1.
Lafayette Leopards football
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The Lafayette Leopards football program represents Lafayette College in college football. One of the oldest college football programs in the United States, Fielding their first team in 1882, Lafayette has won three college football national championships, seven Patriot League championships, six undefeated seasons and four undefeated, untied seasons. For most of its history, Lafayette played an independent schedule until joining the Patriot League in 1986, between 1929 and 1975, the Leopards were a part of an unofficial conference, the “Middle Three Conference, ” which consisted of Rutgers University and Lehigh University. Today, Lafayette is most noted for its fierce arch-rivalry with Lehigh, which is the most played rivalry in college football and the most consecutive years played. ESPN considers The Rivalry to be among the top ten in college football, aside from Lehigh and Rutgers, Lafayette’s primary rivals are Bucknell University and the University of Pennsylvania. Lafayette has produced four consensus All-Americans,11 FCS All-Americans, four College Football Hall of Fame players, Lafayette is also credited with inventing the huddle during a game in which Pennsylvania was stealing hand signals. Lafayettes nickname is the Leopards, dating from October 21,1924, in its early history, the students, alumni, and press referred to the team as the Maroon. The Leopards are still referred to as the Maroon or the Maroon. Currently, Lafayette has 650 wins, 33rd all-time in Division I, rugby football was first introduced on College Hill in the fall of 1880 by Theodore H. Welles. A member of the class of 1884, Welles brought football to Easton after learning the new game at Wilkes Barre Academy and Princeton University, H. R. Craven, who played and learned the sport at the Lawrenceville School, served as the first team captain. Early football at Lafayette was not organized, in 1880 and 1881, students competed against each other on campus. However, in the fall of 1882, Lafayette traveled to Rutgers to partake in its first intercollegiate football contest, on November 7,1882, Lafayette fell to Rutgers 0-0/8-3. One week later, Lafayette lost its second game ever against the University of Pennsylvania 0-0/1-3, although official records reflect only two games being played in 1882, Welles mentions playing Swarthmore College and the Stevens Institute of Technology on College Hill, winning both contests. With one season of football experience, Lafayette won its first game ever in 1883. After dropping its first three games to Princeton, Pennsylvania, and Stevens, Lafayette broke through against Rutgers on November 10, with four inches of slushy snow covering the Quad, Lafayette avenged the previous years defeat 25–0 with four touchdowns despite a water-logged ball. The first game of the 1884 brought a new team to Lafayettes schedule, located in nearby Bethlehem, Lehigh would be playing its first football game. With experience and superior skill on its side, Lafayette annihilated Lehigh 56–0 in what would become known as The Rivalry. Due to the proximity of the schools, Lafayette played a Lehigh as their last opponent in 1884, true animosity soon developed between both teams
2.
University of Maryland, College Park
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Founded in 1856, the university is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. It is a member of the Association of American Universities and competes in athletics as a member of the Big Ten Conference, the University of Marylands proximity to the nations capital has resulted in research partnerships with the Federal government. The operating budget of the University of Maryland during the 2009 fiscal year was projected to be approximately $1.531 billion, for the same fiscal year, the University of Maryland received a total of $518 million in research funding, surpassing its 2008 mark by $118 million. As of December 12,2012, the universitys Great Expectations campaign had exceeded $1 billion in private donations, on March 6,1856, the forerunner of todays University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College. Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert, a future U. S. Congressman, Calvert founded the school later that year. On October 5,1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, the school became a land grant college in February 1864. During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers under Brigadier General Bradley Tyler Johnson moved past the college on July 12,1864 as part of Jubal Earlys raid on Washington, D. C. By the end of the war, financial problems forced the administrators to sell off 200 acres of land, for the next two years the campus was used as a boys preparatory school. Following the Civil War, in February 1866 the Maryland legislature assumed half ownership of the school, the college thus became in part a state institution. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students, in the next six years, enrollment grew and the schools debt was paid off. In 1873, Samuel Jones, a former Confederate Major General, twenty years later, the federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. Morrill Hall was built the following year, on November 29,1912, a fire destroyed the barracks where the students were housed, all the schools records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. There were no injuries or fatalities, and all but two returned to the university and insisted on classes continuing. Students were housed by families in neighboring towns until housing could be rebuilt, a large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912. The state took control of the school in 1916, and the institution was renamed Maryland State College and that year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9,1920, the became part of the existing University of Maryland, replacing St. Johns College. In the same year, the school on the College Park campus awarded its first PhD degrees. In 1925 the university was accredited by the Association of American Universities, by the time the first black students enrolled at the university in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women
3.
Halfback (American football)
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A halfback is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i. e. a running back. The halfback position is one of the more glamorous positions on the field, sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as he is an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking. Before the emergence of the T-formation in the 1940s, all members of the backfield were legitimate threats to run or pass the ball. Most teams used four offensive backs on every play, a quarterback, the quarterback began each play a quarter of the way back, the halfbacks began each play side by side and halfway back, and the fullback began each play the farthest back. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the position was both an offensive and defensive position. There has also been a shift in most offense’s dependence on halfbacks, however, the average output of the halfback has not changed. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well, many of the “scat backs” in the modern era produce more total yards and touchdowns than their ancestor “power backs” by breaking off big plays on outside runs and receptions. The spread offense and the hurry-up offense change the halfback’s role, the spread, the hurry-up, and the pro-style offenses dominate American football but the “smash-mouth” style of play is far from extinct. A power-running scheme is often utilized to counter an effective Spread attack, as it allows a team to control the clock and this strategy is utilized in NFL, college, and all other forms of American football. The need for “power backs is very prevalent, alongside the need for “scat backs”, in the past few decades the role of the halfback has gone through a great shift as most offensive game plans are now fueled by creativity and finesse instead of raw force. Stamina and durability is more important than ever in the hurry-up offense, on the other hand, speed is often valued over strength, and pass-catching ability is sometimes valued over blocking proficiency. Power was once the most desired trait in a halfback, but has been taken by the need for a diverse skill set. In the last few decades the running back’s individual share of output has declined as quarterbacks are generally treated as the cornerstone of the offense. The demands of an up-tempo offense also favor a multiple running back system, from the dawn of American football through the 1880s most offensive schemes focused on the running game. In a running based game plan the halfback was typically the cornerstone of the offense and this system focused on a physical run attack concentrated in the inside of the field, and therefore depended on a skilled “power back”. There were no forward passes, and pure speed took a backseat to tackle-breaking and bucking ability, there was a focus on physicality over finesse, as this type of playing style earned the moniker of “smash mouth” football
4.
Annapolis, Maryland
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Annapolis is the capital of the U. S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. Its population was measured at 38,394 by the 2010 census, the city served as the seat of the Continental Congress in 1783–84 and was the site of the 1786 Annapolis Convention and the Annapolis Peace Conference, held in 2007. Annapolis is the home of St. Johns College as well as the United States Naval Academy, a settlement in the Province of Maryland named Providence was founded on the north shore of the Severn River in 1649 by Puritan exiles from Virginia led by Governor William Stone. The settlers later moved to a harbor on the south shore. The settlement on the shore was initially named Town at Proctors, then Town at the Severn. In 1654, after the Third English Civil War, Parliamentary forces assumed control of Maryland, per orders from Charles Calvert, fifth Lord Baltimore, Stone returned the following spring at the head of a Cavalier force. On March 25,1655, in what is known as the Battle of the Severn, Stone was defeated, taken prisoner, Fendall governed Maryland during the latter half of the Commonwealth. In 1660, he was replaced by Phillip Calvert as fifth/sixth Governor of Maryland), Annapolis was incorporated as a city in 1708. Water trades such as oyster-packing, boatbuilding and sailmaking became the chief industries. Annapolis is home to a number of recreational boats that have largely replaced the seafood industry in the city. Dr. Alexander Hamilton was a Scottish-born doctor and writer who lived and worked in Annapolis, Annapolis became the temporary capital of the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. For the 1783 Congress, the Governor of Maryland commissioned John Shaw, the flag is slightly different from other designs of the time. The blue field extends over the height of the hoist. Shaw created two versions of the flag, one started with a red stripe and another that started with a white one. In 1786, delegates from all states of the Union were invited to meet in Annapolis to consider measures for the regulation of commerce. Delegates from only five states—New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, the Philadelphia convention drafted and approved the Constitution of the United States, which is still in force. During this period, a prisoner of war camp, Camp Parole, was set up in Annapolis. As the war continued, the camp expanded to a location just west of the city
5.
