Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

Konnichiwa!

I bet you didn’t know that the world’s first ever Robot marathon is underway in Japan! Can you believe it! It began on Thursday in the city of Osaka in western Japan in the Asia Pacific trade centre. The city – whose municipal government is funding the event - used to rely on heavy industry, but is now trying hard to sell itself as being at the forefront of robot innovation. The robots did the usual warm up exercises expected of any competent athlete before setting off.

The battery charged competitors – all five of them – are each between 30cm & 44cm in height & will be trying to complete the 26.2 mile marathon by Sunday. The distance will be covered by doing 422 laps of a 100 metre track.

The robots must compete in the race without assistance, but the company’s & universities responsible for entering the robots in the marathon are allowed to carry out running repairs & battery changes!

Japanese robot maker Vstone is responsible for organizing the event & say the robots will be tested to the limit by the marathon in terms of their durability and manoeuvrability. Their own entry in the marathon will be recording the whole of the race via a video camera which has been installed in its head. The event will be broadcast on line as it happens giving a robot’s eye view of the marathon.

There is now a well established tradition of combining the most up to date technology with athletic achievement.

This might be the world’s first robot marathon but it certainly isn’t the first event of its kind. The first robot football world cup took place in 1997 – also in Japan – in the city of Nagoya & was hosted by Japan again in 2005 in Osaka. The competition was held in Singapore last year with 40 countries competing with a total of 500 teams.

Mind you you’d have to be a real enthusiast to endure 4 days of a robot marathon!

If you want to check it out for yourself you can do so at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/robovie-pc

Be careful though – I don’t know how the robots are baring up but a couple of minutes left me feeling sick & dizzy!

Sayonara!

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Walking can save your life!

Walking is a great way to get outside and get a little bit of exercise under your belt – but if it is actually exercise you’re after then perhaps walking isn’t the best avenue for you.  Although you think you’re doing great things for your body, you could be moving too slowly to feel any of the benefits!

A study by the American Heart Association has shown that a moderate to brisk walk can do wonders for lowering your blood pressure as well as reducing your chances of getting diabetes.  You will also be fighting off those bad cholesterol levels.  So what can you do to add a bit of oomph into your walk?

Speed

You don’t have to be gearing up to power walk in the Olympics but it won’t hurt to kick it up a notch!  Build your walk up from a relaxing stroll to a brisk pace – you should be aiming to jump up to around a 15 minute mile which is around 3.5 miles an hour.

Work at it gradually and you’ll see the benefits in no time – don’t be scared, be strong!

Uphill Struggle

You’ll be doing more for your body walking up and down hill as your body will be working harder to deal with the inclines.  So effectively you will be having a better walk if you leave the treadmills to the gym-heads and take to the terrain.

Shoes

Don’t wear the wrong shoe – wear a shoe that provides you with the necessary padding that you need for a brisk walk.  All too often we look for shoes that will provide comfort when in fact walking shoes will supply the support where you actually need it!  The wrong shoe will do a lot of damage and will knacker you out a lot faster!

Weights

Don’t worry, you aren’t going to look like Arnie but you should think about throwing a little weight into the routine.  If you carry light weights in your hands as you walk you will be tuning up your upper body muscles without even really feeling the pressure.  Don’t use heavy weights as you’ll probably just do yourself an injury and put yourself off the whole walk which is not what you want at all.

Stride

Think about your stride and try lengthening it – you might feel as though you will be doing more by taking shorter paces but in fact you will be doing a better job if you stick to your walk.  The longer strides will help you burn off more calories and won’t tire you out as fast.  Don’t worry about looking silly either as you’ll just look determined and everyone will love you for it!

What about you?

Do you love a good walk but have been looking for ideas about how to take it to the next level?  Have you got any advice that you think could help our readers?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…

Happiness is only a few steps away…

What does it take to be happy?  That’s a question for the ages…if we all knew that answer to that then there would be no war, hunger, poverty and general upsets around the world…however, I can tell you what will make you happier!

It doesn’t involve spending all your time and money on a fad new Zen body trip…if you follow a few simple steps you will find that you will start to feel happier by doing very little!  But will you do it?  That’s another big question…don’t be negative about it, follow a few of these steps right now to make yourself feel a little happier about the day…

Activity

The more activities you do the more you will be boosting your energy levels.  There is always an opportunity to boost your energy levels so don’t take any excuse you can think of – if you’re working on your computer take 10 seconds out to do some star jumps, if you’re on the phone walk around, don’t just sit there looking glum…

Walk

Walking is one of the most relaxing things you could do but it has also been proven that sunlight actually stimulates brain chemicals that boost your mood.  Go out and get some sun on your face and you will feel better!

