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The Necessity of Clothing: Athletics

It’s the sag of skin, bones stuffed with sweet sugar: a body is shifting toward apathy. Athletics were once pursued but have been forgotten. A routine is too demanding now to indulge in them, gives all free moments instead to relaxing.

This must stop – now.

Sports must be rediscovered and doing this requires a change in lifestyle, scheduling and even clothing choices: with athletic apparel selected to offer aid.

Breath-ability

It’s the cling of perspiration, the awkward slither of heat across skin: your body is flushed from movement, muscles burning with every unrelenting twist. The battle against calories is an essential one; but sweat-laced fabric can make that battle all too tedious. Breath-ability is therefore essential. Athletic clothing should be tailored to convenience, with threads that support ventilation.

Comfort

The world is defined by reflections. Truth is found in mirrors, with every flaw left exposed. It’s all too easy therefore to wrap yourself in flattering cloth. Such flattery is unforgiving while exercising, however. All outfits must be comfortable, not merely fashionable (though Nike Athletic Clothing is seeking to combine the two). Fabrics should encourage motion, not posing.

Distinction

The quest for change is a long one, siphoning hours from each day, demanding diligence. A body is not merely stimulated; it’s transformed. Such transformation requires more than movement, however. It instead needs mental aid. The proper emotional state must be achieved before weight can be lost. Choosing athletic clothing helps to make that an easier thing: allowing you to create a correlation between specific fabrics and exercise. The response will be Pavlovian.

Weight loss is gained with the proper support. Athletic clothing ensures success.

Filed Under: History

Ice Hockey: A Popular American Pastime

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Ice hockey is a type of sport that originated in Canada. The exact origination is unclear; it is thought that ice hockey was first played during the early nineteenth century in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario. However, the rules for the game were first established in Montreal during the latter part of the century. Sine then, the game has been picked up in the United States, were more rules have been enforced to keep the players safe and the game fair.

The United States was quick to pick up on the game of hockey. Since Canada the U.S. and the two countries have generally been on good terms in recent history, it is no wonder that American citizens adopted the sport so quickly. Artificial ice rinks led the way for the sport of ice hockey in the U.S. In fact, the very first ice rink was opened in Baltimore during the 1880s.

During the following decade, American colleges formed ice hockey teams. Teams competed with other colleges throughout the United States, as well as those that resided in Canada. Canadian teams had a leading edge on American teams, due to the fact that they were more skilled and experienced with the sport. Ice hockey soon spilled into the professional level in the United States. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans beat Canadian teams for the Stanley Cup trophy.

Since its introduction into the United States, hockey has increased in popularity. Artificial ice rinks have made it possible for the game to be played in all parts of the country, even warm places such as Florida and Texas.

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Football…the brief history

There are 32 teams in the national football league, which is broken down into 8 divisions and each division has 4 teams.  AFC is the American Football Conference and the NFC is the national football conference there are broke down by North, east, south and west. AFC north would include teams like Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, AFC South would include teams like Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans. AFC east would be the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, and the AFC West would be the Oakland raiders and the San Diego Chargers. NFC North would include Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, NFC South would include New Orleans Saints and the Carolina panthers, NFC East are the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins, and NFC West would include Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams. Each team of the National Football league has 45-53 Players, only 11 are allowed on the field at a time but through the course of the game those 45 are cycled through each game. Those teams have an offense and a defense; offensive players include Quarterback, linebackers, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers. Defensive player consist of defensive ends, defensive tackle, nose guards (middle guard), Cornerbacks, safeties, defensive backs. There is another part of the team which are the Special teams, which are the kickers, long snapper, holders, kicker returners, Punter and punt returners. There are usually 4 preseason games and 16 regular games and every team gets a Bye week which mean they don’t play that week, but still Practice. Football didn’t start out being called football but it was called Rugby because it originally came from England in the 12th century. When it came to the United State is when they changed it to Football.

