The future is Now

I truly believe the future of sports communication is exactly what we are doing now. Blogs are going to become everyones number one source for all their news. Sports blogs hit people on so many levels and that is why they are enjoyed so much. People love disecting other peoples opinions and arguing them in a format where nobody sees each other face to face. Blogging allows a person to change what they want to about anything. I mean one story could be right one minute and changed in the next. Certain sports are going to take off and communication is going to be the key to all of this. I think there will be a legitamate fantasy sports website that will allow gambling in the USA in the next 5 years because the market is so huge and the government could make so much money off of the taxes. I am glad we all learned how and when to blog because knowing these techniques will allow us to be better prepared to learn, teach, and blog for the next generation

Skate Park

The city I am recommending  for a skate park is the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. The mayor and youth recreation coordinator and myself will fill out the application. I believe this city needs a skate park because the city as a whole needs more youth projects. There are many people who skate that live in the community or nearby that would use this. Most businesses and parks do not allow skateboarding and giving these people there own space would not only be recreational but will also free up some of the local law enforcement. The nearest skate park is over an hour away. This does not allow younger people to skate. Offering a new alternative will keep the childrens intrest and hopefully keep them out of trouble.

With a grant and a few donations from people in the community we will be able to charge only enough money to keep up with maitenance fees and weather repairs. We plan on putting in in a designated park that is already in the makings. A pond has already been dug out and can very simply be made into a skatepark. This skatepark will not be state of the art but it will be basic enough to offer kids a recreational option. Hopefully we can hold a few tournaments and offer prizes and upgrade it along the way.

Happy Halloween

These are some pumpkins I found on the internet.

                                        

Reporters

Personally I did not have any trouble getting my story in and that was mostly because I could walk to the field where it was happening. My apartment is literally three blocks from the field where the game takes place. The information that I wanted to get were stats, score, any personal info, weather, etc. The information for me was readily availiable from the parents in the stands and they were willing to give any info that i asked. For other reporters I would assume there are many reasons why stories can be late. I think driving to a location would hinder your ability to get back especailly with storms and so forth also it takes awhile to come up with a good storyline that keeps everyone involvesd weith the story. Having to wait for people to gove you actual quotes would hurt your ability to get the story in as well.

Quarterback, Defense, or just the Weather

Saturday....9am......60 degrees

Sounds like the perfect time to watch a Pee-Wee football game. WRONG!!! 60 mile an hour winds brought this game to a complete standstill. Through four quarters of play the final score was 6-2. Remember this was a football game not a baseball game. The Vermillion Tanagers hosted the Dell Rapid Quarriers in tournament play today. One loss your done format so it should have been excitng. These 8-10 year olds really gave it their all for four quarters. Vermillion was lead by Quarterback Chase Ffel who ran for sixty yards on seventeen carries. The only downside to that was he was 0 for 13 passing. This was a major surprise because the Tanagers were a very strong passing team according to the parents in the stands. Vermillions lone score came on a safety that was really a string of bad luck for the Quarriers. The Quarriers quarterback tried to pitch the ball to his runningback and a gust of wind blew the ball into the endzone and was recovered by Quarriers giving the Tanagers 2 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Quarriers received the ball late in the fourth quarter after the Tanagers had punted. Maybe it was the football God's making up for the weather, but the wind died down around this time as well. THe Quarriers then went 43 yards for the go ahead touchdown. The touchdown was run in by fullback Taylor Kratz from the three yard line. I felt bad for my fiances brrother who played for the Tanagers. This was not a good game by any means, but all the kids played their hearts out and the best moment came after the game. Both teams huddled around an ice chest dring Capri Sun and having a granola bar.....Now thats football.

There was talk of moving the game to a later time slot in the day, but was overruled by the referees. The tournament is only a one day tournament and extra time slots were not available. THere were other great games offered by the tournament which included a shootout that ended 21 to 28. I have no idea who will win this tournament but the favorite from this reporters eyes is the team out of Yankton. The plays I saw this young quarterback were amazing. He ran for two long touchdown runs and even caught  one as Yankton used a rough version of a "wildcat" offense.

All of the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. One of things I enjoyed the most were all the cheerleaders and all the coaches were wearing pink shirts that showed their support for breast cancer awareness. Ther proceeds from this tournament were going to be given to the South Dakota chapter of breast cancer awareness.

Even on TV this was AMAZING

PHILADELPHIA – Deep inside the tunnel next to the Philadelphia Phillies dugout is a chair. It is tucked away behind a short stairwell, hidden from the dugout, with a small television as the only connection to everything happening outside. This is where Roy Halladay(notes) often goes between innings of the games he pitches and where he sat each inning Wednesday evening as he became the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a postseason game.

