Part 3: Street ball

In my last but not least article I will present the other side of basketball – street ball. It’s surely more spectacular, on the other hand resulting in more injuries.

Part 3: Street ball

While the rules of street ball are generally non-existent, street ball places a higher emphasis on the joy of handling the ball. Often the attacker will perform numerous flashy moves while attempting to dribble or "drive" to the basket, including crossovers, jab steps, and other fake-out tricks. Street ball often features spectacular dunks and alley oops, impressive ball handling, and trash talking.

In most versions of street ball carrying, travelling, or double dribble is an accepted part of the game and is encouraged to make it less challenging for offensive players to score and more showy for the crowds.

Rules vary widely from court to court. Almost invariably a ‘call your own foul’ rule is in effect, and a player who believes he has been fouled, simply needs to call out "Foul!" or "Ball!", and play will be stopped, with the ball awarded to the fouled player's team.

It goes without saying: calling fouls in street ball is disfavoured. The etiquette of what rightly constitutes a foul, as well as the permissible amount of protestation against such a call, are the products of individual groups, and of the seriousness of a particular game. Another common variation to the contest is the "skunk" rule. This merely means that if a player reaches a certain point without the other player scoring, the game is over.

Street ball is often generalized as a "pick-up game", where players may or may not know one another, and is for the most part recreational. However, those who are interested in basketball may have heard about street ball crews like And1 or The Notic. Their so called ‘mix tapes’ (movies showing their street performances) had a great influence on street ball popularity not only in USA, but also in Europe. There is a number of street ball events organized annually, even in Warsaw.

Personally, I think that it had a bad impact on street ball, because now there are more selfish players who try their best at dribbling but end up losing the ball to the opponents. Also, there’s the whole dress code for a real ‘baller’ (short from street baller). Funnily looking boys with no skills are so pathetic ;)

I’m really keen on playing street ball from time to time with my mates. It really helps me unwind and relax. Having played basketball for about 5 years, I sometimes participate in events organised in Park Agrykola. I’ve never considered myself as a 100% IT guy, probably because (unlike my IT friends) I love sports ?

External sources

1st part of The Notic mix tape, one of my favourite. These guys have some serious skills in street balling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSRjH1CY9Q Some of them play in NBA now



Funny basketball tricks as a variation of street ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww0wKU6BrwM




Thanks for reading on till the very end.
It’s been a pleasure writing about something I really like!
Michał Rapińczuk

Part 2: Best of the best

In my second article I will focus mainly on the most influential players in the basketball history. The list may show some surprises and some that are no brainers.


Part 2: Best of the best


First of all, I did not consider any player who has played fewer than 10 seasons. Hence, it’s the reason why I left out famous players like LeBron James. I think trying to place him on the all time list is premature and too much of a guess right now.

No 5: Larry Bird

Once every generation or so, a player comes along who can truly be called a superstar. Larry Bird was such a player. For 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, from 1979-80 through 1991-92, Bird personified hustle, consistency and excellence in all areas of play - as a scorer, a passer, a rebounder, a defender, a team player, and, perhaps above all, as a clutch performer. Bird was so self-confident that he was known to waltz up to the opponents' bench before tipoff and predict a 40-point performance for himself. He was such a deadly shooter that he sometimes practiced three-pointers with his eyes closed.

No 4: Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Few athletes are truly unique, changing the way their sport is played with their singular skills. Earvin "Magic" Johnson was one of them. Just how great a basketball player was Johnson? So great, perhaps, that future generation of hoop fans may wish they had entered the world years earlier-just so they could have seen Magic play in person instead of watching him only on highlight reels. He was what Bob Cousy was to the 1950s, what Oscar Robertson was to the 1960s, what Julius Erving was to the 1970s. Still, Earvin Johnson was even more than a revolutionary player who, at 6-9, was the tallest point guard in league history.

No 3: Wilt Chamberlain

He was basketball's unstoppable force, the most awesome offensive force the game has ever seen. Asked to name the greatest players ever to play basketball, most fans and aficionados would put Wilt Chamberlain at or near the top of the list. Dominating the game as few players in any sport ever have, Chamberlain seemed capable of scoring and rebounding at will, despite the double- and triple-teams and constant fouling tactics that opposing teams used to try to shut him down. As Oscar Robertson put it in the Philadelphia Daily News when asked whether Chamberlain was the best ever, "The books don't lie."