Free Yourself

If you’ve been haunted by that note on the fridge reminding you to cancel your magazine subscription then get going and cancel it – don’t let it fester away in your mind as “the task you need to do”.  Get it done and move on – you’ll feel lighter and happier by putting it in the past!

Tidy Up

If you’re sitting in mess then your brain will also feel cluttered.  Clear up your desk, how long will it take…5 minutes?  10?  Just do it and you’ll feel as though you’ve been freed from a prison of paper and clutter.  You’ll be surprised how refreshed you will feel afterwards.

Fake It!

This might sound as though it would make you feel worse but you should actually fake feeling good because after a while you will trick yourself into believing that you do actually feel good.  Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you’re stupid and you can easily trick yourself…it has been scientifically proven that a fake smile can actually boost your mood.  Give it a try, it won’t cost you anything…

Educate Yourself

Spend 15 minutes searching the Internet about a topic that you have no clue about – pop to a bookstore and buy a book about something that you have never even heard of.  Teach yourself something new and you’ll find that you will be feeding your mind and making yourself happier in the process.  Don’t go crazy and go straight for the astro-physics – pick something that you think will interest you!

What about you?

How do you make yourself happier?  Do you agree with our methods?  Have you given them a go?  Leave us a comment and let us know what you think…

Cricket isn’t English?

It seems that we have been wrong all these years – travelling around the country, bragging that we, the English, were the creators behind the charming game of cricket…but new academic research would seem to have proven us all wrong.  Belgium had the sport first…

According to a poem that has been discovered, that is said to have been written in 1533, suggests that the game actually originated from Flanders.

The news has taken the country unaware, striking shock into the hearts of the living rooms and streets of cricket lovers nationwide.

The poem, attributed to John Skelton, has claimed that Flemish weavers were called “kings of crekettes”.  The poem also gives mention to “wickettes”.

Skipping church for a quick game…

Paul Campbell, of the Australian National University, who has been declaring that the game was really a foreign import, made the discovery.

The original belief was that the game we know now as cricket evolved from an English children’s game and the first mention of the game being in England was found in the form of fines that were handed out when people skipped church to have a play.

Cricket was taken up by the majority of the country and then eventually found its way into public schools and then into both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Cricket isn’t even an English word.

Mr Campbell is quite sure that there is no chance that the game was created in England and has been backed up with Dr Heiner Gillmeister’s earlier research, which had already claimed that the word cricket couldn’t have come from the English language.

“‘There is no way to relate the term to any existing English word,’ he told the BBC,” said Campbell.

“I was brought up with Flemish children and I know the language well. I immediately thought of the Flemish phrase ‘met de krik ketsen’ which means to ‘chase a ball with a curved stick’.”

Meanwhile, upon hearing the news, cricket historian David Frith took the news quite well, saying, “It is hard to deny that this is a breakthrough. This discovery points to an addition to the great history of cricket.

“It’s exciting we haven’t yet written the final word on it.  It does make you wonder why Belgium isn’t playing Test cricket though, doesn’t it?” he continued.

Dr Gillmeister – golf isn’t even Scottish!

However, fans of Dr Heiner Gillmeister will be pleased to discover that his research didn’t come to a halt with cricket – he also pledged to discover the origins of golf.

Scots won’t be very happy to hear that as he is taking cricket away from England he is also quite happy to take golf away from Scotland.

Gillmeister is claiming that early records again indicate that the Belgians could have been found to play a similar game before the British.

What are we going to do?

How do you feel about the news?  Have you changed your views about cricket or do you think cricket is cricket…

Running amok at 72…

It is true – we don’t age like we used to anymore…but in some cases we age in numbers only.  A teenager picked the wrong OAP to thieve from when she decided to run off with 72 year old Jean Hirst’s handbag, only to be chased and caught by the pensioner who used to be a world class runner.

Jean Hirst may have made a mistake by allowing three teenage girls into her car to help her with her directions, but the bigger mistake was made by the teenage girl who thought that running off with Hirst’s handbag would be a simple snatch and grab.

