Sports Then and Now

Championship week is here for college basketball and teams are bracing for a frenzy. This annual week of competition features teams battling against their conference foes to determine the champions of their respective conference tournaments. While some teams are already assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament when the bids come out on Sunday March 11, others are “on the bubble,” and fighting for their NCAA lives. Even teams on stable ground for an NCAA bid will be playing this week to enhance their seeding for next week’s big dance while chasing their conference tourney title.

Here is a look at the major conference tournaments coming up this week with a more extensive look at the Atlantic Coast Conference. From top to bottom there is quality competition across the board. This will make the coming six days must see TV for the college basketball junkie.

*Note: The Big 10 Conference already has held its’ postseason conference tournament. Michigan defeated Purdue on Sunday March 4, 75-66 in the title game. The Big 10 Tournament was held Feb. 28 to Mar. 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The New York Life Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament

March 6-10 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY

Virginia was clearly the best team in the conference during the regular season and won the ACC regular season championship with a 17-1 conference mark, placing four wins ahead of No. 2 Duke (13-5). The No. 1 Cavaliers’ 17 conference wins and nine conference road wins this season were both ACC records. Virginia, 28-2 overall, became the fourth team in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll era (since 1990) to reach the No. 1 spot in the AP weekly poll after being unranked in the preseason. Head coach Tony Bennett has the Cavaliers poised to make a deep postseason run. For the third time in the last five years, Virginia enters this week’s New York Life ACC Tournament as the top seed.  They have a double bye and open play Thursday March 8 in the quarterfinals.

Bennett was named this year’s ACC Coach of The Year, his third such honor since becoming head coach of the Cavaliers prior to the 2009-10 season. Senior Isaiah Wilkins was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and freshman De’Andre Hunter was named the Sixth Man of the Year. Sophomore guard Kyle Guy was named to the All-ACC First Team while sophomore guard Ty Jerome garnered third-team honors. Read the rest of this entry →

Quite often pool enthusiasts wish that playing pool was as easy as grappling a cue and striking the cue balls. As a beginner, you’d be forgiven for such naivety, but you’ve come to the right place to take in a thing or two about choosing the perfect pool cue.

First, experiment with various cue sticks while examining their weight, length and individual diameter of their tips. Opt for the cue you feel most comfortable using. Let’s explore in detail the fundamentals of choosing the best pool cues.

1. Your skill level

Prices vary from one manufacturer to another; however, there are pricing specifications that help you select your cue depending on your expertise. Supposing you’re getting started, look ahead to spending roughly $100 on a stout amateur cue.

Once you up your game, and more so when you start contesting, you’ll want to improve on your cue to something a bit ampler. Intermediate to advanced gamers can look forward to spending sum of $150 – $500 for a suitable cue. Upon attaining a professional level, cue prices start at about $500.

2. Weight and balance

A standard cue weighs roughly between 18 to 21 ounces. Cues usually have numbers on them indicating the aggregate weight of the cues. The most common and often the perfect weight is 19oz.

Perhaps you prefer a lighter or heavier cue, but 190z is the ideal medium for a newbie. Also, keep in mind that your height greatly affects your cue balance. In the case that you are shorter than average, house cues may seem heavy for you, and this dramatically affects your game than you might realize. Instead, opt for forward-weighted cues. Some cue designs enable for weight to be removed or added. Read the rest of this entry →

When you find there are a lot of people interested in the game of poker online, you will appreciate the change of poker to an online game. There are many players who are eager to make money and that is the main reason that they play this game. That is what the general believe is, but if you look closely, you may find some other strong reasons why people play poker online. To most of the poker player, it is judi poker online terpercaya to be their friend and guide, for most of the time.

Poker for fun and thrill

The people who play poker are all eager to win. There are people who love the thrill and fun that this game provides. These players often go for a small stake and they mostly do not go overboard with a huge bet on the no-limit games. They do not get stressed to win each game but take the game as it comes. They play for getting into a good game. This can be the most important reason why they choose not to play too many games on a single day. They keep a tab on the money spend and won but that does not demarcate the time when they ask themselves to stop. Read the rest of this entry →

One of the most beautiful experiences that children can have is to grow in an environment that allows for all-round development. It is important to look at the things that will bring fun while adding other benefits such as good health, mental alertness and much more to the kids. This piece will show us some of the best outdoor sports for children.

