Popularity of Soccer Essay Example for Free

Popularity of Soccer Essay When the United States national soccer team defeated the Spanish national team in the semifinals of the 2009 Confederations Cup, many sportswriters and fans called the U. S team’s win one of the biggest upsets in modern soccer. Although the United States is known for having dominant sports teams, many refuse to admit that the United States has a good soccer team, let alone believe that Americans know about the sport soccer. In all fairness, even people in the United States do not believe that Americans know a lot about the sport and think it is a unpopular sport in the U. Â  S. Long has been the misconception that soccer is not popular in the United States and that many Americans do not even know the rules of the game. In an episode of Family Guy, Chris Griffin is playing in a soccer game. The bleachers are almost empty with the exception of a handful amount of people. When a ball is kicked towards Chris, he catches the ball. The referee, dressed like an American football official, awards Chris’s opponents a penalty kick with a tone and style of his speech as that of a football official. A parent of Chris’s teammate yells out in anger because Chris’s mistake awards the other team an immense advantage. This scene exemplifies the common misconception about soccer in the United States. The small number of audience in the crowd suggests that soccer is not a popular sport in America. Chris’s lack of knowledge of the sport and the inaccurate uniform of the referee imply that many Americans do not know the rules of soccer and are not familiar with the sport because not many Americans play the sport. Furthermore, Chris lacks enthusiasm in his game; this lack of enthusiasm illustrates the hypervisiblity of the popularity of soccer in the United States. Soccer was virtually unknown to Americans until 1967 when the first professional soccer league was set up in the United States. The league was named the North American Soccer League (NASL). The league attracted some of the most famous soccer players in the world such as the Brazilian Pele, arguably the best soccer player of all time, and the German Franz Beckenbauer, regarded as the best German player of all time. Although the league attracted some of the greatest players, soccer overall remained a less popular sports like baseball and football in the United States. Perhaps Americans’ reluctance to follow the rules set by the British is the reason for soccer’s initially low popularity. Baseball and football, undoubtedly the two most popular sports in the United States, has its roots in the United Kingdom. An early form of baseball has been played in England in the mid-eighteenth century(The history of baseball). American football was originated from rugby football, which originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century(American football history). However, the rules of baseball and American football have been adapted by Americans from their origins to become American sports. Perhaps because Americans put in place their own laws of these sports, baseball and football had been successfully integrated into the American culture and had been immensely popular since their beginnings. Soccer on the other hand, was nowhere near as popular as baseball and football when first introduced in the United States. Soccer’s laws were set forth by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which consists of the four United Kingdom countries’ associations- England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland(The International FA Board). The fact that the rules of soccer were not created by Americans and the fact that the sport’s rules were created by the United States’s competitive rivals may contribute to soccer’s originally low popularity. Whatever the reason, soccer was clearly not a popular sport in the United States even though it was by far the most popular sport in the world. Certainly, the North American Soccer League (NASL) was not a widely watched league when it was established in 1967. Its low popularity did not improve as the NASL eventually failed in 1984. Although the much improved Major League Soccer (MLS) was founded in 1996(About MLS) to replace the NASL, the MLS was and is still not a very successful league in terms of salary. The average salary of a player in the MLS in 2010 is $138,169 compared to MLB’s $3,297,828 (2010) (MLB Salaries), and NFL’s $990,000 (2009) (NFL Player Salaries). In fact, the MLB’s and the NFL’s minimum salaries are far greater than the average MLS salary. MLB’s minimum salary in 2009 was $400,000(MLBPA Info), while NFL’s minimum salary in 2009 was $310,000. Based solely on salaries of professional athletes in the United States, one can get an idea of the low popularity of soccer compared to sports like baseball and football in the U. S. These stats may seem to support the hypervisibility of soccer’s popularity in the United States, but in reality they do not reflect the growing adoration and acknowledgement of the sport. Soccer’s popularity in America has been growing since the inauguration of the NASL and the MLS. The MLS may seem unpopular based on the salaries of the players in the league, but spectator attendance suggests otherwise. The MLS averages 18,452 people per game, higher than National Basketball League’s 17,110, and NHL’s 17,004. In fact, the MLS’s average attendance is even higher than the Scottish Premier League’s average attendance(Avoiding the Drop). The amount of soccer players in America further emphasizes the tremendous popularity of the sport. In the U. S. , there are a total of 24,472,778 players. This number is far larger than some of the powerhouses in world soccer such as England which has 4,164,110 players, Brazil which has 13,197,733 players, and Spain which has 2,834,190 players(FIFA. com). Lastly, the 2010 World Cup had an average of 24. 3 million viewers in the United States. The World Series and the NBA Finals, on the other hand, only averaged 19. 4 viewers and 18 million viewers respectively(deseretnews. com). The United States was not even in the final of the World Cup and still managed to attract more viewers than the World Series and the NBA finals. Had the U. S. National Team been in the final, the number of viewers of the World Cup final could have been significantly larger. The high number of attendance at MLS games, soccer players in the United States, and viewers of the World Cup final testifies against the hypervisibility that asserts that soccer is an unpopular sport in the United States. However, facts surrounding the attention of soccer in the United States firmly affirms that soccer has now established itself as one of the most popular sports in America.

The Road Not Taken and the Journey of Life :: Road Not Taken essays

The Road Not Taken and the Journey of Life This poem by Robert Frost was first read to me in the last year of my high school experience. Back then, not only did I have absolutely no interest in any literary work, but moreover, had no intension to lye there and analyze a poem into its symbolic definitions. Only now have I been taught the proper way to read a literary work as a formalistic critic might read. With this new approach to literature I can understand the underlying meaning to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken". In addition to merely grasping the author's intension, I was able to justly incur that this poem, without directly mentioning anything about life's decisions, is in its entirety about just that. Robert Frost interpreted most of the decisions we make in life into this twenty-line poem of a man choosing which path to take in a "yellow wood". Everyday I make a decision to do a certain task, take that certain walk, or to sit at home and do absolutely nothing. Being one person, I can never know for sure what the exact outcome might be if I were to choose the other decision. For instance, I take a leisurely walk every night and I sacrifice my time to do something else. Although this may not always account to me personally, I do sometimes think what the other choice may have brought me. And often times, I complete the task with a sense of relief, a "sigh" perhaps, that the choice I made turned to be a well-made decision. Though most people rarely look into the sacrifice of decision making the way Robert Frost does, it is indeed a highly examined way too understand "a path less traveled by". The first stanza introduced the reader to the decision the author would have to make. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" to me signified that the result of his decision would arise from the same origin to which in my own life, I can reflect on. And though he would like to have seen the outcome of both paths, he knew he could only choose one. And to help him decide, he would look down both choices and see only until the road took a bend.

Data Warehouse

The Kimball Lifestyle is the recommended approach to design, develop & deploy he DO/BI, as described in aforementioned text book (eBook). The illustration at Figure 1 summarizes main stages from the Lifestyle. Figure 1: The Kimball DO/BI Lifestyle The Kimball method helps to explain business requirements adding value to an organization. The company must realize this value add, acknowledge it and then decide to implement the solution. (MS. Com, n. D. ).Issues and Process involved in Implementation of DO/BI system Dimensions Business Processes Date Transaction Client outlet Category Type Product Venue Budget Events_organize x Celebrity Booking Advertisement Books Sale Book Distribution Commission payment The Data Warehouse Bus Matrix The main process involved is the development of the Data warehouse Bus Matrix, as it was highlighted in the earlier section. The Enterprise Data Warehouse Bus Matrix is the data framework for the enterprise data warehouse.The Figure below shows the bus mat rix for Jar Bookstore: Data Model Design The Kimball method provides practical approach land selects the right physical model based upon how usable and flexible it is and how is its performance & maintenance. Almost all these type of models are classic star schemas, as shown in Figure 3. The complete information of a process is its central fact table. Its like a first normal form or ‘De-normalized' dimension tables, which surrounds the fact table.Then there are details or dimension tables which can be joined with integer keys called ‘surrogate keys'. This is shown in the below figure. Some researchers call for the normalized, third normal form model at lowest level in data warehouse as this provides Max flexibility. The dimension or detail table bear an analogy to this as will be shown in the subsequent analysis in the later sections. (MS. Com n. . ) Figure 3: An orders business process star schema Star Schema Model Here is a design of star schema, with clear dimensions with Primary an Foreign Keys.As per the Kimball Method, the star schema represents the Normalized Source Tables. As per the model, the â€Å"dimensions are the objects that participate in an organization's business processes. We generally model these as one table per object. Building the dimension in the TTL system involves joining the various normalized description and hierarchy tables that populate the dimension attributes and writing the results into a single table. (Thorniest, W, 201 1) RED Diagram to provide a complete overview of the Online Bookstore.Data warehouse requires designing Fact tables and dimension tables. As provided earlier the fact table is the central table within star schema of a data warehouse. A fact table contains basic, raw and De-normalized data. For the Jar Bookstore there are three types of facts: (Thorniest, W, 2011) 1. Additive: these are summed up data 2. Semi-Additive: Semi-additive facts that can be summed up for some data only 3. Non-Additive: Non -additive facts are facts that cannot be summed up. In the context of Jar Bookstore we illustrate each these three types of facts.The first example assumes that we are a retailer, and we have a fact table with the follows Eng columns: Date Store Sales Amount This table records the sales amount for each product in each store on a daily basis. This data is extracted in the excel sheet as well and will be analyzed in the later sections. The Jar Bookstore has the following fact table: Date Books Current Balance Profit_Margin The object of this table is to record the current balance for each account at the end of each day (DOD Balance).

The best teaching aid is a piece of chalk - 1458 Words

â€Å"The best teaching aid is a piece of chalk† When I first went to school, the dominant teaching aid was blackboard and chalk. That is almost half a century ago. Back then, the statement â€Å"The best teaching aid is a piece of chalk† is likely to cause bafflement to teachers. â€Å"What else?† would be their common response. Today, however, teaching aids abound. From a simple letter set painstakingly cut out by a devoted teacher, through electronic projection equipment, DVD sound systems, televisions and computers, to the latest interactive whiteboard, they introduce a wealth of variety and differing impact to today’s classroom. Any discussion of this statement will therefore be remiss if I do not introduce and examine some available alternatives†¦show more content†¦3. Supplementing/substituting the blackboard Primarily visual aids, these include the overhead projector (OHP), slide projector (almost going the way of the Dodo), and the latest computer projection equipment. A quick check on the internet shows that these can cost anywhere between USD100 and USD2000, not including the screen. Exorbitant cost aside, the OHP and computer projection equipment can, technically, replace the blackboard. OHP sheets can be prepared in advance or blank, to be written on during the lesson. This is the closest to the blackboard. The advantage is that the teacher is facing the class when doing so and is thus better placed to gauge the class’ attention level and behavior. The disadvantages are that it requires a power cord, generates a fair amount of heat, and often requires some training to use effectively and efficiently. It can also breakdown. The computer projection system requires that all materials be prepared in advance prior the lesson. These can then be presented a bit at a time in accordance to the pace of the lesson. The clearest advantage is that the projected material is type-written and can be set at a font size most suitable for the classroom in use. 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