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The Terrapins sent Ralph Friedgen out a winner with a huge victory over ECU 51-20.
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The Ralph Friedgen era at the University of Maryland is now over.
The Terps played their final game under their departing coach by giving him a decisive victory over the East Carolina Pirates, beating them 51-20.
The game's most valuable player, Da'Rel Scott, rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. And while Scott was doing major damage to the ECU defense, the Terps defense contained an explosive offense. Maryland held the dangerous Pirate offense to just 20 points (and 13 while the game was competitive), showing how much progress they have made during the course of the season.
While this game certainly was notable for what happened on the field, it was the significance of what was happening off the field that made this performance so compelling. Terps fans wanted to say goodbye to Friedgen one last time and see him go in style, and with today's performance, they got their wish. More than anything , this game was more a tribute to Friedgen and all the great memories he provided for Terps fans over the last 10 seasons.
Now that the season is over, there are certainly many questions marks going forward about the Maryland football program. Will Maryland be able to continue the build on the positive momentum from this season? Will Danny O'Brien improve under a new coaching staff? How will players respond to the new coach? But most importantly, who will be the new coach? Terps fans will seek the answers to these questions in the coming weeks and months ahead.
As for Friedgen, he will now ride off into the sunset, his future ventures yet unknown. And in his final game, the Terps showed one more time what made him a great coach in the first place, and that's his ability to get his players to play for him. They played with a passion for football shared only by their head coach. It may not always have been pretty, but they did whatever they could for their head man.
And that is the greatest parting gift the Terrapins could ever give their head coach.
And the party goes on for Ralph Friedgen and the Terps.
Da'Rel Scott decided to go for an encore of his last touchdwon, so he delivered once again. This time Scott rushed for a 91 yard touchdown run, giving the Terps a 44-13 lead. And just like the last score, it was the only play on the scoring drive. Scott has 152 yards on his last 2 carries, with two touchdowns. That's efficiency for you.
With just over 11 minutes left in Friedgen's tenure at Maryland, you can't help but think about what would have been if he was allowed to stay for a few more years. The Terps have made tremendous strides both on offense and defense this year, and are playing at as high a level as the team has played in the last few years. Friedgen has to be one of the main reasons for this, and his players have sent the message loud and clear that they still wish he was the coach.
Well, Ralph Freidgen may be able to rest easy going into the 4th quarter. The Terps extended their lead to 37-13 on a 61 yard touchdown run by Da'Rel Scott.
It was the only play of the drive.
Scott ran through a huge hole up the middle and saw nothing but daylight the rest of the way. Most observers understood that ECU's defense had trouble stopping other teams, but it's really showing now. Ball carriers are having open lanes to run through, making would be tacklers miss, and at this point, embarrassing the Pirate defense.
With the game seemingly in hand, it will be interesting to see how emotional Friedgen will get in the waning moments of this game. His team is ahead comfortably, and with this being his final game, there has to be plenty of emotions going through his head. If anyone doubted his coaching ability, today was your answer. Clearly his players have come out and responded to their coach's departure by making sure he leaves a winner.
And just when the Terps needed to respond, they do just that. Running back D.J. Adams scored on his 3rd rushing touchdown of the afternoon, giving the Terps a 30-10 lead.
The Terps offense answered the ECU scoring drive with an 11 play, 69 yard touchdown drive, giving them a 20 point 3rd quarter lead. The offense used a good mix of run and pass, where ECU saw another dose of Da'Rel Scott, Davin Meggett and Adams. Danny O'Brien was able to hit on crucial third downs on the drive, most notably a 31 yard screen pass to Meggett that took the ball inside the ECU 25 yard line. From there, the Terps made it look easy. They methodically moved the ball inside the 10 yard line, which set up the Terps to pound it in once again. Adams took another hand off 1 yard and after crossing the goal line, and gave Ralph Friedgen another big lead late into the 3rd quarter.
ECU's defense came into this game having one of the worst defense's in the country, and it's really starting to rear it's ugly head as the Maryland offense continues to exploit the holes given to them. Should they be able to do this the rest of the half, it may not matter how explosive ECU's offense is.
Just when you thought Maryland was distancing themselves from ECU, the Pirates score a quick touchdown to cut the Maryland lead to 13, and we have a ball game.
The scoring drive was started by an electrifying 36 yard punt return by Dwayne Harris, arguably ECU's most explosive player, to the Maryland 15 yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Dominique Davis lofted a 20 yard pass to receiver Lance Lewis, who barely crossed the plane of the goal line to cut into the Terps lead.
It was only a matter of time before the Pirates struck, but now that they have, it's key that the Maryland team responds. The last thing Ralph Freidgen wants is to give ECU all the momentum this early in the second half. The Terps will have to r establish the ground game to help control the time of possession and keep the ball away from the explosive ECU offense. As for the defense, even though they gave up the score, they must remember that the have been dominating most of this game and continue to pressure the QB and continue their physical style of play.
This is still very much a competitive game, and the Terps need to keep the pedal down if they want to win.
The Terps have started the second half just as fast as they started the first, with a quick touchdown run by D.J. Adams to make the score 23-3 very early in the 3rd quarter.
The Maryland defense continued their stellar day by forcing another ECU turnover, this time an interception by David Mackall who ran the ball all the way back to the ECU 1 yard line, setting up an easy scoring opportunity for the offense. The Terps offense gladly obliged, as D.J Adams scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 20 points.
With Maryland now up 20 points early in the 2nd half, it will be important for coach Ralph Freidgen to keep the gas pedal down the rest of the way. The ECU offense has potential to strike at any time, so the defense needs to continue to focus and hold down the Pirates on offense. As for Danny O'Brien and company, they must continue to protect the ball and keep the rout going by not sitting on the lead to ensure that Friedgen will be able to leave this game with his head held high.
Through the first half of Ralph Friedgen's final game as Terps coach, his players have responded by giving Maryland a 16-3 lead at the half.
The Terps latest scoring drive featured all running plays, as the Terps ran it down ECU's throat, using a good mix of D.J. Adams, Da'Rel Scott, and Davin Meggett. The first play of the drive was a 44 yard Meggett run all the way down to the ECU 22 yard line. From there, the Terps seemed determined to pound it in. And they did just that four plays later, as Adams punched it in from the 1 yard line, giving Maryland the 16-3 lead.
And despite the score, East Carolina should feel fortunate that the score isn't worse. Maryland has squandered several scoring opportunities in the first half. They have not been able to capitalize on short fields, hit on short field goal attempts, or even hit an extra point try.
The defense, on the other hand, has been playing very well, getting 3 turnovers and forcing ECU to punt on most possessions. The Terps have played very physical with the Pirates, making sure to wrap up on every tackle and not allow ball carriers to get many yards after the catch. They have effectively held down the explosive ECU offense to 3 points in the first half.
Heading into the second half, it will be up to the Terps defense to continue to hold down the explosive ECU offense, as they have put up some massive point totals earlier this season. As for the offense, they must be able to capitalize on scoring opportunities to really put this game away.
The ECU Pirates are finally on the board, thanks to a 37 yard field goal by Michael Barbour.
The scoring drive saw quarterback Dominique Davis hit several short gains to his receivers, but the most important play on this drive was a penalty on a 4th down play. The play was ruled an incomplete pass but was nullified by a rouging the passer penalty on Kenny Tate, extending the drive and getting the Pirates into the red zone.there From there, the Terps were able to tighten up, forcing ECU to settle for a field goal.
Maryland will have to control their emotions the rest of the way. This clearly is a physical game and the refs are starting to notice the resentment these two teams have for each other. Because of that, they need to play smart on both sides of the ball, and not play to hurt the guy across from just to make a point.
If the first half of this game is any indication, it looks like the Terps are indeed playing hard for their departing coach. After a 23 yard field goal by Travis Baltz, Maryland is now up on ECU 9-0 in the middle of the 2nd quarter.
The Terps defense has really showed up so far in the first half. On ECU's previous possession, the defense forced a three and out, including two tackles for losses deep inside ECU territory. After a short punt that gave the Terps the ball at mid field, Danny O'Brien hit on another big play. O'Brien rolled out to his right and his tight end Matt Furstenburg for 29 yards. On the play, a personal foul was called on ECU that tacked on another 15 yards to the play.
Unfortunately for the offense, they were unable to cash in on the red zone opportunity, and were forced to settle for a field goal. Baltz, who missed a 25 yarder earlier in the half, was able to hit the 23 yarder to put Maryland up 9-0.
The offense has had plenty of opportunities to blow the game open, but so far has unable to excel in the red zone. The defense, on the other hand, has played extremely well, keeping the Pirates scoreless through one and a half quarters.
Maryland has struck first after shaking off some early miscues.
Quarterback Danny O'Brien's first pass of the game was an interception at mid field, after Maryland tried to go for a big play on their first offensive play from scrimmage. The ball was under thrown into triple coverage, and because of that, ECU got the ball near midfield after just one play.
From there, the Maryland defense stood strong. On a 4th and 1 from midfield, the Maryland defense penetrated the line of scrimmage and tackled Giavanni Ruffin for no gain, giving Maryland the ball right back at mid field. Two plays later, O'Brien and the Maryland offense struck.
On a 3rd and 5, the ACC rookie of the year threw a deep ball under duress to receiver Kevin Dorsey, who caught the ball in stride and ran 45 yards into the endzone. Ironically, Dorsey was given more playing time because junior Quintin McCree was declared ineligible for academic reasons. The ensuing extra point attempt was blocked, keeping Maryland's lead at 6-0 early in the 1st quarter.
It looks like Maryland will not be at full strength going into the Military Bowl, and it's not because of injury. According to The Washington Post's Steve Yanda, four players are ineligible for today's game:
Four Maryland football players will miss Wednesday's Military Bowl against East Carolina due to academic reasons, according to a press release issued by the school's athletic department.
Senior defensive end Drew Gloster, junior wide receiver Quintin McCree, junior wide receiver Ronnie Tyler and redshirt freshman offensive guard Pete White will not participate in today's contest.
Well, that's not a great way to go into Ralph Friedgen's final game at Maryland. The question is, who of this group will be missed the most? Three of the four players had played in every game, but did not have a great deal of playing time. However, if you were to go by the stats, it looks like McCree could be missed the most. The junior receiver caught 16 passes in 12 games, for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown. With this expected to be an offensive game, quarterback Danny O'Brien will need all the help he can get.
The biggest storyline for the 2010 Military Bowl isn't what is happening on the field. It's Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen's final game after being let go earlier this month, and it comes in front of a local audience.
But that's not necessarily a storyline that directly relates to the game itself. What can fans expect on the field when Maryland takes on East Carolina Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at RFK Stadium?
Offense. Lots and lots of offense.
East Carolina is among the worst defensive teams in college football. The Pirates allowed 76 points in a game against Navy earlier this year and rank near the bottom in many defensive categories. Testudo Times points out ECU's defensive futility here.
- 118th in scoring defense
- 115th in rushing defense
- 108th in passing defense
- 104th in sacks
- 119th in 3rd down defense
- 120th in total defense - yes, that's dead last
The Terps are coming off a big offensive performance against North Carolina State, so they should be able to put a ton of points on the board in this one. However, East Carolina's offense is also outstanding. As Testudo Times notes, the Pirates run a spread offense that's very effective.
The thing that might save the game, then, is ECU's own ability to put up points. What with all the Mike Leach stuff floating around, it's worth noting that ECU's offense is extremely similar to Mike Leach's Air Raid. In fact, head cocach Ruffin McNeill - Leach's former DC at TTU - has borrowed many of Leach's former personnel to create the offense.
Unsurprisingly, it's a wide-open system that involves a lot of passing, a lot of yards, and a lot of points. Many of their numbers are Leach-esque: 12th in the nation in scoring, 7th in passing, 23rd in total offense, and 3687 yards for starting QB Dominique Davis, among a few other hefty numbers.
It looks like the Military Bowl will be a very high-scoring game. Get ready for a lot of touchdowns.
In the days after the Maryland Terrapins were passed over by marquee bowl executives because of concerns about whether their fans would travel, a new concern was potentially there: would they even travel a few minutes south to watch the team in the Military Bowl at RFK Stadium.
Apparently, that's no longer a concern. The Terps were selling tickets well before Ralph Friedgen was fired, and now, they've sold the full allotment that was given, according to Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun.
Who knew the Military Bowl would be so compelling? I'd tweeted earlier that the bowl has become a Shakesperean play.
Maryland says it has now sold out its public allotment of Military Bowl tickets. That means more than 8,700 tickets were purchased and/or donated by the public through the school's ticket office for the Dec. 29 game versus East Carolina.
Friedgen's expected departure probably accelerated the selling of those tickets to a certain degree. Now, this game is more than just your run-of-the-mill bowl game. It's the end of a decade-long era of Maryland football.
Friedgen is expected to make his first public comments since the firing on Wednesday at a pre-Military Bowl press conference, though that hasn't been finalized.
With the 2010 Military Bowl matchup at RFK Stadium between Maryland and East Carolina concrete, the Terps have an obvious hometown advantage. But Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen is pleading with the team's fan base to show up.
The ACC Coach of the Year led a resurgence of sorts in College Park. The Terps finished the season 8-4 after an abysmal 2-10 campaign last season. Maryland fans believed that the Terps earned a place at a better bowl and some even say that they will protest by not showing up to a game that is literally in their backyard.
East Carolina, on the other hand, plans to see RFK "awash with purrple." The Pirates ended the season 6-6, but have already sold out their team-sponsored hotel in Washington and team officials expect the 10,000 ticket allotment to sell out. To put that into perspective, bowl officials anticipate a crowd of 30,000 fans at RFK, which includes 5,000 tickets for the military and about 2,500 tickets for District kids.
Friedgen urged fans at a recent media event to show up and support a team that is obviously improving.
"We have a chance to send a message to these people who turned us down that we do support a bowl," Friedgen said. "This is right in our back yard. East Carolina is going to show up. If we really care about our football program, our fans need to show up also."
Maryland fans not showing up is not a protest, but a let down to the players who worked so hard to improve. Hell, Terps fans don't even need to drive! The Military Bowl is not the Orange Bowl (where the Terps played in 2001), but fans can take the Green and Orange lines to get there.
You have to feel for the Maryland players that were hoping to go somewhere better than the Military Bowl against East Carolina. They proved their worth on the field, putting together a banner 8-4 season that included a big win over North Carolina State in the final game of the regular season.
But truth be told, the writing was on the wall for some time. Maryland may have impressed when they played, but the empty crowds at Byrd Stadium told bowl executives everything they needed to know. Diehard fans certainly did their job, but by and large, if fans are annoyed their team got placed in a lesser bowl, the best thing they can do about it is to actually show up to games. As SB Nation's Maryland blog Testudo Times writes, this was something that was certainly within fans' control.
I'm a little tired of hearing, though, that the program and fans were victimized, screwed over, and punished by a broken system that emphasizes economics over all else. Does it suck? Yep. But Maryland's a big, state university located in a large metro area that's seen fan support in the past. This ain't Wake Forest. Maryland should have fan support. They just didn't get it this year.
When fans aren't going to games in College Park, you can't blame bowl organizers for worrying about the fans' ability to travel to Orlando to Nashville. It's a financial process for the bowls, as are most things in college sports, and we all knew that going in.
Testudo Times concludes by saying he feels sorry for the players, but not for the program.
The players were victimized; the program wasn't.
This is certainly something for coach Ralph Friedgen and athletic director Kevin Anderson to chew on in the coming weeks and months. It's not their fault, of course, that fans didn't show up like they do at other schools, but if there's a way for them to do something about it beyond performing on the field, they should find a way to figure out what that something is.
Of the nine possible Bowl game destinations for the Maryland Terrapins, the team will be heading to the Military Bowl, the eighth choice among Bowls involving ACC teams. But here's the thing. Maryland finished the season tied for third in the ACC. So how come they fell so far?
With lower ranked teams like Clemson and Georgia Tech travling to more prestigious Bowl games, the Terrapins have good reason to be somewhat upset. Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson spoke to Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun.
Maryland AD Kevin Anderson on bowl outcome: "We're disappointed in the process. We're disappointed in the way things were determined."
With the Military Bowl seeking a local team to help drive up ticket sales at RFK Stadium, it's entirely possible that Maryland could have won two fewer games and still played in the same Bowl. As long as Maryland was bowl eligible at six wins or more, the school was always going to be a desireable choice for the Military Bowl.
The Bowl got its wish. Maryland did not.
In the end, all the advocacy, the politicking and the selling of the program was for naught. Despite a banner 8-4 season that featured a breakout quarterback and the ACC Coach of the Year, the Maryland Terrapins will be forced to stay home and play in the Military Bowl against East Carolina. According to Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post, the matchup is now official.
The game will take place on December 29 at RFK Stadium at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. Having a local team is a huge boon to Military Bowl officials, but it's a huge disappointment for Maryland, who was hoping for something more after finishing in a tie for third in the ACC. However, due to poor attendance figures at home games, the Terps slipped to eighth in the bowl picture because of concerns that the fans wouldn't travel with. Bowls are able to do this as long as teams are within one win of each other in conference play, and six ACC teams finished either 5-3 or 4-4.
According to Prisbell, any hope of Maryland playing in the Champs Sports Bowl evaporated last night.
Maryland's long-shot hopes of playing in an upper-tier bowl, as Coach Ralph Friedgen felt his team deserved, dissolved late Saturday night in - of all places - Tampa, Fla., where Connecticut earned the Big East title with a last-minute victory over South Florida. That cleared the way for the Champs Sports Bowl to select West Virginia (9-3), thus blocking Maryland's slim chances of landing there because officials try, at all costs, to avoid regular season rematches. The Sun Bowl, which had the next selection, was delighted to match two of the nation's most recognizable football programs, Notre Dame and Miami, in what promises to be an attendance and television ratings bonanza.
Going to the Military Bowl is good for Maryland's bottom line, as they save on travel costs, but it's not what they would have wanted, and it will be difficult to get fans excited about a weekday afternoon start in frigid temperatures.
East Carolina is 6-6 this season, including a 5-3 record in Conference USA. The Pirates' best win, ironically, is against North Carolina State, who jumped Maryland to go to the Champs Sports Bowl. However, they also were responsible for one of the most lopsided college football games this season, a 76-35 loss to Navy on November 6. The Panthers have lost four of their last five games and are among the worst defensive teams in college football.
Earlier today, we discussed how Maryland's bowl destination depended on whether bowl executives from the Champs Sports Bowl would pick them over North Carolina State. It looks like North Carolina State will win that battle.
Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post is reporting that "all signs" point to Maryland playing East Carolina in the 2010 Military Bowl at RFK Stadium on December 29.
At this point, should Maryland (8-4, 5-3 ACC) wind up at a different bowl - Orlando's Champs Sports Bowl, the Sun Bowl in El Paso or Music City Bowl in Nashville - it would qualify as, by far, Maryland's biggest upset of the season. Despite finishing in a three-way tie for third in the ACC - with North Carolina State (8-4, 5-3) and Miami (7-5, 5-3) - Maryland faces the anticipated prospect of free-falling to the eight slot in the ACC's pecking order.
Nothing has been decided for sure, because the Champs Sports Bowl will not make their official decision until Sunday night, and all other bowls depend on that decision. However, Prisbell reports that the chances of Maryland beating out North Carolina State "range from slim to none."
If the Terps indeed slip to the Military Bowl, it will be because of their lagging fanbase compared to North Carolina State. Patrick Stevens crunches the numbers and finds that Maryland's highest single-game attendance was still lower than N.C. State's lowest single-game attendance. The Military Bowl has coveted Maryland for some time, and financially, it's less taxing for Maryland to play in that game. However, considering the success they had this season, the Terps were certainly hoping for something more.
Via Fanhouse, the East Carolina Pirates will be the Conference USA representative in the 2010 Military Bowl. The Pirates finished 6-6 after a 5-2 start, but won the CUSA for the second consecutive year.
The Pirates will await an opponent from the ACC that will be determined at a later date. The ACC will take part in the Military Bowl for the next few years, facing off against Navy in 2011, Army in 2012 and a member of the Big 12 in 2013.
In last year's Military Bowl, the UCLA Bruins defeated the Temple Owls 30-21. The Military Bowl, in its third year, will take place December 29 at 2:30 PM at RFK Stadium.
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text: I know that the softball thread served as the first baseball game thread earlier today, but baseball's starting up now (you can watch it live here). The baseball team looked great this afternoon against UCF, so I hope that we carry that over tonight in another elimination game. Adam Windsor is starting for us. Alex Scarborough noted on Twitter that both he and FSU's starter have thrown fewer than 40 innings this season. As always in post-season, everyone's running out of starters. Let's GATA, boys. Roll Tide!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
UFC 105: November 14, 2009
Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England
Main Bouts:
Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera
Luke Thomas: Here's the reality: Couture can't win a striking match and can win a wrestling match. Which one will it be? I'd say it depends more on the aggressor in Couture than the sparring-fighting style of Vera. I think this one is ultra close and I can easily see either man winning, but I have to think Couture can beat an opponent who just doesn't fight with a sense of urgency. Couture via decision.
Kid Nate:There are two questions in this fight: 1) Is Randy Couture finally too old to compete at the elite level? and, 2) Is Brandon Vera going to be able to close the deal and live up to his potential. I'm going to have to go with the odds here. Father Time is inevitably going to beat us all, Randy Couture included. Brandon Vera by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: Everything comes down to where the fight takes place. People greatly overrate Vera's wrestling. If Randy wants to he can clinch him, take him down and rough him up. If Couture does decide to play the boxing game like he did with Nogueira he is going to lose. I just keep looking at their recent fights. Randy has been fighting Brock Lesnar and Nogueira, Vera has been dragging guys like Reese Andy and Soszynski to decision or leg kicking Mike Patt (who was brought in to be a punching bag for Vera). I don't think Vera has the mental game or the wrestling to beat Randy, unless Randy decides to play the striking game for any reason other than closing distance. Randy Couture by decision.
Mike Fagan: Only Brandon Vera can beat himself in this fight. Couture's smart enough and in good enough shape to appear competitive, but his days beating top flight competition decisively are over. Brandon Vera by decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: Randy Couture grinds Brandon Vera against the cage for the first round and in the second he frustrates the Vera from on top in half-guard. In the last frame, however, he does both, leading Randy Couture to win by TKO, round 3.
Leland Roling: Randy's wrestling and clinch game should be the key to damaging Vera against the cage. I think Vera is sturdy enough to withstand most of it, and Randy should cruise to a decision victory here. Randy Couture via unanimous decision.
Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy
Luke Thomas: Give me Swick's speed, better opposition, better team, and desire to push his career to help him persevere. I think Hardy is incredibly overrated, so he can prove me wrong with a win over Swick, but I just don't see it. Swick via decision.
Kid Nate: Swick will be able to do what Marcus Davis couldn't do: take Dan Hardy down and thoroughly dominate him on the ground. Swick also has the reach and speed to more than hang with Hardy on the feet. Swick by submission, round 3.
Brent Brookhouse: I like Hardy here as I like his striking a little bit more than Swick's. Obviously Swick may decide to take the strategy of takedowns like against Marcus Davis...but I have a feeling he wants to try to be exciting and "earn" a title shot. In the middle of an exchange Hardy is going to flip Swick's light switch off. Dan Hardy by TKO, round 2.
Mike Fagan: For no reason whatsoever, I hate Mike Swick. So while my head says Swick, I'm going Dan Hardy by TKO, round 1.
Eugene Schelfaut: Hardy will not find it easy to gain momentum during the fight against Swick. You will be able to see the loss in Dan Hardy's eyes before it becomes actual. Mike Swick by submission, round 2.
Leland Roling: I want to pick Dan Hardy, and I'll certainly be rooting for him to pull off the upset. The problem is that Hardy's striking is highly hyped as something that it isn't. Akihiro Gono actually outstruck Hardy for two straight rounds. Swick might not be able to do the same, but I think he can potentially blanket Hardy on the floor. Mike Swick via decision.
Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang
Luke Thomas: As much as I want to pick Kang here, I can't. For a fighter who pushes the action, a poor defensive fighter in Kang just leaves too many holes. Then again, we don't know how that KO from Henderson affected Bisping, so it's a risky play either way. Bisping via TKO, round 2.
Kid Nate: Kang has shown he'll find a way to lose, no matter how much of a skill edge he has in a fight. Until he circled into Dan Henderson's right hand, Bisping had the total winner's attitude. I'm going to guess he'll recapture that form. Bisping by decision.
Brent Brookhouse: Bisping is better standing. He fought dumb against Henderson, but he has very solid boxing technique. He is also very hard to keep on the ground. I don't see Kang having a very good chance at all here. Bisping by TKO, round 2.
Mike Fagan: Will Kang have mental diarrhea in the cage again? As long as he can keep his head straight, he has more avenues to finish. Kang by TKO, round 2.
Eugene Schelfaut: Of the two, I have less confidence in Denis Kang. Bisping will be solid throughout a fight played out on the feet, but in no way particularly impressive. Maybe the home nation advantage tips the scale. Michael Bisping by TKO, round 3.
Leland Roling: I want to pick Denis Kang, and I will. He's training at American Top Team once again, and his knockout power will be on showcase against Bisping's chin. He'll test Bisping following his devastating knockout loss to Henderson, and he also happens to be well-versed on the floor as well. Denis Kang via TKO, Round 2.
James Wilks vs. Matt Brown
Luke Thomas: I am going to smash James Wilks. Brown via TKO, round 2.
Kid Nate:Not a fight I can muster up any excitement about. I think Brown will be too physical for Wilks' limited game. Brown by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: This is going to be an enjoyable scrap. People are overlooking Brown's development as a fighter overall because he got into another firefight with Pete Sell. Matt Brown by TKO, round 2.
Mike Fagan: Brown's not a title contender, but he's always good for a fun fight. And with fitting nickname and a striking resemblance to the Bloody Elbow fuhrer, I'm going to go Matt Brown by TKO, round 2.
Eugene Schelfaut: Brown grew, a little, on me after the victory over Pete Sell and that alone should be enough for the victory here. Matt Brown by KO, round 1.
Leland Roling: Tough fight to pick as Wilks has shown an ability to use his reach to strike, but Brown has improved immensely over the last couple of fights. I think he can damage Wilks standing and win this one. Matt Brown via TKO, Round 2.
Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley
Luke Thomas: Riley has enough chin and experience to give Pearson problems late in the fight, but he'll have dropped two rounds by then. Pearson by decision.
Kid Nate: Aaron Riley is the epitome of an MMA journeyman. He should eat the undersized Pearson for breakfast. Riley by decision.
Brent Brookhouse: This feels like a coin flip to me. Pearson's size is an issue but Riley is always at risk to disappoint. Aaron Riley by decision.
Mike Fagan: Can we start talking about a TUF curse? Mac Danzig and Amir Sadalloh have turded it up lately. Neither recent English champ looks like he'll do much either. And Pearson looks like he could make 145. Aaron Riley by decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: Not feeling this one, but I'll go with the TUF 9 winner. Ross Pearson by decision.
Leland Roling: For some strange reason, I have a feeling Riley is going to have his hands full with Ross Pearson. I'm not sure exactly how this will go down, but I think Pearson will use his controlling style to blanket Riley in the clinch and on the floor. Ross Pearson via decision.
Preliminary Bouts:
Terry Etim vs. Shannon Gugerty
Luke Thomas: Gugerty's talented, but not nearly as polished or battle tested as Etim. Etim, by submission.
Kid Nate:Etim has too much of an advantage on the feet and should be able to fend off Gugerty's submissions after he's taken down. Etim by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: Etim isn't out of his depth if it ends up on the ground, Gugerty is out of his depth when it is standing. Easy call: Terry Etim by KO, round 1.
Mike Fagan: Anyone else think Etim looks like Paulie Malignaggi? Terry Etim by exciting kickboxing, round 2.
Eugene Schelfaut: Eventually, Etim will get through with strikes and he has enough defense from bottom position to make me feel secure in that. Terry Etim by TKO, round 1.
Leland Roling: Etim's striking is the real difference maker in this fight. His clinch Muay Thai knees and kickboxing ability should pummel Gugerty, Terry Etim via TKO, Round 1.
Paul Taylor vs. John Hathaway
Luke Thomas: A guy as aggressive as Taylor is just bound to make mistakes. Hathaway by submission.
Kid Nate: Taylor is the more dangerous on his feet. Taylor by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: Taylor's experience and power is hard to pick against here. Paul Taylor by TKO, round 3.
Mike Fagan: America. Fuck yeah. Hathaway by decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: I'm thinking Taylor will put Hathaway under early with a flurry, but I'm laying my pride down on John Hathaway who wins by decision, round 3.
Leland Roling: While Taylor holds the edge standing, Hathaway's ground game is far superior to that of Taylor, and Taylor will find himself in some trouble. John Hathaway via decision.
Matt Riddle vs. Nick Osipczak
Luke Thomas: Riddle is going to positively body this kid. Riddle by TKO, round 1.
Kid Nate: Matt Riddle is going to overwhelm Osipczak. Riddle by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: If this makes the broadcast somehow I'll be hoping it's a short one. Nothing is fun about having to type Osipczak over and over during a liveblog. Matt Riddle is the better fighter and he is a lot to handle. Matt Riddle by TKO, round 2.
Mike Fagan: Not every Team Rampage fighter has sucked. Matt Riddle by TKO, round 2.
Eugene Schelfaut: I like when things fall into neat groupings. Three decision wins for Riddle and four first round finishes by Osipczak. I like things like this because it is edgy when I turn against them to make my win. Matthew Riddle by KO, round 1.
Leland Roling: I'll go against the grain and take Nick Osipczak by surprising Sanshou Kung Fu kicks. Nick Osipczak via KO (Head Kick)
Paul Kelly vs. Dennis Siver
Luke Thomas: Siver's submission prowess will not be enough for the defensive Kelly. Kelly by decision.
Kid Nate: Two fighters who are only UFC-caliber in Europe. Kelly should be able to win this one with aggression. Paul Kelly by TKO.
Brent Brookhouse: NBA Europe wasn't any good and this fight won't be either. Paul Kelly by decision.
Mike Fagan: English fighters suck, but German fighters suck more. Paul Kelly by decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: Paul Kelly will use the better part of fifteen minutes claiming his, and our, victory from top position. Paul Kelly by decision.
Leland Roling: Paul Kelly will use his size as a lightweight to top control Siver to death. Paul Kelly via decision.
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman
Luke Thomas: Hamman is too experienced. Hamman by TKO.
Kid Nate: Gustaffson by decision.
Mike Fagan: Gustafsson has a ton of letters in his name. Gustafsson by smother alphabet decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: Dude has a hound on his chest. Alexander Gustafsson by TKO, round 1.
Leland Roling: Tough, tough fight to call. Hamman's strength of record is solid, but Gustafsson has the lengthy reach and boxing pedigree to be a real menace. I'll go out on a limb and pick Alexander Gustafsson via TKO, Round 2.
Andre Winner vs. Roli Delgado
Luke Thomas: Delgado has skills but winner is too much of a power puncher and a far better athlete. It's his fight to lose. Winner by decision.
Kid Nate: Delgado by submission.
Brent Brookhouse: I really enjoyed Winner on TUF so Fagan is wrong. He is not wrong in his assessment of Delgado. Andre Winner by TKO, round 1.
Mike Fagan: I may be the only person who like Winner from the show. And Roli Delgado sucks. Andre Winner by decision.
Eugene Schelfaut: I am not good enough with the puns for this. Andre Winner by TKO, round 1.
Leland Roling: Roli Delgado's BJJ black belt that he got in a week isn't helping him beat Winner. Andre Winner via TKO, Round 1.


