Portal:Sports
The Sports Portal
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, through casual or organized participation, improve one's physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament 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 such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition. Other organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ...that Jim Roper was credited with NASCAR's first Strictly Stock (now Monster Energy Cup Series) win after apparent winner Glenn Dunaway was found to have illegally modified springs?
- ...that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour?
- ...that Leyton F.C. had to win a High Court action in order to call itself the oldest football club in London?
- ...that Australian Paralympic swimmer Teigan Van Roosmalen (pictured) is legally blind and deaf?
- ...that the South Korean long track speed skater Lee Kyou-hyuk has held the 1500 m world record, despite never winning a World Cup event or an Olympic medal at the distance?
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Hill became a test driver for the Formula One title-winning Williams team in 1992. He was promoted to the Williams race team the following year after Riccardo Patrese's departure and took the first of his 22 victories at the 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix.
During the mid 1990s, Hill was Michael Schumacher's main rival for the Formula One Drivers' Championship. The two clashed on and off the track. Their collision at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix gave Schumacher his first title by a single point. Hill became champion in 1996 with eight wins, but was dropped by Williams for the following season. He went on to drive for the less competitive Arrows and Jordan teams, and in 1998 gave Jordan its first win. He retired from racing after the 1999 season.
In 2006, Hill became president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, succeeding Jackie Stewart. Hill stepped down from the position in 2011 and was succeeded by Derek Warwick. Hill has also regularly appeared in the British media, writing articles for F1 Racing magazine and working as a pundit for Sky Sports F1. (Full article...)
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The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the NBL. The new team began playing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, calling themselves the Lakers in honor of the state's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes". The Lakers won five championships in Minneapolis, propelled by center George Mikan. After struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikan's retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season.
Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four time MVP Wilt Chamberlain to play center, and after losing in the Finals in 1969 and 1970, they won their sixth NBA title—and first in Los Angeles—in 1972, led by new head coach Bill Sharman.
The 1980s Lakers were nicknamed "Showtime" due to their Magic Johnson-led fast break-offense, and won five championships in a nine-year span, including their first ever Finals championship against the Celtics in 1985. The team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996. Led by O'Neal, Bryant, and Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second "three-peat".
The Lakers hold the record for NBA's longest winning streak (33), set during the 1971–72 season, it is also the longest of any team in American professional sports. Sixteen Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. (Full article...)
In this month
- February 4, 1925 – The inaugural Nordic World Ski Championships begins in Janské Lázně, Czechoslovakia
- February 9, 1895 – Volleyball (pictured), originally called Mintonette, is created by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts
- February 20, 1992 – The Premier League, the top division of the English football league system, is founded
- February 21, 1948 – NASCAR is founded by a consortium of drivers led by Bill France, Sr.
- February 22, 1980 – The United States ice hockey team defeats the Soviet Union team in the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics
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