Who Follows The New Orleans Saints?
April 4, 2010 by John38 · 12 Comments
The Super Bowl stands out as the championship game for the National Football League (NFL), the premier association of American pro football. The Superbowl first played on January 15th, 1967 as part of a merger agreement involving the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was decided that the two leagues’ champion teams should play in an AFL vs NFL World Championship Game until the merger was consummated in 1970. Subsequent to the merger, each league became a conference, and the game was then played between conference champions.
There was a time when people complained that Super Bowls had been boring or anticlimactic. Not lately, though. The previous 2 years, the Super Bowl continues to be the very best game of the NFL season. Giants over Patriots, then Steelers over Cardinals. Equally fantastic contests, both ended up decided by touchdowns in the closing seconds. Both produced the signature plays of their seasons. The David Tyree helmet catch was the signature play from that season, James Harrison going the length of the field for a touchdown as time expired while in the first half was the signature play of the previous year’s campaign. Could the Saints and Colts offer the global viewers a third consecutive fantastic Super Bowl? A signature play which purists might dream about decades from now?
The New Orleans Saints are an experienced American football team structured in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are the present champions of the National Football League (NFL) and play in the South Division within the National Football Conference (NFC).
The Saints were founded in 1967 as an expansion team and performed their home games in Tulane Stadium throughout the 1974 season. They went a lot more than a decade before they managed to end a season with a .500 record, twenty years before having a successful season, and more than four decades before getting to the Super Bowl. The team’s initial successful years were from 1987-1992, when the team made the playoffs 4 times and had winning records within the non-playoff seasons. In the 2000 season, the Saints defeated the then-defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams for the teams first playoff win.
The Saints reached the NFC Championship Game within the 2006 season however lost 39-14 against the Chicago Bears. They repeated this feat in their most flourishing season in 2009, but would win the game and their first conference championship that sent them to their first Super Bowl appearance. At Super Bowl XLIV, the Saints won the city of New Orleans its first league championship, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. On September 17th 1967 the Saints took the field for their first regular season game before 80,879 fans at ancient Tulane Stadium. The Saints got things going with a bang as rookie running back John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff ninety four yards for a touchdown. However the Saints would suffer defeat at the opening game with the Los Angeles Rams 27-13. The Saints would not win their first game till November 5th when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-24, thanks to Walt Roberts scoring 3 touchdowns. The Saints would wind up their first season with a 3-11 record.
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Starting a football programme collection
January 20, 2010 by John38 · 8 Comments
To effectively start a football programme collection, a person needs to choose a specialism to his or her collection. There are thousands of football programmes available in Britain, and even more worldwide. To give a collection some sort of meaning a theme ought to be adopted to avoid needless accumulation and to keep to a designated budget.
Sometimes you come across a football programme that joins or crosses two themes at once. These may prove to be valuable acquisitions in years to come as they represent a special or historical occasion, which will muster memories for soccer fans from across the globe in the future.
A football programme is a good way to record a memorable event at a particular match. This could come in the form of an achievement such as a player milestone, which is featured in the programme. A player milestone could come in many forms, such as an appearance record, a goal scoring record, the end of a players career, a number of years of service by the manager, and others.
The darker side of soccer is also often recorded in match programmes. These historical events attract collectors who see them as poignant reminders of the past. They are sought after and valuable as a result. The tragedies at Bradford, Ibrox and Hillsborough have valuable programmes associated with them, not only for the day itself, but also the subsequent commemorative games.
A very valuable set of football programmes to own are those related to the Munich Air Disaster involving the Man Utd team and Busby’s Babes. The programme from the game against Partizan Belgrade who Manchester United were playing on the tragic trip can sell for over £1000. A similar amount can be achieved for the programme against Sheffield Wednesday straight after the disaster, where the team list wasn’t filled in for the Manchester United team.
Notable occurrences are usually reflected in the content and style of the programme. Important football programmes to get hold of are final matches in an old stadium, or the first issue within a new one. Most programmes of this type are easily available with interesting articles and historical information, making them a gem in any football programme collection.
Programmes can mean different things to different collectors. You may value one programme highly due to entirely personal reasons and memories which they may conjure up. For other collectors the pursuit is one of passion, finding out more about the history and traditions of a football team that they follow. Whatever your reason, collecting football programmes is a very rewarding hobby, and comes highly recommended to any soccer supporter.
How to find good soccer drills for kids
December 29, 2009 by John38 · 17 Comments
As most soccer coaches know, it is hard to keep soccer practices interesting and full of new drills. It is important to do this becuase kids need to be mentally stimulated by new things. Practicing the same old soccer drills will lead to an un-interesting practice with dis-interested kids. When you think your practices are becoming dull and you are looking for new ideas, there are several things you can do.
First of all, consult with other soccer coaches. Most soccer coaches love to share ideas about strategy and practice drills. You would be suprised at how willing other coaches are to share their ideas.
Invite another coach or former player to run practice. A completely fresh drill will sometimes be just the boost kids need. It also provides you with a fresh set of eyes that can help you see a new perspective on what the team needs to work on. It is like painting. When you paint a picture, you think it looks the best after you take a break from looking at it for a while. When you come back, your fresh eyes perceive it much different.
These days one of the best resources is the internet. Videos and coaching drills are all over the internet. You don’t have to be a soccer coach either. You can find ideas on hockey drills, football drills, basketball drills, and pretty much any sport. Make sure to get specific in your search too. Typing in Soccer Drills will yield a lot of results. Try Soccer Shooting Drills, or Soccer Passing Drills to get more specific. The same goes for video searches, the more specific the better.
