Christmas_ports

It is the Most Wonderful time of the Year.

Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, as well as the New Year bring out opportunities to create memories with those closest to us. 

The NBA, NFL, as well as the NCAA are simultaneously writing another chapter in their respective history books.  

Will this be the only time that we see a select number of NBA teams to being their season on Christmas Day?

With a gaggle of vocal opinions during the recent lockout, the want for a shortened season is no secret. 

The 2011 NBA season may be used as a benchmark for the structure of a new schedule for future seasons to come.

Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, forcing the NFL to schedule week 16, games on Christmas Eve. 

Only the Bears and the Packers play on Christmas Day.  Hosted by NBC, "Football Night in America" the game will be aired on Sunday night.

With the NBA having traditional success in showing their premier teams on the holiday, why wouldn't the NFL use this day to showcase their product.  Used by many as a day to relax with those close to us, watch classic movies or venture to the theater, it is only logical for the NFL to mimic one of the few things the NBA does correctly.

It is the same story for NCAA football.  The Bowl Season marks a time for the corperate world to try to obtain the biggest names in college football they can and have them compete.  Fans travel across the country to support their children, friends, and classmates in their last chance of the season to showcase their talent.  Some of these players will never play at this sort of magnitude again.

Why not make it on a Holiday

Football on Thanksgiving seems to be a functonal Tradition.

"Anyone who will tear down sports will tear down America, sports and religion have made America what it is today."  Woody Hayes.  Former Ohio State University Football Coach.

Maybe one day a sports fanatic president will make Superbowl Sunday a national holiday.

Who would oppose?

The Other Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving is one of the longest standing American, and Canadian, traditional holiday withheld today.  Traces of the celebration date back to April 1598 when Don Juan led a group of settlers north from Chihuahua, Mexico to San Elizario, Texas.  In celebration of their newly acquired settlement Juan led the celebration of La Toma, which claimed the new land to King Phillip II of Spain. The better known tale of the story took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts when the colonist celebrated the combination of the anniversary of their settlement, and a successful harvest.  This tradition celebrated the sharing of food and land with all peoples.  

On December 26th 1941, Thanksgiving day (in America) was officially to be celebrated the third Thursday of every November.

Today, 'Turkey Day'  is celebrated by five countries, mainly in Canada and the United States and is still used as a day to eat well and enjoy family company.  In this 'recession' many won't complain about a nationally celebrated day off, no matter what the case.

Founded in 1929 as the Portsmouth, Ohio Spartans, the team was just not able to accumulate a strong enough fan base in an up and coming NFL.  WJR Radio station George Richards bought and moved the team to Detroit in 1934. 

 

 The Detroit Tigers had just won the American League pennant.  Detroit's sports fans heart was already held by a promising franchise.  Prior to an unofficial Thanksgiving day game against the undefeated defending world champion Chicago Bears, the Lions largest crowd was no larger than 15,000 fans in the University of Detroit Stadium.  Richards had plenty of national media swing, and he used to it to show off what he believed one of his investments could become.  Convincing NBC to broadcast the game over 94 national stations, 26,000 people filled the once empty seats.  The Lions lost 19 - 16 to the eventual NFL champions, but returned the next season to win the 1935 NFL title.  Not a bad way to gain support from local citizens and  publicize one of the most watched sports in America today.

 

As long as Thanksgiving has been technical, the Lions have been their to entertain us.  To support or hope fais, All sports fans can look forward to watching football on a National Holiday. 

A Northerners look on a Deep South Tradition.

The University of Georgia is located in Athens, Georgia.  Founded in 1785, they are 'self proclaimed' the oldest public university in the country.  The deep south is rooted in rich traditional family and religious values.  The Georgia Bulldogs Football Program is one of those valued traditions.

Originating in 1892, the 'dawgs football program has been a force to deal with since the very beginning.  Georgia won their first game against Mercer 50 to 0.  In this primitive time of college football, this inaugural season was short lived when the 'dawgs lost their second, and final game of the season, to Auburn 10 - 0.  In this defeat, the biggest rivalry in college football was born.

"Atlanta will be the Scene Saturday afternoon of the first interstate collegiate football game.  Both teams have been practicing for weeks "Atlanta Journal, February 17, 1892
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Georgia and Auburn have battled every year since 1898, with the exception of the seasons that were affected due to WWI and WWII.  Auburn leads the very tight fought series 54-53-8.



The Bulldogs play their football at Sanford Stadium.  Named after Steadman Vincent Sanford.  Completed in 1929, the stadium has a capacity of 92,746.  Games played at Sanford are played "Between the Hedges"  because of the Privet Hedges that circle the field.  The Hedges that sprouted with the stadium opening, were renovated in 1996 and replaced with shorter hedges. One haircut in sixty seven years.  Sanford is the seventh largest stadium in the NCAA and the fourteenth largest stadium in the world.
A live Bulldog has been the mascot since 1956.  All the dogs have been name Uga. The most recent member of this rich mascot tradition was UgaVIII, who died of lymphoma on Feb 3, 2011.  There is no replacement for the current 2011 season.
All mascots are buried under the stadium.
Only the Bulldogs may call Sanford Stadium home.

Georgia victories are never scarce.  The overall record is 746-398-54.  (11-19-2001) They hold twelve South Eastern Conference Championships (SEC) the most prestigious and competitive conference in college football.  They are five time National Champions, the last coming in 1980.  Starting in the sometime in the  1890's when the primitive football field was located near the local chapel, freshman were required to ring the chapel's bell until midnight after victories.  Present day the tradition lives, only freshman aren't obligated to participate in the victory practice.  There are plenty of alum, students, as well as fans who will gladly assist in celebrating victory, and tradition.  The bell is now rung after ever athletic team has a victory.

Georgia University has put their successful collegiate football players into a position to succeed at the NFL level.  Herschel Walker, Champ Bailey, Garrison Hearst, and David Pollack were award winners in their time at school.  All of them went on to become household NFL names.
Matt Stafford, also a former Bulldog, was the first overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft and his currently leading the Lions to the best season they've had in over ten years.

"I'm from Ohio, but if I'd known when I was two what it was like down South, I would have crawled here on my hands and knees."  Frank Sinkwich,  the first Heisman Trophy winner from the SEC.

During the NCAA football season, many bias claims are made that the SEC is shown favoritism in publicity and rankings.  With Traditions as deep rooted such as Georgia, these bias claims are made valid.  If a University has invested over 100 and millions of dollars into a program, the results need to be recognized.

The University of Georgia Bulldogs Football Program is and will always be a powerhouse in the NCAA.  With loyal fans, alumni, students and boosters, the traditions success and ending is no where in site.

The radical end of the fanmanship spectrum.

Football Hooliganism is a way life in the world of Soccer, Futball, or Football depending on your location.  The British media refers to it as The English Disease. Local supporters of Football Clubs engage in destructive behavior such as vandalism, violence and intimidation

 In contrast to the standard American gang, Hooligans do everything in support of their favorite club.  'Crews' dress in publicly accepted apparel, such as designer brands and high end sports gear to blend into public as standing members of society who support a harmless sports team.  The emergence of the first 'crews' started in the 1970s when England's premier teams all had hardcore supporters.  Violence became so widespread that opposing fans during matches are segregated and fenced apart inside stadiums.  Scattered law enforcement and security is scattered in both crowds.  These precautions were taken in 1974 after a Bolton Wanderers Hooligan stabbed a young Blackpool fan behind Bloomfield Road, stadium home to Blackpool.  In the same year, England's most popular FC (Football Club) Manchester United was relegated to premierships second division (there are 3 divisions, ranked 1 to 3). United, always one of the premier teams in the country, are not used to being relegated.  United's crew of hooligans caused mayhem across the country.  Many incidence and years later in 1999, the Football (Offences and Disorders) Act was implemented in Whales and England.  The laws also apply in Scotland, Sweden, Italy, The Republic of Ireland, Norway, and France.The act is enforced by the National Criminal Intelligence Service, which also acts as the UK's Interpol and Europol host locations.  The NCIS keeps a database of convicted as well as suspected violators.  The database lists supporters in three different categories.  Those placed in category A are considered peaceful bone-fide supporters.  Category B are those who are prone to cause disorder, and alcohol related violence.  Category C are the hardcore Hooligans, they are supporters and organizers of violence.  They will use the internet, and text messaging to organize fights with opposing crews.  The NCIS can place a banning order on these Hooligans, revoking their passports and forcing them to check into police stations periodically.

The film Green Street was released in 2005.  It is a story of a Harvard student who is introduced to the life of a member in West Ham's Hooligan Crew, The Green Street Elite.
Picture of crews fighting is in the bottom most picture on the right.

This raises the question, are more hooligans imminent to surface elsewhere in the world, or in different sports?

After an annual preseason game between the San Francisco 49'ers and the Oakland Raiders in the 2011 season, two Raider fans were shot and seriously injured.
The Raiders and 49'ers will no longer play eachother during the preseason.

On opening day of the 2011 baseball season, Bryan Stow a San Francisco Giant Fan, was beaten to the point of comatose and paralysis by two Los Angeles Dodger fans outside of Dodger Stadium.

Sports fans can only hope that they can continue to support their team without being afraid of harm coming to them.  There will always be crazies, but is that number increasing?

The Importance of sports to civilization is not a new trend.

The Meso-American Ball Game is the oldest team sport on Earth. It was created over 3,500 years ago.  Meso-America includes parts of present day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.  Azteks and Mayans are examples of cultures that played this game.  A very important part of the culture, cities, ceremonies, and daily life revolved around the sport. The exact rules of the game are unknown. From the knowledge we do have, the game is similar to racket ball, keep the ball in play.  The court shaped as a capital I has walls angled about fourty five degrees inclining away from the court.

  The ball is a rubber ball.  Made from acquiring the latex from a rubber tree and mixing it with the juice of the Morning Glory vine.  The ingredients are mixed for ten minutes then shaped into a rubber ball, hardening very quickly.

In the traditional original version the game, two tribes lined up on opposing sides of the court were to keep the rubber ball moving using only their hips.  If the ball were to stop, there is assumed a point system where a team was given a score. First to hit the ending score, was the winner.  As the game developed, players were allowed to use their for-arms, rackets, bats, or hand-stones. A ring was also added to the court, and hitting the ball to hit, or go through the ring meant an immediate game stoppage and win for the appropriate team.

The games winner got way more than bragging rights.  Leaders of the ancient cultures such as Azteks, Mayans, Toltecs, and the Xochimilco used the game to settle and defuse conflicts rather than wage war.  Games were also used to settle disputes within their own societies   The stakes were so high, when teams were defeated the players were then decapitated, their bloody heads put on stakes as food for the gods.

This Meso-American ball game shows the development and importance of sport to a higher degree during a very early time on earth.  It was not "the gods" who dictated cultures future and growth, it was a competition. I can only speculate that no one was thinking about the gods as these games went on, but were rather supporting their athletes, players, warriors because they decided their fate.

Fans every day spend money in support of their favorite sports teams.  Whether it be buying apparel, tickets, or buying the sports package that allows the displaced fan to keep track of their team. The success or failure of a team can emotionally destruct or boost their fans. No longer are sports used to settle cultural disputes as a replacement for war.  Discussion and debates regarding sports happen every day and are only solved one way, on the field.