PGA TOUR players hit vintage clubs at Northern Trust Open
April 7, 2016
Pro golfs top association appears to be adopting an if you cant beat em, join em approach regarding the online sports betting industry.
On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that the PGA Tour had issued a request for proposals (RFP) for sports data companies to submit bids on providing real-time tournament info to online sports betting operators.
The RFP document viewed by Bloomberg states that the PGA Tour continues to explore the risk/return trade-off associated with potential entry into the online sports gaming category. The RFP also seeks to explore other financial upside options, including revenue/profit sharing or equity deals.
The RFP said it would evaluate all responses before determining a course of action. A spokesman told Bloomberg that the Tour was far away from any kind of deal while insisting that the Tour issues such RFPs all the time.
Among the companies reportedly vying for the PGA Tour data contract are WME/IMG, which holds exclusive rights to official ATP/WTA tennis data, and Sportradar, which provides data on a variety of sports to bookmakers around the globe.
Other pro sports bodies have ventured down this data road before, only to retreat at the last minute. Last April, the National Football League inked a data deal with a US affiliate of Sportradar, but clamped down hard in November after that same affiliate promoted an in-play DFS app that vowed to eventually launch full sports betting for cash (in territories where authorized).
The PGA has a complicated relationship with the betting industry. In September, the PGA formally prohibited its members from endorsing or playing on daily fantasy sports sites, based on the PGAs belief that DFS sites are considered illegal in many states and thus PGA members participation in DFS contests amounted to conduct unbecoming of a professional.
Some PGA members are more, er, professional than others in terms of their approach to betting. Phil Mickelson is notorious for his betting activity with other PGA members and (allegedly) with illegal online sportsbooks.
Golfs gatekeepers are undoubtedly aware of their sports waning popularity with younger demographics, and the expectation appears to be that in-play betting would give golfs appeal a badly needed boost among the mobile betting set.
Cameron Diaz on cheating partners - The Graham Norton Show: Series 15 Episode 1 Preview - BBC One
Though looking at yourself in the mirror might make you think otherwise, all agingstarts ata cellular level.
"What you see on the outside of your body is a reflection of what"s going on inside it," Diaz explains, noting that "all aging is cellular aging" and when cells aren"t getting the care they need, you can see that in your mirrored reflection.
s*x gets better with age
As if living a long and healthy life could get any better, who knew getting older would mean better s*x? Well, "a2012 study of healthy women between the ages of 40and 80showed that sexual satisfaction actually increased with age."
Aside from the sexual issues you mayexperience during menopause, there is alight at the end of the tunnelonce you"re over that (very dry) hump.
"According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the vast majority of baby boomerspeople 65and olderare overweight or obese"
If it"s not obvious already, our bodies change as we get older and watching what we eat, although important in your twenties (something I have yet totrain myselfto do), is even more necessaryas we age.
Studies conducted by the U.S. Census Bureaushowthat a vast majority of baby boomers72 percentof men and 67 percentof women fall into the "overweight" or "obese" categories.
Fecal transplants may help kill off "bad" bacteria
"Poo transplants,"according to recent studies reported by Diaz, may one day give hope to the nearly 500,000 Americans suffering from Clostridium difficile, which can causediarrhea, nausea, fever, and abdominal pain.
Thisresearch shows that C. difficile,an infection brought on by the "overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria that release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines," can be cured through transplanting healthy human feces into those suffering from the infection.
"Nearly two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer"s disease are women"
The Longevity Bookpinpoints some of the most recent and important studies for women, but perhaps the most eye-opening one for me is this:"The two major risk factors for Alzheimer"s disease are age and gender: at age 65 and older, women have almost double the risk of Alzheimer"s as men."
With such a high risk of such a terrible and irreversibledisease, protecting your brain is of utmost importance as you age. Makesure your physical and emotional health are both in check definitely worth adding to your to-do list!
For many people, getting older causes them to isolate and remove themselves from social environmentsthey once found fun, but this is not how it has to be. In fact, one study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan shows thatof the 3,160 people tested between 24and 96yearsold,"even 10minutes of social interaction improved cognitive performance."