The Phillies' Roy Halladay became the second pitcher with a no-hitter in postseason history, joining Don Larsen (1956).
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

And as afternoon light gave way to an evening gloom in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, none of the other Phillies dared to approach him. Not Roy Oswalt(notes), the pitcher who usually uses the same chair when he pitches. Not Carlos Ruiz(notes), the catcher with whom Halladay was in such perfect symmetry he only shook off Ruiz’s pitch call once. Not even Rich Dubee, the pitching coach who assessed Halladay’s brilliance early and let his only correspondence be a slap on his pitcher’s behind at the end of each inning followed by the words: “Nice job.”

More From Les Carpenter

So it was a solitary pursuit, this game that was close to perfection without actually being perfection. Halladay would later say he was aware he was pitching a no-hitter, “knew it in the fifth or sixth inning,” he said. But he has always been a pitcher who demanded isolation and routine. Even as he threw the most exciting game of the year, he worked to stay calm, to think of anything other than the string of zeros on the scoreboard high above left field at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think as soon as you try and (focus on a no-hitter) it kind of takes you out of your plan a little bit,” he said.
For much of the last decade he has been baseball’s most dominant pitcher, a superstar without the postseason to accentuate his standing, three times a 20-game winner, holder of the Cy Young but no meaningful October starts. Then, Wednesday, in his first postseason game, he threw a no-hitter. As if there is any doubt now about how great Roy Halladay has become.
He was dominant. Everyone on the Phillies knew it. As Halladay warmed up before the game, bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was struck by the extra movement on the pitcher’s fastball, the way it seemed to jump at the last second. This is the way Halladay had been throwing for the last couple of weeks as the playoffs were assured and Halladay was allowed more rest.
“I didn’t know if he could throw a no-hitter,” Billmeyer said, “but he was real, real crisp.”
The Reds were overmatched from the beginning. Halladay stood long and lanky, throwing almost effortlessly as the Cincinnati hitters lunged with awkward swings. For much of the first part of the year Dubee had been stressing throwing with ease to Halladay, worried that the pitcher sometimes tried “to be too special,” he said.
When Halladay attempts to merely be good, he becomes great. And as the game progressed, Halladay was great. Not long before darkness fell, a small storm cell came over the park, dousing the players for more than an inning in a cold October rain. Halladay hardly seemed to notice.
The Reds could do nothing. Cincinnati’s second pitcher of the night, Travis Wood(notes), hit a sinking line drive to right field in the third inning that right fielder Jayson Werth(notes) had to slide to catch. In the sixth, pinch hitter Juan Francisco(notes) smacked a ground ball that appeared to have a chance to go into center field but it struck the mound and bounced right to shortstop Jimmy Rollins(notes).

Mostly the Reds took feeble swings or let strikes zip past them without even trying to swing, as if looking for something else.
“I don’t know what happened,” Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips(notes) said. “He pitched the ball and we didn’t hit the ball.”

Roy Halladay celebrates with catcher Carlos Ruiz after pitching a no-hitter in his first playoff appearance.
(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Not that it mattered, all of Halladay’s pitches – his fastball, curve and changeup – were outstanding. On May 29 in Florida he had thrown a perfect game, yet fellow Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels(notes) watched from the dugout and marveled at how this time Halladay was even better, more precise. Look at the swings the Reds took, Hamels said. They were baffled by everything Halladay threw.

“The Marlins actually hit some balls hard that we made good plays on,” Hamels said.

The only blemish was a fifth-inning walk by Reds right fielder Jay Bruce(notes) who took a cut fastball on a 3-2 count. Otherwise, Halladay would have become the only player to throw two perfect games in a single year.

As the ninth inning started, the stadium grew strangely quiet. The 46,411 seemed more anxious than euphoric. A man and a woman left to go home and were booed by the fans around them. A feeble chant of “Let’s go Roy! Let’s go Roy,” rose into the night. But the final explosion didn’t come until Phillips hit a tiny dribbler in front of home plate. Phillips threw down his bat to run to first and for a moment Ruiz had to wait for the ball to stop moving before picking it up and throwing to first. He would say it was the most nervous he was throwing a ball, so much so that an hour after the game ended his right hand was still shaking.

Then after the Phillies mauled Halladay and the pitcher had done all the obligatory on-field interviews, he walked into the tunnel where he spent half the game, up the staircase that runs above the chair and down a hallway to the clubhouse. Billmeyer embraced him. Several other men slapped him on his back.

“Let’s give him some room!” shouted a team executive as Halladay turned left and toward the clubhouse where all the Phillies players stood, most still in their uniforms.

“Here he is,” one shouted. And together they all jumped on him once more, shaking his arm, slapping his back all the way to his locker.

