1.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
2.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
3.
USC Trojans women's basketball
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The USC Trojans womens basketball, or Women of Troy, is the collegiate womens basketball team that represents the University of Southern California, in the Pac-12 Conference. The team rose to prominence in 1976, at that time scholarships became available to female basketball players. They were the first Division 1 team to do so, the Women of Troy made their first appearance in the Final Four in the 1981 AIAW Tournament. Following the successful 1982 season, in which USC reached the Elite Eight of the first NCAA Tournament, the 1983 championship team included three All-Americans, Paula Mcgee, Cheryl Miller, and Rhonda Windham. The 1983 team went 31–2 in the regular and post-season combined, the 1983 team bested their opponent, Louisiana Tech, by a mere 2 points. The 1984 championship team went 29–4 in the regular and post season, the 1984 team faced University of Tennessee. The victory this year came by an eleven points. USC made the National Championship again in 1986 but did not prevail and they lost to University of Texas 97–81. They have yet to appear in the National Championship since then, in 1987 and 1994 the Trojans won the Pac-10 Championship. The Trojans had their longest time of not making it to the playoffs starting in 1998 and that streak was broken when the team made it to the playoff bracket in 2005. Not until 2011 did the Trojans make it to the post season again, in 2006 USC opened the Galen Center. The Galen Center was the new home of the Women of Troy and it can seat over 10,000 fans. In 2007 the Galen Center was sold out for a game between the Trojans and the University of California Los Angeles and it was the first time in history that a NCAA womens basketball game was sold out. Every year since 1986 at least one member of the Trojans team has been honored in the Pac-10 awards, to date, eleven players who played for USC have won Olympic medals. The head coaching job was taken over by former Women of Troy player Cynthia Cooper-Dyke for the 2013–14 season, with only one senior and three juniors on the team, the Women of Troy had low expectations for the 2012–13 campaign. After dropping the first game to Gonzaga, USC won 3 of its next 4 games, its only loss coming to the #23 in the country, University of Nebraska. After a 3–2 start, the Women of Troy lost their next 6 games by an average of 16.5 points, thus wrapping up their non-conference schedule with a 3–8 record heading in to Pac-12 play. They started their play in the Pac-12 hot, winning their first four games over University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, but then came the real challenge when they faced off against the #7 team in the country, California Golden Bears
4.
Point guard
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The point guard, also called the one or point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position, point guards are expected to run the teams offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right players at the right time. A point guard, like other player positions in basketball, specializes in certain skills, a point guards primary job is to facilitate scoring opportunities for his/her team, or sometimes for themselves. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor and this involves setting up plays on the court, getting the ball to the teammate in the best position to score, and controlling the tempo of the game. A point guard should know when and how to instigate a fast break, point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the clock and the game clock, the score. Among the taller players who have enjoyed success at the position is Magic Johnson, other point guards who have been named NBA MVP include Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Derrick Rose and two-time winners Stephen Curry and Steve Nash. In the NBA, point guards are usually about 65 or shorter, having above-average size is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. Shorter players tend to be better dribblers since they are closer to the floor, after an opponent scores, it is typically the point guard who brings the ball down court to begin an offensive play. Passing skills, ball handling, and court vision are crucial, speed is important, a speedy point guard is better able to create separation and space off the dribble, giving him/herself room to work. Point guards are often valued more for their assist totals than for their scoring, another major evaluation factor is Assist-to-Turnover ratio, which reflects the decision-making skills of the player. Still, a point guard should also have a reasonably effective jump shot. The point guard is positioned on the perimeter of the play and this is a necessity because of the point guards many leadership obligations. Many times, the point guard is referred to by announcers as a coach on the floor or a floor general, in the past, this was particularly true, as several point guards such as Lenny Wilkens served their teams as player-coaches. This is not so common anymore, as most coaches are now solely specialized in coaching and are non-players, former Suns head coach Mike DAntoni had often allowed Steve Nash to freelance when leading the Suns offense, even letting him call his own plays at times. Even point guards who are not given this much freedom, however, are extensions of their coach on the floor. John Stockton is widely considered to be the point guard. He also used the pick and roll maneuvre with Karl Malone, along with leadership and a general basketball acumen, ball-handling is a skill of great importance to a point guard
5.
