24
November
2008
As winter gets into full gear, people from all around the south are tuning up their skis and pulling out their snowboards in anticipation of a weekend ritual of winter fun on the slopes of North Carolina. This year promises to be a good one, as temperatures remain consistently cold, and Mother Nature is being generous with the real stuff!
Some of the highest peaks in the Blue ridge Mountains are located in the northwest corner of North Carolina, standing guard over the quaint little resort town of Banner Elk in Avery county. Just east of the continental divide is Grandfather Mountain, the highest peak in the Blue Ridge, and to the north west of Banner Elk looms Beech Mountain, which boasts of being the highest ski area in eastern North America. Sure Mount Mitchell is higher, but it’s in the Black Mountains, a sub range of the Blue Ridge, and there’s no skiing there.
Although the elevation is high, and our slopes are vast and challenging, skiing in North Carolina does have its ups and downs. This is still the south, and annual snowfall comes nowhere near to that of New England, where lake effect snows keep the ski slopes blanketed pretty much all through the winter. Our best scenario for natural snow is when moisture from an Atlantic storm system collides with the polar jet stream dipping far into the south east Appalachians – a phenomenon that happens far too seldom to run a profitable ski resort throughout the season.
Undaunted by Mother Nature, the fine folks of this northwestern chunk of North Carolina saw these huge mountain slopes and their lack of natural snow, and decided to do something about it! Sugar Mountain, Beech Mountain, and even Hawksnest ski resort in Seven Devils became early pioneers in snowmaking technologies. Today, man made snow supplements ski resorts even in regions of the heaviest natural snowfalls. In North Carolina, the roar of the snow guns can be heard throughout the valley any time the temperature dips around freezing. Thanks to modern day snow making capabilities, our North Carolina ski resorts are able to remain open pretty much all through the winter – as long as it freezes of course!
The best conditions for skiers and snowboarders exist when there is a healthy combination of natural snow and the man made stuff. When this happens, skiing and snowboarding on our vast mountain trails is an experience that rivals any of the east coast ski resorts. For the times when Mother Nature isn’t so cooperative, there are some conditions that arise that every south eastern skier and snowboarder should be aware of.
As the season progresses, daytime temperatures rise above freezing and the sun shines stronger on the slopes. In these conditions snow (man made or not) will have a tendency to melt, providing for a wet, slushy skiing experience – in itself something to get used to. Symptoms of this condition include a sudden slowing down and an inability to make a successful cut, or turn. A well waxed ski may allow you to glide more easily through these “slush puddles”, but as far as turning goes, it’s best not to even try.
Conversely, as nighttime temperatures fall below freezing, and the snow blowing starts, the snow that turned to slush during the day turns to ice a night. Ice patches can be highly dangerous, causing one to speed up uncontrollably, feeling kind of like your feet slipping out from under you on a frozen pond. A well tuned pair of skis with sharp edges digging into the ice is your best bet for slowing down. Patches of ice can sometimes be hidden under a cover of fresh blown snow, which can really be an unexpected surprise. Any large patches of ice are usually well marked, and snow cats can help break up the ice, grooming the surface to make for a safer, more enjoyable skiing experience. Repetitive days and nights of these conditions can cause large patches of ice, and will eventually lead to the closing of trails (and the entire slope) as the season progresses.
To be sure, these conditions exist at all ski resorts, and are a natural progression of the season. It just seems to be more exaggerated in the south! Rest assured that the North Carolina Ski Patrol vigilantly checks all trails, marking bare spots and patches of ice, and will not hesitate to close trails where hazardous conditions persist. State of the art snow grooming equipment and the ability to generate a fresh cover of snow gives the North Carolina ski resorts just the edge they need to provide for a more uniform surface condition, allowing for a fun, longer and safer ski season.
Posted: Sports For All
23
November
2008
The origins of the game of basketball can be traced back to a gentleman by the name of Dr. James Naismith. In 1861, Naismith was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. During his early school days, Naismith would play a game called duck on a rock whereby the child would endeavor to knock the duck off the top of the rock with a toss of another rock.
Later on, Naismith would go on to McGill University in Montreal and would later become McGill University’s Athletic Director. He would subsequently move on to YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts and in 1891, the game of basketball began.
Given the cold Massachusetts winters, Naismith needed to find a recreational activity that could be played indoors and he preferred a sport that would develop skill and one that was not exclusively relying on strength. The first game was played with two peach baskets for goals and a soccer ball.
Further to his credit, Naismith became a medical doctor specializing in sports physiology and a Presbyterian minister. Naismith was able to see his beloved sport of basketball, gain acceptance in numerous countries through the YMCA since 1893. As well, the sport of basketball was brought forth at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. As we speak, the game of basketball has become a very popular sport.
Posted: Sports For All
23
November
2008
Summertime angling for trophy-sized blue cats on huge reservoirs can be tough. Peer across an expansive lake and the sheer vastness will seemingly swallow you whole. Where do you start? Do you just go out and look around with a good locator and hope to see some arches and begin fishing? Based on past experiences you know two things. Sometimes you have to drift. Other times you’ll have to anchor. How do you know which to do first and what types of structure are you looking for that will hold big burly blue cats?
Procat pro-staffer Jeff Williams ardently targets big blues on Truman Reservoir and Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. A lifetime of big-lake catfishing has taught him a thing or two about catfish behavior in reservoirs, and according to Jeff you can put more fish into the boat if you learn a few keys to summertime blue cat location. Before we get into the fishing part let’s look at the two lakes Jeff fishes.
Lake Ledges
Many lakes around the country have different bottom styles from sheer drops down into as much as 180 foot of water on canyon terrain reservoirs, to relatively shallow featureless bowls with subtle drops in depth. Not all lakes are built alike but trophy-sized blues behave in similar ways wherever they swim – especially when it comes to relating to the same types of cover and depth according to the season you are fishing.
Ledge Blues
While Jeff targets cats in a variety of situations during the summer period, he reports that during the warm-water post-spawn period, drift fishing is in his most productive pattern for most days on both lakes for numbers of fish.
He looks for areas where the bottom has subtle rises and drops going from just below and well above the thermocline. “During the hotter water period, the thermocline is everything.” Jeff uses his locator to mark fish on gently sloping ledges with the right depth before he deploys his baits and begins a drift. “You can find fish holding on steep ledges in the summer but steep ledges are difficult to get the right drift to stay in contact with numbers of fish. I prefer gentle rises and drops in a long diverse bottom contour area. Once you catch a few fish, make a note at what depth you’re catching them in. If you’re catchin’ fish in 16 foot of water around a 12 foot hump – you’d better find some more 16 foot of water to drift around in.”
Why Drift During Summer
Jeff anchor fishes ledges, flats, trenches, wood cover, and steep drops during most of the year except during the hot-water post-spawn period. Big blues will hold on specific cover part of the time and roam around in tight areas looking for food before relocating during the cooler months which allows him to set up on a good number of fish. He still has to look for fish with his finder during the colder water periods but once he finds them, he can anchor up and fish a specific area. Jeff’s theory about blue cat metabolism may hold the key to understanding why he does better while drift fishing during summer and the opposite during the cooler water period.
“I think as the water gets hotter, their metabolism rises with it and the blues need to roam around searching for food a lot more. It seems that I have to move around a lot more as well so I drift over areas targeting the active fish and don’t worry about fish holding in one area. In hot water, when the fish are active – I can set up on them and by the time I’ve caught a few fish they’ve moved. When the fish are acting this way I feel like I’ve made the right choice by drifting.”
The Controlled Drift
Jeff admits that drift fishing for blues isn’t really targeting big fish specifically, but he is still targeting structure that holds big fish. He finds an area that is showing the right drift scenario according to his experience on his lakes. He looks for fish arches on his locator holding the right distance off the bottom according to the thermocline. He likes to see fish on the graph holding either really close to the bottom. “Somebody out there might have some success with these loosely suspended fish but I haven’t done well trying to target them yet.”
Make sure to read Part 2 of this article to learn more about catching monster ledge lunker blues!
Copyright © 2004-2005 Jeff Williams and Procats
Feel free to include a link to the rest of this article above the copyright information:
ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com/ledge-lunker-blue-catfish.htm
You have permission to publish this article free of charge as long as you are not selling it and that you include the author bylines immediately visible with the article and, if published in an electronic medium such as on a web site, you provide a link back to www.ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com in the author bylines, both where the web address is listed as well as well as with the text “Lake of the Ozarks Catfish Fishing Guide Service”:
Posted: Sports For All
22
November
2008
A definition of a betting house is a structure that presents friendly gambling. At such a place, guests can take a wager at slot-machines or another pastimes of chance. Gambling house games more often than not include methodically derived balances informing them which insure the gaming establishment grasps on to a dominance over the players. casino cash
A number of casino games can result in you becoming overly dependent swiftly. We can look at the classic one-armed-bandit, a cash operated gadget with three drums circling if a crank on its side is yanked. This appliance on the whole pays up corresponding with predefined patterns of logos seen on the screen of the machine. Lamentably, betting saloon pastimes allow an appearance of jurisdiction, effectively hoodwinking the gambling aficionado – the addressee is endowed choice, but in reality these will never eliminate the customer’s longterm negative odds. This is precipitated by the gambling saloongambling house never refunding the full sum as hoped for. This systematic method is again and again found in popular casino games such as poker, dice, roulette or blackjack.
Poker is genuinely a highly trendy casino game. The gamesters, playing with either fully or partially concealed cards, place bets in a principal pot which is given to the prevailing gamer blessed with the winning hand. (And yes, the bluffing hand may well prevail as well.) Similar to seven card stud, blackjack is also an incredibly popular casino game. A sizeable portion of its popularity is due to the mix of chance and cleverness & decision making, as well as a system named Card Counting. This is an approach in which gaming aficionados are in a position to dramatically reverse the winning odds of the card game to give them the upper hand by both betting and systematic decisions in correlation to the cards deployed.
Craps is another acclaimed wagering game utilizing the throw of a couple of dice. Customers wager on the score of 1 roll, or on a succession of rolls on 2 dice. Dissimilar to blackjack, there just isn’t any reliable long term killer tactics you could employ to boost the chances.
Roulette is another well-known game of chance; here, a croupier whirls a roulette wheel which has thirty seven (French roulette) or, alternatively thirtyeight (American or Vegas roulette) distinctively numbered divisions in which a rolling pellet will finally settle, which signifies the final winning number as well as the other chances that will go along with it. Assuming that the participant bets on a number and is successful so it’s their lucky day, the accolade will be thirty five to 1, the original stake proper will be tossed back. Consequently in total the bet itself is multiplied by a factor of thirty-six.
We recommend you try to be emphatically cautious nonetheless for all of these betting room games should be deemed awfully addictive. Myriad lives have been ruined due to reckless gambling & even if it might be entertaining, seek to control yourself.
Posted: Bookmakers Stuff, Casino Stuff, Great Recreation Tips
22
November
2008
Most of you know there have been seven teams to win back to back
Super Bowls but never three in a row.
But did you know
that the year after the back to back run an AFC team won the
Super Bowl the following year the first 4 times and the NFC has
been the victor the past 3 times. Does the NFC produce the next
Super Bowl winner to complete the trend?
Staying with
the trend that the NFC will produce the next Super Bowl
Champion, perhaps the Buccaneers at 35 to 1 might be worth the
chance to come through. No, we are not big Tampa Fans but we
like Gruden as a coach and think he might be ready for another
run.
John Gruden did wonders for Rich Gannon and I
think Brian Griese will start to show similar results this year.
Clayton is a great young wide receiver and the young stud
running back Williams will make Florida fans forget about the
other Williams. Also look out for Larry Brackins at wide
receiver; he could be the steal of the draft.
Defense
struggled to stay at their standards and will be challenged to
uphold the tradition. The D has gotten old but with the
projected offensive numbers they will not have to be as good all
the time.
Tampa Bay has a chance to be 3-3 going into
their bye. When they come out they will be at San Francisco
which should put them at 4-3. The next two games will decide if
they are to make a run. They get Carolina and Washington at
home. If they head out to Chicago with a 6-3 record, then they
will have a great shot of positioning themselves for the
playoffs. At that point they would be down to around 15 to 1
odds, so grab them now at 35 to 1.
Is this a great
bet? Well it is 35 to 1 so we will go out on a limb and say no,
but at 35 to 1 and with the Eagles as the only true proven power
house in the NFC, why not Tampa Bay to slide through?
Posted: Sports For All
22
November
2008
The perfect lower body golf swing involves the legs to a very large extent and it is therefore true to say that exercise that conditions these parts of the body will have a positive impact on the quality of the golf swing.
This truth is obvious when you take a closer look at the lower body golf swing. During the backswing, the feet, knee and hamstring muscles are extremely important. The rest of the lower body golf swing movement will usually require a lot of participation of the hip and lower back.
Thus no good golf exercise program designed to improve the golf swing will avoid the lower back. In fact some golfers are puzzled at first when they see some of the golf specific exercises which concentrate on the hamstring and lower parts of the body. They may initially feel that too much emphasis is being placed on this lower part of the body. Actually too much emphasis can hardly be placed on the lower body when it comes to the golf swing. This is because that is precisely where most of the golf swings happen.
In the past, even when golfers though of a little exercise, their emphasis was always on the upper part of the body, rather than on the lower body, when thinking about improving their golf swing. Times have changed and today every genuine golf exercise program will usually place a lot of importance and emphasis on the muscles on the lower body for the sake of the golf swing.
These lower body golf swing exercises will involve both stretching exercises as well as strength-building exercises that will usually involve weight training. A good program should include a wide range of different exercise and you should also be able to use various golf aid gadgets to correct weaknesses in your golf swing.
By strengthening your lower body golf swing you will always feel more confident and better prepared to perform a more powerful golf swing.
Posted: Sports For All
19
November
2008
Wladimir Klitschko will meet Samuel Peter the 24th of September at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, and the question we at SportUS.com ask ourselves is – will Wladimir keep standing? SportUS.com is the place to get the latest boxing betting odds.
Sales figures have already proved this fight to be a great “boxing fan event”, as well as for Atlantic City to be very important for great boxing. The fight is undoubtedly the most anticipated in the heavyweight division this year.
It’s most possible that we will see the final termination of Wladimir Klitschko. Victorious heavyweight Samuel Peter, a new star on rise, will meet a hard challenge against former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in the 12-round main event. However, will Klitschko have what it takes to bring down this new popular fighter or will he face retirement sooner as anticipated at age of 29?
Boxing news all over the US has given a long list of explanations for why Wladimir was knocked out by Corrie Sander, Lamon Brewster and Ross Puritty. The question remains, can he come back in showtime boxing, and who dare to bet on it? Boxing betting will be enormously exiting on this event, as well as the fight itself. If you want to bet or find the latest boxing betting odds, visit the great odds comparison site www.SportUS.com, a website dedicated to sports betting and boxing.
One thing is for sure, there will not be any dull moment in this fight.
Posted: Sports For All
18
November
2008
There is really something special for every golfer at the Tribute Golf Club and Houston national Courses.
Tribute is located in the Colony, North Texas and is an unbelievable golf experience. This is really a place fit for special event gatherings. Actually the Tribute course was designed with the legendary courses of Scotland in mind. It therefore succeeds beautifully in capturing a time and place in history and tradition.
This grand course was designed and created by Golf Architect Tripp Davis as a tribute to courses where the spirit and traditions of golf were born. The real beauty of the course is in the fine details because Davis for instance ensured that each of the Tribute’s 18 holes was designed with a focus on the most famous and challenging holes of the Scottish links.
The Tribute makes it possible for somebody to plunge themselves into an atmosphere that is poignantly historic. From the Scottish designed clubhouse to old Morris Pub serving Scottish specialties. It is really an experience where a golfer can step back in time to a period in history that was important for golf and its’ development.
Incidentally the facilities here comfortably take care of numbers ranging from a foursome to 40 or 240.
The Houston National Golf Club is rated as the number one top public golf course in Houston. The course was designed by Von Hagge, Smelek & Barit and has 27 championship holes that can be played in three eighteen hole combinations in the midst of other spectacular architectural features.
Houston National has a large driving range with hitting areas on both ends. Not to mention the extremely useful practice pitching green, practice fairway bunkers and practice putting green. The course opened November 2000.
And that is how the Tribute Golf Club and Houston national Courses are special, each in it’s own different breathtaking way.
Posted: Sports For All
18
November
2008
Batting cages are an essential tool for any softball or baseball organization. They are used both by batting coaches and by recreational athletes to help improve a batter’s speed or to improve his or her accuracy in hitting a ball. However, baseball coaches often need assistance in finding the best places to purchase batting cages.
When browsing batting cages for sale, there are a few options. Because batting cages are used for both commercial and recreational activity, vendors offer a variety of styles and prices, including indoor and outdoor batting cages, as well as portable and tunnel style cages.
Batting cage equipment can be purchased through many sporting goods stores and suppliers. In addition, batting cage equipment can be ordered online and, in some cases, delivered as soon as the next business day. The quality, material, and size of the net and frame will largely determine the price of the batting cages. Be sure to inquire about a product’s warranty.
New batting cages can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The least expensive option is a simple batting cage kit, which can sometimes cost less than $100. Small, portable batting cages start at approximately $400, and larger, heavy duty cages can cost upwards of $1,600.
Depending on where you shop, the price may be negotiable. For example, a baseball coach may find it advantageous to participate in an auction of city equipment, some of which may come from the parks and recreation department. Such opportunities may provide very good values.
Posted: Sports For All
17
November
2008
We’ve skied in various mountain ski fields e.g. Val Cenis, Courchevel, La Clusaz and Le Grand-Bornand, however all told during all my ski holidays Chamonix Mont Blanc France without doubt is my number 1 mountain to go for ski holidays France.
The provenance of European alpine history and abode to the moving Mont Blanc – at 4807m the EU’s most eminent peak – Chamonix Mont Blanc features a superior historical snow record, a abundant season (Dec-May), unmatchable extreme skiing, and vistas to die for. Not withstanding Chamonix Mont Blanc France has an international repute for just about the most outstanding, intriguing, and thrilling skiing accessible anyplace in the world.
Chamonix village is big and every bit as disconcerting, and that’s before we even include the close ski fields; for example Plateau de Beille, Alpe d’Huez, Chastreix-Sancy, Samoens and Les Contamines-Montjoie.
The Monte Bianco skiing lift pass includes ten local, and thirteen territorial snowboarding areas; on land up to 3841m, as many as 280 button lifts, and 800 km of piste – with the absolute majority of the skiing mountains above 2020 metres. They supplies for each standard from starters as well as expert skiers. Visit the ski fields page for an in depth look at the big mountains: Verchaix, Savoie, Val-d’Isere, Tignes-les-Brevieres, Auron and Meribel.
Posted: Great Recreation Tips, Travel Portal
