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While hurling is generally recognized as a Gaelic sport it should possibly be called a Celtic one. For the history of hurling is in fact older than the history of Ireland itself. It predates Christianity, arriving in Ireland more than three thousand years ago with the Celts.

The earliest references to hurling in Ireland is in early Irish laws dating back to the fifth century. Hurling played a prominent part in early Irish mythology. Legendary Irish heroes such as Cuchulainnt and Fionn Mac Cumhail and his Fianna are both written of as playing hurling.

Hurling is, in essence, a stick and ball game. The game is thought to be related to the games of shinty that is played primarily in Scotland, cammag on the Isle of Man and bandy that was played formerly in England and Wales.

The stick was, and indeed, still is called a hurley and the ball a sliotar. Early Irish lawn Law stated that the son of a r? (local king) could have his hurley banded in bronze, while others could only make use of copper. It was unlawful to confiscate a hurley.

The object of the game is for players to use the hurley to hit a small ball through the opponent’s goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is the same as three points.

The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or hit on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than three steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession.

The English occupation of Ireland led to many statutes prohibitting or restricting the playing of hurling as it diverted people from archery practice. The earliest of these goes back to the 13th century.

However, it was the Eighteenth Century that came to be known as the ?The Golden Age? of hurling as members of the Anglo-Irish landowning gentry often kept teams of players on their land and challenged each other’s teams to games for the amusement of their tenants.

Stories of colourful hurling games from this period continue to be gathered from contemporary Irish storytellers and newspapers of the era. The contemporary era of hurling In Ireland dates from the formation of the Gaelic Athletic Association formed in 1884 in Thurles, County Tipperary under the illustrious patronage of Thomas Croke, Archbishop of Cashel and Charles Parnell.

The 20th Century saw greater organisation in hurling. The all-Ireland Hurling tournament came into being along with the provincial championships. Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary dominated hurling in the 20th Century with each one of these counties winning more than 20 All-Ireland titles each. Wexford, Waterford, Clare, Limerick, Offaly, Dublin, and Galway were also strong hurling counties during the 20th Century.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with London Olympics 2012 venues. Click a link if you are interested in 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.

A review of the nicknames used by English football teams reveals a beguiling insight into English social history over the last 150 years.

All soccer teams seem to get a nickname, bestowed upon them lovingly by their loyal fans. Although in one very famous case – that of Manchester United – the nickname of The Red Devils was actually invented by the club itself as a marketing ploy, copyrighted and eventually the Red Devil himself was incorporated in the team’s coat of arms.

The derivation of the name may seem obvious, or may be lost in the mists of time or even not known today.

In many cases the nickname is derived from the colour of the team?s shirts. Obvious examples of these include:

Chelsea – The Blues Burnley – the Clarets Watford – the Hornets Preston North End – The Lilywhites Liverpool – The Reds Newcastle United – The Magpies Coventry City – The Sky Blues Blackpool United – the Tangerines Weymouth – The Terras Cambridge United – the Yellows Hull City – the Tigers

Other nicknames are far more prosaic in origin, being based upon abbreviations or contractions of the team?s real name. Examples of these cases include :

Middlesbrough ? Boro Rochdale ? the Dale Gillingham ? the Gills Wigan Athletic ? the Latics Queens Park Rangers – QPR Blackburn Rovers ? The Rovers Aldershot Town ? The Shots Shrewsbury Town ? The Shrews Tottenham Hotspur – Spurs Swansea City ? The Swans Woverhampton Wanderers ? Wolves

Location plays an important part in a lot of team nicknames

Sunderland – The Black Cats (named after the Black cat gun battery which was located on the banks of the River Wear) Bournemouth – The Cherries (the stadium was built on the site of a cherry orchard) Carlisle United – The Cumbrians (Carlisle is in the county of Cumbria) Bristol Rovers – The Gas ( their old ground was located next to the gasworks) Torquay United – The Gulls (Torquay is beside the sea) Tamworth – The Lambs ( the team plays at The Lamb Ground, named after a local pub) Grimsby Town – The Mariners (Grimsby is on the coast) Rotherham United – The Millers ( the pitch is called Millmoor) Sheffield Wednesday – The Owls ( they play in an area of Sheffield known as Owlerton) Kettering Town – The Poppies ( their stadium was constructed on a poppy field) Blackburn Rovers – The Riversiders (their site is built on the banks of a river) Bolton Wanderers – The Trotters (in the 19th century the ground was located next to a piggery)