After all, perhaps not the best victim to steal from is one that could outrun most of the people in the world at the age of 17, which is exactly what Hirst could do.

All England Schools Championship.

Jean Hirst qualified for the final of the All England Schools Championship after gaining recognition for becoming her county’s 100 yards champion.

So when the teenage girl took off with the bag, Hirst regained her former glory by doing what she knew best – running.

“Suddenly I felt 18 again. The adrenaline just kicked in and I seemed to turn back the years,” said Hirst.

“She had a head start but I covered 70 yards in about 15 seconds and was within two strides of her when she looked over her shoulder and saw me.

“She probably thought I was an easy target but she shouldn’t have judged a book by its cover. The look on her face was one of sheer amazement and she just threw my bag aside.”

Run Hirst, run…

If anything this is a warning to the country to take a firmer hand on the obesity issues effecting the country.  But there is of course another lesson to be learned here, and that is not to underestimate an OAP!

Mrs Hirst is a widow from Mansfield and said that the handbag that was snatched contained “her life” from her keys to her purse.

Hirst stopped to ask three teenage girl for directions in Long Eaton in Derbyshire to which their reply was that they would get in and show her.

When they arrived at the location, one of the girls, who were aged between 15 and 16, asked Hirst for 20p which is when it was brought to her attention that one of the girls had pinched her handbag.

“Then she started running and that’s when the fun began. I was not as out of breath as I thought I would be at my age,” said Hirst.

Sorry doesn’t seem to be the hardest word…

The other two girls, who were caught as unaware by the whole situation as Hirst was, apologised for their friend.

“I just told them to choose their friends more carefully. There was no way I could detain them and at the end of the day I was just glad I had my bag back,” said Hirst.

Cheaper than a Virgin Atlantic flight…

Jennifer Figge has become the first woman to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, making the epic crossing at the truly inspiring age of 56.

Figge, an American athlete, spent 24 days making the huge crossing from Cape Verde off Africa to Trinidad and Tobago. Officials are still calculating the exact total distance she swam.

And according to Figge she hasn’t had enough as she is now planning on carrying on her swim all the way up the coast to the British Virgin Islands.

Shark attack…when is it safe to get back in the water?

The physical strain was not the only issues Figge had to deal with but also the threat of attack by sharks.  Figge swam the Atlantic, therefore behind the protective cover of a cage to keep the danger of the sea predator at bay.

Probably viewed as both a let down and a relief, Figge didn’t end up seeing any sharks, but instead got an eye full of pilot whales, dolphins and turtles.

However, the sea can be just as dangerous as sharks as Figge faced daily torrents of waves reaching around 9 meters into the sky.

Energy drinks kept her going…

To keep her going, as Figge spent 8 hours at a go in the water before taking some solace in one of the rescue boats, crew members would chuck energy drinks to her.  Even in stormy weather, divers would be on hand to bring the drinks to her in person.

However, when the weather got too bad it was said that the crew would lose her and wouldn’t be able to see her in the water.  The weather also didn’t help with Figge’s route as she ended up being thrown 1,000 miles off course due to the bad weather.

The Atlantic was originally crossed by Benoit Lecomte, a French swimmer who swam the choppy sea 10 years ago, spending over two months, 73 days in total, swimming 4,000 miles, around double the distance that Figge is expected to have crossed.

19 out of 24 days isn’t bad, let’s be honest…

Figge wasn’t able to swim everyday of the 24 day adventure, due to the bad weather at sea.  According to her business manager, David Higden, Figge was forced to stay on the accompanying Catamaran until the weather eased up.

“She swam 19 of 24 days.  It turned from an endurance swim into an extreme adventure swim. She didn’t get into the water as much as she wanted, because the waves were so high.

The weather was so extreme the crew had trouble seeing her in the water,” continued Higden.

Even a cast wouldn’t stop her!

Figge is not new to the world of extreme sports and has been enjoying cross-country running and maritime crossings since her 30s.  Some of her accomplishments have seen her run 180 miles across Mexico which actually saw Figge complete the final 60 miles with a cast around her left leg.

Pole Dancing, anyone?

When I went to school I studied Maths, the Sciences, English and other such subjects.  I don’t remember there being any mention of Pole Dancing lessons, although if there were any going on I’m sure I would have taken a trip to that particular classroom.  Well now students need not worry anymore because a school has introduced the dancing to teen students in a controversial move to promote health.

