Lift for Life event lends Penn State athletes chance to make positive impact
Posted: July 15, 2012 at 4:13 pm
They sprinted back and forth, lugging 100-pound sand bags, heaving them in a pile, one after another.
The blue shirts roared for their own. The white shirts roared back. The drill finished and the dozen or so Nittany Lions erupted and grabbed one another in equal parts celebration and good-natured mocking, smiles and cheers all around.
They wouldn't really say it before or even after the 10th annual Lift For Life event Friday evening on the new lacrosse field on campus. No, they mostly talked about how this was just to raise money to fight kidney cancer, as always.
How they were circling together as a team and blocking out all of the negativity that has nothing to do with them and yet shadows every one.
Most wouldn't talk directly about it, but this sure seemed like it also was an opportunity to let off some steam and to bond even tighter -- and even remind the world that Penn State football is about good things, too.
Fans gathered and ringed the field in support, despite off-and-again rain showers. For a day, the scars of the scandal past and the unseen worries to come lifted away.
"There's no way to run from it or look away from it because it's out there," said senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill. "But we're not going to talk about it as a team. You can't really focus on it as a player because you'll get too emotional and that really affects your play."
And yet, "You do feel like you got to do more now," Hill
And so they did Friday. It was a new Lift For Life format under a new coaching staff, including on-field leader Craig Fitzgerald, Penn State's strength and conditioning coach.
There was no more daylong, drawn-out event pairing teams of four or five against each other. This was moved outside, and it was offense against defense, everything accomplished in less than two hours.
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Lift for Life event lends Penn State athletes chance to make positive impact
Manchester United midfielder Giggs reveals management ambition
Posted: at 4:13 pm
Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs has revealed that he hopes to go into management when he calls time on his playing career.
The 38-year-old made his 900th appearance for the Red Devils last term but has just one year remaining on his current deal and is widely expected to retire at the end of the season.
The Welshman admits that the possibility of coaching has become increasingly tempting in recent times and is preparing himself for life in the dugout already.
Coaching is something Im looking at more and more," he told the Daily Mirror.
In the middle of last season, I completed my UEFA A Licence, which was good. Its a different side of things, completely different to being a player.
"I want to gather as much knowledge as I can and prepare myself as best as I can, if I do want to go into management or coaching.
The Cardiff-born midfielder also explained that he is looking to take as much as possible from the experience of captaining the Team GB football squad at the Olympics this summer.
The Olympics is a great platform, its different being involved in tournament football to league football," he added. "I ask as many questions as I can at United and Ive been the same here with Great Britain.
Ive always been a keen watcher of other sports. I love other sports to football; I think, as a coach, that you have to look at other sports that are leading the way in different areas.
Our club [Manchester United] has always done that and its something Im very keen to do. I watch all sports and Im keen to gather as much information to help me in my career.
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Manchester United midfielder Giggs reveals management ambition
The life of the Parisian motorcycle worker
Posted: at 4:13 pm
By Sherry Mangan
Editor's note:Every Sunday, Fortune publishes a favorite storyfrom our magazine archives. Bastille Day, France's national holiday, took place this weekend. We bring you this piece from 1948 on how workers were living in post-WWII France as seen through the eyes of motorcycle factory worker Roger Buquet.
FORTUNE -- Roger Buquet, thirty, mtallurgiste, works for the Socit des Ateliers Motobcane in Pantin, a northern industrial suburb of Paris, as a final assembler of motorcycles. He puts in a forty-eight-hour, five-day week for an average income of 8,200 francs or approximately $27 -- on which he supports a wife and three children (a fourth child is coming any minute). With the cost of living as it now is in France, this constitutes a minor miracle.
Buquet's blue eyes bug at the living standards of his U.S. counterpart ("Detroit Auto Worker," FORTUNE, August, 1946), above all, at his automobile. The very idea of a workingman's being able to afford a car practically stands his red hair on end. Buquet thinks he's doing pretty well to have a bike for himself and a tandem on which to take his wife.
