Today, football is popular on all levels, from high school, college, and professionally. The high school games get regular attention in the local newspapers and games regularly draw over 10,000 fans. Pennsylvania produces several college and professional players every year, and Western Pennsylvania is noted for being the home of numerous quarterbacks, including Dan Marino, Joe Montana, and Johnny Unitas.
Professionally, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL are also hugely popular. Both franchises entered the NFL in 1933, and the two franchises briefly merged during World War II. Both teams have fan bases across the entire state, and in the case of the Steelers, are one of the most popular sports teams in the United States, if not the world. (This is likely due to that team's dominance in the NFL during the 1970s.) While the Eagles are not quite as popular as the Steelers outside Pennsylvania, they still maintain a passionate fan base in the Philadelphia area and across the United States as they are one of the more popular teams in the NFL. Often one of the most rowdy in the NFL, the Eagles fanbase is known for their passion and dedication. In fact, the Eagles' old home field, Veterans Stadium, was the first sports stadium in the United States to have a jail cell as a result of the rowdiness of the fans, but was removed only a couple years later after incidents settled down. Both fanbases though are considered to be among the best traveled fanbases in the NFL. During games in which the teams are on the road, Steelers fans and Eagles fans alike migrate to the opposing team's stadium and always have a strong presence, and in some cases, their numbers have made opposing teams feel as if they are not in their home stadium—a testament to the die-hard fanbases of professional football in Pennsylvania.
Baseball is one of the more popular sports in Pennsylvania. The state has both major league and minor league baseball teams. The two major league baseball teams in Pennsylvania are the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Phillies and the Pirates are two of the eight National League franchises that originated in the nineteenth century. As such, the Phillies and the Pirates have had a rivalry for over one hundred years. The rivalry was particularly strong during the 1970s and 1980s, when the two teams frequently competed to win the National League East. The rivalry has cooled off since the Pirates moved to the NL Central in 1994, but the two teams continue to play each other every year. Although the Pirates have won more World Series (five in total), the Phillies won the World Series more recently (in 2008). Both teams have had stretches of success and futility. Pennsylvania is the only state with two teams that are in the same league (National League) but in separate divisions (Pittsburgh in the NL Central and Philadelphia in the NL East).
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were also the home of numerous defunct and relocated major league franchises, including the American League's Philadelphia Athletics, which moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in the 1950s. The franchise now plays in Oakland, California, as the Oakland Athletics. Pittsburgh briefly hosted a second major league team in the 20th century: the Pittsburgh Rebels played in the Federal League during the fledgling league's two seasons of existence. Altoona also had a short-lived team in the 19th century Union Association. Prior to the integration of Major League Baseball that occurred after World War II, both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had negro league baseball teams.
Due in large part to Pennsylvania's cold winter climate and the state's geographic location in the Northeast, hockey is fairly popular throughout Pennsylvania. In all, seven professional hockey teams call Pennsylvania home, including two NHL teams.
Perhaps the strongest current in-state professional sports rivalry is between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, both of which play in the Metropolitan Division of the NHL. With the exception of a seven-year period in the 1970s, the two teams have been divisional rivals since they joined the NHL in the 1967 expansion. The rivalry is generally considered to be one of the fiercest in the NHL.[3][4] The two franchises have been among the most successful teams since they joined the league, as the Flyers have the most Stanley Cup Finals appearances among the non-Original Six teams, while the Penguins are tied for the third most Stanley Cup wins among non-Original Six teams.
Pennsylvania is notable for being one of the few states with a team in the Canadian Hockey League, and the state was also home to the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, one of the first professional hockey leagues. In addition to the two current NHL teams that joined the league in the 1960s, Pennsylvania also had an NHL franchise in the 1920s: a hockey team named the Pirates played in the NHL for five seasons before moving to Philadelphia and becoming the Philadelphia Quakers. The franchise disbanded after its only season in Philadelphia. Philadelphia also briefly had a WHA franchise.
Pennsylvania is home to several prominent collegiate rivalries. The Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry began in the 19th century, and was once considered one of the most important rivalries north of the Mason–Dixon line.[7] Although the two schools have not played as frequently since Penn State and Pittsburgh joined football conferences in the 1990s, the rivalry between the two schools continues to divide the state. The Philadelphia Big 5 play a basketball round robin every year to determine the top basketball school in the Philadelphia area. Pittsburgh is also home to a heated basketball rivalry, as Duquesne and Pittsburgh play each other every year in the City Game. The Lehigh Valley is home to a heated college football rivalry so deeply ingrained into both schools' traditions that the annual game is simply known as "The Rivalry."
