For those of you who missed out during the late 1990′s to the early 2000′s, hackey sack is a recreational sport that you play with friends. Players try to keep a small bag filled with beans or sand aloft for as long as they can without using their hands. It’s a simple game that builds up coordination skill and reflexes. What’s more, it’s super fun. It’s the perfect sport to play in a park, which is coincidentally why I decided to label this as an outdoor sport. It counts, people.

And it looks like this sometimes!

The best part of hackey sack is how versatile it is. It can be played with any amount of people, with varying levels of competitiveness. For example, some of the pioular varation of the sport have players try to get the highest possibel number of hits that they can while keeping the bag airborne.

My personal favorite is a game where players are served the hackey and have to kick it for a certain amount of times before they are allowed to throw it at people, eliminating them. This version (called KILL) is a game that’s relaxing and fun combined with frantic running and the element of pain from merciless friends determined to peg you. It’s AWESOME.

Nothing says “love” like getting a hackey sack hurled at you by a friend out for blood. Am I right? Go get one for 5 bucks and start playing. There is no limit to the types of games that can be created.

There are easier trails for beginners, and tough terrain for pros looking to conquer new challenges. Biking is a fun way to to explore and enjoy nature while getting a vigorous workout.

The great thing is this can be done alone on a trail, or you can go with your friends to challenge each other to try out new trails and new maneuvers. This get the blood pumping and the endorphins going.

You can tear down hills going 20+ miles per hour, dodging trees and boulders and flying over tree roots. There is really no end to the adventures you can have on your bike, and the great thing is that this is all for free.

Anyone can take their bike to a trail in the mountains, and some people even opt to go off the trails. As long as the non-trail areas are not marked off-limits, you can take your wheels to the thick of the forest and battle your way through nature and back to your car.

Though the forest may not be the best idea for kids, you can take the little ones out on trails so they can learn early the joys of mountain biking. This can be a great family that everyone can enjoy together.

Following the game, a triumphant Max Hall, quarterback for BYU, stated that he “hate[d]. . . everything about [the University of] Utah.” Saying that Ute fans are “classless,” Hall referenced an incident from last year’s rivalry game when Utah fans verbally assaulted, spit on, and dumped beer on his family.

According to Hall, the fans in question were escorted to their vehicle by the local police. Ending an embarrassing game for Hall and an unpleasant experience for his family, this experience embittered Hall.

Hall has since apologized to the university, fans, and team from Utah and to his own  team and coaching staff.In an interview this morning, BYU head coach, Bronco Mendenhall, says he ‘absolutely’ respects Hall for the way he handled the situation, calling him a ‘great leader’ and a ‘great kid’ who ‘has [Mendenhall's] support.’

According to  Mendenhall, “The apology [Max] issued (came) from him and no one else. . . . If anyone thinks they’ve influenced his apology, that’s a mistake; he woke up, did all of that on his own. . . . I haven’t talked to Max yet, nor has anyone else from our coaching staff. Max has done this completely on his own.”

That person said Clausen was “sucker-punched” by a fan as he left an establishment after having dinner with his parents.

The fan allegedly said something to Clausen and/or a female acquaintance.

A South Bend police spokesman said that no police reports were filed over the weekend involving Clausen, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The newspaper also reported that the name of the bar was CJ’s and that a bartender at the establishment said that Clausen had been there with family members and other Irish upperclassmen after Notre Dame’s loss to Connecticut on Senior Day.

Well, none other than Bob Stoops himself is at the head of the rumor board.

That is right ladies and gentletman. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma is rumored to be the top pick for the Notre Dame football program. The question that came to my mind, however, was “Is Bob Stoops really going to change the program?” After all, he has not had the hottest season this year either. It seems as though him and Charlie Weis have a lot of similarities, the main one being that neither of them can win the big game when it really matters.

If I were Bob Stoops, I would jump all over this opportunity. This could be his chance to get out of Norman and head to a place where he has no history. He will have a clean slate and a chance to redeem his last few years at Oklahoma.

Could he be the Savior for Notre Dame football?

Or could he?

But don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Bob Stoops isn’t a good coach, because he obviously is. However, he is yet to win the games that really matter. Even this year with his prized Heisman quarterback coming back, he has lost three games, with that supposed 1st pick of the draft sidelined for most of the year due to injury.

I think that he could have success at Notre Dame because he will still be getting some of the best recruits in the nation.People there will love and adore him, as long as he wins. It could be interesting to see how he will do against the type of schedule that Notre Dame sets up year in and year out.

