The Context Machine

For the true thrill seekers looking for the most outrageous and intense of sports may I suggest night time Kayaking on a difficulty “extreme level” river? If you are looking to feel your adrenaline flowing like a roaring rapid river, then this is it and yes it is better than sex! Some of those other folks who have never lived life on the edge or at the fullest, in a way it has meant to be lived may not understand the desire to hit the rapids on a pitch black moonless night. I can tell you this however, once you do, you will never be afraid of the dark again, what a complete rush! For those wimps out there, go read another article, yet if you have what it takes and challenge fate, then read on.

Have you seen the new electromagnetic induction technology flashlights? They charge a capacitor instead of working off a battery. Currently there are some nifty micro-flashlights being used which you can buy which use this technique and are available thanks to the Everlight Flashlight technology research lab. These smaller flashlights work by shaking them for about thirty seconds and shine for about 6 minutes and they shine quite bright since they use a very bright LED light. Here is a link to this home use flashlight:

http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/ee_shakelight.html

Here is a quick movie you can watch online to see how this technology works.

http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/movies/ee_forever.MPG

Now let me tell you this is going to sound completely crazy, but it is doable. Take one of these flashlights and shake it up good and then duct tape the thing to your kayak and then without wasting any time launch and Bonzi down the river while it is turned on. It will stay on due to the bumpy ride. If you try this on a week current it will not work and you will truly be in the dark, but once you hit the rapids it will turn on again, but not for about four-five minutes which in the dark feels like a lifetime. You must stay in the rough water to keep the light on, so you fight the current running not against time, but the speed of light.

Eventually some smart entrepreneur will design a Kayak with headlights like this, because those helmets with lights are not doing it for me. Having a light on the front of the kayak, which turns and bobs with each move is much better, be sure to go for it during a pitch-black night. Remember until they start making these electromagnetic headlights on our kayaks we will have to use our duct tape well. Don’t fear life. Ride on, no prisoners. Don’t be weak, live strong. Do you know what that means; do you really know? Think on it.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

El Real Madrid se quedar sin la mitad de su plantilla durante
este primer parn de la temporada como consecuencia de los
partidos de las selecciones. Curiosamente, el grupo ms numeroso
de internacionales lo compondr el de Brasil, con cuatro
futbolistas (Ronaldo, Robinho, Baptista y Roberto Carlos),
superando incluso a los tres convocados por Luis Aragonés (Ral,
Casillas y Salgado).

Los que antes se reincorporarn a los entrenamientos sern el
uruguayo Pablo Garca, que slo debe disputar un partido el
domingo 4 ante Colombia -clave para ir al Mundial- y los cuatro
brasileos. Los Ronaldo, Robinho, Baptista y Roberto Carlos se
medirn el sbado a Chile para después volver a Espaa, ya que
juegan el martes 6 de septiembre ante el Sevilla con motivo del
Centenario del conjunto sevillista.

http://www.vetea.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=37

There is an ongoing flap between Chicago White Sox management and the recently jettisoned slugger Frank Thomas.

Despite the fact that he is now under contract with the Oakland A’s, Thomas can’t let bygones be bygones. He insists on ripping the World Champs for having decided to buy out his contract.

Commenting in the Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Rick Telander said, “Humility and sacrifice and teamwork trump talent,” even a talent as large as Thomas’ has been.

I suppose this is true, to an extent, in team sports. An average franchise can perform over its head if it plays together, with high spirits and discipline. But can it go to the World Series without great players, or at least without players who had great years?

I doubt it.

The world beating Sox had an incredible pitching rotation, with at least three stars on it. Paul Konerko had a fine year, especially hot in the post-season.

The manager, Ozzie Guillen, was a star in his role; a live wire, energetic, clever, never satisfied, and controversial.

And the City of Chicago, long suffering without a championship from either the North or South Sides, was ready to have its moment in the spotlight. Enthusiastic fans supplied the legendary 10th player on the field for the club, more than once during the season.

Did the Sox play like a team? Undoubtedly, everyone says so, but could spirit have been enough to help these players to prevail in October?

No way.

Exceptional management, an opportune environment, a reasonable competitive situation, and enthusiastic people, can do wonderful things, on occasion, for a while.

But they aren’t enough to produce championships.

Consider this, the next time the equivalent of a Frank Thomas, Gary Sheffield, or Manny Ramirez, is in your clubhouse.

Can you really go the distance without your stars?

Sometimes, but only if you’re lucky, as well!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

During World War II, it seemed that the end of Major League Baseball was eminent. The United States was in a recession, and young men who would typically be out on the baseball diamond entertaining the crowds (that couldn’t afford the tickets anyway) were needed to fight in the war. At the same time, there was an air of disgust toward the sport, as the remaining high-paid sports stars were continuing to play a child’s game while their loved ones were being killed on the battlefield.

Americans were so busy preparing for food, clothing, gas, and other daily items to go into shortage and rationing, they couldn’t be bothered to spend time relaxing in a ballpark. Philip Wrigley (who owned the Wrigley chewing gum factory) was the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time and was concerned for the future of baseball. The president of the professional league himself wanted to shut down the sport, thinking that the league would begin losing money due to lack of interest.

However, President Roosevelt convinced him otherwise. With new jobs opening up in factories where men had to leave the workplace to enter the Armed Forces, women were left to fill the positions. Seeing their ability to pick up where the men left off, Wrigley decided that women could play baseball (instead of their usual softball). Seeing that there was already an interest in women’s softball, they created a mixture of the two sports for the women to play, with an underhand pitch with a 12-inch ball being used with a standard baseball rule book.

The girls wore skirts (to appear as ladies) and were well paid. Wrigley himself invested $100,000 of his own money to fund the league, paying each of the first four teams $22,500 for the first season and using the remaining $10,000 to run the league office in Chicago.

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Well, who actually did invent the game of Golf? The question has been asked and argued for many years with no true winner. Many countries have a valid claim to an early game that resembles the game of golf. Some of the countries that make this claim are England. Scotland, China, Rome, France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Laos. The most heated debate over who invented golf definitely comes from Great Britain and Scotland.

The first area to look when deciding the answer to our question must be what actually determines when a game with sticks and balls is golf or another game. Most countries in the world have had games where you hit an object with a stick at some sort of target. Is this enough to be called golf, I don’t think so. If so, then these early games could claim the origin of many sports played today. I think it takes more than just a game with some kind of object being hit by a stick to qualify as the origin of golf.

Holland is believed to be the origin of the name of golf but not the actual game itself. Holland played a game in the 1200s called Colf, which means clubs. This was a form of golf but once again the form of many other sports.

Colf has been traced back to Dec. 26, 1297, in the town of Loenen aan de Vecht in northern Holland. On that day, the local townsfolk played four holes of the game to commemorate the relieving of the Kronenburg Castle exactly one year before. The fact that colf was chosen to mark the occasion is proof that the game was already popular by that time.

Great Britain The earliest traces of golf history has golf being played are said to date back to 1340, where in a sketch from a stained glass window, the Great East Window, in the east wing of the Gloucester Cathedral, England, scenes of the Battle of Crecy in France showed a man apparently preparing to strike a ball in a golf-like manner.

One of the early forms of golf were all missing one important ingredient to their games to truly make the game golf and that was the hole. Scotland is widely believed to be the first country to put all the ingredients together and actually start a primitive form of the great game of golf.

Yes, this will always be a disputed point, who actually invented the game of golf. If you believe some of the claims that the game they were playing was golf and they didn’t have a hole, then you could take this same game and turn it into the origin of many games we still play today. I believe the hole is what separates all the early claims to who originated the game of golf.

Look at our Golf History section at the World of Golf Handicap for more detailed information on the History of Golf.

http://www.dave-and-maggie-world-of-golf-handicap.com/golf-history.html

Author
David Humphrey
World of Golf Handicap

http://www.dave-and-maggie-world-of-golf-handicap.com/index.html

There is plenty of uncertainty heading into the this month’s NFL Draft. I will try to clarify this uncertainty the best that I can. I will narrow down our possible targets for each round down to a select few. I can pretty much guarantee you that we will take a linebacker, a offensive lineman, and a free safety on Day 1 barring any major surprises.ROUND 1: The main priority for Dallas will be to trade back and add another pick or two. The 6 main players Dallas will likely be targeting in the first round are OLBs Bobby Carpenter, Manny Lawson, Kamerion Wimbley, NT Gabe Watson, FSs Donte Whitner, and Ko Simpson. I believe the front runners for this selection are Carpenter and Wimbley. It is believed that free agent linebacker Akin Ayodele will play inside next to James, thus making OLB one of the biggest needs for us. Watson is a possibility because Parcells is no doubt intrigued by his physical attributes; not to mention there is a legitimate need for another nose tackle. Some places have us taking Watson in the 2nd. I will guarantee you he will be long gone by then.

I believe the Dallas Cowboys will trade back to the late 1st or early 2nd and select OLB BOBBY CARPENTER. While I like Wimbley, I believe Carpenter is the better fit because he is more of an all-around linebacker. Wimbley is a one dimensional pass rusher much like Ware was last year. If you notice, most good 3-4 only have one of these largely one dimensional pass rushers. Pittsburgh has Clark Haggins opposite pass rushing menace Joey Porter. Haggins is equally effective rushing the passer, stopping the run, and covering a tight end. The same could be said for the Patriots who had Mike Vrabel and Roosevelt Colvin to compliment McGinest. Carpenter can be our Vrabel (perfect compliment to Ware). Carpenter is also a much safer pick than Wimbley who could just as easily be a big disappointment.Round 2: I believe the main priority in the 2nd round will be to select a free safety. The question however will be whether any of the great safeties (Whitner, Simpson, Allen, and Bullocks) will make it to their second pick. If none of these are available, then they will probably look for a guard. The only two who are good option here are Davin Joseph and Charles Spencer. I have serious doubts whether either of these guys will be available with this pick. I would be happy as long as we could get one of these six guys. It would really be awesome if we bagged an extra 2nd from the Round 1 trade back and were able to grab one from each group! If none of these six are available Dallas will likely try to trade back again. I haven’t made up my mind completely on who I want at this pick. I love Daniel Bullocks and Davin Joseph, but I doubt they will make it to our pick. I don’t believe there are any good options at OLB in the 2nd so if we don’t get one in the 1st, we will have to wait.Round 3:

This round’s main priority will to be to draft at whatever position we haven’t filled out of OLB, FS, and OG. They targets for this round include OLBs Kai Parham, Stanley McClover, and Mark Anderson, FSs Roman Harper, Anthony Smith, and Pat Watkins, and OGs Kevin Boothe and Jason Spitz. This pick depends on the need. I would probably take Parham at outside linebacker over the others. I believe Roman Harper is a must have in the 3rd if we haven’t already drafted a safety. Pat Watkins has great potential, but he will struggle badly if asked to start immediately. Jason Spitz is similar to Peterman as a prospect. Boothe is a poor man’s Charles Spencer. He is big, strong, athletic and can play both right tackle and guard. He is an interesting prospect to say the least.

I hope this helped clarify the draft as far as the Cowboys go. I change my mind almost daily who I think we will draft, so I made this article to explain the possibilities and let you decide for yourself.

Writer and Creator of http://www.cowboys-fan.com.