Dont let them catch on... Bet in odd strides like if you have really good cards bet decent and on the next set of betting bid low so they stay in and maybe even raise... getting you morr chips. irrational betting is key and try not to act surprized or panic if you have a good or bad hand... people can detect that from a mile away if there any bit good.
Some advice I'd give you about starting out in Hold'em is to play textbook. What I mean by that is to play tight, don't play anything lower than a J/10 in bad position if your chip stack is medium to low. Raise with pocket pairs 7 and up in most situations, and generally try to play smart poker.
Once you get better you can start getting creative.
We are six days into August and it looks like a great month for baseball. A Rod hit home run 500, Bonds might pass Aaron, and some great division races are heating up. Oh and Yankees just tied Detroit for AL Wild Card, that's something.
I think THIS is the bad advice, for ANY type of player. Wyrm's advice is good in a general sense. Honestly, the only way to get better is to play. The ONLY way. You can get advice, you can read books, and these will give you good ideas, and tell you what direction to go in, but there is NO substitute to actually playing live.
KTT, don't go from online to live and play the same. The difference in the two is astounding.
EDIT-After a thought, Truth's advice is pretty good for limit poker. Not good for no limit. Vice versa for Wyrm's.
Dont let them catch on... Bet in odd strides like if you have really good cards bet decent and on the next set of betting bid low so they stay in and maybe even raise... getting you morr chips. irrational betting is key and try not to act surprized or panic if you have a good or bad hand... people can detect that from a mile away if there any bit good.
so BIG might be an exageration, but we already have an injured list with some key players on it. Seymour, for instance?
I think that has to do with it being less about organized play and more about individualistic effort.
My favourite sport is easily badminton. It's easy to pick up and you don't need a lot of training before you can really play (tennis) but you can still always improve and get better at it. Badminton is also great exersice and requires a lot of tactics and mind games (because you can't really hit the ball that hard (tennis)).Oh man I forgot about this one, its a favorite of mine as well. My family and I are pretty competitive about it, and my dad, my brother, and I are all quite good. I'm working on mastering placement and trick shots right now.
Sorry, I cannot agree. No limit is a game about CALCULATED agressiveness, not about random betting. A new player just does not know how to read betting patterns enough to go exploring with 5/6 offsuit. You're going to lose a LOT of dead money that way.
man, i just never bluff. i only do it when i'm short stacked =_=
Other then that, wrestling.More like soap opera
agreed. im a fan of the shortstacked all-in.
kinda related but worth mentioning - one of the dumbest things i find bad players do is catch an early break in chip lead, then start playing EVERYTHING. calling with garbage hoping to hit the flop. Value your chips. Don't tell yourself, "What if?" after every flop. When you fold em, forget about em.
agreed. im a fan of the shortstacked all-in.
kinda related but worth mentioning - one of the dumbest things i find bad players do is catch an early break in chip lead, then start playing EVERYTHING. calling with garbage hoping to hit the flop. Value your chips. Don't tell yourself, "What if?" after every flop. When you fold em, forget about em.
Jermaine O'Neal will most likely go to LA but Vince has stated in a public release to bring O'Neal over to New Jersey.
If they accomplish this, the Nets will have the most dangerous starting 5 in the league, but still a bench hardly worth calling 'average'.
Vince, Jefferson, Kidd, Kristic, O'Neal... damn
What are you high or do you just not understand how things like this work.
Do you REALLY think Indiana is just going to GIVE him away? Ignore the fact that they would have to get a max contract back (Jefferson) to even fit O'neill on under the cap (Protip: You can't fit four max contracts under the cap) your vision isn't going to happen.
Now they might trade Jefferson and Kristic for like O'Neill and a bag of balls, but is a starting five of Kidd Carter Role Player Role Player O'Neill really anything write home about in a division with Boston (Big three where every single player is better than anyone on the nets), Toronto, and a conference with Detroit and Miami?
Do you not understand what a hypothetical situation is? I didn't say this WOULD happen, I'm saying that if O'Neal opted out (Is he a FA?) and went to the Nets NOT taking in a max contract (Just wants to play for a contender so he can get a ring), that's the situation I was speaking of. Something like Malone did with the Lakers just because that was his final year of play and wanted a ring, while O'Neal still has a good number of years ahead of him.. I know exactly how it works, I was just saying how DANGEROUS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN if this came to pass. Obviously it won't and I know that...
But Boston is strengthening their bench as the days go on, they just signed Pollard, House and even trying to get one of the top 50 greatest players in NBA history to come out of retirement, Reggie Miller.. but he's obviously not gonna be playing that much and won't be nearly as effective even just a few years ago in his last years with the Pacers. But he'll provide a bit of spark still..
LA would have to give away some prospects as well for him to come if they wanted him, but I think Jermaine is gonna stay right where he is in Indy...
Boston has probably the most dangerous trio in the league yes but with a bench hardly worth calling 'average'.. In order to go really, really deep into the Playoffs and be a championship contender, you need a bench.. Detroit and Miami are perfect examples in past years. Because of the Celt's sheer talent of their starting lineup, they will do exceptionally well with going deep in the East and making it to the East finals (Possibly!) but they won't do as well as they hope so and what their expectations deem as. I do not see them coming out of the East, nor even standing a chance against the many West's powerhouses.. Teams like the Spurs, Mavs and Suns will rip them apart when going the distance..
But Boston is strengthening their bench as the days go on, they just signed Pollard, House and even trying to get one of the top 50 greatest players in NBA history to come out of retirement, Reggie Miller.. but he's obviously not gonna be playing that much and won't be nearly as effective even just a few years ago in his last years with the Pacers. But he'll provide a bit of spark still..
This is what i'm talking about. You clearly don't know what you're talking about, and you're spouting nonsense. Not only is he NOT a free agent, but he's making the league max for the next three years. You're displaying absolutely no knowledge of the cba. He cannot simply opt out of his contract, this isn't how things like this work. The Pacers own his rights, and will own his rights until his contract ends or they receive fair compensation for their player. Karl Malone WAS a free agent when he signed for the lakers, he was also in his late thirties chasing a ring. Just don't talk in these threads if all you know about basketball is how awesome your signed chris bosh jersey looks.
I repeat.
JERMAINE IS NOT A FREE AGENT, HE WILL NOT BE FOR THREE YEARS. Not only that but he makes the seventh most in the league (19 million) and the only team in the nba that could take him on without moving another max contract is Charlotte, and that will never happen in a million years.
YES the nets MIGHT get him with a jefferson Kristic package (Which seams exceedingly weaksauce next to a package of Bynum/Odom/pick that the lakers could offer) but they certainly won't be trotting out the aformentioned lineup.
Yes I do know what I'm talking about, but you do not understand what I'm saying because your fucking ego is off the charts champ... First off, I didn't know if O'Neal was a restricted free agent or not a free agent at all, which is WHY I put it in brackets after I stated that sentence... If he's not, then OBVIOUSLY there's not much that he can do because he's obligated to the Pacers!
Do you not have any sort of literacy skills? Look at my paragraph clearly outlining the DIFFERENCES OF Malone's situation and O'neal's, which pretty much AGREES with what you're saying but your failure to read was your downfall - You totally missed my point. Again I said it was a HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION, its sometimes FUNNY to think of situations like this which will NEVER HAPPEN. (Such as Kobe being mad at LA's direction and wanted to goto the Bulls. Then you think of what the Bulls would send in return).. You clearly can't tell the difference between a fucking 'I wish!' post and what is actually reality.
I do know what I'm talking about, its just your failure to read which makes you put words into my mouth..
P.S. I like the Suns better than the Raps btw, but I still like the direction of the Raps under Colangelo.
As I said, the Celts are focusing on improving their bench and they've added some notable free agents and proven vets of the league, which is what they have to focus on. Not sure your point at all! (And yes, I still don't think they'll win the East. And if they end up doing so, then they will get crushed in the NBA Finals.. The reason they made these moves is because they want to be a contender RIGHT NOW, and anything short of winning the NBA championship this season to the next 2 MAYBE 3 seasons would be a sheer disappointment on their part).
Jermaine O'Neal will most likely go to LA but Vince has stated in a public release to bring O'Neal over to New Jersey.
If they accomplish this, the Nets will have the most dangerous starting 5 in the league, but still a bench hardly worth calling 'average'.
Vince, Jefferson, Kidd, Kristic, O'Neal... damn
No, what you said about malone did not agree with me. You were comparing how the completely HYPOTHETICAL IDIOTIC situation was like malone, and i refuted that by showing you how they have NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER.
Something like Malone did with the Lakers just because that was his final year of play and wanted a ring' date=' [b']while O'Neal still has a good number of years ahead of him[/b]
Sure it's fun to imagine fairy tale situations but your previous statement
is not at all the same as someone looking at a situation that is not likely to happen. You are implying that something that is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE could quite possibly happen.
Go away.
Uh.. no?
I implied here that his situation is DIFFERENT, maybe I should've expanded on it for thick skulls like you but there, that's what I meant (Their situations are different, which didn't take into account the free agent situations).. I could care less if its an 'idiotic hypothetical situation', there are a lot more idiotic hypothetical situations thrown out there so there you go!
Then you are a fool for not understanding the PURPOSE behind that post. The "hey anything could happen!" thing, I simply said "Wouldn't it be cool if that happened and they kept all of their core players intact?".
Sure its not fucking realistic but that WASN'T THE FUCKING POINT, and when you looked at it from a SERIOUS PERSPECTIVE, well then that explains your idiotic outrage.
Man... learn to keep your fucking ego in check. If you don't like certain things posted, then simply ignore it! If you don't like looking at jokes or hypothetical fantasies of situtations, then ignore it! I don't know how to fucking explain it to you other than I wasn't being serious when I posted that...
:incred:
Jermaine O'Neal will most likely go to LA but Vince has stated in a public release to bring O'Neal over to New Jersey.
If they accomplish this, the Nets will have the most dangerous starting 5 in the league, but still a bench hardly worth calling 'average'.
Vince, Jefferson, Kidd, Kristic, O'Neal... damn
You didn't understand the cba, and are trying to cover your tracks by saying that you were just discussing a FANTASY scenario that can never ever happen rather than just admitting you don't know anything about the salary cap, CBA, or the nba in general.
Semantics semantics, if you'd like to add something meaningful to the thread then go ahead and do so otherwise why are you even posting here.
Last week, I saw a PRIDE match on TV between a guy who looked like Haggar and some guy with a really big head. They came out of their corners and just started punching each other in the head nonstop for a couple minutes. It was pretty awesome.
Whenever I see UFC on TV, it looks like two guys are rolling around on the ground hugging each other. It's a little too homoerotic for me.
i am having a hard time caring about this football season because i am having a hard time imagining anyone beating new england
i am having a hard time caring about this football season because i am having a hard time imagining anyone beating new england
there's still room on the bandwagon friend.adalius thomas has been my favorite defensive player for years
adalius thomas has been my favorite defensive player for years
but i will never turn to the dark side
Dude, the Riders are actually doing good this year. They might actually make it to the Grey Cup this year.Damn straight!
competitive eating(#1charles chestnutt fan)
Isn't that Joey Chestnutt? The guy who beat Kobiyashi?i have no idea what you are talking about who the fuck is joey chestnut?
Go Ice hockey!YES!
Overbay is a horrible fielder. I understand if someone makes an error on a ball every now and then, but this guy does it repeatedly.dude, the guy has 4 errors this year. don't sweat it if a guy has 2 key errors over a six game span. it happens. the guy actually leads the majors in range factor at first base(and leads the AL by a wide margin). so basically he's getting more outs for toronto at first base per game than any other player in baseball. it's his total lack of power since coming off the DL that you should be worried about.
Pool/Billiards isn't on this list? This is madness.this is sparta lol
i am insulted that competitive eating made this list but not pokerWhat would you remove to allow poker entry into this tournament? (I think I'm going to replace Squash).
What would you remove to allow poker entry into this tournament? (I think I'm going to replace Squash).competitive eating.
I personally believe that poker isn't a sport, but since some people do feel the other way I wouldn't mind adding it to the competition.
EDIT: Updated List by removing squash, replacing it with Poker, and moving some matches around to given the second division some more variety and more challenge to Baseball. Tell me what you think.
competitive eating.In Hundley's defense at least competitive eating requires some physical prowess, so it fits the definition of sport a little better than poker. But who cares, they're both in now, so we'll see how they'll both do.
no offense to hundley
wait lacrosse isn't in there? add that shitYou're right, I'll replace inline hockey with lacrosse.
also, no reason to have BOTH ice and inline hockeys.
But Competitive Eating? SRLSY? I'd take that out and put in Canadian Football. Or Lacrosse.When I put in "American Football" I meant football in general. I only put in "American" so that no one would confuse it with soccer. Are American & Canadian football that different though to warrant separate entries? They're pretty much the same sport with different changes, so I'd just classify them both together in the tournament. I'll tell you what, I'll remove the word American from the name, and just leave it as Football.
Surfing is a recreational activity in which individuals paddle into a wave on a surfboard, jump to their feet, and are propelled across the water by the force of the wave. Surfing's appeal probably derives from an unusual confluence of elements: adrenaline, skill, and high paced maneuvering are set against a naturally unpredictable backdrop—an organic environment that is, by turns, graceful and serene, violent and formidable.
Derivatives of surfing make use of other elements, such as the wind, these include kitesurfing and windsurfing. Other surfing derivatives when their are not any waves include paddleboarding and sea kayaking. Divisions reflect differences in surfboard design, such as long-boards and short-boards. Additional Tow-in surfing to tow the surfer onto the wave, this is associated with big wave surfing, where standard paddling is unwise due to the waves rapid forward motion.
