There are men, there are brave men, and then there's an Austrian skydiving expert named Felix Baumgartner, who later this year will take a flight in a stratospheric balloon more than 120,000 feet up and attempt to become the first person to break the sound barrier (approximately 690 mph) in a freefall.On January 22, Baumgartner and several members of the Red Bull Stratos team publicly unveiled for the first time the details of their "Mission to the Edge of Space," for which Baumgartner is the Test Jump Pilot. According to the company, "This is very much a step into the unknown; no freefall -- let alone a supersonic one -- has been successfully completed from the target altitude." The goal is obvious -- get Baumgartner safely back to Earth. But the challenges are innumerable. Keep reading for more details about the incredible mission."The main challenges," says Art Thompson, the team's Technical Project Director, "concern pressure, thermal -- hot and cold temperatures, and acceleration and deceleration through three layers of space." Baumgartner will wear a pressurized suit and helmet along with his parachute and chest pack with data recorders, but even the equipment presents a challenge."It's NOT comfortable being in a pressure suit," says Thompson. "People get antsy wearing it ... we wanted to see if Felix freaked out in the suit, but he was fine."Baumgartner is an accomplished BASE jumper and he's set records before which include a flight across the English Channel with a carbon wing. But he's never done anything like this. When asked if he was nervous, he answered in the affirmative. "Yes, there's fear," says Baumgarter. "But I use fear to my advantage, to keep focused."Joe Kittinger, a retired United States Air Force colonel, is the only person who knows exactly what Baumgartner will feel when he opens the capsule and prepares to jump; he set the record that Baumgartner will attempt to break 50 years ago when he made a parachute jump from 102,800 feet in Aug. 1960, nine years before the Apollo mission. Kittinger will also be the voice from the ground inside Baumgartner's helmet when the Austrian will otherwise be all alone at 23 miles above the Earth. Asked if he hesitated before he made his epic jump, Kittinger responded, "Hell no, I didn't hesitate. I was happy as hell to go back to a friendly place. Space is a hostile environment." Baumgartner will be there soon. The rest of us can watch live images of the incredible mission online, from the comfort of home. Pajamas are optional.
One more thought, I have to believe that Bret Favre will relive the last pass that threw that was picketed off. As Jim Nantz said he had a clear shot for about 15 yards if he ran instead of throwing. Of course I was watching the game. If he wold have ran, it would have been a chip shot for a game winning field, than the other guys prediction would have been mote. The only quarterback who could have made that pass, across his body and across the field would have been John Elway
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Rays help Haiti
Brandon, Florida - Baseball after baseball, jersey after jersey, bat after bat. Carlos Pena signed and signed and signed.
Afterall, if he could help generate donations for the Red Cross for those in his neighboring country of Haiti, he'd do whatever he could.
Pena was just getting ready for spring training, working out in his native Dominican Republic when the earthquake hit Haiti. He was on the 4th floor of the gym and felt the tremors and the building sway. It lasted less than a minute. But it was a minute he will never forget.
Now Pena is back in the U.S., trying to help generate donations and giving his own. In addition to signing autographs at Brandon Town Center Tuesday, he has opened his own wallet, donating $15,000 of the Rays Foundation $50,000 gift to disaster relief. While still in the Dominican Republic, Pena and his wife Pamela donated supplies to herd across the border.
The Rays will also donate proceeds from their annual Fanfest on Feb. 20th at Tropicana Field. All of the professional players in this great country of ours should open up their wallet too. I believe that I just read where a well known relief pitcher, ( 9 million / one year ) just signed. Come on pro guys give some of the green. Tax deductagle to boot
Afterall, if he could help generate donations for the Red Cross for those in his neighboring country of Haiti, he'd do whatever he could.
Pena was just getting ready for spring training, working out in his native Dominican Republic when the earthquake hit Haiti. He was on the 4th floor of the gym and felt the tremors and the building sway. It lasted less than a minute. But it was a minute he will never forget.
Now Pena is back in the U.S., trying to help generate donations and giving his own. In addition to signing autographs at Brandon Town Center Tuesday, he has opened his own wallet, donating $15,000 of the Rays Foundation $50,000 gift to disaster relief. While still in the Dominican Republic, Pena and his wife Pamela donated supplies to herd across the border.
The Rays will also donate proceeds from their annual Fanfest on Feb. 20th at Tropicana Field. All of the professional players in this great country of ours should open up their wallet too. I believe that I just read where a well known relief pitcher, ( 9 million / one year ) just signed. Come on pro guys give some of the green. Tax deductagle to boot
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Come back player of the year
the beginning there was hope. How much, though, is hard to say. The Bucs had been through this once before, after all, and few among us will ever forget the way that turned out - with Cadillac Williams curled up near the sideline pounding the ground with his fist and saying to no one in particular, "Not again, not again.''