It was a joyous night, a magical night. One almost too surreal to believe. And yet Halladay acted as if this was a routine victory over the Cubs or Nationals in the middle of August. He changed out of his uniform and led his two sons back into the same tunnel to go to the interview room. None of this seemed to overwhelm him.

After he was gone, Hamels smiled.

“You know, this is what he expects to do, and so when he does it he’s just like, ‘yeah that’s me,’ ”he said.

What Is This???

 

Wed Oct 06 08:09am PDT

Rhode Island school pulls out of game citing size of foe's players

By Cameron Smith

Football matchups between private schools can create mismatches based on a variety of factors, but it's rare that a school uses fear of injury to cancel a game.

That's exactly what happened Monday, when St. George's (R.I.) School canceled a game on Friday against fellow Independent School League member Lawrence Academy (Mass.), citing a concern over the disparity in the size of the two schools' players. St. George's is the first team to officially pull out of a game against Lawrence Academy (Mass.), one of two programs that has been completely dominant against ISL foes in recent years.
"This is strictly a safety issue,'' St. George's headmaster Eric Peterson told the Boston Globe. "We are trying to keep our kids reasonably safe in a game that can be terribly exciting but has risks."
Meanwhile, the risk of losing via forfeit -- the game may or may not be recorded as a forfeit, depending on the decision of a committee of three ISL headmasters -- is not something that concerns St. George's athletic director and football coach John MacKay. He said, "People don't understand what schools like St. George's are all about. Our students are into much more than athletics. Athletic success is so secondary in a place like this.''
[Rewind: High school coach suspended for taking in homeless player]
As laid out by both Mike Carraggi of the Boston Globe and Danny Ventura of the Boston Herald, the numbers behind St. George's decision are pretty stark. Three Lawrence Academy offensive lineman weigh in at 300, 335 and 350 pounds, where St. George's players come nowhere near those marks. Still, the withdrawal is a stark statement of competitive inequity in the entire league. St. George's stands at 2-0 after going winless last year, but still decided it was better off withdrawing than playing a team that won all but two of its games by 40 or more points in 2009.
"The issue first came up last spring, then we talked about it off and on in the summer,'' Peterson told the Globe. "By the time the roster was in place, it became pretty clear.''
While St. George's withdrawal is a clear black eye on the ISL, the other possible solutions presented to coach MacKay were equally unpalatable. Among other options, Lawrence Academy reportedly offered to play the game at "half speed" to ensure no players got hurt. That hardly seems like a positive message to send to a program that claims it is trying to build gradual success among a young core of players.
[Rewind: Female cornerback plays for top-ranked high school team]
Nonetheless, St. George's decision shines a spotlight on a significant problem that has been building within the ISL for years, according to Danny Ventura of the Herald.

Other coaches in the game have privately voiced their displeasure with Lawrence Academy. Judging by the volume of hits this story (which the Herald first broke yesterday morning) has received, it's certainly a newsworthy issue. What remains to be seen is whether any other team in the league follows suit and refuses to play LA.
League administrators were scheduled to meet this morning and we're sure one of the hot topics will be how to handle this situation. Is it a forfeit against SG or a no contest. You also have to believe that they will be feeling out the rest of Lawrence Academy opponents to see if they have plans on playing the game.
As one coach who asked his name not be used said: "The situation stinks. It's a black eye for our league."

Sports Fundraiser

The fundraiser is to raise money for the special olympics. We are going to host a 3-3 outdoor basketball tournament in South Dakota. We are going to work closely with the intramural programs from the nearbye colleges to promote a rivalry. Rivalry deepens the competition. The cost is 100.00 dollars per team and the team that wins will receive a brand new 52 inch television that has been donated by a local merchant. 2nd place will a gift basket worth 500 dollars of local products. Third, will get their money back. We are also going to use this event to promote another fundraiser which is a Madden video game tournament. This way we can have a event for athletic people and an event for people who play a lot of video games.

In the media kit we would have all the flyers, names of all participants, sponsors, prize list, place where you can donate money, etc.

Fundraising and Recruiting

I was pleasantly surprised at the similarities between recruiting and fundraising. I like the fact that this article shows the comparables between the two "professions". I would love to be a fundraising director at a college or to have my own business that did it for non-profit organizations. I think that if you can fundraise then their is always a job open for you. Every non-profit organization needs someone who can bring in the money especially when it is needed most. As the Intramural director for my college I was forced to do community involvment projects that purpose wat to raise money. It is all about who you know when it comes to this industry. When you know people who have money then you know a group that has money and then your in.

