The Land of the Rising Sun: Baseball

Although baseball is originated from the best, in the east it is became a phenom.
Baseball is probably the most popular sport in Japan. Yakyu, as baseball is called in Japanese, was introduced from the United States during the early Meiji Period.

There are two professional baseball leagues in Japan: the Central League and the Pacific League. They consist of six teams each. Baseball games are broadcast live on television several times per week during the season. Furthermore, there is a large number of university and high school into baseball recruiting programs. The finals of the high school baseball tournaments, in particular, enjoy a large popularity and are broadcast nationwide.
Several Japanese baseball players are also playing highly successfully in the American Major League and enjoy great popularity and media coverage in Japan.

In local schools, instructors encourage students to try out the sport by signing to some baseball recruiting Japan

WRC: World Rally Championship

With some Auto Makers who wants to improve their products this one tournament is great playground.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a rallying series organised by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) , culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 12 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is split into 15-25 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads. The sport's commercial rights are administered by International Sportsworld Communicators, who also produce the daily event highlights shown in 186 countries.

The WRC was formed from well-known and popular international rallies, most of which had previously been part of the European Rally Championship and/or the International Championship for Manufacturers, and the series was first contested in 1973. The World Rally Car is the current car specification in the series. It evolved from Group A cars which replaced the banned Group B supercars. World Rally Cars are built on production two-litre four-cylinder cars, but feature turbochargers, anti-lag systems, four-wheel-drive, sequential gearboxes, aerodynamic parts and other enhancements bringing the price of a WRC car to around US$1 million (€700,000).

The WRC features two support championships, the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) and the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC), which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with different regulations. The production car and junior entrants race through the stages after the WRC drivers.

with an unpredictable circuit this tournament is one of the best in terms of who's the best in driving. ( fyi mostly dominated with European drivers)

Recruiting-101 Book Review: Sole Influence

his book, Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth, takes a look at the problems with AAU and youth basketball. Obviously the first person that I would recommend this book to is basketball fans who enjoy learning more about the shady side of the recruiting process.

Authors: Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger, do a nice job of showing how ugly things can get. These are the stories that people hear about the dark side of recruiting and it is pretty obvious that it is there. The authors laid a lot of the blame on the shoe companies.

The Breakdown:
Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth:

Unlike Mike
The very first talks in depth about Kobe Bryant, who was recently named NBA MVP this season. But this was about his time when he was going into the NBA Draft and had Nike and Adidas trying hard to sign him. The reason that these shoe companies were showing him so much interest is that they are always trying hard to find the next Michael Jordan. Their grass root programs that work with AAU teams want to have the top players in their gear and the companies are willing to sponsor these teams because of that.

Shoes to Fill
When Reebok signed Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 to a shoe contract, they thought it was the second coming of Michael Jordan. The only problem is that no one aspires to be a center. It is guards who are skilled, can dunk, and shoot the ball. They set the trend and Reebok did not renew their contract with O’Neal after it expired a few years later. This chapter also touched on the history of Nike and how Phil Knight grew his company over time.

Sonny and George
A big part of the blame for the AAU mess that we currently have is because of George Raveling and Sonny Vaccaro. While they were best friends in the 80s, they are not bitter rivals who do not speak with one another. They currently work in the same position but Raveling is at Nike and Vaccaro is at adidas. The reason their relationship seemed to turn sour was over a recruit that did not go to USC with Raveling and instead won a national title at UCLA.

This Little Piggie Went to Nike
If you are looking for a bad AAU story, their talk of Myron Piggie is it. This AAU coach was arrested for selling cocaine and shooting at a police officer. Piggie downplayed the entire incident but did admit to having drug problems. But the whole story that actually happened, according to court records, is a lot worse than he made it out to be. Piggie was the coach of one of the top AAU teams in Kansas City after this time. What this chapter stresses is that lack of background checks by AAU basketball and Nike, who was paying to sponsor his team.

Romancing the Stone
People expect to see the ugly AAU stories in big cities. But that is not always the case. It even affected Huntsville, Alabama where Marvin Stone played. This 6-foot-10 bigman was skilled and played for multiple AAU teams during his time. He ended up getting bought out before signing with Kentucky. It is not much of a surprise that he never ended up doing much professionally because he was handed everything as a kid.

Red, White, and Swoosh
Nike was able to put together the Nike Hoops Summit and it created about as many problems as possible. They were sued from stealing the idea from someone else and picking only Nike players. Many of the people involved, who have an affiliation to Nike, are TV personalities like Billy Packer. Do you think he has a bias when he is on television towards Nike? It is definitely something to think about.

