Ice Hockey » Hockey Games

The Nfl's Biggest Headache: Concussions

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:52:46 +0000

By: Frank Fitzpatrick

If Brian Westbrook’s vision isn’t too fuzzy, and the fog engulfing his consciousness not too dense, the concussed Eagles running back might want to thank Joseph Mason Reeves.

Reeves too was a football player, a genus of athlete noteworthy for its tendency to be both headstrong and head-weak. His teammates called him “Bull”, though frequently he was too dazed to hear them.

An undersized tackle on Navy’s 1893 team, Reeves’ unpleasant duty was to plow headfirst into the flying wedges opposing offenses ran with a deadly – literally, on occasion — efficiency.

In retrospect, “headfirst” was probably an unwise strategy, considering that football heads like Reeves’ were not yet helmeted. In what was the sport’s infancy, players actually believed they could protect their heads simply by growing their hair long.

Few got haircuts in-season. Many got concussions.

Reeves, who like Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, IL, must have had thin hair. He was knocked out so frequently that late in that 1893 season a Naval Academy physician warned him the next could result in death or “instant insanity.”

While deaths weren’t uncommon in a football era so brutally violent the sport would nearly kill itself, insanity was something else. The prospect of a nutty Naval officer at the helm of an American battleship, the first of which was then under construction at U.S. navy yards, was not something the academy superintendent could condone.

So even though the fourth annual meeting with Army was next on Navy’s schedule, Capt. Robert L. Phythian summoned the 21-year-old to his office. “Reeves, my good man,” he told the senior, “I cannot in good conscience allow you to play in the upcoming game with Army.”

But Bull Reeves, who though he failed to recognize the peril of persistent head injuries did foresee the value of aircraft carriers, possessed the resourcefulness of a future officer. The future admiral sought out an Annapolis cobbler and asked him to create a head-protector out of moleskin.

The result looked like something Attila the Hun might have worn to a pillaging party – as conical as it was comical. Even so, the odd-looking device satisfied Phythian. Reeves starred in a 6-4 Navy victory and the football helmet, though it wouldn’t become mandatory for nearly a half-century, was born.

In the decades since Reeves preserved his playing status and presumably his sanity, helmets have undergone constant and considerable changes. Physicians, trainers, engineers, pilots and coaches all have tried to perfect them. Straps were added, then padding. In the late 1940s, the switch began from leather to molded plastic. Facemasks were soon incorporated and later air-cushioning devices.

Today’s state-of-the-art helmets are as shiny, sleek and handsome as sports cars. They cost hundreds of dollars apiece. They are effective marketing devices, with tens of thousands sold annually not just to teams, but to collectors and obsessive fans as well.

And yet, as is illustrated by the problems Philadelphia’s Westbrook, Washington’s Clinton Portis and at least a dozen other players have endured this season, head injuries continue to be a major headache for the NFL.

By the league’s own estimate, there are 120 to 130 concussions a season – a number a recent Associated Press survey suggests may be vastly underreported. “Guys today are a lot bigger, a lot faster than they used to be,” said Sam Huff, the Redskins broadcaster and former linebacker. “The game is violent and it’s always going to be.”

That rationale doesn’t help much in a hyper-litigious era. So Commissioner Roger Goodell ruled recently that no player suffering a concussion will be permitted to return to action. Players are also under increasing pressure to sit out the game after their injury.

”Once removed for the duration of a practice or game,” Goodell’s memo reads, “the player should not be considered for return-to-football activities until he is fully asymptotic, both at rest and after exertion, has a normal neurological examination, normal neuropsychological testing, and has been cleared to return by both his team physician(s) and the independent neurological consultant.”

The conundrum football faces in this health-conscious age cuts to the very nature of the sport: How do you remove violent impacts from a sport of violent impacts? With better helmets? Tougher penalties? Stricter medical policies?

So far, none of those options has done much to quell the epidemic. Baseball, if it wanted to, could merely legislate away its most violent aspect, beanballs. Basketball has been successful policing stray elbows and in-the-lane muggings.

Hockey is probably closest to football among the four major sports in its proclivity for head-jarring hits, but on the ice they don’t take place nearly as regularly.

