The discussion about these colours has been going on almost as long as the club existed. There are several hypotheses being put forth in books, in the net and by TV stations. I will try to sort it out by what might be at least plausible. Some very weird claimants have appeared while I searched the net. The one person who never commented on it was Joan (or Hans) Gamper, one of the founders of the club and five times its president.

Hans Gamper was born near Zurich in Switzerland and moved to Barcelona in 1898. 1899 he co-founded the club together with local English and Spanish friends. The colours and the coat of arms were adopted at that time and there are no records on the issue. The colours are blue and red as seen on the shirt of 2006/2007 below.

Hans Gamper had been a member of FC Basel in Switzerland founded in 1893. As he was also its playing captain in the year prior to his move to Barcelona, a connection is at least plausible. FC Basel has the colours blue and red as seen on the shirt of 2006/2007 below. Depending on the language you read it in, Wikipedia either agrees, tentatively agrees, or refutes this claim.

Some people claim that the colours are the national colours of the State and Republic of Ticino in Switzerland. They are partly correct, as the colours of FC Basel derive from that source. As an older club had already claimed the colours black and white, the colours of Ticino were chosen, as these two states had traditionally very close ties. As you see from the coat of arms, the use had been inverted by the founders of FC Basel. This inversion makes the claim of FC Basel more acceptable to me than the Ticino version, as FC Barcelona colours are inverted as well.

Further claims I found were those made by FC Zurich in Switzerland, as Gamper was one of the co-founders of that club in 1896. The club's colours are blue and white; the red seemingly just appeared out of thin air. Wikipedia in English claims Mersey FC as donator of the colours. Why, nobody knows. There are many other curious stories on the net. Most probably the colours were chosen on a whim y the founders without any thought to precedents.

Barcelona has the largest stadium in Europe, containing up to 98,000 fans. It is also held in the colours of blue and red. It is known by the name of Camp Nou, though it should have been named Camp Joan Gamper in 1957. Dictator Franco vetoed the name on grounds of personal hatred against the founder of FC Barcelona.

Basel has the largest stadium in Switzerland containing up to 40,000 fans. It is also held in blue and red. It is officially named St Jacobs Park, but nobody bothers with that. It is just called ‘Joggeli' (pronounce it ‘yoggaelee') in Alemannic.

As both clubs are currently playing against each other in the European Champions League, the colour question has been readdressed from all sides. FC Barcelona's archives give no answer to the question, wherefore we may look forward to many more discussions of this topic.

A list of important equipment used in the game of golf is as follows:

• Golf clubs, such as “putters”, “woods”, and “irons”, which come in different varieties for different types of shots
• Golf balls, made of two to four layers of synthetic material and covered with 300-400 dimples to enhance the ball's aerodynamics
• Golf tees, a generally wooden or plastic object pushed into the ground, with a nail-like design; players place the golf ball on the top of the tee before the first stroke to make for an easier take-off

The golf ball was originally a small pebble, struck by a stick during play. The first man-made golf ball was a thin leather bag stuffed with feathers. 1898 marked the creation of the first rubber-cored golf ball. Seven years later, a golf ball manufacturer realized that if a ball was scarred, it traveled farther than a smooth one. This discovery led to the introduction of dimpled golf balls. Since then, different dimple designs have been patented, but the plastic and rubber contents of the golf ball still remain constant.

The earliest golf clubs were fashioned entirely out of wood. As the golf ball evolved, however, golfers worried less about damaging the ball, and iron heads could be used. Before the 20th century, all golf clubs had a wooden shaft, whether the heads were made of iron or wood. In 1920, the first American steel-shafted clubs were introduced. After 1930, specialty golf clubs began to emerge (such as sand wedges, used to shoot the ball out of a sand pit). In the early 1970s, golf clubs with shafts of fibre-reinforced composite materials were developed, but these shafts were expensive and too flexible. After a few years, stronger fibres replaced the originals, increasing the popularity of these kinds of clubs.

A golf tee is simply the name for the spot where the golfer makes their first stroke towards a hole. Originally, a tee was a mound of sand meant to keep the ball above ground level. The first portable tee was invented in 1889, made of rubber with three prongs that held the ball in place before the swing. This tee was not meant to be inserted into the ground. However, in 1892, the first tee designed to be pushed into the ground was invented; this tee was made of rubber, but also had a metal spike. In 1897, a similar tee was patented, but this one had a cup-shaped head to better hold the ball. Other patents have been issued for tees made of different composite materials; for example, a biodegradable resin was used to make a golf tee in 1991.