Waterskiing evolved out of the desire to go fast on water, but not in a boat. While most people are content to be towed behind a boat, skimming the water on one ski or two, more advanced skiers like to test themselves on slalom courses and by performing tricks (flips, turns, etc.) either on ramps or simply on the wake of the towing watercraft. Others like to skim on the soles of their feet, without the aid of any water-skis, though this requires boats to be moving at 50-60 km per hour.
Types of waterskiing & water ski competitions:
- Classic Water Skiing - competition involves three different events: slalom, tricks and jump
- Wakeboarding - evolved from different sports including surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding.
- Barefoot no skis, board…
- Adapted - Water skis modified for individuals with a disability, and typically with the same events as water skiing - slalom, tricks and jump.
- Marathon - athletes either travel a given distance or number of laps around a circuit as quickly as possible. It is also known as water ski racing
- Hydrofoiling - incorporates the principles of aerodynamics, using underwater wings to lift the skier and reduce drag, helping experienced riders do flips and rolls 25' above the water.
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six active players, separated by a high net, each try to score points against one another by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.
The complete rules of volleyball are extensive, but in general, play proceeds as follows. Points are scored by grounding the ball on the opponents' court, or when the opponent commits a fault. The first team to reach 25 points wins the set and the first team to win three sets wins the match. Teams can contact the ball no more than three times before the ball crosses the net, and consecutive contacts must be made by different players. The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.
Variations of volleyball include beach volleyball, which is played on sand and generally in teams of two.
Golf is a sport in which individual players or teams of players strike a ball into a hole using several types of clubs. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a fixed, standardised playing field or area. Golf is played in an area of land designated a golf course. A course consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing area, fairway, rough and other hazards, and the green with the pin and cup.
Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two successive nine-hole rounds. A hole of golf consists of hitting a ball from a tee on the teeing box (a marked area designated for the first shot of a hole, a tee shot), and once the ball comes to rest, striking it again. This process is repeated until the ball is in the cup. In every form of play, the goal is to play as few strokes per round as possible.
Variations of golf include playing in teams of two players each, with partners alternating playing the golfball, or with both players getting their own ball and the lower score being counted on each hole.
Probably chess
Football is a competitive team sport known for its physical roughness despite being a highly strategic game. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line or kicking it through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires and the last play ends.
The object of the game is that two teams of fifteen players each, should score as many points as possible, by carrying, passing, kicking and grounding the ball with the team scoring the greater number of points being the winner of the match. It is classified as an 'end zone invasion game'. The aim of each team is to gain possession of the ball, take it into opposition territory and to place it in the in-goal area (end zone). Rugby is a game of continuous flow (Play pauses for penalties, scores, when the ball goes out of touch. The game is not stopped for injuries until the ball is out of play. Unlike American football, play does not stop with a tackle.), there is constant competition for the ball at the breakdown.
Bocce is played on soil or asphalt courts approximately 20 to 27 metres in length and 2.5 to 4 metres wide, sometimes with wooden boards of approximately 15 centimetres in height surrounding the court. Bocce balls can be made of bronze or various kinds of plastic. Unlike lawn bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no inbuilt bias.
A game can be contested between two players, or two teams of two or four. A match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the jack (called a pallino or boccino in some areas), from one end of the court into a zone about 5 metres in length, ending 2 metres from the far end of the court. If they miss twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to roll the pallino anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone. If neither team is able to roll the pallino into play as prescribed in the rules, then the pallino is placed on a spot that is marked on the court. At this time the team that attempted to put the pallino into play first gets to roll the first ball.
The side that places the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does not have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining bocce balls. Like lawn bowls, the team with the closest ball or balls to the jack is awarded one point for each ball that is closer to the jack than the other side's closest ball. The contest continues until one team scores 13 points (though this can vary regionally).
Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball into a more favourable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the bocce ball to land or roll it accurately.
Curling is a team sport with similarities to bowls and bocce, played on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared ice by two teams of four players each. Teams alternate turns at sliding heavy, polished granite stones down the ice towards the target area called the house. Two sweepers with brooms accompany each rock and use timing equipment and their best judgement along with direction from their other teammates to help direct the stones to their resting place. The complex nature of stone placement and shot selection has led some to refer to curling as "chess on ice".
One game consists of ten "ends". An end is similar to a baseball inning. During each end, each team delivers eight stones - two stones per person. The team members deliver the stones in a set order presented to the officials before the game. The first player is known as the "lead". He/she is followed by the "second," then the "third" (also known as the "vice-skip") and finally the "skip", who is the leader of the team. Each end starts with the leads alternating throws until they have each thrown their two stones. They are followed by the seconds in the same manner, and so on.
The score for the end is determined when all 16 stones have been delivered. The team that scores in an end shoots first in the next end. The team with the most points at the conclusion of ten ends is the winner.
Might as well rename this topic to "The Americans vs The Rest of the World"
i have no idea what bocce is (never heard of it before now), so curling it is!It's actually pretty fun, and you could probably get a cheap bocce set at any large department store in their sports section. Bocce is pretty much the same as Lawn Bowling, with the main difference being that bocce has a standardized playing court whereas lawn bowling is played on any freeform grass environment.
edit: I play No limit hold 'em
Two notable incidents: The entire Chelsea vs. Liverpool match and Healy's disallowed goal.
Just in the event that a poll closes when it's a tie, in that case I'll use a random number generator to break it.or you could reopen it and as soon as the next (tie breaking) vote comes in close it again.
poor>play for fun
The goal of competitive swimming is to be the fastest to swim a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century, and comprises 34 events - 17 male events and 17 female events. Swimming is a popular event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool.
The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle (front crawl). While "freestyle" and "front crawl" are often used interchangeably, a swimmer may actually swim any stroke in a freestyle race. Swimmers generally choose to swim the front crawl in a freestyle event since the front crawl is typically the fastest stroke.
These strokes can be swum individually or together in an individual medley (IM). The IM order is: 1) butterfly, 2) backstroke, 3) breaststroke, and 4) freestyle. There are two types of relays: medley and freestyle. The medley relay order is: 1) backstroke, 2) breaststroke, 3) butterfly, and 4) freestyle. Each of the four swimmers in the relay swims a predetermined distance, dependent on the overall length of the relay. The three relay lengths are 200 meters or yards, 400 meters or yards, and 800 meters or yards (which is only swum freestyle). In a 50 meter pool, each swimmer swims one length for the 200 relay, two lengths for the 400 relay, and four lengths for the 800 relay. In a 25 meter or yard pool, each swimmer swims two lengths for the 200 relay, four lengths for the 400 relay, and eight lengths for the 800 relay. Many full-size competition pools in the United States have a length of 50 meters and a width of 25 yards, allowing both short course (25 m or 25 yd pool) and long course (50 m pool) races to be held.
There are several types of judge: a starter sets off the swimmers; turn judges check that the swimmers' turns are within rules; swim judges check the swimmers' strokes; time keepers time the swims; and the referee checks that everything is running smoothly. If an official catches a swimmer breaking a rule concerning the stroke he or she is swimming, that swimmer is said to be disqualified (commonly referred to as "DQ'd" or "deaked") and the swim is not considered valid.
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on river, lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water. The sport can be both recreational, focusing on learning the techniques required, and competitive where overall fitness plays a large role.
There are different types of competition in the sport of rowing. In the U.S. all types of races are referred to as "regattas" whereas this term is only used in the UK for head-to-head races which take place in the summer season. Time trials occur in the UK during the winter, and are referred to as Head races.
Rowing is unusual in the demands it places on competitors. The standard world championship race distance of 2,000 metres is long enough to have a large endurance element, but short enough (typically 5.5 to 7.5 minutes) to feel like a sprint. This means that rowers have some of the highest power outputs of athletes in any sport. At the same time the motion involved in the sport compresses the rowers' lungs, limiting the amount of oxygen available to them. This requires rowers to tailor their breathing to the stroke, typically inhaling and exhaling twice per stroke, unlike most other sports such as cycling where competitors can breathe freely.
Most races that are held in the spring and summer feature side by side racing also called a regatta - all the boats start at the same time from a stationary position and the winner is the boat that crosses the finish line first. The number of boats in a race typically varies between two (which is sometimes referred to as a 'dual race') to six, but any number of boats can start together if the course is wide enough. In general, multi-boat competitions are organized in a series of rounds, with the fastest boats in each heat qualifying for the next round. The losing boats from each heat may be given a second chance to qualify through a repechage.
Competitive eating involves the consumption of large quantities of food in a short time period – typically 15 minutes or less. The type of food varies, although contests are primarily focused on fast food or dessert; items are almost always a single type of food, such as hot dogs, pie, or mayonnaise, among many others.
Competitive eaters, sometimes known as "gurgitators", compete in more than 100 Major League Eating events annually worldwide that are governed by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). The IFOCE, which first established eating as a sport in the 1990s, has recently launched Major League Eating to serve as an umbrella for competitive eating worldwide while also providing a recognized brand for licensing of t-shirts and other products. It features videos of contests and eaters and offers a complete online community similar to MySpace, for eating fans.
The website features a video of Joey Chestnut's recent record-breaking performance, when he ate 59.5 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes to top Kobayashi's previous record of 53.75. Major League Eating, as overseen by the IFOCE, is the only organization that has established extensive safety regulations for events. A smaller organization, the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE), established by Coondog O'Karma and Arnie "Chowhound" Chapman, also sanctions contests. The IFOCE awarded nearly $350,000 in prize money in 2006. In addition to a one-hour live broadcast of the Nathan's Famous contest for ESPN, IFOCE has produced a three-hour elimination tournament on ESPN called the Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating and additional hours of ESPN programming on eating for Johnsonville Brats and Krystal hamburgers. The IFOCE also recently produced a series of 30-minute television shows, Eats of Strength, for the high-definition network, InHD. Spike TV is also running a series of one-hour Major League Eating events featuring the top eaters of the IFOCE.
Other open-ended eating contests sponsored by restaurants can involve a challenge to eat a huge amount of foods such as a giant steak or hamburger, in a set amount of time, typically an hour. Often the prize is that the winner does not have to pay for the large amount of food they just consumed.
Outside of the professional realm of eating challenges, amateur eating contests between friends and strangers have found their way into popular culture. Loose associations such as the Federation of Amateur Eating Contests have formed to provide spontaneous challenges to patrons of restaurants at any given time. Members enter into an agreement, often set up so that the loser of the contest pays the bill. From there, onlookers to the challenge are openly invited to enter the contest and "out eat" the competition. Several competitions have seen upwards of 20 contestants competing.
Being overweight is not necessarily an advantage. In fact, the "fat belt" theory holds that any excess body fat is a disadvantage in that it prevents the stomach from expanding as much as it otherwise could.[1][2] Stomach elasticity is usually considered the key to eating success, and competitors commonly train by drinking large amounts of water over a short time to stretch out the stomach. The IFOCE actively discourages training of any sort.
Billiards are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber cushions.
There are three major subdivisions of games within cue sports: 1) carom billiards, referring to games played on tables without pockets, including among others balkline and straight rail, cushion caroms, three-cushion billiards and artistic billiards; 2) pocket billiards (or "pool") generally played on a table with six pockets, including among others 8-ball (the world's most widely played cue sport), nine-ball, straight pool, one-pocket and bank pool; and 3) snooker, which while technically a pocket billiards game, is generally classified separately based on its historic divergence from other games, as well as a separate culture and terminology that characterize its play. More obscurely, there are games that make use of obstacles and targets, and table-top games played with disks instead of balls.
At least the games with regulated international professional competition have been referred to as "sports" or "sporting" events, not simply "games", since 1893 at the latest. Quite a variety of particular games (i.e. sets of rules and equipment) are the subject of present-day competition, including many of those already mentioned, with competition being especially broad in nine-ball, snooker, three-cushion and eight-ball...
Snooker, though technically a pocket billiards variant and closely related in its equipment and origin to the game of English billiards, is a professional sport organized at the international level, and its rules bear little resemblance to those of pool games.
A "Billiards" category encompassing pool, snooker and carom was featured in the 2005 World Games, held in Duisburg, Germany, and the 2006 Asian Games also saw the introduction of a "Cue sports" category. Efforts have also been underway for many years to have cue sports become Olympic competitions.
or you could reopen it and as soon as the next (tie breaking) vote comes in close it again.That's true, but what happens when I'm not here to open the poll and wait? Hmm.. I've got an idea. How about the first post that is posted after the poll closes with a person voting for one of the two sports wins. Like: "I can't vote because the poll is closed, but since it's a tie I'd like to break it by voting for Sport X." That should work since the poll closes at a specific stated time. It would be easy for me to compare post times with this time.
Say goodbye to paintball and fencing. I doubt they had a chance to win anyway.Fencing is one of my favorite sports :[
Ice hockey is played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players per side on the ice at any time, each of whom is on ice skates. There are five players and one goaltender per side. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, the puck, into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end. Players may also redirect the puck with any part of their bodies, subject to certain restrictions. Players can angle their feet so the puck can redirect into the net, but there can be no kicking motion. Players may not intentionally bat the puck into the net with their hands.
Hockey is an "offside" game, meaning that forward passes are allowed, unlike in rugby. Before the 1930s hockey was an onside game, meaning that only backward passes were allowed. The period of the onside game was the golden age of stick-handling, which was of prime importance in moving the game forward. With the arrival of offside rules, the forward pass transformed hockey into a truly team sport, where individual heroics diminished in importance relative to team play, which could now be coordinated over the entire surface of the ice as opposed to merely rearward players.[16]
The other five players are typically divided into three forwards and two defencemen. The forward positions consist of a center and two wingers: a left wing and a right wing. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair, but may change less frequently than the forwards. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Teams typically employ alternate sets of forward lines and defensive pairings when shorthanded or on a power play. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game, although during a stoppage of play the home team is permitted the final change. When players are substituted during play, it is called changing on the fly. A new NHL rule added in the 2005-2006 season prevents a team from changing their line after they ice the puck.