And this "link betweenhealth and community," whether with one friend or 15, is vital in order to age wellbecause "friendship, happiness, joy; sharing laughs and sharing tears; these are not just the elements of a good life, they are the elements of a long and strong life."
For more detailed information,The Longevity Book by Cameron Diaz and Sandra Barkis available for sale in stores and online.
ROGUE ONE | Trailer Reaction | mit PietSmiet und GameTube
Another December, another Star Wars blockbuster! The first action-packed trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story debuted on Thursday, April 7, on Good Morning America. The standalone film, starring Felicity Jones and martial arts legend Donnie Yen, is set to premiere on December 16.
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The story, directed by Gareth Edwards, takes place in the Stars Wars universe, but its a spinoff rather than a continuation of the saga of the Skywalker family. Rogue One follows a band of Rebels who are plotting to steal the Death Star, and its set just before the events of the very first Star Wars movie ever made (Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope) in 1977.
Felicity Jones in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" PHOTOS: Falls Leading Ladies
The trailer features hints of the familiar Star Wars score and centers around Jones character, with help along the way from Diego Luna and Forest Whitaker. This is a rebellion, isnt it? she asks when questioned about her crimes. I rebel.
PHOTOS: The Most Talked About Photos of 2015
The two-minute teaser drops just as Stars Wars: The Force Awakens has arrived to DVD and Blu-ray. Production is also underway for a sequel to The Force Awakens. Disney announced Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran will join Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Mark Hamill for the eighth installment, and its scheduled to hit theaters in December 2017.
Watch the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer here!
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Published: 12:00 EST, 6 April 2016 | Updated: 17:10 EST, 6 April 2016
What a difference four days make there were no dressing room selfies in the Volkswagen Arena for Real Madrid after they went down 2-0 in Germany and now face Champions League elimination.
They started the game with a confident post-Clasico swagger but limped out of it having completely under-estimated the team currently placed eighth in the Bundesliga.
Gareth Bale was comfortably Real Madrids best player but Julian Draxler was in inspired form for the home side and Zinedine Zidane had lined his team up with no apparent plan as to how to contain him with Danilo back in the side at right back and having a night to forget.
CLICK HERE TO READ PETE JENSON"S FULL MATCH REPORT
Having come from behind to beat Barcelona in El Clasico, Real Madrid will be hoping to continue their fine form when they visit Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on target as Real Madrid triumphed at the Nou Camp and the forward was also on the score sheet as Madrid defeated Roma 4-0 on aggregate in the last 16 of the Champions League - with the German side now in his sights.
Wolfsburg are huge underdogs heading into the first leg of the quarter-final having reached this stage after beating Gent in the last 16. Follow all the action with Sportsmail"s ANTHONY HAY.
Fifteen runs scored and one run given up in two victories yeah, I think thats what Joe Maddon was talking about when he preached the importance of a fast start for his Cubs.
The manager wants more than a 2-0 record, of course, and his request seems reasonable. Starting Thursday, the Cubs have a four-game road series against the improved Diamondbacks, who added Zack Greinke in the offseason. Thats followed by two three-game series at Wrigley Field against the bad Reds and the hard-hitting Rockies, respectively.
Mt. Everest, its not.
This is a chance for the Cubs to send a message to the rest of the National League that the burden of favorite feels more like a feather than an anvil. More importantly, it will reinforce to the Cubs that they deserve all the accolades that have been coming their way since they made it to the N.L. Championship Series last season.
With Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber, the Cubs lineup is implied menace before anybody steps to the plate. So when Matt Szczur, who had just 80 major-league games under his belt heading into the season, drives in four runs in two games, its borderline unfair to the competition. And with Dexter Fowler going 5-for-8 from the leadoff spot, well, forget about it.
Its only two games, but its worth noting that the last time the Cubs started 2-0 was 1995. Thats a strange, almost-unbelievable statistic from a franchise with a lot of strange and unbelievable history behind it.
The 95 team won its first four games but ended up 73-71, good for third in the division. That might serve as a cautionary tale about the unreliability of fast starts, but it has nothing to do with this team, which is loaded.
