1.
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
2.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
3.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
4.
American football
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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
5.
Multi-purpose stadium
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Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event and it is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports – football and baseball – require radically different facilities. Football uses a field, while baseball is played on a diamond. This requires a design to accommodate both, usually an oval. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, some stadiums were renovated to allow multipurpose configurations during the 1980s. This type of stadium is associated with an era of suburbanization, in many sports teams followed their fans out of large cities into areas with cheaper. They were usually built near highways and had large parking lots, as multipurpose stadiums were rarely ideal for both sports usually housed in them, they had fallen out of favor by the 1990s. With the completion of the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City in 1973, since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992, most major league sports stadiums have been built specifically for one sport. In other countries, such as England, teams rarely share facilities, in Australia, many sports grounds are suited to both Australian rules football and cricket, as Australian rules was originally conceived for play on cricket fields. As of 2016, the Oakland Coliseum is the last multipurpose stadium to serve as a home to both an MLB team and an NFL team. Several stadiums hosted multiple sports teams prior to the advent of multipurpose stadiums, the original configuration of Yankee Stadium was specifically designed to accommodate football, as well as track and field, in addition to its primary use for baseball. Wrigley Field, while originally built for baseball, also hosted the Chicago Bears, just as Comiskey Park hosted the Chicago Cardinals, later venues such as Cleveland Stadium and Baltimore Memorial Stadium were built to accommodate both baseball and football. In the 1960s, multipurpose stadiums began replacing their baseball-only and football-only predecessors, subsets of the multipurpose stadiums were the so-called cookie-cutter stadiums or concrete donuts which were all very similar in design. They featured a circular or nearly circular design, and accommodated both baseball and football by rotating sections of the box seat areas to fit the respective playing fields. The first of these stadiums was Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, as of 2016, seven of these 11 stadiums have been demolished. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was unusual in that it was one of the few air-supported dome stadiums that was multipurpose in practice, being convertible between football and baseball. Home of the Minnesota Vikings through the 2013 season, it was home to the Minnesota Twins until 2009. The Carrier Dome was another such air-supported, multipurpose stadium, although it was built to accommodate sports such as football
6.
National Hockey League
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Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the playoff champion at the end of each season. At its inception, the NHL had four teams—all in Canada, the league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of American and Canadian teams. After a labour-management dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, in 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, attendance, and television audiences. The league draws many highly skilled players from all over the world, canadians have historically constituted the majority of the players in the league, with an increasing percentage of American and European players in recent seasons. The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association, founded in 1909, the NHA began play one year later with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey. Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA, frank Calder was chosen as its first president, serving until his death in 1943. The Bulldogs were unable to play, and the remaining owners created a new team in Toronto, the first games were played on December 19,1917. The Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918, causing the Wanderers to cease operations, the NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, which was an interleague competition back then. Toronto won the first NHL title, and then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the 1918 Stanley Cup. The Canadiens won the title in 1919, however their Stanley Cup Final against the PCHAs Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic. Montreal in 1924 won their first Stanley Cup as a member of the NHL, the Hamilton Tigers, won the regular season title in 1924–25 but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus. The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after defeated the Toronto St. Patricks in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League for the 1925 Stanley Cup and it was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy, as the Stanley Cup became the de facto NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operation. The National Hockey League embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons, the Bruins were the first American team in the league. The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, the New York Rangers were added in 1926. The Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars were also added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL, a group purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927 and immediately renamed them the Maple Leafs. The first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit Ace Bailey, the second was held in 1937 in support of Howie Morenzs family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game
7.
F.C. United of Manchester
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F. C. United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England. The club competes in the National League North, the tier of the English football league system. They achieved three promotions in the first three years of their existence and were promoted for a fourth time to compete in the National League North for the 2015–16 season. In cup competitions, F. C. United reached the round of the FA Cup during the 2010–11 season. After sharing multiple stadia across Greater Manchester between 2005 and 2015, F. C. United opened their own ground, Broadhurst Park in north-east Manchester, the team has been managed by former professional footballer Karl Marginson since its formation. The clubs regular kit colours are red shirts, white shorts and their badge is based on the Manchester coat of arms and features a ship at sea and three stripes for the three rivers that flow through Manchester. F. C. United are the largest fan-owned football club in the United Kingdom by number of members and have one of the highest home attendances in English non-league football. The club is run by its members who have equal voting rights. The club was founded in 2005 by disaffected supporters of Manchester United, although fans had various reasons for dissatisfaction, the catalyst for F. C. Uniteds formation was the 12 May 2005 takeover of Manchester United by American businessman Malcolm Glazer. Supporters first considered forming a club in 1998 during an attempted takeover of Manchester United by BSkyB. The creation of F. C. United in the event of a Glazer buyout was first proposed in February 2005 by Manchester United fanzine Red Issue. Public meetings for fans were held on 19 May 2005 at the Central Methodist Hall in Manchesters Northern Quarter, subsequently, a steering group was created to set up the new club. After the name F. C. United was rejected by The Football Association for being too generic, on 14 June 2005, it was announced that F. C. United of Manchester had been chosen, beating A. F. C. Manchester 1878, Manchester Central and Newton Heath United, and F. C. United were officially registered with the Manchester County Football Association on the same day. Karl Marginson was appointed as the manager on 22 June. Around 900 players applied to part in the trials, of whom 200 were chosen to take part and 17 selected to play for F. C. United. Jonathan Mitten, great-nephew of Manchester United forward Charlie Mitten, was the clubs first signing. F. C. Uniteds inaugural members meeting was held on 5 July 2005 at the Methodist Central Hall, members voted on the constitution, badge, core principles
8.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
9.
New York Giants
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The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The team plays its games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants hold their training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The Giants were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925 and their championship tally is surpassed only by the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Throughout their history, the Giants have featured 28 Hall of Fame players, including NFL Most Valuable Player award winners Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Y. A. Tittle, and Lawrence Taylor. The teams heated rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles is the oldest of the NFC East rivalries, dating all the way back to 1933, the Giants played their first game as an away game against All New Britain in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 4,1925. They defeated New Britain 26–0 in front of a crowd of 10,000, the Giants were successful in their first season, finishing with an 8–4 record. In its third season, the finished with the best record in the league at 11–1–1 and was awarded the NFL title. In 1930, there were many who questioned the quality of the professional game. In December 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All Stars at the Polo Grounds to raise money for the unemployed of New York City and it was also an opportunity to establish the skill and prestige of the pro game. Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen along with the stars of his 1924 Championship squad and told them to score early, Rockne, like much of the public, thought little of pro football and expected an easy win. But from the beginning it was a one-way contest, with Friedman running for two Giant touchdowns and Hap Moran passing for another, when it was all over, Coach Rockne told his team, That was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt, the game raised $100,000 for the homeless, and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game for those who were critical. It also was the last game the legendary Rockne ever coached, in a 14-year span from 1933 to 1947, the Giants qualified to play in the NFL championship game 8 times, winning twice. During this period the Giants were led by Hall of Fame coach Steve Owen, the period also featured the 1944 Giants, which are ranked as the #1 defensive team in NFL history. a truly awesome unit. They gave up only 7.5 points per game and shut out five of their 10 opponents, though they lost 14-7 to the Green Bay Packers in the 1944 NFL Championship Game. The famous Sneakers Game was played in this era where the Giants defeated the Chicago Bears on an icy field in the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants played the Detroit Lions to a scoreless tie on November 7,1943
10.
New York Jets
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The New York Jets are a professional American football team located in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference East division. The team is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, in a unique arrangement for the league, the Jets share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey with the New York Giants. The franchise is legally and corporately registered as New York Jets, the team was founded in 1959 as the Titans of New York, an original member of the American Football League, later, the franchise joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team began to play in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, under new ownership, the current name was adopted in 1963 and the franchise moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 and then to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in 1984. Since 1968, the Jets have appeared in the playoffs 13 times, however, the Jets have never returned to the Super Bowl, making them one of three NFL teams to win their lone Super Bowl appearance, along with the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams training facility, Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, which opened in 2008, is located in Florham Park, the first organizational meeting of the American Football League took place on August 14,1959. Wismer was granted the franchise later dubbed the Titans of New York as Wismer explained. He secured the Titans home field at the decrepit Polo Grounds, by 1962, the debt continued to mount for Wismer, forcing the AFL to assume the costs of the team until seasons end. A five-man syndicate, headed by Sonny Werblin, saved the team from certain bankruptcy, Werblin renamed the team the New York Jets since the team would play in Shea Stadium near LaGuardia Airport. The new name was intended to reflect the approach of his team. The Jets owners hired Weeb Ewbank as the manager and head coach. The early 1990s saw New York struggling, after firing coach Bruce Coslet, owner Leon Hess hired Pete Carroll who struggled to a 6–10 record and was promptly fired at the end of the season. Thereafter, Rich Kotite was selected to lead the team to victory, Kotite stepped down at the end of his second season forcing the Jets to search for a new head coach. Hess lured then-disgruntled New England Patriots head coach Bill Parcells to New York in 1997, Parcells led the team back to relevance and coached them to the AFC Championship Game in 1998. Hess died in 1999 while the team, plagued by injuries, produced an eight win record, the franchise obtained a new owner in Woody Johnson in 2000. Additionally, through the 2000s the Jets visited the five times. Rex Ryan was hired in January 2009, Ryan led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship appearances during his first two years but the team never made the playoffs again during his tenure
11.
