Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

The very first Olympic games were held in Olympia, Greece, in the year 776 BC and they were stopped in 393 AD. In the beginning, the games were conducted for participants from various cities of Ancient Greece. It was one of the important ceremonial rituals that were held at that time. The games where held in the sanctuary of Olympia and not on Mount Olympus, where Greek gods were assumed to dwell, and hence, the name Olympic was derived. Otherwise it would have been Olympian games.

There are many stories about how the Olympic games originated. One of the stories is that Heracles, the well-known hero of that time had won a race in Olympia, after which he declared that the race would be held every four years. According to another myth, the king of Olympia, Pelops defeated Oenomaus to marry his daughter, Hippodamia. For this his former lover, Poseidon, helped him. In the beginning funeral sacrifices were offered to Pelops, but now there is no sacrifice, only offerings, at every Olympic games. While another story claims that king of Elis, Iphitos sought the help of Pythis, who was the Oracle at Delphi, to protect his kingdom from war and foreign invasion. Pythis ordered him to please the gods by holding games in honor of them. Others say that Zeus started it after he defeated Titans Cronus, the leader of a very powerful race of deities.

The sanctuary of Zeus where the first Olympic games were staged has a twelve-meter tall gold and ivory statue of Zeus, the father of all the Greek Gods. This status was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. The only game that was held in the beginning was Stadion or Stade race. It was an ancient two hundred yard foot race, which was considered to be of great supremacy, and the winner was given great respect and large amount of money. Participants had to pass five stakes, divisions in the racetrack, and there was no time limit for the race. Who ever reached the end line first was declared as the winner. Two stade, four hundred meter long, race was started in 724 BC, in the fourteen Olympic games, and was known as the Diaulos.

The racetrack was made out of clay and sand. Hoplitodromos was the last running game added to the Olympics. In that, the athletes were made to wear Armour, carry shied and wear helmet. This was to demonstrate the military capacities and the Armour made it vulnerable to trip and fall. Other games that were added later on were wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, chariot racing, long jump, discus thro and javelin throw. The Spartans or the Megarian Orsippus started the tradition of athelitic nudity in 720 BC. As many people fought for the authority of the sanctuary hence it was considered a matter of prestige to conduct the games.

At first, slaves and women were not allowed as spectators or participants. Only free men were allowed to participate in the Olympics. They came from all the states of Greece and when the word started spreading, people started coming from as far as the Mediterranean and the Black sea. Participants had to file their name in the list and had to meet certain standards to qualify for the games. Only youth were allowed to participate and every participant had to take an oath that he had been in training for the past ten months, before the statue of Zeus.

The Heraea Games were started for women and featured foot games like races, just like for men. It was started in the Olympic stadium, was administrated by a group of sixteen women gathered by Hippodameia. All the games, including Olympic Games, which was the most famous, were a subordinate of Panhellenic games. The interval between each game was two to four years, but at least one game was held once in four years. Historian, Ephorus, named the time period between two Olympic games as Olympiad.

Theodosius I or his grandson, Theodosius II ended the tradition of the Olympic games in 435 AD, when they wanted to establish Christianity as a state religion. An earthquake also destroyed the sanctuary of Olympia in the sixth century AD.

Problems faced by Olympic Games

The Olympics have seen both its good and bad days during its journey from early B.C. to this day. Some of the major issues, which caused problems, were political involvement, doping, boycotting and violence.

The most famous political involvement was by the German Nazis, in the 1936 Berlin's Summer Olympics. They used it as a platform to spread their ideas. Until the 1952 Helsinki's Summer Olympics, The Soviet Union didn't participate in the Olympics and had conducted international games event of their own named Spartakiads, since 1928. Many associations made by communists didn't participated in the Olympics and instead opted for the Spartakiads and some of the athletes belonging to these associations, who wished to participate were barred from the Olympics.

In the 1968 Summer Olympics, which was held in Mexico City, another political controversy took place involving two African Americans, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, winners of the two hundred track and field races. They performed the black power salute on the victory stand. This angered the IOC's autocratic president Avery Brundage and he ordered the USOC to either send the two athletes back home or to withdraw the whole team of track and field. And because of this the athletes were send back home. Iran had ordered their athletes not to participate in any Olympic heat, semi finals or finals, which had participants from Israel. An Iranian judo wrestler didn't participate in the Olympic hear because there was an Israeli wrestler participating in it, in the 2004 Olympics.

Performance enhancing drugs and doping are other major threats to the smooth running of the Olympic games. It was at the start of the twentieth century that the Olympics participants started using drugs to better their performance. The first recorded incident was that of Thomas J. Hicks who was given brandy and strychnine during the race, which helped him to get the winning position of the marathon, in the year 1904. When the drug abuse began to rise to a considerable level, a ban was levied in the mid 1960s. After that IOC, too, implemented the ban in 1967.

Drugs abuse by athletes took its own toll. Enemark Jensen was believed to have died of heavy doping, when he collapsed in a cycling race in Rome. Over a period of thirty-eight years, seventy-four athletes were tested positive to doping and they were deprived of their medals. The very first athlete to have tested positive for drugs was Hans Gunnar Liljenwall at the 1968 Summer Olympics, after which his bronze medal was taken away from him. In spite of the tests, many athletes have taken the risk of taking drugs and were not caught in the process. Some of the East German females participants were given anabolic steroids by their coaches, as part of a government policy.

The World Anti-doping Agency was formed in 1999 to fight doping. Many of the cross-county skiing and weightlifting medallists who were found guilty were stripped of their medals in the 2000 Summer Olympic games.

Switzerland, Spain, and Netherlands boycotted the 1956 Melbourne Olympics due to the restriction set by the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union. Because of the Suez Crisis, Egypt, Lebanon, Cambodia and Iraq also boycotted the Olympics. The number of nations that participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics was merely eighty, which is the lowest after the 1956 Olympics. This was because United States and sixty-four other nations rebelled against Soviet invasion on Afghanistan. As revenge, the Soviet Union and fourteen other nations didn't participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, giving the reason that they fear the safety of their athletes.

Violence was seen in the Olympics since its inception, although in ancient Greece, wars were brought to a halt during the games for the safety of the spectators and the athletes. The 1916 Olympics was cancelled due to the World War I and the 1940 Summer Olympics and the 1944 Winter Olympics were cancelled due to the World War II. A bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta killed two and injured one hundred and eleven people.

The International Olympic Committee has been trying to make the Olympic events more friendly and peaceful. They to stop doping and to ensure a healthy competition also introduced Blood testing. The security has been tightened to combat any terrorist attacks. The efforts have been taken to retain the true sprit of the game.

History of Baseball

Baseball is one of the popular sports played all over America. It is the national sports of the United States of America. This sport involves two teams of nine members each. The game is played basically with the help of bat and ball. The pitcher hauls a hard leather covered ball towards the batter, an opponent, who hits it with a wooden cylindrical bat. While the opponent team tries to catch the ball, the batter has to run in counter clockwise direction covering four markers called bases. The match is divided into nine parts called innings. Both the teams ball and score runs in each inning. If a team gets three outs, it's half-inning.

There are three versions of baseball, including the modern version, which was developed in the eighteenth century. There are arguments on how and where the game originated. According to some reports, the game is an extension of an older game rounders and it originated in Great Britain. British people who came to America during the late 1700s brought the sport. The professional Major League Baseball is sub-categorized into the American League and the National League with east, west and central divisions in each. In the American League, the tenth player, also known as a designated hitter, is expected to bat for the pitcher where as in the National League, the pitcher bats.

Cincinnati Red Stockings was the first established professional baseball club. The fever began catching the citizens of United States in the 1860s and newspapers were referring to it as the National Game or National Pastime. The National League was formed in 1876 and after several trials; American League was founded in 1901. At that time the game was played very aggressively than when compared to the game that is being played today. It was more like a war and the era was named as the dead-ball era. After the 1920s the sport became more civilized by introduction of many rules. It was also during this time that the famous Baseball player Babe Ruth entered the sport. Before, the scoring was very low but Babe Ruth proved that power hitting is obviously the way of the game. The structure of the ball was also worked upon so as to make it travel farther than before.

