The Sports Archives – Men’s Final Four Facts And Stats Of March Madness!

Posted on April 11, 2014 by thesportsarchives

Uconn Huskies logo 2013The 2014  UConn (University of Connecticut) Huskies men’s and women’s college basketball teams have just claimed the National Title in their respective leagues. They are the only school in NCAA Division I basketball history-to-date, where both have taken the title in the same season. In fact, this is the second time they have swept the championship in the same season having accomplished it previously in 2004.  It’s amazing that UConn has achieved this twice while no other school has completed it once!

The lady Huskies have recorded an NCAA-record five undefeated championship seasons: 1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, and now 2014. They have won the National Championship a record nine times! The men’s team have won the title 4 times to-date since 1999 with only four other schools having won more, including Michael Jordan’s North Carolina.

Here is a rundown of facts and statistics of NCAA Final Four Men’s Basketball as of 2014:

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The Sports Archives – How To Find The Perfect Tennis Racquet!

Posted on April 9, 2014 by thesportsarchives

Choosing a tennis racquet sounds like a simple task, but with so many different brands and styles on the market, it can be downright intimidating. Should you purchase an ultra-light model for superior control or go for more power with a heavier model? What about the head size, string type or all of those new, high-tech features?

When you’re staring down a few dozen racquets, it may be difficult to know where to start. Midwest Sports designed this infographic to help you figure it all out.

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The Sports Archives – Good Sporting Game: Top 6 Sporting Attractions In The Cotswolds!

Posted on April 4, 2014 by thesportsarchives

Sport is something which is very prominent in the Cotswolds. Vast countryside and rolling hills means sports such as walking, hiking, shooting and horse-riding are all very popular. With such a deep-rooted sporting pride, come many world-renowned sporting attractions.

Visitors from all over the world come to witness these amazing events, revelling in the picturesque beauty of the Cotswolds, the fine food, traditional pubs and luxury country hotels as well as being part of some remarkable and notable sporting events.

Here are the top six sporting attractions and events in the Cotswolds:

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The Sports Archives – From Football (Soccer) Player To Legend!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by thesportsarchives

From Football Player To Legend

David BeckhamBritain is obsessed with football. It’s our most popular sport by far. It’s also one of the most competitive and toughest sports to break into if you’re an aspiring player. Everyone wants to be a football pro. They see the style, the speed and the talent of the pros and they want a piece of the action, and let’s be honest, the massive wages. If you’re dead set on being a football pro, you’re going to need all the advantages you can get. Here’s some top tips to get you started:

Keeping Fit

Being physically fit is massively important. You can’t do much in this game if you’re out of shape. You must keep a careful track of your diet as well as the amount and type of exercise you are doing on a daily basis.

It’s important to have a daily practice and exercise routine in place. Football is a very physically demanding game, and once you hit the higher leagues, you’ll be left behind if your fitness isn’t at its peak. Having a tight regime in place will also help to develop a strong character. Essential if you’re going to try for the big leagues.

Practice For Different Positions

If you’re a young player, skills trump tactics. You need to practice ball control first, then passing and shooting. You shouldn’t worry too much about adopting a position too early on. Your skill set will change as you train, and over your career as a youth player, you’ll often change positions a few times until you decide where on the field suits you best.

Listen to your coach. A decent coach will help to guide you to your ideal position. They’ll give you advice and motivation if you’re struggling and help to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Learn the basics, and the rest will come naturally.

Grow Your Confidence

Finally, you must be confident that you can achieve your dreams. Focus on the fact that you can become a great player and never give up. If you want to make it at this sport, you’re going to need laser-like focus and bags of confidence in your abilities. As a teenager, you’ll face football trial after trial in the hope of getting selected for a pro team’s youth side. Stick at it. Everyone gets rejected.

Be Realistic

It’s vitally important to keep a level head when you’re embarking on a career in football. School and studying can be a massive chore, but if you don’t make it, you’ll need your grades to fall back on. Working hard at the academic stuff will teach you discipline, but also keep you grounded: You need to realise that not everyone makes it, and a balanced, measured outlook will prevent a whole lot of heartache and sadness further down the line.

Stay Positive

Football scouts are definitely looking for skills above all else, but many put a huge emphasis on character. Positivity, drive, and a willingness to succeed are the types of traits that win matches. Keep pushing forward, and who knows, some day you might make it to the big leagues.

Featured images:
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By Harry Price

Harry Price is a guest blogger and personal trainer. He enjoys the great outdoors, travelling and marathon training.

2006 English National Football Team Related Blogs:
How To Get Football (Soccer) Trials
The Benefits Of Soccer Camp For Kids!
Why Is Football (Soccer) The World’s Most Popular Sport?

