Green Bay Packers History

Green Bay Packers history is more extensive than most NFL teams. Packers fans are proud to know that their team is the third-oldest NFL franchise, established in 1919. They are now a part of the NFC North Division of the NFL, even though they started out as an independent football team and didn't join the NFL until 1921. Throughout Green Bay Packers history, they had many division changes, Packers started in the National Conference, then moved to the Western Conference in 1953, and then were divided into the Central Division of the Western Conference (confused yet) until 1969 when the AFL-NFL merger changed the leagues and made them a member of the NFC Central. Finally, in 2002, they were sent to the North Division as a part of the NFL changing teams around and re-doing divisions.
A unique aspect of the Green Bay Packers history is how the team ownership was structured. Packers are the only community owned, non-profit NFL team. They're also the only non-profit team of their kind in the world of professional sports across the United States. Green Bay Packers history began with their founding owners, Earl Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, who were once high school rivals. Lambeau was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, and the team was to be named for the Indian Packing Company, who gave him the money to fund his team. Combining Green Bay with the Packing company, hence the name Green Bay Packers was born; this is an interesting aspect of Packers history considering it the oldest team name that is still being used.
In 1920, the Packers joined the new national pro football league, which survived only a year due to their financial problems. The next year, Lambeau acquired new funding, and the Green Bay Football Corporation was formed. The Packers immediately became a force to be reckoned with in professional football. A significant accomplishment in Green Bay Packers history is their 12 league championship wins, which is the most in NFL franchise history by any one team. Three of those championships are credited as Super Bowls. Making the NFL records book, the Green Bay Packers history includes three straight NFL titles, which they accomplished twice, in 1929, 1930, and 1931, and again in 1965, 1966, and 1967.
In the 1960s, Vince Lombardi accepted the coaching position and the team won five league championships during his era. In 1968, Lombardi became the General Manager, and Phil Bengtson was chosen as the next head coach. Lombardi then left Green Bay in 1969, became head coach of the Redskins, and then died in 1970. The Super Bowl trophy was named after Vince Lombardi and the road that goes by Lambeau Field in Green Bay was named after him to honor this legendary man. They had five winning seasons between 1968 and 1991, and appeared in the playoffs twice. They had five different head coaches and many changes in their roster, which may have been attributed to the lack of structure and poor drafting choices.
In 1992, the arrival of Brett Favre brought Green Bay Packers history into a new era. Brett Favre's numerous victories and triumphs, helped boost the sales of Packers tickets, memorabilia and merchandise. Favre started 271 consecutive games for the Packers, an NFL record that the Packers can add to their laundry list of accomplishments. After picking up Reggie White for defense, the team took off again. They have had several winning seasons, played in a numerous championship games and eventually made it to Super Bowl XXXI. They returned to Super Bowl XXXII, but ended up losing to John Elway and his Denver Broncos in a close game.
The Packers made history once again in the 2007 season, appearing in the NFC Championship game for the first time in 10 years. The sales of Packers memorabilia soared and especially those items related to their Super Bowl run. In addition, anything that Brett Favre contributed to, including Packers autographed items, was extremely popular among fans of all ages. One of the biggest controversy's in Green Bay Packers history unfolded in 2008, when Brett Favre retired, and then requested to be reinstated in that same year. His reinstatement was granted, but was then traded to the New York Jets. That season, the Packers came out with a 6-10 record, but despite those struggles, team supporters are still considered as some of the most loyal fans in the league.

Rio de Janeiro hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics

The Cidade Maravilhosa will be the first South American city to play host to the Summer Olympics 2016. All the competitions except for football will be held inside the city of Rio. Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracana are the four Olympic zones where the competitions will take place whereas Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Salvador and Sao Paulo are the cities where the football matches will be held. The Summer Olympics and the Summer Paralympics will tentatively range between August 5 to 21 and September 7 to 18 respectively.
When Rio was nominated as the Brazilian host candidate for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) and the Federal Government was highly supportive of its candidacy. The BOC felt that Rio is the right place to host the Summer Olympics because it has the first-rate facilities for the different Olympic competitions as well as the accommodations for the thousands of athletes and tourists who will be staying in Rio for the whole length of the event. Carlos Arthur Nuzman, and the former Rio de Janeiro mayor, Cesar Maia gave their full support and approval for Rio's candidature.
Rio de Janeiro has hosted several important international competitions which makes it equipped to play host to the Summer Olympics. Back in 2007, Rio hosted the XV Pan American Games and the III Parapan American Games. The IPC even declared that the III Parapan American Games was the best ever in history. Brazil will also be the host country of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The decision of the BOC to choose Rio over the other contenders was formally announced on September 1st of 2006 during the Annual Assembly. It is Rio's first successful attempt in becoming the host city for an Olympic event after failing to make the cut in the 1936, 1940, 2004 and 2012 Olympics.
On May 16, 2007, the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics bidding process commenced. The IOC received seven candidates, Baku, Chicago, Doha, Madrid, Prague, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. The 2016 Applicant Cities Seminar was held on Lausanne, Switzerland on October 18, 2007 which was attended by the bid committees from the different candidate cities. Each of the candidates are required to submit an Applicant File which should give descriptions, strategies and project overviews to answer the IOC's 2016 Candidature Acceptance Procedure and Questionnaire. The IOC Working Group and the IOC Executive Board are in charge of deliberating the Application Files of the 7 candidates.
On June 4, 2008 in Athens, the final four was officially announced by the IOC. The shortlisted cities were Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. The cities were judged according to eleven criteria: government support, legal issues and public opinion; general infrastructure; sport venues; Olympic village; environment conditions and impact; accommodation; transport concept; safety and security; experience from past sport events; finance; and overall project and legacy. The weighted averages of the cities were: Tokyo - 8.3, Madrid - 8.1, Chicago - 7.0, Doha - 6.9, Rio de Janeiro - 6.4, Prague - 5.3, and Baku - 4.3. Despite Doha having a higher average than Rio, the IOC still chose Rio to be part of the shortlist. This decision raised political criticism but the reason for Doha's bid to be rejected was due to its proposal of staging the Summer Olympics in October to avoid the extremely high temperatures instead of the usual mid-summer period.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the four shortlisted candidates took part in the Olympic Games Observer Program. The candidates were also required to submit a Candidature File which should contain detailed answers to 300 technical questions of the IOC. From April 2 to May 9, the IOC Evaluation Commission embarked on an on-site inspection of the four candidate cities. On October 2, 2009, the decision was released in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Major plans for the Summer Olympics are being implemented in Rio. Olympic lanes connecting the four proposed Olympic zones and the Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport will be built. Olympic villages with accommodations and training facilities will be dedicated to the athletes. Media villages and hotel rooms will be allocated to the media who will be covering the event. Rio's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is the primary mode of transportation to the different locations within the city. The Federal Government has strategies to ensure safety and security.
Aside from creating facilities for the traditional Olympic Games, Rio's bid committee also added its proposal for accommodating some new sports that may be added to the Olympic Program. The bid committee proved itself capable of staging baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash.
Ana Soter designed the logo of Rio's candidature which was accompanied by the slogan, "Live your passion". It is highly reflective of the Brazilian's passionate involvement in accomplishing whatever they want or need to do. On the stroke of midnight, the logo and the slogan was projected on the 36-meter Ferris wheel right after the ten-second countdown to the beginning of the New Year of 2009. The summer of 2016 will be one of the most memorable summers of the decade and Rio de Janeiro is definitely the place to be during August to September of 2016 under the Olympic Games!

Sports List of the Olympics

There is always a question about how many sports are played in the Summer and Winter Olympics and also exactly what sports are they? These questions can be answered if you can get a hold of an official Olympic sport list.
Currently there are 26 sports in the Summer Olympics and 7 sports in the Winter Olympics. Each sport may have more than one discipline or event that is used in competition at the Olympics. An example of this would be swimming. There were 34 swimming events in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This is in contrast to basketball for example. Basketball only has 2 events, men's basketball and women's basketball. In order for a basketball player to win as many gold medals in his career as Michael Phelps won in the Beijing Olympics he would have to be on the national Olympic team for over 30 years!
The Summer Olympics have 302 events on the Olympic sport list in Beijing and in the 2010 Winter Olympics there will be 86 events. These numbers change slightly each Olympic games because the International Olympic Committee approve new sports and discontinue other sports. The most recent change is going to be baseball and softball will be dropped for the next Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee makes their decision based on the number of countries that participate and if there is a governing body for that sport. If there is a governing body by which the sport can be judged and it is widely participated in worldwide then it is looked at by the International Olympic Committee for addition to the Olympic sport list at the next Olympic games.
Another interesting note is that there are currently 32 sports that are recognized by the International Olympic Committee as sport but are not contested in the Olympic games. Of these 32 sports two will be selected for the 2016 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee at a meeting in 2009 in Copenhagen. They are considering seven sports for the two spots: softball, baseball, golf, rugby, squash, karate and roller sports.
One rule that is in place when choosing a sport for the Olympics is that the primary propulsion used in a race can not be mechanical. This rule is followed strictly now but in the early days of the modern Olympic games there were power boating events! Technology has advanced to the point that this would be engineering and not physical ability that would decide the winner. Something that goes against what the Olympics is all about.
Remember next time you are watching the Olympics, whether the Summer Olympics or the Winter Olympics, that there are a lot more events than you will see in prime time and many of them are very entertaining. Try and find something you enjoy that has a star athlete who you won't see on the cover of a cereal box or in a shoe commercial.

