Introduction and Early Life

 Adam Goodes is a professional Australian Rules football player that currently plays for the Sydney Swans Football Club in the Australia Football League (AFL). He was born on January 8, 1980 in Wallaroo, South Australia. He is about 1.93 metres tall and currently weighs about 99kg. He plays in the midfield and forward positions and wears jersey number 37. Goodes is an indigenous Australian with a rich heritage and involvement in many native sports and community endeavours. He attended primary school at Merbein West Primary School in 1986 at Victoria, where he first started playing Australia Rules Football. He attended high school at Horsham, Victoria where he represented Victoria at under sixteen (U-16) and under eighteen (U-18) levels. He first featured in Victoria Football League (VFL) when he was 16 years with North Ballarat Rebels Football Club, and also featured in a premiership winning team. This is where he was identified by scouts and further recruited by Sydney Swans.

 Early Football Career

 He was drafted into the AFL during the 1997 national AFL draft during the third round of that season. He was pick number forty three (43) and spent his first season at the club in the reserves but eventually got into the clubs first team the following year and worked hard to win the Rising Star Award in 1999. The following two seasons of 2000 and 2001 where quite challenging for him as he was trying to develop his game. At a point in the early part of the 2002 season, there were indications that he might be dropped if his performances did not improve. But he later found himself playing well in the ruck position. His performance later improved tremendously during the second half of that season such that it was said that he exhibited some of the finest skills and top performances of his career during those games. He ended this season winning two Brownlow medals.

 Professional Football (AFL) Career/Achievements

 Adam continued to improve on his performances and the 2003 season became his best season since he began playing in the AFL. He played very critical roles that saw the team reaching the preliminary final spot that year. He clinched the Best and Fairest Award of the club for that year, i.e. the Bob Skilton Award and an All Australian team selection for the first time in his football career. He also got one of the highest honours in his AFL playing career this year winning the leagues Brownlow Medal alongside two other players. It was the second time in the history of the AFL that the medal will be shared between three players.

 The 2004 season was not as eventful as the other seasons. The club did not have or record very significant achievements. Sydney Swans were only able to get to the semi-final stage of the Finals series before they were eliminated. Goodes suffered recurrent knee injuries, however he still managed to play all the games of the season. In the later part of the season Adam changed from a forward role to play in the back lines by his coach. The next season of 2005 was a good one for Goodes, he helped his club to win their first premiership title since 1933, and was also awarded a life membership of the Swans when he played his 150th game during this season.

 As a result of his outstanding performances, he was selected for the All Australian Team and he also won his second Brownlow medal in the 2006 season. He has been playing exceptionally well to date and he is still a major contender for most of the awards and honours.

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The Belfast Giants are a successful ice hockey team that compete in the Elite Ice Hockey League, which features the cream of ice hockeys talent and covers the United Kingdom area including Northern Ireland.

 The League is professional, and is the highest level of ice hockey in the region, in essence a premier league featuring ten teams. The League is sponsored by Air Travel provider Bmibaby.

 The Belfast Giants were formed in 2000, and are currently sponsored by lager producers Coors - previously they were sponsored by Harp Lager.

 It's true to state that in the past, the ugly face of sectarianism has long cast a shadow over sport in Belfast, in particular in the world of soccer. Because of this the founders of the Belfast Giants were keen that the team were independent of the religious divide, and wanted to represent the city as a whole, which is a sure sign of changing attitudes in the city.

 The team play their home games at the impressive 7,000 capacity Odyssey Arena at 2 Queens Quay, Belfast, in the arena part of the spectacular venue.

 The Giants management have adopted a policy of non-sectarianism for these home matches  fans are not permitted to wear soccer jerseys or bring their national flags to games. This is to alleviate any tensions that might evaporate. This policy has been successful, and the team is known for its exciting style of play rather than any political leanings.

 The Giants play in Red, Black, White and Teal jerseys, and wear black helmets, and have 5 sponsor logos. The team logo features legendary giant Irish hero Fionn McCool (who is said to have resided in the Giants Causeway) with a hockey stick! The teams motto is "In the land of the Giant, everyone is the same" which sums up their "non-sectarian" ethos.

 The present team captain is George Awada, head coach and current player is Steve Thornton, and the General Manager being Todd Kelman. The Club is owned and run by Jim Gillespie & Tom and Donna Mallon.

 Some of the team were originally members of the former Superleague and won the title in 2001-02. However, the league ran into financial difficulties, as did the Belfast Giants. The Giants had run up sunstantial debts of over 600,000, and were threatened with closure.

 After a major salvation plan by the club's creditors, the club survived and competed in the new Elite Ice Hockey League in 2004. That was a poor season for the Giants though, but it was a period of consolidation. In the 2005 season, the Giants revived themselves to finish runners up to Coventry Blaze, one of the forerunners in the league, and they won the League Cup.

