Portal:Sports
The Sports Portal
Sport is a form of physical activity or game. Often competitive and organized, sports use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills. They also provide enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Many sports exist, with different participant numbers, some are done by a single person with others being done by hundreds. Most sports take place either in teams or competing as individuals. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions admitting only sports meeting this definition. Some organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without any physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee who oversee the Olympic Games recognises both chess and bridge as sports. SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts, Go and xiangqi. However, they limit the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ...that in 1962, the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club was forced to win an overtime game for a second time because a sudden death goal was scored during a television timeout?
- ...that Ruth Riley, an all-star center in the Women's National Basketball Association, also wrote a children's book?
- ...that Australian swimmer Fanny Durack was considered to be the world's greatest female swimmer from 1910 until 1918?
- ...that Italo Santelli (pictured, left) is widely considered to be the "father of modern sabre fencing"?
- ...that Lee McClung, a College Football Hall of Famer, also served as Treasurer of the United States, advocating the withdrawal of worn, dirty banknotes on sanitary grounds?
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Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox nation in Oklahoma. He attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where he attracted the attention of Pop Warner. In 1911 he played as running back, defensive back, placekicker and punter, for Carlisle, scoring 25 touchdowns and leading the team to a collegiate championship, and was awarded All-American honors in both 1911 and 1912. Thorpe with the New York Giants baseball team in 1913, he would also play for the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Braves (now Atlanta Braves), and in the minor leagues before leaving the sport in 1922. He continued playing football during this time, playing professionally for the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to several titles. He played professional sports until age 41, the end of his sports career coinciding with the start of the Great Depression. Thorpe struggled to earn a living after that, working several odd jobs. Thorpe suffered from alcoholism, and lived his last years in failing health and poverty.
In a poll of sports fans conducted by ABC Sports, Thorpe was voted the Greatest Athlete of the Twentieth Century. (Full article...)
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The team was founded in 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Flames until relocating to Calgary in 1980. The Flames played their first three seasons in Calgary at the Stampede Corral before moving into their current home arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome (originally known as the Olympic Saddledome), in 1983. In 1985–86, the Flames became the first Calgary team since the 1923–24 Tigers to compete for the Stanley Cup. In 1988–89, the Flames won their first and only championship. The Flames' unexpected run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals gave rise to the Red Mile, and in 2011 the team hosted and won the second Heritage Classic outdoor game.
The Flames have won two Presidents' Trophies as the league's top regular season team, and have claimed five division championships. Individually, Jarome Iginla is the franchise leader in games played, goals, and points, and is a two-time winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's leading goal scorer. Miikka Kiprusoff has the most wins by a goaltender in a Calgary Flames uniform. Nine people associated with the Flames have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
In this month
- June 6, 1946 – The Basketball Association of America, a predecessor to the National Basketball Association, is founded
- June 14, 1900 – The only game of Basque pelota (pictured) ever played in the Olympics takes place at the 1900 Summer Olympics
- June 15, 1909 – The international governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council, is founded
- June 20, 1904 – Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the federation in charge of Formula One and World Rally Championship, is founded
- June 23, 1894 – Pierre, Baron de Coubertin founds the International Olympic Committee, the organizers of the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games
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