Millvina Dean Passes On

Millvina Dean born February 2, 1912 has died May 31, 2009 at age 97. She passed away quietly at the private nursing home near Ashurst in the southern English county of Hampshire, England where had resided these last few years. Three years ago she was forced into the nursing facility after a fall left her with a broken hip.

Millvina's last years were sadly marked by financial hardships. Like so many, she had out lived her money, but not all her resources. After her injury, she was forced to put many of her life's treasures up for auction in 2008, raising the equivalent of $53,900.00 not alot by today's standards.

One of the items Dean sold was a hundred year old suitcase filled with clothing donated to her, her mother and her brother when they arrived in New York City in the spring of 1912. Other items include rare prints and compensation letters send to her mother.

Their origianl plans had been to leave the UK and move to Kansas and open a tobacconist shop.
However with the passing of her father, the family returned to South Hampton.

Who is Millvina Dean and why am I writing about her? Some times events in our lives are so large, they help define our identity and in Millvina Deans case this is certainly true.

Millvina Dean was the youngest passenger on RMS Titanic and the last survivor to pass on. With the death of Dean, the last living link to Titanic passes with her. Lillian Asplund who died in May of 2006 at age 99 was the last U.S. Titanic survivor and now there are none.

A Mid Major Team in The Rose Bowl?

Could an upstart mid major team play in the Grand Daddy of them all, The Rose Bowl? Stranger things have happened, who would have thought Buster Douglas, 90 days out of alcohol treatment would knock out Heavy Weight Champ Mike Tyson, but he did.

So is it possible that a Utah, Boise State or other mid major team can access the crown jewel of bowl games, The Rose Bowl? According to an article in the Idaho Statesman, a journalistic wonder, by Brian Murphy, there might be change in the winds.

News released divulging the terms of the new contract with ESPN that begins at the conclusion of the 2010 regular season indicate things are changing in Pasadena.

Starting as early as the 2011 Rose Bowl a mid major invasion of this storied bowl game is possible. It can happen if A. The Rose Bowl loses either the Big 10 or PAC 10 conference champion to the national title game and B. a mid major is BCS Bowl eligible. Which means following the 2010 season a mid major could grace the hallowed grounds of Pasadena's Rose Bowl.

It is easy to imagine either Ohio State or the USC Trojans making it to the NC game and a qualified mid major playing either the PAC 10 or Big 10 conference champion New Years Day 2011.

This is one time where the BCS got things right. All the BCS Bowls should be open to the mid major schools. So far the burden has been carried by the Fiesta Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, each hosting a mid major school twice.

Opening things up more is good for the bowls , college football and the fans who pay the bills.

If you are a mid major fan like myself, then this is good news, ESPN has been a boon to college football and to the smaller schools from the mid majors down.

I believe thanks to ESPN's coverage of the lesser known schools they have done more than anyone to bring about parity in college football. Young talents are able to see and scout more teams than pre ESPN days. Bringing more equality in college football. Remember Appalachian State beating Michigan in the Big House and last years Sugar Bowl winners over Alabama , the Utah Utes defeating the Wolverines at home.

Good for ESPN good for the Rose Bowl, allowing the mid majors in is good for football.

Too Much Cola Can Cause Muscle Problems

Whether you are a coach, player or even a couch potato, this article is worth reading.

Too much cola can cause muscle problems, the problems they can cause have a real nice medical term, hypokalemia.

According to Wikipedia, hypokalemia refers to the condition in which the concentration of potassium in the blood is low. Potassium is one of the body's major ions. Nearly 98% of the body's potassium is intracellular. The remaining is extracellular potassium. When the body has a extracellular potassium shortage then the person is vulnerable to hypokalemia.

The key ingredient in cola are glucose, fructose and caffeine -- can contribute to hypokalemia.
Caffeine being thought to be the biggest contributor to hypokalemia.