No 2: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the game in 1989 at age 42, no NBA player had ever scored more points, blocked more shots, won more MVP awards, played in more All-Star Games, or logged more seasons. His list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most awesome in league history: Rookie of the Year, member of six NBA championship teams, six-time NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time All-Star, two-time scoring champ, and a member of the NBA 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time Teams.

No 1: Michael Jordan

By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Although, a summary of his basketball career and influence on the game inevitably fails to do justice to the man. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of fundamental soundness, grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire, Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar.

Even contemporaneous superstars recognized the unparalleled position of Jordan. Magic Johnson (4th on my list) said, ‘There's Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us.’ Larry Bird (5th on my list), following a playoff game where Jordan dropped 63 points on the Boston Celtics in just his second season, appraisal of the young player was: ‘God disguised as Michael Jordan’.

His impact is far greater than a great amount of awards and championships. He burst into the league as a rookie sensation scoring in droves with an unmatchable first step and acrobatic drives and dunks and concluded his career as a cultural icon. Along the way, he became a true champion who spearheaded the globalization of the NBA with his dynamic on court abilities and personal sense of style that was marketed to the masses.

He was an accessible star who managed to maintain an air of mystique. He was visible as ‘Air Jordan’, as part of a sneaker advertising campaign and endorsing other products as well as the star of the movie, Space Jam. However, he would vanish into retirement twice only to return until hanging up the sneakers for the last time after the 2002/03 season.

No 0: My personal favourite: Vince Carter

Before his injuries, and before the trade demands, Vince Carter was the biggest superstar this league had seen since Michael Jordan. His run at the top was very short, spanning from 1999 to 2002, but while he was at the top, he garnered international recognition, and he put the city of Toronto on the NBA map forever.

His dunk against Frederic Weis of France, where he jumped over the seven-footers' head was just the icing on the cake. He put together the most dominant dunk-off performance in NBA history in 2000, and he carried the Raptors to one shot from the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000-2001.

His play of late has been solid, but he's certainly lost his status as one of the league's top five names. While it became obvious that Carter was never ready for the responsibilities of carrying a league the way Jordan did, it was never questioned whether he was talented enough to do so. He'll go down as one of the most marketable athletes of his generation, and the greatest dunker in NBA history.

The summer he spent in China with Yao Ming truly completed the package, and even while posting average numbers, his fans globally were sure to vote ‘Vinsanity' into the All-Star game.

If you can't think of a time when Carter was this popular, just look in your closet. Buried deep beneath the pants which used to fit, and the shirt that used to be black, is a purple and black jersey with the number 15 on it. Unless of course you're a Raptor fan, in which case you've probably burnt it.

External sources

Michael Jordan - witness the greatest of all time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUF8ZiMF9xw



Vince Carter – the most famous Vince Carter dunk, with 6 different camera angles and the crazy commentator reaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMrPjl-927Q



Vince Carter – in my opinion the best slam dunk ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGZtENNNUbA&feature=related



Michael Jordan quote: ‘One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.’

Part 1: History of Basketball

Preface: Having very little time to think of some brilliant and creative idea for a series of articles, I decided to describe my second favourite sport – basketball. I’ll try to keep it as interesting as possible, so keep reading and don’t feel disappointed if you don’t like the topic :)

Part 1: History of Basketball

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by the Canadian clergyman, educator, and physician James Naismith. The concept of basketball was born from Naismith's school days in the area where he played a simple child's game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it.

Naismith introduced the game when we was an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the request of his superior, Dr. Luther H. Gulick, he organized a vigorous recreation suitable for indoor winter play. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals. By 1897-1898, teams of five became standard.

A number of U.S. colleges adopted the game between about 1893 and 1895. In 1934 the first college games were staged in New York City's Madison Square Garden, and college basketball began to attract heightened interest. By the 1950s basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball.

In 1949 two subsequent professional leagues, the National Basketball League (formed in 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (1946) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Boston Celtics, led by their center Bill Russell, dominated the NBA from the late 1950s through the 1960s.

The NBA suffered a drop in popularity during the late 1970s, but was resuscitated, principally through the growing popularity of its most prominent players. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers are credited with injecting excitement into the league in the 1980s through their superior skills and decade-long rivalry. During the late 1980s Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls rose to stardom and helped the Bulls dominate the NBA during the early 1990s. A new generation of basketball stars, including Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic and Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, have sustained the NBA's growth in popularity.


External sources

An excellent, inspirational video showing the history of basketball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RySV-D0Fyk





Strongly recommended for great music and superb highlights choice.

