Michael Jordan cheers on the Charlotte Bobcats against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 01, 2008 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

Getting Started
To produce really great players they have to play in great clubs and this cannot happen without .....excellent coaches!.
The road to coaching excellence is a long one and the coaches that make it to the top say the road is never ending; but everyone has to start somewhere and it is now easier than ever to become a qualified coach through England Basketball's Coach Education Programme.

The first step and often the best way to get into coaching is to go along to your local club session (after asking permission) and get involved with setting up the session, organising the players in the drills etc. After a few weeks you'll feel confident enough to making a commitment to becoming a coach.

The next step to becoming a fully qualified coach is to enrol on  which take place at various locations right across the country

Last week I was burgled. The (insert your own expletive here) took all of my jewellery, my laptop, a leather holdall and a pair of expensive jeans that I probably should never have paid that much for.

Aside from the feeling of violation that comes from crackheads (as the police reliably informed me they were) rifling through my drawers, my main concern was for the recovery of afore mentioned items. Alas, there seems is little chance of this. The CSI woman could lift no fingerprints from my Ikea surfaces, and I was told that the turn around from bedroom to market stall was normally only a couple of hours.

"What's the problem?" my friends and family asked, "You're a personal finance journalist, you must have insurance."

Well, I don't. As I currently live in rental property I saw no need for home insurance until burst pipes were my responsibility, not thinking about the possibility of being pillaged. As the phrases go, I learnt my lesson the hard way and I won't be making the same mistake again.

For those clever people who do have home insurance it is worth checking if there is an automatic increase in your contents allowance around this time of year to cover any Christmas presents you may have bought. Expensive items such as electronic gifts such as iPods and Xbox's, and jewellery may not be covered on your standard policy.

It's not just honest folk who are feeling the crunch - the police mentioned they had seen a definite increase in burglaries since the credit crisis began, and add to this the rise that is normally associated with this time of year and you'd be foolish not to have insurance.

As Andy Leadbetter, managing director of insurance at moneysupermarket.com said: "We're all feeling the financial pinch at the moment, but Christmas often brings out the generous streak in people. Insurance is probably the last thing on people's minds as festivities take over but with expensive gifts and gadgets aplenty this is a prime time for opportunistic thieves to strike.  Ensuring you have adequate contents cover is crucial - otherwise Brits might be in for a bout of the New Year blues."

December 2, 2008
BY FRANK MAIN AND KARA SPAK Staff Reporters

A South Side man arrested Monday in the killings of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson's family members has admitted the shootings to someone else, law enforcement sources said.

William Balfour, 27, is suspected in the Oct. 24 killings of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson; Hudson's brother, Jason Hudson, and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.

Jennifer Hudson and her sister's husband, William Balfour, celebrate after she won her Oscar. Balfour was arrested on a warrant in the murders of Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
(US Weekly)

Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the Hudson home in the 7000 block of South Yale in Englewood. Julian's body was discovered in a sport-utility vehicle three days later on the West Side.

Sources said police have built a solid but circumstantial case against Balfour. Balfour allegedly told someone about the killings and a witness has linked him to the SUV, sources said.

Also, police found a .45-caliber pistol in bushes near the place where the SUV was parked, and the gun was linked to the murders through ballistics tests.

The gun is believed to have belonged to Jason Hudson. Hudson's two-toned Sig Sauer .45-caliber handgun was missing from his South Yale home for several months, sources said.

One of Balfour's girlfriends told authorities that he was carrying a gun that looked like the .45-caliber handgun used in the slayings, officials said.

Balfour was arrested Monday afternoon at Stateville Correctional Center, where he was being held on parole violations.

Although police have obtained a warrant for Balfour's arrest in the killings, the Cook County state's attorney's office must still formally approve murder charges.

Balfour is the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia -- who is Julian's mother.

The motive for the killings is unclear, but police believe Julia Hudson was in a quarrel beforehand with Balfour at the South Yale home. Julia was not there during the shootings.

Donerson's cousin Ruth Nichols said she and her family have been praying for an arrest, including special prayers over their Thanksgiving meal.

"It's not going to bring your loved ones back, but if they have the person that did it, it's some kind of relief," she said. "I was just hoping they would get whoever did it."

Balfour's mother, Michele Davis Balfour, said through tears that she believes prosecutors made a deal with Balfour's girlfriend. They would drop a pending drug case against the girlfriend in return for her testimony that she saw Balfour with the murder weapon, his mother alleged.

