By Alex Lucier at Emmanuel College

The strange sport of curling first captured my interest during the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver. While not being recognized as an official Olympic event until the 1998 Nagano Games, curling’s roots actually go back as far as 1540’s Scotland.

I watched with fascination during the past two Winter Games, and also played the Nintendo Wii version of the sport. But it was not until recently that my dream to curl came to fruition.

My chance to hit the ice came two weekends ago when I was invited by a family friend to Petersham Curling club in Central Massachusetts. There I learned a few of the finer points of the sport that you just can’t get from seeing it on tv.

Photo Credit: allbestwallpapers.com

Each match begins with opponents shaking hands and saying “Good Curling.” The second tradition introduced by my instructor was that the winning team buys the losing team drinks after the game. So if you win you drink after, if you lose, you drink for free; being a loser has never seemed so attractive.

As the 44 pound granite rock roared down the ice towards me I began taking swift small steps until my speed matched the stone’s. Now shuffling right alongside it I was ready with broom in hand. Waiting forPhoto Credit: allbestwallpapers.com the team captain, called the ‘skip,’ to shout “Sweep!”

The two teams of four take turns sending each of their 8 stones down the 150 foot long playing surface. The ultimate goal being that at the conclusion of each ‘end’ (curling’s inning), you want one of your teams stones to be closest to the center of the target called the ‘house.’

Only one team can score per end, and does so by having one of their stones closest to the center of the 12’ diameter house. Each of your stones which also lays closer to the center than your opponents closest stone earns a point as well.

I ran track competitively from 6^th grade through my senior year in college. I spent countless hours trying to perfect everything from using starting blocks to the long jump. The only time I saw a broom during that time was the people sweeping the sand back into the long jump pit.

Never before did I think that the time spent at my various jobs sweeping in front of a grocery store, and at a water park, and at the state park I now work at, would ever come into play in an athletic event.

The ice surface is not perfectly smooth. It has a uniform layer of small bumps referred to as ‘pebbling.’ Sweeping’s role in curling is to melt the ice in front of the stone and therefore making it smoother and therefore the stone moves faster.

The decision to sweep or not to sweep is made by the skip, as he is generally the most experience player on the team. It is his job to judge whether the speed the stone is traveling at will get it to its desired positioned.

Scotland is the birthplace of curling, and the only place in the world that the type of granite used to make the stones can be found. In fact there are only two quarries that the World Curling Federation have deemed as acceptable sources, and the second was found because the original island it was taken from was turned into a nature preserve.

Born in Scotland, with a large Canadian population of players, as well as a surprisingly large following in Asia, curling has grown into an international phenomenon. Luckily for those in the Boston area with an interest in curling there are several locations close by including: Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Cape Cod Curling Club in Falmouth, Petersham Curling club in Petersham, and also a Curling Club in Brookline. However, even the Brookline club’s website is private, so unless you know someone there the impression I am getting is: dream on.

And dream I will, but it won’t be in Brookline. So if you have an interest in gliding on ice, and throwing stones into houses, I hope to see you at one of the other curling clubs who actually make an effort to further expose eager enthusiasts to their spectacle on ice.

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins are taking strong steps towards rebuilding their oft-troubled franchise.

After winning the World Series in 1997 and 2003 (with two completely different sets of players) the Marlins have toiled in mediocrity the last eight seasons. The team has also been last in the National League in attendance every year since 2006, averaging less than 19,000 fans per game each season while being stuck playing in a decrepit, cavernous stadium built for football.

Now, with a new, $515-million stadium set to open in 2012, a re-branding in uniforms and name (the Florida Marlins are now the Miami Marlins), and the hiring of controversial former White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen, the team seems prepared to increase their payroll a significant amount after ranking 24th out of 30 in 2011.

According to multiple reports, the Marlins have made offers to Dominican superstars Jose Reyes and Albert Pujols. If the Marlins were to sign the reigning NL Batting Champion and one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time the marketability (Miami has around 100,00 Dominican residents) of the team would increase to the point that regular sell outs would be expected.

The amount of the offers is currently unknown–initial reports of a 6-year, $90 million contract for Reyes and a 9-year, $225-million contract for Pujols are now thought to be exaggerated– but the Marlins are certainly able to spend much more than past seasons. “With our payroll going up, we have a chance to put together a team at a payroll level we don’t currently have,” team president David Samson told ESPN’s Rumblings. “And that could involve anything — trades, free agents or a combination of both.”

Earlier this week, Reyes visited and toured the Marlins’ new ballpark. Pujols has been the National League Most Valuable Player three times and has hit 30 home runs in 11 straight seasons.

If the Marlins expect to compete in the stacked NL East year-after-year they need to make a seismic move; Owner Jeffrey Loria’s credibility has been on thin ice since he owned the Expos, he needs to use the momentum from the new ballpark and sign players the caliber of Reyes and Pujols to create the type of buzz that surrounds the Big Three at American Airlines Arena.

If they don’t make any major signings, and we get the same old Marlins, fans and media will believe that it was all a show to grab headlines.

Not a lot of heavy favorites this week. Pittsburgh is only giving four against Cinci, and Baltimore is giving 6.5 against the lowly Seahawks. Green Bay is up 13 on the Vikings, no surprise.

Several games are too close to make any real predictions, but look for Buffalo and Tennessee to surprise.

Philadelphia is a good pick if you need a dinner in a pick’em league. Avoid Chicago/Detroit and Miami/Washington. Click here for more.

Date & Time Favorite Line Underdog Total
11/13 1:00 ET Pittsburgh -4 At Cincinnati 41
11/13 1:00 ET At Kansas City -3 Denver 41.5
11/13 1:00 ET Jacksonville -3 At Indianapolis 37.5
11/13 1:00 ET At Dallas -5.5 Buffalo 48
11/13 1:00 ET Houston -3.5 At Tampa Bay 45.5
11/13 1:00 ET At Carolina -3.5 Tennessee 46.5
11/13 1:00 ET At Miami -4 Washington 37.5
11/13 1:00 ET At Atlanta PK New Orleans 50
11/13 4:15 ET At Chicago -2.5 Detroit 43.5
11/13 1:00 ET At Cleveland -2.5 St. Louis 37
11/13 1:00 ET At Philadelphia -14 Arizona 46.5
11/13 4:05 ET Baltimore -6.5 At Seattle 41
11/13 4:15 ET At San Francisco -3.5 NY Giants 42.5
11/13 8:30 ET At NY Jets -2 New England 47

Monday Night Football Line

11/14 8:35 ET At Green Bay -13 Minnesota 51

If you’re looking for a guaranteed winner in a pick’em league, don’t sleep on Dallas coming back to beat Seattle after last week’s embarrassment against the Eagles. Houston should also make short work of Cleveland if you’re looking for a safer bet.

What’s not so safe is Oakland. Even at home, a seven point favorite seems high considering their recent performance and coming off a bye week.

Stay away from the Buffalo/NY Jets game and don’t be surprised if there’s a surprise when the Bengals face the Titans at home with Tennessee a 2.5 point favorite. Head over to your favorite online sportsbook like TopBet.com for more information.

Here are the lines this week:

Date & Time Favorite Line Underdog Total
11/6 1:00 ET Atlanta -6.5 At Indianapolis 45.5
11/6 1:00 ET At New Orleans -8.5 Tampa Bay 51
11/6 1:00 ET At Houston -10.5 Cleveland 41
11/6 1:00 ET At Buffalo -2.5 NY Jets 45
11/6 1:00 ET At Kansas City -4 Miami 40.5
11/6 1:00 ET San Francisco -4.5 At Washington 37.5
11/6 1:00 ET At Dallas -11 Seattle 45
11/6 4:05 ET At Oakland -7 Denver 42
11/6 4:05 ET At Tennessee -2.5 Cincinnati 41.5
11/6 4:15 ET At Arizona -3 St. Louis 41.5
11/6 4:15 ET At New England -9 NY Giants 51
11/6 4:15 ET Green Bay -5.5 At San Diego 51
11/6 8:30 ET At Pittsburgh -3 Baltimore 42

Monday Night Football Line

11/7 8:35 ET At Philadelphia -7.5 Chicago 47

Theo Epstein, the general manager who assembled two World Series championship Boston Red Sox teams, has officially resigned and will depart for the Chicago Cubs, where he has been named president of baseball operations.

