1.
Minneapolis
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Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2015, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul. It was once the worlds flour milling capital and a hub for timber, the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle, with Minneapolis proper containing Americas fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. As an integral link to the economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city. Noted for its music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the citys first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, Dakota Sioux had long been the regions sole residents when French explorers arrived around 1680. For a time relations were based on fur trading, gradually more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Dakota. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired this territory from France, fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the United States Army, and it attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized present-day Minneapolis as a town in 1856 on the Mississippis west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago. It later joined with the city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes. Due to the hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s. The farmers of the Great Plains grew grain that was shipped by rail to the citys thirty-four flour mills, a father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from the Hungarians by William de la Barre, pillsbury Company across the river were barely a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to immediately use the new methods. The hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, not until later did consumers discover the value in the bran that Minneapolis
2.
Carlsbad, California
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Carlsbad is an affluent seaside resort city occupying a 7-mile stretch of Pacific coastline in northern San Diego County, California. The city is 87 miles south of Los Angeles and 35 miles north of downtown San Diego and is part of the San Diego-Carlsbad and it is bordered by Oceanside to the north, Vista and San Marcos to the east and Encinitas to the south. Referred to as The Village by the Sea by locals, Carlsbad is a tourist destination, the citys estimated 2014 population was 112,299. Nearly every reliable fresh water creek had at least one native village, the site is located just south of todays Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition of 1769, during the Mexican period, in 1842, the southern portion of Carlsbad, was granted as Rancho Agua Hedionda to Juan María Marrón. In the 1880s a former sailor named John Frazier dug a well in the area and he began offering his water at the train station and soon the whistle-stop became known as Fraziers Station. The naming of the town followed soon after, along with a marketing campaign to attract visitors. The area experienced a period of growth, with homes and businesses sprouting up in the 1880s, agricultural development of citrus fruits, avocados and olives soon changed the landscape. By the end of 1887, land prices fell throughout San Diego County, however, the community survived on the back of its fertile agricultural lands. The site of John Fraziers original well can still be found at Alt Karlsbad, in 1952, Carlsbad was incorporated to avoid annexation by its neighbor, Oceanside. The single-runway Palomar Airport opened in 1959 after County of San Diego officials decided to replace the Del Mar Airport, the airport was annexed to the City of Carlsbad in 1978 and renamed McClellan-Palomar Airport in 1982 after a local civic leader, Gerald McClellan. The first modern skateboard park, Carlsbad Skatepark, was built in March 1976 and it was located on the grounds of Carlsbad Raceway and was designed and built by inventors Jack Graham and John OMalley. The site of the original Carlsbad Skatepark and Carlsbad Raceway was demolished in 2005 and is now an Industrial Park, however, two skateparks have since been developed. In March 1999, Legoland California was opened and it was the first Legoland theme park outside of Europe and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainments. Merlin Entertainments owns 70 percent of the shares, and the remaining 30 percent is owned by the LEGO group, Carlsbad is home to the nations largest desalination plant. Construction of the $1 billion Carlsbad Desalination Plant at the Encina Power Plant was completed in December 2015, the northern area of the city is part of a tri-city area consisting of northern Carlsbad, southern Oceanside and western Vista. Carlsbad has a semi-arid Mediterranean climate and averages 263 sunny days per year, winters are mild with periodic rain. Frost is rare along the coast, but sometimes occurs in valleys in December
3.
North Community High School
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North Community High School, or simply Minneapolis North, is a public, four-year high school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has existed for over 120 years in several buildings all located on the North Side of Minneapolis, North once had a predominately Jewish student body but by 1982, the school and the neighborhood it is located in had become mostly African-American. Desegregation efforts, such as magnet programs, have attempted to attract students from throughout Minneapolis. In recent years, the school has been known for its highly successful boys, both teams have had numerous state tournament appearances and state championship titles. North offers several college preparatory classes and operates, Minneapolis Public Schools radio station, the school has often struggled academically in terms of graduation rate and state standardized tests. And suggestions by a Minneapolis City Council member to burn the school down, there have been four separate buildings in which North has operated. The first housed just three grades when North opened in 1888, three years later the first class graduated in 1891. The building grew to be too small for the school and a new building was built, on June 18,1913 a fire burned down most of the building, forcing a new building to be rebuilt. A new building was built over the one and was completed in 1914. Later additions were added in 1921,1923 and 1939, a new building was built on a new site and funded as part of a $18 million bond referendum in 1964, that funded improvements to North and several other Minneapolis public schools. The building was finished and opened in 1973, another description calls it a series of brick boxes arranged around a courtyard that doesnt allow it to connect well with the community. The building used to house adult education classes, a school for teenage mothers, all of these programs have now relocated to other buildings. As the North Side neighborhood has changed, so has Minneapolis North, during the 1920s and 1930s the North Side was the center of Minneapolis Jewish population. In 1936 almost half of the students were Jewish, the North Side has since transitioned into a diverse working-class neighborhood with the highest rate of housing foreclosures in Minneapolis. North used to be a large school and was overcrowded with over 2800 students attending the school in 1931. Now, residents are able to choose which schools they attend, however, this decision resulted in backlash from the North Minneapolis community. It was decided that North Community High School would remain open and it is now called North Academy of Arts and Communications. In the 2006-2007 school year,964 students attended North, Norths minority enrollment has grown in the last twenty years despite attempts to keep it low
4.
Ohio State Buckeyes football
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Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio since 1922. Football was introduced to the university by George Cole and Alexander S. Lilley in 1890, Ohio State was a football independent from 1890 to 1901 before joining the Ohio Athletic Conference as a charter member in 1902. The Buckeyes won two conference championships while members of the OAC and in 1912 became members of the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State won their first national championship in 1942 under head coach Paul Brown. Following World War II, Ohio State saw sparse success on the field with three separate coaches and in 1951 hired Woody Hayes to coach the team. Under Hayes, Ohio State won over 200 total games,13 Big Ten championships and five national championships, following Hayes dismissal in 1978, Earle Bruce and later John Cooper coached the team to a combined seven conference championships between them. Jim Tressel was hired as coach in 2001 and led Ohio State to its seventh national championship in 2002 with a win in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State won seven Big Ten championships under Tressel and appeared in eight Bowl Championship Series games, on November 28,2011, two-time National Championship winning coach and Ohio native Urban Meyer became head coach. Meyer led his team to five championships in his first five seasons as well as a school record 24 straight victories. He led OSU to both the Big Ten and the first College Football Playoff National Championship of its kind in the 2014 season, giving Meyer his third title overall. In the spring of 1890, George Cole, an undergraduate, the Buckeyes first game, played on May 3,1890, at Delaware, Ohio, against Ohio Wesleyan University, was a victory. OSUs first home game took place at 2,30 p. m. on November 1,1890, the Ohio State University played the University of Wooster on this site, which was then called Recreation Park. Just east of historic German Village, the park occupied the side of Schiller between Ebner and Jaeger in what is now Schumacher Place. The weather was perfect, and the crowd cheered loudly, nonetheless, OSU lost to Wooster, 64–0. Wooster, physically fit for the game, showed OSU that training is critical to winning, thus, the tradition of training continues. Over the next eight years, under a number of coaches, the played to a cumulative record of 31 wins,39 losses. The first game against the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, was a 34–0 loss in 1897, a year that saw the low point in Buckeye football history with a 1–7–1 record. Jack Ryder was Ohio States first paid coach, earning $150 per season, in 1899 the university hired John Eckstorm to bring professional coaching skills to the program and immediately went undefeated. In 1901, however, center John Segrist was fatally injured in a game against Western Reserve University, although the schools athletic board let the team decide its future, Eckstorm resigned
5.
Denison University
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Denison University is a private, coeducational, and residential four-year liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, about 30 mi east of Columbus. Founded in 1831, it is Ohios second-oldest liberal arts college, Denison is a member of the Five Colleges of Ohio and the Great Lakes Colleges Association, and competes in the North Coast Athletic Conference. On December 13,1831, John Pratt, the colleges first president, situated on a 200-acre farm south of the village of Granville, it was the second Baptist college west of the Allegheny mountains after Georgetown College, which was founded in 1829. While rooted in education, the institution offered students the same literary. The first term included 37 students,27 of whom hailed from Granville, the school was more of an academy than a college. The schools first Commencement, which graduated three classical scholars, was held in 1840, in 1845, the institution, which at this point was male-only, officially changed its name to Granville College. In 1853, William S. Denison, a Muskingum County farmer, honoring an earlier commitment, the trustees accordingly changed the name of the institution to Denison University. They also voted to move the college to land then available for purchase in the village of Granville, in the years leading up to the Civil War, many students and faculty members at Denison University became deeply involved in the anti-slavery movement. Professor Asa Drury, the chair of Greek and Latin studies, bancroft House, now a residential hall, served as a stop on the Underground Railroad for refugee slaves. The seminary was superseded by the Young Ladies Institute, founded in 1859 by Dr. the Young Ladies Institute was sold to Reverend Dr. Daniel Shepardson in 1868 and was renamed the Shepardson College for Women in 1886. Shepardson College was incorporated as part of Denison University in 1900, in 1887, Denison inaugurated a masters program, with resident graduates pursuing advanced studies in the sciences. Within a few years, the institution considered offering graduate programs on the doctoral level, in 1926, the Board of Trustees formalized a new curriculum that would make Denison University an exclusively undergraduate institution. In the wake of Shepardson Colleges incorporation, Denison University made plans for enlargement of its campus, in 1916, the college sought the expertise of the Frederick Law Olmsted & Sons architectural firm, the founder of which had designed Central Park in New York City. During World War II, Denison was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. While the colleges origins were rooted in education, Denison University has been a non-sectarian institution since the 1960s. By 2005, the college reached its present size of approximately 2,250 students, the campus size is about 1,100 acres. This includes a 400-acre biological reserve just east of campus, where professors of sciences like geology and biology can hold class. Purchased in 2014 is the Denison Golf Course an 18-hole course just 0.4 miles from the academic campus, the first building in the Greater Denison plan, Swasey Chapel was built at the center of the campus
6.
Cincinnati Bearcats football
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The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the American Athletic Conference and they have also earned a bowl berth every year, with only two exceptions since the 2006 season. The Bearcat football program is one of the nations oldest, having fielded a team as early as 1885, in 1888, Cincinnati played Miami in the first intercollegiate football game held within the state of Ohio. That began a rivalry which today ranks as the eighth-oldest and 11th-longest running in NCAA Division I college football, robert Burch served as Cincinnatis head coach from 1909-1911, compiling a record of 16–8–2. It was during his tenure that Cincinnati joined the Ohio Athletic Conference, in March 1927, George Babcock was hired as a professor of athletics and physical training at the University of Cincinnati. From 1927 to 1930, he was the football coach of the Bearcats football. Sid Gillman, a member of the College and National Football League hall of fame shrines, was the architect of one of the top eras of Cincinnati football history. He directed the Bearcats to three titles and a pair of bowl game appearances during his six seasons before leaving for the professional ranks. Cincinnati, with Gillman developing the passing offenses which would make him successful in the pro ranks, George Blackburn served as the Bearcats head coach from 1955-1960, compiling a 25–27–6 record. It was during Blackburns tenure, in 1957, that the Bearcats joined the Missouri Valley Conference, chuck Studley left UMass and became the Bearcats 25th head football coach. Under Studleys tutelage, the Bearcats won two championships in 1963 and 1964, However, Studleys teams struggled in his other four seasons. Oklahoma assistant coach Homer Rice was hired as Studleys replacement, after accepting the head coaching position at Cincinnati, Oklahomas coach Jim McKenzie died of a massive heart attack. Upon Jims death, Oklahomas athletic director and president called Homer Rice to request that he return to replace Jim as head coach at Oklahoma and he had already hired his staff at Cincinnati and turned down the Oklahoma job to stay committed to his staff at Cincinnati. Rice compiled an 8–10–1 record in his two seasons at Cincinnati, in 1968, the Bearcats were the nations top passing team. Quarterback Greg Cook was the NCAAs total offense leader with receiver/kicker Jim OBrien the national scoring champ, a year later, Cook earned Rookie of the Year honors as a Cincinnati Bengal. Two years later, OBrien kicked the field goal for the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl. Ray Callahan was promoted assistant coach to head coach after Rices departure. After a 4–6 campaign in his first season, Callahans Bearcats posted back to back 7–4 records in 1970 and 1971, However, a 2–9 season in 1972 ended his tenure at Cincinnati
7.
Los Angeles Rams
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The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team that play in the National Football League. The Rams franchise was founded in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams in the short-lived second American Football League before joining the NFL the next year, in 1946, the franchise moved to Los Angeles. The Rams franchise remained in the area until 1994, when they moved to St. Louis. The Rams franchise returned to Los Angeles in 2016, Reeves threatened to end his relationship with the NFL and get out of the professional football business altogether unless the Rams transfer to Los Angeles was permitted. A settlement was reached and, as a result, Reeves was allowed to move his team to Los Angeles, consequently, the NFL became the first professional coast-to-coast sports entertainment industry. From 1933, when Joe Lillard left the Chicago Cardinals, through 1946, after the Rams had received approval to move to Los Angeles, the Rams entered into negotiations to lease the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Rams were advised that a precondition to them getting a lease was that they would have to integrate the team with at least one African-American, subsequently, the Rams signed Kenny Washington on March 21,1946. The signing of Washington caused all hell to break loose among the owners of the NFL franchises, the Rams added a second black player, Woody Strode, on May 7,1946, giving them two black players going into the 1946 season. The Rams were the first team in the NFL to play in Los Angeles, the upstart All-America Football Conference had the Los Angeles Dons compete there as well. Reeves was taking a gamble that Los Angeles was ready for its own football team –. Reeves was proved to be correct when the Rams played their first pre-season game against the Washington Redskins in front of a crowd of 95,000 fans, the team finished their first season in L. A. with a 6–4–1 record, second place behind the Chicago Bears. At the end of the season Walsh was fired as head coach, the Coliseum would be the home of the Rams for more than 30 years, but the facility was already over 20 years old on the day of the first kickoff. In 1948, halfback Fred Gehrke painted horns on the Rams helmets, Kelley had an early evening talk show on L. A. radio station KMPC, that was considered by most sports enthusiasts as highly entertaining. Kelley was generally considered a Legend and a professional, one of the great radio. At the beginning of the 1951 World Championship game after the kickoff, Kelley was able to cite every player on the prior to the first snap from scrimmage. The Rams first heyday in Southern California was from 1949 to 1955, during this period, they had the best offense in the NFL, even though there was a quarterback change from Bob Waterfield to Norm Van Brocklin in 1951. The defining Offensive players of this period were wide receiver Elroy Hirsch, Van Brocklin, teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Tom Fears, Hirsch helped create the style of Rams football as one of the first big play receivers. During the 1951 Championship season, Hirsch posted a then stunning 1,495 receiving yards with 17 touchdowns, the popularity of this wide-open offense enabled the Los Angeles Rams to become the first pro football team to have all their games televised in 1950
8.
History of the San Diego Chargers
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The Los Angeles Chargers franchise was founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League. The team played the 1960 season in Los Angeles, moving to San Diego in 1961, the Chargers played in San Diego for 56 years. In 2017, the Chargers owner announced a move to Los Angeles, effective with the 2017 season, the Chargers original owner was hotel heir Barron Hilton, son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. Frank Leahy, a former Notre Dame University football coach, was named the teams first general manager, the Chargers initially considered playing at the Rose Bowl, but instead signed a lease to play at the Los Angeles Coliseum. There is also a theory about a man named Gerald Courtney of Hollywood who won an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico City. They played ten years in the AFL before the merging of the league into the older NFL and their only coach for the ten-year life of the AFL was Sid Gillman, former coach of the NFLs Los Angeles Rams, who originally signed a three-year contract as head coach. Gillman, who was voted to the Hall of Fame, was widely recognized as a great offensive innovator. He also took on the role of coach and general manager after Frank Leahy resigned because of poor health. The early AFL years of the San Diego Chargers were highlighted by the play of wide receiver Lance Alworth with 543 receptions for 10,266 yards in his 11-AFL/NFL-season career. In addition, he set the pro football record of games with a reception during his career. With players such as Alworth, Paul Lowe, Keith Lincoln and John Hadl, the high-scoring Chargers reached the AFL Championship Game five times winning once during that ten-year span. The Chargers spent only one season in L. A. before moving in 1961, on that season, the defense recorded 49 pass interceptions as the AFL played an exciting brand of football featuring strong passing attacks. The Chargers were the originators of the term Fearsome Foursome to describe their all-star defensive line, anchored by Earl Faison, the phrase was later appropriated by various NFL teams. Houston defeated the Chargers 10–3 before 29,556 persons in Balboa Stadium to win the second AFL championship. The next year, the Chargers stumbled to a 4-10 record, as of 2016, this was the last professional sports championship for the city of San Diego. In 1964, the AFL teams signed a television contract with National Broadcasting Company for a record $36 million. The Chargers and New York Jets tied 17-17 before a record AFL crowd of 50,222 fans,46,828 paid in New Yorks Shea Stadium, a Balboa Stadium attendance record of 34,865 was set as Buffalo defeated San Diego 27-24 on Thanksgiving Day. The Chargers defeated the Jets 38-3 before 25,753 persons in Balboa Stadium to clinch their fourth AFL West title in five years, in 1965, San Diego won their fifth AFL West title in six years by defeating Houston on December 12 by the score of 37-26
9.
History of the Houston Oilers
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The professional American football team now known as the Tennessee Titans previously played in Houston, Texas, from 1960 to 1996. This article chronicles the history during their time as the Houston Oilers during that period. The Oilers began play in 1960 as a member of the American Football League. The team won two AFL championships before joining the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in the late 1960s, the Oilers competed in the East Division of the AFL before the merger, after which they joined the newly formed AFC Central. The Oilers throughout their existence were owned by Bud Adams and played their games at the Astrodome for the majority of their time in Houston. The Oilers were the first champions of the American Football League, winning the 1960 and 1961 contests, from 1978 to 1980, the Oilers, led by Bum Phillips and in the midst of the Luv Ya Blue campaign, appeared in the 1978 and 1979 AFC Championship Games. For the rest of the Oilers time in Houston, however, they were generally in the division of the league. The Oilers main colors were Columbia blue and white, with scarlet trim, Oilers jerseys were always Columbia blue for home and white for away. The Oilers played the 1997 season in Memphis before moving to Nashville in 1998, the NFL would return to Houston in 2002 with a new franchise, the Houston Texans. The Houston Oilers began in 1960 as a member of the American Football League. They were owned by Bud Adams, a Houston oilman, who had several previous unsuccessful bids for an NFL expansion team in Houston. The Oilers appeared in the first three AFL championships and they scored an important victory over the NFL when they signed LSUs Heisman Trophy winner, All-America running back Billy Cannon. Cannon joined other Oiler offensive stars such as quarterback George Blanda, flanker Charlie Hennigan, running back Charlie Tolar, after winning the first-ever AFL championship over the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960, they repeated over the same team in 1961. They lost to the Dallas Texans in the classic 1962 double-overtime AFL championship game, in 1962, the Oilers were the first AFL team to sign an active NFL player away from the other league, when wide receiver Willard Dewveall left the Bears to join the champion Oilers. Dewveall that year caught the longest pass reception for a touchdown in professional American football history,99 yd, from Jacky Lee, previously, the Oilers had played at Jeppesen Stadium at the University of Houston from 1960 to 1964, and Rice Universitys stadium from 1965 to 1967. Adams had intended the play at Rice from the first. After the Astrodome opened for business, Adams attempted to move there, the 1969 season, the last as an AFL team, saw Houston begin 3–1, but tumble afterwards. They qualified for the playoffs, but were defeated by the Raiders 56–7, the years immediately after the AFL-NFL Merger were not as kind to the Oilers, who sank to the bottom of the AFC Central division
10.
Chicago Bears
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The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships and one Super Bowl and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Bears have also recorded more victories than any other NFL franchise. The franchise was founded in Decatur, Illinois, in 1919 and it is one of only two remaining franchises from the NFLs founding. The team played games at Wrigley Field on Chicagos North Side through the 1970 season, they now play at Soldier Field on the Near South Side. The Bears have a rivalry with the Green Bay Packers. The team headquarters, Halas Hall, is in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, the Bears practice at adjoining facilities there during the season. They hold their training camp from late July to mid-August at Ward Field on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Originally named the Decatur Staleys, the club was established by the A. E. Staley food starch company of Decatur and this was the typical start for several early professional football franchises. The company hired George Halas and Edward Dutch Sternaman in 1920 to run the team, the 1920 Decatur Staleys season was their inaugural regular season completed in the newly formed American Professional Football Association. Full control of the team was turned over to Halas and Sternaman in 1921, official team and league records cite Halas as the founder as he took over the team in 1920 when it became a charter member of the NFL. The team relocated to Chicago in 1921, where the club was renamed the Chicago Staleys, under an agreement reached by Halas and Sternaman with Staley, Halas purchased the rights to the club from Staley for US$100. In 1922, Halas changed the name from the Staleys to the Bears. The team moved into Wrigley Field, which was home to the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise, as with several early NFL franchises, the Bears derived their nickname from their citys baseball team. Halas liked the bright colors of his alma mater, the University of Illinois. The Staleys/Bears dominated the league in the early years and their rivalry with the Chicago Cardinals, the oldest in the NFL, was key in four out of the first six league titles. During that span, the Bears posted 34 shutouts, the Bears rivalry with the Green Bay Packers is one of the oldest and most storied in American professional sports, dating back to 1921. The franchise was a success under Halas, capturing the NFL Championship in 1921
11.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
12.
Forward pass
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In several forms of football a forward pass is a throwing of the ball in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive teams goal line. In some football codes, such as football, the kicked forward pass is used so ubiquitously that it is not thought of as a distinct kind of play at all. In these sports, the concept of offside is used to regulate who can be in front of the play or be nearest to the goal, however, this has not always been the case. Some earlier incarnations of football allowed unlimited forward passing, while others had strict offside rules similar to rugby, the development of the forward pass in American football shows how the game has evolved from its rugby roots into the distinctive game it is today. Illegal and experimental forward passes had been attempted as early as 1876, another change in rules occurred on January 18,1951, which established that no center, tackle, or guard could receive a forward pass. Today, the only linemen who can receive a forward pass are the ends, current rules regulate who may throw and who may receive a forward pass, and under what circumstances, as well as how the defensive team may try to prevent a pass from being completed. In American and Canadian football, a pass, usually referred to simply as a pass. This is permitted only once during a scrimmage down by the team before team possession has changed, provided the pass is thrown from in or behind the neutral zone. An illegal forward pass can incur a penalty and the loss of a down, although it may be legally intercepted by the opponents. If an eligible receiver on the passing team legally catches the ball, the pass is completed, if an opposing player legally catches the ball it is an interception. That players team immediately gains possession of the ball and he may attempt to advance the ball toward his opponents goal, if no player is able to legally catch the ball it is an incomplete pass and the ball becomes dead the moment it touches the ground. It will then be returned to the line of scrimmage for the next down. If any player interferes with an eligible receivers ability to catch the ball it is pass interference which draws a penalty of varying degree. The person passing the ball must be a member of the team. The moment that a forward pass begins is important to the game, the pass begins the moment the passers arm begins to move forward. If the passer drops the ball before this moment it is a fumble, in this case anybody can gain possession of the ball before or after it touches the ground. If the passer drops the ball while his arm is moving forward it is a pass, regardless of where the ball lands or is first touched. The quarterback generally either starts a few paces behind the line of scrimmage or drops back a few paces after the ball is snapped
