Games and life are all a matter of confidence (Frances Coleman)
Posted: August 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm
I was 20 when I heard the words: All it takes is a little confidence. I was a college girl, sitting in a theater watching The Sting.
I heard the dialogue, but missed the point.
Now, years later, Ive spent two weeks watching other girls tiny gymnasts, beautiful swimmers and thrilling judo experts twisting, splashing and pounding their way to gold.
Throughout the 2012 Summer Olympics, which end today, newscasters have spoken about the fruit of Title IX and the role of women in sports.
Every twist of Gabby Douglas body has been analyzed, and the descriptions of the graceful strokes of Missy Franklin have lasted far longer than the 2 minutes and 4.06 seconds she took to set a world record.
Sure, its all about the training, the science and the art of coaching these youngsters to their amazing physical feats. While we Americans have rejected the Chinese model of locking athletes away in authoritarian sports camps, our nations method of producing champions is demonstrably successful.
The key to the success these young American women and young men have achieved in London is more than determination, strength, skill and luck. It also consists of a gift that surpasses any other gift one person can give to another.
Confidence or the lack of it is something that expresses itself when we compare ourselves to others.
I lacked confidence when I was a young woman because I never felt as smart as my siblings, as pretty as my classmates or as popular as the cheerleaders who were the queens of my small-town Texas high school.
My comparisons changed a little when I received a gift. My English teacher held up something I had done as an example of good writing. You may disagree with her now, but I was the happiest thing in bell-bottom pants and platform shoes that day. She had given me confidence.
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Games and life are all a matter of confidence (Frances Coleman)
910-583-4635 Call For Appointments On The Go Carts Located In Omni Health And Fitness Gym – Video
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910-583-4635 Call For Appointments On The Go Carts Located In Omni Health And Fitness Gym - Video
Kettlebells For A Fit Diver | Health And Fitness For The Scuba Diver Using Nothing But Awesome Kettlebell Training – Video
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Kettlebells For A Fit Diver | Health And Fitness For The Scuba Diver Using Nothing But Awesome Kettlebell Training - Video
June-Marie Raw Food and Fitness Health misc videos 024 – Video
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June-Marie Raw Food and Fitness Health misc videos 024 - Video
Losing It – HEALTH and FITNESS Vlog Week 10 – UPDATE – Video
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Losing It - HEALTH and FITNESS Vlog Week 10 - UPDATE - Video
Sat 11th Aug 2012 : 11am – Pulse Health and Fitness Carshalton – Video
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Sat 11th Aug 2012 : 11am - Pulse Health and Fitness Carshalton - Video
Don't Sweat It: Exercises to start your day
Posted: at 1:11 pm
This monthly Health & Fitness feature gives you quick exercises and fitness tips that make living a healthier lifestyle simple. In this issue, well go over activities to do in the morning to help you and your body wake up.
This week, we traveled to 24-7 Fitness in Allentown and spoke to exercise physiologist Andrew Harris.
The morning is often the best time for exercise, Harris says. Things dont get in the way and its best to be consistent and begin your day with activity.
If youre looking for a quick exercise that will engage all the muscles in your body, Harris suggests the High Tension Plank. The static exercise is a variation of a regular plank since it incorporates more muscles than just the core.
High Tension Plank
Repeat: Hold the pose for 10 seconds, then rest. Repeat three more times.
Benefits: Engages body in total tension, working the arms, legs and core.
Health Tip:
Harris says a great morning pick-me-up is a fruit smoothie. For a tasty drink, Harris suggests mixing bananas, yogurt and ice in a blender. You can also add protein powder for an added energy boost.
Try this recipe for a breakfast smoothie made in less than 10 minutes.
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Don't Sweat It: Exercises to start your day
Personal Finance: It's not easy lining up a law enforcement job
Posted: at 1:11 pm
So you want a job in law enforcement? Better get in line.
Throughout California, many police and sheriff's departments are on hiring lockdowns. The CHP hasn't accepted any new applications in nearly three years. The only local law enforcement hiring in Sacramento these days is for "on-call" officers or volunteers.
There is one law enforcement agency that's taken off the hiring handcuffs: the FBI, which unlocked a tiny hiring window this month.
Jump quickly, though. It's closing Wednesday.
