History of Basketball

The history of basketball is much easier to trace than other sports. It is clear that Dr. James Naismith is credited with creating basketball and much of basketball history. Dr. Naismith, born in 1861 in Ontario, Canada first came up with the concept of basketball during his youth school days in the area where he played a game that involved knocking a rock off an object by attempting to throw another rock at it. The game obviously evolved from there and began the history of basketball. Mr. Naismith taught at the YMCA School in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891, where the sport of basketball was created. He was faced with a problem of finding a sport that could be played indoors during the harsh Massachusetts winters. He needed to come up with a game that could be played in and outdoors and one that adopted a sense of skill and not just brawn. He first developed the game by involving a soccer ball and two peach baskets, who would have ever thought basketball history, could come from a soccer ball. In addition to creating basketball Dr. Naismith became a medical doctor focused on sports science and was a minister. Naismith watched his sport grow to become one of the world's most popular sports that saw its entrance in the Olympics in 1936 at Berlin and he fixed himself a spot in basketball history. The history of basketball began with teams of five and was the sports standard by 1897. The sport became popular to both men and women and began to spread throughout Canada and the US. The US servicemen took the sport overseas with them in WWII and the history of basketball became global.
U.S. colleges accepted the game and began to have it as a standard college sport. College basketball history took off around the late 1890's and the first college game began at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Professional basketball history first began when the National Basketball League was created in the late 1800's around 1898. The league however did not last and was broken up after 5 years providing a rough start to basketball history. The break up just led to a number of random leagues forming themselves in the early 1900's and each was very loosely organized. Ironically enough the first super team was the Celtics but they were from New York City not Boston. The famous Harlem globetrotters were also founded around this time in 1927 and hold a place in basketball history as being the most entertaining of basketball teams.
It wasn't until 1949 that two professional basketball leagues the NBL and the BAA merged to create what we all know now as the National Basketball Association or the NBA. The Boston Celtics dominated the NBA from the late 1950s through the 1960s. By the 1960s, professional teams had formed throughout the United States and basketball was a mainstream powerhouse. Players such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russel and Kareem Abdul-Jabar all became household names that drew millions to watch them play as they all found a spot in basketball history.
National Basketball Association fell off the charts and was surpassed by football in popularity through the 1970's then got a resurgence from the popular Larry Bird and Magic Johnson era. Michael Jordan carried the league through the eighties and nineties and the torch has been passed on to Shaquille O'neal, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. The history of basketball has never been so fascinating and it is all thanks to Dr. James Naismith.

History of Football

The history of football is generally traced back to it's beginnings in rugby, the English game that is very similar to football and soccer which also began in England back in the early 1800's.
The college campuses of Ivy League schools all played similar variations of football through the mid 1800's. Then shortly after the end of the Civil War around the 1860's some of the colleges began playing organized football. Princeton University frontiered some of the basic rules of football and the game became patented. It seems odd to be able to patent a game but nonetheless the sport began to grow. The first football game in college football history was then played in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers with Rutgers as the victor thus producing football history.
College Football History took another big step in 1873 when a number of colleges met to form the first rules of the game and established the amount of players on each squad. The coach for Yale, Walter Camp assisted the final step in the change from rugby style football to the American style. He limited the number of players to eleven on each team and sized the football field to 110 yards. He then created the downs system in 1882 which was originally three downs to gain 5 yards and then changed to 4 downs to gain 10 yards.
Without proper safety equipment at the time the sport had become extremely brutal and dangerous to all the players. There were even a number of deaths that had taken place in the sport. It had become such a serious problem that the President of the time Teddy Roosevelt summoned a change and helped implement a group of 7 selected members to govern a rules organization and save football history. This committee eventually became the NCAA or National Athletic Association which we all know today. The committee formed a number of new rules including the forward pass and a number of safety measures which penalized players for roughness and unsafe acts. Football history was changed when a common practice for the time of locking arms and blocking in unison which was rightfully made illegal as well. The game was shortened to the sixty minutes that we play today and a neutral zone between the offense and defense was also incorporated.
The development of the sport led to an inevitable expansion into the college football area. College football history has since flourished into an incredible weekly spectacle. Hundreds of college teams now compete each year under the guidelines of the NCAA. Numerous college divisions now have conferences and all have hopes of winning a major New Year's Day Bowl. The history of football and nostalgia are alive in well in college football today.
Professional football was first played around 1895 and in 1920 the APFA or American Professional Football Association was formed. It was renamed to what we all know today as the NFL or National Football League in 1922. The NFL started slow and in the mid forties only had ten teams. A major merger then took place in 1970 that combined the 16 NFL teams with the 10 AFL teams to make one large association with two conferences. The expansion continued to the now 32 team league and professional football has grown tremendously since it's beginnings in 1869 from one college game to a billion dollar empire. So goes the history of football.