All that the NFL knows at this early stage of what is becoming, for the league anyway, an increasingly unpleasant topic, is that something must be done.

In addition to Goodell’s new edict, a Player Advisory Forum, headed by Tony Dungy, was formed. Its purpose is to get input on hot-button issues from players around the league and feed it to Commissioner Roger Goodell. It already has asked helmet manufacturers to come up with a safer design. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. ”Players continue to be an invaluable resource in providing direction and insight into a wide range of programs and policies,” the commissioner said in the release announcing the formation of the committee. ”Tony’s experience and expertise in working with players makes him an ideal leader.”

The committee almost certainly will discover what a recent survey by the University of Michigan’s Institute of Social Research found. That study revealed that 6.1 percent of the players responding were suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or some other memory disorder. That’s five times the national average for men their age.

The numbers were even worse for younger NFL alumni. Those between 30 and 49 reported suffering from those infirmities at a rate 19 times the American average.

A subsequent Associated Press survey of 160 current NFL players revealed that half had suffered serious head injuries – and that many had hidden that fact from their teams.

Much of the blame, of course, can be attributed to the peculiar physics of football. Large, physically gifted linebackers and defensive backs hurl themselves like missiles at each other. Helmets, designed to protect, often become dangerous projectiles as players ram them into backs, pelvises and occasionally other heads.

Less noticeable, but equally insidious, even-larger linemen regularly butt heads in the steel-cage battles of the pits.

And running backs and receivers diving for extra yards frequently get kneed in the head – as Westbrook did – by onrushing defenders. Not surprisingly, these repetitive convulsive acts can have a dangerous cumulative effect.

According to a recent New Yorker magazine article, researchers believe the majority of these stricken former players have a neurological disorder called CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), the result of repeated brain trauma.

Autopsies uncovered various degrees of CTE, the magazine said, in the brains of Steelers Hall of Fame center Mike Webster, who was a homeless recluse when he died; Andre Waters, the hard-hitting Eagles safety who, severely depressed, killed himself with a bullet to the head, and Justin Strzelczyk, the one time Steelers lineman who died when he drove his car the wrong way on a freeway and slammed into a truck at 90 mph.

If football players retired after their first serious head injury, experts contend they’d likely experience fewer problems later in life. But, unfortunately, there wouldn’t be many players left to form a league.

Virtually every NFL player, at some point in his career, has been knocked unconscious during a game or practice. Far too many don’t reveal the depth of their problem because they fear losing their position. Dungy, for example, told a radio interviewer that he had done exactly that. And after Westbrook suffered a concussion earlier in the season, he sat out two games, returned, and was concussed again.

The New York Times reported that Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu had suffered six documented concussions since high school. The total was three for Steelers QB Ben Roethligsberger, who missed a game recently after being knocked out.

How many will end up like former Steelers Webster and Strzelczyk?

“It’s not that you’ve just lost cognitive skills,” Douglas H. Smith, a professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Brian Injury and Repair, told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “but you’ve also increased the chances of having a worse problem later in life.” Right now, the NFL can’t think of a worse problem.

Owner Sports Buzz – Sports rumors and news, and Collegiate Living – College NFL and MLB gifts

Betting for Living

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:01:03 +0000

By: Florea Paul
It sounds glamorous ,doesn’t it?

No job to go to early in the morning , choosing your own working hours , living every hour at maximum intensity .

That must be one of the reasons why so many people are attracted to betting or gambling.

But not many are thinking ahead about the risks , or at the hours spent infront of the computer every day searching for information , and to be honest you don’t really choose your working hours , you depend on the games schedule.

Those two words : betting and gambling should never be considered as having the same meaning.

One could make a living by betting , but nobody could make a living by gambling.

All those roulette systems that we can find online aren’t good for anything except time wasting. The only ones that are making money with the help of any casino winning strategies are the ones who sell them in their books or videos or so on.

But how can someone make a living from betting? Nowadays people can bet on everything they can think of . Political elections , when will the first man land on Mars , what kind of haircut will Bechkam have next week and so on.

Of course betting on sports is what i had in mind. To be more exact , betting on football ( soccer for americans ) games.

Some may say that it’s more convenient to bet on tennis or on hockey , as there are less people involved , less people you have to study before placing your bet.

