The Random Thoughts Presents: The Real MLB Truths and Predictions for 2008!
(All Star Break Update)
Boston and Colorado are not making the world series again.
White Sox and Cubs are playing in the 2008 World Series.
The Red Sox are now in first place at the break over surprising Tampa team. The Sox have stayed in the hunt for two months without having to use David Ortiz or Manny at the same time.
The Rockies play in the worst division in baseball with a dismal 39-57 record. but if you think about what streak they went on last summer, maybe there is still hope in the rocky mountains.
Brand new MLB fitted hats are now around 30 dollars.
My mistake, they are now 35 bucks!
The Devil Rays are now just called the Rays.
The switch in names has turned the whole team around into a contender. I think it has more to do with having the first pick in the amateur draft for ten straight years. But at the same time the rays finished off the first half with a seven game losing streak. This team reminds me of the 2003 Royals, came out of nowhere only to fall apart and finish third in a tough AL central.
NL hitters have fun with Johan Santana.
Johan record at the break is 8-7 with a ERA right under 3 with 114 strikeouts. Good numbers but for a guy who is making around 17 Million, the Mets expected more. It is now a 3 team race for the NL East crown and Santana was brought in so the Mets will run away with it. He has put up good numbers and the next two and half months will really show if the Mets were smart in trading for the former Cy Young.
It only costs 90 dollars to watch every game for every team, all season on the internet.
MLB made a new rule where you have to be out of market to watch certain games online. So if you live in New York, then you can’t watch the Yankees or Mets online. You can watch every other team you want for a monthly price. In Iowa there is a restriction because Iowa lives in the market of other states that have teams. So the following teams cannot be watched online in Iowa. The Cubs, White Sox, Twins, Brewers, Royals and Cardinals. That is every team possible for which someone in the Midwest would want to watch. And people wonder why people become Red Sox Fans.
No one knows what color of skin Derek Jeter is.
More People talk about the love life of Alex Rodriguez then anything that Derek Jeter has done at the plate this year.
Don’t respect any team that couldn’t win at least one playoff game from the previous playoffs.
The Cubs are tied with the Angels and Red Sox with the best record in baseball at the all star break. Like most years, cubs fans think this is the year the cubs go all the way. Translation, Cubs need to win a playoff game before they can start having parades on Michigan Ave. Same rule applies for the Phillies and Angels.
Washington is opening a new stadium this season.
The Nationals won on opening night on national television and that was the last time anyone has heard from them. They have the worst record in baseball and there are now allegations against the front office, but at least they got that new stadium.
King Felix will maybe be ready to scare people in 2017
Hernandez has a 6-6 record on the worst team in the AL. The manager, GM and Ritchie Sexon have already been fired, Jim Riggleman is now the manager. Where is Jay Buner when you need him? 2017 seems about right.
The Twins are going to trade away their fans this season to make enough cap room to sign a below average hitter next off season.
The twins are a game and half of first place in the upside down AL Central. I will say it again, the twins are the best regular season organization in baseball. Great GM and Great Manager. NO World series championships since 1991 though.
Houston will have a HGH giveaway night by mid July.
The Astros got two all stars in Berkman and Tejada. How does a team with a record of 44-51 get two all stars? No giveaway night joke here but still, explain to me this one?
The Blue Jays will finish 3rd for the 15th straight year.