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Nascar…the beginning

NASCAR stands for National Association for stock car racing, and it was created by Bill France Sr. in 1947. The first race for NASCAR was held on February 15th 1948 only 2 months after the NASCAR organization was formed. Red Bryon, a stock car legend won that first race with his ford modified, six days later the national association for stock car racing was incorporated. The first race of NASCAR was called the Grand National which is now the Sprint Cup, it was held on June 19th 1949. During the 1950’s racing became as popular as Baseball, some of the best driver were Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, and Herb Thomas. Around that time Bill France Sr. decided to build the 2.5 mile Daytona 500 track, but it wouldn’t open until 1959, when racing out grew where it began. The First race didn’t end for 3 days at Daytona, because they didn’t have the technology that we do now, which they had to take pictures and go through them carefully and make sure they announced the right winner. The first televised race was on ABC in 1961 and it was at Daytona, that race was called the Firecracker 250. After the race fans interest in the sport of racing grew, so Mr. France decided to build another speedway, that speedway would be called the Alabama International Speedway. Alabama International speedway was 2.66 miles and it was the fastest and the largest speedway, which is now called Talladega Super Speedway. After the opening of this speedway more showed up in Brooklyn, Michigan, Dover, Delaware, and Pocono, Pennsylvania. By 1976 1.4 million race fans were making their way to all or most racing event. By the 1980 fortune 500 companies were sponsoring NASCAR and supporting individual events.

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A brief history of baseball

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Baseball was believed to be originated in 1861, like football baseball came from England, but in England it wasn’t call baseball it was called Rounder’s.  Baseball was called other thing such as Town ball and bases.  It wasn’t until 1871 that the first professional league was established.  Many American cities had their own teams, the sport really didn’t become popular until the 1920’s when Babe Ruth played for the New York Yankees, and he was thought to be one of the best to ever play the game of Baseball. While Babe Ruth played for the New York Yankees he led them to many victories and a number of World Series. The World Series is the annual championship series of professional baseball teams in the United States, which has been going on since 1903. The winner of the World Series is determined through a thing called the best out of seven playoffs, whichever team played the best in seven games, is the winner of the World Series.  The Yankees have played 40 of 106 World Series and have won 27, which is more than any other major league team.  Baseball has helped in the acceptance of African Americans as player in the Major league teams, this occurred around 1947 when Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and before his acceptance into the league African Americas were restricted to their own league called the Negro league. They really don’t know who invented baseball, they say a man named Abner Doubleday did but there are no facts that support that, so they believe it to be a myth because he never claimed to be the creator. There are many popular team in the league but one that come to mind are the Boston Red Sox and of course the New York Yankees.

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Basketball…where it started

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Basketball was invented in 1891, it was invented by a Canadian clergyman/educator by the name of James Naismeth. The game was introduced when James Naismeth was an instructor at a Christian Association training school in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Back in the day Basketball use elements of Football, hockey and soccer, the very first ball every use in the game was a soccer ball. When basket ball started there were 9 players to a team in 1897-1898 they changed it to 5 players, also at this time the hoops were made of wood and attached to the wall. Basketball Spread rapidly nationwide and to Canada, where it was played by men and women. In I934 the first college decided to have basketball as a major sport which paved the way to make basketball a professional sport. The 2 professional leagues, National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America merged in 1949, which thus created the National Basketball Association (NBA) The Boston Celtic, were one of the first Basketball teams of the 1950’s and throughout the 60’s. Basketball games were played in front of millions of people annually, and after the Celtics came along then came the Los Angeles Lakers. In the late 1970’s basketball dropped in popularity, but with the help of players like Larry Bird from the Boston Celtic and Magic Johnson from the LA Lakers. Then in the 1990’s came Michael Jordan played with Chicago Bulls and Shaquille O’Neal who started with the Orlando Magic. Like all other sports basketball has a hall of fame which is in Springfield, Massachusetts, where basically basketball got its start and it includes player, coaches, referees and other who have significantly contributed to the game. There are many fans of basketball in America, you just have to watch and see if you like it.

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Super Bowl…the beginning of a great thing

The Naming of the superbowl came from Lamar Hunt in 1967, who said he came across his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball, so he said why not name this game the Super Bowl, but wasn’t called that until 1969. The reasoning for the superbowl was because the AFC team and the NFC teams merged. There have been 44 Superbowl’s the 45th will be played Sunday February 6th, 2011. The very first superbowl was played on January 15th 1967 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers, the final score was 10 to 35 which meant victory for Green Bay. The first superbowl winners received money for winning in 1967, the money the Packers received was $15,000 per man on the team, and $7,500 was received by the Chiefs. This superbowl was the single largest shared in the history of team sports. The second super broke a record of 3 million at the gate in fan sales, which was a big thing in 1968. This year’s super bowl is being held in Dallas, this will be the first time the super bowl has ever been held in Dallas Stadium. At the end of every super bowl the winning team gets the Vince Lombardi trophy they also pick the most valuable player(MVP) which doesn’t always have to be the quarterback, it can be anyone that played well in the game. The Super bowl is always on Sunday, Super bowl Sunday has been made into a National Holiday due to its popularity. Super bowl Sunday is a way to get your friends together and watch football. Sometimes it’s a great way to get your family and friends together just to have a good time.

