside from all the usual stats and prognostications, the best feature of the Husker News is the Video Marketplace, a sort of Huskies-only classifieds where tapes of past games are advertised and traded. I was surprised at how many people were looking for obscure 1984 football games. There aren't many graphics or any high-tech gadgetry to speak of, but it's clear these guys love their team. And judging from the traffic on here, that's all it took to fill a niche.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Boycott Major League Baseball!
URL: http://www.cybergate.com/~morris/nomlb.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
An impassioned plea by a disgruntled ex-fan to bring down the system that has perverted America's game. In well-written and well-reasoned prose, the author slams the greedy owners, the spoiled players, and exposes the callous disregard both have shown fans of MLB. He campaigns hard for college and minor league teams as the real embodiment of sport for its own sake, rather than a showcase for the prima donnas who run in the majors. What can I say? I love this site; every single venom-spittin¹, slap-in-the-face, grudge-holdin', Marge Schott-dissin', Albert Belle-hatin', run-around-the-bases-till-you're-dizzy-and-puke sentence in this site is just perfect.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Sydney 2000
URL: http://www.sydney.olympic.org
Category: Sports
Issue: 0197
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
As captain of the U.S. Tug-of-War Olympic Team, I fully expect to be collecting gold in 2000. So it was reassuring for me to see that the Aussies are working hard to make my stay comfortable. If the Games go according to plan (historical note: they never do), these should be a raging success. The site offers a look at Sydney, with maps and details of the city, the venues, the sports, and a few subtle volleys aimed at Atlanta. It seems Sydney will have a world-class communication system with no glitches; transportation won't be a problem in Sydney; and safety will be a number one priority in Sydney. We'll see. Tickets for my medal-winning performance will be on sale in 1999. Get 'em while they last.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

