Remember when the site of a vee in the sky and the melodious honking of geese was a special treat and signaled the onset of fall?  Well that like the smell of burning leaves is a thing of the past. The sight of geese nowadays is a sight few like to see. Overpopulation, sanitation, and site fouling are just a few of the problems associated with the big Canada. Retention ponds around schools, hospitals, Big box stores and office parks play host to hundreds of thousands of these 20lb. pests. Hardly any urban areas are immune.

A goose on a good day eats four pounds of  feed expelling two. A flock of twenty five at the local high school  biology pond drops 50 lbs. A day. The rest is just a math problem that you can figure. There are some solutions to the problem many costly, many ineffective. Geese typically mate for life and have four to eight nestlings. If the population in your area seems to be getting bigger every year, it is, not only are the adults returning but many of the first year birds are returning also. Geese will continue to return to he same site annually because the site affords them safety, food sources, and nesting sites. Add to that the fact that geese can live twenty plus years and you have a major problem. When will it end. Anti hunters be damned.

There are numerous methods to deter geese from calling your property home. These include hazing (Border Collies), addling (Shaking the eggs), chemical treatments, audio/visual (explosions, predator decoys) , roundups (during molt they’re captured and shipped off) and property modification (reshaping terrain)

Golf course maintenance is hampered not only by the cost of control of the geese, but also the excess wear on golf course maintenance equipment. Greens are especially susceptible, the nitrogen in the droppings causes the shorter grass to burn out and makes it difficult to maintain the pristine condition of the green. Ponds on the course are also being fouled, making fishing golf courses (if your lucky enough to have permission) less attractive than in the pre-goose era.

Then there was the one about the golfer eyeing up a 15 foot put for Eagle on the goose infested course. After getting the proper read on the put he laid his cigar on the fringe and proceeded to can the putt. While still on an emotional high from the putt, he reached down and picked up what he thought was his cigar and inhaled heartily. You can imagine the rest.

Looking for a summer vacation getaway?

How about Hayward, Wisconsin?
Home of the largest Muskie in the world 143 ft., part of the national freshwater fishing hall of fame complex. Golf, shopping, outdoor recreation, restaurants and bars galore make this spot an ideal summer getaway for the entire family. . If you haven’t been to the area before want to get the flavor of it, rent the movie The Great Outdoors with John Candy, Annette Benning, Dan Aykroid, and the big 64.

The North Woods of Wisconsin was the setting for the movie. Hayward known as an fishing haven to many Midwesterners has something for everyone. Thirteen golf courses in the area, make it the golf capital of Wisconsin, or so the natives say. Six miniature golf courses, Go Carts, Horseback riding, and the usual Summer amusement fare will keep the kids busy for hours. The accommodations in the area are priced for everyone. Campgrounds, B and B’s, Resorts, and Motels are readily available. Hayward has a number of different festivals, two of my favorites are the Musky Festival June 25- 28 , and the Lumberjack World Championships July 24-26. A must see is the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

Over 100,000 people visit each year. The museum includes thousands of lures, rods, reels, vintage outboard motors, Hundreds of mounted fish, and many other displays. Controversy abounds in the area about which Muskie is the world record . The Dun Rovin Lodge lays claim to the largest over 70 lbs. However the scale used to weigh it wasn’t certified and cynics question the actual weight. The freshwater hall houses a replica 69lb. 11 oz. giant, however the original was destroyed in a fire in the sixties. That leaves the 67lb. 8oz. Behemoth located in the Moccasin bar, I’ve been in a number of bars and this is one of the most notable I’ve encountered. The record fish encased in a glass display case is only one of wide array of stuffed animals in various forms of drinking, gambling, and other forms of carousing. You can find all of the above info on the Hayward web site. There’s never a lack of activity and something for everyone in Hayward.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is still thought of as perhaps the greatest motor sport on Earth and it shows in the fact that it boasts many of the highest attendance records of any worldwide sport and gets broadcast to over 160 countries coming in second to football when it comes to viewers; not too shabby for the sport that actually spawned from those illegal late night moonshine runs.

The first sanctioned race was in Daytona Beach on February 15, 1948 after NASCAR’s founder, Bill France, Sr. decided to standardize and organize the stock car racing that sprang up after World War II. NASCAR was incorporated formally just a few months later. The original races were run on beach or dirt courses with the transition to a paved speedway in 1950 with the opening of the first Superspeedway in South Carolina.

Although still called stock cars you would find it difficult to find anything stock as far as components on these modern competition vehicles. If you squint really hard you can almost see the shape of a sedan in the car that is built on tope of a custom frame chassis that has been wrapped in a very thin skin of sheet metal. As for what powers these machines there are high revving, hand built pushrod V-8’s under the hood that can produce over 850 horsepower.

