The Sports Archives – Five Factors For Handicapping Horse Races!

Posted on November 26, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Betting on the Favorite

Understanding the art and science of horse handicapping can help bettors achieve better results at the track and can provide added insights into the sport. By taking a few basic factors into consideration before placing a bet, horse racing enthusiasts can often increase their returns on investment and enjoy a greater degree of success at the track. Here are five key elements that professional handicappers consider when making their predictions in the sport of horse racing.

Condition of the Track

A horse that runs well on a dry track may have serious difficulties on wet surfaces; the reverse is also true. Similar issues can arise for horses accustomed to running on turf or on dirt tracks. Identifying the track conditions and taking them into consideration can help bettors avoid making critical errors in underrating the abilities of one horse or in failing to perceive shortcomings in another prior to the race.

A Question of Class

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The Sports Archives – Why Lawn Bowls Is Becoming A Hobby For A Whole New Generation

Posted on November 26, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Often thought of as a sport favoured by older people, lawn bowls is actually growing in popularity with today’s younger people, and is even gaining a fun and sexy new image as a professional sport. There are a number of reasons why the younger generation of twenty and thirty somethings are picking up bowls, and here we’ll take a look at just what they are:

It is an Accessible Sport Most People Can Play

Because it doesn’t involve running or anything else all that strenuous, it is a great sport to take up with friends of mixed fitness levels or as an introduction to a sport if you are not very fit but would like to improve your health by starting to exercise. It is also well suited to families and people with young children, as they can play along with parents and grandparents alike.

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The Sports Archives – Planning a Road Trip For the 2014 NASCAR Season!

Posted on November 25, 2013 by thesportsarchives

The NASCAR season just came to a close, crowning Jimmie Johnson as the year-end winner, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be thinking about the 2014 season already.  Throughout the season, there are key dates and places in the Sprint Cup season and for the true racing fan, there’s nothing quite like the experience of seeing a race live and in-person.  So if you’ve seen Days of Thunder more times than you count or spend your time looking up homes for sale Mooresville, NC just so you can say you live in Race City, here are some dates that you’ll want to make sure you are where the action is.

Daytona, Florida in February

Jimmie Johnson’s storybook 2013 season started at the Daytona 500 on February 24th.  Johnson and the field will open up next year’s Sprint Cup series onFebruary 23rd of 2014.  For Johnson, 2014 will be an opportunity to claim his seventh championship in nine years.  For someone looking to see all the action up close and personal, this is a perfect time and place to start a season-long road trip.

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The Sports Archives – Four Iconic Cars From The WRC!

Posted on November 25, 2013 by thesportsarchives

When it comes to motorsports, there aren’t many competitions with more prestige than the World Rally Championship – maybe Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, but not many more. Always delivering excitement and thrills at pretty high speeds, the competition has seen many an iconic driver in many an iconic model. At this current point in time, there are only four manufacturers scheduled to be involved in the 2014 edition of the WRC.

However, it’s not always been this way. In years gone-by, many of the world’s largest car manufacturers put forward rally variants of their models. And these rally variants went on to lead the drivers and their teams to championships. Since the championship began back in 1973, the likes of Citroen, Peugeot, Lancia, Toyota, Subaru, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Fiat and Mitsubishi have all experienced success in the manufacturer’s competition alone.

Really, you could talk for hours and hours about the cars and the drivers that have competed in the WRC. However, for the purpose of a digestible blog, we’ve picked out just four of our favourites from the past 15-years.

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The Sports Archives – BASE jumping – “Don’t try this at home”!

Posted on November 23, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Base Jumper Chris Mcdougall-

Image source: AWP

If you’re looking around for some of the most exciting videos imaginable in any kind of sport anywhere on the web – then check out some of the BASE jumping videos. But please; do so from the safety of your computer, laptop, phone or tablet. This is a dangerous business.

In a recent interview with the up and coming “A Winning Personality” (AWP) website, one professional BASE jumper who’s been pursuing his sport for over 16 years in 40 countries and who has successfully completed a remarkable 2,800 jumps has told AWP what it takes to stay alive in his business. In a word, it’s fear. And the man in question is one “Douggs”. He’s the Switzerland-based Aussie BASE jumper, Chris McDougall and he’s something of a legend in the BASE jumping community.

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The Sports Archives – Do Avalanche Airbags Work?