Symptoms of this ailment can range from mild weakness to serious paralysis. If you have been or are experiencing any of these symptoms, you might want to evaluate your cola intake.

Cutting way back or eliminating sodas from your diet can be an easy cure. for more information regarding hypokalemia I am supplying the link to the article where I got information and to Wikipedia so you can read and decide for yourself if you are ingesting too much cola.

Article Wikipedia

Tater Heads and Cheese Heads Tie

We Idaho spud peelers and the Wisconsin cheese makers are in a tie.

What could Idaho and Wisconsin be tied in? Well driving.

GMAC Insurance just released the results of their 2009 driving test. The test measures the knowledge of basic driving laws and was given to over 5,000 drivers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Hard to believe a bunch of tater peelers and cheese eaters would make it to the top of the list, but we did.

To see where your state ranked use the following link. Link

Football Tackling DVDS Coaching Videos & Practice Drills

Earlier we announced we included a new category of football tackling DVDS, the category had the newest DVDS in football tackling, a 3 part series of training videos on the New Science of Tackling.

We have found and added another 7 titles with easy to follow and teach practice drills designed to make your teams tackling more explosive.

In searching the suppliers of Football Coaching Videos we found that some do carry videos about tackling, but they are not in their own category, making these training DVDS difficult to find.

For your convenience we have all of our football tackling DVDS in one easy to navigate category in our navigation menu, oddly enough, named tackling.

Complimenting our New Science of Tackling, are a wide selection of tackling videos ranging from position training to Defensive Back Play:Tackling That Wins and everything in between.

If you are in need of tackling training DVDS, visit us at Football Tackling DVDS, Practice Drills & Coaching Videos where you can find a latest tackling training videos available on the Internet.

What The Hell Was He Thinking

I have a new installment in the ongoing what the hell was he thinking series. This one comes from Yahoo Buzz.

I admit I read Yahoo Buzz, some of it is entertaining and some stories so outrageous they have to be true. Today I will share two stories that got my attention. The first one being outrageous and the other totally appropriate for Memorial Day.

The first story takes place in Bejing, China involving a 24 year old man heavily in debt and a 66 year old man with a solution.

Chen Fuchao, 24 and in debt to the tune of $290,000.00 was overwhelmed by his situation. So much so that he stood on the Haizhu bridge preparing to end his life. Since April 11 others have used that bridge to commit suicide.

Naturally authorities and a crowd gathered to watch. Traffic was stopped and blocked up. An elderly man ( thank God there is some one still alive I can call elderly) named Lai Jiansheng age 66 was part of the crowd.

Mr. Jiansheng went to the police and offered to try to talk the young man down. The police refused his offer, saying they would resolve the situation.

After 5 hrs of talking and pleading there was still no progress, only more of a crowd, more stalled traffic and more chaos. Jiansheng slipped through the crowd and managed to get up on the bridge where Chen was still debating sky diving without a parachute.

Mr. Jiansheng approached the desperate young man and shaking his hand, pushed Chen Fuchao off the bridge. Fuchao fell approximately 26 feet and landed on a partially filled air bag, sustaining minor injuries.

Of course Jiansheng was arrested for his actions and when ask why he pushed this desperate man he gave an answer that is hard to refute.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interest," Lai was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Now you know, what the hell he was thinking. Use the following link to read the entire story. link

This Memorial Day weekend is a time we honor those men and women who have made he ultimate sacrifice in keeping America and much of the world free. It is a time to pay respect to our military forefathers and mothers whose service to this country allows us to enjoy freedoms so many can only dream about and hope for.

Today I will focus on one such man, Frank Buckles, the United States oldest living veteran.

Frank is sole U.S. survivor of what was known as the Great War. We now know it as WWI.

Mr.Buckles was born February 1, 1901 in Bethany, Missouri. Hard to imagine some one who can talk with authority on how things were after the turn of the century, last century.

