Author: Dr. Steroids

Check the lie before you choose which fairway wood to hit Technological advances in fairway woods have been a boon to amateurs, especially those who struggle with distance. However, if you’ve added one or more of these clubs to your bag, you may have noticed they don’t always produce the perfect shot. Have you ever topped a ball with your 3-wood? Or launched a moon-shot with your 7-wood? Maybe it wasn’t the club that let you down. More than likely, you were tricked by the lie. With fairway woods, it’s vitally important to know how the lie can affect performance.…

Whether you’re an old-fashioned girl or a thoroughly modern woman, the requirements for proper “golf posture” — bending from the hips so your rear end sticks out — may make you feel you are breaking a basic rule of etiquette. But rest assured: On the golf course, this is how golfers — female and male — stand to make a good swing. Accomplished players don’t give it a second thought. Good golf posture should make you feel that you’re in a “ready for motion” position. The golf swing requires a good deal of motion, and golf posture prepares your body…

No, it’s not the Group of Vowels but since we’ve done Group A, B, C, and D, I owe you an E Group discussion now. So the conversations continue and I haven’t heard directly from Jason yet about the stats. Let us quickly then maneuver to Group E which will include the Battle of Brugge among other games. Anytime Holland has to play Belgium, love is in the air and not on the soccer field. When you stir in second-round World Cup qualification into the mix, it’s fair to expect total commitment, effort beyond the call of duty, and passion…

So I’m on the phone discussing seriously important soccer matters with a seriously important soccer celebrity. I’m looking for a job but all I’m getting is congratulations for being a great volunteer. “Youth soccer needs more people like you,” the celeb says. “That’s great,” says I, like Jerry Seinfeld only without the millions of dollars. Suite 101 statistics for soccer are on my desk. I’m expecting an e-mail from Chief Editor Jason soon. The World Cup is kick-off minus 65 days and counting. Can I paint a bleak picture or what? I’ve got to do something tangible. Well, consider Group…

So now you’re telling me the winner is going to come from Group C. And of course, you could be right. The results of the opening games – Saudi Arabia v Denmark and France v South Africa on June 12 – will not tell us all the answers and I believe this group will go to the last game 12 days later with everything still on the line. It promises fever pitch excitement with high stakes, and a further burgeoning bonanza awaiting the countries advancing. Let’s take a look at each country in some depth and see if we can…

Did I hear you say the winner is going to come from Group B? You must be Italian. Sure, it’s possible. Anything is possible. The cow jumped over the moon, remember. And the Italians should jump over Cameroon this time around. But hold on a minute. This time, Cameroon is out to make amends for memories of USA 94. Having delighted the world in 1990 (in the heat of Italy, let it be said) with a quarter final placing, they chose to make off-field items more important in 1994 (money) and paid the price, if you’ll excuse the pun. People…

It’s June 10th, 1998, 4 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time or even not so mean time. Thirty minutes from now, a shrill whistle will be heard around the world and holders Brazil will kick-off against Scotland the Brave in the Stade de France. Sixty-eight years after 13 teams contested the first World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the 16th edition will officially be underway. It was the brainchild of Frenchman Jules Rimet back then, and it will be fitting to watch it unfold in France this summer. This time around, 32 teams will be competing for the greatest trophy the world knows.…

How’s it going, Michel? This week’s topic centres around the National Soccer Coaches of America Association convention held in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. The first thing to know about this is when you fly into Cincinnati, Ohio, the plane lands in Kentucky and you have a river to cross. Now to cut a long story short and paraphrase America’s well-known centre forward, Abraham Lincoln, some of the taxis can pick up some of the people some of the time, but not all the taxis can pick up all the people all of the time. Politics and state lines…

So you were warned two weeks ago about cup fever and how it can strike. Now far be it from me to tell you “I told you so” but did you watch Manchester United orchestrate the most unlikely comeback from the dead last Sunday? What is the opposite of “far be it from me?” Never mind. With one minute to go, United were out of the cup, their dreams of a possible treble of trophies shattered, facing the embarrassment (not to mention the press) of losing in front of the Old Trafford faithful, (full being the operative part of the…

There could be a lot of candidates for team of the century. Just who is the “greatest team ever”? Well, I’m going to give you my opinion, as usual. The greatest team ever to play soccer is the World Cup-winning Brazilian team. Hold on a minute Joe, that only narrows it down to four possibilities. You see, Brazil has won the World Cup on four occasions: 1958, 1962, 1970 and 1994. It wasn’t the 1994 side, although I think it was marginally the best team in that tournament. Older aficianados will remember a 17-year-old youngster called Pele in 1958 charming…