The move comes after an epic September collapse and one of the most disastrous endings to a season in Boston sports history.

Epstein has long been rumored to be interested in the Cubs job, as the presidency is a major promotion. He could also perhaps bring a championship to the only team that suffered a longer World Series drought than the Red Sox.

The teams released the following statement:

The Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs jointly announce this evening that, effective immediately, Theo Epstein has resigned from the Red Sox in order to become the new President of Baseball Operations for the Cubs. The clubs also have reached an agreement regarding a process by which appropriate compensation will be determined for the Red Sox and that issue will be resolved in the near term.

Both the Red Sox and the Cubs intend to hold press events on Tuesday, October 25 during which the Cubs intend to announce Mr. Epstein, and the Red Sox intend to announce his successor as General Manager.

Out of respect for the World Series, both clubs have agreed to forego further comment until Tuesday, the next scheduled non-game day.

IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon had died after a horrific and fiery 15-car crash during Sunday’s Las Vegas Indy 300.

Wheldon, 33, was fatally injured when his car went airborne after hitting another car during Lap 12. He caught a part of a fence just outside the turn. He was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center, where he died.

“IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries,” said IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today.”

The race was canceled, and drivers performed a slow five-lap tribute to Wheldon after the news broke.

Wheldon is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, including this year’s race. He was racing for a $5 million prize in today’s race, which he would have split with a random fan.

Drivers Pippa Mann and J.R. Hildebrand were transported to a hospital for dizziness, and Will Power because of back pain.

The race is the final one of the IndyCar season. There were 34 cars entered in the race.

Drivers were reaching high speeds of 225 mph during practice.

Wheldon was expected to replace Danica Patrick next season in the Go-Daddy Andretti Autosport car. Patrick is moving to NASCAR.

ESPN’s reporting originally included a video of the crash. The video was taken down immediately after it was reported that Wheldon had died.

The fact that Russell Wilson won’t be playing collegiate football at North Carolina State this season makes the ACC Atlantic far easier to handicap. It’s also a tale whose outcome has its roots in another story from that very same division.

Last week, N.C. State head football coach Tom O’Brien, exasperated by Wilson’s decision to play minor-league baseball for the Asheville Tourists in the Colorado Rockies’ organization over the summer, decided to cut Wilson loose. O’Brien wanted complete buy-in and commitment from his starting quarterback in the offseason, so Wilson’s move cut against his coach’s desires, and the cord was promptly severed. Wilson has been adamant about building a two-sport career, while O’Brien insisted on a single-minded focus devoted entirely to football. The rift was unable to be patched together, and now North Carolina State must look elsewhere for a signal caller as the 2011 season approaches. Mike Glennon, a junior without any appreciable degree of game-day experience or live-action reps under center, is the leading candidate for the starting quarterback job now that Russell is out of the picture. Wilson will seek to play football at another school with his remaining year of eligibility.

Why is this story somehow familiar for those who bet on college football at BetUs, though not quite an exact replica of things that have come before it? You might recall that last year, the Clemson Tigers wondered deep into the spring if their own starting quarterback, Kyle Parker, would choose to return for his senior season. Parker also pursued minor-league ball – ironically enough, for the very same Colorado Rockies – and wanted to develop that part of his two-sport career. Clemson was worried about Parker’s choices, but the Tigers welcomed Parker’s decision to want to return to the gridiron in September. However, the marriage did not work out. Parker suffered through a terrible season and took down the Clemson offense with him. The Tigers finished in the middle of the ACC and fell far short of preseason expectations. It was with this scenario very much in mind that Tom O’Brien laid down the law to Russell Wilson at North Carolina State.

Now, with Wilson – a dynamic playmaking quarterback – removed from the Wolfpack roster, it’s even more difficult to imagine how anyone in the ACC Atlantic will challenge Florida State for the division title. Maryland might have a puncher’s chance with a souped-up passing game, but the Terrapins don’t have athleticism at every spot on the field the way the Seminoles do. Clemson is an incomplete team, and the Wolfpack are now lacking the field general who could outflank Florida State’s defense. Wake Forest and Boston College languish in mediocrity (or worse), so it’s really Florida State’s division to lose.

While there isn’t many positives to think about when it comes to the NFL with the lockout in full swing, the draft will somehow still be held from April 28-30 in New York City as scheduled. The draft looks like the only way that NFL betting players can get their fix, and here is a look at a couple of NFL props at BetUs:

Who Will Have More Players Picked In The First Round?

By this, we mean the number of offensive and defensive players, and right, the early signs are pointing to this being a defense-first draft. Players like Alabama’s Marcell Dareus, Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers, LSU’s Patrick Peterson, Texas A&M’s Von Miller and Auburn’s Nick Fairley are all assured of being in the top 10, and there is a slew of other prospects slated to be in the second half of the first round. There are definitely some great offensive prospects, but for pure volume, defense looks like the way to go.

Who Will Be The First Quarterback Selected?

This could be the most interesting prop of the night when it comes to the draft as there are a number of pivots who could go in the first round. Right now, it looks like a race between Auburn’s Cam Newton, who led the Tigers to the BCS title while winning the Heisman, and Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, who played a spread in college like Newton, but ran a pro-style offense in high school and looks more comfortable dropping back. But there is also Washington’s Jake Locker, who many had as the No.1 quarterback before the college football season started, Florida State’s Christian Ponder, TCU’s Andy Dalton and Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, who has a cannon for an arm, along with some character issues. It’ll likely be Newton, who has the most upside of any prospect, or Gabbert, who would be the most pro-ready right now. Andrew Luck would have gone first had he decided to leave Stanford, but with Luck staying in school, it opens up the door for an intriguing quarterback race.

While NCAA basketball props provided by BetUs are hot on the agenda with the Tournament on the horizon, the NFL still looms large over the sports landscape, and yes, there is something to talk about other than the impending lockout. The combine took place beginning on Thursday and ending on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the New York Jets showed why you shouldn’t take too much from workouts.

The Jets parted ways with end Vernon Gholston, who they picked with the sixth selection in the 2008 draft, and promptly signed to a five-year deal that included $21 in guaranteed money. Gholston was a two-time Big Ten performer at Ohio State and was an All-American in 2007, but his workout at the combine had scouts drooling as he tied for the most number of bench-press reps, and then at the Ohio State pro day, he ran a 4.58 in the 40-yard-dash and a 41-inch vertical. But he never got a good foothold in the Big Apple, and it got even worse when Rex Ryan brought his complicated defensive schemes to New York as Gholston couldn’t grasp him. He never even registered a sack in his three seasons in New York, and that’s not what you want to see out of a No.6 pick.

Gholston is a warning for all those coaches who look at the combine (and pro day) numbers and say, this kid is going to be a star. But so much more goes into drafting a player, especially in the first round. If you watched tape on Gholston at Ohio State, he took too many plays off and while he was explosive when he wanted to be, that didn’t happen all the time, or even frequently. You can get away with being extremely athletic in college, but it’s a different story in the NFL, when you’re playing against grown men who are motivated for every snap. Unless something drastic happens, look for Vernon Gholston to be added to the list of players who made coaches and scouts suffer from Mike Mamula Syndrome.

by Elizabeth Gruchy

Every Saturday afternoon on the Emmanuel College campus, you can see Kaitlyn Hajjar and her group of Quidditch-loving athletes running back and forth between hoops on their Scarlet Falcon brooms.

What looks like a fantasy game for lovers of all things Harry Potter is actually becoming a somewhat respected and challenging physical contact sport.