Shooting guard
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The shooting guard, also known as the two or off guard, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guards main objective is to score points for his team, some teams ask their shooting guards to bring up the ball as well, these players are known colloquially as combo guards. A player who can switch between playing shooting guard and small forward is known as a swingman, notable swing men include Jimmy Butler, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Joe Johnson, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Wiggins, Evan Turner and Tyreke Evans. In the NBA, shooting guards usually range from 64 to 67, the Basketball Handbook by Lee Rose describes a shooting guard as someone whose primary role is to score points. As the name suggests, most shooting guards are good long-range shooters, typically, shooting guards are taller than point guards. Height at the position varies, many bigger shooting guards also play small forward, Shooting guards should be good ball handlers and be able to pass reasonably well, though passing is not their main priority. Since good shooting guards may attract double-teams, they are frequently the teams back-up ball handlers to the point guard, Shooting guards must be able to score in various ways, especially late in a close game when defenses are tighter. They need to have a free throw percentage too, to be reliable in close games. Because of the level of offensive skills shooting guards need, they are often a teams primary scoring option. Good shooting guards can usually play point guard to a certain extent, Lee H. Rose ISBN 0-7360-4906-1 Media related to Shooting guards at Wikimedia Commons
6.
CREFF Madrid
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Club Deportivo CREF is a womens basketball team based in Madrid that currently plays in the Spanish Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. Colegios Reunidos de Educación Física Femenina de Madrid was founded in 1960 by the Sección Femenina of the Movimiento Nacional, during the Francoism. Its womens basketball team dominated the early stages of the Spanish League, back then the team was considered the Real Madrid of womens basketball, and it shared arena with Real Madrids male basketball team. Raimundo Saporta tried to convince Santiago Bernabéu to turn CREFF into the basketball section of Real Madrid. After the Movimiento Nacional was disbanded in 1977 the team couldnt find a sponsor, in 1990 it was refounded as Deportivo CREF, also known as CREF ¡Hola. by sponsorship reasons. The club had also a basketball section that played in Liga EBA. On 26 April 2015, the club achieved the promotion to the top tier after beating Fundal Alcobendas by 77–68 in the game of the promotion playoffs. LFB1964,1965,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971 Copa de la Reina 1962,1963,1972,1974 Official website Profile at FEB. es
7.
Houston Comets
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The Houston Comets were a Womens National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams, the Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and won more championships than any other team in the WNBA. The team was folded and disbanded by the league in 2008 because new ownership could not be found, the Comets were known for courting great womens basketball stars. The team had among its members Cynthia Cooper, college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes, Kim Perrot, who succumbed to cancer in 1999, the Comets were one of the founding teams in the WNBA. They capped off the inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBAs first championship. When the league expanded the season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. In 1998, they put together a win record of 27-3 for a.900 winning percentage – a WNBA record that still stands. They went on to repeat as champions, defeating the Phoenix Mercury in the first-ever WNBA Finals that year due to the game being extended into a three-game championship series. In 2000, the Comets went all the way to the Finals again,2000 was the Comets last championship and last WNBA Finals appearance in franchise history. After Cooper retired in 2001, Houston clinched the playoffs with a 19-13 record, but lost in the first round in a sweep to the 2001 eventual champion Los Angeles Sparks. In 2002, when Swoopes was injured most of the year with a torn ACL, the Comets were able to qualify for the playoffs with a 24-8 record, but lost to the Utah Starzz in 3 games. In 2003, they qualified to the playoffs for the 7th straight year and they missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with a record of 13-21 in 2004, but returned to the playoffs with a 19-15 record, finishing 3rd. Houston would return to the playoffs with an 18-16 record,2006 was the last playoff appearance for the Houston Comets. After the Comets season ended in 2006, the Comets underwent major changes during the off-season. In October 2006, team owner Leslie Alexander announced he was selling the Comets, on January 31,2007, the WNBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the team to Hilton Koch, a Houston-based mattress and furniture businessman. Two weeks later, Comets assistant coach Karleen Thompson was named to become the teams new Head Coach, for the 2007 season, they would miss the playoffs for the second time in franchise history after starting the season 0-10, resulting in a 13-21 record. On December 12,2007, team owner Hilton Koch announced that the Comets would be moving from the Toyota Center to Reliant Arena for the 2008 WNBA season and this resulted in a loss of fans. The Compaq Center drew 13,000 fans, but the Reliant Arena could only house 7,200, in 2008, the Comets final year, they only drew an average 6,000 fans per game and sold out four games
8.