What does it take to become an FBI special agent?
"In a nutshell, the FBI is looking for honest, hard-working professionals who have one or more of the many critical skills computer science, engineering, law, accounting, languages that we need," said Special Agent Steve Dupre, who's in charge of recruiting for the FBI's Sacramento office.
Under a new hiring process, the FBI accepts applications for only two weeks twice a year and only online in March and August. For 2012, it had only 450 openings for special agents, the lowest rate in the last five years, primarily due to federal belt-tightening. All of those openings have been filled.
Those who apply by Wednesday's deadline will be put into the FBI's 2013 hiring pool, although the exact number of openings for next year has yet not been determined by Congress.
Dupre said the bureau is "continually looking to hire," due to its mandatory retirement age of 57. Once qualified, a candidate stays in the FBI's hiring pool until age 36.
The FBI doesn't take just anyone, however. At a minimum, applicants must be young 23 to 36 years old with a college degree and several years of professional work life. It also helps to possess one of the FBI's most-wanted professional backgrounds, from accounting to military to computer science.
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Personal Finance: It's not easy lining up a law enforcement job
New investment mix a Sane way to success
Posted: at 1:11 pm
The Sane Portfolio so far has lived up to its name.
This is a collection of a dozen stocks intended to offer investors a decent return with moderate risk. Since 1999, it has done a pretty good job with that mission.
Since 1999, I have compiled this portfolio annually, with a hiatus from 2007 through 2009. Last years version provided a 15.6 percent return, including dividends from Aug. 16, 2011 through Aug. 3, 2012 not as good as the S&Ps 19.1 percent, but not bad, either.
In 10 annual periods, the portfolio has been profitable nine times out of 10, and has beaten the Standard & Poors 500 seven times out of 10. The average return has been 10.7 percent, compared to 5.5 percent for the S&P 500. The numbers both for the S&P and for the portfolio would be lower if I hadnt temporarily retired as a columnist during the bear market of 2008.
Results of my column recommendations should not be confused with those for real-money portfolios I manage. Column results are hypothetical and dont reflect trading costs or taxes. Also, past performance doesnt predict future results.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Sane Portfolio, a stock must pass seven tests: a market capitalization of $1 billion or more, a return on stockholders equity of 10 percent or better and a price/earnings ratio of 18 or less. It must also have a price/book ratio of 3 or less, a price/sales ratio of 3 or less, debt less than stockholders equity and earnings growth averaging 5 percent or better for the past five years.
Once I select a stock for membership, it stays in the Sane Portfolio unless and until it flunks one of the tests.
This year, seven of the 12 members of the portfolio have to be replaced. Kicked out were AT&T, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Dreamworks Animation SKG, Gap, Greif, Harris, and Walt Disney.
Retaining their status in the portfolio for a third straight year are Cliffs Natural Resources, Cubic and Exxon Mobil. Back for a second time are Hewlett-Packard and Western Digital.
Besides the returnees, 170 stocks meet the statistical tests for inclusion this year, so I had a big field from which to select the seven new entries. And here they are:
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New investment mix a Sane way to success
Prep Soccer: Mercer's Souder seeks team success to go with personal success
Posted: at 1:11 pm
Mercer County senior Landon Souder has already committed to play for Division I Evansville next season, and he's hoping to lead the Titans to their best season this year. "He's about as close to the complete package as you can get, especially at the high school level," Mercer coach Matt Vogel said. (Clay Jackson / August 11, 2012)
10:51 p.m. EDT, August 11, 2012
HARRODSBURG He has the athletic ability to succeed in any number of sports, but Landon Souder made his choice long ago. Back in middle school, when he realized that he didnt mind blowing off basketball practice in Harrodsburg to go play indoor soccer in Lexington, he knew he wanted to be a soccer player. Now Souder has become a soccer player like few others this area has ever produced. His years of practice and work have been rewarded, as he has enjoyed success at the club level, made a splash in a national development program and committed to play for a Division I college, all before the start of his senior season at Mercer County. The latter of those achievements is the realization of a dream that germinated in middle school and began to grow a couple of years later when he began to realize how he could make it come true. Athleticism is the major point of my game. Thats what sets me apart from most players. Once I started to figure that out, I started telling myself, I can do this, Souder said. Matt Vogel, who has coached Souder for the past four years in Lexington FC and who takes over as Mercers coach this season, said theres no doubt that Souder can do things most other players cannot. Hes probably one of the most athletic players Ive ever coaches, Vogel said. Hes about as close to the complete package