I promised this video today so I had to edit it last night, I was up till 4 in the morning so I could upload it before I had to go someplace today. The editing though I tried to make it as epic as possible, wasn't exactly easy. There's probably a few mess ups in the editing that I missed due to editing it half asleep. As for the effects, I wanted to make a new intro but I just didn't have the time nor any good songs so I just stuck with the gym battle intro and made it all fancy and epic. Bertha will be coming on August 1st. Aaron is the first of the Elite Four who uses bug types. His team has tons of 4X weaknesses so it is best you use them to your advantage. His team is the weakest but if you don't finish his pokemon off quickly, they can quickly become irritating particularly Yanmega and Vespiquen. As I say in the video, if you struggle with this battle, your in for a long road, I recommend you save before entering the Elite Four and then if you think it might be too much, just turn your game off and do some training (part 100). Fire, Flying, and Rock types all are very strong here and should be your primary types for attacking. Drapion is the oddball of his team as it is his strongest but his only non bug pokemon. Use Ground moves on it but watch out for Ice Fang should your pokemon be ground type or the even higher chance your carrying torterra which is 4x weak to Ice. Overall, should your pokemon be near my teams levels, this should not be an overly difficult ...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Great Teams Make Great Organizations
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Every successful business person knows that great organizations start with great teams, but in order for a team to become great there must be a clearly defined set of decision-making protocols where team members understand what they are accountable for and then own the results.
The most important element of a great team is candor. In other words the team leaders must walk their own talk. They do this by listening to critiques of their own performance and acting on them, by not cutting off people who disagree with them, and by not puling rank when it's time to make a decision.
High performance leaders make sure that everyone on the team not only wants to contribute to the success of the organization but can contribute. Great team leaders have an action plan to close skill gaps through formal skill-development workshops; they are continuously searching for opportunities to apply the skills of each team member, and they offer individual coaching as needed.
One of the most important tasks of a team leader is to make sure that his or her team functions at a high level. It is up to him or her to see that the team always remains on track. "On track" means that everyone is clear about and committed to the business strategy and operational goals that flow from it; and that every team member understands his or her role and responsibilities; and most important the team leader must be able to make tough decisions.
Good team leaders are always asking important question, such as, "Are the members of my team playing for real, or are they just going through the motions?" "What's the best way for me to hold up a mirror to members of my team to accurately reflect their behavior?" "How do we change?"
One of the characteristic of all great business teams is that they continually raise the performance bar, but good team leaders know how to motivate by example rather than fear. They leverage power, not monopolize it to drive up their team's performance. To do this, team leaders put power and authority in the hands of the team to deliver maximum performance.
One of the hallmarks of great business teams is the willingness of team member to assume accountability for the success of their colleagues. This can take many forms, from tough questioning to providing resources to coaching.
While the team leader is ultimately responsible for making the call on the coachability of his or her players, every team member has an obligation to motivate him or herself by asking, "Am I up to the task of continually reinventing myself to meet ever-more demanding performance standards?'
Most people naturally resist change; therefore team members can be resistant for a number of reasons. Some will not see what's in for them; others will disagree on the need for change; still others will be distrustful and suspect a hidden agenda.
The challenge is to part the curtain to see what is behind the resistance to change. Intention is critical here. Is a team member's intention to change stronger than the lure of remaining comfortable with past ways of operating? If a team member is unwilling to change, there is often little that can be done, other than the parting of ways
When a team is clearly committed to a common direction, when it focuses on the vision of the organization, when it is clear about its roles and responsibilities, when the relationships between team members are open, then it is making the organization great.
Copyright©2008 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Best Play In Youth Football
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The answer may surprise you. Many youth football teams attempt to emulate what the coach has seen on TV the past week or what the head coach ran as a high school player 20 years ago. Unfortunately what works at the College or Pro level on TV often doesn't work very well at the youth level. The coach's high school system may have worked well for his team 20-30 years ago with 6 days a week practices and fleet running backs, but fails miserably at the youth level.
At the youth level our job as coaches is to teach the kids how to block and tackle safely and effectively. We teach them how to get into good athletic stances as well as the base rules and strategies. Our most important job should be to make football fun for the player and coach our teams up to their full potential.
However, you can have fun and win at the same time. In fact most players that play on perennial losing teams lose their love of the game and quit. That is one reason I developed these coaching materials for my own 400 kid organization, so that our coaches would be competent enough to coach the kids to their God given potential. To allow our teams to play competitively so the kids would stay engaged in our program. In fact my materials are filled with how to make practices both well organized and fun.
