Portal:Sports
The Sports Portal
Sport is a form of physical activity or game. Often competitive and organized, sports use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills. They also provide enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Many sports exist, with different participant numbers, some are done by a single person with others being done by hundreds. Most sports take place either in teams or competing as individuals. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions admitting only sports meeting this definition. Some organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without any physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee who oversee the Olympic Games recognises both chess and bridge as sports. SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts, Go and xiangqi. However, they limit the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ... that para-alpine B2 classified visually impaired skier Gabriel Gorce (pictured) was the youngest member of the 2010 Spanish Winter Paralympic team?
- ... that Caleb Moore became the first competitor to die as a result of injuries sustained during the X Games?
- ... that professional baseball player Tony Cingrani did not expect his college team to invite him back for his senior season after he struggled as a junior?
- ... that Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, the two athletes who represented Turkey in its first-ever Olympics, were both ethnic Armenians?
- ... that Manny McIntyre was a member of the first all-black line in professional hockey history and the first known Black-Canadian to play professionally in organized baseball?
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After a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which included a national championship in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball.
Jordan led the Bulls to NBA championships in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999. After retiring from the sport, he returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.
Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards, numerous All-NBA Team and All-Defensive Team appearances, All-Star Game MVP and NBA Finals MVP awards, and other accolades. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game).
In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, and starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam as himself. (Full article...)
Selected team
Like most expansion teams, the Raptors struggled in their early years, but after the acquisition of Vince Carter through a draft day trade in 1998, the team set league attendance records and made the NBA Playoffs in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Carter was instrumental in leading the team to a franchise high 47 wins and their first playoff series win in 2001, where they advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. During the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, they failed to make significant progress and he was traded in 2004 to the New Jersey Nets. After Carter left, Chris Bosh emerged as the team leader, but they continued to struggle. However, with the appointment of Bryan Colangelo as Raptors President and General Manager, the first overall NBA draft selection of Andrea Bargnani, and a revamp of the roster for the 2006–07 season, they qualified for their first playoff berth in five years and captured the Atlantic Division title with 47 wins. In the 2007–08 season, they advanced to the playoffs again but failed to make the playoffs in the following season. Although Colangelo overhauled the team in an effort to keep Bosh after the end of his contract, Bosh signed with the Miami Heat in July 2010, ushering in a new era for the Raptors with Bargnani becoming the new face of the franchise. (Full article...)
In this month
- July 9, 1877 – The Championships, Wimbledon (2011 Ladies' Singles champion pictured), the oldest of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments, holds its first event
- July 18, 1965 – The first All-Africa Games multi-sport event begins in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo
- July 19, 1908 – The organizing body for international aquatic sports competitions, Fédération Internationale de Natation, is founded following the conclusion of the 1908 Summer Olympics
- July 20, 1986 – The first Special Olympics World Games takes place in Chicago, United States
- July 30, 2004 – The inaugural Women's Baseball World Cup begins in Edmonton, Canada
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