College Sports On-line
URL: http://www.collegesports-online.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 0197
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Daniel Alarcon
If you're gonna call it College Sports On-line, shouldn't you have more than just football and basketball? It's just a matter of the appropriate nomenclature, so that those looking for, say, PAC 10 women's field hockey scores aren't misled. Anyway, I sat down to find Bama's football scores, followed the number one link: the Birmingham News (my old hometown paper), and then slam! Instead of going right to the articles on Bama, or even right to the sports section, I have to wade through the welcome page, the front page, the contents, etc. God knows I don't want to read the world according to Birmingham News; the only thing I trust them to do is cover Alabama football! So in a nutshell: College Sports On-line just wasn't as quick or as convenient as it advertised itself to be.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Fat Tire Wire
URL: http://www.Fat-Tire-Wire.com/ftw/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Dedicated to the sport of mountain biking, Fat Tire Wire would be a great place if it¹s most interesting features weren¹t ³Under Construction.² The Bike Swap free classified section would be cool if it worked. The Discussion area doesn¹t work either. Their racing database, matching you to a race, is incomplete. However, there is a complete list of races by region and a working list of links to some bike companies, but besides some photos and stuff, that¹s it. If you¹re going to put up a Web site, make sure at least half of it is running. And don¹t use cheesy graphics while you¹re at it.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Ocean & Snow Surfer
URL: http://www.southcoast.com/browse/scwindan/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Snow and surf boarders like to think of themselves as cutting-edge with their hip sensibilities and style ‹ you¹d expect a Web site by a surf shop to reflect this. The Ocean & Snow Surfer page fails miserably. Is blinking text radical? Is poor organization a cool style? There are some pretty good photos, but they¹re poorly scanned and laid out. Sure, some of the content is useful. There are profiles on different manufacturers, a bit of industry gossip, and some stories about exotic surfing locales, but the most useful feature is the list of links to other sea and snow surfing sites. Swoosh.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Ocean & Snow Surfer
URL: http://www.southcoast.com/browse/scwindan/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Snow and surf boarders like to think of themselves as cutting-edge with their hip sensibilities and style ‹ you¹d expect a Web site by a surf shop to reflect this. The Ocean & Snow Surfer page fails miserably. Is blinking text radical? Is poor organization a cool style? There are some pretty good photos, but they¹re poorly scanned and laid out. Sure, some of the content is useful. There are profiles on different manufacturers, a bit of industry gossip, and some stories about exotic surfing locales, but the most useful feature is the list of links to other sea and snow surfing sites. Swoosh.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Fat Tire Wire
URL: http://www.Fat-Tire-Wire.com/ftw/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Dedicated to the sport of mountain biking, Fat Tire Wire would be a great place if it¹s most interesting features weren¹t ³Under Construction.² The Bike Swap free classified section would be cool if it worked. The Discussion area doesn¹t work either. Their racing database, matching you to a race, is incomplete. However, there is a complete list of races by region and a working list of links to some bike companies, but besides some photos and stuff, that¹s it. If you¹re going to put up a Web site, make sure at least half of it is running. And don¹t use cheesy graphics while you¹re at it.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Tennis Country
URL: http://www.tenniscountry.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Tennis Country is setup like a country club that you can¹t play tennis in. Go and gossip about tennis in the chat area, check out the latest news , follow tournament coverage, and discover playing and fitness tips to keep you competitive. A section for the kids has it¹s own chat area and some college court coverage, and a partner matching service helps you find a tennis date. I personally expect to meet a delicious tennis babe because I said I was a 7.0 rated pro. The only problem is that the look and feel of the place made it resemble the town courts more than an exclusive club, but that shouldn¹t deter you.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Windsurfing Resources
URL: http://www.dsg.cs.tcd.ie/dsg_people/afcondon/windsurf/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
If you¹re a windsurfer, try this collection of resources created by a fellow boardhead. You¹ll be whisked to sites that provide guides to windsurfing in various spots (Corpus Christi, Maui, Israel, New Zealand). Also find archived discussions from the rec.windsurfing newsgroup, plus oodles of still pictures and a handful of MPEG movies. There are even instructions for creating a home-brewed anemometer. It¹s a simple page with minimal design, but it will get you you shreddin¹.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Go Climb a Rock
URL: http://ic.net/~pokloehn/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Go Climb a Rock is striving to fulfill the lofty ideal of becoming the Web¹s ³most complete rock climbing resource.² Climbers may find the Tips and Tricks section the most useful, with its lengthy pieces on everything from getting a rest and crosshooking to jamming and rappelling. The rest of the site is divided into a links area and a miscellaneous ³everything else² section, which includes pictures, a dictionary, a shoe guide, and rankings of the top U.S. climbers. Perhaps as the site expands, so will the categorization of information.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Tennis Worldwide
URL: http://www.xmission.com/~gastown/tennis/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Though it doesn¹t have much of design sense or technical savvy, Tennis Worldwide offers trivia, tips, background, and news of the sport from tennis ³netters² worldwide. Probably most useful is a comprehensive set of links to tennis-related Web pages, organized around such topics as tournaments, organizations, personal tennis pages, resorts, and more. There¹s also a chance to converse with players everywhere (³I think the ATP ranking system is ridiculous²), send in rule questions, find out about tennis camps and software, and even arm yourself with tennis jokes (which I won¹t repeat here).
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Grand Sumo Sports
URL: http://www.fujiint.co.uk/Sumo/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
A traditional form of Japanese wrestling, Sumo also has fans in Europe and the U.K., where this site originates. You¹ll find some sketchy reports on past matches (fall Œ95), summaries of Sumo history and rules, background on Sumo ceremonies, contestants¹ rankings and updates on who¹s wrestling who at several European matches. When I looked, the server was mighty slow, but, if you¹re interested, there¹s a link to Quicktime clips of two really big guys working it out.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Dirt Rag
URL: http://cyclery.com/dirt_rag/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
³REAL mountain bikers who live and breathe the sport² are the moving force behind the magazine, Dirt Rag. The paper edition looks great, too, judging by the cover image and the table of contents. Unfortunately, the Web page doesn¹t have many links yet; you only get a teaser-taste of the current issue. When I visited there were only two live links online -- an interview and trial notes. Bummer. With any luck, Dirt Rag will bump up the online content soon. The fans await.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

College Lacrosse
URL: http://www.centennial.fandm.edu/lacrosse/mainmenu
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
I'm sorry, but this site is a severe eye-glazer. Not a single graphic or textual variation. Line after line of players' names, game scores, record holders, and international team statistics. No links, no nothing, and all of it done in unyielding red, white, and blue type. Was I foolish to hope for more? Was it too much to ask for a little tongue in cheekiness? Something to lift the pall of stuffiness that hangs over this sport....probably for a very good reason. I try to be reasonable and imagine, what if I were a total lacrosse fanatic? What if I lived and breathed the sport.? Well, truth is I'd probably still be bored stiff at this site....or maybe I'd just be boring. C-2, A-1, T-2.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS
URL: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
No mention is made here of the Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island or their adventure with Scooby Doo, but that's okay. That the site is in such a state of disrepair,...that's not okay. Many links simply don't work and an attempt to visit the Globetrotter Store returned this uncommon error message: "The certificate for this server has expired. Check your system date and time." The team was founded in 1926 in Illinois and waited 41 years before playing an official game in Harlem. There are only four honorary Globetrotters: Henry Kissenger, Bob Hope, Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Whoopie Goldberg.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Archery
URL: http://www.stud.his.no/~morten-b/archery.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
If it¹s good enough for Robin Hood, it¹s good enough to have a Web page. Archery has become a modern sport with the latest in high-tech bows and custom-made arrows, but it¹s been around since prehistory. This site might as well have been designed back then too. The only saving grace of this page is the content , including a brief history of archery and a detailed section on equipment. Otherwise, it should put an apple on its head and hope for a miss.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Cyberboarder
URL: http://www.cyberboarder.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
The so-called ³table of discontents² here doesn¹t exactly capture the tone of this happy-go-lucky site. There¹s a minimum of griping and diatribes, though there is one pretty kvetchy piece about how snowboard salespeople push lame products on unsuspecting snowboarders. More in keeping with the overall site are the sunny pictures of snowboarders enjoying this exhilarating sport, and a handful of diary-type articles. To come are reviews of various boards, and there¹s a useful link to the snow report from Alpine World Online.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