The boards surrounding the ice help keep the puck in play (they can also be used as tools to play the puck), and play often proceeds for minutes without interruption. When play is stopped, it is restarted with a faceoff. There are two major rules of play in ice hockey that limit the movement of the puck: offsides and icing.
Lacrosse is a team sport that is played with ten players (men's field), six players (men's box), or twelve players (women's field), each of whom uses a netted stick (the crosse) in order to pass and catch a hard rubber ball with the aim of scoring goals (each worth one point traditionally, but Major League Lacrosse uses a two point goal for goals scored from a distance of 16 yards or greater from the goal) by propelling the ball into the opponent's goal. The team scoring the most points after two halves, of varying length from competition to competition, and overtime if necessary, wins.
Most popular in North America, lacrosse is Canada's national summer sport. It has grown in popularity in the United States, becoming the fastest growing sport at the high school and NCAA levels.
In its modern form, men's lacrosse is played on a field of grass, artificial turf, or field turf. Each team is composed of 10 players on the field at a time: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defenders and one goaltender. In men's lacrosse, players wear protective equipment on their heads, shoulders, arms, and hands, as body-checking is an integral part of the game, and stick checks to the arms and hands are considered legal. Women's lacrosse is played in a similar manner except with two additional midfielders per team. Players of women's lacrosse (in the United States only) need only wear protective eyewear (except for the goaltender, who wears additional padding, usually consisting of a helmet, shin guards, and chest pad, and most goalies do not wear arm pads), as contact is not permitted apart from minor stick-checks.
Men’s lacrosse is a full contact sport, with players wearing complete protective equipment. Thus “checking” - striking opponents’ stick or body with the stick - is legal and very much part of the game.
Each team starts with ten players on the field: a goalkeeper and three defenders in the defensive end; three midfielders free to roam the whole field; and three attackers in the offensive end. Each quarter starts with a “face-off” in which the ball is placed on the ground and two “face-off-men” lay their stick horizontally next to the ball, head of the stick inches from the ball and the butt-end pointing down the midfield line. Face-off-men scrap for the ball, often by “clamping” it under their stick and flicking it out to their midfielders, who start on the wing restraining line near the sideline and sprint in when the whistle is blown to start play. Attackers and defenders cannot cross their “restraining line” until one player from the midfield takes possession of the ball. A face-off also restarts the game after each goal.
Time continues to run in dead ball situations such as in between goals, with two exceptions: when the referees deem it necessary to avoid a significant loss of playing time, for example when chasing a ball shot far away or during care of an injured player; and in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter of any men’s game.
In men's lacrosse, players can be awarded penalties of two types by the referee for rule infractions. Personal fouls always result in the player serving time in the penalty box, located at the side of the field between the opposing teams' interchange benches. These penalties can last one to three minutes at the referee's discretion. Two and three minute penalties are usually reserved for the most serious slashing or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Technical fouls are less severe and result in 30 seconds being served only if the foul was committed while the opposing team was in possession of the ball. If there was a loose ball situation or the player's team was in possession at the time of the foul, they only result in a turnover. Technical fouls are "releasable," meaning that a player may return to the game without spending the entire duration of his penalty in the box if the opposing team scores during the penalty. Fouls form an important part of men's lacrosse as while a player is serving time, his team is 'man down'. At this time his defense usually plays a 'zone' while they wait for the penalty to expire while the attacking team has its best opportunity to score.
Speed skating (also long track speedskating or long track speed skating) is an Olympic sport where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. Sports such as short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating have also been called speed skating. Long track speed skating enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands, and has also had champion athletes from Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, Italy, Norway, South Korea, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United States. Speed skaters attain maximum speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph) during the shorter distances.
All races are held in pairs, for which two lanes on the track are used. Skaters wear bands around their upper arm to identify which lane they started in. The colours are white for inner lane and red for outer lane. At the back straight, the skaters switch lanes, which causes them both to cover the same distance per lap. When both skaters emerge from the corner at the exact same time, the person currently in the inner lane will have to let the outer lane pass in front of him.
Occasionally, quartet starts are used, for the pragmatic and practical reason of allowing more skaters to complete their races inside a given amount of time. This involves having two pairs of skaters in the lanes at the same time, but with the second pair starting when the first have completed approximately half of the first lap. The skaters in the second pair will then wear yellow and blue arm bands instead of the usual white and red.
When skating the Team pursuit, the two teams of three team members start at opposite sides of the oval. In marathon races there is usually a mass-start.
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other moves on ice. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level (senior), and at local, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) regulates international figure skating judging and competitions. Figure skating is an official event in the Winter Olympic Games. In languages other than English, figure skating is usually referred to by a name that translates as "artistic skating".
Major international competitions are sanctioned by the ISU. These include the Winter Olympic Games, the World Championships, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, the European Figure Skating Championships, and the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
The sport is also associated with show business. Major competitions generally include exhibitions at the end in which the top-placing skaters perform for the crowd by showing off their various skills. Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice skating exhibitions or shows which run during the competitive season and the off-season.
Olympic sports in figure skating comprise the following disciplines:
- Singles competition for men and women (who are referred to as "ladies" in ISU rulebooks), wherein skaters perform jumps, spins, step sequences, and other elements in their programs.
- Pair skating teams consist of a woman and a man. Pairs perform singles elements in unison as well as pair-specific elements such as throw jumps, in which the man 'throws' the woman into a jump; lifts, in which the woman is held above the man's head in one of various grips and positions; pair spins, in which both skaters spin together about a common axis; death spirals, and other elements.
- Ice dancing is again for couples consisting of a woman and a man skating together. Ice dance differs from pairs in focusing on intricate footwork performed in close dance holds, in time with the music. Ice dancers do not perform the acrobatic jumps, throws, and lifts of pair skating.
Figure skating = cute girls in skimpy outfits.(http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/3640/sachasplitom0.jpg)
Baseball is a sport played between two teams usually of nine players each. It is a bat-and-ball game in which a pitcher throws (pitches) a hard, fist-sized, leather-covered ball toward a batter on the opposing team. The batter attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered cylindrical bat, made of wood (as required in professional baseball) or a variety of other materials (as allowed in many nonprofessional games). A team scores runs only when batting, by advancing its players—primarily via hits—counterclockwise past a series of four markers called bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or "diamond." The game, played without time restriction, is structured around nine segments called innings. In each inning, both teams are given the opportunity to bat and score runs; a team's half-inning ends when three outs are recorded against that team.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams, usually of eleven players each. A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a pitch. At each end of the pitch is a construction of three parallel wooden stakes (known as stumps) driven vertically into the ground, with two small crosspieces (known as bails) laid across the top of them. This wooden structure is called a wicket.
The bowler, a player from the fielding team, hurls a hard, fist-sized, cork-centred, leather-covered ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the batted ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman, if he or she does not get out (for example if the bowled ball hits the wicket, or if a fielder catches the ball off the bat before it bounces), may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the non-striker), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run, and the match is won by the team that scores more runs.
There are ten ways in which a batsman may be dismissed. Once a batsman is dismissed, he leaves the field to be replaced by another batsman. When the tenth batsmen is out, and only one batsman remains undismissed, the side is "all out" and the innings is over.
Many modes of dismissal require the wicket to be "put down". The wicket is put down if a bail is dislodged from the top of the stumps; or if a stump is struck out of the ground either by the ball or by a fielder using the hand in which the ball is being held.
Wrestling is the act of physical engagement between two competitors competing for a physical advantage. Physical techniques which embody the style of wrestling are clinching, holding, locking and leverage. Avoiding potentially lethal techniques, wrestling has aspects of ritual fighting, but its basic principles are closely related to those of military hand-to-hand combat or self-defence systems.
Wrestling disciplines defined by FILA, are broken down into two categories; International wrestling disciplines and folk wrestling disciplines. According to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, there are five current International wrestling disciplines acknowledged throughout the world. They are Greco-Roman Wrestling, freestyle wrestling, Sambo, Grappling, Beach Wrestling and Judo
Freestyle wrestling is an International discipline and an Olympic sport. "In free style, it is allowed to hold the legs of the opponent, to make trips and to use actively legs on the execution of any action.
"Grappling, also called submission wrestling, refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling can be used in both a standing position, where it is known as stand-up grappling, and on the ground, where it is known as ground grappling. Grappling is an essential part of both clinch fighting and ground fighting".
Apparently in a bid to give wrestling greater appeal to television audiences, FILA adopted Beach wrestling as an official discipline during 2004-2005. Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 6 meters in diameter. There are only two weight categories, heavy and light. The objective is to throw your opponent or take your opponent to his or her back. The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wear spandex or athletic shorts.
Judo (柔道, jūdō?), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or applying a choke.
Boxing, also referred to as pugilism and The Sweet Science, is a combat sport of English origin in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. Victory is achieved if the opponent is knocked down and unable to get up before the referee counts to ten (a Knockout, or KO) or if the opponent is deemed too injured to continue (a Technical Knockout, or TKO). If there is no stoppage of the fight before an agreed number of rounds, a winner is determined either by the referee's decision or by judges' scorecards.
A boxing match typically consists of a predetermined number of three-minute rounds, anywhere from three for an Olympic bout to up to fifteen for a professional fight. A minute is typically spent between each round with the fighters in their assigned corners receiving advice and attention from their coach and staff. The fight is controlled by a referee who works within the ring to judge and control the conduct of the fighters, rule on their ability to fight safely, count knocked-down fighters, and rule on fouls. Up to three judges are typically present at ringside to score the bout and assign points to the boxers, based on punches that connect, defense and knockdowns. Each fighter has an assigned corner of the ring, where his or her coach, as well as one or more "seconds" may administer to the fighter at the beginning of the fight and between rounds. Each boxer enters into the ring from their assigned corners at the beginning of each round and must cease fighting and return to their corner at the signaled end of each round.
A bout in which the predetermined number of rounds passes is decided by the judges. The fighter with the higher score at the end of the fight is ruled the winner. With three judges, unanimous and split decisions are possible, as are draws. A boxer may win the bout before a decision is reached through a knockout. If a fighter is knocked down during the fight, determined by whether the boxer touches the canvas floor of the ring with any part of their body other than the feet, the referee begins counting until the fighter returns to his or her feet and can continue. Should the referee count to ten, then the knocked-down boxer is ruled "knocked out" (whether he or she is unconscious or not) and the other boxer is ruled the winner by knockout (KO). A "technical knockout" (TKO) is possible as well, and is ruled by the referee, fight doctor, or a fighter's corner if a fighter is unable to safely continue to fight, based upon injuries or being judged unable to effectively defend themselves. Many jurisdictions and sanctioning agencies also have a "three-knockdown rule", in which three knockdowns result in a TKO. A TKO is considered a knockout in a fighter's record. A "standing eight" count rule may also be in effect, in which the referee counts no higher than eight to a boxer who regains his or her footing after a knockdown, allowing the referee time to assess if the boxer is able to continue.
In general, boxers are prohibited from hitting below the belt, holding, tripping, pushing, biting, spitting or wrestling. They also are prohibited from kicking, head-butting, or hitting with any part of the arm other than the knuckles of a closed fist (including hitting with the elbow, shoulder or forearm, as well as with open gloves, the wrist, the inside, back or side of the hand). They are prohibited as well from hitting the back, back of the neck or head (called a "rabbit-punch") or the kidneys. They are prohibited from holding the ropes for support when punching, holding an opponent while punching, or ducking below the belt of their opponent. If a "clinch", a defensive move in which a boxer wraps his or her opponents arms and holds on to create a pause, is broken by the referee, each fighter must take a full step back before punching again (alternatively, the referee may direct the fighters to "punch out" of the clinch). When a boxer is knocked-down, the other boxer must immediately cease fighting and move to the nearest neutral corner of the ring until the referee has either ruled a knockout or called for the fight to continue.
Violations of these rules may be ruled "fouls" by the referee, who may issue warnings, deduct points, or disqualify an offending boxer, causing an automatic loss, depending on the seriousness and intentionality of the foul. An intentional foul that causes injury that prevents a fight from continuing usually causes the boxer who committed it to be disqualified. A fighter who suffers an accidental low-blow may be given up to five minutes to recover, after which they may be ruled knocked out if they are unable to continue. Accidental fouls that cause injury ending a bout may lead to a "no decision" result, or else cause the fight to go to a decision if enough rounds (typically four or more, or at least three in a four-round fight) have passed.
Yeah, even after reading that explaination, I still have no idea how cricket works.
I guess I'll go with baseball.
As a sport, cycling is governed internationally by the Union Cycliste Internationale in Switzerland (for upright bicycles) and by the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (for other HPVs, or human-powered vehicles).
Road bicycle racing is the most popular type of bicycle racing. Racing typically takes place from spring through to fall, many riders spend the winter in countries in the Southern Hemisphere such as Australia where the racing for the year has just begun, to compete year round or to train. Pro tour races range from the multi-day "Grand Tour" stage races such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España to single day "Classics" such as the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo. Criteriums are races based on circuits typically less than 1 mile in length and run for a set time (60min, 90min, etc) rather than a specific distance. Criteriums are the most popular form of road racing in North America. In Belgium Kermesses are particularly popular, a single day event usually 120+km in length. As well as road races in which all riders start simultaneously, individual time trial and team time trial events are also held on road-based courses.
Cyclo-cross originated as a sport for road racers during the off season, as a way to vary their training during the cold months. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2–3 km or 1–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount in one graceful motion. Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (and Flanders in particular) and France .
Mountain bike racing is relatively new to the bicycle racing scene. It was very popular during the 1990s. Mountain bike races are entirely off-road, and usually involve a moderate degree of technical riding. There are several varieties of mountain bike racing; the main categories are cross-country and downhill but also 4X or four cross racing. For mountain bike racing and riding you should have wide knobby tires with a deep tread.
