As sad as it is, it's time to say goodbye to the old Shea Stadium after 44 years of sports memories for all of us. It hardly seems possible that the Mets were an expansion team all these years after their cross-town American League rivals first took the field. It's also hard to remember the stadium being called the Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium, but that's what it called until a movement was launched to name it in honor of William Shea.
Over the years, Shea Stadium housed some of the greatness baseball players ever to walk on the field. Names like Duke Snider, Nolan Ryan, Warren Spahn, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel, Richie Ashburn, and Gary Carter who all became Hall of Famers. Then we can't forget the entertaining players that just gritted it out everyday like Lenny "Nails" Dykstra and Gil Hodges.
There's been good times and bad, ugly and outrageous, but at the end of the day, they are all great memories intertwined with the stadium's history. We watched Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry take the Mets to a World Series win over the Boston Red Sox in 1986. Unfortunately, the fame took its toll as both players spent the rest of their careers dealing with drug issues and other problems.
The historic moments are numerous. In 1969 we witnessed their first Championship when they became known as the Miracle Mets at a time when no one had ever heard of the young Nolan Ryan who would go down in baseball history for striking out 5,714 batters. In fact there are so many historic moments in the story of Shea Stadium that it's hard to summarize them in an article; we could literally write a book about it. The stadium may be gone as a new chapter begins but the memories will live on for eternity in the hearts of recreation and sports fans all over the world.
After the tragic and shocking events of 9/11, Shea Stadium became the central hub for supplies, food and a place of refuge for many 9/11 victims. On September 21, the Mets helped New Yorkers to heal by providing the first sporting event to be held after that tragic day. New Yorkers will tell you it was one of the most stirring nights ever in baseball history. With tens of thousands of fans packing the stadium to watch the Mets take on the Braves, the team honored New York's finest, those brave men and women who worked tirelessly to help the 9/11 victims, and then went on to play a great game. Shea Stadium is truly a place like no other. It will always be remembered with fondness and with the eager anticipation of another 50 years of baseball history.
An experienced golf player will tell you that your most useful (and therefore most valuable) golf club is the seven iron. Many refer to the seven iron as "the perfect club". If you've seen the movie "Tin Cup", you'll know why this is so. Kevin Costner's character uses it for several shots, including putting. Here are some ways you can use this club and why it is called the perfect club.
It's possible to make par on most golf courses with nothing more than a seven iron and a putter. Depending on your strength, you can use the seven iron to shoot your ball anywhere between 170 and 225 yards. For distances upwards of that the seven iron is not recommended but some golf courses don't have distances further than 200 yards.
Here is how to shoot par using the seven iron on long holes. As long as your shot is less than 200 yards use the seven iron for the drive. Now use the same club for your approach shot. You'll either want to take a full swing or cut your swing depending on the distance to the hole. Also depending on the distance needed, you'll want to place your ball in front of your stance or behind. In front for shorter distances that require more control and behind for shots that require loft.
If your ball isn't already on the green at this point, you can use the seven iron to chip the ball and get it onto the green. To chip the ball with this club, close the stance and hit the ball in the back of your stance. Make sure you cut your swing so you don't overshoot the green. After your ball is on the green the seven iron's job is done. This club is rarely used as a putter even though Kevin Costner did it with Hollywood's help.
On shorter, par three holes golf courses, the "perfect" seven iron can be used. Again use your stance to put more power behind your swing. If loft and shorter distance is required then stand in front of the ball (which may seem awkward) and cut your swing. Again, once your ball is on the green use a putter to finish your hole.
Now you can see why the seven iron is so useful and referred to as the perfect club. With the right stance and golf swing you can use it almost anywhere and on any course. Try it out on the driving range and see for yourself.
Fishing bait from fishing shops can really make going carp fishing an expensive passion! Many anglers are now so conditioned to using readymade baits that they have never seriously considered the huge advantages of making very unique baits for themselves, but they will catch as many if not higher numbers of fish than commercial baits. The fact that homemade bait will cost you a fraction of the cost of readymade baits and over the days and weeks shocking savings can be achieved with no less fish (in fact quite the opposite!)
Having a unique bait is one of the greatest competitive advantages in fishing. This is very often the factor which tips fish over from the state of just testing a bait, to actually taking it into its mouth along with your hook, and giving a very desirable run. There is no doubt in my mind after over 3 decades of making homemade fishing baits, that they can compete against commercial readymade baits on any water or venue.