Look out everyone, it could be crazy! Touchdown Jesus and Bob Stopps in Notre Dame! I don’t know who they would worship more!

In a statement released Thursday owner George Shinn said the move gives the Hornets the best opportunity “to reach our goals this season.”

The Hornets also announced that former New Orleans head coach Tim Floyd, who Scott replaced, will be one of Bower’s top assistants.

New Orleans lost 124-104 at Phoenix on Wednesday, falling to 3-6 to start the season.

When Byron Scott took over as coach following the 2003-04 season, he was the Hornets’ third coach in three seasons. He was the NBA coach of the year in 2008, when Chris Paul led the Hornets to a 56-26 record.

Lostroh has been number one in the standings all season, and was unaware upon entering the Built Ford Tough Championship Round that he had already earned the gold buckle. The 24-year old Colorado cowboy is quiet and media-shy, but his riding (called “flawless” by rodeo great, Ty Murray) allows him to walk the walk without having to talk himself into his Champion status.

Battling a torn tendon in his elbow and the doctors who wanted to operate on it, Lostroh “put [his injury] in God’s hands and went on with [riding].” That was last April. Today, after winning the World Finals, he’s allowing the operation to go forward– now that it can’t interfere with his riding.

For the win in the Finals, Lostroh finished the season with 16,640 points, 594 ahead of Mauney, who finished second for the second consecutive year. According to PBR rules, even in a worst-case scenario, meaning Mauney received the maximum points possible and Lostroh the fewest possible, Lostroh would have won by 88 points.

Yankee Celebration

AP-Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball’s best again.

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title. It was the team’s first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.

Matsui powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez – and when Mariano Rivera got the final out it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner’s go-for-broke bunch.

What a way for Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and crew to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one championship.

And to think it capped a season that started in turmoil – a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.

About 100 miles south, disappointment.

For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds.

Ryan Howard’s sixth-inning homer came too late to wipe away his World Series slump, and Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees‘ machine.

In a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day after the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on Luis Gonzalez’s broken-bat single off Rivera.

New York spent billions trying to get back. At long last, it did.

Hey Babe and Yogi, Mr. October and Joltin’ Joe – you’ve got company. Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and a new generation of Yankees have procured their place in pinstriped lore.

And for the four amigos, it was ring No. 5.

Jorge Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in 1996.

Now, all on the other side of age 35, they have another success to celebrate. And surely they remember the familiar parade route, up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes.

Indeed, a New York City-sized party is next. Nine years in the making, with all the glitz and glamour this tony town can offer.

For Steinbrenner, it was the seventh championship since he bought the team in 1973. The Yankees had talked about winning another for their 79-year-old owner, who has been in declining health.

Though he stayed back home in Tampa, Fla., he certainly wasn’t forgotten. The grounds crew wore “Win it for The Boss” shirts last week, which were on sale outside the ballpark Wednesday.

New York wasted its chance to wrap things up in Game 5 at Philadelphia, then set its sights on clinching the World Series at home for the first time since 1999.

While nine years between titles is hardly a drought for most teams, it was almost an eternity in Yankeeland.

New York’s eight seasons without a championship was the third-longest stretch for the Yankees since their first one, following gaps of 17 (1979-95) and 14 (1963-76).

Reggie Jackson’s three homers in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers made the Yankees champs in ’77. On this November night, Matsui delivered a sublime performance at the plate that must have made Mr. October proud.

Playing perhaps his final game with the Yankees, Matsui hit a two-run homer off Martinez in the second inning and a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch in the third.

A slumping Teixeira added an RBI single in the fifth off reliever Chad Durbin, and Matsui cracked a two-run double off the right-center fence against lefty J.A. Happ.

A designated hitter with balky knees, Matsui came off the bench in all three games at Philadelphia. Still, he had a huge Series, going 8 for 13 (.615) with three homers and eight RBIs. His go-ahead shot off an effective Martinez in Game 2 helped the Yankees tie it 1-all.

Bobby Richardson was the only other player with six RBIs in a World Series game, doing it for the Yankees in Game 3 against Pittsburgh in 1960. Richardson had a first-inning grand slam and a two-run single in the fourth.

Matsui’s big hits built a comfortable cushion for a feisty Pettitte, who shouted at plate umpire Joe West while coming off the field in the fourth. Still, Pettitte extended major league records with his 18th postseason win and sixth to end a series.

