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In the’60′s, the NHL was almost entirely made up of Canadian born players. There were a few US natives, but players from other countries were unheard of. Stan Mikita, born the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia, started to change that. While he was sometimes overshadowed by teammates like Bobby Hull, most hockey experts consider Mikita the best NHL center of the’60′s. He was born in what is now Slovakia, and sent to live in Canada as a young boy. Like most boys his age, he began playing the national sport of hockey.

As a teenager, Mikita starred for the St. Catherine Teepees of the junior league Ontario Hockey Association. In’59, he made the jump to the NHL for good joining the Chicago Blackhawks. He played sparingly in his first partial season in the NHL, but quickly became an important part of the Chicago offense in his first and second full seasons as a pro. In’61, he led the team in playoff scoring as they won the Stanley Cup”his only championship during his career and the last time the franchise would win the NHLs highest team honor.

During the early and mid’60′s, Mikita’s Blackhawks were the most feared offensive team in the NHL. Mikita centered the Scooter Line with Ken Wharram on the right wing and Ab McDonald or Doug Mohns on the left wing, and earned a reputation as one of the most complete offensive players in the game.

Mikitas influence wasnt limited to offensive output”he was a feared defensive player and considered one of the best faceoff men in the game. He also brought about one of the most significant innovations in NHL history, being the first to play with a curved stick blade. This was a very radical modification at the time, but was quickly copied throughout the league to the point where today a player that *doesnt* play with a curved stick is considered something of an anachronism.

Early in his career, Mikita played a tough, rugged style of hockey that made him one of the most penalized players in the game. In the mid’60s, however, he began to play a much cleaner and more sportsmanlike style that would earn him the Lady Byng Trophy for most gentlemanly player twice. The story goes that he had a change of heart when his young daughter asked why he spent so much time sitting in the box on televised games.

In addition to his Stanley Cup victory, Mikitas career accomplishments are among the most impressive in NHL history. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHLs leading scorer four times (1964,’65,’67,’68), the Hart Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player twice (1967 and’68) and the Lady Byng Trophy in’67 and’68.

Mikita suffered from chronic back ailments later in his career, and finally retired in’80 having played his entire career for the Chicago Blackhawks. He was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (1983) and became enshrined in pop culture history a few years later thanks to the movie ‘Wayne’s World’. In the movie, protagonists Wayne and Garth frequently hang out at a donut shop based on the Canadian Tim Hortons chain. The name of the shop is Stan Mikitas Donuts.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

UFC 100 was a historic night for the sport of mixed martial arts, and Brock Lesnar used the occasion to avenge his previous loss to Frank Mir with a lopsided TKO victory. With the victory, Lesnar unified the promotion’s heavyweight championship. The Mir/Lesnar tilt was the main event on an epic card which culminated an insane week in Las Vegas.

The anticipation surrounding UFC 100 was unprecedented among the fight sport media and, more significantly, among mainstream sports media. MMA has long has been an object of scorn, disdain and ignorance among traditional sports media, and in this context the fact that every major outlet including ESPN, SI.com and Fox Sports featured UFC 100 as their top story of the day is downright amazing. The broader implications of UFC 100 remain to be seen, but it could very likely become a turning point for the sport where MMA transcended cult or niche status to burst into the mainstream consciousness.

While the big metric of the events success will be its PPV buy rate”which will almost certainly shatter existing UFC records”the attendance numbers and other tangible measures that are already known underscore the significance of the event. Fridays weigh in was a standing room only affair with over 2,000 fans turned away. A Fan Expo held in conjunction with UFC 100 counted over 30,000 visitors on Friday and an equal or greater number on Saturday. Even veteran fight media experienced in covering big boxing and MMA events worldwide have reported that the energy and general vibe around this event is like nothing theyve seen.

And the main event of the week was Saturdays UFC 100 fight card where Lesnar established not only his dominance of the promotions heavyweight division but his status as the biggest heel in MMA. To his credit, he had a perfect gameplan for Mir that allowed him to use his strength and power to maul his opponent on the ground while minimizing his exposure to submissions.

By contrast, Mir made a tactical mistake in allowing Lesnar to put him on his back so quickly and control him on the ground. He may have considered this his best opportunity to win”wait out Lesnar and look for an opportunity for a submission”but it never materialized and by the end of the first round hed already absorbed a brutal beating. Lesnar quickly took Mir down again at the start of the second round, ending the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that prompted referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest at 1:48 of the second round.

Lesnar’s postfight performance was less impressive and not befitting a champion. He taunted Mir after the stoppage, prompting the crowd to boo him mercilessly. He responded to this with a double handed middle finger salute before a short and arrogant postfight interview that would have been much more at home in the WWE than in this setting. Mir was the consummate professional in defeat, giving credit to his opponent and generally displaying all of the class that Lesnar lacked.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports. Though Japan does well at the Olympics for a country of its size and has won gold medals in a number of sports, its important to keep in mind that until the late’70s judo was the countrys most popular sport.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishii’s demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero and superstar. He alternately seems to be having the time of his life at the vortex of a media frenzy as he is somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inokis Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before hed even stepped into the ring for the first time.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans when immersed in Japans culture for the first time just how low the UFC ranks in the countrys fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP. Overall, the interest in and prestige of the UFC is well below not only boxing but even Japanese pro wrestling (puroresu).

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. There were countless photo opportunities with Dana White, who spoke of Ishii in glowing terms, along with top UFC stars. Upon his return to Japan, he was repeatedly photographed wearing UFC t-shirts while speaking enthusiastically about Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and everyone else involved with the promotion. He appeared at the Sengoku card in January addressing the audience from the ring and wearing his ubiquitous UFC shirt; his message was that he was going to fight in America for awhile but would eventually return to Japan.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting including the gym’s namesake, Randy Couture. Training at a high level facility like Xtreme Couture among such an abundance of talent is a career move thats difficult to second guess.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Southern California’s Del Mar Racetrack has been is often overshadowed by East Coast venues like Churchill Downs and Belmont Park. The reality is that the 72 year old track has a history to rival their better known counterparts that includes the greatest horses and jockeys in the sport, as well as a healthy dose of show biz glitz. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and located 20 miles North of San Diego, its perhaps most famous for its iconic slogan: “Where The Surf Meets the Turf.”

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was founded by a group of well heeled enthusiasts in the mid’30s, and they immediately turned their attention to building a world class horse racing venue. The names that were instrumental in the creation of Del Mar include a whos who of American entertainment–most notably Bing Crosby, Oliver Hardy (of Laurel and Hardy) and Jimmy Durante. At the time the facility opened thoroughbred horse racing was the second most popular sport in America behind major league baseball, and Del Mar quickly gained a reputation for being a player in the industry.

Additionally, the star power involved with the project also provided a trendy cachet that the tonier race courses back East lacked. Bing Crosby himself greeted patrons at the gate on opening day, and during the late’30s and early’40s it became a place to be seen for Hollywood A-listers and those who aspired for celebrity. In addition to known gambling enthusiasts like W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen and Red Skelton, the Del Mar patrons during that time also included some of the top female stars of the era including Ava Gardner, Paulette Goddard and Dorothy Lamour.

Del Mar was the site of the’38 match race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti. Seabiscut won the $25,000 winner take all challenge by a nose, and this race set Del Mar betting and attendance records and remains one of the most famous races in history. The racing at Del Mar continued to flourish until the start of WWII, when the track went ‘dark’ for racing.

After the war, Del Mar reopened with a bang. The track reopened the day after Japan formally surrendered to Allied forces, and on that day Del Mar attracted over 20,000 fans through its gates who wagered what at the time was a record $958,476. The postwar prosperity was also a boon to Del Mar, which also benefitted from the Santa Fe Railroads daily Racetrack Special that brought bettors down from Los Angeles to enjoy a day at the track. During the latter part of the decade a new crop of Hollywood glitterati would flock to Del Mar, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Mickey Rooney John Holmes, Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante. Durante would become such a regular that the turf course at Del Mar would later be renamed in his honor.

