Sports Carnival Ecstasy - December 22, 2011

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Welcome to the December 22, 2011 edition of sports carnival ecstasy. This time we have a good number of articles on various sporting topics including one from Steve on Ohio State traveling to Kansas for a preseason match-up on the hardwood. We have an article on the Clippers matching Jordan's Offer Sheet to try to secure the free agent for the upcoming NBA season. There's a preview of the Big Ten Championship Game from the BrutusReport.com website. And finally Steve presents Accurate Golf Lob Shots for all those living in warmer climates were you can still golf this winter. Hope you enjoy the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook, Plus, and come back soon.

Steve presents 5 Paintball Tips for Beginners posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "Paintball is a very exciting hobby, but when you are first getting started playing paintball you want to be aware of some things."

Rachel Cleary presents 10 Hidden Ways to Save Money on Auto Insurance posted at Auto Insurance Quotes, saying, "This information has been useful to several readers and I'm sure it will provide your readers with the same value."

baseball

Monkeysuit presents Ryan Braun's Syphilis Medication to Blame posted at The Great Monkey Suit.

basketball

Steve presents Ohio State Travels to Allen Fieldhouse to Face Kansas posted at BrutusReport, saying, "Two of the top teams nationally, Ohio State and Kansas, and two of the top players in the country, Jared Sullinger and Thomas Robinson, could face off against each other this coming Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse."

Taylor presents Clippers Match Jordan's Offer Sheet posted at THE SPORTS CENTS.

extreme

Jason presents Holiday Shopping posted at Skate Blog | Read About Skateboarding News, Skate Company Updates, Liberty Skate Promotions, Giveaways, Skate Events, And More!, saying, "We're an online retailer of skateboard ramps and rails. We're doing what we can to keep fresh content on our site to keep the visitors happy."

Troy P presents Softball Pullup Grips | DIY Fitness Equipment posted at Cube.Dweller.Fitness, saying, "Extreme home fitness - redeploy those extra softballs laying around the house. Crank up the drill press and the welder. Then build some serious forearms with softball pullup grips."

football

Steve presents Marc Dantonio Builds a Big Ten Contender posted at BrutusReport, saying, "When Marc Dantonio left Cincinnati to take over as the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans, he wanted to win with defense, special teams and a physical offense."

Steve presents Ricquan Southward Switches From Miami to Ohio State posted at eFilmRoom, saying, "The new head coach hire of Urban Meyer at Ohio State has quickly made a difference in recruiting. Ricquan Southward of Lakeland Florida switched his verbal commitment from Miami (FL) to Ohio State just this past week."

Michael presents 2012 Wide Receiver Ricquan Southward Switches to Ohio State posted at eScoutRoom, saying, "Ohio State football recruiting is picking up with the announcement that Urban Meyer is going to be taking over as head coach next season."

Steve presents Tommy Schutt–Defensive Line Glen Ellyn Glenbard West posted at eFilmRoom, saying, "Tommy Schutt became the first official commitment of Urban Meyer’s time at Ohio State when he changed his verbal commitment from Penn State to Ohio State."

Michael presents Tommy Schutt Commits to Ohio State for 2012 posted at eScoutRoom, saying, "Tommy Schutt had between 30 and 35 scholarship offers when he made the selection to play from Penn State over the summer of 2011."

Steve presents MLB Games Tryouts posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "This is the question that many parents and young aspiring baseball players ask during spring season as they get ready to go to the ballpark with dreams of having multi-million dollar bonuses in their heads."

golf

Steve presents Accurate Golf Lob Shots posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "The golf lob shot is usually a short shot of no more than 50 yards at most, and is usually employed to get the ball high very quickly, often to get it over an obstacle of some kind."

mma

Hooker presents UFC Fighters Who Cry Are Stoopid posted at Humans are Stoopid.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of sports carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form.

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5 Cool Gifts for the Young Martial Artist

Image via Wikipedia

Finding the perfect gift for a young martial artist doesn't have to be a chore. Whether you are shopping for your own child or someone else's child, there are plenty of cool gifts you can buy that will make him or her smile with joy. Here are some top five suggestions with extra grin factor included.

Century Kid Kick Wavemaster Punching Bag

There is no better way to encourage a child's martial arts interest than by giving them something they can practice with at home. The Century Kid Kick Wavemaster Punching Bag is less than $100 and will provide the young martial artist with hours and hours of exercise and entertainment as well as practice. The bag comes in three adjustable sizes so that as the child grows, he or she can still continue to use the bag.

The Martial Arts Training Diary for Kids

This book is a must have for every young martial artist. The book includes martial arts games, stories and activities as well as pages to log their accomplishments, favorite styles, personal best moves and more. The book is intended for children ages 7 and up. For around $10, you can give a young martial artist a gift he or she will love for years.