Ecological catastrophes - part 3

Hello. This is my last post about major ecological catastrophes, which took place in previous century. In previous post I wanted to bring some information about less known events in Bhopal and Aral Sea.

Today I will write about Cheronobyl disaster.

On April 26, 1986 in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant happened the worst accident in the history of nuclear power. The cause of it was a dangerous test, which was supposed to check cooling system reaction during core shutdown procedure. During the test reactor was cut off from efficient cooling what resulted in rapidly increasing temperature and finally explosion and fire. Fire of the reactor lasted for 9 days releasing large amounts of radioactive dusts into the atmosphere. Radioactive cloud drifted not only over Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, but also over whole east, west and south Europe.

During accident 203 people were hospitalized immediately, of whom 31 died from radiation. Most deaths were among firefighters who came after explosion and were trying to stop fires. 135,000 people were evacuated from the 2500 km buffer zone around the plant, including 50,000 from the nearby town of Pripyat. Pripyat today is abandoned ghost town.

The total predicted number of deaths due to the disaster is highly controversial, generally calculated for around 4 000, with about 50% among disaster liquidators. On the whole world about 600 000 people were exposed to increased radiation levels, however there is no prove that this had any impact on their health. Depending on different sources this number can be much higher or lower. Different organizations like Green Peace have interest in showing overrated results of disaster. Governments of Belarus and Ukraine gets international help for fighting with effects of the accident. Impact on ecosystem is not yet widely studied but already made reports shows increase in numbers of wild animals.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant worked producing energy to 2000 when last working reactor have been shut down. Zone around plant is still closed, however it is known that some people returned to their homes. Also in 2002, zone have been opened for tourism. One day trip costs about $150 - $200. Power plant site is to be cleared by 2065

Questions
1. What do you think about atomic power plants? Would you be disturbed having one in your town ?
2. Would you like to visit a place like Pripyat, knowing that there is increased radiation ?

Ecological catastrophes - part 2

Hi all,

This is my second post about major ecological catastrophes. Last time I wrote about Aral Sea ( thanks for interesting comments ). Today I would like to present you some information about city of Bhopal.  

From 1979 to 1984 Union Carbide's plant in Bhopal, India was producing carbaryl pesticide . In this process they were using extremely toxic intermediate chemical - methyl isocyanate (MIC).
During the nights of 2–3 December, a large amount of water entered tank containing MIC. A chemical reaction started, rising temperature and pressure. This resulted in tank explosion and exposure of over 500,000 to toxic gases. This event is known today as Bhopal disaster.

From half of million of people exposed to toxic gases 20 000 have died and over 100 000 have permanent injuries.The initial effects of exposure were coughing, vomiting, severe eye irritation and a feeling of suffocation. Medical staff were not prepared for thousands of people which came to hospitals. They also wasn't informed about proper MIC poisoning treatment. Plant was located in highly populated area. Today thousands of people still suffers from eye problems, respiratory difficulties, immune and neurological disorders, cardiac failure secondary to lung injury, female reproductive difficulties. After tragedy the plant was closed, but its terrain remained polluted. In 1991 water from over 100 tube wells was declared to be unfit for drinking.

There is many controversy about how operations of Uninion Carde contributed to the tragedy. Since 1979 there was available technology for producing carbaryl without MIC. UC never used it in Bhopal because it was more expensive. But that's not the last thing UC did to reduce costs of production. There is known that plant was working without proper servicing, money was being saved on alarm and backup systems, cooling systems, proper durable materials (ex. - for valves), workers training (manuals were giving them only in English language), etc. UC had reports showing that such disaster can happen, but did nothing to prevent it. Right after the event UC claimed that reason of water entering MIC tank was sabotage and all safety devices were in working order.



In the next 10 years Union Carbide paid over 100 million dollars for helping victims of the catastrophe. What still remains a problem is terrain pollution. Many toxic materials were never properly cleaned and even now remains a threat. This was remained in 2004 by a group called "The Yes Man". One of them claiming to be company representative announced on BBC that company had agreed to clean up the site and compensate victims with found of 12 billion dollars. 'Joke' resulted in 2 billion dollars drop in company's market value, but reminded of situation of people Bhopal.

Questions. :

What do you think about companies which move their production to countries with cheap workforce ?
Do you think they keep up standards when nobody looks at their hands?

Ecological catastrophes - part 1

Hi all,

In my weak of posting on this blog I will try to bring you some information about major ecological catastrophes, which took place in previous century. No, there will be not a word about recent oil leak in Gulf of Mexico, I'm quit sure you heard enough on the news. In the next days I will be writing about Aral Sea, Bohpal and Chernobyl power plant. I all this places industrial mistakes brought catastrophic results for people and ecosystems.

I'll start from Aral Sea.

Between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan lied one of the world largest lakes – the Aral Sea. 50 years ago It had surface of 68,000 square kilometers - almost the size of Ireland. Lake had great meaning for fish industry in whole region. Today total size of what has left from it is no higher than 17,160 square kilometers – rest have turned into desert.

In early forties of previous century Soviets began to construct irrigating canals. The plan was to divert flow of rivers which had their end in the lake and make nearby desert suitable for cotton production. Construction was very cheep therefore most of water was never reaching fields, simply evaporation or leaking. Although project was very ineffective the main goal have been reached – today cotton is one of the major Kazakhstan crops. Destroying of the lake was no surprise for government, some of the Soviet experts treated giant salty lake as a nature's error.

Between 1960 an 2000 most of the lake waters evaporated . Today its waters divided into two separate small lakes on the west and north. 

Shrinking of the lake resulted in increase of salinity, making huge impact on ecosystem. Where once were waters full of fish there is now salty desert pouted with toxic chemicals and pesticides. Dust storms spreads pollution destroying crops and people's health. A lot of population suffers from cancer and lungs diseases. Industry which once employed 40 000 people and contributed
one-sixth to the Soviet Union's entire fish catch have been destroyed. Cites once lying at lake shore now are in the middle of the desert. Such example is Muynak in Uzbekistan with its armada of rusting hulks turned into major tourist attraction.

Plans for restoration of the Aral Sea began in 2000, but serious events started in 2003 with support of the World Bank . Building a dam separating north part of the lake and repairing damage caused by previous irrigating works helped to rise water level and decrease salinity. It helped to partly reviving the fishing industry in the region. However the The South Aral Sea, which lies in poorer Uzbekistan has no plans for improvement. Their government shows almost no interest in returning original river flow, which stills irrigates their cotton fields.

Questions. :

Have you ever heard about Aral Sea?
Have you ever hard about similar ecological catastrophe ?
What do you think about huge investments in rearranging ecosystems ?

Car quality – today and in the past

The quality of cars has decreased dramatically over the last few years. Previously, people were not worried about the problems of rusting cars and bad electronic, because the equipment of vehicles was in fact very poor. We can say that now driving comfort and safety increased much, but at what cost? I think that everyone, even in a new car, has met with some problems, although small, but very annoying. Blown fuses, all the time perishable sensors or appearing engine control can make everyone dizzy. What’s more there are problems with the clutch cable and accelerator pedal, as recently in Toyota. Due to the fact that the cars are overloaded with electronics repair is more difficult and simultaneously more expensive.

In addition to persistent problems with the engine and the computer, there are problems with the car body. I am sure that a lot of people are surprised that in the brand new cars you can find traces of corrosion and what’s more in quite large quantities.

It is also commonly believed that Opel is a car that has a very good engine, but unfortunately it is characterized by a very bad body. Every owner of Opel has to reckon with the fact that after a few years he will have to repair the sills and wheel arches. Very often there is corrosion on the doors and engine lid. In the new Opel there is also a problem with the engine (still appearing “check engine” control), which can reduce the comfort of driving even in the most comfortable model.


Perhaps you met also with the statement that French cars are the worst quality. Of course they run excellently - have a perfect lead, are comfortable, but is the every month visit by the mechanic not too much expense?


And do you remember the cars which are popular 20 - 30 years ago? Our Fiat 125 P could be driven throughout the Europe, even without the spare wheel and nothing had happened. Family trip to Bulgaria was a normal phenomenon in communist Poland and no one thought what he would do if the car breaks. In case of any failure every driver coped with the problem by himself using simple tools. Replacing the engine was possible in the garage and each driver was able to do simple repairs in his vehicle. Problems with the paint did not exist and no one cared about rust.


If you now want to repair by yourself your great new car, certainly you won’t manage it without help of specialist. Expensive programs to detect errors in the computer prevented garage repair. Biodegradable coatings resulted in much larger cars rusting, which further increases the costs of maintaining the car.

What do you think about the today’s quality of cars?
Are you the lucky man who don’t have such problems or are you the member of the frustrated car owner community?