Even though the popularity of horse racing among the mainstream populace would ebb over the years, Del Mar remains a viable part of the thoroughbred community to this day. Theyve updated their facility, with a state of the art grand stand and most recently a synthetic polytrack surface that was installed in 2007. The racing season at Del Mar begins in mid July, and hosts crowds of 20,000+ on a daily basis throughout.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Going to the movies is a very popular recreation especially for those young professionals living a considerably stressful life running corporate affairs. However, for those who cannot afford to waste time traveling to and from movie theaters, the answer to this recreational dilemma might be just inside their own house.

You could recreate the audio-visual systems of the movie theaters with your very own custom home theater system. The best custom home theater installation certainly can consist of high quality components that are capable of rendering the complete movie theater experience without having to travel from your residence to the movie theater wasting time and effort queuing in heavy traffic. This modern technology can give you the relaxation and experience that full-sized movie theaters furnish.

The basic components, such as a big screen and speakers with clear and flicker free images from a high quality DVD, can easily provide an almost-authentic movie theater experience. Home theater experts recommend that before you decide on the final set-up and equipment for your custom home theater system, the size of the location must be the first consideration.

So, if you have a small size room intended for your home theater system, a television may be best situated in the middle of one wall and three loudspeakers, placed on the left, right and center, might be enough to provide the surround sound you require from a custom movie theater. However, if you have a larger room, a home theater projector might be the best bet for recreating the “big screen”.

Home theater projector screens can recreate that authentic movie theater experience. If you are going to use quite a big room for your home theater system, you could add more speakers around the room in combination with your home theater projector and home theater projector screen. Another useful tip is that a sub-woofer could also help to provide the best surround sound to enable you to create the authentic sound of a movie theater in your very own living room.

There are various designs and models of home theater projector you can select from. You will have to understand the features of each one, before you decide which one to purchase. It may also be necessary for you to enlist the services of a home theater designer in order to obtain the home theater package that will give you the best entertainment value. This will mean not having to spend an unnecessary amount of time and money on your home theater system and home theater projector.

It is so easy to buy equipment with an unnecessarily large capacity for your home theater, especially if you do not know what the possible choices are and the various requirements that your home theater may have due to its dimensions. The size of your home theater projector screen should be a function of the size of your room and the components of your custom home theater. For example, from where you plan to sit to the screen should be between two and five times the diameter of the screen. So, looking at it from the other perspective, if you are going to sit 10 feet (120 inches) from the screen, then the screen should be 24-60 inches, but it is very subjective and depends on the viewers eyesight.

Your home theater designer could also suggest options that do not require a television screen for your home theater. How come? The reason for this is the technological innovations utilized by computers and home theater projectors. Home theater projectors like InFocus screenplay models, for instance can be hooked up with a computer in a small room set-up. Home theater projectors are also lightweight and can be moved about easily. Therefore, a projector is very convenient for use in custom home theaters and business presentations.

Home theater projectors and home theater projector screens do help provide a true cinematic experience. This type of installation is particularly handy for business presentations and therefore it is becoming ever more in demand. This combination of your custom home and custom office theater systems is a brand new phenomenon, which only a few smart customers have dreamt up.

I am sure that being aware of all these facts: that is, that a basic television, three speakers and a DVD player can be enough for those people who only want a start-up home theater, you may well come to the conclusion that you do not really require a home theater projector, especially if the room set aside for your custom home theater system is not that big.

Enjoy a cinematographic experience right in your very own home by considering your options carefully. Then you can experience the exhilaration a movie theater offers you without having to suffer boring traffic on the way to and from the movie theater.

Are you considering installing a Custom Home Movie Theater? Then visit our site at: Home Theater