Track cycling encompasses a variety of races that take place on banked tracks or velodromes. Events are quite diverse and can range from individual and team pursuits, one on one sprints, to various group and mass start races. Competitors use track bicycles which do not have brakes and also do not have freewheels.
BMX racing takes place off-road. BMX races are sprint races on purpose-built off-road single-lap racetracks on typically single speed bicycles. Riders navigate a dirt course made up of various jumps, along with banked and flat corners.
Bike trials is a sport where riders navigate natural and man-made obstacles without putting down their foot, or "dabbing". It is similar to motorcycle trials. Points are awarded for bike handling skills, and as such there are similarities with BMX racing.
Cycle speedway is a form of bicycle racing that takes place on short outdoor dirt tracks, around 70-90 meters in length.
All of the above bicycle races involve diamond frame bicycles that basically consist of two triangles. An alternative form of bicycle is the recumbent. The recumbent is a bicycle on which the rider sits back in a full seat with the legs in a horizontal position. This puts the body in a position where there is less wind drag from the legs. Proponents of the recumbent claim that it provides a more comfortable riding position with no weight on the wrists. The recumbent is a more aerodynamic design of bicycle, and current world speed records were set with recumbent bicycles.
The Tour de France is the world's best-known cycling race, a 22 day long, 20 stage road race that is usually run over more than 3000km. It is a circuit of most areas around France and, sometimes, neighbouring countries. The race is broken into stages from one town to another, each of which is an individual race. The time taken to complete each stage becomes a cumulative total to decide the outright winner at the end of the Tour.
As with most cycling races, competitors enter as part of a team. The race consists of 20 to 22 teams with nine riders each. Traditionally, entry is extended to invitation only, with invitations granted only to the best of the world's professional teams. Each team, known by the name of its sponsor, wears a distinctive jersey and riders assist one another and have access to a shared 'team car' (a mobile version of the pit crews in car racing).
Running is both a competitive sport and a type of training for sports which have running or endurance components. As a sport it is split into events divided by distance and sometimes includes permutations such as the obstacles in Steeplechase. Perhaps the most basic of athletic contests, running races are simply contests to determine which of the competitors is able to run a certain distance in the shortest time. Today, competitive running events make up the core of the sport of athletics. Events are usually grouped into several classes, each requiring substantially different athletic strengths and involving different tactics, training methods, and types of competitors.
Running competitions have probably existed for most of humanity's history, and were a key part of the ancient Olympic Games as well as the modern Olympics.
Field hockey is a popular sport for men and women in many countries around the world. Players are permitted to play the ball with any part of the stick other than the rounded side (back). The flat side is always on the "natural" side for a right-handed person — there are no "left-handed" hockey sticks (for actual use in play, some have been made as novelties).
Teams consist of eleven players on the field, and up to five substitutes. Substitutions are not limited but may not be made during a penalty corner. There are no set positions (even a goalkeeper is not required under the 2007 rules), but most teams arrange themselves (in a similar way to football (soccer) teams) into fullbacks (defence), midfielders (halfback) and forwards (front line)). Many teams include a single sweeper. The rules do not specify a minimum number of players for a match to take place, but most competitions have some local ruling on this, with seven players being a common minimum.
One player from each team may be designated the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers must wear a suitable helmet with full face mask and are also permitted to wear protective padding, including large leg guards, kickers and gloves. Although goalkeepers may block or deflect the ball with any part of their bodies, and propel the ball with their feet (and from 2007 any other part of their equipment in a "goal-saving action"), they must always carry a stick, and normal stick rules apply. Goalkeepers are permitted to play the ball outside their defensive circle (scoring area or "D"), but must only use the stick in this circumstance. Fully protected goalkeepers are prohibited from passing their side's defensive 23m line during play, unless they are taking a penalty stroke.
For the purposes of the rules, all players on the team in possession of the ball are attackers, and those on the team without the ball are defenders.
The match is officiated by two field umpires. Traditionally each umpire generally controls half of the field, divided roughly diagonally. These umpires are often assisted by a technical bench including a timekeeper and record keeper.
Prior to the start of the game, a coin is tossed and the winning captain can choose a starting end or start with the ball. The game time is divided into two equal halves of 35 minutes each, with five minutes for half-time. At the start of each half, as well as after goals are scored, play is started with a pass from the centre of the field. All players must start in their defensive half, but the ball may be played in any direction along the floor. Each team starts with the ball in one half, and the team that conceded the goal has possession for the restart.
Field players may only play the ball with the face of the stick. Tackling is permitted as long as the tackler does not make contact with the attacker or his stick before playing the ball (contact after the tackle may also be penalised if the tackle was made from a position where contact was inevitable). Further, the player with the ball may not deliberately use his body to push a defender out of the way.
Field players may not play the ball with their feet, but if the ball accidentally hits the feet, and the player gains no benefit from the contact, then the contact is not penalised. Although there has been a change in the wording of this rule from 1 January 2007, the current FIH umpires' briefing instructs umpires not to change the way they interpret this rule.
Obstruction typically occurs in three circumstances - when a defender comes between the player with possession and the ball without first performing a legitimate tackle; when a defender's stick comes between the attacker's stick and the ball or makes contact with the attacker's stick; and also when (usually deliberately) blocking the opposition's passage to the ball (called third party obstruction).
If the ball is raised off the ground in a manner that is, in the umpire's opinion, dangerous, the ball is turned over to the other team and they receive a free hit. The free hit is taken where the action that caused the danger occurred (that is, not where the danger itself occurs). The definition of a "dangerous ball" is a matter of interpretation by the umpires. Guidance in the rules states "a ball is considered dangerous when it causes legitimate evasive action by players" — but it also depends on the speed of the ball, the height to which it is raised, and the number of players near its path.
Hockey uses a three-tier card system of warnings and suspensions:
* A Green card is a warning.
* A Yellow card is a temporary suspension, just like in rugby football, normally for a minimum of 5 minutes duration without substitution. (In some modes, including indoor, shorter periods of suspension are applied, dependent on local rules).
* A Red card, just like in association football, is a permanent exclusion from the rest of the game, without substitution, and in many circumstances will also result in the player being banned for a certain period of time or number of matches (this is governed by local playing conditions, rather than the rules of hockey).
Unlike football, a player may receive more than one green or yellow card. However they cannot receive the same card for the same offence (example two yellows for dangerous play), and the second must always be a more serious card. In the case of a second yellow card for a different breach of the rules, the temporary suspension would be expected to be of considerably longer duration than the first. However, local playing conditions may mandate that cards are awarded only progressively, and not allow any second awards.
The teams' object is to play the ball into their attacking circle and, from there, hit, push or flick the ball into the goal, scoring a point. The team with more goals after two 35-minute halves wins the game. The playing time may be shortened, particularly when younger players are involved, or for some tournament play.
Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world. Football is a ball game played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal at each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeeper is the only player allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, while they may also occasionally use their torso or head to intercept a ball in mid air. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.
the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off (a set kick from the centre-spot by one team) until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play:
* Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play.
* Throw-in: when the ball has wholly crossed the touchline; awarded to opposing team to that which last touched the ball.
* Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by an attacker; awarded to defending team.
* Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a defender; awarded to attacking team.
* Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution/send-off an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly from an indirect free kick.
* Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls.
* Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area.
* Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason (e.g., a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective). This restart is uncommon in adult games.
A foul occurs when a player commits a specific offence listed in the Laws of the Game when the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.
The referee may punish a player or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a sending-off. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. Non-players, such as managers and support staff, may be dismissed from the field and its surrounds by the referee if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.
Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue when its continuation will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within a short period of time, typically taken to be four to five seconds. Even if an offence is not penalised because the referee plays an advantage, the offender may still be sanctioned for any associated misconduct at the next stoppage of play.
The offside law effectively limits the ability of attacking players to remain forward (i.e. closer to the opponent's goal-line) of the ball, the second-to-last defending player (which can include the goalkeeper), and the half-way line.
I really like your clever introductory sport-realted jargon, Mateui.I'm glad you like it. I purposely make it very cheesy. I wonder how I'll make up things for the next round when unrelated sports tackle each other.. :hmm:
Dude, the Riders are actually doing good this year. They might actually make it to the Grey Cup this year.
Soccer. Anyone who disagrees is un-American. Well, not really, but still.Despite the fact that it isn't an American sport?
Soccer. Anyone who disagrees is un-American. Well, not really, but still.
I've always been more of a Running man myself.It was a good book, too.
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquets so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents' half of the court. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the ground, and the shuttlecock may only be struck once by each side before it passes over the net.
The shuttlecock is a feathered projectile whose unique aerodynamic properties cause it to fly differently from the balls used in most racket sports; in particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly than a ball. Because shuttlecock flight is strongly affected by wind, competitive badminton is always played indoors. Badminton is also played outdoors as a casual recreational activity, often as a garden or beach game.
Badminton is an Olympic sport with five competitive disciplines: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair is a man and a woman. At high levels of play, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, strength, and speed. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racket skills.
Tennis is a game played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players (doubles). Players use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court.
The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player, or in doubles one of the opposing players, is the receiver. Service alternates between the two halves of the court.
For each point, the server starts behind his baseline, between the center mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server.
In a legal service, the ball travels over the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let service, which is void, and the server gets to retake that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. Let services are extremely unusual, and placing more than one let service in a single point takes a considerable amount of skill or luck. If the first service is otherwise faulty in any way, wide, long or not over the net, the serving player has a second attempt at service. There is also a "foot fault" which occurs when a player's foot touches the baseline or an extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second service is also faulty, this is a double fault and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in then it is considered a legal service.
A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball exactly once before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net provided that it still falls in the server's court. It then travels back over the net and bounces in the court on the opposite side. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point.
Poker is a popular type of card game in which players gamble on the superior value of the card combination ("hand") in their possession, by placing a bet into a central pot. The winner is the one who holds the hand with the highest value according to an established hand rankings hierarchy, or otherwise the player who remains "in the hand" after all others have folded (the player who makes an un-called bet.).
Poker has many variations, all following a similar pattern of play. Depending on the variant, hands may be formed using cards which are concealed from others, or from a combination of concealed cards and community cards.
In casual play, the right to deal a hand typically rotates among the players and is marked by a token called a 'dealer' button (or "buck"). In a casino, a house dealer handles the cards for each hand, but the button (typically a white plastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate a nominal dealer to determine the order of betting.
One or more players are required to make forced bets to create an initial stake for which the players will contest. The dealer shuffles the cards, cuts, and deals the appropriate number of cards to the players one at a time. Cards may be dealt either face-up or face-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the end of each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot.
At any time during a betting round, if a player makes a bet, opponents are required to fold, call or raise. If one player bets and no opponents choose to call (match) the bet, the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next hand begins. This possibility of winning a pot without showing a hand makes bluffing possible. Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, one that distinguishes it from other vying games and from other games that make use of poker hand rankings.
At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.
Table tennis is a sport where two or four players hit a ball with paddles back and forth to each other on a table, in a manner similar to tennis. The rules are slightly different, but the concept is quite similar. In singles play, the ball is not required to cross from the server's right-hand court to the receiver's right-hand court (or left to left) as it is in tennis. However, serving across is required in doubles play. Ball spin, speed, placement, strategy and tactics play an important part in competitive table tennis matches. The speed of the ball can vary from slow serves with much spin to smashes that travel as fast as 112.5 kilometers per hour (69.9 miles per hour).[4]
The game is played on a 274 cm (9 ft.) × 152.5 cm (5 ft.) × 76 cm (2.5 ft.) high playing surface. The International Table Tennis Federation requires an area not less than 14 m (46 ft) long, 7 m (23 ft) wide and 5 m (16 ft) high for competitions. No limitations in size or shape are specified. Modern paddles usually have a thin layer of rubber covering the paddle's striking surface. The rubber may have pimples pointing outwards or inwards, as well as a thin layer of sponge between the plywood center and the rubber surface. Since spin plays a large role in the modern sport of table tennis, the composition of the rubber and the combination of sponge and rubber is designed to maximize the amount of spin and speed a player can impart onto the ball. Other technological improvements include the use of carbon or other synthetic layers as part of the blade to increase the size of the sweet spot or the stiffness of the blade.
The ball used in table tennis has a diameter of 40 mm, is made of celluloid, and is completely hollow. A three star rating on a ball usually implies a top quality ball, in relation to its bounce, roundness and their respective consistency between balls of the same make and type.
The winner is the first to score 11 points, with each player alternating serves every two points. At 10-10 (or deuce) the players alternate with every serve; the winner is then the first person to gain a clear two points advantage over his opponent. The 11 point game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) change which occurred in 2001. All games played at national level and at international tournaments (ITTF) are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches).
Ever since I started to learn it, Poker is a really fun game, so that gets my vote.But the question is, is it really a sport???
I suppose that depends on your definition of sport.Exactly. Too bad this forum is pretty empty and doesn't get that much discussion. I'd love to have a "what is your definition of sport" debate, but it's probably not going to happen because of a lack of people.
poker is the greatest sport man has ever invented and nobody is going to tell me it isn't a sportIt isn't a sport.
I probably like poker more than table tennis but I don't think poker is enough of a sport to be voted for. (Although it is most definitely more of a sport than competitive eating)This is true. But Competitive Eating isn't a sport, it's just a competition.
Golf, darts, nearly all olympic events (sprints, shotput, long jump, etc...), poker, eating, fishing, etc... are NOT sports. They're hobbies, competitions or games. When you are just playing against yourself and what your opponents do have no real tangible affect on the outcome of your game, then it is not a sport.
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.
99% of Poker is affecting your opponents game. If you're not doing that, you're not playing properly.
Sports, in my mind, involve some sort of physical component, competition and the ability to directly (or at least indirectly) affect your opponents game. Hockey, football, socceer, basketball, Tennis and baseball (and the like) are all clearly sports.
While I agee on most of what you said I have one thing to say about the last line...There is no physical component with Poker. That is why IT is not a sport.
... what?
Poker if any game relies heavily on how your opponent plays. Poker isn't about playing for yourself... holy smokes you got the game all wrong if you think that. But yeah, I just wanted to add that. :happy:
There is no physical component with Poker. That is why IT is not a sport.
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.Using that definition isn't Chess a sport? What about Euchre? Bridge? Go? Where do you draw the line between a card/board game and sport then?
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.Schoolwork is a sport. Warcraft III is a sport. Drinking games are sports. Pissing contests are sports. Vying for a spot in the latest science journal is a sport. A trial is a sport (and that makes attorneys atheletes).
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by throwing a ball through a 10 foot (3 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the world.
Points are scored by passing the ball through the basket from above; the team with more points at the end of the game wins. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it (dribbling) or passing it between teammates. Disruptive physical contact (fouls) is not permitted and there are restrictions on how the ball can be handled (violations).
Through time, basketball has developed to involve common techniques of shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players' positions, and offensive and defensive structures. While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. In some countries, basketball is also a popular spectator sport.
While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a basketball court, less regulated variations have become exceedingly popular as an outdoor sport among both inner city and rural groups.
Ultimate (commonly called Ultimate Frisbee) is a non-contact competitive team sport played between two teams of seven players, played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end-zone, similar to an end-zone in American football or Rugby. Players may not run while holding the disc. Ultimate is distinguished by its Spirit of the Game—the principles of fair play, sportsmanship, and the joy of play.
The objective of ultimate is to score points by receiving a teammate's pass in the opponent's endzone. The outcome of a match is usually determined by one team achieving a predetermined number of points first. This ensures that a team can only win by scoring, rather than by running the clock down.
The disc may be moved in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. A player catching the disc must stop after a few steps to run out their momentum, and can only move their non-pivot foot. A common misconception is that a player must setup a pivot foot before they can throw the disc. In fact, the player can throw the disc before stopping within the first couple of steps after they gain possession of the disc. It is this fact that makes the "Greatest" rule possible. A "Greatest" occurs when a player jumps from within bounds to catch a disc that has passed out-of-bounds. The player must then throw the disc back in-bounds before his feet or any other part of his body touches the ground. The thrower may only catch their own throw if another player touches it in the air.
Upon receiving the disc, a player has ten seconds to pass it. This period is known as the "stall", and each second is counted out (a stall count) by a defender (the marker), who must be standing within three meters of the thrower. A player may keep the disc for longer than ten seconds if no marker is within three meters, or if the marker is not counting the stall; if there is a change of marker, the new marker must restart the stall from zero.
Snow Skiing is a group of sports and activities holding in common the use of skis, devices which slide on snow and attach with ski bindings and ski boots to people's feet. Skiing sports differ from snowshoeing in that skis slide, and they differ from ice-skating, water skiing, and in-line skating by being performed on snow. Although snowboarding shares the general characteristics of skiing sports, it evolved from surfing and skateboarding and so is not considered a type of skiing.
Skiing can be grouped into two general categories. Nordic skiing is the oldest category and includes sport that evolved from skiing as done in Scandinavia. Nordic style ski bindings attach at the toes of the skier's ski boots, but not at the heels. Alpine skiing includes sports that evolved from skiing as done in the Alps. Alpine bindings attach at both the toe and the heel of ski boots. These two categories overlap with some sports potentially fitting into both. However, binding style and history indicate that each skiing sport is more one than the other. Some skiing sports such as Telemark skiing have elements of both categories, but its history in Telemark, Norway and free-heel binding style place Telemark skiing firmly in the Nordic category.
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to one's feet using a boot/binding interface. It is similar to skiing, but inspired by surfing and skateboarding. The sport was developed in the United States in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. Some of its pioneers include: Craig Kelly, Tom Sims, Jake Burton Carpenter, and Terry Kidwell. It is constantly increasing in popularity.
Strangest match up yet!I wonder whether it will be the first shut-out too.
Schoolwork is a sport. Warcraft III is a sport. Drinking games are sports. Pissing contests are sports. Vying for a spot in the latest science journal is a sport. A trial is a sport (and that makes attorneys atheletes).Schoolwork is not "governed by a set of rules or customs" and is not engaged in competitively.
This is an incredibly loose and useless definition of sport.
Surfboards are long, buoyant decks used in the activity of surfing. They are relatively light, but strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave. Like the sport itself, they were invented in Hawaii, where they were known as Papa he‘e nalu in the Hawaiian language, and usually made of wood from local trees, such as koa, and were often over 15 feet in length and extremely heavy[1] [2]. The major advances over the years were the addition of one or more fins on the bottom rear of the board to improve directional stability and a change of materials and shapes.
Modern surfboards are made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass cloth and polyester or epoxy resin.The end result is a light and strong surfboard that is buoyant and maneuverable. Since 1995 a new breed of shapers inclucing Paul Jensen, Tom Wegener and Roy Stewart have re-invented hollow wooden surfboards. A few specialty surfboards are made out of hollow carbon fiber or aluminum for added lightness. Most modern surfboards can be divided into two main categories: longboards and shortboards. Longboards as the name suggests are longer (often eight or more feet), and are also thicker and wider with a more rounded nose than a shortboard. Shortboards are shorter (5–7ft), thinner, and have a more pointed nose. They are not as wide as longboards and are typically more maneuverable. Other variants include guns, fun-boards, fish, eggs, tow-boards, and hydrofoils.
There are three types of volleyballs:
1. Standard indoor volleyball
2. Youth indoor volleyball
3. Beach volleyball
All volleyball types are completely round and consist of six panels of leather (synthetic or genuine) wrapped around a bladder. Each panel consists of three sections or rows. A standard (adult, indoor) volleyball may be solid white or a combination of three different easily distinguishable colors, of which a limited amount are officially allowed. A youth indoor volleyball is slightly smaller than a standard volleyball to accommodate children's use. A beach volleyball is slightly softer (lower internal pressure) and a bit larger than an indoor volleyball, and is brightly colored.
Richard Lindon and William Gilbert started making balls for Rugby school out of hand stitched, four-panel, leather casings and pigs’ bladders. The rugby ball's distinctive shape is supposedly due to the pig’s bladder though early balls were more plum shaped than oval. The balls varied in size in the beginning depending upon how large the pig’s bladder was.
Until 1870 rugby was played with a spherical ball with an inner-tube made of a pigs' bladder. In 1870 Richard Lindon introduced rubber inner-tubes and because of the pliability of rubber the shape gradually changed from a sphere to an egg. In 1892 the RFU endorsed ovalness as the compulsory shape. The gradual flattening of the ball continued over the years.
Rugby league is played with a prolate spheroid shaped football. Traditionally made of brown leather, modern footballs are synthetic and manufactured in a variety of colors and patterns. The football used in rugby league is known as "international size" or "size 5" and is approximately 27 cm long and 60 cm in circumference at its widest point. Smaller-sized balls are used for Mini and Mod versions of the game. A full size ball weighs between 383 and 440 grams. Rugby league footballs are slightly more pointed than rugby union footballs and larger than American footballs.
The Australian National Rugby League uses balls made by Steeden. Steeden is also sometimes used as a noun to describe the ball itself.
The ball used in rugby union is a prolate spheroid essentially elliptical in profile. Traditionally made of brown leather, modern footballs are manufactured in a variety of colors and patterns. A regulation football is 28–30 cm (11–11.8 inches) long and 58–62 cm (22.8–24.4 inches) in circumference at its widest point. It weighs 410–460 grams (14.5–16.2 ounces) and is inflated to 65.71–68.75 kPa (or 9.5–10 psi).
In 1980, leather-encased balls, which were prone to water-logging, were replaced with balls encased in synthetic waterproof materials. The Gilbert Synergie is the match ball of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The curling stone, or rock, weighs a maximum of 44 lbs. (19.96 kg). It has a maximum allowable circumference of 36 inches (0.9144 m). A stone may be a maximum of 4.5 inches (11.43 cm) in height not including the handle. The handle is attached to the stone by means of a bolt, which runs vertically through a hole in the center of the stone. The handle allows the rock to be gripped and rotated upon release. When the rock is thrown with the right hand, clockwise rotation is referred to as an in-turn. Counter-clockwise rotation is referred to as an out-turn. The opposites are true if the rock is thrown with the left hand. The handles are coloured to differentiate the rocks belonging to each team. Two popular colours in major tournaments are red and yellow. However, the most common club rock colours are red and blue, although often they will be the "club colours." Rocks have been known to also be green, black or white in addition to blue yellow and red. The handle may be of the 'Eye on the hog' variety for detecting hog line violations.
The bottom of a curling stone is concave. The surface in contact with the ice, known as the running surface, is a circle ¼ to ½ inch (6 to 12 mm) thick. This narrow running surface is where the ice and the stone interact. On properly prepared ice, the rock's path will bend (curl) in the direction the front edge of the rock is turning, especially toward the end of its motion. The degree of curl depends on several factors, including the preparation of the ice and the flattening of common paths to the house during the game. Ice on which the rocks curl well is said to be swingy.
The Scots in particular believe that the best quality curling stones are made from a specific type of granite called "Ailsite", found on the Ailsa Craig, an island off the Ayrshire coast. According to the Scottish Curling Stone Company, Ailsite has very low water absorption which prevents the action of freezing and melting water from eroding the stone. In the past, most curling stones were made from this granite. However, the island is now a wildlife reserve, and is no longer used for quarrying. Because of the particular rarity of Ailsite, costs for curling stones can reach as much as $1500 (USD) for the best stones. Many curling clubs use a lower grade stone that can be upwards of $500. There are also stones which use a disc of ailsite attached to another type of granite to provide the running surface. Very informal neighbourhood curling clubs with limited resources may make cylindrical "curling stones" out of concrete-filled cans. The curling stones used at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino were provided by the Garn For granite quarry at the Yr Eifl mountain on the Llŷn Peninsula in North-West Wales.
All games are not sports. A certain physical prowess and skill is a requirement for me to think of an activity as a sport, in addition to some direct competition. Everything else is just games, hobbies or just plain ol' competitions. Moving a mouse or laying cards on a table do not qualify. American Idol is not a sport.American Idol is a competition, not a game. It's not an activity governed by a set of rules or customs (you just do what the producer says and if the audience likes you, you go on to the next stage). It's not particularly competitive, you just do your part and see what happens.
And, have you never gone to school? I'm sorry for being pendantic, but I was pointing out how that loose definition of sport encompasses pretty much everything.If you're pendantic, yes. The term covers any competitive game that requires a level of skill to play, in my opinion.
American Idol is a competition, not a game. It's not an activity governed by a set of rules or customs (you just do what the producer says and if the audience likes you, you go on to the next stage). It's not particularly competitive, you just do your part and see what happens.Well, if we're going to argue along those lines then:
i went with surfing because its cool,I definately gave in.
but volleyball sexy ladies YES
i just didnt give in to my primal urges
The company was founded in 1914 by hosiery manufacturer Alexander MacRae as MacRae Knitting Mills in an effort to expand his company into swimwear. In 1928 the name Speedo was first adopted after the firm developed its racerback design of swimwear making it one of the first manufacturers to specifically produce athletic designs. The name was made up by a Captain Jim Parsons who won a company competition with the slogan "Speed on in your Speedos."
During World War II the manufacturer shifted nearly all of its production to war materials such as mosquito nets. Speedo resumed production after the war and became a publicly traded corporation in 1951. In 1955 Speedo introduced nylon into its fabric for competitive swimwear. The 1956 Olympics in Melbourne saw the widespread debut of the new fabric and the introduction of the style of men's briefs that has become associated with the brand. The company quickly expanded into the international arena from there until the present, boasting that 70 percent of swimming medals were won by athletes wearing its products in the Olympic Games of 1968, 1972, and 1976.
During the 1970's and 80's new fabrics such as lycra were incorporated into the company's swimwear design. During the late 1990's the company turned its attention to its aquablade and fastskin product lines of competitive swimwear. The designs employ new fabrics that the company claims will reduce resistance in the water by replicating biological skin characteristics of various marine animals such as sharks.
Though it still manufactures the traditional briefs, jammers and racerback designs that made the company famous, Speedo's latest competitive swimwear designs incorporate suits that provide greater coverage to the arms, legs, and even full body for their top end lineup. Their high-end suits often sell for in excess of $300 (in US Dollars) for the Fastskin II and FS Pro series. The company also continues to manufacture recreational swimwear, goggles, earplugs, swim caps, towels, robes, sportswear and other logo clothing, watches, sandals, beach volleyball and triathlon products, lifeguard gear, and training supplies for competitive and recreational swimmers.
In March 2007 in an attempt to appeal to a younger audience, Speedo's collaboration with Japanese brand, Comme des Garcon, hit UK fashion fashion store, Topshop[1]with a collection of classic womens Speedo's decorated with quirky Comme des Garcon designs.
Billiards games are mostly played with a stick known as a cue. A cue is usually either a one piece tapered stick or a two piece stick divided in the middle by a joint of metal or phenolic resin. High quality cues are generally two pieces and are made of a hardwood, generally maple for billiards and ash for snooker.
The "butt" end of the cue is of larger circumference and is intended to be gripped by a player's hand. The "shaft" of the cue is of smaller circumference, usually tapering to an 0.4 to 0.55 inch (11-14 mm) terminus called a ferrule, where a leather tip is affixed to make final contact with balls. The leather tip, in conjunction with chalk, can be used to impart spin to the cue ball when not being hit in its center.
Cheap cues are generally one piece cues made of ramin or other low quality wood with inferior tips of various materials (usually plastic). A quality cue can be expensive and may be made of exotic woods and other expensive materials which are artfully inlaid in decorative patterns. Skilled players may use more than one cue during a game, including a separate cue for the opening break shot and another, shorter cue with a special tip for jump shots.