Yes, again. Another knee injury, his second in as many seasons. Neither, of course, was of the minor variety. In both instances, Williams tore his patellar tendon, first the left, then the right. For any athlete, but especially for a running back, that's about as major as it gets.
Worse than torn ACLs, patellar tendon tears have been known to stop careers dead in their tracks. But nothing, it seems, can stop Cadillac's career.
A year removed from what many thought was his second career-ending injury in as many seasons, Cadillac's career is back on track and progressing better than anyone, perhaps even Williams himself, could have imagined.
With only today's game against the Falcons left to play, Williams is guaranteed to finish the season as the Bucs leading rusher.
Certainly no one saw that coming. Williams did, after all, start the season as, at best, the third back in what was supposed to be a two-pronged power running attack featuring Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham.
Fifteen games later, though, Williams has more carries (191), more yards (781) and more touchdowns (four) than Ward and Graham combined.
You could, in fact, make the argument - though you very well may lose it to supporters for tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. - Williams has been the Bucs' most valuable player this year.
One argument you probably can't lose, though, is to suggest Williams is the NFL's comeback player of the year.
No one else's comeback seems to compare to Williams' this year. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's certainly doesn't. He's only coming back from one knee injury, and it wasn't a torn patellar tendon.
Titans quarterback Vince Young might warrant some votes. But Young came back from his knee injury last year after a few weeks and didn't play much thereafter because he just wasn't as good as Kerry Collins.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer could certainly challenge Williams for comeback player honors. He blew his elbow out a few games into 2008 and has bounced back to have one of his best seasons ever.
The same, though, can be said for Williams, who actually seems to have come back this year as a slightly better and more versatile player than he was before he was injured.
During his breakout rookie season, for example, Williams touched the ball 310 times and gained 1,259 yards for an average gain of 4.0 yards per touch. He also scored six touchdowns, all on the run.
This year, Williams has touched the ball 216 times and gained 965 yards, for an average gain of 4.5 yards per touch. His seven touchdowns, meanwhile, are a career high and that number includes three as a pass catcher.
Williams hasn't fumbled the ball yet this year either, and that's an improvement as well. Prior to this season Williams had fumbled the ball nine times in his career and lost seven of those fumbles.
So not only has Williams come back from two devastating and potentially career-ending knee injuries, he's come back a better player, one who seems far more adept as a pass catcher and even a leader.
Williams used to be a very soft-spoken man of few words. Now, if he senses that everyone isn't on the same page or someone isn't pulling his weight, he says so, bluntly.
Maybe it's a result of having lost the better part of two years to knee injuries. Maybe it's a result of facing the prospect of never being able to play again. Whatever it is, Williams has changed.
When he came back to the Bucs this year, he came back better, stronger, more mature and more productive than ever before. That's about as complete a comeback as any player will ever have.
Yes, again. Another knee injury, his second in as many seasons. Neither, of course, was of the minor variety. In both instances, Williams tore his patellar tendon, first the left, then the right. For any athlete, but especially for a running back, that's about as major as it gets.
Worse than torn ACLs, patellar tendon tears have been known to stop careers dead in their tracks. But nothing, it seems, can stop Cadillac's career.
A year removed from what many thought was his second career-ending injury in as many seasons, Cadillac's career is back on track and progressing better than anyone, perhaps even Williams himself, could have imagined.
With only today's game against the Falcons left to play, Williams is guaranteed to finish the season as the Bucs leading rusher.
Certainly no one saw that coming. Williams did, after all, start the season as, at best, the third back in what was supposed to be a two-pronged power running attack featuring Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham.
Fifteen games later, though, Williams has more carries (191), more yards (781) and more touchdowns (four) than Ward and Graham combined.
You could, in fact, make the argument - though you very well may lose it to supporters for tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. - Williams has been the Bucs' most valuable player this year.
One argument you probably can't lose, though, is to suggest Williams is the NFL's comeback player of the year.
No one else's comeback seems to compare to Williams' this year. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's certainly doesn't. He's only coming back from one knee injury, and it wasn't a torn patellar tendon.
Titans quarterback Vince Young might warrant some votes. But Young came back from his knee injury last year after a few weeks and didn't play much thereafter because he just wasn't as good as Kerry Collins.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer could certainly challenge Williams for comeback player honors. He blew his elbow out a few games into 2008 and has bounced back to have one of his best seasons ever.
The same, though, can be said for Williams, who actually seems to have come back this year as a slightly better and more versatile player than he was before he was injured.
During his breakout rookie season, for example, Williams touched the ball 310 times and gained 1,259 yards for an average gain of 4.0 yards per touch. He also scored six touchdowns, all on the run.
This year, Williams has touched the ball 216 times and gained 965 yards, for an average gain of 4.5 yards per touch. His seven touchdowns, meanwhile, are a career high and that number includes three as a pass catcher.
