1.
Benton Harbor, Michigan
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Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U. S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo, and northwest of South Bend, Indiana. In 2010, the population was 10,038 according to the census and it is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles–Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people. Benton Harbor and the city of St. Joseph are separated by the St. Joseph River and are known locally as the Twin Cities, fairplain and Benton Heights are unincorporated areas adjacent to Benton Harbor. Benton Harbor was founded by Henry C, Morton, Sterne Brunson and Charles Hull, who all now have or have had schools named after them. Benton Harbor was mainly swampland bordered by the Paw Paw River, through which a canal was built, in 1860, the village was laid out by Brunson, Morton, Hull and others, and given the name of Brunson Harbor. Brunson, Morton, and Hull also donated land and solicited subscriptions for construction of the canal and it had long been recognized that a canal would be crucial to the towns development, both to drain the marsh and to provide a berthing area for ships. The canal, originally 25 feet in width but expanded to 50 feet in 1868, in 1865, the name of the settlement was changed to Benton Harbor in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a Missouri Senator who helped Michigan achieve statehood. In 1869, Benton Harbor was organized as a village and in 1891 was incorporated as a city, two major riots occurred in 1966 and 2003. Several other riots have occurred in the intervening period. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.68 square miles. Benton Harbor has a continental climate that has very warm summers for the type. Due to lake-effect snow there is very high relative to precipitation in winter. Summer high temperatures range from 77 to 83 °F from June to August, the demographics of Benton Harbor contrast sharply with those across the river in St. Joseph. As of the census of 2010, there were 10,038 people,3,548 households, the population density was 2,265.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 4,329 housing units at a density of 977.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 7. 0% White,89. 2% African American,0. 3% Native American,0. 1% Asian,0. 8% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 2% of the population. 28. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.41. The median age in the city was 28.3 years
2.
American football positions
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In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time. The specific role that a player takes on the field is called his position, under the modern rules of American football, teams are allowed unlimited substitutions, that is, teams may change any number of players after any play. This has resulted in the development of three platoons of players, the offense, the defense, and the special teams, within those platoons, various specific positions exist depending on what each players main job is. In American football, the offense is the side in which the players have possession of the ball and it is their job to advance the ball towards the opponents end zone to score points. The backs and receivers are also known as skill position players or as eligible receivers. Offensive linemen are not usually eligible to advance the ball past the line of scrimmage during a play, the organization of the offense is strictly mandated by the rules, there must be at least seven players on the line of scrimmage and no more than four players behind it. The only players eligible to handle the ball during a play are the backs. The remaining players are considered ineligible, and may only block, within these strictures, however, creative coaches have developed a wide array of offensive formations to take advantage of different player skills and game situations. The following positions are standard in every game, though different teams will use different arrangements of them. The offensive line is responsible for blocking. The offensive line consists of, Center The center is the player who begins the play from scrimmage by snapping the ball to the quarterback. As the name suggests, the center usually plays in the middle of the offensive line, like all offensive linemen, the center has the responsibility to block defensive players. The center often also has the responsibility to call out blocking assignments, offensive guard Two guards line up directly on either side of the center. Like all interior linemen, their function is to block on both running and passing plays, in such cases, the guard is referred to as a pulling guard. Guards are typically shorter builds than tackles but taller than centers, offensive tackle Two tackles play outside of the guards. Their role is primarily to block on both running and passing plays, the area from one tackle to the other is an area of close line play in which blocks from behind, which are prohibited elsewhere on the field, are allowed. For a right-handed quarterback, the tackle is charged with protecting the quarterback from being hit from behind. Like a guard, the tackle may have to pull, on a running play, the six backs and receivers are those that line up outside or behind the offensive line
3.
