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Happy 32nd Birthday, Mateen Cleaves!  You may remember him as the Final Four’s MOP who led the Michigan State Spartans to the National Championship in 2000.  Since then, he’s played 6 very unspectacular seasons in the NBA.  So unspectacular, they were, that I was COMPLETELY unaware he was even IN the NBA.  He played with a different team roughly every season and is currently a point guard in the D-League for a team you and I never heard of.  If I’m not mistaken, he even played overseas.  I hope he caked up because his pro b-ball career is looking kinda bleak at this point!

I’ve just come back from visiting my mother a 90 year old tennis fanantic.  I picked up last week’s New York Times Magazine and there, on the cover, is Rafael Nadal, the curremt number one in men’s tennis and as well as the current heartthrob for women.  I look at Nadal and Federer as Borg and McEnroe:  Borg was the pin-up but they could both play tennis.

What really stood out for me in the Times article by Cynthia Gorney is the discussion of Rafael Nadal’s character. Like many professional tennis players,  he has little formal education but he is educated in ways that are perhaps more important.

My father loves to play golf. He’s been playing since he was in high school. Unfortunately actually going out to play is becoming harder and harder to do, with time constraints and financial issues. Because of this, for Father’s Day, my siblings and I got him Tiger Woods Golf on Wii (with Wii motion plus). My father was pretty excited about the gift, so we both drive to his house and started playing.

First off, thank you EA for allowing players to use the same Wiimote when playing golf and disc golf. This is a genius move to allow everyone to use Wii Motion Plus without having to trust the consumer to know to buy one.

The game of pool is one of the few sports categories well-suited for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform.

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With training camps set to open in late July there are still some quality players looking for work.  Unfortunately for most of the players currently not on NFL rosters, there seems to be distinct reasons (off the field issues, age, injuries, etc) why NFL teams are taking a wait and see view toward them.  Maybe some of the free agents will have to go the route of the UFL to get back into pro football, but we know injuries are a huge factor in the NFL.  It is only a matter of time before some unfortunate players go down in training camp and preseason which will necessitate some of the free agent players listed getting a call.

Buying a Straight Stairway Lift

Buying a Straight Stairway Lift

Author: Jai Gaitonde

Hang-in there, the longest break on the yearly NFL Calendar will be coming to an end soon in late July.  The first NFL training camp will open on July 24th as Cleveland Browns’ rookies will report to the team’s training facility in Berea, OH.

2009 NFL Training Camp Dates & Locations

TEAM                      SITE                                                       LOCATION            ROOKIES              VETERANS

Arizona                   Northern Arizona University               Flagstaff, AZ          29-Jul                     29-Jul

(Philadelphia, Pa) – We are almost to my least favorite time of the year when there is virtually no football.  Though the NFL Calendar is now packed it seems every month, most teams take a nice break after May and early June’s OTA’s to recharge for late July’s training camps.

The fun part of this time on the NFL Calendar is that hope has sprung eternal around the NFL, as every team is 0-0 heading into next season.  Yes even the 0-16 Detroit Lions believe they have positively tweaked their roster and drafted well enough that training camp can’t get here soon enough.

With rosters pretty much set for next season, I thought now was a good time to rank all 32 NFL Teams.

Day Two. This is the time where general managers and scouting staffs grip it and rip it. Forget about course management — Just get up there and hit it and see where it goes. Three more thoughts on the 2009 NHL Entry Draft….

1. Can someone please explain the Calgary Flames to me? And I’m not talking about the Olli Jokinen trade at the deadline last season. So they give up a third round pick to Florida for the rights to negotiate with the Jay Bouwmeester camp for the next three and a half days. Forget about the actual trade. Bringing in the underwhelming defenceman makes no sense and here’s why:

The Aussie beach pair, Becharra Palmer and Heike Jensen, playing in the world championships lost th

Ok.  I’ve reviewed all of our draftees from yesterday and today.  I don’t dislike any of them, even though I have some suspicions about one (read below).

Chris Kreider: Fastest player in the draft by a long shot.  Excellent skater.  Big, dominating forward.  The only downside could be that he has played in the New England Prep league, rather than in the CHL, OHL, QMJHL, etc.  THe competition level there is not as high as in junior leagues.  But the big seller for me is that his favorite book is The Baron in the Trees.  Oh, and he likes playing wing more than center.  Thank God.

Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas

Some things in the sporting world just make sense. Some people are actually meant to be great at what they do. Ed Thomas was someone the entire state of Iowa could respect. After a huge tornado leveled homes and killed 8 in the small town, he was the man that rebuilt the football field and restored faith and morale in the town, all at the same time going 10-0 and into the state semifinals.

You already know that Pete Parise went undrafted, that he played at the University of Pittsburgh, and that he was not truly a pitcher until he hit the Frontier League.  But did you know that his fastball is currently hitting mid-90s and that he is developing a mean sinker and changeup?  The two new pitches go great with his already powerful fastball and slider.  Marlon W. Morgan of the Memphis Commercial Appeal recently talked to Pete and his pitching coach and put together a nice write-up on the young reliever.  Here is an excerpt: