Treadmills in the Modern World

Is it just me, or have treadmills become technological masterpieces over the past few years? They're no longer just belts that move when you want on them. They're frickin' personal trainers! Even the lowest of low models has some crazy features that treadmills didn't have 40 years ago. It's just crazy to see the changes that have happened in this field over the years. In this article, I wanted to talk about some of the many features you may find in the next treadmill you decide. The innovations are truly astounding. Here is a look at the whacky world of walkin' machines.

Inclines

I think the addition of an incline opportunity was a brilliant idea for treadmills. When you go walking on a trail somewhere, you aren't going to be walking on a flat surface. Treadmills can now mimic the incline that you would have to walk on in nature by adjusting the slope of the walkway. This gives you a chance to walk uphill and really work on those leg muscles. Sometimes all it takes is an inch of height difference to transform your body for the better.

Drill Settings

A lot of modern day treadmills have drills built into them, where they change speeds and inclines to make you work out in different ways. No, these aren't like drills in police officer training. They are designed to create a more realistic workout for you. I do these all the time because I don't like just walking in one way for 30 minutes to an hour. You can set your own drills for some machines, or you can use the ones that they have built in. Whatever you do, you will end up with a fun opportunity to work out like you would with an actual trainer or on a walk in the mountains.

Safety Features

Treadmills now come equipped with safety features to shut off if you happen to fall down. This will prevent you from constantly smacking on the treadmill belt if you trip while walking. On my treadmill, there is a little magnetic device that I have to attach to my arm with a clip. The magnet allows me to turn on the machine, but it pulls right off with my shirt if I fall. When the magnet is off its spot on the treadmill, the machine will shut off. That keeps me safe from harm :)

Heart Rate Monitors

Some treadmills actually have heart rate monitors built in to help you see how rapidly your pulse is moving with every walk. This feature doesn't always work, but it is nice to have. In most cases, the monitor will be in the form of some sort of handle that you have to grab onto. The handle will read your pulse through your palms and tell you what it is on the screen. Then you can see just how much of a workout you're putting in on the treadmill.

Scales

Higher end treadmills now come with scales built into them, so all you have to do is step on and see how much you weigh. This is a great way to check your progress on the machine because you can see how much you weigh right there. You could check your weight before and after your workout, but that may be counterproductive. Chances are you won't lose that much if any right away, so you might want to wait a week to check in on the matter. Hopefully your fancy dancy treadmill will provide significant improvements to your weight.

Check out the treadmills in your are the next time you go out to the store, and you may be surprised by what they have to offer you.

5 Great Sports to Play Indoors

The winter is over now, but that doesn't mean that outdoor sports are in full swing yet. The rain keeps most of us cooped up in our homes all day when we want to play sports. As much fun as Wii tennis may be, it's just not the same as the real deal. Nevertheless, there are some fun games that you can play indoors without having to sacrifice anything along the way. If you have been looking for an excuse to get out of your pharmacy tech uniform and into some sneakers, you could look forward to playing one of these sports in the near future. Here are a few ideas to keep you fit and entertained indoors.

Bowling

Bowling is one of the easiest games for the indoors because anyone can play. It takes some skill to actually do well in bowling, but it does not take much to just play the game. You could drive to a local bowling alley if you wanted to, or you could just get one of those cheap plastic sets to play in the kitchen or hallway. Learn a little bit about the scoring, and you'll be all set.

Pool

I'm talking about billiards here, not a swimming pool. I'm not a huge fan of pool because I suck at it, but it can be fun to play indoors. You can find tabletop conversions for your home if you want to play at the house, but there should be plenty of places in your town that offer pool for $1 or $2 per game. You don't have to bring your own balls or sticks. You just need someone to play with. There should be something you can use there at the bar or pool hall.

Ping Pong

Table tennis is one of those games that looks easy but is actually really difficult to play well. Again, you can buy a table conversion to use at home, or you can go to a place that offers ping pong tables to play on. My husband and I used to play in the lounge for his dorm because that was the only place we had easy access to at the time. You may be able to find an arcade in your area to play in instead.

