Games and Rings
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On This Date, November 30: The First International Soccer Match

11/30/2014

 
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On this date in 1872 (1872!), the 'first ever official international association football match' was played.

The game was England vs Scotland, and played at the Hamilton Creek cricket grounds in Partick, Scotland. Although England had been playing Scotland in organized matches since 1870, the Scots who played were largely Londoners. Back in Scotland - and even within the Football Association in England, there was growing interest in a match featuring homegrown and local Scots.

In 1872, despite a Scottish Football Association not yet existing, the Queen's Park football club picked up the challenge and hosted the match. Tickets cost one shilling, and 4,000 spectators showed up for the match which ended in a 0-0 draw. Reports indicate that Scotland came closest to winning with one disallowed goal, and one closing shot attempt off the makeshift crossbar. Even back then, the signature national uniforms were set - England in white, Scotland in blue, although both teams apparently wore caps or hoods.
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12 years later in 1884, the British Home Championship became the first international tournament, featuring England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. (Scotland won) The International Olympic Committee held soccer as a demonstration sport in 1900 and again in 1904. And, that same year, FIFA was founded, with the first World Cup finally arriving in 1930. The seeds of today's World Cup were laid back then in 1872. What started as a friendly national challenge has become a spectacle of sport and international competition...who would have thought?

On This Date, November 28: De Coubertin Has a Proposal

11/28/2014

 
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Pierre de Coubertin is largely credited as 'the father of the modern Olympics' for his work in establishing the International Olympic Committee, and with good reason. An educated man from an aristocratic family, Pierre de Freddy, Baron de Coubertin gravitated to the studies of education, and particularly physical education. That, combined with an interest in ancient Greece led him to try to incorporate more sport into French schooling.  Eventually, he extended that thinking into a presentation at the Societes Francais de Sports Athletiques convention on this date in 1892, in which he pleaded:

"Let us export our oarsmen, our runners, our fencers into other lands. That is the true Free Trade of the future; and the day it is introduced into Europe the cause of Peace will have received a new and strong ally. It inspires me to touch upon another step I now propose and in it I shall ask that the help you have given me hitherto you will extend again, so that together we may attempt to realise [sic], upon a basis suitable to the conditions of our modern life, the splendid and beneficent task of reviving the Olympic Games."

Although this didn't immediately spur any action, he tried again at organized meeting of 79 delegates from nine countries two years later, in which he did succeed in receiving support to further organize a 'Games' and what would be the original Olympic Committee.

Although others had presented Olympic-inspired competition since, the world 1st saw a glimpse of de Coubertin's own Olympic vision back in 1892, and although it took a while and a lot of persistence, he made it happen. I wonder what he would think today of the Games, and their magnitude and splendor. Do they today fulfill his vision? "Free Trade of the future"? "The cause of peace will have received a new and strong ally."?  Amen.

On This Date, November 28: Nadia Comaneci Defects to the West

11/28/2014

 
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On this date in 1989, Olympic gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci left behind her family in her native Romania to defect to the west, and to freedom.

At age 14, Comaneci exploded into fame with a three-gold medal performance at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, ushering in an era of gymnastics popularity and Romanian dominance. She eventually ended competition in 1981, after an overall career that included nine Olympic medals (five gold), four World medals (two gold), and 12 European Championships medals (nine gold). Along the way, she became the first gymnast to score a perfect "10" score in Olympic competition, which vaulted her to the heights of popularity.

But her stark and restricted life in communist Romania was difficult, although she had a relatively privileged life due to her athletic success and her position as a coach. On the night of November 28th, she, along with six other gymnasts, crossed the border into Hungary (which had started democratic reforms earlier that year) and requested asylum. Eventually, she made her way to the States, and began a new life as a model, spokeswoman, and gymnastics commentator.

Amongst her many post-defection honors are: a 2004 Olympic Order medal (her 2nd), Honorary President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, member of International Gymnastics Federation, a 2000 honor by Laureus of an 'Athlete of the Century', and Honorary Counsel General to the U.S. for Romania, and is so beloved by her native country that her 1996 wedding to American Bart Connor was held - and broadcast live - in Bucharest.

Athlete Spotlight: Katie Taylor

11/24/2014

 
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​She's been called by some 'the greatest Irish boxer of all-time', and she once again has shown the mettle for success by equaling Mary Kom's record of five straight world championships in boxing, after her gold medal victory in the 60kg Lightweight division at the Women's World Boxing Championships.

Add in the 2012 Olympic gold, and she is certainly a figurehead for the sport, and has already inspired others back in Ireland to follow in her footsteps, let alone receiving public support from celebritie and politicians alike.

And with a goal for a new record of a sixth world title and a defense of her Olympic gold in 2016, she's not stopping. Comhghairdeas, Katie.

Roger Federer Finally Wins a Davis Cup

11/23/2014

 
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For all of Roger Federer's success in tennis, he had yet to win a Davis Cup, the crown jewel of national team competition in the sport - until this year.

Well earned congratulations go to him for leading Switzerland to the 2014 title today, after a tumultuous few weeks in which he battled both injury that kept him from the ATP Tour Finals title match and a public and potentially petty rivalry with Swiss teammate Stanislas Wawrinka.

But Federer's drive for representing the national team is well documented. He's consistently been a Davis Cup participant, and was an emotional gold medalist for Switzerland (along with Wawrinka) at Beijing 2008. And although he is quoted after this victory with, "I've won enough in my career, I didn't need to tick any empty boxes. This was for the boys.", this most certainly does tick off a box for him, and help round off a still-going great career. So, congratulations again to one of the greats.

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    Above: Athens' Kallimarmaro, the site of the 1896 Summer Olympics


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