PokerPlizzy's posts about:
Sports
See all posts with this tag
If you're into high school sports like me, check out this excellent feature on the IHSA website that features Illinois basketball legends.
Here is the link: http://www.ihsa.org/initiatives/legends/index.htm<
/p>
Go there to check out player bios.
Here is a description of how the list came to be:
The Illinois High
School Association's "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball
Tournament" will be honored at the 2007 boys basketball tournament –
the centennial celebration of America’s Original March Madness.
Fans selected the first 82 Legends in an online election that ran
from November through March. The remaining 18 legends were selected by
a blue-ribbon committee.
The Legends election and accompanying events are sponsored by the
COUNTRY Insurance and Financial Services, the National Association of
Realtors®, and Coldwell Banker Devonshire.
The team of 100 Legends will be invited to attend the 2007 boys
tournament and participate in special events at the centennial gala.
They will also be asked to participate in one of about 25 special
celebrations to be held around the state in the months prior to the
state tournament, where they will autograph a commemorative "Ball of Fame."
The ball will be auctioned off to a lucky fan at the state tournament.
The proceeds from the Ball of Fame raffle will go to the Illinois High
School Activities Foundation, which annually awards scholarships to
high school students from member schools.
"We're thrilled to be able to celebrate our boys basketball
centennial by directly involving the fans, who have supported our
tournament in great numbers throughout the years," said Executive
Director Marty Hickman. "The Legends election and the Ball of Fame are
fun ways to get folks interested in our rich history and set the table
for a terrific celebration in 2007."
Who do you think is the best 2007 Fantasy Football Sleeper Pick? I won't tell I swear.
Here's mine, and I know that I'll probably catch flack for it....Rex Grossman.
He's going to put it all together this year w/ yet another receiving weapon in TE Olsen. Get him on the cheap and use a good offensive pick on a RB and WR.
Here is some interesting commentary on an oft-underlooked advantage Bonds has gotten throughout the years:
EXCLUSIVE: Barry Bonds' Home Run Record Tainted by Mechanical Device
By
Michael Witte
Published: August 06, 2007 10:45 AM
NEW YORK (Commentary) Beyond his alleged
steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers
extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the “armor” that he wears
on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds’ unnatural bulk,
the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed.
This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds’
front arm “armor” may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home
runs to his already steroid-questionable total.
Bonds tied Henry Aaron’s home run record of 755 on
Saturday night and will go for the new standard this week back at home
in San Francisco. As a student of baseball – and currently a mechanics
consultant to a major league baseball team -- I believe I have insight
into the Bonds "achievement." I have studied his swing countless times
on video and examined the mechanical gear closely through photographs.
For years, sportswriters remarked that his massive
"protective" gear – unequaled in all of baseball -- permits Bonds to
lean over the plate without fear of being hit by a pitch. Thus
situated, Bonds can handle the outside pitch (where most pitchers live)
unusually well. This is unfair advantage enough, but no longer
controversial. However, it is only one of at least seven (largely
unexplored) advantages conferred by the apparatus.
The other six:
1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a
literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on
the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the
seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.
2) The apparatus locks at the elbow when the lead arm
is fully elongated because of a small flap at the top of the bottom
section that fits into a groove in the bottom of the top section. The
locked arm forms a rigid front arm fulcrum that allows extraordinary,
maximally efficient explosion of he levers of Bonds' wrists. Bonds
hands are quicker than those of average hitters because of his
mechanical "assistant."
3) When Bonds swings, the weight of the apparatus
helps to seal his inner upper arm to his torso at impact. Thus
"connected," he automatically hits the ball with the weight of his
entire body - not just his arms - as average hitters ("extending") tend
to do.
4) Bonds has performed less well in Home Run Derbies
than one might expect because he has no excuse to wear a "protector"
facing a batting practice pitcher. As he tires, his front arm elbow
tends to lift and he swings under the ball, producing towering pop
flies or topspin liners that stay in the park. When the apparatus is
worn, its weight keeps his elbow down and he drives the ball with
backspin.
5) Bonds enjoys quicker access to the inside pitch
than average hitters because his "assistant" - counter-intuitively -
allows him to turn more rapidly. Everyone understands that skaters
accelerate their spins by pulling their arms into their torsos, closer
to their axes of rotation. When Bonds is confronted with an inside
pitch, he spins like a skater because his upper front arm is
"assistant"-sealed tightly against the side of his chest.
6) At impact, Bonds has additional mass (the weight of
his "assistant") not available to the average hitter. The combined
weight of "assistant" and bat is probably equal to the weight of the
lumber wielded by Babe Ruth but with more manageable weight
distribution.
Bonds has worn some sort of front arm protection since
1992. In '94, a one-piece forearm guard was replaced by a jointed, two
piece elbow model. In ‘95 it got bigger and a small "cap" on the elbow
was replaced by a "flap" that overlapped the upper piece and locked the
two pieces together when the arm was elongated. In '96, the "apparatus"
grew even larger and so did the "flap."
It seems to have remained relatively the same until --
interestingly— 2001, the year of his record 73 home runs, when an
advanced model appeared made (apparently) of a new material. It had
softer edges and a groove for the flap to slip into automatically at
full arm elongation. More important, the upper half of the machine was
sculpted to conform more comfortably to the contours of Bonds' upper
arm. Since 2001, the apparatus seems to have remained relatively
unchanged.
Several years back, baseball was rightfully
scandalized by the revelation that Sammy Sosa had "corked" his bat. The
advantages conferred by the Bonds "hitting machine," however, far
exceed anything supplied by cork. Ultimately, it appears the Bonds
"achievement” must be regarded as partly the product of “double
duplicity" -- steroidal and mechanical.
Without question, this goes to Hawk Harrelson of the White Sox. With his "cute" little catch phrases, his constant references to himself and his playing days, and his complete disregard for any objectivity. It has to go to him.
I mean, if you happen to have a website dedicated to how bad you are, then there's probably some truth to it.
