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Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks is a club, American basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks play as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division, the National Basketball Association. The team was established as an expansion team in 1968, and is being played at the Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the team's former owner, but on April 16, 2014, a consortium headed by billionaire hedge fund investors Wes Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to buy a controlling stake in Kohl's franchise, an arrangement that was accepted by NBA owners and their board of governors a month later on May 16. The organisation is run by the former director of basketball operations Jon Horst who took over in May 2017 for John Hammond. The Official Mascot in Bucks is Bango. The Bucks 'famous play-by-play announcer, Eddie Doucette, first invented the term "Bango." Every time a Bucks player scored on a long-range basket, Doucette used the expression. Jon McGlocklin, even using it as a sharpshooter. Once it was time for the Bucks to choose a replacement for their new mascot, they won the search for the replacement "Bango." Since 18 October 1977, Bango has been the Bucks 'official mascot, which was Milwaukee's home opener of the 1977–78 season. The game itself pitted Milwaukee against the iconic Bucks centre Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his Los Angeles Lakers at the Milwaukee arena, in addition to the date being Bango's home debut. Throughout the years Bango has worked tirelessly to become famous with Bucks fans in the state of Wisconsin, serving as a neighbourhood goodwill ambassador at colleges, parades, and festivals. His high-flying acrobatic layups, bold steals and other entertaining tricks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center also play a significant role in Bucks 'energising fans. Bango appeared annually in the NBA All-Star Game since 2001. Bango suffered injuries during a mascot-participating skit at the All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Az 2009. The right leg of Bango went into the net, balancing on top of one basket before crashing down on top of another. He then stepped on and sunk into the water completely. Bango ripped his ACL due to the crash, and was unable to compete despite occasional appearances in a wheelchair at games for the rest of the 2008–09 season. A video of the 2009 Mascot Festival accident in Bango was posted to YouTube minutes after the incident happened. During game four of the first-round playoff series between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks in 2009–10, Bango completed successfully a back-flip dunk from the top of a 16-foot pole, a feat close to the feat of Seattle SuperSonics mascot squatch during a game between the SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns on March 19, 2008. The first jerseys from the Bucks were based on the jerseys from the Boston Celtics, with the lines and numbers being lettered. The uniforms of the hunter green road featured the name of the town and the numbers in red trim gold. Unit logo and numbers in hunter green with red trim were used on the home white uniforms; the colour scheme was changed for the 1971–72 season. The road jerseys in the 1973–74 season featured a "Milwaukee" script and red numbers with white trim; they adopted the same pattern for their home jerseys two seasons later. The road uniforms modified in the 1975–76 season to the "Milwaukee" block lettering, though maintaining a homemade style. To the bottom, the shorts have the new Bucks branding to them. The Bucks also revamped their uniforms, which coincided with Robert Indiana's legendary MECCA court's 1976–77 season debut. Now it featured green side stripes of kelly, brown and hunter, influenced by Houston Astros "Rainbow Guts" uniforms. The green and white hunter uniforms all featured the streamlined lettering of "runners" on the team logo and the lettering of buttons. By the 1985–86 season they had dropped the colour purple. The Bucks overhauled their identity and jerseys for the season 1993–94. The black road uniforms featured a modernised "bucks" lettering with white side streaks and hunter green highlights from their badge and silver numbers. The handmade white uniforms in hunter green had the same lettering and numbers, with silver accented purple side stripes. For the 2001–02 season the marks were added to the Shirt.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is an American professional basketball club based in Florida. The club was playing as a member of the Southeast Division in the League's Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Heat plays their home games at American Airlines Arena and has won three NBA championships. During the 1988–89 NBA season the franchise started playing as an expansion team. The Heat would gain success in the 1990s after a period of mediocrity with the appointment of iconic head coach Pat Riley to Team President spot. Riley would create the high-profile trades of Alonzo Mourning in 1995, and the high-profile trades of Tim Hardaway in 1996, which soon propelled the franchise into playoff contention. In the end, Mourning and Hardaway will lead the Heat to four divisional wins, respectively, prior to their 2001 and 2002 exits. The squad struggled as a result, and a reconstruction started on schedule for the 2002–03 season. Joined by Dwyane Wade and after a trade with former NBA Most Valuable Player Shaquille O'Neal, Miami advanced to the 2006 NBA Finals where they clinched their first title along with Riley as the head coach. Two years on, following O'Neal's retirement, the franchise began another period of decline for the remainder of the 2000's. That meant the departure of Riley as head coach, going back to his position as team manager, and being replaced by Erik Spoelstra. In 2010 the Heat joined Wade to create the "Big Three" alongside future league MVP LeBron James and perennial NBA All-Star Chris Bosh, after creating significant cap space. Together during their four-year tenure, and under the names of Spoelstra, Johnson, Wade, and Bosh, they will lead the Heat to the NBA Finals every season, winning two back-to-back titles in both 2012 and 2013. The three will all leave by 2016 and the team started another period of rebuilding. Wade was eventually reacquired in 2018, though with the franchise he resigned. The Heat hold the record of 27 consecutive games for the NBA's third-longest winning streak set during