Cincinatti Bengals History Had Slow Beginnings

Posted by admin | Posted on 23-02-2011

Category : Region III

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Cincinatti Bengals History Had Slow Beginnings

Copyright (c) 2010 Matthew Love

The Cincinnati Bengals began their franchise in professional football as a member of the American Football League in 1968. They became a member prior to the merger that combined both leagues into one league now known as the NFL. They began as a member of the Western Division of the AFL, and then were transferred to the AFC Central Division in 1970. In 2002, their final move was to the AFC North. They play their games in Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium, and are coached by Marvin Lewis, with Owner and General Manager Mike Brown leading the franchise.

Cincinnati Bengals history began when Paul Brown (founder), was convinced by Governor James A. Rhoades that the state of Ohio needed a second professional team. Cincinnati was chosen for the location, which split the state in two when it came to professional football support. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the American Football League had a team in Cincinnati called the Bengals, which is what made Brown choose that name for his team in 1968. The zoo was also home to the rare white Bengal Tiger, which is speculated to be the reason for his choice. Some people believe that Paul Brown chose precisely the same shade of orange for his team that his former team, the Cleveland Browns, used in their uniforms, and did it as an insult to Art Modell.

The helmet design simply had the “Bengals” name lettered in black on an orange background. This style was chosen over a striped design that is very much like the ones used today. When Brown was fired by Modell, he kept the rights to the equipment. This made it easy for him to turn his new team into look-alikes of former Cleveland Browns teams. They kept the same look until 1981, new helmets and a new uniform design was implemented for the team. Brown was at first discouraged by his acquisition, because they were signed to play in the AFL. Although, once he was informed that the team would be a part of the merger with the NFL in 1970, he established the team.

Hamilton County was facing problems finding the Reds a new stadium to call home, and the Cincinnati Bengals needed a football field. This created many complications and difficulties for the teams, but eventually the problem was resolved with the building of a single facility on the riverfront, which had been abandoned in recent years. The facility was scheduled for completion for the 1970 season, and was rightly named Riverfront Stadium. The inaugural season was played at Nippert Stadium, currently home to the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. They finished with a 3-11 record, although they had the AFL Rookie of the Year in Paul Robinson.

Once the NFL merger was completed, the Cleveland Browns were moved into the AFC franchise, which was created from mostly AFL teams that joined the NFL. They were placed into the AFC Central alongside the Cincinnati Bengals, which created an instant rivalry that was initially fueled by the team’s owner. Paul Brown named himself as coach of the team, where he remained for eight seasons. They moved to Riverfront Stadium the early 70s, which was a shared stadium with the Cincinnati Reds until 2000. They managed to make the playoffs three times throughout the 70s, but had no luck winning postseason games. In the 1980s, the Cincinnati Bengals history includes two Super Bowl appearances, but unfortunately gave the title to the San Francisco 49ers both times. Paul Brown passed away in 1990, but had already handed down owner control to his son, Mike Brown. This began a challenging part of Cincinnati Bengals history considering they subsequently had 14 losing seasons. The team began to turn around in 2003, Marvin Lewis was hired to be head coach. For the first time in 15 years, in 2005, they made it back to the playoffs. Since 2005, Cincinnati Bengals history has not been good, although 2009 is showing promise considering their winning record and more importantly the games the Bengals have won to get that record.

M.R. Love FootballCollectibles.com http://www.footballcollectibles.com/CincinnatiBengals.htm Cincinnati Bengals History, Blogs, News, Apparel and Memorabilia.


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A Concise History of Austin, Texas

Posted by admin | Posted on 10-02-2011

Category : Region IV

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A Concise History of Austin, Texas

Long before Austin became the bustling city that we see today, it was a popular hunting and fishing area for many of the regional Native American tribes. Nomadic tribes, such as the Apache, Tonkawa and Comanche, made camp in the area and took advantage of the vast natural resources for their survival.

In the early 1830’s, white settlers founded a small village in the area, then called Waterloo, which was chosen as the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1839. It was then that the name of the settlement was changed to Austin, as a tribute to the founder of Texas, Stephen Austin. The small village began to grow into a thriving city in a very short period of time, with nearly 900 residents in just a few months of its selection as the capital.

The year 1845 brought the annexation of Texas into the United States. The state’s legislature approved Austin as the capital of the newly created state, and over the next several years, two public referendums confirmed this decision. Austin continued to grow and thrive, becoming the true heart of the state. When the railroad came to the city in 1871, Austin’s population exploded. Within half a decade, the population of the city rose from around 5,000 residents to 10,000.          

The 1880’s brought the introduction of the city’s public school system. This, coupled with the opening of the University of Texas at Austin, brought a true sense of order and community to the city. In 1888, Austin’s state capital building was completed, bringing even more attention to the steadily growing city. It was billed at the time as the 7th largest building in the world. The building was constructed of pink granite and the peak of the building stands higher than the US Capitol building in Washington, DC.

From the early 1900’s through the 1950’s, Austin became a hub of manufacturing and innovation. There were factories, laboratories and think-tanks popping up all over the area, and many companies were finding that the city was the ideal location for their businesses. Even today, some of the best known technological innovators have their offices and factories around Austin. This high-tech attraction to the area has earned the region the nickname “The Silicon Hills.”

In the 1970’s, the interests of the people of the city seemed to turn to culture, the community and the environment. Well-known musicians, such as Willie Nelson, brought the attention of the rest of the country and the world to the city. The live music scene began to grown and Austin is now known as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Communities grew close and people worked together to make their neighborhoods safe and beautiful. The people and the government took steps together to preserve the area’s natural resources and to make Austin a cleaner, greener place to live. This trend has continued up to today, with Austin being a unique city, known for its music, strong community ties, and deep interest in environmental issues.

About the Author:
Joe Cline writes articles for Austin Texas real estate. Other articles written by the author related to REMAX Austin and Rollingwood realtor can be found on the net.


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The History of Birmingham City University

Posted by admin | Posted on 12-01-2011

Category : Region I

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The History of Birmingham City University

It may not be the largest of the three universities that reside in Birmingham, but the Birmingham City University certainly has an impressive history. There are eight campuses in all, so if you think of the university as having one distinct building you couldn’t be further from the truth.

As such the history of the university goes back further than you might think. It was back in 1843 that the first building blocks of the university we know today came into existence. This occurred with the opening of the Birmingham Government School of Design.

It would be another 128 years before we would reach the next significant stage in the evolution of the university. This was the moment when the five main colleges that existed in Birmingham were joined together. In doing so the City of Birmingham Polytechnic was formed.

As you can see, while the Birmingham City University holds a strong place in the hearts of many students in the city, it has changed and evolved in lots of different ways over the years. The Birmingham Polytechnic, as it was known from 1971 onwards, only lasted in the form of a polytechnic for 17 years however. The next stage of development in the life of what we now call the Birmingham City University would be even shorter – lasting for just three years.

In this case the change was a move from being within the realm of the local education authority to gaining independent status. When 1992 dawned, so did the opportunity to finally give university status to the polytechnic. It was agreed that this would be done, and the University of Central England (in Birmingham) was formed, although in essence only the name was changed.

So we are nearly up to date and as you can see there were many stages and changes which all took place to bring the university to its present form. All that remained to do was to change the name of this new university to something more memorable. This was done in 2007, so while the Birmingham City University has been with us for well 150 years, its name is just a baby.

Many students have studied at the various campuses which form part of the university. Whether it is at the School of Art in Margaret Street or the Birmingham Conservatoire, there are lots of opportunities to study in the city. There are also lots of Birmingham hotels nearby if you wish to visit the city for a few days to see whether the university has any courses to offer you.

Paul Buchanan writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.


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History of Indian Race

Posted by admin | Posted on 04-01-2011

Category : Region III

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History of Indian Race

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, the very beginning of the United States’ history is considered from the time of European exploration and settlement, starting in the 16th century, to the present. But people had been living in America for over 30,000 years before the first European colonists arrived.

When Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492 he was welcomed by a brown-skinned people whose physical appearance confirmed him in his opinion that he had at last reached India, and whom, therefore, he called Indios, Indians, a name which, however mistaken in its first application continued to hold its own, and has long since won general acceptance, except in strictly scientific writing, where the more exact term American is commonly used. As exploration was extended north and south it was found that the same race was spread over the whole continent, from the Arctic shores to Cape Horn, everywhere alike in the main physical characteristics, with the exception of the Eskimo in the extreme North (whose features suggest the Mongolian).

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Origin and Antiquity

Various origins have been assigned to the Indian race. The more or less beleivable explanation is following. At the height of the Ice Age, between 34,000 and 30,000 B.C., much of the world’s water was contained in vast continental ice sheets. As a result, the Bering Sea was hundreds of meters below its current level, and a land bridge, known as Beringia, emerged between Asia and North America. At its peak, Beringia is thought to have been some 1,500 kilometers wide. A moist and treeless tundra, it was covered with grasses and plant life, attracting the large animals that early humans hunted for their survival. The first people to reach North America almost certainly did so without knowing they had crossed into a new continent. They would have been following game, as their ancestors had for thousands of years, along the Siberian coast and then across the land bridge.

Race Type

The most marked physical characteristics of the Indian race type are brown skin, dark brown eyes, prominent cheek bones, straight black hair, and scantiness of beard. The color is not red, as is popularly supposed, but varies from very light in some tribes, as the Cheyenne, to almost black in others, as the Caddo and Tarimari. In a few tribes, as the Flatheads, the skin has a distinct yellowish cast. The hair is brown in childhood, but always black in the adult until it turns grey with age. Baldness is almost unknown. The eye is not held so open as in the Caucasian and seems better adapted to distance than to close work. The nose is usually straight and well shaped, and in some tribes strongly aquiline. Their hands and feet are comparatively small. Height and weight vary as among Europeans, the Pueblos averaging but little more than five feet, while the Cheyenne and Arapaho are exceptionally tall, and the Tehuelche of Patagonia almost massive in build. As a rule, the desert Indians, as the Apache, are spare and muscular in build, while those of the timbered regions are heavier, although not proportionately stronger. The beard is always scanty, but increases with the admixture of white blood. The mistaken idea that the Indian has naturally no beard is due to the fact that in most tribes it is plucked out as fast as it grows, the eyebrows being treated in the same way. There is no tribe of “white Indians”, but albinos with blond skin, weak pink eyes and almost white hair are occasionally found, especially among the Pueblos.

Major Cultural Areas

From prehistoric times until recent historic times there were roughly six major cultural areas, excluding that of the Arctic (see Eskimo), i.e., Northwest Coast, Plains, Plateau, Eastern Woodlands, Northern, and Southwest.

·        The Northwest Coast Area

The Northwest Coast area extended along the Pacific coast from South Alaska to North California. The main language families in this area were the Nadene in the north and the Wakashan (a subdivision of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock) and the Tsimshian (a subdivision of the Penutian linguistic stock) in the central area. Typical tribes were the Kwakiutl, the Haida, the Tsimshian, and the Nootka. Thickly wooded, with a temperate climate and heavy rainfall, the area had long supported a large Native American population. Salmon was the staple food, supplemented by sea mammals (seals and sea lions) and land mammals (deer, elk, and bears) as well as berries and other wild fruit. The Native Americans of this area used wood to build their houses and had cedar-planked canoes and carved dugouts. In their permanent winter villages some of the groups had totem poles, which were elaborately carved and covered with symbolic animal decoration. Their art work, for which they are famed, also included the making of ceremonial items, such as rattles and masks; weaving; and basketry. They had a highly stratified society with chiefs, nobles, commoners, and slaves. Public display and disposal of wealth were basic features of the society. They had woven robes, furs, and basket hats as well as wooden armor and helmets for battle. This distinctive culture, which included cannibalistic rituals, was not greatly affected by European influences until after the late 18th cent., when the white fur traders and hunters came to the area.

TRIBES: Abenaki, Algonkin, Beothuk, Delaware, Erie, Fox, Huron, Illinois, Iroquois, Kickapoo, Mahican, Mascouten, Massachuset, Mattabesic, Menominee, Metoac, Miami, Micmac, Mohegan, Montagnais, Narragansett, Nauset, Neutrals, Niantic, Nipissing, Nipmuc, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Pennacook, Pequot, Pocumtuck, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, Susquehannock, Tionontati, Wampanoag, Wappinger, Wenro, Winnebago.

