Babe Ruth: A Short Bio

George Herman Ruth, Jr. is the legendary baseball player of the United States. He had many nicknames like Babe, The Sultan of Swat, The Colossus of Clout and The Great Bambino. An American Major League baseball player, Ruth was one of the famous baseball players of all times and according to many he is the no.1 player in history.

Born to Kate Schamberger Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Babe Ruth was a native of Maryland. He was admitted in St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, where he met Brother Matthias who cultivated his interest in the game of baseball. He taught him to hit, field and even pitch.

Ruth started his career as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, he spent most of his an outfielder with the New York Yankees, starting form 1920. With the Red Sox he won eighty-nine games and lost forty-six. He played as an outfielder in one hundred and eleven games and he broke the record of Ned Williamson by hitting twenty-nine runs, which is the maximum number of runs in a single season, in 1919.

Red Sox owner sold Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. He turned out to be the golden duck for the team as in the next fifteen season, he not only lead the league by walks, runs, home runs, and RBI but also placed it in the top ten in slugging percentage, batting average, and total bases. The team even won seven American League Pennants and four World Series titles. In 1921, he made a record by hitting fifty nine home runs in a single season which he broke himself by hitting sixty in 1927. Nobody else could break this record for the next thirty-four years.

Ruth also appeared in many movies and he became a very popular media figure. He featured in the silent era films like Speedy and Pride of the Yankees.

Ruth's health began deteriorating in 1946 when he developed a malignant tumor that spread over his neck and his left carotid artery. He received many treatments during which he lost eighty pounds. At that time Dr. Brian Hutchings had developed a new drug named teropterin, which showed improvement in leukemia patients. Ruth was induced with this experimental drug, which gave him headaches, hoarseness and swallowing problems. From June 1947, he was given injections, which proved to bring improvements in his health. His case was also discussed at the fourth Annual internal research congress, but now his conditions is being recognized as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which is a very rare tumor located near the Eustachian tube for which the patient should be given radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy.

During his marriage to Helen Woodford, Ruth adopted a daughter. But after his separation with his first wife, whom he married in 1914, in early 1920s, she died in a house fire. He married actress Claire Hodgson on April 17, 1929, with whom he stayed till death. Ruth liked to spend his winters in Florida playing golf. After his retirement from the game he settled in a winter beachfront home in Florida. Babe Ruth expired at the age of fifty-three, on August 16, 1948.

He was elected as the baseball's Greatest Player Ever in 1969, on professional Baseball's hundredth anniversary. The Sporting News in 1998 ranked babe Ruth No.1 in the list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players. In 1999, his fans named him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

The legend called Tiger Woods

Born on December 30, 1975, Eldrick Tiger Woods is the world’s #1 golfer from America. He was born to Earl and Kultida Woods. He is of Cablinasian ethnicity because of his multiracial background as his ancestors belong to Thailand, China and Dutch. He is a follower of Buddhism. Woods was very smart from his childhood. He started to play golf from the age of two. Other than that, he anchored with Comedian Bob Hope on a television show “The Mike Douglas Show”. When he was five, he appeared on ABC’s “That’s Incredible” and also on “Golf Digest”. When he was nine, he won the Junior World Golf Championships for the first time in the youngest category and following that, he won the title nine more times consecutively from 1988-1991. At fifteen, he was the youngest to win US Junior Amateur Champion. He won the same title for the second time the following year along with the Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year.

His first encounter with PGA Tour major was in 1995. He won a silver medal in The Open Championship. He became the youngest to win The Masters, in April 1997. Tiger won twenty Masters in total. On June 15, 1997, he was honored with number 1 rank in the official World Golf Ranking. His victory in the Memorial Tournament in June 1999, proved Tiger as one of the greatest golf personalities in the history. For the second time he was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year. In 2000 US Open, with fifteen shot win, Woods broke the record by winning nine US Open records. After Lee Trevino, he was the second man to win Triple Crown of Golf in a single year.

His career graph declined a bit in 2003-04. He fell to second position in the PGA Tour money list and nor did he win a major. He was the number one golfer for two hundred consecutive weeks, which ended in September 2005. Some said that misunderstanding with his coach Butch Harmon was the reason to his slump and others blamed the stress on his left knee which received a surgery. In 2005, he returned to his old form by winning the Buick Invitational and Ford Championship. He was once again given the top rank in Official World Golf Rankings. Tiger’s father’s death due to longtime illness affected him a lot. He took a break for nine weeks and made a comeback in the 2006 US Open. He got a two stroke victory at the Buick Invitational in 2007.