the 2012–13 season. Four Hall of Famers have played for Miami while James won the NBA MVP Award while playing for the franchise. The first Miami Heat jerseys, unveiled during the season 1988–89, consist of plain striping, exclusive only on the right side of the shirt and trousers. Home uniforms were white with lettering in red, black and orange trim, while away uniforms were black with red, green, and orange trim; green numbers with red, black, and orange trim, using the same script as the new Los Angeles Lakers jerseys. The original 'flaming ball' logo appears on the left leg shorts and on the right side is the word 'Miami.' The new Heat uniforms have been in use since the 1999–2000 season. While similar, these uniforms have visible differences such as stripping on both sides, changing from orange to yellow piping, new lettering and block numbering, and a modified symbol for 'flaming ball' on the right hip. The regular numbers black away now fit the colours in the lettering. The rivalry between the New York Knicks and the expansion of the Miami Heat resulted from their four consecutive playoff series from 1997 through 2000. Every series went out to seven instalments. Pat Riley, both teams 'head coach, was central figure in the game. Jeff Van Gundy took over Riley's time as the Knicks 'head coach, while his older brother Stan Van Gundy was also an assistant coach with the Heat. Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Grieving, friends of their Georgetown career from Basketball time. One of the Knicks, Larry Johnson, holding bad blood with Grieving as far back as their days at the Charlotte Hornets. The Bulls broke the Heat's record-setting 27-game winning streak on March 27, 2013, with a 101–97 victory at the Chicago United Centre. Despite playing without Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Richard "Rip" Hamilton and Marco Belinelli, the Bulls managed to snap the second longest win streak in nba history.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Blazers Got a Blessing in Disguise
It’s been a rough month for sports lovers around the globe, including those of us that are fans of the United States NBA. Many major sports associations have suspended or canceled their seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is unknown how long these breaks will last. As a Portland Trail Blazer fan, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with this season suspension; however, this team had been struggling all season long with a grueling list of injuries and unbalanced team chemistry as a result. While doing my best to be optimistic, I realized that this hiatus could truly be a blessing in disguise for the Blazers.
By Shaley Speaks6 years ago in Unbalanced
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the nineteenth FIFA World Cup, the official badge of men's national football teams organisation. It was held in South Africa from 11 June till 11 July 2010. The bid procedure to stage the tournament's finals was open only to African countries. In 2004, South Africa was selected as the first African country to host the final by international football body FIFA over Egypt and Morocco. The matches were held at 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the world, with the opener and finale being held at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. Thirty-two teams have been selected for inclusion through a global qualifying competition that started in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams advancing from each division. Such 16 teams advanced into the qualification round, where the teams will compete for three rounds of play determined in the final. Spain, the European champions, defeated 3rd-time Dutch finalists 1–0 in the final after extra time to claim their first world title. Spain was the eighth to lift the trophy, and the first European nation to win a World Cup outside its own continent: the five previous World Cups in Africa were won by South American countries. They are now the first national team to win a World Cup since 1978, despite having missed a game in the group stage. As a product of their success Spain led the world at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The host nation South Africa and both the 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France have been relegated in the tournament's first round. This was the first time the hosts had been defeated in the first round. With their three draws, New Zealand became the only unbeaten team in the competition but they were also eliminated in the first round. On 28 May 2015, media coverage of the 2015 FIFA corruption trial reported that South African bid committee senior officials had won the right to host the World Cup by paying $10 million in payments to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and other FIFA Executive Committee leaders. The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held at Durban on 25 November 2007. As host nation South Africa qualified directly for the tournament. As was the case for the previous tournament, the defending champions were not awarded automatic berth and Italy had to participate in the qualifying. Like the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 World Cup held the record in a single event for most competing nations in a field of entries that at the time included 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. The tournament planned five new stadiums, and five of the former facilities were upgraded. They should have cost R8.4bn to build. South Africa has set up fast transit infrastructure within host cities, including the Johannesburg Gautrain and other metro systems, and strengthened regional road networks. In March 2009, Danny Jordaan, the president of the organising committee for the 2010 World Cup, declared that all stadiums for the tournament are scheduled to finish within six months. The overall prize money on offer to the event was also revealed by FIFA as US$ 420 million, an rise of 60 per cent from the 2006 edition. Each of the 32 entries had earned US$ 1 million in pre-tournament preparation expenditures. Many locations 'height affected ball and player performance travel but FIFA's medical officer downplayed the aspect. Of the ten stadiums, seven were over 1200 metres above sea level, with the two Johannesburg stadiums, FNB Stadium and Ellis Park Stadium, the largest at 1750 metres above sea level. 32 National teams live and practise in base camps before and after World Cup. In February 2010 FIFA revealed benchmark camps for each team that took part in the trial.
By MB6 years ago in Cleats
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. Italy won the competition in the final match at Stadium Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish capital of Madrid, and defeated West Germany 3–1. This was Italy's seventh world cup triumph but their first victory since 1938. In race two the defending champions of Argentina were defeated in the second round. First finals appeared in Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand. The match has seen the first World Cup penalty shoot-out. It was the last World Cup to have 2 phases in group action. This was also the third time all four demi-finalists had Asian standing. Hungary defeated El Salvador 10–1 in the first round of Group 3, marking the biggest margin of victory recorded in the series. FIFA appointed Spain as host nation at London, England, on 6 July 1966. Around the same time the hosting rights for the tournaments were awarded in 1974 and 1978. In the 1974 tournament West Germany reached an deal with Spain to support West Germany allowing Spain to compete unopposed in exchange for West Germany whereulSd for the 1982 World Cup. The World Cup finals is extending from 16 to 24 players for the first time. This needed to include more teams, especially from Africa and Asia. Had some consideration been given to England, Northern Ireland and Scotland to withdraw from the tournament due to the Falklands War between Argentina and the UK. A clarification released by Uk sport minister Neil Macfarlane at the height of the conflict in April suggested that there would be no contact between British national teams and Argentina. Not until September, after hostilities had concluded, was the ban rescinded. Macfarlane told Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that some players and officers were unsure about taking part because of the casualties British forces had suffered. FIFA has informed the Uk government they have not convinced Argentina to withdraw. It quickly became clear that other countries would not be withdrawing from the market. This was intended to include the British national teams in such a manner that Argentina could not use its absence for propaganda purposes, in order to minimise the potential effect of placing diplomatic pressure upon the region. The first round was a round-robin group stage containing six groups of four teams, each. Two points were awarded for a victory and one for a loss, the score differential being used to determine the equals. The top two teams have made headway within each group. In the second round the remaining twelve teams were grouped into four groups of three teams each, with each group winner proceeding to the semifinals Knockout round. The squad composition was decided in the second round before tournament begins. Furthermore, Groups A and B had to have one team from each of Groups 1 to 6, and the remaining six teams were Groups C and D. Group 1 and 3 champions were in Group A while the runners-up were in Group C. Group 2 and 4 champions were in Group B while the runners-up were in Group D. Group 5 leader was in Group D while Group B celebrated. Group 6 champion was in Group C and Group A runner-up was in Group A. Therefore, Group A mirrored Group C and Group B mirrored Group D in the second round with the winners and runners-ups placed together in different groups. The second- groups faced off against each other in the semifinals which mirrored each other. And the Group A winner faced group C, and group B winner faced group D.