“I got hit in the mouth the first week with something and walked off the field bleeding,” said Hajjar, the founder and president of EC’s Quidditch team.

Hajjar said the team is still looking for players.

“We have 15 people who show up every week but anyone is welcome to join. Were actually looking for a snitch right now,” she said.

For anyone looking to join the team Hajjar gave me some tips and what you’ll need to play:

1. Agility- As a player you’ll need to have great agility to run around the field holding your broom as well as a volleyball used as the quaffel. The broom is hard and can often leave bruises on your legs.

2. Aim- In order to score a player must get their ball through one of the other team’s three hoops. This requires good aim as the keeper tries to defend the hoops.

3. Sense of Humor- It takes a very passionate person to run around on a broom stick in public. Each player must not be afraid of what people think. Quidditch is a nationally recognized sport and the team follows a very strict hand book.

4. Mouth Guard- The only thing you’ll need to buy with your own money is a mouth guard to protect your teeth from any bashes from a stray broom.

If any student thinks he or she has what it takes to fulfill the role of beater, chaser, keeper, seeker or snitch, they can meet the group behind St. Joe’s Residence Hall at Emmanuel every Saturday at 1 p.m. and join their Facebook group, Emmanuel College Quidditch.

Love NASCAR? What about watching the Daytona 500 on over 50 big screen high-definition TVs? Foxwoods Resort Casino’s High Rollers Luxury Lanes wants to give you $50,000 to do just that.

The first 100 NASCAR fans to arrive at High Rollers on Sunday, Feb. 20 can predict the top five finalists in the race. Those who pick the winners in the right order will win a whopping $50,000.

All guests, winners or not, will enjoy food from an extensive menu of appetizers, salads and sandwiches and can chug it all down with ice cold beer and delicious cocktails.

Doors open at noon, so if you want a chance at the big money, you’d better get there right on time!

Details

When: Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011. Doors open at noon. Race begins at 1 p.m.

Where: High Rollers Luxury Lanes and Lounge, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT

Price: No cover charge!

For lane reservations and more information, call 860.204.6366 or visit www.HighRollersFoxwoods.com.

With Super Bowl XLV rapidly approaching, most sports bettors and Las Vegas experts are busy with the Props for Super Bowl provided by BetUs. But for those trying to get an angle on who will actually win the contest, they have to ask themselves one thing: how many injuries can the Green Bay Packers withstand?

Most of the injury-related headlines have revolved around Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, who says he’s 75 percent sure he’s going to play while the news outlet doubt that he’ll be able to play at all with a serious ankle injury. And while the game-time injury news is quiet, the cumulative injuries that the Packers have suffered have to be factored.

Green Bay has put 15 players on injured reserve this season, which includes five starters. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost more starters to injury this season.

The Packers will be without Pro Bowl talents like Jermichael Finley, Ryan Grant and Nick Barnett, and while they gotten to the Super Bowl without them, they might feel their absence on the big stage more than ever. After all, every weakness is magnified at the Super Bowl.

Grant may be the injury that costs the Packers the most. They haven’t been able to run the football with any consistency since they lost him but rookie running back James Starks has injected some life since taking over the starting role in the playoffs.

But Starks is still a rookie sixth-round pick who played very sparingly in the regular season. Going up against the No. 1 run defense in the NFL, Starks is likely to be more intimidated than Grant would have been and he’s more liable to make a mistake.

Regardless, the Packers injuries have piled up and while they haven’t been burned by it yet, they may really feel the absences at the Super Bowl this Sunday.

For the Super Bowl XLV this Sunday, Pepsi MAX is releasing a new video featuring rapper Snoop Dogg as part of their NFL Audible program.

Previous NFL Pepsi Max Audible spots have featured B.oB, Big Boi, Talib Kweli, and Lupe Fiasco.

15-year-old Leah Hoosick, APBA's 2010 Rookie of the Year

It was the middle of February 2010 and snow was falling at a rate that had never been seen before in Cincinnati. It was a massive storm that would eventually dump over 20 inches on a portion of the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States. The area was at a standstill, and there were few cars on the road. Most of those who braved the storm had Ohio license plates and were driving timidly through the snow-covered roads.

But there was one car, with Massachusetts plates, that moved confidently through the passive cluster of automobiles. The driver, Jan Hoosick, and her 15-year-old daughter, Leah, have racing in their blood, and were hurriedly getting back to their home in Amesbury, Mass., a 14-plus hour drive up I-90 East. Their car moved with precision as a large hydroplane boat, which was hitched to the bumper, followed its fluid progress. This is a family of hydroplane racers, and Leah had just decided to partake in the family tradition. Jan had found a good boat for Leah, and they had to drive to Cincinnati and back to get it. There was no time to waste, as they had to get back home and work on the boat to get Leah prepared for competitive racing.

A mere 10 months later Leah would be named the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Rookie of the Year.

Jan Hoosick grew up with powerboat racing. Her dad raced, her uncle raced, and her brother, Charlie Smith, was a national and world champion in the 2.5 liter stock class. As a child, and throughout adulthood, she would always work as a member of the crew, helping to prepare boats for competition. She is still an active participant in the sport, as she was just elected APBA’s inboard chairman for New England. On Father’s Day 2009 she decided to take Leah, who was then between her freshman and sophomore years at Whittier Tech in Haverhill, Mass., to see her cousin Kevin race in Syracuse, N.Y.

“She sat and watched and didn’t say too much about it,” said Jan. “We went to a couple more races and she still never really said anything.” Then on Christmas 2009, Leah surprised Jan by expressing interest in the sport.

“I knew my grandpa raced boats and when I saw my cousin race in Syracuse, I said to myself, ‘This looks fun; I want to try this,” said Leah.

After traveling to Cincinnati to purchase the starter boat for Leah, the two began working on the boat as a two-woman crew, putting in long hours making sure the boat was ready for competition. Leah passed a few safety tests and paid for her APBA membership, and she was ready to race.

Leah's boat, the Chaotic Dream

The first time Leah drove her boat, which she named Chaotic Dream, was during her first race. The reasoning behind this, which at first seems somewhat insane, is made clear by the fact that an individual cannot practice driving a boat going over 80 mph on a lake, as it would cause a disturbance; only when the lake is shut down for a race can boats travel at that speed. This is a sport where the craft is perfected in competition. Unlike other sports in which hours upon hours of preparation are put in and coaches agonize over details, hydroplane racing is instinctual. You need to trust every movement you make. The course is generally a one mile oval, and in Leah’s class there are five laps total. The boats average between 70 and 80 mph during races. Competitors can be as young as 14, but Leah, at 15,  was the youngest competitor in the APBA that year. Her class had competitors up to age 58.

The racers routinely jockey for position by maneuvering between one another with their boats literally hovering over the water. Crashes are typical and hospital visits are common. As a crane lowered Chaotic Dream into the water for the first time in Portsmouth, Va., on April 27, Leah was visibly nervous.

“Leah was very anxious, and I spoke to her right as she went out for the first time,” said Steve Armstrong, a high-level APBA competitor and family friend. “I told her to keep the buoys on her left and she would be fine. And I said, ‘If you get scared, just shut it off.’”

Leah reluctantly left the dock, but she didn’t have to shut it off.

“When she came back,” Armstrong continued, “it was clear we had another racer.” Leah was hooked on the sport, and her mother knew she was in for a lot of traveling.

“When she came back smiling I knew the investment was good,” said Jan.

Throughout the spring, summer, and fall the Hoosicks drove from their Massachusetts home to various parts of the United States and Canada, traveling as far as Michigan and Kentucky. On many occasions Leah would be dismissed early from school on Fridays so she and her mother could begin their weekend trek.

As she spent more time around the sport, Leah began to realize how close-knit the boating community is. People began taking a liking to her, at first because she was the youngest competitor in the APBA, but then because she showed a passion and respect for the sport that was undeniable.

“To win the Rookie of the Year,” said APBA Inboard Executive David Shaw, “Leah not only had to do a better job of driving than other rookies in the 1.5 stock class, but she had to do better than all the rookies in all other classes in the Inboard Division of the APBA.”

At one point in the season Leah cracked an exhaust manifold, which would have made her boat unable to race, but an experienced competitor came to her aid. “It was in Conewango, N.Y., and one of the higher class racers welded my manifold for me in his camper. It saved my boat for the race,” said Leah.

As the season wore on, and more and more people started to recognize this 15-year-old girl and her crew-chief mother taking the lower division by storm, Leah started climbing the standings in her division. At the end of the racing year she finished fourth in total points in her division of 15 racers, including a second place finish at the biggest race of the year in Valleyfield, Quebec, where there were over 100,000 spectators. But the scariest moment of year came in the last race of the season.

“In hydroplane racing you have mother nature to deal with,” said Jan. “If she decides to be gusty, these boats run above the water. A gust of wind can toss a boat over backwards in an instant.”

On one of those gusty race days, Leah hooked it going into her first turn after trying to take too sharp an angle. Her boat spun around, narrowly avoiding passing boats, and she did a 360-degree turn going 80 mph. Leah was taken away in an ambulance and treated for whiplash. She fully recovered and remains undeterred.

“I remember coming in after my first race and saying, ‘I need to go faster.’ So hopefully I can gradually move up in classes and do just that: go faster,” she said.

There is a ritual in boat racing. When a competitor wins her first race, she’s thrown into the lake in celebration. Steve Armstrong can’t wait until that happens for Leah. “It won’t be long until she gets her first win,” he said.  “And I’ll be the first one there to throw her in the water when she returns to the dock.” Although that type of admiration from her peers and superiors is alluring to Leah, she simply just loves to race.

“When I’m out there I feel like I’m in slow motion, going 25 mph,” she said. “You just go out there and do it; there’s is not much to it at all. I go off of instincts.”

MIAMI — Standing on my seat at Joe Robbie Stadium, I felt an electric jolt of collective will and hope transmitting from the sellout crowd to the eleven Miami Dolphins strung into kickoff formation. The AFC Championship against Miami-killer Thurman Thomas and the nemesis Bills was seconds away. The special-teamers were pumping their arms at the raving, towel-waving crowd, inciting even more noise. It was a cloudless, temperate afternoon in 1993, Quiet Riot was blaring from the stadium speakers, and the Super Bowl would follow if they could just win this game. Those few minutes of optimistic anticipation during warm-ups, the intros, and that kickoff rank among my favorite Dolphin memories. It was finally going to be our time after so many letdowns and stories about the seventies.

Ten years before that awful loss to Buffalo, my preschool teacher gathered her class of mini-Miamians, with our defenselessly malleable developing brains, to start our indoctrination. She told us we were lucky, because we were from Miami, and Miami’s football team, the Dolphins, had the best winning percentage of any sports team in the world, she emphasized. It was also the only team that ever had a perfect season. Then she dropped the needle on a record and played the catchiest damn folk song our little ears had ever heard. I already knew about the golden-arm quarterback, because we had the same first name (my Dad’s friends made sure I knew this) and now I was hit with this fantastic little kids’ song, and told that I was a winner by geographical birthright, because the Miami Dolphins were #1. Soon I was watching every game on TV, learning to read with Edwin Pope’s articles, and even went to the Orange Bowl a couple times before Mr. Robbie built his stadium. There was never going to be another way for me. Unfortunately, following pro football in Miami means suffering the furious frustration of a spoiled kid denied the toy he covets, the self-delusion of an earnest mother with eternal faith in her no-good son, and, for the last decade, the excruciating boredom of a goat-rapist. Our teams’ irrelevance is perpetual, and because the draft and free agency are captivating times for a football fan, the disappointment is year-round, since we always blow the draft. Like smoking cigarettes, it’s marginally pleasurable, intellectually indefensible, and continued regardless. And we continue to dig to new lows. The losing is intolerable, but it is not the worst part. The star-struck owner has turned home games into a galling, cross-promotional caricature of a stadium experience. Random, chipper celebrities materialize constantly on a giant screen and make little dorsal-fin-hand-hats over their heads and tell the fans to “Fin Up!” Somebody reading this just yelled out “NO!” involuntarily and startled the people around him. But yes, I swear, that’s what happens at Dolphins games now.

The personnel department is exceptionally bad at procuring personnel, though we are used to that now. But our current GM seems a graceless ghoul, famous for suggesting that a potential draft picks’ mother was probably a whore. Though he is no longer nursing off the ample tit of the fraudulent Daddy Parcells, the baffling, bungling decisions continue. The organization has not been what anyone would call competent for many years. We have been losers, but we were somewhat classy losers. Now even that is gone. We used to have Marino – Dan the Man, to me, the best ever. Maybe we’d lose, but rarely because of him. Now we have Henne: inventor and champion of the one-yard swing pass Hail Mary. Do you remember the scene in Fire in the Sky when Travis gets back from the alien abduction and he’s by a phone booth, crouched naked in the rain, and when his friends almost touch him he unleashes a haunting, high-pitched scream of panicked terror? That’s either Henne under pressure or me watching the games – you choose, either works.

Do you realize it was eleven years ago that The Mustache imported his loathsome, repellent Run-Punt-Fold system that turned even the occasional 10-9 win into insipid, entertainment-neutral slop? That ultra-conservative, faux-macho style is a punishment to fans, vendors, cameramen and anyone else subjected to it, but now it’s practically ingrained, part of Dolphins DNA, a requisite to coach here. I support neither the method nor the results.

So what is The Dolphins? Who do we root for year after year? Is it the players, the clumsy keepers of the brand, the genteel uniforms, or just the city? I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s mostly the city for me, although sometimes I really like some of the players. My Dolphins habit has taught me patience. It has helped me existentially, giving me the self-awareness boost you get when you realize you are delusional for maintaining irrational perpetual hope in something broken. You know better, you do it anyway, but at least you know you know better. It’s a step.

For every Keith Byars sideline run through the Dallas snow with my whole family, even abuela, yelling deliriously at the TV, there have been dozens of wasted Sundays. With the epic gift of Marino came the sad reality that he retired ring-less and made the “best QB ever” argument on his behalf noble, but futile. That catchy song and schoolteacher’s appeal to my burgeoning civic pride doomed me. The situation is hopeless by all rational measure. It would be ridiculous to get sucked in again when there are no signs of a renaissance. I am a Dolphins fan and I hate the Dolphins. Unless… unless we get Cam Newton or Ryan Mallett. What this team needs is a quarterback, and then we’ll be contenders, maybe even #1.

So we now know the 12 teams that are left standing in the NFL as the postseason is set to begin this Sunday. While most people are picking the New England Patriots to win it all, we’ll make some more off-the-wall picks. Using the odds from the Super Bowl props at BetUS here are five non-favored teams that are realistic choices, but would drop a lot of jaws if they played at Super Bowl XLV:

1. Kansas City Chiefs

When the Patriots came out of nowhere to win their first Super Bowl, nobody believed in them. Is that where the Chiefs are at right now? Quarterback Matt Cassel has a case for MVP this season and with the league’s No. 1 rushing offense, a sneaky-good defense and a home game in round one, the Chiefs are just under-the-radar enough to surprise anybody and everybody.

2. Chicago Bears

Of all of the NFC teams not-named the Seattle Seahawks, the Chicago Bears appear to be the team that is doubted the most. But when you take a look at two key factors, maybe they should be favored.

Heading into the postseason, the Bears are virtually the only team that is completely healthy – believe it or not. That’s an incredible feat after 17 weeks of action.

On top of that, we know that defense wins championship and the Bears unit is one of the best in the NFL. They won’t be getting blown out in any playoff game and they should be in each game. With a bye, a home game, a healthy team and a good defense, they could be one of the two XLV finalists.

