Can Aston Villa Break the Big Four? By Steve Yates

Many people outside of Birmingham might struggle to come up with a full list of names of English clubs that have won the European Cup (or Champions League as it has ironically been called since they started allowing non-champion teams in it). People will always come up with Manchester United and Liverpool and then remember Brian Clough's double titles with Nottingham Forest.
Aston Villa, though, is the name that might well catch many people out. And yet, they're forever up there with the great names of European football. It's not as if the Villa won the trophy when the competition was in its infancy or anything like that - 1982, it was. And the Birmingham team defeated the German giants Bayern Munich, thanks to a goal from that archetypal English centre forward, Peter Withe; giving him permanent legendary status.
Apart from a couple of League Cup victories in the 1990s and an InterToto Cup in 2001, that was the last time Aston Villa were one of Europe's finest teams. However, for a large part of last season, 2008/09, it looked as if the team, now managed by the experienced Martin O'Neill, might make that elite group again.
English football followers spend a long time as each season approaches contemplating about who could, given the requisite amount of luck with injuries and new signings, break into the so-called 'Big Four' of the Premier League. Every year, Everton and Tottenham supporters always claim that, this time, their club will prove that they deserve to be thought of in the same bracket as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. And each year they fall short. But last year it really did look, for long periods of time, as if the claret and blue shirted 'Villans' might make that breakthrough.
In the end, of course, we now know that they 'failed'. A combination of an overlong season - Aston Villa started way before most teams because of their European qualifying matches - and a comparatively small squad of players meant that the high energy football seen at the beginning of the season simply ran out of steam in the last few weeks.
So, the big question is can the team that came so close last year go just that little bit further this coming season? Well, it will be difficult, that's for sure. Manchester City's millions are sure to see them improving; Everton are only a few players away from having a squad ready to challenge and Tottenham, as usual, believe that this year will surely be the time for them to achieve their rightful position.
Undoubtedly, though, Villa have the potential. With some exciting young attacking players - Young, Milner, Agbonlahor - coupled with a great work ethic, it would be great fun for neutrals to see this vibrant Villa outfit putting the league's 'Establishment' to even more discomfort. As long as Martin O'Neill's American paymaster resists the temptation to cash in on his young talent and the much-admired manager can invest his transfer budget wisely, it's easy to see Villa being able to improve on their high standards of last season.
Villa Park is always a good ground to watch football in; it has a lively atmosphere and spectators still feel close to the action. The Villa supporters have got themselves a side that shows signs of perhaps being the nearest that they've had since 1982 to rekindle that magic night in Rotterdam.
It would be really good to see that Top Four clique messed up a little. Come on, the Villa.

By Steve Yates

How Are Premier League TV Rights Assigned? By Martin Caparrotta

With Setanta Sports seemingly fighting a losing battle against the economic downturn, what does it all mean for the distribution of the Premier League's live UK television rights in the coming seasons?
At present, live Barclays Premier League TV rights are split into six packages, each consisting of 23 live matches. Therefore a total of 138 games from the league will be screened live on UK TV every season.
For the forthcoming 2009-10 season, BSkyB owns the rights for four of the six packages available, meaning that the British broadcaster will show 92 live matches next season.
The distribution of Live Premier League TV Rights:
2009-10 season - BSkyB will show 92 live EPL matches - New ESPN channel will show 46 live games
From 2010-11 season until 2013 - BSkyB will show 115 live EPL matches - New ESPN channel will show the remaining 23 live games
The remaining two packages of 46 games, that Setanta was forced to surrender after failing to come up with the cash, were snapped up this week by Disney-owned American broadcaster, ESPN.
ESPN, who currently broadcast two channels on UK satellite television, are expected to announce the launch of a new channel to screen the newly-acquired live matches, that consumers will be able to purchase on top of their current Sky TV subscription.
The American media company is also expected to look to broadcast their new channel on other TV platforms such as Virgin Media.
But after the conclusion of the 2009-10 season, Sky will tighten its grip on the live games after it emerged that the company has already won an auction for another 23 match package, bringing the total number of live games on Sky to a hefty 115. Meanwhile, ESPN will show the remaining 23 games on its newly branded channel from 2010-11.
Finally, whilst one might assume that Setanta's demise is in Sky's favour, it could in fact be bad news for Rupert Murdoch's company. Industry regulators demand that there must be a direct competitor to Sky as no single broadcaster are able to own all six packages.
This deal was agreed in 2005 with the European Commission, when it was ruled that Premier League television rights must be split between more than one broadcaster.