Of course it takes the usual fishing skills and application in order to catch any fish especially those bigger ones which are far less easily caught, but your unique bait is a distinct factor in producing for you consistent big fish catches. One of the most incredible highs is to land new personal best fish on bait you have made from your own recipe and knowing you are the one angler who is ever going to exploit your secret bait. You never have to compete with hundreds of other fishermen on the same bait as you!
Bait only really has a peak of effectiveness when fish feed confidently on it because they know they most likely will not get hooked and risk getting taken home for tea. Sure we put them back, but if you were hooked and dragged out of your safe air environment into a foreign one you would be wary of any bait that has led to you being hooked previously too! Making your own alternative secret bait recipes is such a great advantage over the masses who use readymades without a further thought to their never talked about disadvantages!
On the point about fish learning by association, you will also find with readymade baits that they frequently have to be changed to new ones because they get over-used and fish associate them with danger of hooking or capture. Whereas with homemade bait this rarely happens because you alone are fishing your bait so it cannot get over-used so intensively as readymades. This means your baits will remain effective very likely indefinitely which means you can focus on your fishing and have complete confidence that your bait is always working to best effect and has not blown! Some baits get based around flavor attraction on a carbohydrate ingredient base mix. Many others utilise to a greater extent a food bait approach using nutrition as the fish feeding triggering mechanism.
I could not believe how easy and simple it was for me to make baits that hooked big fish straight away literally while still hot, even using the most basic of ingredients. Homemade baits can be just amazingly instant and fill you will so much confidence. I do not even bother to make baits that have a round or barrel shape or an even skin at all and I most often do not even boil them to make them resilient boilies either. This is because your greatest edge with bait is their difference. Therefore if you bait feels different, has a different shape, colour, texture, buoyancy, density, firmness or softness or permeability or solubility for example, then it is far more likely to out-fish readymades with ease! That is why making homemade baits is so easy.
As I said, round baits are not needed. Things have changed drastically in the last 3 decades. There are many methods which introduce free baits well over 100 metres accurately, including ground bait slings, spods and PVA bags and nets etc. So you do not need to ever roll your baits. To make a starter effective bait you need only use one ingredient or a couple like soya flour and semolina, add enough eggs to bind them together, and make a dough to use as bait (and every bait can be different!) These might be used as paste or cut or divided into many different shaped and sized bits which you might scald with water or boil for a few seconds to harden them up to make them more resilient.
The easy way to make a paste or boilie bait base mix is to use about 6 hen eggs in a pot or bowl, whisked with about 5 millilitres of a cake flavor and 1 millilitre of intense sweetener. Then slowly add a fifty - fifty mixture of semolina powders and soya flour or maize meal or corn flour, until you have a workable dough, not too sticky and soft and not too firm to pull apart easily.
Now you can use the dough as fresh bait or opt to label some sealed plastic bags and store it in the fridge for a few days or to freeze it in advance of going fishing. You most likely will forget what you made your baits out of so it is best to write this somewhere so you can remake your winning baits repeatedly! It is possible to get a ball of dough weighing about a kilogram from a 6 egg mixture; this will obviously vary depending upon the various ingredients you choose to include and their levels. Some ingredients will hold water better than others while some might dissolve readily in water, and the practical advantages of each kind are easy to exploit depending if you want hard baits which break down slowly or ones which dissolve and spread their attraction very quickly.
I understand value like anyone else so making homemade bait for 3 pounds as opposed to buying it for 12 pounds makes great economic sense. This is startling especially when you think of the saving on 10 or 20 kilograms of homemade baits compared to commercially produced readymade ones. The saving can be in the region of 80 or 90 pounds for just 10 kilograms of bait. You will have been using many kilograms in a season so figure your savings on homemade bait, it could easily total you not hundreds but thousands of pounds so easily saved!
If having a different bait can produce such a difference in results you may as well have the goal of being as innovative as possible with yours as you create new versions for those big fish you dream of catching. The spooky thing about new baits on a water is that they very often produce the biggest most sought after fish within a short space of fishing time because they are fresh and new. Now this is as great a motive as anyone needs to take up bait making and is the icing on the cake. You can use simple forms of bait mentioned here, but you will discover that with successful baits comes the excitement of making more creative ones, and bait making can be extremely exciting, even an integral addictive part of your fishing, as you thirst for more information!
By Tim Richardson.
New Yankee Stadium
Spring 2009 is just around the corner and Yankee fans will be able to visit the new Yankee Stadium. Of course, it will be a little while before fans warm to the new stadium - these are indeed some big shoes to fill. Yankee Stadium has seen a lot of history come and go in the South Bronx over its 86 years; but the new Yankee Stadium will replace something great with something even greater; the new $1.3 million stadium promises to be a worthy addition to the team and to the city of New York.