MetLife Stadium
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MetLife Stadium is an American sports stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and serves as the stadium for two National Football League franchises, the New York Jets and the New York Giants. The stadium opened as New Meadowlands Stadium in 2010, in 2011, MetLife, an insurance company based in New York City, acquired the naming rights to the stadium. At a construction cost of approximately $1.6 billion, it is the most expensive ever built and is the second-largest stadium in the NFL in terms of seating capacity. MetLife Stadium is the only NFL stadium shared by two clubs, as Giants Stadium approached 30 years of age, it was becoming one of the older stadiums in the NFL. The Jets, who had been the tenants at the stadium, sought to have their own stadium built in Manhattan proper. Originally intended to be the 85, 000-seat main stadium for New Yorks bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, the West Side Stadium would have required significant public funding, which collapsed in 2005. The Jets then entered into a partnership with the Giants to build a new stadium in which the two teams would be equal partners. This idea originated at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, unlike Giants Stadium, MetLife Stadium can easily be converted from a Giants game to a Jets game or vice versa, within a matter of hours. The total linear length of louvers is exactly 50,000 meters or 163,681 feet, front row 50 yard line seats are 46 feet away from the sideline, which is the shortest distance of all NFL stadiums. To change the field decorations, two 4-person crews take appx,18 hours using forklifts and other machinery to remove the 40 sections of FieldTurf which make up the teams respective endzones. Unlike most NFL stadiums, the NFLs logo is painted at midfield, instead of the logo of one of the teams, also shortening the transition time. The replaceable team logos at midfield were removed in August 2010, unlike a number of other new NFL venues, MetLife Stadium does not have a roof, as proposals to include a roof failed, over a dispute for funding. Thus, indoor events such as the Final Four cannot be held at the facility,20 giant high-definition-ready light emitting diode pylons, located at the north and east entrances, display videos of the team currently in-house. The pylons measure approximately 54 feet high by 20 feet wide, inside, are four 30 feet by 116 feet high definition video displays, and hang from each corner of the upper deck. The new stadium has seating for 82,500 people, including 10,005 club seats and approximately 218 luxury suites, MetLife Stadium includes a total of four locker rooms, one each for the Giants and Jets, as well as 2 for visiting teams. The home teams have locker rooms on opposite ends of the stadium with a locker room adjacent to it. The two teams formed the New Meadowlands Stadium Company, LLC, a 50/50 joint venture, to build and operate the stadium
12.
Los Angeles Lakers
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The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, as of 2015, the Lakers are the second most valuable franchise in the NBA according to Forbes, having an estimated value of $2.7 billion. The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the new team began playing in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers in honor of the states nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes. The team was propelled by center George Mikan, who is described by the NBAs official website as the leagues first superstar, after struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikans retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season. Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired another center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won multiple MVP awards and this team featured Hall of Famers in Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnsons retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille ONeal, led by ONeal, Bryant, and another Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second three-peat. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won two championships by defeating the Orlando Magic in 2009 and Boston in 2010. The Lakers hold the record for NBAs longest winning streak,33 straight games,21 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Four Lakers—Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, ONeal, and Bryant—have won the NBA MVP Award for a total of eight awards, Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team. Inspired by Minnesotas nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes, Hartman helped them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team. The Lakers had a roster which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, and center George Mikan. In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record, in 1948, the Lakers moved from the NBL to the Basketball Association of America, and Mikans 28.3 point per game scoring average set a BAA record. In the 1949 BAA Finals they won the championship, beating the Washington Capitols four games to two, the following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions. In the 1950–51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28.4 ppg, one of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round, during the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division. They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which won in seven games