"All I have to say to Todd Stroger and the city of Chicago is that I'm going to be driving a Bentley," she said. "The city of Chicago is going to pay me for arresting my son."

Authorities denied they cut such a deal.

Police took Balfour into custody for questioning shortly after the murders, but he was released without charges.

Then he was taken into state custody for parole violations and has been held at the Stateville prison ever since.

State authorities said Balfour's main parole violation stemmed from his girlfriend telling authorities that he was carrying a gun.

Balfour had been on parole since his 2006 release from prison for a 1999 attempted murder conviction. A full hearing on Balfour's parole was scheduled for Wednesday.

On Monday night in a key early-season showdown against the Magic, the Celtics' role players were ready for the task.

Boston derailed Orlando's six-game road win streak with a 107-88 win that was as much about the Big Three as it was the bit players. Paul Pierce led the way (tormenting Hedo Turkoglu in perhaps some redemption for his blast season), KG played solid defense and Allen hit key 3-pointers.

"We were just taking advantage of the matchups," Pierce said. "We saw something that we could do and we just kept going to it. My teammates did a good job of setting me up."

But the play of Boston's other guys such as Rajon Rondo (16 points, 12 assists), Kendrick Perkins (13 rebounds) and Eddie House (11 points, 2-for-3 on 3-pointers) were what Orlando couldn't match. Sure, the Magic were short-handed, but even a full roster might not have been enough to offset Boston's play on Monday.

Just like last season, the Celtics' bit players are contributing when it matters. Thanks to that, the Celtics (just like last season) find themselves head and shoulders above the rest of the Eastern Conference

Does this post to group?

Doug Lesmerises, from The Plain Dealer,  has a great article on what bowl the Buckeyes could end up playing in.  There is even discussion about the possibility of a matchup with UC.  That would certainly be an interesting game.

fffffff

Does this work?

GOT ME ON MY KNEES
Way to go Layne Kiffin.  Not only did you get the job that everyone was so sure Brian Kelly was gonna get, but you get to go home to this.  Well played.

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GOT SIX MINUTES, 53 SECONDS?
Check out Indiana senior Mark Shuller's video documenting his efforts to walk on the IU basketball team.  I should've made videos when I was in school detailing my efforts to drink around the world, get the ladies in the cafeteria to wear hair nets, and convince my parents that "Billiards" was a class worth ponying up for.

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." - Benjamin Franklin

I would love to find F1 collectables. In particular some of the more unusual stuff. Things like pit crew items etc. Shirts and caps etc everyone has, but someone must be able to help find rarer stuff.

ALWAYS a jolt to stick a toe in the water without testing the temperature first. Especially when you're arrogant enough to assume it's warm.

I launched my little blog last week with the kind of blasé naivety that deserves to see its owner come unstuck - or at the least a little unsteadied - and so it was that I was. Unsteadied that is.

Within half an hour of setting my thoughts free, comments had appeared - comments from people I didn't know, and didn't expect to be reading. Blogging, it turns out, is not the domain of the private.

There I was thinking nobody would log on - nobody would even know I was there - barring my nearest, dearest, and the odd Herald reader wondering what I was up to now my newspaper column had collapsed.

I had no idea the website I'd chosen to house my offerings was so well-used - and that its users would be reading and replying so often. Once I'd gotten over the shock, I spent a very illuminating evening exploring my new home more thoroughly.

I picked the mytelegraph site purely on the recommendation of a friend, who suggested it was easy to use and well run.

Knowing next to nothing about blogging, I'd spared not a thought for the people already signed up - yes, I really was that unworldly. Blogging, I've long assumed, is not much of an art form.

Far too much being said by people with far too little to say - that was pretty much how I described the practice in my first post.

But this assumption was based on the brief forays I've made into random, run of the mill blogs. Badly written diatribes about traffic wardens and intricately detailed accounts of what people had eaten for breakfast were mostly what I stumbled across.

It all seemed very boring, very self indulgent, and very dull to read.

Little did I know, hey. It didn't take long for me to realise the error of my ways - and within half an hour of toddling around mytelegraph, I was feeling a little ashamed of myself.

There were bucket-loads of brilliant blogs - some were diary-style accounts, but many more offered opinions on topical events. People were writing about what was happening in the news, as well as in their lives. And writing about it well - my admittedly over-zealous obsession with spelling and grammar was pleasingly placated, but more than that, I was impressed.

Overwhelmed a little. Inspired a lot.

Blogging had much more to offer than I'd previously assumed. Well, you know what they say about making assumptions.