I was wrong again, it is now fourth place, the Yankees are trying to make history here.
With the first pick in the 2009 Amateur draft the KC Royals take.
The M’s are so bad in Seattle, that they might get the first pick but watch out for the Nationals. If only baseball was like the NFL draft though.
Dusty Bakers dream lineup card for this season, leadoff Nefi Perez, Cory Patterson…………..
I was just making a joke back in mid march, but no really, Corey Patterson is on this team and playing. No Nefi Perez though. Damn.
Billy Beane will write a new book entitled: I am good enough to lose in the first round of the playoffs and then trade away all my talent.
Beane Traded Rich Harden earlier in the week to the Cubs. Season over, see you in 2009 A‘s fans!
Sorry to interrupt this 37th straight episode of Family Guy but here is Chip Carey with your play by play of Braves Baseball on TBS.
TBS doesn’t even show the Braves anymore on TBS, but they at least show every Sunday home game of the Boston Red Sox with Chip Carey.
The Angels will now be called: The LA Angles of Vlad cant hit a fastball in the playoffs of Anaheim.
K-Rod says he is going to file for free agency this off season after he breaks the saves record and gets swept in the first round by the White Sox. Thought I should fill you in.
Bortolo Colon would just like to say: hey remember me!
Yeah Hi Bortolo, didn’t you sign with Boston?
Prince Fielder will wish it was still 2007.
Fielder stats: .270 18 HR 52 RBI 670k 2008 salary! Wow, he only makes that much. The bat boy for the Cubs makes that much. For that price, Fielder is having a great season. No I understand how the Brewers can go after CC Sabathia.
And yes Juan Uribe, the camera does add 300 pounds.
Uribe was waived during spring training, not traded yet but still might be by the trading deadline. But now was kept on the team as a back up over Ozuna, as Alexi Ramirez has come out of nowhere to help the Sox stay in first place for most of the first half.
For the 4th straight year, steroids dominated baseball talk and then went away opening day.
Correct, see you next march.
Roger Clemons and Barry Bonds wish it was still 1996.
Turns out Clemons was worse than anyone ever imagine and Bonds asked every team that he was ready to play in ten days. All 30 teams said no. But now there is a rumor by foxsports.com, that the Yankees might be interested. You thought sports center was annoying before!
The D-backs will wear 90 different jerseys this season.
47-48 first place in the NL West, they better wear 900 jerseys in the second half to make the playoffs.
Haley Ramirez is the best player you have never heard of until he is traded to Boston or New York by the trade deadline.
Starting SS for the NL all stars and hits over .300 on the season for a over achieving Marlins team whose payroll is under A-rod Salary for the season. Was involved in the Josh Beckett trade to the Red Sox a couple of years ago. He was signed long term earlier this season. I hope you know who he is now.
Think fast, tell me what team Sammy Sosa plays for?
Josh Hamilton took his job. Good move Texas. .300 AVG 21 HR 95 RBI.
Mike Cameron is going to sit out the first 25 games because of steroids and then complain in game 27 of not having enough days off in the MLB season.
It seams no one cares about steroids while the season is going on. Hits .230 but plays on a contender so no one cares until winter hits.
The Pirates will have a contest in mid May, the first 9 fans to show up, make tonight’s line up card.
By august the Pirates should have a contest, first 5 fans to answer which Pirate made the all star game gets a free sub for life.
Ozzie Guillen will ask to be fired 49 times this season.
Blow up dolls, taunting opposing hitters during games, happy when players hate each other and thinks his team is garbage compared to the Cubs. Translation, most exciting team in the AL on and off the field.