I couldn’t agree more , but fotball is and will remain the king of all sports, and also we have to take in consideration that many of the 1st 40 ranked tennis players are under investigation for suspicion of game fixing.

Of course this happened in football too , and games are probably being fixed right under our eyes, but we can still avoid them.

There are many people outthere who know a lot about the game, and i don’t mean just knowing some of the players names, but they observe well the tactics , the weaknesses and strenghts of players, or just people that do their homework well enough to get a glimpse of what to expect .

In general , those who bet , bettors , are people that are willing to take risks. And since we are all humans , no matter how hard we try , sometimes we slip up.

And if in the past a risk was taken , the precedent was created and all the premises for taken even biger or higher risks are created.

After a good series of 3 or 5 days in profit , almost every time bettors raise the stake , and this proves to be fatal.

Everywhere we can find money management articles for bettors , and everyone has his own strategy , but like i said we are all humans , and even if we are helped by thousands of years of evolution , we are still very much influenced by our primary instincts.

When the confidence grows at higher and higher levels, you can’t help felling like on top of the world , and thinking that there aren’t any barriers beetween you and your goals.

Also there are many talented punters outthere ,with good judgement (one of the most important things in betting) but they fail to make something in this business because either they let themselves influenced by others opinions , or get to lazy to quick , and stop updating the information they have .

That is how talented and gifted punters quit this job ( as it can be a full time job) and start selling peanuts down the street.

Inspite of all i said there are still people that manage to make a living just by betting on football games.

Those are the ones who team up, because you will never be able to make a living from betting on your own. There is just not enough time available to do the proper research for one person alone. Also when there are more persons with the same objective , one can temperate another when there is the need to.

The interesting thing is that you can make a living from betting , or just add a substantial amount to your income without having to do any work on your own.

How’s that? With the help of tipping services . But be aware , most of them aren’t what you expect of. With a nice website design and with the help of a good marketing strategy they manage to make themselves known in the online betting world , they start charging for their services , when infact they are just lovers of the game (football game) and nothing more.

I remember that once , a tipping service owner asked for my services. We agreed and i started tipping. I was the only one he had hired , his entire company was just 1 man. He was a betting man too , but the funny thing is that he didn’t even knew what a handicap bet is …. And what is even more funny is that at that moment , his tipping service had the most no. of clients on the market. He was ranked very high in the major search engines, as his real job was

something related with IT , and he was only a football lover, but like i said , people were paying big money to receive tips from him.

That was possibile because his clients were impressed by the marketing strategies and the great web design , but clearly they started missing their subscription money very soon…

But not all tipping services are like this.

There are some that are formed by many punters from different countries. They joined efforts in order of making a living from betting , and it seems that they have pulled it off.

They make their income by betting themselves and also by selling their bets to those who are interested . You can find them at www.trustpick.com. Some of the tipsters over there even know what the players ate before the game…

In this business people come and go overnight , some satisfied with the result and others (those who aren’t willing of accepting advices) in big depths , the ideea is ,that it is possible and you only have to really want this to happen.

Sports that Are Popular in the U.S

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:33:45 +0000

By: Daren Hopkins

All around the globe, on any given day, you will find some sort of sports event on your local television station or on cable. With networks dedicated solely to sports, you can find things like boxing, bowling, fishing, basketball, football, baseball and soccer on 24 hours a day! Most days you will be able to see sports live, either by watching pee-wee, high school, college and even professional sports events. Most ticket prices for local sports are reasonable and you and your whole family can enjoy the excitement of the game!

When you look at the citizens of the United States, there are several sports that seem to be much more popular than others. They, of course, will cost you a bit more to attend, but the thrill of being there will make the price well worth it. The most popular sports in the United States today, being watched live and on screens, are:

1. Baseball is one of the top sports being played in the United States. Having been played in the United States the longest, baseball attracts millions of fans to ball fields every year. There isn’t just professional baseball to keep many Americans busy, though. Proud parents everywhere enjoy watching their children learn and play the game. What a great feeling when you see your child hit the ball or score a run! As the old song goes, “Take me out to the ball game!”. When it comes to sports, professional and amateur, baseball is ranked right up there at the top.