That’s right, pole dancing lessons.  The campaign is aimed at providing the students of the school, South Devon College in Paignton, the chance to “Be Healthy”.

The school invited The Art of Dancing company to give a couple of demonstrations to the students as part of a “Be Healthy Week” and aims at promoting exercise and hopes to attract students to put down their laptops, iPhones and Nintendo DSs and get moving.

Let’s be honest, pole fitness is just another way of saying pole dancing, right?

However, just because the school calls the erotic dance form “pole fitness” doesn’t mean that parents will be OK with having it in their school.  In fact one of the biggest issues with the “pole fitness” was that Sam Remmer who gave the demonstration was dressed rather scantily in a sports bra and shorts.

Clearly a hit with the pupils though, Remmer stated that she had been warned about how she was dressed when she arrived for her second demonstration.  

“I was told that most of the complaints had come from members of staff who had not seen our displays but had just assumed that they were inappropriate.

“I was told pupils were distracted from their afternoon lessons because they were swapping pictures and videos,” said Remmer.

YouTube it…

Not troubled by the controversy surrounding her pole dancing, Remmer decided to see how far she could push the situation by posting videos of herself pole dancing on YouTube.

She said that the problem “escalated” when she uploaded onto the video sharing website, although I expect that “escalate” is probably an understatement.

Remmer, furious at the bad publicity the “pole fitness” had received, hit out at the critics, saying, “I am really angry that bad pole dancing stereotypes are being thrown in my face, I am annoyed to think that many mainstream pop groups seem to promote inappropriate behaviour far more than my pole dancing classes.”

Clothes?  Are you mad?

In response to the criticism Remmer faced about her clothing, she simple hit back saying that if she had indeed worn more clothing she would have slipped down the pole.

Pole dancing, or pole fitness as Remmer is hoping it be labelled, is becoming more and more popular amongst adult women due to the simple fact that it is both exercise and fun.  However, bringing the dancing to a school environment may not be the best idea, although I’m sure none of the students would be complaining.

To pole or not to pole…

What do you think?  Would you have been up for pole dancing, or pole fitness, in your school days or would you have preferred a quick session of Latin?

Reports have emerged about an insane amount of money to be spent on AC Milan’s Star Kaka.

The ‘credit crunch…what credit crunch’ busting sum of £100 million has been offered by the Cash cow that it Manchester city for the player, and would smash the world transfer record by £54 million. The world’s most expensive player currently is/was France’s Zinedene Zidane.

The news was revealed late yesterday on a website that is owned by Milan president Silvio Berlusconi. The website claims that Manchester City want to buy Kaka “at all costs”.

“This time they (City) are here for real with an official delegation,” said the report on the Mediaset website.

“Manchester City want Kaka at all costs and they have shown their cards.

“Garry Cook, two representatives of Sheik Mansour and Kia Joorabchian, who is acting as a mediator, met with Adriano Galliani and Ernesto Bronzetti (Milan chief executive and commercial director) and made their offer.”

However City have declined to comment on the latest rumour to hit the papers.

A City spokeswoman said: “We have been linked with in excess of 70 names that could have been coming in this transfer window.

“We are not going to be drawn into any speculation on any names, no matter who they might be.”

Manchester City has already broken the Premier League transfer record with the £32 million Robinho joining their ranks. New club chairman, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has a personal wealth of around £15 billion so splashing out a few hundred million pounds in the January transfer window does not seem unlikely.

However, with the team struggling at the foot of the Premiership table, attracting even medium-sized names has proved difficult. The club have signed Wayne Bridge from Chelsea, but has had offers for Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz turned down in the past two weeks.

Kaka would be a spectacular signing for the club, and is to be lured with a pay deal that would see him net £500,000 a week. The star began his career with Sao Paulo where he scored 58 goals. He then transferred to AC Milan for £5 million and has scored 86 goals in 244 appearances.

The players contract runs until 2013, and although he said last February that he’d stay at Milan for the rest of his career, he believes that the Premier League is the “best championship in the world”.

Mark Hughes, the City boss, is said to be under pressure from the new chairman to make his side perform better. They sit currently in 15th place in the league with 6 wins, 4 draws and 10 losses.