Wesley Wilson
Prep school battles happen more than you would think and this was the case with Wilson. He skipped summer courses in order to go play on the AAU circuit when he needed them to quality after high school. But because he played well on the AAU circuit in early spring, Wilson ended up not being able to go to a prep school that wore Adidas. They were not sponsored by them, just wore their shoes. He ended up going to a prep school that had a Nike affiliation. This was not a coincidence either.

Mt. Zion
Steve Smith (Head coach at Mt. Zion) and Alvis Smith were the ones who were able to find Tracy McGrady and help him leave for the NBA draft after high school. But the writers talk more about stories where Mt. Zion traps outstanding basketball players to not be able to leave their program. Some were able to get and others not so much. If these stories are true, this program is as dirty as it comes. But then again, they don’t have any rules for prep schools.

Be Like ‘Mique
It discussed the importance of Chamique Holdsclaw. This former Tennessee basketball player was a trend setter when it comes to women’s basketball and some felt she would be the female version of Michael Jordan.

Recruiting Rush
A followed the recruiting of Jaron Rush. He had committed to Kansas but decided that he would sign in the spring because his mother would not sign the Letter of Intent. Because a booster had taken him in almost as a son, the NCAA basically said that Rush could not sign with the Jayhawks. He ended up signing with UCLA, left too early in his college career, and has traveled far and wide playing professional ball. A very interesting note about this is that his youngest brother, Brandon, played an important role in their national championship this season.

“Buy Your Own Goddamn Shoes”
Elvert Perry is an AAU coach and seems to be one of the ones that are honest. Jim Delany runs the Big 10 conference. Delaney feels that something must be done about the mess that is involved with the AAU circuit. Perry blames Delany and coaches for signing contracts with shoe companies.

The Summer Season
The writers follow around D.C. Assault, one of the top AAU teams in the country. This is an interesting look at their coach, their players, and the type of game that they play. It should not come as a huge surprise but many of their top players come from single parent families and some even live with their grandparents. Lot a lot of AAU coaches, their head coach, Curtis Malone, wants to be a college coach someday.

The Best Billboards Money Can Buy
Instead of buying billboards at high schools, shoe companies will pay schools to wear their jerseys. The reason that they do this is if fans see them wearing Nike or Adidas, they may be more prone to purchasing them. There is an interesting story about Miami Senior High and how they cheated to win State titles. The head coach that got fired, Frank Martin, is the head coach at Kansas State.

Free Speech For Sale
Going back to college, many of the shoe companies have contracts that colleges sign in order to put their brand on all of their athletes. But a portion of the contract has a clause that says all employees and students of the university can not say any negative remarks about their product. I guess they are not worried about freedom of speech.

Standing Tall
Marcus Taylor is the focus in this chapter. For those that remember him, he was an outstanding point guard from Michigan who turned down the opportunity to play AAU basketball in order to work out on his own. Few players make this same decision. The bad news for Taylor is that he went to Michigan State, left after his freshman year for the NBA, and has not been heard from since. Taylor actually is playing in the NBA D League and hopes to get a shot at the big level.

Taking Responsibility For This Mess
So who is responsible for this mess? Is it the shoe companies? AAU coaches? College coaches? It sounds like the shoe companies are taking some of the blame but they don’t plan to stop their grass roots program until the other does. And that basically will not be happening anytime soon. It just seems to get worse.
If you are interested in basketball recruiting and sports recruiting, it is worth reading.

sources: gaaau.net & recruiting-101.com

Pierce: Fencing

Fencing combines physical activity with skill, control, aggression and a sophisticated mind-set and is often described as a form of physical chess. Fencing is not a dangerous sport when done with the proper saftey equipment, and can be both very athletic and very fun.

Deca Sports : A Wii Sports Game

Aside from the famous Wii Sports this one has also earn its respect in Wii Sports Game

At first glance, Deca Sports seems merely a Hudson branded re-imagining of Nintendo's pack-in Wii Sports title, doubling its number of sports with ten and losing Mii support. What is it that emboldens Deca Sports to claim some of the success that Wii Sports has enjoyed, amassing more than a million in sales?