Giddeon Massie of Quakertown, member, 2004 Bicycling team
John Woodruff of Connellsville, gold medal, 1936, in 800-meters event
Catherine "Kit" Klein of Harrisburg, gold and bronze, 1932 Olympics, 1936 Olympics, speed skater, World Record – 1000 meters (1935), World Record – 3000 meters (1936), 1936 World Champion
Roger Kingdom of Monroeville, gold medal in both 1984 and 1988 Olympics, 110m hurdles
Asphalt ovals in Pennsylvania include Jennerstown Speedway in Jennerstown, Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, Motordome Speedway in Smithton (closed), Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth (closed), and Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, CNB Bank Raceway Park Formerly known as Central PA Speedway Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has a long history of horse racing, as the sport was one of the few that was not banned in 17th century Pennsylvania. William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, reportedly raced his horses down the streets of Philadelphia.[11]Stephen Foster wrote the song "Camptown Races" about horse racing in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia-area businessman Samuel D. Riddle owned prominent horses Man o' War and War Admiral.
Smarty Jones, the 2004 Kentucky Derby winner, was owned by Roy Chapman and wife Patricia. Smarty Jones was bred at Chapman's Someday Farm (Patricia explains the name: "Some day we were going to do this and some day we were going to do that. And my husband said, 'I think we ought to call it Someday Farm,' so we did.") near Philadelphia, and had Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing) as his home course.[12]
PGA Tour tournaments in Pennsylvania include the 84 Lumber Classic, played at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, and the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, played at Glenmaura National Golf Club in Scranton. There is also the PGT (Pittsburgh Golfers Tour) which is people from all over the east coast joining a club where the owner schedules tournaments all over the state.
Pennsylvania is an area of the United States that features some of the most elite levels of high school wrestling and collegiate wrestling.[13] Many of the top collegiate wrestlers are produced from Pennsylvania,[14] with Pennsylvania's own Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic serving as a national level high school All-Star event, featuring the top PA wrestlers in a dual team match against the top wrestlers from other states in the country.[15] It was started in 1975 as the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic,[16] sponsored by Dapper Dan Charities.[17]
The case involved a $1/$2 table stakesTexas Hold 'emPoker game with a dealer making tips. The organizers were charged with 20 counts of violating Section 5513 sections (a)(2), (a)(3), and (a)(4), related to "unlawful gambling", and had materials related to the games confiscated by police as "gambling devices".[18] Section 5513 of the Pennsylvania Code makes it a misdemeanor of the first degree for a person to invite or allows other people to gather in a place of his control for the purpose of "unlawful gambling". In his decision, Judge Thomas A. James Jr. stated, "[T]here are three elements of gambling: consideration, chance and reward." The judge found through a four pronged test that skill predominates over chance, and that Texas Hold' em is a game of skill, therefore not gambling.[18]
Specifically, the decision states:
The court finds that Texas Hold 'em poker is a game where skill predominates over chance. Thus, it is not "unlawful gambling' under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code.
Section 5512(d), which provides definitions, states:
As used in this section the term "unlawful" means not specifically authorized by law.
Section 5513 states: (emphasis added)
§ 5513. Gambling devices, gambling, etc.
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if he:
(1) intentionally or knowingly makes, assembles, sets up, maintains, sells, lends, leases, gives away, or offers for sale, loan, lease or gift, any punch board, drawing card, slot machine or any device to be used for gambling purposes, except playing cards; (2) allows persons to collect and assemble for the purpose of unlawful gambling at any place under his control; (3) solicits or invites any person to visit any unlawful gambling place for the purpose of gambling; or (4) being the owner, tenant, lessee or occupant of any premises, knowingly permits or suffers the same, or any part thereof, to be used for the purpose of unlawful gambling.
Other Poker games
In the 1949 case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania V. Silverman, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the "Sporadic or casual act of playing cards or betting is not an indictable offense in Pennsylvania."
In 2004, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola was quoted as saying, "it's legal to gather with friends to play poker but it's not legal when the 'house' or an outside party profits from the game."[19]
In 2005, York County District Attorney Stan Rebert was asked about illegal poker games in the York area by the York Daily Record. He replied that he had not heard of any and that it's not something that he would worry about. "Casual gambling ... that is not illegal", he said, "It's kind of a fine line."[20]
Previous legal challenges and legislative initiatives have taken place, but until recently, none have changed the status of poker in Pennsylvania.
HB2121 would authorize table games, including poker, in Pennsylvania's recently authorized casinos.
HB947 would authorize poker tournaments to be held by the holders of licenses for small games of chance.
