15 Jul 2010
by in Uncategorized Tags: amanda, popularity, saga, signs
WINTER PARK –
With the rise in popularity of vampire stories and films, there’s a disturbing new trend among teens.
They’re biting each other to show their love or friendship.
It’s like a modern-day hickey. more and more teens are sinking their teeth into each other.
Experts said there’s a good chance your child already knows about “love biting,” considering the third movie in the popular “Twilight” saga, “Eclipse,” earned more than $175 million in its first week, and HBO’s vampire-based series “True Blood” has also garnered a huge following.
I spoke one-on-one with Dr. Amanda Janner, from Psychological Affiliates in Winter Park. She said besides the possible spread of bacteria and infection — and even HIV and AIDS — love biting can create severe psychological issues.
“It’s something that says, ‘Someone has me. I belong to them,’” Dr. Janner said.
I asked her whether any of her patients have shown signs of love biting.
“I’ve heard about it. I know it’s going on in schools,” she said. “You know, we hear different kids telling us, ‘Oh, yes, my friend had this.’ It’s always a ‘friend.’”
Janner said the act of intimacy could also rehash memories of child abuse.
“It’s bringing the trauma back up for them, potentially,” she said.
Love bites: Is ‘Twilight’ sparking disturbing teen trend?
06 Jul 2010
by in Uncategorized Tags: franchise, mdash, salary cap, signs
![]()
Amare Stoudemire is interviewed inside Madison Square Garden on Monday, July 5, 2010, in New York. Stoudemire’s agent, happy Walters, said the deal is for the maximum allowed, which would be nearly $100 million over five years. (AP)
NEW YORK (AP) – Amare Stoudemire is headed to the New York Knicks, and both sides are hoping he’s not coming alone.
The Knicks said Monday they intend to sign Stoudemire to a contract later this week when the free agent moratorium period ends. Stoudemire’s agent, happy Walters, said the deal is for the maximum allowed, which would be nearly $100 million over five years.
Wearing a blue Knicks hat, Stoudemire said he looked forward to rebuilding a franchise and bringing the Knicks back to the top — maybe with a player such as LeBron James or Dwyane Wade with him.
"I feel great about being a pioneer and showing my leadership," he said at Madison Square Garden, where signs throughout the entrances showed the player pictured in a Knicks uniform and reading "Welcome, Amare Stoudemire."
The deal can’t be signed until Thursday, after the salary cap for next season has been set.
It was a desperately needed score in free agency for the Knicks, who spent two seasons clearing enough cap space to afford two top players. They met with James, Wade and Chris Bosh last week and believe they could still land one of them.
Stoudemire has already started recruiting, saying he spoke to James’ people and directly to Wade last week. and he said he won’t be affected if those players say no to New York.
"Totally comfortable, totally confident that my leadership qualities will uplift all of us to do something great this upcoming season," Stoudemire said. "so again, the Knicks are back."
The move reunites Stoudemire with Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix. Stoudemire averaged more than 20 points in every season they were together and immediately becomes the best player D’Antoni has coached since leaving the Suns after the 2007-08 season.
"He’s a dominant offensive player for sure, in a variety of ways," D’Antoni said.
Stoudemire’s days with the Suns ended late last week when the team agreed to $48 million worth of deals with forwards Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. the sides had discussed an extension, but the Suns looked elsewhere after they’d reached a stalemate.
Stoudemire said he understood owner Robert Sarver’s position and wasn’t disrespected by the Suns’ refusal to give him a max deal that would have paid him millions more. He said he’s always loved New York and wanted to play here since the Knicks passed on him in the 2002 draft.
He finally got to Broadway by becoming the first big player in this much-hyped free agent class to change teams. the other top players could announce their decisions later in the week, and perhaps they might take a second look at New York now that there’s another huge piece in place.
"no one wanted to make the first move and I feel confident enough to take that first step and hopefully now we can bring a few guys in to join me," Stoudemire said.
The Knicks decided they no longer needed to wait on an answer from Bosh, especially because Stoudemire showed such a commitment to New York. They even gave him the longest contract allowable without knowing if it could be insured because of Stoudemire’s injury history that includes microfracture knee surgery and a partially detached retina.
"I think to a degree the fact that Amare really wanted to come here, stepped up front, it got to the point where we had to acknowledge that and say that means something to us," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said.
Walsh said Stoudemire’s arrival didn’t necessarily mean the end for David Lee, the Knicks’ own All-Star free agent who plays the same position. Lee could also be used in a sign-and-trade, though Walsh indicated he hadn’t received any good proposals in discussions with Lee’s agent.
Stoudemire has career averages of 21.4 points and 8.9 rebounds and helped the Suns reach the Western Conference finals this season. D’Antoni called him "probably one of the best, if not the best finisher in the league" and dismissed the notion that their relationship was strained in Phoenix.