 

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The Sports Archives – The Science Of Fishing – Which Is Better Natural Or Artificial Bait?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by thesportsarchives

Green Highlander salmon flyI would like to point out from the beginning that I am not an angler, I have never held a rod and my knowledge of fish species is so limited that I am I am merely at the level of knowing that sharks have teeth and tuna steaks are tasty. You may well ask why I am writing about fishing and the answer is that my interest has been piqued by an argument over bait.

Hot Topic

I may have little interest in the art but I know a man who does and so I have heard the debate over the relative merits of different baits.  The question of whether natural or artificial bait would be best seemed to me to be rather obvious. Would I prefer to eat a tuna steak or a piece of plastic? However, the rain forests of Brazil have been severely diminished by the amount of print devoted to this subject and so I decided to do a little research into the matter. Either I was going to end up feeling like an idiot or millions of fishermen have been getting writer’s cramp for no good reason.

Important Discovery

As soon as I started reading I had an epiphany. I realised that I was actually in possession of some valuable insight into the subject of luring fish. You only have to scratch the surface of the issue of bait to realise that the crucial question is what makes a fish think that something is edible? The answer, it would appear, is appearance, movement and scent which brings me to my moment of enlightenment. A couple of years ago I was enjoying a holiday in Italy (apart from being stung by a jelly fish). There was plenty of aquatic life in the Mediterranean and I wondered if I could attract some of the fish closer to me. The only thing I had to hand was my lunch and so I sprinkled some on the water and it sparked a feeding frenzy. I had made the crucial discovery that fish like cheesy puffs!

Tasty Cheese

I didn’t give the incident much thought at the time but now I see that it was a revelation. Cheese is not a naturally occurring substance in the ocean and as such is not usually on the menu of any fish species and yet they were attacking each other to get to my puffs. There was something about the scent of those things that sent the fish wild. So perhaps the question of natural bait and artificial bait is more complicated than I first thought.

 

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The Sports Archives – Just What Is Sports Science?

Posted on March 29, 2014 by thesportsarchives
Maslow's Hierarchy of Ne

Psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943 posted that humans have a hierarchy of needs, and it makes sense to fulfill the basic needs first (food, water etc.) before higher-order needs can be met.

Sports science is the study of player performance from the aspect of their physiological condition, nutrition and psychology. A careful study of a player during their career and the planning of training and diet with the results of statistical analysis in mind will not only improve performances but also help the athlete avoid injury. Biomechanics is an important part of the whole process, studying gait and muscle performance in particular. Computer programs to pull all the information together are essential – sports science methods can’t really be used effectively without a lot of IT input.

Choosing the best software

There are so many software packages on the market – some of them free to download in the basic model – that it is quite mind-boggling for the first time user. Choosing one with a specific platform for your specific sport is a good idea although some of them are for general use and don’t specify an actual sport as such. Those which analyse gait, muscle use and weight-bearing in play are good overall and there are some that analyse video footage to tell if someone is favouring one leg, has a bad gait or is looking weak in any specific movement. This is very handy if a sportsperson is getting a lot of injuries, because it may pinpoint why. If someone is having a specific problem with one element of a sport – most common in sports such as golf or tennis – then sports science software can come quickly to the rescue as the fault can be identified and eliminated. Amateurs can get a lot of use out of sports science software too.

 

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The Sports Archives – Denver’s Top Sporting Mascots!

Posted on March 27, 2014 by thesportsarchives

The Mile-High City has rather more than its fair share of professional-level and top college sports teams. As such, it is easily one of the most mascot-saturated cities in America. What many people don’t know is that these mascots actually have names and mascot, as well as long and sometimes turbulent histories that make them just as interesting as the teams they represent. Here are seven of the most popular mascots in Denver!

Rocky Mascot  
Rocky

Rocky the Mountain Lion, the mascot for the Denver Nuggets, is easily the most beloved icons in all of Denver’s sports. He has participated in over 1,000 games and as well-known for his off-court ambassadorial role and community service as for his notorious backwards half-court shot, which he once successfully made in nine consecutive games, the longest streak for this shot ever recorded. Rocky was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2013 by Shaquille O’Neal and comedian Nick Cannon. In early 2014, Rocky gave fans quite a scare when he reportedly passed out while being lowered to the court as part of the season opener. He was checked out by medical staff and missed the rest of that game, but returned in typical bouncy fashion for the next one.

Denver Thunder

Thunder

The beloved stallion currently bearing the name “Thunder” is the third to represent the Denver Broncos since 2004, and is always a fan favorite. For the 2014 Super Bowl, Thunder was flown via Federal Express with his trainer, Ann Judge-Wegener, to New Jersey for the clash between the Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. In an NFL first, he and Ann led the team through the tunnel and onto the field for the pre-game introductions. Thunder is the only mascot to appear on this list who is an actual, live animal.

 

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The Sports Archives – Healthcare After College Sports: No Slam Dunk for Aging Athletes!