Darts

Darts are compact enough to store away, and they are versatile enough to work in any room. All you need is a wall to put the dart board on, and you should be able to play with your friends. Some people get super competitive with darts, and others just use them to destroy pictures of their enemies. What you do is up to you but I guarantee you will have some fun if you learn how to play darts well.

Basketball

Basketball is not an easy sport for some people to play, but it is something you can enjoy indoors. If you are not good at basketball in general, you may play HORSE or some other version of the game. I genuinely suck at anything related to throwing a ball, so I usually just create my own rules for the game and see what happens. Get creative, and you should find a way to have fun.

The rainy seasons doesn't have to dampen your spirits. You can have a ton of fun indoors if you have the right sports to play. Think about some of the options above and see if any of them will work for you. You will have a smile on your face in no time.

Human Resource Managers in the World of Sports

When most people think about sports recruiters, they think about coaches that go out to find players. While that does make sense in this context, a recruiter could also be someone that looks for employees to support a team or work in a stadium. This person is most often referred to as a human resource manager, and he or she plays a unique role in the athletic world. HR managers are generally responsible for creating a staff of quality employees to lead a team to success. They do this by recruiting and interviewing qualified men and women to work with them. If this sounds like a job for you, just keep reading. We'll show you what it takes to work in human resource management.

HR Manager Training and Education

To become a human resource manager in the sports industry, you obviously need a firm grasp of whatever sport you want to work around. That could be football, soccer, hockey, golf, or anything else you are interested in. In addition to that though, you need to have a background in human resources. That will come through a college degree. Common courses in HR management degrees include:

• Accounting and Finance: Managerial Use and Analysis per year
• Compensation and Benefits per year
• Employment Law per year
• Human Resource Management per year
• Human Resource Planning per year
• Labor Relations per year
• Leadership and Organizational Behavior per year
• Legal, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business per year
• Managerial Applications of Information Technology per year
• Managing Organizational Change per year
• Marketing Management per year
• Strategic Staffing per year
• Training and Development per year

You may take additional courses related to the sport of your choice, but that gives you an idea of the overall subject matter you will be dealing with in your degree. If that sounds like something you could feasibly get through, you should be able to find a great career in sports human resources.

HR Manager Earnings

Of course, you probably want to know how much money you can make as a human resource manager in sports. This is somewhat hard to say because the sports industry has such a large gap in pay rates. You may make millions of dollars working for the Green Bay Packers, but you may make much less than that working for a low-end team in your area. The statistics below highlight the expected pay rates for HR managers in general, which you should be able to use as a guideline for your pay:

Salary by Degree

• Associate's Degree: $34,762 - $78,633 per year
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology: $39,308 - $87,859 per year
• Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management: $40,247 - $85,322 per year
• Master of Business Administration: $40,689 - $91,837 per year

Salary by Gender

• Male: $49,328 - $80,351 per year
• Female: $45,920 - $70,155 per year

Again, you may make more than that, but that should help you figure out what you may earn as a whole. If you decide that you do not want to work in sports specifically, you can always move on to another area of business. There is always a demand for HR managers in the job market if you look around long enough.

Take in all of the information above and figure out if you want to work in HR management. If not, do your research to find a sports-related career that can fit you.

Advantages of Having a Personal Trainer

Are you tired of looking the way you do right now? Have you developed a body over the years that is simply not where it needs to be? Do you really want to play a sport, but you just don't have the build do to so at the moment? If so, you may have started to realize that you need to do something about your body. The two main options you have when it comes to exercising are to work out on your own or to hire a personal trainer to work with you. While the expense of the second option may leave you assuming you need to work out on your own, the fact is that you may be able to get much better results by having a personal trainer on your side. Here are a few reasons why you may want to have a personal trainer working with you in the future.

