The Milky Conversation

Good news for milk lovers! Milk could help athletes more than sports drinks or energy drinks. Researchers are giving scientific support that milk may be just as good or even better than sports drinks for serious athletes recovering from exercise. The health benefits of milk — which has carbohydrates, electrolytes, calcium and vitamin D have long been established. But for athletes in sportswear uniforms and even for those ordinary men and women who just wear workwear uniforms, milk also contains the two proteins best for rebuilding muscles: casein and whey.

The Benefits of Milk on Athletes:

1. Endurance- In a study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism in June, researchers found people who drank milk after training were able to exercise longer in their next session than people who had sports drinks or water.

2. Regeneration-Muscles get damaged after an intense bout of aerobic exercise like running, playing football, or cycling. The casein and whey proteins in milk are precisely what the body needs to regenerate muscles fast. Glenys Jones, a nutritionist at Britain's Medical Research Council, said milk's protein content makes it an ideal post-exercise drink. "Milk provides the building blocks for what you need to build new muscles," he further said.

3. Recovery- Drinking milk also may help athletes recover quicker if they are performing multiple times in a day. For people who can't stomach the idea of plain milk, experts recommend adding some chocolate or other artificial flavor. At the Beijing Olympics, six-time gold medallist Michael Phelps regularly downed a flavored milk drink in between races.

4. Rehydration- Scientists at Loughborough University have found low-fat milk is better than sports drinks for replacing fluids lost during exercise. Scientists suspect there may be two reasons for that. Not only does milk have a lot of electrolytes, but it is emptied from the stomach more slowly than sports drinks, keeping the body hydrated for longer.

5. Lose of Fat- Milk also may help athletes shed fat and build muscle. In a small Canadian study, experts found women who drank milk after lifting weights gained about 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) of muscle and lost about the same amount of body fat. Women who drank sports drinks put on about 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilos) of muscle but didn't lose any body fat.

Now let's take a look on the disadvantages of milk:

1. Not for Everyone- Catherine Collins, a spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association and a dietician at London's St. George's Trust, said while milk may be beneficial for elite athletes who burn thousands of calories a day during their intensive training, occasional gym-goers may be better off drinking sports drinks or plain water."If you're just a gym bunny trying to lose a bit of weight, water is probably sufficient after exercise," she said, warning that chocolate milk in particular could add unwanted calories.

2. Hard to Digest- Even those who promote milk as a recovery drink say it cannot entirely replace sports drinks. Because it is harder to digest, people should only drink milk after they are finished exercising, not during. In comparison, sports drinks like Gatorade have easily digestible sugars so athletes can chug it during events to get an instant boost.

Source:  Milk does a body good, especially athletes

The Pride of Athletes

“You’re talking about people who are told that they can overcome anything, do anything, if they work at it. It’s not just in athletes. You see the same thing in lots of people: doctors, lawyers, bankers. Athletes think they’re stronger than anyone else. Doctors think they’re smarter.”  

Pittman

The latest issue on yahoo.sports got me thinking about pride and ego. True man's ego and pride could help a lot for man to live a normal life. Without it, a person will live a life of seclusion and fear. On the other hand, the article had given me a glimpse of the truth about how pride affects negatively on people. You see, those people who knew that there is something wrong that is going on within them can't and will not admit their flaws and weakness due from their pride and high ego. Some athletes in sports and team wear for instance have the tendency to believe that they are the strongest and admitting their personal struggles is a sign of vulnerability. And even some doctors wearing hospital uniforms and white scrubs are proud of their intellect to the point that they had been thinking that they are the smartest people and don't need guidance from others since they know what to do with their own health.

But the sad truth is, there is no perfect person. Even if you are an athlete, a doctor or a lawyer-you're still imperfect. Every being have flaws and refusing to admit it will have a bitter consequence. Saying that you are weak is so easy and simple however our pride just makes it difficult. Anyway there is just one lesson that I've learned from the article; that is the consequence of too much pride is our own lives.

Read more: Despite resources, players reluctant to seek help

The Producer of NFL Players

Here is a list of the states and the corresponding number of NFL players that they produced:

Source: Friday night stars: California and Texas produce most NFL talent

The Consequence of Racing

Is it a choice to die early? I wonder about this upon reading the news about a boy who happened to die while on a racing competition.

Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., fell off his bike during the warm up lap for Sunday's first race at Indianapolis and was run over by another motorcycle, driven by a 12-year-old. Medical workers in scrubs uniforms immediately placed Lenz in a neck brace, put him on a stretcher and began chest compressions while taking him to a hospital. Several hours later, he was pronounced dead.

At age 11, he was already wearing sportswear uniforms and earned the "expert" license from the American Federation of Motorcyclists, and in March 2009, Lenz became the youngest rider ever to win an AFM race. This year, competing in the U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union series, Lenz had four wins, five podium finishes and was leading the MD250H classification in points. The grown-up resume just didn't match his appearance. Listed at 4-foot-11 and 81 pounds, the baby-faced Lenz described his profession as "kid."