College football
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It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. No minor league farm organizations exist in American football and it is in college football where a players performance directly impacts his chances of playing professional football. The best collegiate players will declare for the professional draft after 3 to 4 years of collegiate competition. Those not selected can still attempt to land an NFL roster spot as a free agent. Even after the emergence of the professional National Football League, college football remained extremely popular throughout the U. S, in many cases, college stadiums employ bench-style seating, as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests. This allows them to more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium. College athletes, unlike players in the NFL, are not permitted by the NCAA to be paid salaries, colleges are only allowed to provide non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Modern North American football has its origins in various games, all known as football, by the 1840s, students at Rugby School were playing a game in which players were able to pick up the ball and run with it, a sport later known as Rugby football. The game was taken to Canada by British soldiers stationed there and was soon being played at Canadian colleges, the first documented gridiron football match was a game played at University College, a college of the University of Toronto, November 9,1861. One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was William Mulock, a football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. In 1864, at Trinity College, also a college of the University of Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game played in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional mob football played in England. The games remained largely unorganized until the 19th century, when games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football, Princeton University students played a game called ballown as early as 1820. A Harvard tradition known as Bloody Monday began in 1827, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes, in 1860, both the town police and the college authorities agreed the Bloody Monday had to go. The Harvard students responded by going into mourning for a figure called Football Fightum. The authorities held firm and it was a dozen years before football was again played at Harvard. Dartmouth played its own version called Old division football, the rules of which were first published in 1871, all of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities
4.
Michigan State University
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Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. MSU was founded in 1855 and served as a model for land-grant universities later created under the Morrill Act of 1862, the university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the countrys first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational, today, MSU is one of the largest universities in the United States and has approximately 540,000 living alumni worldwide. MSU pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, Michigan State frequently ranks among the top 30 public universities in the United States and the top 100 research universities in the world. U. S. MSU is a member of the Association of American Universities, the universitys campus houses the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. The Michigan State Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference, Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954,1956,1988 and 2014, and a total of six national championships. Spartans mens basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000, Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966,1986 and 2007. Classes began on May 13,1857, with three buildings, five faculty members, and 63 male students, the first president, Joseph R. Williams, designed a curriculum that required more scientific study than practically any undergraduate institution of the era. It balanced science, liberal arts, and practical training, the curriculum excluded Latin and Greek studies, since most applicants did not study any classical languages in their rural high schools. However, it did three hours of daily manual labor, which kept costs down for both the students and the College. Despite Williams innovations and his defense of education for the masses and they forced him to resign in 1859 and reduced the curriculum to a two-year vocational program. In 1860, Williams became acting lieutenant governor and helped pass the Reorganization Act of 1861 and this gave the college a four-year curriculum and the power to grant masters degrees. Under the act, a newly created body, known as the State Board of Agriculture, the college changed its name to State Agricultural College, and its first class graduated in the same year. As the Civil War had begun, there was no time for a graduation ceremony. The first alumni enlisted to the Union Army, Williams died, and the following year, Abraham Lincoln signed the First Morrill Act of 1862 to support similar colleges, making the Michigan school a national model. Shortly thereafter, on March 18,1863, the designated the college its land-grant institution making Michigan State University one of the nations first land-grant college. The college first admitted women in 1870, although at that time there were no female residence halls, the few women who enrolled boarded with faculty families or made the arduous stagecoach trek from Lansing. From the early days, female students took the same scientific agriculture courses as male students
5.
National Football League Draft
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The National Football League Draft, also called the player selection meeting, is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players. It serves as the leagues most common source of player recruitment, from this position, the team can either select a player or trade their position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof. The round is complete when each team has selected a player or traded its draft position. Currently the draft consists of seven rounds, the original rationale in creating the draft was to increase the competitive parity between the teams as the worst team would, ideally, have chosen the best player available. In the early years of the draft, players were based on hearsay, print media. In the 1940s, some franchises began employing full-time scouts, the ensuing success of their corresponding teams eventually forced the other franchises to also hire scouts. Colloquially, the name of the each year takes on the form of the NFL season in which players picked could begin playing. For example, the 2010 NFL draft was for the 2010 NFL season, however, the NFL-defined name of the process has changed since its inception. The location of the draft has continually changed over the years to more fans. The drafts popularity now garners prime-time television coverage, in recent years, the NFL draft has occurred in late April or early May. The 2015 and 2016 NFL drafts were held in Chicago, in late 1934, Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, gave the right of usage of two players to the New York Giants because Rooneys team had no chance to participate in the post-season. After the owner of the Boston Redskins, George Preston Marshall, protested the transaction, at a league meeting in December 1934, the NFL introduced a waiver rule to prevent such transactions. Any player released by a team during the season would be able to be claimed by other teams, the selection order to claim the player would be in inverse order to the teams standings at the time. Throughout this time, Bert Bell, co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, felt his teams lack of competitiveness on the field made it difficult for the Eagles to sell tickets and to be profitable. As a result, the NFL was dominated by the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Giants, and Redskins. At a league meeting on May 18,1935, Bell proposed a draft be instituted to enhance the possibility of competitive parity on the field in order to ensure the viability of all franchises. His proposal was adopted unanimously that day, although the first draft would not occur until the next off-season. The rules for the selection of the players in the first draft were, first, from this pool, each franchise would select, in inverse order to their teams record in the previous year, a player
6.
