venerdì 26 agosto 2011

A Dose of NCAA Basketball History


A Dose of NCAA Basketball History

The National Collegiate Athletic Association was the
trendsetter in ambiguity and victory. It is has
undergone a lot of ups and downs. From the very
founder of the game which all basketball enthusiasts
have to be thankful for, Dr. Naismith. He, who showed
people that a game this big can come from a game so
seemingly small then.

It’s like looking through the hourglass where sands of
time has lost track of the day that has passed. NCAA
basketball revitalized the blood of every college
individual. Dreamers and supporters alike are the ones
who made every event possible.

NCAA begins on the month of March. This is usually the
time where cheerleaders strut their moves and the best
players are molded into persons who will pave the way
to get into the NBA or get into the school of their
choice. “March Madness”, as they call it, had become a
traditional season where colleges from different parts
of the United States meet for a chance to get to the
top.

This wouldn’t all be possible without the help of a
few significant people who paved the way for the
firsts. First event. First MVP. First team champion.
It’s all included in NCAA’s history record.

It was stated that the very first NCAA tournament for
men’s basketball was held at Northwestern on March 27,
1939. There were only 8 teams that competed against
each other coming from 2 different regions. Oregon was
the very first to be declared as champions for that
event, defeating Ohio State.

The NCAA was the king of the basketball arena but not
until the 1950’s came. NIT went into the scene and was
then considered as the more prestigious event than
NCAA. Teams then preferred to play in NIT and choose
to skip the NCAA season.

Because of this irony, the best teams never met. But
either way, some of the best schools choose to enter
both tournaments that made playing more interesting.

In the 1940’s, Oklahoma A&M won two titles in the
NCAA. Those who were defeated in NIT recovered much
and gained integrity when they entered the NCAA. While
some schools decided to stick with NIT, there are
others who lost on their first and second round with
NIT and decided to finish the season in the NCAA.

A third-place event was added into the game schedule
in courtesy with the East region. That was in 1941.
The national third-place game was first held in 1946.
This lasted until the 1980’s. In comes 1951. This was
the year where the expansion of 8 teams were made into
16. Seattle became the site of the semifinal and
championship games in 1952. This was also the place
where the genuine “final four” was made.

1956 became historical for this year paved the way for
the tournament to be divided into regions of four.
Thus, the most magnificent and famous games were made.

In 1974, NCAA became a tournament with 32 teams. They
also allowed more schools to participate in
conferences. When 1979 came, it expanded to 40
participating teams. This is the year when Michigan
State won national championship against Indiana State.
This tournament was one of the most historical events
ever accounted for in all of NCAA seasons. Earvin
“Magic” Johnson became well known going against Larry
Bird.

As the expansion follows over the years, in 1985, it
had become a 64-team match. The tournament’s
popularity reached the corners of the country far and
wide. Negotiations from television networks to air the
game via satellite speeding through the internet,
radio, etc. had been agreed upon.

martedì 23 agosto 2011

Eye Allergies And How The Body Reacts to Them


Eye Allergies And How The Body Reacts To Them

The most common notion about having allergies is that
they would occur mainly in the skin, or break out in
some other form, like having indigestion or something
equally unpleasant.

But one thing that is often overlooked is the human
eye, since it too contracts allergic reactions quite
easily. There are often symptoms that can let you know
that you’re having an allergic reaction to a
substance, identifying whether it’s from an allergy or
something else that’s causing your eye irritation.

Signs Of Trouble In Your Eyes

A lot of common symptoms can be associated with
multiple diseases. Itchiness in the eyes, redness,
swelling, a burning sensation, it can all possibly be
part of some other disease.

Another common sign is known as pink eye, which has
the entire clear membrane of the white of your eyes
going pink, and possibly getting itchy as well. You
can find out the source of the irritation if it’s from
a viral, bacterial, or allergic source.

If it only affects one eye, then the most likely cause
is viral. A bacterial source of pink eye will also
show because there is often a discharge coming out of
the eye. However, if it’s not exclusively the eye
that’s affected, then the source will most likely be
allergic in nature.

The doctor will most likely rule out all other
possibilities once he or she finds out about the exact
circumstances of the irritation.

Sources Of Eye Allergies

The eye, although protected from the outside by its
lubrication, can still sometimes come into contact
with possible allergens. The usual culprits in eye
allergies include pollen, which occurs during the
spring and summer months at its peak.

An unpleasant reaction to chemicals that enter your
eye such as medication with side effects or eye drops
can also cause an allergic reaction. Also quite common
is having allergies associated with pets, so be sure
to check these sources.

What you can do

Of course, being an allergic reaction, the best thing
that you can do to avoid having an unpleasant reaction
to your allergen is to avoid it. You’ll have to make
sure that you keep your surroundings clean from most
airborne allergens, like vacuuming regularly around
your house to keep dust, pollen, and pet hair from
getting airborne and into your eyes.

But still, you can’t avoid being exposed to other
environments, so if you’re allergic to airborne
particles, you’ll have to check with your doctor to
see if you can benefit from using over the counter
medicines that you can carry around.

These can possibly alleviate the symptoms you have
through their active ingredients. You can also
probably find products that have antihistamines in
them, lessening the allergic reaction and calming down
things a bit when symptoms manifest themselves as
swelling and redness.

A direct application to the symptom site will have a
faster reaction time than if you were to take the
medicine in oral form like capsules or tablets.

However, consult your doctor on the effects of
prolonged use of your medicinal treatments, as your
eyes might become dependent on your medication. You
don’t want to have your blood vessels being dependent
on eye drops to become small again when they swell up
during an allergy attack.

domenica 21 agosto 2011

All About Allergies And How They Affect The Human Body




If you’ve ever tried inhaling some pollen from plants,
or eating something and finding out afterwards that
you’re covered in red blotchy spots or some other
nasty effect after you eat, then you’ve experienced
firsthand the effects of Allergies.

In common usage, an allergy is an adverse reaction
toward what is called an allergen, or specifically,
the material that causes the allergic reaction.

What Happens When You Come In Contact With An
Allergen?

When you ingest something that causes an allergic
reaction in your body, the immune system is said to be
hyperactive to this material, and with that, the
immune system activates to quash what it sees as a
threat. But it’s actually not, and is quite harmless
and garners no excess bodily reaction in other people.

Once the body’s immune system releases antibodies as a
response to the allergen, it causes the release of
histamine into the bloodstream, which is what causes
you to get teary-eyed and have a runny nose or
whatnot.

Common Allergens In People

Probably the most common source of allergic reactions
in most people is in their food. Whether its
shellfish, or mushrooms, or even something mundane
like a vegetable, allergic reactions from food are
quite common.

And if you’ve been stung by an insect and notice
excessive swelling from the locality of the bite, then
you’ve got an allergic reaction from that bite.

There are even cases of extreme allergic reactions to
bee stings, resulting in anaphylactic reactions.
Chemicals and medicine also fall into the category of
being a common source of allergic reactions.

If you’ve got to have antibiotics as prescribed by the
doctor, make sure that your body doesn’t have an
allergy to materials in your medicine.

Treatment and avoidance of allergies

Should you suspect that you’re having an allergic
reaction to something, consult your doctor so that he
or she can refer you to an allergist, which is a type
of specialization for doctors in the field of
allergies.

He or she can do the testing on your suspected
materials and verify your suspicions and prescribe
medicines or give your advice on what to do about your
reaction. But sometimes, antihistamines are not
enough, though that’s the most common medicine to
combat allergic reactions.

Sometimes you have to avoid contact with the allergen
at all costs, as enough exposure could possibly lead
to disastrous results in your body.

Make sure you know exactly what materials you are
allergic to so that you can avoid even trace
quantities of it in other things.

Avoidance is also a good method of preventive
treatment, since you won’t have allergic reactions
when you aren’t exposed to allergens.

One method of treating allergens is to give a person
immunotherapy, exposing the person with the allergy to
minute quantities of his or her allergen.

The immune system learns to cope with these materials,
developing immunity and preventing future allergic
reactions. This is particularly effective for airborne
particles, less so for food allergies, which might
cause reactions even though you’ve undergone
treatment.

Almost all people have allergies of one sort to
another, and it varies widely when it comes to what
they’re allergic to. Once you find out your allergen,
you can avoid it and prevent unpleasant reactions from
your body, or even get treatment so that you can
develop immunity and remove the allergic reaction from
your body.