Posts Tagged ‘They’
Independent Professional Baseball Players: Why They Play For Such Little Money
If you have attended an independent professional baseball game then you know that the level of play is equivalent to different levels of the regular “affiliated” Minor Leagues. What is not known by many fans, however, is how little money many of the independent baseball players make.
Unlike many jobs across North America, independent baseball players do not have a union or company department like Human Resources. They can be released almost at any time, for almost any reason, and there is usually nothing in their contracts which guarantees any sort of payment after players retire. When told all about this, many fans say, “Why would these players do that?!?”
Here are a few of the reasons:
A genuine love of the game: Many players in independent baseball believe that they have been overlooked by the Major League teams’ scouting departments. They genuinely believe that they deserve a chance to be in an “affiliated” farm team with one of the Major League organizations; and they truly love playing baseball. Many fans whom have attended independent baseball games comment on the hustle and passion of the players. A player who believes that he was overlooked may play with a “chip on his shoulder” in order to prove that he belongs with a Major League-affiliated farm team.
A need to be closer to home: Often, there are a few guys in each independent league who genuinely belong in a higher level of baseball. For whatever reason, however, they need to be closer to home with a less-grueling travel schedule. Sometimes players just started a family, others need to help out with a sick family member, and others need the support of friends and family in order to be comfortable with playing at the professional level.
A desire to continue his career in baseball: Many players will play in an independent baseball league in order to gain credibility for his post-playing career. Certain players want to manage or coach in professional baseball, others want to coach at the college level, and others want to transition to the front office of a professional sports team after they retire.
A need for camaraderie: If you have ever watched any documentary about “life in the minors” then you know that the players love playing baseball, enjoy crazy antics with their teammates, playing cards in the clubhouse, and the chance to develop lifelong friends especially on those long bus trips! If a player is good enough to be considered professional then many will take the opportunity to play in the independent leagues because he knows how competitive the demand is. Other players from around the continent are more than willing to take his spot, so he knows that he part of an elite level of baseball even though it is considered to be independent of the affiliated organizations.
A chance to rebuild his career: Sometimes an extremely talented player ends up in an independent league due to an injury, salary cap move, or simply due to “politics” in organized baseball. Such a player will play on an independent baseball team in order to prove to scouts that he is healthy, willing to go back at a more economical price, or simply that the other team which released him made a mistake. In a given year, dozens of players in independent baseball sign contracts with affiliated Minor League teams; and each year a few will get to play in the Major Leagues.
The next time you see an independent baseball game, or if you meet some independent baseball players around town, now you have a better understanding of why they do what they do regardless of the price at which they play. If you ever have said that you think pro athletes need to play with more passion and that they are overpaid, then be sure to attend an independent pro baseball game. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Hockey Websites, Are they helpful?
Hockey websites can be very helpful. They have tons have information and are usually made by hockey players. The question is which hockey website is the best? There are many out there. It all depends on what information you are looking for. As with any sport, hockey has different types of fans. You have people that like to watch hockey and people that like to play it. If you are someone that likes to watch it, you may want to try one of the many hockey news webpages that are out there. These can vary in size. Some are made by pure hockey fanatics and their sites are just taylored to hockey. Others are more generalized. Places such as ESPN and Yahoo! Sports have general sports information and the latest breaking stories. They won’t necessarily have all the little tidbits, because they have to cover all the other sports as well.
If you are looking for a hockey page that is geared towards hockey equipment, you have a number of options. Are you looking to buy some hockey gear? If so, then there are many online hockey stores that will be able to fulfill that need. You can search their inventory and see what kind of skates, sticks, and gloves they have. The best thing is that you can check out different sites and compare the prices from other hockey stores. You most likely will always get a different result, because different hockey places will offer different coupons.
The second option you have if you are intersted in some sports gear for hockey is to go to an informational page. There are many hockey players out there with websites devoted entirely to this subject. They will post information about their skates, how to clean them and how to upgrade them. You’ll see hockey players commenting on which sticks are the lightest and the best to use for both ice hockey and roller hockey with varying opinions. There are many choices out there on the internet regarding hockey.
If you like to follow the sport in general, you can look at the many hockey organizations out there. Most will have a website. It is not uncommon for hockey players nowadays to find hockey leagues by searching the internet. Most leagues will have the price of admission and what type of equipment is required to play. Doing a simple search is the easiest way to find a hockey league near your hometown.
Most people think the internet can be helpful. While there is a whole bunch of garbage out there, there is also some great information to be had. Thankfully, there are a whole host of sports fans on the internet. I think its safe to say that yes, most hockey websites are helpful.
Independent Professional Baseball Teams: What They Are
You may have recently heard about an independent baseball team near where you live, or near where you were traveling. If so, you may have wondered what makes a team “independent” and if it is worth your money to go watch that team.
An independent professional baseball team is a team which plays in a professional baseball league that is not affiliated with any Major League organization or the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which is now named (officially) Minor League Baseball. These teams have complete control over the players they sign, the personnel they hire, and their players can be signed by any “affiliated” team in Minor League Baseball.
Occasionally, an independent baseball player may make it to a Major League Baseball roster after having started his career in the independent baseball leagues. Many players who make it to a Major League roster after having spent time with an independent baseball team usually had previous Major League, or high-level Minor League experience prior to joining a Major League Baseball roster.
