Introduction of the blog

Hello to all! I am a m daniyal raja and the blog that you are going to look at is mine.
In this blog,you will find information and a lot of amazing things about all the sports you
can think of.From top to bottom you fing nothing boring.
Please read the whole page and do tell your friends about it.

Brief introduction of basket ball

The first purpose-built basketballs were made from panels of leather stitched together with a rubber bladder inside. A cloth lining was added to the leather for support and uniformity (identity). A molded version of the early Basketball was invented in 1942. From 1967 through 1976 the American Basketball Association (or ABA) used a distinctive red, white and blue basketball that is still seen from time to time. For many years, leather was the material of choice for basketball coverings, however in the late 1990s, composite materials were put forth and have rapidly gained acceptance in most leagues due to their superior performance in harsh game conditions.

A real soul"s game

The roots of hockey are buried deep in antiquity. Hockey-like games involving sticks and balls have been played for thousands of years by people such as the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Irish, the Scots and the Indians of South America. Historical records show that a crude form of hockey was played in Egypt 4,000 years ago, and in Ethiopia around 1,000 BC. Various museums offer evidence that a form of the game was played by Romans and Greeks, and by the Aztec Indians of South America several centuries before Columbus landed in the New World. The National Archaeological Museum in Athens holds a square marble slab measuring 60 cm x 20 cm with four bas-reliefs of ancient sporting events. One of these shows Athenian youths playing field hockey. These bas-reliefs date back to 514 BC and show that a type of hockey was being enjoyed in Greece at that time. This type of hockey, called "ÊÅÑÇÔÉÆÅÉÍ" (Keritizin) in ancient Greece, was very popular. Called such names as "paganica" by the Romans, "hurling" by the Irish and "shinty" by the Scots, the name "hockie" seems to have been first recorded in Ireland in 1527 and probably comes from the French word "hoquet" meaning "shepherds crook". Hockey in England in the 17th and 18th century consisted of whole villages playing the game with the objective of hitting the ball into the opposing villages' common ground. Teams often consisted of 60 to 100 players and games occasionally lasted several days or so with injuries such as broken arms and legs not uncommon. Umpires could only arbitrate a decision if called upon to do so by a player from one of the teams. (a situation that sounds familiar even in these days!) In 1852 the sports master of Harrow, an English Public School, advised his pupils that, among other things, no more than thirty players per team were allowed on the field at any one time. In those early days, team formation consisted of having more forwards than defenders, a situation that persisted up until the late 1800's. The game that we know today emerged at Eton College in England in the 1860s when the first rules were written down. Further rules were written in 1875 when the first Hockey Association was formed. The game was played on a field nearly 200 metres in length and all players chased the ball for the whole of the game. In 1886 the Teddington Cricket Club effectively lead a movement which resulted in the British Hockey Association being formed which included amongst its rules a striking circle for hitting goals.Changes in rules and play quickly developed from this beginning and by 1889 the pyramid system - five forwards, three halves, two backs and a goalkeeper - became the accepted method of playing hockey. In 1890 the English, Irish and Welsh hockey associations formed the International Rules Board and umpires were given power to make decisions without waiting for players to appeal for a free hit - something that a large number of players have yet to learn. See 1892 Hockey Rules .Hockey, or "Field Hockey" as it is also known, is now played in every continent with many nations competing in the three major competitions - The Olympic Games, The World Cup and The Champion's Trophy. Hockey was first played at the Olympic Games in 1908 when men's teams were included. Women's hockey was not included in the Olympics until 1980. Hockey was played at the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 1998 (until 1998, the Commonwealth Games were mainly individual sports - swimming, athletics, boxing, etc.. 1998 saw the introduction of four team sports and hockey was one of the four.) The first Olympic Hockey Competition for men was held in London in 1908 with England, Ireland and Scotland competing separately. After having made its first appearance in the 1908 Games, hockey was subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games, and reappeared in 1920 in Antwerp before being omitted again in Paris in 1924. The Paris organisers refused to include hockey on the basis that the sport had no International Federation. The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (F.I.H.) Hockey had made its first steps toward an international federation when in 1909 the Hockey Association in England and the Belgium Hockey Association agreed to mutually recognise each other to regulate international hockey relations. The French Association followed soon after, but this was not considered sufficient for recognition as an international federation. Mr. Paul Léautey, a Frenchman who would become the first President of the FIH, was motivated to action following hockey's omission from the program of the 1924 Paris Games and hockey took its most important step forward when the International Hockey Federation, the world governing body for the sport, was founded in Paris in 1924 at his initiative. Mr. Léautey called together representatives from seven national federations to form the sport's international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon. The six founding members, which represented both men's and women's hockey in their countries, were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland. The women's game developed quickly in many countries and in 1927, the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) was formed. The founding members were