By MB6 years ago in Cleats
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was an international football exhibition tournament which took place in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. It was the eighth FIFA World Cup, first contested in 1930. In the final, England defeated West Germany 4–2 to win their first World Cup; after 90 minutes, the game finished at 2–2 and went to extra time when Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first and last to be played in a 2018 World Cup match, with supporters storming the pitch in the fourth quarter. England was the fifth country to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and after Italy in 1934. Brazil had been defending champions but they failed to progress from the group stage. Matches were played in eight grounds across Britain with the final contested at Wembley Stadium, which had a capacity of 98,600. The case of 1966 featured the highest number of teams of any world sport to date, with 70 nations competing. The Jules Rimet cup was stolen during the tournament but a dog called Pickles was discovered four months before the game began. The final was the first one seen exclusively in black and white, which the BBC broadcast locally. Thirty-one African nations boycotted the World Cup, objecting to the number of finals placements. Two new teams did well in the tournament – Portugal finished seventh, losing 2–1 against England in the semi-finals and North Korea beat Italy 1–0 in the quarter-finals, losing 5–3 against Portugal. Portuguese midfielder Eusébio is the tournament's top scorer scoring nine goals on the golden boot. Eusébio scored 3 goals more than Helmut Haller placing him in second place. The format in 1966 was close to that of 1962: 16 qualified teams were grouped into four classes out of four. Every party played round-robin format. Using goal average to score teams on equal scores, two points are awarded for a win and one point for a loss. The top two teams advanced to the Knockout stage within each group. The eight stadiums used for the World Cup. The newest and largest stadium used was Wembley Stadium in west London, which was 43 years old in 1966. This was also the case in World Cup, group matches were held at two separate stadiums. Group 1 matches were also played in London: five at Wembley, which was England's largest arena and is widely regarded as the world's most popular football venue; and one at the White City Arena in west London, which was used as a temporary replacement for nearby Wembley. The group stage match between Uruguay and France was played at White City Stadium on a Friday, on the same day as regularly scheduled greyhound races in Wembley. Since Wembley's promoter declined to delay this, transferring the game to the location where it was being replaced was necessary. Group 2 matches at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield and Villa Park in Birmingham; group 3 matches at Old Trafford in Manchester and Goodison Park in Liverpool; group 4 matches at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough, and Roker Park in Sunderland. On Monday 11th July, the opening match was played. With the exception of the first tournament that started on 13 July 1930 in May or June, all other tournament was over. The final was conducted on 30 July 1966, the 36th anniversary of the first finale. It is the last closing day of every competition. The reason for the unusually late timing of the match seems to lie in the foreign broadcasting commitments of the BBC which already had arrangements for both Wimbledon and the Open Golf Championship. 1966 was a World Cup with a few penalties, because the teams have a more defensive inclination than tactically.
By MB6 years ago in Cleats
1962 FIFA World Cup
The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial search for men's best national football team. It took place in Chile from May 30th until June 17th 1962. Around August 1960 and December 1961, the qualification rounds were played with 56 teams competing in the final tournament from six confederations and fourteen entrants including the defending champions Chile, the hosts and Brazil. Brazil has comfortably defended the crown of the World Cup, defeating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final at Santiago, the capital of Chile. We became the second team to win the World Cup twice in succession, after Italy in 1934 and 1938; since then there has been no achievement for either side. In the play-off the host country Chile took third place, defeating Yugoslavia 1–0. A tense environment and violence among the pitch participants marred the game; it included the first-round match between Chile and Italy, regarded as the Battle of Santiago, one of the notorious matches of the competition. Magallanes president Ernesto Alvear attended a FIFA conference held in Helsinki as the Finnish country hosted Summer Olympics in 1952. He believed Chile would host a World Cup. Some sources also suggest that the FIFA did not allow Argentina to run alone, calling almost symbolically on Chile to join in. Chile declared its candidacy in 1954 along with Argentina and West Germany, the latter retiring on appeal from FIFA. Initially, eight stadiums were chosen in eight cities to host the World Cup matches: Santiago, Viña del Mar, Rancagua, Arica, Talca, Concepción, Talcahuano, Valdivia and others. It was the first World Cup to use goal average to distinguish equivalent from teams. This was also the first World Cup at which the average number of goals per match has been less than three since the creation of the competition; this was later repeated at World Cup. After two consecutive World Cups won by Europe, the American federations requested that South America join the tournament's 1962 edition, or face the tournament's full boycott, much like 1938. Given recent lack of candidates, Argentina has been the favourite. Provided preparations were well under way in May 1960, Chile suffered the highest ever recorded earthquake, causing major damage to the national infrastructure. Charged with this, Carlos Dittborn, President of the Organizing Committee, coined the expression "Because we have nothing, we will do whatever we can to repair." Stadiums and other facilities were rebuilt at record speed, and the tournament took place on schedule without any technical malfunction. Dittborn did not live to see the results of his efforts, because he died a month before the start of the tournament. The Arica World Cup stadium has been named to his memory, Estadio Carlos Dittborn, bearing his legacy to this day. Yet Chile was able to satisfy the seating demand for such limited and low-capacity stadiums, since there was no international travel to Chile, far from Europe at the time. The game was marred by continued abuse at the ground. This toxic climate, known as the Santiago Battle, resulted in the first-round match between host Chile and Italy. Two Italian journalists have written unflattering articles about the host country and its capital city, describing Santiago as a highly primitive, pornography-ridden landfill. Though the English referee Ken Aston sent off just two players, the match saw repeated efforts by players from both sides to injure opponents and the Italian team called for police security to leave the field in peace. Articles in the Italian newspapers La Nazione and Corriere della Sera said it was "pure madness" to allow Chile to host the World Cup; this has been exploited and magnified by local media to inflame the Chilean community. "The game offers every hint of a bloody bloodbath. Stories read like dispatches at the battlefront; the match between Italy and West Germany has been described as 'wrestling and fighting,'" wrote the British Daily Express.