When Frank was 16 World War broke out and he want to be part of it. He was turned down by the Marines, they felt he didn't weigh enough, so he enlisted in the Army April of 1917.

Frank claims he did not lie to the recruiter, saying he just exaggerated his age. The Army wanted a copy of his birth certificate to prove his age. Frank got by that one reminding the recruiter that Missouri didn't have birth certificates when he was born, the official record then was what was written in the family bible, and he said he would be darned if he was going to bring that down. Frank was accepted into the Army.

History buffs the next part of the story will have you thinking, why do I know that name.

Mr. Buckles join his comrades and was shipped over seas on the RMS Carpathia. Why do you know that name?

Five years earlier in April 1912 the Carpathia steamed into history as the ship that picked up the survivors of Titanic.

During the war Buckles served in England and France, driving ambulances and motorcycles for the Army's 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment. After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. Following his discharge in 1919, he attended the dedication of the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, in honor of those Americans who died in World War I. While there, he met General John "Black Jack" Pershing, commander all U.S. forces in France during the war.

In the 1920s Buckles worked for the White Star Line in Canada (the White Star Line had operated the Titanic). During World War II he worked as a civilian for an American shipping company in the Philippine Islands. He was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and spent the next three years in the Los Banos prison camp. He was rescued on February 23, 1945.

Where is Frank today? One would think after all of that , Buckles would be in a retirement home living out his days in peace and harmony. Not Frank Buckles, the man is still active.

He currently lives in Charles Town, West Virginia and is the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. For more on Frank Buckles use this link

As always you are invited to post any comments you wish to share.

Michael Vick on the Road to Redemption?

Michael Vick was released early Wednesday morning form prison, accompanied by his fiancee and others he started his long 19 hour drive home to Virginia, short compared to the road he must travel to become reinstated by the NFL.

Vick who will turn 29 in June slipped out of Leavenworth prison and past the cameras and reporters heading to home where he will be under home confinement and Federal custody till July 20, 2008.

Vick's road back to redemption started with public humiliation and incarceration and now he begins the phases of humility and repentance.

Vick once the highest paid player in the NFL will start a new job while under house arrest he will be allowed to report to work as a construction worker for $10.00 and hour, checks that for a year would not equal the withholding taxes on his NFL pay checks.

It will be a good test for him, he will be around people that are not pampered and privileged because of their athletic abilities. He will be around people that work hard, face financial hardships and are the no nonsense working class of America. They may well prove to be as tough a judge and jury as he would have faced had his case gone to trial. Vick will certainly need large doses of humility to pass with that crowd.

Taking another positive step, Vick, it was announced by The Humane Society of the United States said Tuesday that Vick met its president recently in prison and wants to work on a program aimed at eradicating dogfighting among urban teens.

Vick is seeing some supportive road signs on his path back to the pros. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007, has said he will review Vick’s status after his criminal case is concluded. He has said Vick will have to persuade him and the public that he is genuinely sorry for his crime, that he has been changed by his experience and that he is committed to leading a different life.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Wednesday that Vick has paid his debt to society and merits a second chance. Blank said the quarterback is taking positive steps by wanting to work with humane societies and making other changes in his life.

Will Michael Vick successfully follow the road to redemption, only time will tell.

Introducing The Pistol Offense-Two Back Offense

Think the Pistol is just a one-back offense? Not anymore.

In 2004 Nevada Wolf Pack Football Coach debuted and new offense, the Pistol Offense is what he called it. When Ault created the Pistol Offense he designed it as a single back running attack. Taking from the I formations and spread formation they invented what is now the Pistol Offense.

The Pistol is a hybrid of the Shotgun Spread offense and an under center offense. The Pistol Offense has the quarterback lining up between three and four yards behind the center and the tailback a couple of yards behind the quarterback.

The purpose of this line up was to keep the quarterback close enough to the line of scrimmage so that he could still read the defense and to add to a spread offense something that was missing, a power running game.

