Monty's blog

It’s hard to imagine that Allen Iverson a player that has played in 10 All Star games, won an NBA MVP award, 4 scoring titles, and holds a career average of 27.1 points per game can not get a job with any team in the NBA. Iverson signed a one-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sept 9th but was released on November 16th because of personal reasons.

After a horrible year in Detroit Iverson was happy to part ways with the Pistons, when the Grizzlies offered him a one year contract he looked at it as a way to make a name for himself in the league only to be given a back up role which he did not want. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins signed Iverson to give his young team more scoring power but when the season started Iverson was on the bench behind Mike Conley Jr who could not start for any other team in the NBA.

Going to the Grizzlies Iverson knew that he was headed to a young team in a strong western conference, but he never imagined he would be a back up on one of the worst teams in the NBA. After being in All Star for so long then having to face the fact that he was no longer a starter in the NBA and seeing little time on the court has to be hard for any professional that has accomplished so much. After realizing he would be spending a lot of time on the bench behind a player he could outscore blind folded, Iverson decided to take a leave of absence, which resulted in the Grizzlies and Iverson to part ways.

Right after Iverson was about to be released the Grizzlies signed NBA journeyman Jamal Tinsley to fill Iverson’s role as the sixth man, while future point guard Conley continues to struggle in the NBA and make his team worse then they already are. Some sports analysts say coach Hollins only had Iverson on the bench to try and teach him who runs the show in Memphis and help the young players develop for the future. Anyone who watches basketball can tell you that there is no way Conley should’ve ever started over Iverson, he shouldn’t even start over Tinsley, or Jason Williams the Grizzlies third string point guard.

For now Iverson will have to sit out and wait to see if any team will take a chance and pick him up. After what just transpired with Memphis, Iverson would have to settle with a back up a role like it or not even though he should be a starter. Iverson made a name for himself by being a scorer that likes to shoot the ball a lot. That was fine when he first came into the league as a rookie with the Philadelphia 76ers, but the NBA has involved into more of a team game since then. Until Iverson realizes his days of averaging 29 points a game are done, he will never be an option for any team in the NBA.

Even after acting in over sixty movies while becoming one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood and amassing a huge fortune Movie star Nicolas Cage is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. As an actor Cage made more money in his 28 years of acting than most of us will ever see in our lives and has little to show for it. While the evidence points to his extravagant spending, Cage maintains that it was his Business manager who made bad investments that caused him to go broke.

In early October Cage sued ex money manager Samuel Levin claiming that Levin took millions from cage and placed him in bad and shady deals that took all of his money. On the other hand Levin made a more accurate statement saying he told Cage to stop spending the way he was. Levin advised cage that in order for Cage to continue to live the lifestyle he was he needed to make $30 million a year to survive.

Cage still puts the blame squarely on Levin but if you look at both sides of the story Levin seems to have the upper hand. Cage has at time owned over 18 motorcycles, 50 cars, countless homes including two castles, and 4 boats dedicated to exploring different Caribbean Islands, and oh yeah he owns an Island also.

While his business manager may have invested a lot of money in bad investments it’s was also Cage responsibility to keep an eye on his bank accounts. Yes he has the right to be mad about all the money he lost, but what about all the money he wasted. I don’t know anybody who really needs to own an Island or 50 cars never mind two castles. Cage may want to take some time and look at what he did wrong before blaming his ex business manager for everything.

Even though Cage may be in financial ruins now he should be able to get out of it within a couple of years. Even though the recession has caused Hollywood and the film making industry to stop making as many movies per year, which led to less roles for actors. Some actors like Cage will not be affected by it as much as others due to family tie in the industry.

One thing many people do not know is Cage actual name is Nicholas Coppola. He is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and also the cousin of directors Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Shwartzman. Cage decided to change his last name when he first entered acting to give himself his own identity.

Here are some of the movies that Nicholas Cage starred in. You can often see his movies on HBO, Showtime or Encore.