In 2004, the United States Golf Association and the Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew's amended the official rules of golf for both clarity and ease of play. Among these changes was a new definition for “tee”. Relating to this new definition, Rule 11-1 introduced a new penalty of disqualification for using a tee not described in these new classifications. This includes any tee longer than four inches, even though newly-patented tees may exceed this measurement.

Since 1947, when the PGA of America began awarding the Vardon Trophy (for best yearly average) using the scores themselves rather than a points system, a steady trend has emerged. Between 1951 and 1987, the majority of winning averages were between 70 and 70.85. In the years between 1988 and 1996, the average winner's results were approximately 69.35. However, the more recent scores have improved; the average winning score between 1997 and 2005 is 68.62. In fact, the lowest average score on record was achieved within those 9 years (67.79 by Tiger Woods in 2000). The invention and improvement of equipment has surely aided these great golfers, as well as any other person enjoying this sport today.

Go with people who are patient

Golf can be a very frustrating experience for beginners. So I always suggest that when beginning, go play with people who are patient. If you go out with people who are competitive and uptight, that is just going to make your experience more miserable.

Play with people better than you

If you are a beginner and you go out with other beginners, you may have fun but you won't get any better. But if you play with people better than you, you can learn and watch to see what they do. In order to be good at any sport you have to be a student of the game and golf is no exception. So when you are out with better players "steal with your eyes" and watch how they play. It may just help you as well.

Ask Questions

Most of the time, good golfers are willing to help beginners. I have found this time and time again as when I was beginning and playing with people better than I was. Most of them were very willing to share their secrets of playing that they had picked up over the years. So if you are playing with someone who is a really good putter, ask them how they learned to putt and what they line up and hit their putts. You may start making a few more!

Remember the feeling after you hit a good shot

To be honest, as a beginner, good shots don't come all that often. But when you do hit one that feels great and actually goes where you wanted it to, remember that feeling. Remember how you swung and how the ball felt when it hit the club. And each time you step up to hit the ball after that, remember that feeling and try to recreate it.

Go easy on yourself

I have seen it time and time again. Beginning golfers play with golfers who have been playing for years and get frustrated that they aren't as good as them. Nobody likes to do things they aren't good at, but golf is about having fun, not being perfect. So when you are out there and things just don't seem to be going your way, realize that golf takes hours and years of practice just to be decent and you probably won't get there today.

The bottom line is, golf is supposed to be fun. And if you aren't out there having fun, then what's the point? So hopefully these few tips will help you play better and have more fun!

From 5.00pm on Sunday until 5.00pm the following day the club undertook it upon themselves to bounce on the trampoline, constantly, for charity. Half the proceeds went to Pieta House, a house for suicide prevention and helps with depression, the charity of choice for RAG week for NUIM for the current year.

This achievement was no mean feet; I decided to write this blog, of our event to publicly thank everyone who was involved of gave money on the day.

. At 5.00pm 4 people set up the Tramps and began to bounce, the bed continued to bounce from that moment onwards, through the wee hours of the morning and all the next day, for the next 24 hours. Throughout the night people took it in turns, some times only two people in ten minute goes to keep the bed bouncing, people read while bouncing to stay awake, some bounced in sleeping bags, while others gave in to sleep and took a quick nap, or even went home for a few hours for some kip. But all along there was always someone on the bed, always someone willing to put their body to the limit and bounce.

Here's a random video from the night, and a small insight into the madness of it all: 24-Hour Bouncathon

All going well, the plan is to repeat this event, and even invite more clubs, and increase the size of the event, and who knows maybe even make the bed bounce for longer…

Well I doubt its injuries and good players after he spent a record 120million pounds over the off season and one of his star signings being Fernando Torres. It's not the rotation policy because Liverpool has good, quality depth in the squad that can handle rotation. This is also the same reason why it cannot be injuries!

Then it must be something that's affecting the player and manager mentally. Oh, that's right it might be the club owners. The past few months have been absolutely woeful if you talk about the relationship between the Liverpool manager and the club owners. It seems that they are not satisfied with the club recent run of bad form and the position in the table. You can understand where they are coming from. After spending more than 100million pounds where are they in the table? They have joined the race for the U.E.F.A cup which is not up to par if you look at Liverpool's standards!

But you also have to look at where Benitez is coming from. So far this season the 2 highest scores for the club for this season has been Fernando Torres and Steven Gerard. Most of these goals have been crucial goals that have turned games around. Now if you look at Liverpool after being asked, who can turn games around for Liverpool? You would probably say Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres.

But let's look at a top side like Manchester United, and you ask who can turn a game around in their team and you'd probably say at least 5 such as Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs, Evra and Tevez. Now players with such talent don't come buy cheaply. That is why Benitez is constantly looking for good quality players.

