The Wimbledon Story

My family has always loved sports, some of us prefer cricket and some are passionate about soccer news, but what draws the entire family to the TV is no doubt –Tennis. It was during one of those nerve wrecking moments that my three year old wanted to know about the genesis of Wimbledon.  As I opened my mouth to wax lyrical about how it all began at Wimbledon, I was startled to realize that I had no clue! Hence my little dig into the past and this humble attempt at keying some interesting tidbits for the tennis fans.

The Wimbledon story says that since the Middle ages, monks and kings are believed to have played a game that was a lot like tennis. However, it was the 19^th century by the time tennis acquired the form we recognize today. In about 1873, an Englishman adapted the indoor tennis to be played on grass, giving it a tongue twister of a name “sphairistike” after a Greek game.  The game quickly grew in popularity but the burning question was -how it was to be played?  The All England Croquet Club located near Wimbledon decided to answer this by holding the first tennis championship. The real reason behind this championship was to raise money to buy a pony drawn roller for its croquet lawns! Never would the organizers of this championship have dreamt that within some years, those very same croquet lawns would be all but obsolete, with tennis becoming the fore runner with the world agog for the latest tennis news!

This Championship saw a young 27 year old local surveyor, Spencer Gore taking the first gentlemen’s single title in 1877. In a final that was delayed for days by rain, Gore easily won the match in less than 50 minutes before a crowd of 200 spectators who had paid a shilling each to watch the match. What was most surprising is the fact that the first champion wasn’t too impressed with the game himself, he much preferred cricket over it. What’s more, he was of the opinion that lawn tennis was a bit borings and would not catch on!

Tennis, however, didn’t only “catch on”, it soon spread like wild fire. The All England Croquet Club went on to drop the “Croquet” out of their name, but for sentimental reasons, it was restored. Even today, among the lush tennis lawns, there exists a croquet lawn.

The Wimbledon Championship is the oldest tennis championship in the world and is informally known as the “British Opens.” It is considered the most prestigious and the biggest of all tennis tournaments, and has witnessed great tennis action immortalized forever in the form of some amazing sports videos. Wimbledon remains the only one Major, where the game is still played on grass, the original surface of the game which gave its name of “lawn tennis”. Some traditions which mark this Championship, setting it apart from all other championships is the eating of strawberries and cream by the spectators and Royals, a strict dress code for the competitors and a distinct lack of sponsorship advertising around the court.

If you are a die-hard sports fan, do log on to http://www.sportsbox360.com/ , to catch the latest in the world of sports.

All You Need To Know About Soccer

Soccer is another name for Association Football, also called simply as football. It is a game played between two teams comprising of eleven players each with a spherical ball. It is played on a rectangular field of grass or green artificial turf, with a goal in the middle of each of the short sides of the field. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opponent’s goalposts. Each score is called a goal. The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms, while the other players have to use only their feet to kick and maneuver the ball, occasionally using other parts of their legs, their torso, or their head. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.

Association Football is governed internationally by FIFA—Fédération Internationale de Football Association (English: International Federation of Association Football). The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an abbreviation of the word "association". Now this term is used to signify the sport only in Canada and the United States, while the rest of the world uses the term ‘football’ or other local names. So whether you call it soccer news or football news, you will get the same news about the same games.

Games revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played in many countries throughout history, from the Roman Empire to Australia and China. The history of football in England shows records from the 8th century onwards. Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favorite teams, while billions more watch soccer highlights or the game on television or on the internet. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. Football has the highest global television audience in sport.

The popularity of football is such that many terms have been included in spoken English that refer to certain situations in or brought on by the game. For instance, the term ‘football widow’ refers to a woman (generally) whose partner is too engrossed in football news, the match highlights or the game itself to pay attention to her needs or wants. Both the term as well as the fact that it is commonly used bears witness to the tremendous popularity of the game.

If you are a football fan, you can log in to Sportsbox360.com to find videos of old and new football matches played around the world.