Endorsements

The celebrity that i find the most amusing with their endorsement deal is Jamie Lee Curtis and her endorsing pro-active. I think it is just funny that someone wants to promote good digestion. I am sure the money is worth it and all but do you really want your fans and family to refer to you as the "poop" lady. She goes from being an absolute Icon in the Halloween movies and is known as a talented actress to doing commercials for digestion. In my opinion she has fallen about as far as someone can fall. I am sure she can make the same amount of money endorsing something diffrent then yogurt that makes you regular. She is a very attractive woman and she could endorse clothes, cars, etc. The choices are really endless for her, but she chooses to do yogurt. Is she smart for doing this?

WOW

SAN DIEGO – Aroldis Chapman(notes) was summoned from the bullpen one batter too late to make a difference in the game. No matter. The 22-year-old Cincinnati Reds left-hander made do by making history Friday night, throwing the fastest pitch recorded in a major league game, a 105-mph fastball.

Ardolis Chapman's 25 pitches on Friday night (each registering 100 mph or faster, including his record-breaking 105 mph heater) must have been a blur to Padres batters.
(Christopher Hanewinckel/US Presswire)

The blazing pitch pushed a white-hot pennant race to the back burner. Yes, the San Diego Padres won the game 4-3 to pull ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild-card race. Sure, the San Francisco Giants all but buried the Colorado Rockies thanks to a dominant performance by Tim Lincecum(notes).
But the lingering memory was of a now-you-see-it, did-I-actually-see-it fastball to Tony Gwynn(notes) in the eighth inning. The pitch was not a fluke: Chapman threw 25 pitches in his 1 1/3 innings of relief, and every one was at least 100 mph. He didn’t throw a slider. He didn’t throw a changeup. Why would he?

More From Steve Henson

From Walter Johnson to Bob Feller to Steve Dalkowski to J.R. Richard to Nolan Ryan to Stephen Strasburg, blistering velocity is etched forever in baseball lore. Rush Chapman to the head of the list. Has anybody in the history of the game had a comparable 25-pitch sequence?
“I didn’t see it until the ball was behind me,” Gwynn said. “I was trying not to look at the radar reading because I’d be intimidated. I saw how hard he was throwing and just tried to be slow and work my hands.”
The 105-mph pitch was inside for a ball and evened the count at 2-2. Gwynn had fouled off the previous two pitches and fouled off the next before striking out. He ought to be pleased with his effort, forcing Chapman to make seven pitches, the slowest of which was 102 mph.
Gwynn’s father, Tony, a Hall-of-Famer and one of baseball greatest hitters, never saw a pitch as fast as the one Chapman threw. Maybe nobody else has, either. Since radar guns were introduced in the 1980s, the fastest pitch recorded was 104.8 mph by Joel Zumaya(notes) of the Detroit Tigers in a playoff game Oct. 10, 2006. Chapman, who defected from the Cuban national team in 2009, was clocked at 104 on Sept. 1 in his second major league appearance and also hit 105 mph with a pitch for Triple-A Louisville earlier this season.
Chapman, speaking through an interpreter with bags of ice strapped across his arm, credited his stepped-up velocity Friday to the fact that he’d pitched only once in the last week. He didn’t allow an earned run in his first eight relief appearances after being promoted Aug. 31, but the Astros nicked him for two runs a week ago. He pitched a scoreless inning on Monday against the Brewers, then had three more days off.
“My arm had been a little sore and the rest helped,” he said. “I felt as good as I did a couple weeks ago. Not the best I’ve ever felt, but I felt good.”
Reds manager Dusty Baker appreciated the moment, but the loss grated on him. Chapman was warming up in the bullpen when Miguel Tejada(notes) delivered a bases-loaded, two-out single in the seventh against Nick Masset(notes) that drove in the Padres’ third and fourth runs. Chapman came in and struck out Adrian Gonzalez(notes) on three fastballs that registered 101, 102 and 103 mph.
Baker had been reluctant to summon Chapman to face Tejada with the bases loaded and the Reds holding a one-run lead, envisioning a wild pitch or a walk.
“A guy throwing that hard, looking back you can say I should have brought him in earlier, but he can’t pitch against everybody all the time,” Baker said.
Asked if that was the hardest he has seen Chapman throw by a small degree, Baker replied, “By a big degree.”

