Pool and Game Tables Originated From Croquet, Can That be True?

It is interesting at times to look at something that has been around for as long as we can remember, something we may not think of often, and discover its history. Today there are many different types of game tables on the market, but did you know that game tables originated from outdoor games that were played on the ground? And that game tables have been around for hundreds of years?

Now, the exact origination of table top games is unknown, but the first definite reference to a game table is in 1470, when French King Louis XI owned a variation of a pool table. Though where it originated is unknown, the top three possibilities are England, France and Persia, and the earliest table games were ancestors to modern billiards or pool. William Shakespeare’s play, Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607), mentions this game with the line “let us to billiards.”

So how did it all get started? Believe it or not, a version of a game that is still enjoyed today at many family BBQ’s, croquet, is where it originated. Versions of croquet have been around for hundreds of years and were quite a popular form of entertainment. But it was seasonal. To play year round at court, the game was moved inside. Though we can only speculate, there was probably some member of a royal family that had a bad back, and all the bending over to knock the balls was not doing anyone a favor. The game was downsized and placed on a table. With the problem of the balls rolling off, it probably did not take long to add edges to the table, and then by the 1600’s rubber was added to the edges to protect the wood and give extra bounce to the balls. Thin, green (the color of grass!) cloth, usually felt or wool, was then added making a players shot more accurate, and, I imagine, it reduced the amount of random rolling that would occur on wood. In the early 1800’s, wood was replaced by slate, making the tables sturdier and smoother.

In croquet, the object was to shoot your ball through a series of hoops, and then knock a wicket at the end of the course. Many of the early game tables also had objects to knock a ball through, and some did not. In the second version the object was often to knock your players ball with the cue ball and then have it bounce off the side to strike another ball. This type of cue sports (called Carom billiards) are still around today and are played on billiard tables without pockets. But early on, it did not take long for holes to be added to the tables as a replacement to obstacles with a net under the hole to catch the ball. As a matter of fact, King Louis’ billiard table had one hole in the center. This evolved over the years to two holes, one at each end, and eventually into the six pocketed pool tables that are common today.

With the dawning of the innovative 20th century, many other types of game tables were invented. After all, if you can play croquet indoors on a table, what else? Well, hockey was brought indoors to a frictionless table surface in the early 1970’s, and air hockey was born.

When it comes to soccer, you can probably guess that it was first invented in England. In 1922, an avid fan wanted to provide an indoor game that replicated the sport he loved. Though there were similar table games to foosball as early as the 1890’s.

Table tennis also originated in England in the 1880’s. Upper-class Victorians, looking for after dinner amusement, would use everyday items to act as the equipment needed: books for a net, a cork for a ball and a cigar box lid as the racket. Ping Pong grew in popularity quite quickly. Within 20 years there were books written about the game, and the unofficial first world championship was held in 1902.

Today game tables are found in homes, clubs, schools, pubs and offices around the world, bringing hours of enjoyment and relaxation to millions of people. Some of the tidbits of history and trivia are fascinating and can explain some of the idiosyncrasies found in the different games (such as how snooker got its name). And though there is still a lot I do not know about many of these games, one thing I do know, I will never look at croquet the same way again!

Hoogie’s Bounce Collection This are the best bounces that i found in 2008/2009. I have released most of them so they can be used by other people to. There are also some new bounces included that i haven’t released before. Programs used: Call of Duty 4 Fraps Sony Vegas 7.0 Music used: Requiem for a Dream – Full Theme System of a Down – Science Toby Mac – Ignition Johnny Cash – Hurt Mod used: Codjumper This mod only enables to save and load. For the rest it doesn’t change anything to the settings. So all of these jumps are possible in every server that uses the standard settings like it should be. Thanks for Watching!

This is a video demonstration of the brandnew Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. If you want to read the whole review of the device visit our page. www.Symbian60.mobi

The Top 10 Sports Video Games Of All Time

There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the years. In less than forty years we’ve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6 for the Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasn’t always meant better games. Just because a game has flashier interfaces and better graphics, it doesn’t necessarily make for good gameplay. That’s the reason that many PS2 and Xbox games are doomed to linger in discount bins at your local game store, while classics like NHL ‘94 and Tecmo Super Bowl continued to be obsessed over by sports fans. Here’s my Top 10 of all time:

10. Jordan vs. Bird (NES) – Was the one-on-one gameplay that great? No, not really. But the game was innovative with the three point competition and slam dunk contest long before it showed up anywhere else. For that alone it deserves a spot in the Top 10.

9. Madden 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GC) – The jump from ‘04 to ‘05 was HUGE. ‘05 introduced the hit-stick control and defensive playmaker to bring the defensive control on par with the offense. Franchise mode is pretty much the same as ‘04, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My favorite thing to do is build a team from scratch. I love taking the worst team in the league and building them into a powerhouse. You can move them to a new city and build a new stadium, then draft real college players from NCAA ‘05. Overall, I liked this game more than any other Madden. 2006 just didn’t improve upon this game enough for me.

8. Punch-Out (NES) – what kid born in the late 70’s or early 80’s DIDN’T spend hours on end trying to beat Tyson with Little Mac?

7. Madden ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) – Based on memory this game was awesome. I remember being able to play with all the NFL teams and a bunch of classic teams. It was one of my favorite sports games growing up. That said, I played it recently and it sucks. It can’t even come close to holding it’s own against Tecmo Super Bowl. The passing is unrealistic, and the running consists of repeatedly hitting the spin button while tacklers bounce off your runner. It’s this high just because of how much I remember enjoying it as a kid.

6. NBA Live ‘95 (Genesis, SNES) – This game might not have been realistic at all, but it was insanely fun to run up and down the court firing up threes and throwing up alley-oops. The fact that it was the first NBA game by EA with every team and every arena also scores it points. Not to mention, this was the first game with the 3/4 angle camera.

5. NFL Blitz (Arcade) – The football version of NBA Jam. Fast scoring, late hits, and crazy rules like being able to throw multiple forward passes behind the line of scrimmage make this game great. The arcade version was waaaay better than the PS or N64 versions.

4. NBA Jam (Arcade) – Between the arcade version and the console versions, I’ve played a ton of NBA Jam. It is one of the most unique games ever. Who didn’t enjoy beating the crap out of people in mid-air or hitting three after three when they were on fire? This game totally rocked. The best part was getting all of the codes and playing with mascots and Bill Clinton.

3. Little League Baseball (NES) – I don’t know why this game doesn’t get more attention as one of the best NES sports games. The gameplay is the best of any NES baseball game – pitching, hitting, and fielding all are simple and feel relatively realistic. Plus there’s just something fun and unique about playing with little leaguers. As far as I know this is the only little league game ever, although I could be wrong. Adding to the excitement, certain teams are significantly better than others. Want a challenge? Try winning a tournament with Italy, the worst team in the game. The replay value of LLB is unbelievable; I still play it to this day.

2. NHL ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) – I love modern NHL games as much as the next guy, but this game is the best ever. I still play it ALL THE TIME. The quality of play is amazing. Take away the easy wrap-around goals and the gameplay is amazingly real, especially considering how old this game is. Oh, and for the record, they are playing NHL ‘93 in Swingers but talking about the removal of fighting in NHL ‘94. Weird huh?

1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) – This game was far ahead of it’s time – editable playbooks and season long stat tracking were so cool back then. The gameplay is far from realistic but amazingly equal. For that reason, the game is still popular and there are tons of people who still play in online leagues. The advent of emulators has allowed for the editing of rosters – I’ve played versions of the game with rosters from as recent as 2004. There are also versions with college rosters and USFL rosters. The weird little gameplay quirks like Bo Jackson being impossible to stop, fumbles bouncing all over the place, choosing defensive plays by guessing the offensive play, 100 yard passes, etc make the game MORE fun. This game will never, ever get old.

Video demo of the new Bounce game specially designed for the Nokia N900 using Maemo 5. The game is shown using the TV-Out feature, and you can really see how awesome the graphics are. Get more coverage of the Nokia N900 and Maemo at www.Maemo-Guru.com Distributed by Tubemogul.