Brubaker
Best Of Times
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
The Outsiders
Valley Girl
Rumble Fish
Racing with the Moon
The Cotton Club
Birdy
The Boy in Blue
Peggy Sue Got Married
Raising Arizona
Moonstruck
Never on Tuesday
Vampire's Kiss
Tempo di uccidere
Fire Birds
Wild at Heart
Zandalee
Honeymoon in Vegas
Amos & Andrew
Deadfall
A Century of Cinema
Red Rock West
Guarding Tess
It Could Happen to You
Trapped in Paradise
Kiss of Death
Leaving Las Vegas
The Rock
Con Air
Face/Off
City of Angels
Snake Eyes
8mm
Bringing Out the Dead
Gone in Sixty Seconds
The Family Man
Welcome to Hollywood
Italian Soldiers
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Christmas Carol: The Movie
Windtalkers
Adaptation
Sonny
Matchstick Men
National Treasure
Lord of War
The Weather Man
The Ant Bully
The Wicker Man
World Trade Center
Ghost Rider
Grindhouse
Next
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Bangkok Dangerous
Knowing
G-Force
Astro Boy

The Cleveland Browns are in trouble this season; they actually do not look like they belong in the NFL or even the UFL. They traded their best receiver and only real playmaker to the New York Jets, the Baltimore Ravens just annihilated them on Monday night football in front of the nation, and they are now pursuing help from NBA star Lebron James. That’s how bad things are for the Browns.

When asked a random question about football in an interview, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lebron James said he thinks that he would make a good tight end or wide receiver in the NFL. James compared himself to San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates who played basketball in college before becoming a star in the NFL.

Even though James was a All star wide receiver in high school and rated one of the top 50 players in the country, that was in 2002 his junior year of high school. Since then James has been focused on basketball full time, despite the fact that he appeared in a commercial a year ago wearing a Browns uniform dunking a football over the goal post. James is available for free agency after this season which gives him the option of staying with the Cavaliers or heading somewhere else or maybe even give the NFL a shot.

I doubt that he will pursue any chance of playing for the Cleveland Browns next year. Even though he can leave the Cavaliers at the end of the season, James still has contractual obligations with endorsement companies like Gatorade, Nike, and All State insurance company. Although the thought of James actually attempting to give the NFL a chance would be a marketing dream for any company in endorses.

As for the Browns I would not count on James service next year, they might as well start scouting who they will be looking to draft next year out of college. They should also look into free agency to try and pick up whoever they can especially skilled players that can help them put some points on the board.

Everybody knew it was coming at some point and yesterday it came, the Buffalo Bills fired head coach Dick Jauron after the team went 7-9 the last three season’s and falling to a 3-6 record halfway through this season. Bills owner Ralph Wilson notified Jauron at the end of last year that he was on thin ice heading into this season and he needed to get things turned around fast. In the off season Jauron went out and got Terrell “TO” Owens to help add another weapon to the bills arsenal, but for some reason the offense that features Marshawn Lynch, Lee Evans and TO just has not produce what was expected and so bye bye went Jauron. After Wilson dismissed Jauron he promoted defensive coordinator Perry Fewell as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

For Fewell this will be his first head-coaching job at any level, which is rare for a head coach in the NFL. After 12 years of coaching in college, Fewell got his first NFL job with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a defensive backs coach before heading to the Saint Louis Rams and the Chicago Bears before joining the Bills in 2006. In all Fewell has been coaching in the NFL for the last 12 years and has helped mold regular defensive backs into stars.

Even with no real head coaching experience to go by, Bills owner Wilson felt Fewell had more then enough experience to takeover the team that desperately needed to make some improvements. Even though the Bills defense ranks 26th in the league under Fewell this season the blame is not his fault. His defense has been without many of their starters all year forcing him to rely a lot on young players to step up and contribute. It also does not help that the offense has only averaged 15 points a game and has only gone over 300 yards in one game this year and constantly leaves their defense in bad field position with their backs against the wall.

For Fewell being the head coach will be a challenging task having to now focus on both sides of the ball. It does not help that this all happened after the Bills bye week which would of given him a chance to retool the offense that features at least three Pro Bowl caliber players. The one good thing that comes from this is all of the players have faith and trust in Fewell including the players on offense. Given the fact that the offense can’t seem to look any worse then they have lately, hopefully a new offensive scheme will help resurrect the Bills who’s season seems to be over all ready.

With so many fans voicing their approval and love for the new commentator, ESPN Monday night football just added ex Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John Gruden to a multiyear deal to replace Tony Kornheiser and join Mike Tirico, and Ron Jaworski as play-by-play commentators. Gruden will also cover the 2010 NFL Pro bowl game, as well as an analyst for ESPN radio coverage of college footballs 2010 Rose Bowl, and the BCS title game.

For Gruden the love of football runs in his family, his father Jim Gruden served as an assistant coach under Dan Devine at Notre Dame and then went on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. John’s brother Jay was the starting quarterback at Louisville before heading to play for the Tampa Bay Storm of the arena football league where he won multiple championships as a quarterback.