One thing that is of great importance, but is often overlooked, with it’s interface that players must navigate in order to select their sport and play the game. In this respect, Deca Sports performs admirably. It's a small thing, but the vibration when moving the cursor over a button can make a large difference. Most of the game's interface sports a green and white motif that's not only simple, but also calm and pleasant. The icons which you must point at to move between menus and modes are large and easy to navigate. The A button selects, and the B button backs out to a previous location. Since there are ten different sports, many modes allow you to not just retry a game, but retry it with different characters or playing different sports.
Deca Sport's interface is important because, with ten different sports included in the game, players will want to start playing with as little difficulty as possible. Deca Sports attempts to double Nintendo's Wii Sports offering with Badminton, Beach Volleyball, SuperCross Biking, Kart Racing, Snowboarding, Basketball, Soccer, Archery, Curling, and Figure Skating. All of the sports can be played with multiplayer (Badminton, Soccer, and Basketball can only be played with two players, the rest support up to four), and only three sports require use of the Nunchuk. All of the controls are easy to learn and rely on straight forward tilting or timed swings of the Wii Remote, using few buttons. They all offer tutorial modes, and each offers a single challenge mode to test a specific skill. It's definitely an eclectic mix, and some sports work better than others.

Less important than the gameplay in a game like Deca Sports are the graphics. There are touches that stand out impressively, however. There are subtle reflections on the ice during figure skating, and seamless zooming out from the menu screen when starting the game that gives the sense that players were looking at a giant-sized sports display all along. However, the game lacks Mii support, and while the limited selection of characters serve their purpose, this is a disappointment. The characters exhibit a limited, and thus less personal, set of animations, lacking the subtle draw and dynamism of actual Miis.

What does it take to appeal to the Wii Sports crowd? Deca Sports offers an efficient interface and a couple of high points during gameplay… but only that. From a distance, the game easily resembles a successor to Wii Sports. As Hudson works on a sequel, one hopes that they will add even more touches of polish, and focus their direction towards experiences like Snowboarding, Beach Volleyball, and Figure Skating instead of Kart Racing, Badminton, and Basketball.

First be First: Winter Fun

Here are some winter notes for having fun sports fun during the winter season.

Sledding

Zipping down a hill at what feels like a million miles an hour can be a great time — as long as you're sledding safely. When you grab your sled, make sure it's sturdy and that it's one you can really steer. The handholds should be easy to grab, and the seat of the sled should be padded. Never use homemade sleds like garbage-can lids, plastic bags, or pool floats - these are dangerous and you may lose control while you're sledding. Also, never use a sled that has any sharp, jagged edges or broken parts (this might happen if you're using an old sled).

Skating

Whether you're tending goal or going for a triple-spin in the air, it's cool to glide across the ice. Whichever ice sport you like, one rule is always the same: only skate on approved ice. In places where it gets really cold, you might be able to skate outdoors on frozen ponds and lakes. But these spots must be approved for skating. 

Skiing and Snowboarding

Before you hit the slopes to ski or snowboard, make sure you have the right equipment - and that it fits you right. Many kids have problems because the equipment they use is too big for them. It may have belonged to an older brother or sister and they are hoping that they can "grow into it." Equipment that is too big will make it hard for you to keep control.

Last Note: Stay Warm

No matter which winter sport you choose, staying warm is important. The right clothing and equipment will help you do that. Dress in layers, people often say. This is true, but some of the newer fabrics for cold weather give you the warmth of layers without all the bulk. Ask an adult if you're not sure what to wear outside.

Sometimes kids say, "I don't mind being cold." The tough guy (or girl) approach isn't a good idea. Staying warm isn't just about feeling comfortable. Your body needs to stay warm to work properly. And when your body is at the right temperature, it won't need to spend as much energy getting warm. That will give you maximum energy for winter fun. Also, if you're dressed properly, it means you can stay outside longer without worrying about frostbite.

Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team sport played on ice. It is a fast paced and physical sport. Ice hockey is most popular in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural, reliable seasonal ice cover, though with the advent of indoor artificial ice rinks it has become a year-round pastime at the amateur level in major metropolitan areas such as cities that host a National Hockey League (NHL) or other professional-league team. It is one of the four major North American professional sports, and is represented by the National Hockey League (NHL) at the highest level, and the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) and the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) at the highest level of women's ice hockey in the world. It is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. Only six of the thirty NHL franchises are based in Canada, but Canadian players outnumber Americans in the league.

If you want to play in the big league try yourself first in lower grounds. To test yourself, try participating some sports recruiting programs within some colleges and universities and have a chance to grab a scholarship.