Keep Your Family Fit With Inflatable Bounce Houses

If you’re scared that your family, especially your kids, is getting obese by the day, it’s high time that you find a permanent solution to it. Obesity, be it in children or in adults, is a major health concern. It could lead to a host of diseases, more particularly to the ones related to the heart. One way to keep your family fit and healthy is through proper exercise.

You should spend at least a few minutes of your time each day to flex those muscles. Bend, stretch, and jump daily. Living a sedentary lifestyle is not good. You will definitely suffer from its effects in the long run. You need some simple exercise machines around your house. And as for your kids, an inflatable bounce house would do.

It’s hard to ask kids to exercise – especially your couch potato child that prefers to sit in front of the TV all day. Asking your child to go out and play in the sun is going to be challenge. Unless of course, your son is already physically active as he is.

For a child that doesn’t like physical games to much, you need to create some motivation. There must be something that would captivate his interest so he’ll finally stand up and start sweating around. Here is where inflatable bounce houses can help.

Inflatable bounce houses are big, life-size playthings that are made of high quality rubber or plastic filled with air inside. It looks like a big balloon shaped like a house or a castle. Kids can go inside these toys because it has walls, doors, and windows. And inside, they can have the time of their life jumping around and burning all those calories away.

Even adults can enjoy the bouncer. Medium-sized bounce houses can carry up to a maximum of 10 people. So the whole family can join in the fun. And kids would enjoy the exercise more if their parents were part of the activity.

Keep your family fit and trim. You don’t need complex exercise machines that kids can’t use to achieve that. An inflatable bounce house would do it for them. More than feeding your children with the right type foods, you must also see to it that they get some exercise daily. This way, they would be happy, active, and strong kids. And that’s the very foundation of a successful and confident individual of the future.

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Video Rating: 5 / 5

Kentucky Wildcats Tickets – Bouncing Back From Loss

Same team, two matches and two dramatically different performances; they lost their first game on Friday against Dillon and the very next day defeated the Southwestern Anaconda.

Columbia Falls high school basket ball team lost their first match on the 12th of December to Dillon, it wasn’t a performance which would have done their coach Carey Finberg any proud. They missed opportunities every now and then. The defense was split wide open by an overly aggressive Dillon team. The closest the Cats came to Dillon was in the penultimate quarter, where they were just trailing be 5 points. The Cats conceded 21 points in the final quarter and the match at the Hamilton high school ended at 50-35 in favor of Dillon.

Inability to score points at crucial moments affected the Cats in other aspects of the game, as well. They were forced to be on the back foot and became really tentative. So much so that they even missed some sitters. They had trouble catching the ball and didn’t seem in the game at all.

The Cats had a chance to cut the lead to three in the final seconds of the third quarter but missed a lay up. And Dillon hit a 3-pointer to start the proceedings in the fourth quarter. The lead just got wider and wider after that.

CFHS suffered 25 turnovers and shot just 30 percent from the field. The Cats were just 2-for-17 from behind the 3-point arc.

The Cats lead the rebounds and that was one of the positives from the game, Kaleb Johnson led CFHS with eight rebounds. Michael Williams led the Cats with 10 points. Mackey Nolan had three assists.

But at Corvallis, the Cats seemed a totally different team. And it was a complete team game, literally, as coach Finberg made all the substitution he could. The Cats scored at least 20 points in each quarter and very aggressive on the offence. The Cats defense seemed impermeable as they managed to restrict Anaconda to 25 second-half points.

It was the initial baskets that lifted the morale of an already disappointed team, and once they regained their confidence there was no stopping them. The Cats shot 50 percent from the field, and were 9-for-19 on 3-pointers. They converted 14 out of the 21 free throws they got. Seven players scored eight or more points, and 10 Cats played at least 10 minutes.

The rebound was strong against Anaconda too, 32-24. Nolan had seven rebounds, and Grant Getts added six.

Nolan had a very solid all-around game. He had 11 points and 11 assists for a double-double, plus three steals and only one turnover. The Cats had only 11 turnovers in the win.

