1.
Columbus, Ohio
–
Columbus is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Ohio. It is the 15th-largest city in the United States, with a population of 850,106 as of 2015 estimates and this makes Columbus the fourth-most populous state capital in the United States, and the third-largest city in the Midwestern United States. It is the city of the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Statistical Area. With a population of 2,021,632, it is Ohios third-largest metropolitan area, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County. The city proper has also expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County, named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. As of 2013, the city has the headquarters of five corporations in the U. S, fortune 500, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, L Brands, Big Lots, and Cardinal Health. In 2012, Columbus was ranked in BusinessWeeks 50 best cities in America. In 2013, Forbes gave Columbus an A rating as one of the top cities for business in the U. S. and later that included the city on its list of Best Places for Business. Columbus was also ranked as the No.1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation by Forbes in 2008, and the city was ranked a top-ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, fDi Magazine ranked the city no.3 in the U. S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no.1 in 2009 by USA Travel Guide. The area including modern-day Columbus once comprised the Ohio Country, under the control of the French colonial empire through the Viceroyalty of New France from 1663 until 1763. In the 18th century, European traders flocked to the area, the area found itself frequently caught between warring factions, including American Indian and European interests. In the 1740s, Pennsylvania traders overran the territory until the French forcibly evicted them, in the early 1750s, the Ohio Company sent George Washington to the Ohio Country to survey. Fighting for control of the territory in the French and Indian War became part of the international Seven Years War, during this period, the region routinely suffered turmoil, massacres, and battles. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded the Ohio Country to the British Empire, after the American Revolution, the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District, under the control of the United States. Colonists from the East Coast moved in, but rather finding a empty frontier, they encountered people of the Miami, Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee. The tribes resisted expansion by the fledgling United States, leading to years of bitter conflict, the decisive Battle of Fallen Timbers resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, which finally opened the way for new settlements. By 1797, a surveyor from Virginia named Lucas Sullivant had founded a permanent settlement on the west bank of the forks of the Scioto River
2.
Ohio State Buckeyes football
–
Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio since 1922. Football was introduced to the university by George Cole and Alexander S. Lilley in 1890, Ohio State was a football independent from 1890 to 1901 before joining the Ohio Athletic Conference as a charter member in 1902. The Buckeyes won two conference championships while members of the OAC and in 1912 became members of the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State won their first national championship in 1942 under head coach Paul Brown. Following World War II, Ohio State saw sparse success on the field with three separate coaches and in 1951 hired Woody Hayes to coach the team. Under Hayes, Ohio State won over 200 total games,13 Big Ten championships and five national championships, following Hayes dismissal in 1978, Earle Bruce and later John Cooper coached the team to a combined seven conference championships between them. Jim Tressel was hired as coach in 2001 and led Ohio State to its seventh national championship in 2002 with a win in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State won seven Big Ten championships under Tressel and appeared in eight Bowl Championship Series games, on November 28,2011, two-time National Championship winning coach and Ohio native Urban Meyer became head coach. Meyer led his team to five championships in his first five seasons as well as a school record 24 straight victories. He led OSU to both the Big Ten and the first College Football Playoff National Championship of its kind in the 2014 season, giving Meyer his third title overall. In the spring of 1890, George Cole, an undergraduate, the Buckeyes first game, played on May 3,1890, at Delaware, Ohio, against Ohio Wesleyan University, was a victory. OSUs first home game took place at 2,30 p. m. on November 1,1890, the Ohio State University played the University of Wooster on this site, which was then called Recreation Park. Just east of historic German Village, the park occupied the side of Schiller between Ebner and Jaeger in what is now Schumacher Place. The weather was perfect, and the crowd cheered loudly, nonetheless, OSU lost to Wooster, 64–0. Wooster, physically fit for the game, showed OSU that training is critical to winning, thus, the tradition of training continues. Over the next eight years, under a number of coaches, the played to a cumulative record of 31 wins,39 losses. The first game against the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, was a 34–0 loss in 1897, a year that saw the low point in Buckeye football history with a 1–7–1 record. Jack Ryder was Ohio States first paid coach, earning $150 per season, in 1899 the university hired John Eckstorm to bring professional coaching skills to the program and immediately went undefeated. In 1901, however, center John Segrist was fatally injured in a game against Western Reserve University, although the schools athletic board let the team decide its future, Eckstorm resigned
3.
American football
–
The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
4.
Rose Bowl Game
–
The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. When New Years Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, the Rose Bowl is nicknamed The Granddaddy of Them All because it is the oldest bowl game. It was first played in 1902, and has played annually since 1916. Since 1945, it has been the highest attended college football bowl game and it is a part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Associations Americas New Year Celebration, which also includes the historic Rose Parade. Beginning with the 2015 game, the name for sponsorship reasons is the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual. Vizio was the sponsor from 2012, prior sponsors included AT&T, Sony. In 2015, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual. In 2002 and 2006, under the Bowl Championship Series system, the Rose Bowl was designated as its championship game, beginning in 2015, the Rose Bowl has been part of the College Football Playoff system and hosts one of its semi-final games every three years. During non-Playoff years, the Rose Bowl reverts to a Pac-12/Big Ten matchup, originally titled the Tournament East–West football game, the first Rose Bowl was played on January 1,1902, starting the tradition of New Years Day bowl games. The football game was added in 1902 to help fund the cost of the Rose Parade, the inaugural game featured Fielding H. Michigan finished the season 11–0 and was crowned the national champion, yost had been Stanfords coach the previous year. The game was so lopsided that for the next 13 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football. But, on New Years Day 1916 football returned to stay as The State College of Washington defeated Brown University in the first annual Rose Bowl with that explicit name. Tournament Park was determined to be unsuitable for the larger and larger crowds gathering to watch the game, the Rose Bowl stadium, designed after the Yale Bowl in New Haven, then hosted the first Rose Bowl game in 1923. The name of the stadium was alternatively Tournament of Roses Stadium or Tournament of Roses Bowl, the stadium seating has been reconfigured several times since its original construction in 1922. For many years, the Rose Bowl stadium had the largest football stadium capacity in the United States, the maximum stated seating capacity was 104,594 from 1972 to 1997. Capacity was lowered following the 1998 Rose Bowl, the 2006 Rose Bowl game, which was also the BCS championship game, had a crowd of 93,986, and a crowd of 94,118 saw the 2011 Rose Bowl game between TCU and Wisconsin. The Rose Bowl is also the only BCS bowl game that is held in a non-NFL stadium. S, during the last two years of World War I, teams from military bases met in the Rose Bowl
5.
Ohio State University
–
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State or OSU, is a large, primarily residential, public university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and ninth university in Ohio with the Morrill Act of 1862, Hayes, and in 1878 the Ohio General Assembly passed a law changing the name to The Ohio State University. It has since grown into the third-largest university campus in the United States, along with its main campus in Columbus, Ohio State also operates a regional campus system with regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark, and Wooster. Ohio State athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are known as the Ohio State Buckeyes, athletes from Ohio State have won 100 Olympic medals. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference for the majority of sports, the Ohio State mens ice hockey program competes in the Big Ten Conference, while its womens hockey program competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. In addition, the OSU mens volleyball team is a member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, OSU is one of only 14 universities that plays Division I FBS football and Division I ice hockey. As of August 2015, the university had awarded a total of 714,512 degrees, alumni and former students have gone on to prominent careers in government, business, science, medicine, education, sports, and entertainment. Championed by the Republican stalwart Governor Rutherford B, Hayes, the Ohio State University was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university under the Morrill Act of 1862 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The school was originally within a community on the northern edge of Columbus. The university opened its doors to 24 students on September 17,1873, in 1878, the first class of six men graduated. The first woman graduated the following year, also in 1878, in light of its expanded focus, the Ohio legislature changed the name to the now-familiar The Ohio State University, with The as part of its official name. Ohio State began accepting students in the 1880s, and in 1891. It would later acquire colleges of medicine, dentistry, optometry, veterinary medicine, commerce, in 1916, Ohio State was elected into membership in the Association of American Universities. Michael V. Drake, former chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, in an attack against the campus on November 28,2016, an unrelated fluorine leak was called in for Watts Hall, resulting in the evacuation of the building to an outside courtyard. As firetrucks began to depart, Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove into the crowd, then emerged, the attack was stopped in under two minutes by OSU Police Officer Alan Horujko, who witnessed the attack after responding to the reported gas leak, and who shot and killed Artan. The universitys Buckeye Alert system was triggered and the campus was placed on lockdown, Ten were transported to local hospitals and one suspect was killed according to multiple sources. Local law enforcement and the FBI launched an investigation, according to authorities, Artan was inspired by terrorist propaganda from the Islamic State and radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Ohio States 1, 764-acre main campus is about 2.5 miles north of the citys downtown, the historical center of campus is the Oval, quad of about 11 acres
6.