·        The Plains Area

The Plains area extended from just North of the Canadian border, South to Texas and included the grasslands area between the Mississippi River and the foothills of the Rocky Mts. The main language families in this area were the Algonquian-Wakashan, the Aztec-Tanoan, and the Hokan-Siouan. In pre-Columbian times there were two distinct types of Native Americans there: sedentary and nomadic. The sedentary tribes, who had migrated from neighbor ing regions and had initally settled along the great river valleys, were farmers and lived in permanent villages of dome-shaped earth lodges surrounded by earthen walls. They raised corn, squash, and beans. The foot  nomads, on the other hand, moved about with their goods on dog-drawn travois and eked out a precarious existence by hunting the vast herds of buffalo (bison) – usually by driving them into enclosures or rounding them up by setting grass fires. They supplemented their diet by exchanging meat and hides for the corn of the agricultural Native Americans.

The horse, first introduced by the Spanish of the Southwest, appeared in the Plains about the beginning of the 18th cent. and revolutionized the life of the Plains Indians. Many Native Americans left their villages and joined the nomads. Mounted and armed with bow and arrow, they ranged the grasslands hunting buffalo. The other Native Americans remained farmers (e.g., the Arikara, the Hidatsa, and the Mandan). Native Americans from surrounding areas came into the Plains (e.g., the Sioux from the Great Lakes, the Comanche and the Kiowa from the west and northwest, and the Navajo and the Apache from the southwest). A universal sign language developed among the perpetually wandering and often warring Native Americans. Living on horseback and in the portable tepee, they preserved food by pounding and drying lean meat and made their clothes from buffalo hides and deerskins. The system of coup was a characteristic feature of their society. Other features were rites of fasting in quest of a vision, warrior clans, bead and feather art work, and decorated hides. These Plains Indians were among the last to engage in a serious struggle with the white settlers in the United States.

TRIBES: Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Bidai, Blackfoot, Caddo, Cheyenne, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Dakota (Sioux), Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Iowa, Kansa, Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, Kitsai, Lakota (Sioux), Mandan, Metis, Missouri, Nakota (Sioux), Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Sarsi, Sutai, Tonkawa, Wichita.

·        The Plateau Area

The Plateau area extended from above the Canadian border through the plateau and mountain area of the Rocky Mts. to the Southwest and included much of California. Typical tribes were the Spokan, the Paiute, the Nez Perce, and the Shoshone. This was an area of great linguistic diversity. Because of the inhospitable environment the cultural development was generally low. The Native Americans in the Central Valley of California and on the California coast, notably the Pomo, were sedentary peoples who gathered edible plants, roots, and fruit and also hunted small game. Their acorn bread, made by pounding acorns into meal and then leaching it with hot water, was distinctive, and they cooked in baskets filled with water and heated by hot stones. Living in brush shelters or more substantial lean-tos, they had partly buried earth lodges for ceremonies and ritual sweat baths. Basketry, coiled and twined, was highly developed. To the north, between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mts., the social, political, and religious systems were simple, and art was nonexistent. The Native Americans there underwent (since 1730) a great cultural change when they obtained from the Plains Indians the horse, the tepee, a form of the sun dance, and deerskin clothes. They continued, however, to fish for salmon with nets and spears and to gather camas bulbs. They also gathered ants and other insects and hunted small game and, in later times, buffalo. Their permanent winter villages on waterways had semisubterranean lodges with conical roofs; a few Native Americans lived in bark-covered long houses.

TRIBES: Carrier, Cayuse, Coeur D’Alene, Colville, Dock-Spus, Eneeshur, Flathead, Kalispel, Kawachkin, Kittitas, Klamath, Klickitat, Kosith, Kutenai, Lakes, Lillooet, Methow, Modac, Nez Perce, Okanogan, Palouse, Sanpoil, Shushwap, Sinkiuse, Spokane, Tenino, Thompson, Tyigh, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Wasco, Wauyukma, Wenatchee, Wishram, Wyampum, Yakima. Californian: Achomawi, Atsugewi, Cahuilla, Chimariko, Chumash, Costanoan, Esselen, Hupa, Karuk, Kawaiisu, Maidu, Mission Indians, Miwok, Mono, Patwin, Pomo, Serrano, Shasta, Tolowa, Tubatulabal, Wailaki, Wintu, Wiyot, Yaha, Yokuts, Yuki, Yuman (California).

·        The Eastern Woodlands Area

The Eastern Woodlands area covered the eastern part of the United States, roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and included the Great Lakes. The Natchez, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek were typical inhabitants. The northeastern part of this area extended from Canada to Kentucky and Virginia. The people of the area (speaking languages of the Algonquian-Wakashan stock) were largely deer hunters and farmers; the women tended small plots of corn, squash, and beans. The birchbark canoe gained wide usage in this area. The general pattern of existence of these Algonquian peoples and their neighbors, who spoke languages belonging to the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan stock (enemies who had probably invaded from the south), was quite complex. Their diet of deer meat was supplemented by other game (e.g., bear), fish (caught with hook, spear, and net), and shellfish. Cooking was done in vessels of wood and bark or simple black pottery. The dome-shaped wigwam and the longhouse of the Iroquois characterized their housing. The deerskin clothing, the painting of the face and (in the case of the men) body, and the scalp lock of the men (left when hair was shaved on both sides of the head), were typical. The myths of Manitou (often called Manibozho or Manabaus), the hero who remade the world from mud after a deluge, are also widely known.

The region from the Ohio River South to the Gulf of Mexico, with its forests and fertile soil, was the heart of the southeastern part of the Eastern Woodlands cultural area. There before c.500 the inhabitants were seminomads who hunted, fished, and gathered roots and seeds. Between 500 and 900 they adopted agriculture, tobacco smoking, pottery making, and burial mounds. By c.1300 the agricultural economy was well established, and artifacts found in the mounds show that trade was widespread. Long before the Europeans arrived, the peoples of the Natchez and Muskogean branches of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family were farmers who used hoes with stone, bone, or shell blades. They hunted with bow and arrow and blowgun, caught fish by poisoning streams, and gathered berries, fruit, and shellfish. They had excellent pottery, sometimes decorated with abstract figures of animals or humans. Since warfare was frequent and intense, the villages were enclosed by wooden palisades reinforced with earth. Some of the large villages, usually ceremonial centers, dominated the smaller settlements of the surrounding countryside. There were temples for sun worship; rites were elaborate and featured an altar with perpetual fire, extinguished and rekindled each year in a “new fire” ceremony. The society was commonly divided into classes, with a chief, his children, nobles, and commoners making up the hierarchy. For a discussion of the earliest Woodland groups, see the separate article Eastern Woodlands culture.

