In 1961 Manchester United’s scout in Northern Ireland, Bob Bishop, telegrammed the clubs’ legendary manager Matt Busby in a state of unusual excitement.

“I think I have found you a genius,” he eagerly explained.

He had indeed. But neither Bishop, Busby nor anybody else could have imagined the impact his skin and bone, fifteen year old discovery would make on Manchester United, football throughout the world and society as a whole.

On the recommendation of Bishop this “genius”, George Best, was packed off to Manchester along with another prospect, Eric McMordie, for a two week trial. Fazed by their journey into the unknown and immediately homesick the youngsters scarpered back to Belfast before the first week was through.

Busby had already seen enough to know that one of these youngsters was worth pursuing and the United boss wrote to George Best’s father urging him to send his boy back to Manchester, assuring him that George had what it took to enjoy a bright future in the game.

This was a very strong early indication of Best’s outstanding ability. Manchester United Football Club would not usually go running after a fifteen year old kid who bunked out on them. George Best did return and, you could easily say, the rest is history.

The young Irishman was naturally shy and somewhat ill at ease, as his earlier bolt for home had demonstrated, but it did not take him long to settle down more happily in Manchester on his return.

Once he had a ball at his feet George Best was a different person. Not just confident, he was arrogant. Supremely sure of his own ability he demanded centre stage and revelled in having it.

This attitude did not cause resentment among his colleagues as they instantly recognised his incredible gifts and naturally deferred to them. Besides this, off the field he was quiet and popular with everyone. At once he was accepted and respected. As word quickly filtered through to the first teamers at Old Trafford about this unbelievable kid in the youth team they would sneak in to watch him train and left shaking their heads at his ability.

Matt Busby was anxious not to blood his latest wonder boy too soon but it was impossible to keep him out of the side for long. Having just turned seventeen George Best made his first team debut early on in the 1963-64 season and played a blinder against West Bromwich Albion.

Perhaps wooried about the fuss his introduction had made, Busby then left him out of the team before recalling him for a christmas fixture at home to Burnley. Burnley were a top side at the time and had hammered United at Turf Moor only two days earlier on Boxing Day. With Best scoring his first United goal the drubbing was returned and the youngster was here to stay.

The remainder of that season saw George Best confirm his incredible talent and by the end of it United finished runners up in the league. Best’s impact was amazing.

Crowds everywhere marvelled at this skinny winger who fabled hard men could not knock off a ball, tackle or even foul on most occasions. A boy who could appear in the middle and outjump international centre halves to head goals past international goalkeepers and who could rip shots into the back of the net in a blur that almost defeated the eye.

His appeal was not confined to the football pitch. Best was an exceptionally good looking young man as well and all at once girls all over the country began taking an interest in football, at least to the extent of having pictures of Georgie Best plastered across their bedroom walls.

Within a couple of years this interest would turn to something approaching hysteria and George Best, the footballer and the man, would start to crack under the pressure.

Best’s first full season in the United first team was a thrilling one as the club captured the first division championship and reached the semi finals of both the FA and Fairs Cups, losing to Leeds United and Ferencvaros of Hungary, both after replays.

He had not yet turned nineteen but Best was already perhaps the most talked about and recognisable figure in British football but it was the following season that his fame really exploded and became international.

On a balmy night in Lisbon, George Best turned in one of his greatest ever performances as United slaughtered Benfica 5-1 on their own ground, the first time they had ever suffered defeat at home in European competition. Best provided two of the early goals which set United on their way, leaping in front of the keeper to head the first before slicing through the defence to slide home his second.

Captured strolling through the streets of Lisbon the following morning in a massive sombrero a newspaper caption dubbed Best “El Beatle” and the legend moved on apace.

United missed out on further glory that year, losing in the semi finals of both the FA and European Cups after Best was injured in the first leg of their European tie with Partizan Belgrade and missed the remainder of the season.

The following season United once again won the league championship which earned the club another crack at the European Cup, the trophy which Matt Busby coveted above all others.

George Best was undoubtedly at his best during this season and although United were pipped to another title by neighbours City, George topped the first division scoring charts with 28, alongside Southampton’s Ron Davies, an incredible tally for a winger.

European glory did come United’s way, however, in suitably dramatic fashion. Paired with the Spanish giants Real Madrid in the semi finals it was a Best goal that gave United a precarious 1-0 lead to take to Spain for the second leg and proved ultimately decisive after a typically extravagant 3-3 draw in the Bernebeu.

In the final, again against Benfica, Best scored perhaps his most famous goal, skipping round the last defender and rounding the keeper before tapping into an empty net. This goal put United 2-1 in front early in extra time and Busby’s dream came true as his side marched on to a famous 4-1 triumph.

This was in 1968 and George Best, approaching his 22nd birthday, was crowned Footballer of the Year and European Footballer of the Year. The footballing world was well and truly at Best’s feet and yet this would prove to be the pinacle of his career.

United never finished higher than 8th during Best’s remaining years at Old Trafford and although they reached the European Cup semi finals again in 1969 and the FA Cup semis a year later the clubs’ glory days were coming to a bitter end. Matt Busby had allowed his squad to grow old and left at a time when his fabled youth system was producing non entities.

Wilf McGuinness and Frank O’Farrell both found Busby’s shoes too big to step into and United continued to deteriorate before Tommy Docherty arrived at Old Trafford determined to stamp his own personality and authority on the club.

All this time George Best had been deteriorating likewise. It was scarcely noticable in his performances on the field, especially as his genius was now largely surrounded by mediocroty, and he remained United’s leading scorer for six successive seasons between 1967 and 1972.

His social life had started to spiral out of control, however, and by the time of Docherty’s arrival at Old Trafford Best was already drinking heavily, would occasionally miss training and was, basically, a sitting target as the new manager looked to wield his axe, all at a time when he should have been untouchable. Therefore one of the greatest players ever to grace Old Trafford left in shambolic circumstances at the age of 27.

Docherty has taken a lot of criticism over the years for his treatment of George Best, particularly from the fans, but it would seem to be one of the wisest things he ever did.

Although United were relegated at the end of the season in which Best made his final appearance for the club, a 0-3 defeat at QPR on New Years Day 1974, Docherty quickly put together a hungry young team which returned instantly to the first division and came back much stronger.

Best, on the other hand, descended into a series of unsatisfactory, and mainly shortlived, dalliances at a string of unlikely clubs while becoming a confirmed alcoholic.

It is often suggested that George Best became disillusioned with life at Old Trafford as the great players he had grown up with left and were replaced by men not fit to lace their, or his, boots.

There is no doubt that this did happen but Best did not stop playing football on leaving Manchester United and surely the players at United were better than those at the places he ended up going to.

His course of action was simply the easier one, always favoured by people with a drink problem.

Therefore when Best should have been playing for Manchester United he was representing the likes of Dunstable Town, Stockport County, Cork Celtic, Los Angeles Aztecs, Fulham, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Detroit Express, Hibernians, San Jose Earthquakes, Bournemouth, Brisbane Lions and Tobermore United.

This is the rightful CV of someone like Sammy Morgan, not the man who many regard as the greatest player to ever live.

Best was an unqualified success during his time in America but this hardly represents a claim to fame. In a league peopled by a handful of ageing superstars and a host of journeymen Best was at the age when he should have been at his peak.

The early eighties became a circus of rumoured comebacks, testimonial appearances and lurid stories about Best’s drinking.

George Best played his last Football League game for Bournemouth in May 1983 in a 2-2 draw with Wigan Athletic and his last recorded competitive appearance was for Tobermore United in the Irish Cup the following February. Typically the tiny ground was bursting at the seams for Best’s appearance but his team lost 7-0 to Ballymena.

Given this personally induced destruction of his own career and his God given talent it is easy to judge George Best harshly and yet it has to be remembered that during his time at the top he managed to influence a generation of football supporters perhaps more profoundly than any other player in the games’ history.

It is not just those who followed Manchester United during George Best’s time there who name him as the greatest player of the period. Throughout Britain, Europe and all across the world his performances captivated millions and his legend lives on today as subsequent generations look back and see him flicking the ball over Gordon Banks’ head for the greatest disallowed goal ever scored, riding Ron Harris’ crude assault on a muddy Old Trafford pitch before casually rounding Peter Bonetti with consumate ease, lobbing Pat Jennings from the corner of the six yard box with his international colleague standing on his line and leaving Bobby Moore on his backside before scoring against West Ham.

You cannot create such a deep and lasting impression unless you are seriously good and there is no question that George Best was up there with footballs’ all time greats.

He had been born with all the attributes a player could wish for. His ball control was immaculate and his dribbling skills perhaps unsurpassed. Best could also pass, shoot, head and tackle superbly and was naturally two footed.

Above and beyond this Best was blessed with natural gifts which could not be taught or coached. He was lightning quick, especially off the mark, had unlimited stamina and possessed an incredible flexibility which allowed him to ride tackles and avoid injury despite the punishment, unimaginable these days, that defenders were permitted to inflict on him week in and week out.

It should also be remembered that although George Best cut off his Manchester United career in its prime he made over 460 appearances for the club in all competitions, a healthy career for most mortals.

Where Best stands in the list of all time greats is, as always, a matter of opinion.

It was not easy for Best to make a mark in international football coming from Northern Ireland and he never had the chance to perform in a major finals.

His performances in Europe for Manchester United were invariably scintilating, however, and there is no doubt that he was the single biggest attraction in British football during the 1960′s and early 70′s.

Interestingly though, although his contemporaries speak now about him being possibly the greatest ever, comments concerning Best while he was playing tended to mention the room for improvement possible in his teamwork, something Best chose never to fully address.

Indeed it can only be assumed that had Best deigned to channel his talents more towards the team then he would have ended his career with more than three winners medals and might well have led Northern Ireland towards international recognition.

Of course when people such as Bobby Charlton were passing such opinions they were talking about a young man in his mid twenties who they assumed had another ten years at the top in him. In the normal course of events Best would surely have added these facets to his game and made an even stronger claim to being considered the greatest player of them all.

One of my favourite assessments of George Best came from Jimmy Greaves who said that he did not know if George was the best but added that “there was no-one better.”

It seems a touch sentimental to put Best forward as the greatest footballer ever, surely that accolade can never go to someone who was playing for Stockport at the age of 29, but it does not seem too extravagant to claim that he might well have been the most naturally gifted man ever to kick a football.

Jaques Blog

What else is new? Not much. It is summer and I am loving it. The weather is hot and the girls look pretty.

If you need information about anti aging cosmetics, then this website is definitely worth checking out.

On a side note, my 40th birthday is around the corner. If you have not been in touch with me in a while, please reach out. I want to invite many friends to get a great start into the second half of my life.

In our modern day society we have moved away from walking anywhere and think nothing of jumping into the car for a quick trip to the corner shop. We live life at such a fast pace that we feel we dont have time to walk anywhere and as a result we are probably the most unfit that we have ever been.

Things are beginning to change as we slowly realise that our own health is in our hands and many people are turning to Sport to help them enjoy becoming healthier.

Sport is a diverse area, which continues to grow. Many countries around the world embrace and claim a Sport as their own, calling it a national Sport. It has become a World Wide industry in which countries compete and stake claims on titles and trophies. There seems to be a Sport that suits everyone and of every age.

There are various types of sport that range from professional to amateur. There are Olympic Standard Sports and sports that are just for fun. There are lone sports such as hurdles, javelin throwing and pool. There are team sports such as basketball, hockey and rugby. There are also sports that can be both, such as tennis, running and swimming.

Sports can be played on many different levels, such as locally, nationally and internationally. Sports can be relaxing, or stressful, depending upon which sport you choose to pursue.

There are so many different types of Sports, that it is sometimes difficult to define exactly what sport is, as for some people, in some countries, yodeling is a competitive sport!

Better Marketing Tricks

Close but no cigar could be the post-theme of Super Bowl XL as far as a record Las Vegas Super Bowl handle is concerned.

Pittsburgh defeated Seattle 21-10 Sunday — easily covering the spread — the total went way under 47, Bill Cowper finally won a Lombardi and the Bus finally rolled a stop, while on top.

The $6,064,000 Question in the Land of Odds — besides “Did you win or lose?” was “Will the handle surpass last year’s standard of more than $90 million?”

“I won’t know until sometime Monday when I see all the numbers and things come together, but it’s going to be close,” said Tony Paonessa, race and sports book manager at Sam’s Town.

“Last year was close.”

Rich Baccellieri, race and sports director at the Palms, used the C word too.

“It was amazing how close everything was,” Bacellieri said, pointing to a differential of 50 in the number of tickets written on the two Super Bowl combatants among thousands sold.

“Right now I couldn’t tell you what the city’s handle was, just how we did here and our business was up 65 percent.

“That creates so much juice.

“But I’ll tell you this: we needed Pittsburgh.”

Many Vegas Valley sports books kicked off at Steelers minus 4, but 4 1/2s were available throughout the wagering period (including at the Las Vegas Hilton) and 5s were spotted here and there.

The Palms dove in at 3 1/2.

“We got money from every Seattle fan in the world,” Baccellieri said, acknowledging he took “several” six-figure bets.