Phoenix Mercury
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The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Womens National Basketball Association. The team was founded before the leagues inaugural 1997 season began, the team is owned by Robert Sarver, who also owns the Mercurys NBA counterpart, the Phoenix Suns. The Mercury has qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in eleven of its twenty years in Phoenix. In 1998,2007,2009, and 2014, the Mercury went to the WNBA Finals, they lost to Houston in 1998, but won the title in 2007,2009, and 2014 over Detroit, Indiana, and Chicago respectively. In the very first WNBA season, the Mercury posted a 16–12 record, the Mercury lost to the New York Liberty, though, in those playoffs. In 1998, the Mercury again qualified for the playoffs, posting a 19–11 record, the Mercury defeated the Cleveland Rockers to reach the WNBA Finals for the first time. In a hard fought series, the Mercury fell 2 games to 1 to the defending champion Houston Comets, in 1999, the Mercury missed the playoffs, posting a 15–17 record. In 2000, the Mercury finished 20–12, but got swept by the Los Angeles Sparks. The team descended into turmoil after the season, as coach Miller left and the core group of players broke up, via retirement or trades. From 2001–2004, the Mercury were at the bottom of the WNBA, fielding miserable teams, the Mercury were never competitive. The Mercury went through coach after coach, and nothing worked, during the lean years, the franchise remained in the news as forward Lisa Harrison would become a sex symbol. Playboy Magazine offered her money to pose in their magazine, after a horrible 2003 season, in which the Mercury posted an 8–26 record, the Mercury won the #1 overall choice in the 2004 WNBA Draft, and select coveted former UConn star Diana Taurasi. Taurasi went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 2004 season, the Mercury posted a 16–18 record in 2005, missing the playoffs again. Former NBA coach Paul Westhead became the Mercurys head coach prior to the 2006 season, Westhead was the first WNBA coach to have won a previous NBA championship. The Mercury also drafted Cappie Pondexter with the #2 overall selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft, the addition provided Taurasi with a solid #2 player. Westheads run and gun offense quickly became The Mercurys trademark and the franchise would soon set new records for points scored. The 2006 season was a one for the Mercury, as they posted a winning record for the first time since 2000. The Mercury competed for the all year, but fell just short of a postseason berth
9.
UNC Wilmington Seahawks women's basketball
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The UNC Wilmington Seahawks womens basketball team represents UNC Wilmington or UNCW. The team plays in the Colonial Athletic Association and they reached the CAA Finals in 2000 and 2002, falling both times to Old Dominion. They have made the postseason twice, reaching the WNIT in 2011 and 2012 and they have an all-time Division I record of 379-545. As of the end of the 2015-16 season, the Seahawks have a record of 488-653
10.
Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball
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The Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team is the womens basketball team that represents Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, United States. The schools team competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Texas Southern has appeared in the NCAA Division I Womens Basketball Tournament once, the Lady Tigers have a record of 0-1. The Tigers have appeared in the Womens National Invitation Tournament three times
11.
WNBA Finals
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The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Womens National Basketball Association and the conclusion of the leagues postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002, starting 2016 Verizon is the official sponsor. The series is played between the winners of the playoff semifinals, at the conclusion of the championship round, the winner of the WNBA Finals is presented the championship trophy. The WNBA Finals has been played at the conclusion of every WNBA season in history, since 2005, the winner of the WNBA Finals has been determined through a 2–2–1 format. The first, second, and fifth games of the series are played at the arena of the team who earned home court advantage by having the record during the regular season. The WNBA Finals were originally a single game to decide the WNBA champion. However, in 1998, after the addition of two teams, the WNBA Finals were turned into a best-of-three games series, in 2005, the WNBA Finals adopted a best-of-five format. This finale series was known as the WNBA Championship from 1997 to 2001, in 2001, the #4 seed Charlotte Sting was the lowest seed ever to make the WNBA Finals. The 2003 Finals was best known for rekindling a heated rivalry between the two head coaches, Los Angeles Sparks head coach Michael Cooper and former Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer. Both coaches were fierce NBA competitors who played in the NBA Finals against each other in 1988 and 1989,2006 marked the first time that a #1 seed did not participate in the WNBA Finals. Detroit and Sacramento were both #2 seeds, the New York Liberty have the most Finals appearances without winning a championship. The Minnesota Lynx are the 6th team to win multiple championships,2006 marked the first time that the team with the best point-differential in the regular-season did not win the WNBA Finals or even advance to the WNBA finals. The Connecticut Sun had the best point differential in 06 but was ousted by the Shock in the Eastern Conference Finals, the 2007 game-five win by the Phoenix Mercury marked the first time in WNBA history that a team won the Finals while playing on their opponents home court. In 2008 the San Antonio Silver Stars became the first team in the history of the WNBA Finals to be swept in a five-game series losing to the Detroit Shock, the 2009 Finals series saw around a 60% increase in viewership from the previous seasons series. The 2011 WNBA Finals was the first coached by two women, in 2014, the Chicago Sky became the first team to appear in the WNBA Finals with a sub-.500 record. In 2016, the Los Angeles Sparks won by one point despite an announcement by the WNBA that officials missed an earlier shot-clock violation at 1,14. Statistics below refer to series wins and losses, not individual game wins, teams in red have folded and can no longer reach the WNBA Finals
12.
WNBA Most Valuable Player Award
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The Womens National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual Womens National Basketball Association award given since the leagues inaugural season. MVP voting takes place following the regular season. The award recipient is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States. Panel members were asked to select their top five choices for the award, with 10 points being awarded for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, in 2008, fans could also have a say in who won the award. Fans were able to vote online for their top five MVP picks and these selections accounted for 25% of the total vote, while the media panels selections accounted for the other 75%. Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson have won the three times. Candace Parker is the player to win Rookie of the Year. Jackson, both born and trained in Australia, is the award winner either born or trained outside the United States. The sculptor of the WNBA MVP Award is Marc Mellon, who is also the sculptor of the NBA MVP Trophy, WNBA MVP Award - Marc Mellon Sculpture Studio
13.
WNBA All-Star Game
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Since 2004, the game is not held in years when the Summer Olympics take place. Each conference is represented by a team of 12 players who are currently having the best seasons performance-wise around the league, the starters are determined by fans voting through internet ballots. The rest of the players are selected by league personnel including head coaches as well as media personalities, at the end of the game, an all-star game Most Valuable Player is named, as decided by a panel of media members. In 2004, the game was not played in its format due to the WNBA players competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. That year, the USA national team defeated a team of WNBA All-Stars 74-58 at Radio City Music Hall and this game is not considered to be an All-Star Game. No game was played in 2008 due to the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, the 2010 game also matched Team USA against a WNBA All-Star team, with Team USA winning 99–72 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Much like the 2004 game, this matchup is not considered to be an All-Star Game. No game was played in 2012 due to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, no game was played in 2016 due to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Western Conference leads the overall series 9-4, seven current WNBA cities have yet to host the All-Star Game, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Dallas. List of WNBA All-Stars Womens National Basketball Association NBA All-Star Game
14.
Colonial Athletic Association
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Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of five northeastern schools after the turn of the 21st century, the CAA was founded in 1979 as the ECAC South basketball league. It was renamed the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 when it added championships in other sports, as of 2006, it organizes championships in 21 mens and womens sports. The addition of Northeastern University in 2005 gave the conference the NCAA minimum of six football programs needed to sponsor football, for the 2007 football season, all of the Atlantic 10 Conferences football programs joined the CAA football conference, as agreed upon in May 2005. The CAA has expanded in recent years, following the exits of longtime members such as the United States Naval Academy, the University of Richmond, East Carolina University, and American University. In 2001, the conference added four additional universities, Towson University, Drexel University, Hofstra University. Four years later the league expanded again when Georgia State University and Northeastern University joined, Virginia Commonwealth University left for the Atlantic 10 Conference in July 2012. More changes came in 2013, Old Dominion University left for Conference USA, Georgia State joined the Sun Belt Conference, in 2006, George Mason became the first CAA team to reach the Final Four. In 2011, the VCU Rams became the second CAA team to reach the Final Four, as well as the first team to win five games en route, on March 25,2013, George Mason University left the CAA to join the Atlantic-10 Conference. Shortly after, the CAA ceased sponsorship of wrestling due to the lack of teams, the 2015–16 basketball season saw the conference RPI reach its highest rating when it finished the season ranked 9th in the nation. Notes ‡ – Towson joined the league as a member in 1979, left in 1981 to join the ECAC-Metro Conference. Notes Full members Full members Assoc. members Assoc. member The CAA sponsors championship competitions in ten mens, twelve schools are associate members in three sports. Neither cheerleading nor dance team competitions are sponsored by the NCAA, RS = regular-season champion, T = tournament champion Note, The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1979 to 1985. In December 2012 the CAA announced that the 2014 through 2016 tournaments would be held at the then known as 1st Mariner Arena, now known as Royal Farms Arena. It marked the first time the tournament was held outside the state of Virginia, for this reason, there are no true football associate members as every member of CAA Football is a full-member of the football-only conference. In the 2004–05 academic year, the CAA had five schools that sponsored football, all of them as football-only members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. In 2005, as noted, Northeastern accepted the CAAs offer of membership. At that time, the CAA announced it would launch its new conference in 2007
15.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
16.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
17.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
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1988 Summer Olympics