as you can get, especially at the high school level. Souder has accomplished much individually, and now he sees before him the possibility of doing something even more meaningful this fall. He is one of the leaders of a Mercer team that has made marked improvement during his time there and that might be the areas best team this year, and he relishes the chance to enjoy unprecedented success alongside the friends he has played with for most of his life, beginning with their days in the Mercer Youth Soccer Association. The thing about high school is all my best friends play. We grew up playing at MYSA together and against each other, and now were all together in high school, and were changing whats typical for Mercer County soccer, he said. Souder and his teammates came within one game within one overtime goal, to be exact of their first regional championship last year, and he said that defeat eats at him just about any time high school soccers mentioned. But much has happened in the months since the Titans title game loss at Danville last October, both for Souder and for the team. By the end of that fall, Souder had attracted the attention of a number of Division I coaches, both during the club and high school seasons. He got a handful of offers, and by the end of winter he had picked one of them the first one that had taken a liking to him to become Mercers first D-I player and one of only a handful ever from this area. Souder committed in March to play for Evansville, saying the relationship he developed with that schools coaching staff from the very beginning of the recruiting process cemented his decision. They were with me from the start. The first day they can contact you (in) your junior year is September 1st, and they sent me an email at 12:01 a.m., he said. They saw me play during our select season that year before, and since then theyve seen me play all through my select season. It was a hard choice at the beginning, but just seeing that Evansville had my major (physical therapy) and I had a great relationship with the coaching staff, I played with some of their players, hung out with their players, I felt like I needed to be there. Souder said Evansville, which he chose over Kentucky and Xavier, gives him the chance not only to play for a competitive D-I program but also to play against some of the countrys best teams. The have a long history of being good ... and one of my goals is I wanted to play for a team that played against the best teams in the nation. They play powerhouses all the time, he said. Vogel said he thinks Souder will be just fine at the next level, saying he will be able to steer clear of the kind of culture shock many athletes experience in the transition from high school to college. What the Division I level will force him to do is become more technical and read the game at an even higher pace, Vogel said. I think Landons adjustment period to Division I will be faster than most. I think hell make an impact right away. The early commitment was one less thing Souder had to worry about in his final select season, and his Lexington FC team won finished second in the premier division in its league and reached the state semifinals. Late last month, he spent three days at an Olympic Development Program regional camp in Illinois. He was one of 20 players from Kentucky at the camp, and he was one of seven picked for a holdover group that would spend two more days there working out and competing for spots in a national tournament to be held this winter. Altogether there were probably 250, 300 people there, and (it was an honor) to get selected as one of the 34 kids held over, especially at a position I dont normally play (center defense), he said. That honor comes at the end of a long club career in which he started in the Mercer Youth Soccer Association, then moved on to the Central Kentucky Soccer Club before going on to Lexington FC. He said he knows those experiences, particularly those in the four years he has spent with Lexington FC, made him a much better player. Not just competing in games, but competing in practices. You have to show up every day to compete for your spot, which in turn means you have to get better. You either get better or get left behind, he said. The thing about him playing on that select team that hes on is hes got a lot of good talent to push him. Hes really blossomed in his knowledge of the game and his skill set, Vogel said. Souder is not the only one who has had those experiences, and Mercer is the better for that. He said one of the things that has made the Titans so much better in recent years is that so many more of them are playing so much more soccer. On the high school team a couple years ago, there were only two or three players that played all year long. Now there are 15 or 16, over half the team, that play all year long, he said. And now Vogel has taken over as the teams third coach in two seasons Tim Shannon, the interim coach for most of last season, remains as an assistant coach Souder hopes the Titans can rise to new heights. We expect to be going to state, winning district, winning region. We expect to be doing that stuff. Those are our goals, Souder said. I feel like our team has gotten better with Tim last year, and now with Tim and coach Vogel, having both of them will improve us tremendously. I love waking up in the morning for 7 a.m. practices.
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Prep Soccer: Mercer's Souder seeks team success to go with personal success