Other nicknames are derived from local occupations or industries:

Sheffield United – The Blades ( local links with cutlery manufacture) Burton Albion – The Brewers ( Burton is a major centre for the brewing industry ) Hereford United – The Bulls (from the local cattle industry) Wycombe Wanderers – The Chairboys ( local furniture industry) Northampton Town – The Cobblers (from the local boot and shoe industry) Yeovil Town – The Glovers (local links to the glove making industry ) Luton Town – The Hatters (Luton was for many years a centre for the production of hats) Crewe Alexander – The Railwaymen ( Crewe was constructed as a railway town

Finally, a short assortment of some of the more amusing, bizarre and obtuse derivations:

Charlton Athletic – The Addicks ( A corruption of the ward ?haddocks? after a neighbourhood fish and chip shop) Norwich City – The Canaries ( Norwich was a leading centre for the breeding of canaries. The team subsequently adopted the green and yellow of the Norwich Canary as their playing strip) Hartlepool United – The Monkey Hangers (During the Napoleonic wars the citizens of Hartlepool allegedly hung a monkey thinking it to be a French spy) Bury – The Shakers (The first Chairman of the club, J T Ingham said before a local derby game against Blackburn ?We will shake them, in fact we are the Shakers?) Peterborough United – The Posh (A previous manager of the team is reputed to have said ?We are looking for posh players for a posh team?)

We hope this look though the history behind the nicknames of English football teams has been amusing and informative.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with London Olympics 2012 venues. Click a link if you are interested in 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.

RC car racing stands for the radio controlled racing of model cars. The models come in different sorts: they can be fantasy models or scale models of real cars and trucks. After that, you can buy RC cars and trucks in various sizes or scales, the most well-liked being 1:9 to 1:12, but there are also huge models of 1:5. The third variable is the engine; electric, nitro or petrol.

Whatever type of RC car you have, the kick of racing it is the same. Most individuals find the hobby of RC car racing thrilling. Racing RC cars supplies most of the thrills and spills of conventional car racing but without the danger to human life.

There are also different kinds of races ranging from racing around a circuit to cross-country, all-terrain racing.

Radio controlled racing cars are controlled by a games-style hand-set with a joystick on it. Your commands are transmitted to a receiver on board the vehicle by means of a radio. Some consoles can transmit quite complicated commands whilst others just steer the model.

Likewise, the models can be easy ‘go or not’, steerable racing vehicles or they can be nearly perfect replicas of the real thing with replica suspension systems, lights and everything else deal. These super models are usually hand-made by enthusiasts. Most people purchase either a completed model or a kit.

Children love the sport of RC car racing, but otherwise the sport appeals to men and women of all ages. The sport is still dominated by males, but more and more females of all ages are being attracted to the sport of RC car racing each year as well.

One of the good things about the sport of RC car racing is that it is simple to get started but there is also plenty of scope to expand your interest if (or when) the bug bites. You may begin with a basic battery-powered 1:12 scale fantasy model, but soon move onto a 1:9 nitro-powered replica racing car or even a monster 1:5 scale model with a real petrol engine. You may even begin building your own models

If you would like to get involved with the thrilling sport of RC car racing, it is simple enough. The best way to start is to get some information before you purchase your first RC car. You can do this by purchasing an RC car magazine, joining a model car club and/or by going to a few model car races.

RC enthusiasts love talking about their sport and most of them would be willing to reply to your questions. Whilst deciding on your preferred type of model, bear its maintenance in mind. You can hugely prolong the life of your RC model with proper maintenance, so you ought to purchase a car that you are able to look after.

If the first car or truck that you purchase is not actually what you would have liked, but it matches your level of skill, do not worry, there is always a learning curve with a new sport or hobby and as your knowledge increases you will be able to buy one of the bigger, stronger, more complicated models.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with gas remote control cars. If you have an interest in model or toy rc vehicles, please go over to our website now at 1/5 Scale RC Cars

Lake fishing is very akin to river fishing, or slow-flowing river fishing anyway. The types of fish in rivers and lakes tend to be the same, which means that the tackle, bait and lures will be the identical too, although you may require a longer rod, say, a beach-casting rod to cast your bait farther out into the lake. Lake fish will frequently mature to a larger size than river fish, so your line should be stronger too.