Woods was known for wearing his signature red t-shirt in the final match of his tournaments. His thinking was that it brought assertiveness and aggression. His individual achievements include official money PGA Tour for fifty seven times, World Golf Championships for thirteen times and Major Championship for twelve times. Looking back, he turned into a professional golfer in August 1996. The same year he earned $60 million from endorsements of products like Nike and Titleist. The next year he was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated and PGA Rookie of the Year.

Tiger won his eleventh and twelfth professional golf championship at the age of thirty. Among the list of top 10 in career PGA Tour wins and career major wins, he is the only player who is active. He received the PGA Tour Player of the year award eight times and was on the money list for seven times. Four times he was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He was only one golfer who held the world number 1 title for the longest time period and for most number of weeks. In 2006, Woods was the highest paid athlete with an income of $ 100 million from matches and advertisements.

Tiger Woods married Elin Nordegren who is a Swedish model, on October 5, 2004. They bought a $ 39 million property in Jupiter Island, Florida. The have a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods.

Discontinued Sports in Olympics

The Olympics had lots of games, which are no longer included in today's Olympics. The games, which were once a part of the Olympics, are golf, polo, rugby, tug-of-war, cricket, croquet, jeu de paume, power boating, rackets, rink-hockey, lacrosse, basque pelote, roque, and water skiing.

Golf is one of the finest games in the world and is played in almost hundred countries of the world. It has been considered as an international game from the mid-19th century. Golf was held in the 1900 and 1904 Olympics. In the 1900 Olympics, there were separate games for men and women.

Polo is the oldest mounted sport, dating back to many centuries. It is believed to have originated in Asia especially in India, China and ancient Persia. Polo was part of the Olympic games in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936.

Two teams who use netted sticks to pass and catch the rubber ball in order to score play lacrosse.

Cricket is the second popular game in the world and it is supposed to have originated in the thirteenth century. Two teams consisting of eleven members who play it using a bat, ball and wicket play this game. The match is played on a flat and open grass long strip of field named as pitch. Stumps are three vertical wooden sticks placed parallel to each other, at both the ends of the pitch and two small wooden pieces are placed on top the three sticks. This structure is known as the wicket. The bowler, from the fielding team, aims a leather ball at one of the wickets. The batsman, from the opposing team, tries to hit the ball away from the wicket, with the help of a wooden bat. The other team members of the fielding team spread themselves on the field in order to catch the ball, which was hit by the batsman. If they are successful in catching the ball before it hits the ground, the batsman is out. In the meanwhile, after hitting the ball with the bat, the batsman runs from one wicket to another and the numbers of runs made are counted. The winning teams scores the maximum number of runs.

Croquet is a game of French origin. It utilizes a mallet and balls and is played in a grass arena. The mallet through hoops, which are planted in the field, hits the balls. It was part of the 1900 Summer Olympics. Roque is the American version of croquet. It was included in the 1904 United States Summer Olympics.

Initially tug-of-war was considered as a product of the track and field athletics program, but later it was given the status of a separate sport. Tug-of-war was included in the Olympic games of 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, and 1920.

Jue de paume means game of palm and is the French version of lawn tennis. It is played without racquets, as the player hits the ball with his hands. Jue de paume was added in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

In Basque pelote, two opponents team face each other and there is a net between the two. Both the team exchange ball and if one player drops the ball, the other team scores. It is also similar to lawn tennis. It was supposed to have originated in the Greek era. In the 1900 Paris Olympic games, Basque pelote was a part of it.

Rugby is the earlier versions of football; here the ball is not carried but kicked. It originated in mid-19th century in Britain. The rugby union was considered to be beginner version where as rugby league was considered to be the professional version. In 1995, rugby union was made an open sport by the International Rugby Board. Rugby union was a part of the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Olympics games. Water skiing started in 1922. The athletes straps boards on their feet and get pulled by a powerboat around a set of course.

Boxing Legend - Muhammad Ali

Born on January 17, 1942, Muhammad Ali was one of the fearful boxers of his time. He has won the World Heavyweight Championship thrice and also a gold metal at the Olympics. BBC and the Sports Illustrated gave him the title of Sportsman of the Century.