The Cubs will win the division again without winning 90 games this season, which translates to 9th place in the AL.
The Cubs might now win 100 games this season and I could see them still not making the playoffs if they played in the AL.
Every team will automatically lose 60 games this season.
Washington is already there!
Every team will Automatically win 60 games this season.
Angels, Cubs and Red Sox the closest with 57.
The great teams have 42 games to do something this season.
I wish the White Sox and Twins could fight for 42 straight games for the division. But no! Someone thought inter league play was a great idea.
You have to be a true psycho to watch baseball.
MLB is fun to watch, but try to be the in studio guy for high school baseball. I would rather watch that Lohan show for 30 straight hours and take a quiz afterwards.
You should be put in a mental institution if you root for Baltimore.
Sometimes I think the O’s have been cursed since that little kid reach over the fence and grabbed that Jeter Home run in the playoffs over ten years ago. That was worse that Bartman!
Albert Pujols will hit 43 homers this season and everyone who roots for the Red Birds will tell you how they invented Baseball.
The Cardinals are contending again. Pujols body should have falling apart five weeks ago, but big Albert is still putting up non Josh Hamliton MVP numbers.
Nomar is going to try to play 3rd this season or the Dodgers. The only position he hasn’t tried is Dodger Dog vender in LA.
Remember ten years ago at the all star game, when fans thought the next three great SS were Jeter, A-rod and Nomar. Funny how things turn out.
The Indians will be 10 games out of 1st place in late August and will ask Lebron to show up and wear his Yankees hat, just so the Indians can make the paper again.
At the break Cleveland is 13 games out of first place and traded away their best pitcher who won the Cy Young last year. Perfect example of how Mark Moses knows what he is talking about when it comes to baseball.
Jake Peavey will win 21 games this season and people will still think he looks like Randy Spears.
Only a 7-5 record at the break on a last place club, but he still looks like adult film star Randy Spears.
Barry Zito will lose his 13th game by August and still make 30k a pitch for the Giants.
Zito already has 12 loses already on the season. Did you know this guy won the Cy Young six years ago?
The Marlins will win the world series again in 2009.
The Marlins will win the world series again in 2009.
A-Rod will be called the most feared hitter in baseball until the playoffs start.
I should add until Madonna get a hold of him. You now don’t need Red Sox pitching to shut him down, its now Kabala.
The Rockies will not make the playoffs again until the year 2039.
Call me crazy but the NL West is so bad I still think every team is still alive.
Gary Sheffield will call himself a racist against black people by April 30th.
Most baseball experts including myself picked the Tigers to win the AL Central. The best thing to happen to the rest of MLB is by letting the Tigers trade for Cabrera and D-train, then sign them both long term.
Manny will be Manny until Manny says his new name is Manny.
He hasn’t said much this season but just wait till the trading deadline comes and goes.
Jim Thome looks like Mr. Incredible.
No one drives Mark Moses more crazy than Jim Thome at the plate.
The Philly Fanatic will make it 3 straight years of Philly players winning the NL MVP, until it is later found out that he was taking HGH during the season.
Chase Utley might really win the NL MVP award to make it three in a row for the Phillies.
NL Predictions:
NL EAST-New York Mets Mets
NL CENTRAL-Cubs Cubs
NL WEST-Padres D-Backs
NL WILDCARD-D-Backs Brewers
AL Predictions:
AL EAST-Boston Boston
AL CENTRAL-Detroit. White Sox
AL WEST-Angles Angles
AL WILDCARD- White Sox Twins
Six out of eight picks are in contention to make the playoffs. Should be a exciting second half with the Cubs and White Sox meeting in the World Series.

