For the love of the Detroit Red Wings

I would like to discuss in my opinion what is the greatest sports team in the free world. It is none other than the Detroit Red Wings. If you click that link you will notice their advertisement "It's more than hockey". It suggests something that is greater than just a sports team. That it is a style and has character all of its own. Also, that you will be a part of something that is "larger than life" if you support them. Now clearly this is just a sports team. But we also must realize is that it is big business, and what way to generate more revenue than by creating a ton of "hype". We even have hometown celebrities that support the Wings such as singer Kid Rock:

My love of the Wings started in the early nineties during the dynasty age of the Red Wings. Everybody loves a winner, or so they say, and they dominated hockey during that time like no other. Now Detroit has traditionally been a hardworking blue collar type of town. During the nineties many corporations were outsourcing their work especially in the automotive sector. People needed hope and a sign that things could get better. Of course unless you actually work for the Wings it really won't change your life in any material way. But many people saw hope that if Detroit could do so well with hockey that it could extend to other things. A sense of pride started to grow about being from Detroit:
                                         

The sense is that if you are from Detroit and you love all things from there, such as the Red Wings and Chrysler, that you are hard-working and that you belong to a "select" group of people. I live in Arizona now, but I will always be Wings fan. It's my hometown, it is a part of who I am. Advertisers are well aware of this, and use this. Will the Detroit Red Wings be the best out there? Of course not, these things change all the time. Most people like to identify with things that are close to them, and that they are familiar with. I suppose you could say it is a "comfort" thing. Detroit will always be "my" team. Even if they lose every game of the season, it will not matter.  I will always be a "Wing Nut"

                                                                                                

Find Your Tweeps

     I would like to write about a couple guys I believe are outstanding in their fields, and who I have made a list on Twitter and follow. The first one is Mark Rippetoe. Mark is considered a leader in his field in strength training. He has published the hugely successful and renowned series of books titled "Starting Strength". His core list of workout revolve around the squat, bench press, overhead press, power clean, and deadlift. Mark was also an accomplished power lifter winning several competitions in the early eighties. He also classified lifters in several different categories novice, intermediate, advanced, and elite. Which would describe what stage you are at and where you need to go from there. Mark is often known for his aggressive style of training and holding nothing back. His insight into training and the form needed, helped me to greatly increase my strength in the above mentioned lifts, and even improved my overall health. I no longer suffer from an aching back, and painful knees after having followed his advice on proper form. I have incorporated many of his methods of training to help me achieve personal records and break through training plateau's. My record in the bench press is 285 lbs at 4 reps, and my squat is 315 lbs. at 5 reps.

     Another person I would like to mention is none other then the great mixed martial artist Georges St-Pierre. French Canadian born George is the reigning welterweight MMA champion of the world. He has beaten some of the best fighters in the world such as: Matt Serra, Matt Hughes, and B.J. Penn. Out of a total of 24 fights to date his record stands as: 22 wins, 8 by knockout, 5 by submission, 9 by decision, 2 losses, 1 by knockout, and 1 by submission. He has also won fighter of the year by various organizations from 2008 to 2011. Not only being one of the toughest guys in the world , George also supports a position of anti-bullying and even shares his own story. George is an all around nice guy and very humble. His next fight coming up will be against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 whom he described as "the most disrespectful human being I've ever met and I'm going to put the worst beating you've ever seen on him in the UFC". However, St-Pierre had sustained an ACL injury to his left knee and the injury would sideline him for around ten months, forcing him out of the bout with Diaz. George has inspired me to take some classes for self-defense and my three boys. A skill that every man and woman should know. He also has a great work ethic and dedication to what he does, which I admire very much.

Your pop culture tour

3 different genres of pop culture.

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