Not that it's a car he's mostly worrying about: his troubles are much more elementary. Before the war, whatever international statistics may have indicated, French workers lived not too badly. Leaving all ego-tickling display to the middle classes, they concentrated on such fundamental things as a formidably comfortable bed and a commodious dining-room table, and ate the world's best food blended with good gros rouge-and champagne, too, for birthdays and baptisms. The war has put a smashing end to all this: the French workers' standard of living today is marginal in the statistics and all but insupportable in the reality. All of which explains a lot about French politics today.
Whistle while you work
Roger Buquet's day begins at 6: 15 A.M., when he gets breakfastfor himself and his family, and prepares a midmorningsnack to eat at the plant. From a closet workshop in his apartmenthe unhooks his light, semi-racing-type bicycle, andcarries it down the three flights to the rue de Chartres. Ittakes him under twelve minutes to cover the three miles tohis division of the scattered Motobecane plants in Pantin.There, with another heave of the bike to a wall bracket, aquick change to overalls, and a whack at the time clock, heis ready for a working day that from Monday through Thursdayruns from 7:00 A.M. till noon and from 1:00 to 6:00 P.M.,on Friday stops at 4:00 P.M.
Buquet is on the dividing line between semi-skilled andskilled. He works in a twelve-man team on the company'slightest model, most complicated to assemble. Picking uptwelve mudguards, he walks down the line placing one oneach motorcycle frame, then more slowly retraces his stepsbolting them on. Other workers come one machine behindhim with head lamps, tail lamps, gas tanks, etc. On his secondtrip his turn falls on, say, the rear wheel or the main drivechain, which is similarly handled. Each trip finds him distributingand attaching a different part. This system, makingfor variety, causes the machine-minded Buquet much lesspsychological fatigue than a repetition of a single process.
Motobcane is, comparatively, a pretty nice place to work.The management has the sense to impose, not hourly rhythms,but only an over-all daily output. The pace, determined bythe team itself, is therefore easy and flexible. The foreman isno straw boss, but works with the others. Smoking is permitted,though the favorite proletarian "smoke" is usually acigarette that went out half an hour ago pasted to the lowerlip. Space is tight: workers must squeeze past one another,but long experience and a good team spirit avert all frictions.Half a dozen of the team will be whistling a tune in unison,and it is a tossup whether it is the popular Pigalle or L'lnternationalein march time.
"Look at them from here," said a top management officialon a balcony overlooking the assembly line, "and you'd saythey weren't doing a damn thing; yet they turn out as manymachines as twice the number of men in a competitor's 'rationalized'plant." The production norms were determinedscientifically twenty-two years ago. "The operation hasn'tchanged; human beings haven't changed; so naturally thenorms haven't changed," he adds. The flexibility of the systemallows Buquet to knock off at ten o'clock for a midmorningsnack, and permits the team members free choicebetween eleven and twelve-o'clock lunch hours. And unlessthere has been some quite exceptional holdup in parts, theteam is usually finished with its daily stint at least a quarterof an hour before closing time.
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The life of the Parisian motorcycle worker
Coaching searches — the hot seat for athletic directors
Posted: at 4:13 pm
MANHATTAN As John Currie exited a late-night flight on the first day of his search for a new basketball coach last March, he turned on his cell phone and heard a voicemail he will never forget.
His 9-year-old daughter was none-too-pleased the Kansas State athletic director left Manhattan without saying goodbye.
Not being able to tell her goodbye was probably the hardest part of that whole week, Currie said.
Out of the hundreds of calls Currie made between the time Frank Martin told him he was leaving for South Carolina and Bruce Weber told him he was coming to K-State, that moment sticks out.
But it was unavoidable. These were hectic times, after all. Currie had just watched Martin take another job, and he didnt want to waste time finding a replacement.
Thats life for a modern-day athletic director. High-profile coaching searches are not only part of the job, they are arguably the most important part. Coaches are leaving for new teams on a regular basis 26 Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 47 Division I basketball teams changed coaches in this offseason and finding the perfect replacement has never been more crucial.
Life and death its not, but its pressure-packed. Currie faced a week of travel, phone calls and negotiations, all in the face of round-the-clock speculation. He felt like he was preparing for battle.
Anytime you go into a process like that, you have to have a plan of attack, Currie said. Any General will tell you that having a battle plan is essential, because once the battle starts the environment changes and the battle plan changes with it. I had one and I was ready.
Currie began examining his list of potential candidates, arranging flights and making calls. Before he knew it, he was on his way to the Manhattan airport.
With so much at stake, athletic directors have their own approaches. And everyone is keeping score.
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Coaching searches — the hot seat for athletic directors
Center for Health Improvement begins new fitness program
Posted: at 4:13 pm
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By The Hays Daily News
Hays Medical Center employees will kick off a new 10-day fitness initiative Monday.
The initiative is intended to promote the hospital's Exercise is Medicine program, which encourages staff and patients to exercise regularly.
"We just want them to be aware of the whole initiative," said Stephanie Schaffer, director of the Center for Health Improvement. "We've got to keep encouraging physicians and nurses to make sure we're talking about exercise."
A hospital-wide goal for the program is to get 250 associates to complete a free 30-minute fitness consult by the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
The EIM program encourages patients and staff to exercise for at least 30 minutes three times a week.
Qualifying patients also can receive a free fitness consult when recommended by a physician.
The following activities are included in the 10-day employee initiative.
* Use the stairs day is Wednesday.
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Center for Health Improvement begins new fitness program
Fitness classes draw dozens downtown
Posted: at 4:13 pm
SOUTH BEND -- In an effort to draw people downtown and contribute to the overall health of the community, Downtown South Bend Inc. hosted two free fitness classes Saturday on the plaza in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center.
The morning began with an hourlong yoga class at 8 a.m., followed by Zumba at 9. About 50 people attended each of the classes led by local fitness instructors.
"It was great," said South Bend resident Sara Cavadini, who participated in yoga. "It was really nice to see so many different people, and it was nice to be outside in the morning when the weather is nice."
"I really enjoyed it," said Karen Kruz of South Bend, who attended the yoga class with her daughter and her mother, Amy Nuner. "We were just talking about coming back next week."
"I really like the waterfall right here," Nuner added, referring to the fountain outside the Morris.
Kruz said she planned to explore downtown a bit afterward and maybe grab some breakfast, which is no doubt what DTSB had in mind when it decided to offer the classes.
Downtown South Bend plans to host more free classes on the plaza, including cardio dance and jazzercise classes, every Saturday between now and Aug. 11. The classes will be led by local instructors representing a number of area fitness centers.
"I am very excited that we have a beautiful venue in downtown South Bend to exercise outdoors together," volunteer event coordinator Judy Wein said, making a point to thank DTSB as well as area health clubs and fitness instructors.
Wein wasn't the only one excited.
"I thought it was a great idea," Mishawaka resident Pam Guild said while waiting with her daughter and grandson for the Zumba class to start. "I read about it (in the paper) and I was real impressed. I think Downtown South Bend has done a lot to bring people downtown."
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Lorenzo wins in Mugello, Bradl sets personal best
Posted: at 4:12 pm
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo has stretched his MotoGP lead at the half-way point in the season, winning round nine at Mugello in Italy. German rookie Stefan Bradl finished fourth, the best result of his career.
The 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo took the lead from pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa at the start and never looked back. The Spanish Yamaha rider led the rest of the race and found time to wave to the crowd on the last lap, as he cruised across the line five seconds ahead of his countryman, Pedrosa.
Lorenzo stretches his championship lead to 19 points at the half-way stage in the MotoGP season, ahead of Pedrosa on his Honda. Pedrosa jumped up into second in the overall standings at the expense of his teammate Casey Stoner.
Jorge Lorenzo won at Mugello, the Spaniard is building a hefty overall lead
The reigning world champion, who is competing in his last season before retirement, suffered an off-track excursion at half-distance and could only recover to finish ninth. This poor result, coupled with his last-lap retirement in Germany last weekend, means Stoner now trails Lorenzo by 37 points after leading for much of the season.