New York Giants
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The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The team plays its games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants hold their training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Giants were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925 and their championship tally is surpassed only by the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Throughout their history, the Giants have featured 28 Hall of Fame players, including NFL Most Valuable Player award winners Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Y. A. Tittle, and Lawrence Taylor. The teams heated rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles is the oldest of the NFC East rivalries, dating all the way back to 1933, the Giants played their first game as an away game against All New Britain in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 4,1925. They defeated New Britain 26–0 in front of a crowd of 10,000, the Giants were successful in their first season, finishing with an 8–4 record. In its third season, the finished with the best record in the league at 11–1–1 and was awarded the NFL title. In 1930, there were many who questioned the quality of the professional game. In December 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All Stars at the Polo Grounds to raise money for the unemployed of New York City and it was also an opportunity to establish the skill and prestige of the pro game. Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen along with the stars of his 1924 Championship squad and told them to score early, Rockne, like much of the public, thought little of pro football and expected an easy win. But from the beginning it was a one-way contest, with Friedman running for two Giant touchdowns and Hap Moran passing for another, when it was all over, Coach Rockne told his team, That was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt, the game raised $100,000 for the homeless, and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game for those who were critical. It also was the last game the legendary Rockne ever coached, in a 14-year span from 1933 to 1947, the Giants qualified to play in the NFL championship game 8 times, winning twice. During this period the Giants were led by Hall of Fame coach Steve Owen, the period also featured the 1944 Giants, which are ranked as the #1 defensive team in NFL history. a truly awesome unit. They gave up only 7.5 points per game and shut out five of their 10 opponents, though they lost 14-7 to the Green Bay Packers in the 1944 NFL Championship Game. The famous Sneakers Game was played in this era where the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears on an icy field in the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants played the Detroit Lions to a scoreless tie on November 7,1943
7.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
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The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League, the Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Field. Since the 1950 merger, the team has won the Grey Cup championship eight times, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club also recognizes all Grey Cups won by Hamilton-based teams as part of their history, which would bring their win total to 15. However, the CFL does not recognize these wins under one franchise, neither of these teams won a championship in the first decade of the 21st century. In their first forty years of existence, the Tiger-Cats were a franchise, qualifying for the playoffs in all. They are one of six teams in the modern era to win the Grey Cup at home and were the first to accomplish this when they did it in 1972. However, since 1990, they have missed the playoffs on eleven occasions and have won just one Grey Cup in 1999 and their lowest moment came when they lost a Canadian Football League record 17 games in one season with just one win during their 2003 season. The franchise has started to return to prominence after qualifying for the post-season in four of the past five seasons, including a loss in the 101st Grey Cup, founded,1950, a merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. Formerly known as, The Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats, the owner/caretaker of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club is businessman Bob Young, who purchased the club on October 7,2003. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and graduated from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and his fortune was earned in the software industry and he is currently the owner and CEO of Lulu, a self-publishing website. As of 2011, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Executive Committee consists of three people, Bob Young, Caretaker, Scott Mitchell, President, and Doug Rye, although the current Hamilton Tiger-Cats were only founded in 1950, football in Hamilton goes back much further than that. The history of Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club can be traced back to November 3,1869 in a room above George Lee’s Fruit Store, the Hamilton football club played their first game on December 18,1869 against the 13th Battalion. In 1872, the Hamilton Football club began play at the Hamilton AAA Grounds, the Hamilton Tigers began play in the Ontario Rugby Football Union in 1883 and won their first Canadian Dominion Football Championship in 1906 when the Tigers beat McGill University 29–3. The Tigers continued in the ORFU until 1907, when the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union was formed, the IRFU later became known as the Big Four and eventually, the IRFU became the East division of the modern CFL in the 1950s. In the following season, the Tigers won their first of five Grey Cups when they beat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club by the margin of 44–2. The Alerts were refused entry into the ORFU in 1913 with many of its players opting to join the Tigers, the Alerts gave way to a team under the name Hamilton Rowing Club from 1913–1915, who also played in the ORFU. 1914 saw the amalgamation of the Hamilton Alerts and the Hamilton Tigers. In 1915, in the final season, the Hamilton Tigers won their second Grey Cup
8.