The Cubs could be 10-2 or 9-3 after the first 12 games. That would be a nice way to go into their next series, which is on the road. You might have heard of the opponent the Cardinals.
The first modern Olympic Games, which started 120 years ago today and are honored in aGoogle Doodle, included something more commonly associated with entitled children than ancient Greeks: a participation trophy. All 250 participants went home with a bronze medal.
That"s not the only way the first modern Olympics, which revived a 1,500-year-old ancient Greek tradition, differed from today"s glitzy, highly produced, occasionally corruption-soaked spectacle.
Although the first modern Olympics were unrecognizable in many ways there were no women, no national teams, and only nine sporting events the story of the runup to the first modern Olympics sounds awfully familiar: The host country was in political turmoil, and hosting the event turned out to be much, much more expensive than anyone had anticipated.
And just like today, some of the athletes had some incredible stories.
American athletes dominated the competition
In 1896, the American participants were a thrown-together group. There were no trials, very little time to prepare, and a team chosen based on, essentially, who could afford to get there.
The first American Olympians were 14 men, mostly from the Boston area and from Princeton. The mother of one of the Princeton athletes paid for their travel. Two athletes had to drop out of Harvard in order to compete, because they weren"t given permission to miss class in order for the Olympics.
But the Americans ended up dominating the competition, winning 11 first-place honors which were silver medals, because gold medals wouldn"t be given out for another eight years. The Greeks had the second most victories.
Athletes competed in 43 events in nine sports: swimming, gymnastics, track, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis
Robert Garrett, who won the discus event, had never used a real discus until he started participating in the competition. He"d had a blacksmith make him a practice version based on ancient Greek records; it turned out to be a foot wide and 30 pounds in weight, making it impossible to throw and more than 25 pounds heavier than the real thing.
Garrett didn"t find out what a discus really was until he got to Greece and saw the 8-inch, 4.4-pound discs the Greek athletes were practicing with. But he entered the competition anyway, and stunned the spectators and the other athletes all of them Greek by winning. Thomas Custis, one of the American athletes, described the win in 1924 in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology"s Technology Review:
His first two attempts were laughable, as the discus, instead of sailing parallel to the ground, turned over and over and narrowly missed hitting some of the audience. Both foreigners and Americans laughed at his efforts, he, himself, joining in the general merriment.
"On his third and last throw, however, he succeeded in getting the discus away perfectly and, to the chagrin of the Greek champion who had made three perfect throws in the most graceful manner possible, it was found that Garrett"s throw exceeded by some two feet the best throw of any other man. I think no one was more surprised than Robert Garrett himself.
The 1896 Olympics also featured the first modern marathon
But the Greeks got their own dramatic moment at the marathon, an event created for the 1896 Olympics (although distances weren"t as precise). According to Custis, 30 athletes started but only seven finished and the winner, in two hours and 58 minutes, was a Greek water carrier named Spyridon "Spyros" Louis:
All contests then in progress were temporarily stopped to await the arrival of the winner. In the course of a few minutes a tremendous cheering was heard outside the gate of the Stadium, and a man in the dress of a Greek peasant ran up the steps and onto the track, making his way towards the King"s throne, in front of which had been placed the finish line. His appearance showed the tremendous effort that he had made, and the fearful ordeal he had undergone. He was covered with dust and grime, the sandals that he wore on his feet were in rags, and his drawn face showed the strain he had suffered. His name was "Loues"" and he was a Greek donkey driver from the little town of Marousi.
As soon as the people were able to recognize him, the cheering and clapping of hands that broke forth was deafening. Hundreds of pigeons which had been kept concealed until then were set free, with Greek flags tied to their feet, hats were thrown in the air, the Crown Prince walked onto the track and congratulated Loues, and all the pent up enthusiasm that the Greeks had been saving up during the past six months for this very event, broke loose with a vengeance.
Louis became a national hero and will soon be featured on a Greek 2 coin an even bigger deal than the honor for most modern Olympic champions, a Wheaties box.
Ever wonder how the NFL"s yellow line works? This is how
