BONNIE SPORT

Prominent sports events can be very difficult to find tickets. Many factors should be considered. They include the priority of the team, how well the team is performing and the popularity of the team. Bear in mind that such tickets are in a great demand. But you can always find the way to get tickets at an affordable price.

The NBA season is approaching and it is going to be in November. The NBA tickets have become very popular, especially in such places as Detroit, Sacramento, Minnesota and Indianapolis.

You can buy the tickets via services offered by different brokers in special websites. The best idea is to choose the service which is one of the majors on the market, because market majors always have a wide range of tickets and this is a vibrant marketplace in fact. You can easily find best seats. Take into account that prices change very quickly and availability as well. So, try to find tickets in advance.

The best way to buy your tickets is always to order them the day they are being sold directly from the box office. This way you always get the tickets and seats you want for any specific date and match up at the lowest price available. The drawback of this is that you must plan for the event a few months in advance and because of improvisational nature of sports you can miss a great game or important match. Though many sports fans know the season schedule and can tell who will play next season.

And if you can not plan in advance and are exhausted of getting through to the box office, use the service of the ticket broker. Try to find that one who makes reliable offers.

Take into account that brokers offer tickets with a 30% increase in price. And if you want to save your money and do not overpay the broker, try to get them in advance. Today you can use the Internet for this purpose.

Also you can use reputable online auctions that can help you reserve good seats from somebody with extras who can not come to see the play. More often these are more expensive because they want to cover the costs and do not waste the tickets they have bought.

This week, it was announced that Magic Johnson sold his 5% stake in the Lakers to billionaire biotech investor and long-time Lakers season ticket holder Patrick Soon-Shying, the 46th-richest individual in the country, according to Forbes magazine.

However, a source not authorized to speak publicly has said that Earvin “Magic” Johnson has also sold 105 of his Starbucks franchises back to the Starbucks Company.

Magic’s long-time agent Lon Rosen said: “it was a very smart business decision on Earvin’s part [to sell].” Keep reading to understand why it was.

First, there is a ton of anticipation for the Lacer’s upcoming season. They are on their way to a potential three-peat. The team is still a contender; Magic is selling on the up trend. Better now than to wait potentially a few years down the line when Kobe isn’t the best player in the game and other teams are winning championships.

However, the most important reason why it was a good business decision is because the capital gains tax that will likely rise from 15 to 20% due to the expiration of the Bush Tax Cut’s at the end of the year.

Any profits made on investments held over the length of one year are subject to the capital gains tax. Magic is avoiding the likely increase by selling his shares of the Lakers and Starbucks.

According to the LA Times, Magic will net about $100 million between the two transactions. This amounts to a significant potential savings for Magic if the Bush Tax Cut’s do indeed expire.

Many investors are selling business, stocks, mutual funds, any investment held over 1 year to avoid paying the additional 5%. Also, the rate may climb over 20% in the years to come.

In 2013, and 3.8% Medicare tax is to be added to investment income. “Investment Income” has not been defined as of yet, but it should likely include capital gains. Meaning that capital gains tax could essentially go to 23.8% from 15% currently. That’s over a 50% increase in the tax.

Magic seems to have some great accountants as well as his business savvy. He sure did pick the right time to sell.

The other day I was driving around at lunch-time listening to Jim Rome on the radio. He was interviewing a pro football player for the Baltimore Ravens and was talking to him about the Ravens chances for winning the super bowl this season. After a few minutes of chatting the topic turned to off-season conditioning programs where Rome said “Is it true you improved your vertical leap 8 inches this off-season?” When the player answered that he had Rome half jokingly suggested that the player should create a workout tape or routine and was dying to know the answer of how he did it. What was the answer…”I simply jumped” was the player’s response.

As the two men continued to talk the player discussed how it happened and how he finally decided to make it a point of emphasis for himself as an athlete. In the past he had worked out muscles to make himself stronger and faster and it had worked so why not the same for jumping. “I simply jumped” was his answer.

I’ve done research since and found that it wasn’t just any kind of jumping but specific jumping. Warm-ups were always done with jumping rope but no vertical leap could be improved by simply jumping an inch off the ground. Imagine trying to improve your bench press by only lifting the bar each time. It just wouldn’t get you the results you were looking for. He would box jump or platform jump and with each set he would push himself to go higher and higher much like you would with any other exercise that you are trying to improve. He simply didn’t set the box at 24 inches and work on that all summer long. He constantly reached a plateau and then worked to beat it. The most common theme was the fact that he treated jumping like any other strength training exercise and jumped.

How many of us are willing to put the time and effort into this part of our game or athletic ability to improve? Just as some people are born with better natural strength, others are born as better natural jumpers. In my own terms, it takes me months to really improve my bench press as I don’t have great natural strength. I have to truly work at it. Meanwhile, I’m much faster than most people and that has come naturally to me so this all makes sense. What do we do with what we are given and what do we do to improve what we weren’t given? That is what truly separates the professional athletes from the rest of us.

I watch a lot of basketball and I love watching players do things the correct way. I love watching a good chest pass that hits the target quickly. I love watching great form on a shot. I love watching players in the post use good footwork to get shots off and I love it when players, especially young players, use the triple threat position.

For those that aren’t familiar with what the triple threat position is, it is when a player is ready to drive, pass or shoot the ball. It’s important because when players use it each time they catch the ball, they make the defense work harder and they proactively create scoring opportunities. When they are in the triple threat position they are immediately ready to attack whatever defensive strategy is being used on them. It allows you to be proactive on offense rather than reactive.

Many players today know what the triple threat position is but not every coach teaches it effectively so let’s talk about that. Anybody can go out there and get in position but not everybody can execute it correctly and be successful. In order for the triple threat position to be completely effective you must sell to the defense that you truly are in a position to pass, shoot or drive. If you get in the position half-heartedly or in a way where you don’t effectively sell it, it’s easy for the defense to expose it.

One of the key things to remember is that part of what makes the triple threat position so effective is that it keeps the defense guessing. They are limited in how they can defend you if they really believe that you could pass, shoot or drive when you have the ball. If you get lazy when you catch the ball and don’t get in the triple threat position you are letting the defense rest and taking away options for you and your offense to score. If when you catch the ball, you immediately put it over your head and examine the floor, it’s easy for the defense to know right away that you aren’t going to shoot it or drive to the basket. They know right away that all they have to do is shut down the passing lanes and they’ve stopped you.

We always hear analysts talk about studying the game of basketball and how it can help make you a better player but what are they really talking about. Does that mean that we should study basketball like we study our school work? Here are some ideas that can be used to help increase your knowledge in our great game of basketball.

1. Watch the game differently: Instead of watching the game for the enjoyment of it, try to watch the game from a different perspective. Identify the offense and defense that is being run. If you are a younger player then you first should just identify if the defense is a man-to-man or a zone. Once you understand that then try to identify what type of zone defense is being played. Is it a 1-3-1 or a 2-3 or a 1-2-2 or a 3-2? In order to really start to learn the game make sure you watch the game from a different perspective. That way when you play you’ll be more aware of what is going on.

2. Learn from others: To learn about the game it is important to get as many different perspectives as possible. That means to study all the different ideas from different coaches out there. There is a ton of great reading material on John Wooden, who is considered the greatest coach of all time. Read about him and his philosophies. Coach K is a great coach and there is a ton of great stuff on him as well. Read about his coaching theories and his thoughts on teams and players. If guys like him are willing to share their knowledge then you’d be dumb not to read it. Many coaches make videos or training books with their ideas available.

3. Use the Internet: When I was younger the internet didn’t exist and to get basketball training articles or drills we had to use connections or phonebooks to try to track stuff down. It wasn’t easy. Now you have everything at your disposal including your phones. I have a smart phone and I know there are apps today that show you drill that you can use to help you get better. YouTube has thousands of ideas and websites like ours really give you an edge that I didn’t have. Use the resources that are available to you.