Grey Cup
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The Grey Cup is the name of both the championship game of the Canadian Football League and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing Canadian football. It is contested between the winners of the CFLs East and West Divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian televisions largest annual sporting events, the Toronto Argonauts have 16 championships, more than any other team. The latest, the 104th Grey Cup, took place in Toronto, Ontario, on November 27,2016, the trophy was commissioned in 1909 by the Earl Grey, then Canadas governor general, who originally hoped to donate it for the countrys senior amateur hockey championship. After the Allan Cup was later donated for that purpose, Grey instead made his trophy available as the Canadian Dominion Football Championship of Canadian football. The trophy has a silver chalice attached to a base on which the names of all winning teams, players. The Grey Cup has been broken on several occasions, stolen twice and it survived a 1947 fire that destroyed numerous artifacts housed in the same building. The Grey Cup was first won by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, play was suspended from 1916 to 1918 due to the First World War and in 1919 due to a rules dispute. The game has typically been contested in an east versus west format since the 1920s, the Edmonton Eskimos formed the Grey Cups longest dynasty, winning five consecutive championships from 1978 to 1982. While the Stanley Cup was created in 1893 as the Canadian amateur hockey championship, Grey instead offered an award to the Dominion amateur rugby football championship beginning in 1909. He initially failed to follow through on his offer, the trophy was not ordered until two weeks prior to the first championship game. The first Grey Cup game was held on December 4,1909, the trophy was not ready for presentation following the game, and the Varsity Blues did not receive it until March 1910. They retained the trophy in the two years, defeating the Hamilton Tigers in 1910 and the Toronto Argonauts in 1911. The University of Toronto failed to reach the 1912 Grey Cup, the Varsity Blues refused to hand over the trophy on the belief they could keep it until they were defeated in a title game. They kept the trophy until 1914 when they were defeated by the Argonauts, Canadas participation in the First World War resulted in the cancellation of the championship from 1916 to 1918, during which time the Cup was forgotten. Montreal Gazette writer Bob Dunn claimed that the trophy was later rediscovered as one of the heirlooms of an employee of the Toronto trust company where it had been sent for storage. Competition finally resumed in 1920 with the 8th Grey Cup game and it was the University of Torontos fourth, and final, championship. Competition for the Grey Cup was limited to member unions of the CRU, the Western Canada Rugby Football Union joined in 1921, allowing the Edmonton Eskimos to challenge. Facing the Argonauts in the 9th Grey Cup, the Eskimos became the first western team –, the Argonauts entered the game with an undefeated record, having outscored their opposition 226 to 55 during the season
9.