Most of the plays or schemes the typical youth coach has in his playbook are not designed to the talent level of most youth teams. I see teams with no speed often trying to run sweeps, I see teams with kids that can't throw or catch throwing (trying to throw) 20 yard passes. I see teams running bootlegs with very slow quarterbacks. I see teams running a dive play with no lead blocker into the heart of youth defenses. I see teams trying reverses against well disciplined teams for huge losses. I see pass patterns with 3-4 and even 5 receivers. I see teams trying to get a 9 year old to read two different defenders on option plays etc etc etc.
I rarely see: good lead off-tackle plays, one or two receiver pass patterns, optional run and pass plays, trap plays, pulling, double teams, wedge blocking, designed plays to draw the defense off-sides, unbalanced formations, motion, and great sportsmanship.
In youth football each year is different; you will not always have a big team or have a very fast "feature back" that can outrun everyone on a sweep play. Unlike the colleges or pros, you don't have 100s of kids from all across the country to choose from or 20-40 hours a week practice time. In my mind the team that wins because they just happen to have the fastest kid in the league and he outruns everyone on sweeps and kick returns is a joke, a luck of the draw thing. Football is a team game and a well coached team won't give up sweeps for touchdowns or ever kick deep ti that speedster. My first team defense has not given up a sweep for a score in over 5 years.
I've coached youth football for about 15 years and one play that we have always been able to run effectively regardless of the size or talent of the team I've had is the lead
off-tackle power. It can be run by out of nearly any formation, I love it out of the Single Wing with 4 lead blockers and a double team block at the point of attack. While it isn't a terribly sexy play, it gets you 4-5 yards every down in most cases and sets up "home run" complementary plays like the trap, play action pass or wing reverse. Most youth teams are set up to stop the sweep, the "holy grail" play for most youth teams. Other defenses try to shut down the "dive" in the gaps next to the center. Very few youth football defenses are set up to stop even an average off-tackle play.
If the other team gives you the off-tackle, take it until they over-commit, then run the home run play. In our Championship game in 2003 the other team was so concerned about taking away our inside "wedge" play, they left open the off-tackle. We started the game with 7 straight tailback off-tackle plays to our strong side and scored. The very next series they moved out to our off-tackle hole and we ran wedge for a 65 yard score on first down. Then they tried to stop the wedge play and moved everyone up and we ran the wedge play action pass for a 60 yard score. We were up 46-0 in the third quarter when they finally just gave up and tried to run the clock. Both the wedge and off tackle plays can be run well by very average skilled kids.
In another game the defensive team was set up to stop the sweep and wedge plays but again were giving us the off-tackle play. We run no-huddle so we get many more snaps in than most youth teams. In that game we had 71 snaps, of which 51 were off-tackle strong plays. We were getting our 4-5 yards every time, nothing real big, but we did get some very big gains and touchdowns from blocking back traps, wing reverses (2 TDs) and TB run pass option (pass for TD). So we scored 5 touchdowns and out of the 5 TD's, 4 were in excess of 20 yards. We were only stopped on downs once and we fumbled once too. We were 2-2 passing for 56 yards and a TD. Now how much fun was that for our 3 tailbacks that shared duty at the tailback position that day and for our pulling guards? They all had a blast, so did our place kickers, and the 4 other kids that had TDs playing non-tailback positions. Oh yeah, our defense had fun too, they could play with abandon since we were moving the ball at will on offense.
The net is, the off-tackle play at the youth level is the hardest play to stop, yet few teams try and perfect it. It takes little talent to run the play, no studs required. In my Single Wing Offense, we practice that play more than any other. We block it a variety of ways so we know it will work and we will run it, regardless of what kind of defense we face. Our kids can run the off-tackle in their sleep, we often start our practices with the "Power Hour" as Steve Calande calls it. We run our off-tackle strong power for 30-40 minutes on air, fit and freeze and then with players holding hand shields going 100%. Ye,s just one play often makes up half of our offensive practice time.
If your team is doing poorly, you don't need a trick play or new offense (what most coaches panic and do) you need to get perfect at running the off-tackle lead power play.
We know we are playing a good team when they come out and try and establish the
off-tackle play. Of all the videos I've seen from youth teams from all over the country, regardless of the offensive set or personnel, the best teams always have a good off-tackle play. It isn't sexy but it does the trick and it sets up everything else in your offense.
Don't worry about putting in a bunch of fancy "trick" plays before you get your off-tackle play down perfectly.