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Bradley Handwerger / WWLTV.com Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS ― Hornets coach Monty Williams doesn't have many more "firsts" before he closes the book on his initial coaching campaign in New Orleans.
But one he might enjoy more than others begins June 13 – the first-ever Monty Williams Hornets Basketball Camp.
It'll take place June 13-17 from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and is slated to host boys and girls ages 7-16.
Williams hopes it's as successful as his first season at the helm.
Despite massive roster changes, an entirely new coaching staff and a first-year general manager in Dell Demps, the Hornets earned a postseason spot in the Western Conference playoffs. They fell to the two-time defending champion Lakers 4-2 in a series most expected to be a sweep.
New Orleans finished 46-36, a nine-game improvement from the 2009-2010 season.
The camp, though, is his chance to give back to the community.
"I'll be there every day," Williams said. "We'll teach kids how to play. Talk to them about life lessons. A lot of hands on. I've been to camps before where the celebrity or the person putting on the camp wasn't there or they flew in and left and everyone else was running the camp. I'll be there all week. I'll have my family.
"We'll have a few players stop by for instruction, to shake hands and autographs and things like that. We want it to be a community time. That's what we're about and it'll give me a chance to get to know some people."
But Williams won't make the camp all about basketball. To him, it's about more than just the game.
"I like to talk to kids about listening to their parents, making sure the respect their elders," Williams said. "Those things to me are more important than basketball. Basketball is the bait and you get a chance to talk about other things."
For more information, people can go to hornets.com or www.thebasketballacademy.com.


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Woman's Body Found in Lake Concow
POSTED: 3:06 PM May 05 2013 UPDATED: 3:19 PM May 05 2013
A woman's body was pulled from Lake Concow Saturday afternoon. It is unknown how the woman died or how long she had been in the water.
Officials with the Butte County Sheriff's Office said they responded to the lake just after 3:00 p.m.
The woman's name is not being released.
Butte County Sheriff's investigators said they hope to have more answers in the case once an autopsy is conducted.
Copyright 2013 by KRCRTV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Dodge are neither here nor there in the Chinese market, the rams head does have some brand awareness in China but that was mostly via the Grand Caravan, short lived Avenger, and the Dodge Journey, forget any fancy thoughts about Chargers and RAM trucks, neither exist in China (at least not at Chrysler/Dodge dealerships!) The Dodge Journey has managed to gain much attention back to the brand over the past two years it has been on the market, the Chinese market receives the Journey in 2.7L V6 which only spins the front wheels, there has been rumors of the flagship 3.6L model turning all four corners entering China and this is probably what what we are looking at here:
Although the American market Journey got its new crosshair style grill a while back, the Chinese market model has been left to make do with the older design that doesn't have the added niceness of the post bankruptcy revised Journey which had the GPS screen moved up to an easier to see position, and an improved central console.
This model is likely to launch in the second half of the year, possibly via the Guangzhou Auto Show at the years end, although the introduction of a facelift model is quite important, the Dodge brand is hardly breaking new ground with the JCUV.


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Mobile Search: Beyond the Portal
by: Aaron Abbott on | Prominent Placement
SEMPO Atlanta's meeting last Thursday on Mobile Search was rated five stars by every attendee that rated it. Detailed, up-to-the-minute data and insights were shared by four experts in the mobile search space. They presented in Google's Midtown Atlanta offices to a packed room, and the event was simulcast in Boston and New York to those local SEMPO groups as well. Special thanks to SEMPO Atlanta's fantastic sponsors: Search Discovery, Google, Yahoo and Bing. With their help, this event (including food and beer/wine) was free to all attendees. The event was moderated by Chang Yu, Group Media Director, 360i (@360i). We'll spend the next four days covering each presentation. First up was Paul Gelb. "Mobile Search: Beyond the Portal" By Paul Gelb, Vice President of Mobile, Razorfish, @paulgelb, @razorfish Paul opened up the session with a guilty admission that he hadn't realized his fellow panelists would all be from search engines, as he had planned to talk about how mobile search transcends search engines. He was talking about mobile apps. Look at the mobile apps you use the most often – chances are, a search function is the constant, whether you're using apps related to media (Shazam searches to find what song you're listening to), Restaurants (OpenTable, Yelp), Shopping (Amazon, eBay), Travel (Kayak), or location-based apps. There are even apps related to searching for bathrooms (SitorSquat from Charmin)! We're at an inflection point, where adoption of search-related mobile apps is really taking off. Consumers value one thing over all others – time. Either saving time, or making the time that they are spending better. Mobile has made everything more spontaneous. As marketers, our focus shouldn't be on emerging technologies but on emerging human behaviors. We can't just transfer everything from the desktop PC to the mobile phone – we've got to go back and figure out how people behave differently on mobile. Don't dive into tactical opportunities without figuring out the strategy first. The old way of building a business was to focus on platforms that circumvent talent and scale operational efficiencies (that is, using technology instead of people to grow revenue). The new way is to support a culture and talent pool capable of capitalizing on the new, undefined benefits of a searchable world. Update: Paul's presentation can be viewed here: http://www.slideshare.net/sempoatlanta/sempo-mobile-razorfish This is part 1 of our 4-part series on SEMPO Atlanta's Mobile Search event held March 31. For all posts in this series, click here.


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The History of Future Folk(2013)
The History of Future Folk is a perfectly pleasant picture. Its not remarkable work, but a surprisingly gentle entry into the comedic musical duo sweepstakes once populated by the likes of Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords, though the paring of Nils dAulaire and Jay Klaitz doesnt aspire to any sort of comedic anarchy. Instead, directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker play it comfortable with this oddball sci-fi musical, trusting in their own scripted reality to a degree that such passion rubs off on the audience, disarmed by the features generous spirit and set-list of toe-tapping tunes.
In New York City, Bill (Nils dAulaire) has raised a playful daughter in Wren (Onata Aprile), while married to loving wife Holly (Julie Ann Emery), working a day job as a groundskeeper at an aerospace museum. Bill is also General Trius, a respected leader on the planet Hondo (residents exclaim Hondo! as their greeting) who long ago arrived on Earth to release a flesh-eating virus, thus clearing the way for the citizens of Hondo to start again on a fresh planet, as their home was in the path of a killer comet. Once on Earth, Trius discovered the miracle of music, spending the next 11 years moonlighting as a nightclub musician, laboring to please owner Larry (Dee Snider). Tasked with completing Triuss mission, Hondoian warrior Kevin (Jay Klaitz) attempts to capture his superior, only to encounter the sweet sounds of folk rock, soon teaming with Bill to become the red-suited group, Future Folk. When his cover is blown by Kevins arrival, Bill is forced to leave his life behind, working out a way to win over Hondo with music before a vicious alien bounty hunter emerges to trigger the virus and destroy humanity.
Whats so endearing about The History of Future Folk is how it never breaks character. Its a story of an aborted alien invasion, complete with monsters, lasers, and cumbersome plastic Hondoian armor, yet Mitchell and Walker never wink at the camera or encourage the audience to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Instead, the directors play the premise straightforwardly, trusting viewers will be adventuresome enough to go along for the ride, watching Bill and Kevin attain performance success in Larrys club (with their most ardent fans dressed up in homemade outfits) as the fate of the world ticks down to doomsday, finding the Hondo elite scrambling to transmit the sweet sounds of Earth into space before its too late.
Theres a real sense of character in the movie, with generous performances all around contributing to the sci-fi illusion. Of course, The History of Future Folk isnt strictly about survival, theres love here too, with Bill trying to entice Holly back into his arms after his elaborate network of lies is revealed to his understandably shocked wife, while Kevin falls head over heels for police officer Carmen (April L. Hernandez), taken with her beauty and immune to her sprays of mace (a delicious treat to Hondoians). The midsection of the film is devoted to the art of woo, watching Kevin use his stun ray to subdue Carmen long enough to beautifully serenade her, also taking in a tango class with the baffled woman, determined to convince his love that a portly, talented alien is the cure to her dating woes. Theres glee spread around the picture thats terribly fun to watch, especially when the space invaders receive their first taste of Earthly music, triggering a surge of feeling thats uncontainable, convincing Bill to cancel his genocidal orders after time spent dancing along with a Costco radio near his crash site.
The History of Future Folk doesnt hit any memorably comedic notes, content to deliver more smiles than belly laughs. The Future Folk songs have shape and topics to explore (including space worms), but arent especially hilarious, which deflates the feature some. Instead of peaks and valleys, the filmmakers remain consistent with entertainment offerings, leading to an extended climax where the Hondo warriors set out to save their surrogate home using Bills museum connections. There are limitations to this low-budget effort, but theres also tremendous conviction and cinematic skill, creating a far-off world with nothing but red plastic and enthusiasm, which is enough to get The History of Future Folk where it wants to go.
Starring: Nils d'Aulaire, Jay Klaitz, Julie Ann Emery
Directors: John Mitchell, Jeremy Kipp Walker
» See full cast & crew
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How's your skin handling this record-breaking cold? From frigid air to scratchy scarves and overheated buildings, no wonder your skin feels like the Sahara and looks like a hot mess. Here are some ways to counteract the winter skin blahs.
Another new year. Another vow to lose the weight, eat better, get healthy. Good for you. But are you going to do it the right way? We thought we'd take a look at cleanses, which many use as a quick way to drop the pounds, and give you a little food for thought.
This quick brown rice salad is perfect as a vegetarian main course or a light summer side dish.
My dear friend Jenn and her exuberant, talented son Ryan have created a video to talk about Ryan's peanut allergies for Food Allergy Awareness Week.
Bananas are nature's skin softeners. Take 15 minutes and pamper your face with this simple skin-softening mask. After all, you'll want to glow this holiday season.
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Tue 4 May 2010
Mother´s Day
Posted by karabcovam under Uncategorized
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Thank your mother and invite her to a special weekend in ARIA Hotel. Come and spend precious moments with your Mum in a pleasant atmosphere of ARIA Hotel and get hugs and kisses! Mother's day is that special time of the year to really say thanks!
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Apangea Learning is pleased to announce that SmartHelp has been honored with the prestigious 2007 Award of Excellence from Technology & Learning magazine, a leading education technology publication. Apangea Learning SmartHelp has been selected as one of the best education offerings of the past year and will be showcased in Technology & Learning's December Awards Issue and featured online at http://www.techlearning.com.
All entries are given a rigorous test-driving by qualified educators in several rounds of judging. The products are then carefully screened by the Technology & Learning editorial team. Evaluation criteria for all entries include: quality and effectiveness, ease of use, creative use of technology, and suitability for use in an educational environment.
Technology & Learning's Awards of Excellence program has been recognizing outstanding education technology products for the last quarter century. With a solid reputation in the industry as a longstanding, high quality program, the Awards of Excellence recognize the "best of the best" that help educators in the business of teaching, training and managing with technology.
"Technology & Learning is constantly recognized for its commitment to excellence, receiving several of the industry's top media accolades. It is a true honor to be recognized by Technology & Learning and be the recipient of its 2007 Award of Excellence," expressed Apangea Learning CEO Louis Piconi. "I am very proud of the work and dedication of my entire team and all of our customers who have contributed great ideas to the development of SmartHelp."
SmartHelp provides one-on-one differentiated math instruction via Web-based technology that integrates its innovative intelligent tutoring system with live one-on-one human tutors. Based on one of the world's largest bodies of cognitive research, it utilizes a skills-based problem solving process that teaches students how to break down problems into manageable steps. Its content can be tailored to meet the learning needs of fifth grade to college students, and is ideal for supplemental instruction, remediation, intervention, advanced study or after class programs. In accordance with best practices in serving English Language Learners (ELL), SmartHelp supports eight languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
The latest version of SmartHelp has a number of new features including:
· Multi-tiered instructional escalation model for moving students from automated feedback to multiple levels of certified teacher intervention.
· Built-in motivation program that rewards student progress with points that are redeemable for age-appropriate gift cards.
· Advanced real-time reports that isolate specific district, class and student data – even identifying the specific skill challenging a single student.
· Expanded and restructured algebra content to facilitate scaffolding into Algebra 2 and beyond.
· Correlated learning pathways that integrate individual student needs, while automatically correlating content to any state's standards.
· Our unique "Solve it Now" feature which allows students to bypass content they know, enabling them to focus on the content they truly need.


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Q. Can I wear black sheer hose and traditional black suede pumps to an after work event with the dress below? Or is that too dated looking? Or should I wear a trendier platform-y, peep-toe pump with tights? Can I wear tights with traditional black suede pumps? Or is that too early '90s?
-Black Mix
A. Wow, you're sounding quite flummoxed. For an after work event, you may want to go with a trendier pair of shoes like a peep toe with opaque tights. The point of an after work event is to take a small step away from office conservative garb without overstepping and baring too much. While black sheer hose and suede pumps will be just fine, I think you can get a little more stylish with this dress. I also like the idea of opaque tights since this dress seems a bit mini.


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As Chicago teachers walked the picket lines for a second day, they were joined by many of the very people who are most inconvenienced by their strike: the parents who must now scramble to find a place for children to pass the time or for babysitters.
Mothers and fathers -- some with their kids in tow -- are marching with the teachers. Other parents are honking their encouragement from cars or planting yard signs that announce their support in English and Spanish.
Unions are still hallowed organizations in much of Chicago, and the teachers union holds a special place of honor in many households where children often grow up to join the same police, firefighter or trade unions as their parents and grandparents.
"I'm going to stay strong, behind the teachers," said the Rev. Michael Grant, who joined teachers on the picket line Tuesday. "My son says he's proud, `You are supporting my teacher."'
But one question looming over the contract talks is whether parents will continue to stand behind teachers if students are left idle for days or weeks. That ticking clock could instill a sense of urgency in the ongoing negotiations.
Mary Bryan, the grandmother of two students at Shoop Academy on the city's far South Side, supports the teachers because she see "the frustration, the overwork they have." A protracted labor battle, she acknowledged, would "test the support" of many families.
Parents "should stick with them, but they might demand teachers go back to work," Bryan added.
To win friends, the union has engaged in something of a publicity campaign, telling parents repeatedly about problems with schools and the barriers that have made it more difficult to serve their kids. They cite classrooms that are stifling hot without air conditioning, important books that are unavailable and supplies as basic as toilet paper that are sometimes in short supply.
"They've been keeping me informed about that for months and months," Grant said.
It was a shrewd tactic, said Robert Bruno, professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"This union figured out they couldn't assume the public would be on their side so they went out and actively engaged in getting parent support," Bruno said. "They worked like the devil to get it."
But, said some reform advocates, public opinion could swing against the union relatively soon if the dispute seems to carry on with no resolution in sight.
Juan Jose Gonzalez is the Chicago director for the education advocacy group Stand for Children, which has hundreds of parent volunteers and was instrumental in pushing legislative reforms in Illinois. He says parents "are all over the map" in terms of their support for teachers or the school district.
"Within a day or two, all parents are going to turn their ire toward the strike," Gonzalez said. "As parents see what the district offers and see the teachers not counter-propose, they will become increasingly frustrated with the grandstanding."
During the last Chicago teachers strike in 1987, Bill Werme and his wife got so angry they pulled their daughter out of public school and enrolled her in private school for second grade. Parents could face the same choice now.
"If it was me, my support would whittle away," Werme said.
Already, there are some parents who don't understand why teachers would not readily accept a contract offering a 16 percent raise over four years -- far more than most American employers are giving in the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Rodney Espiritu, a stay-at-home dad whose 4-year-old son just started preschool, said the low test scores he's read about suggest teachers don't have "much of a foot to stand on."
Chicago's history of labor strength is one reason why this dispute is seen as a test of organized labor at a time when unions' political influence is being threatened across the country.
"What you're seeing here is a massive show of solidarity that is as widespread as anything we've seen in decades," said Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
205 N. Michigan AvenueGround FloorChicago, IL 60601Station Operator: (312) 565-5532Newsroom: (312)565-5533


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A DVR with an RSS feed - Watch Anything on Aything
Boxee, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes have great potential for the internet connected living room, but what is available for the offline world? I have a strange schedule, I spend a couple of hours on the CTA each day shuttling between work, school, my apartment in Chicago, and my parents suburban home. For scheduling and watching recorded content, not staying in the same bed every night presents an interesting problem.
The last few years I have been experimenting with DVR software to record shows. I've tinkered with abandoned open source projects, tried to make my own DVR software, and found a couple of great packages that still needed some tweaks to meet my strange needs. After years of tinkering, I think I've finally found a setup worth bragging about.
Over The Air TV
YES! No cable. I get cable with the Comcast bundle and the box is currently sitting under a pile off laundry. Cable is a bag of hurt for the tinkering type. I'd rather not use IR blasters or cable cards. Also the Comcast bundle is SD, which come to think about it, doesn't really matter when a majority of my recordings are Hogan's Heroes and Seinfeld reruns. Living in the city, taping a coat hanger to the window gets me a perfect HD signal every time.
Silicon Dust makes the $89 HDHomeRun. This box has a coax connector for an antenna, ethernet port, and a dc jack. Inside are two ATSC tuners that pipe the signal over the network to a computer. Because Digital TV is just an MPEG2 stream, this box can send content to a port and you can use netcat and cron job to painfully make a DVR from the command line! Once I made a tv remote out of a Makefile. I wouldn't suggest using a software build utility to change the channel or record, it just shows the flexibility and openness of the HDHomeRun.
Over-the-air television is composed of MPEG2 encapsulated streams with a bitrate around 19Mbps. While my 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display handles this fine, my mobile devices choke. Not even the latest Parks and Rec episode is worth the wait for a 6 gigabyte file to transfer. Luckily, mobile devices have hardware accelerated H264 decoding that extends battery life. Unfortunately, making H264 files for them is a fairly resource intensive process, it takes a beefy machine. My i5 box transcodes in realtime. It takes an hour to encode an hour long show.
Accessing DRM free video anywhere and on any device is why I went with my own DVR solution. After transcoding with Handbrake's iPhone 4 preset, I get a videos with a 1.7Mbps bitrate, this works great over my Comcast 36/6Mbps connection of which I am sure I am getting a great deal. The picture looks great on the TV, computer, and mobile devices.
The router at my apartment forwards port 80 to my DVR box and Amazon's Route 53 DNS service acts like DynDNS, updating the CNAME record on a subdomain to point to my external Comcast address. To access the page I go to the site in any browser and can schedule and stream recordings. Behind the scenes, Apache serves the scheduling pages, and video downloads. Its setup to allow devices on the local network to access all the pages and recordings. When schedules, feeds, and videos are accessed from the internet, users login with a username and password which is processed on the backend via standard Apache authentication modules.
I like spending ridiculous amounts of time automating repetitive computing tasks. Its very inefficient but I always learn something along the way.
MythTV and the MythWeb plugin provides a decent web interface that allows me to browse, search, and select shows for recording. The scheduling data comes from SchedulesDirect. A year subscription sets me back $25 a year, but that is much cheaper than monthly TiVo, Boxee, or Comcast DVR fees.
I use lots of gadgets. DRM free lets me watch anything on anything.
- Apple iPhone 4
- Apple iPhone 5
- Apple iPad 3 The New iPad
- Apple Retina MacBook Pro 15"
- Samsung Chromebook
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google IO edition
- Sony PS3
- HP ProBook 6560b
Once recorded, a MythTV user job converts the uncompressed broadcast quality MPEG2 recordings to a compact H264 file for streaming and enjoyment from afar. MythTV runs a simple script after each recording. Handbrake-cli, the command line version of the popular DVD ripping utility, spits out a compact, web-ready H264 file. Web ready puts the metadata throughout the file instead of at the end. This allows for progressive downloading and streaming. Seeking to the middle or end of the video also works. Yes, this has been done on the web for years, but keep on mind that this is all running from a laptop sitting under a pile of Taco Bell wrappers with content from a coat hanger I taped to my window.On the Web
MythWeb is just a collection of pearl and php scripts served via Apache. Replacing the included flash player with an HTML5 video player allows recordings to be watched from every browser, including iOS and Android devices. Additionally, the MythWeb RSS template has been modified with an additional enclosure for the H264 recording. This allows any device with a podcast client to automatically download the latest episodes.On the Mac
On the mac, dropping the iTunes Podcast folder of the recordings in the dock allows for easy access. A long HDMI cable is hidden behind the TV ready to play content.
On the iPhone
Downcast for iOS - $1.99
iOS has a limited API for background applications. Updating a podcast feed doesn't fall under the 4 types of background processes Apple allows. The developers behind Downcast luckily have found a way around the rules using geofencing to initiate podcast updating. Downcast can be set to update podcasts when at a particular location. Tagging work, school, and home in downcast allows the podcasts to update when I have WiFi. I've heard the Apple Podcast app for iOS 6 is crap, Downcast is a more than worthy replacement that always has my latest DVR recordings and Vergecasts ready to watch!On Android
Doggcatcher for Android - $4.99
On Android, Doggcatcher works quite well. Its set to refresh the feed and download the last 5 recordings at 3am, well after the transcoding jobs have finished, but still allows enough time to download eposodes over my parents horrible DSL. With Doggcatcher, I don't manage any files, just grab the tab on the way out.
Want it?
If your familiar with networking and scripting, a setup like this isn't that hard to put together. While I had some prior knowledge of MythTV. I set this up from scratch over the course of two weekends. It runs on a standard Ubuntu box and MythTV installation with code snippets found on the web that take care of the H264 encoding and RSS generation. I found these blog entries by Oliver Gorwits to be quite helpful, as in I copied them and they worked. Securing your installation via Apache configuration is fairly easy to setup from the Apache Docs.
Yes, I still use Amazon, Netflix, and Redbox, but this system offers what few subscriptions offer, offline viewing in the disconnected world of a CTA bus ride.


