Executive Summary: Doing more with less

There are plenty of talented GMs in MLB, but Billy Beane might be the best.  From the start of his baseball career to the elimination game in the ALDS vs. the Yankees, Micheal Lewis gives readers an exclusive glimpse into the organization who has taken the cutting edge to an extreme.

Billy Beane has always been considered the best when it came to sports. From the time he was a young child, till he was a grown man playing in Major League Baseball, a lot was expected out of him.  People saw a special talent that no one in their community possessed and new that he was destined for greatness. Six years jumping around from one baseball team altogether. He decided that he was no longer competitive in the job he loved and decided to change his position in the organization to scout.

While scouting with Athletics Billy was introduced to a new form of player valuation that was different than anything he’s ever seen.  The GM a t the time, Sandy Alderson, believed that the only true way to scout players in the MLB was through statistical analysis not by radar guns and the naked eye.

Saber metrics was the brainchild of Bill James, a economist and baseball enthusiast.  James wrote a series of books called Baseball Abstract to combat the conventional wisdom of baseball analyst throughout the world.  He argued that many baseball stats created by “experts” were flawed and did not represent an accurate account of how good a player was.  James’ work would help the A’s create a winning team in the late 90’s and early 2000s.

After the 2001 season the Oakland Athletics were going through a transitional period.  Johnny Damon and Jayson Giambi were both lost to Free Agency to teams that were willing to spend more than the Oakland A’s. This was devastating to the Athletics.  In order for Beane to fill in the gaps left by these two players, Billy Beane would have to find two great hitters that were relatively cheap.  Instead of looking at high dollar players that could do many things well, Billy looked for players who were strong hitter and defective in other areas.  Beane offered Scott Hatteberg, former Red Sox catcher, a 200,000 contract and David Justice, an aging all star, one for 3.5 million.  This was a fraction of what they would have to pay Giambi and Damon.

The 2002 season started slow, the Athletics were last in their division and their new players, especially Scoot Hatteberg, did not seem to fit into the system.  After the first few weeks to the season many baseball analyst and fans believed that the Oakland A’s did not have the talent or money to compete with high dollar teams like the Yankees and Red Sox.  Just as people were counting out the Athletics, Billy Beane’s ball club did something that no other team in major league history has done. Led mainly by these defective players Billy signed, they won 20 consecutive games (still a MLB record).  2002 proved to be a success for Billy and the A’s.   At the end of the season the Athletics finished with a record of 103 wins and 59 losses. They finished first in their division and made the playoffs.

The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from Moneyball

1. Don’t be afraid to take risks – After losing star players Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon to Free Agency in 2001, many baseball analysts ruled out the Oakland A’s as a serious Playoff contender in the American League. Beane replaced these players with ones deemed by his scouts and competitors as damage goods and formed a winning team.

2. Step away from the norm- During Billy Beane tenure as GM of the Athletics he experimented with different ways to evaluate prospects that differed from the norm.  While traditionally prospects were graded only by potential seen with the naked eye, Beane used historical data and Saber metrics to grade players.  This was considered revolutionary at the time and has become a common practice by scouts and GM’s today.

3. Look outside of yourself for knowledge – Beane was a complete novice when it came to the idea of evaluating players using Saber metrics.  Beane went outside the box and hired a young economics graduate, Paul to help establish this system.

4. Play to your own strengths not others- Beane mentioned throughout the book that they didn’t have the resources that other teams in the league had.  He said if we do business like the Yankees we’ll always lose because we can’t compete with their resources.

5. Motivation can lead to success -.  Scott Hatteberg said that his biggest fear was having the ball hit in his direction.  Beane motivated players especially Hatteberg by praising them for good plays and using words of encouragement for errors. Beane always believed that motivation was the best way to bring out the best in his players.

6. Set high standards – entering the 2002 season baseball analysts didn’t expect much from the Oakland A’s.  That year the A’s broke a baseball record winning 20 straight and bettering their 2001 record by 1 win. After breaking the record Beane, with seemingly no emotion at all, stated that it was just another game.  Later he states that he will be content when the A’s win the World Series

7. Be Patient- While coaches and other teammates didn’t see Scott Hatteberg as a serious 1st baseman, Billy knew that he was more than capable in filling the role.

8. Find a place for you – Some people are better at certain things than others.  Billy Bean says throughout the book that he wasn’t meant to be a baseball player.  In his 6th season of playing professional baseball he switched from baseball player to front office scout.

9. Don’t be afraid to say no – Billy Beane was a highly recruited by major colleges throughout the nation. Likewise Beane was also being recruited by Major League baseball clubs. Beane describes the process and how he was pressured by the scouts to sign with the Mets who he ultimately signed with for the money.  From that day forward he has always regretted that decision.

10. The power of an idea- Bill James created an idea that has changed the way baseball has been played since its inception. James knew that there was a better way to judge players than what the MLB baseball teams were doing at the time, and that a lot of MLB teams were making mistakes in carrying out their processes.  James changed the game of baseball from one simple idea.

Full Summary of MoneyBall

Chapter 1- The Curse of Talent

Billy Beane has always been considered the best when it came to sports.  From the time he was a young boy people expected bigger things.  He was considered a 5 tool player by many scouts that watched his countless number of high school games.  ”I’ve got a first round draft pick,” says Billy’s high school coach Sam Blalock “and Fifteen and Twenty scouts showing up every time we scrimmage” (Lewis, Moneyball pg.7).  Big League teams weren’t the only ones trying to get there hand on Billy Beane.  Countless colleges throughout the nation including Stanford wanted the young star.  Stanford pushed hard for Billy.  They offered him a scholarship to be a two sport athlete in baseball and football (to succeed John Elway) all he needed was a B in math.  The scouts upped the ante to fight off the colleges lure.  The New York Mets offered Billy a contract worth $125,000 and he accepted.  Billy states that this would be the last time he did something just for the money.

Chapter 2- How to find a Ballplayer

Billy, now General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, is sitting with his MLB scouts talking over the new prospects for the 2002 draft.  After disappointing 2001 draft, Billy was determined to find new prospects that could play big league ball.  From the start of the meeting, Billy and the scouts disagree over draft prospects; none more than Jeremy Brown.  Brown was a record setter in college, but was being passed over by all of the scouts in the big leagues.  Billy with the help of his assistant, Paul DePodesta (an Economist from Harvard), broke down the stats and argued that Brown was the perfect tool that the A’s would need to win games.  The scouts agreed that the guy had talent, but his weight was a cause for concern.  Brown was severely overweight and was considered a burden on the base pads.  Beane saw an opportunity.  He could get Brown for a steal in the later rounds.

