Larry Joe Bird is an American former professional basketball player, coach and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend," Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, he was a local basketball phenom. Highly recruited, he initially signed to play for coach Bobby Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers, but dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick to attend a local community college. The next year he attended the smaller Indiana State University, playing ultimately for three years for the Sycamores. Drafted by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft after his second year at Indiana State, Bird elected to stay in college and play one more season. He then led his team to an undefeated regular season in 1978–1979. The season finished with a national championship game matchup against Michigan State, a team that featured Magic Johnson, beginning a career-long rivalry that the two shared for more than a decade.
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats of the sport.
The UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Europa Conference League. The UEFA Cup was the third-tier competition from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.
Justine Henin is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in tennis, helped establish Belgium as a leading force in women's tennis with Kim Clijsters, and led the country to its first Fed Cup crown in 2001. She was known for her all-court style of play and for being one of the few female players to use a single-handed backhand.
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, also known and branded as NCAA March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship. The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in the United States.
The NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship refers to either of the two tournaments in men's ice hockey – one in Division I and one in Division III – contested by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) since 1971. The NCAA Division II Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, contested from 1978 to 1984 and from 1993 to 1999, was discontinued due to a lack of Division II conferences sponsoring ice hockey.
The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Those who are on the top 25 of the money list at year's end are given PGA Tour memberships for the next season. Since the 2013 season, the Korn Ferry Tour has been the primary pathway for those seeking to earn their PGA Tour card. Q-School, which had previously been the primary route for qualification to the PGA Tour, has been converted as an entryway to the Korn Ferry Tour.
The Confederation of African Football or CAF is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.
The Senegal national football team, nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, is the Senegalese national team and is operated by the Senegalese Football Federation. The team made its first appearance at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and made an interesting surprise by beating world champions and European champions France 1–0 in the opening match of the tournament.
The Algeria national football team represents Algeria in men's international football and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida and 5 July Stadium in Algiers. Algeria joined FIFA on 1 January 1964, a year and a half after gaining independence. They are the current champions of the FIFA Arab Cup.
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the 100-metre dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women. The World Championships 100 metres has been contested since 1983.
The Eredivisie is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is considered one of the best European leagues and widely regarded as one of the better leagues in the world. As of the 2020–21 season, it is ranked the 7th best league in Europe by UEFA.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. They play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd and India Cements is the major stakeholder. The team served a two-year suspension from the IPL starting July 2015 due to the involvement of their owners in the 2013 IPL betting case, and won the title in its comeback season of 2018. The team is captained by Ravindra Jadeja and coached by Stephen Fleming. They are the current defending champions, having won the 2021 IPL season. In January 2022, CSK became India's first unicorn sports enterprise.
The Australian soccer league system is the league structure for soccer clubs in Australia. The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved one top divisional league controlled by Football Australia and many leagues run within each state below. The National Soccer League stood from 1977 to 2004 as the top nationwide tier above the current state-based league systems, in 2005, the A-League was established as its successor. The introduction of the National Premier Leagues in 2013 introduced a direct second tier of soccer in Australia, underpinning the A-League. The National Premier Leagues incorporated the existing state leagues as divisions with a nationwide end of season finals series. In 2013, the National Premier Leagues rebranded 5 of the 9 top state leagues, and the remainder – with the exception of the Northern Territory – joined in 2014. There is no promotion and relegation to and from the top-tier A-League, and promotion and relegation at other levels varies between different state systems.
The United States of America competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics from August 27 to September 4 in Daegu, South Korea.
The European section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acts as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). A total of 13 slots in the final tournament are available for UEFA teams.
The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League is the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League will be the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