Similar posts: beach volleyball

For some reason I hardly ever make it up the North end of the village via the side walk. Which is actually a real shame as it makes for a very nice walk. It is so much quieter up that end with little to no commercial business at all. Apart from house rentals, and some really cute ones at that, there is little else in way of busirnesses along the sidewalk and beach once you get past DTatch.
And for a while now I have wanted to start documenting all the buildings that make up the village, so I took this walk as an opportunity to start my Homes of Placencia category.

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Beijing Olympic Action in Blackpool
See Olympic Quarter final qualifiers in action at Blackpool as Germanys Klemperer and Koreng mens team and the returning Schwaiger sisters from Austria come straight from Beijing for our NESTEA European Championshi.
Play at 2012
If you fancy yourself as the next beach volleyball Olympic Champion, start practising now for 2012 at the FREE Volley on the Prom beach training camp on Saturday and Sunday 6 7th September.
For more details on this event, please visit: www.volleyblackpool.

Similar posts: beach volleyball

Upset cyclists want USOC executive unmasked By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
DENVER (AP)The Olympic cyclists who wore masks at the Beijing airport want something positive to come out of their ordeal. They also seek the ouster of the U.S. Olympic Committee executive who they say humiliated them and bullied them into making an apology or else.He just treated us like children, Sarah Hammer said Monday of the meeting last month with Steve Roush, the USOCs chief of sport performance. He wasnt interested in anything we had to say.
The call for Roushs job came a day after the USOC sent a letter to the athletes, acknowledging their mishandling of some parts of the situation and encouraging the athletes to reach out to the USOC directly if they had any other concerns.
The letter came on the heels of a conference call the cyclists held with Jim Scherr, the CEO of the USOC.
The athletes held another conference call Monday, this one with reporters to outline the changes they were hoping for. They are proposing legislation, which could be considered at a USOC meeting next month, that would guarantee an athletes representative would be present for any future meetings, the likes of which the cyclists held with Roush.
We want to do our best to make sure this never happens again, Bobby Lea said. We want that to be part of our Olympic legacy.
A legacy they hope Roush will not be there to share.
Roush did not make himself available for comment and USOC officials were in no mood to extend the life of this uncomfortable story.
During his call with the athletes last week, Jim indicated he would address this matter internally, and he has done so, USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. In our view, this matter is closed and behind us.
Roush has devoted most of his adult life toward helping athletes in the Olympic movement. He has been the chief of sport performance for the USOC since 2004, has worked for the USOC since 2000 and was a top executive at USA Swimming for six years before that. He made about two dozen trips to Beijing over the past six years trying to ensure optimal conditions for U.S. athletes. Many believe he deserves a lot of credit for the U.S. teams ability to hold off China in the medal count, 110-100something Scherr and chairman Peter Ueberroth predicted would not happen.
Three of the four cyclists used their opening statements during the conference call to rip Roush and Kelly Skinner, the USOCs director for sports partnerships, for the way they treated them after their arrival at the Beijing airport, where photographers snapped pictures of them in their masks.
It was deplorable, Lea said. They should be held accountable for their actions.
Asked specifically if Roush should lose his job, cyclist Jennie Reed replied: I would definitely support that. The sentiment was shared by Hammer and Lea.
Mike Friedman, the fourth athlete on the call, was less strident.
m sure theres some reason hes got that job. Hes got some credentials somewhere, he said. But if hes doing a bad job, it needs to be reevaluated.
Of the about 10,500 participants in the Beijing Games, the American cyclists were the only athletes photographed wearing masks at the airport, something of a surprise to them, they said, because the masks had been recommended to them for a long time by USOC staff, including USOC sports physiologist Randy Wilber.
Hammer said she had been one of Wilbers guinea pigs when the mask was being developed by the USOC, which wanted to provide options for athletes who were worried about Beijings notorious pollution.
Reed and Lea said they went to an Olympic test event in December and got sick. They had been told to wear the mask there to replicate their upcoming Olympic experience.
I wanted to wear the mask as much as possible, Reed said. I get a bit claustrophobic wearing them so much. But I wanted to wear it as much as I could possibly handle.
Which included their arrival at the Beijing airport Aug. 5, where the site of them in masks, three days before the start of the games, turned into the big news of the day.
The cyclists said they were still jet lagged and disoriented when they were woken up early the next morning and told to hurry to a meeting in Roushs office.
The meeting was held without John Ruger, the athletes ombudsman who, like Roush, did not stay in the athletes village.
The cyclists described Roush as angry and condescending, unwilling to partake in a back-and-forth conversation. They said he told them they had disgraced the U.S. delegation.
They said he told them they had 2 1/2 hours to draft an apology, lest he take their case to a USOC panel that could expel them from the games. Roush was on that panel.
He told us there were five voting members on the committee and he didnt know how the other four would vote, Lea said.
The cyclists said Roush and Andy Lee, the communications director for USA Cycling, drafted the apology and that they never had a chance to see it or sign off on it before it was released to the media.
Part of the apology read: We deeply regret the nature of our choices. Our decision was not intended to insult BOCOG or countless others who have put forth a tremendous amount of effort to improve the air quality in Beijing.I heard about it, Friedman said. I was appalled.
The athletes agreed that even though their event began more than a week after their meeting with Roush, the tone of the meeting set things up for a bad performance. None won medals. Hammers fifth-place finish was the best of the four.
It created a very negative environment, Hammer said. Walking to meals, walking to sports medicine, there are people looking at you, staring at you, asking you, `Wheres your mask? We were getting made fun of. I believe it didnt help at all. But everyones different. Everyone responds differently.
To prevent these things from happening again, the athletes want their legislation passed.
In the USOCs letter, Scherr said every effort will be made in the future to ensure the Athlete Ombudsman is aware of and has the opportunity to be present in sensitive meetings with athletes and the USOC at the Games.