3. New York Jets

Next to the Seahawks, the Jets have the longest odds to win the Super Bowl but maybe bettors should take a closer look.

The Jets came into the playoffs last season unexpected to do much. Even so, they made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game and nearly won it.

They head to the playoffs winning two of their last three games and they should have some momentum after a 38-7 romp in Week 17. Don’t be surprised if they make another run just like they did last year.

We don’t know if he will get to keep it, but the amazing Auburn quarterback Cam Newton has won the 2010 Heisman Trophy.

“Honestly, it’s a dream come true for me, something every child has a dream that plays the sport of football, and I’m living testimony that anything is possible,” Newton told the Associated Press.

Newton is the third Auburn player to be so honored. His 729 first-place votes beat runner-up Andrew Luck of Stanford by 1,184 points.

Oregon running back LaMichael James was third.

Reaching the podium, he whispered “oh my God” twice as he pulled out his acceptance speech.

The top-ranked Tigers are headed for the BCS National Championship Game against Oregon.

Newton has been embroiled in controversy since a Mississippi State booster came forward saying Newton’s father tried to get the college to pay $180,000 to have Newton play there.

Playing this weekend in the Rose Bowl is about as close as the USC Trojans will come to a bowl game for the next couple of years, and anyone who’s been betting NCAA Football Odds involving Lane Kiffin’s band of misfits has been close to bashing their television sets. The USC Trojans will match up against the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl to end their regular season, and both teams continue to be disasters on the college football line.

You use ATS records to measure how well a team has been playing against expectations of their coaching, talent and overall history. Considering that USC was slapped up the head with a bevy of fines and penalties in the wake of Reggie Bush’s transgressions, it’s still a positive thing that they’re headed in to their final game 7-5 SU.

However, against the college football lines they’ve gone 4-8 ATS and are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games on the road. They are a terribly untrustworthy team not just because of the sanctions that have killed their recruiting potential, but also because the Trojans aren’t living up to the talent potential they already possess.

That being said, this has always been a matchup that has favored the Trojans. They’re 9-1 SU against UCLA and are 6-4 ATS in the past 10 meetings. UCLA is also just 2-3 ATS in their past 5 games and simply haven’t been that consistent. Overall, they’re just 4-7 ATS this season.

Though you can say the exact same thing for the Bruins, the USC Trojans literally have nothing to play for in this game and that could motivate this team to finish off their season with a win. They’re still a much more talented and balanced team and when in doubt about two underachieving teams, you always take the one that is basically more talented.

Technically, when betting college football lines you’re unsure of you should take the points but that’s contrived advice in this game. UCLA is terrible and the only reason this game doesn’t’ have a higher line for USC is because it’s on neutral ground.

End your college football betting day with a victory and take the USC Trojans. They do not want to go in to the off-season with a loss to Notre Dame and UCLA on their backs, and though they have nothing left to play for, they still have their pride and some strong talent. Their college football line is worth taking regardless of what you think of Lane Kiffin.

This isn’t even a hoax. Here’s what Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert sent fans when LeBron James announced his decision to sign with the Miami Heat:

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight.

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our “motivation” to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former “King” will be taking the “curse” with him down south. And until he does “right” by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day….

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue….

Dan Gilbert

Majority Owner

Cleveland Cavaliers

MIAMI — The World Cup, the amazing event that has a big portion of the world going crazy for a full month, had its origins in the Olympic football (soccer) tournaments. After the popularity of the sport was noticed, FIFA decided to start its own international football tournament back in 1924. On July 13th, 1930, the first FIFA World Cup took place on the Centenary Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. The first World Cup was held in Montevideo because Uruguay had already won the two previous Olympics football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Uruguay won the first World Cup after an amazing final match against Argentina: the final score was 4 — 2. After the enormous success that the FIFA World Cup brought to the world, the Olympics decided to get rid of their football tournaments. Although they brought the games back in 1936, the ratings weren’t nearly as good as previous years or as good as the FIFA World Cup ratings were, and still are. After that Italy won the following two world cups that took place during the World War II in Europe, where the only South American team willing to travel was Brazil. The FIFA World Cup was cancelled for the next twelve years because of WWII. In 1950, it was restarted, taking place in Brazil, and again Uruguay won its second World Cup in an intense match against Brazil beating them 2 — 1. From that date, countries have been getting together for one month every four years to enjoy of the FIFA World Cup, giving all the support to their corresponding countries people can possibly give.

The Miami Impact

Miami is a city with an abundant, thriving culture, a place where people from all over the world reside and develop an attachment towards their home countries. After a long football season, we are currently down to the quarterfinals: out of the eight countries left, four are from South America. Miami is known to be the capital of Central and South America; therefore this has understandably created a lot of impact. People go crazy in the streets every time a game goes on. One starts to realize not only how many individuals care deeply about football, but also how many want to show the world their pride toward their home countries. It’s a time when neither politics nor teams matter: people are simply from a country no matter what supporting them from wherever they are to be able to take the World Cup home, forgetting about any possible differences. Whether it is by flying a fluttering flag out of the windows of their cars; or the hosting of parties to watch games; going to bars and restaurants serving foods typical of a particular country to have a meal and/or drink to give a stronger support to their fellow brothers who are now in South Africa playing for the World Cup, everyone finds a way to let their rivals know there are there supporting, and also to let their own realize they’re not alone. Living a party.

Now in South Africa

This past week a lot of important games took place: Uruguay beat South Korea 2 — 1; the Netherlands beat Slovakia 2 — 1; Brazil beat Chile 3 — 0; Spain beat Portugal 1 — 0 and Paraguay beat Japan after having to go to penalties 5 — 3. After those games FIFA South Africa 2010 became a battle between South America and the world. The quarterfinals look like this:

Brazil vs. Netherlands

Uruguay vs. Ghana

Argentina vs. Germany

Paraguay vs. Spain

Whoever wins the game of Brazil against Netherlands goes against whenever wins the game of Uruguay against Ghana for the semi-finals, and whoever wins the game of Argentina against Germany goes against whoever wins the game of Paraguay against Spain.

Then, the moment that we’ve all waiting for, the final, the most important game of all, is reached: the game that will define who deserves the World Cup. Although all the countries remaining are already considered the best football players in the world, they are all already winners.

Still, for those who do not know who to cheer for, cheer for Uruguay.

There is a book by Michael MacCambridge called “America’s Game,” which chronicles the NFL’s rise in the latter half of the 20th century. The most fascinating aspect of the more than 500 page book is how the NFL’s survival in the United States, now seemingly predestined, was in question less than 70 years ago. A small group of driven, business minded men believed in the sport that they loved and it has quickly evolved into a Gladiators-in-Rome level spectacle that generates over $5 Billion a year in revenue.

At Moakley Field in South Boston, a group of Rugby players in their 20s are creating a foundation for the future success of professional Rugby in the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Boston 13s of the American National Rugby League.

Mikhael Shammas, the Founder and President of the Boston Thirteens R.L.F.C., Inc., is a man with a truly entrepreneurial spirit. Mik is a 28-year-old graduate student at Harvard University with a focus on International Management. From the United Kingdom, he fell in love with Rugby as a teenager, played for the Lebanese national team, and owned a team called the Wolves in Beirut. The 13s are not just a hobby for Mik, he has serious aspirations. Mik states; "The Boston 13s R.L.F.C., Inc. is more than just a mundane sporting entity; both to myself, its management, our team, and all fans. It represents a true desideratum: something longed and wanted. Through the team, I rightfully intend to inspire the empyreal values of leadership, commitment, camaraderie and consciousness; and therein spread these further afield throughout New England, as a whole, and then throughout North America itself."

The 13s consist of a diverse mixture of local and foreign players. George Aroyan is an Australian who is of Lebanese descent and played semi-professionally in Australia. Smart and cerebral, George is one of the vocal leaders of the team. Aroyan has great speed and the ability to break tackles despite his diminutive size.

At around 6’2" tall and 260 pounds Setefano Su’a Leotele Talavave (his teammates call him Sully) is a physical marvel. Coupled with his immense size Sully also has tremendous pace and great moves. He played on the U-18 National Team in Australia and has world class skill.

Jon Mixon and Michael Bozza are both from Billerica, Massachusetts. Bozza, the 13s Captain, played rugby at UMass Amherst after being a standout lacrosse and hockey player in high school. Mixon plays like a man possessed and goes out on the field looking to initiate physical contact.

The local players are especially conscious of portraying themselves as role models to the children around the area, and are looking to advance the sport while focusing on having an impact beyond the field. "We plan on starting a youth league in the area we grew up in." said Ben McHugh, who is a member of the 13s and a Business Development Officer for the team, as well as a Chelmsford native. "If we keep kids off the streets and teach them discipline", McHugh continued, "then we are giving back to where we grew up."

The 13s joined the ANRL in 2009 and had immediate success, making it to the semifinals in their inaugural season. With 11 teams, including clubs in New York (the defending champions), Connecticut, Washington DC, and Jacksonville, the league is growing rapidly.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the league is the fact that traveling is not an after thought. You need to have love for something if you are willing to fly to Jacksonville, or drive to DC, to get it. This hunger is visible in all aspects of the 13s. Instead of complacently accepting their place as a niche sport in a country that does not understand anything beyond what they are used to (read: football, basketball, baseball, and hockey), all members of the team are driven to be remembered as pioneers. Everything, be it marketing or public relations, is at a grassroots level right now. The focus for the 13s is to grow rugby in the United States, but they realize that it will be through their hard work that future generations will prosper. As McHugh said, "It is the American Dream."

Rugby is a nuanced sport that requires all around athleticism; all faults are exposed. A large portion of the game is played in the open field with constant laterals and features word class athletes with an affinity for lowering their heads and breaking tackles. Like anything on the rise, the 13s success is predicated on individuals giving something different a chance. It is a rare time when you can see something at its purest level, especially modern day competitive sports. The 13s are not driven by money or fame, but by a will to share something they love with the masses; appreciate that.

The Boston 13s R.L.F.C., Inc will have three home games at Moakley Stadium this summer. They have recruited a dance team and are predicted to compete for the league championship.

MIAMI — Fifteen months ago, I was perched in the tuna tower of a docked sport-fisher, relishing spiced rum and a dripping rack of ribs, when my phone buzzed against my leg. It indicated the arrival of a friends’ premature, absurd text message. It read: "Lebron is coming to Miami, so says (X)."

The unexpected text was a trifle, a fantasy. I saved it to eventually submit as evidence in the perpetual trial of ridicule that one endures when one’s friends are all sarcastic opportunists with long memories. I would not allow him to dupe me just because he had deluded himself into believing something so preposterous, on the weak basis of a supposed inside tip. Except that I kind-of, well no, I absolutely let it delude me, at least temporarily, because that is how it works when you love sports. On top of that, even though anyone can claim unsubstantiated access to a secret source, I was tantalized because this was coming from a rare guy who could, conceivably, know if the news was legit. Still, my first rational thought was the same default argument a lot of people make against a possible pairing of two of the league’s premier talents: Dwyane Wade and Lebron James are destined to compete, not collaborate.

Media experts use authoritative tones to proclaim as fact that the two would never want to be teammates. They suggest that such a match would be un-macho of them, a capitulation. Neither of them, the thinking goes, would do anything that might be perceived as a shortcut to his respective, rightful dynastic destiny. There is Dwyane Wade’s team, and there’s Lebron’s, and people buy ever-wider, ever-thinner, high-definition televisions for nights like those in which Lebron’s Cavs play Wade’s Heat. They use the term "alpha-dog" a lot – with the premise of the metaphor being that a pack has room for only one leader. So it was only a daydream, one to indulge for just a few minutes, adding a basketball component to a porky, rummy, breezy afternoon spent on a boat going nowhere.

Three weeks later, now perched on the 300-level of American Airlines Arena, I spent a more beer-y night witnessing The James and Wade Show at its apex: 42 points for Lebron, with six 3-pointers and eight boards, and 41 points from D-Wade, plus 7 steals, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Heat fans left that game giddy and satiated, despite having watched the home team blow a big lead in the last eight minutes of a seven point loss. We were content to revel in having been there for the sporting equivalent of Mozart and Beethoven on dueling pianos. Actually, it felt more like leaving a concert (elated buzz, foggy fatigue) than a game that night. The two best ballers in the world had hijacked the court for a one-on-one session of power-dunk HORSE, so we all went home happy.

To me, these guys seemed destined for epic battles year after year. The two young stars motivated, and brought out the best in, each other. This made them perfectly-matched foes. I was thankful that one of them played in my town, and still didn’t entertain the thought of their playing as teammates – even as Heat fans, and the franchise itself, focused on vague possibilities 15 months into the future.

Nearly two full playoffs have passed since then. Lebron was the MVP a season ago, while Wade won the NBA scoring title. Both were spectators for the latter part of those playoffs, and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers captured the title. This season, James was once again the king of the league through April, while Wade hung tough on a team that was killing time until summer. Both players are currently home watching the remaining contenders on TV. Smack in the prime of their careers, they must begin to ponder some historical mathematics, with variables like: their remaining years, their annual odds of a championship, Michael Jordan’s six titles, and contemporary rival Kobe Bryant closing in on number five. James and Wade will make their free agency choices with championship-math on the mind, because they presumably have aspirations to enter the discussion of "best ever". Six rings is a lot to aspire to when you’re Dwayne Wade, and so far you have one, or you are Lebron James, and have none. Heat President Pat Riley will assuredly make that point a pillar of his sales pitch.

I can’t help but wonder whether the guy who spurred the ridiculous text message saw something like this coming. Cleveland has essentially locked themselves into their current, deeply-flawed roster. They have neither the flexibility, nor room under the salary cap, to add better players to complement their star. They are stuck, and it is unrealistic to expect James to stay for sentimental reasons when common sense says that Cleveland is not well-positioned for a string of championship runs. Miami, conversely, offers beaches, an international assortment of babes, Wade, and the most salary cap flexibility in the league.

There are other suitors (New York, Chicago…), but let’s get into tuna-tower daydream mode for a minute and imagine that Pat Riley talks the two superstars into signing contracts with Miami through a porterhouse haze at Prime 112. According to the aforementioned experts, it would take a masterfully persuasive line of reasoning. How about this one: neither is getting to six rings by himself, if six is even the target. Together, he might tell them, over some pan-seared diver scallops with braised short rib, they would comprise the best young nucleus in (the history of?) basketball, with a demonstrated capacity for elevating each others’ performances. Instead of perfect foes, they might be ideal teammates. Riley would still have cap space to add more pieces, along with the usual Heat advantages of no state tax and South Beach.

A team with the best shooting guard/small forward combination since Jordan and Pippen would only need to follow the old Bulls blueprint of roster design. The key third element would be a Rodman/Grant banger to rack up rebounds. The Heat’s current power forward, free-agent Udonis Haslem would be an ideal fit. He is a tenacious, versatile big man with solid accuracy from the elbow and the baseline, plus he has strong defensive skills. Adding one great shooter, a pure point guard, and a serviceable center to that nucleus would complete the old Chicago model. One route could be to plug in pieces from last year’s Heat team with Dorrell Wright as the shooter, Mario Chalmers at point guard, and Jermaine O’Neal at center.

A better option might be to use Wright and Chalmers as bench depth, while adding a veteran shooter and point guard to the mix. Mike Miller (a 48 percent 3-point shooter this season) or Kyle Korver (53 percent from deep) would exploit the weaknesses that Wade and James would expose in opposing defenses. A steady veteran like Steve Blake, Raymond Felton, or Randy Foye could run the point until crunch time, when Wade and James take over the ball-handling. A center like Brendan Haywood or the aforementioned O’Neal could provide sufficient interior presence at the right price.

