Sports Equipment

The red clay that is used as the surface on a tennis court originated right back to the origins of the game. If you play tennis yourself, you have been privileged to have a game on this famous surface. The history of the red clay court is particularly prevalent in Spain and the home of the only major played on clay; France.

This is a unique surface and makes the style of play completely different from other surfaces. To actually play on clay is an exhilarating experience.

If you have never had the pleasure of playing on red clay, and would like to know a little more about it, here’s a few interesting facts.

The serve and volley players who regularly record wins on other surfaces will often struggle on the red clay. To win on this surface you will be playing from the baseline with punishing ground strokes.

If you do ever see a player approach the net while playing on clay, it is a very rare thing indeed. Those who rely on their booming serve will also find that it hasn’t the effect on this surface as it does on others.

So why is the strategy for this game so different? Well, it is very simple, the clay is a thick and heavy surface which sticks to the ball and therefore slows it Down considerably.

Where as on other surfaces such as hard courts the ball skids along the surface at speed, on clay courts it is slowed right down by the thickness of the surface.

As the ball has been slowed down; it will bounce a lot higher than on other surfaces, so the players have more time to get to the ball and return it. It is due to this that clay can claim to have some of tennis’ longest matches played on it.

The rallies are obviously longer and shots easier to reach than they would be on the fast courts. A sure fire winner on grass is probably reachable on clay.

Speed is the key on clay, to reach the ball early while it is still on the rise and put it away thanks to a thumping ground stroke.

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Sports are always a topic of debate, and baseball is no exception. If you are a fan, you will undoubtedly have been asked at sometime if you think that the best hitter you\’ve ever seen is Albert Pujols.

To keep the debate modern and up to date, we shall only compare Pujols with players we are familiar with from the past thirty years.

Going back even further doesn\’t give a very fair debate, as the whole nature of the game was different; equipment and fields etc. Ok, Willie Mays and Ted Williams were great in their day; to compare them with Pujols is unfair to all three of them.

As the game has evolved so much, we can\’t tell how well players from the past would have played today, and vice versa. We can consider Pujols to be the batsman of our times on his merits alone.

To start with, there is a possibility he can still improve as he doesn\’t hit 30 until his next birthday. His consistency has been second to none; few players can boast that they have turned out every week and played like Pujols has, let\’s check out a few of his statistics.

Albert Pujols has a career average that is capable of winning a league. His overall average is an amazing .334. His second season brought about the lowest average of .312 and his worst since has been .327.

Pujols is an MLB player and has now played 9 seasons in this league. During 5 of those he has hit 40 home runs. The lowest amount he has ever hit in a season is 32; this is an outstanding stat by anyone\’s standards.

There are many for arguments in the debate about Pujols being a terrific hitter, and, so far, no against ones. Each year his consistency is awesome and it\’s hard to believe now that anyone can take his place as the best batsman we will have ever seen.

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Recently, Mark McGwire came out with an admission that many people were shocked to hear. He had taken steroids from 1989 through the end of his career, despite his unwillingness to speak on the issue during a congressional hearing five years ago.

The logic would typically follow that a player takes any performance enhancing drug to enhance their statistical performance. A strong player will hit more home runs, and his team will find more success. McGwire, on the other hand, took these drugs because he felt that they were his only means of staying free of injury.

This would make sense in McGwire\’s case, as injuries seriously slowed down the pace of what would have been an otherwise torrid career. He was one of the best power hitters in the game, but his potential was always cut short due to injury.

What followed in the years to come was exactly what one would expect. He was healthier through the majority of the remainder of his career, and his offensive production was exceptional.

Everything came together in 1998, a year in which McGwire set baseball history. Having broken a seemingly unbreakable record held by Roger Maris, the St. Louis Cardinal hit an astounding 70 home runs during the course of the year.

While McGwire was worshipped by baseball fans as he broke this record, things soon changed within the span of a few years. Talk of steroids began to mar the baseball world and its recent milestones, including the record that had been set by McGwire.

Many now realize that the writing was on the wall this whole time. How could a player in his mid 30s suddenly hit more home runs than ever before? How could others like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa hit even more? We all should have known better.

McGwire violated the trust of the baseball world and cheated his way to a record. Despite this all, he deserves a bit of respect for having the courage to come out with a secret that hundreds of players from that era still likely hold.

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There have been quite a few ups and downs in the world of basketball this season. This season has been an interesting one with plenty going on in the way of performance and with player news.

In this article, I intend to look at both the good and the bad, the highlights and the low points of the 09 to 10 season.

There is just no predicting what\’s coming up in seasons to come. Just last season two particular teams ranked at the bottom of the league but have proven themselves successful players over the past season.

First is the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that people believed had a bright future but never thought they would be competitive this quickly. Thanks to superstar Kevin Durant, the team has suddenly morphed from one of the worst in the league to one with a winning record this season.

The Memphis Grizzlies may be an even bigger surprise. While people knew that the Thunder had the potential to be a good team, everyone had written off Memphis entering the season.

This team has now seen some great play on the court due to the team work of Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, OJ Mayo and Zach Randolph and as a result may even end up making the playoffs.

