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Although many of his offensive records have now been left in the dust by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, former Boston Bruins/New York Rangers center Phil Esposito is still regarded by hockey experts as one of the greatest players in NHL history. He’s forever enshrined in hockey’s hall of fame along with brother, goaltender Tony Esposito.

Esposito was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and his prodigious hockey talent quickly became apparent. He was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as a teenager, and made his NHL debut in’64 quickly earning a spot on the teams top line between Bobby Hull and Marcel Dionne. In’67, Esposito was traded to the Boston Bruins along with Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield. Within a few years Hodge and Stanfield blossomed into All Stars, while Esposito quickly took his place alongside his former teammate Hull as the best scorer in the league. Suffice to say that Boston fans were of the opinion that theyd gotten the best of the deal.

Esposito began to shred the NHL record book in Boston, prompting Bruins fans to display car bumper stickers that read Jesus Saves; Esposito scores on the rebound. In’69, he became the first NHL player to top the 100 point mark (combined goals and assists) for the season”he obliterated the record with 126 points, which would be the first of six times that hed top the century mark. He topped 100 points in five straight seasons between’71 and’75, missing a sixth straight season by a single point with 99 in’70.

In the’70-71 season, Esposito scored 76 goals to smash the NHL’s single season scoring record. That record stood for over a decade until Wayne Gretzky scored 79 for the Edmonton Oilers in’81-82. Gretzky also broke Espositos single season points record of 154. Perhaps the most amazing element of Espositos game was the frequency with which he put the puck on net”Espo had 550 shots on goal in’70-71. No one has since come close”in fact, just last Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals became the first player to come within 100 shots of Espositos mark.

In’75, Esposito was traded with Brad Park to the New York Rangers for Brad Park, Joe Zanussi and Jean Ratelle. He had slowed somewhat, but was still enough of a valuable player and team leader that he was named the Rangers’ captain. He remained a very dangerous scoring threat until the end of his career.

After his retirement in’75, he remained active in hockey. He served as the GM of the Rangers before helping secure an expansion team for Tampa, Florida in’92. Esposito served as the President and GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning until’98. Esposito now hosts a daily hockey radio show on XM Radio, and has even done some acting appearing in a recurring role as a fire chief on the TV series Rescue Me.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Your special day can be the realisation of a long-held dream; you want everything to be just perfect – and why not – from your flowers to you dress and everything else in between. But, for most people, even though is is a very special day you will still have a budget target to work to. But when it comes to high-end professional services like as wedding photography, keeping focused on the budget can be hard. However, with a little bit of research, forward thinking and planning, and a vibrant dose of flexibility, you will be able to keep within budget for sure to ensure you have an affordable wedding while creating the memories you deserve.

With a vibrant dose of creativity you can find wedding photography services within your budget quite easily. So read on.

Word of mouth is your best tool to start with. Talk to your friends or associates that have held weddings similar in size and scope to what you are planning to determine what photographers worked really well within their prepared price target.

Drop by at your wedding venue and ask the management if they have a list of businesses that they know. This could save you hours of time plus hundred’s of dollars.

Many individuals may believe that engaging a wedding planner will work against a budget-focused wedding, but the opposite is usually true. Wedding planners will frequently pay for themselves with the money they save you in vendor fees. Wedding planners have a service to offer you and one of these services is to stay within budget! Also wedding planners work with professionals frequently, they often have existing relationships that will spare you money in the end.

One thing to consider is cutting back in some areas and spending more in others. You can often do this without compromising the over all experience. If you have your heart set on a limited wedding photographer that works in a way you love, then compromise to get to the price that you need; perhaps have the photographer only shoot your ceremony and formal shots and then ask your guests to help take pictures throughout your reception to be pulled together into an album at a later date.

One really simple idea is to provide your wedding guests with cheap disposable cameras. This will add variety, fun and an unexpected flair to your whole wedding day. Your wedding album will then become very unique indeed.

Another great and creative tip is to invite your friends to do part of the wedding preparations for you such as the flower display. Not only is this a great way to involve your friends you can ask them to not give bridal gifts but to do something else instead. After all many wedding gifts will often never be used so will stay in a cold cupboard. Instead your friends will likely be excited and delighted to be involved. This will heighten your marriage experience for everyone and save you money.

At the end of the day, affordable bridal photography is about creativity and flexibility, time and energy. Being prepared to work outside the box and think of small and often imaginative ways to save money, finally all those small steps will add up to big savings.

Find out more about the best Food Photographers who are also top in their field for Bridal Photography.

Betting on sports ‘futures’ is an enjoyable and potentially profitable way to wager, but there are several potential risks that can lead to losses. Here’s a rundown of things to avoid:

Don’t bet at the first place you look: In other words, shop around for the best price. This is essential to all aspects of sports betting, but especially important with futures wagers. You’ll find more disparity between prices from book to book on futures than any other betting proposition. From a theoretical standpoint, a little work can yield much better value. From a practical standpoint, that means a higher payout should you win. The reason for this is that individual sportsbooks’ aren’t as worried about what the other guys are doing as they are with most other bets. Once the futures “market” is set books move the lines almost exclusively on their own financial position. The market simply doesn’t respond as quickly to futures wagers as it does to individual game lines so it is essential to do the extra work to get the best price on your proposition.

Don’t fixate on picking the winner from a competitive field: This may sound like strange advice, but from a theoretical standpoint it makes perfect sense. As with every other element of sport wagering its crucial to always focus not on winners and losers, but on the value you’re getting on individual bets. For example, in most years there are several teams with a realistic shot of winning at the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. The problem is that these top teams invariably offer low paybacks that are less than their ‘true odds’ of winning. Every team is subject to the same variables like injuries, slumps, bad matchups but backing teams that are ‘under the radar’ at higher prices offer more compensation for these ‘risks’.

In more theoretical terms, the ‘true odds’ of a Duke or similar top team winning the tournament are almost always higher than the price offered. Think of it this way–say we’re betting Duke to win the national title at 2/1. This means that the Blue Devils would have to win more than 33% of the time to break even. So lets say, for the sake of argument, that we could play the tournament over 100 times. Would Duke come out on top more than 33 of these times? If not, they represent a poor value. Let’s say that they win 30 of 100 times. This means that any price under +333 or thereabouts is a poor wagering value.

Note that the more competitive the market, the more difficult it is to find good value on a favorite. In a smaller field, or in a field with one dominant competitor it can be easier. For example, say the UFC were to have a tournament involving heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and three male figure skaters. Even if Lesnar was slightly injured, or not at the top of his game he’d essentially have a 100% chance of beating the smaller, effeminate men who are untrained to fight. If a book installed Lesnar as a -1000 favorite in this spot, it could still be considered a good value. It’s never easy to risk a lot to win a little, but from strictly a mathematical standpoint it makes sense.

Don’t go for the big killing: Sports wagering is not a good arena in which to make a ‘big killing’. It may happen from time to time, but it is extremely rare. A perennial doormat can come out of nowhere to win a championship at a big price, but the fact that it happens from time to time doesn’t make it a good value. If you’re a recreational player and want to throw a few dollars at a big long shot, no real harm. If you aspire to any degree of seriousness as a sports better, however, you need to maintain your discipline and commitment to value at all times. If you want to hit a big jackpot play the lottery or the slot machines, but don’t try to do it in a sports betting paradigm.

Wagering value is just as important at the bottom of the barrel as it is at the top. Just because you’re getting a huge potential payback on a big dog doesn’t make it a good value. Make sure that the payback you’re getting presents an overlay situation–even on a huge underdog.

Don’t waste your money on ridiculous prop bets: Occasionally sports books offer ridiculous bets to get press or to be funny. For example, a book once offered odds on Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and Bruce Willis all hopping into bed together and releasing a video tape of the proceedings. You’d no doubt get a huge payback were this to happen, but the ‘true odds’ of such an event transpiring far exceeded even a big potential payback.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Seattle Slew, horse racing’s lone remaining living Triple Crown winner, passed away on May 7, 2002 at the age of 28. Already ranked among the all time greats by virtue of this accomplishment alone, Slew is even more notable as the only Triple Crown winner to go undefeated as a three year hold. He came from humble beginnings, bought at public auction–the only Triple Crown winner to be acquired in this manner. After retiring to stud in’78 he remained a very profitable horse based on a stud fee of $300,000. His offspring earned over $76 million dollars at the race track and include over 100 stakes race winners including’84 Kentucky Derby champion Swale.

The Seattle Slew story began very modestly at a public auction in Lexington, Kentucky. The Keeneland Summer Yearling sale wasn’t supposed to be the marketplace of champions, and the idea that this particular horse would ever amount to anything other than a farmhand was downright laughable. He was somewhat clumsy looking due to a front right forefoot splay and had a shuffling gait at trot. Slew wasn’t a beautifully majestic creature like his Triple Crown winning predecessor, Secretariat. Slew was borderline ugly. So ungainly a creature was he that he was given the less than inspiring nickname “Baby Huey” by the Keeneland staff. He was purchased by two couples (Karen and Mickey Taylor and Jim and Sally Hill) for $17,500. What wasn’t apparent at the yearling sale was the intangibles that make up a championship thoroughbred–poise under pressure, love of competition, toughness, heart and desire. His owners had unwittingly stumbled onto an equine Muhammad Ali, and his competitive fire quickly became apparent to his trainers and jockeys. His first race came at Belmont Park in’76, and he entered–and won–three races as a two year old giving a glimpse as to what like ahead.

As a three year old, he quickly gained notice by winning his three Derby prep races, including the prestigious Wood Memorial. In the Derby, Slew got off to a terrible start as he stumbled from the gate much like War Emblem did in the 2002 Belmont. Unlike 2002’s Triple Crown contender, however, Slew was able to recover from that miscue and basically force his way through a pack of other horses to position himself at the front of the field at the quarter mile pole. He went on to win the Derby by a length and 3 quarters. Another tough victory in the Preakness set up his Triple Crown winning run at the Belmont, which he won by 4 lengths.

Slew continued to campaign as a four year old, but in the days before the Breeder’s Cup there weren’t many opportunities for an older horse. He retired to stud in’78, where he sired champions such as the aforementioned Swale and’92 Belmont Champ AP Indy. Slew stood at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky from’85 until early 2002 when he was moved to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, KY following a spinal operation.

Slew may not have earned the appreciation he deserved in his prime, coming so closely on the heels of the charismatic’73 Triple Crown winner Secretariat–arguably the greatest thoroughbred race horse in history. The jockeys that rode him, however, understood fully what a special animal they were dealing with. Jockey Angel Cordero gave Seattle Slew this lofty praise: “If I had a chance to take any horse in the world, if someone said your life is depending on riding one horse to win, I would take (Slew). I rode 44,000 horses, but he was special, he was different. He was muscled, like a wrestler. He ran different than any other horse. It was like he came from another planet.”

After his death in 2002, Slew was buried at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, Kentucky under a statue in his image.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The two most important people on a wedding day are, certainly the wedding couple. To get some excellent portraits, the photographer should seclude the wedding couple from the celebration for a while to capture the intimate moments after the ceremony. Not only will you get your pictures but this will give they wedding couple some time away from the celebration as well.

The portrait session will give the photographer enough time to spend with the wedding couple to capture the pictures. On the wedding day it doesn’t always happen because it is rare to have time on the actual day of the wedding. The time taken for pictures can well vary from an hour to no time at all. It can take up to an hour for the photographer to take the pictures.

When is the best time to take aside the bride and groom for some quality time with the photographer?

Most photographers tend to believe that the window before the reception is very suitable for portrait photography, since the couple would still look fresh at that time.

Award winning photographer Bradley Hanson says that sometimes the bride and the groom would want to start the portrait session even before the ceremony. When the bride is getting ready is when he usually starts photographing.

Right after the newly-weds have exchanged vows is a great time for some photographers to have their portraits done, since they are still fill with all of the emotions.

The couple should set aside some time with the photographer so the perfect actual day photo shoot will be flawless. Finding a polite way to lose the relatives and guests is sometimes hard but is worth the beautiful moments they will cherish for a lifetime.

Too many people trying to take pictures of the newly-weds and crying for attention may very well ruin a good portrait session on the wedding day. So the couple isn’t distracted by anyone the photographer will choose to have the couple alone.

According to award winning photographer Shawna Herring, most newly-weds start feeling uncomfortable before the camera when the portrait session is about to start. To help the couple forget the camera is there, the experienced photographer will try talking to the couple about things other then the portrait shoot.

It is also recommended to choose a day before or after the wedding for the photo shoot and go with the photographer to a different location. To have a good relationship with the photographer this really seems to help loosen them up. Shortly after, couples sometimes forget the camera is even there.

It is at times impossible to achieve the perfect alone time with the photographer due to a variety of reasons. The bride and the groom should work together with the photographer to find some alone time so that a really creative portrait session is achieved.

Find out more about the best Food Photographers who are also top in their field for Bridal Photography.

After canceling their 2009 season, the Arena Football League has shut down entirely and appears headed for bankruptcy. Earlier this week, the league office released a short statement indicated that it had ceased operations because owners were “unable to reach any consensus on restructuring the league over the past eight months.” The league had reached a new agreement with players earlier this year, but was unable to convince enough owners that they had a viable plan to return to profitability.

Even before the decision was made to cancel the 2009 season this past December, it had been a tumultuous off-season for the Arena Football League. It began with the resignation of long time AFL commissioner David Baker just two days before the Arena Bowl championship game. Though Baker put a positive spin on his resignation saying that he felt it was time, the timing was curious. Imagine the symbolic weight of the gesture were David Stern to resign right before the NBA finals, or Roger Goodell to step down before the Superbowl”even though Baker insisted that it the decision was strictly for personal reasons it doesnt exactly send a positive signal about the stability of the league.

In October, the owner of the New Orleans VooDoo announced that the team would cease operations”despite being one of the league leaders in attendance. In announcing that the team would fold, owner Tom Benson (who also owns the NFL Saints) suggested that the end of the five year old franchise was in no way an indictment of the New Orleans market.

A dispersal draft to reassign the VooDoo personnel was scheduled and postponed several times amid assurances from the AFL office that rumors of financial instability were unfounded.

The inability to get any consensus on a business model for the league reportedly served as the final nail in the AFLs coffin. A major problem was skyrocketing player salaries, and some sort of compensation system tied to team revenues was a necessity. A bigger schism was left between several factions of owners”primarily drawn along lines of overall wealth.

Despite the demise of the AFL, it wont be the end for “The 50 yard indoor war. The sport lives on the AF2 league which, ironically, was originally started as something of a developmental organization for the AFL. The league plays in smaller markets and has a more realistic salary structure. A number of current AFL players”and possibly a couple of AFL franchises”could end up in AF2.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer specializing in casino gambling, travel and sports betting. He has appeared on a number of TV and radio programs offering strategies for successful NFL football betting. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a pet llama. He is currently writing a biography of former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf.

If you are a sports fan or a hunting enthusiast, you may be in the market for a new set of binoculars. Determining what type of binoculars you need will mostly be determined by why you want them. They are definitely a much-needed piece of equipment when you are at a football game or while hunting. There are several varieties of binoculars and each one is good for the purpose for which they are intended. Sporting events and hunting trips require wide angle binoculars.

Before you invest in a pair of new binoculars you may want to consider a few things first. Just as with any in other product, the quality of the glasses will differ with different manufacturers. If you choose a set which is built with quality in mind, it will save you from having to purchase another pair in the future, thus saving money in the long run.

Standard issue you binoculars and the wide angle variety have a big difference in the way you perceive what you are viewing. The wide angle set will allow you to see more terrain and catch more action without having to move the glasses from side to side.

You will also find the wide-angle variety to be better for watching activities which have a lot of movement. Since they have a wider angle of view, they will be able to pick up more action as it happens. That is why it is very important for people who enjoy hunting or watching sports like football to have a nice wide angle pair of binoculars.

Before you make your choice, be certain you inspect the lens pieces. These will be in contact with your face the entire time you use them. If they are not well constructed, or do not fit comfortably, you will not be satisfied with your purchase. A sure sign of poor quality will be poor optical quality.

Wide angle binoculars are available in several price ranges. The prizes will be different according to the manufacturer and quality. The good thing is that the people who actually need the wide angle variety, do not care to spend the extra money to get the best equipment for their needs.

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One of the most interesting pair of shoes I?ve seen are thus Simple Men?s Toega slip on. Known as a green shoe for being made from 100% organic cotton, it is no surprise that environmentalists have taken a liking to it.

Perhaps the main selling point for the Simple Men?s Toega slip on is the fact they make 100% sustainable shoes. People don?t want to just have to listen to the hype, they want the proof before buying. The Simple brand gives the consumer that.

While most people might not be crazy about being eco-friendly, most find pleasure in knowing the Simple Men?s Toega slip ons are great for our planet. They are also great for other reasons.

To start, the prices of the shoes are very competitive. There are sales to be found everywhere online. This is great for people on a budget.

Also, these shoes are one of the most comfortable ones I have every worn. Granted, I?ve only had one pair, but they were great.

Despite all of that, the main selling point for the Simple Men?s Toega slip on goes back to the way they are made. They include no animal parts or man-made chemicals in the making of this great shoe.

I?ve researched the shoe the best I could for prices that will be the best for consumers. The fact is, my research will probably do no good after a week.

When originally release, these shoes cost around $80-90. Fortunately for those looking to buy, they have been discounted across the World Wide Web. Once you narrow down your choices and pick the style and color you want, the best bet is to do a thorough search. Sales come and go so I can?t give you exact websites offering the latest great deal, but a little bit of effort will get you a big discount. Good luck on your search for a pair of Simple Men?s Toega slip on.

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