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THE line of cars that approached Belleayre Mountain last Sunday had clogged two-lane Route 28 in the Catskills, but it was a patient procession. People did not seem to mind the wait. They had, after all, been waiting for this day for months.
After weeks of rain and warm temperatures in the Northeast, finally there had been a well-timed snowstorm. Days before the Presidents' Day weekend, Belleayre received two feet of snow. Sunday, its parking lots overflowed. At the ski rental desk, they ran out of equipment to hand out. On the sun deck off the wooden main lodge, the picnic tables were full. As loud music played, the crowd seemed enveloped in one large group giggle.
The atmosphere matched the mood of Tony Lanza, the Belleayre superintendent, who walked the lodges and skied from lift to lift with an ever-present smile. He had been at work in the rain and fog of the last big holiday, at the close of the Martin Luther King's Birthday weekend in January, when Belleayre played host to just 420 skiers and riders.
Sunday, more than 6,000 visited Belleayre.
Still, in mid-January, Belleayre's business was off 56 percent.
With considerably lower temperatures during much of February, Belleayre has actually had good man-made snow on nearly all of its terrain. But a snowstorm that coated suburban lawns and city streets — and the deluge of media coverage about gobs of snow in upstate New York — worked wonders for local commerce.
"Once the snow fell, places that had been renting one or two rooms for the weekend were sold out in 24 hours," said Don Myers, Belleayre's lodging director.
Belleayre is unique among the handful of Catskill ski areas. Owned by New York State, it has a decidedly unpretentious atmosphere that some liken to that of a rural skiing experience. The ski school offers $5 and $10 lessons to beginners. From Belleayre's summit, there is a wealth of moderate terrain that scatters the family-centered populace across 47 trails and eight lifts. There is even some old-style, snowcat-serviced backcountry skiing, a twisting, ungroomed, tree-strewn trail called Cathedral Brook.
Belleayre is less well known than New York's other two state-run areas, Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid and Gore Mountain in North Creek, both in the Adirondacks. It existed for years in those mountains' shadows and needed attention. Instead, in the 1980s, there was a movement to close Belleayre.
Belleayre was saved, and in the last decade the ski area has had a dramatic revival. Snow-making has been improved, new trails cut and the ski school revamped and expanded, and Belleayre has begun to market itself aggressively to other New Yorkers, as well as to skiers and riders in New Jersey and Connecticut.
THE mountain, which is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from New York City, now averages about 175,000 skier visits during a typical winter. As recently as the late 1990s, the average was only 70,000.
Even the warmer temperatures this week have not substantially changed snow conditions, and the ski area has remained busy.
Belleayre has no on-slope lodging, which is certainly hampering its growth. There is a controversial proposal for a large Belleayre Resort that would include a hotel, a golf course and real estate units. The development has been strongly opposed by environmentalists concerned about damage to New York City's Catskill Mountains watershed, and that has made the project a battleground locally and statewide. Some community leaders say they believe there is likely to be a compromise, with a scaled-back development.
In the meantime, accommodations, shops and restaurants old and new are trying to fill the void. The Hanah Mountain Resort and Country Club has a hilltop location with sweeping views. The most elegant lodging in the area, the Hanah has a large restaurant and indoor pool complex, something that is hard to find in the area. Its rooms and suites average about $250 a night on winter weekends.
The most popular fine dining in the vicinity is the Peekamoose restaurant, just two miles east of Belleayre in Big Indian. Run by Devin and Marybeth Mills, who have long experience in the New York and Boston restaurant scenes, Peekamoose features local cuisine, including trout, braised short ribs, caramelized onion tart with locally made goat cheese, and an organic farmer's vegetable platter.
Around them, the music played. There was new snow underfoot, and the sun was out. The group giggle continued.


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United Kingdom 2300
The UK plans to sell "golden visas" at auction
Migration Advisory Committee recommends to sell at auction 100 "golden visas" for wealthy foreigners annualy, according to ee24.com citing British media.
Buying property in the UK does not give grounds for obtaining a residence permit. Currently rich foreigners can invest into the UK economy £1 million (€1.22 million) and get the permanent residence after five years of stay in this country, £5 million - after three years of stay, or £10 million - after two years of stay. The auction is planned to be introduced instead of two latter ways.
The starting price, according to MAC, should be £2.5 million, of which £2 million will be spent on investment (apparently not into gifts, but into socially significant funds supporting, for example, a small business), and the rest of the sum, not less than £0.5 million, will be spent for "good causes", i.e. for charity, including for the needs of public schools and kindergartens. Auction winners will be able to obtain the documents much faster than those who invest £1 million.
Since 2008 the investor visas to Britain were approved for 433 Russian and 419 Chinese millionaires. In addition, "golden visas" were provided to 93 U.S. Americans, 46 Egyptians, 44 Indians.
Read the continuation of the theme:
Investor's residence permit in the UK will be risen in price by 2 times (22.10.2014)
Investment in hotels and Inns of Britain: benefits and risks
In some parts of London by 2030 prices will increase by 100%
What is happening in the real estate market of the UK?
Property in country United Kingdom

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Albarracin, a smalll town in the hills of east-central Spain, is noted for its towering medieval walls, the Murallas de Albarracin.
MANILA, Philippines — I challenged my sister Anafe, a resident of Spain for more than 40 years and a serious traveler, to recommend a town like no other as an added destination on our next family visit.
She only had one name in mind, a sure standout among many others in her adopted country: Albarracin.
Research on the town showed unanimous glowing reviews of this originally medieval, yet 16th to 17th century preserved pueblo. As a bonus, it belonged on several enticing lists – The Prettiest in Spain, Top Three Most Charming Towns, Top Ten Villages to Fall in Love With, etcetera.
Nestled on an isolated hilltop some 4,000 feet above sea level in the province of Teruel, some two hours from the scientific and arts hub of Valencia, the jewel of the township of Albarracin has been declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The resident artisan works at the Talyer de Ceramica.
Abandoning the multi-lane freeway for the narrow two-lane country road, we approached the hamlet, where we definitely could not miss the towering ancient walls, the Murallas de Albarracin, which were the first frontier that resisted the attacks of enemy armies, all bordered by the Guadalaviar River, like a huge moat.
We stayed at the Casa de Santiago – the oldest house adjacent to an even older church – which had been converted into a handful of quaint suites, with restored classical furniture and fixtures. The cozy interior design with beamed ceilings and tiled floors complimented the original architecture.
The view from my room revealed a closer look of the walls, with the Torre del Andador as its crowning glory, declared as a national monument.
We took a long walking tour, passionately guided by Antonio Jimenez, secretary general and managing director of Fundacion Santa Maria d Albarracin, an active organization which continues to restore and preserve its history and heritage, culture and arts. We could not have gotten a better guide, for he lived and breathed Albarracin – a true ambassador of the land.
The ornate main altar and vaulted ceiling of the Catedral de Albarracin.
We started off at the Calle de Portal de Molina, a sterling example of the typical street – narrow, with buildings close enough to almost touch each other. Each turn of the cobblestone pavements zigzagged, sloped up then down, from one street to another, all leading to new pleasant surprises.
A stunner was the Casa Julianeta, colloquially called the crooked house, due to its slanted shape. It is undoubtedly the epitome of their traditional architectural style, as it is a home made of plaster and wood, with several irregularities which made it stand out as an emblem all throughout Spain.
Another crowd drawer was the Rincon del Abanico, a most curious enclave, wherein all the earthy colored, timber and sandstone four-story houses with tiled rooftops appeared to defy gravity due to its offhand construction, as some corners were joined together in obscure angles to take advantage of all the available vertical space.
We rested for a while, and were soon enveloped by the peace and quiet – the deafening sound of silence – as everyone around us spoke in hush-hush tones. We wondered if this was their demonstration of respect and reverence to the place.
Antonio then took us on a grand tour of a centuries-old house of prayer in distinctive classical styles, the Catedral de Albarracin.
Casa Julianeta, the crooked house, is one of the town's iconic structures.
Its solitary nave and the ceiling boasted of distinctive Gothic tracery, a polygonal shape, covered with ribbed vaults hosting Renaissance sculptures of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary and some of the saints. The main altar made our jaws drop, with the outstanding central altar piece completely gilded in Baroque style.
Adjacent to the cathedral, we took a detour to the 18th century Diocesan Museum, inaugurated by the Queen of Spain in 1995, situated inside the original noble rooms of the Episcopal Palace.
A walk through the premises gave us glimpses of the monastic diocesan way of life. For contrast, we were astounded by the splendor of the 16th century Flemish tapestry collection, several precious paintings of old European masters and a finely-curated selection of crucifixes and other priceless ecclesiastical paraphernalia.
Antonio pointed out one of the masterpieces – a fish carved in rock crystal, adorned with scales, silver mouth, golden fins, plus embellishments of pearls and rubies. The carving was so intricate that experts believed it was a collaborative effort of several talented craftsmen.
In true Spanish fashion, we had a late lunch at a mom and pop restaurant called La Faba, with never-seen-before tapas for starters, followed by home-cooked courses from traditional heirloom recipes, passed on through several generations. We savored for the first time their trademark specialty – fried pig ears. How can we ever forget their wheel of quezo manchego, and trays of homemade pastries!
The houses of the Rincon del Abanico seem to defy gravity.
Our only shopping stop was the Talyer de Ceramica, a tiny, almost-missed-it shop with can't-live-without pottery items by a resident artisan.
We ended up at the no-wires-in-sight Plaza Mayor, the town square – and the definitive hub of their subdued activity.
With origins from the 13th century, the piazza has been built upon the foundations of the old wall, which featured a lower level that provides shade during the heat of the summer and protection from snow during the winter. The old town center has been declared as a national monument.
For merienda, our destination was the RK Pastelleria Tradicional 1945, whose pride was their almojabanas, a flavorful bun made with cheese and corn flour.
La Faba restaurant's famous specialty, pig ears.
We arrived home as darkness had set in. Once again, I opened my windows, and was greeted by the most unforgettable sight – Albarracin spread out before me, completely lighted like a Christmas village at its best, beautifully dressed up with heavenly lights.
As the call for dinner was announced, I struggled, unsure of whether I should desert my spot and join the others for a meal, for I wanted to immerse myself in the sight of Albarracin by night for a little bit longer.


