1.
Louisville, Kentucky
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Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 30th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being the states second-largest city of Lexington, Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County. Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Its main airport is also the site of United Parcel Services worldwide air hub, since 2003, Louisvilles borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County because of a city-county merger. The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, the citys total consolidated population as of the 2014 census estimate was 760,026. However, the total of 612,780 excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources. As of 2014, the MSA had a population of 1,269,702, the history of Louisville spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the areas geography and location. The rapids at the Falls of the Ohio created a barrier to river travel, the first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of Louisville. Several landmarks in the community are named after him, two years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, early residents lived in forts to protect themselves from Indian raids, but moved out by the late 1780s. In 1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America in the town of Clarksville, Indiana at the present-day Falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The citys early growth was influenced by the fact river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had swelled to 7,000, the city grew rapidly in its formative years. Louisville was a shipping port and slaves worked in a variety of associated trades. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north, during the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting, and transportation for numerous campaigns, by the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby
2.
Washington Redskins
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The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Redskins compete in the National Football League as a member of the National Football Conference East division. The Redskins have played more than 1,000 games since 1932, the Redskins have won five NFL Championships. The franchise has captured 14 NFL divisional titles and six NFL conference championships, the Redskins were the first team in the NFL with an official marching band, and also the first team to have a fight song, Hail to the Redskins. The team began play as the Boston Braves in 1932, based in Boston, before relocating to Washington, the Redskins won the 1937 and 1942 Championship games, as well as Super Bowls XVII, XXII, and XXVI. They also played in, and lost, the 1936,1940,1943 and they have made 24 postseason appearances, and have an overall postseason record of 23–18. All of the Redskins league titles were attained during two 10-year spans, from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins went to the NFL Championship six times, winning two of them. The second period lasted between 1982 and 1991 where the Redskins appeared in the seven times, captured four Conference titles. The Redskins have also experienced failure in their history, the most notable period of general failure was from 1946 to 1970, during which the Redskins posted only four winning seasons and did not have a single postseason appearance. During this period, the Redskins went without a winning season during the years 1956–1968. In 1961, the franchise posted their worst regular season record with a 1–12–1 showing, since 1992, the Redskins have only won the NFC East three times, made five postseason appearances, and had nine seasons with a winning record.85 billion. They also set the NFL record for attendance in 2007. The team name and logo have been the subject of controversy, with lawsuits being filed by Native American groups who consider the team name, polls conducted in the 2010s have shown a lack of major support among fans for a name change. The team originated as the Boston Braves, based in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1932, at the time the team played in Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves baseball team. The following year the club moved to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, to round out the change, Marshall hired William Lone Star Dietz, who was part Sioux, as the teams head coach. However, Boston wasnt much of a town at the time. The Redskins relocated to Washington, D. C. in 1937, in their early years in Washington, the Redskins shared Griffith Stadium with the Washington Senators baseball team. The Redskins played and won their first game in Washington, D. C. on September 16,1937, on December 5,1937, they earned their first division title in Washington against the Giants, 49–14, for the Eastern Championship
3.
Super Bowl
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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The game is the culmination to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15,1967, the single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7,2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4,2018, the game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League. It was agreed that the two champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a conference, currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 26 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six, the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some as an unofficial American national holiday, is called Super Bowl Sunday and it is the second-largest day for U. S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114. The NFL restricts the use of its Super Bowl trademark, it is called the Big Game or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcasts commercials has become a significant aspect of the event, for four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached an agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected. A bowl game is a college football game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Games popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami, New Orleans, and El Paso, Texas in 1935, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term bowl for any major American football game was well established
4.