The last question would be what to do with ultra-talented but immature forward Michael Beasley. In this model, he would either be a sign-and-trade sacrifice to get James (or another piece) to Miami, or he could carry the second-team offense as the most talented sixth-man in the NBA. Either way, the Heat would be poised to compete for league dominance for the foreseeable future.

If you have been in Miami during times of great sports-related fortune, you know what would happen next in this scenario. A sleepy Tuesday night schedule-filler against the Bobcats or Clippers would become an instant sellout. Courtside cleavage counts would soar. Everyone would buy brand new hats, and they’d clamp Heat flags onto their cars (they would, of course, continue to use those spirit-enhanced vehicles as weapons of intimidation against their fellow Miami drivers). The other thing that would happen is that all other basketball enthusiasts would unite against Miami in jealous rage. That kind of vitriol has always brought out the best in the native south Florida sports fanatic, so it would be fantastic.

What I considered an implausible partnership may not have been as impossible as it seemed that day on the boat when I got that text. It is still unlikely by most accounts, but if Pat Riley can get them to Prime 112, and then hold their attention until the warm dulce de leche bread pudding hits the table, he might persuade the two superstar buddies to shelve their personal rivalry and widen the lens through which they view basketball history – and their legacies within it. He might introduce a championship equation they had not yet considered: Kobe’s five, plus Jordan’s six, equals Bill Russell’s eleven.

On the Record Sports is back and better than ever.

Don’t miss Michael Pina and Big Jim Murray as they break stories, shout like idiots and otherwise analyze the world of sports in Boston and beyond.

On the Record Sports — On BlastMagazine.com

Months after losing its Major League Baseball, and only weeks after settling a lawsuit by MLB for allegedly illegally using its trademarks anyway, news has broken that the National Football League will not renew Upper Deck’s licensing agreement.

This means no more (official) baseball or football cards from UD.

Upper Deck released the following statement:

"Over the past year, Upper Deck has attempted to negotiate a new licensing deal with NFL Properties. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were not able to reach agreeable terms, and therefore will not be issuing any NFL Properties-licensed trading cards for the 2010 season. Upper Deck will continue to focus on its exclusive license agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company and co-exclusive agreements with NHL Enterprises and the NHL Players’ Association, as well as its multiple entertainment licenses.”

Trouble for one of the younger companies in the teetering sports card industry.

Management at the Upper Deck Company today settled a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against them by Major League Baseball in February. MLB granted Topps an exclusive licensing deal over the summer, but Upper Deck started producing cards with MLB teams and logos anyway.

Topps had sought more than $2 million from the Carlsbad, Calif.-based memorabilia company, but under the settlement, Upper Deck promises to cease producing trading cards with MLB trademarks on them.

Upper Deck can and will continue to sell its last three recently released baseball products currently on store shelves: 2009 Signature Stars, 2009 Ultimate Collection and 2010 Upper Deck Series One.

"As a company, we are changing the direction of Upper Deck’s baseball products going forward. We are looking forward to creating fresh and innovative set content that will continue to get collectors excited,” said Jason Masherah, Upper Deck’s director of Sports Brands.

It’s been a bad go of it for Upper Deck since its failed bid last year to acquire Topps, its biggest rival. In January, the company agreed to pay millions to video game giant Konami after a dispute over counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards.

TORONTO — The opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games was at times breathtaking, and at other times, just weird.

Let’s be nice and go over the breathtaking first. Sarah McLachlan and k.d. Lang sang wonderfully. The actual lighting of the Olympic cauldron was inspired, as three Canadian heroes got to participate instead of the traditional one, including Rick Hansen, who IS a national icon.

Oh, and when those cartoon whales swam across the floor and began to spout water, that was neat.

But a lot of this ceremony, which was so heavily anticipated after Beijing’s opener, did not represent Canadian culture. That wasn’t Canada.

I can’t comment on whether the Aboriginal peoples of this country were done justice during the ceremony last night, but I do find it strange that we so glamorously portray their culture on a world stage, even when they are treated so poorly at home. That can’t be fair.

Don’t get me wrong. Aboriginal culture is beautiful and interesting, but Canada is definitely not a land of ice, snow and people dancing beneath giant trees and totem poles. We’ve a rich multicultural society that inhabits a a few vibrant cosmopolitan centres and cities in between, many of whom have successfully intertwined their ancestral cultural values with Canada’s light cultural values. That’s what Canada is; a mosaic. That’s what we should’ve seen last night.

And the clich©s! The mounties, the icy, barren landscape, Nelly Furtado in a tight dress. It was all embarassingly there. We perpetuated many stereotypes last night. Especially when VANOC’s speaker spoke after Jacques Rogge. He almost put me to sleep, just like those kind, timid and shy Canadians tend to do.

Oh, and that terrifying Coca-Cola bear that emerged from the ground, that wasn’t a clich©, but it was creepy.

And then finally, at the last moment, when The Great One and his fellow all-star Canadians were all set to light the flame, technology bitch slapped us. We waited and waited. Even Gretzky looked pissed for a second.

Then finally, the cauldron emerged, in all its glory, and was lit by three Canadian heroes. Then Gretzky ran outside to light the outdoor flame, and received the wonderful treatment Canada allots to all of its national icons. He rode on the back of a truck while it rained on his face. Nice.

But world, don’t take that image of Canada home with you. It isn’t what life is like here. We don’t all live in the Arctic circle among the Orcas and the ice floes.

But we do rule the Winter Olympics. So look out.

Head on over to YawkeyTalkies.com for original photography and coverage of the 2010 Beanpot hockey tournament.

When you think Super Bowl, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Football, commercials, cheerleaders and beer, probably. Maybe Janet Jackson. But did you ever wonder how much it would take to ensure that all 76,500 fans that walk into Sun Life Stadium on Sunday, walk out safely?

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) have unleashed their best four-legged agents to guard against explosive threats at this year’s Bowl. The top K-9 units from around the country have been shipped down to Miami, along with local, state and federal law enforcement, to make sure the fans, players and staff can enjoy the game in safety.

Trained dogs from Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida are all helping to make sure Sun Life is free of explosive devices and other threats that could endanger any fan, staff or athlete during the big game on Sunday.

All ad space is officially sold out for the Super Bowl as of Monday, said CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs. CBS, the broadcaster for this year’s NFL championship, had some difficulty selling the last few of more than 62 spots, according to CNN. t.

CNN reports that a 30-second spot sold for up to $3 million, and Anheuser-Busch is the top advertiser this year having purchased five minutes worth of ad time.

Several first-time advertisers are in the lineup, according to the LA Times, including Kia Motors America, Qualcomm’s Flo TV and KGB texting information service. In addition, the Christian group "Focus on the Family," will be displaying a controversial anti-abortion commercial featuring college football star Tim Tebow. In addition, CBS rejected a gay dating website advertisement for ManCrunch.com, reported the LA Times.

“This year we are going to call it the Controversy Bowl,” said Mike Sheldon, chief executive of the Los Angeles advertising firm Deutsch LA. “It used to be a championship football game, then it became an advertising showcase, and now the Super Bowl has turned into a microphone for special interests."

Last month, CBS said it was selling 62 spots, but spokesman Dana McClintock said that the number has grown and is now very close to last year’s 69 spots.

“We’re happy campers over here,” said Jo Ann Ross, the president of network sales at CBS. Ross also said that there are some spots still available during the pre-game broadcast.

Last year’s Super Bowl had a record 98.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen, and Kantar Media says ads during the 2009 game brought in $213 million.

Blast’s On the Record Sports blog reports that Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry has died of injuries suffered when he fell out of a pickup truck.

Pilot Pen will drop its sponsorship of the annual New Haven professional tennis event, the New Haven Register reported, putting one of the only professional sporting events in Connecticut’s second largest city in jeopardy.

The event will go on next year, August 20-28, but the pen company will drop its sponsorship when its contract is up after that.

