Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Ryan Hogan
Chicago is one of the best sports towns in America. Not only do they have knowledgeable and passionate fans but they also have some of the oldest franchises and some of the most hallowed playing fields in all of sports.
Chicago is home to several professional, semi-professional, and collegiate sports teams as well as several world-class sporting events. It's no surprise that a city as large as Chicago has five teams competing in the four premiere North American professional sports leagues.
The "Monster of the Midway," the Chicago Bears, play at venerated Soldier Field. Known as the "Da Bears," this charter member of the NFL has produced a plethora of footballs legends. Hall of Famers Bronko Nagurski, Red Grange, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, Walter Payton and Mike Singletary have all played for the Bears.
In 1985, the Bears dominated the league on their way to winning Super Bowl XX. They also showed the world how well they could sing and dance by releasing the song, and subsequent video, "The Super Bowl Shuffle."
The city of Chicago is fortunate enough to have two baseball teams, both over one-hundred years old, that play in the Major Leagues. The Chicago White Sox play at US Cellular Field and have won three World Series, the last one coming in 2005.
The White Sox have some great nicknames, "the South Siders", "the Pale Hose" and "the ChiSox."
The "North Siders," or the Chicago Cubs, are probably the most popular team in not only the Major Leagues but in all of sports. The Cubs play in one of the shinning cathedrals of American sports, Wrigley Field. The Cubbies have been playing ball since 1876 and are a charter member of the National League.
Adding to the team's charm is their over 100-year title drought, the longest of any major North American professional sports team. The Cubs are the quintessential lovable losers.
The Chicago Bulls won six NBA titles in the 1990's thanks to the skill and leadership of greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. That team was coached by Phil Jackson and also featured all-star forward Scottie Pippen. The Bulls haven't fared well since "MJ" retired, but they are still one of the NBA's premiere franchises.
What the Cubs are to the National League, the Chicago Blackhawks are to the National Hockey League. The Blackhawks were founded in 1926 and are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams. In their storied history, they've won three Stanley Cup Championships and 13 division championships. They last hoisted the cup in 1961.
Both the Bulls and the Blackhawks play at the United Center. That building opened in 1994 and replaced the legendary "Madhouse On Madison," Chicago Stadium. On the east side of the United Center you'll find a statue of Michael Jordan.
That's enough teams to make any town happy, but the City Of Broad Shoulders has even more to offer sports fans.
The Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association plays at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion. That's a mouth full so most people just call the 6,900 seat arena the UIC Pavilion.
Most WNBA teams utilize the same colors and the same nickname, although it's generally feminized, as their NBA counterpart. However, the Sky are not associated with the Bulls whatsoever. Makes sense, it's probably not a good idea to call a women's pro-team the "Cows."
Toyota Park, located in nearby Bridgeview, Illinois, just 13 miles from the Chicago Loop, is home to the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. Incidentally, the Fire were founded on the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The Fire franchise experienced immediate success winning both the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup in their inaugural year of 1998. Since then they have won three more U.S. Open Cups.
At Allstate Arena you'll find the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, they are an affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers. The Rush, an Arena Football League team, also plays there. One of the team's owners is Chicago legend Mike Ditka, he coached the Bears to victory in Super Bowl XX.
Chicago has two rugby teams, the Lions RFC and their rivals Griffins RFC. The Lions play on the campus of Northeastern Illinois and the Griffins play at Schiller Woods in Schiller Park, about 12 miles away from downtown Chicago. By the way, the Twinkie was invented in Schiller Park.
The Sports Complex at Judson University, located in nearby Elgin, Illinois, is home to the Chicago Bandits, a professional women's softball team. They play in a league called National Pro Fastpitch or NPF.
The Chicago Force of the Independent Women's Football League plays tackle football at the Holmgren Athletic Complex located at North Park University. Most of their games kick off at 3pm.
Bank of America's Chicago Marathon is one of the running world's five major marathons. It's flat and fast course draws runners from far and wide while its prize money lures the world's elite long distance runners. The race generally takes place in early October with first-come-first-served registration beginning in February.
Auto racing can be found just an hour away from downtown Chicago. The Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5 mile track that hosts both IndyCar events and NASCAR events including the Sprint, Nationwide, and Truck series. The speedway opened in 2001 and has a capacity of 75,000.
