The Oakland Raiders professional football team is one of the more storied franchises in the National Football League. Founded in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League, the team played in the second Super Bowl between the rival leagues (losing to the Green Bay Packers) before joining the NFL in 1970. The franchise has since won three championship titles (its last in 1984). Over the years, Oakland has been home to such Hall of Fame players as Marcus Allen, Howie Long, and Jim Otto, as well as legendary head coach John Madden. Al Davis has run the team since 1972.

Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Club is a professional hockey franchise that represents North Carolina in the National Hockey League. Originally founded in 1971 as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), the team joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers in 1979. Peter Karmanos, founder and chairman of Compuware, led a group that acquired the team in 1994, relocating it first to Greensboro, North Carolina, before settling in Raleigh in 1999. Playing host that the RBC Center, the team earned its first and only Stanley Cup championship in 2006.

Bob Evans Farms got its start when our founder, Bob Evans, began making sausage on his southeastern Ohio farm to serve at a 12-stool diner he owned in nearby Gallipolis in 1948. "We served a lot of breakfasts, but we couldn't get any decent sausage," Bob recalled. "So I decided to start making my own from hogs raised right on our farm, using all the best parts of the hog, including the hams and tenderloins." The restaurant drew many truck drivers who traveled through the region. "You might say the truck drivers did my research for me," Bob said. "They would tell me that this was the best sausage they ever had, and then buy 10-pound tubs to take home." These good reports prompted Bob Evans to go into the sausage business. The building where he made the sausage was built with open ends, at the suggestion of his father, so it could be used as a machinery shed if the sausage business failed. But, it didn't fail. In 1953, a group of friends and family recognized the growing demand for Bob's sausage and became business partners by establishing Bob Evans Farms.

Guoman Hotels (formerly Thistle Hotels Limited) is trying to stick it to the competition with its chain of UK hotels. Guoman Hotels company operates more than 30 hotel properties in the UK under the Guoman and Thistle brands, and is one of the largest hotel operators in London. Targeting both business and leisure travelers, its full-service, four-star hotels feature such amenities as fax, modem, and PC hookups, as well as restaurants, conference rooms, and lounges. Properties include the Thistle Marble Arch, Thistle Piccadilly, Thistle Bloomsbury, Thistle Hyde Park, and One Whitehall Place.

Here you're sure to find the pot o' sushi gold at the end of the rainbow roll. Todai SSB operates and franchises more than 20 sushi and Asian fusion buffet restaurants throughout the US, Hong Kong, China, and South Korea -- with plans to expand into Canada. Todai is popular for the number of its sushi and seafood dishes and full menu, which includes hot and cold entrees, soups, salads, and desserts. Brothers Kaku and Toru Makino opened the first Todai in California in 1985; CEO Hans Kim, a former engineer from Korea, owns the company.

Chef Trotter did not come from a "food focused" family. His interest in food was developed while he was in college and his roommate, Joel Fish (who was an avid cook) would prepare various courses for his friends to taste. Trotter became interested in what Joel was doing, and soon found himself immersed in the world of cookbooks and preparing meals as a way of entertainment for his friends and roommates! Mid way through his college tenure (University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI) he decided to take a year off and read every book he could. This included cookbooks. As a way to make a living while on this break from school, Trotter took a job as a waiter. Upon return to college, where he earned his Bachelor's of Science degree in Political Science, he began once again cooking and actually doing small catering parties.

China Star Entertainment Limited and its subsidiaries (China Star or the group) is principally engaged in the production and distribution of films and television drama series that are based in Chinese dialect. The group also invests in operations which receive profit streams from the gaming promotion business in one of the VIP gaming room at the Grand Lisboa Casino in Macau. The group also engaged in property and hotel investment which represented by one of its subsidiary, Hotel Lan Kwai Fong, Macau. Hotel Lan Kwai Fong, Macau has been opened on 2 August 2009 and has around 200 rooms with ancillary facilities including, among others, a casino with VIP rooms, a health and clinical spa, different styles restaurants and flower shops. China Star has produced various films, of which most of them earned critical acclaim and scored a resounding success at the box office. In 2000, "Needing You" was the leading local film of the respective year having a box office of approximately HK$35.0 million. In 2001, the four most popular and successful films produced by China Star namely "Wu Yen", "Love On A Diet", "La Brassiere" and Master Q 2001" achieved a total of box office receipts of approximately HK$107.0, million, representing 38% of total box office receipts for top ten Chinese films in Hong Kong. China Star has proven to be the most recognized film producer in Hong Kong. In 2002, "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts", "The Lion Roars", "Mighty Baby" and "Fat Choi Spirit" achieved total box office receipts of approximately HK73 million, make them four of the most successful local Chinese films of that year. In 2003, films produced by China Star won a number of the major awards at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards.

Evans Hotels Corporation was founded in 1953 by William D. Evans; his family owns it today. Evans Hotels Corporation company is a resort property owner with three swank hotels on the Pacific ocean in San Diego (The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Catamaran Resort Hotel, and Bahia Resort Hotel). But it also owns the Bahia Sternwheelers, two luxurious multi-level paddlewheelers that ferry passengers between three Mission Bay resorts. The ships, equipped with ball rooms, dining salons, and dance clubs, are also available for chartered dinner parties and meetings of up to 800 people.

Mammoth Mountain is one big pile of powder. The ski resort in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range gets more than 30 feet of snow a year on average on top of its more than 3,500 skiable acres. The resort features ski lifts, rental shops, restaurants, ski and snowboard schools, and lodging. Its hotels include the luxury Village Lodging, Mammoth Mountain Inn (hotel and condo), Juniper Springs Resort (condo units), and Tamarack Lodge (rustic cabins and lodge). Summer activities include mountain biking, fishing, golf, and climbing, while Yosemite is less than an hour away. Mammoth is owned and operated by Starwood Capital, which paid some $365 million for a controlling interest in the resort in 2005.

Looking for red meat in the Carolinas? Claremont Restaurant Group (CSG) has just the place. The company operates about 25 casual dining restaurants under the Sagebrush Steakhouse banner in four states, mostly in North Carolina. The restaurants serve steak, seafood, and chicken entrees along with the usual assortment of starters and side dishes. Other CSG brands include Prime Sirloin Family Steakhouse, a buffet concept with locations in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; and Western Steer Family Steakhouse. Industry veteran and CEO Jim Peterson owns the company. CSG entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.