From The Rock

After a summer of negotiational back and forth during which both sides indicated at various points that they were far apart and then making progress, the Portland Trailblazers have inked All Star shooting guard Brandon Roy to a five year contract extension. Roy will be in the final year of his rookie contract in the forthcoming NBA season, and securing the services of a player that did no less than turn around the franchise was the teams top summer priority.

Some suggest that the emergence of Roy actually saved the Portland NBA franchise. After a run during the late 1980s behind Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, the team went a long way toward alienating their passionate fan base. They had a competitive team at times, but Blazer management was tone deaf to the desire of the community to have a franchise that they could be proud of off the court as well as on it. Instead, the Blazers pulled together a roster consisting of character challenged reprobates that earned the moniker JailBlazers for their frequent legal transgressions.

With the Blazers fans staying away from the arena in droves, team owner Paul Allen had finally had enough. In the late 1990′s, he gutted the franchise management and cleaned house. The new management was given the charge to put together a roster that would not only win games, but win back the Rose City fans. The acquisition of Roy will likely be looked at as the turning point for this effort. The Blazers acquired Roy on draft day 2006 for Randy Foye, and would go on to win the NBAs rookie of the year award.

The Blazers”who were 21-61 the year before Roy arrived”posted a 54-28 record last season. Roy has become the centerpiece of a talented young team had has not only become a force in the NBAs Western Conference but has gone a long way to winning back the Portland fan base.

Roy will earn $4 million dollars in the last year of his rookie season, after which his five year $82 million dollar contract will kick in. The first four years are guaranteed, while the fifth is at the players option. Roys agent Bob Myers strongly suggested that Roy wanted to remain with the Blazers for his entire career, noting that he “is one of the unique players to have a chance to have that sort of relationship with one team.”

The team will now turn its attention to signing a long term deal with forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Like Roy, Aldridge is in the final year of his rookie contract and a key component to the teams recent success. At last report, talks between the two sides are progressing.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and highly respected authority on soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Tom Brady returned to NFL action and looked good in limited playing time as the New England Patriots opened their preseason schedule with a 27-25 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Brady played into the second quarter, moving well and showing no lingering effects of his knee surgery. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 100 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

The Patriots also rewarded their NFL preseason financial backers by winning outright as a +2 road underdog. The combined 52 points scored shattered the posted total of 32 for an easy OVER. With the Pats and Eagles putting 27 points on the board in the first half, the total had almost been surpassed by the halftime break.

Bradys solid play was no doubt a heartening sight to Patriots fans, though he had little to say after the game on the specifics on his performance:

“I need the work, we all need the work. You can’t duplicate this on the practice field.”

Instead, Brady focused on the less tangible aspects of being back under center:

“There’s no place I’d rather be. This is the place where I probably have the most fun and enjoy it the most. Preseason game doesn’t have quite the feel of a regular-season game, but to be out there on the field with my teammates and celebrate after a win, and the bus ride home … those are the things you probably enjoy the most.”

Tight end Chris Baker was more effusive in discussing Bradys comeback effort:

“I thought he was sharp. He went out there and moved us up and down the field and put some points on the board.

New England took a 21-6 lead into the locker room at halftime, but would have to hold on for the victory after Philadelphia responded with a 16 point third quarter. The third period onslaught allowed the Eagles to hold a significant edge in most offensive categories including total yardage and time of possession.

Brady, the two time Superbowl MVP, sat out the entire 2008 preseason with an undisclosed foot ailment. Hes expected to get a significant amount of playing time in exhibition games this year, however, as he tries to regain his regular season form.

The Patriots will open the regular season on Monday, September 14 as they host the Buffalo Bills. Philadelphia will begin their regular season campaign on the road in Charlotte, NC against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, September 13.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Even when the games don’t count and the starters play little, if at all, the Baltimore Ravens hate to lose. Despite the Atlanta Falcons starting QB Matt Ryan playing only one series and with the Ravens third string signal caller John Beck playing the entire game it was apparent that Baltimore wanted the victory more. The former BYU standout threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as the Ravens easily beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-3 at the Georgia Dome.

Sports enthusiasts who bet on NFL preseason action were rewarded for their investment in the Ravens, as Baltimore won outright as +3 road underdogs. The 23 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 35.

Ravens QB Beck hasnt had much playing time in the NFL since his ill fated rookie year in Miami in 2007. After the game, he expressed how pleased he was to showcase his skills for the entire game:

“He (coach John Harbaugh) told me a few days ago that I would play the whole game. It was very exciting to get to play the whole game.”

Beck made the most of his opportunity, finishing with 232 yards on 16 of 28 passing and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. The Ravens defense held the Falcons to just 175 yards of total offense.

Despite the lackluster effort by his team, Falcons coach Mike Smith was nonplussed:

“You’ve got to understand in these games, you’re going to call things defensively and offensively to put players in certain situations to evaluate them. You’re not game-planning in a game like this. You’re going to put players in certain situations to see how they handle certain techniques and coverages.”

Falcon cornerback Chris Houston was a little more concerned after Beck abused the Atlanta defensive secondary all night:

“We’ve got to work on everybody getting to the ball. We’ve got to try to be more aggressive in our techniques. We made some plays tonight, but other than that, we still have a lot to work on as a defense.”

