Learn How To Overcome Your Subconscious Mind To Improve Your Golf Game And Handicap
Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist of the first century BC, said it best, \”Man is his own worst enemy.\”
The sport of golf is one of the few sports, where the individual player is solely responsible for the outcome of the game. In golf, a player can blame no one but him or herself for his or her performance.
Golf is a physical game, but more so, it is a mental game. The athleticism of the individual is important, but mental focus and clarity are far more important to a player’s ability to perform well.
Obviously, the goal in golf is to get the ball into the hole, in as few strokes as possible. More important than learning a specific technique, to enable the possibility, is to understand the learning process in the game of golf.
If you learn to hit the ball fast and straight the first time, then you will naturally lower your handicap. So, for those who are truly interested in improving their golf game, one should strive to make the first stroke hit its mark.
A lot of times, this means that the player must return to the basics. This means that a player must focus on golfing fundamentals, to ensure that when the ball leaves the tee, it is traveling straight, to accurately reach its’ destination.
An ancient Latin proverb suggests, \”A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.\”
Top golfers are top golfers, because they consistently focus on the fundamentals of golf. Starting with a grip, and then addressing the ball, moving into the backstroke, ensuring the accuracy of the forward swing, executing a correct release, and casting appropriately, the golfer has a lot of steps that must be executed flawlessly, for the ball to travel far and straight.
When I was in junior high, one of the football coaches said at the beginning of the season, \”You must win the first game, if you want to have an undefeated season.\” The truth in that statement is so obvious that many people will overlook its wisdom.
Its’ wisdom will also apply to your golf swing. If you do the first step incorrectly, then each subsequent step will be made more difficult, as you will be working harder to try to compensate for your weakest link. Your golf swing is only as strong as your weakest fundamentals.
When learning your golf fundamentals anew, your body will be in conflict with your mind. Your body is already attuned to your previous swing – in your subconscious, your body already knows how to swing a golf club. Suddenly, the conscious mind is trying to direct the body to do things in new and different ways. As a result, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind will commence into a wrestling match, for control of the body.
This process leads to great frustration for the golfing student. Until the conscious mind has practiced the new style or technique, over a length of time, the subconscious mind will attempt to revert to the original style or technique.
It is not enough to learn a new style or technique for your golf game. Your conscious mind must retrain the \”motor skills\” of the subconscious mind, to accept this new training. Until the subconscious mind accepts and internalizes the new training, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind will remain in conflict, causing the player to perform badly. It is always darkest, before the dawn…
As the conscious mind is retraining the subconscious mind, teaching it new motor skills, the conscious mind must stay focused on the new technique, with the understanding that the subconscious mind will attempt to regain bodily control during the swing. This is the reason that learning new golf techniques is such a challenging and frustrating endeavor.
Typically, when a player notices that the new training has negatively impacted his or her game, the players’ instinct is to abandon the new style or technique, in the false belief that the new techniques are the problem.
But, when you anticipate the natural progression of learning a new style or technique, and the subsequent battle for control between the conscious mind and subconscious mind, then you can choose to persevere until the subconscious mind incorporates the new training into its arsenal of trusted motor skills.
For golfers who practice daily, it could take as little as three weeks to retrain the subconscious mind to effectively demonstrate the new golfing styles and techniques. For golfers who practice less frequently, the process could take up to three months to complete.
During the process of retraining your subconscious mind to demonstrate the new techniques in your golf swing, you must practice patience and persistence with the full knowledge that this process takes time and repetition.
Most golfers have learned to play golf in a way where the swing leads to blocking. For those who do not understand the terminology, that is a process where the body blocks the fluid movement of the swing.
Most players learn to compensate for blocking, by manipulation of the swing through the wrists. However, if a player chooses to manipulate the swing, rather than to eliminate the blocking, then consistency will only be as reliable as the players’ timing and execution of the manipulations.
The easiest way to improve one’s game is to eliminate blocking, thereby eliminating the need to manipulate the swing. This process begins with understanding the swing plane of your club. It is not necessary to like Ben Hogan, in order to learn the importance of the swing plane from Hogan. All of the great players in this game have acknowledged that when Ben Hogan reached his prime, he was the single, most accurate, ball striker to ever play the game.
Many golf instructors acknowledge that Ben Hogan’s classic book, \”Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals Of Golf\” was a good book, but it fell short of teaching the magic of Ben Hogan’s swing.
I know that you have heard this saying, \”Some people do, and some people teach. A few people can do both.\” The jury is still out as to whether Hogan was simply unable to teach people the magic of his swing, or if Hogan did not want to share the most important ingredients of his successful golf swing.
Either way, Hogan’s \”Five Lessons\” should only be considered as a starting point in learning the fundamentals of golf.
Hogan’s swing plane concept may feel unnatural to most people who pick up a golf club. However, Hogan’s swing plane concept is one that successfully eliminates the blocking problem.
All golfers tend to demonstrate some level of blocking in their swing. Even the great Tiger Woods tended to block, when joined the professional golfing world.
If you are a serious golfer, and you have studied the career of Tiger Woods, you may have noticed that Tigers’ game has improved since he joined the PGA. In recent years, Tiger Woods has demonstrated on the golf course that he has worked hard to eliminate blocking in his swing.
Tigers’ willingness to work hard and to improve his golf swing has enabled him not only to stay at the top of his game, but also to bring consistency to his game. It has been through Tigers’ consistency that Tiger Woods has won as many tournaments as he has, to become a household name.
Man is his own worst enemy…
If you would like to learn to become a better golfer, you must understand and accept that your golf game will get worse, before it gets better.
Your subconscious mind will struggle with your conscious mind, in its desire to never have to change. Your subconscious mind prefers living in a safe and sane world, where things will always be the same. But, with practice and repetition your conscious mind can win the battle to convert your subconscious mind to a new way of thinking and doing.
Only when your golf swing becomes something you can do, without actually thinking about it, will you begin to see great improvements in your game and your handicap.
If you commit yourself to learning how to improve your golf game, and you commit yourself to retraining your subconscious mind to learn new motor skills, then with time and practice, your golf game will become better.
There is no such thing as an overnight success, even in the game of golf. Becoming a better golfer will require an acceptance and appreciation for the process of retraining the subconscious mind. As you seek to improve your golf game, you will need to commit yourself to overcoming your subconscious desire to avoid the struggle and failure, which are a necessary byproduct of the process of personal growth and development.
About The Author:
Winchel Blanc provides golf tips to those who want to improve their game. In his \”Golf Master: Golf Instruction\” ebook, you will learn the golf tricks of the trade the pros and leading instructors don’t want you to know. I guarantee that within an hour, the techniques you adopt will cut your handicap in half! Let Golf Master teach you how to golf with confidence, with passion, with determination and with precision. Learn more at: http://online-golf-specialist.info/
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Pitching Hot Stuff Derek Lowe
As a bonafide Atlanta Braves fan, let me just say that I don’t easily excite over specific players. The whole game is so diluted with the comings and goings of various players, it’s hard sometimes to keep up with who is on what team this season.
I mean, you know the drill, you get Chicago Cubs tickets in hopes of seeing your favorite players in action and poof, you didn’t notice in the off-season half the team was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals or some other team you don’t like.
In fact, if you are like me and don’t pay attention in the super short off-season or spring training, you miss it all.
Therefore, I spend my time rooting for the team instead of individual players to keep myself from being attached to any one person. Then, my heart isn’t broken when they end up elsewhere the next season.
But, I broke my rule. I am completely hyped up about Derek Lowe this season. What’s worse is that he’s a freakin’ free agent, which means at the end of his four-year tenure with my beloved Braves, he could be headed for dustier diamonds elsewhere.
But for now, I (and every other female Braves fan out there) think this guy is hot!
Not just in a general, rugged sense, but his record this season already speaks for itself. On Opening Day, he pitched eight innings of two-hit ball against the Phillies and last week, he pitched into the seventh inning against the New York Mets.
Ok, so he wasn’t necessarily hot stuff taking on the Marlins, but he has won his past four starts and beat both Cincinnati and Houston, which puts him at 3-1 against NL East and 2-0 against NL Central. Perhaps that sweet $60 million contract has put a little extra oomph behind some of his pitches, to the delight of this Atlanta Braves fan.
For a while, I actually wasn’t a fan of Lowe. After all, his personal life is tabloid fodder after he left his wife for a Dodgers broadcaster (I mean, of all of the chicks you could choose from, a freakin’ Dodgers broadcaster?!).
I also wasn’t too fond of a stunt he pulled when he signed on with the Dodgers. He left the Red Sox (who wouldn’t have wanted a better gig than Boston?) for L.A. in 2005. However, since that was the year the Red Sox actually managed to get out from that curse, even after actually starting for the Dodgers, Lowe showed up to the World Series ring ceremony in his Red Sox uniform…sooo not cool. Not a great way to make an impression on your new fans.