Fastest Recorded MLB Pitches
Name	Team	Year	MPH
Aroldis Chapman	Reds	2010	105
Joel Zumaya	Tigers	2006	104.8
Aroldis Chapman	Reds	2010	104
Mark Wohlers	Braves	1995	103
Armando Benitez	Giants	2002	102
Jonathan Broxton	Dodgers	2009	102
Neftali Feliz	Rangers	2010	102
Bobby Jenks	White Sox	2005	102
Randy Johnson	Diamondbacks	2004	102
Matt Lindstrom	Marlins	2007	102
Robb Nen	Marlins	1997	102
Justin Verlander	Tigers	2007	102

Padres officials said the stadium radar gun is not known for inordinately high readings, unlike the Fox TV gun that recorded Zumaya at 104.8. Chapman had three other pitches Friday clocked at 104 mph.
This wasn’t the first time Chapman had pitched at Petco Park. He started for the Cuban team in the World Baseball Classic in the spring of 2009 and was knocked out of the game in the third inning against Japan and took the loss. His fastest pitch was 101 mph.
“I’ve grown up and improved so much since then,” he said. “I remember that night and losing my composure a little. I couldn’t find the strike zone. That seems like a long time ago.”
After defecting during a tournament in the Netherlands in July 2009, Chapman signed a six-year, $30.25 million deal with the Reds in January. It was widely predicted that he would sign a much more lucrative deal with a deep-pocket team such as the Yankees or Red Sox, but some teams backed off because of concerns about his maturity.
“We’ve got to make bold moves sometimes,” Reds GM Walt Jocketty said at the time.
Now the signing looks genius. And maybe by the time the playoffs begin, Baker will go to Chapman earlier, even with the bases loaded.
“When a guy is throwing that hard, you feel sort of helpless,” Gwynn said. “We’re just glad we had enough runs to win before he came in the game.”

Olympics

Politically the olympics are a time for countries to flex there muscles. Each host city has the support of their entire country. With this support, the cities try to out due the previous year host city. The spend millions of dollars to show the world what they are as a country. The last olympics CHina went all out and really impressed the world with their culture, planning ability, and there athletes. There have been political statments throughout olympic history. There have been boycotts because of political relations between countries, terroist attacks, and even racial statements being made. My favorite olympic moment is when Jesse Owens went and took on the "Nazi power" sentiment. He faced every "white" person Germany could throw at him and he beat them away with his technique and speed. Hitler was forced to see a black person beating his Arian race concept first hand. This statement made a huge impression on everyone and it helped changed the way the world thought about blacks.

Playbooks

This blog is about something I think all high school coaches should begin to employ as soon as posible. As a high school athlete I remember coaches diagramming plays in basketball and football that were messy at best. Kids ran the wrong plays simply because they misread the scribbles that were on the the board.

Introduction

I am going to use a small high school in Northern California. I am encouraged that the athletic director and the the two major coaches are able to be present at this meeting. I ask both coaches to come up and diagram a very tricky play on the board. Then I call in some of their players and ask them to tell us what the plays were. 3 of the 10 get it completely right, but the other 7 make mistakes that could cost their respective teams some points in the long run. Both coaches have a sheepish kind of look and I explain the new technology that I want to employ.

Purpose and Goals for the System

I unveil what looks like a Kindle or an Ipad but it is only used by coaches. Coaches will submit their playbooks to an indepently owned company that will upload all their plays into the kindle. The Kindle can also be plugged into a larger TV so it is more usuable for teams. The plays will show all blocking assignments, motions, and even audible calls. The goal is to cut down on mistakes made by players and allow the coaches to trust their players knowing that they have all the information that they can have.

Product

THis a kindle device that has a teams playbook uploaded into its memory. It also has jacks that can make a regular TV play the information. It is slim and light weight so the coaches do not feel that they are carrying around a rock. We also know that coaches get animated and sometimes throw their teaching tools. That is why we are making these products with the same durable material that the military uses for their phones and laptops. These things are almost industructable. They are also waterproof for obvious reasons.

Features

Colors will be optional
Long Battery Life
WiFi capable

These are just the highpoints of the product for a complete listing of features please see your local reprsentative

Benefits Claimed

The benefits are for your team. The players will be able to say with confidence that they understand all the plays. Mistakes should be cut down by at least 50%. With mistakes cut back we can only see teams learning more and being able to be more competitive inside their respected sports.

Analysis of Performance

Since this is a new product we only have our sample audiences to pull information from. They have given us high remarks as of today and have not reported any "bugs" with the programming. We know that coaches will be worried about confidentiality and that is something we are working out with a lawyer as we speak.

Reccomendations

We recommend that your school purchases this product as soon as you can. COaches and players will need time to learn the program. It is an easy operating system and anyone who can work a computer will be able to learn this product quite quickly.

A True Hero

Brian Wood spent his life thrilling millions of faceless gamers, but his last moment was spent saving the lives of those he loved most.
Wood, a 33 year-old lead designer at popular game developer Relic Entertainment, was on his way back to his Washington home when his wagon was struck by an oncoming Chevy Blazer being driven by a 21 year-old woman believed to be driving under the influence. With his pregnant wife Erin in the passenger seat, Wood swerved his car to put himself directly in the path of the oncoming SUV -- a decision that ultimately cost him his life, but protected his wife and unborn child from harm. Two other passengers riding in the backseat of the Blazer were also killed.
"All the policeman say that if we had hit the car head-on all of us would be dead," Erin Wood told The Province. "At the very last second (Brian) braked really hard and turned right so that he would be put in the path of the SUV and not me and the baby, and that is the only thing that saved us both."
"He was always sacrificing himself for me and the baby," she added.
But while Wood's impossibly brave act left a permanent void in the life of Erin Wood, the same people who Brian strived to please with his work have returned the favor with a striking show of support for his bereaved widow.