However, the incident at the Gilbert Arenas really brought down the reputation and image of the league itself with guns being pointed at teammates, the Washington Guard has now been suspended for the rest of the season.

Where there are new players there is a glimpse into the future of basketball and players such as Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings who are two top performing rookies are providing us with hope for the future of basketball games, so it\’s not all bad in the world of basketball after all.

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Every generation of football sees the emergence and prevalence of a few elite quarterbacks. In the 80s and 90s, we saw the likes of Montana, Elway, Marino, and Aikman dominating the sport. Currently, quarterbacks like Manning, Favre, Brady, and Brees are clearly the best in the game.

Very rarely do we see two of the best quarterbacks in the sport facing off against one another in the Super Bowl. This year, the football world will be privileged enough to enjoy such an opportunity. Not only is this the case, but many believed that both teams were tops in the league through the course of the season.

Both the Saints and Colts won their first 14 games, leading many to speculate as to whether these teams would go undefeated through the course of the entire season.

Neither the Colts nor the Saints finished out the season without a loss. In fact, each team lost two games, each for their own reasons. Still, this was enough to secure home field advantage, which clearly helped to secure a Super Bowl berth for each team.

This year\’s Super Bowl matchup is sure to be an exciting one. Two of the best quarterbacks of our generation have the opportunity to go head to head.

In recent years, it\’s been all about defense. Look at last year\’s Steelers for a perfect example, as the best defense in the league ultimately won the Super Bowl.

Recent champions have all resulted from highly proficient defenses and while both the Colts and Saints are efficient defensively, their defensive performances won\’t matter much since each quarterback seems to be effective no matter what.

This may very well be one of the highest scoring Super Bowls we\’ve seen in recent years. As great as defensive battles can be, this will be an extremely refreshing change from the usual.

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The Atlanta Falcons didn\’t so much win their Sunday Night NFL Football game against the Chicago Bears as much as the Bears lost it. A series of costly mistakes and turnovers in the red zone negated an otherwise solid road effort for the Bears, as Atlanta held on to win 21-14 at the Georgia Dome. Chicago held a decisive edge in most of the statistical categories, but was undone by untimely turnovers.

Chicago also disappointed fans who bet on NFL football by failing to cover the pointspread as +4 road underdogs. Both teams\’ ATS records match their straight up records with the Falcons moving to 4-1 against the number while the Bears slumped to 3-2. The 35 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 46. Both teams have now gone UNDER in three of five games this season.

Winning Falcons\’ QB Matt Ryan chose to credit his defense rather than point to Chicago mistakes as the determining factor in the outcome:

\”Our defense, give them some credit. Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.\”

The Bears did a good job shutting down Falcons\’ star running back Michael Turner holding the NFL\’s second leading rusher to only 30 yards. He came through with the game on the line, however, rushing for the winning touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Ryan praised his running back\’s effort:

\”Our offensive line did a great job just giving me just enough time to get the ball off, and then Michael Turner did what he does. The offensive line provided a great push and just paved his way.\”

The Falcons are now 4-1 for only the fifth time in team history, the last coming in 2004. Despite their solid start, they\’re still trying to keep pace with the red hot New Orleans Saints who improved to 5-0 with their win over the New York Giants earlier in the day. On this occasion, the Falcons\’ Ryan was outplayed by the Bears Jay Cutler between the twenties but the Atlanta signal caller made all of the right moves in scoring range.

Atlanta can improve to 5-1 and break the mark for best start in franchise history with a win on the road at Dallas next Sunday. That\’ll be followed by an even bigger road game, on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints-a contest full of all sorts of implications for the eventual divisional championship in the NFC South. They\’ll return home the following Sunday to host the struggling Washington Redskins. The Bears will be back on the road next weekend to take on the Cincinnati Bengals before returning home for games the following two Sundays against the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and a noted authority on sports betting and NFL football betting. He is a frequent sports radio guest where he gives advice on how to successfully bet on soccer. He lives in Las Vegas with three dogs and a dingo.

If you look at most successful basketball teams, there\’s a highly skilled point guard in place running the show on offense. These are the guys who make magic happen on the basketball court.

The ball distributor sets the tone for a team\’s offense and an apt one is likely to lead his team to success. If he\’s a good defender, he\’ll do even more good for his team.

We\’ve been privileged enough to have some of the best point guards in the history of the sport during the last quarter century. I\’d like to give my due to five of them, and I\’ll be ranking them in order. This all comes down to my opinion, and I hope you agree with my rankings here.

Number five on my list goes to Steve Nash. It\’s remarkable to think about the fact that his best basketball has been played after the age of 30. While he\’s now 35, some coaches and analysts think he\’s playing better than he ever has.

At number four, Chris Paul gets a spot on the list here. He\’s only been in the league for five seasons now, but what an impact he\’s made in that span. He\’s yet to win an MVP award, but he\’s due for one when you consider what he does for his team.

Chris Paul fills the stat sheet like no other point guard in basketball. Between his league high assists and steals, his great shooting ability, and his rebounding prowess, Paul is truly one of a kind.

Jason Kidd. The triple double king of our generation and one of the best to ever handle the basketball, Kidd is a modern day Oscar Robertson with his unique ability to pass and rebound from the point guard position.

John Stockton. The all-time assists leader has to be on this list. Wonder why the Jazz made the playoffs for nearly 20 years straight, all the way until Stockton was over 40 years old? It was the combo of this phenom and Karl Malone.

You probably know who number one is, especially since I\’ve mentioned the other four. Magic Johnson is simply the best point guard to ever play the game. His assists per game were higher than anyone on this list, and he\’s the only one here to have won a championship too. Enough said.

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This has been an interesting two months without baseball ever since the end of the 2009 season. We knew there would be a handful of high profile names entering free agency during the off season.

Many signings during the winter can have a profound impact upon the season to come. After all, look at what the Yankees were able to pull off last season.

The team looked nothing like its former self after adding Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher to its batting lineup and CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to its pitching rotation. This gave the Yanks a powerhouse roster that no team could compete with.

Which teams have made the biggest signings during the 2009 off season so far? Did your favorite team acquire any big names? Let\’s take a look at some of the most notable action so far.

In the world of pitchers, the biggest free agent was John Lackey. Not only does he boast a tremendous amount of playoff innings on his resume, but he\’s also still young, as he\’s just barely over 30 years old.

When healthy, Lackey is a top 15 pitcher in baseball. The Red Sox now have a reliable arm to pitch right behind Josh Beckett, making for a dangerous one two punch.

While the Angels will certainly miss their ace pitcher\’s presence, they\’ve been fortunate enough to make a valuable addition to their batting lineup. Having signed Hideki Matsui, they\’ve stolen him away from the Yankees and will enjoy his presence on the team.

He\’s also an extremely reliable outfielder through the course of any season, making great offensive contributions. While he\’s 35 years old, he hasn\’t shown many signs of slowing down, so the Angels should expect some solid contributions next season. Matsui\’s presence will definitely be felt in Los Angeles.

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With the Aussie Open starting off the startup \’10 tennis calendar year, the action is officially here again. There are several pros comprising a pro tour that finds itself much more up for grabs than it\’s happened to be in many seasons.

Gone are the times of Federer and Rafa ruling each and every tournament. There are a number of additional participants on the tour who have real prospects each and every time a slam commences.

Although Roger Federer and Nadal sit on the top two ranks in the world, there are several competitors who might finish up the year sitting at the top. Let\’s have a look at the favorite heirs to the throne at this time.

Not surprisingly, there is Roger Federer. He should at all times be regarded as the most likely to wind up atop the the men\’s tour, since he\’s done so pretty much each and every year during the course of the previous 10 years. In spite of everything, his age of twenty nine reveals that he\’s slowly beginning to age.

If Rafael Nadal can stay healthy, there is no valid reason to believe that he won\’t end up there. In reality, many folks think that he might have ranked there last year if he hadn\’t been required to skip Wimbledon because of his knee condition.

Also in the mix is the youthful twenty year old Juan Martin Del Potro, whose incredible victory at the US Open surprised many tennis enthusiasts. To active ones, the young talent\’s win was not such a shock. The guy is astonishingly talented and is good enough to take the tour\’s best rank this year.

Rounding out the field are two additional prospective men. Let us have a look at them both.

Novak Djokovic is among those players that fans thought would likely be # 1 at some point, however he hasn\’t entirely gotten there up till now. He is considerably more grown up at the current age, and may possibly at long last enjoy both the physical and mental toughness to make it happen.

Finally, there\’s Andy Murray. With youth on his side, the English talent is in top physical shape and found himself as well as #2 a year ago. With some meaningful titles in 2010, he may well become this year\’s dark horse.

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Basketball fans in New York are cautiously optimistic for the first time in what seems like ages. Basketball lovers in the biggest city in the country have been dying to see their beloved Knicks return to a competitive state.

This has clearly been a trying time for anyone who follows the team, and the loyalty of millions of fans has been tested. The good news is the fact that things might finally be on the way back up for this weathered franchise. Halfway into the season, their winning percentage is better than it\’s been in quite some time, despite the fact that they\’re just 17-24.

At this current rate, they\’d win several more games than they did last season. This isn\’t the most telling statistic though.

It\’s true that the Knicks are on pace to finish the season with another losing record based on their performance thus far, but we have to look at a little more to acknowledge the extent of their recent improvement.

First of all, this is a team that went 3-11 to start out the season. Some simple math would indicate that this means the Knicks have been 13-13 ever since their sluggish November start.

Ever since then, they\’ve played basketball with a winning record, something fans haven\’t witnessed in ages.

Between David Lee and Wilson Chandler, the team has two young talents that any team would be happy to have. Lee may even make this year\’s all star team, as he\’s averaging nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per night.

On top of that, some promising young talent in players like Danilo Gallinari shows that there\’s a bright future in New York when you consider the team\’s current state. The young Italian player has become one of the best long range shooters in the game.

The pot is sweetened with one more pleasant surprise. The contracts of players like Stephon Marbury and other wastes of money will finally expire after the season finishes up. As a result, New York has every intention to sign one of the big names entering the free agent pool this summer. Things are about to improve even more.

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