Ice hockey sticks are approximately 150-200 cm long, composed of a long, slender shaft and a flat extension at one end called the blade. The curved part where the blade and the shaft meet is called a taper. The blade is the part of the stick used to contact the puck, and is typically 10 to 15 cm long. Stick dimensions can vary widely, as they are usually built to suit a particular player's size. Taller players usually use longer sticks. There is some variance on the height of the stick in preference of the player. A player favoring fast stick handling and good puck control would opt for a shorter stick, while a player wanting a harder, faster shot would opt for a longer stick. The blade's angle depends on the height of the stick, but is usually positioned around 45 degrees. The blade is often curved in the direction toward which the skater moves forward, to aid in retaining or lifting the puck off the playing surface. This curvature of the stick greatly increases the speed of the player's shot. The more curve the stick has, the harder shot a player has. The downside to the increased curvature is that shots on the backhand side of the stick more difficult to execute and are less accurate and/or not as hard. The shaft of the stick is fairly rigid, but it has some flexibility to benefit some shots.
Boots:
Figure skating boots are traditionally made by hand from many layers of leather. The design of figure skating boots changed significantly during the 20th century. Old photographs of skaters such as Sonja Henie from the 1920's and 1930's show them wearing thin, supple boots reaching to mid-calf. Modern skating boots, on the other hand, are extremely rigid to support the foot and ankle in jumps, and are cut much lower -- just over ankle height -- to allow the foot to flex. Because the stiffness of the boots makes good fit essential, many skaters either order custom boots or have their boots "bumped out" over pressure points by a skate technician.
In recent years, boots made of synthetic materials with heat-moldable linings have become popular with many skaters because they combine strength with lighter weight than leather boots, and are easier to "break in". The latest development in boot technology is a boot that is hinged at the ankle to provide lateral support while allowing more flexibility.
The typical colors for boots are black for men and white or tan for women, although other colors are available.
Blades:
Figure skates differ most visibly from hockey skates in having a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks (also known as toe rakes) on the front of the blade. The toe picks are used primarily in jumping and should not be used for stroking or spins. Toe pick designs have become quite elaborate and sometimes include teeth on the sides of the blade.
The skate blades are typically made of tempered steel, coated with a high-quality chrome. Lightweight alloy blades are becoming more popular with high-level skaters. Blades are about 3/16 inch (4 mm) thick and may have a slightly tapered cross-section.
When viewed from the side, the blade of a figure skate is not flat, but curved slightly, forming an arc of a circle with a radius of 180-220 cm. [1] Recently, parabolic figure skating blades -- that is, blades whose profile is shaped like a parabola rather than an arc of a circle -- have been designed to increase skaters' stability.
The blade is also hollow ground; a groove on the bottom of the blade creates two distinct edges, inside and outside. In figure skating it is always desirable to skate on only one edge of the blade, never on both at the same time (which is referred to as a flat). The apparently effortless power and glide across the ice exhibited by elite figure skaters fundamentally derives from efficient use of the edges to generate speed.
Ice dancers' blades are about an inch shorter in the rear than those used by skaters in other disciplines, to accommodate the intricate footwork and close partnering in dance.
Ice Hockey, unlike most other sports, requires that you be able to skate instead of just run or stand on your feet. That, in my eyes, makes it more challenging than a lot of other sports.Yeah, but if you use that line of reasoning, then why didn't you vote for Figure Skating since you need to be able to skate much better than you do when playing hockey?
Yeah, but if you use that line of reasoning, then why didn't you vote for Figure Skating since you need to be able to skate much better than you do when playing hockey?
Because figure skating is done in a more controlled environment. Routines are rehearsed, judges score the performances, etc. Hockey requires a team to work together and execute plays to score, while at the same time controlling their own end of the rink, all the while not knowing exaclty what might happen. Plus I'm just not a big fan of sports that are judged, I prefer more concrete scoring systems.I see what you mean. Judged sports are really hit and miss in terms of their fairness and accuracy in outcome, and I totally understand your line of reasoning. Kudos.
Yeah, but if you use that line of reasoning, then why didn't you vote for Figure Skating since you need to be able to skate much better than you do when playing hockey?Define "better". You need much more power, speed and agility when playing hockey while figure skating needs more finesse and control.
Define "better". You need much more power, speed and agility when playing hockey while figure skating needs more finesse and control.On the other hand you need quite a bit of power to do some of that pair skating things where they throw each other in the air and the actual skating skills are probably better on all fronts (except perhaps raw speed). With that said you need fairly different things for Hockey and Figure Skating. It's like the difference between dancing and playing football. They're both done on the ground but that's pretty much where the similarities end.
Actually, are tickets to the Grey Cup really hard to come by?Usually, yeah. Maybe not quite as hard as Super Bowl tickets. Then again...there are fewer tickets, because we don't really have SUPERSIZED stadiums.
Define "better". You need much more power, speed and agility when playing hockey while figure skating needs more finesse and control.Try doing a triple axel.
Try doing a triple axel.Try doing some of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTcu6rEOCws&mode=related&search=
It's like the difference between dancing and playing football. They're both done on the ground but that's pretty much where the similarities end.
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal rod used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is not more than 2⅔ inches (70 mm) in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches (1067 mm) in length. It typically weighs no more than 36 ounces (1 kg). The batter uses the bat two-handed to try to hit a pitched ball fair so that he may become a runner, advance bases, and ultimately score a run or help preceding runners to score. Lumber is a sometimes-used slang term for a bat, especially when wielded by a particularly good batter.
Bats are sometimes used as a club in fights and assaults.
In professional baseball, only wooden bats are permitted, and they are not allowed to be corked—that is, filled with an alien substance such as cork which reduces the weight without costing greatly in hitting power. In amateur baseball, both wood and metal alloy bats are generally permitted since the lighter metal bats hit the ball at a greater velocity and allow a greater distance to be achieved with less batter strength. Recently there have been increasing numbers of "wooden bat leagues" and the trend back to wood seems to be accelerating on the grounds of safety concerns. Aesthetically, wooden bats are generally agreed to be superior to metal bats, both because of their more traditional appearance and because a ball hit with a wooden bat makes a loud "crack" sound, while metal alloy bats make more of a "ping".
Boxing gloves are gloves fighters wear on their hands to cushion the impact during boxing. They are also used for protection from injury such as fractures and/or contusions. Unlike the classical cestus, boxing gloves protect both athletes, and were adopted as a safety improvement over earlier "bare knuckle" boxing.
Boxing gloves come in different styles and weights, and are often worn over hand wraps, which help stabilize the fist area against injuries such as the eponymous boxer's fracture of the fifth metacarpal. Speed gloves are relatively light vinyl or leather mittens primarily designed to protect the athlete's hands against scrapes and contusions when doing very light "bag work" such as on a stand-mounted speed bag. Bag gloves are cushioned to protect the athlete against the progressively heavier focuses of striking other punching bags and sparring gloves are designed to protect both athletes during practice bouts. Professional fight gloves are also designed to protect both athletes, but are generally less padded than sparring gloves to reduce the protection to the opponent of the wearer.
In competition gloves are laced up and then sealed with tape before the match. The tape is then signed by an official to ensure that it is not tampered with. However training gloves more often use velcro rather then laces so that athletes can put on and remove there gloves easier.
Gloves used in amateur boxing are frequently red or blue, with a white "scoring area" to help judges more easily see and record points.
Running shorts are made from materials which will be comfortable worn by an exercising human. They are designed to be lightweight, hard wearing, carry sweat away from the body and not to rub against the skin. Many shorts have an inner lining to act as underwear.
Running shorts generally have a seam cut up the side of each leg to permit easier running movement. The main variation in the type of short is the length of this seam. The names used to describe the different types indicate the length of the leg which is not cut, so for example a 3/4 seam means there is 1/4 cut.
* 1/2 split seam are the shortest, but unfortunately tend to look a bit awful
* 3/4 split seam are short but not quite as minimal and form an attractive compromise between running and appearance
* square leg shorts have no split at all
The disadvantage of the longer legged shorts is that the material extending down the leg is pulled up the leg, by the motion of the stride, upon every stride. If the material is in any way catching or tight, this is an uncomfortable encumberance.
As such the shorter legs are better for running. However, some runners are uncomfortable wearing such short shorts because of the amount of leg they show.
Hot pants made from the right sort of material are also used by some female runners as running shorts, since they, like 1/2 split seam shorts, have no material to encumber leg movement but unlike 1/2 split seams, look fashionable and attractive.
An alternative to conventional polyester based shorts are lycra running shorts, which almost always are mid-thigh in length and because of the material they're made from, are perfectly skin hugging and offer practically no encumberance to running.
A cleat is a type of shoe designed especially for sports played on grass or dirt, such as soccer. Unlike "spikes" for sports such as track and field and baseball, the shoes generally have large studs on the bottom to assist in gripping the surface, preventing sliding and assisting in rapid changes of direction. The stud itself is often called a cleat.
A metal or plastic piece that attaches to the bottom of a shoe is also called a cleat, especially a cycling shoe that interfaces with a clipless pedal system.
In soccer there are three different cleat types. There are soft ground cleats which are made for wet weather. The softground cleats are always replaceable, and are almost always metal, so when they wear down they are easy to replace. There are firm ground cleats which are made for firm natural surfaces. Also there are hard ground cleats which are made for hard natural surfaces. Adidas has created the soccer cleat called the tunit, it combines all 3 styles of cleats into one, and it has 3 sets of studs so you can change the boot to the weather conditions.
With the athletics world championship going on at the moment. Running seems pretty cool. But I just like football so much more. Running is too... one-sided. Though I would prefer football being called by its proper name.I just wanted to avoid potential confusion - hence the usage of "soccer" instead of football. (Besides, who knew that american football would be out the first round?)
Soccer is like Euro-running. With BALLS.This is gold.
Soccer is like Euro-running. With BALLS.
Modern tennis racquets vary in length, weight, and head size. 21" to 26" is normally a junior's length, while 27" or 27.5" are for stronger and taller adult players. Weights of a racquet also vary between 9 ounces unstrung and 12.5 ounces unstrung. Head size also plays a role in a racquet's qualities. A larger head size generally means more power, and a larger "sweet spot" that is more forgiving on off-center hits. A smaller head size offers more precise control. Head sizes of recent racquets vary between 85 sq. inches and 137 sq. inches.
Throughout most of tennis' history, racquets were much smaller than an 85 square inch midsize racquet and were made of wood. In the mid 1970s, aluminum construction allowed for the introduction of the first "oversized" racquet which was manufactured by Prince. This racquet had a head size of approximately 110 square-inches and opened the door for the introduction of racquets having other non-standard head sizes such as midsize 90 square-inches and mid-plus size 95 square-inches. Various materials have been used in producing tennis racquets, including steel (as in the Wilson T2000 popularized by American top player Jimmy Connors) and ceramic. But the early 1980s marked the introduction of the composite material racquets, largely "graphite" (carbon fibre) based, that are the contemporary standard.
"Stretch" Models (27.5") are slightly longer than their standard size (27") counterparts in order to give additional reach for shots such as the serve and volley where shorter players may be at a disadvantage. Midsize or mid-plus racquets are the general standard for professional players.
Stringing (material, pattern, tension) is an important factor in the performance of a tennis racquet. A few elite players use natural gut, but the vast majority of strings are a nylon or polyester synthetic. Some (American champion Pete Sampras a prominent example) consider the natural string to be more responsive, providing a better "feel", but synthetic is favored for its much superior durability, consistency, as well as much lower cost. String pattern (the vertical/horizontal grid) is a function of the racquet head size and design. A tighter pattern is considered to deliver more precise control; a more "open" pattern to offer greater potential for power and spin. Modern racquets are marked with a recommended string tension range. The basic rule is that a lower string tension creates more power (from a "trampoline" effect) and a higher string tension creates more control (the ball stays on the strings longer, for more "feel" and shot direction.)
The vast majority of authentic casino chips are "clay" chips but can be more accurately described as compression molded chips. Contrary to popular belief no gaming chip going as far back as the 1950s have been 100% clay. Modern clay chips are a composition of materials more durable than clay alone. At least some percentage of the chips is of an earthen material such as sand, chalk and or clay similar to that found in cat litter. The process used to make these chips is a trade secret, very expensive, time consuming and varies slightly by manufacturer. Additionally, the edge spots or inserts, as they are some times called, are not painted on as they can sometimes appear to be. In fact there are areas where the clay has been punched out of the chip and then replaced by hand with a new piece of clay of an alternate color; the chip is then placed under extreme pressure and heat, approximately 10,000 psi (70 MPa) at 300 °F (150 °C), hence the term compression molded Chips.
The printed graphics on clay chips is called an inlay. Inlays are typically made of paper and are then covered with a thin film of plastic which is applied to the chip prior to the compression molding process. During the molding process the inlay becomes permanently affixed to the chip and can not be removed from the chip without destroying it.
Ceramic chips such as those made by ChipCo International were introduced in the mid 1980s as an alternative to clay chips and are still very common in casinos as well as being readily available to the home market. Ceramic chips are often referred to as clay or clay composite but they are in fact solid white, injection molded, ceramic disks which are simply printed on.
The Bud Jones brand is one of the very few injection molded plastic chips used in casinos. They are produced by Gaming Partners International and are not produced for the home market.
The chips used in North American casinos rarely weigh more than 10 grams and are usually between 8.5 and 10 g. There is no official weight, however, and some, particularly coin inlaid chips, can weigh more. The chips sold for home use vary substantially more, sometimes weighing as much as 13.5 g, depending on manufacturer and construction.
Common designs for home use depict the six faces of a die or the suit symbols around the edge on the face of the chip. They are typically manufactured with injection molding technology using ABS plastic. Some chips are molded around a small metal disc, called a slug, for weight.
European chips often come in Mother of Pearl. The higher value chips are often shaped like plaques.
Casino chips used in tournaments are usually much cheaper and much simpler in design. Because the chips have no cash value, usually chips are designed with a single color (usually differing in shade or tone from the version on the casino floor), a smaller diameter, and a basic mark on the interior to distinguish denominations; however, at certain events (such as the World Series of Poker or other televised poker), chips approach quality levels of chips on the floor.
A basketball is an inflated spherical ball used in the game of basketball. Basketballs typically range in size from very small promotional items possibly only a few inches in diameter to extra large balls nearly a foot in diameter used in training exercises to increase the skill of players.[1] Nearly all basketballs have an inflatable inner rubber bladder, generally wrapped in layers of fiber and then covered with a tacky surface made either from leather (traditional), rubber, or a synthetic composite. As in most inflatable balls, there is a small opening to allow the pressure to be increased or decreased. The surface of the ball is nearly always divided by "ribs" that are recessed below the surface of the ball in a variety of configurations and are generally a contrasting color. A standard 29.5 basketball has about 4118 pebbles, with the pebbles being at a diameter of 2.5 millimeters. An orange surface with black ribs and a possible logo is the traditional color scheme of basketballs but they are sold in various colors. Balls are generally designated for indoor (generally made of leather or absorbent composites), or all-surface use (generally made of rubber or durable composites, also known as Indoor/Outdoor balls). The abrasiveness of asphalt and the dirt and moisture generally present in an outdoor setting will usually ruin an indoor ball within a very short period of time.
Like all skis, alpine "downhill" skis were little more than glorified planks of wood. Later on metal edges were added to better grip the snow and ice of a ski trail. Through the years downhill ski construction has become much more sophisticated. The use of composite materials, and space age metals made skis stronger, lighter, and more durable. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, spearheaded by ELAN, manufacturers began producing parabolic "shaped" skis (when viewed from above or below, the center or "waist" is narrower than the tip or tail). Virtually all modern skis are made with some degree of side cut today. The more dramatic the difference between the width of the tip waist and tail, coupled with the length stiffness and camber of the ski, the shorter radius turns the ski is capable of creating. Skis used in the downhill race events are long with a subtle side cut as they are built for speed and wide fast turns. Slalom skis, as well as many recreational skis are shorter with a greater side cut to facilitate tighter, easier turns.
The ski is turned by applying pressure, rotation and edge angle. When the ski is set at an angle the edge cuts into the snow, the ski will follow the arc and hence turn the skier; a practice known as carving a turn. Old fashioned straight skis can not be used to carve turns. The lack of a side cut means that when on edge the ski does not flex into a curve that is geometically practical on a mountain. Straight skis must therefore be pushed from edge to edge. Influenced by snowboarding, during the 1990s this shaping of the ski became significantly more pronounced to make it easier for skiers to carve turns. This makes skiing much easier to learn, because the skis turn by themselves when placed on edge. Such skis were once termed carving skis, or shaped skis or parabolic skis to differentiate them from the more traditional straighter skis, but nearly all modern recreational skis are produced with the curve.
Twin-tip skis are skis with turned-up ends at both the front and rear. They make it easier to ski with one's back facing downhill, allowing reversed take-offs and landings when performing aerial maneuvers. The turned-up tail allows less application of aft pressure on the ski, causing it to release from a turn earlier than a non-twin-tip ski. Twin-tip skis are generally wider at the tip, tail, and underfoot and constructed of softer materials to cushion landings. Bindings are typically mounted closer to the center of the ski to facilitate the balance of fore and aft pressure, while skiing backwards or "switch", bindings are built lower to the ski for easy rail sliding. Some skis are also manufactured with special materials or a different sidecut design under and close to the foot to facilitate rail sliding (also referred to as "Jibbing"). The popularity explosion of twin-tip skis created a push for the inclusion of more terrain park elements at ski areas across the globe. In the past five years twin tips have become popular among youth skiers, ages 14-21. Once considered a passing fad, twin-tip skis have become a staple ski in the product line of all major ski-producing companies worldwide, with a few specializing in only twin tips. Line Skis, started by Jason Levinthal, is the first company to market only twin-tip skis. The first twin-tip ski was the Olin Mark IV Comp introduced in 1974. The first company to successfully market a twin-tip ski was Salomon, with their 1080 ski.
Cross-country skis are very light and narrow, and usually have quite straight edges, though some newer skis have slight sidecut. The boots attach to the bindings at the toes only. There are three binding systems most often used; Rottefella's NNN and Salomon's SNS profil and SNS pilot. The ski bases are waxed to reduce friction during forward motion, and kick wax can also be applied to get adhesion when going uphill. Some waxless models may have patterns on the bottom to increase the friction when the ski slides backward. There are two major techniques, classical (traditional striding) and freestyle or skating which was developed in the 1980s. Skating skis are shorter than classical skis and do not need grip wax. Skating is also the technique used in biathlons.
Tennis is the only sport in this pollI took the liberty to fix your post for you.
Basketball. And Matuei, why is it that your votes are always for the losing sport, haha?That's not true. Yesterday both my votes were for the one that ended up winning, and the day before I had 1 for the winner. Maybe I just have different tastes in sports than the rest of GW. For instance, I can't believe how much skiing is losing right now. There are so many varieties of events/competitions in skiing and I just like it better than basketball (which I find is not exciting enough. How can it be if there are points scored every 30 seconds? It's just not as tense I find, and I really hate the show-off attitude a lot of b-ball players display.)
Hey, hey, I didn't mean it in a jackassed sort of way. Considering with few exceptions, the sport you voted for lost, I thought you were played Devil's Advocate or something. No harm meant.
Which sport will serve an ace in the next round and which one will just run out of luck?poker is not luck :argh: :argh: :argh:
poker is not luck :argh: :argh: :argh:Since when did I imply that it is all luck? Poker does have luck in it. If you don't believe that you're only fooling yourself. In fact, any sport has luck in it.
Beat Golf 7-5 (58.3% of the vote)
Beat Surfing 12-4 (75% of the vote)
Beat Football 13-9 (59.1% of the vote)
Beat Curling 12-9 (57.1% of the vote)
Beat Rowing 13-1 (92.9% of the vote)
Beat Billiards 10-8 (55.6% of the vote)
Beat Football 9-3 (75% of the vote)
Beat Figure Skating 15-5 (75% of the vote)
Ice Hockey 75%That would be so funny. It's at 75% at the moment.)
Mateui, even I notice that you seem to have a knack for picking the underdog.:sweat: I know! I just hope that someone joins me here soon.
I'm going to predict Volleyball with 60%.You know me too well.
Those English voters will come out of the woodwork and vote for Rugby soon, I just know it. Esh especially... :sly:
you do realise all you need for Volleyball is a net and a ball.And that's what makes it great - the ability to set up a play area almost anywhere. You just can't do that with Rugby.
Since when did I imply that it is all luck? Poker does have luck in it. If you don't believe that you're only fooling yourself. In fact, any sport has luck in it.It was implied by "which one will just run out of luck?" when it's a well known fact that people consider Poker to be a game of luck. Luck -is- a factor in Poker, but in any good player's game, it will NOT be the deciding factor. You can win a game on the worst hands possible if you're good. And you can lose with a great hand because someone's pushing you out or bluffing that they've got an even better hand.
Beat Wrestling 14-4 (77.8% of the vote)
Beat Billiards 10-5 (66.7% of the vote)
Beat Field Hockey 19-1 (95% of the vote)
Beat Running 19-1 (95% of the vote)
Beat Badminton 9-4 (69.2% of the vote)
Beat Poker 19-6 (76% of the vote)
Beat Ultimate Frisbee 18-4 (81.8% of the vote)
Beat Skiing 18-4 (81.8% of the vote)
(https://legacy.gamingw.net/www/pubaccess/25859/Match27.png)First off, the picture on the left depicts kickboxing. It's way different from boxing, and I don't like it at all (as opposed to boxing, which is awesome). Secondly, the picture on the right shows football, not soccer. The fundamental difference is that "soccer" is a word that Americans came up with because they feel they should stonewall their supposed monopoly on the English language. (Well, not really, but it's only fair to blame America for all problems in the world.) Thankfully, the rest of the world calls it by its correct name.
Which sport will kick the other one down and which one will receive a penalty kick?Best. Slogan. Ever.
hideo nomo
(http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/7959/rugbyplayerun9.gif) VS (http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6231/hockeyplayer2ob0.gif)
(http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5843/soccerplayerit1.gif) VS (http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/8876/tenniswoman3fl9.gif)
Tennis. If you are voting for football you have never played tennis.well you would be incorrect
Tennis. If you are voting for football you have never played tennis.
Tennis. If you are voting for football you have never played tennis.
Tennis. If you are voting for football you have never played tennis...Rofl. Hello opinion. :blarg:
are you serious
no
It must mean that they hit harder and faster in hockey.Funny, this isn't true for American Football... :hmm:
Rugby, and what happened to the detailed descriptions of the sports, Matuei?they were replaced with cute animated gifs ^^
Hockey Fight - Senators VS Flyers
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Hockey Goals<br>
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Simpsons Hockey<br>
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World Cup Fights and Fouls
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Funny Soccer Goals:<br>
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Simpsons Soccer<br>
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Hockey is way much more fun to play and watch.Both Shinan and I did. I'm pretty sure that Soccer will win, because so few people below the 49th parallel understand the intensity of hockey. Most can't even follow the game because it's too fast.
Who else saw these two being in the final when all this started? Soccer coming out as the winner is pretty much certain as well.
Ice hockey is probably going to win because of all americans not understanding football. Still, voting for football.
Medieve please learn that it is FOOTBALL (SOCCER). Not the other way round.:incred: :gwa:
FOOTBALL is the correct name. Soccer is an american stupidity.
If Roger faces Djokavic in the semi-final or final he'll have to study Stepaneks game and improve on that strategy to get by.pfft, roger wouldn't do that.
I live in America and I voted for Soccer and don't follow it on an international level.
STOP ASSUMING THINGS OK
I like Soccer more than Ice Hockey, because its less.....SUPER FAST + VIOLENT.
You will never see anything as beautiful or skillful as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHJs3VqUpuU">THIS</a> in a game of soccer. (*esp no.5)Two words: Johan Cruijff.
You will never see anything as beautiful or skillful as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHJs3VqUpuU">THIS</a> in a game of soccer. (*esp no.5)Oh really? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmH2rwsxprw)
Oh really? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmH2rwsxprw)Really. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmmyom7hjgI&mode=related&search=)
In soccer, every goal looks the same in my opinionI actually feel the opposite is true. I mean, the hockey goal is so small compared to soccer's that there are less possible variations of paths for the puck to travel into it compared to a soccer ball.
You will never see anything as beautiful or skillful as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHJs3VqUpuU">THIS</a> in a game of soccer. (*esp no.5)That just seemed so unimpressing to be honest, but I'm sure they're great if you enjoy the sport.
Go check out some Cruyff or Bergkamp or Van Persie, then.I'd prefer to check out some Gretzky, Lemieux, Roy, Lecavilier, Ovechkin and Crosby myself.
That just seemed so unimpressing to be honest, but I'm sure they're great if you enjoy the sport.I thought the same thing about the soccer highlights. Except for that clever penalty shot by Cruiff, where he passed the ball instead of shooting it. That was classic.
Soccer is such a hero solo sport. It's like everyone just plays on their own until they pass it. After that, they just lightly jog to the open area on the field. Unlike in hockey where you need solid teamwork all the time from all the players on the ice to be able to compete. The guys in the backfield of soccer just watch the forwards play and aren't involved at all when on the attack. It's flipped when on the defense.Shows how much you know about the sport. Football is very much a team effort or otherwise you've never seen a football team take the ball from their defensive zone to the offensive zone. I won't bash hockey because I like hockey a lot. But to say that Football is more of a solo effort than ice hockey is just plain wrong. In Ice hockey there are fewer players on the field at once, creating a more intense grouping where basically half the team can chase after a puck (that being two-three players) and help out a teammate stuck in the boards. In football the same thing happens. A player is stuck with another guy marking him good but instead of half the team another player comes in and helps. Making the amount of players active just as many. Depending on team tactics each player also has a role on the field and they are supposed to keep that role, if it is holding a certain zone free. And the other team mates are also supposed to be able to count on that role to work. In ice hockey similar things happen but on a different scale. A defender has a certain position to hold in offensive and defensive play. (it's most apparent in power play, with the blue line players, but it's always there). In neither sport is a solo effort encouraged unless it happens on the soloing player's terms. Usually a forward who is running more or less alone. In football he's running, seeing no one to pass to (possibly because of a long ball counter-attack tactic) he tries to keep the ball as long as possible, alternatively getting it in the net. In Ice Hockey a player breaks through on an attack, he has a supporting player behind him (probably) but usually it's a solo effort toward the goal. In a wave attack the teamwork is always there. The ball/puck is passed between players in an effort to get it forward (more apparent in Football because it takes more than two passes to get it over to the other side) and soloing usually end badly.
Also if you're not impressed by some of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJn8h_8PDw something's wrong with you. (the one at 1:30 and the one following it. The one at 2:30 is also something to watch)They were all pretty good. Some were impressive but they started the blur together at the end. They kinda all looked the same.
Also in football. No there isn't anyone passing back to the defender and letting him do the goal. Instead they have another positional called midfielder that sometimes do these really heavy cannons that can go in. Most of both the 11-man teams are also usually present in offensive free kicks and corners. Regular attacks with all the men up would be so open to counter-attack that it isn't even funny. But the same percentage of people are in a football attack as in a non-powerplay ice hockey attack.
Im a little over weight and i started doing some gym stuff you know basic trining with some machines and 20 to 30 mins in the walking mashine, but it not working.
and i want and need to loose weight fast, what you think other than die starving stuff i can do?