Posted on March 25, 2014 by thesportsarchives

NCAA HeadquartersMost of us know that college and professional athletes sustain at least some level of injury whether they play on the court or the field. But what many of us are not aware of is the price they pay in the form of both physical and financial pain once their youthful heyday is over. Life long injuries don’t just hurt and compromise the lifestyle of aging college athletes, they cut into their personal and family budgets as well. This is largely due to the fact that most of these star athletes were never made to prepare for the real world once their short-lived career as college competitors ended.

Because colleges often “push athletes through” their academic curriculums with very little consideration for their futures, many aging athletes—and even young athletes who are severely injured in their prime—don’t have a lot to fall back on. They often suffer from poorer-than-average college education, and are ill prepared to enter any kind of real workforce outside the world of sports, which is a pretty niched place that doesn’t offer a lot of room for retired or injured players unless they became famous on the world stage in the pro leagues.

Interestingly, most college-age athletes begin college in better health than their more academic counterparts, but the wear and tear they experience on the field leaves them in worse shape than those same-age peers. Sure, they may still maintain great weight and heart health, but things like bones, cartilage, tendons, and even the central nervous system have suffered far more than the average college graduate.

 

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The Sports Archives – A Snowboarder’s Essential Checklist

Posted on March 24, 2014 by thesportsarchives

SnowboardingThere are many things that a snowboarder needs to be aware of before he or she hits the slopes. In a lot of sports, you just get the basic safety necessities and get going. Snowboarding is different from a lot of sports in that in requires a meticulous amount of prep work. You need to know a lot about snowboarding before you can really begin snowboarding. Everything from the type of boots you wear, the snowboard you choose, and whether you want to wear gloves or mittens needs to be predetermined. As tedious as it may seem, being prepared will make your snowboarding experience much more fun, safe, and rewarding. Here are the top things that a snowboarder needs to prepare before hitting the slopes.

  • Helmet – This is one of the more important items on your checklist. Wearing a helmet will prevent you from serious injury. Snowboarders fall a lot, it comes with the territory. Make sure you have a helmet. You aren’t cool if you ride without one, you’re just dumb.
  • Boots – Boots are one of the most important elements to snowboarding. Picking the right pair of boots can make all the difference in your riding. REI has a guide for picking the right boots for you. Generally, this is determined by the flex of the boot.
  • Snowboard – You can’t go snowboarding without your snowboard. Tactics.com also has an excellent article for picking the right snowboard for you. Generally, this is determined by what kind of riding you want to do.
  • Goggles – There’s a reason snowboarders wear goggles: They protect your eyes from the glare and they keep ice from getting in your eyes. Getting ice in your eyes can be quite painful and can completely ruin your run. The sun also tends to glare off of the ice in the snow, which can distract you. Wearing goggles is essential.

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The Sports Archives – Top 10 Waves – The Surfer’s To Do List!

Posted on March 20, 2014 by thesportsarchives

Finding new spots and exciting breaks is one of the most appealing aspects of surfing. No two breaks are ever the same; ocean conditions, geography, nature, and overall friendliness towards visiting surfers can vary greatly from beach to beach.

But before heading off, make sure you’re kitted out. Matt is a keen surfer and is always seeking out new waves and challenges. He recommends getting a quality surfboard from Fellow, where you can also grab some unique apparel. Okay, now pick your destination.

The following 10 spots rank very highly among traveling surfers and are begging to be discovered by those who have not yet visited them.

1 –  Punta Roca in El Salvador: The community of La Libertad on the Pacific coast of El Salvador has a few choice breaks that are starting to attract quite a few surfers from all over the Americas. As its name implies, Punta Roca is a rocky point that produces very clean sets.

2 – Fuerteventura in Spain: The Canary Islands of Spain are major tourist destinations, but Fuerteventura welcomes more surfers than tourists, particularly towards the end of the year.

3 – Surfrider Beach in California: Malibu offers some of the smoothest rides in the world, and for this reason it is constantly crowded. This is however, one of the prettiest beaches of the Golden State.

Surfing

4 – Bali in Indonesia: This pristine island gets glassy 12-foot waves during most of the year, and it tends to get pretty crowded as well.

5 – Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa: This spot has become one of the most important in pro surfing thanks to world-class breaks such as Boneyards and Kitchen Windows. As with a good portion of South Africa’s coastline, Jeffrey’s Bay shines in terms of ecological conservation. The best time to surf this break is from June to August, although it tends to get very crowded in July due to the Billabong tournaments.

6 – Playa Tamarindo in Costa Rica: This tiny country is known for having abolished its army more than six decades ago and for its commitment to peace and nature conservation Costa Rica has been blessed with more than a hundred pristine beaches on both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and about half of them get decent sets year-round. Playa Tamarindo is a very surfer-friendly town with moderate and glassy conditions that form around an impressive natural rock sculpture near the beach.

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