With the tailback line up directly behind the quarterback it makes it more difficult for the defense to take reads on the offense and determine which way the running back will go.

Blue Valley High School (KS) Steve Rampy has changed the game. He has improvised and up graded the Pistol Offense one back strategy and developed The Pistol Offense - Two Back Offense.

By adding a full back into the Pistol Offense Coach and creating a two back offense Rampy has changed the tempo of the game and add that extra element that every offense needs to win! Now the defense has to get reads on two backs.

The two back Pistol Offense adds a new dimension to that offense and allows them to attack the defense with a whole new series of plays. Taking advantage of adding a full back to the backfield The Pistol Offense - Two Back Offense is able to exploit the defense with plays such as Zone Read with the fullback, Zone Read with the Tailback, Fullback Trap, Speed Option, Stretch Zone, Counter and Sprint-Out Passing plays.

If you are using the Pistol Offense and are looking for a new wrinkle to confuse and dominate the defense, you might want to examine The Pistol Offense - Two Back Offense , change the speed of the game and put more pressure on the opponent.

Use the following link to check out all of our DVDs for this explosive offense.
Pistol Offense

See all of our offenses at Football Offense Training Videos.

Coach Pete A Class Act

Boise States football coach continues to exhibit the kind of class I have not seen at Boise State in the 40 plus years I have followed the Broncos. The man just amazes me.

Like all fans I like to brag about my team and the coaches and how good they are. Chris Petersen just makes it so easy.

Boise State is trying to raise an additional 5 million to complete a new College of Business and Economics building. Local chip maker Micron Technologies has donated over $12 million and the school must come up with the remaining $5 million and so far have raised $2 million.

Coach Pete and his wife Barbara have donated $150 thousand of their own money to the project. I have never heard of a coach donating large sums of money back to their university where they work, not saying it has not happened. This is just the first time I have heard of a coach giving back in that fashion.

Now you can see why Boise State fans have a love affair with Coach Pete, he is just cut out of a different bolt of cloth and we Broncos are blessed to have him.

Enough bragging, its nice to share a story of generosity and giving back when most news we read or see today is so negative. Way to go Pete

Introducing New Pistol Offense DVDS By The University of Nevada Wollf Pack Football Staff

We are pleased to announce we have added three new Pistol Offense coaching DVDS created by The University of Nevada Offensive Coordinator Chris Klenakis.

Nevada Hall of Fame Coach Chris Ault invented the Pistol Offense in 2004. It is a combination between The Shotgun and singleback offenses. With the Quarterback lining up between 3 to four yards behind center, he is still close enough to the line of scrimmage to get reads on the defense. The tail back is positioned right behind the quarterback, making it harder for the defense to read what direction the running back will go.

The Pistol Offense is an explosive offense that is easy to install and allows for alot of versatility. I was there at Bronco Stadium October 14,2007 and witnessed how explosive and versatile Pistol is, when Nevada took Boise State into triple overtime losing to the Broncos 69 - 67.

The Pistol offered north/south power running, had the defense confused all night, missing assignments and missing their reads. This offense uses the run very effectively to set up the pass. With over 30 formations from an 11 man unit ( 1 quarterback, 1 running back, 1 tight end and 3 receivers) The Pistol Offense is very effective at disguising their plays and keep the defense second guessing all game long.

These football training DVDS are easy to follow and demonstrate the Pistol Offense using extensive game footage, practice footage, markerboard diagramming and more! Visit us at Scoretouchdowns.com and see these explosive Pistol Offense videos.

Footballs | The Pistol Offense | Training Videos

Nevada Wolf Pack Chris Ault AKA The Lil General as we Boise State fans call him, is credited with developing The Pistol Offense during the season of 2004.

Since its introduction the Pistol Offense is becoming a more widely used form of the spread offense in both the high school ranks and college ranks.