I mean i understand i need to get a healthy diet, proteins and low fats and that kind of stuff, but you know im like a junkfood addict, i cant stop , and about cocacola well thats my weak spot so i know i need to start drinking more water than that shit, but i mean what else can i do any rutine i can follow for loose weight fast? I promise i wil lsatrt a healthy diet ill do my best.!!
Nadal is having physical problems.What's happened to Nadal?
i wonder if people realize that rick ankiel is the closest thing we'll ever have to babe ruthman i sure am good at jinxing people (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2007/09/06/2007-09-06_ankiel_received_12month_supply_of_hgh_ne.html)
dude, the guy has 4 errors this year. don't sweat it if a guy has 2 key errors over a six game span. it happens. the guy actually leads the majors in range factor at first base(and leads the AL by a wide margin). so basically he's getting more outs for toronto at first base per game than any other player in baseball. it's his total lack of power since coming off the DL that you should be worried about.
anyway, i'm really glad to see wily mo pena out of boston before he hit his stride. i was convinced he'd be the next great power hitter in boston and then nobody would have a chance of doing anything in the AL east for the next 10 years. washington is a great fit for him. everyone seems to turn their career around there nowadays.
(his name is spelt Cruijff, guys)Actually, it doesn't matter whether you spell it Cruijff or Cruyff. His father used the name Cruyff and his mother used Cruijff; although he himself was officially born as Johannes Hendrik Cruijff, he decided to simply start using the name Cruyff to make his name more easy to pronounce for foreign people. The two names are usually completely interchangeable, though it's preferred to use the more accessible variation in most contexts.
Go Poland whoooooo kick some Finn ass!Bah. Finland would really like to win this. If Finland does win it, it could mean that Finland will go to a real men's championship for the first time ever. They've played decently and are close... oh so close... They just need to get points in the following couple of games. (and preferably not lose any of them)
I don't follow soccer much, but my dad gets really excited about these things and tells me when Poland is playing and such, so hopefully I'll be able to see the Poland vs. Finland match (don't really care about the others)
Good results for the British nations then!
(Except NI)
Norway v Greece finished 2-2, I knew that would be a close one too
Well done Scotland especially!
NI are so out of euro 2008 now. Sweden will win the group F and denmark second thus kicking spain out 8)
Spain will go through. Not Denmark. And NI are not entirely out of it, they just have to win their games and hope for the best in the other results.
Im a little over weight and i started doing some gym stuff you know basic trining with some machines and 20 to 30 mins in the walking mashine, but it not working.
and i want and need to loose weight fast, what you think other than die starving stuff i can do?
I mean i understand i need to get a healthy diet, proteins and low fats and that kind of stuff, but you know im like a junkfood addict, i cant stop , and about cocacola well thats my weak spot so i know i need to start drinking more water than that shit, but i mean what else can i do any rutine i can follow for loose weight fast? I promise i wil lsatrt a healthy diet ill do my best.!!
Indeed. Some really awesome goals, and some absolute howler mistakes from James and Hahnemann.
Great entertainment however!
Also, *Arsenal to come out on top, and Reading, Derby and Bolton to go down.Okay, changed my mind after Liverpool's last few performances. Also Man U second, Man City third (though we can hope, eh?). Other than that... scramble!
Although Robinson makes the occasional error, he makes some pretty fantastic saves.The same can be said for David James. Also when Robinson makes his occasional error, they tend to be much more costly than James's errors.
The same can be said for David James. Also when Robinson makes his occasional error, they tend to be much more costly than James's errors.They would be more costly since Robinson plays for England, and James plays Portsmouth. James still makes a large amount of errors. And I'm not saying that Robinson doesn't, but I still feel Robinson is the better goalkeeper.
middlesbrough fan (home boy). we're doing pretty badly, but then again we got rid of viduka so what can we do?
You guys have the almight Lee Dong Guk! :woop:
Anyway, I'm surprised to see Manchester City do so well this year - most probably because of the new manager, but still they are pulling this off very nicely. Who knows, they might even win the league.
James is past it imho7th October 2007, Portsmouth vs Fulham. That is not a goalkeeper past his prime!
Yeah, I cant wait to watch that match when I get home from work tonight
doesn't sweden clinch their spot in the knockout rounds if they win tonight?
we would've haveor if ibrahimovic wasnt suspended (and actually played anyway (they looked fantastic in august against the US I dont see why they dont just use that lineup))
if we weren't rubbish
Last time Israel and Russia played it was a draw.
The Croatia manager is sympathetic for England.
Terry/Beckham will return.
There is hope yet.
or if ibrahimovic wasnt suspended (and actually played anyway (they looked fantastic in august against the US I dont see why they dont just use that lineup))
besides even if they lose to spain they arent going to lose or draw to latvia (and even if they do they'll still qualify because even if denmark or n. ireland win two more matches either side will only have 23 points and if sweden loses out 0-2 they'll win the tiebreaker on head-to-head as well as on goal difference to either of them)
I'll be outside of fenway drinking before game 1 if anyone wants to join me at the baseball tavern/cask and flagon/etc (get a fake id ase you dumb piece of shit :))Man, if only I had connections like half the people at my school do ($$$$$$) I would come to Fenway (I've never been!!!)
go rockies. the whole state is going crazy. everywhere you look there are rockies things... it's pretty exciting, i'm a bandwagoner but it's like all people talk about. I'm excited, I think they can take it. they're too hot right now.who are you and what are you doing in my state
who are you and what are you doing in my state
go rockies
(ps, I've been trying to get world series tickets for days now. they way they set this up is just RIDICULOUS)
Edit: All teams have fair weather fans including the Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. Actually I wouldn't even call these guys Fair Weather fans, more like first time fans that will stick around because their team has some history now. It isn't like this will die next season, every team starts somewhere, usually with a great playoff run.
hey guys guess who is going to game 4 :)))fu my roommate is already taunting me with that shit because he went to game 2 ugh
did his suspension end in time for the match with N. Ireland? Because I know he was still suspended for the Liechtenstein game (I watched it live)
*only*yeah well regardless of whether or not he is horrendous, he was fresh legs at the 70th minute and because of him and Crouch, Liverpool was on the offensive for most of the second half. If I were to say a Liverpool player was garbage.. I'd say its Kuyt... he fucked up a good 2 to 3 decent chances to score and 1 or 2 pretty good chances as well
yeah those rovers are one amazing side
also i am pretty sure you don't really know what you're talking about when you talk about liverpool because harry kewell is horrendous.
Parkour / Tricking
Free Running (it's about the same as parkour, but the sole purpose isn't looking cool, it's getting to the highest ground first)
i would like to remind anyone who missed it
Fernandooooooo Torres
LEGEND
spain vs sweden in 30 minutesahaghagahgahagahg i don't wanna lose!!!!!!god they scored again motherfuckinnnnnnn
wow well
this is embarassing. thats all that can be said :fogetshrug:
shut up spain got one of the best leagues in the world and we got a shitty league. they obviously got the better players but we're still doing pretty good!!! and those corner goals are just fuckan luck.ffs half of spains players play in italy and england anyway (granted yes most of their players are of a higher calibre... but sweden has beat spain 2 out of the last 3 times they've played counting today)
ps: you'll still qualify if you beat latvia
and you've already beaten them before
god they scored again motherfuckinnnnnnn
I'm like physically ill right now (I have eaten far too much food right now, but being down 0 - 2 at half time just finishes it off for me.. the best I can even see is a draw and that wont likely happen) oh well we only need one point to qualify and we will not lose to fuckin Latvia lol
Keep fighting Northern Ireland.Indeed. Go Northern Ireland!
Indeed. Go Northern Ireland!
(And Latvia. Go you too!)
Well, if England win they could go top of the group.
all I can say is the writing was on the wall from the moment they appointed such a technically inept goalkeeper
We don't have to groan through the flags on cars, the "World Beaters" messages everywhere or idiotic chumps boasting how we've got the best team in the world!All teams have this kind of 'support' in some shape or form.
Sweden made it :D! We should've won with more than 2-1 vs Latvia though but who cares we're in the euro champs!man yeah he is such an ugly fuck (and scores lots of goals what. sigh)
btw fuck you david healy how do you feel now back in n.ireland. bitch.
well atleast now with the british nations gone we won't have to deal with hooligans! I bet on croatia vs germany in the finals and that sweden will be beat by croatia in some of the minor finals.Hey, the Italians are still there. They'll kill you, not beat you up.
btw fuck you david healy ugly twit
Oh well I guess the better men (Italy and France)Hint: two 1-0 victories, Scotland being the only team to beat France in that group.
A total of 170 countries will go into Sunday's draw in Durban for the 2010 World Cup preliminary competition.
The teams are chasing 31 places at the World Cup finals, with only hosts South Africa guaranteed a spot at the tournament in 30 months' time.
Even 2006 champions Italy must qualify to defend their title.
There will be 861 qualifying matches to determine the line-up for the 2010 World Cup finals, lasting more than 800 days and finishing in November 2009.
A total of 205 countries entered the preliminaries but five have since withdrawn.
A further 30 were eliminated in pre-preliminary matches played in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
The draw comes four months after the 2010 preliminary campaign kicked off in Samoa in August.
Holders Italy will be chasing one of 13 European spots at the finals
The event will see Asia's groups drawn first, followed by those in the Concacaf region, made up of countries in central and north America and the Caribbean.
About an hour into the draw, Europe will be put in the spotlight when its 53 teams are divided into nine qualifying groups - eight of six teams and one of five.
The winners of each European group will qualify for the World Cup finals and the best eight runners-up play off for four more qualifying berths.
The evening rounds off with the draw for the African Zone, where 48 teams will be placed into 12 groups of four teams.
There is no draw for South America and the Oceania region, who have already started their preliminary competition.
..who said they had?explain to me what this all means.. the wikipedia description of what world cup qualifying entails doesnt make any sense at all
Wait, isn't this the exact opposite? I thought parkour was about efficiency, and free running wasn't.I thought Parkour and Freerunning were the same and about efficiency, and that Tricking was the acrobatic stuff.
Radomski stated that, beginning in 1996, he sold Deca-Durabolin and testosterone to Hundley on three or four occasions. At the beginning of that year, Radomski told Hundley that if he used steroids, he would hit 40 home runs. Hundley hit 41 home runs in 1996, having never hit more than 16 in any prior year. After the season, Radomski said, Hundley took him out to dinner.looks like hughley owes someone a dinner
either way, i'm pretty tired of all this steroid shit, and just don't really care anymore. i've enjoyed watching a lot of players on that list and, when it really comes down to it, they're really there purely for my personal amusement. if they kill themselves doing it, so be it. their choice. it's just a stupid game, and people who somehow see professional sport as some critical reflection of societal ethics should seek professional help immediately.there's two problems:
1. steroids are illegal. the mlb or any other sport league doesn't want to be seen as illegal and i don't think any sport league would want to take the bodybuilding "we don't use drugs p.s. if you do not have super muscles compete in MR NATURAL EVENTS" approach.sure, i don't blame them for that or anything. i'm just not going to stress over it if their grand scheme doesn't work or if players i like get busted. i've been following professional baseball for a very long time now, and definitely enjoyed it through years where the vast majority of baseball players were "cheating".
2. straight edge players don't like the idea of steroids because it makes it harder for them to compete and they don't want to die / have serious health problems / testicle shrinkage just to hit baseballs harder.don't get me wrong, i don't like the idea of it either. i mean, i would be very happy if they could one day get to the point where they had some genuinely fool-proof way of eliminating steroids from the game entirely. however, for the foreseeable future, i see it as being an extremely uphill battle, and i just don't think it's worth worrying about when it comes to following professional baseball. like everyone says, it's more about the purity of the game(and NUMBERS) than it really is about doing things outside of the rulebook. but in all honesty, if i want to get a taste of real baseball purity i'll get some buddies together and actually play the game. i don't think anybody can realistically turn to major league baseball and expect much PETE ROSE ACTION. baseball has been the way it currently is for an extremely long time.
i could care less what they do but the idea that genuinely talented guys won't make the cut because they don't do drugs is very disheartening to me.disheartening, yeah, but nowadays when it comes to actually watching the games and following the players, you really have no way of saying X PLAYER NEVER GOT THAT CHANCE. there have been players i said that about that i REALLY did not think took steroids that ended up in Mitchell's book.
It was compiled over four years and many players on the list were on the red sox during the time it was compiledyou mean 2. donnelly and gagne. i'm refuse to count mike stanton and his one inning pitched during 2005.
There were plenty of former red sox on the list.I actually went through the list and counted the Red Sox up. Extremely clever selection. Josias Manzanillo pitched one inning with the team in 1991. Canseco was a no-brainer, and it'd be humiliating if he was off the list. I think you can say the same about Jeremy Giambi, who I seem to recall confessing a few years ago anyway. The rest include Paxton Crawford, Mike Stanton, Kent Mercker, Steve Woodard, and Mike Lansing. The one prominent Red Sock was Mo Vaughn, but that was NINE YEARS AGO, and his name is only mentioned in relation to his tenure with the Mets. Donnelly and Gagne seem to be the only recent Red Sox of note, but, in all honesty, they're players that I wouldn't really see anyone in the organization give two shits about throwing under the bus. Of the acquisitions the Red Sox have made the last several years, getting Donnelly and Gagne were absolutely some of the most utterly unproductive, short of dumping Arroyo for Pena.
the only former sock in the past 5 years who is not on the list that you can reasonably think might have been on the juice is Nomar, sad to say it but I have always felt he was at least using hgh.Howie Clark made the list.
Is there really anyone on the current sox who fits the juice mold? Ortiz is out of shape and fat, manny is lol and you couldn't seriously think he could be on it. Lowell... maybe in Florida, those numbers were a bit suspect and his arms were ridiculous looking. Schilling? Out of shape fat guy. Beckett is scrawny and has always thrown close to 100, steroids would have had to help his command and teach him a new curveball to improve his game. Gagne was a no brainer, everyone knew he was on roids.