His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., named after his father who was a billboard painter by profession, and his birthplace is Louisville, Kentucky. Muhammad Ali changed his name after converting to Islam in 1975, after which he joined Nation of Islam.

Joe E. Martin, a Louisville police officer, was his first encouragement when he caught Ali fighting over his stolen bicycle. He used to do a show named Tomorrow's Champions, with Martin and at the same time went to Stoner's Gym, as Stoner was a better coach. Stoner was Ali's coach for his amateur career. Under the coaching of Stone, Ali won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, one Amateur Athletic Union national title and 1960 Olympic gold medal in light heavyweight. In his amateur career, he had hundred wins and five losses.

After the victory at the Olympics, Muhammad Ali went back to Louisville to start his professional career. His first victory in the professional career was a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. Some of boxers who were defeated by Ali are Jim Robinson, Tony Esperti, Donnie Fleeman, George Logan, Alonzo Johnson, Lamar Clark, Willi Besmanoff, Henry Cooper and Doug Jones.

When Ali converted to Islam, he refused to respond to his surname as he was told that that was the name given by white men to his slave ancestors. His refusal to react to his name and to join the American military, created a controversy and he was banned to fight in United States of America in the year 1966. After which he defended his title 9 times in England. He defeated Brian London, Karl Mildenberger and Henry Cooper. In 1967, Ali was deprived of his title by the professional boxing commission and wasn't given the permission for three years to fight professionally. He was sentenced to jail for five years for refusing to serve the army. He began fighting in 1970 and in 1971; the Supreme Court reversed his conviction.

In 1970, a feature film was released based on a boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Ali. And in 2005, the super fight and a documentary were also released on a two disc DVD. The Fight of the Century was named after the fight between Muhammad Ali and Jon Frazier. They fought on March 8, 1971 and were one of the most famous matches and most eagerly anticipated. Both the fighters were undefeated and extremely skillful. Frazier won by defeating Ali with a hard left hook in the fifteenth round. Due to this defeat Ali saw his first professional loss. He won the title back again by defeating George Foreman on October 30, 1974. This fight is popularly known as The Rumble in the Jungle. This match was considered as a political symbol and Ali was made representative of the Black who was fighting against the white power. This fight was also the main theme of the documentary "When We Were Kings", which won the Academy Award in 1996. It was given the seventh rank in a television program named The 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. Ali's fight with Chuck Wepner, on March 24, 1975, inspired the movie Rocky that won the Academy award.

Ali announced his retirement on June 27, 1979, but it was for a very short period of time. He made a comeback on October 2, 1980 and fought with Larry Holmes for the World Heavyweight title. After the match he was diagnosed for a hole in the brain membrane. A few matches after that, Ali finally retired in 1981. In his career, he had won fifty-six matches and lost five. He won the title of world Heavyweight Boxing Champion three times.

During his career, he had defeated almost all the top Heavyweight champions and this period was named as the Golden Age of Heavyweight boxing. Ali was diagnosed with Parkinsonism in October 1983 and finally diagnosed for Pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome. Doctors do not accept that boxing was responsible for his conditions. Mohammed Ali now lives with his wife, Yolanda Lonnie Ali, in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1998, the Ring magazine honored Ali by giving him the title of the Greatest Heavyweight of All time. His daughter, Laila Ali, has won championship titles of IBA, IWBF and WIBA.

Ali has always contested in the heavyweight category and his height is 6' 3''. He was an active and quick boxer and he applied this strategy to avoid punches instead of shielding the face with high raised hands.

Soccer Legends - David Beckham

Born on May 2, 1975, David Robert Joseph Beckham is an English soccer player who plays for Real Madrid and the England National Soccer Team. He made his debut at he age of seventeen. He signed up with Manchester United and played a vital role in dominating the FA Premier League in the 1990s and 200s. He left them and signed up for Real Madrid in 2003. He was the captain of the English national team for six years, from November 2000 to July 2006.

David Beckham was born in London, England. His father, David Edward Alan Ted Beckham was a kitchen fitter and a hairdresser. Beckham's maternal grandfather was a Jew and was greatly influenced by him, but he admitted that he doesn't follow any faith in particular. His father was a great fan of Manchester United and his son inherited this passion. David Beckham's talent surfaced when he won a talent search competition held by the FC Barcelona. He was a team member of the Ridgeway Rovers, a team that was coached by his father. He played for the club Tottenham Hotspur, which was also his first club. He took training from the Bradenton Preparatory Academy and Manchester United's Youth Training Scheme.

In 1992, he played for the Manchester United's team as a substitute. After that, he signed his very first professional contract. Beckham became a household name when he scored a marvelous goal in August 1996, against Wimbledon. His debut in World Cup was on September 1, 1996 in the England vs. Moldova match. PPA Young voted him as the Player of the Year in that year. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he played all the matches and in the finals his team played with France. Due to his bad performance in it, the media and supporters, who blamed him for England's elimination, accused him. He even received death threats and the whole incident was the story line of his Adidas advertisement.

England won the FA Cup and Champions League in the 1998-99 seasons and David Beckham was a part of that United Team. Although he was criticized from time to time, about his World Cup performance, he didn't give up and provided significant performance and goals afterwards. United forgave him when he was the reason behind the victory at the league championship. In 1999, he won the European Footballer of the Year award and FIFA World Player of the Year title. But England's defeat in Euro 2000 brought back the criticism from the supporters.

Union team's manager Kevin Keegan resigned on November 15, 2000, following which David Beckham was made the captain of the team. Under his captaincy, England qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals. His superb performance in the finals inspired many of the poor performing team member. He again won the FIFA World Player of the Year award and BBC presented him the Sports Personality of the Year, in 2001.

Beckham broke his second metatarsal bone in his left foot on April 10, 2002. The media speculated that the injury was done on purpose as it involved Aldo Duscher of Argentina who was in the opponents team and both the teams were going to face each other in the World Cup.

He became the highest paid player in the world in 2002, when he signed a 3-year contract with Manchester United in May. He was given extra money to buy rights for his images. Advertisements, endorsement deals were meant huge money for Beckham.

After the recovery from the injury, David Beckham returned to play at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He got a winning goal, which knocked out Argentina. Later England was knocked out by Brazil. He was a victim to another injury in 2002-03 seasons and he was unable to play in the Manchester Team. His terms worsened with the manager Sir Alex Ferguson when he threw a boot at Beckham which injured his eye, following a lost match.

Beckham's performance was again criticized in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. England lost in the quarterfinals and Beckham step down from captaincy. His final match was with Real Madrid on June 17th, 2007.

In his career of eleven years, he made a total of two hundred and sixty six appearances and got sixty-one goals. He has six Premiership titles, one UEFA Champions League, two FA Cups, and one FA Youth Cup to his credit.

Heroes of the Ancient Olympic Games

The ancient Olympics were an event where participants from all over Greece and as far as the Mediterranean participated. It started in 776 BC. Married women and slaves were banned from participating and watching the Olympics in ancient Greece. Only free young males had the right to be a part of the Olympic games, despite their social status. Many famous personalities participated and supported the games. This was a very prestigious event and the winner was awarded with an Olive Wreath, also known as Kotinos and big celebrations in their home place. They were awarded by large sum of money and poets used to write poems to signify their talents.

The king of Macedonia and son of Amyndas, Alexander I; the general from Megara, Orsippos; philosopher Plato; philosopher Socrates; philosopher Pythagoras; philosopher Aristotle; philosopher Democritus; the member of the royal family from Rhodes, Diagoras; the father of medicine, Hippocrates; shepherd Polymnistor, are some of the well-known athletes of ancient Greece.

Goddess of fertility and Priestess of Demeter were honored during the games and was given a seating position just next to the stadium altar. Only married women were not allowed to be spectators or participants at the Olympic games. But unwed women were allowed to watch the events. Whoever dared to break the rules was thrown from the top of the cliff.

Women were finally given a chance to participate in the Herean Games, which was conducted to honor the wife of Zeus, Hera. It started with foot races initially. Hippodameia made an administrators' committee consisting of sixteen women. The sixteen females were considered to be peacemakers from Elis and Pisa.

Among the well-known athletes, Milon was a very versatile athlete. He was the pupil of philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras. He was from Kroton, South Italy. He had won six Wreaths in Olympic Wrestling, which still remains one of a kind victory till this date. His first victory was in the youth wrestling event and the rest five were in the men-wrestling event. He won ten championships in the Isthmian games, nine championships in the Nemean games and seven championships in the Pythain games. He even won in many of the other events.

Also born in Kroton, South Italy, Astylos had won six victory Olive Wreaths in a total of three Olympic games. He was very good at the Stade race and Diaulos race. He represented Kroton in the first Olympic and he won in that, for which the residents of Kroton honored him. After that, he took part in two of the Olympics as a citizen of Syracuse. The Krotons disgraced him by tearing down his statue and replacing his house with a prison.

Leonidas won four times consecutively at the Olympiads. He was from Phodes and was the most well known runner. He was a champion in Stade race, Armour race and Dialous race. In all, he won twelve Olympics Wreaths. He was a great hero for the people.

The first woman known to be a winner at the Olympics was Kyniska of Sparta. She was the daughter of King Archidamos. In the 96th and the 97th Olympic games, she also won the horse chariot race.

Melankomas was from Karia and was a winner in the Olympic boxing championship. He was a very hard working athlete. He used to do vigorous training by fighting for two days continuously with out lowering his hands. He was known for his swift moves and he used to win without even getting a single blow from his opponent.

Science and Swimming

Swimming is as old as the Stone Age. Writing references can be dated back to 2000 BC and drawings were found in the cave of swimmers near Sura, Egypt. Competitions in swimming started somewhere around 1800, in Europe. Until then the breaststroke was very famous and John Arthur Trudgen started the front crawl or the trudgen in 1873. It was added as a sport in the 1896 Athens Summer Olympics, which were the first modern Olympics. Butterfly stroke was recognized in 1952, before which it was known as a variation of breaststroke.

The water within the human body has a little less density compared to that of the water outside, which forces the body to the surface. To move forward, the water around should be pushed backward and to float, the water should be pushed downward. The pushing is done by using hands as paddles and kicking with the legs. It takes less effort to swim and float in the ocean than in a swimming pool because salty water has more density than fresh water because of the salts.

The basic principle involved in all swimming styles is that the body should be kept parallel to the surface of the water and the hands should be positioned in outward direction, inline with the head, so as to cut though the water and reduce the friction. The more the body is slanted, the more the drag. Also, by extending the hands, the average length at the water line is increased which is directly proportional to the increase in the speed.

Swimmers who have a good acceleration of hips have a good hand force. The force of the hand is related to the rotation of the hips and not the muscles in the arms. The stronger the hip muscles, the more the torque generated. The body should be in an incline position so as to reduce the frontal cross-section and drag. By doing so the shoulders do not generate bow waves and the water line is not broken.

According to hydrodynamics, the movement of the hands and legs, from back to front, should be as much in air as in water, during the recovery stroke. The shoulder rotation is necessary for the forward motion and it requires strong abdominal muscles. Some of the swimmers flatten their palms to move the water backward and some spread their fingers slightly. Breathing is another important factor to be worked on while swimming. Correct way of breathing can increase performance and decrease fatigue. The body should be trained to work on less amount of oxygen because professional swimmers take breath in one stroke and let it out slowly till the fourth stroke. Taking a deep breath and submerging in the water, while kicking in the water, can control breath.

Children can be made to join summer camps that give swimming lessons. Swimmers need to wear body skin kind of swimsuits so as to reduce the drag and beginners can use aids such as Styrofoam Board until they learn swimming properly. Beginners should concentrated on increasing the strength along with the other techniques.

Swimming is a great exercise as there is less impact on the joints and bones because the density of water is similar to the density of the human body and the water supports the body. It is usually used to treat people with certain disabilities and injuries. Swimming is an aerobic exercise and is a good way to beat stress.

The problems and hazards related to swimming are drowning and water inhalation in a contaminated environment. Extreme exhaustion can lead to unconsciousness. Weaker people should avoid it because it can be a cause to heart attacks, stroke, shallow water blackout and carotid sinus syncope. Excess water intake in salty water can form foam in the lungs, which effects breathing badly. Regular swimmers get exostosis or swimmers' ear, which is abnormal growth in the ear canal and athlete's foot, which is bacterial infection in between the toes. Chemicals in the swimming pools can cause skin and eye irritation and can even discolor the hair. Asthmatics should avoid excess swimming in swimming pool, as the chlorine inhalation will affect their lungs badly. While swimming in ocean, precautions should be taken, as there is an increased risk of getting jellyfish sting or harm from any other aquatic animal.