2. Football began as a college sport in the United States in the mid 1800s. Football is truly the “American Sport”, since it is played in the United States exclusively. It has grown from being played only in college to having professional teams and being played by students in both elementary and high schools. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched television events when it comes to sports, and it determines which one of the many professional football teams will be considered the best for that year!

3. Basketball is a popular sport worldwide. The number of people around the world playing basketball can reach a staggering 300 million! Basketball is one of the only professional sports in the United States to welcome foreign players onto teams, with many players of professional basketball being recruited from other countries and brought to the United States to play.

4. Hockey is one of the newer sports gaining popularity with the American public. It did not originate in the United States, but it has found its way into our sporting life and become one of the fastest growing sports. Ice hockey is the most popular form of this sport, with street hockey being popular with older kids everywhere.

You may be asking “Where is golf and soccer on this list?” Well, although both sports are gaining in popularity, neither one meets the level of fans of the sports listed above.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:45:50 +0000

By: sportsbettingtips

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live streaming,Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live,Watch Live Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins,Watch Live Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild,Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins

Monday January 11, 2010

Match Time : 8:00 PM ET

Watch Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming January 11, NHL Regular Season 2010 – The game start time 8:00 PM ET at Stadium: Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. The Minnesota Wild would love to record a third straight victory and topple the defending Stanley Cup champions, but they’ll be hard-pressed to top their latest feat.

Watch Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming

The Wild try to build off the momentum of the biggest comeback victory in team history Monday night when they welcome in the Pittsburgh Penguins, who look to follow their five-game slide with a third win in four games.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild NHL Betting

This is a NHL Regular Season game 2010 on 1/11 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul between Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild. Watch Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild live stream for free of NHL hockey 2009-10

Watch Live Updates NHL Betting tips,Betting Tips Hockey,NHL Betting

Watch Live Updates Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live Streaming,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live streaming,Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild Live,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins Live,Watch Live Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins,Watch Live Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild,Pittsburgh Penguins vs Minnesota Wild,Minnesota Wild vs Pittsburgh Penguins

Where can I watch College Basketball online

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:45:39 +0000

By: Kevin Phillips

Where to watch basketball online has never been simpler. Watch Basketball Live on your PC with NO MONTHLY FEES! Imagine never having to pay a monthly bill for TV. You will be able to watch live games, matches, and tounaments online in High Quality Definition.

Some of the top features include:

Thousands of Channels to Watch

Customized Full Screen Views

High Quality Definition Playback

Attractive Simple User Interface

Watch Local & Global Stations

No Extra Hardware Required

Fast & Easy Instant Setup

Watch basketball online

Get the best online sports coverage on the net directly to your laptop or desktop computer. Once you download our software watch live game, matches, and tounaments. Imagine watching March Madness live on lyour PC.

Using our software you will be able to watch basketball, baseball, football, hockey, nascar, golf, boxing, and much more. watching sports on TV has never been more portable. Watch all the games, highlights, and interviews live on your laptop. You get access to thousands of channels getting all of the college and professional games. You will never have to miss a game because of travel.

You will be able to watch basketball online from anywhere there is an Internet connection. I do recommend that you use a broadband connection so that you can get the best service available. When I am traveling I plug into the Hotels connection and watch the games while I am away. I also have wireless Internet so I can watch the games in all of the hotspots around the world.

Online TV is great for the frequent travelers. Easily adjust the Online TV Player’s customizable settings to watch the game in full screen mode or to fit any window size. You get all of these options with our software for a one time fee thats less than one months of your normal cable bill. If you like the sound of this just click the link below.

watch basketball online Link

Backyard Sports Surfaces Increase Home Value and Family Fun

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:02:10 +0000

By: Noah S Teicher

The average backyard comes equipped with many of the same things… namely a patio, grass, a few plants, and a pool if it’s feeling especially extravagant. But a backyard with a game court? Now that’s a yard of an entirely different sort. Game Courts of Michigan, an authorized Flex Court Dealer, invites you to make your backyard a gathering place for friends and family and a conversation piece for all with one of our versatile and durable sports surfaces. From basketball courts and tennis courts to roller hockey, badminton, gym flooring and more, we can install a permanent source of family fun that will have the added benefit of enhancing the value of your home.

The installation of one of our custom designed sports surfaces means that road trips to the local park or gym are instantly a thing of the past. Moving forward, the farthest commute you’ll experience in search of the games you love will be the one from couch to backyard. And once you get there you’ll experience the game on a unique surface made from built-in flexion and built to reduce stress and fatigue and prevent injuries. It’s a long way from the pounding you can expect from normal concrete pick-up courts, and with the increased traction you’ll also experience you can expect increased performance no matter which sport you pursue.

Game Courts of Michigan sports surfaces offer an intrinsic value that goes beyond amazing access to the games you love. Consider for a moment not only the unique aesthetic one will add to your home and backyard but also the added value it’s certain to bring. It’s safe to say that very few homes in your neighborhood or any other will be able to boast of such a unique and versatile basement area, and that means value no matter how you look at it. In this regard a sports surface from Game Courts is truly an investment, one that grows in equity both in terms of the quality of your family time and the value of your home moving forward.

Is your backyard suffering from the average blues? You can add a few more plants or sprinkle a little fertilizer to make the grass greener, but to truly shake things up it takes a bold step indeed. Sports flooring from Game Courts of Michigan provides a golden opportunity to make a statement that is certain to receive rave reviews from friends and family alike. Make the games you love a permanent part of the family and a centerpiece of your home.

Tickets to see the Boston Red Sox—Go to Toronto!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:44:26 +0000

By: Paul Mroczka

With over 200 straight sellouts and the diminutive Fenway Park (capacity 36,298) as their home, the Boston Red Sox are one of the hottest tickets in Major League baseball (MLB). If you are part of Red Sox Nation, the innumerable fans who live and die by each pitch and swing of the bat, and can’t get through the turnstiles of the home park, there is an alternative-road trip!

Many fans have found it to be fairly economical to take a

mini-vacation on the weekend or use a week’s worth of summer leave and follow the team to opponent stadiums. Red Sox players have noted that they get a lot of support everywhere they go, and although many of those people are transplants from New England or natives of that particular region who love their Sox Red, others are part of a growing group of fans from the Boston area who can’t get enough of their team in the home setting.

Some away venues, such as Yankee Stadium and Citizens

Bank Park in Philadelphia are tough tickets to get, but there are many stadiums where good seats are still available. Here are a few places you may want to go to help make the away team feel like they are at home.

Comerica Park, Detroit

Comerica Park is the home of the Detroit Tigers and it is

one of those venues that, with everything else it offers, also seems to have a ball game going on somewhere. If you’re used to Fenway and you’ve never been to a game at a place like Comerica, you may be overwhelmed by the amenities, spaciousness and opportunities.

The park is in the center of an urban village that includes

shops, restaurants, offices and many other features. Yes, there is a Ferris wheel and a pedestrian museum that goes around the main concourse. Other attractions in the area include various casinos and the Henry Ford Museum.

The Tigers have not had a good team in a long time and

that means you can get fine seats for just about any game. Outfield boxes at $25 a seat are not difficult to get if you want to go and see the Red Sox.

Rogers Centre, Toronto

The Blue Jays have certainly upgraded their team but great

seats are still relatively easy to get. The Rogers Centre has a retractable roof, the J Force (a team of Hip Hop and Break Dancers performing for fans), a season-long highest speed pitching cage contest and a 50/50 drawing every Saturday.

If you’re hoping to sing the national anthem at the Rogers

Centre, please note that your audition tape must contain the American and then the Canadian national anthems. Be sure to include contact information with your CD or tape and once you send it in don’t contact them; they’ll call you if they’re interested.

You can buy exceptional field box tickets between home

and first for around $42. Remember that hockey is king in Canada and baseball is not this country’s national pastime. So become an international traveler, enjoy one of the most beautiful cities in North America, and catch a three-game series in an open-air ballpark where there’s never a rainout.

Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay

The Trop has plenty of great, cheap seats all season long.

It’s called ¡°the ballpark of the 21st century,¡± and about 10 years ago the venue underwent an $85 million renovation. Like many newer parks, it has a primary concourse-Centerfield Street-that features various specialty shops and restaurants. Included in the area, where you can still watch the game, is MLB’s first in-stadium cigar bar-the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar.