Foam Nunchakus

What young martial artist doesn't secretly dream of deftly twirling nunchakus around like an action movie star? You can find a nice pair online for $5 to $10 and the foam covering helps ensure that he or she won't get hurt while learning how to use them. For extra fun, add a beginners' level or kid-oriented training DVD to your gift so he or she can learn from the pros.

A Gift Certificate

Many martial arts schools have pro shops with training items, t-shirts and other school specific merchandise. Contact the young martial artist's school and see if they offer gift certificates. School gift certificates are great because the student can pick out exactly what he or she wants without having to ask Mom or Dad to pay for it.

Training DVDs

Turn tube time into activity time. There is a wide selection of training DVDs for kids that cover all the various forms of martial arts. Most martial arts DVDs are relatively inexpensive and you can buy them through large retailers like Amazon.com or specific martial arts websites. Another plus is that the videos often reinforce the same values students learn at the dojo, so the videos are educational as well as fun.

Martial Artists, especially young ones, thrive on encouragement and accomplishment. Any gift you can give them that helps support their interest will be greatly appreciated. The most important thing to consider is where the student is on his or her martial arts journey and pick gifts that you know he or she will personally enjoy.

About the Author: Buford Wadell loves studying the martial arts and works to foster that same love in his children. He recommends self defense classes to anyone who is worried about their personal safety.

Related articles

• How Did MMA Become So Popular Today? (fryingpansports.com)
• Sports Carnival Ecstasy - December 8, 2011 (escoutroom.com)

A Great Olympian Let Down

Image by duncan via Flickr

Who else is feeling completely underwhelmed by what is supposed to be the biggest event in recent British history? No, I'm not talking about the royal wedding, though I'll admit that the excitement surrounding Pippa Middleton's unremarkable behind suggests that the British public felt a similarly damp spark.

No people, I'm talking about the Olympics. I'm so bored by the inane faux-excitement that I'm even thinking of taking a cycling holiday next July just so I can actually do some exercise rather than watch other people do it. 'Traitor!' I hear you shout. 'Kill joy!' you exclaim. Maybe I'm a bit of both, but there's just too much to hate about the whole thing.

1. The UK aren't going to win

Think of how we did in the World Cup in 2010: we think we're pretty damn good until we're confronted with the genius sportsmen and women from just about every other country in the world and then realise we're rubbish. The worst thing is that we can't say that it's because they have more money to spend on training and facilities. No one's got any money! Hurrah!

No, we just have to admit that while we're good at important things like wearing hats, genteel walking holidays in the Lake District and electing poor heads of state, in the sports department we're just like the nerd who gets picked last for the basketball team. Tim Henman, bless his tennis whites for trying, was a regular disappointment. This is not to diminish his achievements: he's better at tennis than 99.9% of the world's population – a sexy statistic if you're Tim – but the public and the media all too easily forget their own mediocrity and joyfully massacre this poor bloke's career. If he's not grand slamming willy-nilly at Wimbledon, he's basically as impressive as Wayne Rooney's hair transplant.

2. Commuter Nightmare

I used to get a thrill out of being able to give (fake) directions to flabby German tourists. Now, I can't even be bothered to think up a lie because it takes up valuable commute time – I just push past them angrily to make sure that little old lady isn't the one getting the last seat on the tube.

During the Olympic summer, you can guarantee that every tired and unenthusiastic Londoner will be asked for directions every single day, ensuring that 10 minutes’ walk to the tube becomes 11 minutes, and that extra minute is enough to miss that all important connection at the end of a trying day. Thus, I predict an increase in commuter breakdowns of at least 5%, enough to push the NHS over the edge and into an even more disorganised state. Not good for treating tourists who have injured themselves after being inspired by the wrestling event.

3.British incompetence being advertised to the world

It's ok for us to make fun of ourselves, indeed, it's a vital part of the British psyche to whinge about how rubbish the UK is: the food, our film industry, schools and most of all, our attitudes. It is all a complete joke. However, the Olympic fiasco-in-the-making will give other countries a chance to point and laugh mercilessly at our awful attempts to create a world class event with world class culture hosted by world class people. Boris Johnson's hair will be beside itself with excitement, and will start shouting out obscenities during the opening ceremony. Suddenly, Silvio Berlusconi's Bunga Bunga parties will look like an attractive alternative event for the Italians coming to see the show.

Bemused tourists will arrive in Stratford, hoping for a bit of thespian action alongside the Olympics – what they'll get is a neighbourhood Londoners pass through as quickly as possible. And finally, chic and experimental sculptors from Canada will look at the ArcelorMittal Orbit and quite rightly wonder why we've created something that looks like a python getting it on with a trumpet.

Suri enjoys travelling, photography and writing, but definetly not the idea of the olympics!

Related articles

• How Many Different Competitions Are Part of An Olympic Pentathlon? (fryingpansports.com)
• Gold Medal Predictions for London 2012 Olympics (brutusreport.blogspot.com)