150 free youth football coaching tips for you here: Youth Football
Monday, April 26, 2010
2009 PWA Colgate World Cup Sylt - Day 8
Day 8 Wave Action from the 2009 PWA Grand Slam in Sylt, Germany
Sunday, April 25, 2010
2010 Soccer World Cup South Africa
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South Africa has been given the opportunity to host the world's greatest event in 2010. Since, South Africa is a country in Africa, many people are skeptic about the prospects of a SA Soccer World Cup. However, South Africa is in MANY respects a developed country with a modern infrastructure and economy. Many areas in SA will match the average American neighborhood. The average South African is far better off than the average African, but the wealth inequality is huge - especially between rich and poor - black and white - although, after apartheid, more than two million black people entered the middle class. It's good to see that so many black people (although it's only a small portion of the black population) take now part in the economy. It's important for the stability of the country. The upcoming black middle class is one of the main reasons why SA has it's longest run of economic growth in its history in 2006.
Most people's main concern is the safety and security situation in South Africa. As a resident of the beautiful city of Cape Town, I can assure you that the tourist areas are really safe to visit. Yes, crime against tourists have been reported like anywhere else in the world. Just take common sense precautions and you'll be fine. South Africa is a magnificent and diverse country and the scenery absolutely prolific. It's the closet you'll get to paradise! Visit South Africa in 2010 - you'll be surprised how developed, friendly, diverse and beautiful this country really is!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
La League - 06 donne moi ton numéro
Video of the 2005 french african summer hit featuring LA LEAGUE directed by Charlie LUCCINI
Friday, April 23, 2010
1998 FIFA World Cup All Goals in 1 Hour Part 3/6
Do you still remember all these fantastic goals and all these shining names? The scorers in this part: Group D: 57. Ikpeba of Nigeria 58. Hierro of Spain (Penalty) 59. Luis Enrique of Spain 60. Morientes of Spain 61. Kostadinov of Bulgaria 62. Morientes of Spain 63. Kiko of Spain 64. Kiko of Spain 65. Ayala of Paraguay 66. Oruma of Nigeria 67. Benítez of Paraguay 68. Cardozo of Paraguay Group E: 69. Ha Seok-Ju of Korea Republic 70. Peláez of Mexico 71. Hernández of Mexico 72. Hernández of Mexico 73. Wilmots of Belgium 74. Wilmots of Belgium 75. García Aspe of Mexico (Penalty) 76. Blanco of Mexico 77. Cocu of Netherland 78. Overmars of Netherland 79. Bergkamp of Netherland 80. Van Hooijdonk of Netherland 81. R. de Boer of Netherland 82. Nilis of Belgium 83. Yoo Sang-Chul of Korea Republic 84. Cocu of Netherland 85. R. de Boer of Netherland 86. Peláez of Mexico 87. Hernández of Mexico Group F: 88. Mihajlović of Yugoslavia 89. Möller of Germany 90. Klinsmann of Germany
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Soccer Training Drills, The Key is in Touches Per Session
Soccer training drills are the single most important part of improving your teams ability. To be more specific repetition contained in the drills carried out in a specific session help player overall confidence on the ball.
Although fairly common sense not all soccer coaches get the message. Take, for instance, a child's development in any area. How do they improve any aspect of their motor skills?
The answer is simply by continually repeating the process of a certain movement over a period of time. Learning to play soccer is no different. Young players learn and develop their skills by repeatedly carrying out specific drills that enforce the learning of that skill. Only by doing this will a coach see an improvement in his players.
So how do we accelerate the learning process and allow player to develop their soccer skills at an earlier age?
The secret to this is to accelerate the training sessions by including soccer practice drills that involve more kicks per drill. Ok so more touches on the ball per drill = more touches on the ball per session which in turn means accelerated training sessions
To ensure that your players can accelerate their development there are five steps that you can take to help young players on their way.
1. Carry out Warm Up Drills using the ball at all times. This will introduce the ball early into sessions and allow players to get a feel for the ball going into the main session.
2. Be Prepared. - The preparation of a training session can make or break the whole soccer practice. Get the training ground early and set up for your drills before the player arrive. This reduces wasted time and allows more time for on the ball training.
3. Choose Drills Carefully - Accentuate the Skill Factor. Choose drills that concentrate on individual skills. Make sure there is a ball for each player concentrating on the skills you want them to practice and repeat, repeat and repeat again.
4. Play In the Box - Use tighter areas for drill which encourage closer control. By keeping the box smaller this is proven to increase the number of touches on the ball and develop speed of touch.
5. Keep it Short - Reduce the number of players per drill to max 1 v 1 for starters. As confidence and ability improves you can add more players but keeping it to minimum ensures that everyone is involved and again there are more touches on the ball.
So there we have five easy steps to improve your player skill and accelerate their soccer development. More touches per session have been proven to dramatically increase a players' ability. Some well prepared coaches have experienced 5 times more touches per player per session compared with traditional training methods.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Soccer Jocks - Soccer Jocks of Professional Soccer
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Soccer jocks are a common term associated to professional players who belong to the elite clubs of the sport. The word jock refers to male athletes who are considered as stars or very popular. The term is a stereotype most often distinguished with the following characteristics of a player:
A player who is in relationship with a beautiful and prominent woman.