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The UAAP Season 71 Beach Volleyball tournament has officially opened last September 6 in UE-Caloocan. After the first few days of beach volleyball action, UST and FEU (Womens) remain unbeaten among a total of eight teams. FEUs Camille Anne Abanto and Marigail Tolentino started their title defense campaign on the right foot. They not only demonstrated their talent and skills on the sand, but also displayed mental toughness down the stretch. Surprisingly, they did not show any sign of jitters. They are the team to beat this season.
Come and watch the games.

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Beijing Olympic Action in Blackpool
See Olympic Quarter final qualifiers in action at Blackpool as Germanys Klemperer and Koreng mens team and the returning Schwaiger sisters from Austria come straight from Beijing for our NESTEA European Championshi.
Play at 2012
If you fancy yourself as the next beach volleyball Olympic Champion, start practising now for 2012 at the FREE Volley on the Prom beach training camp on Saturday and Sunday 6 7th September.
For more details on this event, please visit: www.volleyblackpool.

Similar posts: beach volleyball

Beijing Olympic Action in Blackpool
See Olympic Quarter final qualifiers in action at Blackpool as Germanys Klemperer and Koreng mens team and the returning Schwaiger sisters from Austria come straight from Beijing for our NESTEA European Championshi.
Play at 2012
If you fancy yourself as the next beach volleyball Olympic Champion, start practising now for 2012 at the FREE Volley on the Prom beach training camp on Saturday and Sunday 6 7th September.
For more details on this event, please visit: www.volleyblackpool.

Similar posts: beach volleyball

Candid Photography is our passion.
You will see the world through our eyes:
Mate68 and Tackleberry will show you a huge variety of stunning female beauty like cute next door girls, classy women, spicy cheerleaders and fair hostesses from all over Europe.
You will find a lot more pictures in the archives menu on the right!
comments are pretty much welcome.

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USA Volleyball and international pro beach players, Tyra Turner and her partner Rachel Wacholder, made a serious run at being Beijing Women's Beach Volleyball Olympians, this summer. Having repeatedly played THE best women's beach volleyball teams in the world, and beating quite a few of them, here's a great opportunity for you to learn from someone who knows what it's like to set a goal and to do everything in her power to try and reach it.

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Similar posts: beach volleyball

The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is at Coney Island in Brooklyn this Friday thru Sunday. Be sure to stop by at least 1 day to see the best players in the world including our Olympic teams. The mens division will feature Phil Dalhausser who won 9 EEVB tournaments on his climb to the top of the Pro Beach Volleyball world, and Nick Lucena, who won 12 EEVB tournaments before moving on to the AVP Pro Tour.

You can see an order form online at http://www.eevb.net/bva.htm, click on #4

Holly McPeak Clinic: Thursday July 17 (yes, this upcoming Thursday)
Junior clinic from 3-5 pm
Adult clinic 4-6 pm
Advanced doubles for female players 4-6 pm
AVP Coaches: Holly McPeak, Carrie Dodd, Tatiana Minello
Fee $60

Tournament this weekend at Long Beach: Saturday Only for Mens Womens Doubles, NO COED SUNDAY (we are all going to the AVP finals)

Dont forget to do your AVPNext Membership before you get to the beach and save $5. See below for info

Mens Open: $520

Womens Open: $520

MAA WAA: $200

League Players that compete in any B Division: $10/player



MA, WA, MB, WB, CA, CB: Merchandise prizes such as EEVB backpacks, Native Eyewear and so forth

Location: Riverside Blvd

Check in: Saturday 8-8:30 am

Divisions (doubles): Sat.

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For those of you that don't know, my favorite genre of books to read is Fantasy/Adventure. Currently I am re-reading Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. (Read it when I was about 12 or so.) Bought the omnibus edition which is all 10 books put into one massive tome! Got about 70 more pages to go out of the more than 1200 in the omnibus. Therefore, it is fitting that Phil and I won a sword in Norway. Maybe I should take up sword play as a hobby in the offseason.

The sword really was the driving force behind our victory. Both Phil and I talked a lot about winning the sword. Last year we saw Fabio with his sword and were quite jealous. They are real swords. Not sharpened thank goodness. Although the tip of the sword is very sharp and could mess someone up with a good thrust. The lady who gave it to me just about skewered me through the eye with it when we were on the podium.