A memorial trust was set up within days of the accident. Countless game developers, journalists and fans posted links on Twitter and Facebook, leading to literally thousands of supportive comments, messages and financial donations, prompting Wood to send an open letter to the gaming community to popular game blog Kotaku.
"Brian always told me about how close-knit and wonderful the video game community was, but I had no idea until this tragedy just how special a group it really is," she writes. "From all the articles and comments, to the emails and donations, I am simply stunned and so touched by the love, kindness, and generosity shown to me and my family."
At the time of his death, Brian Wood was working on Company of Heroes Online, a free-to-play version of Relic’s award-winning strategy game. It's currently in open beta-test.
To help Erin, please visit the Brian Wood Memorial Trust .

Does this make sense to you?

Busted Racquet

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Wed Sep 15 06:23am PDT

Clijsters drops two spots in rankings after winning Open

By Chris Chase

Kim Clijsters got some nice parting gifts for winning the U.S. Open: a check for $2.2 million, a nice, shiny trophy, a hug from her daughter and a two-spot drop in the rankings.
Yeah, you read that correctly. After winning the biggest event in the sport, Clijsters slipped from No. 3 to No. 5 in the WTA rankings. Here's how it went down:
Clijsters earned 2,000 rankings points for winning this year's tournament, but it had no net effect on her old ranking because she was defending 2,000 points via her win in '09. No matter what she did in New York, she couldn't earn any more points.
Vera Zvonareva and Venus Williams could though. Both players were bounced in the fourth round of last year's tournament and earned 280 points in the WTA rankings as a result. This year Venus made the semifinals and Vera advanced to the finals, gaining 620 and 1,120 points, respectively. This enabled both players to catapult past Clijsters.
The lesson to be learned here is the same as always: Rankings don't mean a thing

Comparing Newspapers

When you read an American newspaper you usually see what I call popular sports. Baseball, basketball, football dominate the sports page. Every night there seems to be a perfect game, 400 yard passing performance, or a double overtime 3 point shot that wins the game. The assignment we had was to see what is diffrent about sports sections of other countries. I chose a newspaper from India to dissect. The address of the newspaper is http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/sphome/4719148.cms. The first thing i noticed was the dominance of cricket.  I have actually played cricket before and it is nothing like baseball. There are simalarities but the game is truly unique. Through a little more research I learned that cricket is the second highest betted sport in the world. It is right behing soccer. I had no clue that it was this popular and I learned that India was the first country to have a professional cricket league. There were a lot of similarities between our sports pages. Sports has become a world wide event and that means every country has its people in sporting events. They look a lot at golf and tennis and that is because their country men are in the event. Newspapers are responsible for boosting the morale of countries and the India newspaper does this as well as anyone!!!

Trends in Sports

The trend I want to look at has to do with the comparison of religion and sports. I started thinking about this while I was missing church to attend my live draft for fantasy sports. Sports players are made to be Gods in this day and age. Look at the comparisons of some of our sports traditions (new and old) to those of particualr religions. We have things such as the "Hail Mary" pass in football, athletes have "followers" on Twitter and Facebook, and we even dress up in costumes and pain our faces when we attend games which is pretty close to receiving ashes on the head if your Catholic or wearing robes and special garments for certain religious days. Stadiums are now called cathedrals and some universities even recruit athletes by using their religion; Nortre Dame, Texas Christian University, and Brigham Young University to name a few. We as "normal" people look to these people as if they are not moral. I mean i was hoping/praying that i got Chris Johnson in the draft (I didn't). Sitting here thinking about this makes me a little sick to my stomach. I am hoping that i remember this in the future and remember that these re normal people with normal lives who are just fortunate to play a game for a living.

Greatest Game Ever

Devil Ball Golf ShareretweetEmailFri Sep 03 06:48am PDT




What would you do: teen golfer disqualifies self, gives up medal

By Jay Busbee

Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.



Golf is a game of rules both obvious and arcane, and if you're going to play the game, you have to play by its rules. No matter what the cost.



Today, a classic "what would you do?" moment. Zach Nash is a 14-year-old Wisconsin kid who happens to be a fine golfer. So good, in fact, that he won a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament.



Problem was, he won it by violating -- albeit unintentionally -- one of golf's most straightforward rules. He had too many clubs in his bag. And the worst part? It was a total accident, discovered long after the fact.