Joe Theismann
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Joseph Robert Theismann is a former professional gridiron football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003, following his retirement from football in 1985 after a career-ending injury, Theismann worked as a sportscaster and an analyst on pro football broadcasts with ESPN for nearly 20 years. He primarily partnered with Mike Patrick, for the networks Sunday Night Football package and for one season of Monday Night Football with Mike Tirico, Theismann also worked as a color analyst on NFL Networks Thursday Night Football package with play-by-play voice Bob Papa and Matt Millen. Theismann also co-hosts the networks weekly show Playbook, since 2011, he has worked on the Redskins preseason television broadcast team. Additionally, he works on the NFL Network on a variety of programs, Theismann is the owner of Theismanns Restaurant and Bar in Alexandria, Virginia, founded 1975. He also performs as a speaker for events, speaking on topics such as leadership and self-motivation. Theismann was born to Austrian Joseph John Theismann who ran a gas station and his Hungarian mother, Olga Tóbiás worked for Johnson & Johnson until her retirement. Theismann was raised in South River, New Jersey, and attended South River High School, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, Theismann accepted a college football scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, Theismann became the quarterback as a sophomore. In the three remaining games in the season, he led the Irish to two wins and a tie. In 1969, Theismann led the Irish to a number five ranking, the next year, the Irish had a 10–1 record, a number two ranking, and won against Texas in the 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic, 24–11. That year, Theismann was an All-American and an Academic All-American, Theismann set school records for passing yards in a season and touchdowns in a season. He also set a record for passing yards in a game and completions in a game while playing against the University of Southern California in a torrential downpour in 1970. As a starting quarterback, Theismann compiled a 20–3–2 record while throwing for 4,411 yards and 31 touchdowns and his 4,411 passing yards rank fifth on Notre Dames career passing list. Theismann was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and he was the eighth Notre Dame quarterback enshrined into the hall, joining former Heisman Trophy winners Angelo Bertelli, John Lujack, and Paul Hornung. Theismann was selected in the round of the 1971 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. After prolonged negotiations with the Dolphins failed, Theismann elected to sign with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League for $50,000 per season. A fumble late in the quarter by Argonaut running back Leon McQuay close to the goal line cost the Argonauts what would have been their first Grey Cup victory since 1952
10.
Burlington, Ontario
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Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario. Along with Milton to the north, Burlington forms the west end of the Greater Toronto Area, Burlington lies between Lake Ontarios north shore and the Niagara Escarpment. Economically, Burlington is strategically located near the centre of the Golden Horseshoe. By the time land beside the bay was deeded to Captain Joseph Brant at the turn of the 19th century, with the completion of the local survey after the War of 1812, the land was opened for settlement. Early farmers prospered in the Burlington area because of the fertile soil, produce from the farms was shipped out via the bustling docks of the lakeside villages of Port Nelson and Wellington Square, as well as Browns Wharf in the nearby village of Port Flamborough. Lumber taken from the forests also competed for space on the busy docks. However, in the half of the 19th century, increased wheat production from Western Canada convinced local farmers to switch to fruit. In 1874, Wellington Square and Port Nelson were incorporated into the Village of Burlington. However, the arrival of steamships on the Great Lakes made the small docks of the local ports obsolete. Farming still thrived though, and the resultant growth resulted in continued prosperity, by 1906, the town boasted its own newspaper—the Burlington Gazette—as well as a town library and a local rail line that connected Burlington to nearby Hamilton. During the First World War,300 local men volunteered for duty in the Canadian Expeditionary Force—38 did not return, in 1915, Burlington was incorporated into a town. As more settlers arrived and cleared the land, cash crops replaced subsistence farming, gradually, mixed farming and market gardens became the dominant form of agriculture, and in the early 20th century the area was declared the Garden of Canada. The first peaches grown in Canada were cultivated in the Grindstone Creek watershed in the citys south-west part, the farming tradition has passed down through the generations. Today over forty percent of the Grindstone Creek watershed is devoted to farms, orchards. The population skyrocketed as new homes were built, encouraging developers to even more new homes. On 1 January 1958, Burlington officially annexed most of the Township of Nelson, as well as Aldershot, by 1967, the last cash crop farm within the city had been replaced by the Burlington Mall. By 1974, with a population exceeding 100,000, Burlington was incorporated as a city, the extremely high rate of growth continued, and between 2001 and 2006, the population of Burlington grew by 9%, compared to Canadas overall growth rate of 5. 4%. By 2006, the population topped 160,000, continued high rates of growth are forecast as farmland north of Dundas Street and south of Highway #407 is developed into more suburban housing
11.
North Carolina
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North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
12.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams