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The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia, in the Seoul Games,159 nations were represented by a total of 8,391 athletes,6,197 men and 2,194 women. 263 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics,11,331 media showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games for two of the worlds dominating sport powers, the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympic Games. North Korea, still officially at war with South Korea, and its allies, Albania, Ethiopia, Cuba, Madagascar, Nicaragua boycotted the games because of the U. S. military support to the Contra rebels. However, the much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations during the Cold War era, before the opening of the games, thousands of homeless were captured by the police and sent to work camps. Several died under torture. ′ Seoul was chosen to host the Summer Games through a vote held on 30 September 1981, below was the vote count that occurred at the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden, West Germany. After the Olympics were awarded, Seoul also received the opportunity to stage the 10th Asian Games in 1986, Soviet Vladimir Artemov won four gold medals in gymnastics. Daniela Silivaş of Romania won three and equalled compatriot Nadia Comănecis record of seven Perfect 10s in one Olympic Games, to these medals, she added a gold in the 4×100 relay and a silver in the 4×400. Just after the Games, she announced her retirement, Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100 m final with a new world record, but was disqualified after he tested positive for stanozolol. Johnson has since claimed that his positive test was the result of sabotage, the US finishes in fourth place after the completion of the optional rounds with a combined score of 390.575, three tenths of a point behind the German Democratic Republic. The USSR won their team gold medals in artistic gymnastics on both the mens and womens sides with scores of 593.350 and 395.475 respectively. The mens team was led by Vladimir Artemov, while Elena Shushunova lead the womens team, lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor in the Finn class, was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. He arrived in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with the Pierre de Coubertin medal honoring his bravery and sacrifice. U. S. diver Greg Louganis won back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only hitting the springboard with his head in the 3 m event final. This became a minor controversy years later when Louganis revealed he knew he was HIV-positive at the time, since HIV cannot survive in open water, no other divers were ever in danger. Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany became the first athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and she added a cycling silver to the speed skating gold she won earlier in the Winter Olympics of that year in Calgary. Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany won six gold medals, other multi-medalists in the pool were Matt Biondi and Janet Evans
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1992 Summer Olympics
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The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event played in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992. The games were the first to be unaffected by boycotts since 1972, Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain, and the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The city was also a host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, on October 17,1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Games over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane, and Paris, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, but they ultimately lost to Berlin, at the Opening Ceremony Greek mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa sang Romiossini as the Olympic flag was paraded around the stadium. Alfredo Kraus later sang the Olympic Hymn in both Catalan and Spanish as the flag was hoisted, the Olympic flame cauldron was lit by a flaming arrow, shot by Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo. The arrow had been lit by the flame of the Olympic Torch, Rebollo overshot the cauldron as this was the original design of the lighting scheme. South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 1960 Summer Olympics, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. After a close race in the Womens 10,000 metres event, white South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu ran a victory lap together, hand-in-hand. Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Summer Olympics. As the Soviet Union had been dissolved in 1991, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936, the other Soviet republics competed under the name Unified Team. These nations consisted of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the separation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, athletes from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were not allowed to participate with their own team, however, some individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants. Fermín Cacho won the 1,500 metres in his home country, chinese diver Fu Mingxia, age 13, became the youngest Olympic gold medalist of all time. In mens artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, won six gold medals, Scherbo tied Eric Heidens record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics, winning five medals in an individual event. In womens artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States Shannon Miller, russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events. Sadovyi also won in the relays, evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-metre relay, making her one of only four female athletes to have achieved this in history. The young Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary won three individual swimming gold medals, in womens 200 metre breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and six days, making her the youngest-ever gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics. After demonstrated in six previous Summer Olympic Games, baseball became an Olympic sport
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Pan American Games
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The Pan-American or Pan American Games is a major sporting event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, the only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. The Pan American Sports Organization is the body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure. The XVII Pan American Games were held in Toronto from July 10–26,2015, since 2007, host cities are contracted to manage both the Pan American and the Parapan American Games, in which athletes with physical disabilities compete with one another. The Parapan American Games are held following the Pan American Games. The Pan American Games Movement consists of sports federations, National Olympic Committees that are recognized by PASO. As the decision-making body, PASO is responsible for choosing the host city for each Pan American Games, the host city is responsible for organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with the Olympic Charter and rules. The Pan American Games program, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games, is determined by PASO, the celebration of the Games encompasses many rituals and symbols, such as the flag and torch, and the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 5,000 athletes compete at the Pan American Games in 36 sports, the first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. At the first Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1940, the plans had to be postponed because of World War II. A second Pan American Sports Congress held in London during the 1948 Summer Olympics reconfirmed Buenos Aires as the choice of host city for the inaugural games, countries that were part of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Canada did not compete at the first Pan American Games. The second games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, competitions started on March 12 and included 2,583 athletes from 22 countries, competing in 17 sports. The Pan American Games were held every four years in the cities of Chicago, United States in 1959, São Paulo, Brazil in 1963 and Winnipeg. While the inaugural 1951 Games hosted 2,513 participants representing 14 nations, during the games most athletes and officials are housed in the Pan American Games village. This village is intended to be a home for all the participants. It is furnished with cafeterias, health clinics, and locations for religious expression, PASO allows nations to compete that do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that other international organizations demand. As a result, colonies and dependencies are permitted to set up their own National Olympic Committees, examples of this include territories such as Puerto Rico and Bermuda which compete as separate nations despite being legally under the jurisdiction of another power. There have been attempts to hold Winter Pan American Games throughout the history of the games, reliable winter snow in the Americas is limited to two countries, the United States and Canada
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1987 Pan American Games
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Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas competed in 30 sports earning 1,015 medals. Events were held at 23 venues in and around Indianapolis, the official mascot for the games was Amigo, a green parrot. Santiago, Chile, was named the host of the 10th Pan American Games. Quito, Ecuador, was named to replace Santiago, but it also withdrew, desperate, PASO held a new election. Indianapolis was planning to bid on the 1991 Games, but, at the request of the United States Olympic Committee, since many sports facilities were already in place, PASO announced on December 18,1984, that Indianapolis would be the host. Havana, Cuba, was interested, but PASO appeased Fidel Castro by agreeing to give Havana the 1991 games provided that Cuba participated at Indianapolis. The city of Indianapolis created a committee called Pan American Ten/Indianapolis. It had eighteen operating divisions,300 paid staff, and 37,000 volunteers, the 1987 Pan Am Games were held at 23 sites total. The athletes village, which provided lodging and dining for the athletes, was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison. About 80,000 spectators watched a performance produced by The Walt Disney Company with 6,500 performers in the largest outdoor live entertainment show held in the United States up to that point and it was also the largest Opening Ceremony of the Pan Am games yet. Dignitaries included IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut III, Indiana Governor Robert D. Orr, US Vice President George Bush officially opened the games. The final leg of the relay had the flame passed from Oscar Robertson to Kristie Phillips to Wilma Rudolph who lit the cauldron. The closing ceremony took place in the Hoosier Dome, the headline act was Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan and her band Miami Sound Machine. The logo of the 1987 Pan Am Games consisted of five stylized Xs, designed by Michael Hayes of the JMH Corporation in Indianapolis, the seven colors represent the wildlife and flags of western hemisphere countries. The mascot was Amigo, a parrot, designed by Jerry Reynolds of Perennial Pictures in Indianapolis. The official music of the X Pan American Games was Pan American Fanfare by Lalo Schifrin, the rights for the 1987 games were won by CBS with a bid of $4,000,000, and Brent Musburger hosted. CBS aired 26 hours of coverage, all on weekend afternoons, additionally, CBS provided the world feed. The ratings were boosted by the participation of Cuban athletes on U. S. soil, coinciding with the Pan American Games was the Indianapolis Museum of Art exhibition Art of the Fantastic, Latin America, 1920–1987
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FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup
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The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup is a world basketball tournament for womens national teams held quadrennially. Its inaugural game was in 1953 with the four-year cycle established in 1967, the next FIBA Womens World Cup will be held in September/October 2018. Formerly known as the FIBA World Championship for Women, the name changed shortly after its 2014 edition, from 1986 through 2014, the tournament was held in the same year as the mens FIBA Basketball World Cup, though in different countries. After the 2014 editions of both championships, the event was rescheduled on a new four-year cycle to avoid conflict with the mens FIFA World Cup. The Womens World Cup remains on the current four-year cycle, with editions held in the years as the mens FIFA World Cup. The next FIFA Womens World Cup is in June and July 2019, the Women’s World Cup was created by the International Basketball Federation. It began in 1953, held in Chile, three years after the first mens World Championship, for most of its early history, it was not held in the same year as the mens championship, and was not granted a consistent quadrennial cycle until 1967. After the 1983 event, FIBA changed the scheduling so that the tournament would be held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. The number of participating womens FIBA teams has remained at 16, unlike the mens event, only four nations have won titles in the history of the Womens World Cup. The United States has won the title nine times, including six of the last eight, the Soviet Union won six titles, including five in a row from 1959 to 1975. The only other countries to win have been Brazil in 1994, the 2014 World Championship for Women was the last tournament played in the same year as the mens, and also the last to be known as the World Championship for Women. The Womens World Cup will remain on the current four-year cycle, the mens FIBA World Cup will move to the year after the Womens World Cup. Accordingly, only the FIBA Womens World Cup will be held in 2018, note, From 1953 through 1979 the medalists were decided in a league format instead of in a knockout tournament, results of the final round matches are shown. FIBA Basketball World Cup FIBA World Championship for Women 2010 Official Site United States history
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1986 FIBA World Championship for Women
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The 1986 FIBA World Championship for Women was hosted by the Soviet Union from August 8–17,1986. The USA won the tournament, defeating the Soviet Union 108-88 in the final, olympic Stadium Minsk Sports Palace Todor Krastev. Women Basketball World Championship 1986 Moskva - 08-17.08 Winner United States, archived from the original on 2009-05-08. 1986 FIBA World Championship for Women
