Last week I was invited by Saturn (corporate motto: "Not just for soccer moms. No, really."), to test drive some of their newer models and spend some time at the Orvis Sandanona Shooting Grounds in Millbrook, NY. A couple of days of blasting stuff into oblivion sounded good after the week I was having.

Sandanona is the oldest permitted shooting club in the country (the main lodge was built when Thomas Jefferson was president), and is located in the Hudson River Valley, about an hour north of New York City. But the quiet and serenity of the grounds (except for the occasional shotgun blast), makes it feel like it's a million miles from anywhere civilized.

They specialize in teaching us stressed-out city guys how to shoot sporting clays (clay discs that are launched from different angles and locations to simulate birds in flight), and how to fly fish. Both pretty good alternatives to your usual pressure-relieving activity, drinking until everyone is your best friend and you can't remember where you live.

After our shooting instructor, Pete, a former military shooting instructor, gave us some basic training and tips - along with all the safety instructions we needed to know to keep us from blowing a hole in anything but the intended targets - he positioned ...More

Laying up on a par five and hitting the green in three may be good strategy in a golf tourney, but seriously, it's for pussies. If you're not going to pull out a big woods and at least try to slam it onto the green in two, you might as well hit from the reds on the next tee.

So I don't know if you saw, but this past weekend at The Players Championship, Top-Flite had a team of people positioned at the two par-5 fairways wearing black masks and NeverLayUp.com t-shirts. Their sole purpose was to pressure the pros into going for the green. If the guy chose to stick to his strategy and lay up, they'd show their disapproval by turning their back on him, revealing the words "C'mon... Man Up!"

Did any of the pros actually succumb to the peer pressure of a group of masked chuckleheads in black shirts? According to a Top-Flite rep, on the 16th hole the group asked Ben Curtis' caddy if he was going to go for it. The caddy responded by pulling out a wedge. The masked men responded by turning their backs. The caddie put the wedge back in the bag and took out a wood. And apparently later in the day, on the same hole, Todd Hamilton, 2004 British Open Champion, was asked if he would go for the green, he said with a smile, “Well, I have to now, right?”

Neither broke the top 40, but at least they still have their manhood.

Touring pros get custom-made clubs tweaked and re-tweaked to fit their individual swings and course conditions, so why not you?

The interchangeable heads and shafts of Calloway's new game-breaking I-MIX technology let you reconfigure your driver depending on the course, how you’re swinging, or that day’s conditions. Need shot-shaping control? Grab the included precision wrench and lock on the FT-5 driver. Or is slamming it straight down the middle for yardage bragging rights what you need? Ratchet on the FT-i head instead.

And more than 70 of the most popular shafts are now manufactured with I-MIX shaft tips, which means you can choose from more flexes, weights, and materials than your golf-addicted brain can handle. Think of it as having an entire golf shop full of options in one bag.

FT-5 Driver - $435
FT-i Driver - $500
Shafts - $185-$435
www.callawaygolf.com

If watching cars race around a track at 200 mph is your idea of excitement, picture a group of rocket-powered aircraft battling each other NASCAR-style as they tear around a 3-D virtual track in the sky.

The Rocket Racing League is the brainchild of Granger Whitelaw – a guy who as team chairman won the Indianapolis 500 twice and still wasn’t getting enough RPM in his life, and Peter Diamandis who won the X-Prize, a world-wide competition for amateur rocket design. The pair parlayed their knowledge of rocketry and racing to form the RRL and are now convinced they're sitting on the next big sport.

Their concept is to take the thrill of an air show, multiply that times 100, and mix in some raw competition with a healthy dose white-knuckle action. (I'm thinking collisions during a race in this league will be a helluva lot more heart-stopping than anything you've seen in auto racing. Not that I'm rooting for that...)

The pilots? They've already signed up a handful of the most bad-ass military combat veterans and civilian test pilots in the world, just to make sure crowds get their money's worth.

The RRL will hold it's first exhibition races this summer, where you can see up to ten racing rockets battle head-to-head on a 5-mile track in the clouds. I hear Tony Stewart is already taking flying lessons.

www.rocketracingleague.com

If you want to experience the outdoors - but don't want to trample all over Mother Nature - you'll want to do it in a shoe that's rugged enough to handle the abuse and elements, but is made with eco-friendly materials that don't destroy the landscape you're hiking, biking or wading through. The Jenner (top) and Lodi, from performance footwear maker Ahnu, will let you do that.