Posted on November 22, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Avalanche on Everest

An avalanche occurs when something such as a person or even mother nature herself disturbs the snow layers in the mountains and causes it to rapidly flow down a slope. Sometimes the avalanches occur because of melting snow or unnatural disturbances and can be deadly for anything in its path. It is important when skiing, snowmobiling, snowboarding, or engaging in any activities where an avalanche may occur that you are prepared for the worst. One thing that could save your life is an avalanche airbag.

What Are Avalanche Airbags

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The Sports Archives – Wacky Ways to Have a Workout While Still Having Fun!

Posted on November 21, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Sometimes getting in a workout a couple of times a week can be hard, especially with how most women’s schedules are lately. The key for burning some calories during the week may not be forcing yourself to the gym but finding ways to get activity in when you have time during the week, even on a weeknight.

Walking the DogOne great way to get some activity is to take your dog for a long walk at least every day. Even if you have a backyard, squeezing in a half hour to take your dog for a walk is good, not only for you, but for your dog as well. The plus is that it will help keep your dog healthier as well as keeping up your health. It will also help your pooch burn some energy after being alone all day. Reserve a half hour of time every night after dinner and take your furry friend around the neighborhood.

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The Sports Archives – The Highest Paid Golfers!

Posted on November 20, 2013 by thesportsarchives

When thinking about high paid athletes, your mind turns to the likes of baseball star Alex Rodriguez, basketball star Kobe Bryant, tennis star Roger Federer, football star Drew Brees and soccer star David Beckham.  In fact, according to Forbes 2013 List of Highest Paid Athletes, three of the five sports mentioned include at least two superstars of that sport in the list of top 10 highest paid athletes.

But above all the aforementioned talent, it is the golfing world that outshines the rest with Tiger Woods sitting on the throne.  Not too far down the line is Phil Mickelson who enjoys a ranking within the top 10 elite.

Here is the 2013 list of highest paid golfers to date:

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The Sports Archives – Ancient Egyptian Sports!

Posted on November 19, 2013 by thesportsarchives

Many people don’t realize how much our modern way of living has in common with ancient societies We’re not talking about identical lifestyles but there are obvious similarities within the time frame of about 5, 000 years. Sure, they weren’t producing and processing as much information as we do today, but the way they lived, their entertainment and even some of their sports were almost the same as the ones we know and love today. When you say “Ancient Egyptian sports” most people don’t really know what to think, even though the truth is much closer to “boxing and running” than you might think. In fact, the basis of many modern sports lie in Ancient Egypt.

Boxing

Early BoxingAccording to historians, boxing was an organized sport even in those days and athletes were awarded great honors for entering the competitions. Sometimes even the Pharaoh, himself, as well as his heir would spectate the bloody exhibitions. Unlike today’s boxing, there were no protective gloves to shield boxers’ hands from the damage that hitting another human being in the head deals. Also, since they didn’t have television, I would assume that the sport didn’t involve that much taunting between competitors and was significantly more focused on the actual fights. The techniques and fighting styles athletes used are unknown but from what we can see in hieroglyphs, it wasn’t much different from what we see on the 50” inch flat screen today.

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The Sports Archives – The Positive Effects Of World Sporting Events!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by thesportsarchives

The Olympic Games

How long did it take for the ballyhoo of the Summer 2012 Olympic Games to die down? Days, weeks, months? It seems us Brits were all still talking and reminiscing about it well into 2013, whether we actually went to one of the events or not. The atmosphere was electric enough for the whole country to feel its force.

In a subsequent public government report of the big event, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, called it a “sporting legacy, with 150,000 more Londoners trying some kind of sporting activity since the Games”.

The surprising success, perhaps more so thanks to some excellent Channel 4 TV coverage, was the two weeks towards the end of summer where we witnessed the amazing athletes strut their stuff in the relatively unknown Paralympic Games.

Ellie Simmonds with Oscar Pistorius

Ellie Simmonds with Oscar Pistorius at an International Paralympic Day event in Trafalgar Square, 8 September 2011

The stories behind each of their personal battles to greatness, overcoming debilitating physical and sometimes mental conditions, was truly inspiring. This had an unbelievable domino-style effect on adults and children from all walks of life who took it upon themselves to realise their potential, without fear of failure or embarrassment. The shift from regular household sporting names such as David Beckham or Usain Bolt suddenly changed to the young British swimmer Ellie Simmonds, and South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, for their undeniable struggle for ultimate success.

The FIFA World Cup™

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