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Basketball at the Summer Olympics
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Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Womens basketball has played in the Summer Olympics since its first appearance in 1976. United States womens teams have won 8 titles out of the 10 tournaments in which they competed, besides the United States, Argentina is the only nation still in existence who has won either the mens or womens tournament. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Unified Team are the countries no longer in existence who have won the tournament, Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Within a few decades, the new game became popular throughout the United States as an indoor sport, the popularity spread overseas and the International Basketball Federation was organized in 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland. Thanks in part to the effort of Phog Allen—a Kansas Jayhawks collegiate coach—the first Olympic basketball tournament was organized in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin on outdoor tennis courts, dr. Naismith presented the medals to the top three teams. According to the Olympic rules of time, all of the competitors were amateurs. The tournament was held indoors for the first time in 1948, the American team proved its dominance, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments until 1968, without losing a single game. The United States winning streak ended in 1972 under highly controversial circumstances, after the game, the American team refused to accept the silver medal, and the medal has been kept in IOC possession ever since. The Americans reclaimed the gold medal in 1976, with Yugoslavia, in 1980, with the Americans absence due to the boycott, Yugoslavia became the third team to win the title, after beating the Soviets anew in the semifinals and Italy in the final. The United States regained the title in 1984, by beating Spain in the final, the Soviets won the gold medal for the second time in 1988, after beating the Americans for the second time in the semifinal, and the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game. In April 1989, through the leadership of Secretary General Borislav Stanković, FIBA approved the rule that allowed NBA players to compete in international tournaments, by this time, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed, but their successor states continued to be among the leading forces. Two newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, Croatia and Lithuania, won the silver, the United States repeated its victory in 1996 and 2000, but its performance was not as successful as in 1992. Since active NBA players have been allowed to compete in the Summer Olympics, Yugoslavia was the runner-up in Atlanta, and France in Sydney, with Lithuania winning bronze again on both occasions. The Americans regrouped in 2008, beating the current FIBA world champions, Spain, in a gold medal game. The Americans and the Spaniards met again in the 2012 gold medal game, with the Americans again winning, the first womens tournament was in 1976. The Soviet Union won against five other teams, in 1988, the tournament expanded into eight teams, with the Americans beating Yugoslavia in the gold medal game
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Women's National Basketball Association
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The Womens National Basketball Association is a professional womens basketball league in the United States. It is currently composed of twelve teams, the league was founded on April 24,1996 as the womens counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from June to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July, many WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and play in the same arena. The four aforementioned franchises, along with the Atlanta Dream and the Los Angeles Sparks, are all independently owned. The creation of the WNBA was officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24,1996, and announced at a conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie. The new WNBA had to compete with the recently-formed American Basketball League, while not the first major womens professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA. The WNBA logo, Logo Woman, paralleled the NBA logo and was selected out of 50 different designs. On the heels of a gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Womens National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles, the game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network. Penny Toler scored the leagues first point, the WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed We Got Next, around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. In the leagues first season, Leslies Los Angeles Sparks underperformed, the WNBAs true star in 1997 was WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper, Swoopes teammate on the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated Lobos New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game, the initial We Got Next advertisement ran before each WNBA season until it was replaced with the We Got Game campaign. Two teams were added in 1998 and two more in 1999, bringing the number of teams in the league up to twelve and we expect to keep growing the league. In 1999, the chief competition, the American Basketball League. When a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership, on May 23,2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden. Before this invitation, only mens sports teams had traveled to the White House, at the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since the leagues inception. Led by the Big Three of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and four-time Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, under head coach Van Chancellor, the team posted a 98–24 record through their first four seasons. After 2000, Cooper retired from the league and the Comets dynasty came to an end, the top contender in the 2001 season was the Los Angeles Sparks
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University of Southern California