The Mat: Amateur Wrestling
URL: http://www.axclt.com/~jrlareau/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Unfortunately for lovers of amateur wrestling, grad school and a full-time job have kept this site¹s author from updating it, except for a North Carolina section with the scores of amateur wrestling matches in that state¹s colleges and high schools. The rest of the site ‹ rapidly growing outdated ‹ provides a rundown of the NCAA Division 1 tournament, a review of the Dapper Dan Classic, and links to state championship sites. There are also old discussion threads and a link to the Usenet newsgroup alt.sport.wrestling.amateur.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Marshpit Snowboarding
URL: http://www.accessnv.com/marshpit/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The enthusiastic keepers of Marshpit got a little ahead of themselves in promising an ambitious collection of snowboarding resources, including resort info, a guide to the best boards, a place to tell your ³crash and burn² stories, useful board maintenance and optimizing tips, and some of ³the fattest pictures² of action on the slopes. But at this writing, sadly, no links work. A for concept, F for follow-through, dudes.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL
URL: http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com
Category: Sports
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
Before baseball was integrated, many amazing ball players participated in the Negro League. This site is intended as a tribute to these men, but fails in several regards. The splash page is broken and the primary graphic (nlbmast1.jpg) is missing altogether. The site design by MacMicro demonstrates no flair for typography or effective use of available space. The main menu's background image is a 91K download. Surrealistic paintings by Dane Tilghman are used in unintentionally surrealistic ways (the MVP of the 1941 Negro League All Star Game was white?). The online newsletter is five months out of date.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

On Hoops
URL: http://www.onhoops.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
On Hoops isn¹t just a collection of basketball scores and statistics, but also a collection of well-written commentary. Unafraid to express an opinion, these guys bat around the league, the players, and even the announcers with impunity. They cover all the major events with reviews on games, industry insider tidbits, and critical analysis on the state of the basketball itself. These guys live, breathe and eat basketballs. My only complaint with the site is that the graphics aren¹t so great ‹ but this should hardly get in the way of any fan looking for some cutting-edge coverage they won¹t find anywhere else.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12

The Bocce Site
URL: http://www.ultranet.com/~jfrat/bocce.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Bonnie J. Burton
Bocce isn¹t just about rolling some balls on the ground, it¹s about an entire culture. Read the rules to the ³bowling² game or go a step further and try reading a book about the European game. This very small directory has links to tournament news and league standings as well as the computer game, Virtual Bocce. Without much original content, The Bocce Site still loses site of its target.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12

The Official Ultimate Fighting Championship Home Page
URL: http://www.seg.com/ufc
Category: Sports
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
American Gladiators, professional wrestling -- that¹s all jive. Here¹s the real human cockfighting. If you aren¹t yet wise to the UFC (fights are available only on pay-per-view), let this page be your introduction. Proudly purporting to be ³the only real no-holds-barred, mixed styles martial arts tournament of its kind in the world,² the unflinching site features low-res snapshots from the bouts with brief re-caps and fighter bios. Fighting styles include Brazilian Jujitsu, Russian Sambo and amateur wrestling, all of which degenerates in UFC¹s octagonal rings into a brawl. Someone, no doubt, is making a lot of money off the undignified spectacle, and they¹re not wasting any of it on the Web site.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12

Tennis Country
URL: http://www.tenniscountry.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Matt Patterson
Tennis Country is setup like a country club that you can¹t play tennis in. Go and gossip about tennis in the chat area, check out the latest news , follow tournament coverage, and discover playing and fitness tips to keep you competitive. A section for the kids has it¹s own chat area and some college court coverage, and a partner matching service helps you find a tennis date. I personally expect to meet a delicious tennis babe because I said I was a 7.0 rated pro. The only problem is that the look and feel of the place made it resemble the town courts more than an exclusive club, but that shouldn¹t deter you.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 11

Global Snow and Surf Report
URL: http://www.geezer.com/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ken Bousquet
This site ‹ Geezer for short ‹ is a great idea. Instead of presenting the standard press kit-type Web page, Barefoot Snoboards has sponsored functional content: daily updated snow reports, and links to snow and surf resources. Advertising is quietly played in the background. However, the surf reports were a month old, and I suspect some of the snow reports were as well. The link to the Resort Sports Network site, however, provided fresh-dated camera shots of snow resorts such as Heavenly, Calif., and Vail, Colo. A good-looking resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 11

Body Mechanics
URL: http://www.halcyon.com/dcvaughn/bodymech.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ken Bousquet
A resource for northwest competitive bodybuilders, Body Mechanics offers training tips from a certified personal trainer; ³Almost Non Fat Recipes;² and more dietary information than you can shake a glycemic index at. (*Way* more.) Garry¹s Nutrition Hints is for hard-core hardbodies only. Other highlights are a gallery of bodybuilding competitors flexing for the camera, and the National Physique Committee¹s 1996 competition schedule.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 7

Flyfishing Antventures
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~anthonyn/
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Reed Kirk Rahlman
Yes, *Antventures*. It¹s short for Anthony. Anthony is seriously into flyfishing, and if you are too, you should look at his page. There¹s lots of stories about landing the big one, and pictures of guys up to their butts in cold water, clutching fish, and grinning like raccoons. Anthony appears to be a stand-up guy and square shooter, but if the appeal of the sport is lost on you, don¹t bother dipping your pole here. For yours truly, flyfishing is like golf ‹ I just don't get it. But some do, and it is my constant reminder that God made everyone different so we¹d always have someone to baffle us.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 6

Tauromaquia
URL: http://www.clark.net/pub/jgustam/toros/toros.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Reed Kirk Rahlman
Tauromaquia? That¹s bullfighting to you, shriner. You¹ll read a detailed history, which explains that bullfighting was invented about a thousand years ago for bored knights to work off pent-up blood lust when they were at peace with their neighbors, and needed to kill something to pass the time. An extensive glossary and primer clearly explains everything in simple but informative detail. This sport ignites politically correct fireworks in folks ‹ myself included ‹ but it was interesting to read about as a cultural event.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 6

Shotgun Report
URL: http://www.interactive.net/~auric/index.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ken Bousquet
Life¹s too short not to play with shotguns, and the Shotgun Report will tell you how to play hard and shoot fast. The Technoid, who claims he is ³often in error, but never in doubt,² provides amusing, if not comprehensive, technical tracts on such things as Barrel modifications, Gas-operated semi-automatic shotguns, and maintenance tips. Apart from constantly referring to himself in the third-person, you gotta like The Technoid¹s attitude ‹ especially when your making complicated modifications to firearms.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 5

American Poolplayers Association
URL: http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/apa/apa_home.htm
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ken Bousquet
The American Poolplayers Association site provides 8-ball rules and definitions; What¹s New in the APA; the 1995-96 Calendar and Champion Results; and a list of pool-related links. Though the design elements are not unsophisticated, the pages are all identical, and, consequently, a little difficult to sift through.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 4

Mauy Thai
URL: http://www.magicnet.net/~pkordel/muaythai.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Reed Kirk Rahlman
Mauy Thai is the native term for Thai boxing. The main difference between regular boxing and Mauy Thai is that you can kick opponents in the head. Punching is allowed too, but nothing beats a well-placed flying foot to the temple. Some dude named Roman Dekker is mentioned a lot, and appears to be a an icon of some kind. This site has links to other martial arts pages, but is itself thin on information and pics. Consider this merely a transfer station on the greater Mauy Thai railway.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 3

Lumberjack Entertainment
URL: http://www.starinfo.com/ljguide/lumberjack.html
Category: Sports
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Reed Kirk Rahlman
This is a thinly disguised advert for the Old Time Lumberjack Show. Since lumberjacks aren¹t really interested in promoting regulated competition (they instead aim for good-timey fair events), you won¹t find rules or requirements, or even detailed descriptions of how games are played. However, photos indicate events demand chopping, sawing and climbing wood. The page *does not* mention the infamous Monty Python sketch. Personally, if these guys wielded chainsaws in evening gowns, I¹d *pay* to see it.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 3