Moving the stadium has been an idea since 1980 when the owner wanted to move the stadium to a safer area. Over the years, the South Bronx had become a dangerous neighborhood. While considerations were discussed and discarded new interest came to the team and by the early 90's attendance and security were up. This did not stop thoughts of a new stadium however; it just determined that the new stadium could remain in the Bronx.
The largest hurdle faced by the Yankees organization in building a new stadium was finances. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was in favor of the city supporting new stadiums for both the Yankees and Mets with $800 million in construction funds and a $390 million investment in improved public transportation. The Mets would also receive $80,000 in the form of debt forgiveness and along with the Yankees, would receive $25 million in funds for planning and logistics.
The plan would not come to fruition however as Michael Bloomberg would take office and decide to exercise the escape clause built into the contract. Unfortunately, for Bloomberg exiting mayor Giuliani had built in a clause that stated the teams could look for new homes elsewhere if the city backed out of the deal. Fortunately, for fans new plans were agreed upon that left the city footing much less of the bill and plans for the new parks forged ahead.
The new Yankee Stadium has been designed carefully to be reminiscent of the current stadium. Indiana limestone will encompass the entire structure, just as was the case until the original stadium was renovated in 1974. The copper frieze which was present on the original stadium has also been replicated, but the interior features many new amenities for Yankees fans, including two new restaurants which will be open year round.
Whether you are a fan of the new Yankee Stadium or fear that a vital piece of Bronx history will be lost, it can be agreed upon that the new home of the Yankees will be one which preserves the character of the old while offering the comfort of the new. The construction of the first Yankee Stadium was a risk taken by the team; one which paid off for the team and the city - and it looks like history just might repeat itself in the Bronx next spring.
It will probably come as a surprise to many fishermen that fish alternate frequently between one feeding mode and another, in order to best profit from various food opportunities available in the aquatic environment even within a short time period and this can change many times even over an hour or 24 hour period. The way fish feed is key to how best to tempt them in order to get a hook in their mouth and catch them, but few anglers actually give this immensely important subject the attention it demands. But the good news is that you can induce many fish feeding modes simply and easily in order to catch more fish purely by exploiting what comes naturally to them...
It is well-known that jokers and blood worms have often been banned as baits from various fisheries because they impact upon the feeding behaviour of fish so much. Many species of fish and in particular the Cyprindae genus of fish, have many adaptations which help them switch between modes of feeding to exploit the higher profitabilities of one mode over another, depending on which forms of food are available and where they are located in the water or bottom sediment.
For instance, fish can harvest the extremely nutrient rich algae purely by sucking on stones and gravel. They can also particulate feed and filter on zooplankton and algae for instance in the upper layers of the water in spring and summer especially when building up reserves of energy before and after spawning activities. This reflects in the ways that fine bread and fish meal based ground baits can be fed upon in ways where the fish do not have to actually feed on the bottom, but consume it higher up in the water in suspension.
This kind of feeding or similar can be used to further explore the potential of your hook baits and free baits as food items even before your bait is actually touched by a fish. You might have seen a fish suddenly dart towards a bait after having started gulping in water first to taste your bait more efficiently using taste buds in the pharyngeal cavity in the gill area. Fish also use gulping in a snapping motion in a mobile pump feeding) or static position to filter feed and particulate feed and carp and bream do this much of the time in turbid lakes; lazy of what!
When filter feeding and using similar and related modes, carp can actually benefit from you baits nutrition and attraction without even touching them which definitely has its advantages if you use this to excite them fully before they actually feed. Such things as vegetable and fish oils, fine crustacean and milk extract powders and liver and digestive tract extracts for example, can all be exploited, but there are thousands of choices. You bait substances through carp filter feeding can induce a feeding frenzy state even before your carp have even swallowed a single bait!
Bass and trout and even carp, bream and fish like crappie roach and barbel all filter feed to different degrees. This finely adjusted feeding is achieved using what is called the branchial sieve structures which are adjusted in order to energy efficiently exploit more abundant nutritious food particles and natural organisms. Carp can even suction filter feed at least an equal head length away from its head which is similar in energy and movement efficiency as a sheep seen feeding on grass on its knees although fish use far less energy in general movement compared to terrestrial animals not supported in water.
It often seems to be the case that carp fishing baits focus goes on chemical smells for instance which are very obvious to our senses, but it needs to be remembered that fish have extremely fine tuned lateral line cells which use electrochemical impulses in the detection of food items even by the tiny movements of zooplankton only 1 millimetre in diameter. The gape size of a fish's mouth is normally not a limiting factor in efficient feeding, but the diameter of the area where the food is chewed is and it is often far less than the gape of the mouth. Therefore its makes sense to exploit this and use smaller baits than often recommended. In fact carp in turbid lakes predominantly depend on food which is in particle size, so why not go with this approach not against it!
Smaller food items can naturally be passed to the throat teeth in mouthfuls without any problem and of course the more energy efficient the food delivery system is the better. It can often be the case that small baits are the preferred choice of more experienced big fish anglers because they can see the benefits of smaller food items in regards how fish feed on such baits and also their more natural weight, size and movement in water when combined with a correctly balanced hook rig. I find boilies in the 6 to 8 millimetre size excellent for bigger more wary fish even with huge mouths!
If you exploit the various filter feeding modes of fish using various grades of ingredients both soluble and insoluble in your ground baits you can certainly induce far more intense and suitable feeding for hooking wary big carp. You might recall the fact that fish are lateral lines are tuned to feel the movements of live foods like maggots and sound is important in ground bait effectiveness, but smaller hook baits are well recommended in conjunction with this. With carp one thing is for sure and that is when you leverage their mode of feeding or preferably specifically induce particular modes of intense feeding, you can vastly improve your catches all year round and all you need to know is a bit more about effective bait use and ingredients manipulation...
By Tim Richardson.
If you're a novice player you know the frustration of hitting your ball into the sand, tall grass, or a wooded area. Even the most experienced golf players will find themselves playing perfectly but then make one bad swing and end up in a sticky situation.
Even though these bunks and trees make you frustrated, if there were no obstacles then a golf course would be boring and not challenging enough. Getting stuck in a trap or behind an obstacle is not the end of the game and knowing how to get out of one will help you stay positive.
First off, let's talk about trees. You might find that a tree is right in front of your ball so there seems to be little options of getting around the tree. There are a few options and it depends on the situation and how comfortable you are with the shot. The easiest may be just to sacrifice a putt to put your ball on the fairway and in a position so your next shot will be on the green. Another option, but less controllable, is to ricochet the ball off another tree to get it close (if no onto) the green. Not only is it hard to calculate the angle but the ball hitting rough bark can have an unpredictable effect. In any case, practice shooting curve balls before you come across this challenge.
Sand is another thorn in a golfer's side as any novice or experienced player will tell you. Some golfers, especially novice ones, just try hitting the ball hard in hopes that the ball will land on the fairway or green. While you might get lucky with this method, it's better to use a consistent method. Use a wedge and ensure you strike the ball so that you get enough loft. Elevation is especially important if you are in the sand with a wall between you and the grass. A sand wedge will usually do the trick but you can choose another wedge if you're willing to sacrifice loft for ball control.
Tall grass is a more common "sticky" situation but it's also easier to get out of especially if there are no other obstacles between you and the green. Use a wedge that will give you some loft but still enough control. Getting the ball in the cup is not so impossible in this situation so don't be content with just getting the ball on the green.
With all of these, practice before you find yourself in the situation. It will mean less frustration and a more enjoyable game.
Nothing ever beats the pain of huffing and puffing as one trudges along on the snow that tops mountain peaks that look like they had been dusted with clear fresh icing sugar. The snow seeps through your boots somehow and wets your socks. You often lose balance and topple down on the icy floor, while your companions burst into a cackle of selfish glee. But sad stories should never be a part of one's travelogue. Why fight the snow when you know that it can be worth so much fun to look at its better side? - Snow Sports! Yes, for all the brave hearts that are willing to brace themselves to race the wind down the slopes, skiing is the perfect option.
It never hurts to take some precautions, though, so you need to be equipped with some Skiing Beginners Tips. Skiing no doubt is great fun, but slipping on the frozen ground and falling hard on your back with your legs up in the air is indeed an awkward position that could bring the embarrassed blush on even the bravest cheeks. The first day on the snowfield will be more than just a test of your skills, balance, and patience. Your tolerance for pain should know no bounds as you slam down on your back and hear your bones crackle warningly. If you believe yourself to be a skiing star the first time itself, you are doomed. When you learn to ski, first you must learn to listen. Remember what the instructor tells you, and do things exactly in the way you are guided to do them. You will crash down onto the ground a couple of times, but do not worry about being ashamed. It is the only way you can ever learn.
Do not pamper yourself with the thought that the snow covering the ground will provide you with a soft landing- that is the most common mistake that the unwise make. The icy ground is relentlessly hard, and every single fall will be mercilessly painful. Do not wear jeans or sweat pants. There is a certain protocol regarding your sportswear as well. You must don thick Snow Skiing Suits with heavy padding that can cushion your fall. Unless you think of yourself as the Yeti, it is advisable that you wear warm clothes that could keep you happy and comfy in the bitter cold air. Over everything else, wear a waterproof jacket to prevent your clothes from getting soaked. Gloves are, no doubt, a necessity.
Boots are very important too. Make sure you know the size of your feet so that you do not end up buying shoes that are too loose or tight for them. Too loose, and you will never even get as far as a few yards before you thump your head against the snow. Wear them too tight, and you will feel like your feet are choking from the lack of proper blood circulation. Moreover, there would not even be enough space for you to wiggle your toes in them, and they may get bruised. And you would not like to have your adventure end shortly because of sore feet, right? It is very important that you learn the basic technique properly. Make sure you incline both your feet slightly towards each other, for that will keep your speed at check. Sliding down with legs parallel to each other gathers more speed, and for a novice like you, that spells great disaster. This first technique is called the snowplow that needs to be mastered quite well, and constant practice shall do the trick. Make sure that before you go to the mountain slopes you have no problem breathing in the thin air. If you do, sporting around in the icy slopes is a strict no-no. And once you are there, move around a lot, even when you are not skiing. Constant movement shall keep the metabolic wheels in your body at work, and they shall generate enough heat to warm you up.
The other thing for which you must be on the lookout is the weather conditions. Weather is known for her frisky ways, but in the mountains, she is more fickle-minded than ever. The sky can be a deep azure for a moment and in the next draw in storm clouds and drizzle you with soft flecks of snow. Snowfall can make the ground icier so that it becomes harder, and this enhances the risks of injuring yourself. More importantly, you must practice on wider slopes where there are more people than try the steeper regions. Your guide will tell you where to ski, and you must take his advice, always. There are certain Steamboat Springs Skiing resorts that are just the ideal place where one can lodge while learning how to ski safely. It will be wise of you to remember that safety always comes first. True, it is fun to let go sometimes and take it easy, but a sudden, nasty injury could turn fatal. It will not only spoil your happy mood, but also put you through a lot of pain that you could do without.
It doesn't matter if you are a professional bodybuilder, contact sports player, or a regular joe wanting to get into shape, you absolutely should not neglect your legs for multiple reasons. The legs are frequently over looked when exercising, since people usually aim for a larger chest and biceps. While it is important to give your whole body a good workout, your legs are just as important and need to have some focal exercises for your legs. i will explain to you why this is important and necessary to do.
If you have read at all, you know that muscle burns fat. Gaining muscle weight helps your overall workout, and your legs have a very high concentration of muscle. By building your leg muscles, you are increasing your body's ability to work harder by simply adding a few pounds of muscle to your legs.
The amount of mass in your legs allows the release of anabolic hormones, and your legs muscles will provide more of this growth hormone than the smaller muscle areas of your body. The amount of muscle in your leg outweighs your arms easily, so this just makes sense. The reason you want to release these hormones is to stimulate muscle growth.
For the aesthetic purposes, who wants to look at someone built up on the top and skinny at the bottom? Working out your legs provides a balanced body. You want to look good all over if you are working out.
The best way to do a leg workout routine is to push those leg muscles to near failure. Perform 8 to 12 reps per set, doing 2-4 sets per exercise. It's advisable to work each major muscle with 2-5 different exercises (depending on your tolerance level and workout experience). It is imperative to rest between sets. Rest 45-60 seconds between each set so that your muscles can recover. This allows you to life the heavy weight again, but not to get so relaxed the anabolic hormones stop getting released.
There are many exercises which can assist you in strengthening your legs. Once you have selected the goals for your legs (lean and strong, or muscled up for strength), you will be able to select the right exercises. When you work your legs it's crucial to warm up by either running or doing another cardio exercise for at least five minutes. By warming up your joints before hand you will help to prevent possible injuries.
Exercises you can do include leg extensions, power cleans, squats, Romanian dead-lifts, hamstring curls, and calf rises, seated and standing. This is not an all-inclusive list, and the number of reps and sets need to be individualized to match you level
Be safe when doing any exercise routine, and make sure to ask a trainer about the proper form. All it takes is a little time and effort, and you'll have great looking legs in no time. If you can raise your metabolism and do workouts that target intensity training, you will find an improvement in many different activities. On top of improvement in your general activities you will feel a lot better physically and mentally.
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