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Posts Tagged ‘sports’

Roller Derby was a staple of the early television era and was similar in its promotional format to its better known “sports entertainment” cousin, professional wrestling. It was frequently seen in the same bad timeslots on the same low powered UHF TV stations, and it was run by the same loose confederation of Runyanesque promoters and businessmen that characterized the regional territory era of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, roller derby didn’t catch on the way professional wrestling did. There was obviously a serious athletic component to it, but the “angles” and storylines surrounding roller derby made pro wrestling seem like Ibsen by comparison. The sport does have its own history–most know that the LA T-Birds were the perennial champions of’70’s, and Ann Calvello and Ralphie Valladares had been in the sport forever and were considered legends–but it never really stuck in the public consciousness like the pre-Hulk Hogan era of pro wrestling.

When the original purveyors of the sport quit promoting in the early’80s most thought it was dead and gone until a ‘new school’ of roller derby surfaced on cable TV via the A&E reality series Roller Girls. It featured a local, all-girl roller derby league in Austin, Texas and followed the lives of the players on and off the track. While much of the show dwelled in Lifetime style drama about binge drinking and bad relationships, it was the first clue that many had that roller derby had risen from the dead. A sport that had faded into the lowest level of obscurity had been rediscovered and embraced by an eclectic group of young women. They had kept the same essential format, thrown in a healthy dose of burlesque camp and Varga pin-up inspired glamour and made it into their own vibrant subculture. They changed the competitive format and renamed the competitions “bouts” a la MMA or boxing. The result was a compelling mixture of glamour, toughness and athleticism driven by a healthy dose of punk rock “do it yourself” mentality.

Today, the same sort of league featured on “Rollergirls” had become a full blown cultural phenomenon. There are now literally hundreds of local “roller girl” leagues in the US, many under the auspices of a national organization called the Womens Flat Track Derby Association. Las Vegas has the ‘Sin City Roller Girls’, Portland, Oregon the ‘Rose City Rollers” and Seattle the ‘Rat City Rollers’. There are now groups in not only the larger and traditionally “hipper” cities but also smaller flyover country environs such as Birmingham, Alabama and Omaha, Nebraska and all over Canada, Europe and Australia. Most of the local groups similarly play up the campy retro pin-up/hot rod iconography and everyone involved sure looks like they’re having a good time. Between teams there’s a vibe of good natured competitiveness and camaraderie.

The young women in roller derby have taken what was cast off TV time filler and revived it into their own distaff ‘action sport’. The community that has sprung up around it bears a striking resemblance to the skateboarding or snowboarding subculture. There’s one big difference–in contrast to more male dominated action sports the roller derby circa 2009 is just the opposite–a living, breathing matriarchal success story.

The new generation rollergirls also pay homage to their sports’ pioneers much in the same way that skateboarders give props to Duane Peters and Tony Alva. Many of the individual group websites have sections devoted to the history of roller derby, and the late Ann Calvello–regarded as the Queen of the original Roller Derby–is revered as something of a patron saint. The Texas Rollergirl group featured in the A&E series has renamed their championship the Calvello Cup.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Popularity: 38% [?]

In one of the stranger front office shakeups in recent NBA history, the Los Angeles Clippers have ‘relieved’ Mike Dunleavy of his head coaching duties effective immediately. He’ll remain on board as the Clippers’ general manager, and both he and the team cited the demands of the forthcoming trade deadline and free agent market as a catalyst for the change.

Not surprisingly, there is much speculation as to the back story behind the move. Some with knowledge of the situation suggest that Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling wanted to fire Dunleavy altogether, but relented due to the $5 million the team will owe him in the final year of his contract next year. More recently, a bizarre rumor has been circulating that Sterling has approached Isiah Thomas about taking over Dunleavy’s coaching position and becoming team president.

Dunleavy issued this statement, playing along with the team’s insistence that the decision to give up coaching was ‘mutual’:

“I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the ideal time for me to direct my efforts toward the many personnel opportunities that lie before us, such as the trade market, the draft and the free-agent process. We fully expect to be active and productive on all those fronts.”

Team President Andy Roeser added:

“We fully agree with Mike that this is the right time to make this change. It just seems clear that the team needs a fresh voice and we hope that our players will respond in a positive way.As we approach the trade deadline, the NBA draft and the upcoming free-agent period, our team is very well positioned from a salary-cap standpoint. Mike’s experienced input will be vitally important as we continue to develop our young talented nucleus and shape our team’s future.”

Dunleavy’s agent Warren LeGarie continued the same theme:

“This is something we’ve been contemplating for some time. There’s a shelf life to coaching sometimes. So you constantly have to keep measuring whether [the team's inconsistency] is because of injuries, because of you, or something else. And at some point you have to make a judgment call about what’s best for the team, and that’s what Mike did.”

The Clippers have lost 7 of their last 10 games to fall to 21-29 on the year. They’re 17 games behind the Western Conference leading Los Angeles Lakers and 8 games out of the final playoff spot. The schedule won’t get any easier for the Clippers over the next week, as they host the red hot Utah Jazz on Tuesday and head into the All Star Break with a game on the road against the Golden State Warriors. They’ll resume play after the break as they head to Portland’s Rose Garden Arena to take on the Blazers.

Ross Everett is a well known cheerleading coach and a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports. He provides Internet and broadcast media outlets with daily free sports picks when not working with Olympic bound ice skaters. He is a widely published writer specializing in sports handicapping, falconry, auto racing and wombat breeding. He lives in Southern Nevada with his houseboy, three dogs and a wombat.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The ‘new look’ Washington Redskins offense under Sherm Lewis looked much like the old offense under Jim Zorn, and the Philadelphia Eagles had little trouble as they opened a 27-10 halftime lead en route to a 27-17 victory on Monday Night Football. DeSean Jackson scored a long touchdown both rushing and receiving, and Donovan McNabb threw for 156 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in the victory. The Eagles improved to 4-2 on the season, while the Redskins dropped to 2-5.