Graduation Gifts That Withstand the Test of Time
April 10, 2009 by John38 · 11 Comments
Graduation Gifts that withstand the test of time are gifts that must be articles which help one retain fond memories of school. They needn’t necessarily be expensive but need to be more thoughtful in nature. The difference between an ordinary gift and a graduation gift lies in its durability as it is one’s most memorable occasion in life. Small things such as wall hangings, name plates, necklace holders stay with us for ever. They withstand the test of time as they are made mostly of metal. They may loose their luster but they will never let your memories fade. As time goes by and the older they become, the newer they seem.
Many dream of a car from parents on their graduation however there are seldom those very lucky few. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there are no other gifts that can’t be given to a fresh graduate for burning the midnight oil in order to be successful with flying colors. A graduation gift over and above anything should be symbolic of the time spent at school and should remind you every now and then about how great school was and everything that we could get away with.
If you really think of it a car as a graduating gift would leave no memories of graduation as it would take all the glory. A few things that are most welcome during an event such as this. A unique graduation gift is a Name plate which in general looses its charm once someone is married and is settling down but right after graduation it gives one a sense of individualism. Adding the graduate’s school name and engraving the school mascot on the same can be a real winner. It is during school specially that ladies are really into artificial jewelries which become quiet useless on graduating as they come across as too flashy something that can only be worn as a student however the attachment shared with those inexpensive necklaces are so great that it makes a necklace holder a real preserver of your mementos.
Very often we can’t be really sure what to give a person graduating fresh out of school for instances of doubt such as this it’s best to go with something that is universally neutral like a bookmark as it is something that a student or a pass out can make use of alike moreover when in school there are a lot of things that we can’t complete reading and keep aside for after school. A bookmark is just perfect for occasions and purposes such as this.
For those few who played for the school football team, the best gift can be something to represent their school football team such as a steel football helmet which can be use as an indoor or outdoor sign. It could have embossed on it the name of the footballer, school, jersey number and team name. Other variations such as a street sign bearing the football team name can also make a gift for those individuals who were not actively a part of the school football team but made sure they went to every game their school played.
2009 Gator Bowl Tickets
February 19, 2009 by John38 · 10 Comments
It is time to purchase the 2009 Gator Bowl tickets and to be ready for some football. This years Gator Bowl promises lots and lots of excitement as the Clemson Tigers, the representative from the Atlantic Coast Conference face the Nebraska Cornhuskers from The Big Twelve Conference. The game has exciting implications as these two teams meet each other on the gridiron. So be sure to get your 2009 Gator Bowl tickets as early as possible.
The 2009 Gator Bowl will be played January 1, 2009 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville Florida. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 Eastern Standard time and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports.
The Clemson Tigers come into the 2009 Gator Bowl with a 7-5 record, sporting some very credible victories thus far this year. They are also sporting a new head coach, Dabo Swinney, whos was the interim head coach but now has been named officially the head coach.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers arrive at the 2009 Gator Bowl with an 8-4 record with just as equally impressive victories. Their head coach is also a first year man by the name of Bo Pellini, a highly respected defensive expert.
With so much in common, it is easy to see that the Gator Bowl will be a very competitive affair. This will be an exciting football game to say the leastand we are all looking forward to it.
One thing is for sure. The Clemson Tigers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will put on a show for all to see. So be sure and don’t miss this. Get your 2009 Gator Bowl tickets now!
Starting a football programme collection
January 10, 2009 by John38 · 7 Comments
In general you find a few different types of collectors within the football programme enthusiast community. There is the potential collector who has a passing interest in beginning a programme collection, there is the latent collector who collects programmes occasionally, there is the casual collector who may accumulate football programmes without having a specific theme to their collection, and also there is the confirmed collector who has specific aims and regularly tries to acquire programmes in order to enhance his or her collection.
There is no exact size to a programme collection, with the only limitations to it come in the form of your financial restraints. To be a collector, there is no need to own highly expensive programmes, just simply something that brings pleasure or a sense of satisfaction to the collector. Football programme collectors come from all walks of life.
In the early stages of a collection, a collector may try to acquire everything on offer to their collection as soon as they can in order to give it some substance. However, with this comes a loss of focus, and later when restrictions may mean a particular theme will have to be chosen and explored in order to further a collection.
There really are a limitless number of themes and sub-themes of programmes that can be collected. However, there are a number of traditional ways to build a collection. For example, for example all those programmes involving a particular team, all those concerned with a specific competition, etc. During the course of a collection a person is likely to experience the highs and lows of acquiring a rare football programme, or the frustration of not being able to find a source for one that is vital to your collection.
Those casual collectors will usually own a small number of special programmes for major finals or semi-finals for the team that they personally follow, internationals, testimonials, special fixtures, or other big cup matches. These can basically be classified as a Big Match programme.
If you have a strong affiliation to a particular football club your mission in programme collecting may be to simply buy all editions for your favourite team. In addition to the regular league matches and cup-ties, you may also attempt to collect programmes from friendlies, foreign tours, reserve teams, and youth teams.
One way of improving the depth and scope of your collection is by setting an earlier date from which to collect. You might, for example, decide to collect back to 1940, etc.
A collector who is fairly neutral in his or her affiliations, and just has a general passion for football will tend to widen the scope of their collection. In these sorts of collections you often find football programmes from a number of teams at varying levels (including non league). For the more adventurous type of collector, football programmes may have been acquired from countries other than his or her own.