Profile of American Athlete - Mary Lou Retton By Tisha Kulak Tolar

Mary Lou Retton also known as "Americas Sweetheart" is a well know American athlete. She has been retired from competitive women's gymnastics since 1986 yet still holds a special place in the hearts of Americans and the history of the sport. Here we will learn more about the child, the athlete and the woman she is today.
Background and Childhood.
Born on January 24, 1968 in Fairmont, WV Mary Lou Retton is one of five children. Mary Lou Retton began dance classes when she was four years old and then began gymnastic classes with her older sister. She trained in West Virginia until the age of 14 when she moved to Houston to begin studying under Bela Karolyi. While living in Houston she lived with a fellow student's family and continued her education while training via correspondence courses. She almost missed the 1984 Olympics due to a knee injury which required surgery just six weeks before the Olympics. She recovered from surgery in just three weeks and the rest as they say "is history".
Athletic Accomplishments.
She became a famous household name during the 1984 Olympics when she became the first American woman to ever win a gold medal in gymnastics. That year she won the All Around Gold Metal plus two silver and bronze metals in other events; the most won by a single athlete in that Olympics. Her record still stands as the only American to have won the Olympic All Around Title.
Of course she didn't get to that level of athletic competition without other accomplishments under her belt. Between 1983 and 1985 she won several times at the American Cup, American Classic, US Nationals. She was the first American to win the prestigious Japanese Chunichi Cup.
Where Is She Now?
Mary Lou Retton and her husband Shannon Kelly reside in Houston, TX where they raise their four daughters. She continues to have a positive impact on the lives of others today as a motivational speaker. Understanding the importance of regular exercise and proper nutrition, Mary Lou Retton is often considered a fitness ambassador. She routinely travels around the world speaking on the importance of parents encouraging their children to get active by setting the example themselves. She reminds parents and children that physical activity comes in many forms and you don't have to be involved in sports or compete on an Olympic level to incorporate daily exercise and other healthy habits in your life. As a result of her hard work, dedication and ultimate success in her sport she remains a role model to aspiring gymnasts and other athletes to this day.

By Tisha Kulak Tolar .

Get Your Kids Gymnastics Equipment For a Healthier Life Ahead By Paul Kramer

Everyone loves his kids and never wants to see them unwell and sick. But what we forget is that the biggest root cause of all ailments is obesity which has very strongly gripped our entire younger generation in its iron claws.
Country like USA is spending 30% of their annual health budget on restoring lives of those who are obese. If you see with a clear mind you will realize that it is the love and over protectiveness of parents who actually lead their kids to that state.
It is just a matter of realization that to make our kids life happier and healthier we have to establish a routine from the very start which should have a better set of rules for our kids, like playing some physical game which involves events which would improve his or her muscle coordination and develop locomotors like balancing his weight and rolling over. This may be difficult for you to learn now but it is very easy for a young child to learn and that to very quickly.
All these activities that I have mentioned are part of a gymnastics routine. Just for your information, kids as young as two years can very easily learn it and it helps them to grow up in a much healthier individual who has muscles developing in the correct direction.
All that you will need for this is a bit of kid's gymnastics equipment which consists of a few mats to keep your kid safe from the hard floor, a balancing beam and a bar to hang according to your kid's height. These few things will quickly change your kid's outlook towards life from a future couch to a healthy agile youth. Who is slim and active and all because of learning gymnastics in early childhood.

By Paul Kramer

Is Aerobic Base Training For Mountain Biking Dead?