Lake fish conventionally been classified under three general headings. Namely, game fish, food fish, and bait fish. Bass, trout, pike, pickerel, muskellunge, perch, etc., are identified as game fish because of their sporting value. Carp, suckers, some of the catfish, yellow perch, etc., are considered food fish.

This latter group is not considered to furnish the sport that the so-called game fish do, but they do have a genuine financial and sporting value. The third kind are the minnows and tiddlers that can be used as bait for the first two classes.

It is not simple to descibe the right technique to cast long distances, but it does come nuturally to quite a few fishermen. However, if casting does not come effortlessly to you, you will need to watch other lake or beach fishermen. If you are not happy doing that, you will be able to find a video on the subject. However, the best method to learn how to cast is to go down to the beach , watch an expert at work and try to do the same.

Nonetheless, lake fishing is great fun and the beginner will rapidly master the right way of lake fishing. Therefore, I have put a few useful tips here to help you learn lake fishing more quickly.

i]. Strive to adopt a smooth, whip-like cast. Nevertheless, if you crack the whip too violently, you will certainly shake off a lot of bait, flies or lures..

ii]. Timing is the all-important factor in both the back cast and forward cast.

iii]. Study the habits of the fish that live in the lake that you propose to fish. All fish have both similar and dissimilar habits, so either obtain a book or video or join a club to find out more.

iv]. The majority of fish prefer some sort of cover, either for themselves or because their prey will like it there. Be cautious of weeds, reeds and submerged logs or you will lose plenty of line and tackle..

v]. As I mentioned before, lake fish tend to be larger, because food is copious and there is bags of room. A large bass, for example, can easily weigh 10-12 lbs, so make sure that your rod and line are up to the task. A rod of seven feet six inches to eight feet in length can tolerate these sizes of fish.

Lake fishing is not so really unusual from other types of fishing, so if you put a little energy into studying the techniques and fish involved in lake fishing, you will soon master the skill and turn into an expert at lake fishing.

If you are curious about fishing and would like to read more, please visit our website called http://fishing.the-real-way.com

The purpose of this piece is to help the beginner fly fishing. The terms used and the basic methods employed in fly fishing may be unfamiliar to the beginner at fly fishing, so we will commence from the very beginning. Therefore, if you are a beginner fly fishing person, please read on in order to become acquainted with fly fishing.

The things required for fly fishing are generally called tackle, but if you want to be more specific about the type of things you need, you can add the words “fly fishing”. So, we use the phrase: “fly fishing tackle”. Fly fishing tackle, or gear, fundamentally comprises artificial flies, a fly rod, a fly reel and fly line. The way it works is: the fly is attached to the line, which is wound around the reel, which is affixed to the rod or pole, which is used to cast the fly or other bait.

In order to be able to cast the fly as far as possible, the line needs to be a bit heavier than other types of line, since a weight is used in other forms of fishing to achieve the same effect. Furthermore, the artificial flies come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours to reflect real, live flies, depending on the sort of fish the angler wants to catch.

In general, an artificial fishing fly is created, often by hand by enthusiasts, from hair, plastic, feathers, fabric, fur and many other kinds of material in order to make the fly resembles, as closely as possible, the insect or fly most commonly taken by the particular species of fish in that particular month or at that time of the day. This means that each fishing spot requires that you choose a definite kind of artificial fly that will look like the insects frequenting the area where your desired type of fish live. Therefore, a type of fly employed in one area of the region may not be as successful as you’d think elsewhere.

There are variations in the classification of flies too. They fall into two basic overall categories, which are referred to as ‘attractive’ and ‘imitative’. The imitative artificial flies look like real insects, while the attractive ones only rely on colour or the reflection of light in order to attract fish without necessarily looking like the fish’s natural prey.

These classifications are then used to further sub-divide artificial fly fishing lures into: a] dry (resembling grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc. which float on or near the surface of the water); b] sub-surface (looking like larvae, pupae) and c] wet (resembling leeches and minnows and other small fish or fry).

The biggest distinguishing feature between fly fishing and non-fly fishing is that fly fishing depends to a great extent on the weight of the line to get the artificial lure to that area of the stream where the fish are schooling, probably at a distance from the angler. The line is often green and hollow, so that it will float.

However, non-fly fishing relies instead on the attached weight, often made of lead previously, to draw the line off the reel and carry it forward to the right area, where the weight or even split shot will also take the bait or lure down in the water to the feeding fish.

If you are interested in fishing and would like to find out more, please pop along to our website called http://fishing.the-real-way.com