1.
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
2.
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
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Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the Atlantic coastal plain region of the U. S. state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28,1907, the first post office in the area opened in 1816. The citys population was 57,685 at the 2010 census, Rocky Mount has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League two times, in 1969 and 1999. Rocky Mount is the city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. Rocky Mount is also a part of a Combined Statistical Area which encompasses the Rocky Mount, the Rocky Mount–Wilson CSA population is currently over 200,000 residents. It is also a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA with a population of 2,132,523. Rocky Mount had its beginning in the part of the 19th century around the first post office which was established at the falls of the Tar River on March 22,1816. At that point, the name Rocky Mount appeared in documented history. The name undoubtedly derived from the mound at the falls of the Tar River. The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was built two miles east of the mill in 1845 and became the main connection for Rocky Mount to the outside world. An important change the railroad brought was the establishment of Rocky Mount as a point of departure for travelers from the north and south, the Raleigh-Tarboro stage route passed just below Rocky Mount, which became the logical debarking point for railroad travelers wishing to proceed east or west. The Civil War and Reconstruction Era brought hard times to Rocky Mount, on February 19,1867, Rocky Mount was incorporated as a town. The establishment of the Rocky Mount tobacco market in the late 1800s is one of the towns most noteworthy developments. The demand for bright leaf tobacco rose rapidly as the industry took shape. Also during this period, the railroad exerted an influence on the town. The tracks first reached Rocky Mount on Christmas Eve in 1839, in 1840, a train of cars en route to Wilmington stopped in Rocky Mount to import some Old Nash for special toasts at opening festivities. The fame of Nash County apple brandy had spread fast, as Rocky Mount encouraged the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to locate shops and yard facilities in the town, an influx of railroad employees into Rocky Mount occurred. In 1871, the county moved from the Tar River to its present location in the center of the tracks
3.
Continental Basketball League
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The Continental Basketball League was a mens basketball minor league in the United States that began play in April 2010. The league is headquartered in Florida, in 2009, Dennis Truax, who was previously affiliated with the Continental Basketball Association, was named the first commissioner of the CBL. Gary Perry, an owner of the Augusta Groove when it was in the Premier Basketball League was named the first director of basketball operations, on November 2,2009, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs were the first team to announce joining the league. On February 16,2010, the Carolina Cougarz became the team to join the CBL. On February 18,2010, the Savannah Wildcats became the team in the CBL. On March 5,2010, the Birmingham Steel joined the league, however, after the removal of the Gwizzlies, the schedule and playoff structure were truncated and adjusted. The playoffs became a one game championship between the first and second teams, the Sea Dawgs and Wildcats respectively, which was won by the Wildcats 96-86 in overtime. In July 2010 the Florida Flight moved from the WBA to the CBL, in September 2010, the Miami Stars and Palm Beach Titans joined. On March 28,2011, the Heartland Prowl announced they had left the ABA to join the CBL, in the announcement of the Prowl, the absence of the Carolina Cougarz as a listed team coupled with their removal from the CBL website indicated that they had folded. In April 2011, the Gainesville Galaxy joined, on 13 April 2011, the Cary Invasion was added. Sometime between April and early May, the Fayetteville Crossover was added, before the 2011 season was to start, the owners of the Savannah Wildcats announced the team would be sitting out the season due to a family matter effecting the owners ability to lead the team. Shortly after this announcement, the CBL announced the addition of the Port City Sharks as a replacement for the Wildcats in Savannah, the league also removed the Miami Stars and the Palm Beach Titans from the team list for the 2011 season. The Port City Sharks failed to play the complete schedule and were replaced in later games by travel teams, no official explanation was given why the winner of the South Division, the Heartland Prowl, did not play in the game. The Wilmington Sea Dawgs and the Cary Invasion announced the formation of the Tobacco Road Basketball League and their membership therein, the Fayetteville Crossover then announced their move to this league as well. The Florida Flight moved to the newly formed Florida Basketball Association, in 2012, the Raleigh Rough Riders were added to the league. However, the 2012 season was never played, the league planned to return in spring 2013, but a lack of teams prevented that
4.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
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Fayetteville is a city in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, Fayetteville has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League three times. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 200,564 and it is the sixth-largest municipality in North Carolina. Fayetteville is in the Sandhills in the part of the Coastal Plain region, on the Cape Fear River. With an estimated population in 2013 of 210,533 people, the Fayetteville metropolitan area is the largest in southeastern North Carolina, suburban areas of metro Fayetteville include Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Raeford, Pope Field, Rockfish, Stedman, and Eastover. Fayettevilles mayor is Nat Robertson, who is serving his second term, the area of present-day Fayetteville was historically inhabited by various Siouan Native American peoples, such as the Eno, Shakori, Waccamaw, Keyauwee, and Cape Fear people. They followed successive cultures of indigenous peoples in the area for more than 12,000 years. Two inland settlements, Cross Creek and Campbellton, were established by Scots from Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, merchants in Wilmington wanted a town on the Cape Fear River to secure trade with the frontier country. They were afraid people would use the Pee Dee River and transport their goods to Charleston, the merchants bought land from Newberry in Cross Creek. Campbellton became a place where poor whites and free blacks lived, Fayetteville was the first city to be named in his honor in the United States. Lafayette visited the city on March 4 and 5,1825, the local region was heavily settled by Scots in the mid/late 1700s, and most of these were Gaelic-speaking Highlanders. The vast majority of Highland Scots, recent immigrants, remained loyal to the British government, despite this, they were eventually defeated by a larger Revolutionary force at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. The area also included a number of active Revolutionaries, in late June 1775, residents drew up the Liberty Point Resolves, which preceded the Declaration of Independence by a little more than a year. Robert Rowan, who organized the group, signed first. Robert Rowan was one of the leading public figures of the 18th century. A merchant and entrepreneur, he settled in Cross Creek in the 1760s and he served as an officer in the French and Indian War, as sheriff, justice and legislator, and as a leader of the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. Rowan Street and Rowan Park in Fayetteville and a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution are named for him, though Rowan County was named for his uncle. Flora MacDonald, a Scots Highland woman known for aiding Bonnie Prince Charlie after his Highlander armys defeat at Culloden in 1746 and she was a staunch Loyalist and aided her husband to raise the local Scots to fight for the King against the Revolution
5.
Spirits of St. Louis
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The Spirits of St. Louis were one of two teams still in existence at the end of the American Basketball Association that did not survive the ABA–NBA merger. They were a member of the ABA in its last two seasons, 1974–75 and 1975–76, while playing their games at the St. Louis Arena. The Spirits were the third incarnation of a franchise that was known as the Houston Mavericks. However, only one player from the 1973–74 Cougars followed the team to St. Louis, the Spirits were a colorful team featuring a number of players, both on and off the court, who were fairly successful in their basketball careers. Among them were Moses Malone, acquired during their second and final season, maurice Lucas spent most of his time in the ABA as a Spirit, then later became an all-star in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers. Other well-known players that played for the team included former Boston Celtics sixth man Don Chaney, carr, and Ron Boone, who held the record for consecutive games played in pro basketball for many years. One of the most colorful players on the team was forward Marvin Barnes, famous for stories about his off-court behavior, a couple of off-court personalities from the team became well known as well. One of the coaches in 1975 was former NBA player Rod Thorn, on radio, the team featured Bob Costas as an announcer. Costas would go on to a successful career working for NBC television. After a slow start in their season, 1974–75, the Spirits reached the playoffs with a late rush. But the team squandered this good start the following year, at seasons end, negotiations were under way to move the franchise to Salt Lake City, Utah, and rename the team the Utah Rockies. In the summer of 1976, with the ABA at the point of collapse after 9 years. But the senior circuit decided to only four teams from the rival league. Brown, owner of the Kentucky Colonels, by giving him a $3.3 million settlement in exchange for shutting his team down, on June 27,2007, it was extended for another 8 years, ensuring another $100 million+ windfall for the Silnas. In 2014, the Silnas reached agreement with the NBA to greatly reduce the perpetual payments and take a lump sum of $500 million. In the last few years before the lump sum agreement, the Silnas were receiving $14.57 million a year, despite being owners of a team that hadnt played one minute of basketball in more than 35 years. The Silnas will, however, still be receiving a now much smaller portion of the revenue through a new partnership with the former ABA teams the Nets, Nuggets. On October 8,2013, ESPN presented a documentary about the team, Free Spirits, as a result, – and on the advice of their attorneys – the Silnas refused to be interviewed for the program, directed by Daniel Forer
6.
Greensboro Coliseum Complex
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The Greensboro Coliseum Complex is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opening in 1959, the arena was one of the largest venues in the South, with a seating capacity of over 23,000. The complex holds eight venues that includes an amphitheater, arena, aquatic center, banquet hall, convention center, museum, theatre and it has hosted the Mens ACC Tournament twenty-three times since 1967 and the Womens ACC Tournament twelve times since 2000. The Coliseum hosted both tournaments until 2015, other notable sporting events include the National Collegiate Athletic Association Mens Final Four in 1974 and the East Regionals in 1976,1979 and 1998. The complex has hosted the Central Carolina Fair since 1999, the complex was first proposed in 1944 by the citys mayor. The idea was to create a war memorial to veterans of World War I. The building was approved by city officials in 1956, followed by a groundbreaking in January 1958, with its opening in 1959, the complex held four venues, War Memorial Auditorium, Town Hall Auditorium, The Blue Room and the Greensboro Coliseum. The complex opened on October 29,1959 for historic show, shortly after its opening, the Coliseum began to scout for a hockey team. Partnering with the EHL, the city formed the Greensboro Generals, the teams first match was November 11,1959 against the Washington Presidents. The Generals won the game 4–1, the Generals would go on to win the EHL Championships. Over the years, the complex hosted several conventions, sporting, the Coliseum was part-time home of the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1974 after the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina in 1969. The Cougars were a franchise, playing home games in Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum. Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown began his career with the Cougars in 1972. Billy Cunningham was the ABA MVP for the Cougars in the 1972-73 season, despite a strong fan base the Cougars were sold and moved to St. Louis in 1974. To meet demands, the Coliseum expanded its seating to 15,000 in 1972, six years later, the complex expanded to include an exhibition center, known at the time as the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Exhibition Building. The buildings first event was Super Flea, a market for the Triad area. In 1991, the Coliseums manager proposed an expansion of the complex. This expansion would raise the capacity of the Coliseum an additional 8,000 to 23,000