Professional Guidance

If you start to work out in the gym, chances are you are just going to gravitate to the first open machine. In doing this, you may actually confuse your muscles and keep your body looking the way it does right now. This is far too common for people who lack guidance in their exercising, and the truth is that it hinders your results. A personal trainer can assess your body and your lifestyle and try to come up with the best possible workout routines for you. That way you do not waste time sporadically exercising in ways that will not yield results for you.

Consistent Motivation

There is an inherent motivation that comes from a personal trainer that you cannot get on your own. A personal trainer should want you to succeed just as much as you want to succeed, and he or she is going to motivate you to achieve that perfect body as you exercise. If you feel like giving up on your own, you can simply walk away from the workout. With a personal trainer there to guide you though, you will have to stay committed to your goals. You will feel much better about yourself in the end.

Customized Workouts

Every person has slightly different physical needs that must be addressed. If you purely get your fitness advice from Richard Simmons infomercials, you need to look into something a little more tailored to your needs. You can work with a personal trainer to come up with a plan that actually works for your body, not the cookie cutter image that pre-made workouts accommodate. If you truly want to transform your body, you have to consider working with a personal trainer.

Baller Status

I just have to throw this one out there. You can feel like a total baller if you have your own personal trainer to work with. If your friends ask where you're going, you can say, "I'm meeting up with my trainer," in that cocky way that no one appreciates until he or she has a personal trainer as well. If you want to take your pimp status to the next level, this could definitely be an opportunity to do so.

Conclusion

The fact is that a personal trainer is going to know about your body well enough to come up with a good workout for you. Even if you think you have found the perfect plan online or in a DVD set, you can never be too sure that you are actually doing what you need to do for your body. A personal trainer will have the expertise to suggest a perfect workout for you. Investing in their help will have a major impact on the way your body looks in the future.

How Much Money Do Professional Athletes Really Make?

Everyone knows that professional athletes make a lot of money. No matter what sport they play or how good they are, they make more than most of us can ever hope to make working a 9-5 job. I sometimes think it is fascinating to look at just how much money professional athletes make because I don't really see what they do to deserve their pay rates. Yes, they provide entertainment for us all, but does that really merit millions of dollars a year in endorsements and contracts? Couldn't that money be put to better use in, oh I don't know, the economy??? (I never use more than one question mark in an article, so you know I'm heated). Let's take a look at just how much money is flying into athletic pockets.

Highest Paid Professional Athletes in America

I figured I would start things off right at home. If you're reading this from another country, you can still feel the general disgust for how much money people are making around here. It's ridiculous, don't you think? I'll let you decide…

1. Tiger Woods - Pro Golf: $127,902,706 career total
2. Phil Mickelson - Pro Golf: $62,372,685 career total
3. LeBron James - Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA): $40,455,000 career total
4. Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Boxing: $40,250,000 career total
5. Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers (NBA): $35,490,625 career total
6. Shaquille O'Neal - Phoenix Suns (NBA): $35,000,000 career total
7. Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees (MLB): $35,000,000 career total
8. Kevin Garnett - Boston Celtics (NBA): $31,000,00 career total
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9. Peyton Manning - Indianapolis Colts (NFL): $30,500,000 career total
10. Derek Jeter - New York Yankees (MLB): $30,000,000 career total
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Auto Racing: $27,221,970 career total
12. Allen Iverson - Denver Nuggets (NBA): $27,109,375 career total
13. Kevin Durant - Seattle SuperSonics (NBA): $25,950,000 career total
14. Jeff Gordon - Auto Racing: $25,926,687 career total
15. Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL): $25,200,000 career total
16. Dwyane Wade - Miami Heat (NBA): $25,041,250 career total
17. Tracy McGrady - Houston Rockets (NBA): $25,014,187 career total
18. Carmelo Anthony - Denver Nuggets (NBA): $22,541,250 career total
19. Tim Duncan - San Antonio Spurs (NBA): $22,514,187 career total
20. Manny Ramirez - Boston Red Sox (MLB): $22,500,000 career total

