To this day I can’t explain why I am still alive. I should be dead. My mother and I were visiting my grandmother and uncle, during my summer vacation. I was about 10 years old . They lived in a very rural area. The valley where they lived was quite narrow, running north to south. It might have taken 5 minutes to drive from one side to the other and both sides of this valley, were heavily forested. The western mountain side, very green and wet and the eastern side a bit drier. A creek snaked its way along the length of the valley. It was fed by the melting snow and ice from the nearby towering mountains. In spring time the creek became a raging torrent of water, several times its summer time width. Very often it would flood the bottom of the valley, where the fertile farm land was located. Grandmother’s farm was often flooded in spring time, if the weather suddenly became hot. Read the rest of this entry »

Born on February 7, 1974, Steve Nash currently plays the guard position for the Phoenix Suns. He stands 6’3″ tall and weighs 195 lbs. While attending college in Santa Clara, Steve Nash was named as the West Coast Conference Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons. His collegiate basketball career wrapped with him being the Broncos all-time leader in career assists, free throw percentage and 3-pointers made and attempted. In 1993, Steve Nash could be found playing for the Canadian National Team and winning a silver medal. In addition, he played for British Columbia in the 1993 Canada Games, which earned him a bronze medal.The 1996-1997 season marked the rookie year for Steve Nash. As a rookie, he started only one game but later proved himself after having his 3-point accuracy noted as the second-best ever for a Phoenix Suns rookie. Read the rest of this entry »

For the casual cyclist, mountain biking is a wonderful way to enjoy the great outdoors as well as get a great work out. Today, mountain biking is growing rapidly into an excitingly popular sport. With that growth arises an entirely new subculture of mountain bikers who race professionally.Every year there are hundreds of events and races organized across the nation for mountain bike enthusiasts. These endurance races are generally for those in the absolute top percentage of mountain bikers. It takes a certain amount of conditioning and performance to compete in endurance races as the competition itself is so demanding. There are plenty of different categories, but these races can be as long as 12 hours, taxing the limits of human endurance.Types of RacesOf the many categories of endurance races, most are beyond the scope of normal cyclists’ physical limits. Starting at three hours these races only scale upwards, reaching six or even twelve hours in length. Read the rest of this entry »

Camping parties are normally multiday events. Organizing a party away in a camp environment has its challenges. A camping party is the combination of a destination party and a beach party. It requires a great deal of planning and preparation.Among other challenges, you have to be ready to train people how to set a tent, make a safe campfire, and more. With all its challenges camping is always going to be a hit with kids and most adults. A camping party is a unique event that can include all the good things of any kind of party and more.Partying while camping offers an opportunity for not only campfires, but sing-alongs, ghost tales, and lots and lots of fun stuff you would never think of at a party hosted at a private home.Camping is a lot of fun but it is not without its challenges. Read the rest of this entry »

Smallmouth fishing is said to be best experienced in Southwest Louisiana. This is a place near bayous, canals, freshwater and salty lakes. The waters here draw numbers of smallmouth and largemouth bass ranging up to eight-pounds.Smallmouth bass fishing is enjoyed by fishermen all over America. Searching and then finally catching the big smallmouth bass is a real achievement for the true blue American sport fisherman. It is considered to be the Americas number one fresh water sport. Believe it or not, this sport has grown 70% higher than any other fresh water sport in America.The smallmouth bass is believed to be, pound for pound, one of the hardest fighting freshwater fish. The bass runs acrobatic leaps and does “tail walking” making it one of the most exciting fishes to pursue.Before you go in search for thet elusive smallmouth bass, you must first know its characteristics or how it looks like. Smallmouth bass are habitually bronze to brownish green in color. Read the rest of this entry »

Airsoft guns may soon be going the way of real guns around the world, even in the US. Built to resemble actual weapons, Airsoft guns instead shoot pellets and are used in several games much like paintball. These games range from freeform death match style in which all the players are basically out for themselves and anything goes, to team play that resembles war games. Although pellets are used instead of bullets or paintballs, getting hit can still result in a nasty sting and a lingering wound.Complaints against Airsoft guns have come from a number of quarters. For instance, the University of Hawaii at Manoa has banned Airsoft guns. Despite that banor, indeed, perhaps because of itthe campus was the site of a series of assaults on students by someone using an Airsoft pellet gun. Even so, much of the uproar has less to do with the damage done by the pellets and more with the construction of the guns themselves. Airsoft guns can take the form of handguns or larger rifles and they can look remarkably realistic. Read the rest of this entry »

Golf, it’s probably one of the most difficult sports to play, and there are more people trying to peddle solutions for your problems then you can shake a stick at. If you don’t believe me flick on the golf channel for an hour and see how many commercials you see for the next greatest training aid. Some of these training aids work, I can’t argue that how ever I’ve often wondered if we need to have this perfect swing in order to enjoy the game and shoot a half decent score.Golf Swing RealitiesWhile we all want to critique everyones golf swing, or at least I do, the reality is all the little things we talk about in not lifting our head, turn our hips, keep your arms straight are all to ensure one thing occurs. When our golf club comes through the down swing to make impact with the ball, that club face is perfectly square so that the ball goes straight. Read the rest of this entry »

Auction An enthusiastic buyer may want to check out the local auctions that are held in his area. Some good sports cars can be bought cheaply in these auctions. However, the auction arena is not made for the faint-hearted buyer. Just like any other kind of auction, it is a stressful and fast environment. One must attend a couple or more auctions before actually trying to purchase a car from this kind of activity.comAnother downside of auctions is that there is no opportunity to test the car. In auctions, people buy cars “as they are.” Car ExchangeAuto Exchange Centers may offer you the best cars at very reasonable prices. Buyers might want to do a little Internet research since car exchange centers do advertise their merchandise on the Internet. Remember that the market for cheap sports cars is a buyers’ market, which means that you hold the aces when negotiating prices.Private SellerBuyers may also look for private sellers of sports cars. Read the rest of this entry »

Born on May 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas, Vince Young began his quarterback career at Madison High School. It was here that he participated in the schools football program and quickly began his road to athletic stardom. Among the honors that he received include the National Player of the Year as named by both PARADE and Student Sports, 2001 Texas Offensive Player of the Year, The Sporting News top high school prospect and was the proud recipient of the Pete Dawkins trophy. In addition to Youngs love of football, he also managed to letter as varsity in both basketball and track and field during his high school years. While his athleticism was apparent in any sport that he chose, football remained a constant in his life and one that he would carry with him throughout college and beyond.After high school, Vince Young was accepted to the University of Texas where he immediately joined the Longhorns football team. In 2004, during his sophomore year, Vince Young led the Longhorns to a season record of 11-1 and the Universitys inaugural participation, and win, in the Rose Bowl. Read the rest of this entry »

In todays world where we struggle to balance work, family, and finances, stress can sometimes feel like the most prevalent thing in our life. Weighing heavily on our shoulders, stress captures us in its grip as we fall victim to the myriad of physical and emotional repercussions.While a small amount of stress can be a healthy even motivational tool to help us achieve our goals and meet deadlines, long term and consistent stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds. Learning how to manage stress can mean the difference between a happy, healthy life and a life of poor health and mental exhaustion.Learning how to manage stress can mean very different things to different people; but the fundamentals are the same. Stress keeps us in a constant state of hyper-vigilance; our bodies are on edge; our minds racing. If we do not learn to carve out our own downtime, we will simply burn out. Read the rest of this entry »