However, all that’s water under the bridge as I look forward to watching Lowe take my Braves to new heights this season with that arm of his.
I have great faith since, according to the Braves site, he is one of maybe three other people in the entire league who have managed to play for at least 12 seasons without one getting on the disabled list, which is uber impressive for a pitcher.
His record last year speaks for itself, as he finished 14-11 for the seventh year in a row, with at least 12 victories. His skills are phenomenal and I am looking to see him help my Braves clinch it this year for the MLB National League’s Eastern Division.
About The Author:
Lynda Belcher writes for ClickitTicket.com (http://www.clickitticket.com), a concert and sports ticket website where you can buy tickets to any MLB game you want to attend. Get Atlanta Braves tickets and tickets to almost any game you want to attend.
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Fantasy Baseball – Fool Proof Strategies To Win
Fantasy Baseball is a popular game. The players involved in this game work towards managing imagining team of baseball. This is totally based on the baseball players’ real life performance. The players in Fantasy Baseball compete against one another using those players’ statistics in order score points. The game is also known to be the oldest form of fantasy sports that exist and also one of the hardest time consuming sport. This is due to the MLB 162 game season as well as the players’ inconsistency.
When it comes to fantasy sports, Fantasy Baseball holds a special place in the category. This is also because baseball is the national’s favorite pastime. It is also very natural for many U.S. nationals to take interest in this game.
For any sport, winning a championship is the primary objective. Fantasy Baseball is no different. The optimum method to start playing this game is to prepare well prior to starting of the season. Here, you need to make yourself aware of all the stats as well as other relevant data related to the players. Thereafter, you must sign up with a public association or start one. You can easily have a live or an automatic draft. It is extremely beneficial to opt for a live draft where you can easily select the players.
If you are a Fantasy Baseball enthusiast and want to win maximum number of games, here are some winning strategies:
a) League settings:
It is very important to be aware of your league settings. This is quite obvious but extremely important too! You need to be clearly aware of your leagues settings and the manner in which this will affect your draft. Ensure whether or not your team is a roto league or a head to head league. Each format requires different players. Consistency is significant in roto league. All you require to focus on is to keep the stats working.
b) Research:
If you are serious about performing well at a fantasy baseball draft, it is important for you to research well. Don’t have an obsessive passion for stats. You just need to have a look at a few of them. A well-conducted research will definitely provide you excellent results.
c) Reach for players:
You should not be afraid to reach for players. Most of the times, people tend to get afraid to reach on players as the owners may criticize him for it. However, experts feel that it is often the individual that reaches for a player who ends up winning the league. So go ahead and reach for players to win.
d) Do not draft a closer too soon:
Never ever make a mistake via spending a fourth round pick on a closer. You can easily find efficient closers later in the draft. You can even find it on the waiver wire. Strictly avoid drafting a closer until late.
e) Consistency draft:
Consistency is more important than one-start studs. It is your efficiency to draft for consistency that makes you a 5 stat threat.
f) Do not focus on one stat:
You need to strictly avoid focusing on one stat. in case, you observe the bottom dwellers closely in a league, and they are great in 1-2 stats and at their worst in the rest. This is because they do not have any clue for the draft and focused only on one specific stat. Guys focusing on speed usually end up being strong in RBIs and HR. However, they don’t show any potential in AVG, SBs and Hits.
g) Don’t be a robot:
You need to think differently from all the other owners. Create a niche for your self and you would be winning maximum number of times.
h) Adjust:
It is important to cultivate an ability to adjust. Try staying focused each time a draft doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to. You must be able to make quick adjustments as you have already researched the players.
i) Think Ahead:
This is a strategy for the invincible. If you are strong at a shallow position, it is easy for you to utilize it as leverage in a trade.
About The Author:
This article was written by gambling pro Skyler Ace. Warning: Do Not Gamble Another Dollar Online Until You Read This. Free Consumer Awareness Guide Reveals The Seven Deadly Mistakes All Gamblers Make: http://www.jobsource20-23.com/casclok.html Also feel free to visit our gambling blog for tons of winning tips: http://onlinegambling23.blogspot.com/
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The NBA’s Western Conference at the Start of ‘09
At the beginning of 2009, the Western Conference has it all: a very dominant team, parity and a lot of NBA Lottery contestants.
The defending conference champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, have a five game lead. Teams #2 through #9 are separated by only two-and-a-half games.
The remaining six teams are at least 12 games under .500.
