history of basketball

The history of basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a less injury-prone sport than football. The game became established fairly quickly and grew very popular as the 20th century progressed, first in America and then throughout the world. After basketball became established in American colleges, the professional game followed. The American National Basketball Association (NBA), established in 1946, grew to a multibillion-dollar enterprise by the end of the century, and basketball became an integral part of American culture.

The game of basketball as it is known today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during cold months. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style ball. He published 13 rules for the new game. He divided his class of eighteen into two teams of nine players each and set about to teach them the basics of his new game. The objective of the game was to throw the basketball into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was halted so the janitor could bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. After a while, the bottoms of the fruit baskets were removed. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.^[1]

On December 21, 1891, James Naismith published rules for a new game using five basic ideas and thirteen rules.^[3] That day, he asked his class to play a match in the Armory Street court: 9 versus 9, using a soccer ball and two peach baskets. Frank Mahan, one of his students, wasn’t so happy. He just said: "Harrumph. Another new game".^[4] However, Naismith was the inventor of the new game. Someone proposed to call it "Naismith Game", but he suggested "We have a ball and a basket: why don’t we call it basketball?"^[5] The eighteen players were John G. Thompson, Eugene S. Libby, Edwin P. Ruggles, William R. Chase, T. Duncan Patton, Frank Mahan, Finlay G. 

MacDonald, William H. Davis and Lyman Archibald, who defeated George Weller, Wilbert Carey, Ernest Hildner, Raymond Kaighn, Genzabaro Ishikawa, Benjamin S. French, Franklin Barnes, George Day and Henry Gelan 1–0.^[6] The goal was scored by Chase.^[7] There were other differences between Naismith’s first idea and the game played today. The peach baskets were closed, and balls had to be retrieved manually, until a small hole was put in the bottom of the peach basket to poke the ball out using a stick. Only in 1906 were metal hoops, nets and backboards introduced. Moreover, earlier the soccer ball was replaced by a Spalding ball, similar to the one used today.^[8][9]

The first professional league was founded in 1898. Six teams took part in the National Basketball League, and the first champions were the Trenton Nationals, followed by the New York Wanderers, the Bristol Pile Drivers and the Camden Electrics. The league was abandoned in 1904.^[13] Then, many small championships were organized, but most of them were not as important as some teams who played for money against challengers.

The Original Celtics, for instance, are considered the "fathers of basketball"^[14] and were presented as "World’s Basketball Champions";^[14] the players had to sign a contract to play with them, and Jim Furey organized matches as a circus, moving daily from town to town. The Celtics became the strongest team, and their successes lasted from 1922 until 1928, when the team disbanded due to ownership problems. The Original Celtics are sometimes incorrectly thought of as forebears of the current Boston Celtics of the NBA; in reality, they share only a name, as today's Celtics were not founded until 1946, nearly two decades after the demise of the Original Celtics. In 1922, the first all-African American professional team was founded: the Rens (also known as New York Renaissance or Harlem Renaissance).^[15] The Rens were the Original Celtics’ usual opponent, and for their matches a ticket cost $1.^[16] They took part in some official championships and won the first World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939. The team disbanded in 1949.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Basket Ball League (founded in 1909),^[17] Metropolitan Basketball League (founded in 1921)^[18] and American Basketball League (founded in 1925)^[19] were the most important leagues.a

about Jockey

Jockey was originally named Coopers Inc., and was founded by Samuel T. Cooper in St. Joseph, Michigan^[6] in 1876 as a hosierybusiness. Cooper began the business when he learned that lumberjacks were suffering from poorly constructed wool socks. In 1900, Cooper began making undergarments. Although business was good enough to merit expansion in 1902, by 1934 Coopers Inc. was nearly bankrupt due to hardships caused by the Great Depression. The company recruited Harry H. Wolf, Sr., to restructure the company.

On January 19, 1935, during a blizzard, Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs at the Marshall Field's State Street store in downtown Chicago. Designed by an apparel engineer named Arthur Kneibler, briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly.^[7] The company dubbed the design the maccky, since it offered a degree of support that had previously only been available from the jockstrap. Macky briefs proved so popular that over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. 

Coopers, having renamed the company Jockey, sent its Mascul-liner plane to make special deliveries of masculine support briefs to retailers across the US. In 1938, when macky were introduced in the UK, they sold at the rate of 3,000 a week.^[7] In 1997 Jockey acquired the seamless panties division of Formfit-Rogers, and sold them under the name Form-Fit (this branding was later discontinued).^[8] In 1982, Jockey introduced the Jockey For Her line of intimate apparel and underwear.^[9]

In 2000, Jockey began selling products directly on-line.

Jockey manufactured Life and Formfit brands temporarily for Wal-Mart and Target. Jockey continues to manufacture the Life brand of men's underwear but discontinued the women's line in 2002. Jockey continues to manufacture both men's and women's lines for Target under the JKY brand.