His father's message on Peter's Facebook page was heartbreaking. "He passed doing what he loved and had his go fast face on as he pulled onto the track," the posting said. "The world lost one of its brightest lights today. God Bless Peter and the other rider involved. 45 [Peter's number] is on another road we can only hope to reach. Miss you kiddo." Lenz is the youngest driver/rider fatality ever at the 101-year-old Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Without blaming the victim in any way, the tragedy nonetheless raises the specter of age, and whether teens and pre-teens possess the necessary dexterity and presence of mind to pilot vehicles that can go more than 120 mph. Lenz was 13, and the racer whose bike ran over Lenz is only 12.

This accident raised the issue of how young is too young in racing competitions. Racers insist age has never been an issue. American Colin Edwards was running 250cc bikes at age 17, and Indy MotoGP runner-up Ben Spies was competing on the 125cc circuit at age 12.

"That's not like a bike too big for him, you know, I mean this is our sport, we chose to do it," said American Nicky Hayden, the 2006 world champ who called the death "terrible. I mean, sure, we know going in the consequences."

Surely the boy knew that the consequence for him was death.?

The Winners of the US Open 2010

Here are the list of the winners of the US Open 2010. With their sportswear uniforms they are definitely bringing home the bacon with them. Hope to see them in the next US Open.


Men Division

Rafael Nadal

“That’s what I dreamt. It’s just amazing to be in there in this final to me. Just the ride to the final was amazing. Just to have the trophy in my hands in a moment will be unbelievable.”

He beat Novak Djokovic to win his first US Open and join six of the game's greatest players as the owner of all four grand slam titles. At the end, Nadal rolled like a kid on the hard court, the surface that was supposed to be beyond him. Now he ruled the tennis world. He is the first Spaniard to win the U.S. Open men’s singles title since Manuel Orantes in 1975 and the first left-hander to win it since John McEnroe in 1984.

Nadal's smile remained fixed in victory, more eloquent than a thousand words. "It's more than what I dreamt," he said in his charming, halting English. His ninth slam not only puts him seven behind the faltering Federer, but lifts him alongside Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi and Federer as owners of all the four slams.The US Open win will be Nadal's 9th Grand Slam Title. He also has won the last 3 consecutive slams, and will no doubt be looking to take the Australian Open as well, making it 4 out of 4 in slams, something that has not been achieved since Rod Laver did it in the late 60s.


Men Doubles

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan

 “This has been the best match we ever played. These guys played incredible. We had to step up and match their energy.” _Bob Bryan_

Twin brothers who won their ninth Grand Slam tournament and third U.S. Open title against Pakistan’s Aisamul Haq Qureshi and India’s Rohan Bopanna. They were the World No. 1 doubles player for 201 weeks. Between 2005 and 2006, they set an Open Era record by competing in seven consecutive men's doubles Grand Slam finals, three of which they won. On February 26, 2010, they recorded their Open Era record 600th match win by defeating Taylor Dent and Ryan Harrison in the semi-finals of the Delray Beach ATP 250 tournament. Born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being older by two minutes, and Bob taller by 3 cm, The Bryans, as they are known, have won a record 65 tour titles, surpassing The Woodies. They have a career Grand Slam that includes victories at the French Open (2003), US Open (2005, 2008 and 2010), Australian Open (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010), and Wimbledon (2006). They won the Tennis Masters Cup Doubles tournament thrice (2003, 2004 and 2009), and have been finalists in 38 other occasions. They won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They also won the 2007 Davis Cup along with Andy Roddick and James Blake.


Women Division

Kim Clijsters

"I'm glad to be standing here as the winner now. New York is an amazing place for me. The U.S. Open brings nothing but happiness to my tennis life."

She is the first woman since Venus Williams in 2000-01 to win the title in Flushing Meadows two years in a row. And Clijsters' U.S. Open winning streak is actually up to 21 matches because she also won the 2005 title. She missed the tournament in 2006 because of injuries, including wrist surgery, and skipped it the next two years while taking time off to get married and have a baby. Clijsters won a second consecutive U.S. Open championship and third overall by easily beating Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 in a final that lasted 59 minutes and lacked any drama — perfect for a tot's short attention span.


Women Doubles

Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova

“It is kind of unbelievable for me. I don’t feel like we have won the title as it all happened so quickly today,” _Shvedova_

Vania King from America along with partner Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan won the United States Open Women’s doubles title after defeating Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber in a total of three sets on Monday. The final match score was 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).





Mixed Double

Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan

"He wants to chest bump, chest bump, chest bump. I'm like, no. Do it with your girlfriend; don't chest bump me." _Liezel Huber_

Top-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won their second Grand Slam title in mixed doubles Thursday. Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan won their second Grand Slam mixed doubles title. The pair beat Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6-4, 6-4. Huber and Bryan also won last year's French Open. Huber, who was born in South Africa and became an American citizen in 2007.


Junior Division

Jack Sock and Daria Gavrilova

“No, I think us, as in ‘juniors’—we’re just doing what we can. We’re practicing hard and we’re working hard and doing what we can to improve. Hopefully we can get to that level one day and be in the American tennis spotlight. Hopefully.”  _Jack Sock_

Jack Sock beat Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Sunday to win the U.S. Open boys’ title in the first all-American junior final at Flushing Meadows in a decade while top-seeded Daria Gavrilova beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian girls’ final.