 In 2005, the Giants cemented themselves as one of the major players in the Elite League, with the inspired signing of Theoren Fleury, Canadian NHL and Olympic Gold winner. The Coors Giants (as they are known) have had several former NHL players like Jason Bowen and Paul Kruse on their books at particular times.

 In 2006, the team romped to victory in the Elite League, coached by Ed Courtenay, with Fleury the star player, amassing a total of 81 points, one of the highest in a season. After finishing runners up in 2006-07, the Giants had a poor season in 2007-08, and this led to Courtenay departing as his contract ran out.

 Nevertheless, the Giants have a popular fan base, and home games at the Odyssey Arena are often sell outs. You may not be aware that the team have two supporters clubs, a testimony to their popularity and talent!

 The 2008-09 Season

 For this season, the club has a new coach, current player Steve Thornton, a Canadian who has had a distinguished career in Europe. He replaces former coach Ed Courtenay, who left at the end of last season.

 The Giants have won 13 matches this season out of 16, and are well placed for a winter assault on the title. Last weekend, they defeated the Sheffield Steelers 3-2 (after shootout) & beat Edinburgh Capitals 5-2 to move into 4th position. This Friday 28th November, the Belfast Giants have a home game against Coventry Blaze and on Sunday they travel away to Hull Stingrays.

 To purchase tickets for any of the upcoming matches featuring the Belfast Giants visit Ticketmaster.

 So what are you waiting for! Face off time for all of the Belfast Giants home matches is at 7.30pm. Why not support this team of character and passion after your day exploring Belfast and the many attractions it has to offer?

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Advantages & Disadvantages Of Artificial Grass
 Advantages
 Artificial turf can be a solution when the environment is particularly hostile to natural grass.
 Artificial turf can withstand more use than natural grass.
 Low maintenance.
 Suitable for roof gardens and swimming pool surrounds (chemicals and high heat wont damage the turf).
 Some artificial turf systems allow for the integration of fiber-optic fibres into the turf. This would allow for lighting or advertisements to be directly embedded in a playing surface.
 Disadvantages
 Some artificial turf requires infill such as silicon sand and/or granulated rubber made from recycled car tires. This material may carry heavy metals which can leach into the water table.
 Periodic disinfection is required as pathogens are not broken down by natural processes in the same manner as natural turf. Despite this, recent studies suggest certain microbial life is less active.
 Friction between skin and artificial turf causes abrasions and/or burns to a much greater extent than natural grass. This is an issue for some sports. However, with some third-gen grasses, this is almost completely eliminated by the use of polyethylene yarn.
 Artificial turf tends to be much hotter than natural grass when exposed to sunlight.
 Artificial Grass Uses
 Baseball
 Artificial turf was first used in Major League Baseball in the Houston Astrodome in 1966, replacing the grass field used when the stadium opened a year earlier. Since then it has been used is several different venues and is one of the main reasons that research and development went into artificial grass to help improve the grass types available for sports.
 The biggest difference in play on artificial turf was that the ball bounced higher than on real grass, and also travelled faster, causing infielders to play farther back than they would normally, so that they would have sufficient time to react. The ball also had a truer bounce than on grass, so that on long throws fielders could deliberately bounce the ball in front of the player they were throwing to, with the certainty that it would travel in a straight line and not be deflected to the right or left. However, the biggest impact on the game of "turf", as it came to be called, was on the bodies of the players.
 The artificial surface, which was generally placed over a concrete base, had much less give to it than a traditional dirt and grass field did, which caused more wear-and-tear on knees, ankles, feet and the lower back, possibly even shortening the careers of those players who played a significant portion of their games on artificial surfaces. Players also complained that the turf was much hotter than grass, sometimes causing the metal spikes to burn their feet, or plastic ones to melt. These factors eventually provoked a number of stadiums, such as Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, to switch from artificial turf back to natural grass.
 American Football
 In 1969, Franklin Field, the gridiron stadium of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, switched from grass to artificial turf this was the first American football field to have a artificial grass field.
 In 2006, Gillette Stadium, the football stadium of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution, switched from grass to FieldTurf due to the conflict of poor weather and hosting many sporting and musical events at the stadium. It is one of 13 National Football League stadiums that have turf instead of grass fields; the Patriots shared stadium actually switched from AstroTurf to natural grass before reverting to a next-generation artificial surface.
 Styling
 Many residential supports of artificial grass have chosen to use it as it is maintenance free, you do not have to water, cut or care for the grass. It is also used near many swimming pools and balconies as the grass isn"t affected by chemicals or the lack of water. The newest generation of artificial grass is also extremely hard to notice the differences between traditional grass and artificial, with it only being noticed by touch.
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