TRIBES: Acolapissa, Asis, Alibamu, Apalachee, Atakapa, Bayougoula, Biloxi, Calusa, Catawba, Chakchiuma, Cherokee, Chesapeake Algonquin, Chickasaw, Chitamacha, Choctaw, Coushatta, Creek, Cusabo, Gaucata, Guale, Hitchiti, Houma, Jeags, Karankawa, Lumbee, Miccosukee, Mobile, Napochi, Nappissa, Natchez, Ofo, Powhatan, Quapaw, Seminole, Southeastern Siouan, Tekesta, Tidewater Algonquin, Timucua, Tunica, Tuscarora, Yamasee, Yuchi. Bannock, Paiute (Northern), Paiute (Southern), Sheepeater, Shoshone (Northern), Shoshone (Western), Ute, Washo.

·        The Northern Area

The Northern area covered most of Canada, also known as the Subarctic, in the belt of semiarctic land from the Rocky Mts. to Hudson Bay. The main languages in this area were those of the Algonquian-Wakashan and the Nadene stocks. Typical of the people there were the Chipewyan. Limiting environmental conditions prevented farming, but hunting, gathering, and activities such as trapping and fishing were carried on. Nomadic hunters moved with the season from forest to tundra, killing the caribou in semiannual drives. Other food was provided by small game, berries, and edible roots. Not only food but clothing and even some shelter (caribou-skin tents) came from the caribou, and with caribou leather thongs the Indians laced their snowshoes and made nets and bags. The snowshoe was one of the most important items of material culture. The shaman featured in the religion of many of these people.

TRIBES: Calapuya, Cathlamet, Chehalis, Chemakum, Chetco, Chilluckkittequaw, Chinook, Clackamas, Clatskani, Clatsop, Cowich, Cowlitz, Haida, Hoh, Klallam, Kwalhioqua, Lushootseed, Makah, Molala, Multomah, Oynut, Ozette, Queets, Quileute, Quinault, Rogue River, Siletz, Taidhapam, Tillamook, Tutuni, Yakonan.

·        The Southwest Area

The Southwest area generally extended over Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Utah. The Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock was the main language group of the area. Here a seminomadic people called the Basket Makers, who hunted with a spear thrower, or atlatl, acquired (c.1000 B.C.) the art of cultivating beans and squash, probably from their southern neighbors. They also learned to make unfired pottery. They wove baskets, sandals, and bags. By c.700 B.C. they had initiated intensive agriculture, made true pottery, and hunted with bow and arrow. They lived in pit dwellings, which were partly underground and were lined with slabs of stone – the so-called slab houses. A new people came into the area some two centuries later; these were the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. They lived in large, terraced community houses set on ledges of cliffs or canyons for protection and developed a ceremonial chamber (the kiva) out of what had been the living room of the pit dwellings. This period of development ended c.1300, after a severe drought and the beginnings of the invasions from the north by the Athabascan-speaking Navajo and Apache. The known historic Pueblo cultures of such sedentary farming peoples as the Hopi and the Zuni then came into being. They cultivated corn, beans, squash, cotton, and tobacco, killed rabbits with a wooden throwing stick, and traded cotton textiles and corn for buffalo meat from nomadic tribes. The men wove cotton textiles and cultivated the fields, while women made fine polychrome pottery. The mythology and religious ceremonies were complex.

TRIBES: Apache (Eastern), Apache (Western), Chemehuevi, Coahuiltec, Hopi, Jano, Manso, Maricopa, Mohave, Navaho, Pai, Papago, Pima, Pueblo (breaking into: Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia), Yaqui, Yavapai, Yuman, Zuni.  Am strongly thinking about

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NFL – New England Patriots history

Posted by admin | Posted on 15-10-2010

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NFL – New England Patriots history

The New England Patriots are definitely a team that no one can take lightly.  They have had a lot of recent success, but things have been up and down for them just like any other team.  Let’s take a look at some of the franchise highs and lows this team has experienced over the years.

Professional football made it to New England in 1959.  The first season game was played at Boston University field and over 21,000 fans watched the Boston Patriots lose to the Denver Broncos 13-10 on April 1, 1960.  The 1963 season saw the Patriots move to the Fenway Park for home games, where they claimed their first division crown with a 7-6-1 record.  Even with this great season, they still lost the AFL title game to the San Diego Chargers.  Many stars emerged during this season which included: Gino Cappelletti, Jim Nance, Babe Parill, Nick Buoniconti, and Houston Antwine.

In 1970, after playing a decade in different fields for home games, the Patriots made Foxborough their new home.  In 1971 the team was renamed the New England Patriots from their previous name of the Boston Patriots.  The Patriots won their first game in the new stadium, defeating the New York Giants.  In 1976 the Patriots won the wild-card berth, but lost to the future Super Bowl Champions the Oakland Raiders.  In 1978 the Patriots won their first ever Division Title in franchise history, but lost to the Houston Oilers in the franchise’s first home playoff game. There were some amazing players in the 70′s, some of which included: John Hannah, Mike Haynes, and Russ Francis.

In 1985 the Patriots gained the wild-card berth in the playoffs and ended up beating the Jets.  They also beat the Los Angeles Raiders and the Miami Dolphins to win their first AFC Championship and made it to Super Bowl XX.  Sadly, the Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears and lost the Super Bowl.  In 1995 Robert K. Kraft became the fourth owner and made some big changes to the franchise.  The Patriots closed the season with a 7 game winning streak and qualified for their first playoff berth since 1985.  

In 1996 the Patriots won the AFC Championship and returned to the Super Bowl for the second time in team history.  The Patriots were eventually defeated by the Green Bay Packers in super Bowl XXXI, 35-21.  In 1997 the Patriots again won the AFC East division title which made it the first time in team history to win back-to-back division titles.  

A new era in Patriot history started in 2002 when the team got their new stadium.  Once Bill Belichick took over, the Patriots were modeled into one of the most elite teams in the NFL.  In a four year span from 2001 to 2004, the team won three Super Bowl Titles in those 4 seasons.  The Patriots joined the Dallas Cowboys as the only team to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span and became the seventh franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls.  New England’s performance from 2003 to 2004 constituted the most successful two-year run in the history of the NFL with 34 total victories which set an all time NFL record.