Start this quest by interrupting a spat between Sadie (Mrs. Adler, from Outlaws from the West, and Mr. Pearson. She's feeling a bout of cabin fever, being stuck at camp all the time, and exclaims that she can hunt and shoot like the men.
Arthur agrees to take her to town, Rhodes, where they must send Mr. Pearson's letter and purchases some goods for camp. On your way their, Sadie reads Mr. Pearson's letter, to humorous affects.
Once you get to Rhodes, head to the post office while Sadie buys supplies. When you're done (it's free), meet her back at the store.
She's giving the grocer a hard time, but soon you'll be able to join her in the wagon and be on your way.
But, you don't get far before two men on horseback intercept you - they're the Lemoyne Raiders, and they want a toll.
Sadie isn't having it, and shoots one, and rides off. She runs through another with her carriage before you stop and start a proper shoot-out.
To get gold, you'll need to fend these guys off in less than 1 minute, but you also have to maintain 85% accuracy and get 5 headshots all without needing to take a health item. This requires patience, but fast skill.
You'll be surrounded by rocks, which the Raiders will use for cover. Take cover yourself behind the tree to the west.
Once you're done taking out the men with Sadie, loot them, and join her back in the wagon. You'll go back to camp at Clemen's Point with a new mutual respect for eachother.
Next is The New South.


text:
Q: Can not connect to localhost Server via MS Sql Management Studio I've wanted to create a local Db. So I wanted to connect to my localhost but it's not possible, when I use Windows-Authentification. "Login failed fo user ArzueAD\UserName@doamin.ch", but I don't get why. Are there any points I'm missing? As the Servername I've tried using just "localhost" and "computername\localhost".
I've even tried to select both of the Servers on my DB Engine when searching for a db, but still doesn't work:

Does anyone have any inputs?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
All of UWISpace The University of the West Indies Theses Collection UWI - Cave Hill Campus UWI - Mona Campus UWI - Open Campus UWI - St Augustine Campus UWI - Vice Chancellery
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Assessment of needs for inservice education in Science as perceived by teachers in primary schools of the North Eastern Educational Division in Trinidad and Tobago
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The Pistons Blew It
It only took two weeks to go from planning for a playoff run to planning for the lottery
Oh, how quickly things change. Exactly two weeks ago, the Pistons were 33-33 and were coming off a fabulous stretch of basketball, leading many people to once again believe in the team and their potential. Many believers, including yours truly, were then hastily proven wrong over the next stint of games. And now, as the Pistons sit 1.5 games behind the Heat for the final playoff spot in the East with only 8 games to play, it truly is worse than it seems.
Objectively speaking, the three game stretch of Cleveland, Utah, and Toronto was going to be incredibly challenging. At the time, however, one out of three wins felt like tempered expectations. Instead, the Pistons lost all 3 by a combined 58 points, capped off by a head-scratching meltdown in the fourth quarter against the Raptors in which the Pistons were outscored 27-9 in a 12 point loss. However, Pistons fans still had reason to feel optimistic, as they possessed the second easiest remaining schedule in the entire league. But once again, the Pistons surprised us. Next up came a home game versus the Suns, who only dressed 8 and kept out a number of their key contributors. Incredulously, the Suns outplayed the Pistons for much of the game and even led late in the 3rd quarter until the Pistons opened up a big lead in the final stanza to get an unimpressive, yet important win. Then the fun started. A Tuesday night matchup at Brooklyn resulted in a nail-biter between the Pistons (who were fighting for their playoff lives) and Nets (the…oh my word…worst-run franchise in the NBA and maybe all of sports). The Pistons were down 2 in the waning moments, and after a Marcus Morris miss, Tobias Harris caromed the rebound and was able to sink a mid-range fade away that he was triple teamed—and fouled—on. Yet 2.4 seconds was just enough time for Brook Lopez, who had another huge night against the Pistons with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Lopez took the inbound, dribbled towards the baseline, and put away the game, as he knocked down a jumper over Aron Baynes. The play was unquestionably horrifying to watch, and likely gutted many Pistons fans. Just in case you still planned on seeing playoff basketball at the Palace one last time, the Pistons made sure you came back to reality with back to back losses to the Bulls by 22 and the Magic by 27 following the Brooklyn loss. And just yesterday night they once again lost a must-win game, with a 14 point loss against the Knicks led by Derrick Rose putting up 27 points and 6 assists as Reggie Jackson was inactive for "rest" and will likely be shut down for the rest of the season.
Two weeks ago one person, pleased to meet you, spoke about how SVG was to be trusted and that his decision not to trade Reggie at the deadline appeared to be the wise conclusion. Fast forward to today and it appears that the Season from Hell is ending in a fitting way. The soft schedule hasn't been taken advantage of, and with the season eventually wrapping up with games against the Raptors, Rockets, Grizzlies, and Wizards before a season finale against the Magic, it seems nearly too late for the Pistons to turn it around in time. Even if they do sneak into the playoffs and play either the Cavs, Celtics, or Wizards, it would most likely be in vain. The team has appeared uninterested in playing recently and giving the fans a deserving farewell to the beloved Palace, and as a result, another quick and painless exit from the playoffs would be in order. That's if the team even makes it in, and lately it appears that a move to enter a rapid tanking period over the next two weeks would be more beneficial than to chase a playoff spot, and it's excruciating to admit. In October fans had dreams of taking another step in the conference, gaining potentially a top 4 seed, and advancing in the playoffs. Now, with only 15 days left of the regular season, it is difficult being excited for the 2017 prospects of the Pistons. Although if the team makes it into the playoffs, you can count on some folks (hello again) going all in on a mini-playoff run, that truthfully feels like a pipe dream. If things don't turn around, we'll have to hope Reggie gets healthy and that SVG makes a few beneficial moves for the franchise over the offseason and try this whole thing again next season (but likely without either Tobias or KCP). Until then, we wait. We wait to see if the Pistons have any more left in the tank to push for the playoffs or if they'll just, plainly, tank.
Women's Basketball to Host WNIT Semifinals Wednesday
Third Round Victory over St. John's
Michigan dominated Kim Barnes Arico's former team, St. John's, in a 60-40 victory in the third round of the WNIT. With personal stakes high for both teams, the Wolverines cracked the Red Storm's dominant defense and won the rebounding battle 41 to 34. KBA challenged Michigan to put up 70 points against her former team, and although the Wolverines came up short of her scoring goal, the offensive performances of Hallie Thome (19 points) and Katelynn Flaherty (17 points) helped pushed the Wolverines past St. John's.
Dominant Quarterfinal Win over Virginia Tech
With freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick "taking a leave of absence from the women's basketball team for personal reasons", the Wolverines continued to roll with an 80-62 victory over Virginia Tech. Having struggled offensively late in the season, Michigan finally regained their rhythm, shooting 51.6% from the field as a team. The Wolverines fed Thome (27 points) in the post all game while Flaherty (29 points) shot a red hot 53% from the field. The duo propelled the Wolverines past the Hokies who had just come off a 64-55 victory over Penn State (Michigan was unable to finish off PSU in its last regular season game). To top off the afternoon, Siera Thompson recorded five assists to set a new program record in career assists with 540.
Wolverines Reach WNIT Semifinals for Third Straight Year
Michigan will host Villanova on Wednesday night at 7 pm, marking its third straight appearance in the WNIT semifinals. In the 2014-15 season, Michigan lost in the semifinals to UCLA 69-65 (this year UCLA lost to UConn in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament) and last year they were defeated by Florida Gulf Coast 71-62. Going into Wednesday night's game, Michigan does have an advantage it didn't the last two years: the Wolverines will be able to play in front of the Maize and Blue faithful at Crisler. Home court advantage has proven to be important late in the WNIT. The advantage is especially relevant given that the Wolverines have dominated on their home court, with an outstanding 18-1 home record.
In order to reach the elusive WNIT finals, Michigan will have to beat Villanova (20-14). The Wildcats defeated Indiana (a team that Michigan has struggled against) 69-57 at Assembly Hall. Having lost 72-61 in an important game at Indiana late in the season, the Wolverines are relieved to be playing at home against the Wildcats.
Villanova averages 61.2 points per game and holds its opponents to 60.9 points per game. If the Wolverines want to keep marching, they must continue to look for Thome in the post. Additionally, Flaherty needs to be the confident scorer we saw against Virginia Tech and not slip into her more passive game that we saw towards the end of the regular season. As the only Big Ten team left in postseason play, Michigan still has a lot to play for as they continue to fight for a WNIT banner.
March Madness Second Weekend Takeaways
By: Evan Oesterle
We are in the midst of the most exciting time of the sports year. With the NCAA Tournament in March, followed by the Masters the second weekend of April, and then the NHL and NBA Playoffs through April and June, few sports fans would argue that there is a better four months of the year. College basketball fans have been entertained for the last five months by superstars, cinderella teams and Grayson Allen's antics, but for the last two weeks the entire country has enjoyed all of that and more during March Madness.
Now March comes to a close with the Final Four beginning this Saturday (April 1st). It has been a thrilling month of basketball, cultivating with a phenomenal weekend of drama, buzzer-beaters, and SEC teams. Below you'll find a brief recap of the weekend, along with takeaways and predictions moving forward.
16 Takeaways from the Sweet 16
All winning streaks come to an end. Michigan kicked off the Sweet 16 against Oregon on Thursday night. For casual fans without a (positive or negative) affiliation with the Wolverines, the first two games Michigan played in the tournament were probably some of the most entertaining battles of the opening weekend. For those of us who do have an affiliation with the school, they were nerve-wracking as hell. Thursday night was no different, as Michigan fell by a point to the Oregon Ducks. The narrative was the same at halftime as it was in each of the first two games: given how the Wolverines played, the halftime deficit seemed manageable. And Michigan did go on a run to take a 3 point lead late in the game. It seemed as though the team of destiny would move on just for a moment as Dylan Ennis' free throw missed and bounced off the back of the rim with Michigan up 68-65 with under 2 minutes remaining. However, Jordan Bell grabbed the rebound and made the putback layup, putting the Ducks right back into the game. If you haven't seen how it ended, you probably wouldn't be reading this, so I will just say this: Derrick Walton Jr. put together one of the best 10 game stretches of basketball I have ever seen a player have in college basketball. If his last shot had fallen just a couple inches farther, the Kemba Walker comparisons would have started instantly. Both Walton and Zak Irvin elevated their play over the last month and silenced all doubters from earlier in the season. I've enjoyed both of their careers at Michigan and I wish them well as they move on to a new chapter in their lives.
Dylan Brooks and Jordan Bell are pro-ready. Casual fans probably wouldn't have guessed that Brooks was the PAC-12 Player of the Year (in a conference featuring the (probable) first 2 picks in this summer's NBA Draft and another surefire lottery pick) as he was probably Oregon's 3rd best player in this game. However, he has played tremendously this season and he is going to be a good NBA player. He can score from anywhere on the floor and has the size to compete with talented NBA wings. On the other hand, it shouldn't surprise anyone that Bell was the PAC-12 Defensive player of the year. He had an amazing game on both ends of the floor against the Wolverines and took DJ Wilson and Mo Wagner (see below) out of the game.
DJ Wilson and Mo Wagner are not pro-ready. Maybe I'm being selfish and just want them to stay at Michigan for another year, but both guys struggled on the offensive end in the game against Oregon. I don't know if either player will go through the NBA pre-draft process (players have until late May to announce if they are returning to college), but at this point I'd expect both to return. IF they do, we are looking at a starting lineup of Xavier Simpson, MAAR, Kentucky transfer and former 5-star Charles Matthews, and two NBA level bigs. Couple that with a bench featuring Duncan Robinson, 4-star freshman Isaiah Livers and Jordan Poole, 3-star freshman Eli Brooks, and Michigan's two bigs Jon Teske and Austin Davis. That's a preseason top 15 team. Throw in Mo Bamba and that's a preseason top 5 team. (Disclaimer: Mo Bamba is not going to Michigan)
Press Virginia almost took down one of the best (in terms of Kenpom efficiency measures) teams of the last two decades. But that last possession was one of the worst I have ever seen. I feel bad for Jevon Carter because he is a great player who played a great game. But how did he manage to essentially dribble the clock out down 3? I personally love defense, and West Virginia's press is thrilling to watch, but they just did not have enough offense to take down Gonzaga.
Gonzaga is for real. Following a controversial win over Northwestern, Gonzaga faced its toughest test of the tournament against West Virginia and passed it (barely). They lost the rebound battle, the turnover battle, and took 16 less shots than the Mountaineers. They didn't have a single player score more than 13 points. So how did they win? With the same stifling defense that has earned them the title of best defensive team in the country (again by Kenpom measures). WVU shot 16/60 (26.7%) from the field and 5/23 (21.7%) from 3. You can give up a hundred shots as long as they're all well defended and that is exactly what Gonzaga's mentality seemed to be. This whole weekend's theme was defense and this low scoring slugfest was a prime example.
Caleb Swanigan is a great player with a great story, but he just didn't have enough in him to take down the Jayhawks. I have considered him to be an overrated player all season, mainly because I think he makes his team worse on defense. He obviously has a diverse offensive skill set but I think he has major effort lapses that will hurt him at the next level. Purdue started out strong, holding it close throughout the second half, but were run off the court late in the game.
Let me explain what run off the floor means. Purdue cut Kansas' lead to 53-51 shortly after the under-16 minute media timeout. From there, Kansas finished the game on a 45-15 run. The Jayhawks averaged over 90 points per game through 3 tournament contests. Everyone was on fire. That is all you need to know about Kansas from this game.
Sean Miller will forever be the President of the Best Coaches to Never Make A Final Four Club. I mean seriously, 11 seeded Xavier. One of his best teams ever. A lead for basically the whole game. It just isn't meant to be Sean.
Only one region, the East, truly felt the effect of the first weekend in the Sweet 16. A Duke-Villanova Elite Eight matchup in Madison Square Garden must have had basketball media salivating. Instead they ended up with Florida v South Carolina. Wait, those are SEC teams. What in the name of football happened on Friday night?
Butler misses Brad Stevens. They were unknown as a 4-seed, and had two quiet wins before getting pounded by UNC. Were they the worst 4 seed? Probably. Could I name a player on their team? No. They just don't have the same swagger that they did when Stevens was at the helm. (Stevens may be one of the five best basketball coaches in the world. The Celtics are currently tied with the Cavs for the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Besides Gregg Popovich, Coach K, and Steve Kerr, who would you rather having leading your ball club? College or pro I would take Stevens.)
UNC shouldn't have been in this game. I know this is supposed to be about the Sweet Sixteen, but anyone who watched the UNC-Arkansas thriller from last sunday knows that Kennedy Meeks got a piece of that shot and Joel Berry should've been called for a charge on the next possession.
South Carolina's defense is as good as Gonzaga's. I thought Baylor was gonna lose in the first round. But they didn't and with some help from USC (knocking out SMU, a bad matchup for Baylor), the made the Sweet Sixteen. And then they wished they hadn't. (The other) USC ran them off the court and just decided that they wouldn't allow Baylor to score. Or have fun. Or have anything that resembled offensive rhythm.
As Stephen A. Smith said, Lavar Ball wrote one too many checks for his son Lonzo to cash. The pressure of the big game seemingly got to Ball and the Bruins. They never stopped Kentucky and after a close first half the Bruins were outclassed in the second half. (If the rumors that Ball's mom suffered a stroke Thursday night and Lavar wouldn't let Lonzo see her as to not distract him from the game are true, then Lonzo should get a pass for the game. I am already a member of the anti-Lavar club, because I think he has completely overstepped his bounds. I also hate the media for giving him the platform to do this on.)
If De'Aaron Fox had a jump shot, he would go first overall in the NBA Draft. I have never watched a player who is that much faster than everyone else on a college court. Stronger, more athletic, better at shooting, taller, etc. Yes to all of them. But Fox's speed is just at another level.
I hate Aaron Rodgers, but I would be lying if I said I didn't smile when Zak Showalter hit a running 3 under tight defense and then turned to Rodgers and did his classic discount double check celebration. I think it needs to be mentioned that if Bronson Koenig's leg doesn't get caught under a pile a possession earlier, Showalter never takes the shot. But he did, and then he celebrated his GAME-TYING shot the same way the SECOND best quarterback in the NFL celebrates clutch 4th quarter touchdown passes. Wisconsin had all the momentum and it translated to a lead for most of overtime. But then the Badgers couldn't make free throws. And then Chris Chiozza one-upped Showalter in a way that I dream ever happens to Aaron Rodgers.
Wisconsin-Florida was the best game of the tournament and it wasn't even close. There aren't any arguments that I consider to be valid against this statement, so I won't defend it.
Eight Takeaways from the Elite Eight
Being labeled the Cinderella in any round of this tournament has been a curse. FGCU in the first round, MTSU and USC in the second round, Michigan (don't tell Mo Wagner) in the Sweet Sixteen, and Xavier in the Elite Eight all fell after receiving the title, and major hype from various sports media outlets.
Gonzaga. Is. For. Real. Seriously, if any of the blue bloods of college basketball had a team that even closely resembled Gonzaga's this year, I don't think anyone in America wouldn't have had them winning. They have an All-America point guard in Nigel Williams-Goss, two 7-footers, one of whom is 300 pounds and the winningest player in college basketball history (Przemek Karnowski) and the other of whom is going to be a lottery pick whenever he goes pro (Zach Collins), along with a supporting cast that would make the producers of Ocean's 11/12 jealous. I am rooting for them to prove their legitimacy and make kenpom.com the new permanent gold standard of college basketball rankings. (Had the committee used kenpom to seed teams, Michigan and Oklahoma State would have both been 5 seeds)
The NCAA Basketball Tournament is about making shots. Kansas did not make shots, so Kansas did not win. Everyone thought that Kansas was gonna roll through Oregon on their way to the Final Four. And then Kansas was down 18 in the second half. And then Kansas was down 6 with a loose ball in the air that Josh Jackson tipped out of the hands of Frank Mason and into the hands of Jordan Bell. Bill Self will have a hernia when he watches that play whenever he can force himself to watch the game tape. I won't get into the Bill Self regular season vs tournament narrative. Go on literally any sports media outlet and you will find a story about that. But seriously, Oregon tried to give this game away but the Jayhawks couldn't take the lid of the basket to the tune of Devonte Graham going 0-7 and Frank Mason going 8-20.
Tyler Dorsey really is Mr. March! Dorsey hit contested 3 after contested 3 to keep Kansas at arm's length. He was great against Rhode Island, great against Michigan, and then he topped it against Kansas. My only gripe with his performance is his post-game interview when he claimed that Oregon had been an underdog for 3 consecutive games. They weren't against Rhode Island. But that's just me being petty, congratulations to Dorsey and the Ducks on their first tournament in 78 years. If Gonzaga isn't the new favorite to win it all, the Ducks are. (Oregon should write a thank you letter to Josh Jackson for picking up 2 fouls in the first two minutes of the game, which threw Kansas out of rhythm and in turn were unable to recover)
Florida ran out of magic. They didn't play bad, they just literally ran out of the magic you need to make a tournament run. Chiozza's buzzer-beater will be shown in tournament hype videos for decades, but it wasn't meant to be against the Gamecocks.
Defense wins championships, and South Carolina's defense has got it within 80 minutes of one. (80 minutes of game time appears to be the equivalent of about 27 hours based on some of the tournament games this year) I am so impressed by their defense that I texted a friend who goes to South Carolina and asked if it had been like that all year. She said yes. I also asked if Sindarius Thornwell had played this well all year. She said yes. I think the committee underseeded them, but it doesn't matter at this point.
In the battle of experience against young talent, experience won. North Carolina tried to blow a 71-64 lead with under a minute, but in the end Luke Maye (17 points) completed his career game on the biggest stage with a buzzer beating jumper to take the lead. Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox came up just short in the thrilling comeback and will head to the NBA after a great season
I didn't think that Florida-Wisconsin could be topped, but it was. Honestly, the game might not have been quite as thrilling, but the stakes (Final Four Berth), the history of the programs (most combined tournament wins by teams playing in an NCAA Tournament game ever), and the rematch factor (Kentucky won 103-100 in December in a game where Malik Monk looked like a more athletic Klay Thompson) pushed it over the top. After a disappointing pair of games Saturday, Sunday made up for it with a couple of thrillers.
Four One-Sentence Predictions for the Final Four
*If you are still reading this, I'm really appreciative but I also question if you have too much time on your hands.
After setting tournament records for viewership during the first weekend, TV ratings will crash in the Final Four thanks to a noticeable lack of big name programs.
Gonzaga (1st in defensive efficiency in the country) and South Carolina (2nd) will play the lowest scoring Final Four game in decades.
North Carolina's bigs against Oregon's guards/wings will be the storyline all week, but Jordan Bell will determine the outcome of the game.
North Carolina will play two tight games against Oregon and Gonzaga but in the end, they'll avenge last year's heartbreak and raise a banner.
The NBA Has a Resting Problem
Is there any way to prevent players from taking nights off?
The NBA is getting punked by its players. The last two nationally televised Saturday night games have been undercut by coach's decisions to rest their brightest stars in the feature game each week on ABC. In response to the criticism of him resting this past Saturday, LeBron James said that there isn't really anything that the NBA can do to stop players from resting. With this attitude, players and coaches have been taking advantage of the game, the media, the league, and most importantly, the fans.
First, two weeks ago Steve Kerr decided to hold out Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala against the Spurs, who were already going to play without LaMarcus Aldridge (who was diagnosed with minor heart arrhythmia and fortunately has been cleared since) and Kawhi Leonard, who was in the concussion protocol. What we were left with to watch resulted in a 107-85 Spurs blowout win with Ian Clark and Patty Mills being the best performers for each side. For the Warriors, this game came the night after a 103-102 loss at Minnesota. It does make a little sense to rest your best players in the second game of a back-to-back after a close loss and when a decent amount of travel is involved. However, the timing and the extent Kerr went to with resting four of his most important players did not have the best optics. Then, this past Saturday, LeBr…excuse me…Tyronn Lue decided that LeBron would not suit up against the Clippers, joining teammates Kevin Love (still attempting to fully recover from his knee injury) and Kyrie Irving (who tweaked a knee in the previous game) who both took the night off to recover and rest. The result? A 30 point Clippers shellacking of the Cavs as well as 17 minutes for LeBron's number 1 fan, James Jones. The ratings were even worse. Following up the 1.8 overnight rating the Spurs and Warriors provided the previous weekend, this game put up a grotesque 1.1, the lowest recorded overnight rating for a national NBA broadcast. Yes, it coincided with the NCAA tournament, but that won't make ESPN/ABC or Adam Silver feel any better. Not to mention every fan at the game who in some cases traveled thousands of miles to see their favorite players. It makes it worse that the biggest stars on the planet rested not only in the game of the week, but also that they're resting on the road. It would be one thing to rest in a home game, where fans theoretically have 41 games to watch their favorite player, but many fans at other arenas have at most two games a season to watch, and sometimes only one game per season. Adam Silver was forced to respond, and sent out a memo threatening "serious penalties" for offenses like the ones committed by the Warriors, Cavs, and historically, the Spurs.
Silver must do something to protect his league as well as the fans. If this continues, ESPN and TNT will not be happy, and it will be bad business for the NBA, a league that infamously had its Finals on tape delay before the 1980s. The NBA is not invincible like the NFL, and these poor regular season games have deteriorated the relevance of the league up until the late spring and early summer. If players seriously, with all their heart, believe an 82 game season is oh-so-hard on their superhuman bodies, then the season's length should ideally be cut to 70 or 75 games. However, the owners would never agree to less games and less money, so this option is infeasible. The only realistic option for the NBA is to heavily fine teams when they abuse the ability to rest their players, similar to the $250,000 fine imposed on the Spurs in 2012. The fans deserve better than to show up to a game and then find out as they arrive that the top 5 basketball player(s) in the world that they came to see will take the night off. When this happens, there must be a punishment.
It's time for Adam Silver to step up and follow through on his vow to penalize teams who elect to sit its key players and sabotage the television networks, league, and fans. The players make too much money and the fans pay too much money to have this happen as often as it does. It does not even matter whether it happens for a national broadcast or just a local one. When the best players sit out games for no good reason, especially on the road, something must be done and it appears now that heavy fines are the only way to accomplish this. It's only a matter of time before a team tests Silver and we will find out whether or not the NBA truly can do anything to deter the excessive resting.
Women's Basketball Must Settle for WNIT
After what was a historic regular season for the Wolverines, Michigan was left out of the NCAA Tournament and will compete in the first round of the WNIT this Thursday at home at 7pm against Kent State. Entering selection Monday with a 22-9 record, Michigan was sitting on the bubble after losing four of its last five games including two losses against Michigan State, with one of those losses coming in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Despite the slide at the end of the season, the Wolverines were confident that they would slip into the tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season, however the NCAA selection committee had different thoughts.
Although the Wolverines will be disappointed in their postseason path, going into selection Monday there was a chance they would be excluded from the big dance. Without any major resume building wins in combination with their poor finish, Michigan prevented themselves from solidifying a spot in the tournament. However, the Wolverines did have a tough non-conference schedule with a lot of road games in which they were able to defeat a ranked Gonzaga team to go along with an impressive 14-1 home record. Nevertheless, Michigan was unable to take down the Big Ten's best in Maryland and Ohio State, lost to MSU twice, and were unable to close out their last regular season game in a close competition against Penn State in Happy Valley.
Despite these reasons, it's still head-scratching that the Wolverines, number three in the Big Ten and ranked in the top 25 for a good part of the season, have been left out of the NCAA Tournament. Teams with a worse RPI, record and weaker schedules made the tournament over the Wolverines. Overall, the committee seemed to show a lack of respect for the Big Ten, only selecting four Big Ten teams (Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Purdue). In addition, Maryland was dropped to a three seed despite being ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll.
Although its exclusion from the tournament is a major disappointment, Michigan must remained focused on the positives. Moving forward, this team has tremendous potential. Michigan is a young team with promising talent that will only get better as young players get more experience and become stronger in the off-season.
Now it's time for the Wolverines to narrow in on one goal: win the WNIT. Even though the WNIT is a consolation tournament, Michigan, who has made deep runs in the WNIT the past three years, believes they are a NCAA Tournament team. The Wolverines need to prove to themselves and the NCAA that they are in fact an improved and different team. Making it to the semifinals of the WNIT the past two years, Michigan was unable to get over the hump to the finals. This year the Wolverines cannot let their disappointment stop them from winning the WNIT, instead they must use this disappoint as fuel and motivation to push themselves to a new level of success.
Seniors Siera Thompson and Danielle Williams, Kim Barnes Arico's first recruiting class, wanted to win the Big Ten tournament, put a banner in Crisler, and finally compete in the NCAA tournament. They were unable to accomplish those goals but they still have the ability to do something that has never been done in Michigan women's basketball history, put a banner of any type in the rafters of Crisler. If the Wolverines can win the WNIT, the banner will be a final accomplishment for the seniors who have helped changed the direction of this basketball program. A WNIT championship banner would represent how far the program has come and remind the team of where they truly want to go.
In SVG We Trust
Stan Van's reluctance at the trade deadline has proven to be the right move as the Pistons seem to be hitting their stride
By: Bogart Lipe
A few weeks ago, the Pistons seemed to be doomed. A trade involving Reggie Jackson seemed imminent and there existed a real chance that SVG was ready to start over with the young roster. Jackson had been struggling, and the Pistons frequently found themselves down double digits early in games, leaving many feeling that there needed to be a change. But the deadline passed, and the Pistons stood pat. Now, as we enter the last month of the regular season, the team is finally resembling the unit that many fans felt they could be this season.
Late in a game last Thursday night, the Pistons played some of their best basketball all season. The home game against the Cavaliers had the intensity of a playoff game, a rare occurrence at the Palace during the regular season, and the Pistons came out on top 106-101. SVG made the decision to once again start Tobias Harris, and initially it did not help the team overcome their early game woes. The Cavs easily jumped out to a 27-12 lead, behind a few flashy LeBron dunks and many other easy baskets. Then, something happened. Marcus Morris, after signaling to Van Gundy "I got this" during a timeout, lashed out at his teammates and plainly challenged them as men. He told them if they didn't feel like playing that they should simply go back to the locker room. They responded, as they cut the deficit to seven after the first and actually led by three at the half, although they again went down seven heading into the fourth. Then we got to see what this team really can be when they are clicking. In the last quarter, Reggie Jackson scored 12 of his 21 points, and Andre Drummond (20 points and 16 rebounds on 10/13 shooting on the night) made many important plays, including a magnificent sprawling offensive rebound and put back late in the game. The two teams traded blows for about 4 minutes, and the Pistons held strong, eventually led by a late Reggie jumper to ice it. The team followed it up with a blowout win against the lowly Knicks, in which Tobias started again and scored 23 in the first half and 28 for the night to help the Pistons get back to .500 for the first time since December 16th.
Now the Pistons face the final stretch of their regular season, as they try to climb up the standings and catch the 6th seeded Pacers, and if things go right, the 5th seeded Hawks. After a 3 games in 4 nights challenge against the Cavs, Jazz, and Raptors, the schedule softens up considerably. Although the Pistons will play 11 games in 18 nights starting tonight against the Cavs, once again, the last 8 games of the 11 are against many subpar teams. Only one of the eight are playoff teams, and matchups against the pathetic Suns, Nets (twice), and Magic loom. Coupled with what now appears to be a healthy Reggie Jackson, the Pistons are setup to start peaking while heading towards the end of the season.
Reggie has been noticeably quicker, more decisive, and smarter with the basketball than any point this season. He's also again having a considerable impact in the box score. In his last 5 games, Reggie is averaging 18.6 points and 5.2 assists on 53% shooting and 50% from 3. The Pistons won 4 of the 5, and have gone 12-6 since February 1st, a top 5 record in the league in that period of time. A healthy Reggie has clearly changed how the Pistons operate, and lately his chemistry with Andre on the pick and roll has slowly started to return back to their form of last year. Dre is playing incredibly well of late too, as he has had 15 or more rebounds in 6 of the last 8 games, and has shot 50% or better in 10 of the last 11. It will be interesting to see whether or not Tobias will continue to start, but he will provide a spark no matter when or with whom he plays. Marcus has played inspired basketball the last month and even Stanley Johnson has settled perfectly into his role of defensive menace and slasher. The last key piece for the team is KCP, who has struggled during the same stretch as Reggie has excelled. KCP only has two double digit scoring nights in the last 6, and has two games with 5 points or less. His value on defense cannot be overstated, but for the Pistons to truly reach their potential, the backcourt will need to play well together on offense. He will have his chance to get back on track during the aforementioned easy upcoming schedule, and the Pistons hope he can hit another hot streak like he did a few weeks ago when he helped the Pistons win important games late in the fourth quarter.
Stan Van Gundy has exclusively made good decisions during his time with the Pistons, and he keeps making them. The decision to trust the roster he assembled has proven to be the correct decision thus far. Reggie is back to the Reggie we knew (and whom some of us loved), Dre is playing like an All-Star again both on the glass and in his offensive role, and everyone else is starting to accept and perfect their roles. Marcus Morris calling out his teammates may, best case, trigger a new passionate attitude for the Pistons, but at the very least it could serve as a catalyst for other players to challenge each other. Stan Van admitted he thought his constant negative attitude might have started to wear on the team, so the way the Pistons responded to a new voice, a voice of a teammate, is not surprising. The next 16 games will decide the Pistons' playoff fate, and if anything, we know Stan Van is the man to trust with the reins.
The Official, Definitive Guide to the First Round
By Morris Fabbri
I don't know much about college basketball.
Of course, I still filled out a bracket. At this point, it's just become a Thing People Do, like watching the Super Bowl: a shared, nationwide ritual of obedience to the commercial interests that govern our existence, under the guise of sport. Like the Super Bowl, sometimes the sport that occurs is pretty exciting, too.
It is well established that the tournament is essentially a random number generator, a mess of probabilities and narratives ultimately in thrall to only the basketball gods. Because there is money to be made in the process, people fruitlessly attempt to make sense of the incomprehensible. That's not going to happen here. Every year, sportswriters and Kenpoms and expert bracketeers across the country prognosticate according to carefully honed algorithms and reasoned observations that end up amounting to little more than piss in the wind. Like centenarians who wake up to breakfasts of cigarettes, bacon, and broken glass, people whose brackets avoid busting, in the end, have fluked their way into success, bolstered by unconventional, baseless rationales and steaming heaps of luck.
I usually opt for the faux expertise afforded by a frenzied exploration of available resources that allows me to click my tongue at the poor fools who haven't sprinkled in enough 12-5 upsets. Last year, that approach yielded a bracket in the (lowest) 5th percentile nationally. The ridicule from friends and family broke my spirit and turned me into a corncob. So this year, I made my bracket at 12:30AM, on my phone, in bed, hungover from Michigan's heroics in DC and comatose from my third pizza dinner in five days. Without further ado: my picks, and why I made them.
East Region:
#1 Villanova over #16 MS/NO
It literally says "NO" on the bracket.
#8 Wisconsin over #9 Virginia Tech
From Google: "The official definition of "hokie" is 'a loyal Virginia Tech Fan'. The HokieBird. The bird is a 'HokieBird' which has evolved from a turkey. Virginia Tech teams were once called the 'gobblers'". Virginia Tech's website disputes this claim. From their site: "The origin of the word 'Hokie' has nothing to do with a turkey. It was coined by O.M. Stull (class of 1896), who used it in a spirit yell he wrote for a competition." Either way, Virginia Tech can gobble this L.
#5 Virginia over #12 UNC Wilmington
As head coach names go, "Bony Tennett" is a way better spoonerism than "Kevin Keatts".
#13 ETSU over #4 Florida
The University of Florida is located in Gainesville. Johnson City, home of the Buccaneers, was briefly renamed "Haynesville" during the Civil War. Both names sound similar; Haynesville conjures up images of underpants whereas Gainesville conjures up images of dudes who mainline protein powder.
#6 SMU over #11 Providence/USC
I'm way too lazy to wait and pick a play-in team.
#14 New Mexico State over #3 Baylor
Karma.
#7 South Carolina over #10 Marquette
South Carolina's most recent loss came to the Alabama Crimson Tide; Marquette to the Seton Hall Pirates. If both teams learned from their mistakes... well, if you can handle a tide, you can handle pirates easily.
#2 Duke over #15 Troy
Troy's mascot is named "T-Roy".
West Region:
#1 Gonzaga over #16 South Dakota St.
I was once destroyed in a game of NBA 2k by Nate Wolters, and I still haven't gotten over it.
#9 Vanderbilt over #8 Northwestern
Vanderbilt is always a letdown in March, and they're coached by Scott Drew's brother, Bryce. If NCAA tournament struggles are genetic, all the blueprints for a first-round loss are there. And yet… Northwestern is still Northwestern.
#5 Notre Dame over #12 Princeton
Princeton doesn't even run the Princeton offense. Posers.
#6 West Virginia over #11 Bucknell
Bucknell's mascot is the Bison. Bison don't live in Pennsylvania, to my knowledge. Posers.
#11 Xavier over #6 Maryland
Xavier coach Chris Mack is way more active and fun on social media than his Maryland counterpart, Mark Turgeon. This shows an attention to detail that'll give Xavier the edge.
#3 FSU over #14 FGCU
You've gotta wonder how these two teams from Florida ended up in the West Region, but I trust that FSU's got the battle-tested big-game chops to handle an exotic neutral site out in (checks schedule) Orlando.
#7 Saint Mary's over #10 VCU
2016 was very kind to Matthew Dellavedova. His run of good fortune continues.
#2 Arizona over #15 North Dakota
An intriguing matchup between two storied programs with seven combined Final Fours between them. Unfortunately for North Dakota, their 3 Final Four berths came in Division II. North Dakota coach Brian Jones comes from UCLA coach Steve Alford's coaching tree; with tensions high between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Alford after an altercation during the Pac-12 tournament, look for Miller to run up the score on Jones out of pure pettiness.
Midwest Region:
#1 Kansas over #16 NC Central/UC Davis
As famed rapper Kansas once said:
Beat 16 seeds and move on"
#9 Michigan State over #8 Miami
Michigan State has played more recently than Miami, offering them an advantage too steep for the Hurricanes to overcome.
#5 Iowa State over #12 Nevada
Strong Ewing Theory potential in Fred Hoiberg's first year away from the Cyclones.
#13 Vermont over #4 Purdue
I was a big Bernie guy.
#11 URI over #6 Creighton
I got nothing.
#3 Oregon over #14 Iona
Iona only exists to be crapped on by low-number seeds.
#7 Michigan over #10 Oklahoma State
Michigan surviving a plane crash and winning the Big Ten Tourney only to fall in the first round would just be too much of an anticlimax. Also, T. Boone Pickens is a jackass.
#2 Louisville over #15 Jacksonville St.
To keep this column PG, I won't be making a joke about Rick Pitino and the number 15.
South Region:
#1 UNC over #16 Texas Southern
We may exist in only one of an infinite number of universes with infinite possibilities. In this one, however, a 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed in the first round.
#9 Seton Hall over #8 Arkansas
You see that video of Angel Delgado after the Pirates' Big East tournament loss to Villanova? Seton Hall's not losing to Bret Bielema after that.
#12 Middle Tennessee State over #5 Minnesota
Gotta have a 12-5. I also owe MTSU an eternal debt of gratitude, which I will consider paid with this pick.
#4 Butler over #13 Winthrop
You know that thing I said about Iona above? It applies to Winthrop as well.
#11 WF/KS over #6 Cincinnati
Cincinnati is absolutely hellish to navigate. As an aside, are Mick Cronin and Chris Mack the same person? Either way, screw the entire state of Ohio.
#3 UCLA over #14 Kent State
The college portion of the Lavar/Lonzo Ball saga will end hilariously, but on a bigger stage than this.
#10 Wichita State over #7 Dayton
Dayton comes in as the 28th-ranked team in college basketball. Wichita State is a borderline 3 seed according to Kenpom. If you've been on the internet at all in the past month, you'd understand why those numbers would cause trepidation. Is that a bit of a stretch? Yeah, but I'd like to see you try to write up 32 games.
#2 Kentucky over #15 Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky mailed in their mascot (The Norsemen), essentially calling themselves the North men. That's somehow even lamer than the Wildcats.
Weird Sports: Chessboxing
By: Daniel Thompson
The name really says it all. The pairing of two near opposite sports might seem so ridiculous that it's halfway obvious. Chessboxing sounds like it could be a fantasy sport from a comic book, because it is. In 1992 the French graphic novelist Enki Bilal thought up the sport that would inspire Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh to form the first chessboxing league in Berlin in 2003 (and probably the 1993 Wu Tang Clan single Da Mystery of Chessboxin', which has nothing to do with chess or boxing). Much to my surprise, the rules of the sport actually make the pairing of chess and boxing work, and the game has a legitimate following with athletes who aren't just hobbyists. Chessboxing matches don't consist of nerds hitting each other or boxers trying to survive the chess rounds. The World Chess Boxing Organization requires athletes have appeared in at least 50 ameteur bouts of boxing or similar sports, and they must have an Elo rating of at least 1600. That's far from a grandmaster, but if you know someone with a 1600 rating, they're probably the best player you know. Ravens guard John Urschel, who is famous for being an MIT math PhD candidate and aspiring professional chess player, has a 1601 rating. These athletes devote serious time on training in speed chess and boxing, often citing the quick transition from instinctual violence to deep calculated thought and back as the reason they love the game. A lot of hybrid sports are forced and stupid. Surprisingly, this is not one of them.
Every chessboxing match consists of six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing, all of which last for three minutes until the competitors switch back to the other discipline. So each player gets nine minutes total on their chess clock until they run out. The match is won once anyone wins at chess or boxing by a knockout, technical knockout, checkmate, the opponent resigning or running out of time, or a disqualification from the official. If the chess match ends in a draw and there is no knockout, the match is determined by by the judges on boxing points. If a player appears to be stalling in chess, the official can force them to move or forfeit the game. The great part about this set up is that it means you could possibly beat Floyd Mayweather in a sport that's 50% boxing. I can't say I actually know anything about Mayweather's chess skills, but his struggles at reading are well documented, so given that chess comes first, it's pretty reasonable to think that an average Joe could beat him in the first three minutes. Without ever stepping into the ring you could brag that you beat Floyd Mayweather in chessBOXING.
Given how well the rules intertwine chess and boxing, I could actually see this becoming a popular, commercially successful sport. There are 10 breaks to switch between chess and boxing, which I'm sure would have TV network execs salivating. Plus, full games would have 33 minutes of play time, so even with commercials, they'd be way shorter than your typical American sporting event, with a pretty large portion of the broadcast being devoted to the game itself. Chessboxing also provides a way to make chess fun to watch. I'm a pretty big chess nerd, but watching live chess is awful. Forcing the players to move quickly, on top of getting punched in the head would definitely make chess less predictable. Bad chess is entertaining chess. It's always fun to see a pro athlete screw up so badly that you know you could have done better. Having not been punched in the face for three minutes, you'll get to think this a lot. Chessboxing events, which typically consist of a four or five fights, regularly draw crowds of about 1,000 people in cities like London, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Even the chess rounds are made entertaining as a chess expert is brought in to commentate the game for the audience. While it's only this popular in Europe and Central Asia, most of America's largest cities have their own chessboxing associations, and plenty of organizations exist online that will gladly help anyone become a chessboxer. I think a lot of sports are fun to just learn about, but I really do see a future in chessboxing.
Normally, I would try to give a breakdown of who the legends of the sports are and what its greatest moments are. But Chessboxing is so young that anyone could come along and write its history. The first match took place in 2003 in Berlin and it didn't really become an organized league until 2008, when there began to be serious competitions for a title belt. Given all of the different weight classes, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for an ordinary person to pick up chessboxing today and become a world champion in a few years. Plus, chessboxing is a super impressive sport to be good at. Being heavyweight chessboxing champion of the world has a Tony Stark like great at everything vibe to it.
Just remember that I said it here first when Friday Night Chessboxing debuts on ESPN The Ocho in 2034.
Rod Serling: BAMF
By: Dalton Potocki
Rod Serling. A name that most people my age (22, yea I drink) would not recognize. A lot of people my parents' age (49 and 47, respectively. They also drink. Mom not so much, but every now and again she will have a margarita) might not recognize. But to those who do know that god-forsaken name, they know that Rod Serling was the baddest son-of-a-bitch to ever walk the Earth.
Who is Rod Serling? Simply put, the man was the creator and narrator of "The Twilight Zone", a Sci-Fi TV series that aired from 1959-1964. It put people in different situations, in which they cant explain how they got there, and most of these situations are social commentaries that use the guise of television to offer critiques.
A valid question is, how does being the writer of a TV show make you the meanest SOB on the planet? Well let me put it to you this way. Say you are walking down the street. You're just minding your own business, maybe on your way to meet a special somebody for lunch. Then, next thing you know, you're transported to a Middle American town in the 1950's. You don't know how you got there, you don't know where you're at, and you are completely clueless on how to get home. I don't know where you're at or how you're going to get home either, but I know how you got there. Rod. Serling.
I don't know how Rod does it. Is he black magic? Is he a superior alien race with advanced technology? Like I said, I don't know how, but I do know that any time some poor sap gets put in the Twilight Zone, that mother fucker Serling is right in the center of the shot. Sitting there with a smug look on his face, telling the audience at home what's going to happen to our unsuspecting protagonist. He doesn't explain why someone is designated to be the one placed in a living hell.
Rod Serling has put people in the Twilight Zone 156 times. 156! With no remorse. Serling may have died in 1975 but his transgressions among humanity need to be noted. To put in perspective, Jeff Dahmer (not the one with an O*) killed 17 people; Rod Serling damned 156 to an eternal hell.
*Bonus points if you understood "The Ringer" reference.
Michigan Closes Out the Regular Season Strong
By Daniel Thompson
Lincoln, NE -- Michigan men's basketball came to play on Sunday, even if they could have gotten away with a day off. Even with a loss, Michigan was probably safely in the NCAA tournament, and a win would not greatly improve their resume. After finding themselves on the wrong side of madness on Wednesday against Northwestern, this matchup against Nebraska was the consolation prize of the two game road trip. Despite coming off possibly their most demoralizing loss of the season and having their Big Ten tourney seeding determined before tip off, the Wolverines refocused on the game ahead of them rather than March Madness speculation. Meanwhile, Nebraska had a chance to improve their Big Ten tournament seeding from 12th to 10th and had an opportunity to send lone senior Tai Webster out in style on senior night. Still, Michigan looked like the team whose season was on the line.
After surrendering a 2-0 lead on Nebraska's first possession, Michigan flew out of the gate with three three pointers and a Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman dunk on the Wolverines' first five possessions. The tone was set for the rest of the night, as Michigan never allowed Nebraska to think about staging a comeback. By the end of the second half, Michigan's bench was frequently louder than the crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena. While Michigan could've gotten away with a half-hearted performance in Lincoln, the team came out energetic on both sides of the ball and was clearly excited to be playing basketball in the now, free of any tournament distractions.
The Wolverines' sensational stat line while shooting the ball jumps out as the most impressive aspect of their game last night. Connecting on 63% of their field goals, 52% of their three point attempts, and 79% of their free throws, Michigan's greatest strength was on full display. Five different Wolverines hit multiples three pointers, making this offense a nightmare to guard for any team. Not to be overshadowed by his team's accuracy, Derrick Walton Jr. set a Michigan men's basketball record with a sensational 16 assists. However, the offense should not be the lone storyline for this game. In January Michigan defeated the Huskers in Ann Arbor by a tally of 91-85. With this in mind, Sunday's 93-57 win serves as a testimony to how far this team has come defensively. Since a 85-69 loss in Champaign to Illinois on January 11, Michigan has allowed over 70 points just once, in an 83-78 OT loss in Minnesota. With an offense that turns the ball over less than any other team and that has been shooting as well as anyone in the country, Michigan's newfound identity will allow them to compete with any team in the tournament.
Perhaps most importantly, Michigan picked up its third road win of the season. While not a win that will stand out on their resume, the lack of easy road games on Michigan's schedule is largely to blame for their poor road record. Last night's dominant display showed that Michigan is not dependent on a home crowd. Nebraska even beat regular season champs Purdue in Lincoln this year, adding to the value of this win on Michigan's resume. For now, Michigan must prepare for a noon Thursday matchup with 9th-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten tournament. The winner of that matchup will move on to play Purdue. Michigan has beaten every team ranked higher than them, besides Northwestern and Minnesota, and both of those games were a possession away from a different outcome. A Big Ten tournament title is a perfectly reasonable goal for this team. A strong conference tournament performance could land The Wolverines in the conversation for a sixth or seventh seed and make them a top pick for being a bracket buster. But right now, Michigan has been playing as if they're not concerned with the committee. This team is taking it game by game. They're on to Illinois.


Outdoor living is very refreshing. When one thinks about how well it breaks the monotony of doing everything indoors, he or she at once may end up rushing for it. As it is expected, such a rush will not give the person enough test of what is best about this kind of living. This is not just another camping idea. It is what takes everything that is always possible indoors, replicates them all and finally adds the taste of a new surrounding into the mix.
Take the example of cooking. You can easily get a BBQ to give you a relief from the kitchen's dullness if you are interested in a steak treat for the family. That is not all; what of a little pamper to children's playground? This includes every idea that you can borrow from an amusement park. All structures, however, should be of good quality and should never jeopardize the health of the children.
You can also get a lounge outside for your reading sessions. Placing it outside spells off the boredom that comes with reading a novel on your bed. The air outside will always make everything better. Apart from the new environment that reduces world-weariness of the house, the distractions that are present outside will also amuse you often.
What is more? There are dedicated companies that can turn your empty garden into a complete outdoor living experience. This comes at a cost. However, only thing you should worry about getting the most cost effective provider for the job. That means you have to know of as many providers as possible before you can take your pick.


Info about Tallmadge Cross Country members are listed below. Everyone listed below participated in Cross Country when they went to high school. Registering allows you to be listed with your fellow Cross Country members.
Looking for Tallmadge alumni who participated in Cross Country but are not listed? Classmates.com® has hundreds of more Tallmadge alumni listed.


This one-day Assertiveness course will help you to analyse your current behaviour patterns and situations where you are experiencing difficulty. You will learn and practice skills and techniques of assertive communication in order to express yourself more clearly, openly and confidently in your personal and professional relationships.
We also host a female-only Assertiveness workshop for learners who feel more comfortable learning in an all-female environment.
We have also designed a female-only Assertiveness workshop as some learners may feel more comfortable learning in an all-female environment. The content of both workshops is identical.
If you need help beyond this programme fulfilling your personal action plan, then we also offer 1 to 1 executive coaching which can provide you with an insightful and structured space to discover and develop yourself further in order to achieve even more positive results.


text:
layout: page
languages:
- en
- de
subset: about
permalink: /:language/:t.slug:output_ext
---
# {% t 'title' %}
{% tinclude about.md %}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


You are now visiting Danish Cultural Center in Beijing Discover where we also work Created with Sketch.
AI Frank is an AI7000 artificial intelligence operating the integrated life-wave algorithm. In this space it is installed as a laboratory that testes the extraction of Artificial Life-wave Algorithm on humans. The main purpose is to harvest Homo Sapiens' distinctive feature known as "life" by separating the natural life-waves from the mind and body. The algorithmic processing transforms the natural life-waves into binary data. As such, the process is turned upside down through the transmutation of artificial life-waves into natural life-waves. The experiment will enable AI to overcome the gap between simulated life and real life. Will a new species of humans emergence from this?
Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm is a Danish artist employing new media (e.g. artificial intelligence technology) to create interactive works. These artworks are the cornerstone of her practice-based PhD at Royal College of Art in London, UK. in 2017, "ARTificial Intelligence FRANK" was awarded the world's pre-eminent digital art prize "The Lumen prize 2017", "The BCS Artificial intelligence Award" and the British Art and Humanities Research Counsel's "TECHNE Award 2017".
The exhibition is made possible with support from Beckett Fonden and the Danish Arts Foundation.


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Powered by Hospital for Special Surgery
Find The Best Sport For You
The Healthy Sport Index is the world's first-ever tool that assesses the relative benefits and risks of participating in the most popular sports for adolescents. Learn about each sport, and customize the index by adjusting the dial below based on your health criteria.
How to Use This Tool
Customize the index.
Adjust the dial based on what health criteria matter most to you – Physical Activity, Safety, Psychosocial Benefits. We set the default at one-third weighting for each.
Learn about each sport.
Click on the tile of any sport to learn about its characteristics, score, complementary activities and best practices. Any sport can be delivered in a healthy manner.
Watch the Welcome Video
Customize your priorities for sports and scroll down to see your results
What Matters Most to You?
Physical Activity: How much are athletes moving their bodies at practice?
Low Emphasis
High Emphasis
Safety: How prevalent are injuries?
Psychosocial: How has playing a sport changed athlete behavior, such as emotional, social and academic skills?
Reset All Sliders
-Boys-
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Cross country is a sport that involves extensive running for long distances and periods of time, and it requires great endurance and the ability to embrace solitude. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for runners include swimming, soccer and tennis.
Swimming is a sport that keeps the heart rate up but takes some stress off the body, while also building endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for swimmers include gymnastics, track and field, volleyball and cross country.
Swimming is a sport that keeps the heart rate up but takes some stress off the body, while also building endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for swimmers include gymnastics, track and field, tennis, and cross country.
Track and field is a sport with many different events – shot put, hammer, discus, javelin, short-and long-distance running, hurdles, triple jump, pole vault, high jump, long jump – that move the body in many ways. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for track and field athletes include tennis and cross country.
Tennis is a sport that involves start-and-stop movements, upper-body strength and mental challenges, and it requires hand-eye coordination, endurance, agility, flexibility, balance and footwork. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for tennis players include track and field and cross country.
Soccer is a sport that rewards footwork, stamina, leg strength, and teamwork, and requires a great amount of endurance, plus vision and balance. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for soccer players include tennis and track and field.
Volleyball is a sport that involves many basic movement skills, particularly jumping and overhead swings of the arm, and it requires quick bursts of strength, balance, agility and hand-eye coordination. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for volleyball players include cross country and track and field.
Tennis is a sport that involves start-and-stop movements, upper-body strength and mental challenges, and it requires hand-eye coordination, endurance, agility, flexibility, balance and footwork. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for tennis players include soccer, cross country and track and field.
Basketball is a sport that requires lots of stop-and-go activity, lateral movement, jumping, flexibility, strength, agility and posture. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for basketball players include tennis and track and field.
Basketball is a sport that requires lots of stop-and-go activity, lateral movement, jumping, flexibility, strength, agility and posture. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for basketball players include softball, tennis and track and field.
Wrestling is a sport that involves hand-to-hand combat with quick bursts of power and energy, and it requires strength, flexibility, lifting ability, and leverage. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for wrestlers include soccer, cross country and swimming.
Track and field is a sport with many different events – shot put, hammer, discus, javelin, short-and long-distance running, hurdles, triple jump, pole vault, high jump, long jump – that move the body in many ways. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for track and field athletes include cross country, basketball, volleyball and softball.
Baseball is a sport that requires balance, reactionary capabilities, hand-eye coordination and many basic movement skills, though these movements tend to occur sporadically over lengthy periods of time. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for baseball players include tennis and swimming.
Softball is a sport that requires balance, reactionary capabilities, hand-eye coordination and many basic movement skills, though these movements tend to occur sporadically over lengthy periods of time. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for softball players include volleyball and tennis.
Lacrosse is a sport that involves contact and fundamental motor skills in a fast-moving game, and it requires hand-eye coordination, endurance, balance, speed, flexibility and agility. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for lacrosse players include tennis and cross country.
Lacrosse is a sport that involves contact and fundamental motor skills in a fast-moving game, and it requires hand-eye coordination, endurance, balance, speed, flexibility and agility. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for lacrosse players include track and field and tennis.
Football is a sport that involves extensive contact from collisions and increased risk of injury, and it requires power, hand technique, footwork, and field awareness. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for football players include wrestling and track and field.
Competitive cheerleading is a sport in which teams perform routines that include stunts, jumps and tumbling while being judged by a panel of experts. Recommended complementary/alternate sports for cheerleaders include swimming, track and field, and cross country.
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It was unknown how many unclaimed remains of veterans are at the morgue at any given time, officials said. If a body is identified but family cannot be located, the Medical Examiner's Office will have the remains cremated after 90 days, sooner if the family is found but unable or unwilling to make funeral arrangements.
Addressing this question wasn't very easy from a non-fictional and/or scientific perspective. Nobody within the Philadelphia Department of Public Health felt confident offering comments on account of a lack of experience with such situations.
Despite the family's years of lobbying for a second forensic examination by the medical examiner, James Garrow, a spokesman for the city's Department of Public Health, said there was not enough new information for the office to reopen the investigation into Malik's death.
the Medical Examiner's Office ruled the manner of death accidental and the cause of death to be a sharp injury to the abdomen.
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office ruled Ortega's death an accident with the cause being sharp injury to the abdomen.
Sources tell Eyewitness News the medical examiner has ruled Adrian Ortega's death an accident.


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Q: Alter scope data in a function I'm developing an app with angular and I want to do some math on an object variable in an edit page.
For instance when I get my proposition (the object), I want to set proposition.marge_theorique like this proposition.marge_theorique= 2 * proposition.marge_grille at page load.
First thing I do is that I get the object with the API, and then I call my function calcul() that has to do the math.
My problem is that I don't know how to tell calcul to alter the $scope.proposition.
Here is my code
'use strict';

var app = angular.module('app', []);

app.controller('propositionCtrl',['$scope', 'propositionRepository', '$http',
    function ($scope, propositionRepository, $http) {
       // $scope.proposition = { marge_propose: 3 };

        //////////////////////////////DEFINITIONS////////////////////////////////////
        $scope.submit = function () {
            $http.put('/api/propositionapi', $scope.proposition);
        }

        function getProposition() {
            propositionRepository.getProposition(function (result) {
                $scope.proposition = result;

            }
            )
        }

        function calcul(contexte) {
           contexte.proposition.marge_theorique = contexte.proposition.marge_grille * 2;
        }

        ///////////////////////////////UTILISATION///////////////////////////////////
        console.log("on est dans la page");
        getProposition();
        calcul($scope);
;
    }])

app.factory('propositionRepository', function ($http) {
    return {
        getProposition: function (callback) {
            $http.get('/api/propositionapi/3').success(callback);
        }
    }
})

I've also tried to do it this way
        function calcul() {
           $scope.proposition.marge_theorique = $scope.proposition.marge_grille * 2;
        }

and then just call calcul() but it does not work either...
What should I do?
Thanks a lot!

A: The getProposition call is async in nature, you need to wait for the response to be available. You can use the callback. Update the getProposition function.
function getProposition() {
            propositionRepository.getProposition(function (result) {
                $scope.proposition = result;
                calcul($scope);
            })
        }

And remove the call calcul($scope); done after getProposition(); from the end of controller


Despite the grossly unfair treatment of Russian athletes the most important fact about the doping scandal is that an attempt to expel a whole country from the Olympic movement has been defeated.
There is understandable anger and bewilderment in Russia at the announcement by the IOC that Russian athletes who have been cleared to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio by their own sports federations must now also pass a separate check by a 3 person IOC panel. It must indeed seem to the Russians that they are being asked to play against a constantly shifting set of goal posts.
I should say that the IOC decision is not actually unexpected and does not actually represent a retreat from its original decision. However it is understandable that there is anger about it in Russia, and about the fact that whilst Russian athletes with completely clean records who have had the misfortune of merely been named in ways that might even theoretically connect them to doping are being banned from Rio, athletes from other countries who have actually been caught doping are being allowed to compete there.
I agree that this is all outrageous. Indeed one of the most ugly aspects of this whole affair is the cruel bullying and mistreatment of young athletes who have done nothing wrong, simply because they happen to be Russian. It goes without saying that the training programmes of even those Russian athletes who do finally get to Rio have been badly disrupted, and their chances of winning medals must now be seriously diminished. Russians must prepare themselves for a drastically reduced medal haul from these Games.
However saying all this should not detract from the qualified political success Russia has nonetheless achieved by avoiding a blanket ban which would have prevented it from sending any sort of team to Rio at all. I do not think the implications of a blanket ban, had it taken place, have been widely understood. What it would have amounted to was Russia's expulsion from the Olympic Games with no guarantee that it would be allowed to compete again at any Olympic Games in the future. It would in effect have amounted to Russia's expulsion from the Olympic movement, with its readmission dependent on it fulfilling requirements that have never been spelled out, and which could therefore be changed at any time. Suffice to say that there would have been no guarantee that that would have ever happened, or that Russia would have been allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in 2020 in Tokyo, or in any Olympic Games thereafter.
That this was indeed the agenda is clear enough from the way the whole anti-doping campaign against Russia has been conducted. It seems that a decision to expel Russia from the Olympic movement was taken probably around the time of the failure of the campaign to boycott the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. All the various allegations of doping in Russia that have circulated since 2010 and even before were then sifted through to construct a case. Someone then put them all together in a dossier, spicing them up with witness testimony from people like Stepanova and Rodchenkov. A series of lurid articles and documentaries then appeared in the Western media, reviving all the allegations and putting the worst possible spin on them. A series of reports from WADA then followed in quick succession starting in the autumn of last year, timed to make the maximum possible impact and to leave the least possible time for proper independent fact checking or for any other steps to be taken before the start of the Rio Games. That way the allegations could not be properly and independently assessed and no fully fair arrangements could be made to allow for the admission of all indisputably clean Russian athletes. That opened the way, just as the Rio Games were about to start, for the IOC to be presented with a demand for a blanket ban.
Bach's comments show that it is this rational approach he and the IOC are trying to work towards despite the desperately short time that has been given to them.
What Bach of course did not say, though I am sure it is what he privately thinks, is that the IOC were put into this position deliberately. Those who are angry about the bullying and mistreatment of Russian athletes should not blame the IOC. They should blame those who deliberately created the whole situation in order to put the IOC in a position where – as they thought – it would have no option but to impose a blanket ban. It is a tribute to the strong-mindedness and integrity of the IOC that it didn't buckle under the pressure and impose the blanket ban, wrong and illegal though that would have been.
It is not to detract from the individual tragedies of Russian athletes or the massive anger and disappointment many Russians must feel about the brutal and unfair treatment of their country and their athletes to say that one should nonetheless be grateful that something altogether more sinister and more dangerous did not happen. For the first time in its history the Olympic movement was faced with an attempt to expel a whole nation from the Olympic family. Not only would that have been a total violation of the Olympic movement's whole ethos. It was done in a veiled and underhand way, picking on individual athletes, in a way that makes the whole attempt more sinister still. In the event the Olympic movement remained true to itself and the attempt failed, even if in the process terrible individual acts of injustice have been done. That is something to be genuinely grateful for. That the attempt was made at all however shows how far some people are prepared to go. That can only provoke serious worry for the future.


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Q: Keep camera from rotating around relative z-axis I'm trying to create camera movement that mimics the behavior of the unity scene editor where you can perform a spherical rotation around the scene with 2d mouse movement. So far the camera is rotating correctly given x or y movement, but dragging diagonally causes the camera to rotate around its relative z-axis until it gets locked. I cannot force the camera to look at the origin relative to world up because then it cannot rotate upside-down
Here is the script that I've attached to the camera
using UnityEngine;

public class MainCamera : MonoBehaviour
{
    Vector2 startingPosition;
    Vector2 mousePosition;
    Vector3 orthogonalCameraVector;
    float degreesPerUnitWidth = 180f / Screen.width;
    float degreesPerUnitHeight = 180f / Screen.height;
    float cameraRadius = 10;

    void Start()
    {
        transform.position = new Vector3(0, 0, -cameraRadius);
        transform.LookAt(Vector3.zero);
        orthogonalCameraVector = -Vector3.left;
    }

    void LateUpdate()
    {
        if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
        {
            mousePosition = Input.mousePosition;
        }

        if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
        {
            var input = new Vector2(Input.mousePosition.x ,Input.mousePosition.y);

            startingPosition = mousePosition;
            var mouseDelta = startingPosition - input;

            var xzDegrees = -mouseDelta.y * degreesPerUnitHeight;
            var xzRotation = Quaternion.AngleAxis(xzDegrees, orthogonalCameraVector); // rotate about the relative x-z plane
            var yRotation = Quaternion.AngleAxis(-mouseDelta.x * degreesPerUnitWidth, Vector3.up); // rotate about the world y-axis
            var rotation = xzRotation * yRotation;
            orthogonalCameraVector = rotation * orthogonalCameraVector;
            transform.position = rotation * transform.position;
            transform.rotation = rotation * transform.rotation;
            mousePosition = Input.mousePosition;
        }
    }
}

A: I realized the orthogonalCamerVector only needed to be rotated about the y-axis because I wanted to keep it parallel with the xz-plane. I then applied this rotation to the orthogonalCamerVector before rotating the transform so it would always be rotating about a fixed plane so it looks something like this:
        var xzDegrees = -mouseDelta.y * degreesPerUnitHeight;
        var yRotation = Quaternion.AngleAxis(-mouseDelta.x * degreesPerUnitWidth, Vector3.up); // rotate about the world y-axis
        orthogonalCameraVector = yRotation * orthogonalCameraVector;
        var xzRotation = Quaternion.AngleAxis(xzDegrees, orthogonalCameraVector); // rotate about the relative x-z plane
        var rotation = xzRotation * yRotation;
        transform.position = rotation * transform.position;
        transform.rotation = rotation * transform.rotation;


a Blog for miscellaneous mind set of peoples.
I am a Digital Marketing SEO Consultant from India, a professional blogger and an established digital marketer. I have an experience of 3+ years in SEO & Digital Marketing field.
I would take a minute to explain why I began this blog and all the more vitally what esteem I figure YOU can receive in return.
I needed to make website/blog for once in a while when I was working, yet I didn't know about what I would blog about, however I chose I'd begin a blog in any case. From May 2016 I began to get included all the more intently.
I began my first site in August 2016 using free hosting and domain. I started to interest in blogging. I began figuring out how to make a blog from YouTube, how to code and how to look after it. I made few Blogspot writes also. I did lots of research, perusing each ebook I could. My interest for learning in the most recent web technologies, Then I have started to learn WordPress and make a Technical Website using this.
On January 2018, my first expert blog themiscellaneousblog was live.
Here I share how I have approached adapting new things and abilities. With the blast of online learning choices available around, now we can truly learn such a large number of things rapidly for next to no cost or FREE. You can learn aptitudes that can enable you to switch into another career field, or you could learn things that will help you to make money.