"We had no problem," D’Antoni said. "I had four great years. the reason I have a very good contract in New York is Amare doing what he did for me. so I can’t have any animosity and don’t, and he was great."
The question now is can he help land James.
They could have ended up together in February, when the Suns considered trading Stoudemire to Cleveland before the Cavaliers instead took a deal with Washington for Antawn Jamison.
Stoudemire would instantly become the best teammate James has ever had in the NBA, but James would have to leave behind his hometown team and the extra $30 million the Cavaliers could pay him for the partnership to happen now.
"Playing with LeBron would be great," Stoudemire said. "But again, I’m not sure what his decision is and where he’s leaning. if he’s leaning more toward New York, then that’s a great start for us."
For a team mired in a franchise-worst stretch of nine straight losing seasons, Stoudemire alone is a good start. the Knicks can finally trot out a superstar again in front of Spike Lee — who was on hand as Stoudemire met the media — and the rest of the home fans.
"It’s the first step," Walsh said. "It’s a big step, because it’s a big guy."
AttachmentSize Amare Stoudemire is interviewed inside Madison Square Garden on Monday, July 5, 2010, in New York. Stoudemire's agent, happy Walters, said the deal is for the maximum allowed, which would be nearly $100 million over five years. (AP)14.77 KB
Stoudemire agrees to sign with Knicks
01 Jul 2010
by in Uncategorized Tags: baseball, elbow, mates, signs
The catcher in baseball has an important part to play within the team. to keep runners from stealing signs, the receiver uses two methods. One is called “light and dark.” if the catcher holds the glove elbow away from the body, the pitcher can see daylight between the arm and body. that could mean the curve or fast ball, whichever the battery mates agree upon.
If the elbow is against the body-”dark”-it could also mean “curve” or “fast ball.” the catcher sometimes uses his glove for the sign. if the glove is held with the little finger pointing down, as it normally is, that’s the fast ball. if turned so that the palm faces the ground, that could be the signal for the curve.
Naturally, if the catcher uses “light and dark” or the glove, he still gives signs, false ones, with his throwing hand.
Covering the Plate The catcher in baseball, and managers, should pay particular attention to the fundamentals involved in guarding home plate against the runner trying to score. the catcher wants to “know” where the plate is located as he watches the ball wing toward him from the outfield or infield. to do this, he should straddle the plate. if the ball is hit to right, the catcher leaves the right field corner open. this forces the runner to slide in front of the catcher, with only a small area of the plate to touch.
If the ball is hit to left, the catcher again faces the throw, but leaves the left field corner of the plate open. the catcher-like the second baseman -should never stand in front of the plate to await the throw, nor should he stand up the line toward third.
This writer never likes to use the term “block the plate” when teaching catchers. it gives catchers the impression they are to hold the runner off. if a catcher attempts to stand between home plate and the runner with, or without the ball, he’s going to get hurt. the runner has no place to go, but right through the catcher. Very often, the runner won’t slide because there’s no room to slide. Furthermore, if the catcher doesn’t have the ball in his possession and the runner makes contact with him, the runner scores on the interference rule.
Play the Ball – then the Man Give the runner a place to slide. if the throw is late or wild, go after the ball and forget the runner. if you have the ball in time and the runner slides, block the foot reaching for the base with a knee. if the ball is coming from right field, drop the left knee-after the runner starts his slide, not before. if the throw is coming from left field, drop the right knee.
Naturally, the throw isn’t always going to be exactly where the catcher wants it. Ball and runner occasionally arrive at the same spot at the same instant. this may mean a collision. Again, though, the catcher should not try to hold the runner back. if the runner is standing up, he should make the tag and roll with the runner-letting the runner turn him around. if the runner is sliding, the catcher should drop on top of him.
On all tags, the catcher should turn the back of the glove toward the runner. when the bases are loaded, the catcher doesn’t need to make a tag. With less than two out, the play is often home-to-first.
After catching an infielder’s throw, the catcher must make the put-out and relay to 1st without hitting the batter. to accomplish this easily, the catcher puts his left foot on one side of home base and faces the fielder. After the catch, he steps forward with his right foot, pivots right and throws to the first baseman, who should be standing well inside the line with his left foot on the inside edge of 1st base.
In every game, the catcher in baseball has a crucial role to play.
Coaching the Catcher in Baseball
25 Jun 2010
by in Uncategorized Tags: profits, rigor, server training, signs
Comfest weekend is upon us. it will be hot. it will probably rain. there will be good music, good food and interesting people watching.
Take a lot of water and drink all of it.
I had a refresher alcohol server training for Comfest so I can tell you this fact: you will be carded with rigor and every alcohol law on the books will be observed strictly. Alcohol sales fully fund Comfest, any remaining profits are given to the community via grants. if Comfest loses their alcohol permit, then Columbus loses Comfest.
Please see the other signs below to help you prepare. Don’t drive – take the bus or ride your bike.
COMFEST: A PERSONAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT « CMH Gourmand
RSS