As you can see, Chicago is a sports fans' paradise. If the sport has a ball, puck, or if it's on wheels, it's being played, or raced, in the Windy City. While the Cubs and the Bears get most of the headlines, the city of Chicago has enough passion to support all their teams. Chicago is the classic American sports town.
About the Author:
Ryan Hogan writes for ChicagoSmarts.com (http://www. chicagosmarts.com), a website for the Chicago Enthusiast. Ryan also contributes to SeattleSmarts.com and BostonSmarts.com as well. If you like these cities, check out the websites.
Read more of Ryan Hogan's articles.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
How The Internet Has Changed The World...
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2009 Braxton Heitz
As most of us sit down at our computers each day, we might realize that we have begun to take this Information Age for granted. What would we do if we did not have 24/7 Internet connections to keep us connected to the world?
Online Bill Pay
When it is time to pay bills, we logon to the Internet, pull out our debit cards or credit cards, and then we get to work paying our bills online. It is no longer the case where we have to sit down at the dining room table with our checkbook, a stack of bills, and a book of stamps.
Back in those dark days of the pre-Internet existence, we were not yet done with bill paying when we licked that last stamp. Instead, we had to jump in the car and run down to the post office to get the checks in the mail. If we had paid our bills close to their deadlines, then we had to sweat whether our payment would arrive on time. If we were really worried about our payment arriving at the other end of the transaction on time, we would take time out of our lunch hour to run to the bill collector's office to make our payment just under the wire.
Mom Online
Yes, back in those old days, we used to call mom on the phone once a week to check in and catch up. Now, we can logon to our favorite Internet chat client or call her on our Internet phone and talk to mom everyday. We can even share pictures of the kids with mom through our Myspace accounts.
Online Education
Back in those grand old days, if we wanted to learn something of value to our lives, we needed to go to the library or bookstore and check out or buy a book that would answer our questions about the world around us. It was either that or we had to enroll at a nearby college and take classes relevant to our interests.
Today, it is much different. Nearly any topic that might be of interest to us can be learned, after a trip to our favorite search engines. We might have to pay to gain access to the information we want, but in many cases, information is handed out like candy on Halloween, on the Internet.
We could even go further and enroll at a major university online. We can now take classes and get a degree at our favorite university or college, even if we live one thousand miles away from the school.
Local Shopping
Back in the day, in order to find out what great sales were running at the national chains, we had to subscribe to a newspaper for the full week and take the time to review the paper everyday to make sure we did not miss those important sales.
Now, we pop open an Internet browser and navigate to the website of the chain store we are interested and click through to their sales circular page. What does Wal-Mart have on sale? Let's go to their webpage. What about Napa Auto Parts stores? Let's go their webpage. How about "Ace, the helpful hardware place"? Let's load up their website. Walgreens --- what kinds of specials do "they" have this week? We are off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz (also known as Al Gore, the guy who "invented" the Internet).
Comparison Shopping
Before the World Wide Web, if we wanted to know the "skinny" on a particular product we were interested in buying, we would need to ask friends. For an expert opinion, we would need to subscribe to Consumer Reports, or take our chances by visiting the local store that sold the product and have faith that the salesperson was not loading our brains full of commission-biased opinion.
These days, we can go online to learn all about any single product or service we might be interested in purchasing. Even better, we can look at a cross-section of products under the same classification and make an intelligent decision based on factual research. If we put our minds to it, we could even pull up customer reviews on the products we want to purchase.
The sky is the limit. We can do as little or as much research as we would like to do on a single product or service and be happy with our final decision.
Dig Up In-Depth Product Specifications
Sometimes, we can trust the Sears salesman not to lead us astray in our purchase selections. It is pretty straight forward as to which brand of wrenches will give us the best performance over many years or to find out which 27" television has the best picture.
But, with other product groups, a cursory glance will not deliver the be-all-end-all analysis that we need to make intelligent shopping decisions. Such examples include insurance products or financial products such as credit cards and loans.
If you have to ask yourself what the difference between a term-life insurance policy and a whole-life policy, then you need to get some really in-depth information to make a good purchase decision. There are insurance websites and information websites that will pass this kind of information along to you. They may even let you apply online for a new insurance policy and give you an instant approval for your new policy.
The same mindset will often accompany your interest in learning about credit card products. With so many choices and options available, it is hard to know which credit card offer or credit card rewards program will be best for your needs.
The beauty of the Internet is that the answer to all of these questions and more are right at your fingertips.