One of the main reasons for acceptance of The Pistol is its ability to offer down hill running from both a single back or two back system

Keeping current with today's trends we have added The Pistol Offense to our offensive schemes category.

They way we have done this is to create two pages of Pistol Offense training videos.

Page 1 has the Pistol Spread Option and the Pistol Offense while page 2 has training videos covering the linemen and their blocking assignments.

Please use the links below to view our selection of 19 videos for The Pistol Offense.

Pistol Offense | The Pistol & Off-Set Gun

Manny Ramirez is in trouble for sure

I don't follow much baseball and only became aware of Manny Ramirez as a Boston red Sox player when they finally won the world series.

Now he is disgraced and suspended for 50 games. Is the punishment too harsh? For me it depends if he knowingly and willingly broke the rules. If he did then no its fair, if he didn't then yes it is and that is where the rub lies.

Ramirez says it was a prescription given him by a doctor in Florida for a health issue. Turns out the health issue is erectile dysfunction. He can swing the wood, he just cant make wood. Well that is why men have Viagra and Cialis.

What Manny was taking, is for erectile dysfunction cause by steroid use, the same medication Jose Conceso got busted for when smuggling it in from Mexico, gonadotropins LH and HCG.

These are most commonly used as fertility drugs in women and can be used to raise the testostorone levels in men. Men who lowered their testosterone levels through the use of steroids. Low testosterone levels can cause erectile dysfunction.

Ramireze says he has passed 15 drug tests in the last 5 years, I am sure he has, however drug tests can be beaten. I am not saying he cheated on his drug tests, not having been there, there is no way for me to know.

What I do know its a darn shame the situation he has found himself in. He has refused his right of appeal for the ban for the use of the banned substance. That is the part that does not make sense to me.

Were it me and I had unkowingly taken a banned substance for a medical issue and hd not previously violated the substance rules, I would appeal, not for just the money he will lose or the playing time, but something far more important, my good name and reputation.

Now Ramirez joins the ranks of Jose Concesco, who admitts to steroid use, Mark MCGuire who does not and Barry Bonds.

When will these highly paid superstars get it together, banned substances are banned for a reason, they are performance enhancing and cause health issues.

When will these guys see they are role models to young people and they need to take that responsibility seriously. Their actions influence young kids and they need to influence these kids in a positive way.

Is it 2008 All Over Again

From the Brett Favre stand point it sure seems like it is 2008 all over again.

As the 2007 season ended we watched Brett announce his retirement from the game. Then cam 2008 and Brett wanted back in, but Green Bay had moved on and selected their new quarterback leaving no room as the starter for Favre.

Brett has met with the Minnesota Vikings and is interested in resuming his pro football career. Sound familiar, like maybe last summer when he had secret talks with the Vikes.

It sure seems like dejavue all over again. Brett and the Vikings, this time he doesn't have to shroud the talks in secrecy.

Far be it from me to say Favre should retire and stay retired, the man has had an 18 year hall of fame career that would be enough for most.

This last retirement, he said his body could no longer take the pounding and it showed in his performances. All the forced passes and picks he had last season should have told him maybe it really is time to hang up the cleats.

One reporter is taking it a step further hinting Fvres real motivation for wanting one more year with the Vikings is to get revenge on Green Bay for their alleged mistreatment of him. I don't accept that as reasonable. He has ties with Childress in Minnesota and they might be one a few teams that would want Brett Favre.

I suspect Favre just loves the game and loves to play and that is the driving force in his desire to play. The fact he would get to face Green Bay twice as a Viking certainly isn't lost on him and I think he would have had more trouble staying in New York.

Besides Favre isn't a Big Apple kind of guy. Come on can you see Brett sitting down with The Donald? He is a country boy and even though the Minnesota Vikings are in a large market, Minneapolis isn't Manhattan.

What ever Favre does I wish him well, but like many I am tired of the saga As The Favre Turns. Brett if you retire, stay retired.