As the season creeps towards the mid-way point, the Lakers hope to stay consistent and healthy, while the contenders hope to position themselves for a post All-Star-break run into the playoffs.
The Pacific Division
At 25-5, the Lakers are off to their best start since 1999-2000, a year they won the NBA Title.
The lone downside to their start, with the exception of New Orleans (28), is that no Western Conference team has played fewer games than the Lakers. Meaning L.A. will have more opportunities than others clubs to lose.
Of course, it won’t be easier for the Lakers to rack up a lot of losses, not the way they can score.
The Lakers lead the league in scoring, averaging 107.3 points a game. Kobe Byrant is third in the NBA in scoring with just over 26 points per game. He’s also shooting an impressive 47.3 percent from the field.
The Lakers are deep and talented. And they have a great mix of youth (Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza) and veterans (Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom).
Looking up at the Lakers is the rapidly aging, and increasingly surly, Phoenix Suns.
New head coach Terry Porter has been given the unenviable task of bringing an identity to a team that has both Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal-two great players with radically different playing styles.
After a shaky start to the season, Shaq has been playing better. Over his last eight games, O’Neal is averaging 23.3 points.
The Suns’ schedule has been brutal, so an 18-12 record isn’t all that bad.
A team with Nash, Shaq, Richardson, Stoudemire and veteran Grant Hill should make the playoffs.
But age, health and Stoudemire’s anger management issues will probably prohibit the Suns from seriously challenging for the title.
While the Warriors’ problems stem from personnel, the Clippers have some good players.
Point guard Baron Davis, shooting guard Eric Gordon, small forward Al Thornton, power forward Zach Randolph and center Marcus Camby are a formidable starting five (when they are healthy).
The Clippers’ problem is they can’t shoot. Both Davis and Thornton are in major shooting slumps and the team is closing in on the franchise record for worst field-goal shooting percentage in a season.
Not surprisingly, the Clippers are 28th in points per game, next-to-last in three-point field-goal percentage and 26th in free-throw percentage.
The Clippers run a predictable offense that relies heavily on isolation plays. Players seldom cut without the ball and they are also one of the worst screening teams in the West.
To salvage this season, Davis needs to reenergize his game and Randolph, out a couple of weeks with a dislocated shoulder, needs to return to help the Clippers get easy/open looks on pick and rolls, and pick and pops.
Even if all that happens, look for the Clippers to be nothing more than spoilers for teams trying to make the playoffs.
The Sacramento Kings’ best player, Kevin Martin, has already missed 22 games this season due to injury. Entering January, he finally seems healthy and ready to play.
They are one of the league’s worst defensive team, allowing over 105 points a game and the Kings are the worst team in point differential, with nearly a minus 10-point difference between their score and their opponents’.
Amazingly, the Kings have eight wins, but don’t look for that number to get much larger. This is a team preparing for the draft lottery.
The Northwest Division
Earlier this season, the Denver Nuggets made headlines when they traded Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for point guard, and Denver native, Chauncey Billups.
Since Billups joined the club, the Nuggets have gone 20-9. The Nuggets are also good at home, they’ve started the season 11-4 in Colorado.
The Nuggets play an ugly style basketball except for Carmello Anthony. Mello may be the most complete offensive player in the game today.
Denver’s bench isn’t very good, but their starting five (including center Nene, who is having the best year of his career) should be enough to win this division-especially with the Blazers experiencing growing pains and the Jazz just experiencing pains.
The Portland Trailblazers have just everything you need in a team.
They have a superstar and clutch shooter in Brandon Roy and they have another big-time scorer in LaMarcus Aldridge.
They have size and strength in centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla.
And they have depth with Rudy Fernandez and Travis Outlaw coming off the bench.
However, the Blazers need to be more consistent on defense. This young team can score, but they allow too many open looks and too many easy buckets.
If, or when, Portland realizes they need to play championship caliber defense all-the-time, the West will be there’s for the taking.
Before the season started, the Utah Jazz were the obvious pick to win the Pacific division-after all, they’ve won the last two Northwest Division titles.
A third title in-a-row seems nearly impossible now that the Jazz have been ravaged by injuries.
Guard C.J. Miles is the only Jazz player to have logged minutes in every game this season.
Despite the injuries, the Jazz have battled to a 19-14 record. Jerry Sloan has done a tremendous job keeping his team competitive and the Jazz have the good fortunate of having the league’s 6th easiest schedule.