Super Bowl XVII
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The Redskins defeated the Dolphins by the score of 27–17 to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30,1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and this Super Bowl came at the end of a season that was significantly shortened by a players strike. Teams ended up only playing nine regular games, and the league conducted a special 16-team. The Redskins had an NFC-best 8–1 regular season record, while the Dolphins finished at 7–2, both teams advanced through the first three postseason rounds to Super Bowl XVII. This was also the second Super Bowl to rematch teams, the first being Super Bowl XIII, nevertheless, Miami built a 17–10 halftime lead with Jimmy Cefalos 76-yard touchdown catch and Fulton Walkers 98-yard kickoff return. Wide receiver Charlie Brown then added a touchdown with his 6-yard scoring reception. Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP, finishing the game with 2 Super Bowl records, the most rushing yards in a Super Bowl game, and he was the first player from an NFC team to rush for 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Riggins also recorded a reception for 15 yards, giving him more total yards than the entire Miami team, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XVII to Pasadena on March 13,1979 at the owners meetings in Honolulu. A 57-day-long players strike reduced the 1982 regular season from a 16-game schedule to 9, because of the shortened season, the NFL adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament. Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their season records. The modified schedule forced the league to extend the season into January for the first time. After the 57-day strike, the NFL extended the season one weekend, moving back the start of the playoffs. The strike-shortened season impacted 4 teams that made the playoffs during the 1981 regular season, the San Francisco 49ers, winners of Super Bowl XVI, suffered a 3–6 record. The Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles did not qualify for the playoffs either, the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions qualified for the playoffs despite 4–5 records, the only sub-. The Dolphins finished the regular season with a 7–2 record. The clubs main strength was their defense, nicknamed the Killer Bees because 6 of their 11 starters had last names began with the letter B. The Killer Bees, anchored by Pro Bowl defensive tackle Bob Baumhower, led the league in fewest total yards allowed, linebacker A. J. Duhe was extremely effective at blitzing and in pass coverage. And the Dolphins secondary, consisting of defensive backs Don McNeal, Gerald Small and brothers Lyle and Glenn Blackwood, combined for 11 interceptions
5.
Pro Bowl
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The Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League. Between 2014 and 2016, the NFL experimented with an unconferenced format, the players were picked in a televised schoolyard pick prior to the game. Unlike most major leagues, which hold their all-star games roughly midway through their respective regular seasons. Between 1970 and 2009, it was held the weekend after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, the Pro Bowl has been played the weekend before the Super Bowl, Players from the two teams competing in the Super Bowl do not participate. Observers and commentators expressed their disfavor with the Pro Bowl in its current state and it draws lower TV ratings than its regular-season games, although the game draws similar ratings to other major all-star games, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the star players, the Associated Press wrote that players in the 2012 game were hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight. Between 1980 and 2016, the game was played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, on June 1,2016, the NFL announced that they reached a multi-year deal to move the game to Orlando, Florida as part of the leagues ongoing efforts to make the game more relevant. For years, the game has suffered from lack of interest due to perceived low quality, the 2017 Pro Bowl will also mark a return to the AFC–NFC format. The first Pro All-Star Game, featuring the all-stars of the 1938 season, was played on January 15,1939 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The NFL All-Star Game was played again in Los Angeles in 1940 and then in New York, although originally planned as an annual contest, the all-star game was discontinued after 1942 because of travel restrictions put in place during World War II. During the first five games, an all-star team would face that years league champion. The league champion won the first four games before the all-stars were victorious in the game of this early series. The concept of a game was not revived until June 1950. The game was sponsored by the Los Angeles Publishers Association and it was decided that the game would feature all-star teams from each of the leagues two conferences rather than the league champion versus all-star format which had been used previously. This was done to avoid confusion with the Chicago College All-Star Game, the teams would be led by the coach of each of the conference champions. The first 21 games of the series were played in Los Angeles, the site of the game was changed annually for each of the next seven years before the game was moved to Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii for 30 straight seasons from 1980 through 2009. With the new rule being that the teams do not include players from the teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl
6.
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
7.