A player who possess a muscular body.
A very popular figure in his chosen field of sport.
Admired and adored by many girls.
Among the best player in the team.
A player who have the most number of fans.
In the sport soccer, there are some of the professional players who belong to the class of soccer jocks. David Beckham is one of these players who managed to succeed in his career as an athlete. Beckham is from England and had played for the Manchester United who is considered as an outstanding player and have proven his exemplary skills. He is considered an icon in the sport which made him very rich and famous.
Another one is Rafael Marquez from the Mexican national team who has started his career at the age of 17. He was able to impress many of his colleagues with his talent. When he joined FC Barcelona, he was able to contribute to the numerous success of the team.
These jocks of the sports will always be idolized by many of the soccer fans in the world. They also serve as an inspirational to aspiring players of the favorite game on earth.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wellington Phoenix v Gold Coast United 25- October - 2009
Wellington Phoenix v Gold Coast United 25- October - 2009 www.a-league.com.au Phoenix blitz GCU The Wellington Phoenix broke its run of draws in emphatic fashion with a 6-0 thrashing of Gold Coast United in its Hyundai A-League clash at Westpac Stadium. After weeks of missed chances, which resulted in it earning the record for consecutive draws with six, the Phoenix finally found its goal-scoring boots with Daniel grabbing a brace and Tim Brown, Chris Greenacre, Paul Ifill and Troy Hearfield also on target. Ifill had a hand in three goals before rounding off an excellent performance with the fifth just before the hour mark. But in reality the home side could have had more with Ben Sigmund having a first-half effort come back of the crossbar and Ifill unlucky not to open the scoring inside the first two minutes. Instead after dominating the first half, it had to settle for a 1-0 half-time lead. But unlike in previous weeks when the Phoenix has failed to hold onto its advantage it put Gold Coast to the sword. Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert was understandably delighted at the turn around. "I'm chuffed. To me that's got to be one of the best performances in the A-League since it started against a team that have been very good this year," he said. "I was really please with just how clinical we were really. All round the pitch we were tight and tidy and we took the opportunities extremely well. People shifted the ball effectively and it was a real 90 minute performance." Both ...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sharkwater Part 6 of 9
The feature film for Sharkwater - internationally award winning documentary by Rob Stewart For Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a dangerous journey into the balance of life on earth. Driven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas. Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the worlds shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure begins with a battle between the Sea Shepherd boat and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives. Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey. Each year 100 million sharks are caught to meet the demand for shark fin soup in Asia. Despite surviving the earths history of mass extinctions, sharks could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed. Destruction of shark ...
Saturday, April 17, 2010
HIGH 15 - MATCH32 - IPL 2010 - CSK v RR
HIGH 15 from MATCH32 of IPL 2010 between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals played on Apr-03-2010 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Friday, April 16, 2010
T20 World Cup Cricket
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What will the status of the winners be when they emerge victorious from the tournament this month? It might sound an odd question, but think about how absurd it would be in any other sport. Imagine that six months after the FIFA World Cup, another tournament, also called the World Cup, was played with pretty much the same teams fielding pretty much the same players in a pretty similar tournament format with pretty similar viewing figures (both at the grounds and on the telly), but with 45-minute matches rather than the full 90.
I'm not questioning the existence of T20, because I love cricket, and I understand that this ultra-intense, short format of the game means people can watch a whole game in an evening after work; it gives the game more appeal, more coverage, more peak-time advertising opportunity and hence, more money. It's also a great spectacle.
I just think its going to be weird when there are two world champions of cricket.
Test cricket is, of course, an altogether different kettle of fish; tactics and gameplay are wholly different from the one day game. The length of time matches take, and the massive possibility of draws, means that a ranking system is the only way to produce a 'world number one team', whereas 50 overs-a-side lends itself to definite results in the finite time of a tournament. 20-20 is very much like 50-50 in its style and ethos: score as many runs as you can as quickly as you can; restrict as many runs as stingily as you can. It, too, can be played in a tournament, which is why we have this second 'World Cup'.
The winners will, therefore, claim to be world champions of cricket, and the best in the shortened version of the game. But the Australia team that lifted the World Cup in the West Indies a few months ago already claim that title. And 'Twenty20 world champions' doesn't really mean anything, at least yet: so few T20s are played internationally (England have played the most in history with a grand total of 6; India have played just 2) that no-one will really care. Also, the games are so short that a second-rate international team could conceivably lift the trophy. The flaws in a Zimbabwe side could perhaps be papered over for three hours at a time that would undoubtedly cause a collapse over a whole day or more. What if a 'minnow' wins the whole thing? They are played so infrequently by the test-playing nations that the 'world champion' label will be redundant until they play the tournament again.
