Final Video Project

For my final project, I creating a video encompassing all of the information I learned. It can be found at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3eZBeuIj-4&feature=youtu.be

Pixton

http://www.pixton.com/comic/6a0atqci

Final Product- How have cars revolutionized throughout the years?

Final Product

http://www.glogster.com/edit/g-6lherehiqgih54k6qrh8ja0

Video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfvtR0nzck

  Newer Video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5sADDEvOxA

Final Product

Sport Psychology: What Makes Athletes Excel? on Prezi

History of basketball

<iframe src='http://www.glogster.com/glog/6lhm0o0idp82qgf5rh3tsa0' height='414' width='560' name='glogster-embed-glog' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' style='overflow: hidden;' id='glogster-embed-glog'></iframe>

Final Product

South Africa: Period 1-Last Name on Prezi

Final Poduct

Final Product

Final Product

Passion Project on Prezi

Tennis website

https://sites.google.com/site/tennisedgrabill/home

Interview with Rob Boss

Rob Boss

• I also interviewed Rob Boss who was a former Chicago Rush player and is currently a coach in Michigan.
• He is a reliable source because he has been in most of the situations that relate and now is experiancing them from a coaches stand point which is also helpful to get a different point of view.
• I e-mailed them to get information on Thursday April 26, 2012.

1.) Why did you originally choose to play football?

1. I chose to play football because I loved the sport since I was very young. I enjoyed playing the sport and the competitiveness of the game. I also enjoyed the team atmosphere. I always liked being able to play with all my friends and get to compete beside them.

2.) As a coach, do you feel certain sports are discriminated against due to money?

2. I do not feel that sports are necessarily discriminated against as far as money goes. I think that the majority of the time, at the professional and collegiate levels at least, the sports revenue determines the amount of money they have to run their programs. That is why you see Alabama Football having the budget that they do for their coaches compared to Alabama swimming etc. There are 100,000 people that come and pay to attend football games, plus tv money, parking, concessions, apparel and so many other ways that the football program makes money. Unfortunately, other sports do not generate the same amount of cash flow and therefore, do not have the same amount of money in their budget.

3.) How does being paid influence player’s opinions about why they play? For example, when players are in high school and college, many play because their friends are playing.

3. When you are paid to play a sport it incorporates a business side to things. You have to think about the decisions you make more than you did when you were in college and high school. You have an image or a brand to portray every time you step onto the field. As a professional athlete, you are a piece of the puzzle that was chosen to fit a certain need, the key to continuing your career is to make sure you understand what piece you are and try to make yourself as many pieces as you can. The more you can do, the harder it is to cut you.

4.) Has sports ever changed from playing to have fun to playing for money as a reason to play?

The game itself is always fun. You continue to enjoy what you do, you have to. If you ever lose the love for the game, then it is time to stop playing. With that being said, the pressure mounts if you are not performing to the expectations because the game you love is also your career. You have a family to feed or bills that need to be paid, you take a more business like approach to it all. So I'd say that your outlook on the game changes but you have to love the game to succeed.

Types of Styles for Tennis

- There are 3 types of surfaces in tennis: clay, hard and grass courts.
-People play on clay courts, because it forces them to be patient and not go for any mistakes. Playing on clay courts also helps players by increasing the length of the points. This will help the players work on their placement of shots.
- People play and train on grass courts, because of the speed of the courts. The grass court speeds up the points and it allows the players to use more serve and volley. Playing on grass also decreases the odds that a player will get injured on the court, because of the soft surface.
- People play on hard courts because it is the main surface where people have tournaments on. This surface is also really easy to find, you can go to a local park, a school or a tennis club nearby.

- There are 3 main tennis serves: flat, slice, topspin.
- People hit flat serves to get more power on the serve so they can have a easier shot to win the point. The downside on hitting a flat serve is the percentage it goes in, because your hitting the serve so hard that it is very difficult to control.
- People hit topspin serves to get the ball to bounce higher. People use this because it is very easy to get in and it gives the players serving more time to set up what they are going to do in the point.
- People hit slice serves to get the ball to bounce lower and get the ball away from your opponent. This is a valuable serve because you can place the serve in many different spots. The server can use the slice to jam the returner and can use the slice to throw the serve away from your opponent.

http://www.ehow.com/list_5980492_tennis-court-surface-types.html
http://www.tennis4you.com/lesson-lounge/tennis4you/serve/4-different-serves.htm

Blog Post #7- Most Revolutionary Car

Source: Top Gear BBC
Type of Source: Video, search it on YouTube (the name is: James May Talks about Citroen DS)
This is a reliable source because it was a clip created by a factual and informative TV show (or at least in this case).  