I would gladly take 1% of any of the numbers above and live off it for the rest of my life. Pay off my car, buy a house, and go to sleep as long as I want throughout the day. Yep, sounds like a good plan. Are ya with me? Sigh…

Highest Paid Athletes in the World

America isn't the only place in the world that has overpaid athletes. There are plenty of other countries that pay their athletes more than they are probably worth. Let's look at the numbers for proof…

1. David Beckham - Los Angeles Galaxy (Soccer): $48,200,000 career total
2. Kimi Räikkönen - Auto Racing: $46,000,000 career total
3. Ronaldinho - FC Barcelona (Soccer): $37,500,000 career total
4. Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona (Soccer): $35,800,000 career total
5. Roger Federer - Tennis: $35,130,620 career total
6. Fernando Alonso - Auto Racing: $35,000,000 career total
7. Valentino Rossi - Motor Sports: $34,000,000 career total
8. Yao Ming - Houston Rockets (NBA): $31,762,775 career total
9. Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United (Soccer): $30,300,000 career total
10. Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners (MLB): $27,602,149 career total
11. Lewis Hamilton - Auto Racing: $27,600,000 career total
12. Thierry Henry - FC Barcelona (Soccer): $26,100,000 career total
13. Maria Sharapova - Tennis: $21,758,550 career total
14. John Terry - Chelsea (Soccer): $21,600,000 career total
15. Michael Ballack - Chelsea (Soccer): $21,500,000 career total
16. Ronaldo - AC Milan (Soccer): $20,800,000 career total
17. Johan Santana - New York Mets (MLB): $20,750,000 career total
18. Dirk Nowitzki - Dallas Mavericks (NBA): $20,360,095 career total
19. Kaká - AC Milan (Soccer): $20,100,000 career total
20. Hideki Matsui - New York Yankees (MLB): $19,000,000 career total

As you can see, professional athletes have nothing to worry about financially. Sure there are those that don't make nearly that much money, but most people in professional sports make more than the average FBI agent salary, and they don't even have a college degree. No matter how disgusting this may be though, it is something we all have to deal with. The next time you go to buy a piece of sports memorabilia, think about where all of that money is going. It may make you rethink the purchase in the future.

The Most Memorable Super Bowl Commercials of 2012

The thing I love about the Super Bowl is that it always has great commercials to look forward to. Even if the game is complete crap one year, the commercials are funny time and time again. I wasn't a huge fan of the game this year, so I didn't think an article with a breakdown of its "big moments" would be very enjoyable. Instead, I decided to dedicate this post to the most memorable Super Bowl commercials of 2012. Let's look back on some of the best moments, shall we?

I'm Sexy and I Know It



You Didn't See Nuthin



The Party Has Arrived



Yaaa Boyeeeee



Possibly the Best Yogurt in the World



You Want One? Sorry!



Best Gift Ever! Best Gift Ever!



What Do You Mean You Want a New Contract?



What I Liked about These Commercials

The reason why I think these are the most memorable Super Bowl commercials of 2012 is because they're all really simple in concept but still really funny to watch. They have little unexpected twists that transcend multiple generations, making anyone watching them giggle involuntarily. I don't care if you're a 300 pound guy with an Italian accent. I guarantee you laughed for at least one of the commercials above – probably more so than you are willing to admit.

Are Super Bowl Commercials Effective?

The average Super Bowl commercial this year cost $3.5 million, which is a lot of money to pay for a TV ad. The reason why people pay so much for a commercial slot is because they know that a lot of people are going to be watching the game. If all of those people leave the TV screen with a certain commercial in mind, they are more likely to buy a product or service featured in the commercial. That just makes sense from a business perspective.

Here are some stats to keep in mind about the 2012 Super Bowl, courtesy of Bloomerang.com:

• The game was seen in an average of 47 percent of U.S. homes, the best rating since 1986 when the Chicago Bears’ win over the Patriots drew a 48.3 rating.
• An average of 114 million viewers watched the halftime show.
• This was the seventh straight year of Super Bowl-record viewership. It peaked at 117.7 million during its final half-hour.
• This was the sixth highest viewed Super Bowl in history.

