One of my favorite days, and best stories, covering the NHL was Dec. Air Max Goedkoop Online . 11, 1992, 22 years ago this Thursday as a matter of fact. It was at the elegant, old money Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Fla. My memory is a little fuzzy now, but I seem to recall there was only a handful of media there, not a large gathering by any means. We were standing in an opulent meeting room, awaiting the daily briefing from then NHL president Gil Stein when league employees Gary Meagher and Dave Keon Jr. came into the room carrying a big, green garbage bag. There was just a small table set up at the front with four chairs behind it. Ill always remember Meagher and Keon rather unceremoniously dumping the contents of the bag onto the table. A bunch of empty VHS video cassette boxes spilled out with a clatter as well as two big plush dolls - Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Keon went about setting up a little pyramid of videocassette boxes and Meagher was, with some difficulty, trying to arrange Mickey and Minnie so they were sitting upright on the table, holding Blockbuster videocassettes in their hands. We asked Meagher and Keon, What the %&# are you guys doing? If I remember correctly, Meagher responded, Expanding. Moments later, NHL president Stein strolled into the meeting room, sat down at the table with Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall and introduced Disney chairman Michael Eisner and Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga and -- pretty much out of the blue, catching everyone by total surprise -- announced the NHL was officially expanding to Miami (Florida) and Anaheim. To the shock of all, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers became the 25th and 26th NHL franchises that day and began playing games 10 months later. By the way, one day later, Dec. 12, 1992, the NHL introduced Gary Bettman as its first commissioner, though Bettman wouldnt officially take over the post until the following Feb. 1. And so here we are, 22 years later. Bettman is still the commissioner, the NHL board of governors is meeting today and tomorrow, this time in Boca Raton, Fla., but no, theres not going to be a formal expansion vote or announcement. At least that is what Bettman tells us. And if there were, unlike being gobsmacked in 1992, it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. From the moment the last NHL lockout ended, in January of 2013, expansion has been at the forefront of discussion and anticipation. Bettman hasnt done a single news conference of any consequence since then where he hasnt been asked about expansion. The answer Bettman provided on opening day of this season is typical of whats hes been saying and has continued to say: Were getting lots of expressions of interest. You and your colleagues seem more fascinated by it than I am or the governors are. Were going to continue to listen to expressions of interest, and thats gratifying that were getting them, but were not ready to go through a formal expansion project. As recently as mid-November, Bettman said much the same thing: All Ill do is continue to report on the levels of interest that are being expressed. Theres no effort crying out for immediate expansion. But we are getting expressions of interest. Even if we decided tomorrow were going to do it, it still wouldnt happen for two, three years. Okay, Bettmans caution flag on expansion is duly noted, and I know from first-hand knowledge to be wary on this stuff because the expansion landscape can shift relatively quickly. A year ago right about now, I said it was my belief the NHLs expansion vision included adding three franchises in the coming years, with a preferred priority ranking of Seattle, Las Vegas and Quebec City, to the tune of well over $1 billion in total expansion fees. Last December, Seattle looked like it was primed to take on an NHL team, but both arena and ownership issues arose in the months that followed, drastically altering that forecast. No one seems to have a sense now when, or if, Seattle will re-emerge but what seemed so hot a year ago has cooled considerably since then. This fall, all the talk has been focused on Las Vegas as the new frontrunner. After an interview with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly in early November, Minneapolis Star Tribune hockey writer Mike Russo reported Daly met with a potential ownership group in Las Vegas in early November and toured the construction site for the new arena being built by MGM Resorts. Larry Brooks reported in the New York Post a week after that the NHL had gone so far as to have chosen William Foley and the Maloof family as the designated owners of a Las Vegas expansion franchise when or if the NHL gets around to committing to expansion, and that the franchise fee would be $400 million. Amid the Russo and Brooks reports, I speculated that the NHLs tentative master plan had gone from adding three teams (with a priority ranking of Seattle, Las Vegas and Quebec City) at the same time to perhaps doing a one off to Las Vegas, with a potential start date possible as early as the beginning of the 2016-17 season. In the ensuing weeks, there has been a constant buzz on the NHL grapevine about expansion, suggestions that it is an absolute given the league will in the days, weeks or months ahead announce formal plans to go to Vegas and possibly Seattle and/or Quebec City, although it was also suggested Quebec City may be reserved as a potential relocation site, with a lesser transfer fee instead of an expansion fee. Since then, the talk has only ramped up. As recently as last week, it was suggested to me the NHL will, at some point in the very near future, bestow a conditional expansion franchise to an ownership group in Las Vegas. That is, if certain requirements (including selling a designated number of season tickets) are met, an NHL franchise could be operational in Vegas as early as the fall of 2016. None of these suggestions on the nature or timing of expansion could be ascertained as fact. At least not by me. They most certainly couldnt be reported as hard news. The NHL has continued to stick to the party line about listening to expressions of interest but otherwise remaining non-committal, only going so far as to say expansion may be discussed at todays or tomorrows B of G meetings but that there wont be a vote or an announcement. Fair enough. But we all know its coming at some point in some form. If I were a betting man (see what I did there?), I might wager on Vegas as early as the fall of 2016 or 2017, but whenever and wherever it may be, unlike in 1992, no one should be caught off guard by anything this time around. We may have a better sense of it all in the next 24 to 48 hours. As a postscript to the Mickey-Minnie/Blockbuster green garbage bag expansion announcement of 1992, earlier that day in the Breakers, I saw a guy in the lobby wearing Hush Puppies with orange souls, dress pants, a bizarre, ugly green hockey jersey and a red ball cap with Goofy on it. He was sweating profusely, muttering to himself, pacing back and forth near the front desk. If youve ever been to the Breakers, well, lets just say he didnt fit in with the crowd (neither did I, now that I think of it) and I was curious to see if security might ask him (or me) to leave. As it turned out, it was Disney chairman Michael Eisner and he was wearing that exact same get up when he was introduced as the new owner of the Mighty Ducks later that day. So if any of my media colleagues in Boca for the meetings happen to see Penn and Teller or a tiger or Celine Dion or a Cirque du Soleil troupe in the hotel lobby, just know the green garbage bag, and expansion, may not be far behind. Nike Air Max Nederland Bestellen . The team reported the signing on its website Thursday, but said Friday the deal was off in "a mutual parting of the ways that had to do with the language of the contract. Nike Air Max Schoenen Kopen . Basketball fans around the globe will be watching as Kobe Bryant makes his season debut - 240 days after tearing his left Achilles - against Toronto, a team he has used as his own personal punching bag. http://www.airmaxsalenederland.com/ . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday.HONOLULU, Hawaii - Twenty years ago on Saturday, Arnold Palmer flipped a ceremonial switch to launch a risky venture that cynics saw as an easy punch line.The Golf Channel?Tennis magazine mocked the idea as 24 hours of chubby guys in bad clothes speaking in jargon that only they understand. Rick Reilly, in his column for Sports Illustrated, suggested programming that included Body by Jack, a workout session with Jack Nicklaus in which he takes you through a 30-minute routine you can do without getting out of the cart.Even the players had their doubts.Im always stunned that theres enough golf stuff for 24 hours a day, Paul Goydos said. I would have thought, Do we really need a Golf Channel? Is there enough viewership? Enough material? I thought it would be a tough row to hoe, in my opinion. Theyve proven me wrong.Players today cant imagine life without Golf Channel.Thats all I watch, Jason Day said. I say I dont watch much golf, but I do. Pretty much every day Im watching Golf Channel.The network was launched on Jan. 17, 1995, and could be seen in about 10,000 homes. It began as a premium fee ($6.95) and changed to part of a basic cable package by the end of the year, helping it to reach 1.4 million