The most revolutionary car was the Citroen DS, which debuted in 1955
Some of the revolutionary features shown were...
-Headlights that swivel as you turn around a corner (as seen on many modern Lexus and Audi vehicles)
-The day it hit the showrooms, they sold 12,000 of the cars
-The car was modeled after the shape of a tear drop to be aerodynamic
-The car used aluminum and plastic on many parts of the exterior
-First car with a plastic dashboard
-First car with disk brakes
-The car had rollover protection, crumple zones, a collapsable steering column, and more safety technologies that are seen on today's cars.
-In a crash, the engine would slide under the car to lower intrusion (as seen on the current Mercedes-Benz A-class)
-The suspension was hydro-pneumatic, which is a sort of suspension that has no springs.  Instead, it had containers filled with hydrogen gas to absorb the bumps (like many modern-day Land Rovers and Mercedes-Benzes)
-The suspension was able to be adjusted with the push of a button

Blog Post 7: USEF

For this blog post, I decided to research Hunters on the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) website. I found sections from the rule book and also detailed descriptions of the sports. These will be the division types I will be showing in this summer, so these are the topics most relatable to myself.

Hunters:

• Rounds should be judged on consistent distances to jumps and an even pace.
• Judges look for jumping style, willingness, and suitability of the horse. 
• Jumps such as coops, walls, and gates are found in the hunter ring because they simulate those in an actual hunting field. 
• Handy Hunter classes are built with tight turns and creative approaches.
• Most hunter horses are Thoroughbreds, and also European Warmbloods.
• Minor faults for a rider's judging include rubbing the jump, late lead changes or changes in front of a fence or line, adding or eliminating strides in a line, spooking, or bucking.
• Major faults include knockdowns, refusals, missing a lead change, breaking stride, and trotting on course (unless specified a "trot jump"). 
• Elimination is ruled when a rider or horse falls, has 3 refusals, goes off course, 
• Martingales (piece of tack that goes around a horse's neck) are prohibited in Under Saddle (flat) classes. Only standing martingales are allowed in Over Fences (jumping) classes. 

This Website is very valid because it is the website of the country's equestrian association. These rules are all accurate because they are the first-hand rules used by judges and competition officials. There is obviously no bias because it is not opinionated and are straight from a prestigious organization. The rule book was last updated in late 2011, so it is very recent. The links of the websites are: http://www.usef.org/documents/ruleBook/2011/16-HU.pdf

http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/allHunter.aspx

Database research

Basketball History #7


http://www.livestrong.com/article/354701-how-have-basketball-uniforms-changed-over-the-years/

Author: Tara Thackery

• First uniforms not used till the 1920's and consisted of padded shorts and wool jersey
• Spalding first company to make the new uniforms
• This allowed players to feel better wile playing.
• Michael Jordan one of the first to introduce the idea of longer hemlines.
• over the next ten years the hemlines kept going down and soon created the baggy look of today.
• The new baggy shorts allow you to move better and provide comfort to the players
• One major change in uniforms for basketball was footwear. Players started out wearing  high-top sneakers, which provided ankle support to prevent injuries. Converse was credited with some of the first high-top sneakers used in the NBA.
•   footwear today contains features that help players jump and cut across the court
• Two other popular accessories that caught on during the 1970s and 80s were headbands and tube socks.

A.The article was published on May, 26,2011


This website is valid because it sites its sources and gives clear and good detail about the topic.This website was very helpful in finding info o my topic.

interview with Mrs. Woodward

Mrs. Woodward is a reliable source because she has worked with the McDonald's World Cup sponsorship for 8 years. Mrs Woodward and I exchanged emails for the past two weeks.

• 1. Well my big overall question is why and how soccer has changed throughout different countries?

In South America, the game is much, much faster.  And the teams play for years together, so they are really good at making plays.  This is why the South Americans do so well in the World Cup.  Most of the Europeans and Americans don't play together very much.  The South Americans spend so much time together, they are truly a 'team.'  The game in Europe is more strategic and defense oriented.  Over time, this has been a great style of play.   As for the Americans, well, it will take generations.  Phil Hersh, who is the international sports reporter for the Chicago Tribune, is a friend of mine.  He once told me, "When parents throw a ball to a 2 year old in the US, they encourage the baby to catch it with his hands.  In the rest of the world, they encourage him to catch it with his feet."  The difference in our countries is fundamental, right down to how we teach our babies to catch a ball!