The tourney itself was as always one of the best on the FIVB tour. The weather is a bit sketchy but that is Norway for ya. The fans here love there beach volleyball and are very knowleadgeble about the sport. They support their Norwegian teams with passion but also support other teams once the Norwegians are out of the tourney. They are loud and have fun but are never negative like some countries fans that chant ahole when you are about to serve.

In our pool we played the 32nd ranked Norwegian team on Thursday morning. They are a young team that received the Wild Card and had never been in the main draw. We pretty much whooped up on them winning 10 and 11. They are physically impressive with both of them being tall and physical but extremely raw. In our second game we played the top Italian team and beat them in two 13 and 15 or so. Ricardo Lione was playing with a heavy heart as his father had just passed away the day before but played well nonetheless.

On Friday we had only one game and it was to see who would win the pool. We played the Swiss team of Laciga and Schnyder. We beat them in 3 games. The first game was not close as we won 21-14. They then switched tactics and served me jump float serves instead of trying to just bomb their jump serves. It worked. We were in a battle the whole second game. We were up 20-19 when Phil touched a line shot and set me a good set. I tried to be aggressive and bang it but got stuffed. I proceeded to get stuffed on the next 2 balls and we had to go to game 3. In game 3 I mixed it up well and we won 15-11 or 12 to win our pool and get the bye in the first round of playoffs.

Saturday the playoffs started. We had the bye as I mentioned in the last paragraph and our first game was not until 2pm. The weather had been surprisingly good the last several days and Saturday was no exception. It wasn't really warm, about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, but there was no rain and the wind was very slight. In our first match we played the Japanese team of Shiratori and Asahi. They had beaten a Norwegian team to get to that point and it was a big victory for them. They are now tied with the Canadiens for 25th in the Olympic standings and both teams are only 40 points behind the 2nd Chinese team to get into the Olympics. We beat them 14 and 17 and were in control for the majority of the match. In our second match we played the first Chinese team. They are trying to get into the top 6 for Olympic points as that would put them as the first seed. If they are 7 or below they become the 6th seed in the Olympics. I started off slow on some tough jump serves by Tiny but Phil played really well especially from the service line. He and Tiny were both bombing their serves and became a story of who would serve better to win the match. Phil won over Tiny and we won 16 and 19 scoring a real point on an out hit by the right sider to win the match.

On Sunday the weather took a turn for the worse. Woke up to rain and wind and it wasn't looking good. It did slow down however and there was very little rain while we were playing. It was kind of windy but inside the stadium court it was much reduced because of the blockage by the stands. We played the 2nd Dutch team in the semis. It was their first semi ever but they didn't play like it. The first game was a good game going back and forth. We pulled it out by a few in the end though. The second game we were the beneficiaries of some no touch calls on Phil and won pretty easily. Congrats to the Dutch on their best finish ever. This team keeps getting better and better and could be a real threat come Beijing.

In the finals we played Germany's Reckerman and Urbatzka. It was the third week in a row that we played them in the playoffs. The last two we beat them to give them a 5th and 9th respectively. They played really well in the first game and really should have won that game. They were up 18-14 serving. We sided out and then scored two points to get it back to 17-18. They sided out but so did we and we scored another point to even it up. They had one set point at 20-19 but we sided out and took the next point to go up the set point. It took us 8 more set points but Phil got a block to seal the victory at 29-27. The second game we were always a little bit ahead of them. We would very between 1 and 3 points ahead and then they would always bring it back to a 1 point difference. At the end it was 15-14 us. We sided out and then went on a mini run with Phil making a couple of big blocks. It ended on Urbatzka's angle bang being an inch out and we were the winners of some sweet swords.