But unfortunately Liverpool's club owners Hicks and Gillette, don't quite understand that! They think if you spend more than 100 million pounds you should be skyrocketing to the top of the table. But in-fact football is not like that at all. It takes time and money to build up a squad of player who are capable of winning Premier League.

Hicks and Gillette are putting unnecessary pressure on the manager and in turn the team because the have unnecessary pressure on them to win. Hicks and Gillette are not suited for owning such a big club like Liverpool, especially if they do not live up to their promises of not put financial burdens on the club by paying of all dept and paying for new stadium. But it seems they can't do this and they are re-financing their dept on the club!

But that is no excuse for their poor form. It just seems that they cant grind out victories, because you have to do that to be at the top. This is probably because of the unnecessary pressures from the top and also the fact that they do not have enough players who can turn games that look like draws into full 3 points.

Golf has a very simple rule. The players are aimed to hit the ball from the teeing ground or the starting point along a smooth grassy path (fairway) into a small hole with the least amount of strokes.

Golfers use many clubs while playing golf. The clubs called woods are for long distance shots, while irons are for shorter shots. The putter is used when hitting ball lying very close to the hole. Golfers know which clubs should be used as each club has a number to give them a hint. For instance, the ball will be raised 15 to 18 degrees if a ball is hit by number 3 wood.

Golfers need to choose a suitable ball, understand which club to use, and take note of weather conditions if they desire to get the ball from the tee to the hole in the least possible strokes. A light or strong breeze can make a huge different while playing golf. In additions, golf balls are also complex. Their surface pattern can affect the way the ball flies in the air, rolls on the ground and rolls into a hole.

Playing golf is not an easy task as it requires some skills and wisdoms. Maybe, this is a challenge why golfers keep coming back for the game.

1. Set your self a goal and leave it aside for now.
2. Think of what Subject you want to be smart in.
3. Do a 5-page assay on it to get your mind into it If you can't be bothered then you won't get very smart very quick.
4. Now that you have done an assay on it you should practice in it eg. If you what Smart in maths do maths
5. You should do this for about 3 months and Walla, no need for those 12 years in School but it would be good for you to go in those 12 years of school.

How to Learn Martial Arts

1. First I think you should check you area for any martial arts clubs eg. Karate judo Clubs.
2. Then if there is no clubs listen to me (I'm a black belt) First start with a basic kick In the air and repeat until you can kick you about you height minus 30cm. 2 weeks plus to master.
3. Now on to a punch slowly punch in air 25 times for warming your muscles up then start on a punching bag if you have no punching bag I suggest you bring a lot of news paper 5 pillow cases then put each pillow cases in each other to make a strong bag the put about 10kg of wet news paper then live it out to dry after all that you can tie it up and punch on it for 2 week to master a punch.
4. So you now know how to punch and kick fantastically now on to something hard you must kick the punching bag until it moves at least 50cm-1.5m then punch it till it goes 30cm-1m. Then try moves like flips, dodging things and don't try what you see in the movies half the time it impossible to do.
5. But heres the bit where your going to need to practice for months doing things like uppercuts, low kicks, high kicks and more and the punching bag will help you help you a lot. When you have mastered all of these things I wouldn't say you're a black belt but you're on your way and you should really try to find a dojo (karate club). If you finally found a dojo to train in that's great if not scroll down and read some more.
6. This is where most people get tired after about 3-4 months of martial arts but if your determined enough you'll keep reading ok this is simple and can get tricky put 1 foot up and the other on the ground and balance for as long as you can (try timing yourself) then record your time until after about 1-2 months your time should be from 20 to 60 seconds. If you get more I recommend swapping feet LOL.
7. The near end of your training all you have to do know is to find a club or dojo if you can't then just read more articles on the internet or from books.

The NASCAR race in California was anything but boring. There were several wrecks as early as the 7th lap which included Jamie McMurray, Scott Riggs, and Reed Sorensen. Later wrecks included Ken Schrader and David Reutimann. There were also several cars that were out of the race because of engine problems. These cars were Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Khane, and Dave Blaney.

There were also many lead changes, but the main leader in the race was Matt Kenseth. He led over half the laps of the race surely making up for the 50 point deduction because of complications with his team last Sunday. Other main leaders included Kasey Khane, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, and Tony Steward. Ironically, Jeff Gordon didn't lead a single lap even though he was the pole sitter.

Final

In the end Matt Kenseth, who led the majority of the race, won the Auto Club 500. Kevin Harvick, who could have had him on the final laps, had a flat tire on lap 5 just before they were about to restart and was not able to have a chance at Kenseth.

Rounding out the top five are:

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Jeff Burton
5. Mark Martin