The papers are going crazy this morning after Wayne Rooney stamped on another player’s chest during Manchester United’s Game against Aalborg last night.

Some of the papers claim that Rooney has gone back to his old ways, when he was a bit of a tough nut to crack, and happily took his frustration out on various players because he was having a bad game, or the other player said something to him – he couldn’t control his temper when he first emerged on the scene, and this latest act of violence shows that the stocky bloke in red has maybe not turned a new leaf after all.

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Rooney has regained his focus, and was growing up fast, but you can’t say that is the case now. His childish response to the tackle from Alborg midfielder Kasper Risgard in the middle of the pitch was reminiscent to Rooney’s painful message he sent to Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho’s groin during the 2006 world cup.

The devil was inside him that day, and this latest assault clearly showed that the pointy tail is hidden up his shirt. He should count himself extremely lucky that the French Referee never saw it. Rooney has apparently left a large mark on the Risgard’s chest, and as reported by the BBC apologised…sort of: “That’s football, it’s a physical game,” he said.

Later in the match, he clearly swung an elbow in the direction of one of the defenders while in a wall for a free kick, and when he scraped his studs into the calf of Michael Jakobsen, and then he really should have been sent off.

The Aalborg coach was remarkably calm about the incident:

“It is not good for a fantastic footballer,” he said.

“You have to keep your head and stay calm in situations like that… but that man was a little bit frustrated.

“I was not sure during the game and I have not seen the pictures, so I cannot be 100% sure. But some of my people have seen it and said it was.”

And Alex Ferguson pointed blame at the other team for being physical: “Aalborg are not short of tackles are they?” he said. “They got stuck in and the one on Carlos was a blatant attack. Probably what saved him was that Carlos got straight up,” he said referring to the sprawling Aalborg goalkeeper.

You see these kinds of challenges a lot in today’s football. Starting a couple of seasons ago was the trend of the two footed tackle. This is insanity, and so often results in a red card, yet players still do it. It’s a physical game yes, but at the same time would you want to risk putting another player out for six months? Imagine is Rooney had broken Risgard’s ribs – he could have easily done some serious damage, and people have died in pub brawls that have less violent moments…

Roy Keane’s only been gone a short while and already the media is buzzing about who the replacement will be.

When Keane first left Sunderland last week, big Sam Allardyce’s name was banded around as number one target for the job – and rightly so. A hugely qualified manager, he did a great job at keeping Bolton out of trouble a couple of seasons back, and would be back working with ex-Bolton striker Diouf.

But today, ex-Sunderland main man, Peter Reid finds himself involved in the media circus, a maelstrom that is whipping round the Stadium of Light. He managed the team for seven years (1995 – 2002) and bizarrely is coach of the Thailand national squad.

He spoke in an interview with the Daily mail and is clearly very keen:

“I would be interested. It’s fantastic in Thailand and the experience has improved me but everyone aspires to work in England.

“It’s the place to be. The players here dream about it.”

But what about his contract with the national squad?

“There is a clause in my contract that allows me to speak to English clubs if they show interest, so that would be up to chairman Niall Quinn.

“I do know Niall well. We speak occasionally and he invited me to their first home game of the season against Liverpool. He’s a man of stature, he’s got good business sense and he’s a chairman who has seen all sides - as player and manager as well.

“He has also shown he will back his managers. I know from my time as manager there that there are great expectations but £80m spent on players in two years shows you they are committed to achieving those expectations.

“I had two seventh-place finishes, which I think were the best since the war, before coming fourth from bottom. My being linked with the job may not please all the fans but I left the club in a better state than when I arrived and I’d be confident of success again.”

Reid is behind “big” Sam to take over the team, but would be happy to worth with him:

“Sam Allardyce has rightly been mentioned, too, and I’ve been talked of as a possible assistant to him but that’s disrespectful to Sam. Whoever is manager needs to make their own choices.

“The other option mentioned in the press was a role until the end of the season but that would be difficult for me with the job I have.

“If I did come back I know I’m a lot better for the experience with Thailand. It has widened my knowledge.”

I think its worth keeping an eye on, but whomever takes over will have a fight on their hands. The players don’t look very happy playing together, and their lowly league position needs to improve dramatically. Cisse and Diouf need to start banging in goals like they used to, or the chairman will have to open his bankbook again, and after Keane spending £80 million over the last two years, that’s highly unlikely to happen anytime soon.