Ever since he graduated from the University of Dayton in 1986 where he was a backup quarterback, Gruden has been involved in coaching. He started off as a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee, before going to Southeast Missouri State for two Years as a quarterback’s coach. He then moved to the University of Pacific as an offensive coordinator, and then to the University of Pittsburgh to become the receiver’s coach. In 1990 he got his first NFL break when San Francisco Offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren gave him a chance as a quality control coach. After going to Green Bay and Philadelphia for brief stints Gruden finally landed a head-coaching job.

In 1998 Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis hired Gruden to take over one of NFL’s most dysfunctional teams, it is there that Gruden got the infamous “ Chucky” nickname because of the faces he made on the sideline. In four years Gruden was able to turn the franchise around and lead the Raiders to the AFC championship game in 2000 and 2001 where they lost both times to the eventual Super Bowl champions first to the Baltimore Ravens and then to the New England Patriots. The patriots loss become famously known as the “ Tuck Rule Game” because of a perceived fumble that would have sealed the win for the Raiders and sent them to the Super Bowl was called an incomplete pass. During the play Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson appeared to knock the ball out of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hands but after the referees checked instant replay they determined that Brady did not fully bring the ball back down to his body after the pump fake making it an incomplete pass. The play is still one of the most debatable calls in NFL history as the Patriots went on to win the game in overtime.

After a heart-breaking end to the season Oakland Raiders owner Davis decided he wanted more of a passing game so he let Gruden out of his contract and allowed him to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had just released Tony Dungy. The deal between the teams cost the Buccaneers their 2002-03 first round draft picks, 2002-04 second round draft picks and 8 million in cash, which eventually hurt the Buccaneers down the road. In his first season as the head coach Gruden lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory over his former team the Oakland Raiders. After struggling for years with no real top draft picks and a team facing salary cap problems the buccaneers became a doormat for many top teams. In 2008 the buccaneers lost 4 games in the row culminating with a loss to the Oakland Raiders at the end of the season to kill any chance of making it to the Play-offs. Gruden was let go in January of 2009 were he turned down many college offers including a job at the University of Oregon one of the top programs in the country.

For now Gruden will serve as one of the most likeable commentators in sports today. Even though he has committed to ESPN there will still be a lot of teams looking to hire him in the off-season because of his desire to win and his offensive expertise.

This weekends PPV fight lived up to the hype as Manny Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto in the 12th round of this weekends boxing main event in Las Vegas Nevada. With the win Pacquiao now holds seven boxing titles in seven different weight classes, which is a boxing record. The win improves Pacquiao boxing record to 50-3-2 with 38 KO’s and drops Cotto record to 34-2 with 27 KO’s.

From the moment each boxers name was announced over the load speakers as they came down to the ring you could tell right away that it was going to be a good fight. Pacquiao who is the smaller of the two is known for his fast combos and ability to slug it out when he has to. Cotto had the size advantage and defensive skills to make the fight one for the ages but Pacquiao use this fight to make a statement to everyone out there that he is pound for pound the best.

From the beginning of round one the boxers came out sizing each other trading jabs and power punches, as Cotto seemed to be in the lead early. When round three came things turned fast after catching Cotto off guard, Pacquiao sent him down to the canvass which didn’t seem to phase Cotto that much as he quickly got right back up. Then once again in the 4th round during a flurry of combos and power punches Pacquiao knocked Cotto down again this time you could tell Cotto was affected by the punch as he slowly got up. After that Cotto did everything he could to stay in the fight but Pacquiao was too much for him to handle. After Cotto told his corner not to throw in the towel in the 11th round his wife and son left the fight and went to his dressing room until it was over. Finally 55 seconds into the 12th round the referee stopped the fight after a bloodied Cotto could not escape or fight off Pacquiao’s hard-hitting combos.

With the win there is only one person left for Pacquiao to fight, Floyd “ Money “ Mayweather who has never lost a fight and has an impressive record of 40-0 with 25 KO’s. Both fighters are considered the top two boxers of today, and are arguably the best pound for pound fighters we have ever seen. It is to early to speculate when they will fight but everybody in boxing knows these two have to meet up next. Boxing promoters have been saying even before the Pacquiao Cotto fight that whoever the winner is, Mayweather would be the next fight for either boxer guaranteeing to break PPV sales records.