The Eagles also rewarded NFL betting enthusiasts with the pointspread cover as -8′ road favorites. Philadelphia is now 4-2 against the number while the Redskins continued their struggles against the NFL pointspread dropping to 1-6. The 44 combined points went OVER the posted total of 38. The Eagles have gone OVER the total in five of six, while this was only the second OVER of the year for the Redskins with 5 games UNDER.

Jackson’s only complaint after the game was that a sore ankle undermined the artistry of his post touchdown tap dance:

“I was out there having fun, man, honestly. My ankle was kind of hurting. I really didn’t feel it, but it did kind of affect my dance a little bit. I could put it to perfection a little bit better than that.”

Redskins’ defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth suggested that this team has to learn to play as a unit:

“You can say but so much. You’ve got to actually want to. So once we get to that point — where we want to do something — then we’ll do something. But if we just keep going our separate ways, then we’ll just keep getting slaughtered like we have.”

Jim Zorn was apparently more interested in playing ‘gotcha’ with the management that replaced him as the Redskins’ offensive play caller than in analyzing the game:

“Well, the result was the same. We got 17 points. It was difficult for me. It was difficult to stand and watch. The hard part is to keep your mouth shut.”

Washington running back Rock Cartwright expressed Washington’s struggles in a philosophical light:

“You have to take the bitter with the sweet. And right now we’re at a bitter moment.”

The Eagles will host the New York Giants this Sunday, with the game currently ‘pick’em’ and the total posted at 44. They’ll host the Dallas Cowboys the following Sunday before hitting the road to play the San Diego Chargers on November 15. The Redskins have a much needed bye week before they travel south to play the Atlanta Falcons on November 8.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Former Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson got revenge on the team that let him go in the best possible way. Benson amassed 189 yards rushing and led his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals, to a 45-10 rout over the visiting Bears on Sunday. Carson Palmer threw for five touchdowns with no interceptions in the blowout victory. Cincinnati improved to 5-2 with the win while Chicago dropped to 3-3 on the NFL season.

The Bengals also made short work of the NFL pointspread, easily covering as +1′ home underdogs. Cincinnati improved to 4-3 against the number while Chicago evened their ATS mark at 3-3. The 55 combined points sailed OVER the posted total of 42′. The Bengals have gone OVER in four of seven games this year while the Bears evened their NFL totals mark at 3-3.

A happy Benson described his feelings after the win:

“Everybody knew it was going to be an emotional day. Everybody knew. What a wonderful day and a wonderful thing, to go out there and strut your stuff.”

Despite the evidence to the contrary, Benson downplayed the motive of revenge:

“I continue to be as graceful as I can be. I’m not shoving anything in anybody’s face. Like I say, it wasn’t a revenge day for me. I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunities.”

He said his biggest problem was trying to keep his emotions in check and play under control:

“There were a few times where I may have gotten a little too hyped up, a little too antsy. A couple of drives, I found myself having to calm myself down and gather my emotions to stay poised. Once I got past that, we were good to go. Keep it rolling.”

Bengals’ receiver Chad Ochocinco had 10 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He shared his thoughts postgame:

“I don’t understand why it went this way today and why it didn’t go that way last week or the week before that. The offensive line played unbelievable. For Ced to run the way he did today and for us to be able to throw, we could have done what we wanted to do.”

Chicago gave up more points than in any game all season, a fact that left defensive end Alex Brown looking for answers:

“That was pretty embarrassing. It’s embarrassing to come out and play like that. I tip my hat to their whole team. Cedric ran the ball like crazy. They did whatever they wanted to do.”

The Bengals will enjoy a bye week before hosting the Baltimore Ravens on November 8. They’ll then play two games on the road at Pittsburgh and Oakland. Chicago will try to get back on track this Sunday as they host the Cleveland Browns. They’ll host the Arizona Cardinals the following Sunday before heading west for a Thursday night game against the San Francisco 49ers on November 12.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Magpark – Using an RV for camping is a great way to bond with your family and it also makes the camping more comfortable. It is not a secret that camping with an RV will be a comfortable experience for everyone. RVs are also like cars though that also have mechanical problems every now and then. Since you don’t want that to happen, you need to prepare your RV and keep it in a good condition from the start of your camping until to the end.

It is important that you have your RV checked by your mechanic so that if you use it for the camping trip you will be sure to have a working RV. You need to schedule a checkup several weeks prior to your camping because mechanics need some time to inspect and repair any problems.

The gas of your RV is also needed to be checked before you go out on a camping trip. Make it a point to check that everything is running smoothly and will be of help when you want to cook . Check the following in your RV: batteries, other electrical applications, gas tank, water tank and sewage system that there are no shortages or leaks. Checking on these things will ensure that you will have a comfortable camping experience.

Make sure that you check on the built-in equipments and amenities in your RV before your camping trip. It is important that you have beddings, toiletries, towels and other things that you think you and your family may need. You have to ensure they are clean, dust-free and no damages.

You also need to prepare all the necessary tools and supplies that you need to have when you go camping. It is important that you have the following when you go camping: flashlights, matches, ropes, extra clothes, health care supplies, first aid kits.

All of these things are important reminders you need to check and prepare before you go out to have time hanging around the wilderness. Checking on these things will ensure that you will not get into scrapes that will be life threatening or harm your family.

Popularity: 1% [?]