• 2. While some of my sub questions are how have Nike and Adidas also changed how it has been played? 

Nike and Adidas are very competitive, and they have state of the art science to develop equipment.  They have developed balls that are more balanced, lightweight and flexible to move faster and make the state of play faster.  Their shoes have spikes that can dig in deeply so players can turn on a dime.  And, they have led the way in uniforms that repel sweat and keep players cool.  The sporting goods industry deserves a lot of credit in every sport for how scientific the games are today.

• 3. How have some of the players like Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Diego Maradona have caused the sport to change?  

Two ways:  first, when they are so good at what they do, they make everyone else better, too.  Do you see that on your own sports teams?  Everyone wants to be as good as the best player.  The second way they have caused the sport to change is by turning themselves in to celebrities.  That makes them very visible, which enhances the sport, makes it special, cool and visible.  Then, the best athletes in the world want to be like them.  It has definitely helped in the US, where the celebrity sportsmen are still pretty much NFL and NBA players.  When a young kid trying to decide which sport to play sees the celebrity status that Messi or Beckham has, it might make them change their mind away from the NFL.

• 4. And last how the countries influenced each other through different tournaments like the world cup of the UEFA world championships?   

Two ways:  first of all, I've had so many sportsmen and women tell me that there is just nothing as important as competing for your country.  The pride, the patriotism, the knowledge that millions of your country people are cheering for you -- it's an incredible, indescribable feeling.  So, that patriotism can make sports a point of unity across nations.  In fact, you might have heard of the "Olympic Truce."  During the Olympics, countries agree not to be at war.  Pretty awesome, right?!  The second way is, again, playing the best means everybody takes their game up a notch.  And so, the game continues to improve, and be more interesting and exciting -- which makes more fans watch and more players want to be their best, and so the never-ending cycle continues!

Race in Sporting Goods

Over the years conditioning, training and technique have proven most successful for athletes. Recently advances in technology have helped athletes become better than ever.

• Not clear if equipment correlates to world record times
• Swimming full body suits have created less drag and broken world records
• Cycling has had many high tech advances like the carbon fiber bike creating new world records
• These two examples have been banned in competitions due to the change they make to the athlete
• New technology isn't always for breaking new records but making the sport fun and easier
• Callaway a golf supplier spent 30 to 60 million dollars to advance in new technology, they also have a 4 million dollar testing facility
• Advances in technology have revolutionized sports and helped athletes exceed

• Do all sports have advances in technology that will help them succeed?
• How much money is spent on sporting goods and researching new technology every year?

Arms Race in Sporting Goods
By Gavin Ehringer
Encyclopaedia Britannica

Interview with Justin Roper

Justin Roper

•   I interviewed Justin Roper who was a Chicago Rush player and has been recently traded to Orland.
•    He is a reliable source because he has experianced some of the situations first hand because he actually plays the sport. 
•     I e-mailed them to get information on Thursday April 26, 2012.

     1.) What inspired you to play Arena Football over trying to get into the NFL?

     4.) Why did you choose Arena Football over NFL?

Basically no one chooses the afl over the nfl. Every players aims at playing in the nfl and they play arena when they are unable to play in the nfl.

That answers number 1 and 4.

 2.) What inspired you to start playing football? Did money play a factor in your decision?

2) I've been in football my whole life; my dad was a college coach so I've always played it and it's something I'm good at. Money is not why I play but it is obviously a huge bonus.

   3.) Do you think that Arena Football players are thought less of compared to NFL players? ( In any part of the game)

3) afl players alot of times have played in the nfl at some point so there's not really a huge talent deficiency. Afl players typically are guys who might not have ideal height or ideal speed for the nfl but still have alot of talent.



Effects of Exercise

http://www.livestrong.com/article/444358-effects-of-exercise-on-the-personality/#ixzz1t9cF6uhq

May 17, 2011
Victoria Weinblatt, Live Strong

References:

Biomedical Research; The "Senobi" Breathing Exercise Ameliorates Depression in Obese Women Through Up-Regulation of Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Hormone Secretion; K. Sato, et al.; 2011

Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases; Impact of Exercise Training on Psychological Risk Factors; C.J. Lavie, et al.; 2011

MayoClinic.com; Exercise and Stress; Get Moving to Combat Stress; 2010

EurekAlert!; Exercise Helps Overweight Children Reduce Anger Expression; 2008

American College of Sports Medicine; Exercise Is Medicine Month, Lauds the Benefits of Physical Activity; 2011

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/444358-effects-of-exercise-on-the-personality/#ixzz1tMuHZEyQ

• Exercise enables you to think towards more of a positive outlook

• Exercise also helps individuals clear their mind by focusing on the activity they are performing. 

• In addition, exercise also provides physical benefits that help weight lose, prevent chronic diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. 

• Endorphins are neurotransmitters that signal your body to be in a positive/happy mood. When an individual works out or exercises, these neurotransmitters are exerted which therefore leads your mind to be clear and energized. 

• Study was shown that people who tend to workout on a regular basis have dramatically lower anger levels than those who do not. 

• Internal Medicine at the Aoyama Clinic in Japan conducted an experiment with 40 obese women and had them participate in 60 second senobi breathing exercises. Results had shown that this activity had increased levels of sympathetic nerve activity. This type of activity in the body is said to promote a happier personality. 

• After 30 days of continued senobi breathing exercises, patients have said to find there depression more tolerable. 

• Today the English team Arsenal has only 2 native players and is managed by a Frenchman
• 15 years ago there was only one Swede on the team all the rest were from England
• Soccer has long served as a form of combat which whole neighborhoods could be passionate about
• Globalization is changing the long standing traditions of soccer by eliminating boundaries
• Players no longer feel passionate about playing for their country, they just market themselves to the highest bidder
• Ukriane looks to Africa's second teir as the prime source of imported talent since it cannot compete with Europe in buying "star" players
• It is estimated that about 1,000 African players make a living playing in Europe
• Before Manchester United would sell about 30,000 replica jerseys, now they sell millions

Time Magazine

July 2004

Tony Karon

Interview

Part A

- Jason Gogo- Trainer for athletes

- Played college and minor league baseball. Has experienced and taught others training and medicine

- I interviewed Jason Gogo on April 26 at 9pm.

PART B

1.   What was the medicine like during your time with baseball?

- The medicine is relatively the same for professional athletes. They get the same treatment as younger athletes. Some professionals take illegal medications, but they are not given by the doctors. many athletes used pain killers.

2. How is the competitiveness raised from high school to college?

- The athletes raise the intensity a lot since some want to make their sports a living, so they have to work harder. Some players are just there to have fun, so they compete with less intensity in developing as a player.

3. How has training athletes changed over the years?

- The science behind training has changed or "revolutionized" the game so much. When I played, it was not a dynamic workout, but still getting a lot of time to practice. Now the training is a lot more specific, and has a lot of more areas to focus on. Science has changed the way athletes train.

4. How do nerves affect professionals?

- In the average athlete, nerves cause a less satisfactory performance, while professional athletes use nerves as a motivator to improve even better than usually. Nerves can break down an average athlete, though.

                                                                                                                                                               

Hybrids vs Muscle cars

                  I read that the average person drives 15,000 miles anually. As i said in my last blog post the Prius plug-in gets 95 miles per gallon. But not everyone would get that car, others woul look in the used market, or just a different kind of hybrid. For example lets look at a more spacious, higher quality car; the Ford Fusion hybrid

             The ford Fusion gets 47 MPG with a 17.5 gallon tank. That means on one tank you could get 822.5 miles per tank which is astounding. Now at 15,000 miles a year that means you would only fill up the tank about 18 times. so at 17.5 gallons 18 times at about $4 per gallon. That is only $1,260 a year on gas. That sounds like a lot yes but now lets do a little experiment with a popular sport car, the Ford Mustang GT.

             The Mustang gets 17 city and 26 highway which averages out to 23, and believe it or not the Mustang gets some of the gratest gas milage among these muscle cars. With a 15.4 gallon tank, so the owner would average 354 miles per tank. So far that is almost 1/3rd the Fusion. And he would have to fill up his tank 42 times a year.$2,587.3 dollars.  Now yearly cost? $2,587. almost $1,300 more than the Fusion.
              That is 520 Hot Pocket packages, or a very, very good laptop. Hybrids are just so much more pratical, so much better for our enviornment, the people would save so much money. But the thing is you do not get that feeling of freedom in a hybrid that you do in a Mustang,or a Camaro, a corvette etc. Those big sport cars make you smile, give you a warm feeling, butterflies, and when you show up somehwere, people will notice you. In my opinion, They just make you feel exciting and happy in so many ways that you can not put a price on. Because laughing until your stomach almost explodes when you are lightihng your tires up at a stop light and speeding away, is priceless. They may be more expensive to drive. But whats important is they get you where you need with a smile.

blog post 7

http://historyoftennis.net/

The first tennis tournament was in 1887
Over 600 people compete in the U.S. open
The french open was in 1891
Monks first played tennis during religious ceremonies
The first tennis ball was wooden
At first it was very popular in france
Then it spread to the rest of the world

Blog Post #6, Interview

PART A

1.) To get some additional information, I contacted my riding trainer, Sarah Bryan. She trains at the Trillion Equestrian Center in Naperville.

2.)  She is a reliable source because she has lots of riding and showing experience, particularly in the Hunter/Jumper discipline. She has also trained many students for these shows, so she has been around the show ring a lot. 

3.) I contacted Sarah through e-mail last weekend. She replied with lots of useful information for my project. 

PART B

Interview Questions:

1.) What is a medal class and how is it judged?

A medal class is judged on how you ride the course, usually the course has many technical options. 

2.) What is a Hunter Derby, and what is it judged on? 

This is the defninition of a hunter derby that I use to explain it to people "The Hunter Derby revives traditional horsemanship and adds excitement to the hunter ring, returning hunters to their hunt-field roots, and promoting hunters as a spectator sport. It is the purpose of the Derby to challenge both the horse and rider. The courses should be built to encourage and reward brilliance and daring from the rider, and true athletic ability from the horses. It encourages riders to show what their horse does best!" 

3.) What are classics?

Classics are classes with money in the prize

4.) How are equitation courses usually set up/designed?

It depends which equitation class you are talking about- lower level classes are usually the same as the hunter classes but scored on the rider, higher level courses involve rollbacks, bending lines, etc.

5.) What is the main thing hunter judges look for?

Normally in the hunter ring they are looking for a floating smooth strided horse that tucks his/her knees neatly over fences and has a mild temperament. 

6.) How are jumper classes set up and scored?

12- 18 fences. First round you must go clear (no time or jump faults) then in the jump off round the winner is the person who goes clear and the fastest

This interview was very helpful for my project because it gave me a lot of information on hunter/jumper, which is the discipline I ride in and would like to focus my topic more on, and there are no articles online that tell this information easily and simply.

Tennis Interviewers

Robert Bayliss
Backround- Notre Dame tennis coach
Why he is a reliable source- Robert Bayliss is a reliable source because he has been coaching for 43 years and he experienced the big changes tennis has made to the game, such as the raquet and coaching changes.
When I interviewed him- I emailed him about a week ago.
Questions- I asked him how has tennis training, preparation and nutrition changed overtime.
Answer- Robert Bayliss responded by talking about the past. He said back then there used to be no dietery measures, no training coaches and no real preparation before the matches. Now, there are certain foods you should and should not eat before playing a tennis match. There is now strength and fitness coaches all around the world. There is also more routines before going into a tennis match, such as warming to get the blood flowing and getting a good swet.

John Naisbett
Backround- Hinsdale Central tennis coach
Why he is a reliable source- Mr. Naisbett is a reliable source, since he is new to the head coaching job at Hinsdale Central. He has learned about how people can improve their games and how people changed the technology overtime, so people on the Hinsdale Central team can improve their games while playing there.
When I interviewed him- I emailed him about a week ago.
Questions- I asked him about how strategy, video analysis and strength and weak analysis changed overtime.
Answer- He responded by saying how tennis has become a more technological game. Players can now analize their game, so they can fix their mistakes and their strokes, from a previous match or practice they played in. Players can also analysis their footwork in slow motion, so they can have better positioning on the court.

Interview with Mrs.North

I interviewed Mrs. North who has studied Neuroscience and Muscles at the children's hospital in Sydney Australia. She is a reliable source because she is an A.M., M.D., F.R.A.C.P. , a Douglas Burrows Professor and
Associate Dean at CHW Clinical School . She also is apart of the faculty of medicine at the University of Sydney. I communicated with her over email.

Q: Does DNA or the conditions of living affect why certain races exceed better in specific sports?
A: Yes, Certain genes are more prominent in specific races that help them exceed in sports. For example the american swimmer has the ACE gene where in African runners the gene EPAS1 is more prominent. This shows that certain genes are found in differnet races depending on the sport they do.

Q: Why is it that these genes are different?
A: Some of this is because of the sport like the dominant allele depending on if the sport is aerobic or anerobic. Also, these differences are caused by the type of excercize done and region the athlete is from.

Q: What have you noticed between sprinters from different countries?
A: Well the gene ACTN3 has been found more in the muscles fibers of elite sprinters. But they are almost all the same in genetic makeup but differ graetly from distance athletes.

Blog Post 6 (interview)

I interviewed a long-time employee at Fullers Repair Shop.  He have worked there for 40 years and have seen how cars have changed in that time period.  This is what makes him a credible source for my project.  I interviewed him on Monday, April 23rd, 2012.  I met him in the shop and asked him some questions. 
Some Questions and Answers:
1. Question: What have you seen change in cars over the course of your career?
Answer: Everything is a lot more computerized.  A long time back, everything was mechanical.  Now there are up to 7 computers in a car.
2. What mechanical or electrical failure occurs on most cars of today (if any)?
Answer: Usually it is a failure of one of the computers in a car.
3. Question: What mechanical or electrical failure occurred on most cars of the past?
Answer:  There were a lot of problems.  Everything was carborated, which made the cars much less reliable than today.
4. Question: What is your favorite brand of car?
Answer: Probably any of the Mercedes-Benz

Prius vs Leaf

in this book "365 cars you must drive" Matt Stone states that the Toyota Prius will go down into history as one of the most revolutionary cars in automotive history. One reason to support this is that the Prius was the first hybrid, ever. When it came out in 2005 it would get 48 miles per gallon city, and 45 highway. A car getting more MPG in the city than highway was unheard of. Another supporting fact is that Since then Toyota had to try to keep it on top because of all other companies making electric cars as well, Toyota came out with 4 new types or the Prius, and one of the types was called the Prius Plug-in. The Plug in got 95 MPG combined. However this car The Nissan leaf currently gets 106 City and 92 highway. That may be less than the Leaf but the Prius can keep its electric engine going for over 540 miles. where with the Leaf you gets at best 138 miles. But Toyota even kept the Hybrid engine in the Plug-in so after you ran out of the electric motor, you had the hybrid with 50 MPG, which adds another 536. So with a full charge and tank you can go over 1,070 miles. Finally, he tells us about the price. $32,000. The leaf? $50,000. Yet the Prius has literally 3 times the space, and luxuries. Goes to prove once again, how amazing the pris us. These ideas are connected to how much our cars can change to see a Dodge viper get 20 MPG and see this get 5X that, literally. The prius will forever be in history.

Tennis Information from Book

Title- TENNIS: ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Author- Will Grimsley
Chapter#1 Introduction
- The game tennis started out slow, because not the best athletes played it
- Tennis players were only supposed to play with white clothing while they were playing for fun or in pro tournaments like Wimbledon and the Forest Hills
- The first tournament that alowed you to wear whatever you want was Davis Cup
- Davis Cup was a tournament were people from the certain countries competed against people from other countries.
- This attracted more fans to this sport includng this lady named Mary Ewing Outerbridge
- She was so into the game that her family began to create tennis courts in New York and her brother ended up being served as the executive committe on the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association
- When peope saw her playing, people began playing tennis and creating tennis courts all over different countries because of the joy she had playing the sport.

In this book, Will Grimsley tells us about how tennis clothing changed overtime and how people became more into the game overtime. One reason that supports my main idea is how during and after the tournament Davis Cup, people became more into the sport, because people enjoyed supporting their country compete. Another example that supports my main idea is how people were only supposed to wear white clothing while playing tennis, but now anyone can wear whatever they want playing tennis. These ideas are similar to how you absolutely hate someone when you are playing a sport against but when you meet him or her, he ends up being a really nice guy.

 (COULD BE A NEGATIVE AFFECT FROM SPORTS ONTO THE BRAIN/MIND)




 In this  book John J. Ratey claims that stress and anxiety are the two major factors that prevent people from reaching their full potential within the brain/mind


One reason/fact/example that supports this main idea is that when the body is suffering from stress, a lack of blood flow and availability of glucose occurs. When a lack of glucose occurs, the body can not produce enough ATP to energize its system. Glucose is also known to be substance that calms and sooth the muscles in your body. 


Another reason/fact/example that supports this main idea is _the fact that when an individual is stressed, he/she's muscles begin to tense up which therefore leads to a limited circulation of blood to the brain. In order for the brain to properly function, a continuous flow of blood is needed. If that supply is not met, an individual may be exposed to poor decision making skills, lack of direction, and overall unawareness of his/she surroundings.   




Finally, the author gives the reason/fact/example that can be seen through his experiments with fourty local Naperville Central Highschool students in 2008.  In these testings, Ratey collected records that measured stress before a substantial test in school. In this experiment he took an experimental group of two students and compared them with a control group of thirty eight students. The experimental group was asked to perform a series of exercises such as swimming activities before the test, while the control group displayed what any normal high schooler would do, stress and worry about how hard the test will be. After the test scores were compared between the two groups, Ratey concluded that exercising and being highly active results in the better distribution of blood throughout the body. By having more swiftly moving circulation throughout the body, your mind is able to open up a greater capability of acknowledging, memorizing, and applying certain information given to you. 



These ideas are similar a personal situation of mine from when I was playing baseball on a highly competitive travel baseball team last year. When I was playing for this team in the summer, I endured so much stress that eventually my muscles began to cramp up and I lost control of throwing a baseball. Fortunately, I solved the problem later that summer. Due to this book, I now have accumulated a better knowledge and understanding for how stress and anxiety affects your mind and body. 

Drive

In the book, Drive, by Daniel H. Pink, he claims that the best way to motivate people is to take the idea of money off the table. He has three main concepts: Internal and External Fairness, Pay More Than Average,  and If You Use Performance Metrics, Take them Wide-Ranging, Relevant,and Hard to Game. Internal and External Fairness talks about how the factor of money can be a de-motivator if two men working the same job, where one man gets payed more makes the other become de-motivated to work hard. Pay More Than Average talks about how Akerlof and Yellen found that if you pay just a little bit more than market demands then it attracts better talent. The final principle of using performance metrics, make them wide-ranging, relevant, and hard to game talks about how you should try to sell your product, serve your customers, help your teammates, and, well, do good work. Those are some of Pink's reasons to keep money off of the table of inspiration.

• Keep money off table in motivation
• Money may de-motivate people ( if one gets payed more than the other for the same job )
• The most important aspect of any compensation package is fairness
• More pay attracks better talent
• Higher wages could actually reduce a company's costs
• Pay-more-than-average approach can offer an elegant way to bypass "if-then" rewards
• Serve your customers well if you want  good pay
• What happened to the thought of people being more motivated when money was involved?

The Eighty Dollar Champion

To find out more information on my topic, I read an amazing book:
The Eighty Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts

This book was about the famous jumper, Snowman, and the "Cinderella Story" behind him and his owner and rider, Harry DeLeyer. There was quite a bit of information given about the sport of Show Jumping in the 1950s and history of the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden.

I read pages 1-253 and I intend on finishing the book over Spring Break.

Some new-found information:

• Snowman, the horse who this book was about, was an old plow horse who was bought for $80 from a slaughter auction. In a few years, this big grey gelding went on to win Champion at the National Horse show and many other competitions. He was a very famous horse and a household name for horsepeople of the time.
• In the '50s, ShowJumping was heavily a "upper class" sport. Rich men purchased expensive, fancy horses, hired grooms to care for them completely, and headed into the arena to compete and then hand them back off to grooms. 
• Foxhunting was imported from the English and was another luxury for the rich. Men on horseback along with hunting hounds rode through fields hunting a fox.
• Foxhunting was popular on Long Island, even US president Teddy Roosevelt agreed in an article written in 1886. But by the '50s, people feared that foxhunting would soon become and obsolete tradition.
• The Quakers, who opposed foxhunting, imposed a change on many fox hunts and creating a "drag hunt," where hounds hunted a scent instead of killing a real fox. 
• Eleonora Sears was a world-famous athlete who was also an equestrian and one of the first women to ride in normal position as opposed to side saddle. Once she became to old to compete, she bought very fancy, expensive horses and hired very talented riders to train them for her. This is something many wealthy people of this time did. 
• The National Horse Show began in the late 1800s as a way for upper-class people to display and compete with their carriage horses. 
• At top shows, the riders handed their horses to grooms, who were usually African-American, to clean and care for them for hours while the riders prepared themselves for competition. 

My Summary: In this book, The Eighty Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts tells the story of Snowman, the miracle horse who was rescued from slaughter and was turned from a plow horse into a National Show Jumping title winner. This idea was focused on throughout the novel by elaborating on Snowman's story from his rescue to his retirement. Another thing the author talks about is Snowman's owner, Harry DeLeyer, and how hard he worked to support his family and his horses. It showed the struggle of an immigrant in the 1950s, which turned the odds more against Harry and his "Cinderella Horse." Finally, through the background information given to us during the show chapters, the reader is given a lot of insight into the equestrian world at that time. This book is relatable to my topic because it tells a lot about what this sport was like at that time and informs us about one of the most successful and most loved horse and rider pairs in American history. 

High- Preformance Soccer

High-Preformance Soccer by Paul Caligiuri Chapter 1

 In this book  Paul Caligiuri explains that the only way to get to the world cup is play, play, play. Also he talks about how you have to let the game teach you.  One fact that supports this main idea is that the best players are the ones who aren't able to afford a real ball and the ones who play "street soccer".  Another reason that supports this main idea is Paul says he doesn't hold himself to only having two practices a week.  He'd play every open chance. Finally, the author gives the example that only a couple of hours before the match he would be out in the parking lot kicking around a ball.  And after the game he'd rush home to try a new move he'd seen earlier that day. 

• Marcelo Balboa was the first American to reach 100 caps
• Franz Beckenbauer is one of the greatest soccer heroes of all time
• Cruyff played against west Germany and said it ws one of the most effective games to how he played

Blog post #5

The History of basketball By: Diana Star Helmer, Tom Owens - chapter 1


- In the first ever basketball game the score was 5-1.
-First Olympic game was held out in the rain.
-The dunk was at one time outlawed.
-in the beginning there where 9 players on the court 
-Could not dribble the ball
-Had to pass the ball in order to score.
-First basket scored by William Chase.


In this book the authors talk about how the game has evolved over time.The one way this supports the main idea is by when it talks about how the game has changed over time and has come a far way since there where nine players and no dribbling.finally the authors inform the reader about how the style has come from no dunking or 3 point shooting to now having those two skills being the most jaw dropping of all moves.These Ideas are similar to my prior research because they both talked about how the style of play has changed 

Book: The Complete Book of the Car
Author: Alan Anderson
7-10 Facts That are Relevant:
--There were many different fuels before the alternative fuel of gas which was much more efficient
--The car was a hard idea to grasp in the U.S.
--Jeeps were used in the military as the best utilitarian car for the time
--The Citroen DS was the most revolutionary car in all of time, as it combined many 21st century features in the 1950s
--The 1960s were booming times for the Japanese car industry
--Japanese cars showed the world that someone can wake up, start the car, and have it actually work.
--The Japanese were supposidly copying many European designs
In the first section of this book, Alan Anderson runs us through the beginning history of the automobile.  One fact he explains is that there were several variations of the car before Iarl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler came together and made the first car with the internal combustion engine.  He supports this with the many machines that came before it, such as steam-powered cars, coal-powered cars, and even cars powered by wind.  These ideas are very similar to the innovations of cars today in their technology, emissions, fuel consumption, performance, safety, etc.  This relates because you start with something basic and make it better and better.

The Inner Game of Golf

The Inner Game Of Golf 
By: W. Timothy Gallwey
Chapter 1 Introduction

• The game of golf evokes many mental obstacles.
• Every player in the game of golf had self-doubt in his swing at some point.
• Many people believe golf is the only sport you can not beat, since you are competing against yourself.
• Thinking about your swing before you swing causes self-doubt.
• When you make a bad shot, your mind naturally tries to correct itself by thinking it through, which causes more bad than good.
• It is nearly impossible for a human to tell his muscles what he wants them to do on his golf swing
• The common element that makes a pro golfer better than an average golfer is being able to overcome your weaknesses, Gallwey said, not let the weakness overwhelm you 

 In this book (book/article, etc.), W. Timothy Gallwey (author)  argues (claims/argues/explains) that most of the game of golf is not identified by physical characteristics (identify author’s argument/purpose).

One reason/fact/example that supports this main idea is if you don't keep control of your mind while playing, your golf game will be all over the place, due to your emotions. Another reason/fact/example that supports this main idea is a golfer that doesn't play well almost always has self-doubt in his mind before hitting on every shot. Finally, the author gives the reason/fact/example  to support the main idea that after a bad shot in golf, your mind messes with your swing and naturally tries to correct itself, causing more mistakes. The only way you will hit a good shot is if you clear your mind about the shot before and try to swing with your body, not with your brain. 
These ideas are similar (connected/similar) to clutch moments in basketball that I have experienced (something you learned or experienced previously) In a basketball game, we were down 1 and I was sent to shoot two free throws. My mind messed with me so much, so I called time-out. I came back in the game with a cleared mind and sunk both free-throws(explanation of connection).

The 10,000-hour rule

Outliers by Malcolm Caldwell
Chapter two The 10,000-hour rule

• The ten thousand hour rule is the general rule to success
• Most good athletes begin playing at the same time
• The elite athletes and performers practice more as they get older in comparison to amateurs
• The athletes with natural talent to rise to the greatest tend to practice less than others and get picked over because of their practice schedule
• Practicing is what makes you good, ten thousand hours is the average amount of time that elite athletes practice
• Some of the success can come from the decade you were born in
• People in the same decade and country have a similar mind set which brings success

• Is there a prime age to begin sports at or can you start when ever?
• Does the origin of you determine what you succeed in?