Specifics: Nash's 77 won the boys' 13-14 division at the Milwaukee County Parks Tour Invitational, knocking off 31 other players. Afterward, Nash went to celebrate with one of his mentors, Chris Wood, head club pro at Rivermoor Golf Club. And that's where the troubles began.



[Related: Tiger Woods takes out giant NYC mortgage]



Wood noticed an extra club in Nash's bag and pointed it out to him. Apparently, a friend of Nash's had left the club at his house, and Nash put it in his bag, not realizing it put him one over the mandatory limit of 14 clubs. Carrying an extra club is a two-stroke penalty per hole, but since Nash didn't account for those extra strokes, he signed what was, in effect, an incorrect scorecard, and thus would be disqualified from the tournament.



And from there, there really wasn't any choice. Nash called the Wisconsin PGA, explained what had happened, and sent back the medal from the tournament. WPGA officials plan to present it to the tournament's runner-up.



Now, it's easy to go and tee off -- pun very much intended -- on golf's drop-the-hammer rules, on Wood for bringing the extra club to Nash's attention, or to Nash himself for failing to count the club. But all that misses the point. This is a story about honesty and doing what's right, even when what's right makes zero logical sense. Sure, Nash could have rationalized away keeping an extra club, but where's the honor in that?



Congrats to Nash for standing up and doing the right thing, no matter what the cost. And hopefully there are much bigger medals waiting for him down the line.

Top Ten Mascots

This was one of my favorite mascots growing up as a child. I mean who can't love a wookie dunking the basketball. He is number 10 on my list.

Coming in at Number 9 is the mascot from Stanford. One of the funniest mascots I have ever seen in person. Can you imagine a giant pine tree running up and down the field.

At number eight is the Mighty Ducks Mascot. Can you say Quack....Quack....Quack..

This mascot comes from the Charlotte Hornets. He makes number 7 on my list because when I used to play NBA JAM as a kid he was my favorite mascot to play with.

Number 6 are well known mascots for the political parties. Any party who picks a donkey has my vote.

Number 5 is from Texas Christian University. He makes the list because this is one mascot I would not want to meet in a dark alley.

Number 4 goes to the Seattle Storm. This is my only all women mascot.

I think the picture says it all!!! Number 3 based on sheer comedic value

Number 2 is a emotional one for me. It was the first mascot I ever saw.

       

  Finally at number 1 is B...R...U...T...U...S!!! The best mascot in the world also belongs to the best team ever!!!

We need more stories like this!!!

Out of tragedy, sportsmanship has a shining moment


By Art Kabelowsky, Journal Sentinel, Inc



Feb. 16, 2009



enlarge photo





Johntell Franklin

Played for his mom .more photos

. Johntell Franklin

Played for his mom Close Related Coverage

More: Womack's letter to the Daily Chronicle

DeKalb Daily Chronicle: Barbs learn from two losses

Womack's letter, as it appeared on daily-chronicle.com

At first, Johntell Franklin just wanted to watch his friends play basketball.



"I wanted to go and support my team," said Franklin, an 18-year-old senior at Milwaukee Madison High School. "I'm a captain. I set an example."



As it turned out, Franklin wound up teaching everyone in the Madison gymnasium a lesson - about friendship, about the value of sports, about themselves.



A somber cloud hung over the Knights as they played DeKalb, Ill., High School on Saturday, Feb. 7. News spread quickly that Franklin's mother, Carlitha, had died earlier that day after a five-year battle with cervical cancer. She was 39.



Madison coach Aaron Womack Jr. was in Madison's laundry room, washing the Knights' uniforms from the previous night's game, when he got the news.



"I didn't have my cell phone with me back there, so by the time I heard, the junior varsity game had already started," Womack said. "I headed straight to the hospital. Johntell, understandably, he was despondent."



Carlitha Franklin had been in remission recently. But Womack said she had begun to hemorrhage on Saturday morning - while Johntell was at Wauwatosa East High School, taking his college entrance ACT exam. By late Saturday afternoon, the decision had been made to turn off the life-support system.



At the hospital, Womack asked Franklin if he should call off that evening's game. "He said, 'No, tell the guys to go out and do their best,' " the coach said. "I told him we would, and I went back to school."



So Womack gasped with surprise when he saw Franklin walk into the gym early during the second quarter.



"A few seconds after I spotted Johntell, all the people in the stands did, too. They surrounded him. The players, his friends in the stands, the cheerleaders," Womack said.



"They were showing me that they were supporting me, comforting me," Franklin said. "Yeah, on a hard day, that's a nice feeling to have."



Then came another surprise: Franklin didn't just want to watch. He wanted to play.



"I'm a competitor. I can't just sit there and watch," he said.