In 2005, Jockey introduced its direct-selling division jockeyp2p.com.^[10] The independent sales force, known as Comfort Specialist Consultants, sells products for women. Product lines include outerwear, sportswear, active wear, and accessories. 

Jockey International Chairman and CEO Debra S. Waller founded Jockey Person to Person to provide women with the opportunity to enjoy a rich family life while making their dreams come true.

In India, Page Industries Ltd. is the licensee for Jockey.

football story

The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος" (Episkyros)^[11][12] or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda),^[13] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} The Roman politician Cicero (106–43 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the follis.^[19][20] Episkyrosis recognised as an early form of football by FIFA.^[21]

A Chinese game called Cuju  Tsu' Chu, or Zuqiu  has been recognised by FIFA as the first version of the game with regular rules.^[22] It existed during the Han dynasty, the second and third centuries BC.^{[citation needed]} The Japanese version of cuju is kemari, and was developed during the Asuka period.^[23] This is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari several people stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground (much like keepie uppie). The game appears to have died out sometime before the mid-19th century. It was revived in 1903 and is now played at a number of festivals.^{[citation needed]}

There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous peoples in many different parts of the world. For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an English explorer named John Davis, went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit (Eskimo) people in Greenland.^[24] There are later accounts of an Inuit game played on ice, called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. In 1610, William Strachey, a colonist at Jamestown, Virginia recorded a game played by Native Americans, called Pahsaheman.^{[citation needed]} On the Australian continent several tribes of indigenous people played kicking and catching games with stuffed balls which have been generalised by historians as Marn Grook (Djab Wurrung for "game ball"). 

The earliest historical account is an anecdote from the 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, in which a man called Richard Thomas is quoted as saying, in about 1841 in Victoria, Australia, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." Some historians have theorised that Marn Grook was one of the origins of Australian rules football.

The Māori in New Zealand played a game called Ki-o-rahi consisting of teams of seven players play on a circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target.^{[citation needed]}

Games played in Mesoamerica with rubber balls by indigenous peoples are also well-documented as existing since before this time, but these had more similarities to basketball or volleyball, and no links have been found between such games and modern football sports. Northeastern American Indians, especially the Iroquois Confederation, played a game which made use of net racquets to throw and catch a small ball; however, although it is a ball-goal foot game, lacrosse (as its modern descendant is called) is likewise not usually classed as a form of "football."^{[citation needed]}

These games and others may well go far back into antiquity. However, the main sources of modern football codes appear to lie in western Europe, especially England

Golf Story

Golf Story is a role-playing sports adventure game that follows a down-on-his-luck golfer attempting to reclaim his childhood love of golf, passed down to him by his father, after not playing the game for 20 years. The game is presented as a traditional role playing game, with the combat replaced with golfing. The player is free to explore eight unique areas^[1] (some of which are locked at the start), each filled with side quests and minigames that allow the player to earn experience and money, which can be used to develop the player's skills and purchase new equipment. 

Each area includes a nine-hole golf course that can be played after certain missions are completed. Golf is played with the traditional three-click system,^[2] in which player clicks once to aim, once to set power, and once to set accuracy.

Even when not playing an entire 9-hole course or specific challenge, the player can tee up and drive a ball from any outdoor location in the world at any time. Players are encouraged to do so by a variety of secret or challenging targets that the player may discover while exploring. These special targets typically reward bonus cash or experience points, but in rare cases they may even unlock new areas. 

Just as in traditional RPGs, the player is rewarded for exploring locations, searching containers, and talking to NPCs. For example, some NPCs will provide players with a clue for the location of a secret cache, which the player can dig up with a special wedge.

In addition to traditional golf, the game also features a handful of cousin sports, including disc golf, mini-golf, an Atari-like golfing video game, multiple driving ranges, and lawn bowling.^[2]

Golf Story was originally in development as a Wii U title by a two-man team, and was to be Sidebar Games' first game on a home console platform.^[3] Due to lengthy development time from expansion of the game's scope, development moved over to the Nintendo Switch after the end of Wii U's lifespan, and Nintendo assisted Sidebar Games with the process.^[3] The game was influenced by various past golf video game titles, and particularly the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf.^[3] A split-screen two player story mode was originally planned for Golf Story, but was cut due to time constraints.^[3] Sidebar Games has no plans to port the game to other platforms.^[3]

Golf Story was released in North America, Europe, and Australia on September 28, 2017.^[1][4] A Japanese release is also planned.^[3]

While the majority of the reviews were mostly positive, some reviewers felt the RPG was lacking in crucial areas, such as game mechanics and originality. Gaming Trend reported, "Golf Story is held back by a number of mechanics, some of which are not very fleshed out or enjoyable." ^[10] RPGamer noted "...it can be argued that the game doesn't provide anything overly new..." ^[11]

Eurogamer ranked Golf Story fiftieth on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017".^[12]

Knack for Baseball

Baseball icon Babe Ruth set numerous records as a pitcher and slugging outfielder. He was among the first five players inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame.