Even though the 2009-10 college basketball season started on Monday that featured three top 25 teams (4) University of North Carolina, (25) Syracuse and (12) California all winning easily. But today is not only Friday the 13th it’s also the first weekend of this year’s college basketball season. Even though most of the top 25 teams are playing against weaker opponents, a loss will hurt not only their ranking, but also their chances of making it into this years March Madness tournament which leads to the National Championship.

Don’t forget college basketball fans Dish Network also carries ESPN Full Court, and ESPNU which allows you to watch teams from the top conferences battle it out for conference supremacy.

Friday the 13th games

Top 25 Games
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
8:00 PM ET Hofstra at (1) Kansas ESPN360.com Espn Full Court
7:00 PM ET Florida Gulf Coast at (2) Michigan State ESPN360.com
6:30 PM ET Morehead State at (5) Kentucky ESPNU
7:00 PM ET Fairleigh Dickinson at (6) Villanova
7:00 PM ET Cal State Northridge at (7) Purdue ESPN360.com
7:00 PM ET UNC Greensboro at (8) Duke
9:00 PM ET Austin Peay at (11) Tennessee
10:00 PM ET Wright State at (13) Washington
7:30 PM ET William & Mary at (14) Connecticut ESPN360.com ESPN Full Court
8:00 PM ET Tennessee Tech at (18) Minnesota
9:00 PM ET Rider at (19) Mississippi State
9:00 PM ET (21) Georgetown at Tulane
8:00 PM ET Presbyterian at (24) Clemson
East
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
7:00 PM ET Fairleigh Dickinson at (6) Villanova
7:30 PM ET William & Mary at (14) Connecticut ESPN360.com ESPN Full Court
5:00 PM ET Mercer vs. Bucknell
5:30 PM ET Yale vs. Sacred Heart
6:00 PM ET Wagner at Lafayette
7:00 PM ET Dartmouth at Boston College
7:00 PM ET Harvard at Holy Cross
7:00 PM ET Miami (OH) at Towson
7:00 PM ET Cleveland State at St. Bonaventure
7:00 PM ET Lehigh at Richmond
7:00 PM ET Longwood at Virginia
7:00 PM ET Morgan State at Albany
7:00 PM ET Vermont at Loyola (MD)
7:00 PM ET Stony Brook at Maryland-Eastern Shore
7:00 PM ET Florida International at Monmouth
7:00 PM ET Navy at Radford
7:00 PM ET St. Peter's at Seton Hall
7:00 PM ET Brown at St. Francis (NY)
7:00 PM ET American University at St. Francis (PA)
7:00 PM ET Long Island at St. John's
7:00 PM ET Drexel at Saint Joseph's
7:00 PM ET Army at Virginia Military
7:30 PM ET Pennsylvania at Penn State
7:30 PM ET Lincoln PA at Coppin State
7:30 PM ET Fairfield vs. Central Connecticut State
7:30 PM ET Liberty at George Mason
7:30 PM ET Bryant University at Providence
7:30 PM ET Bethune-Cookman at Virginia Commonwealth
7:30 PM ET Boston University at Iona
8:00 PM ET Charleston Southern at Maryland
8:00 PM ET Wofford at Pittsburgh
8:00 PM ET Nicholls State at Duquesne
8:00 PM ET Maine at Fordham
9:30 PM ET Quinnipiac vs. Hartford
West
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
10:00 PM ET Wright State at (13) Washington
7:30 PM ET Colorado State vs. UC Davis
7:30 PM ET Belmont vs. Portland State
8:05 PM ET Loyola Marymount vs. Boise State
9:00 PM ET Texas A&M-CC vs. Oregon State
9:00 PM ET Idaho at Utah
9:00 PM ET North Dakota State at Utah Valley
9:30 PM ET Bradley at Brigham Young
9:30 PM ET Utah State at Weber State
9:30 PM ET South Dakota State at Wyoming
10:00 PM ET North Dakota at Montana
10:00 PM ET Mississippi Valley State at Washington State
10:00 PM ET Cal Poly at San Francisco
10:00 PM ET Santa Clara at Cal State Bakersfield