The park is under a dome and, unlike any other domed field

presently in the majors, has artificial turf and all dirt base paths.All other in-door facilities have only areas around the bases with dirt and then artificial turf on the rest of the running area.

Forty-seven dollars will get you a seat on the field level of

the Trop. Not only will you get to see two teams that have developed a lot of bad blood between them, but you’ll get to hear the Tampa Bay Heckler, Robert Szasz, also know as ¡°The loud guy.¡±

Szasz goes to every home game dressed in a Devil Rays

shirt and hat and loudly heckles the visiting team, usually hurling his abuse at one player. He’s loud (you can hear him on radio and television casts), but he’s also clean. If you’re not up for a close encounter with Szasz and his booming voice, don’t sit near home plate.

McAfee Coliseum, Oakland

Go west, young fan, go west! If you’re California

Dreaming, then Oakland may be the perfect place for you to catch your Sox. McAfee Coliseum is a multi-use stadium with 50,000 seats! Tailgating is permitted outside the park, something you can’t imagine doing around Fenway.

For a west coast venue, the stadium seems to have a rich

history, including claiming to be the first stadium where ¡°The Wave¡± was first performed on October 15, 1981. Fenway fans, which may be the only group that still performs The Wave, may find a pilgrimage to the site a life-changing experience (then again, maybe not). The bay area, including San Francisco, is easily accessible, making this a great vacation trip.

Oakland teams are built on pitching and fielding. You

should see some fine ballgames at McAfee Park, the home of the game changing, progressive GM Billy Bean and Money Ball. You won’t be sitting at field level but for $40 a pop you’ll be able to look down on the game from far above.

Turner Field, Atlanta

Want to see one of the best teams in the American League

take on one of the best clubs in the Senior Circuit? You won’t get prime seats like you will in Toronto or Tampa Bay, but you will find tickets available for Inter-league play between Boston and Atlanta.

At Turner Field the Braves claim that there are 101 things

to do, including watching a ball game! Other things you can indulge in include making your own baseball bat (think ¡°The Natural¡±), engaging in the non-P.C. ¡°Chop Rally,¡± and taking a picture with Scooby Doo. (Why would anyone want to watch Andruw Jones play?) The venue also contains a very fine baseball museum.

The city of Atlanta possesses a rich cultural heritage,

historic sites and the CNN Center, which includes the news giant, a shopping mall, convention center and hotel.

For $15 you can find a seat in the upper deck and enjoy a

bird’s eye view of the BoSox battle with Atlanta. This is baseball at its best, with your home team taking on one of the best home teams in all of baseball.

If you are considering a short jaunt or a longer excursion to

one or more of these out-of-town settings, be sure to buy tickets ahead of time. Presently, it’s fairly easy to purchase seats for most of these venues, with games that are scheduled later in the season being plentiful.

It’s baseball season-get away, enjoy a different city, and

spread the spirit of Red Sox Nation across the land. With Big Papi, Manny, Schill and Tech taking the field, you’ll feel right at home and so will they.

The Blame Game

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:44:23 +0000

By: A.g. Lafley And Ram Charan

nt, you accept from the start that it is all your fault. Every last inhibition, weakness and thing that goes wrong in your child’s life is down to you — however old they are. If they get bullied, bully, pick the wrong course at university or marry the wrong girl, it is all because you did it wrong. As a parent — deep-down, you know you suck. You know it is not the kid’s fault (however old the kid is) — you made a hash of it.

You drank a glass of wine when you were pregnant which is why your nine-year-old has ADHD. You had a caesarian which is why he has “trust issues” with women. You threw him out of the house when he was 21, papered over the steam-trains to turn his bedroom into your craft room and he never got over it. You did not throw him out of the house and he is still there at 28 and counting. You smacked him; he grew up to have a problem with authority figures and cannot hold down a job. You did not smack him; he grew up to be a bastard. You let him have a small watered down glass of wine with Sunday dinner and he became an alcoholic at college. You did not let him touch alcohol at home and he became an alcoholic at college.

You said he should have some fun while he was still young and he went travelling in the Congo and got murdered for his wristwatch. You said he should get a job straight after college, he ignored you, grew a beard and is still travelling eight years later. You made him write thank you letters for gifts he did not want, and he is an ungrateful wretch who has never thanked you for ruining your figure and eating up your life. You never made him write thank you letters for anything or to anyone, and now his children do not write thank you letters however much cash you put in with the card. You feel it is your fault whether they are a killer or a victim. If you taught them to avoid strangers or to reach out to strangers who then betray them. As a mother or a father you accept the guilt, responsibility and shame and live with these things.

I have wondered watching Sarah Palin if she blames herself for Bristol’s teenage pregnancy. I am willing to bet most hockey moms would. Palin is an amazing role model for a daughter — whether you agree with her politics or not — she is a mother to five children and could end up President. Even so, if she didn’t have some heartwrenching “What did I do wrong?” conversations with the First Dude over Bristol’s predicament, I would eat my moose burger.

Stupidity, misadventure, tragedy can scoop up and swallow down a child in a blink and you know what? It is not necessarily your fault. Nice kids can grow up and do bad or idiotic things however hard their parents tried to bring them up to know the difference between right and wrong. The problem is too many parents blame themselves for every damn fool thing their children do. They say children never forgive their parents. Not true. Parents do not forgive themselves. Being a mother is misery. Years of fear your children get hurt one way or another, years of disappointment their lives aren’t exactly the way they thought they would be. Worst of all, that conviction rolling and crashing around inside that if you had done things differently, it did not have to be this way. You know as you clutch your coffee in a worn, chipped mug that boasts you are the “World’s Best Mom” or the “Number 1 Dad” that you could have done it so much better. You know that your innocent children are paying the price with their health, sanity or happiness for your own deep and terrible failings as a mother or a father. When bad things happen, it is natural enough to grope around in the darkness for someone or something to blame. The itinerant loner who took advantage? A bad crowd? God? But deep down you are not telling me that a parent does not blame themselves for whatever fate throws at her beloved child and however that child turns out. Suck it up — it’s your fault. You should have done something, been there, stood in front of the speeding bullet and caught it in your hand.

Surely though if parenting is about anything at all, it is about teaching your children to be responsible for their own decisions and actions. You wouldn’t claim credit for a book that is not your own or a picture you didn’t paint, so why feel the necessity to take on your children’s screw-ups or bad luck? Let them own that really big mistake. Don’t crowd them out of the spotlight when the jeering starts. There is enough research out there that indicates “helicopter” parents hovering mercilessly over their children from kindergarten and into the jobs market are not doing anyone any favours. In the same way, insisting that every bad thing that happens is “all my fault” is just one more way a parent lays claim to her child’s soul. Sometimes you have to step away and leave them to it.

Author Bio

Judith O’Reilly was the education correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, where she also reported on politics and news, and worked undercover on education, social, and criminal justice investigations. She is a former political producer for ITV’s Channel 4 News and BBC2′s Newsnight. A freelance journalist, she started her blog, www.wifeinthenorth.com in 2006. She lives in England.

What are Classic Toys? No Batteries!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:31:04 +0000

By: Sheri Davis Collins

Electronic gadgets and video games top the list of most popular kids toys, among all ages. But are you looking for something different? As a child, you probably remember your favorite childhood toy. That same wave of nostalgia can guide you while shopping for the perfect classic toy for that special child in your life!

Whether you shop online or at a local store for kids toys, it can be a bit overwhelming, especially when there are tons of toys and games from which to select. If you are looking for something different guaranteed to put a smile on your favorite child’s face, then you should consider giving a classic toy, or maybe a few of them.

Many parents and children enjoy spending quality time together playing classic board games. Today video games are popular, however, they do not allow much interaction between children and parents. There are always the classic games that encourages family participation. Other family-oriented games that children can play with their parents include checkers, chess, pool, jig-saw puzzles, dart boards, air hockey tables, and shuffle boards.

If you’re shopping for a little boy, then you may decide on a ride-on toy, flag football set, authentic camping set, archery set, die-cast vehicles, rubber horse shoes kit, arcade shooting games, bummer cars, pedal toys, tin toys, and wooden building toys. Nothing says classic toys better than a toy tractor and trailer!