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Scotlands greatest gift…Golf

A golf ball directly before the hole

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The earliest golfers were the Scottish, but whoever invented golf is still up for debate.  Golf has been around for 500 years, because James the second of Scotland had an act of parliament on March 16th 1457to have golf and football banned.  He had it banned because it interfered with archery practice of his loyal defenders; he wanted them free of distraction. The first golf society was formed in 1744 by a group called the Edinburgh’s; this club was called Honorable company of Edinburgh golfers. At the time they formed this club there were only 13 rules of the game. They were drawn up for an annual competition between sportsmen; Great Britain and Ireland were included. The Society of St. Andrew golfers was formed in 1834 when King William became the societies patron, then he changed the name to the Royal and ancient golf club of St. Andrew. The same people that made bow and arrow were the same to make golf clubs, the earliest golf club maker was in 1603 and these club makers are of course 2 Scottish men.  Golf balls back in that day were hand stitched and made of leather and the insides consisted of boiled feather. If the ball was dry it would travel 180 yards, and wet it would travel up to 150 yards. These balls lasted about 55 years and then someone came up with a better way to make golf balls, which was the original ball but it was wrapped with a rubber core and a strip. Now a days the equipment for golf is a lot better and made for the game and not just things thrown together. Some people play golf as a sport and others do it for fun or enjoyment.

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Sports History

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Loving sports has never been a bad thing, but up until recently it wasn’t a profitable thing either. These days, those who love sports, and most specifically sports history, are turning their love of sports into great careers that are as fulfilling as they are profitable. So, if you are a sports history buff that is thinking about what to do next with your life, you might want to consider getting your degree and letting sports history take you to the next level.

These days, there is nothing that can’t be done at the college level. This includes obtaining a history degree and converting it to a degree in sports history. These days, colleges understand that there are many different variations to the traditional degree programs. Schools have been offering the same old degrees with new wrinkles in them. These wrinkles are considered concentrations in specific areas of study. For instance, there is the option to get the degree in history. This will give the graduate a base knowledge of history. However, they can opt to have a concentration in sports history.

The question isn’t if the degree can be had, but rather what to do with that degree once it has been obtained. For many graduates with a sports history degree, the possibilities are vast. One of the biggest, and most popular things to do is write a book. Of course there are some teaching jobs available. Many sports history majors end up getting jobs working for local newspapers. Their editing ability, especially when it comes to content and fact checking, is one of the better traits of the sports history major.

These great opportunities are available by obtaining a sports history degree online. Checking a site like elearners.com will give you a chance to see the different schooling options that are available to you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your love for sports can’t translate into a worthwhile career.

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The Evolution of the Football Helmet

Football was not originally played while wearing a helmet, but early on, there were safety concerns where head injuries were concerned.  These mostly arose after 1888 when tackling below the waist became allowable.  From then to the present, the evolution of the football helmet has been an interesting one.

By the 1890s a few leather or animal skin harnesses were circulating among a few players.  These early devices, that were mostly just straps of leather molded to the head, were not cushioned or necessarily secured well.  Shoemakers and blacksmiths made the first helmets.  They eventually started to use padded leather to help with shock absorption.

By the early 1900s the evolution of the football helmet began to look more like modern devices, as they took on more padding and even ear holes so that the players could hear the calls better.  Players painted the helmets from the very beginning.  This was a practical addition so that the quarterback could distinguish his receiver from down field defenders.

By 1939, helmets were mandatory in college football, and they became mandatory in professional ball in 1943.  The first plastic helmet showed up in 1939.  It was created by a sports store owner named John T. Ridell.  Ridell is still a major helmet manufacturer today.  Shape and padding has evolved over the years to better cushion and cradle the player’s head.  Face bar masks began evolving in the 1930s.

By the 1950′s there was experimentation with radios, in the quarterback’s helmet, that would allow a coach to call plays.  By the 1970′s the helmet design was becoming better fitted and lighter.  Today, helmets are made of light, strong polycarbonate plastic and they are almost completely round to reduce the possibility of a direct hit to the head.  They are believed to reduce concussions by as much as 30 percent.  With recent rulings about football concussions, it can be assumed that the evolution of the football helmet will continue.

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