Fun Facts about Yogi Berra

Not only was Yogi Berra a Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees, he was also a lively entertainer to say the least. Berra is a rare social commentator who can size up a situation in a way that you will surely never forget. Yogi once said "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Many of Yogi's "observations" are now used in our everyday lives. Some of yogi's quotes are:

• "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore"
• "It ain't over till it's over."
• "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true."
• "How can you think and hit at the same time?"
• "I never said most of the things that I said."

As a catcher, Berra was unequaled during his time. He could jump out of his crouch like a wildcat, turning bunts into double plays and twisting pop ups into easy outs. From 1957 to 1959 he went 148 games error free. During that time he handled a record 950 chances behind home plate without a single error.
As a hitter, Yogi Berra broke nearly every power record for American League catchers. He drove pitchers crazy with his ability to get big hits off of bad pitches out of the strike zone.
The Yankees had some tremendous teams from 1949 to 1955. It was Berra who led the Yankees in each one of those seasons. Five times he drove in over 100 runs in a season. For 10 straight years he hit 20 or more home runs. He did all of this without being a strikeout hitter. In one season (in 1950) he had 597 at bats but only struck out 12 times.
Did You Know?

• Yogi Berra was the second man in Major League Baseball history to manage his own child. In 1985, his son Dale Berra became a Yankee.
• He was greatly admired for his business sense. He invested in everything from bowling alleys to YooHoo during the 1950's. All of his investments made him a wealthy man.
• Yogi won pennants as manager of the 1964 Yankees and the 1973 New York Mets.

Yogi Berra Timeline Biography

• Born: May 12, 1925 in St. Louis Missouri
• Age 9: Yogo sold 3 cent newspapers to help out his family.
• Age 15 Friends called him "Yogi" because he looked like a character from a movie.
• Age 17: Signed by the New York Yankees for $90 per month
• Age 21: Joins the Yankees at the end of the 1946 season
• 1952: Sets American League home run mark for a catcher
• 1955: Wins third MVP award
• 1958: Catches the entire season without an error

Pro Wrestling

Pro wrestling or professional wrestling is a form of wrestling in which the wrestlers get compensation for participating in a wrestling event or match. Their winning or losing is based on a set of rules that determine the award of points. Freestyle and Greco-Roman are the two wrestling styles commonly practiced by pro wrestlers. The only difference between the two styles is that in the Greco-Roman style, a wrestler can hold his opponent only above the waist. Women's wrestling competitions are always held in the Freestyle category.
The governing body that administers professional wrestling matches internationally and in the Olympics, is known as FILA (Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées or International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles).
There are some specific rules associated with pro wrestling. Points are awarded when one of the wrestlers achieves a takedown, a reversal or an exposure. Takedown occurs when a wrestler gains control over his opponent. Reversal happens when a wrestler gains control over his opponent from a defensive position. Points for Exposure are awarded when a wrestler succeeds in exposing his opponent?s back to the mat. Any illegal moves or maliciousness on part of a wrestler results in a penalty.
There are three periods in an international wrestling match. A wrestler who wins two or more periods is declared as the winner. Victory is awarded in an international wrestling match under four situations namely, Win by fall (when a wrestler holds both his opponents shoulders on the mat), Win by technical fall (when he is ahead by six more points in a match), Win by decision (judges decide the winner when no one has a fall) and Win by injury (when a wrestler forfeits due to injury).
The route to becoming a professional wrestler is full of challenges. It requires hours of practice and training every day before a wrestler can raise his skill levels to professional standards. A strict diet while training is absolutely essential to keep fit. Regular holidays become a luxury and living out of a suitcase a reality.