Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Story Of The "Immaculate Reception"




As the Pittsburgh Steelers meet up with the Oakland Raiders in week two of the 2002 season, the old rivalry resurfaces and so does talk of the Immaculate Reception.
Simply put, the Immaculate Reception is the sand in Oakland's craw, and it feels bad to their fans even now, ages after that football game in 1972.

It was the end of a playoff game of December 23, 1972, and the Raiders were ahead, 7-6, after QB Ken Stabler had run a 30-yard touchdown. John Madden was the coach
then, and was revolving his quarterbacks -- Daryle Lamonica had started but was replaced later in the game with Stabler. So then the Steeler offensive was on the field and there were less than two minutes left to play. QB Terry Bradshaw then threw a pass to running back Frenchy Fuqua. Raiders safety Jack Tatum saw it, and began running at Fuqua; they collided like two freight trains, and the ball went flying backward from them. Franco Harris -- so new to the Steel Curtain that headlines still called him "Franco Who?" -- spied the ball, unbelievably, coming his way, although he was only supposed to take a minor part in this play as it was written. It flew for 60 yards. He went for it and caught it, turned for the end zone and lumbered away for a touchdown.


The football rule at the time was that an offensive player cannot touch a ball after another offensive player, unless a defensive player has touched it in between. So the Steeler touchdown was good only if Fuqua hadn't touched the ball; or if he had, then if Tatum had also touched it after him. Neither NFL nor NBC-TV cameras had clear angles that could show this moment indisputably. It was a judgement of the referees, and they decided for the Steelers.


That moment carved out many later ones: The Raiders lost their postseason run that year, and the Steelers went on to win 4 Superbowls.


Most Steelerisms can be traced back to sportscaster and onetime Voice of the Steelers Myron Cope. To his regret, Cope happened to be heading down to the field when the reception occurred, so Jack Fleming was still in the booth and called the play. It is one of the most-replayed segments of league history. But it was the next day that Cope named it on WTAE-TV. Cope did not think up the phrase; it was a man named Michael Ord. The phrase "Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception" was later copyrighted by Franco Harris. But it is obviously a Pittsburghism -- Who knows what Oakland fans called it amongst themselves, many of whom still feel they were robbed?


How to choose a reputable online casino



With literally thousands of online casinos on the internet, it can sometimes become very confusing as to which ones are safe and reputable, and which casinos are not. So many of them are beautifully designed, look very professional and offer great signup bonuses, so how does one go about choosing the "reputable" online casinos while avoiding the "dodgy" ones?

When choosing an online casino to play at, one should always take into consideration the following points:

Licensed casino: Is the casino licensed? While many online casinos are licensed, a significant number of casinos are not. There are plenty of unlicensed, illegal gambling casinos which are nothing more than money scam operations. One should always avoid these casinos at all costs.

Where is the casino licensed?: While online casinos licensed in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Kahnawake, Netherlands Antilles, United Kingdom and the West Indies are recommended, online casinos licensed in Eastern Europe should be approached with extreme caution.

24/7 Support: Does the casino offer 24/7 phone, fax, live chat and email support? Test the casino's customer service department by asking them a few questions about their games, bonuses, etc and measure how long it takes to receive a decent response.

Professional Recogition: Is the online casino officially recognised by various gaming bodies and authorities? For instance, are the payout percentages of the online casino independently reviewed by auditors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers? Is this information made publicly available?

Blacklisted: Is the online casino blacklisted for any reason? There are many casinos which have been blacklisted by several gambling portals for one reason or another. Although not all blacklists are credible sources of information, one should avoid online casinos which appear in several blacklists.

Software: Casino software providers such as Microgaming, Playtech, Random Logic, Real Time Gaming and WaterLogic are very popular and have excellent reputations in the online gambling industry.

With so many online casinos coming and going, and with so many cons and scams surfacing on the internet everyday, one needs to be especially careful when registering one's credit card with or transferring money to an online casino. The above set of guidelines may not completely safeguard a player's money, but they are nevertheless a good set of common sense points to go by when choosing an online casino to play at.


Monday, August 16, 2010

DDR Pads For Xbox

Dance Dance Revolution has become very popular and, as such, now have pads for most game systems, including Xbox DDR pads. You can get these foam pads or metal, and there are some advantages of each.

The Xbox DDR foam pads are made of high density foam with durable plastic inserts underneath each button to accentuate the difference between the buttons and other parts of the pad. The foam padding will reduce the stress on the feet and allow you to play the game for hours at a reasonably comfortable. It also allows you to remove the foam pad and fold up for storage. Foam can be stored on any platform, since it is light. This makes it ideal for high traffic areas like the environment of the game in the living room. If your game system is configured like this then the foam pads are probably the best choice for you.

However, if you play the game a lot or have the game created in a place where there has to be taken down, then you might want to consider a metal platform. A number of models for the metal when talking about DDR pads for the Xbox. These are a bit more durable which means they must hold up better and last a little longer, an additional benefit, especially with children who love to play all the time. However, the weight, the durability is added. Because these structural steelwork metal pad can weigh between 38-70 pounds. It is not something you are going to want to have to move all the time, so setting up and tearing down frequently would not be ideal for this type of pad. This would not be a problem if you have the game system created in a place where you can leave your installation. A spare room or a bedroom, an exercise room, whether it would be ideal locations. In a room that you can always consider sliding the cushion under the bed when not in use. This makes a quick and convenient place of storage without compromising yourself too much for an injury while moving around bulky pad.

As with anything else, you should consider all factors when making a purchase. Are you going to play the game a lot? Are you going to have to set up and tear it down a bit? Store the game is going to be a problem that you have to consider? Answering these questions for yourself will give you the answer as to which platform to buy XBOX DDR.

How to Win Nintendo 3DS Auctions

Nintendo 3DS Navigation auction fills me with mixed emotions. You can find brilliant deals through sites like eBay, but again and again I see people making stupid decisions and overpaying for the two games and hardware. For me, these people continue to lose these auctions because they end up more out of pocket than they should have.

I want to help you win auctions Nintendo 3DS without losing a lot of money.

1. Browse Nintendo 3DS foreign auctions. Local is not always better. Again and again find better deals when browsing sites like the international versions of eBay. The reason for this is simple: in other parts of the world there are large quantities of supplies available and simply extend their geographical search area for great deals 3DS Nintendo raises the possibility that someone who offers a great price for Nintendo 3DS or games. Of course, there may be added shipping charges (and not everyone wants to ship goods internationally), but still, it can often be worthwhile.
2. Avoid the allure of the bidding war. Allow your emotions grip and endless fellow ebayer bidding to win an auction can only lead to the art of winning, but it's lost yet, if you have paid more than the RRP price for a given product. Anyone can win an auction - we want to win one and leave with a great deal. Keep your emotions out of their efforts on Nintendo 3DS auctions, always ask yourself: Do I regret this decision? Do not trap on the buyer's remorse.
3. Wait until the last possible moment. inexperienced buyers often bid on an item as soon as they are. This is an amateur mistake and simply raise the price for everyone. Instead, what you should do is decide on a maximum bid and then enter that bid in the last 30 seconds of an auction. You can lose if someone has a higher maximum bid, but that is better than you who has the opportunity to feel the competition and trying to outdo the others despite its strong maximum bid.

Common sense will take you very far in their efforts to win Nintendo 3DS auctions. Just stick to these simple principles and, above all, be patient. Emergency cost you much money, literally.