Halfback (American football)
–
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
7.
Brian Cushing
–
Brian Cushing is an American football inside linebacker for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Texans in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, Cushing trained throughout his childhood in Park Ridge, New Jersey. He was named 2004 North Jersey Player of the Year by The Record. and played in the 2005 U. S. Army All-American Bowl alongside future USC teammates Patrick Turner, Rey Maualuga and Mark Sanchez. Cushing was recruited by top colleges, including Notre Dame, Georgia, Cushing was a four-year starter who also started in four Rose Bowls. Only two players have ever done this, Archie Griffin from Ohio State University was the other, Cushing attended the University of Southern California, and played for the USC Trojans football team 2005 to 2008 under head coach Pete Carroll. Cushing shared the No.10 jersey with Trojans starting quarterback John David Booty from 2005 to 2007, Cushing was on the 2007 preseason Phil Steeles All-America team and on the 2007 Bednarik Award and Lott Trophy watch lists. Cushing returned a failed onside kick attempted by Notre Dame at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a late touchdown on November 25,2006. On January 1,2007, Cushing was named the Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl Game, after recording 2½ sacks, Cushing was named AP 2nd Team All-American as a senior despite having pedestrian statistics. NFL scouts didnt admire Cushing for his stats, but for his versatility, fast enough to play inside and outside linebacker and big and strong enough to play defensive end. Cushing was the most versatile player in the draft. He also shocked NFL scouts by benching 225 lbs 30 times, Cushing was one of twelve senior USC players, including the four senior linebackers Cushing, Kaluka Maiava, Clay Matthews III and Rey Maualuga, invited to the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine. He also participated in the 2009 Senior Bowl with Maualuga, Matthews, Patrick Turner and he scored his first career points on October 4,2009 when he recorded a safety against the Oakland Raiders. The safety was the first recorded by a Texan since the 2002 season, Cushing was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 6 of the 2009 NFL Season. Cushing became the first rookie to earn the award in the season, in Week 8, Cushing was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week again, becoming the first Texans rookie to win the award twice in one season. Cushing was also named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, Cushing finished tied with Ray Lewis for the AFC lead with 133 tackles & added 4 sacks,10 pass deflections,4 interceptions, &2 forced fumbles. He was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a starter, Cushing was one of three rookies to make it to the Pro Bowl, another being a former USC teammate. On January 5,2010, Cushing was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Cushing is the second Texan to win the award, the first being DeMeco Ryans in 2006. Cushing had previously denied rumors of his using performance-enhancing substances prior to being drafted, Cushing still denies that he ever ingested or injected any performance enhancers and claimed the test result could have been from a cancerous tumor
8.
North Carolina Tar Heels
–
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the athletic teams representing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina. Since the school fostered the oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the Tar Heels are also referred to as North Carolina, UNC, or The Heels. The mascot of the Tar Heels is Rameses, a Dorset Ram, Carolina has won 43 NCAA Division I team national championships in seven different sports, ninth all-time, and 52 individual national championships. They also appeared in the College World Series in 1960,1966,1978,1989,2008,2009,2011 and 2013, Carolina has enjoyed long success as one of the top basketball programs in the country. Overall, the Tar Heels have won six NCAA National Championships and were awarded one for the 1923–24 season by the Helms Foundation. Under coach Frank McGuire, the team won its 1st NCAA championship in 1957, after McGuire left, legendary coach Dean Smith established the team as a powerhouse in college basketball. In 31 years at Carolina, Smith set the record for the most wins of any college basketball head coach. Under Smith, the Tar Heels won two championships and had numerous talented players come through the program. Smith is also credited with coming up with the four corners offense, more recently, the Tar Heels won the national championship in 2005,2009, and 2017 under coach Roy Williams. Ward also won the British Amateur in 1952 and the U. S. Amateur in 1955 and 1956, the teams best finish was second place in 1953 and 1991. Tar Heel golfers who have had success at the professional level include Davis Love III, under Lam, the Tar Heels were a consistent top 25 NCAA team. Lam led the Tar Heels to 15 ACC tournament titles in addition to being named ACC coach of the year 10 times, following the Lam era, Mock was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006 in addition to claiming two ACC team titles. In 2015, Mock was fired as head wrestling coach and he was shortly replaced by Olympic bronze medalist and Oklahoma State University graduate Coleman Scott. The Tar Heel wrestling program boasts many ACC champions, All-Americans, koll is now the head coach at Cornell University where he has led the program to new heights with multiple top 10 NCAA finishes. Fisher,1998 ACC champion and Most Outstanding wrestler, who went on to become a wrestler on the international stage where he was as high as second on the United States Olympic latter. Fisher also went on to become a coach for multiple Division 1 wrestling programs including Iowa State. They also took 6th in 1995, carmichael Arena is currently the home to the Tar Heels Wrestling team located centrally on campus
9.