Muay Thai

To improve your control over your opponent, a successful and effecient Muay Thai clinch is essential. The Muay Thai clinch is one of the most dominent moves used by fighters in mixed martial arts. The Muay Thai clinch allows you to control your opponent moving them at will and opening them up for knees, elbows, punches and quick takedowns.
Once in a Muay Thai clinch (fingers locked behind your opponents neck), bring your elbows together and pull into your stomach. This will draw your opponent closer to you. While you draw them in a natural reaction for a muay thai fighter is to push away from the clinch. While pushing away you may knee you opponent in an exposed thigh or stomach, elbow an exposed face or use their momentum to take them down.
Perfect your Muay Thai clinch by sparring and starting in that position. This is called situational sparring, situational sparring can put you in real life scenarios that will make you a winner on fight night.

Victory Gives Brazil Date With the U.S.

Lee Jin-man/Associated PressBrazil advanced to play the United States in the semifinals.

Cristiane scored in the 75th minute to give Brazil a 3-2 victory against Australia on Sunday. Brazil advanced to its first berth in the semifinals of the women’s World Cup.
United States 3, England 0
Scoring Spree Lifts United States Into Semifinals
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Second-half goals by Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx and Kristine Lilly gave the United States a victory over England in the Women’s World Cup.

Final Stand Gives Giants a Reason to Believe

Doug Mills/The New York TimesPlaxico Burress eluded two defenders on his way to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown that gave the Giants the lead.
The Giants scored 21 consecutive points in the second half, erasing a lead and stifling, for now, the growing doubt about their chances of making another playoff run.

DAVID BECKHAM

En France, David Beckham et Jonah Lomu seront les ambassadeurs de la marque aux trois bandes.
« MON NOM est David Beckham et ceci est mon histoire. Je me remémore 1998 et, bien sûr, j'aurais aimé que cela n'arrive pas (il avait été expulsé pendant le Mondial, NDLR). J'ai réagi comme un enfant. J'ai pleuré pendant cinq ou dix minutes (...). Je ne me suis pas senti à l'abri pendant trois ans et demi (...). Tout cela a été dur, mais il faut savoir traverser ces moments. » Cette confession de l'ancien numéro 7 de l'équipe d'Angleterre est l'une des trente retenues par Adidas pour sa nouvelle campagne mondiale « Impossible is Nothing », réalisée par l'agence 180 Amsterdam (180/TBWA).
Elle risque de dérouter les habitués des spots publicitaires de la marque aux trois bandes. Pas question cette fois de mettre en scène des exploits sportifs sur fond de musiques et de lumières agressives. Les athlètes se racontent - via le dessin ou la peinture - dans un moment difficile de leur vie. L'ancien All-Black, Jonah Lomu, se remémore ainsi sa lutte contre le cancer du rein qui a failli lui coûter la vie. Quant au champion d'Europe de marche à pied, le Français Yohann Diniz, il se souvient des rires et des moqueries qui l'accompagnaient au début de sa carrière lorsqu'il s'entraînait.
Nouvelle vague à l'automne
À partir de lundi et jusqu'au 8 avril, c'est donc une campagne télévision intimiste, épurée dans la mise en scène et touchante dans le contenu, qui s'affichera sur les écrans français et Internet. « La cible est clairement celle des 15-24 ans, que nous invitons à réfléchir sur eux-mêmes, sur les objectifs qu'ils se fixent et qu'ils pensent inatteignables », souligne Emmanuelle Gaye, directrice de la communication d'Adidas France. En demandant aux champions sportifs de redevenir des enfants ou des adolescents, et de se souvenir d'un épisode triste de leur vie, l'équipementier joue la carte de la proximité. Une bonne façon de s'attirer les faveurs des jeunes consommateurs.
En France, une seconde vague de la campagne sera lancée à l'automne. Coupe du monde de rugby oblige, elle devrait faire la part belle aux rugbymen. Coût de l'opération de cette nouvelle campagne mondiale : entre 24 et 27 millions d'euros.

Mourinho and Chelsea have come to an agreement

After several hours at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho and Chelsea finally agreed to a compensation package regarding Mourinho's contract last Thursday and Mourinho is satisfied as well as proud with his work and achievements during his stay with the club. He was still to fulfill another three years as the clubs coach and his severance package agreement is worth nearly £20m.
Avram Grant took over the manager's position for Chelsea the very next day after Mourinho decided to end his three year time in power with the club. Grant, 52, takes the position of Chelsea's new manager from director of football and will be given a hand by Steve Clarke.
Some words from Mourinho regarding the club were; "I am very proud of my work in Chelsea Football Club and I think my decision in May 2004 to come to England was an excellent one," said Mourinho. "It was a beautiful and rich period of my career. I want to thank all Chelsea FC supporters for what I believe is a never-ending love story. "I wish great success to the club, a club that will be forever connected to me for some historical moments." wish the players happiness in football and in their family life. Finally on my wife's and children's behalf we thank the great professionalism of their school teachers and the beauty of so many friends."
An open communication was released by Chelsea to thank their fans for their tolerance and considerations during the clubs difficult times stating that his decision was mostly due to prevent the team from any further down falling from this or any other issue that would have a serious impact on the club.
In most part, fans, teammates and the Chelsea staff as long as the people in charge of the club are very grateful and content with the work Mourinho has done.

Proper Golf Swing Secrets Revealed by Helen Hecker

Did you know that the average golfer's gross score is 107 shots? If you've hit with your golf driver perfectly one time, you can do it every time; you have a perfect, proper golf swing, just develop it. And now is always the time to fix an unpredictable golf swing.
Positive thinking and positive energy you send out will influence your game, just as negative thinking and therefore negative energy will affect it also. Understanding your golf swing is one of the first steps you can take toward swing improvement. Don't worry about what others think or say about your swing if it isn't up to snuff; work to improve it at your own speed. Golf also requires tough mental fitness as well as physical fitness and this is often overlooked.
When you swing, use muscles in your legs and trunk. Ask your golf pro to evaluate your posture and biomechanics while you are swinging. At the end of a backswing the hands should be above the right shoulder with the golf club pointing more or less in the intended direction of the ball flight.
And sidespin occurs when the clubface is not properly aligned perpendicularly to the plane of the swing and make sure not to grip the golf club too tightly. Accomplished golfers purposely use sidespin to ultimately steer the ball around obstacles or head toward the safe side of fairways and greens.
When you swing, if you have problems with your left knee buckling, imagine holding a soccer ball between your knees. The backswing is a simple rotation to the right, consisting of a shifting of the player's body weight to the right side, turning of the pelvis and shoulders, lifting of the arms and flexing of the elbows and wrists. It is difficult for a golfer to practice hitting shots longer than short pitch shots, unless of course, one pays to play golf or pays to practice at a driving range or indoor golf training facility.
The most important thing about the golf swing is the angle, not the strength that is applied to it, that's one of many swing secrets. Ideally putts and short chips are played without much movement of the body, but almost all other golf shots are played using variants of the full golf swing.
Consistent workouts will change your golf game forever. Turn to golf exercise and techniques if you want to gain more strength and power. To prevent injury and improve your swing speed and distance requires your body to be strong and flexible. Most golfers don't know there are techniques that will greatly affect swing mechanics; you can get an edge by changing your approach.
Overall, investing in golf swing trainers will greatly improve your swing and your game. There are a wide range of golf swing aids and analyzers on the market today to help the beginning and advanced golfer improve swing techniques. Keep in mind that with some golf swing trainers, you will probably still need help from an expert.
Sporting goods stores also carry golf swing trainers and aids to improve your game. There are golf swing trainers that will help you with your swing alignment. There are lots of good golf swing aids on the market today.
Before buying any aid or trainer for your swing, check with a pro to get an idea of what problem you need to work on first; for example, backlift of golf swing, momentum of downward thrust or stance. Golf swing trainers and aids can often be found online and are often discounted or much cheaper. Be cautious about any claims in TV commercials and magazine ads; seek expert advice before you buy because the claims may not be reasonable.
If you apply combined mental and physical workouts, your reward will be super, proper, perfect golf swing improvement. Consider a golf vacation, maybe a Myrtle Beach vacation package, or a Las Vegas vacation to get in more practice and if you can't take your golf clubs and golf accessories with you, you should be able to easily rent golf clubs, golf bags, golf carts and golf cart covers or any other golf accessories at any golf resort. Having a good plan and working on specific aspects of the swing or game should be your goal.
Try to concentrate on one of the weaknesses in your swing at a time. Make sure to find and use good golf swing trainers to help improve your game. And you're sure to achieve a perfect, super, proper golf swing every time.