Alexandria, Virginia
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Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is coterminous with the U. S. Census Bureau-census-designated place of Arlington, as a result, the county is often referred to in the region simply as Arlington or Arlington, Virginia. In 2015, the population was estimated at 229,164. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal district of Columbia. In 1846, Congress returned the land southwest of the Potomac River donated by Virginia due to issues involving Congressional representation, the General Assembly of Virginia changed the countys name to Arlington in 1920 to avoid confusion with the adjacent City of Alexandria. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington. Arlington is also bordered by Fairfax County and City of Falls Church to the northwest, west and southwest, as of the 2010 census, the population was 207,627. Due to the proximity to downtown Washington, D. C. It is also home to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the many federal agencies, government contractors, and service industries contribute to Arlingtons stable economy. It is the county in the United States by median family income. According to a 2016 study by Bankrate. com, Arlington is the best place to retire, the area that now constitutes Arlington County was originally part of Fairfax County in the Colony of Virginia. Land grants from the British monarch were awarded to prominent Englishmen in exchange for political favors, one of the grantees was Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who lends his name to both Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of First Lady Martha Washington, the estate was eventually passed down to Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of General Robert E. Lee. The property later became Arlington National Cemetery during the American Civil War, the area that now contains Arlington County was ceded to the new United States federal government by the Commonwealth of Virginia. With the passage of the Residence Act in 1790, Congress approved a new permanent capital to be located on the Potomac River, the Residence Act originally only allowed the President to select a location within Maryland as far east as what is now the Anacostia River. However, President Washington shifted the federal territorys borders to the southeast in order to include the city of Alexandria at the Districts southern tip. In 1791, Congress amended the Residence Act to approve the new site, however, this amendment to the Residence Act specifically prohibited the erection of the public buildings otherwise than on the Maryland side of the River Potomac. As permitted by the U. S. Constitution, the shape of the federal district was a square, measuring 10 miles on each side
6.
Navy Midshipmen football
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The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The Naval Academy completed its season as an FBS independent school in 2014. The team has coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007. Navy has 19 players and three coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame and won the football national championship in 1926 according to the Boand. The 1910 team also was undefeated and unscored upon, the mascot is Bill the Goat. The Naval Academys football program is one of the nations oldest, there were two separate efforts to establish a Naval Academy football team in 1879. The first was guided by first-classman J. H. Robinson, the team played the sport under rules that made it much closer to soccer, where the players were permitted only to kick the ball in order to advance it. The second effort, headed by first-classman William John Maxwell was more successful in its efforts, Maxwell met with two of his friends, Tunstall Smith and Henry Woods, who played for the Baltimore Athletic Club and officially challenged their team to a game with the Naval Academy. A team was formed from academy first-classmen, which Maxwell led as a manager, trainer, the team would wake up and practice before reveille and following drill and meals. The squad received encouragement from some of the faculty, who allowed them to eat a late dinner and this was against the direct orders of the school superintendent, who had banned football and similar activities. The years sole contest was played on December 11 against the Baltimore Athletic Club, the oppositions team was reportedly composed of players from Princeton, Yale, Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins. The Naval Academy hosted the Baltimore team on a temporary field drawn on part of the cow pasture. Rules decided upon between the teams established that the game was to be played under rugby rules. The Baltimore American and Chronicle, which covered the contest, described it as such, The game, played rugby rules, was a battle from beginning to end—a regular knock down. Both sides became immediately excited and the audience was aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the spirited contest, the ball oscillated backward and forward over the ground without any material result. The scrimmages were something awful to witness—living, kicking, scrambling masses of humanity surging to and fro, each individual after the leather oval. If a Baltimorean got the ball and started for a run, he was caught by one of the brawny Cadets. The game was fought and was finally declared a scoreless tie by the referee about an hour after it began
7.
George Washington University
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The George Washington University is a private research university in Washington, D. C. GW is the largest institution of education in Washington, D. C. In his will, Washington left his 50 shares in the Potomac Company to help endow the university, however, due to the companys financial difficulties, the funding did not materialize. The university was chartered by an act of Congress on February 9,1821 and its name was changed to Columbian University in 1873 and to the George Washington University in 1904, in honor of Washington. GWs Graduate School of Political Management is the school of applied politics in the nations capital. GWs professional schools and the Elliott School of International Affairs are consistently ranked highly in national and international college rankings lists, the Princeton Review consistently ranks GW as one of the Most Politically Active schools. Some of the graduates have gone on to high positions within both the U. S. government and foreign governments. Notable alumni include former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and he presented numerous letters to Congress and included the subject in his last will and testament. Baptist missionary and leading minister Luther Rice raised funds to purchase a site in Washington, the first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington, D. C. In attendance were President Monroe, John C, Calhoun, Henry Clay, Marquis de Lafayette and other dignitaries. During the Civil War, most students left to join the Confederacy, walt Whitman was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus. Following the war, in 1873, Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to a downtown location centered on 15th and H streets. The university moved its operations to the D. C. neighborhood of Foggy Bottom in 1912. The George Washington University, like much of Washington, D. C. traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons, the Bible that the presidents of the university use to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington. Freemasonry symbols are displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings. Many of the Colleges of the George Washington University stand out for their age, the Law School is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the 11th oldest medical school in the nation, the Columbian College was founded in 1821, and is the oldest unit of the university. The Elliott School of International Affairs was formalized in 1898, the majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin, Lloyd Hartman Elliott and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
8.
Cumberland, Maryland
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Cumberland, officially the City of Cumberland, is a western gateway city and seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Historically Cumberland was known as the Queen City, as it was once the second largest in the state, in this role, it supported the settlement of the Ohio Country and the lands in that latitude of the Louisiana Purchase. It also became a center, served by major roads, a canal connecting to Washington, DC. Industry declined after World War II, much of the later urban, business and technological development in the state has been concentrated in eastern coastal cities. Today the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area is one of the poorest in the United States, Cumberland was named by English colonists after the son of King George II, Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland. This area had long been settled for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, the fort was developed along the Great Indian Warpath which tribes used to travel the backcountry. Cumberland also served as an outpost of Colonel George Washington during the French and Indian War, Washington returned as President of the United States in 1794 to Cumberland to review troops assembled to thwart the Whiskey Rebellion. During the 19th century, Cumberland was a key road, railroad and it became the second-largest city in Maryland after the port city of Baltimore. It was nicknamed The Queen City, Cumberland was the terminus, and namesake, of the Cumberland Road that extended westward to the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. This was the first portion of what would be constructed as the National Road, which eventually reached Ohio, Indiana, the surrounding hillsides were mined for coal and iron ore, and harvested for timber that helped supply the Industrial Revolution. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal had its terminus here, it was built to improve the movement of goods between the Midwest and Washington, DC, the eastern terminus. Construction of railroads superseded use of the canal, as trains were faster, the city developed as a major manufacturing center, with industries in glass, breweries, fabrics and tinplate. With the restructuring of industry in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states following World War II. As a result, its population has declined by nearly half, Cumberland is in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains at 39°38′52″N 78°45′46″W, at the junction of the North Branch of the Potomac River and Wills Creek. The majority of the land within the city lies in a created by the junction of these two streams. Interstate 68 runs through the city in an east/west direction, as does Alternate U. S.40, parts of Wills Mountain, Haystack Mountain, and Shriver Ridge are also within the city limits. The abandoned Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is now part of the Chesapeake, the canals towpath is maintained, allowing travel by foot, horse or bicycle between Cumberland and Washington, D. C. a distance of about 185 miles
9.
Railway Express Agency
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The Railway Express Agency was a national monopoly set up by the United States federal government in 1917. Rail express services provided small package and parcel transportation using the extant railroad infrastructure much as UPS functions today using the road system. The United States government was concerned about the rapid, safe movement of parcels, money, REA ceased operations in 1975, when its business model ceased to be viable. William G. Fargo, a New York Central freight clerk at Auburn, N. Y. and Henry Wells, other parcel express pioneers include Henry B. Plant, who formed Southern Express Company, Alvin Adams who founded Adams Express Company, Express delivery in the early 19th century was virtually all done via horse, either via stagecoach or by riders. Post Office introduced its Parcel Post service, which offered major competition for the express companies, despite this, private railway express business increased steadily through the end of World War I. During World War I, the United States Railroad Administration took over the nations railroads, in March 1929, the assets and operations of American Railway Express Inc. were transferred to Railway Express Agency. REA was owned by 86 railroads in proportion to the traffic on their lines - no one railroad or group of railroads had control of the agency. In response to demand, REA added a Chicago, Illinois-based refrigerator car line. In 1927, REA began an Air Express Division, in 1938, the remainder of Southern Express also joined the consolidated REA. Due to rate increases, express revenues remained at profitable levels into the 1950s, by this time, overall rail express volume had also decreased substantially. In 1959, REA negotiated a new contract allowing it to use any mode of transportation and it also acquired rights to allow continued service by truck freight after passenger trains were discontinued. REA also attempted to enter the piggyback and container operations business, another blow came when the Civil Aeronautics Board terminated REAs exclusive agreement with the airlines for air express. In the early 1960s Railway Express Agency was renamed REA Express, by 1965 many of REAs refrigerator cars, now stripped of their refrigeration equipment, were in lease service as bulk mail carriers. Many ended their days relegated to work train service, in 1969, after several years of losses, REA was sold to five of its corporate officers. By then its entire business constituted less than ten percent of all intercity parcel traffic, REA Express became embroiled in extensive litigation with the railroads and the United Parcel Service as well as with the Brotherhood of Railway Workers Union. In November 1975, REA Express terminated operations and filed for bankruptcy, as a result, the first Altair 8800 microcomputer was lost, as it had been shipped a few weeks earlier via REA and never arrived