While it may be easy for us to make those “left turn only” comments and jokes think about the type of control that you need to navigate in a 200 mile per hour traffic jam completely surrounded by other blood-thirsty drivers mere inches from all parts of your car. Then think about the sheer talent that is needed to be able to exploit the tiniest hole in that traffic jam in order to gain any position. Really makes you think, huh?

It is widely believed that Ping Pong, or Table Tennis, derived from a game called Royal Tennis that was around in medieval times perhaps the 12th Century AD. Some believe that it became more fashionable in the 1880′s and was actually known as indoor tennis played by British officers who were stationed in South Africa and India. It has been said that they used books across a table as a net, wine bottle corks that had been rounded were used as balls and cigar box lids served as paddles.

David Foster patented the first table tennis set in 1890; his version also included different table size versions of Football, Lawn Tennis and Cricket. In 1891 Gossima was introduced in London and it used drum style paddles, a 30 cm tall net and a cork ball wrapped in 50mm webbing. It was also during the 1890′s that Parker Brothers started to make a tennis kit for indoors including a portable net, paddles and a small net covered ball.

It was in 1900 that the hollow celluloid balls made their way to England from the US but some sources claim that they were actually plastic. Before this they were usually cork or solid rubber and most often covered in some kind of netting or other material. In 1901 the name Ping Pong was registered in England while the rights to the American name was sold to Parker Brothers. It was also during 1901 that it first made its appearance in China.

From the 1920′s to the 1950′s, also known as the Hard Bar Era, Europe dominated the sport; then during the Sponge Bat era of the 1950′s through the 1970′s we began to see the rise of China and Japan. From 1970 to 1989 the most dominant force for both women’s and men’s events came from China, winning numerous times and championships all over the world.

During 1989 to 1993 the Chinese did have their stranglehold on the men’s championship broken by Sweden by winning team events in 1989, 1991 and 93 and men’s singles in 89 and 91. However, from about 1995 on China has reasserted its control of the Men’s singles and teams at all world championships.

If you are a tennis fan there are several tournaments that you just don’t want to miss; the first being the Wimbledon Championships that run from June 21^st through July 4^th. This tournament is considered the most iconic of the tennis championships in the world and thousands of fans will flock to the All England club in SW19. Of course along with the tennis action you need to be ready for supping Pimms, tucking into the strawberries and if you happen to be British you will probably be spending the week obsessing about Andy Murray.

For one of the most prestigious of the ATP tournaments you need to watch the International German Open that takes place July 19^th through July 25^th in Hamburg, Germany. The main court has 13,200 seats ready for the fans and every year they are filled to capacity.

If you are heading to Los Angles during July 6^th through August 1^st then you will definitely want to see the longest running of the professional sports tournaments in the city’s history. During this 84^th year the defending champion, Stan Querrey will try to defend the title against some very tough competition from two former Grand Slam winners, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro.

Next comes the Rogers Cup that is held in Canada; first in Toronto from August 7^th to August 15^th and then in Montreal through August 22^nd. This tournament has a virtual who’s who when it comes to tennis names winning at this championship including McEnroe, Lendl, Borg, Federer, Becker and Agassi.

Finally if you happen to be in new York anytime during August 30^th through September 12^th you may want to visit the Arthur Ashe Stadium located in Flushing Meadow; but you may want to reserve a seat as the 24,000 seats fill up quickly. This year many of the best players from all over will congregate here in the hopes of dethroning the two winners of the 2009 singles titles, Clijsters and del Potro.

Everyone seems to be making speculations and predictions on the outcome of the 2010 FIFA World Cup championship being held in South Africa. There has been cheering for favorite teams as they have won and commiseration when those teams have lost; so who seems to be among the favorites this year?

It would appear that they include the four time winner Italy, the winner of five titles Brazil, three time winner Germany and two time champions both Uruguay and Argentina followed by France and England who have won one title each. Of course in the end it is not the assumption of who the favorites are that will decide the results.

The tournament that determined the finalists of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was represented by 32 different teams that were culled from a total of 204 entrants. These teams now compete in ten different arenas or stadiums from all across South Africa. It began on June 11^th and runs through July 11^th.

The final match that is held on July 11^th will be played at the Soccer City stadium located in Johannesburg and is expected to be as widely watched, if not more, than the highly anticipated match during the 2006 FIFA World Cup championship which had a total audience of about 716 million. So, be sure to watch the match and cheer your team on to victory.

The APA (American Poolplayers Association) was originally called The National Pool league and was the brain child of two professional players Larry Hubbart and Terry Bell; founded in 1979 the name was changed to the APA in 1981 and hosts both an 8-Ball and 9-Ball league system.

The culmination of the weekly league is the National Team Championships that are held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year the tournament goes from August 19^th through August 28^th with the following schedule:

August 19^th – August 22^nd is the Ladies 8-Ball event that has a first prize of $10,000.00.

August 19^th – August 23^rd is the Open 9-Ball tournament that is available to any combination of women and men with first prize being $15,000.00.

August 22^nd – August 28^th is the Open 8-Ball championship that is open to all men and women with a first prize of $25,000.00.

All competitions are played on a 3.5’ x 7’ table and a single elimination format is used which allows everyone the chance to play at least two times before they can be eliminated.

And for all of you interested in the sport but not quite up to the professional level you may be interested in the US Amateur Championship to be held from November 5^th through November 7^th in Tampa, Florida. It has been said that those participating in this even can expect to experience one of the highest levels of amateur playing in the U.S. Their schedule is as follows:

            Men’s championship November 5^th through 7^th

            Women’s championship November 6^th and 7^th

Each winner receives a trophy, event jacket and a free year membership in the APA and an invitation to defend their title next year.

So, no matter what your preference you are sure to find a great tournament to either watch or participate in.

For the first time in 49 years the Stanley Cup made its way back to Chicago and the arrival of both the Blackhawks and the cup was met with a water cannon salute at the O’Hare airport. Borne in on a Boeing 737 landing at a private terminal at the east end of the O’Hare airport they were greeted by two Chicago Fire Department trucks that were blasting arcs of water across the plane as it stopped on the tarmac. The scene was framed by police, emergency and fire vehicles parked with horns blaring and lights flashing.

Thus ended the longest championship drought with an overtime win over the Flyers with a final score of 4 – 3. The last time Chicago won was in 1961 when they defeated Detroit which was also done in six games. The previous two months prior to the win were a great run; both the Flyers and the Blackhawks played with everything they had and anyone witnessing the unfolding of the Stanley Cup championship and the wagering series would likely agree that it was just as amazing as last years between the Penguins and Redwings and will most certainly go down in history as one of the most memorable seasons in hockey.

There should also by kudos given to the Philadelphia Flyers for sneaking into those playoffs after the shootout against the Rangers during the last part of the regular season and a great comeback after defeating the Bruins (after trailing by 3 games in the series).

It is being said that if the Hawks can keep their core together, which includes Kane, Seabrook, Toews, Keith, Niemi and Byfuglien, then Chicago may not have to wait another 49 years to win the cup. Of course they may have their work cut out for them this summer since they are trying to work around a salary cap, but we wish them the best of luck.

Normally baseball is considered a balanced game between the pitcher’s mound and the batter’s box but since the balance is so precarious and delicate the history of baseball is usually marked by a gradual movement or tilt to one side which results in many distinct times of low or high run scoring. So far in 2010 is looking to be the year in which that balance has taken a marked tilt towards pitching; but it has not been what can be considered an abrupt change.

It would seem that, on the whole, major leagues are trending back to defense and pitching after the explosion in the late 90’s of offensive playing. As a matter of fact scoring due to runs has actually decreased during each of the last four seasons from approximately 4.86 scoring runs in each game of the 2006 season to the current score of 4.47. However, since the much warmer summer months are ahead of us that figure will very likely increase.

To follow are a few samples of some of the pitching dominated past seasons:

1968 – considered by many to be the year of the pitcher; only one year, 1908, had fewer runs scored (3.38) than the 3.42 of 1968. During this season 49 of the pitchers had ERA’s below 3.00 which is the most since 1917 and 7 of them were below 2.00 which is the most since 1919.

1972 – since pitching dominated so much during the 1968 season the mound was actually lowered prior to the beginning of the 1969 season which was thought to end the pitching dominance but it was only four years later that pitching again took control. This resulted in only 3.69 runs per game being scored which was the 9^th lowest rate of scoring of all time and 2^nd lowest (after 1968) since 1918.

1981 – although it is also remembered as the season divided by the players strike it was also a season where pitching dominated. This season scoring rate ties with 1976 as one of the toughest scoring seasons since 1972 with two no hitters only five days apart during May which the last one being a perfect game with Len Barker of the Indians. Later when play resumed Nolan Ryan had his 5^th no hitter during late September.

Be sure to continue watching to see how the 2010 season will unfold and where it will fall in the baseball pitching dominated statistics.