Product Review: Neocell - Collagen Sport

If you've been following my sport-related banter for the last few years you know I'm not a big fan of processed anything. I don't care if it's "natural", "organic", or even "healthy". For me, I like seeing all of the ingredients in what I ingest and I prefer to get all of my nutrients from what I eat and drink without using supplements.

I was contacted by someone at Neocell recently and they asked if I was interested in trying out their powder. I was reluctant but thought I'd give it a try. I'd been a little tired and had some decreased performance in the water lately and figured it may be worth it.

The sample I was sent was quite large and when I read the ingredients and the process I felt a little better. For about 4 days I gave it a try, mostly as a pre-surf drink. The flavor was good - not really sweet or processed and you could add it to water. I mixed it in my cocktail shaker as that seemed to work better than trying to stir it.

The thing that I like the most is that there is no gluten, sugar, or lactose. There is xylitol but it isn't overwhelming. Again, I'm really not a fan of sugars (or sugar alcohols) unless they come from fruits (or beer - haha). This powder also contains collagen, which is touted to have great health benefits.

Overall, I was satisfied with my Neocell experience. I've still got some left and will probably use it for pre-surf or pre-early morning workouts.

Book Review: Her Team

"In a nutshell, it's about a woman who wins the chance to manage the Red Sox. It's a fun, vicarious read - women's sports fiction. A League of Their Own turned on its head...sort of.

HER TEAM is available ONLY in eBook format (The perfect read for a 21st century, technologically connected, woman!) and can be downloaded for $2.99 at Amazon and read on any kindle, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android Phone, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7. Amazon makes the process very simple. It is also easy to give as a gift as long as you have the recipient's email address."

This was a piece of the email that I was sent last month from Jane Newcomer, author of Her Team. I told her that I'd love to check it out and I had an email from Amazon about my gift from Jane shortly thereafter. It took me a while but I finally downloaded it to my Android phone yesterday. I got through several chapters on the first sitting as it is a really easy read. In fact, I feel like it's light enough for the mature high school set. There are mentions of "love scenes" between the heroine and her man but nothing outwardly graphic (at least not in the first few chapters). Honestly, Judy Blume is far more descriptive in that category.

If you want a feel-good story that has an overall happy tone, this seems to be the read for you. I'll keep going back until I finish it, especially since it's just in my phone and super convenient. So yeah, what I really love is that this book is only digital - it forced me to give up the paper and read it on the DROID.

If you're interested, spend a mere $2.99 and download the book here or check out Jane's site here.

WISE: Women In Sports and Events

Last week I was excited to be invited to the WISE Los Angeles Women Of Inspiration Awards Dinner. If you haven't heard of WISE the description from their site says:

"Women in Sports and Events (WISE) is the leading voice and resource for professional women in the business of sports and events. Founded in 2005, the Los Angeles chapter is one of more than 10 chapters across the nation. Our unique vision empowers WISE to celebrate and connect emerging and established women leaders, to promote one another in career growth and continue to change the face of our industry."

When I got to the event I was treated to several things. First, Carlton Hair was on hand to style attendees hair if they wished. This was pretty fabulous at the end of the day coming straight from the office. They also gave away a big bag of products to one lucky lady. Shi Shi Putter had a setup that you could work on your putting with and gave away a Sweet Spot Golf putter as well. Monte De Oro Winery provided wine for the evening and sent everyone home with a bottle of wine. In addition we were all given really great swag bag.

Indeed, there were a lot of very amazing women there and I was really honored to be invited as a guest. I loved how all of the honorees mentioned in the above graphic were so genuine. Actually, everyone at the event was quite genuine. This was an event where everyone was incredibly friendly, smart, and inspirational. I had some great conversations about golf, broadcasting, sports fashion...and a bunch of other fun topics!

Check out what others were saying about the event with the Twitter hashtag #WISEInspires.

Holiday Gift Idea For Golfers

Full disclosure: The Photo Ball Marker people are incredibly nice and have sent me their products for no charge over the last year or so. In fact, when I lost my precious bloodhound they sent me an awesome PBM with his picture. They rock. They haven't asked me to write this post but I am because I think it's a great gift. Buy some!

Photo Ball Marker makes a great gift for the golfer in your life. All you have to do his follow this link, upload your pictures, then place your order. In fact, if you click one of my links here or click through the ad on my sidebar you can get $5 off of your order.

PBM has expanded recently as well - instead of only hat clips or magnets you can get necklaces, keychains, and brooches! I totally wear my PBM button and necklace rather frequently. I've got PBMs for my golf buds too and everyone digs them. How can they not, you're in control of the design. They're your pictures! I always get compliments on the course when I'm sporting my hat clip.

Check them out today and give them a follow on Twitter. Like I mentioned, they're really nice people. Really! Plus, you can get these for non-golfers also! Just order the keychain, necklace, or brooch!

YMX Review and Giveaway!

Yes, YMX Yellowman sent me a jersey gratis to review and are sponsoring a giveaway but the opinions are my own! Deal with it!

YMX Yellowman contacted me to review a product that was touted as a "multi-sport" piece. Okay, I'm game. I do more than one sport. Although I didn't see my sports on their site I decided to test what they sent on what I do.

I was sent the Winter Flower red jersey with a hidden zipper and 3 back pockets. My first test was skateboarding. I went out on a chilly morning that I would usually wear a hoodie for and this was warm and worked really well. I got the medium and the arms were long enough! This is important for a 5'10" girl.

Today I decided to give it the surf test. Since they're rated at SPF 50, I assumed you could get it wet. Forgoing my usual rash guard I wore this instead. Perfect! It totally worked and had me cozy in the Santa Ana winds under my suit this morning. In addition, the design is pretty sick. After looking around their site I really fell in love with the Asian-themed art pieces they have.

So yes, multi-sport it is. This should work famously for you cyclers and runners (or surfers/skaters like me!)

Wanna win one?

Send me an email at sportswriterchick(at)gmail(dot)com and tell me what sports you want to use it for. The deadline is 11:00 pm on Friday, December 2nd. I'll pick a winner at random.

Good luck!

P.S. United States only please

Rip Curl G-Bomb Wetsuit FAIL

What happens when you splurge and go ahead and pay for the $300+ wetsuit? In my case, you get incredibly disappointed.

At the end of last month I bought the Rip Curl G-Bomb 4/3 wetsuit. I liked the fit more than my other suits and was quite cozy. After less than 2 weeks of wear, the zippered stash pocket on the left leg's zipper broke.

First of all, this was an absurd spot to have the stash pocket in my opinion as it hit right on the left calf. It seemed to assume that the wearer wouldn't have any calf muscle and wouldn't be a lefty. Unfortunately for me, I do and I am.

Rip Curl has had my suit since last Wednesday, November 9. They claim a 48 hour turnaround. Yesterday was the 16th and I still have no suit. I contacted them on social media and they had someone get back to me that promised my suit would be back yesterday.

This is a major mess. It's bad enough that OEMs don't make wetsuits for women that actually surf but now I'm out $300 and the water just keeps getting colder.

Don't Let It Hold You Back

I had a really interesting day yesterday, to say the least. It was one of those that really messed with my confidence. I got out this morning for dawn patrol and had such a hard time at first. Seriously.

It was a little bit of size and some current...but I had that last week. Last week I totally shred the place. I shred so much that people didn't even expect it. It was fantastic.

This morning, things weighed really heavily on me. It took me a little bit to get into the lineup. Actually, it took me longer than it should have. I shouldn't have let that happen.

Life throws you curveballs. Life sometimes chews on you a bit.

It's okay, it happens.

I did make it out into the lineup in the "scary" waves today. It felt great. I knew I could do it.

Kelly Slater's 11th world Title

They finally got it right and Kelly, or Ke11y, is now an 11 time champion! I've had a surf contest recently myself but not nearly as high profile. If only I could surf as well as Kelly...

See you all soon, much more to come!