Williams hasn't fumbled the ball yet this year either, and that's an improvement as well. Prior to this season Williams had fumbled the ball nine times in his career and lost seven of those fumbles.
So not only has Williams come back from two devastating and potentially career-ending knee injuries, he's come back a better player, one who seems far more adept as a pass catcher and even a leader.
Williams used to be a very soft-spoken man of few words. Now, if he senses that everyone isn't on the same page or someone isn't pulling his weight, he says so, bluntly.
Maybe it's a result of having lost the better part of two years to knee injuries. Maybe it's a result of facing the prospect of never being able to play again. Whatever it is, Williams has changed.
When he came back to the Bucs this year, he came back better, stronger, more mature and more productive than ever before. That's about as complete a comeback as any player will ever have.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
GPS
All we hear about these days is the little box on top of the dash board called GPS, some people let it run there life.
I have never liked these things and here is another good reason why.
PORTLAND, Ore. – In a holiday hurry, Jeramie Griffin piled his family into the car and asked his new GPS for the quickest way from his home in the Willamette Valley across the Cascade Range.
It said he could shave 40 minutes off the time of the roundabout route he usually takes to his future in-laws' place.
Following the directions, he and his fiancee headed east on Christmas Eve and into the mountains, turning off a state highway onto local roads and finally getting stuck in the snow.
They had no cell phone service and ran short on formula for their 11-month-old daughter. After taking exploratory hikes, trying to dig out and spending the night in their car, the distraught couple filmed a goodbye video.
Like two other parties of holiday travelers who followed GPS directions smack into Oregon snowbanks, Griffin and family were eventually rescued. But their peril left law enforcement officers and travel advisers perplexed about drivers who occasionally set aside common sense when their GPS systems suggest a shortcut.
"Did everybody just get these for Christmas?" asked Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger, leader of one rescue effort.
In Griffin's case, in fact, the GPS device was a Christmas gift, from his parents. He used it for the first time to plan the trip to Central Oregon.
It's one he'd made many times before, following a route travelers have found reliable since at least the days of the Oregon Trail. But, he said, a shortcut the GPS device suggested was attractive.
"We were in such a hurry to get over there, we programmed it in the driveway and went ahead," he said.
In hindsight, he said, he should have double checked the route against a paper map — and packed extra formula for the baby. "We would be better prepared for the unknown," he said.
The AAA and the National Association for Search and Rescue say they don't sense a surge in trips that go amiss because of a blind reliance on GPS directions, but they hear about them from time to time.
"It's usually about every other month," said Christie Hyde of the national travel association AAA. It's a small number compared with the millions of GPS units in service, she said.
She's heard, she said, of one driver who made a right turn as directed and had to be towed off railroad tracks, and another party led near the edge of a cliff. I am a firm believer in the good ole fashion map and use your brain should handle it.
I have never liked these things and here is another good reason why.
PORTLAND, Ore. – In a holiday hurry, Jeramie Griffin piled his family into the car and asked his new GPS for the quickest way from his home in the Willamette Valley across the Cascade Range.
It said he could shave 40 minutes off the time of the roundabout route he usually takes to his future in-laws' place.
Following the directions, he and his fiancee headed east on Christmas Eve and into the mountains, turning off a state highway onto local roads and finally getting stuck in the snow.
They had no cell phone service and ran short on formula for their 11-month-old daughter. After taking exploratory hikes, trying to dig out and spending the night in their car, the distraught couple filmed a goodbye video.
Like two other parties of holiday travelers who followed GPS directions smack into Oregon snowbanks, Griffin and family were eventually rescued. But their peril left law enforcement officers and travel advisers perplexed about drivers who occasionally set aside common sense when their GPS systems suggest a shortcut.
"Did everybody just get these for Christmas?" asked Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger, leader of one rescue effort.
In Griffin's case, in fact, the GPS device was a Christmas gift, from his parents. He used it for the first time to plan the trip to Central Oregon.
It's one he'd made many times before, following a route travelers have found reliable since at least the days of the Oregon Trail. But, he said, a shortcut the GPS device suggested was attractive.
"We were in such a hurry to get over there, we programmed it in the driveway and went ahead," he said.
In hindsight, he said, he should have double checked the route against a paper map — and packed extra formula for the baby. "We would be better prepared for the unknown," he said.
The AAA and the National Association for Search and Rescue say they don't sense a surge in trips that go amiss because of a blind reliance on GPS directions, but they hear about them from time to time.
"It's usually about every other month," said Christie Hyde of the national travel association AAA. It's a small number compared with the millions of GPS units in service, she said.
She's heard, she said, of one driver who made a right turn as directed and had to be towed off railroad tracks, and another party led near the edge of a cliff. I am a firm believer in the good ole fashion map and use your brain should handle it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