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The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As Californias oldest private university, USC has historically educated a large number of the regions business leaders. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research and cultural institutions throughout Asia, an engine for economic activity, USC contributes $8 billion annually to the economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California. For the 2014–15 academic year, there were 18,740 students enrolled in undergraduate programs. USC also has 23,729 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, and medicine. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the world, consistently ranking among the top 3 in external contributions, multiple academic rankings list the University of Southern California as being among the top 25 universities in the United States. With an acceptance rate of 16 percent, USC is also among the most selective academic institutions in the nation. USC maintains a tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, with alumni having founded companies such as Lucasfilm, Myspace, Salesforce. com, Intuit, Qualcomm, Box, Tinder. As of 2014, the university has produced the fourth largest number of billionaire alumni out of all institutions in the world. USC is home to the world’s most powerful computer, which is presently housed in a super-cooled. The only other commercially available quantum computing system is operated jointly by NASA, USC was also one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System. Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of the teams, the Trojans, have won 102 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the nation. Trojan athletes have won 288 medals at the Olympic games, more than any university in the United States. If USC were a country, its athletes would have received the 12th-most Olympic gold medals in history. In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities, the University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Hellman. The three donated 308 lots of land to establish the campus and provided the seed money for the construction of the first buildings. Originally operated in affiliation with the Methodist Church, the school mandated from the start that no student would be denied admission because of race, the university is no longer affiliated with any church, having severed formal ties in 1952
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Pac-12 Conference
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The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that operates in the Western United States. It participates in 22 NCAA sports in the NCAAs Division I, its teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The conferences 12 members are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and they include each states flagship public university, four additional public universities, and two private research universities. It became the Pac-12 in 2011 with the addition of the University of Colorado, with Arizona States softball title in 2011, the conference won its 400th NCAA Championship. The current commissioner of the conference is Larry Scott, Scott replaced Thomas C, hansen, who retired in July 2009 after 26 years in that position. Prior to joining the Pac-10, Scott was Chairman and CEO of the Womens Tennis Association, the Pac-12 has twelve full member institutions. Football currently is the sport where the conference is divided evenly into two geographic divisions, the North Division and the South Division. The Pac-12 spans six states in the Western United States, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Unusual for a conference, the Pac-12s members are spread evenly between 3 regions, with 4 schools each in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Four Corners region. The Pac-12 has four affiliate member institutions, three in California and Boise State University in Idaho, the school will maintain its Pac-12 affiliation in wrestling, which the WAC does not sponsor. No school has left the Pac-12 since its founding as the AAWU in 1959, two members of the PCC were not invited to join the AAWU or its successors. As private schools, Stanford and USC are not obligated to publish employees salaries, Eight of the twelve member schools are members of the Association of American Universities, including all of the conferences California schools. The only FBS conference with more AAU members is the Big Ten with 13 out of 14 member institutions having AAU membership, in 2014, of the twelve member schools, nine were ranked in the top 100 universities in the world. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights/licensing, student fees, school funds and all sources including TV income, camp income, food. Updated to show institutional reporting to the Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2013-14 academic year, the national ranking of revenue is based on 2075 institutions reporting to the Department of Education that year. The roots of the Pac-12 Conference go back to December 2,1915, charter members were the University of California, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College. The conference began play in 1916, one year later, Washington State College joined the league, followed by Stanford University in 1918. In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of USC, Montana joined the Conference in 1924, and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA
28.
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
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The NCAA Division I Womens Basketball Tournament is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Womens Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season, the NCAA tournament was preceded by the AIAW Womens Basketball Tournament, which was held annually from 1972 to 1982. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same 12 sports, however, after a year of womens championships. The womens championship game is the overall game of the college basketball season since 2017. The final was played the Sunday afternoon following the Mens Final Four, since 2017. The tournament bracket is made up of champions from each Division I conference, the remaining slots are at-large bids, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. The selection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors, including rankings, win-loss records. Unlike the mens tournament, there are only 32 at-large bids, the womens tournament, like the mens, is staged in a single elimination format, and is part of the media and public frenzy known colloquially as March Madness or The Big Dance. All 63 games have been broadcast on television since 2003 on ESPN, a total of 64 teams qualify for the tournament played in March and April. Of these teams,32 earn automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. Since 2017 the Ivy League conducts their own post-season tournament, the remaining teams are granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. Dr. Marilyn McNeil, vice president/director of athletics at Monmouth University is the current chairwoman, the tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, the first NCAA womens basketball tournament was held in 1982. The AIAW also held a tournament in 1982, but most of the top teams, including defending AIAW champion Louisiana Tech. The championship consisted of 32 teams from 1982–1985,40 teams from 1986–1988, since 1994,64 teams compete in each tournament. Prior to 1996, seeding was conducted on a regional basis, the top teams were ranked and seeded on a national basis. The remaining teams were seeded based on their geographic region. In 1993, all teams except for the top four were explicitly unseeded, the regional seeding resumed in 1994
