Real Salt Lake the Real Deal - CONCACAF Finals and Beyond
 |
For those of you not up to speed on soccer in this or any other country, Real Salt Lake is on the verge of doing something never before done in this country: play for a worldwide league championship.
Major League Soccer Champions in 2009, Real Salt Lake took care of the first game of a home-and-home finals round with Mexico's Monterrey on Wednesday night; scoring the tying goal with less than a minute to go in regulation. Known as the CONCACAF Champions League, it's the gateway to the biggest prize in soccer outside of the World Cup championship, the FIFA Club World Cup
The first game tie, in and of itself, is quite an achievement for RSL. The finals round of the CONCACAF Champions League is played in 2 legs, one match in Mexico and one match in Salt Lake. The points are aggregated between the two games. If the summed points produce a tie, then whichever team has more away points wins. It's a little confusing, but the 2-2 score actually puts Real in a good place. Obviously, the best situation would be an out and out win. But if they can keep Monterrey to a low draw, either 0-0 or 1-1, they still win, since they had 2 away goals.
And Real has a good chance of making that happen. They are currently on a 34 game streak of being unbeaten at home in the Rio Tinto Stadium.
Feel free to call Real Salt Lake the little engine that could. They won a mere 5 games in their inaugural season, but managed to double that by their second season. By their 5th season, they parlayed an 11-12-7 record into an MLS Championship.
Fast-forward to the current season; they're now in a position to win one of the most prestigious sports championships in the world. Not too shabby for a team just seven-seasons-old. Whether or not they win this has already been huge shot in the arm for soccer in the United States as well as Major League Soccer.
Here's the scope of what Real Salt Lake can wrap up on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City next Wednesday: the chance to represent the entire North American continent in Japan this winter with a win or tie. Hopes are high for fans of Real Salt Lake because they haven't lost at Rio Tinto in 37 consecutive games.
So, with a win or a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night, in a game that will be shown live at 10:00PM Eastern on Fox Soccer Channel, Real Salt Lake can be crowned champions and become the first Major League Soccer team to ever play in the Club World Cup, a tournament played against other continental soccer champions.
Even casual soccer fans have heard of the teams that have previously played in—or won—the Club World Cup. They include Real Madrid from Spain, Corinthians from Brazil, Manchester United from England, and Milan from Italy. Brazil, as a nation, has the most wins with 3, followed by Italy with 2, and Spain and England with a win each. The United States has never had representation in the Club World Cup.
Real's run for the CONCACAF League Championship, and a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup, has been an amazing to watch, and has even brought the other teams in the MLS together in support of the Salt Lake team, in spite of still having to compete against them in regular league play. It will be exciting to see what happens this Wednesday with the second game, but as is Real has already accomplished a lot in terms of worldwide recognition of American soccer.
Celebrities Living Green on Earth Day and Everyday
 |
What do actor and Emmy Award winner Ed Begley, Jr., famous Clueless actress Alicia Silverstone, Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman, and famous actor and director George Clooney have in common? They are all activists for living eco-friendly in one way or another.
Ed Begley, Jr. is a lot more than just an advocate for living green. He practices what he preaches. From composting his own garbage to using solar and thermal power in his own home, he also has a line of green cleaning products. Ed is famous for once riding his bike to the Academy Awards. For all the years he has been in show-business, he lives in a modest home and lives a sustainable lifestyle.
Alicia Silverstone is another Hollywood eco-friendly celebrity and animal rights activist. She loves animals and has completely sworn of anything coming from an animal source at all. She has a solar-paneled Los Angeles home with an organic vegetable garden. She even celebrated her wedding in green style with recycled invitations, organic flowers and organic food.
Natalie Portman is also against animal products and lives a vegan lifestyle. She has been a vegetarian since she was a child and has supported animal rights for a long time. Even her engagement ring is made from recycled platinum and conflict-free diamonds. She prefers to wear eco-friendly fashions from designer Stella McCartney and wears vegan shoes as well.
George Clooney is another famous celebrity that is passionate about living green. He fights to aid refugees all over the world is a Messenger of Peace with the United Nations. He works very hard to educate about decreasing the United States' dependence on foreign oil. Clooney has raised funds for several disaster relief efforts to help those devastated by natural disasters.
TV Networks Quickly Doing Away With Soaps
Soap operas have ruled the airways since the 1960s. Soaps like "All My Children" and "Days of our Lives" have long been a staple on daytime television because of their loyal fan base, profitable advertising revenue and cushy timeslots on major networks. But that is all about to change.
On April 14, ABC cancelled two of their longest running shows ever: "All My Children" and "One Life to Live". Last year, CBS also killed two of their longest-running daytime series ever: "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns". Only 4 soap operas--"Days of Our Lives," "General Hospital," Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and Beautiful"-- remain on daytime television. And there is no guarantee that these shows will live to see another season.
Major television networks are quickly cancelling soaps because of dropping viewership and costly production schedules. Even though soap opera fans are some of the most loyal TV fans around, a gradual loss of viewership has taken place. This decrease in viewership has led to a decrease in advertising revenue for most soaps over the years. And with this decrease in revenue, many networks are hesitant to keep supporting costly production schedules. Soap operas film new content for 5 shows a week, usually for an hour long show. This is an unprecedented amount of filming time that is expensive to finance and physically grueling for actors.
Therefore, networks are replacing soap operas for less-costly shows like talk shows and game shows. CBS replaced their cancelled soaps with "Let's Make a Deal" and "The Talk," and ABC will replace their newly cancelled shows with "The Chew and "The Revolution".
DISH Offers A Better Way to Watch Movies
It is expensive to go see a movie at the theater. From buying tickets to purchasing soda to the gas that it takes to get to the theater, you can easily spend more than $40 just to catch the latest flick. Instead, why not save money and watch a movie from the comfort of your own home? Luckily, DISH offers many options that makes watching movies cheaper and more affordable than ever before.
DISH Cinema offers customers the best of both worlds: great movies and cheap prices. Customers can purchase a wide variety of movies On-Demand at any time. Watch the latest Hollywood movies and classic favorites for a fraction of the price that you would pay in the movie theater. You can choose between comedies, dramas, family programming, action movies, and foreign films, among many other movie categories. All On-Demand movies are available in both English and Spanish and are offered in 1080p resolution, the same resolution that Blue-Ray discs are offered in. And best of all, once you purchase a movie, you can watch it as many times as you want in a 24 hour period.
In addition to DISH Cinema, DISH Network also offers many premium movie packages and channels. You can choose between five different movie packages. These packages include the HBO package that comes with 8 HD channels and 9 SD channels including HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Comedy, HBO Zone and HBO Latino. The Showtime package offers 10 different channels including The Movie Channel, Sundance and FLIX. There is also the Starz package, which comes with 6 channels in HD.
Women's Health Cover Girl Julianne Hough: A Star with the Talent To Back it Up
 |
Julianne Hough is a singer, dancer and actress whose star has been rising rapidly lately. With a budding country music career, a role alongside Cher in 'Burlesque' and a private life that includes a high-profile relationship with Ryan Seacrest, it seems that Hough has been all over the media lately. She has been popping up on television, on the radio, on the Internet and in magazines. In fact, Hough is featured on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Women's Health magazine and dishes about her body, career and relationships in her revealing interview.
Dancing With The Stars
One of the main focuses of the interview was Hough's time dancing on the hit talent show 'Dancing With The Stars'. She first appeared on the 4th season of the show in spring 2007 when she was paired with Apolo Ohno, an Olympic speed skater. Even though Hough was only 18 at the time, she and Ohno ended up winning the season, besting the show's older and more experienced dancers.
In the Women's Health interview, Hough comments on her time dancing with Ohno. In doing so, she did something that most celebrities avoid like the plague during interviews: playing favorites.
"I hope my partners don’t get mad at this but Apolo [Anton Ohno] is probably my favorite because he was my first partner…I got three tens for the first time, got to do the PasaDoble for the first time and just experience everything for the first time so [Apolo] was definitely my favorite.”
Driven to Dance at a Young Age
Even though Hough can now happily reminisce about her great success on 'Dancing with the Stars', her journey to get there was not an easy one and included many years of hard work. Hough has been training in all forms of dancing since the age of 3, and began dancing competitively at the young age of 9. She and her brother, Derek Hough, even spent a number of years as young teenagers in London participating in intensive dance training. They lived with their coaches--Corky and Shirley Ballas--and spent hours everyday training in many artistic forms including ballroom, ballet, jazz, tap and even song and theatre.
This hard work led Julianne to become a household name in the world of professional dance at a very young age. Her status in the dance world was cemented when she became the youngest dancer, and the only American, to win the coveted title of International Latin Youth Champion at the famous Blackpool Dance Festival in England.
After a number of years in Europe, Hough made her way back across the pond and eventually found her way to Los Angeles to begin her career as a dancer. Hough experienced success right away; booking roles in commercials and quickly becoming a dancer on DWTS.
Staying Fit On the Road
Even though Hough is now considered by many to be a world-class dancer, there is no doubt that some of her success can be attributed to her blonde, all-American good looks and her ridiculously fit body. Even though many people may think that her toned body can be attributed to some great genes, Hough insists that she works hard to maintain her killer bod. She pays extra attention to her diet while traveling and make sure to workout regularly.
“It’s so hard to stay fit while you’re travelling, but for me it always makes me feel better on the inside if I’ve worked out. I worked out this morning before the shoot. It was very early, but I made myself get up and do it and I’m so glad I did!”
But Dancing Isn't Everything
Even though Hough's fit body may indicate otherwise, the starlet does have many other interests and pursuits away from the dance floor and working out. In late 2008, Hough left her dance workouts and her TV success behind when she left the cast of DWTS. She has since been focusing on other pursuits, particularly further her career in country music.
Country Music Singer
Hough has already enjoyed a considerable measure of success in the world of music and has already released a self-titled album, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart. She has toured with Brad Paisley, Jewel, Toby Keith and Chuck Wicks and even won the Top New Artist award at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2009. It is reported that Hough recently finished work on her second studio album, which is schedule to be released in 2012.
Dating Ryan Seacrest
When Hough is not belting out country tunes or perfecting her beach bod, she and her current boyfriend Ryan Seacrest can be found traversing the globe and attending many high-profile events together. She started dating Seacrest in 2010. Before then, she was involved in relationships with a number of famous men including country singer Chuck Wicks and professional dancer Zach Wilson
Because of her and Seacrest's high-profile relationship, they are a favorite of target of the paparazzi, who regularly photograph them all over the world. She was recently photographed with Seacrest in Mexico while on vacation. And even though she is in phenomenal shape, she told Women's Health that she still worries about how she looks in photographs.
“I was thinking, Oh, crap, maybe I should’ve sucked in a little. They were photographing us from a boat, and it was the first time I’ve gotten upset, like ‘I can’t just lay out and stuff my face?’ It really messes with you.”
Looking Forward
But when Hough is not worrying about her body and how she looks in photographs (what woman doesn't?!), she is busy making plans for her future in entertainment. So just what is in the cards for Hough? A modeling career?A new book? With her determination, it’s very possible.
“I know what I’m capable of, and I don’t ever want to sell myself short."