10:00 PM ET San Francisco St. at Fresno State
10:00 PM ET Stanford at San Diego
10:30 PM ET Winston-Salem at Oregon
10:30 PM ET Pacific at Pepperdine
10:35 PM ET La Verne at UC Irvine
11:30 PM ET New Mexico State at Saint Mary's
Midwest
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
8:00 PM ET Hofstra at (1) Kansas ESPN360.com ESPN Full Court
7:00 PM ET Florida Gulf Coast at (2) Michigan State ESPN360.com
7:00 PM ET Cal State Northridge at (7) Purdue ESPN360.com
8:00 PM ET Tennessee Tech at (18) Minnesota
5:00 PM ET UAB vs. Green Bay
7:00 PM ET Ohio Valley at Ohio
7:00 PM ET Valparaiso at Ball State
7:00 PM ET Samford at Kent State
7:05 PM ET Nebraska Kearney at Indiana State
7:30 PM ET Youngstown State at Xavier
8:00 PM ET Idaho State at Iowa State ESPN360.com ESPN Full Court
8:00 PM ET Northern Illinois at Northwestern
8:00 PM ET Howard at Indiana
8:00 PM ET NW Missouri State at Missouri
8:00 PM ET Concordia University-St. Paul at Milwaukee
8:00 PM ET SIU-Edwardsville at Illinois ESPN Full Court
8:00 PM ET Concordia ILL at Chicago State
8:00 PM ET Loyola (IL) at Kansas State ESPN360.com ESPN Full Court
8:30 PM ET Centenary at Marquette
9:00 PM ET Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Colorado
9:30 PM ET Northern Iowa at Denver
10:00 PM ET Western State at Air Force
10:00 PM ET McNeese State vs. Northern Colorado
South
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
6:30 PM ET Morehead State at (5) Kentucky ESPNU
7:00 PM ET UNC Greensboro at (8) Duke
9:00 PM ET Austin Peay at (11) Tennessee
9:00 PM ET Rider at (19) Mississippi State
9:00 PM ET (21) Georgetown at Tulane
8:00 PM ET Presbyterian at (24) Clemson
6:00 PM ET Virginia-Wise at East Carolina
6:00 PM ET Houston Baptist vs. South Alabama
7:00 PM ET Averett at Stetson
7:00 PM ET New Orleans at Georgia
7:00 PM ET Arkansas-Little Rock at Mississippi
7:00 PM ET Lees McRae at Furman
7:00 PM ET VA Intermont at Chattanooga
7:00 PM ET North Carolina-Wilmington at Appalachian State
7:00 PM ET Massachusetts at UCF
7:00 PM ET Florida Tech at Florida Atlantic
7:00 PM ET Brevard College at North Carolina A&T
7:00 PM ET Alabama A&M at South Carolina
7:05 PM ET Kenyon at Citadel
7:30 PM ET Reinhardt at Georgia Southern
7:30 PM ET Charleston at Coastal Carolina
7:30 PM ET North Greenville at Kennesaw State
7:30 PM ET North Carolina-Asheville at Charlotte
7:30 PM ET Erskine at South Carolina State
8:00 PM ET Alcorn State at Arkansas
8:00 PM ET Louisiana-Monroe at LSU
8:00 PM ET Oral Roberts at Wake Forest
8:00 PM ET St. Andrews at Campbell
8:00 PM ET Hendrix College at Central Arkansas
8:00 PM ET King College TN at Middle Tennessee State
8:00 PM ET Webber Int. at Savannah State
8:00 PM ET Univ. of Science and Arts (OK) at Southeastern Louisiana
8:00 PM ET Siena at Tennessee State
8:45 PM ET East Texas Bapt at Northwestern State
9:00 PM ET Jackson State at Memphis
9:30 PM ET Niagara at Auburn
Southwest
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
7:00 PM ET South Dakota at Texas Tech
8:00 PM ET St. Mary's (TX) at Tulsa
8:00 PM ET Norfolk State at Baylor
8:00 PM ET Angelo State at Texas A&M
8:00 PM ET Cameron at North Texas
8:00 PM ET Howard Payne at Texas State
8:00 PM ET Mid-America Christian at TCU
8:05 PM ET Huston-Tillotson at Lamar
8:30 PM ET Sacramento State at Rice
8:30 PM ET South Florida at Southern Methodist
8:35 PM ET Southwestern (AZ) at Northern Arizona
9:00 PM ET Western Illinois at Arizona State
9:05 PM ET Texas Southern at UTEP

ABC's “Wipeout” which is available on Dish Network Satellite TV and is filmed in Santa Clarita California, became a huge hit all across the nation. It featured various events one had contestants trying to get from one side to another by bouncing on giant balls that often sent contestants flying off in weird contorted ways. Another event had contestants standing on pegs in a circle while jumping over a pole going around trying not to fall in the water. The show was designed after the Japanese hit show Takeshi’s Castle,” “Most Extreme Elimination Challenge,” and up until a couple of weeks ago nobody was seriously injured on the show.

During the taping of a show for the up coming season Tom Sparks 33, was competing in an obstacle course when he complained of knee pain. The medics on set immediately had him stop and looked at, when they noticed he also had trouble breathing. Once the medics determined he was getting worse he was immediately transported to the hospital. After seeing his injury was brain related Sparks was then transferred to Cedar-Sinai Medical Center where he underwent numerous brain surgeries. Unfortunately doctors were not able to save him and he sadly passed away on Nov 5th.

Going into the show all contestants are required to undergo a full physical, which Sparks did past. The only thing that the show producers did not know was Sparks had a preexisting rare medical condition called Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome or APS which requires special blood test to be detected. APS is caused by recurrent clotting events, which result in premature strokes or heart attacks.

Sparks was considered a strong competitor going into the event; he is avid runner who just competed in a marathon. He had just gotten married to his wife Kate and planned on celebrating their new marital relationship with a victory on the couple’s edition of Wipeout. November 6th would have been the couple’s 2-month anniversary.

Tonight on ESPN the Chicago Bears will travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in what is sure to be a battle to save each teams fading chances of making it to the play-offs. Last week both teams suffered humiliating defeats as the Bears lost to Arizona 41-21 in which Cardinal’s quarterback Kurt Warner threw for five touchdowns. The bears loss was just as bad, they got ran over by the Tennessee Titans with a final score of 34-27 but don’t let the score deceive you it was not that close.

The Bears are going into tonight’s game with a 4-4 record a win could put the m right back in contention for the wild card. For the 49ers who are 3-5 every game is now a must win in order to make it to the play-offs. Both teams have been hampered by injuries all season and have young inexperienced players trying to figure out in short amount of time how to contribute.

The 49ers are hoping that tonight is the night that ex Texas Tech star Michael Crabtree can give them the big lift they need at the wide receiver position. Due to contract negotiations Crabtree missed all of training camp and the first 5 games of the season. In his first 3 games in the NFL he has 14 receptions for 167 yards.

Tonight’s game promise to tough fought battle between two teams looking to save their season.

Every year people start looking early for a place to take their families for vacation, whether its Disney World in Florida, Myrtle Beach South Carolina, Niagara falls, or the Carnaival in Brazil (not for Kids). Some people look for vacations where there are a lot of activities going on, but there are a few of us especially parents vacationing without kids who want to go somewhere quite and just relax and enjoy the history of the world. So for those of you who are looking to vacation somewhere without Taxi’s zooming around everywhere, police sirens, or yelling and screaming these 5 locations that can be seen on the travel channel are your ideal vacation spots.

The Dolomites, Italy

Probably one of the prettiest resort towns you will ever see, the mountains are glaciers that slant at a 90-degree angle. Heading up to hills you drive through windy green valleys that leads you right up to the Italian Alps where you can ski, rock climb or paraglide. Or you can just relax on your resort deck and take in the beauty as you catch up on the books you have been neglecting to read due to your busy schedule.

Sulamain- Too Sacred Mountain, Kyrgyzstan

The slopes of Sulamain is the ideal place for people seeking spiritual heeling or cures. It’s home to ancient central Asian cultures and the forgotten Islamic centers. People looking to find hidden ancient petroglyphs (rock carvings) that may lead to clues will find this to be the ultimate destination.

The Wadden Sea, Germany and the Netherlands

Germany use to be home of the Berlin Wall until it came down 20 years ago, people still venture out to various cities like Frankfurt or Darmstadt, mostly for Oktoberfest. However there is more to Germany than just the beer, visitors can also take in the stunning views of the Wadden Sea. It is one of the most beautiful ocean lines you can ever see, containing miles of mud channels, and seagrass that is home to more than 12 million birds every winter.

Ruins of Loropéni, West Africa

This is one of the most historic places on earth that many people around the world are not aware of. Even historians are not sure what the exact reason why the ruins were built for, many speculate it was a hub for the gold-trade others believe it was a hub for the slave trade. Whatever the real use was, the abandonment in the 19th century left hardly any evidence behind. This is the place for people who love to try and find the true meaning behind ancient monuments.

Mount Wutai, China

You want peace and quite this place is for you, Mount Wutai is the home of 53 Buddhist monasteries. It’s has the breathe taking mountain scenery that you see in many Asian movies like Crouching Tiger hidden dragon, The last Emperor, or The Last Samurai. When get to the top all you see is treeless mountains that seem to go on forever. When you wake up in the morning and look outside you are greeted with a foggy sunrise that makes you feel like you have been sleeping in heaven.