Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Photo credit: http://www.thirdage.com/files/originals/chicago-white-sox-starting-pitcher-philip-humber-at-yankee-stadium-new-york_72.jpg OBSCURE OR NOT, ‘PERFECT’ IS FOREVER By Bruce Penton Submitted to the Lethbridge Journal Here’s the baseball question of the day: Who is the more obscure pitcher to throw a perfect game: Dallas Braden or Phil Humber? Discuss among yourselves. The perfect game is by far the least likely thing to happen in a Major League Baseball game — except to see not a single player on the two teams without a plug of chewing tobacco jammed into their cheek. The perfect game has happened only 20 times in the modern era of MLB regular-season play, and once in the World Series (Don Larsen, 1956). Twenty-seven batters up, 27 batters retired. No walks. No player reaches base on an error. Not only does the pitcher have to be perfect, but the fielders behind him must handle every ball without a flub, too. Lately, it seems, perfect games have become almost. . . well, commonplace. Three in the 1980s, four in the ‘90s, four more in the first decade of the 2000s. While they have been pitched by immortals of the game (Cy Young and Sandy Koufax), some greats (Catfish Hunter, Roy Halladay, David Cone and Randy Johnson) and some ordinary players (Len Barker, Tom Browning), they have also been pitched by nonames (Braden of Oakland in 2010 and the most recent, Humber of the Whites Sox in mid-April). “I don’t know what Phil Humber is doing in this list,” the perfect pitcher told reporters after the game. “No idea what my name is doing there, but thankful it’s there.” Braden had a career record of 14-21 going into the 2010 season, but he tossed his perfecto in early May against Tampa Bay. Humber’s career record was 11-10 before he was perfect against Seattle a couple of Saturdays ago. So what has become of Dallas Braden since his perfect game? He has improved his career record to 26-36 and is currently on the Oakland injury list while recovering from surgery. He will never be a Hall of Famer, but he will always be a footnote in the annals of baseball lore. Humber’s future remains to be seen. As far as we know, he’s no Koufax or Halladay, but he’s in that exclusive “Perfect” club with them. Forever. • Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: “At 49, the Rockies’ Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher ever to win a game. Moyer is so old he remembers when ’roids meant hemorrhoids.” • Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Pudge Rodriguez has called it quits on a 21-year big-league career. So just what is a fitting fan send-off for an all-star catcher? A squatting ovation? • Perry again: “A brush fire forced a shutdown of the New Jersey Turnpike near the Jets’ Met Life Stadium. Alas, it was just Tim Tebow, standing next to a burning bush.” • Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Dwyane Wade had the right idea, but the wrong words. Wade said U.S. NBA Olympians should get paid. Jesse Owens was spinning in his grave, and Bruce Jenner on his tanning bed.” • Norman Chad, Washington Post: “For every hour I watch CNN, I watch at least 10 hours of NBA TV; to be honest, this should disqualify me from voting.” • Chad again: “When Tiger Woods withdrew from the WGC-Cadillac Championship last month, I still can’t believe the helicopter didn’t follow him all the way to Perkins restaurant.” • Headline at SportsPickle.com: “Canucks too disappointing to even riot over.” • Another one from Perry: “The Canucks got eliminated so early from the playoffs, rioters complained that they didn’t even get a chance to finish training camp.” • Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly, on Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton now going by his given first name, Giancarlo: “Being as he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 245 pounds, I’ll certainly call him anything he wants to be called.” • Perry again: “The NBA has hit the unfortunately renamed Metta World Peace with a seven-game suspension. Two games for the flagrant elbow, and the other five for false advertising.” • Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “Los Angeles Laker, Metta World Peace, has been suspended after knocking out an Oklahoma player, James Harden, with a vicious elbow to the head. Good thing he is named Metta World Peace, if he was Metta World War this Harden guy would be dead.” • Another one from Cote, on the qualifications needed to become a Dolphins cheerleader: “Be good dancers, have vivacious personalities and think field goals are awesome.” • R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: “A U.S. man says he accidentally shot himself by dropping a dumbbell on a bullet. He is not be confused with Plaxico Buress, who was a dumbbell.” • Cote again: “The only way LeBron James does not win the MVP award is if Cavs owner Dan Gilbert is put in charge of counting the votes.” Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 0 LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca
New gym experience is platinum By Jeff Wiebe For the Lethbridge Journal For Mark Poitras and Feras Dleikan, giving customers a bronze, silver, or gold-star experience simply isn’t enough – only platinum will do. At age 25, Poitras and Dleikan, owners of Platinum Fitness in Lethbridge, are surely among the youngest fullblown entrepreneurs in the city. But they both bring years of industry experience and a strong passion for fitness to their work. The two friends got involved in the world of fitness while in high school, where they both spent plenty of time in the gym. After graduating, Poitras got into personal training and enrolled at the University of Lethbridge, where he studied exercise science. Dleikan went on to work in sales at a local gym, and later, they were re-united when Poitras took a training job at the same gym. “It was really a personal passion for both of us, the whole fitness industry in general,” explains Poitras. “We had both known for a while that we eventually wanted to open our own gym.” The two began saving money, and, having built a loyal client base, eventually decided the time was right to strike out on their own. “At first we were just looking into it, and then the ball started rolling and it ended up happening.” While neither of the two have much business experience, they’ve had help from some knowledgeable friends and co-workers. And they’ve poured plenty of their own sweat into putting it all together, putting in the floor and doing much of the renovation work themselves before opening last fall. “We’ve worked in a lot of gyms, between the four of us who put this together.” Since opening, the gym has utilized social networking tools and word-of-mouth marketing to build awareness, and after two months, it was already turning a profit. Given their experience in the industry, the duo have modelled their business to avoid some of the most common complaints about gyms and fitness centres, including contracts, sign-up fees and hidden costs, all of which are non-existent at Platinum Fitness. “Every gym you go to, they want to sign you up for three years, and nobody likes that,” says Poitras, adding that members of Platinum Fitness each receive their own key and have access to the facilities 24 hours a day every day of the year. The personal touch is also a big selling point at Platinum, and Poitras says the gym’s strong focus on personal training sets it apart. “That’s really our speciality – getting people in and showing them how to do things properly,” he says, adding that they strive to provide consistent information and assistance across all trainers. This emphasis on personal training helps gym members develop a better understanding of how they should be utilizing the facilities, and this in turn results in higher usage – Poitras says about 90 per cent of Platinum’s customers use the gym on a regular basis. “That was the whole thing – in some places, people buy a membership, they come in and don’t know what they’re doing, they stumble around looking at pictures, they don’t see any results, and then they stop coming. Meanwhile, they’re on a three-year contract and they just keep handing the money over for the next two-and-a-half years without using it. We wanted to avoid that whole scenario.” For Poitras, fitness has become both a personal and professional passion. His journey began in high school, when he took a fitness class to earn a few credits, and it has blossomed from there. “When I was growing up, I always kind of thought I’d be active and healthy,” he explains, adding that he wants others to experience the same positive benefits he has received from an active lifestyle. “For me, I’m all about self-betterment and trying to do what I can to improve myself as a person, and being healthy and active is part of that. It’s had such a huge impact on my self-confidence, how I feel about myself, and even how I interact with other people because of that. It’s had an awesome impact on my life.” 702-13th St. North 327-0340 Olympus SZ-14 • 14 megapixels • 24x optical zoom • 3-inch LCD • HDMI Sale Reg. $229.99 Bushnell Trophy XLT 10x42 $ 199 99 $ 549 99 Sale We take trade-ins Canon Vixia HFM 400 • 10x optical zoom • Full HD • Optical image stabilizer • Touch decoration Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x26 Reg. $699.99 Nikon D90 w/18-55mm • 12.3 megapixels • DX format • Expeed Image Processing • 3-inch LCD screen Sale $ Reg. $949.99 799 99 41069842 Nikon Sportstar EX 8x25 Photos submitted. Platinum Fitness owner Mark Poitras works with a client. • 100% water/fog proof • PC-3 phase coating • Fully multi coated optics • Dura grip rubber Sale Reg. $419.99 Store Hours: Mon-Fri • 9am-8pm Sat • 9am-5:30pm Sun & Hol • Closed Reg. $259.99 $ 199 99 • Rainguard • Water and fog proof • Bak-4 porro prisms • Fully multicoated optics $ 269 99 • Waterproof • Multicoated optics • Pocket size, lightweight • Wide field of view Reg. $99.99 $ 79 99 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca 31
Page 1 and 2: FEATURE STORY Linda’s heart is in
Page 3 and 4: COVER FEATURE Specializing in: Plas
Page 5 and 6: • • • • • • • • •
Page 7 and 8: We’re Family Owned & Operated Ran
Page 9 and 10: send your pictures to editor@lethbr
Page 11 and 12: Last Minute MOTHER ’S DAY Guide B
Page 13 and 14: DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS DAILY DRINK SP
Page 15 and 16: ARIES (March 21-April 19) Greet eac
Page 17 and 18: Your ultimate events calendar for e
Page 19 and 20: What about Jack? By Greg Stonehocke
Page 21 and 22: Stay a while, and listen! We need a
Page 23 and 24: Recruitment & Search Temporary Staf
Page 25 and 26: Virtuous woman exposed Submitted to
Page 27 and 28: By Jeff Wiebe For the Lethbridge Jo
Page 29: • • • • • • • • •

Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?