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Sunday, 23 Mar 2008 Singapore
The long weekend of Good Friday just whizzed past in a wink. And its already Sunday. Today I did not do much except to laze at home. The newspapers brought me updates around the world. Taiwans opposition won big. Malaysian PM seemed to be losing his gripe on power. English tabloids apologised and compensated the British couple who lost their daughter while holidaying in Spain. Singapore? Mas Selamat is still at large. Apparently, because of him, babies and businesses in Woodlands cant have a good sleep because of honking cars are stuck in a jam at the Crossway.
I am lucky I can have a peaceful Sunday watching television programmes and enjoying Sandy on the player. I started listening to her since 14 and have been a huge fan since. I fell in love with her after watching her MTV. It was a Cantonese cover of  I Still Believe. As with most pop songs, she sang of love and lost love. Her velvety voice was and still is amazing. Never failed to move me.
Growing up with her songs, she is almost like a close friend. During my student days, her songs were on repeat mode on my discman. Though I followed the music scene and had other  but it was always Sandy I went back to. There were Sammi, Kelly, Faye, Kit, etc but only Sandy was the one who could truly connect with me. She spoke to me.
Of course, there were times of heartaches when other friends provided words of wisdom and comfort. Sammi did provide the angst in her powerful voice. Faye, provided the indulgence in her chameleon voice. Sandy was the one who pulled me into her songs, feeling all emotions in one song. Listening to her songs was like chatting with an old friend. You did not need to speak for your old friend knew what you were feeling and telling her. She would be there for you.
With an old friend, you can talk about anything and do not have to hurry through the conversations or topics. I went from one CD to the next, playing my favourite songs from Sandy. Some were on repeat mode simply it has been a while since I listened to them. And they were close to my heart. Been there with them before. They brought back memories, both good and bad. I wanted to savour them all. Happiness, friendship, love, regret, longing, separation all in one afternoon.
I felt like I have had a long and good chat with one of my best friends. They say music is food for the soul. With Sandy, its champagne for the soul. At least for mine.

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Barcelona, Spain, May 27, 2008 - Led by the Brazilian Salgado sisters, eight teams advanced through the women's Qualification Tournament to the Main Draw here Tuesday for the US$350,000 Hyundai Open Barcelona set on the steps of the picturesque Placa Carles Buigas. After four-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour stops within the Asian Volleyball Confederation in Australia, China, Korea and Japan, the women's international Beach Volleyball circuit is playing for the first time this season in Europe with the inaugural Hyundai Open Barcelona also featuring men's Country Quota matches for teams from Brazil, Italy, Norway and Spain on Tuesday afternoon.

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Back in the winners circle in Hermosa Beach. Good to be back after a one week hiatus. Great weather, great ambiance, great tourney.

Enjoyed playing in very deep sand for the first time on the AVP this year. Australia had pretty deep sand but other than that, Miami, Dallas, Huntington Beach, Charleston, Italy, Louisville, and Atlanta were all hard packed and shallow. It is so much more fun to play defense in the deep stuff. Guys can't get up and bang from way off the net or hit severe angles where the defensive player is at such a disadvantage. The good defensive players were making a lot of digs this week.

We started off against the qualifier team of Aaron and Travis. I actually recruited Aaron to UCSB but he shined me and went to UCLA instead. Good player with great ball control but small. First time in the main draw for him so congrats to him. We won the game pretty handily in two with scores of around 14 and 12 or so. In our second game on Friday we played Tramblie and Morrison. We struggled with them in Atlanta and barely beat them in two. We were much better in Hermosa and won 15 and 15 or so. I have to say, Ty is the best defensive player on the AVP tour. It isn't close in my opinion. Phil and I were discussing it and he apologized to me saying that after the performances that Ty has put in against us, he had to vote for him for best defensive player. I have to agree with Phil. Ty plays with a passion for defense that is unmatched by anyone on tour. It is fun to watch and to play against. Keep up the good work Ty.