Womack sent Franklin, a 6-foot-2 forward, to suit up. He returned to the cheers of the crowd - including the coaches and players from DeKalb, whose amazing display of fellowship and sportsmanship had just begun.



"I was late getting back from the hospital, and they could have called us on that," Womack said. "But they were great about it."



"We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events," said DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman. "We even told Coach Womack that it'd be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2 1/2 hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, 'Spend some time with your team and come out when you're ready.' "



Since some of Franklin's teammates had joined him at the hospital, Womack entered only eight names into Madison's official scorebook. The game began almost two hours behind schedule.



But Franklin's desire to play created another problem: The referees were required to call a technical foul against Womack for failing to list Franklin in the scorebook.



"I told the referees I knew there would be a technical," Womack said. "I put Johntell in after DeKalb called a timeout (midway through the second quarter), and the next thing I heard was DeKalb's coaches complaining that they didn't want a technical."



"We argued, but the referees said those were the rules, even if there were extenuating circumstances," Rohlman said.



The discussion lasted more than seven minutes. Eventually, Rohlman devised a solution: His team had to shoot two technical free throws  . . . but didn't have to make them.



"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?' Darius McNeal (a 5-11 senior point guard) put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."



During technical free throws, no other players are allowed around the free-throw lane. So Womack gathered Madison's players around his bench, on the other end of the court, and was trying to reel in their emotions when he saw something odd out of the corner of his eye:



Instead of swishing through the basket, the ball rolled slowly across the end line.



"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said, "and then he did the same thing again."



"Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him," Rohlman said. "It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."



"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal said. "It was the right thing to do."



After the second shot, everyone in the gym - including all the Madison players - stood and applauded the gesture of sportsmanship.



"Any one of my teammates would have done the same thing, and I think anyone on the Madison team would have done the same for us," McNeal said.



Madison broke open a close game after the timeout and went on to win, 62-47. Franklin finished with 10 points, matching his season average.



"Just being in the game was a good feeling," Franklin said. "I knew my Mom would have wanted me to play. She was always proud of me playing basketball."

My Top Ten Sports Movies

10. Rudy
09. Remember The Titans
08. The Longest Yard ( original)
07. Hoop Dreams
06. A League of Their Own (theres no crying in baseball)
05. The Natural
04. Seabiscuit
03. Rocky
02. A Shot at Glory
01. Hoosiers

Please watch this video!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ5YiQqrZCk

Sports Quotes

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.


-Joe Paterno

 
The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost.


-George Shultz


Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high expectations for myself.


-Shannon Miller

Sports Entrepreneurs: The New Renaissance Man

Athletics and sports have been my sole passion ever since I was told that i could not participate in them. I was born premature with a lot of problems. The worst being that my feet are actually missing tendons that are quite important to the function of the foot. When I was six years old the doctor told me that I should give up playing Little League Baseball because that pain and agony would be to great. Do you think that happened? The answer is a most defiant "NO WAY". From that point on I dedicated myself to sports and athletics. I was the only person in my high school to have a varsity letter in six sports. I played football (won state championship), basketball (lost in the state championship), Baseball (won state championship), soccer, wrestling, and track. I also was apart of the golf club and to this day can still play a very good round of golf. Coming out of high school with a resume like that I knew I was destined for a career in the sports industry. I attended the University of Indiana to pursue my dream of a degree in Sports Management because I could not find a school in California that offered the program. I spent one year at Indiana before transferring to Dakota Wesleyan University in South Dakota. I transferred after a very out of the blue call from the head football coach at DWU. Even though I had not played football for over a year and a half he wanted to offer me a scholarship to play football. I jumped at the chance and immediately saw time as a spot starter. While attending DWU I was the Intramural Director for the university and was in charge of all intramural sports and activities for two years. I also dabbled my hand at the coaching ranks when I coached 4th,5th, and sixth grade girls and boys basketball. I would say thins was one of my most difficult tasks i have ever attempted in my short life. After I graduated with degrees in Sports Management, Business Administrationa and Multimedia I began what i like to call the real world. I was offered a position as the Special Olympics Coordinator for a facility in South Dakota and I jumped at the chance to work with people with both pysical and mental disabilities. I truly have learned more from these people then I could have ever possibly learned doing anything else. The main reason I want to be a sports entrepreneur is that sports and athletics have lead me through my life. I have ideas for a company that does fundraising for groups such as the Special Olympics and I also have an idea for a Fantasy Sports company. I say i am an entrepreneur because I have not chosen what I am going to do yet. Ideally, I would combine them all into one company, but that is a long way off at the moment. I will be one step closer when I achive my Masters in Sports Management. I know that with this degree I can really earn my title of Sports Entrepreneur: The New Renaissance Man!!!