Chapter 3- Enlightenment

After Billy accepted the New York Mets contract all of the attention went away.  He was now considered a minor league baseball player in the lowest lever of the Major League farm system (Low A ball).  From the beginning of his major league career there were problems in his game.  He was extremely talented physically, but mentally, he was frail.  Billy was known be seen in a minor league game playing with his emotions on his sleeve.  When Billy was finally called up from the minors to play for the New York Mets, it seemed a little overdue. Despite making the team playing time was hard to come by.  In a very talented outfield he was the odd man out playing behind Daryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra. Beane was traded around the league for the rest of his playing days eventually ending up with the Oakland A’s.  Before his sixth year in the Major League, Beane decided to quit baseball in order to concentrate on scouting.  Beane admits that he was a much better scout than baseball player.  While scouting he was introduced to a new form of scouting by the GM at the time Sandy Alderson.

Chapter 4-Field of Ignorance

Sandy Alderson derived most of his scouting knowledge from the series of books by Bill James.  Alderson, a lawyer and former Military serviceman, started to use more of the statistics that are associated with baseball to judge players.  He believed that this could be more accurate than some of the other methods used by Major League Baseball scouts. James books looked at major league baseball statistics and attempted solve the riddle of what is the most important tools that a team should look at.  He spent numerous hours number crunching stats not available to Major League baseball to find a similarity between them and runs. He came to a few conclusions:  The difference between an average hitter with a .270 hitter and a good hitter with a .300 average was almost impossible to see with the naked eye.  The difference was one hit every two weeks. He also concluded that the fielding percentage statistic was highly flawed.  He argued that an error can never be an exact stat because in order to for a fielder to be charged an error the score keeper must use his own judgment if the play was routine or not.  James also concluded that scouting only by potential can become highly costly because major league ballplayers salaries were ever-increasing.  James dismissed fielding statistics and batting average to being important to a team and concluded that the most important stat a team should dwell on is runs.  James pioneered the saber metrics field with an originally designed runs created metric ( runs created= (hits + walks)x total bases/(at bats+ walks).

Chapter 5- The Jeremy Brown blue plate special

Prior to the 2002 draft Jeremy Brown was only hoping that a team would draft him. When Billy Beane told him that the Athletics were going to draft him in the fifth round, he was awestruck.  By challenging convention wisdom Beane concluded that many college baseball players were undervalued by traditional scouts.  He also concluded that college players were more likely to play big league ball than high school players.

The 2002 was considered a success by the A’s organization.  They drafted every prospect that they targeted.  Beane gained much needed confidence after the draft. Beane believed that he had a winning system to the draft that limited the amount of risk in the players they selected

Chapter6- Winning an Unfair Game

“If we do what the Yankees, do we’ll lose every time.”  With a new system of valuating players Beane is confident that they can compete at a high level despite their low salary cap.  Bean has come to the conclusion that in order to compete with higher salary teams they must focus on players who were undervalued by the market.  Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, created a panel called The Blue Ribbon Panel to conclude whether teams with lower salaries are at a severe competitive disadvantage. Out of all the teams in the MLB the Oakland A’s, with the second lowest salary in baseball, won a tremendous amount of game narrowly missing the playoffs. Despite the success of the Oakland A’s the Blue Ribbon Panel concluded that low salary baseball teams were unable to compete because of free agency.

Chapter 7- Giambi’s Hole

Prior to the 2002 season the Oakland A’s lost three of its biggest stars: Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhousen to free agency.  Beane needed to fill the holes that these players left in the batting lineup.  Paul DePodesta concluded that the only player that hurt the A’s by leaving was Jason Giambi.  Giambi had an on base percentage of .477 which was the highest percentage in the major leagues.  DePodesta factored the loss of Giambi in his calculations and found that his loss would be a major blow to the organization, but the cost of replacing him with any one player was impossible because of  their lack of funding.  Beane along with DePodesta decided to fix the hole by signing three cheap players: Scott Hatteberg, David Justice, and Jeremy Giambi that posted an above average on base percentage.

Chapter 8- Picking Machine

Scott Hatteberg, former Red Sox catcher, was considered by many major league teams as being damaged goods.  In the prior years with the Red Sox he sustained an injury to his arm that resulted in nerve damage.  Keeping these facts in mind, Beane concluded that Hatteberg could no longer withstand the tasks of being a catcher.  In order for Hatteberg to be an effective player he would have to change his position to first base.

Hatteberg’s first spring training didn’t go as planned. His skills were lacking and he had fear of getting the ball hit to him. In order for Hatteberg to gain confidence, Beane only used motivation when he would make an error, and praise when he didn’t.  By the end of Spring Training, Hatteberg was considered by most to be a slightly above average first baseman.

Chapter 9- Anatomy of an Undervalued Pitcher

Chad Bradford was a pitcher from Mississippi who had always dreamt of making it to the major leagues.  In high school he wasn’t his high school’s best pitcher, or next best, or even top three. Chad Bradford was so bad that his high school coach contemplated cutting him from the team.  He was described by many as an un-athletic looking kid with no fastball velocity and no special pitches.  A major league career looked bleak.  One day after practice Bradford’s high school coach decided to try something different with him, hoping that he could blossom into a slightly better pitcher.  Bradford’s coach taught him to drop his arm slot to that that resembled a side arm pitcher.  Amazingly, Bradford’s fastball didn’t lose much velocity and had sinking movement on it. Bradford improved so much that he was given the chance to play college ball.

In college Bradford’s arm slot dropped even further.  Instead of throwing with a side arm pitcher’s arm slot, he was now throwing simulate to a submarine pitcher.  This proved successful for Bradford. His numbers were some of the best on the team, but his fastball velocity was laughable.  It was in fact so bad that many major league scouts refuse to acknowledge him as a legitimate college prospect.  Only one person, a young scout for the Chicago white Sox scout, saw him as a legitimate prospect.

Bradford had a rough time in the Chicago White sox organization.  His stats were very good, but the front office saw it to be more of a fluke than some think sustainable. He was constantly sent up and down the Major League and Minor League systems before being acquired by Billy for a salary of just over $200,000.

Chapter 10- The Human Element

The 2002 year was a record setting year for the Oakland A’s.  The A’s won a record 20 games in a row beating the previous record of 19.  This was done in major part to the players who others judged as damaged goods.