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The History of College Park Airport in Maryland

Posted by admin | Posted on 30-09-2010

Category : Region I

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The History of College Park Airport in Maryland

Only one airport can claim the title of the “world’s oldest, continuously-operating” one.  That title belongs to College Park Airport, located in Maryland, some 25 miles from the state’s major facility, Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

                College Park’s own origins can be directly traced to the Wright Brothers.  Although their sustained, controlled, and powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as well documented, had occurred in 1903, it had not been until 1908, when their attempt to interest the Europeans in their design had generated sufficient interest in it in their own country.  The Wright Model A Military Flyer, one of three aircraft submitted to fulfill the US Army Aeronautical Division’s requirements for “a motorized, heavier-than-air flying machine and the training of two pilots,” had first flown from nearby Ft. Myer, Virginia, later that year, but its perilous fate had led to the injury of Orville Wright and the death of its passenger.

                The reconstructed aircraft, demonstrating its capabilities during a one-hour flight, had met all specifications: a capacity of two, a 40-mph airspeed, and a 125-mile range, and the design had been handed over to the Army on August 2, 1909.  What remained, however, had been the yet-unfilled requirement to train two officers to fly it.

The Ft. Myer site, hitherto location of all test flights, had proven too constrained and had often been surrounded by curious onlookers, and a larger area had clearly been needed.  Its replacement, 160 acres of flat land in nearby Maryland, had subsequently been chartered as an airfield after Army Signal Corps Lieutenant Frank Lahm had spotted it from a balloon.  The parcel, located near the new Maryland Agricultural College, had been train- and trolley-accessible, yet remote enough to discourage significant numbers of public viewers.  It became College Park Airport.

After having been cleared of several trees in October, a small hangar and a launching track to facilitate the wheel-devoid Military Flyer had been constructed, while the actual aircraft had been transported, in a disassembled state, to the new location.

Flight training of Lieutenants Frank P. Lahm and Frederick Humphreys, which began on October 8, resulted in both successfully soloing in little more than three hours, but the latter, achieving the feat first, became both the world’s first military officer to become a pilot and the first to fly a government aircraft in the process.  Both were subsequently reassigned within the Army.

Two other “firsts” occurred that year: Mrs. Ralph H. Van Daman became the first woman in the US to fly as a passenger and Lieutenant George Sweet became the first naval officer to fly when he did so with Lahm on November 3.

A hangar, housing the Wright Brothers and ten enlisted men, had served as living quarters during fight instruction.

Rex Smith, an inventor and patent attorney, can be credited with sparking civilian aviation at College Park when he had established the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company and the National Aviation and Washington Aviation Companies had later provided aircraft services and support.

The Wright Model B, succeeding the initial “A” version in 1910 and integral to this operation, had been a two-person, open-cockpit design constructed of West Virginia white spruce whose aluminum powder coating had given it a metallic look.  Its dual wings, like those of the original 1903 Wright Flyer of Kitty Hawk fame, had been fabric-covered and bank-induced not by the later-standard ailerons, but instead by the Wright-designed wing-warping method.  Powered by a 30-35 hp, four-cylinder, water-cooled Wright engine which drove twin, 8.6-foot, counter-rotating propellers at 428 rpm, the 950-pound aircraft could become airborne at an almost stationary 27 mph and could attain a maximum speed of 40 mph with its long, 38.6-foot wingspan.  A dual rudder and equally warped elevator comprised its tail. 

An initial deficiency of providing only a single, wing-warping and rudder control lever between the pilots, yet two elevator actuators, had been remedied two years later with the installation of a second wing-warping and rudder control, thus ending the right- and left-seat pilot phenomenon.  The type conducted both training and experimental flights.  Along with a Wright-Burgess and two Curtiss Pushers, it had formed the aviation school’s initial flight training fleet.

In all, Wilbur Wright had made 55 flights from College Park in 1909, the fastest of which had been at a record-setting 46 mph.

Although the Wrights had left College Park in November of 1909 after their contract had been fulfilled and they had relocated their training school to Ft. Sam in Houston, the seeds planted by the first two Signal Corps pilots had blossomed into a full-fledged military aviation training facility in 1911 when the Army, receiving a Congressional appropriation for Army Aeronautics, had leased 100 more acres of land, constructed additional hangars, and ordered more aircraft, establishing the first Army Aviation School. Indeed, the initial Wright hangar had multiplied into seven, along with a headquarters building and a medical and a mess tent at this time.

Aviation’s foundation continued to be laid that year.  The first test of an aircraft bombsight, for instance, had occurred, while College Park had become both the origin of the first cross-country flight and the first military cross country, a 42-mile sector to Frederick, Maryland, in a Burgess-Wright airplane.  The first member of Congress had been flown by the US Army and the first aerial photographs had been taken of the airfield at 600-, 1,500-, and 2,000-foot altitudes.

The Bleriot XI, a single-engine, fabric-covered monoplane designed and built in France and named after designer Louis Bleriot, had joined the Curtiss and Wright aircraft at College Park’s National Aeroplane Company in 1911.  Powered by a 70-hp Gnome rotary engine, the 661-pound, pilot-only design, with a 25.7-foot “twistable” wingspan, had been the first heavier-than-air airplane to cross the English Channel from Calais to Dover more than a century previously on July 25, 1909 and had served as the basic configuration upon which all current-day aircraft had been based.  Its (then) novel, single-wing arrangement, however, had been the reason for the Army’s rejection of the type over the standard biplane configuration after pilots from New York’s Moisant School had demonstrated it to them in Maryland at College Park.  Nevertheless, the National Aeroplane Company became the type’s authorized agent for sales in the Washington area.

Aviation “firsts” continued to be notched up in 1912.  A “Military Aviator” pilot rating, for example, had been introduced; the first aircraft-installed machine gun had been tested; Lieutenant Hap Arnold had made the first mile-high flight; and, sadly, the first death of a military enlisted man, Corporal Frank S. Scott of the US Army, had occurred.