“We had a lot of late money on the Seahawks, but the money line was fairly balanced.”

The Hilton also took a bundle on the Far Northwesterns — until just before wagering windows were shuttered.

“We had lots of Seahawks backing until a last minute rush on the Steelers,” said oddsmaker/supervisor Jeff Sherman.

He also reported a win for the house.

“Parlay cards had a good handle and average win, while props did very well,” Sherman said. “It just took awhile to grade them.”

SuperBook boss Jay Kornegay had a strong opinion on Pittsbugh going into the game.

The Palms broke even on parlay cards, while Sam’s Town reported a “small winning day.”

“The important thing is we didn’t lose,” Paonessa said, adding that the Boyd Group was a loser on the total.

All three resorts reported heavy traffic as Sin City circumvented the NFL ban on Super Bowl parties by offering food and drink specials and showing the game on regulation-sized TVs throughout the casinos.

“We were busy, but I’ve seen better,” Paonessa said.

“We were busy all day,” said Baccellieri, a veteran Caesars Palace employee who hadn’t been in Vegas for the Super Bowl in five or six years

“Always before I saw it from the perspective of a major Strip hotel,” he continued.

“It was fun, different, to view it from an off-Strip one.

“I’d call it a decent day.”

Not even close.

Pet Supplies

“I look at about 100 different projects a year, most of which go into the round filing cabinet on my floor,” said Tony Harvey, the senior technical advisor to ESO Uranium (TSX: ESO), and formerly a senior manager of Wright Engineers-Fluor Daniels, which was involved with the design and construction of 14 mines worldwide. Harvey quickly ticked off what is necessary to attract his eye, “I need to see history. I need to see signposts before I give it any credence.” So why is he advising little-known ESO Uranium, after a long, prolific career?

“I believe this one has a huge amount of history,” Harvey argued. “Not only have you got the Cluff Lake mine, which already confirms the presence of uranium, but you have got the Shea Creek drilling intercepts which validate it. We have the conductors streaming onto our property. We have the boulders, which is also another sign post.” The boulders, of which Tony Harvey refers, are the six uranium-mineralized boulders near the ESO Uranium project on the company’s Cluff property. Near those boulders, a promising drill hole from the 1970s indicated 0.85% U3O8 over 2.3 meters. It was all but forgotten until the recent explosion of exploration activity in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, an area which has helped Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) grow into a company with a market capitalization of nearly $12 billion.

What ESO Uranium’s geological team will be looking for at the company’s Cluff property are Cluff Lake style uranium deposits in basement rocks with the Carswell structure close to the unconformity with sandstones of the Athabasca group. That was allegedly created by the meteor’s impact.

Drilling in the Meteor’s Wake

“The value of the ore extracted at the Cluff mine, in today’s terms, would be equivalent to $2.6 billion,” explained Harvey. “That’s how much was extracted at the Cluff mine.” The company’s vice president of exploration, Benjamin Ainsworth, who is both a senior geologist and a mining engineer, helped explain the Cluff structure. “A meteorite probably impacted at this location and with sufficient force to break right through the layers of Athabasca sandstone on the surface. On rebound, basement rocks got lifted back up. In bouncing back out, it also lifted up the surrounding Athabasca rocks and tipped them up, if you can imagine, like an opening flower.” As a result, the basement got lifted up to the surface and made it easier to find and mine the uranium at Cluff. Ainsworth added, “The significance of that for me and our group is that shows very high grade uranium deposits in the western side of Athabasca.”

Drilling a property helps the geological team better understand the area. Since the Cluff property was mined out, two decades ago, additional scientific study has opened up new doors. At the 67th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting, University of Quebec Earth Science professors presented a paper entitled, “A Re-Evaluation of the Size of the Carswell Astrobleme.” The Montreal scientists concluded in the 2004 annual conference held in Brazil, “The Carswell impact structure is therefore older and larger than previously estimated… the central uplift considered to be under the annular dolomitic unit would suggest a crater size in the basement of 118 to 125 kilometers wide.” While some believe the meteor hit about 478 million years ago, recent evidence suggests it may have been closer to 1.8 billion years ago.

Ainsworth warned there is a lot of risk in drilling for uranium deposits. “The geometry of these things is damn small.” ESO president Jonathan George pointed out that the world’s richest uranium deposit, McArthur River, hosting about 400 million pounds of uranium, had half of its deposit in an area about half the size of a football field. “I think that’s mind boggling,” he said, “that a $7 billion project would be on an area that small.”

