Since I was a kid I love to watch the Indianapolis 500 on TV every May. The cars racing around the track, the anticipation of a potential crash, the power and the noise. it was all very exciting to me as a kid. Well the excitement has hardly worn off in my adulthood. Dreaming and wanting to go to the race in person has been a life long desire. Well now this coming Memorial Day we are heading to Indianapolis, IN. We are going to the Indianapolis 500 races. After years of wanting to go and much time spent thinking about it we are finally going to be going! Having just obtained the tickets to the race we are now going to book out Indianapolis luxury Hotels room. With wanting to go for so long and finally getting the opportunity to go, we are going first class all the way.

Since we are in Colorado we thought it would be really cool to rent a van and all of us would drive up and meet in Denver. From Denver we will head out to Indianapolis. Being that the drive is a little more than one thousand miles we should be able to make it with a full day of driving. Being that we will switch drivers off and on we should be able to make it one very long drive. Not really wanting to stop over night on the way I think this will be the best to just keep on the road and get ourselves there.

This is going to be one heck of a party, six guys in a van for twenty four hours driving half way across the country. We are staying in suite all together and going to the races. It should and will be so much fun. I now can not wait for May to get here.

What’s better than the smell of fresh cut grass? Oh yeah, the smell of fresh cut grass and fierce competition.  That’s Wimbledon, baby!

One of the tennis grand slam championships, Wimbledon is one of the most important and prominent events in tennis history.

It all started with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, the club was founded in 1868.

The club was first founded under the name the All England Croquet Club, but after a name change in 1877 the club was renamed, and then the first Lawn Tennis Championship was instituted.

By 1882, croquet was dropped from the name entirely and the club was exclusively for lawn tennis.  Although, the name was restored back to the original for sentimental reasons in 1892.

Wimbledon is one of those events that no matter how you watch it you feel like you have been transported back into a time of ladies and gentlemen just enjoying some good old fashioned English sport.

However, the club is maintained and kept up with the needs of its members and of those spectators who flock every year to centre court to watch the best in tennis play.

Throughout the years Wimbledon is still one of the premier tennis tournaments in the entire world. It is the only professional tournament to be played on a grass court surface and is seen as a specialty surface much like the clay of Roland Garros stadium and The French Open.

The facility now has a retractable roof and places to house broadcast cameras, and even after all of these years and all of the location changes it is still one of the premier places to hit a tennis ball in the entire span of the globe.  Once you go grass, you may just never go back!

As professional golf continues its expansion into Asia and the Middle East, the newest championship “The Race to Dubai” will feature a $2 million prize. The Euro Tour is sponsoring the event along with Leisurecorp (which is owned by the government of Dubai). The Euro Tour has expanded in 2009 to include tournaments in Hong Kong, China, South Africa, South Korea Thailand, Australia, Malaysi and Indonesia as well as matches in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Race to Dubai” will end at the Dubai World Championship in mid-November. The tournament is the richest in the world. In addition to the top prize, cash awards will be earned by the top finishers, down to 15th place which will receive $250,000. The Dubai World Championship is scheduled to be played at the Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Golf is a growing interest in the Middle East. In Dubai, the influx of western tourists has led to the creation of numerous golf resorts. Likewise the large number of business travelers who find themselves in the city seek out courses as places to close deals as well as relax. Just about any 5 star Dubai hotel will be able to direct guests to the nearest course, if there isn’t one attached to the hotel grounds.

Dubai will be the home of the first golf course designed by Tiger Woods. It is estimated Woods may earn as much as $20 million once the course is completed at the Al Ruwaya Golf Club in Dubai.

The U.S. Open tennis tournament will begin in a couple of weeks and I am very excited, as are most tennis fans. Rafael Nadal won the French Open and the Wimbledon. I bet he also has his sights set on the U.S. Open.

But what really has me excited it the fact that the U.S. Open overlaps with the Olympics. This means that tennis season is extended because it will be covered and the players will not be on the schedule they are used to, which could lead to some upsets.

I think not having an adequate break in between will be a catalyst for many as they get injured. And as the professional exit the Olympics they will have to attempt to rest up and recuperate from any injuries, then jump into the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

But no matter what happens, the 2008 tennis season is going to be interesting…

No, “Censorship and the 2008 Summer Olympics” isn’t the title of a new educational book that will be used in schools this fall, nor is it a drama laden young adult novel. Still, with the Olympics being held in China this year, for those following the event it has been neigh impossible to escape from dramatic circumstances or situations.

The latest controversy in Beijing takes place in the Olympic Press Center. According to a story featured in The New York Times, there are allegations of Internet access to certain websites being blocked. The article mentions that such actions would be in direct violation of promises made by the Chinese government to allow uncensored access to information for all members of the media.

One of the major websites that the media had trouble accessing was the official site for Amnesty International. The human rights group has been very forward about their disappointment regarding human rights issues in China and the lack of significant progress before the start of the games.

Court two is known for the upsets that come out of the matches on it at the Wimbledon tournament. And the United States’ only hopes for winning the tournament are with Venus and Serena Williams. Both are scheduled to have all of their tennis matches on this court.

I think that they will be okay though. They have been playing consistently and improving at every match. I just hope that it’s not these two playing each other for the title. I bet it’s extra difficult for them to play each other and I bet it’s very difficult for their father since he doesn’t want to favor one over the other.

I always catch the French Open tennis tournament results on the The Tennis Channel when I have to miss some of the important matches. They always have great commentary and the hosts of many of the shows are or were professional tennis players.

I like the French Open coverage a lot because I am always busy toward the end of May since I teach and that is when I have to finish everything up and get grades done. So, I catch up on what happened in the evening.

I also love the Roland Garros tournament because it inspires me to grab my racket and hit the club for a set or two, and just get some exercise. I’m hoping the French Open tennis coverage is great again this year because I have a ton of papers to grade.

I love this time of year. The French Open tennis tournament is my favorite of the Grand Slam tournaments. I love it because I feel that the athletes that win it have superior skills compared to those that cannot win it. This is because of the clay surface that it is played on.

Clay surfaces slow the ball down and produces a high bounce in comparison to the grass and hard surface courts. It takes a special set of skills to win this and many of the world’s greatest tennis players cannot attain this championship.

As of 2007, the last 8 French Open men’s singles champions were won by men that did not win any other Grand Slam tournaments.

The Wimbledon coverage will begin once again later in June. This is my favorite of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments since the courts are made of 100% rye grass. This makes the running game much slower and I think it makes the athletes work harder.

The Wimbledon follows the Australian Open, then the French Open but it’s before the U.S. Open. The funny thing about this British tournament is the irony it has to the Brits. No English man has won a single’s event since Fred Perry did in 1936 and no English woman has since 1977 when Virginia Wade won.

I love this time of year when all of the tennis tournaments are coming up and we really get to see who is the best since all four events use a different kind of court. And though I like the clay used in the French Open, I think that Wimbledon will always be my favorite.