Civil aviation had increasingly usurped its military counterpart until it had altogether replaced it in 1913 when the Army had relocated to North Island in San Diego as a result of its lease expiration in June.  The Rex Smith Aeroplane Company, which had already established its presence there, had designed its own aircraft, and the National Aviation Company had repaired and provided flight instruction in Bleriot, Curtiss, and Wright designs.  The Washington Aeroplane Company had built the Columbia Mono- and Bi-Planes during this time.

College Park Airport entered a new chapter in 1918 when the US Post Office had selected it as the location of its first airmail service after a three-month trial from Potomac Park in Washington to Philadelphia and Belmont Park in Long Island, New York.  Operated by a Curtiss JN-4H Jenny on August 12, and flown by Max Miller, it had successfully carried the mail to New York. 

The Jenny, the workhorse of the US airmail fleet, had a 27.4-foot overall length and a 43.8-foot wingspan.  The two-place biplane, powered by an OX-5, liquid-cooled engine, had a 1,430-pound empty weight, but could carry a useful load of 490 pounds, comprised of the pilot in the rear seat and the mail itself in the front.  Maximum speed had been 75 mph.

An airmail hangar and compass rose had been constructed in 1919 and 12 aircraft had formed the airmail fleet before the service had been transferred to the transcontinental route from New York in 1921.

Another chapter in College Park’s history had been written in 1924 when the father-and-son team of Emile and Henry Berliner, sponsors of the already-established Washington Aeroplane Company, had conducted the world’s first controlled vertical helicopter flight on February 24 before media and US Navy officials.  The Berliner helicopter, employing an 18-foot-long Nieuport 23 fuselage, had featured a 38-foot wingspan in triplane configuration from whose leading and trailing edges shutter-like vanes had horizontally protruded and atop which two 13-foot diameter counter-rotating rotors driven by a 220-hp BR-2 Bentley engine had been installed.  The single-seat, 641-pound design rested on a quad-wheeled undercarriage.

Rising to 15 feet, the helicopter had maintained a 40-mph airspeed and a 150-foot maneuvering radius, traveling some 200 yards, although the experimental flight had revealed a power deficiency and inadequate lateral control.  Nevertheless, it had led to advancements which had been later incorporated in Igor Sikorsky’s own vertical design of 1940.

College Park Airport had not only been instrumental in vertical flight, but also in blind flight.  Between 1927 and 1934, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) had tested and developed radio navigation aids to facilitate zero-visibility flying with hooded biplanes.  Jimmy Doolittle, making the first blind landing at Mitchell Field, Long Island, on September 24, 1929, had paved the way for the first such operation at College Park on September 5, 1931, while the first instrument flight, from origin to destination, had been conducted in 1934 between College Park and Newark.  The Washington Institute of Technology, taking over the development program, had been able to lay the foundation for today’s instrument landing system (ILS).

Also in 1927, management of the airfield had been handed off to George Brinckerhoff, who had been instrumental in taking it into the Golden Age of Aviation by conducting extensive pilot training and staging frequent air shows, the latter of which, particularly, had introduced the public to aerial flight.

One of the most frequently featured aircraft during these shows had been the Monocoupe 110.  Powered by a 145-hp Super Scarab piston engine, the high-wing, 1,611-pound aircraft, with a 20.8-foot overall length and 32-foot wingspan, had been fast, efficient, and aerodynamically sleek for its day and could attain 120- to 148-mph speeds.  It had often won speed records at College Park races and air meets.

The two-place, tandem-arranged Taylor J-2 Cub, introduced four years later in 1936, had also been instrumental during this period.  The docile, high-wing trainer, with a 22.5-foot overall length and 35.2-foot span, had had a 970-pound gross weight and could attain 87-mph speeds with its single, 40-hp Continental A-40 engine.  Used by Brinckerhoff for flight training during a 30-year period, the type had become the quintessential private pilot trainer at general aviation airports throughout the country.

Another prevalent trainer, introduced three years later and featuring improved capability, had been the Taylorcraft CL-65.  Unlike the tandem seating configuration of the J-2, the side-by-side arrangement had facilitated dual instruction.  The high-wing, tail wheel aircraft, with a 22-foot overall length and 36-foot, fabric-covered wingspan, had been powered by a 65-hp Lycoming O-145 piston engine and, with a 1,150-pound gross weight, could achieve 102-mph maximum speeds.

Another College Park-indicative design, the Aeronica 65LA “Chief,” had plied Maryland skies during the 1940s.  Equaling the Taylorcraft’s speed, it had been powered by a 65-hp Continental C-65 engine and had featured a 1,250-pound maximum weight.  Only 87 of the type, however, had been produced.

During World War II, the Women’s Air Services Pilots, or WASPs, had trained at College Park under Maryland’s Civilian Pilot Training Program, enabling them to assume non-combat aerial duties.

The Boeing PT-17 Stearman, a two-place, open-cockpit biplane instrumental in the training of pilots, had often performed stunts and competed in air races during the Brinckerhoff period from 1927 to 1964.  The aircraft, with a 24.10-foot overall length and a 32.2-foot wingspan, had been powered by a 220-hp Continental R-670 radial engine and, at a maximum gross weight of 2,717 pounds, could achieve 124-mph speeds.  More than 8,500 in 11 different versions had been produced for the Army, the Navy, and several countries.

One aircraft, registered N8NP and piloted by Gus McLeod, had become the first open-cockpit biplane to have flown over the North Pole.  Departing Gaithersburg, Maryland, in April of 2000, it had penetrated zero-visibility and below-zero temperature conditions on its intended 13-day expedition, finally circling the pole on April 17, but mechanical difficulties had forced it to land.  The pilot, returning the following month with the needed replacement battery, had discovered that the ice floe on which it had been located had drifted some 80 miles toward Norway.

After repairs, the Stearman had flown as far as Nunavut in Canada before weather impeded further continuation.

The Ercoupe 415D, designed by the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) which Henry Berliner himself had founded in 1932, had been a low-wing monoplane employing a tricycle undercarriage and twin vertical fins which had been tested at College Park.  Powered by an 85-hp Continental A-85 engine, the two-place, 1,400-pound general aviation aircraft, with a 30-foot wingspan, could attain 117-mph speeds and had uniquely offered a coordinated control system by linking the ailerons and rudders by means of the control column.  Devoid of rudder pedals, it had facilitated pilot training, and had been considered slip-, stall-, and spin-proof.

In 1973, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission purchased College Park Airport and four years later it had been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, “the world’s oldest continuously-operating airport,” occupying 40 acres, is a non-towered, general aviation facility with 80 based aircraft and a single, lighted, 2,600-foot runway (15/33).  The original airmail hangar and compass rose of 1919 are located at the end of the field below the railroad tracks, while the 27,000-square-foot College Park Aviation Museum, a glass-and-brick, curved roof building inspired by early Wright Brothers designs and an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is located on the side and showcases many historic, airport-related aircraft.

Countless, modern-day turboprop and pure-jet airliners regularly ply the corridor to and from Maryland’s Baltimore-Washington International Airport, perhaps oblivious to the tiny parcel of land called “College Park Airport” below them.  But at least a nod of recognition and appreciation should occasionally be extended.  This, after all, is where it all began.

Connecticut: A Source For Literary History

Posted by admin | Posted on 21-08-2010

Category : Region I

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Connecticut: A Source For Literary History

Connecticut is full of history and not just any history, a literary history. New Haven has one of the oldest colleges with Yale University. One of the best reasons to travel to Connecticut is for their large selections of museums with paintings from some of the greatest names in art history. Then the capital of Connecticut, Hartford features some famous literary names such as Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

In addition to being known for Yale University, New Haven is also know for the Peabody Museum of Natural History and an International Festival of Arts and Ideas that is held each June in which there are world class exhibits that you can enjoy. Hartford is the largest metropolitan city in Connecticut. There are excellent museums that honor the literary greats such as Mark Twain.

In Hartford there are two excellent hotel options. The first is the Hilton Hartford Hotel. This is a twenty-two story building with over a hundred bedrooms that are all connected which makes it an excellent option for those who are traveling with larger families. It also features two restaurants, an indoor pool, a health club and some room service.

The other top option in Hartford is the Goodwin Hotel. This is a lovely Victorian style hotel that was originally built in 1881. It also features a in house American restaurant, a lounge, a fitness center, concierge service and dry cleaning.

In New Haven the first of the top two hotels is the Omni New Haven. This is a part of the Omni chain which is very reliable. This hotel is an excellent choice since it is located within walking distance of all the theaters, the Yale campus and the two main museums. In addition, it offers a restaurant on the nineteenth floor which offers excellent views of the surrounding areas.

The second top option in New Haven is the Three Chimneys Inn which is a mansion that was built in 1870. This is an excellent Victorian B&B which offers excellent services in addition to an exercise room and a health club. It is a popular option for the business individuals who are interviewing Yale students for upcoming jobs.

The main attraction in Hartford is the Mark Twain House. This is a nineteen room house that provides an excellent example of the style in the late nineteenth century. It was recently renovated and now includes an education and visitor centers that has galleries, a small cinema, a café and a gift shop.

In New Haven one of two main attractions is the Peabody Museum of Natural History. There are three floors that are filled with all sorts of natural history exhibits including the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. The second main attractions of New Haven is the Art Gallery at Yale University. The collection of French Impressionists and American Realists in this Art Gallery are noted throughout the world.

Greg Chadwick owns and operates the Connecticut Hotel Finder website. Please visit our website to find great deals on Connecticut Hotels.

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Waksman and the Course of Medical History

Posted by admin | Posted on 19-08-2010

Category : Region I

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Waksman and the Course of Medical History

Waksman and the Course of Medical History

Selman Waksman changed the course of medical history while investigating how soil microbes defended themselves against invaders. He and coworkers isolated twenty-two new defensive compounds produced by soil microbes and in the process discovered streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis. For his discovery of streptomycin, Waksman received the 1952 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Selman Abraham Waksman was born on July 22, 1888, in Priluka, near Kiev, Russia (now the Ukraine). After graduating from the Fifth Gymnasium in Odessa, Russia, in 1910, Waksman immediately immigrated to the United States. In 1911 he enrolled at Rutgers University, where he received a B.S. in 1915 and an M.S. in 1916, both in agriculture. While at Rutgers, Waksman worked with Jacob G. Lipman, another Russian immigrant, whose primary research interest was soil microbiology. After receiving his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1918, Waksman returned to New Jersey to begin work as a microbiologist and as a part-time instructor at Rutgers. He was appointed professor of soil microbiology at Rutgers in 1930, a position he held until his retirement in 1958. He also established a lab to study marine microbiology at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1931.

Although Waksman was involved in many areas of soil microbiology, it was his interest and expertise in the life-and-death struggles between soil microbes that eventually led to a cure for tuberculosis. In 1932 the American National Association against Tuberculosis asked Waksman to investigate earlier reports that the tubercle bacillus, or the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, was rapidly destroyed in soil. Waksman confirmed those reports and concluded that the tubercle bacillus was probably killed by other bacteria present in the soil. He proposed that the soil bacteria defended themselves by producing an unknown substance that destroyed the tubercle bacillus. He also coined the term “antibiotic” for substances produced by one microorganism that suppress the growth of another.

 Waksman and his collaborators grew a batch of a soil microorganism called Actinomyces griseus and isolated their first antibiotic from the brew in 1940. They called it actinomycin, after the species of microorganism from which it was isolated. In 1942 they isolated streptothricin. Like actinomycin, it was too toxic to use in humans, but unlike actinomycin, it destroyed the tubercle bacillus. Encouraged by these discoveries, Waksman continued to test, or screen, other soil microbes for their ability to produce antibiotics with activity against the bacteria that caused tuberculosis (now known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis).

Waksman and his colleagues screened more than 10,000 different soil microbes before they isolated streptomycin in 1943. Streptomycin was what they were looking for: It destroyed the tubercle bacillus and was safe enough to test in humans. Subsequent clinical trials proved that streptomycin cured several types of tuberculosis and that it was safe enough to prescribe for a variety of gram-negative bacterial infections. Even after sixty years, streptomycin continues to be used in the battle against tuberculosis and other life-threatening infections. Waksman died on August 16, 1973, and is buried in a churchyard in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

College Football Tickets – a Brief History

Posted by admin | Posted on 11-08-2010

Category : Region I

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College Football Tickets – a Brief History

College football is just nothing else but American football played by teams fielded by the American colleges. These include teams from American universities, as well as from military academies. College football is very popular among college students, and it is through the American colleges that American Football has gained the stature it has today. College football developed from Rugby, a form of football played in England. Rugby reached North America through the British soldiers stationed in Canada, and became very popular in Canadian colleges.

The first game of ‘football’ played between two American college teams – Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey – was not a form of Rugby but more akin to soccer. This game, which Rutgers won 6-4, was played at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on November 6, 1869. Rutgers College is now the Rutgers University; College of New Jersey is now the Princeton University; and College Field is where, today, the College Avenue Gymnasium of the Rutgers University stands.

The first ‘rugby-style’ game of college football in the United States took place in 1875, between teams from Harvard and Yale. The credit of fashioning the game of American Football from rugby, by 1892, goes to the one time captain of the Yale football team – Walter Chauncey Camp. The most significant person in the history of American football, Camp has rightly been called the ‘Father of American Football.’

Camp pioneered the modern elements of scoring – at least most of them, the eleven man team, the traditional seven man line of offensive setup, the four man backfield, and the play from scrimmage. The college football became increasingly popular, and also more violent. After a series of player deaths in the collegiate games, Present Roosevelt, in 1906, threatened to ban the sport.

This caused the formation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which formulated rules to govern the game. It was during these days that college football was the predominant way to American football. College football was where style of play and strategy innovations were made and then passed on gradually to the professional arena.

College football remains very popular, despite the rise and popularity of professional football in America. It is more popular in rural areas, and in the south, due to the lack of professional teams there. College football is very popular in places, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, among others.

The Tickets

College football teams have as large a fan following as do the professional football teams, and their games draw more number of spectators than do the professional teams.

College football tickets are in great demand, and may not be easy to procure. You can safely forget to procure them from the venues of the games – they would be sold out. Your best alternative option – those ticket brokers. Legitimate and professional ticket brokers, such as have a successful history of helping you arrange college football tickets for the games of your choice.

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Great Rivalries In The History Of Sports

Posted by admin | Posted on 03-08-2010

Category : Region V

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Great Rivalries In The History Of Sports

From college football to Major League Baseball, rivalries between teams have always added excitement to fan experience. Many teams are old rivals, while others have developed a competitive intensity more recently. What teams have been fighting it out for some time? Rivalries are at the center of many fan’s lives. Here’s a quick look at some classic ones.

College football has some of the most talked about rivalries in all of sports. To begin with, you have the heated battles between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. Being in neighboring states, they compete for regional bragging rights and often the same recruits. Over the years, there have been many classic match-ups between the two teams.

One of the biggest rivalries in college football history is between Big 10 powerhouses Ohio State and Michigan. These teams, that are usually nationally ranked, are so well matched and competitive that the winner is often determined in the final minutes and sometimes the final seconds of the contest. Consequently, when these two teams play, the game often determines which remains in the National Championship picture and which is out.

The South features the tough competition between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers. From the days of Alabama’s legendary coach Bear Bryant this has been one of the most talked about match-ups on the gridiron. Both schools are in the same state and are highly competitive with each other year in and year out. There have been many close, tight-knit games over the past century to prove it. The Tennessee Volunteers also have an active rivalry with these two teams but nothing compares to the legendary hard fought battles between the Tigers and the Crimson Tide.

On the west coast, there is the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) rivalry. This competition has been dominated recently by the success of Southern California and the strong teams they have produced over the last couple of years. Recently USC has taken to the field with Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinhart and Reggie Bush, giving the Trojans the edge. This next year we may see a shift in power with UCLA coming to the forefront.

The National Basketball Association has had the classic battles of the Lakers and the Celtics. For decades these two teams fought back and forth to determine who would take home the NBA crown. There were the great match-ups in the 60′s and 70′s of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, which are legendary in the history of the NBA.

The 80′s hosted memorable post-season contests between the Lakers’ Magic Johnson and the Celtics’ Larry Bird. Their respective teams, with Bird running the court and dishing off to Robert Parrish for a slam dunk or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar working the ball inside only to pass back to Johnson for three, produced some of the greatest moments in NBA history and will be talked about for decades to come.

The meetings between the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks produced another fine rivalry. Michael Jordon with his extreme athletic ability was the catalyst for tough contests in which the Knicks sometimes surprised the team from the Windy City; although the majority of the time Jordan and company were on the plus side in these contests.

Every season a tandem of college basketball teams always stand out as among two of the best in the nation. In North Carolina both on and off the court, one college basketball rivalry dominates the region. The University of North Carolina and Duke, both members of the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), are located only 8 miles apart. Both schools possess myriads of faithful fans that have traveled Tobacco Road year after year to see their teams fight for victory.

Since 1990, the two clubs have a combined for a total of eleven Final Four appearances. Those who follow the ACC certainly recognize the high profile contests that have defined their rivalry. The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are synonymous with big name games, some of which they have won and others they’ve lost.

Off the court, these two teams also battle it out by attempting to recruit some of the most talented players in the nation. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils often court the same players, with coaching staffs jousting with each other for the finest players available. NCAA National Championships are the hallmark of both these schools. If you enjoy excitement and hardcore college basketball at its best, Duke and UNC are your ticket.

In Major League Baseball, there is perhaps the greatest rivalry of all sports. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have battled each other on the diamond since the early twentieth century. The rivalry became heated in 1920 when the Red Sox sold the game’s greatest player, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees. From that point on, the Yankees dominated the rest of Major League Baseball, going on to win 26 World Series; while Boston, after Ruth departed, was unable to capture a single crown.

Some people began to call Boston’s championship drought the “curse of the Bambino.” The trade of Babe Ruth, who was also known as the “Bambino,” was supposedly the reason why Boston couldn’t win a championship. But that all changed in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox were able to come back from three games down in the American League Championship Series and defeat the New York Yankees, and then go on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

This was what Red Sox fans had been waiting for, and now they’re hopeful that they will never have to hear about “the curse” again. This has been one heck of a rivalry over the years and odds are that it will continue to be one of the best in sports.

When there’s an intense rivalry between two teams it’s always magnified by fan enthusiasm. The fans are what make two teams want to compete harder against each other, but it takes exciting, hard-fought games to get the fans interested. Most great rivalries are not built on one or two good contests, but over decades of excellent games.

There is no set number of games that teams must play in order to generate a rivalry. The fans and players together are the ones who decide what makes an ongoing, classic rivalry. But one thing is for certain, there is nothing better than watching two, evenly matched rivals battle it out until only one is left standing.

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