Bradl battles for first podium
German rider Stefan Bradl occupied third place for most of the race, but was overtaken by Italian Andrea Dovizioso in the closing laps. Bradl held off a further challenge from Ducati's Nicky Hayden to finish fourth, the best finish of his career in the MotoGP class.
Bradl is in his rookie season, having comfortably won the championship in the Moto2 feeder series on smaller bikes last year. His fifth place finish last week at the Sachsenring near Chemnitz in eastern Germany had equalled his best performance of the season to date, until he topped it at Mugello on Sunday.
Riding on a "satellite bike," a motorcycle operated by an independent customer team rather than a manufacturer, Bradl is an impressive seventh in the overall standings - ahead of two riders, Hayden and Ben Spies, on factory bikes.
Hayden's teammate, multiple champion Valentino Rossi, ultimately rolled in fifth behind Bradl in front of his Italian home fans, with the American nipping at his heels in sixth.
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Lorenzo wins in Mugello, Bradl sets personal best
Etiquette expert backs yoga teacher fired by Facebook
Posted: at 11:13 am
Amy Carmichael, CTVNews.ca Published Sunday, Jul. 15, 2012 6:30AM EDT
A U.S. yoga instructor isnt alone in expressing concerns about cellphone use at the gym.
Both a personal trainer and an etiquette expert say its a problem and that Alice Van Ness, the yoga instructor at Facebook who says she was fired after trying to stop a student from texting in class, was doing the right thing.
People think their life is so much more important than others and that they can disturb a class or other people in a gym. Its completely out of control, in my opinion, says Melissa Wessel, who specializes in strength training and leads boot camps in Toronto.
Van Ness wrote about her experience at Facebook for elephantjournal.com. Van Ness said management at the Facebook gym encouraged her to let students do whatever they wanted, including come in late and take phone calls. In June, she glared at a texting student while she demonstrated a difficult pose. This, she says, prompted her firing.
Van Ness writes: I said nothing, but Im sure my face said it all. Really? Your email is more important than understanding your body? Its more important than taking time for you? Its more important than everyone else here?
A Toronto etiquette expert sides with Wessel and Van Ness on the issue of phones in gyms and fitness classes.
Rude, says Louise Fox, an etiquette expert certified at the prestigious Protocol School of Washington, host of mannerstv.com and owner of The Etiquette Ladies.
Wessel has her clients leave their phones in their locker. But she says that many gym clients and trainers are phone addicts who cant detach for a workout.
I personally think its ridiculous, Wessel says.
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Etiquette expert backs yoga teacher fired by Facebook
Lift for Life event lends Lions chance to make positive impact
Posted: July 14, 2012 at 10:13 pm
At least for one day, Penn State football players weren't letting recent negative attention affect them.
STATE COLLEGE -- They sprinted back and forth, lugging 100-pound sand bags, heaving them in a pile, one after another.
The blue shirts roared for their own.
The white shirts roared back.
The drill finished and the dozen or so Nittany Lions erupted and grabbed one another in equal parts celebration and good-natured mocking, smiles and cheers all around.
They wouldn't really say it before or even after the 10th annual Lift For Life event Friday evening on the new lacrosse field on campus. No, they mostly talked about how this was just to raise money to fight kidney cancer, as always.
How they were circling together as a team and blocking out all of the negativity that has nothing to do with them and yet shadows every one.
Most wouldn't talk directly about it, but this sure seemed like it also was an opportunity to let off some steam and to bond even tighter -- and even remind the world that Penn State football is about good things, too.
Fans gathered and ringed the field in support, despite off-and-again rain showers. For a day, the scars of the scandal past and the unseen worries to come lifted away.
"There's no way to run from it or look away from it because it's out there," said senior defensive tackle Jordan Hill. "But we're not going to talk about it as a team. You can't really focus on it as a player because you'll get too emotional and that really affects your play."
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Lift for Life event lends Lions chance to make positive impact
United’s 2012 Health and Fitness Challenge Winner Announcement – Video
Posted: at 10:13 pm
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United's 2012 Health and Fitness Challenge Winner Announcement - Video