It has been five long months since that bizzare incident in front of Tiger Woods home opened up a can of worms that just will not go away. The media feeding frenzy that ensued after Woods admitted his indiscretions and infidelities has been almost non-stop. Now, it appears that some changes are brewing which will at least give some new fodder to the news hounds. Tiger announced yesterday that he would be back in action at long last after his disappearance from the golf scene last November. It was shortly after he won the Australian Masters that the story of his fall from grace took place. What a fall it was. There is an old saying that goes, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” and as far as popularity and world recognition go they do not come much “bigger” than Tiger Woods.
The U.S. Masters which takes place in Augusta, Georgia will be held on April 3 and Tiger Woods has indicated that he will be among the playing field for that event. One has to wonder how his return will be greeted. Certainly his sponsors are jumping for joy. After all, he is their biggest money maker. One thing seems certain and that is the locale for his return. Augusta has a reputation for being one of the classiest venues in the gold world and boasts a gallery that is arguably the most polite and well-mannered. Perfect choice for a tournament on which to re-enter the golf scene.
Meanwhile, there is curiosity about where Elin will be during Tigers’ reemergence. No doubt his handlers hope that she will be in attendance as a show of support for her husband. It is thought that her presence would go a long way in showing that she has forgiven her errant husband which would encourage his enormous fan base to forgive him as well.
The story continues and in three weeks we will get another installment of the ongoing preoccupation with Tiger Woods.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in basketball backboards and punching dummies.
Two nights, two games and two very different results. After a crushing defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night, the Jazz came out on Monday night against the Washington Wizards with a lot more focus, intensity and speed. Instead of the turnovers that have plagued some of their recent efforts, they demonstrated how successful they can be when they take care of the ball. Yes, they were playing a team with a pretty dismal record, but the truth be told, the Jazz have lost to teams like that more than once before. Not on this night however. On this night they lead by more than 30 points for at least half of the game. On this night Boozer got 23 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. Deron showed up big time as well, putting in 27 points and dishing out 11 assists. It wasn’t an exciting game but it was a 112-89 win and we’ll take it.
The Jazz knew that the match-up with Oklahoma City was going to be a tough one. Coming into this game the Thunder were only one and half games behind the Jazz in the Western Conference standings. The Jazz also knew that there was a good chance that they would be playing without Kirilenko again as he is still ailing from a bruised leg muscle. What they did not reckon with, however, was that they would also be playing without Okur and Ronnie Price and that Deron Williams would be playing with a very sore shoulder. Sore or not, Deron played terrifically and along with rookie Wesley Matthews put up 56 points for the back court. Unfortunately, Kevin Durrant and Russell Westbrook also play amazingly well and topped the Williams/Matthews output by 10 points.
The Jazz struggled with defense the entire game and allowed the Thunder to put up 119 points to beat them by 8 points. The good news is that the 3’s were falling for the team again (11) but the bad news is that they lost the race for points in the paint and along with it the tie breaker with Oklahoma City. Their record for the year is 0-3 against this young, talented team.
Tonight the Jazz meet the Washington Wizards and they will be playing in the friendly atmosphere of the Energy Solutions Arena so they really should win this game.
If you are a beginner to the sport of boxing, there are some tips that can help you to get started correctly. It is important to learn the correct posture, body positioning and stance early on so that you do not develop bad habits that can be much harder to break down the road.
The position of ones’ body is an important first step in learning boxing techniques. One should stand fully upright with legs apart approximately shoulder width with the rear foot a half step behind the lead (or front) foot. The proper lead foot for you will depend on whether you are right handed or left handed. Right handed boxers will have their left foot as the lead foot and left handed boxers will have their right foot in front. Toes should be pointed very slightly inward with the bulk of ones’ weight on the lead foot. Arms are raised with the lead fist at eye level about 6-8″ away from the face. The other fist should be at chin level with elbows close to the body. Chin should be down and close to the chest. This body positioning allows for the quick, forceful movements that are inherent to the sport of boxing and offer the greatest protection. Getting into this body stance should be practiced repeatedly until it feels completely natural to the beginning boxer. One should practice the various punches that are most effective in wearing down the opponent.
The “jab” is a common punch used by all boxers. It is a very quick, straight ahead punch in which your body rotates slightly. When the jabbing arm is fully extended toward the target it leaves the shoulder in a position to protect the chin area. The other fist is in a guard position near the chin as well.
The “cross” is another powerful strike that comes from the rear hand. It is also a quick. forceful and straight across movement which again results in slight body rotation. In a similar manner to the jab, the alternate hand (the lead hand) is protecting the face from counter punches.
The “hook” is performed as a semi-circular punch from the lead hand. The arm swings in a horizontal arc toward the opponent. Most hook shots aim for the chin but there can be other target areas as well. In this punch, the lead foot pivots as the rear heel turns outwardly.
The “uppercut” is performed with the rear hand as it rises in an upward arc toward its’ intended target. The knees are slightly bent at the beginning of this punch but with the upward motion of the arm, the knees also push upward. This movement adds additional power to the punch.
Training for boxing is essential if one desires to gain competence. Punching bags or punching dummies are a great way to help one become proficient at this sport.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in basketball backboards and punching dummies.
Ending a three game winning streak, the Jazz fall to the Milwaukee Bucks 87-95. Falling behind in the game, no doubt the Jazz had hopes of once again climbing out of the hole they had dug for themselves. After all they have already had at least five games this season where they have come back from a combined deficit of 88 points to claim the victory. Not so on this Friday night when Kirilenko went out with a strained left calf leaving the team without his long arm of defense combined with the ugly statistic of shooting 0-10 on three pointers. They had their chances. The score was all tied up at 87 with a mere 36 seconds to play in the game only to see Milwaukee go on an 8-0 run which sealed their fate.
Unfortunately, the teams which the Jazz are in hot contention with for top spots in the Western Conference also played last night but they each won their match-ups.
The statistics were fairly even for both teams (field gold percentage, points in the paint, assists, etc.) but the real story behind the Jazz loss was the three point drought. Utah will have to regroup and come out hungry for a win when they meet Oklahoma City on Sunday.
The sport of soccer has been around for a very long time. It has been played for centuries in China, Japan, Italy, Greece and other parts of the world, however it was not until 1863 that the game as we know it today took place in England. It took much longer for it to make its’ for Major League Soccer was only 14 years ago in l996.
For a sport that started out so slowly it has since caught fire in this country. It is currently the most popular and fastest growing youth sport in America with over 18 million participants. Major League Soccer continues to grow in popularity as well to the point that some of the matches draw crowds of over ninety thousand people.
Beginning soccer is a sport that is taught to children as young as four years. The skills associated with this sport are easy to learn and young children can usually be taught very quickly. Thousands of people have found soccer to be a great way for a young person to practice their running, kicking and ball control skills. The repetition that is so much a part of this sport is great exercise and allows one to improve physical skills at the same time they are developing confidence.
The pace of this sport is fast which is a great thing for young people who often do not have very long attention spans and can become easily distracted or bored. The quick pace of soccer has been found to keep their interest and their focus.
Playing this sport develops the stamina which is an essential element of most any physical activity that one might pursue. It also helps with the development of coordination, muscle control, balance and flexibility, all of which are important components of an athlete.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in basketball backboards and punching dummies.
The new buzzword in exercise circles these days in “HIT” which stands for high intensity interval training. The promise with this type of workout is that it can give identical benefits to a much longer but less rigorous exercise routine in a fraction of the time. Sounds almost too good to be true doesn’t it? It has been proven to be just as effective as it claims but the catch is that this new strategy calls for not just a step up in your normal effort but a all out, hold nothing back effort for each and every workout.