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Number of ratings 25 / Average Grade: A Submit a correction
He's hilarious. Wish he taught statistics.
He is very nice and inspiring a good teacher but this class is definitely a "u get what u earn class"He is so hard when it comes to grading I work so hard and showed up to each class n I got a C if your not so good with math dont take him
wow Im taking this teacher right now and Im so happy I took him he doesnt only know how to teach math but he inspires you to learn he is amazing I love math n math is fun he always says im starting to believe it:)
He is a good professor. I found his class to be a tad tough, I was a little intimidated by his grumpy ol man attitude. But he's very willing to help an even gave a test twice to help the students out. Do your homework!
Wow honestly prof. Hattar is someone to admire! I respect him he is just awesome! He teaches with a passion and he knows how to teach he goes out of his way for his students he will get to class early if u need help and will leave late he loves to teach i recommend him 100% he accent is not that bad! I love him he is super sweet 100% admirable!
Great teacher and willing to help you get the grade you need as long as you listen to him, ask questions and seek feedback. I have never gotten an A in math prior to this.
Great professor! Was very willing to answer question and help. His accent is pretty thick, but he's still easy to understand. I would definitely recommend.
He is AWESOME!!! plain and simple! By far the best math prof ever! i ADMIRE him!!!!!!
BEST prof EVER!He teaches math with such passion and love honestly he makes math so easy i just loved his class by far the best math prof ever if he sees u trying he will pass u yes he has an acsent but u can clearly understand i am 100% happy i took him! he loved all his students and will stay hrs after class to help u! i mean he ROCKS!
Prof. Hattar was awesome!!!His study guides will help u get an A on the test! He makes math fun and easy! Dont let his axcent fool you. Its not too bad you can understand him! I loved his class easy A for sure!!!
Mr. Hattar is awesome!!
smart professor, thick accent, he enjoys math. hard to understand. tough test, too many questions, does not allow you to use your notes. expects you to memorize all the formulas. about half the class will drop. but he is willing to help students.
Great teacher knows how to teach shows one step at a time. Contiues to encourage and guide. He will go out of his way to help you. He truly cares for his students. This teacher help me get over my fear of math. I strongly recomend him. Dont let his acent full you he will go out of his way to explain and demonstrate what he means.
I would not recommend him at all if you have trouble hearing and have a hard time understanding people with thick accents. I dropped the class the first day because of all that. I could barely understand him. It's your choice if you want to take him or not.
I got the best grade in the class but he sucks. He's a great teacher when he's explaining somthing one on one but if you don't understand something in class he'll belittle you. He loves math and he cares about his students learning it. If you have a hard time in math take someone else but if you understand it take him.
math 30
If your not very good at math he is a good teacher to take because he really breaks down the material step by step. Nice guy
Math 50
Very intelligent man knows his math, but if you want someone to belittle you he's your man. Very difficult to understand and if you didn't get it that's too bad.
Math 70
If you can make it through the adjustment of a new teacher process, he is a rather good instructor. Caters much more to visual learners.
Math 170
Mr. Hattar cares about his students. He gives reviews of what is on the test. Never give anyting that he did not cover on the board. If you study your notes and reviews, you will do good in his class.
he can be an okay teacher, but he goes off subject talks abt. the 99 cent store. puts people down "how do you not undestand this" "this is 7th grade math". makes fun of you then helps you after you feel stupid. a teacher is there to help, not judge poorly.
More Mathematics professors at Rio Hondo College


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Tagged Questions
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How was Rabbi Yochanan allowed to walk with his son's bone?
It says in Brachos 5B that R' Yochanan used to show people his tenth son's bone (all of his children passed away, and he used to carry a bone of his tenth child). How was he allowed to not bury this ...


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Windows 7
Step-by-step instructions on getting your Queen's Email set-up, are provided for your Windows 7 mobile. Note: These instructions are still being finalised, so if you have worked through the instructions (trying all options), but are still not able to connect to your Queen's email account, contact the Computer Helpdesk for advice.
- Tap the arrow icon pointing to the right-hand side on your screen
- Browse down the list until you see 'Settings', then tap on this
- Tap on 'email & accounts'
- Tap 'add an account'
- Tap 'Outlook'
- Enter your email address and password, then tap 'sign in'
Note: Depending on how your account is currently setup, try either Option 1 and/or Option 2 to find out which settings apply to you and your Windows phone:
|Option 1
|Option 2
|Email Address: firstname.lastname@example.com
Server Address: owa.qub.ac.uk
Domain: ads
Username: student number
Password: same as your Queen's Online password
|Email Address: email@example.com
Server Address: m.outlook.com
Domain: leave blank
Username: student email@example.com
Password: same as your Queen's Online password
- On the next screen, enter your username and domain (try option 1 first). Then tap 'sign in'
- In your new Email inbox, tap on the three dots in the lower right-hand corner and then tap on 'settings'
- Tap on 'synchronisation settings', then tap to select 'manually' under 'Download new content'
- Tap the 'tick' symbol twice at the bottom of the screen and your device should now be set-up to receive your Queen's email, calendars and contacts. If not, try option 2. If your Queen's email account is still not set-up contact the Computer Helpdesk for advice.


text:
United BioResearch Products was established over a decade ago to meet the needs of researchers in the Australian and New Zealand Life Science field.
We pride ourselves on our efficient yet personal approach and aim to offer high quality epigenetic products & testing kits quickly at competitive prices.
We distribute a range of products covering all aspects of the life science market including:


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Top US experts tour Israel's renewable energy sites
06/21/2012 03:58
A cohort of energy experts from various parts of US travel Israel to explore potential collaborations with their Israeli counterparts.
Walz, Wyne, Israel Water Authority's Tenne
Photo: Project Interchange
"There are a lot of similarities even though our motivations for diversifying are somewhat different," Junquera, advisor to the president and senior vice president at the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, told
The Jerusalem Post
on Wednesday.
"Over there we are in an economic recession and we are really into reinventing ourselves to get out of the rut. And energy has become the single largest roadblock to economic development."
A cohort of top energy experts from various parts of the United States are traveling Israel this week to explore potential collaborations with their Israeli counterparts, in a tour organized by Project Interchange, an educational arm of the American Jewish Committee.
During their time in Israel, the delegates are visiting with various energy companies and academics to learn about Israeli technologies – particularly exploring those in the cleantech and renewable energy arena, such as solar and electric vehicle innovations.
In addition to Junquera, the delegates include Mark Brownstein, chief counsel for the Energy Program at the Environmental Defense Fund; Scott N. Paul, founding executive director of Alliance for American Manufacturing; Brian Wynne, president of the Washington, DC-based Electric Drive Transportation Association; Stephen Walz, director of energy planning at the Northern Virginia Regional Commission; Tyler Alten, director of energy management and strategic development at Greener by Design, LLC; Kenny Esser, senior associate at Gabel Associates; and Tom Wolf, executive director at the Energy Council of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Some stops along the way have already included Ben-Gurion Univeristy's Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research at Sde Boker, BrightSource Energy's Solar Thermal Development Center in Dimona and the Ashkelon water desalination plant at Ashkelon. Next door, the delegation will also be visiting the first planned future Palestinian city of Rawabi, as well as Ramallah, where they will meet the former acting director-general of the Palestinian Environment Ministry.
Meanwhile, they have also have been meeting with various experts on political and strategic issues facing Israel and are learning about the situation of the Negev Beduin population.
Junquera is very involved with the implementation of the governor of Puerto Rico's policy on energy, which like Israel, has increasingly become to diversify the territory's energy sources.
"We have the first large-scale photovoltaic farm coming online this July and we have two wind farms under construction, one of which should be coming online in October or November," Junquera said.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is also aiming to switch many of its oil-fired plants to natural gas, and has a goal of powering the territory by 15 percent renewable sources by the year 2020, Junquera explained.
He was happy to see that Israel, too, is "diversifying from oil into gas." Junquera was particularly interested in Israel's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) offshore buoy system that the country is now developing, as Puerto Rico is doing the same thing.
He did note, however, that after seeing the brilliant desert sunlight here, he is surprised that solar energy has not been adopted more speedily.
After meeting with Prof. Pedro Berliner, director of the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, on Wednesday morning, Junquera said he was excited to try to link the University of Puerto Rico with Ben-Gurion University for potential future collaborations. Puerto Rico at the moment has a pipeline of 1 gigawatt worth of signed solar contracts, most of which are photovoltaic and include a government-sponsored green energy farm as well as residential and commercial photovoltaic projects, according to Junquera.
"We are trying as many routes as possible, to increase distributed energy in that way," he said.
From several thousand miles north, Stephen Walz, Northern Virginia Regional Commission's director of energy planning, told the
that his purpose in attending the trip was likewise "to build partnerships," as Virginia already has many such energy collaborations with Europe and Asia. Welz was particularly interested in products that the company Amdocs was developing for consumer interactions with utility companies, as well as the work going on at Ben-Gurion University to transform liquid gas into useable energy.
"It would be great to build bridges," Walz said of Ben-Gurion University, noting that in northern Virginia researchers are performing similar work.
Meanwhile, he said that the emerging hitech sector in northern Virginia could provide a great partner to the similar sector in Tel Aviv.
"But you can do things a little bit easier, smaller here sometimes because you have a smaller market," Walz said. "Every place has its challenges. And Israel because of the entrepreneurial spirit here, this is a place where there will be a lot of growth of these types of products."
From just a bit north of Walz, Wynne said he was impressed with how the electric vehicle market was beginning to emerge in Israel.
"The key to success for vehicles that plug into the grid is giving consumers a diversity of options and that's what we saw at Better Place," he said, noting that it is essential to have both the option of a home and outside charging system.
Crucial to the development of electric vehicles in both the United States and Israel is ridding both countries from their dependence on petroleum, according to Wynne.
"It's really a monopoly fuel and I think there's a better awareness here surprisingly about what the geopolitical implications of what that political dependence are," he said.
Wynne, who served as chairman of the trip and was in part responsible for selecting the other travelers, said that he and his colleagues are "learning a great deal" while in Israel, and the experience has been "enormously valuable."
"Israel is obviously a great microcosm of many energy challenges and there is some terrific innovation going on here that will have a big impact on the world," he added.
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text:
Carrollwood Village neighbors fight against a proposed Catholic cemetery in their community
St. Paul's wants to build a 3-acre cemetery
CARROLLWOOD, Fla. - "It's our community," said Angela Piplitz. "It's the integrity of our community."
Inside the Hillsborough County Commissioners board room, members of the Carrollwood Village community sat shoulder-to-shoulder. Many residents wore white to show their unity against their neighbor, the St. Paul Catholic Church.
The church has filed a petition with the county to rezone their property so they can build a three-acre cemetery on their campus located at N. Dale Mabry Highway and Stall Road.
"It's a real big deal. It's an inappropriate use," Scott Katz told the zoning hearing master on behalf of those residents in attendance.
"We have a right to exercise our right of religious freedom and Catholic-Christian burial is within that right," countered Joseph Divito, general counsel for the Diocese of St. Petersburg.
But Carrollwood Village neighbors say this isn't the right spot. They argue that a cemetery would lower their property values and significantly increase traffic in an already problematic area.
"It will greatly impact us. Our children play there, our school bus stops right there at that corner. If there's a funeral procession, what's our school bus driver supposed to do," asked Meena Saxena.
But Divito says there are already approximately 100 funerals at St. Paul's. However, people who currently come for a funeral service have to then leave and go to another cemetery. He argues having a cemetery on site will actually reduce traffic in that area.
"You can stay, have the service, have the burial, and then leave. It'll be less traffic on the community roads," said Divito.
On Monday, the zoning hearing master heard both arguments. He now has 15 working days to render his decision. The Board of County Commissioners will then take up the issue at the land use meeting on August 13.


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VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) - 17 year olds Matthew Plymale and Gatlin Herrington and 18 year olds Andy Nguyen and Richard Stewart have been charged along with a 16 year old with a string of car break-ins.
Their charges vary from entering an automobile to commit a theft to theft by receiving.
Police made the arrests after a several parked cars were broken into outside homes in several Valdosta neighborhoods.
Police say more people may be involved.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Valdosta Police Department Investigations Bureau at 229-293-3145 or leave an anonymous tip by calling the crime tip line at 229-293-3091.
©2010 WALB News. All rights reserved.
P.O. Box 3130
Albany, GA 31706
(229) 446-1010
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(229) 446-4005
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text:
NBA Draft Combine Athletic Test Results!
Highlights for myself: My boy Toney Douglas was the fastest at the sprints! Yeah! Sam Young was one of the slowest. James Harden is more athletic than people think when looking at his vertical leap and quickness (his sprint was quicker than Derozan's) . Austin Daye was at the very bottom on bench reps, while Luke Harangody and Blake Griffin were at the top. Some analysis from NBAdraft.net here.


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The shower/bath pressure has dwindled to a very weak flow over the course of 2 years since I had some work done. The guy I hired turned out to be a hack of all trades.
I checked the shower head and crud screen first and they were clear, I don't know why I thought that would matter the flow from the faucet is just a slow.
I took out the cartridges and they don't have any blockage or buildup. With the cartridges out I turned the water back on from outside and there was great pressure (shot all the way across to wall), so I assume the pressure's good up till it hits the valve somewhere.
I cut out the sheetrock from behind the wall hoping to replace the valves with something different, at this point I would be happy with outdoor style faucets if that would give it some pressure.
The outer valve body (not even sure what I'm talking about here), is just a threaded connection, no spot to grab onto with a wrench at all, and they're in there dang tight. At this point I've decided to stop before I break something.
My guess is the galvanized pipe is plugged. You may be looking at a re-pipe.
What type of valve is it? That is all threads and no place to clamp a wrench onto like that?
I don't know, John, that looks to be pretty good volume in the bottom picture. From the picture of the cartridge, it LOOKS to be clean. Have you disassembled those to make absolutely sure that there is no trash in them?
As far as disassembling the valve any further, I don't think that you will be able to.
Lake County, Florida plumber
Springtime Plumbing Services, LLC
License #11067533
I took apart the cartridges and soaked them in lime-away for a bit. Not sure if that was a good idea.
It didn't occur to me that the valve might have come like that and is not intended to be taken apart.
I've banged around on the pipes with a hammer hoping to knock something loose.
Is there anyway to push some bailing wire or something up into those pipes to clear them out?
Reinstall the cartridges - remove the shower head and cap the shower arm with a 1/2'' iron pipe cap - leave tub spout off - turn hot & cold water on (fully opened) to try an blow any debris that may be lodge at tee portion of valve.
Thanks guys for all your help! I now have great pressure in that shower!
Here's one thing I learned yesterday: Maybe you think it would be a good idea to tie a metal nut to the end of a string and lower that down through the shower spout, and then pull it out from the other end using a magnet. NO. There is a plastic thing hidden in the middle of the tee of the shower body. Also, the nut will fall off then end of the string and stay stuck in there.
If you are planning to cut a little square out of the sheetrock from the other side of the wall so you can get to the plumbing, and are not exactly sure where the plumbing is located, measure 14 times and cut once. And this is no time to be trying to cut a minimal hole in the wall, measure an extra big square or you will end up cutting a little square, cursing, and then cutting a much bigger square around that little square.
I ended up having to take it all apart. Still didn't find any blockage and took it to Home Depot. The plumber there told me it was unlikely that debris was stuck inside the shower valve body but was going to check anyway. He was struggling to unscrew the plastic thing out of the middle of the tee and I decided it would be best to just replace the whole thing. He said Moen was a good brand so I went with that. I asked him if it would be possible to put some inline shutoff valves in place of the couplers and he said yes. Got home with the Moen and realized the threads for the shower and bath spout pipes were on the outside whereas on my old American Standard they had been on the inside. I tried using the couplers to make it work but that made the spouts too low/high for the holes in the wall.
So back to Home Depot and bought an identical American Standard. Took all day for all this but now it's better than ever. I have a little, scratch that, big access panel and can shut off the valves anytime I need to. The guy who originally installed it had used some scrap wood jammed in the wall cavity to hold the pipes in place and left off the escutcheons for the handles. Which is pretty sad considering sheetrock hadn't been put up on any walls outside the bathroom yet when he did it. Escutcheons are awesome, they cover up a lot of messy work.


text: 5 Fun Outdoor Activities to Do With a Group Spring Yourself Into Health by POPSUGAR Fitness 3/22/10 0 Reactions 62 Shares Print 58 2 2 0 0 When Spring weather hit Sugar HQ last week I was more than stoked. Ever since, I've been going on outdoor runs and evening bike rides, and hitting the park with friends. While I'll miss heading up to the mountains for snowboarding fun, sunny weather opens up the door to all types of new activities, many that are best played with friends. Before Spring is over, make sure you do everything on my list at least once — your heart, muscles, and friends will love you for it. Source: Getty Group Rides What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Whether you're alone or with a group, biking is a great way to burn calories in the sun. It's also an awesome activity to do as a whole family, regardless of age. If you haven't ridden in awhile make sure to get your bike tuned up, and always carry some water — about 16 ounces for every hour you'll be out. Source: Getty 1 / 5 Tennis What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Play enough tennis and you'll end up with some solid arms by the time Summer rolls around. Not to mention a slimmer waistline — an hour of tennis can burn up to 430 calories. If you've never played, check out my tennis fundamentals and tips on choosing a racquet before you get started. Source: Getty 2 / 5 Kickball What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Though you might think of it as a kids' game, kickball is super fun to play with a group of adults too. It's a great team building sport since each team can have up to 11 members, and engages all of its members to run, kick, catch, and throw. Bonus: the rules are simple, simple, simple! Source: Getty 3 / 5 Frisbee What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 It might not seem like it but Frisbee is a great workout! All that torso twisting works your core, and running around gives your heart a good workout too. A casual game of Frisbee in the park can burn up to 170 calories in 30 minutes; not too shabby for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Source: Getty 4 / 5 Volleyball What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Every Spring a group of friends and I get together for a game of volleyball in the park. And while most of us aren't as good as volleyball champ Gabby Reece, we definitely feel our hearts pumping and blood flowing the entire game. Source: Getty 6 / 5 58 2 2 0 0 Read More Group ActivitiesSlideshowBicyclesVolleyballCyclingKickballFrisbeeSpringTennisFitness Spring 40 Outdoor Date Ideas For Summer Lovin' 7/20 9 Ways to Brighten a Dark Home 7/18 20 Prime Recipes to Pack on a Picnic 7/18 The Patio Anyone Can (and Should) Copy 7/11 Floral Centerpieces For Every Occasion 7/07 18 Appetizing (and Healthy!) Strawberry Recipes 6/23 Get a Personalized Fitness Newsletter! Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional): Running Working Out Weight Loss Yoga Link Love It's time to get better acquainted with the muscle group — Women's Health Do you need to refresh your diet? — Shape Healthy recipes for the last days of Summer — Self 10 healthy flavored-popcorn recipes — Health The only way to know when grilled meat is done — POPSUGAR Food Our 4 favorite drinks for before and after runs — Women's Running