Australia, Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Wales. After celebrating their respective Golden Jubilees -- the FIH in 1974 and the IFWHA in 1980 -- the two organisations came together in 1982 to form the FIH. The growth of the International Hockey Federation from its early beginnings has been most impressive. Denmark joined in 1925, the Dutch men in 1926, Turkey in 1927, and in 1928 -- the year of the Amsterdam Olympics -- Germany, Poland, Portugal and India joined. India's addition marked the membership of the first non-European country. By 1964, there were already fifty countries affiliated with the FIH, as well as three continental associations -- Africa, Pan America and Asia -- and in 1974, there were 71 members. Today, the International Hockey Federation consists of five Continental associations -- Europe and Oceania have since joined -- and 119 member associations, the most recent addition being the Bahamas Hockey Association which was admitted during the November 1996 FIH Congress. Today, the work of the International Hockey Federation is accomplished through the efforts of the FIH President, Secretary General and Treasurer, working together with an Executive Board, the FIH Council, a number of instrumental Committees, and the professional staff in its Brussels headquarters. In many ways, the FIH serves as the "guardian" of the sport. It works in co-operation with both the national and continental organisations to ensure consistency and unity in hockey around the world. The FIH not only regulates the sport, but is also responsible for its development and promotion so as to guarantee a secure future for hockey. Hockey in Australia Hockey, as a sport, had been spread around the world by English soldiers and sailors while carrying out their duties in expanding and defending the British Empire, and early colonial Australia was no exception.By 1900 there were already a number of local mens hockey clubs scattered throughout the states and competitive hockey was being played in private girls schools in Australia, The first men's association, the South Australian Hockey Association, was formed in 1903. In 1910 the All Australian Women's Hockey Association was formed as the national association for women's hockey, and in 1925 the formation of the men's hockey national body, the Australian Hockey Association was carried out. Australia's first Olympic appearance in hockey was the men's team which competed in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and finished fifth. Men's teams have subsequently won a Bronze and three Silver medals at Olympic Games. The first Australian women's hockey team to compete in the Olympics was in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where it finished fourth. The women's team won the Gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and again at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Game Hockey is predominantly played as a winter sport by two teams of eleven players (ten roving players and a goalkeeper). The aim of hockey is to score more goals than the other team and to do this players use their hockey sticks to propel the ball toward the team's goal. Players may run several kilometres in the course of the game. Hockey is essentially a non-body contact game (which is sometimes difficult to believe!) and rules restrict the amount of body contact and tackling that is permitted. The hockey field or pitch is a rectangular field 60 yards wide and 100 yds long (54.90m by 91.50m). Hockey games are played in two 35 minute halves with a five to ten minute break at half time. Two umpires control the game (one on each side of the field) and to score a goal you must shoot from within the circle (actually a semi circle) and the ball must pass wholly across the goal line. Equipment The hockey stick is approximately one metre long with a curved end, is flat on one side and rounded on the other. The stick is made from hardwood (metals are forbidden) and usually has a laminated handle. Fibreglass is now widely used as a binding agent in the wooden stick. Hockey sticks may have different weights, curves and lengths but there is a maximum weight of 28 ounces and the stick must fit through a 2" diameter ringThe ball can only be played with the flat side and edges of the stick, but there are many situations when it is necessary to turn the stick over with the end pointing downwards in the "reverse stick" position. There are no left-handed hockey sticks, but hockey players who are natural left-handers can still be very successful players.The ball is the same size and weight as a cricket ball and is covered by a thin shell of dimpled plastic to keep it waterproof. Although white is the traditional colour, other colours may be used - bright orange is often used on sand filled artificial turf fields.Field players usually wear only shin pads and mouthguards for protection but goal keepers wear a considerable amount of protective clothing including chest and arm protectors, gloves, leg pads and kicking boots, helmets, etc.The rules and equipment for both men and women are the sameVersions of the game of hockey. Minkey, a modified version of hockey designed for mixed teams of girls and boys at primary school level is played on a field one-quarter the size of a regular hockey field with only six players a side. Because of the smaller field and modified rules young players have much more contact with the ball.
Minkey was developed by the Australian Hockey Association and along with other programs developed by AHA and others, was used by the newly created Australian Sports Commission as a basis for many of the programs they developed for other sports. Half-Field hockey, which has seven players, and is played on half the normal field. Suitable for Under Nine's because of the smaller field, Half-Field hockey is also played by Seniors as the restricted area makes for a faster, more controlled, training environment Indoor Hockey - played as the name suggests - indoors. Normally on a basketball court or similar, although the rules governing the size of the court and the goals are well defined. Rules forbid hitting the ball or raising it off the ground unless actually having a shot at goal. Several places also play "Indoor/Outdoor" hockey - indoor sized courts and goals with indoor rules on one of the outdoor artificial turf fields.

commenwealth

After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. Having said that, it did flourish in public fee-paying schools such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities providing it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath" [1].

No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populated by small farming and metal-working communities. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century [1].
It is quite likely that cricket was devised by children and survived for many generations as essentially a children’s game. Adult participation is unknown before the early 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been a matted lump of sheep’s wool (or even a stone or a small lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat; and a stool or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket [2].

[edit] Derivation of the name of "cricket"
A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term "cricket". In the earliest known reference to the sport in 1597 (see below), it is called creckett. The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e), meaning a stick; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff [2]. Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, "cricket" derives from the Middle Dutch met de (krik ket)sen (i.e., "with the stick chase"), which also suggests a Dutch connection in the game's origin. It is more likely that the terminology of cricket was based on words in use in south east England at the time and, given trade connections with the County of Flanders, especially in the 15th century when it belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, many Middle Dutch[3] words found their way into southern English dialects

Brief introduction of cricket

The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day, with international matches played since 1844, although the official history of international Test cricket began in 1877. During this time, the game developed from its origins in England into a game which is now played professionally in most of the Commonwealth of Nations

On 3 August 1914, the British Empire declared war on Germany. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle captured the feeling of the time when he declared: ‘If the cricketer had a straight eye let him look along the barrel of a rifle. If a footballer had strength of limb let them serve and march in the field of battle.’ At first the football season continued without interruption, but by November 1914, as much of Britain's professional army lay dead in the mud of Flanders, the game came under increasingly hostile criticism in the press. Such criticism did not take into account the fact that many star footballers had been released from their contracts and were already in the army. Thousands more would join them as casualties mounted in France. By the end of the war, some of Britain’s greatest star footballers had paid the ultimate price for their bravery.
In early September 1914, the FA wrote to the War Office offering to abandon all football for the duration of the war. The official reply had left the decision to the FA but stated that the government ‘would deprecate anything being done which does not appear to be called for in the present situation’. It was the need to recruit a new army to support the shattered remnants of the British Expeditionary Forice and the obvious fact, by the end of October, that the war would not be over by Christmas which provoked a campaign against professional football, both inside and outside Parliament. Newspapers, most notably the Morning Chronicle and The Times, pressed for an end to what they regarded as a national scandal. A hostile letter published in The Times on 7 November was indicative of that newspaper’s campaign. ‘A man may be doing his duty in other fields than the front’, the writer conceded ‘But there is no excuse for diverting from the front thousands of athletes in order to feast the eyes of crowds of inactive spectators, who are either unfit to fight or else unfit to be fought for…Every club that employs a professional football player is bribing a needed recruit from enlistment, and every spectator who pays his gate money is contributing so much towards a German victory’.
Good Sportsmen
The press contrasted the actions of the FA with those of the amateur Rugby Union which had, nine days after the war broke out, made a country-wide appeal to its members. National, county and club games were cancelled for the duration and many leading players answered the nation’s call. The Times stepped up its campaign on 19 November with a strongly worded attack on football by the Poet Laureate Robert Bridges: ‘The amateur Rugby footballers set them a good example, for they not only discontinued their play, but volunteered a full complement of fighters; and thus acted as the true sportsmen that they are. As for professional football, the sight-seeing crowds are not, I hope, as much to blame as they appear to be; I take it that they are ignorantly misled by the small body of men who cater for them; but surely it is impossible that these few managers should be so unintelligent or unpatriotic as to be beyond the reach of an appeal to reason!’ Bridges warned against the dangers of apathy, ‘It is high time that our footballers let the world see what they are really made of and that they do not deserve the execration that is falling upon them’.