The 37-year-old left-hander, pitching on three days’ rest, became the first pitcher to start and win the clincher in all three postseason rounds. He beat Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels in the AL playoffs.

Pettitte lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and five walks. Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte combined for 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief before Rivera secured the final five outs.

It had been nearly a half-century since players had won five titles with one team. The last to do it? Of course a bunch of Yankees: Yogi Berra (10 titles), Mickey Mantle (seven) and Whitey Ford (six) in 1962, according to STATS LLC.

For second-year manager Joe Girardi, a three-time Yankees champion as a player, it was the fulfillment of a mission. When he succeeded Joe Torre in October 2007, Girardi chose uniform No. 27, putting his quest on his back for all to see. His tenure didn’t start out so well, with New York missing the playoffs in its final season at old Yankee Stadium following 13 consecutive appearances.

Steinbrenner’s well-paid players hadn’t soaked themselves in bubbly after the season since Bernie Williams gloved Mike Piazza’s midnight flyout at Shea Stadium to win the 2000 Subway Series and cap the Yankees’ third straight championship and fourth in five years.

Two outs from winning in 2001, the Yankees stumbled in the desert. New York then spent more than $1.6 billion after that trying to regain glory, falling short with infamous flops such as Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and Carl Pavano.

But last offseason the Yankees got smart, adding a trio of top free agents – Teixeira, Sabathia and A.J. Burnett – for $423.5 million. They jelled with Rodriguez, the game’s highest-paid player but a winner for the first time in 16 major league seasons.

A-Rod became a newly minted champion following a sordid spring in which he admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with Texas and then needed hip surgery.

Maybe now, demanding fans in the Bronx will consider him a true New York Yankee .

-Mike Fitzpatrick

The New York Yankees are looking forward to winning their 27th World Series tonight as they try to finish off the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees lead the series 3-1 and are starting to lick their chops. However, the road to the 27th will have to go straight through Phillies’ ace, Cliff Lee.

Lee has been red hot throughout the 2009 post-season. He has an era of less than one, in his four starts this post-season. All which have resulted in victories.

The Yankees‘ manager Joe Girardi will turn his team’s fate over to star pitcher AJ Burnett. Burnett has been off and on all year for the Yankees. He is either lights out, or completely awful. In game 2 against the Phillies, he brought his A game and walked away with a victory as he held the Phillies to only 1 run.

It should be a good game. I am predicting the Yankees to win just because of Jimmy Rollins and his prophecy about the Phillies winning in 5. Better luck next year Jimmy! Take a lesson from Jeter and learn how to conduct yourself. Shut your mouth and just play!

Prediction: Yankees 4 Phillies 2

Phillies Starting Pitcher Pedro Martinez

Tonight should be very interesting to say the least.

The New York Yankees host the Philadelphia Phillies in World Series game 2. The game from last night was really not a competition from the moment Cliff Lee took the mound. He was untouchable for the Yankee lineup, minus Derek Jeter who had three hits against the lefty. The Phillies came out with a lot more energy and confidence from what I could tell. It looked like they wanted to be there and it appeared that they wanted to back up the comments of their short stop Jimmy Rollins.

Jimmy Rollins has already predicted a Phillies chamionship. The real kicker is that he came out and said that they will win in 5 games. Talk about being bold! Does someone need to let Rollins know trhey are playing the Yankees? However, if they do walk into Yankee stadium and spank them like red-headed step children and win the series in five, Rollins will be all smiles!

As for tonight, the weather is looking clear with a little bit of wind. Pretty much perfect baseball weather for October in NYC.

Grandfather–Pedro Martinez– will be taking the mound against the hated pinstripe crew this evening. He will face a fiery lineup of the Yankees who looked as though they should have been riding on a bus to and from the games this year instead of a lavish plane of the Steinbrenners.

Unpredictable AJ Burnnett will be on the bump for the Yankees, and that is a scary thought if you are a Yankees fan. You never know who will show up. The good AJ or the bad AJ. If the Yankees can get lucky and the “good” AJ Burnnett takes the hill, they could run away with this game. Especially if old man rivers, from whatever island, doesn’t have his best stuff. He could really find out “who is his daddy” tonight.

Considering all things, I think it should be an exciting game to watch. I feel the Yankees will run away with the game, but who knows. Maybe someone will poor some oil into the joints of Pedro Martinez and he will be in the headlines tomorrow morning.