With numbers like those backing the commercials, there is no doubt that they were effective. You can see a lot of the ones listed above on TV now, and they are just as funny as they were on that fateful Sunday. Heck, I still remember the Snickers commercial with Betty White, and that was from two years ago. If that's not good advertising, I don't know what is. Let's close with that commercial, just so you can laugh along with me.

A Review of the Logo Board Game

I realize that playing board games isn't exactly a sport, but it is one in my household. My husband and I bought the Logo Board Game right before Christmas, but we haven't had a chance to play it until this past week. After a few rounds of the game, I think I have a pretty clear understanding of its good and bad qualities. As a whole, it is definitely worth the money you may pay for it. You just have to determine if it fits your family dynamic. Here is my take on the Logo Board Game so you can figure out if you want to play it or not.

How to Play the Logo Board Game

Playing the Logo Board Game is pretty simple. There are 400 cards in the game with 4 questions a piece on them. Each question has a certain color: purple, green, yellow, or red. Those colors correspond to colors on the board. If someone answers a question correctly, he or she gets to move to the next appearance of that color on the board. The colored squares are randomized, so there's no telling how far a person is going to go in one turn until that person answers the questions.

The question cards all fit some sort of theme, which can be a general category or a picture of some sort. For instance, the theme may be "Animals," and one of the corresponding questions may be "Name the Ford sports car." The answer to that question would be "Mustang." Get the idea? Any time someone answers a question correctly, he or she gets a chance to answer the next question on a card. If that person cannot answer it, the question goes to the next person playing the game.

Here is a video that may explain all of this a little further:



What I Like about the Logo Board Game

The Logo Board Game is a lot of fun because it challenges your memory about somewhat stupid topics. Who cares what color the FedEx emblem is? Who cares what BP stands for? Who cares which auto maker develops the cars used for police officer training? These are topics that don't normally come up in casual conversation, so it is nice to try racking your brain just to see what comes out. This is also a game that bridges the age gap, since most of us are exposed to logos at a very early age. Overall, I think it is a ton of fun to play as a family.

What I Don't Like about the Logo Board Game

I think that the game can get a little long at times, especially if there is a series of cards that no one knows anything about. For instance, there is a card in there devoted to Spinmaster, the makers of the game. Even though they have made a lot of other popular games on the market, most people don't know them by name. A card like that can make the game pretty boring, but there are plenty of other ones in the deck to spice things up.

As a whole, I think this is a great game to play with your friends and family. Whether you're a doctor, a high school student, or something in between, you can probably find enjoyment and entertainment out of the Logo Board Game. Pick up one at your local Target or Walmart and see for yourself.

How Much Money Do Professional Coaches Make?

Are you a sports nut with a passion for helping other people succeed? Do you understand the physics of sports and how a human body is supposed to operate when playing one? Can you make quick decisions, even in high pressure situations? If so, you may think about becoming a professional coach in the future. Every sport needs a set of coaches to teach players how to succeed. Thus the question is whether or not this sort of job is going to be able to pay well enough to keep your family fed later on in life. The statistics below are courtesy of PayScale.com, and they show some of the different salary ranges you can expect in this profession. Use them to determine if this is the right path for you.

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year: $22,626 - $44,908 per year
• 1-4 years: $15,049 - $48,015 per year
• 5-9 years: $20,214 - $62,220 per year
• 10-19 years: $20,273 - $74,880 per year
• 20 years or more: $28,539 - $97,871 per year

Salary by Industry

• College/University: $20,439 - $62,087 per year
• K-12 Schools: $20,213 - $69,043 per year
• School District: $25,000 - $49,132 per year
• Sports Agency: $22,900 - $51,456 per year

Salary by Company Size

• 1-9: $7,946 - $74,065 per year
• 10-49: $10,213 - $97,871 per year
• 50-199: $24,025 - $75,662 per year
• 200-599: $24,083 - $105,289 per year
• 600-1999: $38,884 - $55,955 per year

Salary by Employer Type

• Local Government: $22,500 - $55,000 per year
• Non-Profit Organization: $20,553 - $56,171 per year
• Private Practice/Firm: $21,000 - $58,000 per year
• School District: $19,765 - $64,962 per year
• Team: $10,137 - $14,864,852 per year
• University: $20,252 - $61,887 per year

Salary by Gender

• Male: $29,530 - $50,145 per year
• Female: $25,014 - $39,877 per year

Salary by Benefits

• 401(k): $23,672 - $74,338 per year
• Casual Atmosphere: $23,976 - $74,497 per year
• Cell Phone: $29,467 - $89,873 per year
• Education Reimbursement: $17,452 - $77,338 per year
• Life Insurance and Disability: $26,863 - $79,129 per year
• Paid Holidays or Vacations: $26,531 - $83,674 per year
• Paid Sick Leave: $26,104 - $83,865 per year

Salary by Location

• California: $20,553 - $61,277 per year
• Florida: $10,304 - $193,916 per year
• Missouri: $10,137 - $83,838 per year
• New York: $25,498 - $58,723 per year
• North Carolina: $20,273 - $83,838 per year
• Pennsylvania: $17,617 - $47,010 per year
• Texas: $30,067 - $97,871 per year

Salary by the Hour

• Less than 1 year: $8.00 - $13.84 per hour
• 1-4 years: $7.22 - $30.20 per hour
• 5-9 years: $6.80 - $38.78 per hour
• 10-19 years: $7.57 - $79.46 per hour
• 20 years or more: $10.75 - $32.50 per hour

How much money do professional coaches make? A lot. If you manage to find work with a really good team, you could make just as much as some of the players do. A few years ago, I lived next to the basketball coach for a local college. He drove a brand new Cadillac Escalade that the school bought for him, and he didn't have to pay the $900 a month in rent it cost for a place in that area. On top of all that, he got a huge paycheck and paid vacation from the college – and he didn't even work for a big team. Snag a good coaching job, and you could easily be involved with a well-paying career.

How to Get an Athletic Scholarship

There are tons of scholarships for athletes out there, and some of them are harder to get than others. Most people know about the Got Milk? Scholarship, but few realize just how many financial aid programs there are for aspiring college athletes. If you are thinking about playing a sport in college, you may qualify for one of these awards. The key in getting one of these scholarships is to know where to look and how to apply for one. The tips below should walk you through the basic process so you can obtain all the money you need to pay for your education.

Common Requirements for Athletic Scholarships

Every scholarship is different when it comes to the application requirements, so you need to look over the requirements for an award you want to apply for before you spend a ton of time on it. Here are some of the most common things scholarship committees look for in award winners:

• Academic merit (good grades, high test scores, etc.)
• Financial need (not always)
• Athletic abilities
• Leadership qualities
• Community service participation
• Extracurricular activities

Athletic scholarships are about a lot more than being able to play sports well. It's nice to have great player stats, but scholarship committees want to see more than that. They want to sponsor people who can be role models in the community, so you are going to need more than a fast run and a good pair of hands to get something like this. The more well-rounded you are, the better off you will be.

Where to Find Athletic Scholarships

Finding athletic scholarships is not a tricky process because there are a ton of them out there. If there is a certain school that you want to play college ball for, the easiest thing to do is to contact them about your scholarship opportunities. If you just want a general scholarship that could be used at any school, you could look through a site like Scholarships.com or FastWeb.com. Those sites provide great references to scholarships you may be able to qualify for. Talk to a financial aid adviser in the college you want to go to, and he or she should be able to point you in the right direction.