In response to such criticism a meeting took place between FA officials and representatives of the War Office. Although the FA subsequent decided to continue to play matches ‘where, by so doing they could assist, and did not hinder the authorities in recruiting’. It was also agreed to use the Saturday afternoon league match as a recruiting opportunity. The plan was that prominent men should make a recruiting speech during the half-time interval. Ideally a military band would be in attendance and at the end of the game those men who had volunteered would march behind it to the nearest recruiting station. But the scheme was far from successful. According to The Times for 23 November 1914, the first attempt yielded just one recruit at an Arsenal game and a speech by Colonel Burn MP at the Chelsea ground on the same day failed to produce even one recruit.

The Times contrasted association football’s failure with the patriotic approach adopted by cricket, rugby union and rowing clubs. In response a Special article appeared in The Times on 28 November defending football’s contribution to the war effort. Written by G. Wagstaffe Simmons, Hon. Secretary of the Herts Football Association, the article claimed that there were only about 5,000 professionals all told and 2,000 were already serving in the armed forces. Only about 6,000 unmarried men who depended on the game for their livelihood had not volunteered. On the same page a list of leading clubs was given together with some detail about the volunteers which they had provided. West Bromwich Albion, for example, had formed a special company attached to the Fifth South Staffordshire Territorials. Although it had been raised principally from among their supporters eight of the club’s players had enlisted. ‘Those who play and watch football cannot understand why this sport should have been singled out’, Wagstaffe Simmons complained ‘bearing in mind that it has contributed more men to the colours and more money to war funds than all other sports combined. Over 100,000 amateur football players have responded to the call to arms, and others are joining every day. Thousands of clubs have suspended operations because they have not players to play matches.’
The Kaki Final
Supporters of football pointed out that other sports, such as golf and horse racing were continuing. They were convinced that criticism of football was motivated by the upper class contempt for a workingman’s game. In spite of the controversy, the 1914-1915 football season was completed with Sheffield United defeating Chelsea in the FA Cup final. The match was dubbed “The Khaki Final” because of the number of uniformed spectators present. Despite a hostile press the recruiting campaign among football followers had been so successful that by the end of the season attendances fell by half and most of the best players were in uniform. The pressures from falling attendances and associated financial problems, the increasing difficulty of keeping up team strengths and the perils of travelling on a wartime railway, persuaded the football authorities not to continue after the 1914-15 season. After he had presented the FA Cup and medals in 1915, Lord Derby said, ‘the clubs and their supporters had seen the cup played for, and it was not the duty of everyone to join with each other and play a sterner game for England’. The Football League expressed much the same hope to its players: ‘every eligible young man will find in the service of the nation a higher call than in playing football’.
Pals
Unlike many continental powers, Britain in 1914 had no tradition of compulsory military service. War Minister, Earl Kitchener, undertook instead to raise a New Army of volunteers for the relatively small British Expeditionary Force that the government considered necessary. Half a million men joined up in the first month and a hundred thousand each month thereafter. The enthusiasm for volunteered was strongly influenced by the belief that it would be over by Christmas. The formation of a volunteer army in 1914 was greatly assisted by the decision to General Henry Rawlinson suggestion that men would be more willing to join up if they could serve with people they already knew. These regiments became known as ‘Pals Battalions’. Battalions such as the Hull Commercials shared an occupation; others, like the Glasgow Tramways Battalion, had the same employer while the Tyneside Irish had a common background.
The 15th (service) Battalion (1st Leeds) The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) was known as "The Leeds Pals". Amongst its ranks were sportsmen such as Yorkshire County Cricket Club players, athletes and footballers. Prominent among the later was Evelyn Lintott, a teacher who became a professional footballer, appearing for Plymouth Argyle, Queens Park Rangers, Bradford City and Leeds City. He was the first professional footballer to gain a commission. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive. According to a letter published in the Yorkshire Post, ‘Lt. Lintott's end was particularly gallant. Tragically, he was killed leading his platoon of the 15th West Yorkshire Regiment, The Leeds Pals, over the top. He led his men with great dash and when hit the first time declined to take the count. Instead, he drew his revolver and called for further effort. Again he was hit but struggled on but a third shot finally bowled him over.’

The 17th Battalion of the Duke of Cambridge's Own Middlesex Regiment was known as the "Footballers' Battalion". Its numbers included no less than forty players and staff from Clapton Orient (now Leyton Orient) the first English Football League club to enlist together. The club’s leading goal-scorers Richard McFadden and William Jonas were amongst those killed during the Battle of the Somme. William Jones was a great pre-war favourite with the female fans - he requested that the club put a statement in the programme thanking the ladies for their kind letters but please stop sending any more as he did not want to upset his wife!
Shortly before his own death, his life long friend and team mate Richard McFadden witnessed Jonas die on the battlefield. He wrote to tell fans of the bad news before he himself became a victim of the conflict. He said: ‘I, Richard McFadden, sadly report the death of my friend and O's colleague William Jonas on the morning of Thursday 27th July, aged 26. Both Willie and I were trapped in a trench near the front in Somme, France. Willie turned to me and said 'Goodbye Mac, best of luck, special love to my sweetheart Mary Jane and best regards to the lads at Orient. Before I could reply to him, he was up and over. No sooner had he jumped out of the trench, my best friend of nearly 20 years was killed before my eyes. Words cannot express my feelings at this time. Yours, Company Serjeant (sic) Major Richard McFadden.’
Walter Tull, one of the first black professional footballers, was another outstanding footballer who abandoned his career and joined the 1st Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. Walter’s father had arrived from Barbados in 1876 and had married a girl from Folkestone. Walter was serving an apprenticeship as a printer when he was signed for Tottenham Hotspur. He played only a few games; in a game at Bristol City in 1909 he was racially abused by fans in what the Football Star called ‘language lower than Billingsgate’ He was subsequently sold to Northampton Town where he flourished, played 110 first team appears for the club.
Walter joined up immediately at the outbreak of war, and despite military regulations forbidding "any negro or person of colour" being an officer, he had received his commission by May, 1917. On 25th March, 1918, Walter was ordered to lead his men on an attack on the German trenches at Favreuil. Soon after entering No Mans Land, he was hit by a German bullet. It is a testimony to Tull’s popularity within the Regiment that several of his men made valiant efforts under heavy fire from German machine-guns to bring him back to the British trenches. These efforts were in vain and Tull had died soon after being hit. His commanding officer wrote to Walter’s brother, ‘He was popular throughout the battalion. He was brave and conscientious. The battalion and company had lost a faithful officer, and personally I have lost a friend’