The Oakland A’s blew an 11-0 lead on the Kansas City Royals only to come back on a home run in the bottom of the 11th by Scott Hatteberg

The Video Lounge

In this clip, Billy is discussing the hardships that their team faced trying to compete with lager teams like the Red Sox and Yankees.  Their $40,000,000 budget was next to last in the league and the owner wanted to keep it that way.  Unable to sign big player for long term deals, Billy know that they had to differentiate themselves from others on how they operated the front office.

Personal Insights

Why I think:

• The author is one of the most brilliant people around because

Michael Lewis is able to take sports stories and make them enjoyable for people who do not have the slightest interest in sports.  His special ability to leave readers on the edge of their seats and explain the emotion of the moment is a treat for the reader, and leaves you wanting more. I am not surprised that his books are highly sought out by Hollywood producers and actors.

• If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:

1. Explanation of Saber Metrics- Although Michael Lewis did go into detail on Saber metrics, I thought that a more detailed explanation of the factors calculated into the equations was needed.  I would have liked to have seen more detail on why these equations were more accurate than others previously made.

2. More details about the scouting process – In the story we here of prospects having potential, but we never hear of the scouts using stats or data to make their decisions. What do they have against statistics?

3. More background on Billy Beane- Although Michael Lewis does mention the background of Billy Beane, it’s only from a baseball perspective.  He briefly mentions Beane’s daughter and ex-wife but leaves the characters only with a simple introduction.

• Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:

1. Baseball Scouting- Before I read Moneyball, I perceived baseball scouts as a highly informed authority on judging talent.  After reading the book, I tend to have my doubts on how precise their judgment can be.

2. Money always wins- Moneyball has changed my perception of how GMs try to form winning teams.  I believed that in order for a team to win both regular season games and playoff games they needed to spend high dollar amounts on free agents.  I realize now that there is a smart, relatively cheap way to stay competitive.

3. The adaptability of people – In the book Lewis tells the story Scott Hatteberg who has never played first base a day in his life, and it showed.  He was able to adapt to that position with practice and the help of the people around him and became pretty good. This reminds you that some people take a little longer to adapt than others.

• I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:

1. Using my own judgment rather than others    - Sometimes we need to challenge the norm in our fields.  We need to question if I can find ways to make tasks simpler or if it is the best way to go about it.

2. Gathering knowledge from others – Nobody knows the answers to every question or dilemma they might come across. Sometimes it is best to gain a perspective through the eyes of others.

3. Motivation can be just what the doctor ordered – Sometime all we need is someone to acknowledge us on the hard work we put into tasks.  Motivation can help us along with other feel more comfortable and complete our work more efficiently.

• Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:

Forbes says: Michael Lewis has a gift: He can walk into an area already mined by hundreds of writers and find gems there all along but somehow missed by his predecessors. Of all the thousands of baseball books (Amazon.com lists more than 300 published or to be published this year alone), there are none, so far as I know, like this one, about the remarkable recent history of the Oakland Athletics and the team’s general manager, Billy Beane.

Amazon.com customer reviewer Lee had a different experience with the book, “I genuinely found this one of the most tedious books I have ever (tried to) read. The writing style contains no flair or wit whatsoever, and I cannot see how anyone but the most obsessive baseball freak could enjoy reading about an assortment of obscure players, scouts and journalists.”

Bibliography

Ackman, Dan. (05.28.03). Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com

Hafez, Khaled. 19 Brilliant Business Lessons From Moneyball. Retrieved from http://www.kgeektime.wordpress.com

Hebert, Paul. 10 Lessons from Moneyball That Have Nothing to Do with Data. Retrieved from http://www.fistfulloftalent.com

Lewis, Michael. Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game. New York: W.W Norton and Company, 2004. Print.

Customer Reviews, Moneyball:the art of winning an unfair game. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/

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Contact Info

To contact the author of this article, “A Summary and Review of the Book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis,” please email Matthew.Martin-2@selu.edu.

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About the Publisher

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Laborde Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.org), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. His blog, Career News 24/7, can be viewed at http://wyld-about-careers.blogspot.com/.

Chris McBrien doesn’t look too far down the road in his fantasy baseball leagues.

A fantasy baseball expert, McBrien has been playing the statistical game for 20 years. His one rule of fantasy baseball: Win for today.

He says far too many fantasy owners look ahead to land the next big thing instead of trying to win now.

“You trade for a draft pick to get next year’s new hot rookie. While you are doing that, I am beating you this year,” McBrien said. “And next year, when you are waiting for that rookie to pan out, I am beating you again.

“Win for today. Draft accordingly to get the top players in the league, but alway win for today.”

McBrien produces a weekly podcast on fantasy baseball, “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” The show will begin its second season Feb. 4.

McBrien started writing a fantasy baseball newsletter, which led to him writing fantasy baseball articles and blogs. Having a background in radio and television, McBrien said, it made sense to carry his efforts over to a podcast.

“I am better at communicating vocally,” McBrien said. “So the podcast was a natural fit.”

McBrien admits that starting the show in January 2012 was tough. He said the whole show was him talking into the microphone for a half-hour. “In any format of entertainment, it is wise to watch or listen to the first shows. Look at “Seinfeld.” It wound up totally different. It was not the way you found it those first few shows.”

Knowing he needed to change the format, he used music in and out of breaks. Then, in May, an anonymous friend, known only as “The Fantasy Doctor” – an individual with a background in kinesiology and sports injuries, and a fantasy baseball fan himself – joined the show.

A marketing manager by trade, McBrien says he can market the show until he is blue in the face.

“But the best way to market this product is to do a good show,” he said. “Good content sells itself.”

The irony of doing a show on America’s pastime from north of the border is not lost on McBrien.

“I know that being Canadian, we are supposed to like hockey. But when we were younger, the Fantasy Doctor and I both loved those Toronto Blue Jay championship team of 1992 and 1993 … I love to play fantasy. I love the information. I am a stats nerd. It’s fun.”

McBrien takes exception with the view that podcasts will not catch on in popularity.

“I disagree with that thinking. I think that podcasts are getting more popular,” McBrien said. “Look at DVRs. People watch shows now when they get the chance.

“With mainstream radio, a program is broadcast from 1-2 p.m. You listen then or you don’t hear it. But if you have a niche, you can do a podcast. You are not going to do it for general events, not even as broad as baseball in general. You have to be as niche as possible. You need to be niche, niche, niche.

“My argument is that advertising to the several thousand people listening to a niche product is going to get your more results than reaching 100,000 people (through a broadcast station) who don’t give a s–t about your product.”

In addition to McBrien and the Fantasy Doctor, the program features a rolling guest format. When the show returns Feb. 4, the first guest of the new season will be Eno Sarris, a writer for the Fangraphs website. Subsequent guests include members of the fantasy community such as Tim Heaney (USA Today), Mike Gianella (Roto Think Tank) and baseball author Allen Schatz.