On Saturday we played Nick and Sean in the quarters of the winners bracket. When the draw is a full field draw it is getting pretty tough. Nick and Sean were the 9th seed! We won in 2 games with scores of about 16 and 17 or so. The first game we came out strong and maintained a healthy lead the whole way. The second was much closer until the end when we pulled out a bunch of points. We had to wait the entire day after playing at 9am. We played Rosie and Jake after the women's final at about 4:0o that afternoon. Kind of lame since there are about 1000 courts to play on at Hermosa. Anyways, as always it was a battle. Kind of a war of attrition. In the first game Phil and I were very bad and lost 21-15. In the second game Rosie and Jake were very bad and lost 21-12 or so. In the third game it was tight until 5-5. We then scored 3 in a row. Phil had an over set that he should have blasted straight down but sent it 15 feet out the back of the court. That gave them momentum and I let that mess with my head. I sided out the next play but then they reeled off something like 5 points and ended up ahead 13-11. I sided out to make it 13-12. I scooped Jake but then hit a line shot out to give them match point. I sided out again to make it 14-13 Jake and Rosy. I served Jake and he hit it high off of Phil. I chased it down at the end line and threw up a 50/50 set to Phil who pounded it with no block up. The next point I scooped Jake and we scored again to make it 15-14 us. I then pulled a super dumb dumb and served a jump float to Jake about 4 feet out the back line. Retarded!! I sided out the next play though and then we won on a scoop by me I think. Have a tough time remembering the last points of close matches. Great game and entertaining for the fans.

On Sunday we played the surprise team of Nygaard and Mayer. They are playing very good volleyball right now and seem to compliment one another. I expect them to continue to have some good finishes throughout the rest of the year. We won in 2 games pulling away at the end of each game to win 16 and 16 or so. Nice finish by those guys.

In the finals we played Matt and Casey. It was a great defensive battle. No aces and only a handful of blocks. Tons of digs though with lots of great rallies. The first game was close but we broke it open midway and cruised to a 21-14 victory. The second game they were up 12-9 at the break but we caught them at 17 all. Casey made a great scoop on an angle bang by me and put it away to go up 20-18. I put the next ball away to make it 19-20. Phil had a great jump serve to Casey but Casey made a fantastic pass. Casey shot a short line shot which I picked up off the sand. I hit the ensuing set off of Casey but Matt ran it down. His set went over the net and I hit it off Casey again. He blocked me but it went high on our side and right to Phil. I set him and he banged it hard off of Casey's block to tie it up at 20 all. We traded side outs for a bit and then Phil and I got another point off of a scoop and put away by me. A couple sideouts later I got another scoop and we scored the final point to win the match and the title. Congrats to Matt and Casey who are playing really good volleyball right now.

Time to catch a plane to Berlin now. Never seems to end. I will catch up with you all of you from Germany.

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If someone where to ask me what movie captured your life the best, well at least the growing up part, Id have to say it would be Quadrophenia (close second for adult life, the breakdown scene in the beginning of Jerry Maguire). It reminds me so much of growing up in Huntington Beach, discovering punk rock when you used to get beat up for being punk rock (happened twice), going to thrift stores and buying old boy scout pants and pegging them and trying to find the ugliest shirts, this was several years before there would be a Hot Topic, discovering drugs alcohol, the clubbing, the fights, falling in love then getting your heart broken and discovering your idols were not all they were cracked up to be. Quadrophenia has it all. I would really love for them to update it. Im sure kids growing up these days are facing a lot of the similar stuff. And lets not forget the soundtrack, The Real Me, Love Reign on Me and many others are theme songs for my life. Below are a few clips for fun. If you havent seen it, go rent it.

What movie would you pick.

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April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.

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Don’t quit your day job.
Maria Menounos ditched her Access Hollywood and Today Show hosting duties today in attempt to qualify for the AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open. Maria, who worried spectators that she was going to get thrown out of the match because of her constant cussing, cut her foot during the second round, requiring immediate medical attention. While she did lose both qualifying matches (7-21, 11-21), Maria left in great spirits saying she’d love to try out again next year.
Something tells me she might need a new partner.

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Hello everybody. Its the start of a new beach volleyball season and my playing partner Lucy Boulton and I are still hoping to make it to the Olympics. Unfortunately its a bit delayed because of a knee injury I picked up sprinting.

If it was up to me, I wouldve played through the season as it was. Luckily I had some more informed opinions from doctors and surgeons, who all assured me I wouldn't make it halfway through the Tour. So I had the surgery immediately which meant missing the tournament in March in Australia for the start of the Tour.

The surgery was so fast - less than an hour. They did an arthroscopy which meant only cutting into two points in the front of the knee. When I woke up after the surgery, the only thing that hurt was the I.V. in my hand. I actually walked out of the hospital! Isn't modern medicine amazing.

Americano top 10 >>> beach volleyball