A couple of years ago I proposed some radical ideas on cardio training for mountain bikers. Ever since then I've had a lot of people doubt my sanity. Aerobic base training has been a staple of training programs for decades and many an off season program for mountain bikers has included an extended period of time reeling off boring miles on a trainer. While some people embraced my concepts (and proceeded to achieve better "aerobic endurance" despite doing little to no aerobic training) many others have questioned why this concept is so different that the "scientific" one. Let me explain why this is - people in the strength training trenches figure out what works in the real world (which is MUCH different than a controlled lab setting) and then implement it. Sometimes what we do flies in the face of the traditional "science" of training. Sports scientists pick up on what we are doing, study it and then tell us why it works. This process usually takes about 5-10 years or more to go from the cutting edge in the trenches to being taught in the classroom. So, this meant that there was not a ton of scientific studies to confirm what I knew - aerobic base training simply does not work on a consistent basis in the real world. But, now there are two landmark studies that suggest that anaerobic interval training is vastly superior to the out dated models still being promoted by the mainstream fitness media. The main reason that mountain bikers felt compelled to include aerobic base training in their program was to increase their aerobic capacity. The scientifically accepted method to determine aerobic capacity is VO2Max (Maximum Volume of Oxygen Consumed), which is an indicator of how well your body can utilize oxygen. Aerobic training had been shown to increase your VO2Max, so therefore was considered necessary for overall cardiovascular development. However, strength coaches on the cutting edge realize that the best way to raise your VO2Max, and therefore your aerobic capacity, is through interval training, not aerobic training! While this may not make a lot of sense, it is true. Several recent studies on anaerobic intervals produced some of the largest increases in VO2Max ever seen, including studies done on aerobic training. One study in particular was done on what is popularly known as the Tabata Protocol. This method calls for 20 seconds of sprinting followed by 10 seconds rest and these mini-intervals are repeated 6-8 times per round. A workout may involve 1-3 rounds (complete recovery is allowed between rounds). Researchers found massive increases in the subjects VO2Max in addition to the anticipated increases in anaerobic endurance markers. The increases in VO2Max were some of the largest ever seen in a study and showed that aerobic training is not the only (nor the best) way to increase aerobic capacity. Another landmark study that came out in the September 2006 Journal of Physiology studied the effects of 20 minutes of interval training (30 second sprints followed by 4 minutes of rest) vs. 90-120 minutes of traditional aerobic heart rate zone training. They found that the interval group which did only 1 hour of exercise per week had the same improvements in aerobic capacity as the aerobic group. Did I mention the aerobic group spent 4-6 hours per week exercising? 4 to 6 times as much exercise to get the same results in aerobic capacity? This isn't even taking into account that the interval group improved their anaerobic capacity, something the aerobic group did not. This finding is astounding and shows just how much time you can waste with aerobic training. I've mentioned this before and here is the proof - anaerobic intervals will increase your aerobic capacity as well as your anaerobic capacity but aerobic training does not increase your anaerobic capacity. All of this means that if you have limited training time (and who doesn't) you may be wasting your time with aerobic training. Anaerobic intervals are the only way to maximize the effectiveness of limited training time. Also, there is no evidence at all that you will burn out or get injured by training with intervals year round. This is simply a myth that has been told so many times that it has been taken as the truth. I challenge anyone to find me a single study that backs this claim. What has been found is that going straight into hard training (either strength or intervals or aerobic) without a preparatory period will increase the likelihood of injury. So, like everything else, you must work into full blown hard core intervals and cycle their intensity and duration but there is no reason you can not do intervals year round. Now, just to balance this out, there are 2 times when aerobic training has a place in your program. First, if you are so out of shape you can not tolerate even the easiest intervals then you should spend some time doing aerobic training to build your work capacity up a bit. But once you can do intervals you should make the switch. Second, aerobic exercise is great for active recovery (something I have also mentioned before). Going out for a light 20 minute jog or ride will help to flush blood into the muscles and help you recover from your strength training and interval sessions faster. Outside of these 2 things, though, aerobic base training may be dead. My mission in life is to bring our sport into the 21st century. You can get better results in aerobic capacity in less time while also increasing anaerobic capacity. This should be something that mountain bikers everywhere rejoice at because aerobic training is some of the most tedious and boring stuff around.The MTB Strength Training System is the world's only strength and conditioning program for the unique demands of mountain biking. Riders from around the world have discovered how they can climb faster, descend with more confidence and have more fun by upgrading the engine that drives their bike - their own body!

Patience Pays Off For Ana Ivanovic By Martin Caparrotta

A war-ravaged Serbia didn't exactly provide ideal conditions for nurturing young tennis talent in the 1990s, but that didn't prevent Ana Ivanovic from making it to the pinnacle of women's tennis - a long journey fuelled by her unconditional love for the game.Due to a lack of better facilities in her hometown of Belgrade, a young Ivanovic practiced her strokes in an empty Olympic swimming pool where the walls were only 18 inches from the sidelines."The pool was very expensive to keep it warm during the winter, and there was not many people using it," Ivanovic said."So they emptied the swimming pool, and they put carpet inside, and they placed two tennis courts, and that's where I grew up practising."She was given a tennis racquet for her fifth birthday and immediately fell in love with the game. But growing up in a country at war didn't make life easy for her. In 1999 she was forced train in the mornings to avoid the NATO bombings."It was tough times. The nineties were not the best years. In 1999, we had a bombing. It was hard. That was just when I started practicing much more and for first time I got a better coach so that was exciting times."And the 21-year-old's passion for success in the sport came from watching the achievements of Serbian former World number one, Monica Seles."I started playing tennis because of Monica Seles - she was the woman I always looked up to, and I always wanted to achieve what she did."She made her professional debut aged 15, and at her first tournament, Ivanovic spent four hours crying in a locker room after a defeat, thinking that her agent, Dan Holzmann - who had come to watch her for the first time - was going to drop her. He didn't - and is still her agent today.2008 was a phenomenal year for the 21-year-old. She won her first Grand Slam, beating Dinara Safina at the French Open, and if the title itself wasn't enough, she also rose to number one in the world rankings.Since her success in Paris, early defeats at both Wimbledon and the US Open made the second half of 2008 less memorable for young starlet, but she is feeling more positive of late."The losses I had were very disappointing. They were hard lessons - but now I realise all I needed was a little bit more patience with myself to work my back into the game .

By Martin Caparrotta

Spiuk Cycling Apparel is Popular With Bikers of All Age By Adam Peters

For all individuals who ride over rough mountain terrain on a bike there are a few things of mountain bike equipment they need to carry with them. The kind of company and equipment is generally a subjective preference, depending on their financial capabilities. Determined by the bike being a fully rigid model or equipped with full suspension will be helpful in deciding what mountain bike equipment they want to take along as spare pieces.A helmet and gloves are other objects mountain bikers gather to safeguard their hands and head from the inescapable falls and mishaps on the tracks, and if they are committed players, they would also include knee and elbow pads as protective gear. With the right safety equipment they can end the race with as good a physically intact body with which they began the race. More gear may be needed determined by the kind of trail and time of day.There are many courses that provide night time races, so a mountain bike gear may also consist of headlights not only to make the trail ahead visible but also as signal to other racers as to when he or she is moving, stopping or approaching. Many of them are operated by battery with a re-charger to keep the light functional.If someone is going on a fully rigid mountain bike gear may be few but they would like doubly ply rims to stop them from getting bent when plying extreme surfaces or doing stunts. Because the majority of the riders will be equipped with soft, knobby tires for added traction, more tires in the unit can help make a race come to an end neatly. A kick stand can be included only if you wish and almost all bikers lay them off on rugged surface to stop mishaps from an irregular stand.A growing number of bikers are preferring to use end pieces on their handlebars to block the potential puncture of the hollow bar when an occasional spill occurs. Generally used on a little bit bent or straight handlebars, they are not good for racing or curved handlebars.When a rider is certain that he or she has all the gear one needs and all of them in top condition, then its time for them to head off to a mountain bike resort. Organized like ski resorts, they provide lifts suiting the nature of bikes to carry them uphill and then can whoosh downhill as and when they feel like doing it!

By Adam Peters.