For the 2009 season, nearly 60 independent teams fielded a team in 8 independent leagues. The teams play in the U.S. and Canada. There are independent baseball teams in the Northeast, Quebec, Calgary, California, the Mid-Atlantic, Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and the Dakotas, just to name a few regions. The players can range from just out of college, former “affiliated” minor league players who were released, players who could be in the minors but opted to play closer to home for family reasons, former Major League players, and occasionally international players. Many teams have managers and coaches whom have previous Major League Baseball experience.
The question you may still have, however, is if an independent baseball team is worth your time and money. In most markets this is a “yes.”
Here are just some of the reasons why:
Prices are usually equal to or less than comparable entertainment, such as the movies
Concession prices are usually less than at higher-level professional sports
Kids and fans get participate in on-field and off-field promotions
Many teams offer incentives for you to bring groups
Many of the general managers and team executives have years of professional sports experience, so they understand what it takes to give you good entertainment for your money
Many of the players are accessible for autographs
The quality of play is considerably high, especially compared to other alternatives you may have in your area
Hopefully this article gives you a better understanding of independent baseball and helps you make a better decision for your entertainment dollar.
Why Hockey Players Must Train Like They Play
Determining how to condition properly for hockey is a controversial subject that is debated by coaches from the atom ranks all the way up to the pros. When it comes to designing an off-season training program, most experts agree on how to best develop strength, speed and power in young hockey players, but there is always disagreement on how to best develop conditioning.
Slow & Steady Does NOT Win the Race
The game of hockey is characterized by short, explosive, high-intensity efforts interspersed with periods of complete rest. The best hockey players in the world are the ones who are strong, fast, agile and powerful – not those who can run at 10 miles in the fastest time. Hockey is simply not an endurance sport. In fact, the best players on the ice tend to be the ones who perform poorly on off-ice tests of endurance.
The challenge is that players feel as though they are becoming more fit for hockey by focusing on increasing their endurance in the off-season. Players who go for long slow distance runs over the summer will definitely develop their endurance, but this enhancement will come at the expense of their ability to perform at the highest intensity level consistently throughout the game.
Do You Want to Be “Fit” or “Fast”?
Ultimately, on the issue of proper conditioning for hockey, it comes down to choosing between being aerobically ‘fit’ or being strong, fast and powerful. Players must make a trade-off when it comes to conditioning. They can either possess a high level of endurance or game-breaking speed and quickness. It is physiologically impossible to develop both of these qualities to their highest extent in athletes.
Elite hockey players are speed and power athletes and must train to enhance those qualities. Players must develop their ability to perform repeated high-intensity intervals and maintain their ‘jump’ and explosiveness throughout an entire game, instead of focusing on their ability to go for long distances at a moderate pace.
In the majority of cases, young players are simply unaware that the endurance training they are devoting so much time and energy to is actually detrimental to their overall performance on the ice.
Bottom line: When young players focus on doing long slow distance training instead of high-intensity interval-based training, they are quite often training themselves OUT of hockey shape and are making themselves SLOW.
Independent Professional Baseball Players: Why They Play For Such Little Money
If you have attended an independent professional baseball game then you know that the level of play is equivalent to different levels of the regular “affiliated” Minor Leagues. What is not known by many fans, however, is how little money many of the independent baseball players make.
Unlike many jobs across North America, independent baseball players do not have a union or company department like Human Resources. They can be released almost at any time, for almost any reason, and there is usually nothing in their contracts which guarantees any sort of payment after players retire. When told all about this, many fans say, “Why would these players do that?!?”
Here are a few of the reasons:
A genuine love of the game: Many players in independent baseball believe that they have been overlooked by the Major League teams’ scouting departments. They genuinely believe that they deserve a chance to be in an “affiliated” farm team with one of the Major League organizations; and they truly love playing baseball. Many fans whom have attended independent baseball games comment on the hustle and passion of the players. A player who believes that he was overlooked may play with a “chip on his shoulder” in order to prove that he belongs with a Major League-affiliated farm team.
A need to be closer to home: Often, there are a few guys in each independent league who genuinely belong in a higher level of baseball. For whatever reason, however, they need to be closer to home with a less-grueling travel schedule. Sometimes players just started a family, others need to help out with a sick family member, and others need the support of friends and family in order to be comfortable with playing at the professional level.
A desire to continue his career in baseball: Many players will play in an independent baseball league in order to gain credibility for his post-playing career. Certain players want to manage or coach in professional baseball, others want to coach at the college level, and others want to transition to the front office of a professional sports team after they retire.
A need for camaraderie: If you have ever watched any documentary about “life in the minors” then you know that the players love playing baseball, enjoy crazy antics with their teammates, playing cards in the clubhouse, and the chance to develop lifelong friends especially on those long bus trips! If a player is good enough to be considered professional then many will take the opportunity to play in the independent leagues because he knows how competitive the demand is. Other players from around the continent are more than willing to take his spot, so he knows that he part of an elite level of baseball even though it is considered to be independent of the affiliated organizations.
A chance to rebuild his career: Sometimes an extremely talented player ends up in an independent league due to an injury, salary cap move, or simply due to “politics” in organized baseball. Such a player will play on an independent baseball team in order to prove to scouts that he is healthy, willing to go back at a more economical price, or simply that the other team which released him made a mistake. In a given year, dozens of players in independent baseball sign contracts with affiliated Minor League teams; and each year a few will get to play in the Major Leagues.
The next time you see an independent baseball game, or if you meet some independent baseball players around town, now you have a better understanding of why they do what they do regardless of the price at which they play. If you ever have said that you think pro athletes need to play with more passion and that they are overpaid, then be sure to attend an independent pro baseball game. You will be pleasantly surprised!