Better Marketing Tricks

The January transfer window gave Premiership clubs the opportunity to add new players or ship out those surplus to requirements. David Walker looks at who came and went and how these moves will impact on each team’s success.

Arsenal

The Gunners have invested in the next generation of young talent after a disastrous season. Vassiriki Diaby joined from Auxerre and Togo striker Manuel Adebayor arrived from Monaco but the most talked about transfer was the capture of Southampton’s 16 year old Theo Walcott. The transfer fee could rocket to £12 million.

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Jeremie Aliadiere joined Spartak Moscow and Wolves respectively while David Bentley joined Blackburn permanently.

Such change is vital to both Arsenal’s immediate and future success. They currently lie in sixth place but a massive 25 points behind leaders Chelsea. The bookmakers aren’t convinced and offer them at 12/1 in the “without Chelsea” market to win the Premiership.

Aston Villa

After a pre-season transfer investment with very little to show for it, there have been no more funds made available. The Villains, despite spending £11 million on new players in the summer, are only seven points clear of relegation.

Kevin Phillips has scored just three goals, Milan Baros has netted five and defender Wilfred Bouma has been something of a £3.5 million misfit. Poor home and away form could see a bit of value in the 22/1 relegation odds.

Birmingham City

Struggling in the bottom three is never the best position to be in when trying to attract new players but with goals in short supply, two new attacking options arrived in January.

Striker Chris Sutton arrived on a free transfer from Celtic after scoring 63 goals in 130 league appearances and Brentford’s DJ Campbell, 24, signed for £500,000. Campbell may be an unknown quantity for top flight defences but his two goal salvo which dumped Sunderland out of the FA Cup will send out a warning to Premiership managers.

The bookmakers are not convinced Steve Bruce’s side are relegation fodder just yet, at 4/6 to stay up or 5/4 to go down.

Blackburn Rovers

Rovers may be out of both Cups but are making good progress in the league under manager Mark Hughes. Unbeaten in their last six matches and sitting in eighth position is marked improvement from last season’s flirt with relegation.

Arsenal striker David Bentley made his loan move a permanent transfer and scored a hat-trick in the 4-3 win against Manchester United on February 1. Rovers also boosted their bid for a UEFA Cup place with the loan signing of Liverpool striker Florent Sinama Pongolle and Martin Olsson from Hogaborgs for a nominal fee.

Bolton Wanderers

There wasn’t much evidence of the usual wheeling and dealing at the Reebok Stadium with only Matt Jansen’s free transfer arrival from Blackburn. Despite losing five players to African Cup duty, manager Sam Allardyce has kept faith with his current squad.

January has seen more interest in Big Sam’s future at the club following Sven Goran Eriksson’s decision to quit as England manager after the World Cup. He is one of the favourites to take over the role and can be backed at 5/1.

Charlton Athletic

After a slump in form which saw the Addicks lose seven out of 10 Premiership matches from the end of October to New Year’s Day results are beginning to improve and they are unbeaten in their last three league matches.

Marcus Bent arrived with a bang following his £2.5 million transfer from Everton by scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Manager Alan Curbishley will hope he can ease the goalscoring burden off 11-goal Darren Bent who can be backed at 20/1 to finish the season as the Premiership’s top goalscorer.

Chelsea

With a 15 point lead at the top of the Premiership and having spent £53 million on new players this season so far, it is not a big surprise that Chelsea have been quiet in the transfer market.

One new player arrived in the form of Portuguese winger Maniche, making a loan switch from Dynamo Moscow although defender Wayne Bridge has headed out of the Stamford Bridge exit door to join West London rivals Fulham on loan.

The Blues are unbackable now as far as Premiership success is concerned with odds of 1/66 the most generous available. Frank Lampard is available at 12/1 to finish as the Premiership’s top goalscorer.

Part two will look at the transfers impacting Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United.

Travel Guides

The National Hockey League needs to do more to encourage better coverage of the hockey games. With so many other sports realizing national coverage, the NHL is sometimes forgotten. However, this year, there’s a race for the Stanley Cup, and only one is set to win it. But which team will that be?

Right now, bookmakers are showing that, while the Philadelphia Flyers were on top only days ago, the odds are now swinging back and forth with the Flyers and other potential contenders such as the Ottawa Senators, as the teams to watch in the sprint for the Stanley Cup this year. Of course, all of the NHL information and stats change daily, but the odds are the best current indicator of which team is certainly a contender for the Stanley Cup of 2006.