As I readjusted my thoughts, I found myself besieged by yet more evidence of my folly, as readers of my old newspaper column emailed with messages of support - and advice on how to "make my blog a success." What? I thought I just had to write it?

No, no, no. Writing was the mere beginning.

"You have to comment on lots of other peoples' blogs, and then other readers will get to see your name and look at yours," I was told.

"Make sure you bookmark the blogs you like and then they'll bookmark you" was another.

And then for the truly dedicated - or perhaps deluded - there was the future to focus on.

My mother, who I'd hire as my campaign manager in a second should I decide to run for president, lost no time in emailing over links to stories about bloggers made good - mums writing about the daily grind who earned themselves lucrative book deals, and other such rags-to-riches tales.

"That's what you need to do, off you go," she ordered, with that motherly certainty.

As I checked out the established mumsy blogs I was told about, I was yet further impressed - and intimidated by the quality of the writing. Not much left to say by little ole me surely - everyone else was already at it, and had been for some time.

So no, I won't be scratching away in search of success, and neither will I be madly posting comments on every established blog I can find. I'll just carry on writing in my own little way - but I'll keep on reading too, because, as I'm discovering on a daily basis, there's plenty out there worth reading.

Folks, I have only been on for limited amounts of time each day as the home improvement project and Nutcracker rehearsals have continued to fill every spare moment I've had the past couple of weeks. 

At home, the TV is usually blaring in the background, and true to myself, it is usually on CNN.  So while home it has not escaped my notice about the horrendous reign of terror going on in Mumbai, India.  What DID go over my head, like a flight of geese, was the possibility that one of our members here may have been right there in the middle of what essentially is a war zone, and under fire himself.

So you can imagine my shock when I logged on and read Rama Sedtu's blog entries over the last couple of days.

Surviving something like that must be a real exercise in gratitude for simply being alive!

If you haven't done so already, please go to his blog and check out the details.   And I'm sure he can use your prayers, good thoughts, and comments.   And let us all breathe a sigh of relief that he is safe at home now.

Hi, you can find Craig McGill at www.craig-mcgill.com and www.twitter.com/craigmcgill

Marky Mark writing his name ont he wall:

Michael Phelp's new girlfriend, a waitress at the Palms in Vegas:

Hi~Guys & Girls,

My name is Candy,WWE's(Jeff Hardy) Big Fans in

HongKong!

I had watch wwe for 10 years!That is a long time.

When i was young(now also~haha),i love The Rock so

much!The Rock is my idol,i like to see he vs Y2J,after The

Rock move to be s star,I love Hardy Boyz so much,because

Jeff Hardy make me crazy!!i love me more that everthing!

i don't know why~i crazy on him,i just know he has his

own character!and i love his character also,sometime i

think he is similar to me,because i don't like to care about

what you think...i just like..whatever i like!so that's why i

love him!But very poor...WWE never been to HK,i never

meet Hardy.i will give him a big hug~if i can meet him!i

remember last week,WWE said Jeff Hardy was insensible.

actually i don't believe it~but i still worrying...that

new scare me to die....because everyone don't know what

happen,and no one can answer me what's going on..... 

huha!i hope that is not ture!~and don't did it again,i don't 

know why i love a man that i never meet him,

Maybe that is fans & idol's love!that love is so wonderful!!

Jeff is full of art~that why i love him!

love,

Candy

2-12-2008

Twelve new blogs in four hours.

That must be a record low for a Tuesday morning.

Is this the final nail in ONEshite's coffin?

Or is it just a natural cycle, 18 months after its launch? People come, people go; websites ditto.

Farewell, Cymbeline, Ferret and Maggie. You have all added to the entertainment on these screens. All the best, Nobby.

Girl look, I know I could say a mouth full but I am too focused on you and my girls making a smooth transition in the White House...

Now did you get new furniture baby, stuff that you can bring home wth you when you return!

Did you see Oprah yesterday, I thought it was so transparent of Barbara Walter's, to talk so openly about her life's ordeals and the loves of her lives...

I get confused, that is why I know I need a break, anyway... I know you found new school but have you prepared them for the behind the scene's life. I say relax, enjoy and have fun...

6:44 am Well, I guess I have all this free time on my hands and I am officially off duty.

You PROMISED me that YOU (OBAMA) would clear this mess up with my children, so how much more do I have to endure of this madness... YOU (Obama) PROMISED me that you would handle this. So now, you have the office are you going to stand with me, are you going to handle this BEFORE y0ou go to Washington? or will I be brushed unde the carpet and you will forget all about this too!