With fantasy sports being a $4 billion per year industry, McBrien said fantasy baseball team owners are looking for information. While baseball is second in fantasy numbers to football, he said with baseball being a daily sport, there is more thirst for information in baseball’s fantasy ranks.

He said his show continues to be successful because of the hard work he puts into the effort.

“I put in the time. A lot of podcasts do five shows and they are not heard from again,” McBrien said. “I make the commitment to get better every single show.”

The podcast is recorded weekly on Monday nights and is available through podcast channels including iTunes, Podcast Pickle, MirPod and Podcast Alley.

This article first appeared on examiner.com.

Though ice hockey is unknown as a sporting event to most Indians, people from areas like Shimla, Kashmir and Ladakh in India, which have traditionally cold climates, are slowly warming up to ice hockey since the past 2-3 decades, after the Indian Army posted in the high altitude border regions took up the game and popularized it by playing annual winter matches in Ladakh.

Ladakh Winter Sports Club organizes the National Ice Hockey Championship since 2001 in the last week of January – and it’s a big local event. The tournament takes place at Leh Karzoo Ice Hockey Rink, an open air ice rink situated 3,474 m above the sea level. The game is very demanding at this altitude. 

Many ex pats from the Canadian and Russian consulates in Mumbai and Delhi have been playing the game in Ladakh for the past few years. Playing in – 20 degree centigrade at the highest Ice Hockey rinks in the world  attracts and thrills them. They participate in matches at Leh with the locals. In the following video, the Montreal Canadians Ice Hockey coaches travel to the remote village of Domkhar in Ladakh to teach the mountain villagers the game of Ice Hockey.

The matches have caught the imagination of Ladakhi men and women, both young and old. But these aspirants  face many challenges: lack of money, lack of infrastructure, including equipments, warm clothing, skating boots, guards, etc. The only place in India where something minimal is available is Shimla, a small hill station in the northwestern part of India.

The love for the new sports has driven the local Ladakhis to improvise with what is available. They get the ice skating blades from Shimla and nail them to the army ammunition boots, wearing several layers of socks inside. Security equipments like helmets or elbow and knee pads are not available to them. Instead of using the special equipments, roller skating and ordinary ground hockey sticks and pads are used. Thick rubber heels of the army boots are cut to a rounded shape and used as pucks. Minor accidents while learning and practicing are not unknown, but people shrug it as inevitable and carry on, regardless. Often, seeing the enthusiasm of these people, the visiting tourists from abroad gift some of their equipments when they go back.

The love of the Ladakhis for ice hockey has been immortalized in movies. For example, “Frozen” (2009) and “One more…” are feature films shot in Ladakh by Shivajee Chandrabhushan. The film “One More...”  traces the journey of an amateur, but passionate, ice hockey team from Ladakh to the ice rinks of Russia.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has recently made an English-Punjabi, ice-hockey-themed film Break Away that showcases the struggles faced by South Asian immigrants.

Similarly, Thin ice is an internationally financed documentary about girls in Ladakh, who want to play Ice Hockey. The video that follows shows snippets from the film. Watch the video: I loved the verve and the enthusiasm of the girls. It’s infectious.

Dolkar, a young Buddhist woman from Ladakh and her friends wish to play ice hockey, and get equipment and coaching. When they want to participate in the annual Hockey tournament they face opposition. The men in charge, the board of the winter sport club prefer ice dance from the girls, not ice hockey. They travel over the mountain to the Muslim village Kargil and create a joint team. The Buddhist and Muslim girls have to fight for their rights both on the ice and off the rink.

Let’s hope that in the years to come, India becomes a formidable player on the global ice hockey scene.

Read Also

Ladakh: Nature’s Abode in India

Everyone has a list, best foods, best destinations, top Super Bowls, best guacamole you name it and they are all subjective.  This list right here fits right into that category. Pound for pound is a term used in combat sports to describe a fighter’s value in relation to fighters of different weight classes.  As these fighters do not compete directly, judging the best fighter pound for pound is subjective and ratings vary. The term was historically associated with fighters such as Benny Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson who were widely considered to be the most skilled fighters of their day, to distinguish them from the generally more popular (and better compensated) heavyweight champions.  The criterion used to compile the list below was quality of opposition, gameness, the ability to adjust, heart, stamina and ring smarts.  So without further ado, the Top 10 Boxers of right now, Pound for Pound from 10-1…..

10.  Vitali Klitschko, Record: 44-2 (40KO’s) HeavyWeight-His Knockout Percentage speaks for itself.  He has not lost in almost 10 years, and even that loss was debatable, against Lennox Lewis.  Literally spending years politicking for a rematch, Lennox Lewis would rather retire.  Vitali’s right hand is devastating but it is his ability to use his height and reach advantage that puts Dr. Ironfist in the top two of the Heavyweight Division.  With a 86.96% knockout percentage rate, he holds the second best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in heavyweight boxing history, after Rocky Marciano’s 87.76%. He has never been knocked down in any professional boxing bout and has also never lost a decision.  He would give any Heavyweight of any era his money’s worth.    NEXT FIGHT vs Manuel Charr on SEPT 8th 2012

09.  Nonito Donaire, Record: 29-1 (18KO’s) Junior Featherweight- The Filipino Flash is a four-division world champion and the reigning WBO and IBF Super Bantamweight Champion. He is also the former WBC and WBO Bantamweight, Interim WBA Super Flyweight and IBF FlyweightChampion. He is a known switch-hitter with the ability to fight either southpaw or orthodox, but what puts him a class above the rest is his ability to make in ring adjustments and the speed to take chances.  He is finally getting out of the shadow of his countryman Manny Pacquiao and setting his identity as a completely different type of fighter than Manny.  His upcoming superlight with #1 ranked Toshiaki Nishioka is sure to be a fight of the year candidate.  He has not lost a fight in over 10 years.  NEXT FIGHT vs Toshiaki Nishioka on OCT 13th 2012

08.  Timothy Bradley, Record: 29-0 (12 KO’s) WelterWeight-  Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley has been an underdog his whole life, which is actually a good thing.  It takes the pressure off when your not the “golden one”.  It is another reason he comes into every fight focused and mentally ready and has an unblemished record to prove it.  You can’t help but feel bad for him though, after winning the biggest fight of his life against Manny Pacquiao, he still does not have a plan of action for his immediate future, which is ok with him, because if there is one thing Tim knows, it is how to win against all odds.  NEXT FIGHT vs TBD

07.  Anselmo Moreno, Record:  33-1 (12 KO’s) BantamWeight-  Who?  He is another fighter who has not lost a fight in over a decade and has actually won 4 of his last 7 by Technical Knock Out.  He is riding a lot of momentum and has just signed a four fight deal with Golden Boy Promotions.  He is the current WBA Super World BantamWeight Champion and is riding a wave of momentum into the future.  He does not have anything lined up at the moment, but at 35 years old, this gentleman is reaching his peak.  His greatest asset is his experience,  ring savvy, and his will to win.  NEXT FIGHT vs Abner Mares OCT 27th 2012

06.  Juan Manuel Marquez, Record: 54-6-1 (39KO’s) Light WelterWeight-  He is a rare breed of boxing tactician and technician.  His later years have seen him become more of the aggressor, which has made for some compelling fights given his natural counter punching abilities.  If he cannot get a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, he is more than willing to get in the ring with another pound for pound contender, Timothy Bradley.  That would be a lucrative fight for both men, given their “Pac Man” connection.  Jmm is getting close to his final fights in boxing and it would behoove all boxing enthusiasts to watch him before he is gone.  NEXT FIGHT vs TBD

05.  Andre Ward, Record: 25-0 (13KO’s) Super MiddleWeight-  The future is bright for young Andre Ward.  The beginning of his career seemed really handpicked and forcibly slow for such an amazing talent, but his handlers had a plan, and it payed off in dividends.   He is the current WBA (Super), WBC and The Ring Super Middleweight Champion. Currently, Ward is rated among the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. He is rated #6, #6 and #5 by Yahoo! Sports,[3] Sports Illustrated[4] and The Ring[5] respectively. Ward was a Gold Medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Ward was named Ring Magazine fighter of the yearin 2011.   He has never lost a boxing match at any level competitively.  A proven winner and he will face his toughest challenge to date when he faces “Bad” Chad Dawson on Sept 8th.  A lot of fighters claim they fight the best, Andre Ward has the resume to prove it.  NEXT FIGHT vs Chad Dawson on SEPT 8th 2012

04.  Wladimir Klitschko, Record: 58-3 (51 KO’s) HeavyWeight-  The Klitschko Brothers are beasts.  There is no other way to put it.  Right now they are winning practically every single round versus every single opponent and they don’t seem to be slowing down.  The question must be asked, are they the two best because the Heavy Weight Talent pool is low, or are they the one making it look easy, making other good fighters seem mediocre.  Only history can tell, but the fact remains that the stats like owning every major belt in your weight class is an achievement virtually unprecedented for brothers.  Wladimir is a technician with surgical precision.  In the ring he is cold, robotic, and unrelenting with his 1-2 combo.  What makes him that much greater is that all his opponents know what he is going to do….jab, jab, right hand, and they still are defenseless.  He is the current ddefending WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO & The Ring Heavyweight titlist.  He would have definitely held his own against any of the greats.  NEXT FIGHT vs Mariusz Wach on NOV 10th 2012

03.  Sergio Martinez, Record: 49-2-2 (28 KO’s) MiddleWeight- He is the current The Ring Middleweight Champion.  He is the former WBC & WBO Middleweight Champion[3][4] and recipient of the WBC Diamond belt. Martinez was previously in the light middleweight division, where he held the WBC Light Middleweight title (Interim then elevated to full status champion), as well as the WBC Latino title. Also, he has competed in the welterweight division, where he held the WBO Latino title. Martínez is currently rated as the number three pound for pound best boxer in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Yahoo! Sports. In 2010, Martínez received The Ring and BWAA “Fighter of the Year” and The Ring “Knockout of the Year”awards, respectively.  In other words, he is a monster in the ring.  His style is eccentric, fighting entire rounds with his hands down and never seeming to tire.  He is trying to land a Mayweather fight and depending on how he looks against undefeated Middleweight Champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, we will see what happens.  NEXT FIGHT vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on SEPT 15 2012

02.  Manny Pacquiao, Record: 54-4-2 (38 KO’s) WelterWeight- If a typhoon and Bruce Lee would ever have a baby, the product would be Manny Pacquiao.  He is a force to be reckoned with at any weight class.   A fighter like him only comes along once in a generation, someone who can captivate an audience and finish the fight with a single glaring blow.  Although he officially lost the fight to Tim Bradley, that score can be dismissed by watching the tape where 97 % of fighters, fans, commentators, and coaches had Pacquiao winning by large margins.  We are all waiting for the Super Bowl of Boxing when he finally enters the ring against the other Living Legend, Floyd “Money” Mayweather.  Until they actually step into the ring with each other, we can all sit back and speculate on who and why they would win.  NEXT Fight vs TBD

01.  Floyd Mayweather Jr., Record 43-0 (26 KO’s) WelterWeight-  When all you do is win, it is hard to argue who is the best, and Floyd “Money” Mayweather is the poster boy for winning.  As polarizing as he is, he is a much needed jolt into the arm of boxing, and when he fights, the world watches.  Cotto pushed him and Floyd had a chance to fold, but he didn’t, the dragon came out, and if the fight were 2 more rounds, he would have the Warrior Cotto out on his shield. But he was pushed and that is what everyone wanted to see, what he would do when he was challenged, when someone didn’t fold and fought back, and for the first time that I could remember, Floyds face was bloodied.  It was almost shocking to see that.  But the dragon came out and Floyd did what he does best, and that is win.  It is rare to have the #1 and #2 pound for pound fighters in the same weight class.  For all the sport has given Floyd and Manny, it would be a dishonor to boxing to not have them step into the ring together.   NEXT FIGHT vs TBD

The Standing 8 Count

1.      Chad Dawson vs Andre Ward is an example of the best fighting the best.  We hear a lot of boxers talk about fighting the best, but don’t talk about, be about it.

2.      Dream Match Up- Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero vs  Adrien “The Problem” Broner @ 140lbs

3.      Eric Morales vs Danny Garcia = War    Word on the street is Eric Morales is training like a beast………hmmmmmmm

4.      Bob Arum and 50 Cent are on talking terms and may Co-Promote a fight early next year

5.      San Antonio is on a collision course to become a “Mecca of Boxing” in the next 5 years

6.      A shot out goes to the Raging Babe Michelle Rosado, an Arizona based Boxing Promoter who is doing nothing but big things.  Please check out her website at http://facetofaceevents.net

7.      USA BOXING: Claressa Shields Claims Gold and Marlen Esparza earned Bronze, If you don’t know who these two are, you better ask somebody.  Congratulations to these two female Warriors.