Even if the Jazz get healthy, landing that 8th playoff spot will be difficult. They are an awful road team, currently 7-10 away from Salt Lake City, and the hard part of the schedule is still to come.
While the Blazers and the Nuggets are catchable, the Jazz maybe the good Western Conference team that doesn’t make the playoffs.
It will be a long year for the T-Wolves and unless they show significant improvement, it will also be McHale’s last season as their employee.
As bad as it is for the T-Wolves at least they’re not in last place. That distinction falls to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In the month of December, Kevin Durant averaged 25.6 points and 7.5 boards. He shot a respectable 48 percent from the field and 45 percent from behind the arc.
His performance was good enough to lead his team to a 1-12 record for the month.
In total, you can count all the Thunder’s wins on one hand (4) and still have a digit left over to show your feelings towards owner Clay Bennett.
Chances are the Thunder won’t win enough games to fill up two hands. In fact, they may make more trades than wins.
The Southwest Division
This year Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets hope to improve on last year’s team that finished 56-26 and lost to the Spurs in the conference semi-finals.
Last season, the Hornets started 18-10. This year they started 19-9. That’s good, but what’s cause for concern is the Hornets are 7-6 against teams that made the playoffs last season.
The first month of 2009 will play a large part in whether or not the Hornets can surpass their 2007-2008 results. The Hornets play 16 games in the month of January (nine of those on the road) including four sets of back-to-back games.
If the Hornets can escape January with 10 or more wins, look for them to repeat as Southwest Division champs.
Even the name San Antonio Spurs sounds old.
Age has definitely made the Spurs more vulnerable than they’ve ever been under Gregg Popovich, but it’s only January.
Is this team even out of hibernation?
Spurs don’t even start caring about basketball until March.
Despite suffering injuries (at various points of the season) to Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the Spurs have still managed to post a 20-11 mark.
The Spurs lost Brent Barry and Robert Horry from last year’s squad, but newcomer Roger Mason and rookie George Hill have been productive and nice additions to the team.
The stars are still shining, Parker is averaging 22 points and 6 assists a game, while Tim Duncan is averaging a double-double a game-20.7 points and 10.3 rebound.
Like you would expect from a veteran team, the Spurs know how to win close ball games. San Antonio is 10-3 in games decided by six points or less, or games decided in overtime-they’ve already won their three double-overtime games.
Staying in Texas, the Houston Rockets are reminiscent of another team from the Lone Star state that plays a different sport. The Rockets, like those \”Boys\” of winter, can win some games but when it comes down to crunch time, they scare no one.
Yes, the addition of Ron Artest is a good one. But even if he’s Mother Teresa off the court, he’s not going to lead the Rockets to the second round of the playoffs by himself-you know after Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady go down with injuries.
McGrady, after a meeting with head coach Rick Adelman and general manager Daryl Morey, said he won’t be playing in the second of back-to-back games.
Seriously?
T-Mac isn’t even 30-years old and he’s already taking games off?
Sure, the Rockets will win some games, make the playoffs and show a few signs of being a legitimate contender, but eventually they will wilt.
You don’t have to be a Dallas Mavericks fan to be sick of hearing about how they shouldn’t have traded Devin Harris to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd.
We get it!
Harris is tearing it up in Jersey and Kidd is playing out the twilight of his career before going to hall of the fame.
As you might imagine, Dirk Nowitzki is a large part of why the Mavs are now headed in the right direction, but some credit should go to reserve guard Jason Terry. He’s the leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year and is averaging over 21 points per game.
Forward Josh Howard is finally healthy-a sprained left wrist followed by sprained left ankle cost him 11 games.
Guard Jason Terry has been critical of his defense this season (when was the last time you heard a NBA player say that). His tenacious D was part of the reason the Mavs were able to come back and defeat the Timberwolves after falling behind 62-40 at halftime.
Jason Kidd may not be averaging 23 points like Devin Harris, but he still knows how to ball. Kidd is averaging 8.6 assists, 2.6 steals and 6.5 rebounds a game, while turning over the rock less than two-and-half times a game. That’s solid production.
The Mavs are a good team and they are much better than their 19-12 record indicates.
Can someone please put the Memphis Grizzles on television? I want to see O.J. Mayo play.
Can’t TNT broadcast one of his games or do they have to air the dozen Tyler Perry sitcoms?
The rookie guard from USC is averaging 20 points a game. He leads his team in scoring and turnovers. He’s second in steals and third in assists.
Speaking of assists, the Grizzlies are the only team in the league that doesn’t record assists on at least half of their field goals.
