The Origin of Surfboards

The first surfboards were made in the early 1900’s and used by lifeguards. Back in the early 1900’s, people knew that wood floated. They made the first surfboards out of solid wood. Some of the boards weighed as much as 100 pounds and were as long as 16 feet. As time went on, surfboards got smaller and weighed less. In the 1950’s, surfboards weighed 50 pounds and were 10 feet long. In the 1980’s, surfboards weighed 15 pounds and were only 5 feet 2 inches long. They were made out of foam and fiberglass. This is when people began to use surfboards to have fun. People began doing tricks on surfboards and competitions began to pop up around the world.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3205/Surf.html

The Origin of Snowboards

The first snowboard was believed to be made in 1929 by a man named M.J. “Jack” Burchett. He used a wooden plank, clothesline, and horse reins. It was very basic. Later, in 1965, a man named Sherman Poppen came up with an idea. He lived in the Rocky Mountains. Poppen put two skis together and gave the toy to his daughter as a present. His wife called it the Snurfer. It had a rope in the front for riders to hold. It only took ten years for one million Snurfers to be sold. Others eventually began making their own versions of snowboards.

http://www.sbhistory.de/hist_in_the_beg.htm

The Broad Street Bullies

The Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970’s were known as the Broad Street Bullies. The hockey players on the team played very rough. Most of the players on the team had long hair and a lot of teeth missing. There were fights in almost every game. Other teams were scared to come to Philadelphia and play in the Spectrum. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 because of their physical play. The Broad Street Bullies also played a game against the Russians on January 11, 1976. The Russians were known as the Red Army and were supposedly the best team in the world. They played a few teams in the NHL and went undefeated. Their last game was in Philadelphia against the Flyers. The Broad Street Bullies came out hitting and checking hard. The Russians left the ice because of the Flyers hard hitting. The Flyer’s owner told the Russians that they would not get paid if they didn’t play. The Russians came back out and the Flyers continued to pound on the Russians. The Flyers won the game 4-1. The Broad Street Bullies are known for their physical style of hockey.

http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/hm.cgi?006hm

Mike Schmidt

Mike Schmidt was the best third baseman to play for the Philadelphia Phillies. He started his career in 1972. Schmidt played every game of his career in a Phillies uniform. He hit 548 homeruns and helped the Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series. The World Series MVP was awarded to Schmidt. This was the first time that the Phillies won the World Series. Schmidt retired in 1989 and was eventually inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1995. He will be remembered as one of the best players in Phillies history.

http://baseball.wikia.com/wiki/Mike_Schmidt

Miracle in the Meadowlands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzUHvg6QbaU

The Miracle in the Meadowlands occurred at the end of a football game on November, 19 1978. The Philadelphia Eagles were playing against the New York Giants in New York. The game was late in the fourth quarter with only a few seconds left. The giants had the ball and the lead. The Eagles had no timeouts to stop the clock. All the Giants had to do to win the game was run out the clock. Instead of kneeling the ball, the Giants tried to run the ball and ended up fumbling. Herman Edwards, from the Eagles, picked up the fumble and scored a touchdown to win the game for the Eagles. The final score was 17-12. This game showed everyone why kneeling the ball at the end of a game is better then running the ball. There is more of a chance to fumble when running the ball. This is why teams with leads late in games kneel the ball today.

http://www.steinersports.com/herman-edwards-autographed-11-19-78-miracle-in-the-meadowlands-b/w-horizontal-8x10-photograph

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aDy8BqEuyE

The video proves the difference between video back then and now. The video shows how basketball games and sports in general were video taped back then. You can see the video was in black and white and not in color like it is today. There also was just one camera angle and not multiply angles like it is today. There also was just one camera at a game and not every game was televised.

First pair of basket shoes

The first pair of basketball shoes came in 1917. The shoe was made by Converse. The shoe is legendary in basketball and now is a piece of American history. The shoe becoming popular when Chuck Taylor started to wear them in local exhibition games. The shoe was then apart of basketball history for 50 more years until Dr J got his on shoe.

http://www.simplysneakers.com/converse-shoes/

USA Miracle On Ice – 1980 Olympics

The Miracle On Ice is USA’s most memorable moment from the Olympics. On February 22, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, USA took on the Soviet Union, also known as the Red Machine, in men’s hockey. Many people think that this was the gold medal game, but it wasn’t. This was the game to get to the gold medal round. USA was a team that consisted of young college players. The Soviet Union was the best hockey team in the world at the time. USA’s young players trained for over a year together to compete in the 1980 Olympics. The USA and Soviet Union teams met in an exhibition game before the real games counted and the Soviet Union won by a score of 10-3. The Soviet Union was favored to win the game that counted. The game was tied at the end of the first period with a late goal scored by the USA. The Soviet Union took a 3-2 lead going into the third period. USA scored two goals in the final period to take the lead and held off the Soviet Union to win the game and go on to the gold medal game. The end of the game is when Al Michaels yelled, “Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!” Excitement rushed all across the USA. This game changed the USA’s culture by popularizing hockey in the states. After that game, USA went on to defeat Finland in the gold medal round to become the gold medal men’s hockey team in the 1980 Olympics.

http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/history/a/miracle_on_ice.htm

The Origin of Goalie Mask's In Hockey

The first year that a goalie mask was worn in hockey was 1927. Elizabeth Graham wore a fencing mask to protect herself from the puck. Later, in the year 1929, a goalie by the name of Clint Benedict began to wear a leather mask that was designed by himself. Wearing goalie masks did not become popular until a goalie from the Canadiens’ hockey team began to wear one in 1959. Jacques Plante suffered many broken bones from pucks hitting his face and decided it was time to protect his face with a mask. He designed a fiberglass mask that was a mold of his face. It was plain white with no art on it. There was an opening for each of his eyes and an opening for his mouth.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/hockey/kids/024003-2000-e.html

The First Basketball Game

Basketball was first played in Springfield, Massachusetts on January 20, 1892. The game was invented by a Canadian doctor named James Naismith. He invented basketball to be played at Springfield’s YMCA in the winter. The first basketball hoops were two peach baskets held up by nails. There were thirteen rules made by Naismith. Some of those rules have been customized and others have been removed. One of the original rules said that you could not dribble the ball. That rule was later removed. The ball that was used in the first game was a soccer ball because Naismith did not have enough money to design a new one. The first game lasted 30 minutes. William R. Chase was the first player to score in the game. As years passed, a lot of YMCA centers that were located in the North Eastern part of the United States and South Eastern Canada began to offer the game. Some YMCA centers banned basketball because it was rough. This was when basketball leagues started to come into existence.

http://www.nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/History1.html

The Origin of The Basball Glove

In the early 1870s, baseball players did not wear baseball gloves. According to Albert G. Spalding, who played on the Boston Red Stockings and Chicago White Stockings, players did not want to look like they were scared of the ball. The first player that Spalding saw wearing a glove was Charles C. Waite in 1875. Waite's glove was a flesh color so that it would not attract a lot of attention. The back of the glove was open in order to get air to flow in and out. Spalding was a pitcher and his hand was always taking a beating. In 1877, Spalding decided to wear a black glove for hand protection. As years passed, more players began to wear baseball gloves.

http://www.pasttimesports.biz/baseball.html