By MB6 years ago in Cleats
1958 FIFA World Cup
Sweden hosted the 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final in the Solna suburb of Stockholm for their first title. The case is also worthy of mention as it calls the world stage debut of a then 17-year-old Pelé. The hosting tournament featured Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Sweden. Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro for the launch of the World Cup finals in 1950 Sweden was unopposed to the 1958 tournament on 23 June 1950. The hosts were automatically qualified as were the reigning West Germany champions. Nine of the remaining 14 seats had been reserved for Europe, three for South America, one for North and Central America and one for Asia and Africa. In addition to the big European area matches, Wales, who placed second in her group behind Czechoslovakia, was drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won their group by accident when its three opponents, Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan, refused to join in. FIFA has added a clause that no team can continue without having played at least one match, something that never existed in other World Cups. Wales won the play-off, and spent time alone for the first time ever up to now. The World Cup was the first to feature the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland debuting, also participating with England and Scotland. The match structure changed in 1954: 16 teams also participated in four groups of four, but this time each team played in their section at least once each of the other teams, with no extra time in the event of draw. Two points were granted for a win, and one drawn. Since the first two teams had to finish with the same points to decide who was second and who was first overall. As in 1954, if the second and third placed teams end up with the same points, a play-off would be played with the champion advancing. If a play-off results in a tie, the goal average of the group games will be used to decide who will go into the next round. When the figures for the target are the same lots are drawn accordingly. Those arrangements had not been decided at the time the tournament began, so they were still being discussed as it progressed. Some players protested that there was too much play-off, including three games in five days, and FIFA told the players to weigh the goal difference before resorting to a play-off before group matches in the second round. That was reversed by the Swedish Football Association after complaints, primarily because it was illegal to change the rules of the mid-tournament but also because they needed the extra money from playoff matches. Pelé had not played against the Soviet Union in Group 4 before the finale of Brazil's group match. He failed to score but in both game 2–0 and match Brazil prevailed by two points. They would have started 0–0 in what has been the first ever goalless game with England in World Cup history. Eventually, the Soviet Union and England went to a playoff game where Anatoli Ilyin scored to knock out England in the 67th minute, while Austria had already defeated. Earlier this year the Munich air crash ravaged the English side, killing three internationals on Manchester United's books including Duncan Edwards, the young star of England. Brazil and France have spent most of the first half stuck 1-1 in the other semifinal. Nonetheless, in a crash with Vavá 36 minutes into the match, French captain and the most seasoned defender Robert Jonquet suffered a broken leg and France was down to 10 players for the rest of the season. Brazil dominated the remainder of the season, with a Pelé hat-trick giving them a 5–2 advantage. Fontaine of France put his impressive tally on just one goal. The final was played at Råsunda Stadium in Solna; after four minutes, 50,000 spectators watched the Brazilians go down into a goal. Yet shortly after, Vavá equalised, and just before half-time brought them a point ahead. In the second half, Pelé outshone them all, scoring two goals including the first, where he lobbied the ball to Bengt Gustavsson and followed up with a fine volley strike. Zagallo put a spike in between and Sweden has struggled to hit a consolation goal.
By MB6 years ago in Cleats