The Ravens will get the 2009 NFL regular season underway at home, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, September 13th. The Falcons, meanwhile, will welcome the Miami Dolphins to the Georgia Dome to get their campaign started.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The oldest fight sport adage in the world is ‘styles make fights’. For that reason, no one knew quite what to expect in Saturday’s WEC Interim Lightweight Championship battle between Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson. Henderson was known for his dominating wrestling skills, while Cerrone has a reputation as a punishing striker. Instead of being a clash of styles, however, it was an instance where the differing approaches of the two competitors complimented each other perfectly. The result was a ‘fight of the year’ candidate bout that Henderson won by unanimous-decision.

Henderson opened the fight with a takedown, but quickly got caught in a guillotine choke attempt. He extricated himself from this predicament only to find himself in a triangle choke that appeared for a moment to be a potential fight ending submission. That would not be the case, however, and Henderson would take control in the last half of the round with his powerful takedowns and ‘ground and pound’ punching assault.

Rounds two and three were all Henderson, as he took Cerrone down almost at will and began to pummel him on the ground. Cerrone managed a couple of submission attempts from the bottom, and did what he could to keep Henderson off of him with upkicks but nowhere near enough to salvage either round. At times, Cerrone looked downright clueless as to what tactical approach to take.

The tide would turn again in the fourth round, as Cerrone began to time Henderson’s takedown attempts. He became much more difficult to get to the ground, as well as administering punishment of his own after stuffing takedowns with punches and knee strikes. Later in the frame, Cerrone came close to ending the fight when he locked in a nasty and unorthodox choke that WEC commentator Frank Mir described as ‘almost an inverted rear naked choke’. After some tense moments, Henderson was able to escape. Cerrone would also control the final round, evading Henderson’s takedowns while scoring with his striking. He had another potential fight ending submission attempt in the fifth round, as he locked in an arm bar and appeared to have good leverage as he twisted Henderson’s arm into a nasty angle.

The decision itself was somewhat surprising, with Henderson winning all three judges’ scorecards by identical 48-47 scores. He’d clearly won rounds two and three, while Cerrone was the obvious winner of rounds four and five. This meant that all three judges had given the edge to Henderson in the first round, favoring Henderson’s punching attack over Cerrone’s submission attempts.

Henderson will now face WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner to unify the titles. Varner entered the cage after the decision was announced to ‘cut a promo’ on the winner, and suggested the fight take place in December in Phoenix, Arizona though neither the date nor venue has been finalized.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

One of the topics in Los Angeles Painting lessons is glass painting. It is referred to painting on top of a sheet of glass to be included in a stained glass work. This kind of painting, which is truly nearer to drawing than painting, was done to include details for instance faces and folds of clothing that couldn’t be added with traditional lead lines. It was also used to cover up parts of stained glass works to ensure that light was kept from shining through.

There are many significant varieties of conventional stained glass paints, including vinegar trace paint, matt paint, silver stain, and oil based paints.

* Vinegar trace paint

This paint, which is dark and totally obstructs out the light in the areas where it is carried out, is often times used for figure or design lines. It is relatively heavy and must be mixed with water, vinegar, and gum arabic to use. Gum arabic, which helps the paint stick to the glass, is generally bought in powder form and need to be mixed with water or alcohol just before using.

* Matt paint

Matt paint, which runs on the base of either water and gum arabic or water and vinegar, is a lot easier to make use of than vinegar trace paint. It may be applied thickly or thinly and can even be blended thoroughly and stippled or worked with another brush to furnish it an interesting consistency. Some artists even apply it using their fingers to produce more unusual outcomes.

* Silver stain

Silver stain, which is supplied in colors of red, yellow, and orange, will get its name from the existence of silver nitrate in the stain. Following firing, it turns golden, not silver-colored. It is in contrast to paint in that it actually transforms the color of the glass, rather than simply covering it with a dark line or wash.

* Oil-based stained glass paints

Some great benefits of oil-based glass paints are that they come in more shades, are less difficult to use, and so are not influenced by general atmospheric conditions. The major drawback to these paints is that they tend to be less consistent in application; though shades can be combined like regular oil paints, they don’t usually merge easily or completely and at times fire unevenly.

Stained glass has a number of risks associated with the process, but fortunately, all are simply avoided with a few basic precautions. Little slashes from the glass are to be anticipated; keep bandages handy. Big or deep cuts are sporadic and usually happen when dealing with or relocating the glass; not while dealing with it. And soon you are used to handling glass, it may be a good idea to wear hand protection. Break the glass away from your body. Put on safety goggles when grozeing, and grinding.

It is possible to only get lead poisoning by ingesting the lead. Which means – don’t eat it! Don’t eat, drink or smoke cigarettes while handling the lead. When soldering, remember to be in a properly ventilated area, as flux fumes are very poisonous.

Los Angeles Painting lessons see that all one demands for this art may be the interest to paint, several creativity, and lots of patience. One can look online for designs for glass painting, wherein it’s possible to try out different types of paintings. Once the skills of glass painting have been mastered, one can actually test your hand at stained glass. Glass paintings are excellent gifts, and since they are homemade, they’re appreciated much more.

Visit the studios of experts who focus on Mixed Media Paintings and learn from their artworks. Interior designers just really like the contemporary art including the well-known Los Angeles Painting Classess.