There are also just as many kids toys when it comes to shopping for a special occasion for that special little girl. Of course Barbie dolls are always a hit, especially the 1959 original Barbie doll. Other toys include Barbie accessories and products, tea sets, toy kitchens and cookware, toy market stores, or colorful frilly girly chairs, small couches, ottomans, pillows and blankets.

Are you looking for something with a little more personal touch to make the gift more memorable? Bookshelves, step stools, rocking chairs, backpacks, mirrors, and coat racks are all great kids toys for either a boy or girl. Adding attention to detail by personalizing the gift you decide on shows that you put extra thought into the selection.

Parents looking for kids toys that help the child to develop both socially and emotionally, are in luck because there are tons of options! Depending on the age of the child, there are educational toys for every age. Babies learn their surroundings by playing with brightly colored toys from musical animals, activity blocks and waterproof toys at bath time. Early childhood toys and activity books teach children valuable skills such as reading and telling time. Older children might be more difficult to shop for but toys such as a Lite Bright or replica of a NASA rocket complete with outfit would be great.

Classic toys do not need batteries and are truly a wonderful way to spend quality time with your family and teach children valuable skills to succeed in life!

Collecting for 2010 Winter Olympics

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:15:07 +0000

By: Sue Hay

Winter Olympic Sports Memorabilia collections can be around the particular games, a sport or a person. But should the collection be for fun, passion or money? That’s up to you but if you start with fun or passion and then learn to choose wisely, you can have them all.

The winter Olympics are staged every four years, two years apart from the summer Olympics. The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. Prior to this, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympics. Prior to this, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympics.

The sports that are now in the Winter Olympics are:

· Alpine skiing

· Biathlon

· Bobsled

· Cross-country skiing

· Curling

· Figure skating

· Freestyle skiing

· Ice hockey

· Luge

· Nordic combined

· Short track speed skating

· Skeleton

· Ski jumping

· Snowboarding

· Speed skating

The Winter Olympics also has demonstration events including Bandy, Ice stock sport ski ballet, Skijoring, sled-dog racing, speed skiing and the winter pentathlon.

This year the Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada. The venues are:

· BC Place

· Canada Hockey Place

· Cypress Mountain

· Main Media Centre

· Olympic Village Vancouver

· Olympic Village Whistler

· Pacific Coliseum

· Richmond Olympic Oval

· Whistler Sliding Centre

· UBC Thunderbird Arena

· Vancouver Olympic Centre

· Whistler Creekside

· Whistler Media Centre

· Whistler Medals Plaza

· Whistler Olympic Park

When starting out in collecting Sports Memorabilia, it is good to start with your favourite sport. It would be wonderful to collect declared national treasure and FIFA ambassador, Pele. However, we

One area, is autographed sports memorabilia. The success of the individual will change the value of the item. As well, the ability to prove an item is “game worn” and can be related to a particular famous game will increase the value.

Retirement or death can add value to items for popular sportsmen. However, the need to prove authenticity or the devaluation that occurs when the autograph has a personal address such as the recipient’s name, make this market fraught with difficulty. The difficulty in dealing with the large number of fraudulent signatures for sales has led to the need to have a certificate of authenticity and to buy from a reputable dealer.

Did sports memorabilia start when Babe Ruth started collecting memorabilia. Or did sports memorabilia collecting start even earlier. Surely, a celtic football in the dark ages that was one of the first sports memorabilia. Olympic memorabilia have long been collected since the early years of last century.

There is now a wide range of memorabilia for winter Olympics. These include the torches and torch replicas, jerseys, hats, T-shirts, jewellery, coins, pins, scarves and ties. And of course, every winter Olympics must have a mascot and these generate another area for collecting.

Vintage sports marketing which refers to older items have been appreciating significantly. The early Winter Olympics had few commercial collectibles, so any memorabilia are hence more valuable.

Find the value of an item is hard. Searching for valuations for sports memorabilia can be difficult. Until a item is exchanged at auction with interested buyers, the value of any item of sports memorabilia is in the owner’s mind only.

But buying something for a sport you love is a good start.