homes.Twenty years later, Golf Channel can be seen in roughly 120 million homes in 83 countries and is broadcast in 12 languages around the world. Its offices in Orlando, Florida, have more than quadrupled to 160,000 square feet.And there is no shortage of programming.The first tournament it broadcast was the Dubai Desert Classic, which Fred Couples won in 1995. On its 20-year anniversary, Golf Channel will have four hours of live coverage from Rory McIlroys season debut in Abu Dhabi; seven hours of taped coverage and four hours of live coverage from the Sony Open (including a pre-game show), along with its popular Morning Drive and a news show.Its a big deal, Palmer said Friday morning from his office at Bay Hill. Everybody is excited and happy with the channel and all the stuff going on. Who would ever thought 20 years ago ... all the things that have happened with Golf Channel?Palmer was a co-founder with TV mogul Joe Gibbs, who plans to make an appearance on Golf Channel on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary. Golf Channel began 18 months before Tiger Woods turned pro, so it was blessed with good timing. Comcast eventually bought out the network, and then acquired NBC Universal, which gave Golf Channel even greater resources and branding capabilities.The most significant moment in its 20 years was when the PGA Tour signed it to a 15-year deal in 2006 that gave Golf Channel rights to Thursday and Friday rounds from the PGA Tour, along with full tournament coverage for the opening three events and the tournaments in the fall. Golf Channel previously had the European Tour and other global events, along with the other three U.S. tours (seniors, women and what is now Web.com).But there was another turning point equally important iin the infancy of the network, a time when even Palmer had his doubts about the future. Air Max Bestellen Goedkoop. The question was whether it was prudent for Palmer and his investors to get out and cut their losses.We were questioning what we were doing and the viability of what was happening, Palmer said. And they said, How do you feel? I said, Let me say this to you: If I didnt try to hit it through the trees a few times, none of us would be here.The quote is now on a wall at Golf Channel headquarters, a daily reminder that when you hitch up your pants and go for broke, the reward can be immense.Even though were now part of a big company, you still want the spirit of how this place was founded to be a living, breathing part of what makes it tick, Golf Channel President Mike McCarley said. That culture and everything Arnold represented, that should be part of it.McCarley said Golf Channel now is the most affluent network of those devoted to a sport, mainly because of the demographic of those watching.Davis Love III smiled at the coincidence that a network co-founded by Palmer would benefit from the arrival of Woods, the two players who in different ways made golf appealing to the masses.Its make a big difference for our sport, Love said.Golf Channel has kept the newspaper clippings from two decades ago that either panned the idea of a golf channel or predicted failure.That was an easy column to write, McCarley said. It was the first of its kind. Now every sport has its own network.Geoff Ogilvy of Australia was among the skeptics. He remembers when he first came over to America to play in events like the Western Amateur and the Porter Cup. Golf Channel was just getting started.Coming from Australia, we had four channels and we didnt have any cable, Ogilvy said. I thought this was cool, but no chance anyone was going to watch. They had all these infomercials, like Orlimar Trimetal. Remember that? So I was like, Whos going to watch this? But in the last 10 years when they got the tour deal, I think it really kicked on. Now its a legitimate channel — really legitimate.ESPN was the same, he said. I remember when they started, they showed Aussie Rules football because it was the only thing they could afford. ESPN only got there when they started showing real sport, and Golf Channel is probably the same. Its a big channel now. Its a big part of our tour.How far has Golf Channel come?There are sheer numbers. Golf Channel had the rights to 23 domestic tournaments when it began (mostly the LPGA and Nike tours) and 41 events from Europe, South Africa and Australia. This year, it will televise 189 events from the major tours around the world. It began with 180 employees and now has nearly 700; McCarley said 13 employees have been there from the start.And there are intangibles. On the day before it celebrated its 20-year anniversary, Palmer watched his grandson, Sam Saunders, compete on the PGA Tour on a network that he helped to start. ' ' '