However, the race for the 2006 Cup didn’t simply begin with the end of the 2005 playing season and the winning of the Stanley Cup for the year. It began over 100 years ago in 1892, at a dinner of the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association. A speech was delivered that indicated that a challenge cup would be a good idea and that this contest should be held from year to year for the teams in the Dominion of Canada. At the time, that was a grand total of three major teams. You might be accurate in an assumption that the National Hockey League has seen tremendous growth since then.

Lord Stanley purchased a silver cup which by today’s standards would only have a value of only about $50 and appointed Sheriff John Sweetland and Philip D. Ross as trustees of the cup. This Stanley Cup is the same cup that the two men were trustees over all of those years ago.

The winners of each year’s Stanley Cup are tasked to hold the Cup and to return it in good condition to the trustees at year’s end so that it may be given to the winner of the next Cup. The Cup is never to become the exclusive property of a single team regardless of how many times that team may win the trophy but each year the winning team’s club name and the year are engraved on the silver ring fitted on the Cup.

That very first year, the Stanley Cup was taken by the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) hockey club as the winners for 1894. Unfortunately, Lord Stanley was never to witness a championship game or even the presentation of the trophy he had purchased because he returned to England, his homeland, in mid-1893.

The popularity of hockey grew so quickly that in 1895 almost every town in Canada had a team which thrived on hockey. No longer were Ontario, Quebec and Winnipeg the only teams that were ready to take the Stanley Cup. Instead numerous teams came out and all of the teams were strong contenders for the Stanley Cup. In 1896, the Victorias of Montreal versus the Victorias of Winnipeg placed with the Winnipeg team taking the Cup 2 to 0. Less than a year later, a rematch was to occur.

Presented as the greatest sports ever in Winnipeg history, even in the economy of 1896, tickets were scalped for as much as $12 each. Everyone wanted to see this Stanley Cup playoff game. Montreal won this match up 6 to 5 after being down 2 to 0 at halftime. It was documented as the finest match ever played in Canada.

While the early Stanley Cup games differed greatly from today’s game, the popularity has continued to rise over the many years. Originally, there were seven men on the ice for each team rather than the six we know today. Sideboards were non-existent and players used very little sports equipment. Injuries were quite common and much more serious than what players of today have to deal with in their hockey games and practices.

The Stanley Cup is considered to be the most famous trophy in the sporting world. It is certainly the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes, having logged more than 400,000 miles in travel during only the past five seasons. Traditionally, each winning player and team management staff member gets to take the Cup home for one day to share with their friends and family.

No matter how the lines move between now and the final play for this year’s Stanley Cup, you simply will not want to miss keeping track as the big day draws closer. This game is the Super Bowl of hockey and it pales in comparison to many other sports as far as national coverage is concerned. The Stanley Cup will be watched by millions, some of whom are not traditionally hockey fans and many who do not know the history behind Lord Stanley’s great purchase. And for a sporting event to be worthy of a trophy which travels over 400,000 miles to note the worthy accomplishments of one lone team, it’s an event that no one should miss especially those behind the major networks! Incidentally, in the humble opinion of many fans, the only true contender this year for the Stanley Cup is the Philadelphia Flyers. What do you think?

Online Dating

You’ve been told that you should disregard claims of large digital zoom ratios and have been warned that to usea digital zoom is to ruin the picture with visible artifacts and pixels. To a certain extent, these statements are true but they don’t tell the whole story.

Digital cameras that feature an optical zoom and a digital zoom offer the option of using one or the other or even both together. An optical zoom lens of 28 to 200 mm may not be enough in some situations. This is where the digital zoom comes in handy.

Say you are at a football game and want to get a close up of your son in action. A 200mm lens setting would probably include three or four football players in the scene, making it difficult to recognize faces. A two times digital zoom makes the focal length 400 mm, cropping the scene into a two football player picture. A four X digital zoom setting will garner a head and shoulder close up of one football player.

At two X digital zoom, the number of pixels are cut in half but digital processing and interpolating between pixels will smooth out the image with very little loss in quality. If your digital camera starts out with 8MB of pixels, the final result of 4MB will still enlarge to over eight by ten size without losing quality. At four X digital zoom, the pixels are reduced to 2MB which will visibly degrade the image somewhat. This sacrifice in quality is often acceptable if you capture a fantastic shot of action.

Other subjects that would benefit from the use of the digital zoom are bird photography, wild animal photography, candid people shots and sport events of all kinds. While most photographic images are covered with the normal optical zoom range, sometimes the digital zoom can save the day.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome