By Percy Kinney
 When you are thinking about astronomy, the first thing that comes to mind is a telescope. This misconception is found every day. Actually, the first thing you need to do is look at the stars with a pair of binoculars. You cam spend hundreds of dollars on a telescope that might not be the right one. One thing that star glazers will tell you is that some of the lunar eclipses and bright comets look better with binoculars than with a high-powered telescope.
You need to look around the sky with a star map and learn about the stars and other objects in space before you jump in and buy a telescope. Sometimes what you see through a telescope will be ugly, where as through the binoculars, it is a beautiful focused site to see. Once you learn about the stars themselves, you will have a better understanding of what you are looking at and how far away it really is.
After you learn about the sky above you are ready to look for a telescope. Before rushing out and buying a
telescope, you should find some astronomers who will share their experiences and maybe even their telescopes with a group. Trying out a telescope before you buy it is something that will help you decide on what telescope will be best for you.
Some things to consider are what you plan to do with the telescope, how much you have to spend and are you going to take photographs of your sightings. If you are a causal backyard astronomer, you might even look at the Dobsonian telescopes. Never worry about power, but be more concerned about aperture and optics. If you will be viewing planets, you will need a telescope with high magnification. You would not want to buy a telescope with 600 power, as it will not have the aperture needed.
Most professional astronomers use a reflector type of telescope. This is where the light path is diverted to the concave lens or eyepiece. With the refractor telescopes, the light passes through the telescope by way of a lens to the eyepiece. In some of the opinions from astronomers, the refractor is the best type of telescope for looking at the solar system. However, reflectors are cheaper than the refractors. Reflector telescopes are recommended for beginning astronomers.
You will find areas with complete darkness are the best, but city viewing is fine if you have very little light to distract your viewing. Keep in mind that planet viewing is spectacular. You can see the ring around Saturn as well as view Venus. Jupiter, which changes every time you view it, is an amazing planet to keep an eye on.
You will want to have a star map, planet map and keep an eye on the news to find out when any interesting things are appearing in the solar system. Experience the sighting of a comet or meter shower, you will find that astronomy is a great way to spend the evening by yourself or with friends.
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Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson rules out January buys
By anna pakerss
 When asked about possible purchases the 69-year-old Scot stated there would "definitely not" be any new arrivals.But Ferguson hopes to loan out Federico Macheda for the rest of the season to increase the striker's experience.The 19-year-old Italian, who has made seven appearances in the Premier League this season, has been linked with former club Lazio, Roma and Bolton.Ferguson confirmed that Macheda's fellow forwards, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf, will remain on loan at Sunderland and Blackburn respectively.Welbeck has enjoyed success on Wearside and Ferguson is hopeful Macheda could have a similarly productive time away from Old Trafford.Ferguson conceded that he may have to reinforce his squad by recalling midfielder Tom Cleverley from his loan spell with Wigan.Cleverley has been away from Old Trafford for almost two years, impressing on loan spells at Leicester and Watford before taking up the option of a temporary spell at the DW Stadium."Tom has done excellently as well but the agreement with him was always that we would review it in January," said Ferguson."I have a fantastic relationship with Wigan so I have not discussed it any further than that."The only problem is that we have lost Park Ji-sung to the Asia Cup for the whole of January and I don't have Antonio Valencia back until the end of February, so we are a bit light in that respect in terms of wide positions."Ferguson expects Paul Scholes to return to training next week in a further boost to his midfield options.The 35-year-old has not played since injuring his groin in the Champions League win over Rangers on 24 November.
Ferguson has concentrated his spending on the summer break in recent years and did not sign any players in January 2010
Choosing Defensive Coverages to Match your Fronts in Coaching Football
By Joe Daniel
 One of the biggest mistakes you can make in creating your defense and calling your defense is not matching the coverage to the front. Your coverages and your fronts must work together to best stop the run and the pass.
It doesn't matter which one you decide to set first, front or coverage (kind of a chicken and egg thing), but they have to match. It should go without saying that if you want to run an 8-man front, you can't run a 2-high safety coverage. It should, but it does not.
We're going to start off with a 3-4, so we've got 2-high safeties. Perfect, I want to run a Quarters Coverage. In addition, it is very easy to roll one of those safeties down to an underneath zone, replacing a blitzing OLB in the 3-4 look, and create a Cover 3.
To be sure your front and your coverage match, you need to check your force/contain players and your flat players. First of all, they should generally be the same guy. Quarters is one exception because of the complex set of rules involved. Also, you need to be sure that anyone responsible for a deep zone is not going to be responsible for the run. We tell our Corners in Quarters that they have the #1 Receivers in most cases. They NEVER have run responsibilities in Quarters. In Cover 3, your 3 deep zone players should NEVER involved in primary run responsibilities. In Cover 2, your Corners are the flat players and play the contain, while the two deep safeties have only secondary run responsibilities. Another note with that is, Cover 0 and Cover 1 (man and man/free) can be run out of anything, but the guys in man coverage on removed receivers are not going to be run-responsible!
Best Fronts for the Coverage
There are certain coverages that I just like as a better fit with different coverages, regardless of the fact that all rules are satisfied in both cases. It doesn't mean that I wouldn't run one coverage with another front, just that I am accepting a situation that may be a little inferior in that one situation, for the sake of mixing it up.
Lets start with Quarters, which I love running with the 4-3 Defense. It fits all of the requirements with a 3-4 Defense, but the natural position of the OLBs at 3x3 off the Line of Scrimmage puts them in an odd spot to spill the play to the Safeties, who have contain. They just seem to be in a natural force/contain spot to me. Not that it can't be done, of course! But its a preference deal. The Defensive Ends in the 4-3 Defense are in a great spot, tilted on the outside edge of the End Man on the Line of Scrimmage (EMOLS), to spill the play outside to the safeties.
The 4-2-5 and the 3-5-3 are 8-man fronts that can easily be adapted to work with a two-high safety coverage. Just drop your weak side OLB back and you've got a 7-man front. Of course, that guy has to be versatile enough to do it, has to roll back before the snap unless he's an exceptional player, and tips your hand a little bit. So it can be done, I would just rather not. These are natural fits for Cover 3.
One of my favorite things about the 3-4 Defense is the incredible possibilities with Zone Blitzing, so the 3-under, 3-deep coverage concept is my favorite out fo this look. So many parts moving so many places, and all falling together so well.
Teaching Multiple Coverages with Multiple Fronts
The way to combine all of these fronts, and all of these coverages, is to teach your players the concepts, and teach them to communicate. You may not really run all of these, and certainly won't run some of them often, but your kids can figure out how to do them easily.
Whether you make your calls with names or numbers, tell them why you are using those terms. I like colors. If we're using 'Green' for Cover 3, I tell them "We call it Green because it sounds like 'Three'. Show them the coverage. Then ask why they think it is called "Three" or "Green"? Someone will get it. You have 3 guys deep. Alright, so pre-snap, as long as we know who the 3 deep guys are (and in almost all cases, the corners are deep so its only communication between the safeties), we'll have things right. Teach the Linebackers what the Underneath zones are, and how to communicate with eachother there too.
Ask how many "Quarters" are in a dollar - 4. Now they're getting the concept of Quarters coverage. There may be some more explanation involved in this one as far as rules, but ultimately we need to know that if 4 guys run deep, 4 guys will handle them.
Each coverage has a big effect in one one or two players are doing, but not really everyone. So don't bother everyone with it. Your Corners are doing something similar in Cover 3 and Quarters - not exact, but similar. They are doing something wildly different in Cover 2! Make sure they're the experts on Cover 2. The Safeties better be the experts on Quarters, because they're making all of your checks. And Cover 0 and Cover 1 are like playing flag football - everyone's got a man, so communicate who has what! Whoever is the expert, they better be doing some talking out there.
You can integrate all of the fronts and all of the coverages you would like to have easily, as long as you can teach the concepts to your players, and get your players to communicate. Don't try to put everything in, but select what you need to compete with the teams that you play and the teams that you need to beat. Adapt your playbook to your unique situation and set your players up for success!
Joe Daniel has been a high school and college football coach. He also writes the Football-Defense Report blog. There you can find lots of info on coverages like this article on Cover 3 Defense.
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SI Sportsman of the Year Awarded to Drew Brees
By Jack Behanti
 Drew Brees was honored as Sports Illustrated's sportsman of the year for his championship on the field and his charity off it.
Brees became the award's 57th recipient when the magazine made the announcement Tuesday on the "Today" show. The quarterback led the long-suffering New Orleans Saints to their first Super Bowl title in February, lifting the spirits of the hurricane-battered city.
But the cover story notes he's done much more than inspire with his brilliant play. Since Brees joined the Saints in 2006 months after Hurricane Katrina, his foundation has worked with nearly 50 New Orleans schools and organizations to aid in recovery.
In Philadelphia, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson says he and his teammates are "on to the next game," and downplayed any speculation that he's unhappy with head coach Andy Reid, his teammates or his diminished role in Philadelphia's offense.
Jackson, on pace for the fewest catches of his three NFL seasons, was visibly upset after Sunday's 31-26 loss in Chicago. He managed only two receptions for 26 yards and didn't speak with reporters.
Subsequent reports indicated that Reid, who blasted the entire team in the locker room after the loss, singled out Jackson for criticism.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was wearing a protective boot on his sprained right foot but is expected to play Sunday when Pittsburgh and Baltimore face off for first place in the AFC North.
Detroit Lions quarterback Shaun Hill appeared to have a splint on the index finger of his throwing hand at practice Tuesday. He stood off to the side while Drew Stanton and Zac Robinson took snaps. Coach Jim Schwartz wouldn't comment because he didn't want to tip his hand to Chicago, Detroit's next foe.
San Francisco placed running back Frank Gore on season-ending injured reserve after he fractured his right hip during the Niners' 27-6 win at Arizona on Monday night.
Tampa Bay released safety Sabby Piscitelli and placed safety Cody Grimm (Virginia Tech) and left guard Davin Joseph on injured reserve. Steelers linebacker James Harrison was fined $25,000 for his hit on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Harrison now has four fines this season totaling $125,000.
Harrison drew a roughing-the-passer penalty for hitting Fitzpatrick helmet-first in the back during Pittsburgh's 19-16 overtime victory Sunday. After the game, the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker said the play didn't warrant a fine.
Harrison previously was fined $75,000 for a helmet hit on Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, $20,000 for a helmet-to-the-back hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees and $5,000 for a hit on Titans quarterback Vince Young.
On Monday, the league rejected Harrison's appeals of the $75,000 and $20,000 fines.
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