Iowa Hawkeyes
–
The Iowa Hawkeyes are sports teams that represent the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 24 sports,11 for men and 13 for women, the teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and are members of the Big Ten Conference. Currently, the athletic director is Gary Barta. Historically, Iowa has been successful in wrestling, with 34 team Big Ten championships and 23 team national championships. The Hawkeyes have also won championships in five other sports, mens gymnastics, football, field hockey, rifle and womens track. In basketball, Iowa has reached the Final Four on four occasions, the mens team has done this three times, most recently in 1980, while the womens team has done it once, in 1993. The baseball team has reached the College World Series once, in 1972, Iowas softball team has played in the Womens College World Series on four occasions, most recently in 2001. Football home games are played at Kinnick Stadium, while basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, the schools baseball team plays at Duane Banks Field and the softball team plays at Bob Pearl Softball Field. In 1833, James Edwards, a newspaperman from Burlington, Iowa selected the nickname to honor the memory of Black Hawk, Edwards called his newspapers Hawk Eye and in 1838 the Officials of the territory of Iowa accepted the nickname. The University of Iowa currently fields 25 varsity teams, participating in the Big Ten and the NCAAs Division I, they are, Iowa began playing baseball in 1890, when the Hawkeyes went a combined 2–1 against two teams, Cornell and Vinton. To date, Iowa has won eight Big Ten titles, and has played in the College World Series once. Iowa earned its way to the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha with a 13-3 Big Ten record and that record included another school record that still stands, an 11-game Big Ten winning streak. It was Iowas first outright Big Ten baseball title since 1939, lose one of those four games, and Iowa goes home. In 1972, only conference champions competed for the eight World Series berths, the Hawkeyes opened the 1972 CWS against #1-ranked Arizona State, who entered the game with an incredible record of 60 wins and only 4 losses. But Iowa, an underdog, outhit the Sun Devils 8-3 only to lose. Iowa had the tying run thrown out at the plate in the 9th inning, Iowa had also threatened in the 7th with a lead-off double, but could not score. The Hawkeyes then played in the losers bracket the next day against Temple, but after taking a 6-2 lead into the sixth inning, the Hawkeyes ended up being knocked out of the Series with a 12-8 loss. Arizona State lost the game that year to Southern Cal
10.
College Football Hall of Fame
–
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation launched the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players, from 1995 to 2012, the Hall was located in South Bend, Indiana. It was connected to a center and situated in the citys renovated downtown district,2 miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. In August 2014, the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience opened in downtown Atlanta, rutgers donated land near its football stadium, office space, and administrative support. In response, the Foundation moved its operations to New York City, when the New York Attorney Generals office began its own investigation, the foundation moved to Kings Mills, Ohio, where a building finally was constructed adjacent to Kings Island in 1978. The Hall opened with good attendance figures early on, but visitation dwindled dramatically as time went on, nearby Galbreath Field remained open as the home of Moeller High School football until 2003. A new building was opened in South Bend, Indiana on August 25,1995. Despite estimates that the South Bend location would more than 150,000 visitors a year, the Hall of Fame drew about 115,000 people the first year. In 2009, the National Football Foundation decided to move the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, the possibility of moving the museum has been brought up in other cities, including Dallas, which had the financial backing of billionaire T. Boone Pickens. However, the National Football Foundation ultimately decided on Atlanta for the next site, the new $68.5 million museum opened on August 23,2014. It is located next to Centennial Olympic Park, which is near other attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The Hall of Fame is located near the Georgia Institute of Technology of the ACC, the new building broke ground on January 28,2013. Sections of the architecture are reminiscent of a football in shape, the facility is 94,256 square feet and contains approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibit and event space, interactive displays and a 45-yard indoor football field. Atlanta Hall Management operates the College Football Hall of Fame, as of 2017, there are 987 players and 214 coaches enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, representing 306 schools. The National Football Foundation outlines specific criteria that may be used for evaluating a candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame. A player must have received major first team All-America recognition, a player becomes eligible for consideration 10 years after his last year of intercollegiate football played. Football achievements are considered first, but the record as a citizen is also weighed. Players must have played their last year of football within the last 50 years
11.
Rose Parade
–
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Parade presented by Honda, is part of Americas New Year Celebration held in Pasadena, California each year on New Years Day. The parade includes flower-covered floats, marching bands, and equestrian units and is followed by the Rose Bowl college football game and it is produced by the nonprofit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. It is seen by millions more on television worldwide in more than 100 international territories and countries, the Rose Bowl is a college football game that was added in 1902 to help fund the cost of staging the parade. Since 2011, the parade has been sponsored by Honda, accordingly, the company has the parades first float, which like all floats, follows the parades theme. The 2017 parade featured 44 floats,19 equestrian units with approximately 400 horses, the Grand Marshals of the parade were Greg Louganis, Janet Evans and Allyson Felix. Members of Pasadenas Valley Hunt Club first staged the parade in 1890, since then the parade has been held in Pasadena every New Years Day, except when January 1 falls on a Sunday. In that case, it is held on the subsequent Monday and this exception was instituted in 1893, as organizers did not wish to disturb horses hitched outside Sunday church services. Many of the members of the Valley Hunt Club were former residents of the American East and Midwest and they wished to showcase their new California homes mild winter weather. At a club meeting, Professor Charles F, holder announced, In New York, people are buried in the snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear, lets hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise. So the club organized horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, upon seeing the scores of flowers on display, the professor decided to suggest the name Tournament of Roses. Over the next few founding years, marching bands and motorized floats were added, by 1895, the event was too large for the Valley Hunt Club to handle, hence the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association was formed. Activities soon included ostrich races, bronco busting demonstrations, and an odd novelty race between a camel and an elephant, soon reviewing stands were built along the parade route and newspapers in Eastern Seaboard cities started to take notice of the event. Tournament House is the given the former home where the organization is headquartered. The first associated football game was played on January 1,1902, originally titled the Tournament East-West football game, it is considered to be the first Rose Bowl. The next game was not played until New Years Day 1916, the game derives its modern name from Rose Bowl Stadium, which was built for the 1923 game. In 2002 and 2006, the Granddaddy of em all was not held the day as the parade. Not all fans were pleased with the change, some thought the atmosphere, once the BCS title game was separated from the host bowl, it no longer affected the date of the Rose Bowl Game
12.
Magic Johnson
–
Earvin Magic Johnson Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons, after winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his players, he retired again for four years. Johnsons career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and he led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBAs all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Johnson was a member of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team, after leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that travelled around the world playing exhibition games. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, Johnson became a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame—being enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. He was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007 and his friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. Named by Ebony magazine as one of Americas most influential businessmen in 2009, Johnson has numerous business interests. Johnson also is part of a group of investors purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan to Earvin Sr. a General Motors assembly worker, and Christine, Johnson, who had six siblings, was influenced by his parents strong work ethic. Earvin Jr. would often help his father on the garbage route, Johnson grew up in Lansing, and came to love basketball as a youngster. His favorite basketball player was Bill Russell, whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability and he also idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practiced all day. Magic Johnson came from an athletic family and his father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi, and Johnson learned the finer points about the game from him. Johnsons mother, originally from North Carolina, had played basketball as a child. By the time he had reached the grade, Johnson had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior player, once scoring 48 points in a game