One solution would be to have an annual or biennial T20 tournament, outside of which international T20 is not played. Then it would be clear that T20, while popular and important, is not of the same caliber and class as the official cricket world cup, in the same way that the Six Nations is keenly contested every year, but with the winning side not making any pretensions to overall global superiority. Maybe the difficulties will disappear as T20 establishes its niche. But the simplest solution this time round, to avoid any argument or confusion, would be if Australia won the danged thing. Doubtless they will oblige.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Lionel Messi Dribbles and Skills
Please Comment and Rate. Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for La Liga team Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Messi is considered to be one of the best football players of his generation, having received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to football legend Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "successor". Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 200405 season, he broke the La Liga record for the youngest footballer to play a league game, and also the youngest to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and UEFA Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in 200607: he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Perhaps his most successful season was the 200809 season, in which Messi scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble winning campaign. Messi was the top scorer with six goals, including two in the final game of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Shortly thereafter, he became ...
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
New Mexico Lobos soccer amateur Elizabeth Lambert plays asperous with BYU Going Viral ESPN
Some female footy player from new mexico called Elizabeth Lambert plays football the proper way
Monday, April 12, 2010
Soccer Nets
Soccer goal nets are an essential equipment of a football game. The whole field is never finished when it no goal net the ball the way through the pass every time to prevent an athlete who makes a score. The football field needs a network port otherwise the obvious things illogical and unusual. The absence of the network makes the rectangular frame of the goal, an empty space. The Tor network is simply the contact form a fascinating sport game. It can be simplebut it plays a vital role in every match.
Goal nets affect in one way or another performance of the players on the field. Preventing the ball from going beyond the football field makes the athletes feel and bring out the intensity each time they attempt to kick it to the goal. We have gotten used to goals that have nets. It's just so inappropriate not to place it where it should be.
When it comes to football nets, one has to take note of two suggestions. Following these important tips will give you assurance that you can purchase the best soccer goal nets and get the best value for your money. The very first thing to remember is to survey or inspect the location of the goal. The places where you can place the soccer nets include the backyard, the school grounds, and the football field.
Another important reminder is that you must know the appropriate materials that make the soccer equipment durable. Making sure that the network is a long time step is a rewarding and satisfying.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
ARGENTINA - West Germany World Cup 1986 FINAL
Por Horacio Trujillo ... Final de la Copa del Mundo 1986 29 de junio de 1986, Ciudad de Mexico, Estadio Azteca Asistencia: 114.600 umpire Espectador: Romuald Arppi Filho (Brazil), Brown 23 '(Argentina) Valdano 55' (Argentina) Rummenigge 74 '(Alemania Government Federal) wanted 80 '(Alemania Federal) Burruchaga 83' (Argentina) Music: Valeria Lynch, "Me cada dia mas, the" All about world cups: fr.youtube.com
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Bunt Young, Bunt often in Little League
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Bunting is a very big part of baseball. And when a bunt down the right path is, it is very difficult to defend. Bunting have always been great and I feel that at a young age can be taught. There are basically two types of color: the square bunt and the pivot bunt. My preference is the pivot bunt, because the players simply do not have to pivot on their feet and raise it up. Once in a playoff game I had a player to wear a colored square, and placed a perfect bunt, and Beat Itout ... We all thought. The only problem was when he lifted his leg and put it in a different location was right on the plate of the house and he was crying. The best way to teach Bunting for the first time is covered with a soft ball or a ball of rags, which is described in the practice 59 minutes Baseball Practice Video. With the cloth or soft balls drop the ball, there is very little risk of injury, and players can actually camp with each other. Once you seem certain that the bus canPitch a hard ball to his team.
There are many strategies that Bunting can be used in a game. My favorite is passed less than two and a runner at third. In this situation, you can bounce the batter into the third baseman as a runner at home plate colorful. When the third baseman the ball first baseman, has published the third player to move home runs and needs. If it's a good bunt and the runner breaks for home plate as it should, this is almost unstoppable. Remember that the youth baseballPlayers can practice in Bunting very young age. Your high school coaches to teach proper technique. Also, make sure that your best opportunity to obtain a colored swing.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Houston Rockets Tracy McGrady 22 beeline win vs Kobe 2008
Tracy McGrady had carried the 16th in March 2008, the Houston Rockets through their winning streak after Yao Ming went with a foot injury. Last Sunday was the turn of all the others to help him. Rafer Alston scored 31 points and hit eight 3-pointers, both career high of success, and missiles, the Los Angeles Lakers 104-92 to bare their 22 pieces and claim sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers and smothered McGrady on defense, helpingHold the Houston star to 11 points on 4-for-shot 16th The rest of the Rockets made up for it. Shane Battier scored 14 points and Bryant shadow most of the game, backup point guard Bobby Jackson added 19 points and Luis Scola had 13 points and 11 rebounds. "There was a time when we wavered from successful team basketball,''Battier said." Different guys hit shots and we close the reins on defense.''The Rockets have won 26 of his last 27 games and 31 of their last 34 You have wonFor 15 in Toyota Center, 10 straight since Yao went double figures with a broken foot and 11 of its last 13 games. Houston is not, since a 97-89 loss to Utah on Jan. 27 was defeated. "Said Let's Keep It Going,''McGrady." It 'was a good test for us. We went out and shop.''Critical Care continuous strip of Houston dismissed as flukes, said a number of teams the Rockets have played badly. McGrady hopes this win to silence some skeptics, though the Lakers were...
World Cup Unforgettables - India v Australia 1992
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The world cup of 1992 was one of the most memorable ever. It was the first world cup to be played under artificial lights, colored clothing and the white ball. However this was also a world cup marred by a stupid rain rule. In an effort to make the calculation of the target simpler, in case of the match being shortened due to rain interruptions, the organizers really botched it up with the most ridiculous rule ever. The absurdity of this rule was not realized until after the matches began and the rules actually implemented. We are featuring one such match now. It was also the first and only World Cup where the teams were not split into group and hence was conducted in a round robin fashion.
India came into the world cup on the back of an abysmal tour of Australia. They had lost the test series 4-0 and were comprehensively beaten in the final of a triangular tournament by the host, with West Indies being the other team. The world cup was being conducted at the fag end of that tour and the Indian team seemed to be devoid of motivation. Before meeting the Australians, India had already lost to England and their match against Sri Lanka was rained out.
Australia on the other hand came into the world cup as the firm favorites to lift the tournament in their own backyard. However they started poorly and came into the match against India having lost both their opening matches to New Zealand and South Africa.
Allan Border won the toss and elected to bat. They started really badly. They were at 2 for 38 at one stage when Dean Jones joined David Boon and began the recovery. The two took the score to 102 with some breath taking running between the wickets. After Boon fell for 43, Jones continued to take the Australian cause forward with partnerships first with Steve Waugh and then with Tom Moody. However the Australian innings fell apart after the dismissal of Jones, setting India a target of 238 runs.
To say that the Indian chase started off disastrously would be an understatement. Srikkanth got out for a duck when the team total was only six. The way Ravi Shastri batted then defied logic. When he got out he had taken up 75 balls for his 25 runs and the Indian total at that time was a paltry 58 with almost half the overs already gone. Tendulkar came next and was dismissed for 11 trying to up the tempo. Kapil Dev came in next and scored a rapid fire 21 off 26 balls thereby providing some much needed impetus to the innings. When he left India still was in a precarious position of 4 for128.
Then came the superb partnership between Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar. The two took the score to 194 before Azharuddin departed for a well made 93. The partnership was broken in the only way it seemed possible, through a run out. Then the rain started playing its part in the match. 3 overs were reduced from the Indian innings while only 2 runs were reduced from the target. After the rain interval India kept losing wickets while inching towards the target.
Off the last ball India needed 4 runs to win with 1 wicket in hand. Javagal Srinath was facing the bowler with Venkatapathy Raju at the other end. To this day I remember vividly the commentary of that last ball by Bill Lawry while watching it on TV. Tom Moody bowls the last delivery. Srinath takes an almighty swing at the ball and hits it high towards long on. Bill Lawry screams "It"s a SIX!!!". I start jumping up and down like crazy (I was 14 at the time). But I froze suddenly as both myself and Lawry realize that it"s not going for six but infact going into the hands of Steve Waugh. Incredibly Waugh drops the catch. Elation again!!! Waugh recovers quickly and throws the ball to the wicket keeper"s end. Raju sets off for the 3rd run which would make the match a tie. Lawry momentarily forgets that he is an Australian and yells "RUN!!! RUN!!! RUN!!!" The throw is wide and everyone including myself is praying that Raju does a superman. But the keeper recovers quickly enough to run him out and I was left with the biggest heartbreak of my life. That was the first and only time I had tears in my eyes after watching a cricket match. Just couldn"t believe what I had just witnessed!!!
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Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
T20 World Cup Cricket
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What will the status of the winners be when they emerge victorious from the tournament this month? It might sound an odd question, but think about how absurd it would be in any other sport. Imagine that six months after the FIFA World Cup, another tournament, also called the World Cup, was played with pretty much the same teams fielding pretty much the same players in a pretty similar tournament format with pretty similar viewing figures (both at the grounds and on the telly), but with 45-minute matches rather than the full 90.
