The blue fish caught in lake Taxoma

New state record catfish. 140 lbs. caught in Lake Texoma. This is one of those legendary fish that scuba divers say they see at the bottom of dams that are big enough to eat a person.

Analysis: Interestingly enough, there really was a record-breaking blue catfish caught in Lake Texoma, Texas in January 2004 - but this isn't it. The above photo, circulating via email since February 2004, appears real enough, but there is no information about its origin or the two hearty fishermen struggling under the weight of their monstrous catch.

Urban legend has it that man-eating catfish the size of Volkswagens have been sighted near the base of dams by maintenance divers whose hair reportedly turned white from the shock of it, but the largest specimens ever actually caught in the United States have weighed in at under 150 lbs.

Melvin A.

Taken From: Google by Lucas van der Guest.

Urban Legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or a contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of apocryphal stories believed by their tellers to be true

Despite its name, a typical urban legend does not necessarily originate in an urban area.

Urban legends are sometimes repeated in news stories and, in recent years, distributed by e-mail. People frequently allege that such tales happened to a "friend of a friend" -- so often, in fact, that "friend of a friend," ("FOAF") has become a commonly used term when recounting this type of story.

Many urban legends are framed as complete stories with plot and characters.

The compelling appeal of a typical urban legend is its elements of mystery, horror, fear or humor. Many urban legends are presented as warnings or cautionary tales, while others might be more aptly called "widely dispersed misinformation,"

Few urban legends can be traced to their actual origins, and even in these cases, the connections are often obscured by later embellishment and adaptation.

The teller of an urban legend may claim it happened to a friend, which serves to personalize and enhance the power of the narrative. Since people, unconsciously or otherwise, often exaggerate, conflate or edit stories when telling them, urban legends can evolve over time.

Some urban legends are morality tales that depict someone, usually a child, acting in a disagreeable manner, only to wind up in trouble, hurt, or dead.

The legend of the Killer in the backseat and others

Killer in the backseat

The legend involves a woman driving and being followed by a strange car or truck. The mysterious pursuer flashes his high beams, tailgates her, and sometimes even rams her vehicle. When she finally makes it home, she realizes that the driver was trying to warn her that there was a man (a murderer, rapist, or escaped mental patient) hiding in her back seat. Each time the man sat up to attack her, the driver behind had used his high beams to scare the killer.

In some versions the woman stops for gas, and the attendant asks her to come inside to sort out a problem with her credit card. Inside the station, he asks if she knows there's a man in her back seat. In another she hits something, stops, and then the man gets in the back.

The story is often told with a moral. The attendant is often a lumberjack, a trucker, or a scary-looking man; someone the driver mistrusts without reason. She assumes it is the attendant who wants to do her harm, when in reality it is he who saves her life.

The story of a woman killed by spiders nesting in her elaborate hairdo.

The story of a woman killed by spiders nesting in her elaborate hairdo. More recent legends tend to reflect modern circumstances, like the story of people ambushed, anesthetized, and waking up minus one kidney, which was surgically removed for transplantation a story which folklorists refer to as "The Kidney Heist" such as the erroneous belief that a college student will automatically pass all courses in a semester if her or his roommate commits suicide. While such "facts" may not have the narrative elements of traditional urban legend, they are nevertheless conveyed from person to person with the typical elements of horror, humor or caution.

Melvin A.

Taken from: http://www.snopes.com/

Hey! funny video about baseball...

Advantages and Disadvantages of an Aluminum Baseball

Hey guys!, here I got some Advantages and Disadvantages of an Aluminum Baseball Bat Vs. an wooden bat; after reading, tell me which one you like better. Enjoy it!!

Professional baseball players have always used wooden bats. The aluminum baseball bat is used for every other level of play. This type of bat has a few advantages and disadvantages when compared to the wooden variety.
Advantages

One of the first advantages of an aluminum baseball bat is the weight. A wooden bat is completely solid. The inside of an aluminum baseball bat is hollow, so it will weigh less than a wooden bat.

This reduced weight leads to the next advantage of speed. Since the aluminum baseball bat is much lighter, you will be able to swing it faster. The speed of these bats is also helped by their center of gravity. An aluminum baseball bat has a center of gravity closer to your hands, while wooden bats have a center of gravity farther away. This enables you to swing the aluminum bat faster.

Strength is also one of the advantages of an aluminum baseball bat. You may destroy your wooden bat if you hit a hard inside pitch. The bat will easily break if you hit the ball too close to the handle. An aluminum baseball bat has superior strength, so you never have to worry about breaking the bat when you swing at inside pitches.

Disadvantages

Besides the above advantages, an aluminum baseball bat also has a few disadvantages. The main disadvantage of these bats is their cost. Wood bats can cost you as little as $50. An aluminum baseball bat will easily surpass $150.

Another disadvantage of the aluminum baseball bat is compression. When the ball comes into contact with the bat, the bat will compress due to the collision. This will have the effect of slowing the ball down as it comes off the bat. Wooden baseball bats do not have this issue of compression.

TAKEN FROM google.

BASEBALL

Why to take everything so serious when talking about baseball?

Let’s read some comedies about it.

Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.

Also: in football ,basketball, soccer, volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.

In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you'd ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform, you'd know the reason for this custom.

Now, I've mentioned football. Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.

I enjoy comparing baseball and football:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park .The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying.

In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up?

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't go out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!

HISTORY OF BASEBALL IN THE DOMICAN REPUBLIC

for over 100 years, baseball has been at the center of cultural life in the domican republic. though the origins of baseball in dominican republic aren't exacty known historians suggest tha baseball first came to the island around the 1805. though it is a historical misconception that american marines brought the game to the island during the 1916 invasion the united states did play an integral,though indirect,role in bringing baseball here.

eventually four teams we formed, becoming the oldest,and founding organizations of baseball in the country. los tigres del licey.(the tigers)was founded in santo domingo(in order tocompete with club ozama y club nuevo)in 1907.the other team was los leones del escogido. las estrellas orintales(eastern stars)was founded in san pedro de macori in the year 1911. later in 1921, los leones del escogido(lions of the chosen one)was founded in santo domingo. the last was las aguilas cibaenas, was founded in 1936.

in conclusion, though the strength of dominican baseball is now found in each of the major leagues 30 teams, baseball still remains an important part of this country's history and an impotant cultural outlet on the island.






rosa felix (cf-4293)

Dominican Baseball!!!!

The history of baseball in the Dominican Republic began in the late nineteenth century. It quickly became the most popular sport in this country.Apparently Cubans were sailors who spread the sport in the Dominican Republic during their stays in port. Since then, the country has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948, being runners-up in 1942, 1950 and 1952 and third in 1943, 1953 and 1969. Six have been the Caribbean Series to be held in the Dominican Republic.

At present there are 6 teams in the country. Santo Domingo has two teams. Each team will play fifty games a season starting October and ending in February. For next season will be inaugurated on October 16, 2010 the tenth winter baseball tournament of the Dominican Republic.The teams that take part are: The Leones del Escogido, Tigres del Licey, Gigantes del Cibao, Toros de Este, Estrellas Orientales y Águilas Cibaeñas.