This type of selfish play is started to wear on head coach Marc Iavaroni. If it continues, it may cost Iavaroni his job.
Recently, Iavaroni received the kiss of death from his owner, Michael Heisley, who publically stated he’s solidly behind his head coach.
That’s never a good sign for a coach.
If the Grizz can keep Mayo, Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur and Rudy Gay together, they may have a future.
Conclusion
The Los Angeles Lakers should win this conference and return to the NBA Finals. If they somehow fail to play defense at a championship-level, a slew of teams are ready to pounce and make a move.
The Spurs are probably saving their energy for one last championship run; remember they know how to win.
The Hornets are hungry and in their prime; when it’s all said and done, Chris Paul will be listed as one of the all-time greats.
The Mavs may sneak up and surprise a lot of teams; too many basketball fans are talking about the Kidd-Harris trade and not their solid play.
Denver, Portland, Phoenix and Utah are long shots to catch the Lakers, but they are more than capable of winning a serious or two in the postseason.
To highlight the depth of the Western Conference, one of the following teams will be in the NBA lottery: New Orleans, San Antonio, Denver, Portland, Dallas, Phoenix and Utah.
The Western Conference is tough.
About The Author:
Ryan Hogan is a writer for Basketball Central and is an avid NBA fan too. Read an expanded version of this NBA Western Conference article here. If you’re a basketball fan as well, visit http://www.bballcentral.com for articles, a basketball forum and a wallpaper gallery.
Is Your Favorite Team in the AL East? Then Read This
The American League East is arguably the toughest division in Major League Baseball today. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox alone are enough to earn that reputation, but now you can add the pennant winning Tampa Bay Rays to the A.L. East’s competitive teams.
If you’re still not convinced, after a mid-season managerial change, the Toronto Blue Jays finished 10 games above .500 to become the best 4th place team in the wildcard era. As for the Baltimore Orioles…well, someone had to finish last.
The Tamp Bay Rays are young and inexpensive—they have less than $50 million in 2009 commitments. They also have a farm system overflowing with talented prospects, giving the defending A.L. Champs plenty of options to fix weaknesses.
Their biggest weakness is hitting left-handed pitching. With Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske testing the free agency waters, the Rays will try to add more offense that can improve the league’s third-worst OPS against lefties.
Tampa Bay would like to add depth to the closer position. Current closer Troy Percival is old and injury prone. If the Rays don’t want to promote an arm from within, they will take a long hard look at what’s available on the free agency market.
The Tampa Bay Rays were forced to a Game 7 of the American League Championship Series by a wounded Boston Red Sox squad. Despite being just one game away from returning to the World Series, the Red Sox have already started to close the gap between them and the upstart Rays.
The Red Sox bolstered their bullpen and thinned out a log jam in centerfield by trading Coco Crisp to the Kansas City Royals for right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez. This makes Jacoby Ellsbury the Red Sox’s starting center fielder.
The Red Sox offered arbitration to catcher Jason Varitek, meaning he’s unlikely to be back with the team next year. To fill the void behind the plate, the Red Sox will likely pursue Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalamacchia, both with the Texas Rangers.
On January 8th, the Red Sox acquired Rocco Baldelli to add to their outfield.
The Red Sox acquired right handed pitcher Randor Bierd from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for right handed pitcher David Pauley.
Boston also signed Brad Penny and free agent right handed pitcher Takashi Saito to a one-year contract through the 2009 season with a club option for 2010.
Any trade Boston makes will probably involve highly touted pitcher Clay Buchholz. Red Sox can part with pitching prospects since they have a solid four-man rotation.
And the team just signed free agent right handed pitcher John Smoltz to a one-year contract through the 2009 season. So their pitching is starting to look very good.
With Manny Ramirez gone and slugger David Oritz another year older, the Red Sox would have loved to have landed the 29-year-old switch-hitting free agent Mark Teixeira to their lineup. But alas, the New York Yankees snatched him up in a move very similar to how they got A-Rod. The deal is for 8-years and $180 million.
The Yankees have a lot of two things: money and old age. Look for baseball’s richest franchise to spend more of its money to get younger, both at the plate and on the mound. They also got
The Yanks have $75 million in 2008 salaries coming off the books thanks to the free agencies of Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte (although Abreu and Pettitte might be back with the team) and to the retirement of pitcher Mike Mussina.
Besides Teixeira, the Yankees have also been salivating over starting pitcher CC Sabathia. The former Brewer ace wants a nine-figure salary and the Yanks can afford to write that check. And in the end, the Evil Empire signed Sabathia as well for 7 years and $161 million.