I'm not questioning the existence of T20, because I love cricket, and I understand that this ultra-intense, short format of the game means people can watch a whole game in an evening after work; it gives the game more appeal, more coverage, more peak-time advertising opportunity and hence, more money. It's also a great spectacle.
I just think its going to be weird when there are two world champions of cricket.
Test cricket is, of course, an altogether different kettle of fish; tactics and gameplay are wholly different from the one day game. The length of time matches take, and the massive possibility of draws, means that a ranking system is the only way to produce a 'world number one team', whereas 50 overs-a-side lends itself to definite results in the finite time of a tournament. 20-20 is very much like 50-50 in its style and ethos: score as many runs as you can as quickly as you can; restrict as many runs as stingily as you can. It, too, can be played in a tournament, which is why we have this second 'World Cup'.
The winners will, therefore, claim to be world champions of cricket, and the best in the shortened version of the game. But the Australia team that lifted the World Cup in the West Indies a few months ago already claim that title. And 'Twenty20 world champions' doesn't really mean anything, at least yet: so few T20s are played internationally (England have played the most in history with a grand total of 6; India have played just 2) that no-one will really care. Also, the games are so short that a second-rate international team could conceivably lift the trophy. The flaws in a Zimbabwe side could perhaps be papered over for three hours at a time that would undoubtedly cause a collapse over a whole day or more. What if a 'minnow' wins the whole thing? They are played so infrequently by the test-playing nations that the 'world champion' label will be redundant until they play the tournament again.
One solution would be to have an annual or biennial T20 tournament, outside of which international T20 is not played. Then it would be clear that T20, while popular and important, is not of the same caliber and class as the official cricket world cup, in the same way that the Six Nations is keenly contested every year, but with the winning side not making any pretensions to overall global superiority. Maybe the difficulties will disappear as T20 establishes its niche. But the simplest solution this time round, to avoid any argument or confusion, would be if Australia won the danged thing. Doubtless they will oblige.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Flash Batman Movie A Mirror Darkly Part 3
The Flash,Batman and Robin are going on a mission to stop the Mirror Master...
Monday, April 5, 2010
Vaccine False Alarms - Harriet Hall TAM7 Excerpt
Video is an excerpt from the Anti-Anti-Vax Discussion Panel at The Amaz!ng Meeting 7. more information at www.amazingmeeting.com. DVD of the entire conference is available at www.randi.org Title: Vaccine False Alarms: Dr Harriet Hall discuss the 2 people primarily responsible for the Anti Vaccination movement and how they came to their out right incorrect conclusions. Speaker Bio: Harriet Hall, MD, aka The skepdoc, is a retired family physician and flight surgeon for the Air Force. She did everything from delivering babies to performing minor surgery at Air Force bases in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Plattsburgh, New York. She headed disaster response teams, went on search and rescue and helicopter med-evac missions, was responsible for occupational and environmental medicine and public health on base. Video work by: Richard Montalvo rmontalvo23@gmail.com
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Arizona Fall League - Baseball's Premier Winter League
Image : http://www.flickr.com
What is the Arizona Fall League
Often discussed on various call-in shows, newspapers and now blogs, the Arizona Fall League (AFL for short) is a league for most of baseball's top prospects. The season begins in October and usually lasts a little over a month. However, this month is considered one of the most important times of a players season.
If a player had a good season but a bad AFL year than he will end up having a so-so year in scouts and managements eyes. Conversely the league can also serve as retribution for a poor regular season.
While the league is open to any signed professional baseball player, rosters are usually stocked with players from the lower levels of the minor league baseball system.
Minor League baseball is divided into the following levels, with each being of greater importance. Some players may begin in instructional league. The next level is rookie league. If a player advances past that then the next step is two A levels, one low A and the other high A. After that we have AA and then AAA before a player can reach the majors. The Arizona Fall League consists of players mostly from the high A and AA level. Additional players will come from AAA and a select few from the low A level.
With that said, why do many baseball fans look forward to a bunch of minor league players getting together to play in Arizona every October? The AFL is seen as a testing ground, as only the best of the best are invited. Some of the past alumni certainly confirm this view. Four time MVP Albert Pujols, one time MVP Justin Morneau and other superstars such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Braun and Ryan Howard are just a few high level players to have gone through an AFL season.
Could the 2008 seasons group of AFL players could be one of the strongest yet? How many all-stars and future MVP candidates will emerge? Only time will tell that tale. All a fan can do now is sit back and keep an eye on the individual players results from the 2008 Arizona Fall League.