Sack Race: Many may argue that this game is out of date, but it is not true. As much as it has survived many generations, it is a testament of the fact that it has never ceased adding value. One of the major features of this sports is that the apparatus used in carrying it out are not complex. All you need is a sack and space to ‘’run’’ and you are good to go. Besides, children will make use of their different body parts which will aid in strengthening their physique. There are times where you may not want to go for the conventional sports; this option will give you the much-needed benefit in real time. On a final note, we must state that you can add other rules to the game in order to create real fun for the children.

Darts Games: The rise of Safe dartboards has made it easy for children to enjoy the game of darts. They can use it to bond with their friends, or they can use it to train their mind. In all, darts can be played as a team sport, or they can choose to have a go at the game individually. As much as many professionals might talk about the different techniques in enjoying the game; darts simply requires the players to aim for the bullseye on the board. When children understand the rules, it will not only bring laughter to their world; they will not forget the joy that you have caused in their hearts. Darts is a game that will truly resonate with your child’s soul. Read the rest of this entry →

Jack Youngblood played the 1979 NFC Playoffs with a broken leg.

A serious leg injury, particularly one in a key joint like the ankle or knee, reduces mobility to almost zero and brings an intense wave of pain. To study some of the technical details, check out https://www.vivehealth.com/blogs/resources/broken-ankle. Yet despite the often crippling nature of these injuries, a number of past and present athletes have stayed on the field when everything was on the line.

Shun Fujimoto, 1976 Montreal Olympics

Fujimoto was a 26-year-old Japanese gymnast when he competed with the national team at the XXI Olympiad. These were the first games played under the International Olympic Committee’s new rules that limited the number of participants. The clear intent was to level the playing field for smaller nations by keeping some prominent gymnasts from countries like the Soviet Union on the sidelines. Nevertheless, the USSR was still favored to win gold in the men’s team competition.

After taking a nasty spill during his floor exercise, Fujimoto fractured his knee. Nevertheless, he competed in both the pommel horse and the rings, earning marks of 9.6 and 9.7. At the end of his rings routine, his dismount aggravated his injury and doctors said that he risked permanent disability if he did not withdraw. Japan won the team gold over the Soviet Union by 0.4 points.

At the time, Fujimoto said that he stayed in so he would not let his team down. Some time later, when someone asked him if he would do it again, Fujimoto flatly replied “No.”

Jack Youngblood, 1979 NFL Playoffs

Coming off a year in which he had a career-high eighteen sacks for the Los Angeles Rams, Youngblood broke his leg in the second quarter of the Rams’ first playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys. But he stayed in the lineup for the team’s entire playoff run that went all the way to Super Bowl XIV. Later in that playoff game, Youngblood came up with a critical sack of quarterback Roger Staubach in the game’s waning moments, with the Rams desperately clinging to a 21-19 lead.

Youngblood was in the starting lineup for the Rams’ 31-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He even played in the meaningless Pro Bowl on that same broken leg, but that might have been because the 1980 version was the first Pro Bowl to be played in Hawaii. Read the rest of this entry →

If you have a passion for sports, blogging is a great way for you to share your knowledge and insight with the world. Whether you want to blog for fun or profit, avid fans all over the world are looking for new sites to get their fix of sporting news and opinions, so there has never been a better time to join the blogosphere. A successful website could generate income or even lead to a career in sports journalism or game analysis; so, to help you get started, here’s how to create a winning sports blog.

Choose a Topic

Before you start writing posts, you need to choose a topic for your blog, such as your favorite sport, team or player. It’s important to identify a niche target audience early on, so try to be as specific as possible instead covering all sports.

For example, if you want to start a blog about American football, you could write about your favorite NFL player or create a website dedicated to their team’s victories. Sticking to a single blog topic means you’re always writing relevant content that your readers are interested in rather than trying to cover all bases.

Find a Blogging Platform

If you’re new to blogging, free software like WordPress is easy to use and requires very little technical know-how. However, there are two ways to set up a website using WordPress: you can visit WordPress.com which is free to use but has a lot of limitations, or you can use WordPress.org which gives you self-hosting and complete ownership over your site. WordPress is a great tool, but it’s not the only platform on the market. There are other free blogging sites too, like Blogger, Wix, and Tumblr, so do your research before you decide which one is right for you. Read the rest of this entry →