Credit card offers range from gas credit cards, student credit cards, low APR credit cards and even 0% interest credit cards. Among this range of credit card types and special offers, many banks also offer credit card points in the form of airline miles, credit card travel rewards, cash-back rewards programs, and store credit at your favorite chain stores or restaurants.
So, how do you know which credit card will be best for your needs? All you have to do is to start with a plan as to what you would like to gain from a credit card, and eliminate credit card offers that do not match your needs. Then do a side-by-side analysis of those credit card offers that remain to see which one will deliver to you the best value for your dollars.
Don't be afraid to dig in and get the facts on any product you may be interested in buying. I have learned a lot on the Internet about insurance products, credit card plans, and high-definition televisions. Even when I had questions that the Circuit City salesperson could not answer, I was able to turn up that important information on the Internet.
Longing For The Old Days
No, I don't really long for the old days anymore, except when my Internet connection is down for more than just a few hours.
If I want to add a credit card to my wallet, I only need to decide which one I want and then fill out the online credit card application. If I want to buy car insurance, I can shop around for the best policy and buy it right then online, without having to go to an agent's office. If I want to shop for a better price on my next software purchase, all I have to do is to go to a shopping website and compare prices.
The Internet has improved the experience of my life one-hundred-fold, and I do not want to ever have to return to those days before dial-up. Before I came on the Internet, I did not even know why I would want to buy more than one type of home insurance. Now, I sweat if I might miss my payment.
If you take the time to search and research the Internet for the information that will help you to make better shopping decisions, you might just find as I have that the Internet is something that you never want to live without ever again.
About the Author:
Braxton Heitz writes about family finances and the struggles of the job search. If you are looking for a job or looking to change careers in the current troubled economy, then visit the Jobs And Paychecks website at: http://www.jobsandpaychecks.com/
Read more of Braxton Heitz's articles.
Copyright © 2007-2009 Braxton Heitz
As most of us sit down at our computers each day, we might realize that we have begun to take this Information Age for granted. What would we do if we did not have 24/7 Internet connections to keep us connected to the world?
Online Bill Pay
When it is time to pay bills, we logon to the Internet, pull out our debit cards or credit cards, and then we get to work paying our bills online. It is no longer the case where we have to sit down at the dining room table with our checkbook, a stack of bills, and a book of stamps.
Back in those dark days of the pre-Internet existence, we were not yet done with bill paying when we licked that last stamp. Instead, we had to jump in the car and run down to the post office to get the checks in the mail. If we had paid our bills close to their deadlines, then we had to sweat whether our payment would arrive on time. If we were really worried about our payment arriving at the other end of the transaction on time, we would take time out of our lunch hour to run to the bill collector's office to make our payment just under the wire.
Mom Online
Yes, back in those old days, we used to call mom on the phone once a week to check in and catch up. Now, we can logon to our favorite Internet chat client or call her on our Internet phone and talk to mom everyday. We can even share pictures of the kids with mom through our Myspace accounts.
Online Education
Back in those grand old days, if we wanted to learn something of value to our lives, we needed to go to the library or bookstore and check out or buy a book that would answer our questions about the world around us. It was either that or we had to enroll at a nearby college and take classes relevant to our interests.
Today, it is much different. Nearly any topic that might be of interest to us can be learned, after a trip to our favorite search engines. We might have to pay to gain access to the information we want, but in many cases, information is handed out like candy on Halloween, on the Internet.
We could even go further and enroll at a major university online. We can now take classes and get a degree at our favorite university or college, even if we live one thousand miles away from the school.
Local Shopping
Back in the day, in order to find out what great sales were running at the national chains, we had to subscribe to a newspaper for the full week and take the time to review the paper everyday to make sure we did not miss those important sales.
Now, we pop open an Internet browser and navigate to the website of the chain store we are interested and click through to their sales circular page. What does Wal-Mart have on sale? Let's go to their webpage. What about Napa Auto Parts stores? Let's go their webpage. How about "Ace, the helpful hardware place"? Let's load up their website. Walgreens --- what kinds of specials do "they" have this week? We are off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz (also known as Al Gore, the guy who "invented" the Internet).
Comparison Shopping
Before the World Wide Web, if we wanted to know the "skinny" on a particular product we were interested in buying, we would need to ask friends. For an expert opinion, we would need to subscribe to Consumer Reports, or take our chances by visiting the local store that sold the product and have faith that the salesperson was not loading our brains full of commission-biased opinion.
These days, we can go online to learn all about any single product or service we might be interested in purchasing. Even better, we can look at a cross-section of products under the same classification and make an intelligent decision based on factual research. If we put our minds to it, we could even pull up customer reviews on the products we want to purchase.
The sky is the limit. We can do as little or as much research as we would like to do on a single product or service and be happy with our final decision.
Dig Up In-Depth Product Specifications
Sometimes, we can trust the Sears salesman not to lead us astray in our purchase selections. It is pretty straight forward as to which brand of wrenches will give us the best performance over many years or to find out which 27" television has the best picture.
But, with other product groups, a cursory glance will not deliver the be-all-end-all analysis that we need to make intelligent shopping decisions. Such examples include insurance products or financial products such as credit cards and loans.
If you have to ask yourself what the difference between a term-life insurance policy and a whole-life policy, then you need to get some really in-depth information to make a good purchase decision. There are insurance websites and information websites that will pass this kind of information along to you. They may even let you apply online for a new insurance policy and give you an instant approval for your new policy.
The same mindset will often accompany your interest in learning about credit card products. With so many choices and options available, it is hard to know which credit card offer or credit card rewards program will be best for your needs.
The beauty of the Internet is that the answer to all of these questions and more are right at your fingertips.
Credit card offers range from gas credit cards, student credit cards, low APR credit cards and even 0% interest credit cards. Among this range of credit card types and special offers, many banks also offer credit card points in the form of airline miles, credit card travel rewards, cash-back rewards programs, and store credit at your favorite chain stores or restaurants.
So, how do you know which credit card will be best for your needs? All you have to do is to start with a plan as to what you would like to gain from a credit card, and eliminate credit card offers that do not match your needs. Then do a side-by-side analysis of those credit card offers that remain to see which one will deliver to you the best value for your dollars.
Don't be afraid to dig in and get the facts on any product you may be interested in buying. I have learned a lot on the Internet about insurance products, credit card plans, and high-definition televisions. Even when I had questions that the Circuit City salesperson could not answer, I was able to turn up that important information on the Internet.
Longing For The Old Days
No, I don't really long for the old days anymore, except when my Internet connection is down for more than just a few hours.
If I want to add a credit card to my wallet, I only need to decide which one I want and then fill out the online credit card application. If I want to buy car insurance, I can shop around for the best policy and buy it right then online, without having to go to an agent's office. If I want to shop for a better price on my next software purchase, all I have to do is to go to a shopping website and compare prices.
The Internet has improved the experience of my life one-hundred-fold, and I do not want to ever have to return to those days before dial-up. Before I came on the Internet, I did not even know why I would want to buy more than one type of home insurance. Now, I sweat if I might miss my payment.
If you take the time to search and research the Internet for the information that will help you to make better shopping decisions, you might just find as I have that the Internet is something that you never want to live without ever again.
About the Author:
Braxton Heitz writes about family finances and the struggles of the job search. If you are looking for a job or looking to change careers in the current troubled economy, then visit the Jobs And Paychecks website at: http://www.jobsandpaychecks.com/
Read more of Braxton Heitz's articles.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Pitching Hot Stuff Derek Lowe
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Lynda Belcher
As a bonafide Atlanta Braves fan, let me just say that I don't easily excite over specific players. The whole game is so diluted with the comings and goings of various players, it's hard sometimes to keep up with who is on what team this season.
I mean, you know the drill, you get Chicago Cubs tickets in hopes of seeing your favorite players in action and poof, you didn't notice in the off-season half the team was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals or some other team you don't like.
In fact, if you are like me and don't pay attention in the super short off-season or spring training, you miss it all.
Therefore, I spend my time rooting for the team instead of individual players to keep myself from being attached to any one person. Then, my heart isn't broken when they end up elsewhere the next season.
But, I broke my rule. I am completely hyped up about Derek Lowe this season. What's worse is that he's a freakin' free agent, which means at the end of his four-year tenure with my beloved Braves, he could be headed for dustier diamonds elsewhere.
But for now, I (and every other female Braves fan out there) think this guy is hot!
Not just in a general, rugged sense, but his record this season already speaks for itself. On Opening Day, he pitched eight innings of two-hit ball against the Phillies and last week, he pitched into the seventh inning against the New York Mets.
Ok, so he wasn't necessarily hot stuff taking on the Marlins, but he has won his past four starts and beat both Cincinnati and Houston, which puts him at 3-1 against NL East and 2-0 against NL Central. Perhaps that sweet $60 million contract has put a little extra oomph behind some of his pitches, to the delight of this Atlanta Braves fan.
For a while, I actually wasn't a fan of Lowe. After all, his personal life is tabloid fodder after he left his wife for a Dodgers broadcaster (I mean, of all of the chicks you could choose from, a freakin' Dodgers broadcaster?!).
I also wasn't too fond of a stunt he pulled when he signed on with the Dodgers. He left the Red Sox (who wouldn't have wanted a better gig than Boston?) for L.A. in 2005. However, since that was the year the Red Sox actually managed to get out from that curse, even after actually starting for the Dodgers, Lowe showed up to the World Series ring ceremony in his Red Sox uniform...sooo not cool. Not a great way to make an impression on your new fans.
However, all that's water under the bridge as I look forward to watching Lowe take my Braves to new heights this season with that arm of his.
I have great faith since, according to the Braves site, he is one of maybe three other people in the entire league who have managed to play for at least 12 seasons without one getting on the disabled list, which is uber impressive for a pitcher.
His record last year speaks for itself, as he finished 14-11 for the seventh year in a row, with at least 12 victories. His skills are phenomenal and I am looking to see him help my Braves clinch it this year for the MLB National League's Eastern Division.
About the Author:
Lynda Belcher writes for ClickitTicket.com (http://www.clickitticket.com), a concert and sports ticket website where you can buy tickets to any MLB game you want to attend. Get Atlanta Braves tickets and tickets to almost any game you want to attend.
Read more of Lynda Belcher's articles.
Copyright © 2009 Lynda Belcher
As a bonafide Atlanta Braves fan, let me just say that I don't easily excite over specific players. The whole game is so diluted with the comings and goings of various players, it's hard sometimes to keep up with who is on what team this season.
I mean, you know the drill, you get Chicago Cubs tickets in hopes of seeing your favorite players in action and poof, you didn't notice in the off-season half the team was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals or some other team you don't like.
In fact, if you are like me and don't pay attention in the super short off-season or spring training, you miss it all.
Therefore, I spend my time rooting for the team instead of individual players to keep myself from being attached to any one person. Then, my heart isn't broken when they end up elsewhere the next season.
But, I broke my rule. I am completely hyped up about Derek Lowe this season. What's worse is that he's a freakin' free agent, which means at the end of his four-year tenure with my beloved Braves, he could be headed for dustier diamonds elsewhere.
But for now, I (and every other female Braves fan out there) think this guy is hot!
Not just in a general, rugged sense, but his record this season already speaks for itself. On Opening Day, he pitched eight innings of two-hit ball against the Phillies and last week, he pitched into the seventh inning against the New York Mets.
Ok, so he wasn't necessarily hot stuff taking on the Marlins, but he has won his past four starts and beat both Cincinnati and Houston, which puts him at 3-1 against NL East and 2-0 against NL Central. Perhaps that sweet $60 million contract has put a little extra oomph behind some of his pitches, to the delight of this Atlanta Braves fan.
For a while, I actually wasn't a fan of Lowe. After all, his personal life is tabloid fodder after he left his wife for a Dodgers broadcaster (I mean, of all of the chicks you could choose from, a freakin' Dodgers broadcaster?!).
I also wasn't too fond of a stunt he pulled when he signed on with the Dodgers. He left the Red Sox (who wouldn't have wanted a better gig than Boston?) for L.A. in 2005. However, since that was the year the Red Sox actually managed to get out from that curse, even after actually starting for the Dodgers, Lowe showed up to the World Series ring ceremony in his Red Sox uniform...sooo not cool. Not a great way to make an impression on your new fans.
However, all that's water under the bridge as I look forward to watching Lowe take my Braves to new heights this season with that arm of his.
I have great faith since, according to the Braves site, he is one of maybe three other people in the entire league who have managed to play for at least 12 seasons without one getting on the disabled list, which is uber impressive for a pitcher.
His record last year speaks for itself, as he finished 14-11 for the seventh year in a row, with at least 12 victories. His skills are phenomenal and I am looking to see him help my Braves clinch it this year for the MLB National League's Eastern Division.
About the Author:
Lynda Belcher writes for ClickitTicket.com (http://www.clickitticket.com), a concert and sports ticket website where you can buy tickets to any MLB game you want to attend. Get Atlanta Braves tickets and tickets to almost any game you want to attend.
Read more of Lynda Belcher's articles.
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