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By Paul Babs
Super Bowl Day! The championship of the National Football
League! A hundred thousand spectators yelling and cheering in
the stadium! The intensity of the competition vibrates over
the
television in every home! Excitement resonates everywhere! No
one remains unaffected by this event!
The excitement all began in the 1860s when courageous players
from Princeton and Rutgers played the first football game in
New Jersey. The Rutgers’ players wore scarlet-colored scarves
wrapped around their head like turbans. This was long before
helmets were mandatory and the Princeton players evidently
played bare-headed. The competition was fierce. It was
intense.
The rivalry between the schools was played out in two vicious
games that resulted in football being banned for a time
because
it interfered with academic studies. This same accusation has
plagued college football teams every since.
The memorable heroes of this sport are still talked about
years
after they’ve passed on. On a dusty dirt field in Ohio in 1915
the infamous Jim Thorpe, a running back, played against the
most determined defensive end, Knute Rockne. They didn’t have
a
television camera on them, but their names went down in
history.
Rockne was a Norwegian immigrant who grew up in Chicago and
went
on to Notre Dame. He became the college’s most famous football
coach. He died in a plane crash in 1931. Jim Thorpe, a twin,
was an American Indian of the Sac and Fox Tribe in Oklahoma
and
was studying at a federal government vocational school for
Indian students. Not just a football player, he went to the
Olympics in Stockholm in 1912 and won gold medals in both the
pentathlon and the decathlon.
When King Gustaf V of Sweden presented Thorpe with his two
gold
medals, he said, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the
world!” Bruised members of other football teams playing
against
Thorpe agreed that he was the theoretical super player in
flesh
and blood.
The National Football League formed in 1920, and George Halas
was one of the twelve founders. In 1921 his Decatur, Illinois,
team moved to Chicago and was nicknamed the ‘Bears.’ Halas
created his own fast-moving history as the owner, coach and
captain of the team he helped make famous.
When introduced to President Calvin Coolidge, along with team
member Red Grange, as being with the Chicago Bears, the
President replied, “How interesting. I’ve always enjoyed
animal
acts.” Football was not yet the favorite American sport.
Television both educated and influenced the public regarding
football. Especially with the instant play-back features that
modern electronics provides, football has captured the hearts
of Americans. Now fans can see a unique play not only once,
but
from several angles, over and over again. They can study every
move of their heroes.
About The Author: Paul Babs is the owner of Soccer Expo Agency
which supplies all soccer info.For more information, go to:
www.feelfootball.com
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