The register reported that Pilot Pen has been sponsor of the annual event, which features a men’s and women’s tournament, since 1996. It is held in downtown New Haven, near the Yale Bowl and Yale Field in the 13,000-seat Connecticut Tennis Center. The newspaper reported that Pilot Pen put up $1.4 million annually for the tournament.

“We firmly believe that Pilot Pen Corporation’s long-term support of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament has helped us grow the sport of tennis in the Northeast and put us in a solid position to attract a new title sponsor," tournament director Anne Worcester said in a statement "This tournament has developed into an entertainment event featuring some of the world’s best professional tennis players as well as many off-court events which have expanded our reach to all types of fans. A combined men’s and women’s tournament is a very desirable sports property and will appeal to national and regional partners alike."

"We have enjoyed being the title sponsor of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament" said Dennis Burleigh, President and CEO of Pilot Pen Corporation of America in the same statement. "Unfortunately, the economic recession has severely impacted our consumers and the office products industry in particular, necessitating this difficult decision."

Fittingly enough, Fox is using its NFL coverage this Sunday to help jumpstart the media blitz for James Cameron’s new mega-epic "Avatar."

The film’s new trailer will be shown on the Cowboy Stadium’s enormous four-sided diamond vision screen- the world’s largest video display- just before noon this Sunday. The trailer will also be broadcast live to the audiences watching “Fox NFL Sunday,” the channels NFL pregame show.

Fox is calling the viewing party "the largest live motion picture trailer viewing in history."

"Avatar," which reportedly cost upwards of $200 million to produce, hits theaters December 18th.

Former Olympian and 2012 Olympic hopeful Logan Campbell can’t afford to fund his own training. Tired of seeking cash from his parents, the 23-year-old New Zealander decided to venture into entrepreneurship.

He, in partnership with a 20-year-old accountant, opened a 14-room brothel in his homeland, which decriminalized prostitution in 2003. Campbell’s “gentleman’s club” will ultimately make him the money he needs to fund his training, however, New Zealand Olympic officials say that his business venture could work against him when applying to be a 2012 team member.

“Selection takes into account not just performance but also the athlete’s ability to serve as an example to the youth of the country,” funding manager John Schofield told New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times newspaper.

Campbell says his mother didn’t initially approve of the idea, however, decided to go along with it after meeting with some of the whores fine young women.

Campbell will work as a full-time pimp “escort agency” owner ‚ until 2011. He’ll then hit the gyms for a full year before the 2012 games.

Beijing 2008

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Campbell, who competes in Tae Kwon Do, made the Top 16 before losing to Sung Yu-Chi of Taiwan, who eventually went on to win the bronze.

Leading up to those games Campbell’s parents were the ones who footed his $95,000 training bills.

This time, that bill will go to the lonely men of New Zealand. Campbell hopes the brothel will help him raise double the amount needed to train for the 2008 Olympics.

At least the customers will feel like they are doing a good deed.

Third-seeded Venus Williams, a 2002 finalist at the French Open, was upset on Friday by no. 29 seed Agnes Szavay 6-0, 6-4 at Roland Garros on Friday. Sister Serena Williams is set to meet unseeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round tomorrow, and the pair are still in the doubles field at the grand slam tournament.

On the men’s side, no. 1 seed Rafael Nadal made his way into the Round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 win over Lleyton Hewitt and extended his clay court win streak to 30 matches. No. 2 seed Roger Federer is set to play no. 32 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu for a spot in the quarterfinals, while no. 6 seed Andy Roddick made the third round for the first time in eight years with a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over 85th-ranked Ivo Minar.

In a rematch of last year’s finals, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins are slated to face off for the Stanley Cup. Last week, the NHL said the Cup finals wouldn’t begin until June 5, but the series was moved up six days, after the conference finals lasted only four and five games, respectively. The league hopes to draw in nontraditional viewers and generate excitement about the first Cup rematch in 25 years. Below is the series schedule.

Saturday, May 30: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8 p.m.

Sunday, May 31: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, June 2: Detroit at Pittsburgh, 8 p.m.

Thursday, June 4: Detroit at Pittsburgh, 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 6: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8 p.m.*

Tuesday, June 9: Detroit at Pittsburgh, 8 p.m.*

Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8 p.m.*

* If necessary

Games 1 and 2 and 5-7 will be broadcast on NBC. Games 3 and 4 will be broadcast on Versus. All games will be broadcast on CBC.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a football in front of his team and the media at Gillette Stadium yesterday afternoon. It was his first time in front of an audience since tearing his ACL and MCL during the first game of the 2008 season.

Brady, wearing a brace on his surgically-repaired knee, threw five passes in a drill for two completions. He was careful not to give definitive answers about his preparedness for next season.

“Life doesn’t always go how you plan it, and it’s a matter of dealing with it and understanding ‘what do I have to do to get on the right track?’,” Brady told the media. “Talk is cheap. I could sit here and tell you guys I’m going to play until I’m 80, but that doesn’t matter. I’m going to go do the best I can do, and I’m going to try to be the best leader and the best teammate and supporter of the guys on my team.”

Brady developed an infection in his knee a week after undergoing surgery on Oct. 6 of last year. He was treated aggressively for the “very treatable” staph infection and it won’t cause him any long-term problems.

“Part of surgery and rehab is you have setbacks, and you just deal with them,” he said.

The Patriots open their season on Sept. 14 against the Buffalo Bills.

Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, finishing in 1:55.08 over Kentucky Derby darling Mine That Bird.

The only filly in the race, Rachel Alexandra went off as the 9-5 favorite with jockey Calvin Borel, who rode Mine That Bird during his Derby win. Aside from bring the first filly winner at the Preakness in 85 years, Rachel Alexandra is the only horse to win from the outside position.

Baseball superstar Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and has been suspended 50 games, starting Thursday.

Ramirez released a statement acknowledging the suspension.

“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was ok to give me. Unfortunately the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under that policy, that mistake is now my responsibility,” he said. “I’ve been advised not to say anything more.”

Some reporters, especially a vocally and clearly angry Bill Plaschke, who ranted on ESPN Thursday afternoon, don’t believe the “doctor” story.

“Was there a Dominican cousin mentioned in there? Who in their right mind would believe that?” said Plaschke.

Plaschke called the situation “devestating to this city’s (Los Angeles) baseball culture, absolutely devastating.”

“How many times are we going to keep believing players who say ‘I didn’t know what it was?’” said Plaschke. “Get the guy out of a Dodger uniform. Get this guy out of baseball.”

Ramirez asserts that in the past, he has successfully passed 15 drug tests.

“Los Angeles is a special place to me, and i know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.”

The Los Angeles Times is first reported the story Thursday morning.

The times reported that Dodgers told AAA outfielder Xavier Paul to be ready to report to Los Angeles.

The Times says that Ramirez will say the test results are because of medication he received from a doctor for a medical issue.

If the report is true, it is a brutal blow to baseball. Manny Ramirez was widely considered one of the last “clean” superstars and was an absolute first ballot hall of famer until today.

Ramirez would be the second of his superstar ilk to fall this season, behind Alex Rodriguez.

Ramirez led the Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships. He leads the Dodgers this season with a .348 batting average and has six home runs so far.

Ramirez has previously denied steroid use.

With the 9th pick in the NFL draft, the Green Packers have selected Boston College’s B.J. Raji, a defensive tackle.

The move comes as the Packers look to switch to a 3-4 defense next year. Raji’s strength, size and speed could make him a vital piece of the puzzle going forward.

That’s the only local pick in the top 10 so far.

As expected, the Lions took Georgia QB Matthew Stafford #1. Another big pick is Darrius Heyward-Bey going to the Raiders at #7, adding a big time wide receiver to the corps of young offensive potential in Oakland.

Stick with http://blastmagazine.com for more sports coverage!

With this photo essay from the 2009 Boston Marathon, Blast begins a regular photo feature from contributing editor Daniel Peleschuk