The Toronto Blue Jays finished the 2008 season with 86 wins, the league’s best ERA, and the league’s fourth-best run differential—all good enough for fourth place in the division.
So can these birds really compete with the top flyers in the AL East? The answer is probably not.
Last year, the Blue Jays had one of the league’s best four-man rotations with Roy Halladay, Burnett, Jesse Litsch and Shaun Marcum. Two of those four pitchers are already gone for next season. Burnett opted for free agency and Marcum will miss all of 2009 with Tommy John surgery.
The problem with the Blue Jays is they don’t have the Red Sox’s or the Yankees’ money, but are stuck in their division. It might be prudent for Toronto to think beyond 2009 and start preparing now to dump salaries before the trade deadline.
The Baltimore Orioles had the fifth oldest lineup in the majors, only two players were south of 30. The good news for the Birds is most of their veterans are entering the final year of their contracts.
Last off season, the Orioles pillaged the Seattle Mariners of numerous prospects for the hugely disappointing Erik Bedard. Anticipate Oriole GM Andy MacPhail to try and repeat that transaction. While it will be difficult to find a team as stupid as the Mariners were a year ago, it’s not out of the question for MacPhail to make several solid trades that make the Orioles younger and competitive.
2nd Basemen Brian Roberts should be one of the first to go followed by Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora and Ramon Hernandez. In return, Baltimore should aim to improve its pitching staff. In 2009, the Orioles had the league’s worst ERA.
The upcoming 2009 MLB season is going to be very exciting and the A.L. East is going to be extremely competitive. Look for the off-season changes to make a big difference for all of the teams in the A.L. East and expect to see Tampa, New York and Boston battle it out all season long.
About The Author:
Ryan Hogan writes for ClickitTicket, a website where you can buy MLB and other sports tickets and read original sports and music articles. This is a MUST-SEE website that has great deals on sports, theater and concert tickets and great original content, visit http://www.clickitticket.com
Playing Golf – Pain or Pleasure?
I have been playing golf for 8 years now. What a great game – I love it, and I hate it (at times)! Do you recognise that feeling?
Previously I played football – was a goalkeeper during my active career, but turned to golf when my knees had had enough of soccer and all its unpredictable injuries. So here I am, an amateur golfer with a handicap of 22, and stuck at that level for quite some time now. That explains the title of this article!
On a winter’s day in 2000 a good friend of mine was kind enough to introduce me to golf, and I was ‘hooked’ at once. In no other game do you have the opportunity to enjoy yourself and to get to know yourself better than through golf. You are on your own, competing against yourself in the company of good friends.
There is nothing like a round of golf on a beautiful summer’s day, standing there on the 1st tee ready to drive – and with all your dreams of ‘the perfect round’ intact. What a great feeling every time! Today’s the day when you are going to lower your handicap considerably!
Always those dreams and that feeling on tee no.1, but 5-7 holes later, most of your dreams have usually been shattered to pieces! What went wrong?
I guess this is the question all amateur golfers ask themselves all too often, and so do I. At the end of the day my scorecard usually shows 25-29 stableford points – sometimes less – typically with 12-14 well played holes, but what about the remaining 4-6 holes? Zero points!
So I guess the question \”What went wrong?\” is extremely relevant to most of us amateur golfers, and personally I have decided to examine the problem thoroughly and find help where I can get it to lower that handicap!
After all, as a sportsman throughout my life, results are what I’m after. Enjoying a round of golf in nice weather, on a beautiful course, and in the company of good friends is quite fine, but just isn’t enough. Let’s face it: we DO want to lower that handicap, don’t we?
How, then? (if you cannot manage to spend tons of cash on your local pro). As for my own game, it typically looks like this: 1) I have a fairly nice swing, but: 2) It only works for about 12-14 holes.
Why? Well, there are at least 3 things necessary to succeed in golf:
1. The swing itself.
2. Your ability to focus on each and every shot.
3. Your fitness level in general.
I have come to the conclusion that my own problem is mainly a lack of ability to focus and concentrate for 4-5 hours on end, and that this, in turn, is partly due to a deficient level of general fitness poor habits concerning eating and drinking properly during the round – I simply forget that very often, and when I do eat and drink, it is often too late to make up for lost shots.