How to Apply for Athletic Scholarships

You should be able to complete most of your applications online, but there may be a few of them that have to be filled out on paper or in person. Some athletic scholarships require short essays, and others are awarded purely based on grades and skills. If you do have to write an essay for an application, it will probably be about how sports have made your life better and what you could do with financial aid for college. You just have to read the prompt that you get from the application, and then you can create the essay that fits the needs of the scholarship.

With the sheer amount of athletic scholarships available in the world, there is no reason for you to avoid applying for them. You have the potential to pay for your college education if you just look around at your options. Work on your academic skills as much as you work on your athletic abilities, and then you will have a much better chance at securing the aid that you need. With a little effort in the right places, you should have no trouble finding the money you need for college.

Is Golf Really All That Hard?

A lot of people try to play golf because they assume it is going to be really easy. All you have to do is hit a ball into a hole. How hard can that be? There is a lot more to keep in mind about golf than just hitting a ball in a hole. As much as I want to make a Tiger Woods joke at this point, I'll refrain from doing so. Let's just stick to the facts. I wanted to explore some of the many thought processes that actually go into playing golf to show you, the reader, what it takes to do well in this sport. Read on to see just how hard golf really is.

Gone with the Wind

Wind becomes a problem in most sports because it blows a ball off course. Playing tennis in the wind is incredibly difficult, and golf is no different. When the winds come, they blow your ball in directions that it is not supposed to go in. That can cause you to hit something completely off course, especially over a long distance. Seeing that wind is prevalent almost every day, you have to adjust your hitting and putting strategies to make up for whatever the wind is doing at some point in time.

'Erbody in Da Club Getting' Tipsy

Every golf club has a different purpose, and you have to know which club to use to do whatever you want to do. One club is meant to help your ball travel a long distance, and another is meant to help you hit a ball out of the sand. Then you have the putter, which is meant to be used for very short distances. You can get as complicated as you want with all of this, but the point is that you have to know what different clubs do and how to use them properly. This can make the sport of golf very confusing, very quickly.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

The way in which you hit the ball will also have an impact on how successfully it travels. If you hit with too much force, you could overshoot the hole. If you don't hit with enough force, you could end up using a lot of extra strokes just to make it to the hole. It takes years of practice to actually get good at golf, unless you happen to be really lucky. You have to learn the balance of strength, speed, and direction to get the ball to go exactly where you want it to go. This is more difficult than you may think.

This Land Is Your Land

The landscaping on a golf course will have a huge influence on the way your ball acts. You have to think about hills, valleys, sand pits, ponds, and other physical features that you may come across on the course. All of these features will determine where your ball goes and how close it gets to the hole. One small little pebble could completely transform your stroke for the worse. You can't correct any of this. You just have to learn to work around it.

Long story short, golf is not as easy as it looks. You may play a mean miniature golf, but it takes a seasoned pro to do well in the real deal. All you can do is practice at the sport and see if you are any good. If not, there are plenty of other sports around the world that you could look into. You just have to open your mind.

How to Play Tennis – The Basics

Tennis is a complex sport, and it is one that you may not be able to learn on a whim. Most people spend years trying to perfect their tennis swings before they can actually consider themselves good at the game. I am far from an expert in tennis, but I do at least have a grasp on the basics. Thus I thought it may be nice to provide you with a basic guide to the sport so you can practice it on your own. Here is a brief guide explaining how to play tennis so you could enjoy the fun this sport has to offer.

Rules

The basic rule of tennis is that you have to hit a ball that comes to you before it bounces a second time. The player hitting the ball must make sure that the ball makes it over the net without bouncing, and he or she must keep the ball in between the boundary lines. The inner set of lines is used for singles (one person playing one other person), and the outer lines are used for doubles (two people playing two other people). Serves must happen behind the back line, and they must land on the opposite side of the next. These balls must hit within the box diagonal from the server, and they cannot touch the net.

There are several different kinds of wins in tennis. There is a match win, a set win, and a game win. A game is made up of several set, and a set is made up of several matches. The number of sets and matches in a game will depend on the rules of the area at the time of play. One player serves the ball for an entire match before giving it to someone else to serve. Players must change sides after every other round of play so that no one player gets an unfair advantage. Serving also alternates from one corner to the next every round. You can see how this can get really complicated really quickly.

Scoring

Scoring in tennis is a little odd, especially if you aren't familiar with the game. Every round of play has four possible scores: 0 (love), 15, 30, and 40. Every time a person fails to hit a ball before the second bounce, the other person moves up in the score. If the score was 15:30, the score could then move to 30:30 or 15:40, depending on who hit the scoring ball. If a player fails to get the ball over the net, the points go to the other player.

If one person is at 40 point and the other person is not, the 40 point player can win the round by winning the next play. In other words, you have to score one more time beyond the 40 point to win a match. If there comes a time when you reach the score of 40:40, you go into deuce. That means that the winner of the match will have to get two scores in a row. The first person to score gets what is known as an "advantage." If he or she scores a second time, he or she wins the game. If the other person scores, everything goes back to normal. Then another set of two will be needed in order to win.

If you play this sport a bit and you find out you're really good at it, you may be able to land some athletic scholarships in honor of your talents. If you aren't the best player in the world, don't worry. There are plenty of people out there who just aren't cut out for tennis. Hopefully now you have a rough idea of how to play the sport so you can use it for your fitness and entertainment.

Animal Fighting as a Sport? WTF?

I have been watching a little too much of Animal Cops on Animal Planet lately, so forgive me if this article seems slightly off topic. I have noticed that animal fighting seems to be an increasingly popular sport in the US, and I'm not totally sure why. People fight roosters, dogs, and bulls against one another for sheer entertainment, and I have a genuine probably with it. This article is entirely devoted to my disdain for this supposed sport that is nothing more than animal cruelty at its finest. Read on if you are a little peeved about all of this yourself.

A Look at Animal Fighting

Animal fights usually involve animals that are naturally aggressive, like pit bulls, roosters, and bulls. People train these animals to hate other members of their own species, and then they put two aggressive animals in a ring and watch them fight one another. Viewers place bets on the animals just like they would on a fight between humans or anything else along those lines. The people running the right rake in extra money for each bet placed, and that's how they fuel the establishment.

The criminals in charge of animal fighting operations have to work under cover because dog and cock fighting are illegal in the US. They typically have locations in the middle of nowhere where most patrol officers don't venture. They keep their actions incredibly secretive, and they breed their own fighters to prevent others from getting suspicious. You can think of them as drug dealers of sorts, especially since most of them do in fact sell illegal drugs at their establishments. As a whole, they find ways to make money by putting innocent animals in fights against one another – just for fun.

The rinks for animal fights are usually made out of old carpets and particle board to provide a barrier between the aggressive animals and the humans watching them in the crowd. These animals usually do not have a problem with humans because they are trained to hate other animals. Pit bulls, for instance, are often great with people, but they can be trained to tear each other apart. Some breeders make their dogs so aggressive that they have to tie the females down in order for the males to be able to mate with them. The whole setup for animal fights is absolutely appalling, and it is not something I would ever wish on any animal. This is far from a sport if you ask me.

The Aftermath of Animal Fighting

A lot of animal fighting operations are discovered through the efforts of animal patrol officers and law enforcement officials, but there are still plenty of them that never get unveiled. Some cops will go under cover posing as people who want to join in on the betting for the fights because they have to have physical evidence of the fights occurring in order to incriminate the men and women involved. If they are never able to get that evidence, the fights – unfortunately – get to continue.

For the fighting setups that are discovered, most of the animals involved must be put to sleep after they are rescued from their owners. They are too aggressive to be put in the hands of strangers at that point, so they have to be euthanized to end their suffering and protect the safety of other animals along the way. This can all be prevented if we put a stop to animal fighting in the first place. Take a stand against this problem in your community, and let's see if we can get this "sport" to fade away in near future.