Baseball has also influenced Canada and there are many local minor league teams. After America and Canada, baseball league was formed in Cuba in 1878. Their national team consists of one of the strongest international players. After the World War I, baseball leagues began forming in Australia, Puerto Rico, Netherland, and Japan. After the World War II, more countries followed suit like Mexico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Now many of the European and Asian countries have pro and professional leagues.

Tournaments, which include baseball in their curriculum or are based on it, are Olympic games, Baseball World Cup, World Baseball Classic, etc. These are held by the International Baseball Federation, which was formed in 1938. The IOC has voted that baseball and softball tournaments won't be a part of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games preceding. This is because there is a lack of good participation because of the seasonal restriction. These sports are only played during the summer and the Major League Baseball does not give a break to the players in order to participate. Because of the seasonal obstruction and high demand by fans, this kind of break is difficult to fit in.

Basketball and its Rules

Basketball was invented in a pursuit for an indoor game, which would provide complete fitness. Dr James Naismith, a Canadian physical instructor, wrote down the basic rule for the game after initial rejection of many ideas, at a YMCA Training School. This game was officially played for the first time on January 20, 1892, in the YMCA Gymnasium, at Springfield College. Women began playing basketball in 1892, at Smith College, and different sets of rules were laid down for them.

This is a team sport where two teams, consisting of nine members each, throw ball into a ten-foot high basket of the opponent in order to get a score. While one team member aims for the basket, member of the other team prevents him from doing so. The team that has the highest score wins the game. The ball is dribbled and carried forward. In competitive basketball variation there are lot of regulations and the handling of the ball is restricted. Less regulated versions have been developed for recreational purposes and in some countries, this game is considered as a spectator sport.

Initially a soccer ball was used in basketball after which a brown colored ball was introduced. But to increase the visibility of the ball to the players and spectators alike the color was changed to orange, in 1950s by Tony Hinkle. Initially dribbling wasn't a part of the game. It was included in the game in the 1950s.

Different versions have different rules and time limits. According to NBA, some of the rules have been discussed here. The basketball court should be 94 X 50 feet. There should be baskets on two opposite ends of the court. The court is either made out of wood or cement. The ten feet high basket is made out of steel rim with a net attached. One score, also called shot, is counted as two points or three points when aimed from a distance of 7.24 meter. The game is divided into four quarters which each of them with a time limit of twelve minutes.

A break of fifteen minutes is allowed after the first two quarter and in between each quarter, there is a break of two minutes. In the third quarter, both the teams exchange their baskets. At a time five members of each team are present on the court. Permission is given to have up to seven substitutes. Other than the coach assistant coaches, statisticians, managers, trainers and doctors assists a team. Other equipments, other than the ball, required during the game are scoreboard, score sheets, clocks, stop clocks, whistles, and alternating possession arrows.

The male and the female player require to wear a pair of shorts and a jersey with clear number printed on the front and the back. High-top sneakers can be worn to provide extra ankle support. Sometimes the coach can request clock stoppages in between the game, if he wants to discuss something important with his team members. Usually three referees watch over the game. Other things like timekeeping, fouls by an individual or a team, score, team possession arrow, shot clock and player substitutions are taken care of by the table officials.

Over the period of time, various positions have been developed in basketball. Initially there were one guard, two forwards, and two centers or two guards, two forwards, and one center. Later on point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center positions were added.

Actions, which lead to violations are double dribbling, traveling, and carrying the ball and shot clock. Foul is illegal physical contact with the opponent team members, which would hinder them.

The other variations of the professional basketball are wheelchair basketball for the physically handicapped, water basketball to be played in a swimming pool, beach basketball which has very few or no regulations, half court game which has only one basket, and street ball and one-on-one which has two players and smaller court.