Synopsis

Baseball player Babe Ruth was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. Over the course of his career, Ruth went on to break baseball's most important slugging records, including most years leading a league in home runs, most total bases in a season, and highest slugging percentage for a season. In all, Ruth hit 714 home runs—a mark that stood until 1974.

Early Life

Professional baseball player Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruth was raised in a poor waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore, where his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth Sr., owned a tavern. Ruth was one of eight children born to the couple, and one of only two that survived infancy.

At the age of 7, the trouble-making Ruth became too much of a handful for his busy parents. Routinely caught wandering the dockyards, drinking, chewing tobacco and taunting local police officers, his parents finally decided he needed more discipline than they could give him. Ruth's family sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic orphanage and reformatory that became Ruth's home for the next 12 years. Ruth particularly looked up to a monk named Brother Matthias, who became a father figure to the young boy.

Knack for Baseball

Mathias, along with several other monks of the order, introduced Ruth to baseball, a game at which the boy excelled. By the time he was 15, Ruth showed exceptional skill both as a strong hitter and pitcher. It was his pitching that initially caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. At the time, the Orioles groomed players for the major league team known as the Boston Red Sox, and Dunn saw promise in Ruth's athletic performance.

Only 19, the law at the time stated that Ruth had to have a legal guardian sign his baseball contract in order for him to play professionally. As a result, Dunn became Ruth's legal guardian, leading teammates to jokingly call Ruth "Dunn's new babe." The joke stuck, and Ruth quickly earned the nickname "Babe" Ruth.

Ruth was only with the club for a short time before he was called up to the majors in Boston. The left-handed pitcher proved immediately to be a valuable member of the team. Over the next five years, Ruth led the Red Sox to three championships, including the 1916 title which saw him pitch a still-record 13 scoreless innings in one game.

Major Leagues

With its titles and "the Babe," Boston was clearly the class act of the major leagues. All that would change in 1919, however, with a single stroke of a pen. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. He found help in the New York Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the rights to Ruth for the then-impressive sum of $100,000.

The deal came to shape both franchises in unforeseen ways. For Boston, Ruth's departure spelled the end of the team's winning streak. It wouldn't be until 2004 that the club would win another World Series, a championship drought that later sports writers dubbed "The Curse of the Bambino."

For the New York Yankees, it was a different matter. With Ruth leading the way, New York turned into a dominant force, winning four World Series titles over the next 15 seasons. Ruth, who became a full-time outfielder, was at the heart of all the success, unleashing a level of power that had never been seen before in the game.

Record-breaking Career

In 1919, while with the Red Sox, Ruth set a single-season home run record of 29. This turned out to be just the beginning of a series of record-breaking performances by Ruth. In 1920, his first year in New York, he knocked 54 home runs. In his second season he broke his own record by hitting 59 home runs and, in less than 10 seasons, Ruth had made his mark as baseball's all-time home run leader.

Yet the athlete seemed determined to continue breaking his own records. In 1927, he outdid himself again by hitting 60 home runs in a season's time—a record that stood for 34 years. By this time, his presence was so great in New York that the new Yankee Stadium (built in 1923) was dubbed "the house that Ruth built."

Over the course of his career, Ruth went on to break baseball's most important slugging records, including most years leading a league in home runs (12); most total bases in a season (457); and highest slugging percentage for a season (.847). In all he hit 714 home runs, a mark that stood until 1974, when Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves surpassed him.

Retirement and Legacy

Ruth's success on the field was matched by a lifestyle that catered perfectly to a pre-Depression America hungry for a fast lifestyle. Rumors of his large appetite for food, alcohol, and women, as well as his tendency toward extravagant spending and high living, were as legendary as his exploits at the plate. This reputation, whether true or imagined, hurt Ruth's chances of becoming a team manager in later life. Ball clubs, wary of his lifestyle, didn't want to take a chance on the seemingly irresponsible Ruth. In 1935 he was lured back to Boston to play for the Braves and for the opportunity, so he thought, to manage the club the following season. The job never materialized.

On May 25, 1935, an overweight and greatly diminished Babe Ruth reminded fans of his greatness one last time when hit three home runs in a single game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The following week, Ruth officially retired. He was one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

While he eventually earned the title of coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, Ruth never achieved his goal of managing a major league team. Known throughout his life as a generous man, he gave much of his time in his last years to charitable events instead. On June 13, 1948, he made one last appearance at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the building's 25th anniversary. Sick with cancer, Ruth had become a shadow of his former, gregarious self.

Two months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died, leaving much of his estate to the Babe Ruth Foundation for underprivileged children. He was survived by his second wife, Claire, and his daughters, Dorothy and Julia.