1.
Saitama, Saitama
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Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono. It is a city designated by government ordinance, being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 15 to 30 kilometres north of central Tokyo, many of its residents commute into Tokyo. As of 1 February 2016, the city had an population of 1,226,656. Its total area was 217.43 square kilometres, the city was founded on May 1,2001, and was designated on April 1,2003 as a government ordinance. For the histories of Urawa, Ōmiya and Yono before the merger, see, Urawa-ku, Saitama Ōmiya-ku, Saitama and Yono, Saitama, on April 1,2005, Saitama absorbed the city of Iwatsuki to its east, which became a new ward, Iwatsuki-ku. The name Saitama originally comes from the Sakitama district of what is now the city of Gyōda in the part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. Sakitama has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology Manyōshū, the pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years. With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, the prefectural name Saitama was changed from kanji into hiragana, thus Saitama City was born. It is the prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in hiragana. However, Saitama written in hiragana actually finished in place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji. Despite this, government officials decided to name the new city Saitama in hiragana, in third place in the poll was Ōmiya. In fourth was Saitama, written with a kanji for sai which means colorful. The sai used in the name is a rare form of a common character that means cape or promontory. The city is located 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo, the western portion of the city lies on the lowland created by the Arakawa River along with those created by small rivers such as the Moto-Arakawa River, Shiba River, and Ayase River. The rest of the area mostly resides on the Ōmiya Plateau lying in the north-south direction, dispersed in this region, major rivers flow southward, almost paralleling to one another. The city is one of commercial centers of the Greater Tokyo area and serves Saitama Prefecture, North Kanto. Saitama is also home to manufacturers, exporting automotive, food, optical, precision
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
East Japan Railway Company
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East Japan Railway Company is a major passenger railway company in Japan and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English. The companys headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways. Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tohoku region and its railway lines primarily serve Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Koshinetsu region and Shizuoka prefectures. JR East operates all of the Shinkansen, high-speed rail lines and these lines have sections inside the Tokyo Suburban Area designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area, JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990-2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has stated that JR Easts official union is a front for an organized crime syndicate called the Japan Revolutionary Communist League. An investigation of this is ongoing, the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a richer railway culture. The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation, EJRC has bid for the London Midland franchise in the United Kingdom. Winners will be announced on June 2017 and will start operating on October 2017, East Japan Railway Company Web Site JR East official apology for Inaho No.14 accident on 25 December 2005 Company history books. Wiki collection of works on East Japan Railway Company
4.
Saitama-Shintoshin Station
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Saitama-Shintoshin Station is a railway station in Saitama, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company. Saitama-Shintoshin Station is served by the Keihin-Tohoku Line, Takasaki Line and it is 28.7 kilometers from Tokyo Station. This station has and elevated station building with two island platforms serving four tracks. The station has a Midori no Madoguchi ticket office, the station opened on 1 April 2000. Saitama New Urban Center Saitama Super Arena Cocoon City shopping centre There is a express bus service to. List of railway stations in Japan Saitama-Shintoshin Station Information Saitama-Shintoshin Station Information
5.
Takasaki Line
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The Takasaki Line is a Japanese railway line which connects Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company, the Ueno - Omiya - Takasaki - Shinmaebashi line was the first privately built railway in Japan. All services on the line run to/from Ueno Station in Tokyo via the Tōhoku Main Line, the line was extended to Tokyo Station via the Ueno-Tokyo Line that opened in March 2015. As the Takasaki Line serves many cities within Saitama Prefecture. National Route 17 and its predecessor, the Nakasendō, run parallel to the line. Services on the Takasaki Line are typically divided into those starting and terminating at Ueno and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services from Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and points south. Between Ueno and Ōmiya, trains share the track with the Tōhoku Main Line, service on the line is provided by 15-car E231 series and E233-3000 series four-door suburban commuter EMUs with two Green cars, north of Kagohara, this is reduced to 10-cars. However, the Shinkansen reduced the need for most of limited express services. These include, Akagi / Swallow Akagi Kusatsu Minakami Commuter rapid services operate on weekday evenings only, Rapid Urban services run between Ueno and Takasaki, skipping some intermediate stations. There are two Takasaki-bound services every morning and seven Takasaki/Maebashi-bound and five Ueno-bound services on weekend evenings, local trains run approximately four times hourly, one or two of those terminates at Kagohara, while the rest terminate at Takasaki, Shin-Maebashi, or Maebashi. Within the Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line special rapid and rapid trains are operated once per hour. Unlike regular Ueno bound or originating trains, they bypass Saitama-Shintoshin station as it has no platform for the used by the Shonan-Shinjuku line. Previously bypassed Urawa station now has a newly constructed platform that entered service in March 2013, all trains are 10- or 15-car E231 or E233 series EMUs. Special rapid trains operate hourly to Takasaki, making limited stops. North of Kagohara, all services are operated with 10-car trainsets, akebono Hokuriku, Noto Four trains bound for Kōnosu depart Ueno every weekday evening. Passengers can board only at Ueno, all stations are for disembarking only. Service is provided by 7-car 185 series and 9-car 489 series EMU trainsets, local trains, excluding Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through trains, stop at all stations. All Rapid Uraban, Commuter Rapid, and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains stop at stations marked ●, some stop at those marked ▲, for limited express, express, and seasonal rapid Moonlight Echigo services, please see their respective articles
6.
Utsunomiya Line
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The Utsunomiya Line is the name given to a 159.9 kilometre section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company network, service on the line has been extended to Tokyo Station via the Ueno-Tokyo Line. Services on the Utsunomiya Line are typically divided into those starting and terminating at Ueno and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services from Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and points south. Between Ueno and Ōmiya, trains share the track with the Takasaki Line, the Utsunomiya Line has four trains per hour to/from Ueno, with another two trains per hour through from the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, one of which is a rapid service. The fastest service on the line, the rapid Rabbit, makes the run between Ueno and Utsunomiya in one hour and 26 minutes, service on the line is generally divided at Utsunomiya, though the number of through trains has been increasing steadily over the years. They are operated only on weekday evenings, departing Ueno between 18,00 and 22,00 and Utsunomiya between 16,00 and 21,00, with approximately one round-trip per hour, all trains are E231/E233 series 10- or 15-car EMUs. Rapid Rabbit services run between Ueno and Utsunomiya, skipping some intermediate stations, Rabbit trains were first operated by the Japanese National Railways as an hourly/half-hourly rapid service. Since October 2004, however, Rabbit services run only twice during the morning, on weekends, local trains run four times hourly, one of those terminates at Koganei, while the rest terminate at Utsunomiya. During the morning peak, Ueno-bound trains run at intervals of 4–6 minutes, services are provided by E231/E233 series 10- or 15-car EMUs. Within the Utsunomiya Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line rapid and local trains are operated once per hour. They do not stop at Saitama-Shintoshin Station since it has no platforms available, all trains are 10- or 15-car E231/E233 series EMUs. Rapid trains operate hourly, making limited stops. They travel between Shinjuku and Utsunomiya in one hour,35 minutes, local trains operate once hourly, stopping at all stations. They travel between Shinjuku and Ōmiya in 32 minutes, between Utsunomiya and Kuroiso, local and rapid trains stop at every station. Trains operate approximately three times per hour, traveling between Utsunomiya and Kuroiso in approximately 50 minutes, most trains are 205-600 series EMUs. Ohayō Tochigi / Hometown Tochigi Hokutosei, Cassiopeia Two trains bound for Koga depart Ueno every weekday evening, passengers can board only at Ueno, all other stations are for disembarking only. Stops include, Ueno, Urawa, Ōmiya, Higashi-Ōmiya, Hasuda, Kuki, service is provided by 7-car 185 series and 9-car 489 series EMUs. Tōhoku Main Line Stations of the Tōhoku Main Line
7.
Kita-Yono Station
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Kita-Yono Station is a railway station on the Saikyō Line in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company. Kita-Yono Station is served by the Saikyō Line which runs between Ōsaki in Tokyo and Ōmiya in Saitama Prefecture, some trains continue northward to Kawagoe via the Kawagoe Line and southward to Shin-Kiba via the TWR Rinkai Line. Kita-Yono Station is located 21.7 km from Ikebukuro Station, the station identification colour is blue. The station consists of one elevated platform serving two tracks, with the station building located underneath. The tracks of the Tōhoku Shinkansen also run adjacent to station, on the west side. The station opened on 30 September 1985, in fiscal 2014, the station was used by an average of 8,701 passengers daily. The passenger figures for years are as shown below. Saitama Super Arena Saitama New Urban Center Saitama Red Cross Hospital Aeon Mall Yono Saitama Izumi High School List of railway stations in Japan Kita-Yono Station information
8.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
9.
Japanese yen
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The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the exchange market after the United States dollar. It is also used as a reserve currency after the U. S. dollar, the euro. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japans feudal fiefs all issued their own money, hansatsu, in an array of incompatible denominations. The New Currency Act of 1871 did away with these and established the yen, the former han became prefectures and their mints private chartered banks, which initially retained the right to print money. To bring an end to this situation the Bank of Japan was founded in 1882, following World War II the yen lost much of its prewar value. To stabilize the Japanese economy the exchange rate of the yen was fixed at ¥360 per $1 as part of the Bretton Woods system, when that system was abandoned in 1971, the yen became undervalued and was allowed to float. The yen had appreciated to a peak of ¥271 per $1 in 1973, then underwent periods of depreciation and appreciation due to the 1973 oil crisis, arriving at a value of ¥227 per $1 by 1980. Since 1973, the Japanese government has maintained a policy of intervention. The Japanese government focuses on an export market, and tries to ensure a low yen value through a trade surplus. Since that time, however, the yen has greatly decreased in value, the Bank of Japan maintains a policy of zero to near-zero interest rates and the Japanese government has an extreme anti-inflation policy. Yen derives from the Japanese word 圓, which is cognate with the Chinese yuan, originally, the Chinese had traded silver in mass called sycees and when Spanish and Mexican silver coins arrived, the Chinese called them silver rounds for their circular shapes. The coins and the name appeared in Japan. While the Chinese eventually replaced 圓 with 元, the Japanese continued to use the same word, the spelling and pronunciation yen is standard in English. This is because mainly English speakers who visited Japan at the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji period spelled words this way, ゑん /wen/ in historical kana orthography. In the 16th century, Japanese /e/ and /we/ both had been pronounced and Portuguese missionaries had spelled them ye, some time thereafter, by the middle of the 18th century, /e/ and /we/ came to be pronounced as in modern Japanese, although some regions retain the pronunciation. In the early Meiji era, James Curtis Hepburn, following Medhurst, spelled all es as ye in his A Japanese and that was the first full-scale Japanese-English/English-Japanese dictionary, which had a strong influence on Westerners in Japan and probably prompted the spelling yen. Hepburn revised most of yes to e in the 3rd edition in order to mirror the contemporary pronunciation and this was probably already fixed and has remained so ever since
10.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
11.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
12.
Ellerbe Becket
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Ellerbe Becket was an independent Minneapolis, Minnesota-based architectural, engineering, interior design and construction firm until 2009, when it was acquired by AECOM. As of May 2011 the company is doing business under the AECOM name. AECOM is ranked as one of the worlds largest architectural firms, with offices in Dallas, TX, Kansas City, MO, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Doha, Qatar. The firm currently employs 475 people in seven locations and three countries, and has designed buildings in all of the 50 states and in 20 countries, the company originally called Ellerbe & Co. was founded by Franklin Ellerbe in 1909 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Its first clients included the Mayo Clinic and 3M, thomas Ellerbe took over the company in 1921 upon his fathers death. When he retired in 1966 it became an employee-owned company, in 1987 it merged with Welton Becket and Associates of Los Angeles and became Ellerbe Becket. In 1988 it opened a sports division in Kansas City. On October 26,2009 Ellerbe Becket joined the architecture, planning, Ellerbe Becket’s professional expertise and practice strengths in the design of healthcare, sports, government, corporate and higher education facilities complement the global AECOM platform
13.
Arena
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An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome and it is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators. The term arena is used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadenas Rose Bowl. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event, the home of the Duke University mens and womens basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces, such examples of these would be terms such as the arena of war or the arena of love or the political arena. In many fighting games, the stage that opponents are fought in is called an arena. Ice hockey arena Amphitheatre List of indoor arenas by capacity List of stadiums by capacity
14.
Saitama Prefecture
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Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama and this prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitamas cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large number of residents commute each day. According to Sendai Kuji Hongi, Chichibu was one of 137 provinces during the reign of Emperor Sujin, Chichibu Province was in Saitamas western part. Saitama Prefecture was formerly part of the old Musashi Province, in the fifth year of the Keiun era, deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture. The Saitama area was known as a fertile agricultural region which produced much of the food for the Kantō region. During the Edo period, many fudai daimyōs ruled small domains within the Saitama area, most of the cities in the prefecture are closely connected to downtown Tokyo by metropolitan rail, and operate largely as residential and commercial suburbs of Tokyo. Saitama Prefecture is bordered by Tokyo, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Nagano and it is located central-west of the Kanto region, measuring 103 km from east to west and 52 km from north to south. At 3,798 km2, it ranks as the ninth-smallest prefecture, the eastern border with Chiba Prefecture is defined by the Edo River. The northern and north-western border lines with Gunma Prefecture are marked by the Tone River and the Kanagawa River, the southwestern border is defined by the drainage divides of the Arakawa River, Tama River, and Fuefuki River. The eastern section of the border line, however, does not overlap with any geological feature. The topography of Saitama Prefecture is largely divided by the Hachiōji Tectonic Line, which runs through Kodama, Ogawa, and Hannō, into the mountain area. The altitude, highest on the side, gradually lowers eastward from mountain ranges to hills to plateaus to lowlands. The eastern lowlands and plateaus occupy 67. 3% of the area, the eastern side, part of the Kantō Plain, can be further divided into nine separate expanses of hills and ten plateaus. The former occupy small areas neighboring the Kantō Mount Range, including the Hiki Hills, the latter are mainly surrounded by alluvial flood plains. In the southeastern portion of the prefecture, the Ōmiya Plateau stands in a direction, sandwiched by the Furutone River to the east. The western side of the prefecture belongs to the Kantō Mountain Range with Chichibu Basin located in its center, the area to the west of the basin features high peaks such as Mount Sanpō and Mount Kōbushi, in which the Arakawa River has its source. Most of the land is contained in Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, the area to east of the basin consists of relatively low mountains. Forty cities are located in Saitama Prefecture, These are the towns and villages in district, Radial transportation to
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.
Volleyball
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Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to points by grounding a ball on the other teams court under organized rules. It has been a part of the program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court, the team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, the ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push the ball with any part of the body. A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking as well as passing, setting, the game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be a sport, less rough than basketball, for older members of the YMCA. The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in high, a 25 ft ×50 ft court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team in each inning, and no limit to the number of contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents court. In case of an error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul —except in the case of the first-try serve, Volleyball rules were slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to various YMCAs. The first official ball used in volleyball is disputed, some say that Spalding created the first official ball in 1896. In 1917, the game was changed from 21 to 15 points, in 1919, about 16,000 volleyballs were distributed by the American Expeditionary Forces to their troops and allies, which sparked the growth of volleyball in new countries. The first country outside the United States to adopt volleyball was Canada in 1900, an international federation, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, was founded in 1947, and the first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. The sport is now popular in Brazil, in Europe, in Russia, and in countries including China. Beach volleyball, a variation of the played on sand. Volleyball is also a sport at the Paralympics managed by the World Organization Volleyball for Disabled, nudists were early adopters of the game with regular organized play in clubs as early as the late 1920s
17.
Tennis
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Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return, the player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society, the sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis and it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s, two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. Tennis is played by millions of players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Historians believe that the ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France. Louis X of France was a player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, in due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. Because of the accounts of his death, Louis X is historys first tennis player known by name. Another of the enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France. It wasnt until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis, from the French term tenez, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, during the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. This in turn led to the codification of rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls. In 1872, along with two doctors, they founded the worlds first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis, according to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield popularized this game enormously
18.
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
19.
Gymnastics
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Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest, alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, most forms of competitive gymnastics events are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. Each country has its own governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic events and it typically involves the womens events of vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Mens events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, other FIG disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics. Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group gymnastics, mens rhythmic gymnastics and TeamGym. The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective Greek, by way of the related verb γυμνάζω, whose meaning is to train naked, train in gymnastic exercise, generally to train, the verb had this meaning, because athletes in ancient times exercised and competed without clothing. It came into use in the 1570s, from Latin gymnasticus, from Greek gymnastikos fond of or skilled in bodily exercise, Gymnastics originated in ancient Spain and was originally intended for military training, where it was used by soldiers to prepare for warfare. Don Francisco Amorós y Ondeano, was born on February 19,1770 in Valencia and he was a Spanish colonel, and the first person to introduce educative gymnastic in France. Jahn promoted the use of bars, rings and high bars in international competition. The Federation of International Gymnastics was founded in Liege in 1881, by the end of the nineteenth century, mens gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events, the first womens Olympic competition was primitive, only involving synchronized calisthenics and track and field. These games were held in 1928, in Amsterdam, by 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, television has helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics. Both mens and womens gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, in 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine, the B Score, is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed. The following disciplines are governed by FIG, Artistic Gymnastics is usually divided into Mens and Womens Gymnastics
20.
Boxing
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Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
21.
Mixed martial arts
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Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport that allows both striking and grappling, both standing and on the ground, using techniques from other combat sports and martial arts. The first documented use of the mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. The term gained popularity when newfullcontact. com, then one of the largest websites covering the sport, the question of who actually coined the term is subject to debate. During the early 20th century, various mixed-style contests took place throughout Japan, in 1980 CV Productions, Inc. created the first regulated MMA league in the United States, named Tough Guy Contest, later renamed Battle of the Superfighters. The company sanctioned ten tournaments in Pennsylvania, however, in 1983 the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill prohibiting the sport. In 1993, the Gracie family brought vale tudo, developed in Brazil from the 1920s, later, individual fighters employed multiple martial arts into their style. MMA promoters were pressured to adopt additional rules to increase safety, to comply with sport regulations. Following these changes, the sport has increased popularity with a pay-per-view business that rivals boxing. In Ancient Greece there was a sport called pankration, which featured a combination of grappling and striking skills similar to found in modern MMA. Pankration was formed by a combination of the already established wrestling and boxing traditions and, in Olympic terms, All strikes and holds were allowed with the exception of biting and gouging, which were banned. Fighters, also known as pankratists, fought until a fighter submitted, according to E. Norman Gardiner, No branch of athletics was more popular than the pankration. From its origins in Ancient Greece, pankration was later passed on to the Romans, the mid nineteenth century saw the prominence of the new sport savate in the combat sports circle. At that time, French fighters wanted to test out the sport against the traditional styles of its time. However, the English team still won the four other match-ups during the contest, since then other similar contest also occurred by the late 19th to mid-20th century between French Savateurs and other combat styles. The next publicized encounter occurred in the late 1890s when future heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons took on European Greco-Roman Wrestling champion Ernest Roeber. In September 1901, Frank Paddy Slavin, who had been a contender for Sullivans boxing title, knocked out future world wrestling champion Frank Gotch in Dawson City, Canada. The judo-practitioner Ren-nierand who gained fame after defeating George Dubois, would again in another similar contest against Ukrainian wrestler Ivan Poddubny. Another early example of mixed martial arts was Bartitsu, which Edward William Barton-Wright founded in London in 1899, merikan contests were fought under a variety of rules, including points decision, best of three throws or knockdowns, and victory via knockout or submission
22.
Puroresu
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Puroresu is the popular term for the predominant style or genre of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of professional wrestling, which is shortened to puroresu, in this sense, puroresu could be transliterated as pro-wres. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabes activities in the online Usenet community, growing out of origins in the traditional US style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. Japanese pro wrestling is distinct in its psychology and presentation of the sport and it is treated as a legitimate fight, with fewer theatrics, the stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighters spirit and perseverance. In strong style, the style most typically associated with puroresu, full contact martial arts strikes, the first Japanese to involve himself in catch wrestling, the basis of traditional professional wrestling, was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. Rikidōzan brought the sport to tremendous popularity with his Japanese Wrestling Association until his murder in 1963, following his death, Puroresu thrived, creating a variety of personalities, promotions and styles. Despite some similarities to the more popular style of professional wrestling in the United States. Puroresu is known for its spirit and the wrestlers are known for their full contact strikes. Most matches have clean finishes and many of the promotions dont use any angles or gimmicks, Japanese wrestling is also known for its relationship with fellow mixed martial arts promotions. Wrestling and martial arts icon Antonio Inoki usually organizes wrestling matches, Puroresu still remains popular and it draws huge crowds from the major promotions. With this and its relationship with martial arts disciplines, the audiences. It should be noted that the term Puroresu in Japan refers to all professional wrestling. For example, American promotions WWE and TNA are referred to as Puroresu in Japan, Puroresu has a variety of different rules, which can differ completely from wrestling in other countries. While there is no governing authority for puroresu, there is a standard which has developed. Each promotion has their own variation, but all are similar enough to avoid confusion, any convention described here is simply a standard, and may or may not correspond exactly with any given promotions codified rules. Matches are held two or more sides. Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more, most team matches are governed by tag team rules. One notable difference from North American and, in recent years, the match is won by scoring a fall, which is generally consistent with standard professional wrestling, Pinning an opponents shoulders to the mat for the referees count of three
23.
John Lennon Museum
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John Lennon Museum was a museum located inside the Saitama Super Arena in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It was established to preserve knowledge of John Lennons life and musical career and it displayed Lennons widow Yoko Onos collection of his memorabilia as well as other displays. The museum opened on October 9,2000, the 60th anniversary of Lennon’s birth, and closed on September 30,2010, after this room there was a gift shop with John Lennon memorabilia available
24.
John Lennon
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John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a songwriting partnership. Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the craze as a teenager, his first band, the Quarrymen, first became the Silver Beatles. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he added Ono as one of his middle names, Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release, Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. By 2012, Lennons solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and in 1994 as a solo artist. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent and his parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John Jack Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, after her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpools Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her. In July 1946 Lennons father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, Julia followed them—with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins—and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her, according to author Mark Lewisohn, Lennons parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home as Alf left again. A witness who was there that day, Billy Hall, has said the scene often portrayed with a young John Lennon having to make a decision between his parents never happened. It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again, Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived at Mendips,251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own. His aunt purchased volumes of stories for him, and his uncle. In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature, Part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society, but I cannot be what I am not. I was the one who all the other boys parents—including Pauls father—would say, the parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friends home, partly out of envy that I didnt have this so-called home
25.
Saitama Broncos
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The Saitama Broncos is a mens professional basketball club based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It calls the whole home and its main home arenas are Tokorozawa Municipal Gymnasium and Saitama Super Arena in Chūō-ku. 1982, founded as an amateur Mazda Auto Tokyo basketball club,1983, The nickname Broncos taken from Santa Clara University. 1987, Promoted to Japan Basketball League division 1,1991, Club renamed to Ẽfini Tokyo 1996, The company club was dissolved. 1997, Restarts as a community-based club ME Tokorozawa Broncos, from a lower-tier Kantō Corporate League. Promoted to the JBL division 2,1999, The league reorganisation put the team to the new JBL. 2000, Adds Saitama City to its hometowns, 2002-03, 2004-05, Wins the premiership in two-peat. Competes in the bj league as an inaugural member, to appear in this section a player must have either, Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player. Played at least one international match for his senior national team or one NBA game at any time. Nyika Williams ja, 埼玉ブロンコス as 2007-06-06T02,55,59 by S-8500 Official
26.
Professional wrestling
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Professional wrestling is a dramatized athletic performance that portrays a combat sport. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used, the content – including match outcomes – is scripted and choreographed, and the combative actions and reactions are performed to appear violent without injuring the wrestlers. Before the 1980s, these facts were considered trade secrets, in the mid-90s, the presentation of scripted events as legitimate is known as kayfabe. Although the combative content is staged and communicated between the wrestlers, there are physical hazards involved - including permanent injury and death. While it has declined in Europe, in North America it has experienced several different periods of prominent cultural popularity during its century. The advent of television gave professional wrestling a new outlet, unlike in Europe, show wrestling has become especially prominent in Japan and in North America. In Brazil, there was a popular wrestling television program from the 1960s to the early 1980s called Telecatch. High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities or cultural icons in their native or adopted home countries, although professional wrestling started out as petty acts in sideshows, traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from live event ticket sales, network television broadcasts, pay-per-view broadcasts, personal appearances by performers, branded merchandise, pro wrestling was also instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and formerly Bash at the Beach, Halloween Havoc, home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week. Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, there have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling, the 2008 film The Wrestler received several Oscar nominations and began a career revival for star Mickey Rourke. Because actual events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines for the performers, special care must be taken when talking about people who perform under their own name. The actions of the character should be considered fictional events, wholly separate from the life of the performer and this is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers will incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and those who participated felt that it was necessary that spectators should be kept in a constant and complete illusion of a real competition to keep audience interest. For decades, up until the mid-1980s, wrestlers lived their lives as though they were their characters. Wrestlers, bookers and promoters all rigorously enforced the illusion and very few were allowed into the society of professional wrestling to maintain suspension of disbelief. The practice of keeping the illusion, and the methods used to do so, came to be known as kayfabe within wrestling circles. An entire lexicon of slang jargon and euphemism developed to allow performers to communicate without outsiders knowledge of what was being said, occasionally a performer will deviate from the intended sequence of events
27.
Yarennoka!
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Yarennoka. was a mixed martial arts event that took place on December 31,2007 at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The event was promoted by the Yarrenoka, executive Committee, composed of former Pride Fighting Championships executives, and held in association with Fighting and Entertainment Group, DEEP, and M-1 Global. The event aired on HDNet and was billed as Fedor Returns in the United States, while it was shown on SKY Perfect, a Japanese pay per view network. It was headlined by a fight between former Pride heavyweight champion and 2004 heavyweight Grand Prix champion Fedor Emelianenko and K-12007 World Grand Prix Finalist Hong-Man Choi, the event was a farewell show to Pride fans after their acquisition by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in early 2007. It is also credited for inspiring the former Pride executives and the Fighting and Entertainment Group to create the new fight series, a match between Shinya Aoki and Gesias Calvancante was postponed after Calvancante tore a ligament in his elbow while training with Brazilian Top Team. Bu-Kyung Jung, a judo silver-medalist from Sydney Olympics who made his MMA debut in this event, was confirmed to be the new opponent of Aoki, former Pride lightweight Joachim Hansen was originally slated to fight at Yarennoka. But was moved to the K-1 PREMIUM2007 Dynamite, show against Kazuyuki Miyata in return for the fighters K-1 sent over for Yarennoka. The knockout in the Misaki-Akiyama match was the result of a head kick delivered as Akiyama was standing up from the mat after being previously knocked down by Misaki. Akiyamas camp later indicated that they believed the kick was a soccer kick. He announced that M-1 Global would be back in Japan during 2008, also, all of the fighters appeared in the ring after the final match to count down to the New Year and give fans their best wishes. Pride FC K-1 PREMIUM2007 Dynamite
28.
Nikken Sekkei
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Nikken Sekkei Ltd. is a Japanese architecture firm headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has its origins in a design company founded in 1900 as part of Japans Sumitomo conglomerate. Now a private corporation owned by its employees, Nikken Sekkei has completed more than 20,000 projects in some 40 countries. It is also responsible for the redesign of Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe
29.
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
30.
Nashville Predators
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The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League, the Predators joined the NHL as an expansion team in the 1998–99 season, and play their home games at Bridgestone Arena. In late 1995, rumors began to circulate that the New Jersey Devils would be relocating to the planned Nashville Arena. Nashville offered a $20 million relocation bonus to any team that would relocate, after the attempt to get the Devils, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman noted that Nashville would probably at least be considered in upcoming expansion. The arena was opened in 1996, and after an attempt to bring the National Basketball Association s Sacramento Kings did not go through, in January 1997, a group led by Wisconsin businessman Craig Leipold made a formal presentation before the NHL requesting an expansion franchise. When Bettman and league officials visited Nashville to tour the arena, in June, the league granted conditional franchises to Nashville, Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta, and Minneapolis – Saint Paul. The Nashville team would be scheduled to play in 1998 if they met the NHL requirement of selling 12,000 season tickets before March 31,1998. Of the four cities, Nashville was the one with a completed arena. A month later, Leipold named former Washington Capitals general manager David Poile as the franchises first general manager, portland Pirates head coach Barry Trotz was named the franchises first head coach on August 6. Mitch Korn was named the first goaltending coach for the franchise, on September 25,1997, Leipold and team president Jack Diller held a press conference where they unveiled the franchises new logo, a saber-toothed cat. The logo was a reference to a partial Smilodon skeleton found beneath downtown Nashville in 1971 during construction of the First American National Bank building, once the logo was unveiled, the franchise held a vote among fans to choose a name. Three candidates were culled from 75, Ice Tigers, Fury, Leipold added his own submission to the vote, Predators. On November 13, Leipold revealed at a conference that his submission had won out. At one point, rumors began to circulate that the team would move before the first puck ever hit the ice, one rumor had Leipold trading franchises with the Edmonton Oilers, with the Oilers moving to Nashville and the Nashville expansion franchise moving to Houston, Texas. Leipold shot this rumor down, saying here is no chance, when awarded a franchise, the city of Nashville paid 31. 50% of the $80 million fee to join the League. The city has engaged an affiliate of the team to operate the arena, the $15 million payroll of the team was the lowest of the NHL. The Predators first took the ice on October 10,1998 and it was the only sold out game of the Predators first five bouts in Nashville. Three nights later, on October 13, they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3–2 for their first win, forward Andrew Brunette scored the first goal
31.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the leagues original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as The Igloo and they moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010–11 NHL season. They have qualified for five Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup four times – in 1991,1992,2009, and 2016. Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHLs Pirates from 1925 to 1930, in the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh. The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh. The senator formed a group of investors that included H. J. Heinz Company heir H. J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, the effort was successful, and on February 8,1966, the National Hockey League awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967–68 season. The Penguins paid $2.5 million for their entry and $750,000 more for start-up costs, the Civic Arenas capacity was then boosted from 10,732 to 12,500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion. The Pens also paid a bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings. The investor group named McGregor president and chief officer. A contest was held where 700 of 26,000 entries picked Penguins as the nickname for the team, mark Peters had the winning entry, a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which symbolized the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. The Pens, along with the rest of the teams, were hampered by restrictive rules which kept most major talent with the existing Original Six teams. Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate, All-Star defenseman Leo Boivin and Ranger veteran Earl Ingarfield, a number of the players had played for the Hornets the previous season, Bathgate, wingers Val Fonteyne and Ab McDonald, and goaltenders Hank Bassen and Joe Daley. George Sullivan was named the coach for the clubs first two seasons, and McDonald was named the teams first captain. On October 11,1967, league president Clarence Campbell and McGregor jointly dropped the ceremonial first puck of the Penguins opening home game against the Montreal Canadiens. On October 21,1967, they became the first team from the class to beat an Original Six team. However, the Penguins went 27–34–13 and finished in place in the West Division, missing the playoffs
32.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
33.
Seattle SuperSonics
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The Seattle SuperSonics, commonly known as the Sonics, were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. The SuperSonics played in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific. After the 2007–08 season ended, the relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sam Schulman owned the team from its 1967 inception until 1983 and it was then owned by Barry Ackerley, and then Basketball Club of Seattle, headed by Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz. The sale was approved by the NBA Board of Governors on October 24,2006, home games were played at KeyArena, originally known as Seattle Center Coliseum, for 33 of the franchises 41 seasons in Seattle. In 1978, the moved to the Kingdome, which was shared with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. They returned to the Coliseum full-time in 1985, moving temporarily to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, the SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979. Overall, the franchise won three Western Conference titles,1978,1979, and 1996, the franchise also won six divisional titles, the most recent being in 2005, with five in the Pacific Division and one in the Northwest Division. The SuperSonics franchise history, however, would be shared with the Thunder, on December 20,1966, Los Angeles businessmen Sam Schulman and Eugene V. Klein and a group of minority partners were awarded an NBA franchise for the city of Seattle. Schulman would serve as the partner and head of team operations. He named the SuperSonics after Boeings recently awarded contract for the SST project, the SuperSonics were Seattles first major league sports franchise. Beginning play in October 1967, the SuperSonics were coached by Al Bianchi and featured All-Star guard Walt Hazzard and NBA All-Rookie Team members Bob Rule and Al Tucker. The expansion team stumbled out of the gates with a 144–116 loss in their first game, Hazzard was traded to the Atlanta Hawks before the start of the next season for Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens brought a strong game to the SuperSonics, averaging 22.4 points per game,8.2 assists per game. Rule, meanwhile, improved on his rookie statistics with 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game, the SuperSonics, however, only won 30 games and Bianchi was replaced by Wilkens as player/coach during the offseason. Wilkens and Rule both represented Seattle in the 1970 NBA All-Star Game, and Wilkens led the NBA in assists during the 1969–70 season, Schulman also threatened to move his soon-to-be ABA team to Los Angeles to compete directly with the Lakers. The Oscar Robertson suit delayed the merger, and the SuperSonics remained in Seattle, early in the 1970–71 season, however, Rule tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the rest of the year. The following season, the SuperSonics went on to record their first winning season at 47–35, for the 1972–73 season, Wilkens was dealt to Cleveland in a highly unpopular trade, and without his leadership the SuperSonics fell to a 26–56 record
34.
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers, often abbreviated as the LA Clippers, are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego in 1978, in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. Through much of its history, the failed to see significant regular season or playoff success. The Clippers fortunes turned in the early 2010s with the acquisition of core players Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. In 2013, the franchise won its first division title, as the made the playoffs for the ninth time in franchise history. They repeated as champions in 2014. They played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, along with another Buffalo team that would begin play that year. After two bad seasons, the Braves fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three consecutive seasons and was named the leagues MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the three times in a row, losing thrice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions. As a result, after an attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida. Brown, Jr. who decimated the roster, traded away all of its stars. Eventually in 1978, Brown dealt with Celtics owner Irv Levin so they would trade franchise ownerships, southern California resident Levin then decided to move the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics. In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise because the city had lost their Rockets to Houston seven years earlier, when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they kept their nickname. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue and it would be the Clippers last winning season for 13 years. It was also in that first season in southern California that long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the club. The 1979–80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle despite adding center Bill Walton, Walton missed 68 games due to foot injuries
35.
WWE Raw
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WWE Raw, also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw, is a professional wrestling television program that currently airs live on Monday evenings at 8 pm EST on the USA Network in the United States. The shows name is used to refer to the Raw brand, in which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform on that program. The show debuted on January 11,1993 and has since been considered as the program of WWE. Raw moved from the USA Network to TNN in September 2000, on October 3,2005, Raw returned to the USA Network, where it remains today. As of December 9,2016, all episodes of the show are now available on demand on the WWE Network, since its first episode, Raw has broadcast live from 208 different arenas in 171 cities and towns in eleven different nations. Following the 1000th episode on July 23,2012, Raw became a three-hour broadcast from two hours, a format that had previously reserved for special episodes. Beginning as WWFs Monday Night Raw, the program first aired on January 11,1993 on the USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling, the original Raw was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows, the Raw formula was considerably different from the taped weekend shows that aired at the time such as Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, Raw was a shot and aired to a live audience. Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center Studios, a small New York City theater, the combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be a successful improvement. However, the live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. From Spring 1993 up until Spring 1997, Raw would tape several weeks worth of episodes after an episode had aired. The WWF taped several weeks worth of Raw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York in April 1993, up until that point, unless it was part of an ongoing feud or a title match, most matches on nationally televised WWF programs were primarily squash matches. Only Saturday Nights Main Event and The Main Event generally featured the type of matches Raw had, though unlike Raw, huge storyline-developing matches were regularly featured, such as Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect in January 1993, this would be Flairs last appearance in the company for almost 9 years, also, The 1–2–3 Kids upset victory over Razor Ramon in May 1993 would result in The Kid becoming an upper roster mainstay for years to come. Vince McMahon, Randy Savage and Rob Bartlett were the hosts of the show. Bartlett, a comedian who previously had nothing to do with the wrestling industry, Lawler has since been named as a permanent co-host for SmackDown and later pre-shows. Corey Graves would later replace JBL, on September 4,1995, the WWFs chief competitor World Championship Wrestling began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro, live each week on TNT
36.
Spike (TV channel)
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Spike is an American cable and satellite channel launched on March 7,1983, owned by Viacom through Viacom Media Networks and based in Los Angeles, California. Spike is an entertainment channel featuring a mix of various programs and movies. Spikes programming reaches approximately 98.7 million pay television subscribers in the United States as well as Canada. As of 2006, Spikes viewers were almost half women, although many of them are reported to be watching it with partners or family members. The average age of the viewers was 42 years old. As of February 2015, approximately 93.4 million households in the U. S. receive Spike, on February 8,2017, Viacom announced that Spike will be rebranded as the Paramount Network sometime early next year. TNN operated from the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park near Nashville, country Music Television, founded by Glenn D. Daniels, beat TNNs launch by two days, robbing them of the claim of the first country music cable television network. TNNs flagship shows included Nashville Now, The Statler Brothers Show, American Sports Cavalcade, Nashville Now and the Grand Ole Opry were broadcast live from Opryland USA. The Gaylord Entertainment Company purchased TNN and the Opryland properties in the half of 1987. Much of TNNs programming during the Gaylord era was produced by Opryland Productions. From 1983 to 1992, all of TNNs auto racing and motor sports coverage was produced by Diamond P Sports. Programming included variety shows, talk shows, game shows, outdoor shows, by 1995, TNN was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had recently acquired CBS around that time, two years later, Westinghouse bought CMT, TNNs chief competitor. In 1998, the channel dropped its The Nashville Network moniker, ownership shifted to Viacom in the late 1990s after its acquisition of CBS Corporation, Westinghouses successor. TNN subsequently relocated its headquarters to New York City from Nashville and was folded into Viacoms MTV Networks division, the networks name change also triggered a significant programming change in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience than the channels original rural/working-class Southern demographic. This change was catalyzed by Viacoms acquisition of the rights to World Wrestling Federation programming, including its flagship show RAW Is War and this was likely an attempt to compete with Universals USA Network which Viacom had briefly owned a stake in during the mid-1990s. Football also became prominent on the network, as it began airing games of the original Arena Football League with Eli Gold as an announcer. The National Network was also one of three networks to air games of the ill-fated XFL, as part of its contract, TNN had the rights to a late Sunday afternoon game each week except for the first week, when UPN aired the afternoon game instead. TNN aired the first opening-round game of the 2001 NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship when organizers expanded the field to 65 teams, the game coverage moved to ESPN in 2002
37.
Ric Flair
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Richard Morgan Fliehr, better known as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestling manager and retired professional wrestler signed to WWE under its Legends program. Widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has cultivated a legacy over a career that spans 40 years, Flair is noted for his tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker the Nature Boy, PWI awarded Flair their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Flair as the Wrestler of the Year on a record of nine occasions. According to Mick Foley, he had two stints as a booker in WCW, from 1989–1990 and again in 1994, Flair was the first titleholder of both the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. In being the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first WCWs Triple Crown Champion, having already held the United States Heavyweight. He then completed WWEs version of the Triple Crown when he won the Intercontinental Championship, after holding the WWF Championship. Richard Fliehr was born on February 25,1949 in Memphis, in the opening chapter of his autobiography To Be the Man, he notes that his birth name is given on different documents as Fred Phillips, son of Olive and Luther Phillips. He was adopted, at the time of his adoption, as reported in the chapter of his autobiography entitled Black Market Baby. Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Fliehr lived throughout his childhood, as a teen, Fliehr took a summer job as a lifeguard at a local pool in Minnesota. He received his first exposure to the business when he met the Vachon brothers. He dropped out of college without receiving his degree and he then worked as a bouncer at a nearby club, where he met Olympic weightlifter Ken Patera, who was preparing for a ring career at Verne Gagnes wrestling school. Patera introduced Flair to Verne Gagne, who agreed to him on as a member of his training class. Under the tutelage of Josh Klemme and Billy Robinson, Flair was friends with Ken Patera before entering wrestling, Patera had an association with Verne Gagne through his weightlifting career and with that relationship an opportunity arose for Flair to train with Verne Gagne as a professional wrestler. Flair attended Gagnes first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, Jim Brunzell, Iron Sheik, the intensity of Gagnes training camp, which spawned several champions including Flair, caused Flair to nearly quit the camp until Gagne persuaded him to continue. On December 10,1972, He made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, Flair originally considered Rambling Ricky Rhodes, in tribute to Dusty Rhodes. Weighing nearly 300 pounds with brown hair, Flair scarcely resembled his future Nature Boy image. During his time in the American Wrestling Association, Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes, André the Giant, Larry Hennig, Flair first competed in Japan in 1973 for International Wrestling Enterprise, due to a working agreement between AWA promoter Verne Gagne and the IWE. After Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett Jr. s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1974, on April 27,1978, Flair challenged for the NWA United National Championship in a losing effort
38.
Shawn Michaels
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Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American actor, professional wrestling personality, television presenter and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, as an ambassador and trainer, Michaels wrestled consistently for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation, from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998. He held non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000 and resumed wrestling in 2002 until retiring ceremoniously in 2010, in the WWF/E, Michaels headlined major pay-per-view events between 1989 and 2010, closing the companys flagship annual event, WrestleMania, five times. He was the co-founder and original leader of the successful stable and he also wrestled in the American Wrestling Association, where he founded The Midnight Rockers with Marty Jannetty in 1985. After winning the AWA Tag Team Championship twice, the continued to the WWF as The Rockers. Within the year, Michaels would twice challenge for the WWF Championship and win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship, heralding his arrival as one of the industrys premier singles stars. He would go on to be regarded as its finest performer in the 1990s and 2000s. Michaels was voted the greatest professional wrestler of all time in a 2011 poll of the WWE roster, Michaels is a four-time world champion, having held the WWF Championship three times and WWEs World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a two-time Royal Rumble winner, the first WWF Grand Slam Champion, Hickenbottom was born on July 22,1965, in Chandler, Arizona. As a child, Hickenbottom disliked the name Michael, so his family, ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military and he knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of twelve and said he performed a wrestling routine in his high schools talent show, complete with fake blood. Hickenbottom was already an athlete, his career began at the age of six when he started playing football and he was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School on Randolph Air Force Base and eventually became captain of the football team. After graduating, Hickenbottom attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas and he then began pursuing a career in professional wrestling. Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario, during his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, Shawn Michaels. Michaels performance in his debut match impressed many veterans, including Terry Taylor, in January 1985, he debuted for World Class Championship Wrestling, the NWA territory in Dallas, Texas. In April 1985, Michaels went to work for another NWA territory in Kansas City called Central States Wrestling, there, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens. After leaving Kansas City, he returned to Texas to wrestle for Texas All-Star Wrestling, during his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breed tag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero Sr, the team was later renamed American Force
39.
Triple H
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Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and professional wrestler. Levesque is the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE, as well as being the founder and senior producer of NXT, Levesque commenced his professional wrestling career in the International Wrestling Federation in 1992 under the ring name Terra Ryzing. In 1994, he joined World Championship Wrestling, where he was repackaged as Jean-Paul Lévesque. In 1995, Levesque moved to the World Wrestling Federation, where he became Hunter Hearst Helmsley and, later, in 1997, Triple H co-founded the influential D-Generation X stable, which became a major element of the WWFs Attitude Era. Levesque himself wed McMahon in 2003, over the next two decades, he won a total of 14 world championships and led stables The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, Evolution and The Authority. From 2010 onwards, Triple H curtailed his appearances as he took on a greater behind-the-scenes role within WWE. He is a member by marriage of the McMahon family, which maintains majority ownership of WWE, in the course of his career, Levesque has held a total of 25 championships, including nine reigns as WWF/WWE Champion and five as WWEs World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H was also the winner of the 1997 King of the Ring tournament and he has headlined WrestleMania, WWEs flagship pay-per-view, a record seven times. Outside of professional wrestling, Levesque has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television, Levesque was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He watched wrestling for the first time when he was five, Levesque began to take up bodybuilding at the age of 14, because he wanted to look like professional wrestlers. Levesque attended Nashua South High School, where he played baseball and basketball, following his graduation from high school in 1987, Levesque continued to enter several bodybuilding competitions, and was crowned Mr. Teenage New Hampshire in 1988 at the age of 19. While working as a manager at Golds Gym in Nashua, New Hampshire, Levesque was introduced to world champion powerlifter, Ted Arcidi, in early 1992, Levesque enrolled in Kowalskis wrestling school, where he began to train as a professional wrestler. Levesque was trained to wrestle by Killer Kowalski at his school in Malden and his class mates included fellow future WWF wrestlers Chyna and Perry Saturn. Levesque made his debut on March 24,1992 in Kowalskis promotion. In July 1992, Levesque defeated Mad Dog Richard to win the IWF Heavyweight Championship, Levesque wrestled for various promotions on the East Coast independent circuit until 1994. During this period, he was managed by John Rodeo, in early 1994, Levesque signed a one-year contract with World Championship Wrestling. In his first televised match, Levesque debuted as a villain named Terror Risin and his ring name was soon modified to Terra Ryzing, which he used until mid-1994, when he was renamed Jean-Paul Lévesque. This gimmick referred to his surnames French origins and he was asked to speak with a French accent, during this time, he began using his finishing maneuver, the Pedigree
40.
Edge (wrestler)
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Adam Joseph Copeland is a Canadian actor and retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Edge, currently signed to WWE. He is known for his tenure in the professional wrestling promotion WWE. Copeland was trained by professional wrestlers Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison, throughout the 1990s, he wrestled in various U. S. independent promotions. During his time in these promotions, he competed in singles and tag team competition, in 1997, Copeland signed a developmental deal with the WWF and began competing for the company later that year, he made his televised debut the following June under the ring name Edge. In July 1999, he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship at a show in Toronto. He and Christian, billed as brothers and later childhood friends in WWF/WWE storylines, during this time, they gained notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. He is WWEs 14th Triple Crown Champion and 3rd Grand Slam Champion and he headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania XXIV, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Christian in 2012. His wife Beth Phoenix joined the Hall of Fame in 2017, aside from professional wrestling, Copeland appeared in the fantasy film Highlander, Endgame and WWE Studios Bending the Rules. He has made guest appearances on shows such as Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, MADtv. He appeared on the SyFy series Haven as recurring character Dwight Hendrickson, Copeland was born in Orangeville, Ontario, the son of Judy Copeland, a single parent who worked two jobs to support her son. To this day, he has never met his father or seen a picture of him and he became interested in professional wrestling at a young age, his favorite wrestlers included Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. A notable photo exists of Copeland attending Wrestlemania VI wearing a Hulk Rules T-shirt, when he was 17, he won an essay contest with his local gym, and his prize was free wrestling training with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison in Toronto. He put his wrestling aspirations aside to pay the bills. He held numerous jobs and then attended Humber College, where he graduated with a degree in radio broadcasting, during Copelands training, he trained one weekday and all weekend. The schools practice ring was a 12-by-14-foot boxing ring with a harder mat than that of a wrestling ring. The ceiling above it was low, with exposed pipes, preventing top-rope moves from being performed, Copeland later credited this environment with forcing him to drill and improve his technical mat-based wrestling. His classmates included Johnny Swinger, Joe E. Legend, throughout the 1990s, Copeland wrestled on the independent circuit in Ontario and the Great Lakes region of the United States under the ring name Sexton Hardcastle. He became a part of the tag team Sex and Violence with Joe E. Legend, in the mid-1990s, he wrestled as Adam Impact for Tony Condellos Winnipeg promotion
41.
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
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The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by WWE. The World Heavyweight Championship was retired at the WWE pay-per-view, TLC, Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the unified championship became the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, retaining the lineage of the WWE Championship. Triple H was the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, with Randy Orton being the last, the title was one of six to be represented by the historic Big Gold Belt, first introduced in 1986. Its heritage can be traced back to the first world championship, thereby giving the belt a legacy over 100 years old. WWE introduced its World Heavyweight Championship in 2002 by Eric Bischoff with Triple H becoming the champion on September 2. During this time, WCW used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as its world title, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was soon established when the recognition was awarded to then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in 1991. In 1993, WCW seceded from the NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the World Wrestling Federation, both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war dubbed the Monday Night Wars. Near the end of the war, WCW began a financial decline which culminated in March 2001 with the WWFs purchase of selected assets of WCW. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired the library of WCW, select talent contracts. The slew of former WCW talent joining the WWF roster began The Invasion which effectively phased out the WCW name, following this, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWF Championship, the WWFs world title, at Vengeance in December. By 2002, the WWE roster had doubled in size due to the overabundance of contracted workers, as a result of the increase, the WWE divided the roster through its two main television programs, Raw and SmackDown, assigning championships and appointing figureheads to each brand. This expansion became known as the Brand Extension, in May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. Following these changes, the Undisputed WWE Championship remained unaffiliated with either brand as competitors from both brands could challenge the Undisputed Champion, on September 2, after disputing the brand designation of the Undisputed title, Eric Bischoff announced the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship. Bischoff awarded the title to Triple H due to previously being Lesnars scheduled opponent, immediately afterwards, the Undisputed Championship returned to being the WWE Championship. The World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship switched brands a number of times before the first brand split ended in 2011, due to its relation to both titles, its lineage is connected with the earliest recognized world heavyweight championship. In 2009, WWE released a DVD set called History of the World Heavyweight Championship that definitively linked the title to the WCW, following the end of the first brand extension in 2011, both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown. In 2013, the night after Survivor Series, then-World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to then-WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine an undisputed WWE world champion. Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a TLC match at the TLC, Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15,2013, subsequently, the WWE Championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship
42.
2006 FIBA World Championship
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The 2006 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Japan from August 19 to September 3,2006. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation, Japan Basketball Association, badtz-Maru, a fellow character of Hello Kitty from Japanese company Sanrio, was the official 2006 mascot. For the first time since 1986, the World Championship was contested by 24 nations, as a result, group rounds were conducted in four different cities, with the knockout rounds being hosted by Saitama City. The tournament was won by Spain, who, in the final, beat Greece, 70–47. The bronze medal was won by the United States, who defeated Argentina, 96–81, up to 2014, including the 2014 tournament, it has been the only tournament where neither Yugoslavia nor the USA have reached the final. At the start of tournament, all 24 participating countries had 12 players on their roster, the following national teams competed, Japan qualified as the host country, and Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey gained FIBA wild-card invitations. Argentina qualified as the champion of the 2004 Olympics, the remaining 18 countries qualified through their continents qualifying tournaments. The draw for 2006 World Championship was held in Tokyo on 15 January 2006, in the preliminary rounds, Group A played at Sendai, Group B at Hiroshima, Group C at Hamamatsu and Group D at Sapporo. The Medal Rounds were played at Saitama, after the latters breakup, a Former Yugoslav Republic, Serbia, has taken its place in the final. The 2006 final was the first in which none of these two teams competed, Spain won despite having lost power forward Pau Gasol, ultimately named the tournaments most valuable player, to injury in a semifinal match against Argentina. Teams that were eliminated at the round of 16 are officially tied for 9th, teams that were 5th at their preliminary rounds are officially tied for 17th. Teams that were 6th at their preliminary rounds are officially tied for 21st, mcDonalds FIBA World Championship 2006 official website FIBA World Championship 2006 – unofficial blog
43.
Pride Fighting Championships
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Pride Fighting Championships was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company founded by Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Nobuhiko Takada. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11,1997, Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide. For ten years PRIDE was one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world, in March 2007, Dream Stage Entertainment sold Pride to Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, co-owners of Zuffa, which owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While remaining as separate entities with separate managements, the two promotions were set to cooperate in a manner akin to the AFL-NFL merger. However, such an arrangement did not materialize, and in October 2007, Pride Worldwides Japanese staff was laid off, as a result, many of the Pride staff left to form a new organization alongside K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group. That new organization, founded in February 2008, was named Dream, in 2015, Prides co-founder and former president Nobuyuki Sakakibara established Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan with the same philosophy and ambition as for the defunct Pride organization. The event, held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11,1997, the success of the first event enabled its promoters to hold a regular series of mixed martial arts events, and a year later in 1998, to promote a rematch between Takada and Gracie. With K-1 enjoying popularity in Japan, Pride began to compete with monthly showings on Fuji Television, the series was taken over by the DSE after the dissolvement of the KRS following the fourth event and it was accordingly renamed as the Pride Fighting Championships. In 2000, Pride hosted the first Pride Grand Prix, a two-part openweight tournament held to find the worlds best fighter. The tournament was held over the course of two events, with sixteen fighters competing in a round and the eight winners returning three months later for the final round. In August 2002, Pride teamed up with Japans leading kickboxing and fight promotion, K-1, and held the worlds biggest fight event, Shockwave, which attracted over 71,000 fans. Speculation loomed whether this could possibly be the reason, as trouble with tax authorities. Nobuyuki Sakakibara later assumed the presidency, in 2003 Pride introduced the Bushido series of events, which focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the lighter weight classes of lightweights and welterweights. Also in 2003, Pride returned to the tournament format, with a grand prix spanning two events, Pride Total Elimination 2003 and Final Conflict 2003. The format was expanded to three events in 2004, adding Critical Countdown 2004 as the second round, Pride would go on to hold annual tournaments, a heavyweight tournament in 2004, a middleweight in 2005, and an openweight in 2006. This statement was due to the failure of previous attempts between Zuffa and DSE to organize a fighter exchange agreement. On June 5,2006, the Fuji Network announced that they were terminating their contract with Pride Fighting Championships effective immediately due to a breach of contract by DSE. This left Pride with only SKY PerfecTV, a carrier, as a television outlet in Japan
44.
Daisuke Naito
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Daisuke Naito is a former professional boxer from Japan. He is the former WBC and lineal champion, and former Japanese. Naito made his debut in October,1996. He compiled a record, and challenged future WBA flyweight champion Takefumi Sakata for the Japanese flyweight title on July 16,2001. Naito traveled to Thailand in 2002 for his first world title shot, challenging Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the WBC, Naito was knocked out only 34 seconds into the first round, setting the record for the fastest knockout in a world flyweight title match ever. On June 6,2004, Naito dominated his opponent to win the Japanese flyweight title and he made his first defense later that year, knocking out the challenger only 24 seconds into the first round to set the record for the shortest Japanese flyweight title match ever. He made two defenses before returning his title, Naito challenged Wonjongkam for the second time on October 10,2005, but lost by decision after the fight was stopped due to an injury in the 7th round. Naito won the Japanese flyweight title for the time in February,2006. Naito made one defense of the OPBF title before returning it in February,2007 and he also announced his decision to challenge Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the third time, but found it difficult to gather sponsors. The match was finalized on July 6, only 12 days prior to the actual match-up, Naito defeated Pongsaklek Wonjongkam on July 18,2007 by 12-round unanimous decision, winning the WBC and lineal flyweight titles five years after his first world title shot. Wonjongkam had made 17 defenses of the title, and had not lost in over a decade. On October 11,2007, Naito defeated Daiki Kameda by unanimous decision for the first defense of his WBC, Naito thoroughly outclassed the younger fighter despite being fouled throughout the fight. He received illegal blows to the thighs on several occasions, and was thrown down onto the ring in a maneuver in the 12th round. The fight received widespread coverage by the Japanese media because of the exchanges between Naito and the Kameda boxing family. Daiki Kameda had described Naito as a prior to the fight. The victory gave Naito celebrity status in Japan, and he has appeared in numerous Japanese television programs, Naito fought Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the 4th time on March 3,2008 for his 2nd title defense. Naito retained his titles as the bout ended in a draw, with one judge scoring the bout even, another scoring it in favor of Naito, and his 3rd defense came against Japanese flyweight champion Tomonobu Shimizu on July 30,2008 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. The open scoring system was used for this bout, and the announcement after the 8th round revealed Shimizu to be leading on points
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Ultimate Fighting Championship
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship is an American mixed martial arts promotion company, a subsidiary of the parent company William Morris Endeavor, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the largest MMA promoter in the world and features most of the fighters in the sport. Based in the United States, the UFC produces events worldwide that showcase ten weight divisions, the UFC has held over 300 events to date. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC, the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event was held on November 12,1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. In 2016, it was sold to William Morris Endeavor for $4 billion, MMA journalists and fans have criticized the UFC for putting on too many shows and thus diluting the quality of their product. Art Davie proposed to John Milius and Rorion Gracie an eight-man single-elimination tournament called War of the Worlds, Milius, a noted film director and screenwriter, as well as a Gracie student, agreed to act as the events creative director. Davie drafted the plan and twenty-eight investors contributed the initial capital to start WOW Promotions with the intent to develop the tournament into a television franchise. In 1993, WOW Promotions sought a partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO, SET. SEG contacted video and film art director Jason Cusson to design the trademarked Octagon, Cusson remained the Production Designer through UFC27. SEG devised the name for the show as The Ultimate Fighting Championship, WOW Promotions and SEG produced the first event, later called UFC1, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12,1993. Art Davie functioned as the booker and matchmaker. The show proposed to find an answer for sports fans questions such as, as with most martial arts at the time, fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and had little experience against opponents with different skills. The show proved successful with 86,592 television subscribers on pay-per-view. Its disputed whether the intended for the event to become a precursor to a series of future events. That show was supposed to be a one-off, eventual UFC president Dana White said. It did so well on pay-per-view they decided to do another, never in a million years did these guys think they were creating a sport. Art Davie, in his 2014 book Is This Legal, an account of the creation of the first UFC event, disputes the perception that the UFC was seen by WOW Promotions and SEG as a one-off, since SEG offered a five-year joint development deal to WOW. He says, Clearly, both Campbell and Meyrowitz shared my unwavering belief that War of the Worlds would be a series of fighting tournaments—a franchise
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