I LIKE TO FISHING Thaiboxingsite CHELSEA FOOTBALL SHIRT HISTORY
Phoenix, Arizona - Cactus League Spring Training Baseball
Image : http://www.flickr.com
Spring Training occurs annually through February and March. It is a series of exhibition games and practices which occur before the beginning of the Major League Baseball regular season. This annual tradition allows for your and new players to compete for position and roster spots for Major League Baseball teams. It also allows for veterans and returning players to practice and get into shape before the start of the season. Spring training creates a spectacle annually. It attracts many fans, and draws big crowds who enjoy travelling to the warmer climates to watch and enjoy the activities that are all associated with Spring Training and the Cactus League. Spring training also usually occurs at the same time as college spring break, so that results in large groups of students travelling to Phoenix to watch the practice sessions and the exhibition games.
Spring training usually spans two months. It starts in mid February and continues up until opening day of the season, which is usually the 1st week of April. Traditionally pitchers and catchers appear for spring training first, arriving a week or two earlier then the position players. This is pitchers benefit more from a longer training camp. The longer training camp allows pitchers to become more accustom to the strain and stress that is required from playing their position.
Phoenix annually plays hosts to 9 Major League teams during spring training. Along with Arizona, Florida also is used as a training location as well. Watching Major League teams practice and Cactus League exhibition games is a fun way to spend an afternoon on a beautiful Phoenix Arizona spring day.
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Saturday, April 3, 2010
The World Cup 2010 South Africa Predictions
The World Cup 2010 is some time off yet, the qualifying campaigns have not started, but is now as good a time as any to get the ball rolling and start predicting the eventual winner in South Africa?
For the first time ever, the worlds premier sporting event will be hosted on the African continent. This will bring a different culture to the forefront of everyone's consciousness even though the tournament itself will take place in Africa's richest economy.
Is there a home advantage? Does this mean that the emerging African nations will fair better than in recent World Cups having been tipped for greatness but always seeming to fall short? Or will it be one from the usual gang of five nations that lifts the Trophy again? Amongst the usual suspects, it will be no surprise to see Brazil or Argentina - the giants of South American football.
From Europe we need look no further than the current champions Italy, the perennial tournament experts Germany, and the flair of France. Or do we? Will England eventually break free from it's overly haranguing press? And, under the stewardship of Italian Fabio Capello, will they finally achieve their country's dreams, after 44 years, of it's one and only World Cup success? Can fellow underachiever Spain put together a concerted run and for once fulfill the talent they generally bring to any world cup?
Following on from these teams, there are also a number of possible winners. If given a run of luck, which any country will need during the tournament, dark horses Croatia are always technically gifted. Sweden, Norway and Russia are solid. Holland will be full of talent. Greece and Turkey have also come a long way, respectively. In truth it is difficult to assess the outcome but my head still tells me it will be one from the usual five. My heart on the other hand hopes it will be England.
Raajneeti Premier League (RPL) HQ
Watch this video to see Raajneeti stars enjoying cricket and football sessions during their breaks.
Friday, April 2, 2010
#1 St Patricks (NJ) vs. #6 Huntington (WV)
Great game between two great HS teams and two excellent future college players. Mayo seems to need work on the defensive end though. And the only reason he is back home was becacause of his supension in the OHSAA and the supension and departure of Billy Walker. I don't believe he wanted to go back home to Huntington that bad.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
EK acme Rockford in boys soccer, 3-0
In high school soccer action Thursday night, East Kentwood faced Rockford in Divsion 1 at Grand Haven with the Falcons earning a 3-0 victory.
Theo Walcott - Every Goal For Arsenal
Every single goal scored by England's Theo Walcott for Arsenal in the seasons 06/07, 07/08 and 08/09. Includes his best assists as well. In order; 1. Walcott v Chelsea goal 2007, 2. Walcott v Twente goal, 3. Walcott v Derby goal, 4. Walcott v Wigan goal, 5. Walcott v Blackburn assist, 6. Walcott v Slavia goal, 7. Walcott v Liverpool assist 2009, 8. Walcott v Everton goal, 9. Walcott v Birmingham goal, 10. Walcott v Bolton run, 11. Walcott v Spurs goal, 12. Walcott v Slavia assist, 13. Walcott v Chelsea goal 2009, 14. Walcott v Villareal goal, 15. Walcott v Bolton assist, 16. Walcott v Milan assist, 17. Walcott v Sunderland goal, 18. Walcott v Fenerbahce goal, 19. Walcott v Sunderland assist, 20. Walcott v Slavia goal, 21. Walcott v Man United assist, 22. Walcott v Birmingham goal, 23. Walcott v Liverpool assist 2008.
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