In Lewistown, three members of the Brooklyn Hose Fire Co. were charged with unlawful gambling for the poker tournaments held there.[21]
In Greensburg, a defense attorney who had $10,000 and equipment confiscated from his office from poker tournaments is suing for their return. The attorney has not been charged and insists that poker tournaments are legal games of skill.[22]
Joe Sweeney holds the national Pennsylvania championship for table tennis. After each victory, he celebrates by staring directly into the eyes of his opponent and let's out a classic "surfer dude laugh."
The Professional Inline Hockey Association was founded in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Typhoon and Harrisburg Lunatics both play in the league. The American Inline Hockey League was founded in Bensalem after the league split off from the Professional Inline Hockey Association. The Delco Demons and the Pittsburgh Bandits play in the AIHL.
Sports in the New York metropolitan area have a long and distinguished history.
Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers football team, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I Power Five conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris also field Division I teams in men's and women's basketball and Division I FCS teams in football. Robert Morris also fields Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams.
Sports in Chicago include many professional sports teams. Chicago is one of eleven U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team sports. Chicago has been named as the "Best Sports City" by Sporting News three times: 1993, 2006, and 2010.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a long and rich tradition in professional, semi-professional, amateur, college, and high-school sports.
Three popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895. Paintball was invented in 1981 in Henniker, New Hampshire.
The Kansas City metropolitan area has a long history of sports, which has included national championship teams and championship title events.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics, and the Bruins. The New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Washington, D.C., has major league sports teams, popular college sports teams, and a variety of other team and individual sports. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to several major sports venues including Capital One Arena, RFK Stadium, Commanders Field, Audi Field, and Nationals Park.
Sports teams in Florida include many professional, semi-professional, amateur and college teams. In professional sports, Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams, one Women's Soccer team and many minor league teams in various sports. Additionally, since the late 19th century Florida has been a significant spring training destination for Major League Baseball teams and their affiliates.
There are numerous sports teams in Erie, Pennsylvania, all of which are minor league. There are also numerous college sports teams along with high school teams. Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 10 high school sports are played in the area, often with close results due to the even distribution of athletic talent. Throughout history, Erie has had various semi-pro and professional sports teams. The city hosts the nationally recognized McDonald's Classic.
Sports in Indianapolis include major league franchises, collegiate athletics, and a variety of other club and individual sporting events that have taken place in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indianapolis is the home to 11 professional sports teams. The city is also home to three National Collegiate Athletic Association collegiate teams. Two teams from the four major American leagues, the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers, are located in Indianapolis.
Texas is home of several national sports league franchises among other professional sports, being the second most populated U.S. state. Since the state is located in the South Central United States, most teams are part of the Central / South or West league divisions, with the notable exception of the NFL Dallas Cowboys, which is an NFC East franchise.
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States is home to more than a dozen professional, semi-professional, and collegiate sports teams. The Sporting News rated St. Louis the nation's "Best Sports City" in 2000 and the Wall Street Journal named it the best sports city in 2015.
The U.S. state of Florida has three National Football League teams, two Major League Baseball teams, two National Basketball Association teams, two National Hockey League teams, two Major League Soccer teams and 13 NCAA Division I college teams.
Bakersfield is home to several minor league sports franchises and collegiate athletic programs at Bakersfield College and California State University, Bakersfield.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US.
Ohio is home to many professional and college sports teams. The metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus are home to major league professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer.
The Eagles–Steelers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unofficially nicknamed "The Battle of Pennsylvania", this is an in-state, interconference rivalry between the two NFL teams located in the state of Pennsylvania. The two teams do not meet regularly, which has been cited as a reason for the rivalry's low intensity.
References
↑ PFRA Research. "Last Hurrah in Allegheny"(PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-11-26.
1 2 3 This category indicates the year the franchise started playing in its current city
↑ Note that some schools play in multiple conferences, especially for football. The conference listed is the primary conference that the school competes in.
↑ Panaccio, Tim (1982). Beast of the East: Penn State vs Pitt: a game-by-game history of America's greatest football rivalry. West Point, New York: Leisure Press. ISBN0-88011-068-6.
↑ The list includes Division I (formerly known as the "University Division" and "Division I-A") champions prior to the 1978 split of Division I into two subdivisions (FBS and FCS), and college football champions prior to the 1956 split of the NCAA into divisions. The list of champions is taken from the NCAA's website
↑ The Warriors won the 1947 BAA Finals. The NBA traces its lineage through its predecessor, the BAA, which was founded in 1946. The BAA merged with the NBL to form the NBA 1949.
↑ "Overview: Pennsylvania Sports". Explore PA History.com. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
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