The last point should be fairly easy to deal with yourself, whereas you need help on the other points. To be able to play good golf, it is a fact that you have got to have a good, consistent, repeatable swing, that you must be able to focus and concentrate on each and every shot during the round, and that this might very well be achieved by raising your general fitness level.
In my own case I went searching the internet for help on these points and actually managed to find some good programmes which have helped me considerably. To be able to share this information with others like myself, I decided to create my own golf website with tips, tricks, articles etc. in the hope that you might also benefit from some of it.
The site will be revised and improved continually as I come across good ideas to place there, and I also hope that you might be interested in contributing to improving the contents by joining my blog, and exchanging ideas and experiences about golf in general.
Good luck with your own game!
P.S. After all, golf is more pleasure than pain!
About The Author:
My name is Claus Jensen, a Danish grammar school teacher of English and sports, and an active sportsman all my life. I have created my own golf site in the hope of helping other amateur golfers like myself to improve their game. If you want more information, please visit http://www.cjgolfinfo.com/ or join my blog at http://cjgolfinfo.blogspot.com/
The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympics
When I watched the Opening Ceremony, I was entranced. It began with giant footprints in the sky made of fireworks, leading the way to the stadium. The stadium was built specifically for the Olympics in the shape of a bird’s nest, which is considered a lucky symbol in China. Once at the stadium, fire appeared to race around the top edge of the structure before falling to the ground within like a comet. Two large rectangles full of what turned out to be drummers began performing along with a flickering light show that made patterns from the different drums. It was amazing.
The Opening Ceremony traced the history of China, featuring a huge LED screen that unrolled like a scroll upon the stadium floor. The idea of an unrolling LED screen that people could dance and march upon was ingenious. The screen had images and symbols going by as dancers painted on yet another floor screen, creating a landscape in the style of Chinese brush painting. Next, there were many people in flowing, costumes. A large amount of blocks were in place on the LED screen, and we were treated to a patterned dance by the blocks, first moving like ripples in a pond, then forming Chinese characters and the Great Wall. After it was over, people popped up from each block. They must have practiced for weeks to get the choreography right.
One of my favorite parts was the single dancer in the flowing neon costume who danced upon a moving floor carried by many other people in bright green costumes. She had long flowing ribbons that she waved as part of her dance. Many people then came out carrying large oars. They did what looked like the wave while images of ocean waves played on the top scrim in the stadium. The oarsmen eventually formed a boat around the enter LED screen, which showed images of Chinese ships.
The costumes were amazing. They looked like they were made of silk and other fine fabrics. They say there were 15,000 performers in this Opening Ceremony… and they all had marvelous costumes of vibrant colors. The bright dresses and traditional costumes added to the pageantry. The costumes were so detailed, from the perfect pleats to the tiny gold baubles in the dancers’ hair. China has a reputation of being highly populated, and everything they did used masses of people, which helped bring that feeling to mind. The sheer numbers that performed so beautifully is mind-boggling.
The lighted suits were really cool. It was like watching stars running around. They made the shape of a bird, in honor of the usual pigeons that are traditionally released at the Olympic Games. The lights then formed a bird’s nest, echoing the theme of the stadium.
The history of martial arts was honored with the Tai Chi exhibition, and then images of waterfalls covered the upper scrims while ripples of people made their entrance and got into place. Children sat in the middle of the screen. The masses of practitioners performing were amazing.
I think my favorite part was the astronaut portion. The lights looked like stars, and the astronauts floating in the air were really great as planets floated by on the upper scrims. The people running and tumbling around the circumference of the large globe was a great effect. The theme song was beautiful and haunting as images of whales floated by on the ceiling. The sea of faces they showed during the theme song brought tears to my eyes, as it brought individuality of all nationalities to the show.
The fireworks were amazing. So many colors, so many patterns. The usual parade of nations was done according to the number of strokes in the Chinese names for those countries rather than alphabetically, which made if interesting as you didn’t know who was coming next. There were over 200 countries there to compete in the Olympic Games. They slowly filled the center of the stadium with all the athletes who were there to compete. The small child who came out with the China team was so cute, waving a little flag as he marched.
The speeches were nice, but I really preferred the pageantry of the earlier portion of the ceremony. China really set the bar high for anyone hosting future Olympic Games for the Opening Ceremony. I hope we’ll see more imaginative and innovative ceremonies in the future. This one was very entertaining, touching and gave a true flavor of China.
About The Author:
Jennifer Adams writes for BestShowTickets, where you can buy concert and Broadway tickets as well as all kinds of sports tickets, at: http://www.bestshowticketslasvegas.com