8.       Boxing motivation at its finest right here ———à  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzJHKfR-_gk&list=UUSAKHhhVMjKZxApVg5nfuYw&index=1&feature=plcp

Author
Q. Cardenas, Army Veteran of 2 Wars, Founder of Mult Task International, Creator of the world renowned iPhone app “amrevolution” (click for link),  is an avid video game enthusiast, habitual procrastinator, has laced up the gloves a few times, enjoys long walks on the beach, talking about zombies and is passionate about boxing and the warriors that call themselves Boxers.  You can reach him at multitask@mail.comor on Facebook by clicking here

A Home Golf Club Urges You to Get Out of the House

When your home golf club is within easy reach, there’s less reason to quibble about the time it takes to play. It’s there, calling to you, come out and play!

A Home Golf Course Allows You to Focus on Your Golf Game

After you play a golf course several times, you begin to understand how you can get into trouble i.e. when the tee box tricks you into slicing towards the woods. By knowing the golf course, you easily find yourself paying attention to each stroke, not the golf course, not the excuses, not the game.

Playing Golf on a Home Golf Course Teaches Consistency

If you have a challenging golf course, you learn to narrow your shots to fit into tight corners while on new courses you’re more likely to hedge your bet and take a shorter shot.

Friends Can be Found at a Home Golf Course

Golf courses offer tournaments, meetings, events, food, and many chances to chat with other people and a home course brings you familiar faces instead of strangers.

A Challenging Home Golf Club Golf Course Improves Your Game

When faced with the same tight or troublesome shot time and again, you’re more likely to stop and figure out how to make the shot work right.

Challenging Second Hole at Twin Rivers Golf Course

A Home Golf Club Keeps Your Handicap Up to Date at FGA

Most golf courses offer the ability to enter your score for your game into the computer in order to keep your handicap up to date, but your home golf course makes it easy and sometimes offers other benefits.

Nature is a Treat with the Right Home Golf Club

A golf club is often a time out of the congested traffic in the middle of fields, trees, beside rivers and beaches many times with flowers so the right home golf club can help relax you.

Sandhill Cranes Promise Not to Laugh but Not to Holler

A Home Golf Club Keeps Your Golf Commitment Minimized

When you go to new golf courses, it often takes extra time to plan, call for tee times, drive to the new location and find it, then find out where all the supplies are. With a home golf club, you are right at home.

Knowing the Course Layout Can Save You Strokes

Your overall score is likely to go down on a home golf course. Often a new course is good for an extra ten stroke or more just because you don’t know what to expect.

The Seventh Hole Par Three at Twin Rivers is a Breeze with the Right Club

Golf Club Memberships Can Save You Money           

Many golf clubs offer memberships that can reduce your costs for playing golf.

It can’t have escaped your attention that the UK has one of the highest obesity levels in the world. This is partly to do with the fact that everyone likes to eat so much junk food, but also to do with the fact that more of us than ever are driving, and certainly more of us are spending time in front of the computer rather than being out and getting active with our friends. This has led to us being a very unhealthy nation.

The Olympics always makes me want to start participating in sport. Indeed, once every four years I will get my bicycle out and start cycling, and I wil sign up to the gym thinking that maybe at one point I will be able to get to the stage where I could be winning a medal myself. I know deep down that it is never going to happen, but it is so motivating to see people from my country who have managed to do just that, and that are now really being able to make something of themselves. In my town, after the actual Olympics have finished, they are running a mini Olympics. They have been holding events for different age groups over the past week, and will be running the finals in the week after London 2012 is over. This has attracted the attention of not just children, but people of all ages, and it has meant that you have people training for events that you’ve never even seen before.

On the other hand, you have to take into account that there are millions of people around the country who are being gripped by the games to the extent that they don’t want to miss a single second of it. This means that they are spending their time in front of the television, probably with a lot of snacks, instead of being out there are being active themselves. Although it is only for two weeks, this is long enough for them to get into the habit of being sedentary rather than active, and this means that it could have a negative effect on them in the long term after the event is over. People should be encouraged to take part in the actual sports rather than just watching them on TV like most people are doing.

There is such great scope for the Olympics to be a success not only for the athletes but also for those people who are inspired by them; but unfortunately there are far too many people who don’t seem to want to take part in the sports at all. 

I don’t cry.  I don’t even remember getting teary eyed since I was a young child.  I don’t know the reasoning behind it, maybe because after being in the military for 10 years and two combat tours I found a way to emotionally disconnect.  In 2005, knee deep in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars I was working for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense.  All those secret bunkers and underground laboratories we see in movies…..are all true, I’ve been there.  My first day on that assignment I was badged into a back room and the first thing I saw was a classic scientist, with his lab coat and beaker pushing cart, which is nothing unusual, until I saw the contents of the cart.  Right there in front of me were about a dozen mice with their craniums sawed across and their little brains exposed.  Protruding from the side of their brain was a computer board.  Still vividly in my mind….. I digress, that is a story for another day and it will lead up to where I currently work now (Nuerocognitive Research Center for the Department of Defense).  During my assignment there, I was specially selected to perform a detail, a duty and honor I hold dear to my heart today.  Funeral Detail for the deceased service members our current day military warriors, from the conflicts overseas.  Hearing Taps, even today, brings chills down my spine, mainly because I saw the hurt and anguish of the parents….siblings…children….wives of the deceased.  It is one of the most unnatural acts a parent or loved one can do, which is bury their son or daughter.  After ceremoniously folding the flag I remember dropping down to one knee and looking at this service members mother directly in her eyes… red with anguish, hurt and fear….the long side of the flag facing her, I extended my arms, flag sandwiched between my palms I could feel the three shell casings we placed in prior, the stars of the flag facing upwards representing our National Motto, “In God We Trust”.  Her eyes pierced mine, searching for what she had lost…..for that brief moment we were connected, and I felt her anger, her rage, he was only 20 years old, not even old enough to drink…..as a parent her worst case scenario was playing out in front of her eyes and it was me….on one knee…presenting the Flag of the United States of America.  As she reaches out to gain possession of her sons services to our country it becomes my cue….”On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”  Our eyes still locked, still connected I can feel the reminiscent of her closure…although far from closing…I stand straight at attention and render a final…slow salute.  At that moment it is just us, although we are surrounded with family and loved ones…the tears and crying muffled by this long standing tradition.  I drop my salute and at that moment our eye contact is broken and her heart continues the mourning.  I march slowly back to the rest of the funeral detail and finish the proceedings.  Heading back to headquarters we look at the schedule for the next day, week and month.  A funeral  almost everyday up and down the east coast for the next 90 days. Each went exactly the same and each stung just as deep.  I bring this story up because our service members are warriors, they sign up for college or money for their families, but with the acknowledgement that they may die in battle.  . 

What does this have to do with boxing?  Good question…a lot.  Boxers fight for the same thing our service members fight for, our families, ourselves, and with the Olympic Boxing Team overseas, our Country.  Some box because that is where they feel comfortable, in the gym and in the ring.  Others step into the ring because that is how they feed their family, but whatever the reasoning is, they are warriors.  Every time they set foot into that ring they are on the battle field and like any battle field on earth, they know the risk of losing their life.  Countless have died in the name of Boxing.  That is why I feel the fight between Adrien Broner and Vicente Escobedo was a disgrace.  It was a disgrace to boxers, boxing, and boxing fans.  As amazing a talent as Adrien Broner is, he practically shot the middle finger to every boxer who has suffered to make weight before him and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.  He already had the speed, size and talent advantage over Escobedo, now throw in the fact he didn’t make the 130lb limit and the fight was lost even before it started, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission let it happen.  I will give him credit for looking spectacular, but how much credit is deserved after not following the rules, practically cheating when he did not have to.  If you acknowledge the fact that your body is getting too big for a weight division, don’t fight in that division.  Too easy. 

Boxing is alive because of the fans and is nowhere being dead.  We keep boxing alive. No matter how much momentum the UFC or mixed martial arts gets, they will always be the little brother to boxing.   So for everyone who likes to say boxing is dead, the mere fact that boxing is being uttered is a testament to how alive it is.  These warriors who go to work every week have a duty but we also have a duty as well.  Who is the oversight to make sure a fighter gets a fair shake when it comes to weight? Performance Enhancing Drugs?  Plaster in the gloves?  Who determines what a fair fight is?  You can make a point for the Athletic Commision or promoters, or the contract, but there are too many variables and no one enforcing any rules.  We the fans are quick to complain about Boxing and what needs to be changed, but there is no action behind it.  It just becomes good conversation, and then we see the same things happening over and over again.  Over the next few weeks I will be writing about how we can empower ourselves, empower our Boxing Warriors, and wrestle against the old way of doing things.  Just because that is the way it has always been done surely does not mean it is the best way of doing things.  Empowerment.

THE STANDING 8

·         1.  Boxing Art- When I first saw her artwork, my jaw literally dropped.  Take a look for yourself and visit her page at http://amanda-kelley.tumblr.com

·         2.  Adrien Broner is an amazing talent and almost more importantly a showman and a polarizing figure in boxing, which is needed.  I like how he called out fighters as opposed to , “sitting down with my team, and letting my promoter decide what is best” 

·         3.   I am really excited to watch the Olympic Boxing Team and even more excited to see the first ever Female Oympic Boxers in actions.  They are really changing the game and perception of female boxers.  This first wave of Olympic Athletes is paving the way for the next generation of female fighters.  Good luck and bring home the gold.  If you don’t know who Marlen Esparza is, you better ask someone…..follow her on twitter @Marlen112Boxing

·         4.   I am hoping Robert Guerrero isn’t sleeping on undefeated Champion Selcuk Aydin, he is undefeated and a Champion for a reason…but Guerrero should win…..should……

·         5.  Pauli Malignaggi @PaulMalignaggi  is the Twitter King, I don’t know how he tweets and resumes a normal life

·         6.  Edwin Valero (RIP) vs Adrien Broner @ 135lbs would be fight of the year hands down but since that isn’t happening anytime soon I would love to see Adrien Broner vs Yuriorkis Gamboa…thoughts?

·         7.  Chobani with fresh Granola…..you didn’t know?

·         8.   Only about a week left until Floyd Mayweather becomes a free man again

Author
Q. Cardenas, Army Veteran of 2 Wars, Founder of Mult Task International, Creator of the world renowned iPhone app “amrevolution” (click for link), and Creator of the Boxing Buzz Website http://boxingbuzz.weebly.com He is an avid video game enthusiast, habitual procrastinator, has laced up the gloves a few times, enjoys long walks on the beach, working out, talking about zombies and is passionate about boxing and the warriors that call themselves Boxers.  You can reach him at multitask@mail.com or on Facebook by clicking here

It may have been the moment Amir Khan said he was going to make quick work of Garcia (click for article) or the moment he was contemplating a December fight with Mayweather (click for article) that it dawned on me.  Amir Khan is complacent about this fight and complacency kills.  At 140lbs, Amir Khan is one of the most gifted fighters in the division.  He has the speed, slickness, experience, and savvy to beat any of the contenders and if he were to ever fight Tim Bradley at 140 I would have Amir winning the fight…..but he has now lost 2 of his last 3 fights and is at a crossroads.  Someone with so much talent should be dominating division after division.  Two things are holding him back though, his lack of self reflection (a moment to realize his strengths and weaknesses) and his inability to figure out who he is when he’s inside the ring.

Where does he go from here?  He definitely needs to leave the 140lb division and move up to 147.    The added weight should help with his punch resistance (if he bulks up his upper shoulders and neck muscles) and I feel 147 is where he belongs.  His heart is at the Welterweigh division anyways.  He is too good to be fighting tomato cans though.  Kell Brook (who?) should be his first stop in DEC, in the UK to get his confidence back up and by spring time next year he should be ready for a fight labeled “Crossroads” VS Victor Ortiz (make it happen Golden Boy).  Winner moves on to bigger and better things.  Amir has a fighter’s spirit with a jaw made of porcelain.  I wish him the best.And Danny Garcia?  Saturday night was good victory for a yound lion.  He should do what Tim Bradley and Amir Khan couldn’t, which is clean out the 140lb division.  He’s an undefeated fighter from Philly which says a lot in itself.  He does nothing spectacular (except win) but does many good things in the ring.  I think his greatest attribute is that he knows who he is.  He knew Khan had the advantage in size and speed, but he said it himself before the fight, “Timing beats speed any day….he will need more than speed to beat me…” (link KO Garcia and hurt him).  That and he was also hungrier.  The lineup looks to be a unification fight with IBF Champion Zab Judah in Atlantic City before the end of the year and then Juan Manual Marquez in the spring.  The future looks promising.

The Standing 8

·    * Why is Canelo fighting Joselito Lopez again?

·    * I would love to see Adrien Broner pushed by Vicente Escobedo this weekend

·    * Then step up class and fight Yuriokis Gamboa at 126lbs (Yuri would have to move up in weight)

·    *140 lb Tournament with Danny Garcia vs Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse vs Lamont Peterson, Brandon Rios vs Marcos Maidonna, and Juan Manual Marquez vs Mike Alvarado

·    * I was somewhat disengaged with Floyd Mayweathers ramblings about PEDs in the sport of boxing….…seems he was right after all

·     * I feel bad for Timothy Bradley

·     *  Is Floyd really going to make a rematch with Cotto in DEC?

·     * Is 2012 the year of the upset?

About the Author:Q. Cardenas, Army Veteran of 2 Wars, Founder of Mult Task International, Creator of the world renowned iPhone app “amrevolution” (click for link),  is an avid video game enthusiast, habitual procrastinator, has laced up the gloves a few times, enjoys long walks on the beach, talking about zombies and is passionate about boxing and the warriors that call themselves Boxers.  You can reach him at multitask@mail.com or on Facebook by clicking here.  He is also the author of the Boxing Blog, “Boxing Buzz” http://boxingbuzz.weebly.com/

As many ladies would like to work on toning their behind, stomach and thighs, such being commonplace areas at which fat is found to accumulate, for the majority, getting into a bodybuilding course for ladies at a local fitness center may prove to be the best solution.

If you wish to be toned and slender, contact an instructor specializing in bodybuilding for women, given that this kind of training course is definitely slightly different than that for the male bodybuilders, generally looking to pack on muscle.

However, there are those women who use the excuse that, having heard mythical female muscle growth stories, were they to increase muscle, it would all turn into fat when they quit working out. This is nonsense, fat and muscle are completely different components and the one simply cannot come to be the other.

Usually what happens is, if you are in bodybuilding program, you will certainly consume far more food. If you stop your workouts, the body is not going to have demand for as much fuel as previously. This where the myth takes hold, some individuals forget this minor reality and carry on eating to the same extent as before.

Dining habits tend to be exactly that, habits. All of us often get into a feeding routine, in this instance a great deal more meals compared to customary, frequently the habitual pattern stays. Therefore, to carry on feeding at similar amounts as earlier, if you aren’t burning the excess intake of food, it must end up someplace, which means you will likely add pounds.

The suggested diet is to consume five or six little dinners each day, with plenty of quality protein, greens and balanced fats.

Implementing a bodybuilding diet plan for women, will ensure you get the most from your workout program. Consuming scaled-down, although more regular meals, increases your metabolic process, assisting to effectively burn the calories.

At the same time, it will help to regulate your blood sugar levels and, be an aid to avoid those unfulfilled hunger pangs that could lead to the termination of the diet. Most of all, you aren’t going to get that starving sensation usually linked with the bulk of common fat burning plans.

A bodybuilding course for ladies will create form and firmness to particular parts of your body. Your coach will have the talents to assist you to come up with a bodybuilding routine to optimize your training.

Additionally, you will need to engage in, at a minimum, half a dozen periods of cardio workout each week. Unfortunately these training sessions are most beneficial when performed before you have breakfast, this means rising earlier.

Yet another misconception with regards to bodybuilding, is basically that you cannot integrate it with aerobic exercise, as it can stop you from developing muscle. It is indeed my point of view that such is rubbish. Aerobic workouts burn calories and fat, are wonderful with regards to your health and fitness and, actually make it easier to boost muscle mass. So be sure to include aerobic sessions as a part of your body toning routine.

When visualising bodybuilding for women, just what figure do you see? Would it be the image of a finely toned lady possessing a flat belly, and a particularly pert bum? Possibly, is it the woman that seems more like a male, with pronounced muscles?

It will likely be the second idea, but this won’t be the way the majority of bodybuilding females look. Those with the significant muscles are bodybuilding women on steroids. So, let us deal with some realities. The female body was never built to take on an over abundance of testosterone. Forego the steroids, ladies.

This isn’t normal and definitely does not make a great deal of good sense. Think about this, apart from the women that will truly contend with other women, in regards to who may have the foremost man-like physique, the vast majority of ladies who attend body development programs, tend to be truly performing this to have a tighter, more toned and desirable feminine physique.

Additionally, motives of well being, general physical fitness and fat loss, also perform significant roles.Just who are ladies having big muscles working to make an impression on? Certainly, various other ladies to begin with, although that simply comes along with simply being a woman.

However which guys are likely to determine muscle bound females desirable? Men that prefer their ladies to appear similar to males, or guys who desire guys to appear similar to females? Touch complicated, that. Each and every one to their own I believe.

Should you require some further motivation, take into account that the actresses you see on television with their washboard stomachs and sculpted legs are all involved with some bodybuilding course for ladies.

Follow here for more information on Bodybuilding for Women: http://personaltrainersbrisbane.biz/bodysculpting/

Asking former Major League baseball players about their biggest thrill in the big leagues takes them about as long to answer as “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”

The answer is quick and decisive.

For Milt Pappas, it was the no-hitter he threw in 1972 at Wrigley Field as a member of the Chicago Cubs. It would have been a perfect game, but the second-to-last batter walked after Pappas was ahead in the count 1-2 and threw three pitches near the outside corner of home plate.

“If you’re (umpire) Bruce Froemming, how do not call one of those three outside pitches a strike? Later he said, he didn’t know I was pitching a perfect game. How do you not know it’s a perfect game? Did you see any hitters go to the right (first base) and stay to the right? Then, you’re calling a perfect game.”

Asked if he still resents Froemming from keeping him from the elite perfect game club, Pappas retorted, “Let’s just say he’s not on my Christmas card list.”

Steve Sax and John Martin both pointed to the world championships they won — Martin with the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1984 Detroit Tigers, and Sax with the 1981 and 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Martin had his two World Series rings on when the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association put on a youth clinic June 9 at Triton College. He invited youth and parents alike to try on the rings and hold them while signing autographs after the on-field portion of the clinic.

“To win a World Series in baseball tops everything else,” Sax said. “You will always be known as world champion.”

For Bill Campbell, who pitched for seven Major League clubs, including the Cubs, his biggest thrills were when he was first called up to the Majors, pitching in the World Series for the 1985 Cardinals, and appearing in the 1977 All-Star Game.

“When they first call you up, that’s a real fantastic feeling,” Campbell said.

Former infielder Jack Perconte vividly remembers the final series of the 1980 season when his Dodgers trailed the San Francisco Giants by three games with three left to play. The Dodgers won all three and Perconte played in all three.

For former Chicago Cubs outfielder Gene Hiser, the answer was “Sept. 20, 1972.”

“That’s the day I met my (future) wife at Wrigley Field,” Hiser said. “She and her girlfriend had bought Terrace seats and (teammate) Pete LaCock was living on my couch at the time. He set it up for us all to have drinks and dinner.”

Kevin Beese