TIME2BALL

Main Author: Hassan Fofana Sports Consultant & Field Agent Contact: time2ballinc@gmail.com Twitter: @Time2ballinc Facebook: facebook.com/Time2Ball We apologized for the silence however we have two article/discussion topics coming up soon: 1-  Amateur vs. Professional Sport 2-  Kobe Bryant vs. Lakers and Dwight Howard

Main Author: Hassan Fofana Sports Consultant & Field Agent Contact: time2ballinc@gmail.com Twitter: @Time2ballinc Facebook: facebook.com/Time2Ball  _______________________________________________ Kobe Bryant’s Legacy in the Next Two Years   On August 23 rd , jersey number 24, Kobe BRYANT, aka “the Black Mamba,” will celebrate his 34 th birthday. Entering his 17 th year of a very successful professional career, ladled with great accomplishments, Kobe Bryant is now approaching the end of his career despite being still relatively young compared to most veteran athletes. Furthermore, as athletes grow old, typically there is a regression in their performance which makes me believe even more that Kobe Bryant is far from retirement. Last year, with 1,161 games under his belt, Kobe was competing against one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA, Kevin Durant, for the NBA scoring title, a title that Durant had won for the past three years. Regardless of your outlook

Main Author: Hassan Fofana, Sports Consultant & Field Agent Contact:  Email: time2ballinc@gmail.com  Twitter: @Time2ballinc  Facebook: facebook.com/Time2Ball ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's Behind the Number of Athletes Per Country in the 2012 London Olympics                                                            By Hassan FOFANA To start, I want to point out that this year’s summer Olympics opening ceremony in London was very disappointing for me. After 7 years of preparation, I was expecting a certain creativity and originality to match or at least come close to the previous opening ceremony in Beijing. But instead what we get is a fake jump out of the helicopter by the 86 years old Queen Elizabeth pretending to be James Bond’s partner so that she can show her sense of humour. Spare me the corny joke and let us not make this Olympics all about the Queen. At the opening ceremony in 2008 Bei

Main Author: Hassan Fofana Sports Consultant & Field Agent Contact: time2ballinc@gmail.com Twitter: @Time2ballinc Facebook: facebook.com/Time2Ball     ___________________________________________ The Obesity Crisis Raising Some Thoughtful and Provocative Debates with respect to Sport Marketing by Hassan FOFANA London 2012 Summer Olympic 27 July - 12 August The 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing set the bar high in many ways, including stricter anti-doping testing policies, record breaking TV viewership of several hundred million, more than 40 world records, 130 Olympic records, breathtaking venues and sports arenas and the unforgettable opening and closing ceremonies. As a sport fan, I am anxiously looking forward to what London has planned for us. It is quite rare for the summer Olympics to pass without the occurrence of any controversy or protest. In 1968, at the summer Olympics in Mexico City, African American US track and field 200m gold and bronze medali

For more information Main Author: Hassan Fofana Sports Consultant & Field Agent contact: time2ballinc@gmail.com twitter: @Time2ballinc facebook: facebook.com/Time2Ball  __________________________________________                                                Sport in Africa: The Government                                                         by Hassan Fofana The government is to blame for not implementing appropriate strategies and policies that will allow the African economy to flourish by taking advantage of the sport industry, worth over a billion dollars. It is clear that the African government has a lot on its hand, as Ghanaian Vice President Mr. Dramani Mahama would attest; but the least that they can do as lawmakers is to set standards and expectations that encourage wealthy individuals or successful major businesses to invest in sport. In the US, for example, the tax system is designed such that major corporations, as well as individuals, are encouraged to make c

For more information about Hassan Fofana and his Sports Consulting organization, Time2Ball, Inc.: check out:  http://www.facebook.com/Time2Ball follow him at: @Time2ballinc contact him at:  time2ballinc@gmail.com or subscribe to his blog at:  http://time2ball.blogspot.com/ ________________________________________________ PART 1 Sport in Africa: The Athletes by Hassan Fofana For generations, sport has been a major part of African culture and youth’s daily activities. For many Africans, sport is viewed just as exercise to keep healthy, while for some, sport represents $$$$. The latter group is split in two. One group, young African athletes see sports as a major opportunity to enhance the quality of their lives by leaving Africa, heading off most of the time to Europe, for a chance to play professionally in clubs and leagues, and sometimes to the US to first become student-athletes, before exploring the professional sporting world. This career is very attractive. As a