A friend of mine recently decided to tackle this challenging routine thinking of all the time she would save with shortened workouts. Her first routine required only 9 minutes of intense effort (one minute, two minutes, three minutes, two minutes, one minute) with an equal amount of low energy movement (rest time) in between each segment. This sounded like an absolute piece of cake to her. Her view changed rather rapidly once she got started and realized how difficult and demanding it was to maintain that level of effort for even 2 or 3 minutes. She confided that she felt physically ill (nauseated) at the conclusion of her 9 minute workout. That did not deter her from showing up for the next scheduled exercise session however. She found that she did realize similar results to those she derived from her marathon 2 hour workouts and vowed she would continue with HIT. She also confirmed that she felt a good deal more pain and physical discomfort with her new training methods. All things considered, she felt it was worth the effort.
This new approach is working for my friend but it is definitely not for everyone, especially those who require a low-impact, non-strenuous form of activity.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in volleyball nets and basketball backboards
The Utah Jazz matched up against the Chicago Bulls Tuesday night. The Bulls had an overall record of 31-31 coming into the game including three losses in their last three games.
It was an interesting match-up against two all-star caliber players in Utahs’ Deron Williams and Bulls guard, Derrick Rose. Both played very well on this particular night with Deron taking the edge in the stats with 28 points and 17 assists to Roses’ 25 points and 13 assists.
The first half of the game saw fairly equal performances from both teams which the halftime score reflected but the Jazz kicked things into gear for the second half. Improved hustle gave the Jazz a 9 point lead with a minute and a half left in the third quarter and they owned the final quarter of the game finishing with a score of 132-108. C.J. Miles came up big racking up 26 points for Utah.
The Jazz have now won eight of their last 10 road games and with a grueling schedule for the remainder of the week with games against Detroit, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City, the hope is that the winning trend can continue.
As a youth I did not participate in any type of sporting activity. I was on no youth team, I did not ski or skate or play tennis or any other of the dozens of possibilities that might have been available to me. It was not until much later in life that I realized that I had missed out on some incredible opportunities by being uninvolved.
Besides providing an outlet for excess energy and a great workout, playing sports is just plain fun. It offers an opportunity to meet new people with whom you may find many commonalities. It is also a laboratory for learning important skills and even more important qualities of character.
It is a great thing that today there are so many possibilities for a young person to involve themselves in some type of physical activity and it is a very sad thing that so many of them do not take advantage of the opportunity. If you talk to almost any professional athlete today they will tell you how important sports were in their young lives. They will relate how it helped them to overcome weaknesses and to gain the confidence that is so essential to ones well being. Many of our present day athletes who grew up in very disadvantaged circumstances, credit sports with changing their entire lives and providing them with the forums to succeed. For everyone of those athletes who have made it, there are thousands more who need the same chance for a better life.
One does not have to become a professional athlete to reap the rewards that involvement in sports can provide. Most people do not have the skills or the drive that will take them to the pinnacle of success in the sporting world and that is as it should be. Success can be found in hundreds of different areas that are just as important and with the potential to be just as fulfilling. Sports can provide an early training ground to help one to reach those successes in whatever field they might choose.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in basketball backboards and punching dummies.
In the game of baseball, the need for a good batting helmet cannot be overstated. In Little League and pick up games among young people, errant balls are common place. Many injuries occur to young people who play without using the proper equipment. Getting hit on any part of the body is not a pleasant experience, however being struck by an object as hard as a baseball which is traveling at a significant speed can be much more than unpleasant. It can be deadly. For this reason, it is essential to find a helmet that has been designed for optimum protection.
Devastating injuries have occurred in the professional leagues that have precipitated the development of a new design in helmets. This new design features additional padding and other protective features. Not all players are thrilled with the prospect of sacrificing comfort and style in favor of wearing the more advanced designs which they feel are too big and awkward looking and feeling. The exception would be those players who have previously sustained injury. For the most part, these players are more than willing to wear the new helmets in an effort to guard against any further injury which might be career ending or even life threatening. This is smart thinking on their part because experts claim that if someone is hit on the head without protection by a ball that is traveling even 32 miles per hour (which is one third the speed of most professionally thrown balls), it will always result in a fracture.
The warnings are quite clear. If you are going to play baseball, get yourself a helmet that will offer adequate protection. Become educated on the elements of a good helmet.
Nancy Smith is one of the owners of RobbinsSports.com, an online retailer specializing in volleyball nets and basketball backboards.