Lineman (gridiron football)
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In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line. A number of NFL rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. An offensive linemans motion during a play is limited to just a few quick steps to establish position. Offensive linemen thus tend to be the largest players on the field, with excellent agility and balance, most pro and college football offensive lineman tend to weigh over 300 pounds. On passing plays, the line is responsible for stopping defensive players from tackling the quarterback before he has thrown the ball. The interior offensive line consists of the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, in addition to the interior line, a full offensive line may also include a Tight End outside one or both of the tackles. However, ends are eligible to catch passes, when an offensive lineman knocks a player down on a block, leaving the defensive player lying flat on his back, it is colloquially known as a pancake block. When an offensive line has an number of men on either side of the center. The defensive line consists of one or two defensive tackles and two ends who play outside the defensive tackles. The defensive line works with the linebackers to try to control the line of scrimmage, the 4-3 defensive formation, most commonly used in the NFL, employs two defensive tackles, while the 3-4 formation uses just a single defensive tackle, called the nose tackle. However, defensive ends in a typical 3-4 have responsibilities more similar to a 4-3 defensive tackle than 4-3 defensive ends, on running plays, the goal is to tackle the ball carrier. The defensive tackles are usually the most skilled run defenders on the team, on passing plays, the defensive line tries to reach the quarterback. Defensive ends are usually the most skilled pass rushers on the team, in order to increase the pressure on the quarterback, teams will often have players other than the defensive line attempt to tackle the quarterback, this is called a blitz. Defensive linemen—particularly defensive ends—are called upon to do more running than offensive linemen, thus they usually tend to be somewhat lighter and faster
8.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football. As of 2017, there are a total of 310 members of the Hall of Fame, groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11,1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and 19,000 square feet of interior space, in April 1970, ground was broken for the first of many expansions. This first expansion cost $620,000, and was completed in May 1971, the size was increased to 34,000 square feet by adding another room. The pro shop opened with this expansion and this was also an important milestone for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as yearly attendance passed the 200,000 mark for the first time. In November 1977, work began on another project, costing US$1,200,000. It was completed in November 1978, enlarging the shop and research library. The total size of the hall was now 50,500 square feet, the building remained largely unchanged until July 1993. The Hall then announced yet another expansion, costing US$9,200,000 and this expansion was completed in October 1995. The buildings size was increased to 82,307 square feet, the most notable addition was the GameDay Stadium, which shows an NFL Films production on a 20-foot by 42-foot Cinemascope screen. Through 2017, all inductees except one, played part of their professional career in the NFL. For CFL stars, there is a parallel Canadian Football Hall of Fame, only one player, the Chicago Bears have the most Hall of Famers among the leagues franchises with 32 enshrinees. Enshrinees are selected by a 46-person committee, largely made up of media members, each city that has a current NFL team sends one representative from the local media to the committee. A city with more than one franchise sends a representative for each franchise, there are also 13 at-large delegates, and one representative from the Pro Football Writers Association. Except for the PFWA representative, who is appointed to a term, all other appointments are open-ended and terminated only by death, incapacitation, retirement. To be eligible for the process, a player or coach must have been retired for at least five years. Any other contributor such as an owner or executive can be voted in at any time. Fans may nominate any player, coach or contributor by simply writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame via letter or email
9.
University of Louisville
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The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky, a member of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States, the university is mandated by the Kentucky General Assembly to be a Preeminent Metropolitan Research University. UofL enrolls students from 118 of 120 Kentucky counties, all 50 U. S. states, the University of Louisville School of Medicine is touted for the first fully self-contained artificial heart transplant surgery as well as the first successful hand transplantation. The University Hospital is also credited with the first civilian ambulance, the nations first accident services, now known as an emergency room, between 1999 and 2006 UofL was one of the fastest growing medical research institutions according to National Institutes of Health rankings. As of 2006, the melanoma clinic ranked third in among public universities in NIH funding, the research program fourth. UofL is also known for its Louisville Cardinals athletics programs, several of which are among the most successful in the country, the Louisville Cardinals Womens Volleyball program has three-peated as champions of the Big East Tournament, and were Atlantic Coast Conference Champions in 2015. Womens track and field program has won Outdoor Big East titles in 2008,2009 and 2010, the University of Louisville traces its roots to a charter granted in 1798 by the Kentucky General Assembly to establish a school of higher learning in the newly founded town of Louisville. It opened 15 years later and offered college and high school courses in a variety of subjects. It was headed by Edward Mann Butler from 1813 to 1816, despite the Jefferson Seminarys early success, pressure from newly established public schools and media critiques of it as elitist would force its closure in 1829. Eight years later, in 1837, the Louisville City council established the Louisville Medical Institute at the urging of renowned physician, as he had earlier at Lexingtons Transylvania University, Caldwell rapidly led LMI into becoming one of the leading medical schools west of the Allegheny Mountains. In 1840, the Louisville Collegiate institute, a medical school, was established after an LMI faculty dispute. It opened in 1844 on land near the present day Health sciences campus, the university experienced rapid growth in the 20th century, adding new schools in the liberal arts, graduate studies, dentistry, engineering, music and social work. In 1923, the school purchased what is today the Belknap Campus, the school had attempted to purchase a campus donated by the Belknap family in The Highlands area in 1917, but a citywide tax increase to pay for it was voted down. The Belknap Campus was named after the family for their efforts, in 1931, U of L established the Louisville Municipal College for Negroes on the former campus of Simmons University, as a compromise plan to desegregation. As a part of U of L, the school had an equal standing with the other colleges. It was dissolved in 1951 when U of L desegregated, during World War II, Louisville was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. In the second half of the 20th century, schools were opened for business, education, talk of U of L joining the public university system of Kentucky began in the 1960s. As a municipally funded school, the movement of people to the suburbs of Louisville created budget shortfalls for the school, at the same time, the schools well established medicine and law schools were seen as assets for the state system
10.
Joe Gibbs
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Joe Jackson Gibbs is a former American football coach, current NASCAR Championship team owner, and former NHRA team owner. He was the 20th and 26th head coach in the history of the Washington Redskins, during his first stint in the National Football League, he coached the Redskins for 12 seasons and led them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowl titles. After retiring at the end of the 1992 season, he switched focus to his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, which has won four Sprint Cup championships under his ownership. On January 7,2004, Gibbs came out of retirement to rejoin the Redskins as head coach and team president, signing a five-year and he remains with the organization as Special Advisor to the team owner Daniel Snyder. Born in Mocksville, North Carolina, Gibbs is the son of Jackson Ceufud, Joe graduated from Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe Springs, California, in 1959 where he was the star quarterback. Gibbs attended Cerritos Junior College and then San Diego State University, Gibbs graduated from SDSU in 1964 and earned a masters degree in 1966. Gibbs began his career with a stint as offensive line coach at San Diego State under Coryell and he held the same position under Bill Peterson at Florida State before serving under John McKay at Southern California and Frank Broyles at Arkansas. Gibbs then rose up to the National Football League, hired as the backfield coach for the St. Louis Cardinals by head coach Don Coryell. After a season as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under McKay, as the offensive coordinator for San Diego, Gibbs spearheaded the highly successful Air Coryell offense. Using a sophisticated passing attack, the Chargers and quarterback Dan Fouts set multiple records during Gibbs two seasons there. Remarkably, the Chargers averaged more than 400 yards of offense per game during their 1980 season, after 17 years of coaching as an assistant, in 1981 Gibbs was offered a job as the head coach of the Washington Redskins by Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke. After firing then-head coach Jack Pardee, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was on the lookout for candidates, Gibbs first season with the Redskins started inauspiciously when the team lost their first five games. Cooke famously expressed confidence in Gibbs, declaring that the team would finish 8-8, the losses and Cookes confidence served as a catalyst, and the newly motivated team improved and reached an even 8-8 record in 1981. Gibbs second season with the Redskins realized the dreams of the entire Redskins fanbase, an NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl victory. The following season, Gibbs surprising success continued with a 14–2 regular season record, the Redskins then once again won an NFC Championship, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 24–21 on a last-second field goal, advancing to Super Bowl XVIII. The Redskins were installed as a 2-point favorite by Nevada books going into the game, some call this Redskins team one of the better teams to not win the Super Bowl. The 1984 Redskins won the NFC East with an 11–5 record and hosted a playoff game against the Chicago Bears. Gibbs coached the 1985 Redskins to a 10–6 regular season record, during the season Joe Theismann broke his leg during a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants, but the Redskins still won the game with Jay Schroeder at quarterback
