You might have seen American Football players wear them. You might even have seen Xtehn Titcomb wear them at the World Championships Beach Ultimate in Brazil, but do the Eye Black Stripes from Mueller really work?

I decided to try them during our league day in the Algarve last weekend and apart from the many comments I received on how 'scary' I look, I did not notice a difference. Perhaps when it is really really sunny out (this was just a winter sun) they might help, but in that case I will play with sunglasses.

The good thing about the strips is that they are easy to put on and take off, and I was pleasantly surprised that they stayed on all day, but you won't be seeing me wear them any day soon, unless I want to look scary on the field... :-)

If football is the "beautiful" game then Beach Ultimate is well on the way to being known as the "social" game.

The competitors at the sixth annual Ocean Beach "Beach Hat" tournament came from all over the country as well as from overseas, but once they were put into teams, friendships blossomed that should last a lot longer than the two-day tournament.

The beauty of this tournament, apart from its setting on Ocean Beach, is the fact that no team rivalry exists other than during the game. Each team is picked at random at the beginning of the tournament, meaning teammates have to get to know each other pretty quickly.

(Continued at the Northern Advocate)

Entertainment! That is how I would describe Blockstack TV. Steve Giguere (from Ultimate Gear company Lookfly) and Tom 'The Voice of UK Ultimate' Styles, are the brains behind this new venture that utilizes new technology such as video podcasts, RSS feeds, and Twitter.

Their videos are still a bit too long and UK centric to capture the imagination of a global audience but it is a great start. The two guys are funny and will travel around to Wonderful Copenhagen, Paganello and the WUGC 2008 in Vancouver to bring us pictures, podcasts, stories and results.

Check them out at www.blockstack.tv