There's a lot of money being splashed around the Premiership these days, and most of it on foreign players. In most cases, managers know who they are signing, but in the first fledgling years of the Premiership, it could have been anyone. Here's my top 5 Premiership flops...

There are many football codes around the globe. Football codes such as: Gridiron (American Football), Australian Rules Football (AFL), Irish Gaelic Football, Soccer, Rugby Union and Rugby League. In all of these different football codes all of the players have something in common, their football boots (soccer boots or cleats)!

Senior QB Todd Boeckman returns for his second year at the helm of the Ohio State offense. In his first season as the starter, Boeckman threw for 2,379 yards and 25 touchdowns. His 14 interceptions did become a concern at times throughout the season, but a year of experience may improve his decision making. The tools he has to work with at the skilled positions, and a rock solid line up front should have Boeckman putting up big numbers this year.

The SEC had another banner year in 2007, again finishing as the strongest conference in college football. For the second consecutive year, the SEC produced the National Champion as LSU became the first team to be crowned BCS Champion twice.

If you do not know your fumble from your field goal then this is the ultimate guide to the NFL for rookies focusing on history and the basic laws of the game.

Starting from day one, you'll find out how Deion Sanders came to be in his professional career in football as well as how it all ended.

You can learn a lot about football and the team by reading the postings on Notre Dame football forums. If you are a fan of the team, you should join one of the forums so that you can post your own thoughts of the games and the players and have discussions with other fans.

A month before training camp and a few more before the regular season kicks off, their seats are getting hot. There are lots of players in the NFL jockeying for position, fighting to keep their spot as new talent pours in from the draft, free agency and trades. Players who haven't yet lived up to their billing and are at risk of losing their jobs if they don't step it up quick.

The Big Ten had a tough 2007 as the conference dealt with the fallout from 2006's stunning showing during the bowl season where both Ohio State and Michigan lost badly after finishing the regular season both ranked in the top 3 and boasted 23 wins combined.

So you want to buy an NFL jersey. Did you know that there are a number of different types of NFL jerseys that you can buy?

Soccer Coaches Get Rid of the Laps If you can understand why running laps in youth soccer is huge waste of time you will not only be a better coach, but a better all around youth soccer trainer. Last year I watched a youth soccer practice and by the time I got home I was still in shock. Most of my thoughts were simply of renaming the coach to “old school” and I was also a bit angry. I wasn’t angry at the coach. He was doing what he thought was right and what had been taught to him. I was angry at the director of coaching for this soccer club for not watching his coaches, correcting them and bringing them up to speed on the best practices / methods for youth soccer player development. Running “laps” in youth soccer is common and done for many reasons. Some coaches use laps thinking it will condition their players. Others use laps for warm ups, while others often use them as punitive exercises for players that are misbehaving. Unfortunately all of these reasons are wrong and slightly misguided. First look at conditioning. Youth soccer players and even competitive players don’t run laps the entire soccer match. Most of their conditioning needs should be geared towards how they play. Short to medium bursts of extreme speed followed by a slow jog or walk is what they do in a game. This is what we should condition them for. High intensity 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 “wave games” are the best for conditioning players and combine soccer skills with conditioning. If you want to have them do sprints, put a soccer ball on their feet. The players should have a ball on their feet with every form of exercise. You can increase the number of touches by over 300 each practice simply by adding a soccer ball. Do this over 20 practices and you have increased the number of touches a season by over 6000 per season. By the way, that is more touches than most collegiate players will get during games their entire playing careers. Warm ups: With such little time available to train youth soccer players, EVERY minute of your practice should involve some form of SOCCER training. Being prepared really helps with proper warm ups. The warm up section of your practice should include not only ball touches, but player movement as well. Have a series of drill stations set up that keep all players moving and not waiting in line. Focus on dribbling, moves and passing. Instead of your players standing in a circle passing the ball, make them move. Have them touch the ball to the middle of the circle, pass and replace the player they just passed to. Then instead of just one ball, add two or three balls so that it becomes “mayhem” in the circle. Eyes will be watching every direction and players can’t stand still for more than 5 seconds. After 5 – 10 minutes all will be breathing hard and be tired. Now is the time for a good stretch. Punitive exercise: Youth players should NEVER be told to run laps or perform physical exercises for misbehaving or breaking rules. This is the time for a CALM, non-embarrassing talk about the behavior. We should let the player know that their behavior is taking away from other players’ training and it should be corrected. If the behavior continues after the talk then players should sit out on more fun activities like scrimmages and small sided games. Let the player know you’re not angry, but the bad behavior needs to have some repercussions. Teaching a soccer player that running is a “negative” is a huge mistake. Last month I worked with 2 former division one soccer players. I had them run through what I call the “Play and Puke” 1 v 1 session. A high intensity 1 v 1 session, it is extremely taxing on the players but is a TON of fun for them. After the session I asked them a simple question. “What is easier, running laps or playing this game?” The answer was unanimous, “Running laps is a piece of cake compared to that game.” Then I asked another question. “Which is better SOCCER training?” Again they all agreed that they used GAME skills in the game while at the same time working muscles they seldom used. My point is simple. Running laps shows lack of creativity and understanding in a soccer coach. This is not just my theory but also promoted throughout the world of youth soccer. We often hear the phrase, “Remove the three L’s from your practices, Lines, Lectures and Laps.” Very good advice. While creating www.BlastTheBall.com and www.SoccerU.com we tried to get this point across to coaches, parents and players. Conditioning only lasts a few weeks after it stops. Once it stops it is gone forever. Technical training and skill training gets ingrained into the soccer player’s mind and body and becomes a part of them. It will stay there forever. How to set up the game: Field size will vary but should be around 40 yards long and 20 yards wide. Small goals or two cones are placed on each end. Players are NOT allowed to shoot until they are within 5 yards of the goal. 3 to 4 players stand ready with a ball on their feet on EACH end. They MUST be ready with a ball on their feet. The first player receives a pass from an opponent at the other end of a small field. They play 1 v 1 challenge until the ball crosses the end line, whether the ball goes in the goal or not. When the ball crosses the end line the player that kicked the ball across the line must now recover quickly as another player waiting with a ball on the same end is taking off trying to score. The former shooter is now the new defender and must recover quickly. That 1 v 1 match ends with a player shooting and then the next player, waiting with a ball, charges off trying to score. Again the player that shot the ball must recover to defend. This training can now be done with in a 2 v 2 format as well. Encourage overlapping and diagonal runs when working this game in a 2 v 2 or 3 v 3 setting. Help offensive players understand that having them both “following the ball” doesn’t open up space or create fast breaking attacks. High intensity “soccer training” creates well conditioned and skilled soccer players. Laps create good runners. Make sure you know who you’re training.

Has it ever surprised you that one of the greatest sports in one of the greatest nations is not shared with the rest of the world? This article is meant to point out some of the peculiar reasons that it might not qualify for any future Olympic Games.