Austin Barth led the Cats with 14 points and blocked two shots, in his just second freshman game. Tanner Barth added 12 points; Williams had 11, Getts 9, and Kyle Howell and Mitchell Wassam 8 each. Both Tanner and Austin Barth came off the bench.

The Cats face Flathead High on Friday in Kalispell, and then they play Sentinel on Saturday in Missoula.

Ray Laslovich scored 11 points to pace the Copperheads.

This video is featured in this ‘That Guy With Glasses’ article: www.thatguywiththeglasses.com Cheers, That Guy! Demo of the ‘Mega Jump’ or ‘Rocket Bounce’ bug in the 1990 DOS game Stunts (aka 4D Sports Driving). The bug happens when landing the car on an angled piece of track. It seems to happen most often when the landing point is right near the end of a given track piece, and very often when crashing, although neither of these is always true, as this demo shows. Either way, the end result is your car rockets vertically into the stratosphere at huge speed. Gradually, the speed scrubs and finally you drop back to earth again, usually to a fiery demise. In this case however, the Jaguar lands nicely on the track and continues on as if nothing particularly special just happened. Well, in Stunts, stuff like this happens all the time. Meh! Game: Broderbund Stunts 1.1 Car: Jaguar XJR9 Track: ‘Ring’ by GT3×24x7 Get the track from gt3.nfsunlimited.net
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Looking For A Home Based Business? Start A Bounce House Biz!

Owning a bounce house business is so much fun. An inflatable business isn’t just fun, it’s profitable too! And unlike other businesses…growing too fast is a bigger concern than not growing at all. Every time you set up one of your bounce houses, it will be its own advertisement. There aren’t very many businesses that can offer that!

Here are a few of the questions you need to think about when starting a bounce house biz.

- Why would I want to start a bounce house business?

Inflatable rentals have a very low overhead. You can start simply with a phone, some fliers and 1 piece of equipment. Although you’ll be working mainly weekends, should you decide you want to take time off, you just clear your schedule and don’t book any parties during that time.

- How to I get Started?

Set up your company. Talk to an account to check out the local business laws and make sure your business is set up correctly for accounting. Assume you’re going to grow quite a bit. (It’s alot easier to act like a business from the beginning than backtrack later). Pick a name that’s fun and exciting. Decide what kind of rentals you’d like to do…birthday parties, large events…or both!

Once you’ve decided what pieces of equipment you’re starting with…Place your order! Most pieces take 3-4 weeks for delivery unless they’re in stock.

- Who are my Customers?

Birthday parties, church events, family reunions, post prom parties, summer camps, corporate picnics & events, holiday parties, store promotions, school parties, street fairs and festivals (be careful with street fairs and festivals…talk to your salesperson about the risks of “pay for play”), swap meets, pre-schools, day cares, Halloween festivals, fund raisers, car dealerships, grand openings, shopping malls and lots lots more…don’t forget family reunions. Look for all the possibilities! And look for kids Everywhere!

- How long before there’s a profit?

Hey…it depends on how hard you’ll work. Rentals for small bounces run from .00-250.00 for a 4-8 hour day. You’ll make much more if you sell packages made up of a bounce/fun food/and games or spin art. You’re dropping off equipment anyway..why not maximize your profits! Each bounce should rent a minimum of 1 1/2 times a week on the average. You should push to rent 1 bounce as many times as possible each week. I’ve seen companies pay off their bounce within a month…and everything after that is profit!

- Is it easy to Grow?

Growing will be the least of your problems. Just start adding more equipment. Just don’t purchase too much at a time. The most successful rental companies maximize the use of their equipment. Before you spend a fortune on a “showpiece” work the numbers and make sure it’ll make you more money than you would make if you bought 2-3 less expensive pieces,

One last thing…remember..inflatables are sewn vinyl..Should by chance you have an act of vandalism before an event….units can always be patched. Check with your salesperson on how to handle any possible emergency that might come up.

Now what???

Let’s GO MAKE SOME MONEY!!!!