Made using materials like recycled polyester and charred bamboo for eco-friendliness and natural anti-microbial and wicking properties, the sandal-like Jenner and all-terrain Lodi are lightweight, rugged and are built to handle abuse.

Both have shock dispersal plates in the forefoot for stone bruising protection, integrated arch supports, and high density posts in the heel for the extra stability you'll need when traversing rocky and uneven terrain. They also have a hydrophobic mesh upper for when you encounter water, and mono-filament mesh panels to let your dogs breathe while keeping debris out. And the single-pull lace lock system lets you adjust the fit quick, and makes it impossible for ...More

Instead of complaining about having to shovel all that snow, take advantage of the white stuff, grab a Mad River Rocket, and get your sled on.

No ordinary trickle-down-the-hill hunk of plastic, Mad River's Rocket is an extreme version of the sled you used to ride on as a kid, designed for generating tons of speed, and to let you pull off some insane X Games-style tricks.

Much like knee boards towed behind boats in the summer, kneeling in the Rocket lets you use body lean to control balance and steering, and create leverage for jumps and flips. To see what some of the more experienced sledders are pulling off check out this video.

The sleds are made of recycled plastic and come in four models: the Killer B for adults, the Stinger and Swirl Stinger for kids, and a high end version made of clear Lexan so you can check out the scenery as you jump that ravine.

$99 - Killer B
$84 - Stinger
www.madriverrocket.com

Mercury Morris gets to talk smack for one more year...

The Super Bowl is more than just a huge sports spectacle. It is the only sporting event your girlfriend will ever watch with you. Not because she cares about the game. But rather, for the party, the halftime show, the commercials and to keep that brunette, who danced a little too close to you at the New Years Eve party, away from you.

Because this is most likely the only football game she’s seen, she’ll inevitably ask dozens of questions about what is happening on the field. Such as, “Why’d that guy throw that yellow napkin thingie?”

You might find explaining football to her in guy terms difficult. So here is a handy guide on how you can explain some basic things about the game to your girlfriend, in terms she can relate to.

New England Patriots. They are like that award-winning Hollywood actress who is getting a little older, but somehow still looks great in a bikini. You know that she secretly cheated and had some “work done” early on, but you still respect how she looks. And even though you are jealous of her, you love watching her movies.

New York Giants. They are like your girlfriend you secretly make fun of, who is kind of chunky and still wears mom jeans, yet ended up with a really good looking guy. And you and your friends just can’t figure out how she did it.

Illegal Contact. You know how when you are on the dance floor and it’s okay for a guy to put his hands on your hips and grind a little too close, but when you leave the floor for the drink he owes you, he has to keep his hand off? ...More

The Patriots chasing history or the Giants making an improbable run at the Lombardi Trophy not an interesting enough story to make watching Super Bowl XLII exciting for you?

Dropping a few hundred bucks on the point spread not risky enough to really get your heart pumping?

While you've got your wallet open, why not slap an extra $20, $50, or your entire 401(k), on one of the hundreds of prop bets being offered by your friendly neighborhood casino or bookie?

Proposition, or "prop", bets are bets that have nothing to do with the actual outcome of the game. They're exotic wagering options casinos offer during big-time sporting events that give you numerous fun and exciting ways to burn through your kid's college fund. And they're less foolish than dousing your cash with kerosene and lighting a match. But only slightly.

Here are some examples of actual Super Bowl prop bets served up by two sports books famous for offering outlandish action. ...More

32 bowl games over the last three weeks not enough to satisfy your college football hunger? Wondering what you'll do after Monday's BCS championship game? Fret not. As usual, ESPN's got your back.

Grab their collector's set, ESPNU Honor Roll: The Best of College Football, a few bags of chips, and plant yourself on the couch for nearly seven hours of the best moments, game highlights and interviews they could pack onto three discs.

ESPN anchor Reece Davis, hosting from the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN, along with a legendary lineup of players, coaches and journalists, counts down the all-time greatest players, coaches, games, rivalries and stadiums as determined by a panel of ESPN experts and the votes of diehard football fans.

In addition to interviews with players and coaches, you'll see every key play from games like the 2006 Rose Bowl, when Vince Young led Texas over the heavily favored USC trojans, and Ohio State's ...More